Eras (MadaNaru)

Chapter 3: Cycles

"You know the saying; Word spreads fast on a Hawk's beak? Well, Madara, my friend, I find that's actually rather true. Just this dawn past, I received a letter of sorts, from the main family of the Sarutobi clan. Apparently, they're interested in allying with us. I wasn't even aware that news of the village had spread so quickly across the land! Let alone clans previously at war would be interested in an alliance!"

There was an exuberance that would remain, unparalleled for several years, around the brown haired man, that Madara found himself smiling at, if only slightly, so many things had become dark in his mind's eye at this point that such joy was quite the pleasant sight.

The topic however, he found, distasteful. He cared not for diplomacy now that the war had finished, he was not a diplomat anymore, and he was hardly a political figure in his own clan, let alone in Hashirama's court.

He took a small comfort in the fact that he was part of the main family within his clan -as proclaimed by his father- so his position as the Clan Head was stable.

Yet discomfort turned in his gut. Perhaps it was his pride whispering such things to him, yet he felt inferior to his old friend, and that brought the urge for competition into fruition in his subconscious. He didn't care to think much on the thought, it wouldn't do well to dwell on thoughts of competition after so many decades of war.

He diverted his attention back to his friend, whose face was now mared with a look of concern which he was well acquainted with. With the frown, and the squinting of the eyes.

"What made that look filter onto your mug?"

"I should be asking you a similar question: What drags your attention away from the my engaging conversation?" The brown haired man shot him a grin, apparently quite aware of his disinterest in the topic at hand. He gave a brief chuckle in response.

"Idle thoughts, my friend, nothing more."

Silence descended upon them once more. When they entered the Uchiha district however Hashirama seemed to have had quite enough of it, he had always been eager for conversation.

"That boy, Madara, you must have seen it as well, with your Sharingan activated as it was. His Chakra, I must admit, it frightened me. Have you ever come across anything like it?" Madara shook his head, Hashirama it seemed, had no intention of stopping his train of thought, which came as no surprise if the man needed to think seriously on something, he tended to ramble. On occasion he would ask for his opinion on the matter, but more commonly he could sort out the matter by himself quite easily.

"Dual pathways are one thing, yet such a... a Chakra within his system is an entirely different matter. I imagine they balance each other. Yet, my instinct tells me that the red Chakra is not actually his own-"

"Hashirama! I admit while I do not trust the boy as of yet, in any form, even I do not believe he would use such a repulsive technique as you seem to be suggesting!" The brunet gave him a look of unease, yet he shook his head in affirmation as well.

"No, no, I do not believe he would either. Yet the fact remains, his Chakra's are far too different from one another to be natural." Madara gave himself but a moment to settle himself, his thoughts agitated by his limited knowledge. "Uzumaki are such a small family of the Senju clan. Yet they are known within the Senju family, particularly, for their dual pathways, still, even with that understanding, I have never encountered such a vast difference between the two Chakra's, as the boy seems to have. Nor have I heard of it. I wonder, is this the reason for his family's alienation?"

That grasped Madara's attention, alienated? The boy, well frankly, he seemed to be quite the asset, especially for a small branch family such as the Uzumaki, as Hashirama had said they were. Small families of such a large family were easy targets after all. It seems, however, that Hashirama and he had the same mode of thought, for when their gazes met the confusion of the situation was nearly tangible between them.