There wasn't much variation between battlefields; in truth, the only differences between one to the other was the amount of damage dealt, those left behind, or those that survived. In this instance, the Hagoromo group that had set up camp just resulted in zero survivors, and an overwhelming amount of damage dealt to such a small band of shinobi.

Honestly, ten to one, these lot were definitely outmatched and they were sure as anything weaker than the force that sought them out to fight. Of course, it was no secret really over who they would possibly be fighting against. The Senju did not favour the Hagoromo in the slightest, and likewise it went the same for the Senju where the Hagoromo were standing; that could or could not be linked to the ties that the latter clan had with the Uchiha.

Of course, seeing those they deemed as allies, comrades in arms even, strewn about this small, remarkably meagre patch of woodland where it would be an incredibly cramped space to fight in, had some disdainfully kicking at the ground, exchanging angry but whispered words amongst themselves, or just checking to see that in fact everyone had perished.

Those that already had the sharingan didn't need to have exceptional ocular prowess to see a damn ambush when they came across one. It was literally as plain as day to what happened here, and even as Madara gently pulled his brother away from a child who looked somewhat familiar, he couldn't help but frown. That was the thing, even comrades became loose friends and even if Madara couldn't remember this boy's name, as he laid motionless below himself and his brother, he remembered fairly well exchanging words with him; he also could've sworn he saw Izuna train with him once...but then again, every lost friend and ally unfortunately ended up slowly merging into this amalgamation. Names were forgotten, and faces were misplaced or not remembered fully or correctly, what he thought was one person, could be someone else entirely; but that still didn't help the fact that Madara recognised the person his brother was checking on purely for the fact that he saw him not that long ago, the other week even, if he stretched his mind and memories to really recall.

It did strike a chord, mainly for the fact that the boy was about Izuna's age. Izuna, as brave as he tried to be, and he was very good at putting on a brave face, even Madara could see he was somewhat troubled by this discovery. Maybe Izuna thought one day he'd see this kid again, and they'd be friends or something? He didn't know, this wasn't an isolated case, of course it hurt to lose people, it wasn't exactly something anyone could become desensitised to, and the adults for sure were anything but desensitised to losing comrades.

Madara could hear the speculations over what had happened, how this happened and the likeliness that maybe, just maybe, someone did manage to branch off and was hiding elsewhere in the woodland. This had him setting his dark eyes on the surroundings, he resisted stating that if anyone from this camp was found a little further afield, they'd probably be dead. Like anyone ambushing wouldn't chase after escapees. No survivors, that was the whole point of this.

And there truly wasn't. From the child Izuna had checked on, to adults that were around Madara and Izuna's fathers age, no one survived. In truth, Madara hadn't even heard word that this small camp was here, not that he was clued in with everything that happened in war meetings, but by the looks on some of the Uchiha faces, even they didn't know. Only a select few did. Which meant these lot were here for a reason, or something else entirely was going on.

Regardless, as blunt as it was, they were all dead; ambushed by a clan that despises them, for a reason Madara didn't know, other than because they could kill them, the Senju did. But it was definitely clear the Senju had taken these lot by surprise, a campfire was still slightly smouldering, and there were people laying around it that had been cut down before they could defend themselves. No one seemed to be sleeping, or else that would be a whole new level or cowardice where the Senju were concerned; it was one thing to attack and kill when having the upper hand, but to kill while someone is so defenceless because they were asleep, Madara didn't know anyone from his clan that had stooped to that level, and he never intended to, it wasn't a fair fight, nor was it a rousing victory killing someone where they slept.

Tajima easily spotted his sons slowly making their way over to where he stood with a few others. Osamu was the first turn, nearing middle aged it could be said that he was perhaps one of the oldest amongst the clan. He had seen his fair share of fighting, and that was putting it lightly. His greying hair as usual seemed to be tied up roughly, strands falling slightly into his face as his red eyes still looked warily around, half expecting to be ambushed like their comrades here.

Though those same red eyes did eventually land on the two children, Izuna wasn't too confident around Osamu, the elder man always seemingly saying that he relied on Madara a little too much which always irritated Izuna, not as much as it irritated his older brother. Izuna was more than capable of looking after himself, so what if Madara had appeared a few times to watch his brother's back, and protect it, that's literally what family does. Not that Osamu had much family left, a daughter and a granddaughter roughly Madara's age, but even to them he seemed as closed off as he did with Tajima's children. Not that that was too surprising considering all he must've seen in his life. Knowing only fighting and war, it wouldn't make someone the warmest of people.

"They clearly had scoped out the area, saw this group and whoever the scout was, they returned back to bring in a bigger party to wipe them out." Osamu's tone was hard, it matched his general disposition, but he also sounded weary, this was one of many ambush sites he had undoubtedly seen. The weariness and exhaustion seemed to mirror the lines on his face, it made him appear much older than he was.

It wasn't like Osamu's speculation was wrong, that was evidently what had happened. Most Hagoromo here didn't have a weapon in hand, or they were nearby their bodies and hands. Taken by surprise and barely equipped to fight...it was a blind attack. Tajima nodded slowly; his own red eyes were watching the surrounding people who were looking at the perimeter of this clearing. "They didn't see it coming, because if they did, I'm sure there'd be some Senju amongst the dead." There were none, whether some got injured, Tajima didn't have a clue. He hoped there was, to be honest. A few that had been dealt injuries that may turn bad or fatal meant a few less Senju to face on the next battlefield.

Osamu let out a humourless laugh that had Tajima and his sons looking his way with sceptical expressions. The older man wasn't known for his humour, he was known for how stern he was and how ruthless he was when in the heat of battle. Laughing and him was scarier than seeing him fight, by a long shot, regardless of his laugh lacking in any sentiment of joy, or humour. "Didn't know those Senju had it in them! Never took them for the type to do something like this. These lot must've really riled them up somehow, because I've seen overkill a lot in my time, and this here is excessive." Osamu placed his hands on his hips and looked down to nudge a nearby corpse with the tip of his shoe.

The overkill wasn't to say there were limbs here, there and everywhere...but there were a few bodies missing limbs, or with such deep cut marks it's a wonder no one was literally sliced in two. Izuna took to looking around again, clearly something Osamu said had caused him to do this. Madara couldn't help but think it was to remember what Osamu classed as overkill, to retain that in his memory somewhere.

It wasn't a memory Madara wanted his little brother to have, but there it was anyway. "There is nothing that can be done about this now, no one has survived, and I think the longer we stay here, the more chance it is that the Senju will return knowing full well we'd come and investigate." Madara said diplomatically for someone his age, he didn't even know this camp was here, and he would ask his father later how he knew, if he knew. Be fair, Madara didn't know if Tajima would be honest with him, not that his father had a habit of keeping him in the dark about things.

"Not that the alliance we have with the Hagoromo runs too deep, but I do have to agree. Only because no Senju scouts have stayed hidden, doesn't mean some won't appear." Tajima scratched the back of his head, his gloved hand ruffling slightly at the shaved part with a sigh. "We didn't bring enough of a force to fight off the amount that did this to everyone here."

"Strategically it's an awful place for a fight." Madara felt closed in here, the clearing was cramped feeling, not for any other reason than the trees just seemed to encroach on the space like they were trying to reclaim it. There were no sounds of birds, of any woodland life either which made it eerier; but that was often the way, death usually drove most tender-hearted animals away, the only animals that would come lurking were those that feasted and thrived on death.

"But it's a brilliant place for a massacre." Osamu quickly pointed out while slowly turning on his heels.

Tajima found himself frowning, he loved a good fight like the rest of them, but the older man was a little too into fighting. His wife was killed by the Senju, so Tajima got it; he probably envisioned each one as the one that killed his wife, but the lack of toning down that need to go and find a Senju to clearly kill was sometimes overbearing. "We leave, we regroup, we send word. There is no point us moving out, when we don't know where it is we're even meant to be going. Whoever did this, they are long gone. No one has spotted tracks, so they made it a mission to hide themselves rather well." Tajima couldn't think of any other reason as to why they should linger here amongst the dead. Putting a hand on each of his son's shoulders, he commenced turning away with them, knowing full well it wasn't the answer Osamu wanted but Tajima was also choosing to ignore the hard look which was on Osamu's face.

Junichi and Junpei were standing near the perimeter looking for any signs of tracks. No footprints, no blood, nothing, it was literally like the attackers swooped in and went again. The pair were cousins, but their relationship was definitely more verging on brotherly. Junpei's family were practically wiped out in a fight, Junichi's family took him in being the nearest relatives to him, but even now it was them two left of their whole family.

Junichi's long hair that was tied up flipped behind him as he turned hearing Tajima drawing close. Leaning to the side and clocking sight of Osamu's face, the young man felt his shoulders sagging slightly while he sighed. "That old man is so scary, he's got some issues. Let me guess, he wanted to stay to keep watch? He's already come to us trying to persuade us to stay and stake out in case anyone returns."

Junpei stretched his arms above his head, clasping his hands together behind his head, he rocked on his heels slightly and looked up at the canopy above them. He had deactivated his sharingan a little while ago, so his dark eyes just stared at the greenery with something akin to mild boredom. He thought venturing here was pointless, he could've told everyone there'd be no survivors, and it'd be pointless trying to find answers to questions.

Junichi hit him on the shoulder with a tilt of his head, Junpei sighed and shrugged slowly. "We could presume that this encounter was a chance thing. The Hagoromo was found by accident and were outmatched." Junpei offered while his cousin raised an eyebrow, he doubted that was what was going through his younger relative's head, but he was just leaving it at that.

Tajima looked back at Osamu; the older man had ventured off to talk to others. Shaking his head, Tajima looked back at the cousins, he had been tasked with this mission, to come to the camp and to see what had happened, they had done that, now they had to return back and give the report. Junpei's suggestion could be right, so could the ambush, the latter was more likely, the scene was too clean for it to be a surprised attack of chance. To hide footsteps...that was dedication to hiding.

"Regardless, we're leaving. Round everyone up, even Osamu and if he wishes to stay, make it known he is staying by himself. We're not risking our lives for his ongoing need for revenge." Tajima had to be quite blunt on that matter, he understood the need for revenge, but not if it wound up having those around killed too.

"That's low..."

"We really would rather just leave him." Junpei continued on from where Junichi trailed off.

Tajima smirked, "Yeah, I get the feeling your feelings aren't yours alone. But we can't. If we return without him, I'm sure Moriko will ask where her father is. Let alone little Tomoko, she'll want to know where her grandfather is." Even if Osamu was difficult, he was still a part of their clan, and they wouldn't leave anyone behind.

With a quick look, the cousins shrugged and relented and moved off. Tajima watched them go and shook his head noticing they were leaving Osamu until the end. Leading his sons away, Tajima was well aware to Izuna staring up at him and Madara frowning deeply at the path ahead. They could be so similar sometimes, but also so different. Madara was perhaps the more pragmatic of the two, Izuna still had a little naivety to him which just made Madara even more protective of him.

"Go on then," Tajima just came out with it, he stared down at Madara. He slid his dark eyes up to his father's; Tajima just had this expression on his face that had Madara sighing. He couldn't kid him, Madara could try, but he'd fail. Tajima could tell when his son was lost in thought over something, his face was a dead set giveaway with how serious his expression was. Tajima also valued Madara's opinions, most didn't take much of what the younger clan members had to say seriously, but Tajima genuinely found Madara's thoughts and opinions intriguing; he had a way of looking at things, and of thinking that was different to the adults around him. He was wise, and smart.

Inhaling slowly, Madara put a hand to Izuna's shoulder and pushed him down when he seemed to want to spring to walk in front of him, but backwards with a curious expression on his face which soon turned to a pout when he was nudged aside. They may have been out of danger, but Madara still wasn't sure. "Actions like that are caused by anger." He found himself shaking his head slowly and looked back at Izuna, he tilted his head confused by Madara's distant look before he cast his gaze back to Tajima.

He seemed to follow his older son's thought process. After all, Tajima had taken his rage out on those that had killed his sons, likewise Madara was definitely guilty of doing the same. Nothing hurt more than watching his brothers get taken away from him one by one. Tajima could just about hear footsteps a little behind them, not close enough for the owners to hear them talking though. "You think it was retaliation."

"Did the Hagoromo not recently have a clash with the Senju?" Madara questioned well aware to Izuna looking from him to their father and back again. He may be left a little more in the dark about certain aspects, Madara did it in a way to try and protect him. He didn't need to know all the nitty-gritty, he just didn't.

"That they did. Which begs the question, who did the Hagoromo kill to warrant such actions?" Tajima looked forwards, "Someone high up, perhaps?"

Madara narrowed his eyes slowly at that, soon he shook his head and looked up at his father. "I feel if it was, then a lot more would've been done than just wiping out a small camp."

"Just for the sake of killing those that may have slightly bettered them last time then." Tajima concluded, watching as Madara slowly tilted his head in thought. It was the only thing he could conclude, that was for certain.

"It isn't like we don't do the same though." Madara did state, watching as his father nodded and hummed in agreement. Everyone was guilty of killing someone's ally, or friend; be it while in battle, or like this, an ambush at a camp.

Izuna gave a sigh, a rather heavy one and a little bit dramatic too which had Madara narrowing his eyes at his brother. He swung his arms by his sides, evidently incredibly bored with the conversation happening, on which he was not included. "Sorry, Izuna. What is your take on it?" Madara asked, perhaps a little more deadpanned than usual as he just knew Izuna's answer wouldn't be so well thought out, or maybe it would be, which would be a shock.

"Oh, nothing." Was the first thing his brother said, earning Madara's eyes to narrow even more at him. "Just, you know Osamu isn't with us, right?" His question had Tajima and Madara stopping and looking at those that had finally caught up to them, their pace wasn't fast so it wouldn't have taken much to get to where Tajima and his sons were. But hearing Izuna, and what he said, had Tajima scanning the faces of the small group. He wished Izuna was wrong, but he wasn't. Osamu wasn't with them.

Noticing the awkward look on Junichi's face, the male held up his hands. "That crazy old man will get himself killed, ya know? He refused to leave, and no matter how much we tried to persuade him otherwise, he was refusing to budge."

"He said he had a rough idea as to where, and I quote: 'those bastard Senju are hiding,' so he's gone off...which is fantastic." Junpei pressed his mouth into a thin line.

"He will just cause another fight to happen, one which at the moment we're not prepared for." Tajima frowned, mentally he was cursing the man. He was just going to bring the wrath of the Senju their way, and Tajima was right, they had lost a few clan members and hadn't the numbers to replenish, even more so now that the camp of Hagoromo were all dead. "Madara, carry on home, go straight there, don't divert. I'm going to get Osamu before he really does something stupid." Tajima couldn't even hide the disdain in his voice as he urged them off before looking upwards and disappearing up and into the trees, running and jumping off as fast as he could.

"Well, good luck to the old bastard, I say. I wouldn't wanna be him when your father catches up with him, that's for sure." Junpei said while reaching down to ruffle Izuna's hair, that had the younger of the brothers fussing and waving his hands around. "Come on, the sooner we get home, the better."

"Seriously?" Junichi frowned at his cousin and walked the other side of Madara, the brothers were between the pair looking up at them with curious expressions. Neither wanted to be in between a little spat, as close as Junichi and Junpei were, they could have some right falling outs and squabbles. Differences of opinions was usually the deciding factor.

Junpei held his hands up and sighed, "I just like my home comforts, don't begrudge me. Especially when we got called out to this pointless task. What was anyone expecting? Us to swoop in and save the day? As it was, we only discovered them because we were meant to meet up with them anyway and bring them back until their main force were back this way."

Junichi reached easily over the brother's heads and hit his cousin in the shoulder, Junpei let out a groan and rubbed his now sore shoulder. "Idiot." He pointed a finger at him, his thought process was definitely not the way to go when aiding comrades. Junichi looked at the younger boys between them, "This is a lesson to not learn from Junpei; if your friend is in trouble, you don't ditch because you want to return to home comforts."

The rest of the journey home was quiet, though Izuna had piped up asking Madara if he thought their father would be okay, Madara had to reassure Izuna, he was certain Tajima would be fine and get Osamu; and knock sense into him and bring him back. What he was setting out to do, was borderline suicidal.

The cousins bid farewell to the brothers when they finally returned to their compound, exchanging a look, Madara put his arm around Izuna and led him home. Their home was definitely too big for just three people, and it seemed even bigger when it was just them two. There was a small area to the side which they often used for training, and Madara wasn't at all surprised to see Izuna dart over and turn on his heels with a grin aimed at him.

Izuna didn't even need to ask, Madara dashed forwards and got a worried look for it before Izuna threw his arms up and blocked the attack that was aimed at him. He loved training with his brother, but between Madara and Izuna, there was a power vacuum, but it didn't stop Izuna from trying to catch Madara up. They stayed out there training away even as the sun started to go down, by the time it was afternoon Izuna had decided to call it quits and go inside, leaving Madara to train alone.

Even as he threw the shuriken at the target with a frown on his face, he was aware that he was being watched. Turning with a frown still present, he narrowed his eyes and threw the last shuriken in his hands at where he thought the hiding figure was. He raised an eyebrow at the girlish scream and low and behold out sprung Tomoko. "What do you want?" Madara, ever the one for tactful words just came out with just what exactly was on his mind.

Tomoko narrowed her eyes right back at the spiky haired boy a little way in front of her. She picked the shuriken up and was so tempted to throw it back at him. But it would be pointless, he'd dodge, or he'd block, Tomoko knew that. "I heard that your father has gone to try and get my grandfather back."

Madara rolled his hand casually in the air with a disinterested expression. "He had some brilliant idea that going off on his own was a good thing. If things go wrong, he will just lead the enemy right back to our doors, but he doesn't seem to have thought about that." Which was true, the thought seemingly hadn't crossed Osamu's mind. "It's fine though, my father will bring him back, don't you worry." His words could've sounded reassuring...if it wasn't for the fact that Madara sounded a little bored by this topic, he was more annoyed that Tomoko had interrupted his training. He didn't appreciate people lurking behind him.

It wasn't the first instance either, it was annoying. Izuna had joked to Madara once that he had a growing fan club, and Madara had pounced on his younger brother and scrapped with him to be quiet. Izuna didn't, he kept going, while laughing loudly. Tajima had to break them up with a heavy sigh.

"You make my grandfather sound so selfish, but he really isn't like that." Tomoko held the shuriken out to Madara when she drew near.

Madara paused retrieving it while rolling his dark eyes to the side, the target to the side was littered with bullseye hits. If it were a person, it wouldn't be standing anymore, let alone possibly alive and breathing. "I never called him selfish. I'm stating that his actions have consequences; either he brings a fight to us, or he has my father kicking sense into him. It is as simple as that." Madara half shrugged, his response sounded childish, he knew it, but he didn't entirely care because he knew what he was saying was right.

Tomoko gave him a hard look before frowning and turning in her heels with a quiet harrumph. Madara watched her go, he was going to speak up before stepping quickly to the side when she turned and threw the shuriken in her hand. He looked wide eyed at the target, yet another bullseye, his gaze slowly returned to Tomoko, her own red eyes just stared rather dully at him. "You can be so rude, Madara. So rude." Were her last words before she turned on her heels and walked off, her waist length dark hair swaying behind her as she went.

Madara had decided quickly that girls were just weird. He didn't get it; but glancing around with a sigh he decided to chance going to the river. Izuna was busy, his father was out Osamu hunting, and he was bored. It didn't take long to get to the river, a couple of minutes or so. He peeked through the foliage to see if it was safe, was he surprised to see Hashirama there? Not entirely, he seemed to happily be minding his own business at the bank while looking up at the clouds, his feet were in the clear water.

Hearing rustling had him looking forwards, Hashirama's face split into a grin seeing Madara venturing forwards, pushing low branches out of his way. Hashirama's grin disappeared though as he tilted his head and noticed that Madara seemed...off. "What's wrong?" Hashirama could sense this uneasy tension about his friend.

Madara just shook his head, "It's just been a busy day, that's all." Madara wasn't lying, he hadn't stopped all day. Thinking of, when did he last eat? As if to betray him, his stomach made a very embarrassing gurgle, he hung his head and put a hand to his stomach. Even from over the bank he was certain Hashirama heard, or else he wouldn't be almost rolling in laughter. The absolute seriousness of Madara's expression just didn't match the ridiculous noise that came from his stomach.

"If it makes you feel any better, the last day has been much the same for me." Hashirama couldn't lie as his brown eyes grew distant remembering just what he and his family had undertaken. He felt a shudder go down his spine, the action had Madara looking at him curiously. Hashirama waved a hand in the air, "Everyone has those days!" A part of him withered, it wasn't a normal everyday thing to go ambush a camp and kill the occupants...but that was life.

"Is it just you here?" Madara found himself asking while looking around, it seemed like he was sceptical whether a certain little sister would just come springing out. He didn't want anyone else randomly jumping out of a hiding place.

Hashirama smirked and pointed a finger his way as he drew near to the bank. Madara paused in mid-step and looked weirdly at Hashirama. "Now, now, if I knew my sister had made such an impression, I would have bought her too. I'd have to chaperone, and all that, you understand, Madara?" Hashirama narrowed his eyes with a mischievous glint in them as he continued smirking.

Madara all but flung his arms up in the air with a groan. "I am not interested in your sister!"

Hashirama put a hand to his chin, he nodded slowly and hummed a few times before looking a little disheartened. "Well, that's just being rude."

"You're the second person to call me that today." Madara despaired while hunching his shoulders with an unhappy face. He wasn't rude, was he? Shaking his head and stepping foot onto the water he made his way slowly over.

"Is that why you're...like that?" Hashirama asked while waggling a finger in Madara's direction. His expression looked really miserable; he couldn't lie.

Madara smacked the finger away with a wry grin. "Yeah, because your creepy face earlier was completely innocent, eh?"

"My face made you grumpy?" Hashirama asked confusedly before slapping a hand to his mouth as his eyes widened.

Madara just stared at him before lunging, Hashirama managed to roll away and dodge the angry boy. Hashirama exclaiming apologies did nothing really, even when he said the word slipped and apologised again because Saruyama had questioned him whether Madara was always a bit of a grump. Basically, any mention of that word had Madara trying to catch Hashirama up to eke out some punishment for this.

Eventually the pair just sort of gave up, Hashirama got a punch to the arm though as they sat by the river. "I know you can't go into details, but I am here to listen and help if I can, Madara. Just remember that." Hashirama said earnestly, watching as his friend looked away from the lazy moving river to him, and Hashirama had to admit it was the first time since Madara had appeared, where he looked somewhat content. Something was still clearly bugging him, but at least for now he looked like a little less tense. Hashirama clapped his hands and leaped to a stand, the action had Madara watching unenthusiastically.

"What's got you jumping about suddenly?" Madara leaned back on his hands, shut his eyes, and even let out a slight over-exaggerated yawn.

"I was going to divert our attentions to having a sparring match. But seems you're tired..." Hashirama trailed off, purposely knowing Madara would take the bait. He didn't concede defeat well, at all, and Hashirama always usually won. Leaning away from his hands and patting his knees, Hashirama just smiled seeing and knowing that the dark haired boy did as he thought.

"I can't stay for long though, but sure, you're on." Madara worried about Izuna coming out to find him, and him not being there. Likewise, he also was concerned about his father doing the same. If Tajima returned home and saw one son there and the other gone, Madara knew he'd be asked where he had disappeared off to, along with Izuna guilt tripping him that he hadn't taken him too. That's if Tajima didn't just go out looking for him, then Madara was sure Izuna would tag along.

Hashirama waved his hand, "Fine, fine! In truth I'm delaying going home, last I saw my brother was getting bugged by Saruyama to let her help make dinner. They've been fishing today, and I don't think my brother trusts her to prepare what she has caught, at least just yet." Hashirama sighed, though Saruyama and Tobirama rarely bickered, it was a bit amusing when they did, just because she was so loud, and he was so deathly silent, he didn't need to speak, his expressions usually said it all. "I've left in hopes they'll settle it themselves. Or else my father and other brother will no doubt step in, if they haven't already." Hashirama sighed and shrugged, it'll be fine, he hoped.

"Are you sure you're not avoiding going home in case Saruyama is cooking, and you may wind up poisoned?" Madara crossed his arms over his dark top and smirked. He believed he'd caught Hashirama out there, if only because of how he blanched, laughed nervously and waved a hand at him as if completely disregarding, or trying to disregard what he had said was false.