Sorry for the long wait, but I really couldn't publish anything earlier because of school, injuries, my health and other stuff.  I'll try to update more often but I can't promise anything.

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Madara's age: 15

Suzume's age: 14

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Suzume's POV.

''You awakened your Sharingan?'' I asked, surprised, not knowing how to feel about it. Of course, I was happy for him, but I also felt incredibly jealous, but I didn't want him to know that. He'd probably make some annoying remark if he knew.

Even though Madara had awakened the Sharingan, the eyes which other clans feared, he didn't seem exactly happy. After experiencing an emotional condition, there is a high possibility that an Uchiha would awaken their Sharingan.

I clenched my fists.

My mother died, some of my friends had died during the wars, and I still didn't have them. I still didn't have the Sharingan, and that frustrated me very much. I knew I didn't care very much about those who died, but unlike most of the younger Uchiha, I was desperate to awaken those eyes.

''Suzume?''

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up, seeing Madara glancing at me. ''You looked a bit weird just now,'' he said. ''Is there something wrong?''

I quickly shook my head and looked away. ''No, I'm just not feeling very well,'' I answered, still avoiding eye contact with him. Madara could easily read people, and I didn't want him to find out what I was thinking.

''Let's go back,'' Madara said. ''Enough training for today.''

I nodded slowly and followed him as we headed back to our clan.

Madara's POV.

I didn't question her.

I knew something else was bothering her, which caused her not to feel well, but I didn't ask. If she wanted to talk about it, she should come to me, and not the other way around.

''Hey, Madara?'' I heard Suzume's voice behind me. ''Where is Izuna?''

''He stayed with my father,'' I answered curtly. ''He had to help him.''

''Oh.'' Was she reply, soft, but still audible. I could tell she was feeling down, and it annoyed me a bit, to be honest, but I let her be.

We walked further in silence.

We both had nothing to talk about, which was unusual, but understandable. I noticed, that ever since I began meeting up with Hashirama, Suzume and I started to drift apart a little bit. We trained less often and also saw each other less. She must have felt a bit abandoned, but she didn't tell me anything, just like I didn't say anything to her. This was exactly how we were, and I didn't know if I was supposed to be glad or bothered by this.

I stopped once I heard the leaves rustling but didn't feel any wind. Without looking back, I grabbed Suzume's wrist and pulled her behind me. With the other hand, I grabbed a kunai and held it tightly in my hand.

This was odd.

I barely sensed any chakra besides Suzume's. I was a Sensor Type, so why didn't I sense only a small amount of chakra? I couldn't tell if this person belonged to our clan or not with only this much chakra.

I gritted my teeth and let go of Suzume's wrist. ''You also noticed, didn't you?'' I muttered, keeping my voice down to keep our presence hidden.

I heard her hum in reply.

I slowly walked into the direction of the rustling. I couldn't just attack. There was a chance this person belonged to the Uchiha clan, even though it would be weird for an Uchiha to be sneaking around here. I needed to sense more chakra in order to determine the clan this person belonged to.

Suzume stayed close to me. She knew very well that she couldn't take on an adult alone. If it was a spy, it was probably an adult.

The closer we got, the more chakra I could sense. Once we were close enough, I grunted and put the kunai away. Suzume could tell by this that the person wasn't a threat and I heard her sigh in relief.

''Come out!'' I growled.

Suzume came standing next to me and I heard her click her tongue softly once the person showed himself. ''Kazuhiro?''

I glanced at Suzume from the corners of my eyes. She looked rather surprised, but also concerned. Turning back to Kazuhiro, I saw him keeping his guard, up while that was totally not necessary in our presence.

Even though Kazuhiro was a pretty valuable ninja, he still lacked many things. For example, he was too easy to read, and thus very predictable.

Suzume stepped forward, but I took her shoulder and pulled her back, narrowing my eyes at her brother. ''What are you doing here?" I asked coldly, intimidating him.

''Training.'' He answered politely, but I noticed a glint of annoyance in his eyes.

It was a lie.

I clicked my tongue and walked past him without saying anything. It was very suspicious, but I couldn't do anything at the moment. I also didn't know what he was really doing. He could also have been doing something harmless. I thought otherwise, but I didn't have any proof.

Kazuhiro would seek support from Suzume if I were to confront him with his lie. Suzume would likely defend her brother. I was a friend, a comrade or fellow clan member, I didn't really care how she saw me, but she'd choose her brother over me.

At least, she'd do that at the moment, but I couldn't say the same for the future.

Suzume's POV.

''Since when are you training here?'' I asked Kazuhiro as we walked back to the clan.

Kazuhiro shrugged and let out a sigh. ''I just wanted a different place to train. I want to use as many different locations as possible. We don't know where we'll be fighting next after all.''

He seemed relieved, which left me with a strange feeling. He had a valid point, but I wondered if he was actually telling the truth. He was acting rather weird back there, and I could tell Madara found it also suspicious.

But Kazuhiro was my brother. We were not always on the same page, but he knew he could tell me everything of something was bothering him. So if this were a lie, he'd have a good reason to hide the truth from me, right?

I glanced at Kazuhiro.

This didn't mean anything, right?