Dawn

Utsusemi awoke in unfamiliar bedding, fragments of hazy memories from the night before flashing through her mind.

Dizzying, disordered space and time, the pain of being broken and restored.

Finally, a deep crimson war haori, still warm from its wearer's body, had wrapped around her.

Now the war haori that marked its wearer as the Uchiha Clan Head lay neatly folded on a low cabinet in the corner.

Her handkerchief lay on top of it, the one embroidered with the prototype of the Flying Thunder God Formula.

"Tap, tap, tap."

The crisp, regular sound came from the courtyard: a scabbard tapping lightly against the bluestone paving.

The sound was unhurried, like someone waiting patiently.

Utsusemi got up naturally, stepped barefoot onto the tatami, and walked toward the shoji door.

The moment she slid it open, the morning light etched the crimson figure in the courtyard clearly into her sight.

Madara Uchiha stood beneath a maple tree, wearing another war haori of the same design.

He held an unsheathed tachi in his hand, its scabbard tapping the ground in a heartbeat rhythm.

Red maple leaves drifted onto his shoulders like falling fire, making him look like a blazing flame, too fierce to gaze upon.

"Awake?" Madara said coldly. "This is Izuna's room. He brought you back to the clan grounds last night."

He calmly looked Utsusemi over. The woman had finally woken up.

He had waited in the courtyard for ten minutes before he noticed the sounds of her getting up.

"I'm hiring you to heal," Madara added. "Consider it repayment for dirtying my collar."

Utsusemi didn't answer immediately. Standing by the door, she glanced over the slightly tousled black hair on his forehead before her gaze settled on his Sharingan.

Against their scarlet background, three jet-black Tomoe slowly revolved, like whirlpools in an abyss, silently warning of the price of prying.

He sneered. "Keep prying and I'll throw you into that miserable Naka River, where you can keep those floating corpses company."

"Brother, Lady Utsusemi." Izuna appeared at just the right moment, carrying a lacquered tray.

He approached soundlessly with a bowl of medicinal soup, his gaze freezing as it swept across the room.

Several strands of Chakra Threads were extending from between Utsusemi's lowered fingers, reaching toward Madara.

"Brother, you..." Before Izuna could finish, a cold light flashed!

Madara Uchiha's sword remained in its scabbard, but a fierce gust of force had already severed the Chakra Threads.

The gentle smile on Uchiha Izuna's face froze, his mask of warmth shattering.

His scarlet Sharingan burst into life, their three Tomoe spinning rapidly as killing intent surged out like a tide!

A Kunai shrieked through the air and pinned Utsusemi's sleeve.

It held her fast in the shadow on the floor, missing her wrist by a hair's breadth!

"Lady Utsusemi," Izuna said, his voice devoid of warmth and laden with icy killing intent. "You and my brother... crossed paths by the river?"

His Sharingan locked onto Utsusemi, trying to uncover any lie or plot beneath her calm expression.

"Enough." Madara's cold snort cut short Izuna's killing intent.

As he reached for the medicine bowl, he was gently enveloped in a black-and-white glow, the colors of the taiji.

Under the mysterious power of Yin-Yang Release, a cool, faint light wreathed his eyes.

The burning pain in his eyes vanished without a trace, leaving only a cool, soothing sensation.

Madara Uchiha simply tipped his head back and drained the bitter medicine, his profound gaze sweeping over Utsusemi once more.

Uchiha Izuna studied the two of them and the strange atmosphere between them, then dropped his threatening manner.

He leaned against a pillar, playing with a Kunai. "Last night, three of our clan members' Chakra ran out of control. That's why my brother asked me to bring you here."

Looking at Utsusemi, he said slowly, "The Uchiha will hire you to treat patients whose Chakra has run out of control. As for payment... we won't shortchange you. Do you accept?"

Utsusemi stretched lazily. "Sure. Thanks for bringing me back last night."

"Otherwise, who knows where I'd have woken up..." She rubbed her eyes and teased, "Maybe pinned to a tree by some Uchiha's Kunai?"

"Where's your noble lady's reserve?" Izuna lifted a lock of her black hair with his Kunai. "The noble lady who wouldn't even bend down to pick up a silver coin that had fallen into muddy water..."

"After being cured by two psychiatrists," Utsusemi whispered close to his ear, "I can even admire bloody handprints as ukiyo-e now."

Utsusemi patted his shoulder. "But Izuna, the Chakra fluctuations from the Kunai you pinned my sleeve with were much more agitated than they are now."

"Still better than someone getting drunk and running around town!" Izuna turned and pressed her against the pillar. A handkerchief scented with sandalwood fluttered down, and he pressed one corner of it down.

"This handkerchief..." The prototype of the Flying Thunder God Formula was faintly visible on the silk. "What did you embroider on it?"

"Secret..." The glow of the Tenseigan swept over Izuna's reddened ear. "Secrets make a woman more attractive."

Madara Uchiha chuckled softly, tracing a meaningful arc through their crossing gazes.

Morning light streamed through the paper doors. The Medical Division was already crowded with more than ten Uchiha clan members.

The backs of the three injured people nearest the entrance were covered in Lightning Release burns.

Young ninjas with broken bones lay across the middle of the room, their limbs secured with wooden splints.

Among them, a spiky-haired boy was biting down hard on his Forehead Protector strap, cold sweat staining the clan crest dark red.

The traces of blood left beneath the eyelids of the three Sharingan users curled up at the far end hinted at the cost of overusing their ocular power.

The light of the Tenseigan swept over the crowd, and Chakra Threads wove a web-like healing network, the end of each thread precisely piercing an acupoint along an injured person's meridians.

When she touched the wound of the most severely injured young man, the mass of Chakra light burst into black-and-white streams.

As the Chakra spread, the atmosphere in the Medical Division gradually shifted from pained groans to hushed exclamations of wonder.

The middle-aged ninja suffering the worst Chakra depletion suddenly opened his eyes, Utsusemi's figure reflected in his Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

His Adam's apple bobbed as he called out hoarsely, "Thank you..." A chain reaction followed.

The young ninjas with broken bones tried moving their nearly healed legs and found that the intense pain had faded to a mild sting.

They all offered her the customary Uchiha salute, and thanks rose one after another wherever Utsusemi went.

Utsusemi merely waved a hand. "You're welcome. If you want to thank someone, thank your clan head. Madara and Izuna hired me."

Leaving the thanks from the Medical Division behind her, she wandered through the clan grounds and, before she knew it, reached a romantic expanse of cosmos flowers on the mountain behind them.

"Have I really walked this far without noticing?" She stroked the handkerchief at her waist, embroidered with butterfly wings. It was a new one Izuna had slipped her.

She seemed to receive a new handkerchief every time she saw Izuna, and the realization made the corners of her mouth lift involuntarily.