On his walk back to the inn, Madara's thoughts were centered around Sen Hyuga. Her eyes, while void of color, teemed with brilliance and strength. In all of his years of fighting Hyuga with those same damn traits, he never once noted their exquisite beauty until he laid eyes upon Sen.

He wondered if she could activate the Byakugan. It was common knowledge that all Hyuga's contained the Kekkai Genkai; however, not every member of the clan was able to activate its remarkable power. Perhaps he would have the chance to ask her one day.

The light was still on in Hashirama's room, so Madara was quiet as he entered his own. The last thing he wanted was to talk to the boisterous man. Yet, he knew it was inevitable the moment he heard rapid knocking on his door.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered under his breath before bidding the knocker entry.

Hashirama swung the door open quickly and inquired, "Well?!"

Keeping his piercing black eyes on Hashirama, Madara knit his eyebrows together in confusion and annoyance. It was obvious that the Senju wanted him to divulge some earth-shattering news about his walk with Sen; however, he played coy and asked Hashirama for more context.

"You're insufferable, Madara. You know damn well what I'm talking about. Tell me about Sen! You hung on her words like an onbaa to its mother all night."

"I don't know what you mean. I was only being attentive," Madara denied.

Hashirama didn't accept this answer as truth and instead cracked his neck before sitting on the mat in front of Madara. He continued undeterred, "At least tell me what you think of her."

"Sharp-witted. Sensible. Remarkably lovely," Madara grunted the list.

Across the mat, Hashirama felt defeated by his friend's hard-nosed replies. He added passively, "Well, I guess if you aren't interested, maybe Tobirama will be. I think a wedding would be a great way to forge a durable alliance with the Hyuga."

Anger washed over Madara, yet he kept his head and hardened his jaw in response. There's no way in hell I would ever let that fucking bastard marry Sen, he thought aggressively.

Hashirama noticed the tension that quickly grew between the pair and decided to call it a night. He exited the room and left Madara silently brooding on the mat.

"Fuck you, Hashirama," Madara grumbled lightly as he locked the door and fell back onto the small bed.

Sleep never came for the Uchiha, instead, he lay awake all night with his eyes trained on the ceiling, thinking about the past. His regrets played through his head continuously as the hours crept by. He heard birds beginning to chirp outside the window and decided that if sleep wasn't an option, that he might as well see some of the village in the early morning light.

The air was crisp and the smell of dew on the grass was a welcoming scent to Madara's keen nose. He jumped effortlessly through the trees, searching for a higher elevation where he could watch the sunrise. Early mornings were peaceful and quiet, two things he wished remained permanent in his life. Sadly, that was not the way of the shinobi.

From the beginning, his life's trajectory had been imbalanced on behalf of chaos. In another life, things could be peaceful, perhaps he could even be happy. However, he didn't waste much time reminiscing about alternate realities. The reality he existed in was bitter and calculating and Madara was simply a product of that.

He sat on the highest branch of a large tree near the edge of a cliff and watched the dark sky blush into its pink and orange hues. His mind was quiet for the first time since Hashirama left. Madara was unsure how long the silence lasted, but it was eventually broken whenever he heard excited voices below him.

"Are you really going to teach me the jutsu, Sora Sensei?!" a young boy chirped in joy.

"Yes, Yuudai. I promised I would, didn't I?"

Madara recognized the older voice immediately as the unscarred Hyuga twin. Hopefully, they wouldn't notice the large man in the trees, simply trying to enjoy the sun's splendor. He continued listening to Sora patiently teach the young ninja an earth style jutsu. Madara slipped down the trees silently in order to watch the two ninjas train.

It reminded him of him and his younger brothers and how they would relentlessly practice with one another, developing jutsu, making up new taijutsu techniques, and eventually using their Sharingan on one another. How simple things seemed then, during the fleeting periods of peace between clan wars, yet there was always conflict around the corner.

Madara was deep in the past, but he heard Sora command the boy to quieten himself for a moment.

"Byakugan!"

Silence from below piqued Madara's interest. He was motionless whenever he heard Sora shout from the ground, "Who goes there? Come down now!"

In a swift motion, Madara dropped down the branches and landed elegantly a few feet in front of the little ninja and Sora.

Upon noticing that the stranger was Madara, Sora broke into a good-natured smile, which Madara noticed was similar to Sen's. Sora raised an arm in greeting as he spoke, "Madara Uchiha, surprising to see you out here. Allow me to introduce you to my student, Yuddai."

The young white-eyed boy gave a gap-toothed grin to the formidable clan leader. Madara nodded respectfully and remarked, "You're picking up the jutsu well."

"It's all thanks to Sora Sensei! He's the best shinobi ever!"

Sora laughed heartily. "Don't give me a big head, Yuudai. This man here could beat me in the blink of an eye."

Madara graciously accepted the compliment before saying, "Let us hope we never find out."

Yuudai's big eyes looked up to Madara in awe before he tugged on Sora's vest and asked quietly, "Does he have the eyes?"

Sora patted Yuudai on the head and responded, "That isn't our business, kiddo."

Madara spoke up in an even tone, "I do. I can show you if you'd like."

Yuudai jumped with glee. Madara closed his eyes and activated his Sharingan, opening them to the amazed face of the young Hyuga. Sora kept his eyes from Madara's Sharingan, maintaining his gaze at the man's neck until his eyes returned to their regular black state.

"Were you born with those like us?" Yuudai quizzed him.

"Kinda," Madara began with uncertainty. He wasn't sure the best way to explain this to someone so young. "The Sharingan is a Kekkai Genkai, but it must be awakened before an Uchiha can utilize it."

"How do you awaken it?"

Sora pulled the little boy's arm and commanded, "Yuudai, that's enough." The boy fell silent but looked up to Madara with admiration.

The Hyuga and the Uchiha shared a knowing glance before Madara bid them goodbye.

There's no easy way to obtain the Sharingan, kid.

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Fun fact: I've never been able to decide which dōjutsu I think is cooler between the Byakugan and the Sharingan.