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"Brother, why do you think Great-Grandfather called us here so early? Do you think he has another mission for us?" Izuna looked up at Madara, his eyes bright with anticipation.
"..." Madara rubbed the lingering sleep from his eye. Beneath his lowered eyelids, the Sharingan he had awakened just days before glowed a deep red.
He had already grown used to the power of those eyes—and he liked what they could do.
"We just awakened the Sharingan. It's time we put them to use," Madara said, unable to hide his eagerness. "I only hope this mission isn't another easy one."
The brothers entered Konoha's Council Building without delay.
The ANBU stationed around the building knew them well. Still, some guards activated their Byakugan and checked the brothers from head to toe for Transformation Jutsu, genjutsu, or any disguise. When they found nothing, they let them pass.
Madara pushed open the door to Manji's office.
"Morning, Great-Grandfather—"
His casual greeting stopped halfway...
Four boys around their age stood inside the office, their clothes dirty and messy from days of travel. They looked out of place in the dignified room.
Madara raised an eyebrow. "Who are they?"
His gaze moved across the four newcomers and settled almost at once on the black-haired boy standing at the front.
Senju Hashirama.
"..." Madara felt something stir inside him as soon as he saw him.
It wasn't hostility... Instead, he felt an odd sense of recognition—as though some invisible thread had drawn the two of them together long before either knew the other existed.
Izuna moved closer to his brother and looked toward Manji. "Great-Grandfather, who are these people?"
Manji sat behind his desk. "They are the four sons of the Senju Clan Head."
"THE SENJU CLAN HEAD'S SONS??"
Madara and Izuna stared at them in surprise.
Neither brother had ever fought the Senju. They were born after Konoha was founded and grew up under Manji's policy of tolerance and unity. For their generation, the Senju were rivals from their parents' stories, not enemies they had fought themselves.
Once his surprise passed, Izuna examined the four brothers from head to toe.
"The Clan Head's sons?" he asked. "Then why do they look like they've been sleeping in the wilderness?"
The Senju brothers stiffened in embarrassment.
They had left the compound in a rush, traveled for days, and hardly rested. Their clothes were dusty, their hair tangled, and none of them thought they would face Konoha's leaders looking like this.
"Izuna, mind your manners," Manji said. "The four of them fled the Senju Clan after refusing to tolerate its corruption and endless internal struggles. They came here seeking a place in Konoha."
Izuna's face showed understanding. He smiled and lifted his chin with open pride. "So that's what happened. The Senju must be in terrible shape if even their clan head's own sons would rather run away and live in Konoha."
"..." Tobirama's brow twitched. He shot Izuna a cold sideways look and instantly disliked the loud, smug Uchiha across from him.
Hashirama ignored the provocation.
"The Senju are being torn apart from within, and our people have suffered for years," he said. "I left so I could grow stronger. One day, I'll return and save the rest of the clan."
Madara frowned and stepped forward.
"If you came here to join Konoha, then stop thinking about going back to the Senju."
"..." Hashirama met his gaze.
This was the first time the two boys really looked each other in the eye. There was no hatred between them—just two young shinobi testing the resolve of the person in front of them.
Hashirama clenched his fists.
"I won't remain here alone. One day, I'll bring the entire Senju Clan to Konoha with me."
Madara gave a small smile and folded his arms.
"That's more like it."
Clap. Clap.
Manji ended their exchange with two steady claps. Every boy in the office turned to him.
"Madara, Izuna—I have a new assignment for you!!"
The brothers stood up straighter.
"You will show Hashirama and his brothers around Konoha. Help them learn their way through the village and settle into their new lives as soon as possible."
Madara and Izuna looked at each other and bowed at the same time.
"Understood."
..............
The six boys left the Council Building together.
A morning breeze moved through Konoha's streets, bringing the smell of breakfast from nearby shops. No one said anything for a while.
Hashirama walked next to Madara, sneaking quick looks at the Uchiha boy's serious face. Madara kept his arms folded and seemed so distant that Hashirama hesitated a few times before finally speaking up.
"Um... hello. I'm Senju Hashirama. What's your name?"
"Uchiha Madara."
"So you're Madara..." Hashirama tried hard to think of something else to say. "Have you eaten breakfast?"
"No."
"How old are you?"
"Fourteen."
"Oh... Right."
They fell silent again.
"..." The six boys walked down the road in silence, and the awkward feeling only grew with each step.
Madara shot a sideways glance at Hashirama. The Senju boy looked like he was struggling just to keep the conversation alive.
'What an idiot.'
But Manji had told him to help the newcomers get used to Konoha. Staying quiet wouldn't help with that.
Madara decided to give in.
"You're the eldest, aren't you?" His tone remained cool, though it had lost some of its distance. "Why did the four of you leave the Senju? Their situation may be bad, but I doubt the clan head would let his own sons go hungry."
Hashirama's face lit up as soon as Madara spoke to him.
So the proud and distant Uchiha wasn't impossible to talk to after all.
Once Hashirama started talking, he couldn't stop.
He told Madara about the Senju's decline, the hunger spreading through the compound, and the selfish elders who refused to join Konoha because they feared losing their authority. He spoke of Butsuma's cruelty, the execution order that forced him to flee, and his dream of ending the clan wars so that families would no longer lose their children.
Madara listened without interrupting.
Madara slowed down as Hashirama went on. The cold look in his eyes faded, first turning to surprise, then to understanding.
The Senju boy beside him wanted the same thing he did.
Both dreamed of ending the age of clan warfare. Both wanted their people to live without hunger or fear. Both believed Konoha could become the home that made such a future possible.
The awkward silence between them was gone.
Before long, they were speaking as though they had known each other for years—moving from the suffering of their clans to the future they wanted to build, each finding his own thoughts reflected in the other's words.
Now there was a new energy between them—the excitement of finding someone else who understood a dream they had never been able to share before.
A few steps behind them, the atmosphere could not have been more different.
Itama and Kawarama were too young and tired to join in. They walked quietly behind their older brothers, paying more attention to the food stalls along the road.
Izuna and Tobirama walked together at the back of the group.
Neither spoke.
Izuna thought the white-haired Senju was cold and annoying.
Tobirama thought the younger Uchiha was arrogant and impossible to deal with.
Their brothers had only needed a few minutes to become friends. Izuna and Tobirama had taken even less time to decide they didn't like each other...
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