beneath the willow tree | Uchiha Madara

6 | hashirama's sister

❛❛ and the collision of your kiss that made it so hard to let go. ❜❜

⇟

Madara casts Izuna a questioning glance. "Do you still believe Yamiyo is a spirit which haunts the old willow deep in the forest?" he asks with one raised brow.

The younger Uchiha rolls his dark eyes at the other's sarcastic undertone. "You make it sound like I'm completely nuts." he says, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "But I knew what I saw that day. She isn't a regular woman, she isn't even a regular kunoichi - there's something dark about her and I can still sense it. Believe me or not; I don't care."

"The only thing dark about her is her sultry attitude." Madara chuckles. "Even if she seems serene and polite, she's quite fierce when it gets physical."

"You didn't believe her when she told you who she really is, did you? So who do you think she is then?" Izuna asks with a worried look on his face.

"She told me her last name is Otsutsuki, which at first didn't mean anything to me, but when I started thinking about that name, I found it sounding familiar." Madara tells his brother.

"And?"

"You remember the legend about the rabbit goddess, Kaguya Otsutsuki who ate the chakra fruit from the divine tree? Since you are so fond of folklore and stuff, I believe you do." the Uchiha leader mocks. "Anyway, obviously she's lying about her identity. I mean come on; that name, the tree, her byakugan - she's just trying to hide she's a Hyuuga because they are the Senju's allies. It's a futile attempt, really. Her bloodline limit gives her away. It's rather ridiculous, and yet I couldn't care less. Her beauty and manners make up for all of that." Madara says with a cocky smile on his lips.

The younger male just lets out a long sigh. "Fine, brother; if you want to believe that, it's fine. Just do me the favor and watch that woman carefully."

"Of course I will." he replies, still smiling. "Anyway, Yamiyo wasn't the reason I wanted to talk to you. Listen, Izuna. I just got word that Hashirama's sister Senju Azumi went missing." Madara's expression darkens. "It's no surprise Tobirama suspects the Uchiha of having something to do with their sister's disappearance. So I was wondering, the Senju girl you were hooking up with, could it be that she's the Senju brother's younger sister?" the ravenette questions carefully.

Izuna feels his blood run cold for a split second. His brother really is cunning. He sighs again, not seeing a point in lying to Madara. "Yes, she is." he admits plainly.

"Izuna! How could - "

"I love her, Madara." Izuna says gravely.

The older one's eyes widen. And he feels paralyzed, unable to retort because he can relate. Love, he has known it, too. The joy and fulfillment, the meaning it gives to one's life - the reason to live to protect something precious; Madara knows what it feels like to love a woman. But just like any other kind of love, it's utterly replaced by hatred and despair once the person has been erased from your life.

It's only because it's Izuna, he refrains from yelling at him. Honestly, he could have given a sermon to his younger sibling about how truly loving someone is only a waste of the time you have to spend on this planet, because once it's taken away from you, there's nothing left of you but an empty shell of the being you used to be. But he digresses and instead focuses on being the rational person he usually is - or pretends to be.

"We have to prepare for war yet again. I need you to be on training grounds tomorrow morning."

↠

She just can't take it anymore. This pressure, the responsibility and her love for the one she isn't allowed to love.

Azumi snapped the moment she saw the Hyuuga Clan's leader's first born son; the man she is supposed to marry. So she ran, ran as far as her feet could carry her only to end up at the place Izuna and her parted.

The willow is really beautiful in its unique, tragic way. It's weeping, just like she is; the leaves falling to the ground like the hot tears from her eyes.

She doesn't even know where she's supposed to go and yet, her heart tells her she has to run to him. It's dangerous and stupid, she's more than just aware of that fact but her heart just tells her to do it - to get to the Uchiha's compound and try to make a change.

This has to end. This futile clashing between clans of a different name that forbids her to be with the one that holds her heart.

↠

"She wouldn't run away like this, you know her Hashirama. She must've been kidnapped by someone. And I strongly believe it couldn't be anyone else than Uchiha Madara himself." Tobirama says, walking the ground like an enraged tiger. "Azumi has always been a bright girl; happy and satisfied. This is so unlike her."

"Happy until she met her fiancé." Hashirama mumbles; worry edged into his usually relaxed features.

"Don't give me that, brother. The Hyuuga prince is a good choice as her future husband. He's kind and generous. Her marrying him isn't the reason, Azumi is gone. You of all people should know that political marriage brings happiness. Your wife could not have been a luckier woman." Tobirama declares.

Hashirama glares darkly at the younger Senju. "Yes, Mito and I have been lucky; as you say. But that doesn't mean Azumi shares the same fate, Tobirama. If you paid more attention, you would have noticed the despair in her eyes as they fell on the Hyuuga." he says bitterly.

The white haired Senju stops his movements. "What do you mean? She's acted as always; cheerful and polite; demurely bowing her head at the right time - just like the princess she was trained to be."

"Stop acting like her father, brother." Hashirama tells his younger sibling. "For she is your sister! Azumi doesn't want to marry into the Hyuuga clan. She doesn't want to take responsibility as somebody's wife because she's in love with somebody entirely else."

"What?"

"I always had the finer sentiments, I know but noticing your sister's in pain should be obvious to you, too. It's your responsibility as an older brother." Hashirama tells him harshly.

↠

Yamiyo feels as young and beautiful as the woman she looks like. Being cut from the tree, gives her the experience of being a regular human just like the rest of them. Who could have ever known that normality is such an incredible feeling? If she could trade her immortality for another twenty years of that feeling, she would.

Making love with the Uchiha leader reminds her of being deflowered over and over again. Talking with the inferior woman that is Izanami is actually quite delightful to her. And the hostile stare of Izuna encourages her to adept, making her more likable.

It's simple human emotions that bring her joy and she revels in them.

Her faded lilac eyes fall on a familiar looking form that belongs to a young girl as she strolls along the compound's outer grounds underneath a full moon her sister used to love so much. Yamiyo's red lips curl into a malevolent smirk. She knows exactly who this girl and what her intention for coming her is.

Ruining somebody else's life is just another thing some humans enjoy.