I know I said it was over... Turns out I'm a liar.

Enjoy.

✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕

"Perhaps some are destined for tragedy. Unable to outrun their fate, no matter the lifetime. How many lifetimes does it take to get it right? How many chances does one receive? However many, I'm pleased that I've gotten to love you in each of them. It could only ever be you..." she whispered gently, smiling through her tears before repeating, "It could only ever be you."

✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕

Indra saw a form laying near the banks of the stream, arms stretched behind their head and legs sprawled out. He walked closer and noticed it was a woman, her eyes were closed and her long black hair was splayed out around her. He stood over her and said, "What are you doing here?"

She opened her lids, revealing a beautiful pair of pale colorless eyes. Indra had never seen a human with eyes like these, only his uncle. Immediately, he was intrigued by her. She sat up and said, "Oh... I was just enjoying the sunshine. You wanna join me?"

Indra cocked his head at her friendliness, but sat beside her anyway. They watched the water pass through the stream quietly for a few moments before he asked her name.

"I'm Sumire!" she responded with a kind smile. "And you are?"

"Indra Otsutsuki."

Years passed since their first meeting, and the two became close friends. Indra harbored feelings for her that he didn't quite understand. She was so kind, so benevolent, so lovely. She was everything he longed to be, and for that, he cared for her very deeply. Yet, he was deathly afraid to tell her.

Indra kept these feelings to himself until he was certain he could no longer hold it in. As they walked through the streets of the village, Indra leaned close to her and asked if she would like to go watch the stars from the stream where they first met. She enthusiastically said yes and the two set off for the special place outside of town.

"The night sky is so beautiful," Sumire whispered.

Indra noticed the moon reflecting off of her pale eyes and in that moment, he knew he was in love. His heart began to pound harder, threatening to escape his chest if he didn't tell her how he felt. He chewed on his bottom lip for a few moments before Sumire noticed his predicament.

"Indra? Is everything okay?"

He nodded sheepishly before saying, "It's just... I– I love you, Sumire."

"You... What?" she asked, her eyes wide.

He raked his hands through his hair and scrambled, "Even if you don't reciprocate my feelings, it doesn't matter. I'll continue to care for you. You're so special to me."

"Well," she whispered, "what if I do?"

Indra swallowed the knot in his throat and hoarsely asked, "Do you?"

Sumire chuckled, raising her hand to Indra's face. She stroked his cheek with her thumb and revealed, "I love you as well, Indra. From the moment we first met... You captured my interest."

Indra's face was ghostly pale as he listened to her words. He searched for her hand and held it tightly in his before saying, "I don't know what to do now..."

"Kiss me, you idiot," Sumire responded, laughing.

After that, the two spent much of their time together, getting to know one another deeper and falling in love with every day that passed.

On a calm summer day, Indra invited Sumire to his home to meet his father and uncle. Whenever she entered the room, Indra noticed that his uncle Hamura's eyes locked onto his lover. He felt uneasy with her under the man's gaze, but she seemed not to mind as she sat beside him sipping her tea.

"I couldn't help but notice that you share the same eyes as me. That's very peculiar," Hamura spoke up after a moment.

"Thank you, sir..." She then cocked her head and said, "Is it peculiar?"

"Yes, very much so. You must have a special gift."

Sumire felt suddenly uneasy under Hamura's gaze, but her fears were eased as Indra took her hand in his and clutched her hand. His thumb ran small circles over her skin, calming her immediately.

The rest of the visit went uneventfully, and as Indra and Sumire took their leave, Sumire whispered to him, "What was that about?"

Indra shrugged, "I don't know. My uncle is a strange man. He willingly lives on the moon."

"The moon?"

"Hmm," Indra replied, "he watches over mankind from there, while my father watches over mankind from earth."

"Oh," Sumire responded with a breath. "They have noble positions. Caring for the world is a heavy burden."

Indra slung an arm around her shoulder as they walked and said, "One day that position will be mine. Will you still love me then?"

She chuckles, leaning her head into his side, "I will love you always, Indra. No matter what."

The days passed slowly, and for that Indra was thankful. He could spend forever with this woman, and it would certainly not be long enough. His heart felt safe with her. Whenever she smiled, it seemed that the entire world brightened if only for a moment.

As they lay in the grass together one night, the stars shining bright overhead, Indra broke their longstanding silence and whispered, "Promise me something."

"Anything," the girl replied, her eyes never leaving the glittering sky.

"Never stop being you, Sumire. Always be you. Even in your next life, be the same girl all over again."

"Surely I should grow in my next life."

"Impossible," Indra responded with a laugh. "There's no reason to improve upon perfection."

"Indra, you have too high an opinion of me," she laughs, before blindly reaching for his hand.

During this same night, as the lovers spent their time carelessly enjoying one another's presence, trouble was stirring elsewhere.

Hamura sat across from Hagoromo and folded his hands neatly, setting his face firm and speaking in a calm voice, "I have a proposition for you, brother."

"Concerning?"

"That girl who shares my eyes," Hamura began slowly. He tapped his fingers on the table as he thought, unsure of how to explain this so his brother would agree. He continued, "My clan is a small, but proud group, and we wish to expand our powers to a new clan, a people who will be bred on the moon but will return to earth one day. After much thought, I believe that this girl, Sumire, will be the perfect candidate to nurture this new clan."

"Why Sumire?"

"Her eyes have the ability to inherit the powers of the Otsutsuki. I'm sure that was one of the first things you noticed about her, no? It requires a special set of eyes to control these gifts, and her possession of eyes such as ours will ensure the purity of the bloodline. Not just anyone can inherit this gift I call the Byakugan."

"How do you intend on going about presenting this to my son? You surely know that he loves her very much," Hagoromo asked.

"Ahh yes, Indra... I have given this thought as well. I propose an ultimatum to you, brother. If Indra should win the battle with Ashura, then I will forgo my plans. However, if Ashura bests Indra in their fight and inherits your will, then Sumire will be given to me and taken back to the moon, where she will marry one of my sons and establish a new clan... The Hyuga clan."

Hagoromo hesitated; however, Hamura was persuasive. He swayed him by saying Sumire was impertinent to the survival of the people on the moon and promised that one day he would send the Hyuga clan back to earth in order to protect the people down there. With a sigh, Hagoromo agreed. The deal was made and Sumire's fate rested in Indra's hands, yet neither of them knew.

The time leading up to the fated battle between brothers passed far too quickly for Indra's liking. The night before the fight was to take place, he heard a knock at his door. He answered, surprised to see his uncle on the other side.

"Indra, may I come in?" Hamura asked with a pleasant smile.

"Of course," the man replied, confused at the visit.

The elder Otsutsuki stood in the middle of the room, surveying his surroundings before saying, "I'm sure you're wondering why I'm here."

Indra nodded, and allowed Hamura to continue, "Your father and I reached an agreement. Should you lose the battle to Ashura, then Sumire will join my clan on the moon."

"What?" Indra's stomach twisted in knots. How could his father agree to such a deal? He snapped viciously, "I don't think that was something for you and my father to decide. Sumire is her own person."

Hamura simply laughed and responded, "Nothing is set in stone. Her fate is simply up to you, my dear nephew."

Indra's anger boiled over and he activated his Sharingan, but before he could even make a move, Hamura sent a devastating blow to the young man with the simple flick of his hand. Indra flew back into the wall, hitting his head hard. He felt blood drip down from his temple and felt dizzy as he slowly succumbed to darkness.

Whenever he woke, Hamura was gone. Indra groaned, his body sore from the impact of Hamura's intense power. His first thought was of Sumire. He had to find her and tell her of this sinister plan. It would be a cold day in hell before he allowed her to be taken away from him. It wasn't that he intended on losing to his younger brother, but the mere thought of his failure costing Sumire her happiness was too much to bear.

He stumbled to her residence, not bothering to knock as he pushed open the doors. He shouted her name and began searching each room. He found her in the backyard, watching the sky from the porch.

"Indra?" she asked as she saw him, worry immediately clouding her face. "Is everything okay?"

He grabbed her by the shoulders and told her in a grave voice, "You have to get away from here, Sumire. Now."

"Why?" Her eyes were wide with confusion. She had never seen her typically stoic lover so disheveled before. What the fuck was going on?

Indra said nothing, instead, he broke down into tears and swallowed her in his embrace. She was stunned, unable to move as she saw him lose control. She struggled away from him and held his face in her hands as she asked what was going on.

"My uncle and my father... They... They've plotted against us, Sumire. You have to run. Please. For me."

"Plotted against us?" she cocked her head.

Indra then explained the entire story to her, his anger taking over again as he did so. The gravity of the situation settled on the young woman and she nodded, understanding what she must do.

"But I don't want to leave you, Indra..." she whispered, her voice shaking.

He kissed her hard, as if it was the last time he would ever have the pleasure of doing so. Hell, for all he knew it might be. Ashura was very strong, after all.

With a final embrace, he promised her, "I will find you again, Sumire. I swear to you. No matter what happens from here on out, I will always love you." He paused and wiped the tears from her eyes with his thumb before commanding her, "Now go, run as far as you can."

And she did. He watched as she disappeared into the night, taking his heart with her.

The next morning, Indra stood in front of his brother, pure malice spread across his features. He had to win, not only to inherit Hagoromo's will, but to save the love of his life from a cruel fate.

The battle raged long and hard, but in the end, Ashura was victorious. Indra felt utter despair as he watched Hamura appear from thin air.

"You fought valiantly," the man said, standing over the battered loser. "I applaud you for scheming to send Sumire away. You must truly love her. However, that does not matter. Her fate was sealed the moment you lost to Ashura."

With the last of his remaining strength, Indra screamed out, "Stop! You can't have her!"

However, before he even finished speaking, Hamura had vanished.

The Otsutsuki man teleported to the location Sumire was hiding, and as he appeared before her, he noticed her immense fear. He knelt in front of her and spoke, "You will be coming with me now, Sumire."

"No!" she screamed, and tried to scramble to her feet.

Hamura stunned her chakra with a single blow before using his teleportation technique to transport his new property to the moon.

Whenever Sumire woke, she felt groggy. She looked around the dark room and noticed a white skinned girl with pale eyes like hers standing at the foot of her bed. The girl spoke in a gentle voice, "Hello, Sumire. I'm glad you're awake. Master Hamura will be pleased."

"Where am I?"

"The Otsutsuki clan's village."

Sumire looked out the window and saw no blue sky, but instead pure darkness. She felt her heart beginning to grow tight in her chest. Her eyes grew wide as realization set in.

She was on the moon.

Tears flooded her eyes and her breathing became erratic, panic set in and she began screaming over and over again that she needed to see Indra, that she simply must see Indra. She begged the woman to tell her where he was, if he was okay. Her thoughts ran rampant as she sobbed.

The woman maintained her composure and sat beside Sumire before saying, "Please, calm down madam. Speaking of this Indra will upset your future husband I'm sure."

Sumire quickly snapped, "No! I'm not marrying anyone that isn't Indra. I refuse!"

There was then a knock at the door. It slowly opened and Hamura entered. He spoke, "Glad to see you're awake."

A second man entered behind him, his skin unnaturally white with pale eyes just as Sumire's. Hamura introduced the man and informed her that they would be married within the week. Upon hearing this news, Sumire began to hyperventilate, sobs racking her body until she passed out.

The week passed and the two were married. She was condemned to her fate, as there was no escaping the situation she was in. Sumire felt numb as she stood on the surface of the moon, looking down to the blue and green marble that was earth.

As she watched the planet, tears began to slowly slip down her cheeks. Her fists clenched and instead of feeling sorry for her predicament, she became resolved to reunite with her lover, no matter what she must do.

I promise I will find you again, Indra. If not in this lifetime, then the next. If not in that one, then the one after. A million lifetimes and I would love you in every single one. It could only ever be you.

✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕

Sen and Madara sat beside one another on the edge of Hokage Mountain as they regularly did, watching the stars. The two had been quiet, simply listening to the crickets chirp and the wind rustle the trees. However, Sen looked over to Madara and asked quietly, "Do you believe in fate?"

"Not until I met you."

Sen smiled and rolled her eyes, "You're so corny."

The Uchiha man's eyes crinkled as he smiled and kissed her cheek. He then spoke in a gentle voice like velvet, "If not fate, then what brought us together, Sen?"

Her name from his mouth sounded like a prayer and a poem. Beautiful. Meaningful. Perfect.

"You think our meeting was inevitable?" she asked, her pale eyes locking with his.

"I know it was," he responded matter-of-factly. To which she asked the question why. He continued in his serious voice, "I love you more than a man could love someone in only one lifetime."

A blush crept up on Sen's face. Curse him for being so charming. She dropped her eyes to the ground and whispered, "You think we get the pleasure of loving one another in every lifetime?"

"I think," he paused, kissing her on the forehead, "that if I were to love someone, no matter the lifetime, it would have to be you, Sen."

"In any lifetime, Madara, it could only ever be you."

✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕

The air was quiet, the night was cold, and as the four shinobi stood across from one another, Madara's killing intent was seeping from his pores. Tobirama looked from Madara to Hashirama to Mizura and then back to the Uchiha. Something felt off about Madara's chakra, Tobirama had never sensed such an angry and malevolent presence in his life. The weight of his chakra was almost enough to crush the air in Tobirama's lungs.

Hashirama broke the silence and called out, "Madara! It's not too late to stop this!"

In a callous voice, Madara replied, "Fuck you, Hashirama. If you would have never given them your blessing we wouldn't be in this situation. You chose your allegiance."

"It was my job, Madara. It was never anything personal," the Hokage replied in a pained voice. He prayed his old friend would listen to reason, that he wasn't too far gone. However, just as Tobirama, Hashirama could feel the maliciousness of Madara's chakra as well. The man was completely enraged.

A cold, humorless laugh came from Madara's lips and he growled, "It became personal whenever that bastard Hyuga stole her from me! Sen's fucking dead becasue of him and you have the gall to tell me it was nothing personal? Go to hell."

Then, from the quiet of the night, a small laugh resounded across the battlefield. Madara's blood ran cold as he saw Mizura's smug smirk. How dare he laugh?

In an instant, Madara teleported and was holding a kunai at Mizura's throat. He asked in a breathy voice, "Is something funny, bastard?"

The scarred Hyuga gulped, feeling the cold metal on the skin of his neck before saying, "Only that you think Sen was worth all of this... trouble."

Madara dug the blade closer to Mizura's throat, breaking the sensitive skin and drawing blood. The Hyuga shinobi's eyes were wide as he felt the blade digging deeper. In a menacing whisper, Madara spoke, "I promised Sen I would never kill you, but I never promised her I wouldn't make you suffer."

His Sharingan flashed to life and he instantly caught the Hyuga clan head in his genjutsu. In a split second, Mizura's face showed pure terror. Hashirama made a move to stop Madara, however, Tobirama grabbed his older brother's arm and said, "No... This is justice. For her, if nothing else." The brothers silently watched, only imagining the horrors that Madara was subjecting Mizura to.

In Madara's genjutsu, he stood before Mizura, who was experiencing the flames of hell licking at his body, melting the skin from his bones as he cried out for relief. Madara stood with his arms crossed, listening as the clan head begged the Uchiha to end this already.

A sick smile played on Madara's face and he slowly stepped closer to Mizura and unsheathed a katana. He ran the metal along Mizura's shoulder before saying, "I'd like to welcome you to my innate world, Mizura. There is no relief for you here, only suffering. Time exists as I will it. A year, a hundred years, a thousand years... All of it passes as mere seconds outside of this realm, but as for you..." Madara paused and laughed wickedly, "You'll feel the total gravity of every second of every day, until I decide it's time to stop."