Morning Return

An unfamiliar ceiling slowly came into focus. The Gunbai clan crest carved into the wooden beams reminded Utsusemi where she was.

A dull hangover headache washed over her in waves, and she instinctively pressed a hand to her temple. She had gotten carried away talking with Madara at Izuna's coming-of-age celebration last night.

A furisode lay crumpled beside the bedding, its fabric still heavy with the smell of alcohol.

The solid gold edge of her peony hair ornament lay on the pillow, having left several deep crimson indentations on her collarbone.

As she walked down the corridor, she sensed at least three ninja concealing their Chakra in the shadows.

The moment she slid open the paper door, the cool freshness of morning dew greeted her. Three maids with their hair in classical updos knelt beneath the eaves, holding basins of water. Yuzu slices floating on the surface swayed gently with their movements.

"Sorry for the trouble, ladies..." Before she could finish, a pale hand had already brushed past her temple.

A gardenia-scented towel wiped her eyelids, and someone untied the maru obi around her waist. Cool air brushed against her as the furisode was silently taken away.

When a cold silk cloth touched her cheek, Utsusemi instinctively drew in her neck. The maids' nimble fingers moved through her hair.

"There's no need..." The polite refusal hovered on her tongue before she swallowed it. She tipped up her face and let them have their way.

The thin calluses on the women's fingertips showed they were no ordinary maids. Refusing the Uchiha's goodwill might be more of a headache than her hangover.

After her bath, the indigo clan robes carried the warmth of sandalwood incense. Carefully stitched patterns on the lapels appeared and disappeared in the light.

Utsusemi rubbed the fabric, which bore no Gunbai crest, and smiled knowingly. That tact was just like Madara.

When the black-haired clan head appeared in the morning mist, she was tucking the last stray lock of hair behind her ear.

The flash of admiration in Madara Uchiha's eyes did not escape her. "Utsusemi, those clothes suit you."

It made her suddenly realize that when this battlefield asura smiled, faint lines appeared beneath the corners of his eyes.

Utsusemi was momentarily dazzled by the rare smile. "Madara, you should smile more. A smile suits you better."

She politely declined Madara Uchiha's invitation to breakfast. His slender fingers curled and uncurled inside his sleeve before he finally pinned a Kunai to a corridor pillar, blocking her path.

"You turned down lunch last time." A trace of hurt, barely perceptible, hid beneath the lingering vibration of the metal, like the tail of a black cat soaked by rain.

Utsusemi stopped and looked back. The anticipation and disappointment surging in his Mangekyō softened her heart. "All right, then let's eat together."

Let the Senju brothers wait a little longer at the compound. After all, I'm a woman who cherishes beauty.

Looking at Madara's brightening eyes, she asked, "Should we call Izuna?"

Madara Uchiha nodded. He and Utsusemi had drunk late into the night, but his younger brother had left early and should have plenty of energy left.

As the seal was released in a faint glimmer of light, Izuna called softly, "Brother, Sister Utsusemi..."

His nostrils flared as he caught the aroma. "Is it already morning?"

Utsusemi chuckled. "Your brother insisted I stay for breakfast. I thought you'd want to keep him company too."

Beneath his thick bandages, Izuna's lips curved into a broad smile. He accurately grasped the hand his brother offered. "Of course!"

Breakfast's surprise appeared the moment the earthenware lid was lifted. Rising steam carried the rich aroma of fat toward them.

The marbled beef from the Land of Lightning had a fine pattern of fat, and the slices on top were curling from the rice's lingering warmth.

Clearly, it was fresh stock that had been rushed here this morning.

Utsusemi's fingers trembled around her chopsticks. A preference she had casually made up last night had been taken so seriously.

"So this is why you insisted I stay?" She picked up a quivering slice of meat, amber sauce dripping from the tips of her chopsticks into her rice bowl.

The man across from her swallowed and looked away, but he could not control his spiky black hair.

The strands drifted toward her against their owner's will, looking just like the whiskers of a cat trying to come closer while forcing itself to hold back.

Although Uchiha Izuna could not see with his eyes, he could clearly sense his surroundings through the flow of Chakra.

He gave a warm smile. "Brother, you're as gentle as ever."

Snatches of conversation drifting from the council hall confirmed Utsusemi's guess.

"...Lord Madara sent a Ninja Hawk to the border before dawn..."

"...The third elder's kiln will receive a secret glaze recipe today..."

Young ninja passing along the corridor exchanged knowing smiles. Clearly, the whole clan was savoring this rare display of gentleness and consideration from their clan head.

"Did you make this yourself?" Utsusemi suddenly leaned closer, and the direct question made Madara's ears burn.

Smiling, she gazed into those beautiful eyes and saw her own shifting reflection in his pupils. "Thank you. I'm very happy."

Those words instantly sent Madara's Chakra into the chaos of a midsummer banquet. He turned his face away. "You're welcome."

Izuna could not help chuckling. "This is your first time cooking, isn't it, Brother?"

His voice carried undisguised jealousy. "Even I've never tasted your cooking."

Utsusemi twirled her chopsticks. "Want a taste? But..."

She looked pointedly at Izuna's abdomen. "You probably haven't digested last night's dinner yet?"

"Then just one little bite." Without waiting for an answer, she deftly wrapped a slice of beef around some sauce-soaked rice, forming a small rice ball.

Utsusemi leaned toward the young man with thick bandages wrapped around his eyes, pity welling in her heart. She held the food to Izuna's lips. "Come on, open wide..."

Izuna's skin instantly flushed red from the tips of his ears to his collarbone. Though his vision was blocked, a ninja's keen senses let him experience every detail clearly.

Trembling slightly, he opened his mouth and accepted the food she offered with such care.

At some point, Madara Uchiha had activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan. The Mitsudomoe spun silently, his crimson eyes fixed on the scene.

The Sharingan caught his brother's bobbing Adam's apple as he swallowed, and the silver chain slipping from Utsusemi's sleeve. Complex emotions passed over his handsome face.

Utsusemi finished every dish in small bites. Amid the crisp clink of porcelain spoon against bowl, her hangover headache and the exhaustion of working nonstop melted into a warm current.

"It was delicious. Thank you for the meal." As she set down her chopsticks, she deliberately brushed her little finger over Madara's wrist where it rested on the low table, and was rewarded with the sight of blood rising to that pale skin.

Just as Hashirama had said, Madara Uchiha could never truly hide the gentleness at his core.

Don't listen to what the Uchiha say. Look at their eyes.

Once the maids had cleared away the bowls and chopsticks, Izuna said goodbye with some reluctance. "See you tomorrow, Brother."

Even if they repeated this exchange a thousand times, Madara still showed an attachment he could scarcely conceal whenever they parted.

His gaze followed his brother's retreating figure.

Before Izuna disappeared, he touched his brother's cheek one last time.

Looking at the brothers' overlapping shadows, Utsusemi said softly, "You'll see each other again tomorrow anyway."

Utsusemi said goodbye to Madara at the edge of the clan compound, gently rubbing the calluses on his palm. "I'll come again tomorrow night. You don't have to come get me every time."

She gathered Madara's fingers in her palm. "The plans I gave you need to be put into effect as soon as possible, while the ceasefire lasts..."

Madara Uchiha tightened his fingers, cutting her off. An inexpressible determination flowed through his Sharingan. "I know. That is the Uchiha's future."

The two parted at the boundary. Madara silently watched her leave, remaining there for a long time.

The dark clothes Utsusemi wore bore no Gunbai clan crest but had the same standing-collar cut, and the hem billowed like waves as she walked.

The patrol on the outskirts of the Senju Clan Compound was struck collectively speechless at the sight.

A Kunai clattered from someone's hand, and an older ninja gripped his younger companion's shoulder tightly.

Everyone remembered that the last time someone had appeared in similar clothing, the Naka River had been dyed blood-red.

As Utsusemi rounded the final mountain path, a silver-haired young man appeared with the distinctive Chakra fluctuations of Space-Time Ninjutsu.

Traces of Water Release Chakra still lingered around Tobirama Senju. He had evidently just rushed over from the training ground.

He stared at the dark blue clothes that so closely resembled Uchiha clan robes, his knuckles cracking as he clenched them. "What are you wearing?!!"

His voice was very low, as though forced out between his teeth.

Utsusemi noticed that his right hand was already resting on a Flying Thunder God Kunai. If the clothes really had been embroidered with the Gunbai crest, she might have been pinned to a tree trunk with a Kunai the next second.

She explained helplessly, "My clothes accidentally got dirty, so I just changed into these."

The aftereffects of too much alcohol began to show as she returned to this reassuring place.

The strain from the Tenseigan assailed her again, and her consciousness began to grow hazy.

Utsusemi smelled the pine scent on him, utterly different from the incense that had lingered around last night's banquet.

The scent made her feel even sleepier, and she unconsciously edged a little closer to the source of warmth.

"How did treating him get your clothes dirty?" The question turned over in Tobirama's throat several times before he managed to ask it.

His voice was hoarse as he stared at the weary-looking Utsusemi, dressed in blue clothes of the same style as Izuna's.

Then, through the wide neckline, he suddenly saw more suspicious marks.

Several red marks lay on Utsusemi's neck and collarbone. Those red marks winding down to her collarbone were more startling than any Ninjutsu mark.

"Izuna and Madara got them dirty." Utsusemi's sleepy voice was like a stone tossed into a still lake. She did not notice Tobirama's breathing suddenly quicken.

She recalled yesterday's private banquet, Izuna's sly smile as he poured wine and urged her to drink, and his endless variety of tricks.

The gold powder suddenly scattered over her, the scraps of paper drifting down from the ceiling—she wondered if yesterday's furisode could still be saved.

When Hashirama Senju hurried over, he saw the signs of his younger brother's Chakra running wild. He instinctively used the Body Flicker Technique to step between them and soothe him.

"Tobirama, don't be like this. Utsusemi only went to treat Izuna..." His words caught in his throat before he could finish.

The usually composed Senju clan head stammered, a rare occurrence. "Th-these are..."

The red marks winding from the crossed collar of her clan robes to her collarbone stood out in every detail under the midday sun.

They looked very much like the suggestive marks of a Ninjutsu proclaiming possession.

When Utsusemi rubbed her eyes, he noticed the wrist revealed as her sleeve slipped down.

It still bore ink stains that had not been completely wiped away, the distinctive indigo of Uchiha contract documents.

She yawned sleepily, her thick lashes casting weary shadows beneath her eyes.

She pulled open her wide collar to inspect it without any hesitation. The movement made both brothers take half a step back.

Dizzy and lightheaded, Utsusemi did not notice the Senju brothers' lips instantly drain of color.

She looked at the indentations the hair ornament had left in her skin after pressing against it all night.

She explained, "There's no need to treat them. These are..."

Itama's voice rang out just then. "Sister, you're back?"

She smiled and nodded, indicating the stains on her body. "I need to bathe first."

When Utsusemi gave Itama a hint, he understood and tried to send his older brothers away.

But he found that his usually accommodating brothers were rooted to the spot like stone statues.

Utsusemi blinked in confusion and recalled the bowl of beef and rice Madara had personally cooked that morning.

It was the first time anyone had stepped into a kitchen because of a preference she had casually mentioned.

The Land of Lightning beef she had never eaten before had indeed become her favorite food.

Utsusemi could not help smiling. "Hashirama, you were right." Her fingertips unconsciously brushed her collar, and a faint blush appeared on her face. "Madara... really is gentler than I ever imagined."

The click of the wooden door closing tore through the stagnant air and jolted the dumbstruck Senju brothers awake.

Itama looked at his eldest brother's trembling lips and the veins bulging on the back of his second brother's hand. In the morning light, their faces were more dramatic than any Noh mask. Belatedly, he covered his mouth, finally realizing how serious the situation was.