When she came to the clinic that day, Touko gently but firmly kicked her out. She had been working nonstop for months now, and even she needed a break. Her work would still be there the next day. The summer was coming to an end, and soon the good weather was going to leave. Touko ordered her to go and find something else to do. And so she started wandering in the streets of the compound. She didn't feel like hanging out with Izuna, as he and his minions were starting to understand the differences between genders, or at least imitate adults that did, and so were a pain to be around. Hikaku was on a fishing expedition with his father. And Madara was nowhere to be found.
This summer he had taken to training alone in the forest, and started to disappear in there whenever he had time off, often from sunrise to sun down. The time alone seemed to make him happy and whenever he came back he had a small smile hanging from his lips. She had asked him why he was so happy, but he just said that he liked to have time to think on his own. She tried to tease him by implying that he was meeting a girl there, but even she knew how ridiculous that sounded. It was still too early to tell, but he had all the signs of a guy who was the opposite of a ladies man. Plus, sometimes he would come up with some new jutsu while training and he was generally progressing at a hallucinating speed. Izuna had begged him to let him come with him sometime for these special training sessions, but he firmly refused. She even had to scold her twin, telling him that Madara always gave in to his demands; he just wanted some free time to himself. Only then did Izuna agree to begrudgingly drop the subject.
She was halfway back home, when an irritating voice came up from behind her.
"Uchiha Haruka, you stop right there!"
She didn't have to turn around to know that it was Uchiha Natsuki, pointing an accusing finger at her. Natsuki was a cute seven years old girl, and the second best kunoichi of their generation. She usually came in fifth in the taijutsu competitions they held, which spoke of her seriousness compared to the other girls, who were still not even allowed to go on patrol missions (And were clearly not planning to go that far). But she also seemed to have inherited the Uchiha's competitive streak. Haruka was kind of like Natsuki's self-appointed Tobirama. Even if she clearly didn't mind her, it only angered the girl more and pushed her to challenge Haruka whenever she could. But whenever Haruka humored her, she was never able to win even once. At least she never gave up.
Haruka sighed. She might as well fight Natsuki to train a bit, or she will die of boredom. She wasn't used to being idle. Turning around, with a carefully calculated smirk, she said, "So you came to have your butt kicked once again. Why don't you save yourself the shame and just drop it?"
If Natsuki wasn't angry before, that ought to do it. Sure enough, a vain throbbed in her head and she screamed. "You, me, training ground 4, now! I have been practicing a new jutsu for a month now. You won't be able to avoid it!" And then she stomped away under the amused smiles of the passersby and Haruka.
They fought for the rest of the morning, and then some more in the afternoon, after lunch. When they both were finally exhausted and out of chakra, they just laid on the ground side by side, breathing heavily. When she finally caught her breath, Haruka asked. "Why do you insist on fighting me anyway?"
Natsuki just shrugged. "Because you are the best. And someday, I want to be the best too. That way my dad will be as proud of me as he is of my brothers!"
Haruka stared at the blue sky. "So it's because of your daddy issues. I see. And here I thought you had a crush on me or something."
Natsuki's little face went red with both anger and embarrassment as she sat up.
"Wha-What? Who the hell would have a crush on you? Have you seen yourself in the mirror? Sure, you and Izuna have inherited Himiko-sama's good looks, but you look too soft. Too effeminate. Nothing like Madara-sama!" she stopped herself when she realized she might have said too much.
Haruka raised an eyebrow clearly amused by the turn of events. Natsuki's small face went even redder and she slammed face first into the ground trying to bury her head like an ostrich. "You're the doctor, tell me, can someone die of embarrassment?"
Haruka finally allowed herself to burst out laughing. "No, I don't think so. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Although I should let you know something about Madara." Natsuki peered at her, clearly interested, so she continued. "Madara only cares about fighting and his duties. I'm almost sure that he will never get around to crushes and romance. The good news, however, is that, as his closest living female relative, I will have a say in his marriage in the future. So if you stay on my good side, I might slip in a good word for you."
Natsuki looked at her outraged for a while; and then burst out laughing and went back to staring at the sky. "You are too much!"
Haruka just laughed at that. They stayed in the training ground for a few more hours, just talking and laughing and teasing each other. When Haruka made her way back home that day, she felt like she might just have made her very first friend. A weird one, but normal is boring anyway.
***
She was the first one back. Madara would still be in the forest for a while. Tajima was working, and she didn't even want to think about what Izuna was doing. He had a strangely determined look on his face that morning, and she had a feeling that he was up to no good. She cooked dinner, put it on the table, and started reading some of her notes while waiting for the others to come back. Family dinners were sacred in the Uchiha clan, the other meals didn't matter, but dinner was when everybody got together. She had to wait for longer than she expected though and the food was already cold when they were back home. The father and sons had all come back together. She sensed that something was wrong when she only received halfhearted greetings before they all went to their rooms to freshen up. Usually there was a bigger ruckus. Even Izuna was oddly calm. She reheated everything, while they changed. When everyone started eating, the strange atmosphere in the room could not be denied.
Madara was glaring holes at the table, Tajima acted disinterested but he clearly had on the look he wore when he was about to pull one on Senju Butsuma, and Izuna was acting cagey. Izuna idolized his elder brother. He liked to get his attention at all times. But today he was making himself as small as possible, trying his best to stay out of Madara's side of the table. She decided to break the silence.
"Anybody want to fill me in on what's going on?" But nobody answered her. Madara 's grip on his chopsticks finally broke them, and Izuna flinched harder than he should have. Tajima finally answered her.
"It's nothing. Tomorrow the three of us are going on an important mission, that's all. It's a secret however, so drop it. And, no, you can't come."
They finished their meal in silence, and for the first time in a while she didn't ask for their help clearing the table and for doing the dishes. Izuna and Tajima retreated to their rooms early, while Madara stayed on the garden porch gazing at the moon.
Trying to get him to answer her questions, She gathered her needle work and went to sit beside him. They just sat there silently for a while before she interrupted the silence again. "Do I even want to know?". His answer was brief. "Probably not." He stayed silent for a while and then continued. " If… If you ever had to betray a friend, for the good of the clan, would you do it?"
She wasn't expecting that. She looked at his profile, surprised. "That's a surprisingly loaded question." He didn't look at her yet, and so she went back to her work. "All I know is that you're not really a social butterfly. This is the first time I hear you call someone your friend. Clan members, teammates, brother, you have all those. But for someone to earn the title of 'Uchiha Madara's friend', they must be quite the character. So just think about this: is what you are getting out of this betrayal worth the loss?"
By the time she finished, they were staring at each other. She knew that she was kind of telling him not to do it, but the decision was his ultimately. Suddenly, he smiled, picked up the scissors out of her tool box and used the edge to write something on a small flat stone he got out of his yukata. When he finished and looked at his handy-work, he said, "Thanks, I just needed someone to confirm out loud that I was doing the right thing. Goodnight." And with that he moved to go back into his room.
She stopped him. "One more thing. Do I need to give Izuna a beating?" That got her a laugh. "Nah. I will just give him the silent treatment for a while, that will teach him. "