one_long_mission | [open] a way to beat the cold

Itachi dodged the shuriken reflexively, but it was a close call. He nearly stumbled right over the edge of the bank, but he caught himself in a crouch.

Madara. Hashirama... Had he... somehow been sent back in time? Back into the world of his ancestors?

"He's not like us. He's... He's a grown Uchiha! He's got the eyes!!" Hashirama dashed between his friend and the strange man. "You always say I'M the one who's too trusting! Are you crazy?!"

"I'm... I'm not an enemy. It's all right..." Itachi insisted between labored breaths. "I'm a... pacifist too..."

"But the eyes!!"

Itachi glanced at Madara, an unspoken plea that the child still remembered him and still had his back. Then, he turned off his sharingan. His eyes faded to a dull black, and without the chakra illuminating them, both of the boys blurred into a dark, muted haze. He had to feel the ground in front of him before he could stand up.

"So what if he's got the eyes? Just hide behind me and pee your pants in fear! Just don't get any on me or I'm throwin you in the stream!" he snorted. "Hear that? He says he's not an enemy. HA! I called it! Who's the mind reader? I'm awesome." he stood with his back straight, pride radiating almost tangibly.

He reached around to give Hashirama a poke. "See, he turned those super-duper scary eyes off. How about we let him in on our plan?"
The boy seemed completely unaware that he knew Itachi, somehow, in this world. Who knew why.

"I'm not gonna pee my pants!" Hashirama shouted melodramatically before ducking behind Madara again. "Are you absolutely sure about this?"

Itachi, meanwhile, was carefully making his way closer to where he thought the two boys were. It was pretty obvious he couldn't see well, given that his feet caught on at least two rocks before he made it there. He could kind of make out a few faint outlines, but nowhere near as well as he could make out the pain in his chest.

The last thing he honestly remembered was getting to the onsen. He wished, somehow, he had his oxygen tank with him, or at least some medicine. (He was grateful, though, that at least he wasn't naked...)

"If you have a plan... to bring the warring clans together... to stop needless fighting... please, share it. I would like to hear it."

"You SO would have! Ha!" Madara seemed to be amazingly sure of himself for a boy without a sharingan. "If I wasn't absolutely sure, I wouldn't have told you to stop being a moron. Now you can stop using me as a shield. You just admitted I,M stronger than you~" he grinned.

As he saw the other advance though, well... okay sure, maybe it wouldn't have even been a challenge to take him down. He had never seen him at the settlement. Was it-- no. It had to be an Uchiha, he had the sharingan, the emblem... He would just ask later...
"But yea! We got a plan, Hashirama and I. We're going to get stronger. We'll get the strongest, and then when we're leadin our clans, once we're at the top, we can sign a treaty! We'll build our village right over there!"

Hashirama was flustered, but at the mention of their future home, he leapt toward the trees and grinned, "It'll be the most fantastic thing! And not just a couple clans, lots of them! An entire shinobi village banding together. Can you see it?"

Itachi tried to follow the boy's gestures, but obviously wasn't looking at anything in particular. That finally caught Hashirama's attention. For an Uchiha, the formidable clan his father fought on a regular basis, this man didn't really fit. He seemed... kind of weak, actually. And the way his eyes moved.

"You can't see us, can you?" he asked, not really expecting the man to answer. After all, what shinobi reveals that kind of weakness.

But Itachi knew who Hashirama was. He knew this was the future first Hokage. And he also knew, if he was going to get anywhere, he had to trust them both and vice versa.

"...No. Without my sharingan... I'm almost blind."

"Thought so." Madara gave a light nod at the revelation he was blind more than anything. "Not sure how you survived that long. I mean, my dad--" oh wow, he almost slipped. "...probably could kill you in his sleep." yeah, that would do.

Of course, this posed a small problem. "Right. Hashirama, don't freak out on me or I'll kick your ass so hard you won't be able to sit till the snow melts." and the snow wasn't even on the ground yet. "So, uh.. Uchiha-guy? You can use that sharingan of yours to see us and all... but try anythin funny with it and I'll have you regret it."

Now that this was settled... "If you're still within the clan bein so weak, that means you're either really powerful or really influential." so he would bet on this being their chance. "You probably can convince a lotta those guys that peace is better."

Hashirama still wasn't sure about the eyes. But this Uchiha didn't look dangerous. "Okay... But ONLY to see. Nothing else, okay?"

Itachi nodded, and the sharingan came back on.

He knew enough about the clan and village histories to know Madara had to pretend not to know him. But he hadn't realized yet that Madara actually didn't know him.

"You have my word..." he replied, for whatever that might be worth in this time. A pacifist Uchiha was probably hard enough to believe. "It won't be easy to convince... people to put aside their differences... Perhaps, instead, if they believed there had been enough death on both sides. Perhaps then..."

"...enough death on both sides? I'm hoping to get stronger and have control of my clan, cause more than enough died already... on any sides. Entire clans were probably wiped out." he gave a light grunt. "We can't count on the numbers of deaths. After all, every clan wants to be the last one standing."

He sat cross-legged, frowning in thought. "The only way to stop the fight is to be at the head... and sign a treaty. That's what Hashirama and I were going to do. The adults are all pretty stubborn, and we can't have em know we're planning something like this."

Itachi sighed. Were they to be discovered outright, it might be considered treason. He wasn't entirely sure what a warring clan might do to one of their own who broke code. But he did know what a village would do to a defector. It wasn't pretty.

"At least... if they are tired of the senseless death... on their own side, they may be more willing to sign a treaty." he suggested. "Even if you become leaders... if your clans are unwilling to follow you, what good is a treaty?"

He gave a deep frown and a grunt. "I guess... At least that's a point that can be brought up." and it might have some weight if it gets hammered enough. "Peace isn't something just for one clan's sake though.." he muttered.

"No... but it may have to start somewhere..." Itachi added. It was like explaining to a blind person what a color was, something so very difficult to those who had never experienced it.

"It'll start with us." Hashirama insisted. "And maybe even one day, the Uchiha will even sign the treaty. Then there really would be no more war!"

Madara still nearly jumped in his skin to hear 'Uchiha'...
"Yeah. Like that! Gettin any clan head to sign it would be somethin really great."

Unbeknownst to them, however, there was someone else, hidden deep within the foliage of a tree in the opposite bank, carefully watching...

Itachi was too preoccupied with the matter of the children's plan to notice at first, but then he caught the chakra signature out of the corner of his eye. His head jerked up.

"Huh...? What's up?" Madara blinked over and followed the other's gaze. "I don't see anything.."

Perhaps this was one of the oversights. As those red eyes fell on his, visible from his vantage point, the boy gave a light hiss. He knew he had his chakra hidden... and still those damn eyes...
He could only stay still. Being found out had never been an option... particularly not by an Uchiha.

Madara had kept his sharingan wisely hidden away, but Itachi had his active. Unfortunately, Itachi was a master at using his to see. It was a fact born out of necessity.

"I suggest you show yourself... Make your... intentions known..." He called out to the boy in the bush.

Never before had he cursed himself so intensely. He should have ran off when he first saw the figure with the red eyes appear. He already saw all he wanted to see. A light scowl, and he dropped into view, blade at the ready, swung over his shoulder as he crouched.

"It's time to choose sides, brother."
This was not how Tobirama had wished for it to go, but seeing as he had been unexpectedly found out, they had to fight. The boy had nothing to indicate clan affiliation, quite thankfully. "And choose quickly." he instructed, keeping that sharingan out of his sight.

Madara instinctivelt slid closer to his clanmate and pulled out a kunai, although he was hesitant as he stared at Hashirama. The white-haired boy had called him brother... Had this been a trap all along?

Hashirama wasn't sure exactly what to do when he saw Itachi struggling to stand. He stepped in front of both of the children, as if he was ready to protect them both as equals.

"... from the look of things," Itachi smiled down to the future first Hokage, "He's already chosen... that perhaps we can all be on the same side."

If he was calling Hashirama brother, then this was the future second Hokage. There was no doubt. This was the man who go on to found the Konoha Police Force and proclaim trust. But Itachi also knew this was a man who would also cause seeds of doubt to be planted, setting up tragic consequences that wouldn't play out until long after he was gone.

"Perhaps... that could be something you're... interested in as well?"

"Don't talk for him!" Tobirama glared at the Uchiha, which admittedly -looked- less of a threat than he thought but he wasn't going to be fooled into dropping his guard.
"Brother, you disappoint me." the younger Senju's eyes were cold. "I have never said anything against your unrealizable dream to Father, but if you insist on continuing to meet enemy shinobi... Do you wish to be branded as traitor?"

Madara gave a light hiss. "See, it's cause of people like you that we can't have peace!"
"When have I asked your opinion?" he narrowed his eyes. From his chakra... no doubt about it. The boy was.. "Don't tell me you have never suspected anything, brother." He may be interested in peace, but not one initiated by Uchiha.

"But it's possible, brother!" Hashirama exclaimed. "And not just among us children. He's an adult, and he's got the same dream! He could talk to the other Uchiha! Other clans too..."

Hashirama was a trusting boy, to the point that he was actually defending Itachi mere hours after leaping away in fear of him. But he had the eyes, and he hadn't used them to do anything but see. And his friend wasn't scared of him... So maybe...

"It's not unrealizable. It's gonna happen one day. You'll see!!

"..." Tobirama gave a sigh and averted his gave a few seconds. "Even if he could indeed adress other Uchiha," his lip curled in distaste at the name. "have you even pondered what weight the words of this one would hold among his clan?" he gave a pointed stare at Madara.

The boy gave a snarl, but was silent. How could that boy know he was an Uchiha? Was it bluff?
"Well then." Tobirama claimed a deep breath. "You leave me no choice, brother." With the nearby stream at his disposal, he had an endless supply of water. Itachi would most likely recognize the handsigns necessary for a suiton jutsu, which if complete would launch itself at him, who in Tobirama's mind was the first he should take down.

But as Tobirama started his hand signs, Itachi jerked his head around in the complete opposite direction. Barely a moment later, another boy landed by the riverbank, a fire jutsu meeting the waterspout the moment that it formed.

"Don't you dare go after my brother, Senju!"

Madara froze. Senju... so then his brother... Hashirama was-- The boy got up, taking out his shuriken. There was no way he was going to let Izuna get another draw.

Tobirama gave a scowl. Only one person existed that could recognize him without his usual war garb. How had he not noticed the other's presence? "Izuna... Looks like we're outnumbered by Uchiha. Brother! We must retreat." winning against two, yes, but two against three was a risk he was unwilling to take.

"You're Hashirama... Senju!?" Madara turned accusing eyes to the other. Images went through his mind, of their battles against the Senju where he had happened his two eldest and youngest brother's corpses on three different occasions.

Hashirama was equally aghast, but for different reasons. "You're... You're Uchiha?! Madara Uchiha?!?"

He couldn't believe it! An Uchiha, multiple Uchiha were discussing the prospect of peace! And these were his clan's worst enemies! It instilled a kind of hope in him that was only tempered by a furious brother at his wrist, tugging him out of harm's way.

"But... But!"

Izuna, meanwhile, was as protective of his brother as Tobirama was of Hashirama.

"When father hears about this..." He pleaded, but suddenly fell short, realizing he was looking back into an unfamiliar pair of sharingan. "Where'd he come from?"

"That's right." Suddenly, Madara's eyes were also red. "I'm Madara Uchiha!" his grip tightened onto the kunai he had. "Father's not going to hear about THIS, Izuna. Father's gonna hear we killed two Senju! There's three of us and two of em!!"
He couldn't let go of it. Those murderous Senju had taken Kazuma, Kojiro and Ikkaku away from them.

Tobirama gave another tug. "Come on, Hashirama! There aren't any BUTs!" the appearance of Izuna had already shifted the tide.

Itachi stepped between them, throwing his arms out.

"Weren't we... just discussing a peaceful future... a village with clans banded together? No more fighting? No more... bloodshed?" He tried to hold the fighting at bay. His voice was breathy, but stern. He meant every word. "Madara, he was your friend until... you heard his family name! Hashirama, you trusted me... and I'm an Uchiha. Isn't that right?"

"What about our dream?!" The boy cried out.

"Yes..." Itachi echoed. "What about it? You... don't have to fight here... No one has to die!"

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