"You should've seen his face, big brother! It was like whatever I had tried to do, it just wasn't good enough. He seemed burdened with having to come and help me out." Saruyama vented a little to Hashirama, he sympathised, of course he did. She seemed incredibly put out by the events that had unravelled in the night. But there seemed to be something else, Hashirama didn't know what, but he placed his hand on his sister's head and ruffled her two-toned hair. Saruyama just pouted and narrowed her eyes up at him.

"Perhaps it was more he faced the fact that if he didn't come when he did, you could've been lost, or hurt?" Hashirama countered, having Saruyama swatting at his arm to remove it from her head. If he knew that his sister was in such a situation, he would've gone to her. Hashirama knew Tobirama would've too, if anything he probably would've beaten Hashirama to her.

The pair were at the river, they had spent most of the day repairing what they could and burying those that were lost. Those which were injured were being looked after by those which could heal, Hashirama was rather adept in most ways and with most justus, it seemed to all come very naturally to him, but he had been kept away from the injured, the adults were seemingly dealing with them. Tobirama seemed happy to go on his way and recollect from the attack, if Hashirama knew his brother as well as he believed he did, then Tobirama would be assessing the weak points which were breached in order for the Uchiha to come in, but also take note in human error which also allowed it.

He didn't like how critical his brother could be, and he could be incredibly blunt, but Hashirama guessed Tobirama was seeking answers. Itama had actually sprained his ankle in the skirmish, so he was told to rest up, he didn't like being left alone while his siblings had all gone off to do their own things. Saruyama had spent some time with him before telling him to rest up, she went in search for Hashirama then, much like her older brother's thoughts, she could guess what Tobirama was doing, and she didn't want to disturb him.

As for her injuries, the cuts and bruises had been healed as much as possible and the cut which practically coiled up her arm had been bandaged up. That too had been healed to the point where it wasn't a gaping wound, but the rest her body would need to heal all on its own. For that reason, she had most of her left arm bandaged and wrapped up. Mentally though, her injuries were going to take a little while longer to heal. The Uchiha had come to their homes, they had never done that before, were they pushed to do it? Encouraged even? It was cowardly, and the thought of being killed in her sleep was something that scared her, in all honesty. But also, the one thing which kept going over her mind was clearly how little of a threat she was to the Uchiha male she was fighting against.

She knew she wasn't the strongest, but to not even be taken seriously as an opponent did something to her, it made her feel very mixed emotions. Hashirama tilted his head and looked at her with a gentle smile, Saruyama just sighed and flicked her eyes to the lazy moving river. She knew he'd be here; it was easy to find Hashirama if one knew where to look. Madara wasn't here, Hashirama seemed to be contending with training on his own. He was strong, very strong for someone so young, so it was usually best he trained with a wide area surrounding him. More than once he had destroyed a wall in the training grounds, he had sheepishly laughed at that and apologised.

The bruise on his cheek made it hard to keep his smile in place for long, it clearly hurt him still. Saruyama frowned, she didn't know who he fought but the thought of someone punching him had her looking suddenly angry. Hashirama was quite good at reading his sibling's moods, from Tobirama's damage control and want for answers, to Itama's loneliness of resting; Saruyama was no exception, she wanted answers for this attack, but also perhaps some retribution. The latter would be an issue, clearly it was that very thing which bought the Uchiha to their door.

"Father didn't seem too fussed when Kawarama died. So, I doubt he'd feel differently if it were me." Saruyama crossed her arms slowly, the bandage causing her to wince a little. Hashirama looked at her sadly, Saruyama just waited to see if he'd say she was wrong, she wasn't surprised when he didn't. "Often times, I have been called the mistake of the family, big brother. Father doesn't see value in me, like he does you and our brothers. If anything, his thoughts have been warranted considering he had to come aid me." Saruyama admitted while hanging her head with a heavy sigh.

Hashirama leaned down and looked at her face, "You're not a mistake."

"Not to you." Saruyama sat up straight again, if only to save Hashirama from leaning in such an awkward position.

Both looked to the side, Madara of course looked a bit startled, if only momentarily before his expression returned to its usual state of neutrality. He did not expect to venture here and see the siblings sitting cross legged opposite each other, but also the appearances of them; Hashirama with a bruised cheek and slight grazes on him, and Saruyama with her bandaged arm and similar grazes. "Am I interrupting?" He asked, he lowered his arm which was holding a branch out the way and continued on towards the bank.

The weather was still warm, though because of it and the lack of needing over robes, it just made their injuries stand out more. Madara had still decided to wear a navy coloured robe anyway and crossed his arms, both his arms disappeared into the opposite sleeves as Hashirama stood with a happy grin to see his friend, Saruyama looked disheartened as she raked a hand through her hair. Madara couldn't help but frown, well clearly something was wrong with her, didn't need to be the most observational to see that.

"Hello!" Hashirama sounded surprisingly cheerful for someone who looked like they should be in pain.

Madara raised an eyebrow and started walking over the calm water. "How can you sound so happy, with your face looking like that?" He couldn't even help but ask as he looked at him questionably. Madara rolled his eyes skyward when Hashirama tilted his head with a slow and sad sigh. He was opting to ignore his friends depressed moment there and zero in on the sad younger sibling. "What's wrong with you?" As tactful as ever, he crouched onto his haunches and just had Saruyama looking at him with a pout.

"I'm questioning myself worth."

Madara looked deadpanned then, he flitted his attention from one sibling to the other. "You guys are great company today, I see." Why did Saruyama have to inherit Hashirama's depressive moments? Madara hoped to get a straight answer from at least one of them. Of course, he was concerned why both were hurt, he knew they wouldn't divulge in much information, but an explanation would be nice. "I might cut my losses and just go home." Madara went to stand only to have Saruyama's hand latch onto his sleeve and stop him, the action had his dark eyes widening and looking at her, the motion was quick despite of how sluggish she was appearing.

"We were ambushed," Saruyama said slowly, her fingers still gripping onto the material of the dark blue top Madara was wearing. Hashirama's head popped back up as he turned and looked at the pair, he looked at his sister seriously, Saruyama looked at him blankly. She wasn't stupid, she wouldn't go into detail, but they were fine the last time Madara saw them both, of course he'd want to know what happened to them.

Madara found himself frowning, he looked her over before looking back at Hashirama. "I see," something inside Madara turned cold, Hashirama was one of the strongest people he knew, despite being a child. The thought of someone managing to take advantage and get a cheap shot in meant they faced people a lot stronger than themselves. Madara had never trained against Saruyama, he didn't know what sort of fighter she was; but it was clear she came off worse judging by her wrapped up arm.

Saruyama smiled coyly and leaned forwards a little, "This is where you ask if we're okay, Madara." She whispered to him through narrowed eyes full of humour, she was finding it a little funny how the boy froze up from the action of her holding onto his wrist. Let alone leaning a little closer to him and whispering something so obvious at him. Going out on a whim, she guessed he didn't allow many close, well, close enough to invade his personal space. It threw him off, that much was clear.

Blinking slightly wide eyes, he swallowed and nodded before reaching for her hand and removing it carefully. "You both are standing and talking, so I can see there's nothing wrong with either of you."

Saruyama sighed and shook her head gently, "Some wounds aren't physical, Madara." She sounded exhausted as she patted her knees and slowly stood up before looking upwards at the sound of birds singing. Her dark red eyes followed their twirling and tweeting as Hashirama made his way slowly over at last and Madara stayed knelt and looking up at her with an expression that was both distant and thoughtful.

"So, I take it training is not an option today?" Madara felt a little uncomfortable by Saruyama's words, so he instead stood and looked at Hashirama. "Would be a shame to cause more bruises to appear."

Hashirama found that funny, he laughed and put his hands on his hips before removing one and wagging a finger at Madara; "That is if you can even land a hit on me."

This riled the spiky dark haired boy up as he pushed Hashirama's finger out the way and pointed his own finger the brunette's way. "Don't make it sound like I've never managed to do that! I have!"

Hashirama scratched at his uninjured cheek, a wry smile appearing as he looked sidelong at Madara. The poor boy was still huffing and looking peeved, Hashirama just continued to grin. "Are you trying to impress me, or my sister with that, hm? But from what I can remember, I usually win our fights-" Hashirama's words got cut off as Madara jumped him. Hashirama did let out a sharp laugh, mainly over Madara's wide eyes and disbelieving expression over just what he had heard.

Saruyama rolled a hand in the air, "Yeah, because I'm so impressed about hearing someone beat up my big brother?" She questioned sarcastically, "Who in their right mind would be impressed by that?" She watched the boys run about, Madara trying to land a hit and Hashirama dodging out the way and continuing to egg his friend on by just the shit-eating grin on his face. Saruyama sighed, Madara seemed easy to wind up, but she felt sorry for the boy and walked on over.

Hashirama had taken refuge up a tree, grinning away still before he watched Saruyama clasp a hand on Madara's shoulder. The boy stopped glaring up into the tree and looked at her curiously. Beckoning him nearer, Saruyama tiptoed up and whispered something in Madara's ear, Hashirama narrowed his eyes sceptically, something told him he wasn't going to like this team up, especially from the smirk which appeared on Madara's face.

The last thing he expected was for Madara to shrug, he held his hands up and backed away. "If you won't come down, I'll just train with your sister."

"I'm sure I can beat Madara with one arm, big brother. It seems to me you put very little effort into beating him, so what's my chances?" Saruyama shrugged too and smiled between the pair.

Madara frowned at her, "Oi, stop making it sound like I'm easy going. One arm or not, there's no way you're beating me." He pointed his finger at her and even prodded her good shoulder as he backed away.

Saruyama turned and jogged after him, "Big brother is very strong, I'm not as strong, not by a long shot...so if anything, you'll win this match. There you go, a match you can win, and it's against an already injured girl."

Madara ran a hand down his face, inhaling sharply he turned and held his hands up. "I do win matches against your brother!"

"Which ones?!" Came the call from the tree, Hashirama was still up there crouching and looking on curiously. He had no clue what was going on, or if they had planned something or were just winging it. To be honest, he was interested to see where this went, but for the most part, he was incredibly confused.

Madara shouted something before Saruyama popped up in front of him, smile on her face and waving her hands gently in the air, as if that would dispel the tension the boy was evidently carrying and exuding. "Now, now, Madara, I believe you."

He looked confused at that, "Really?"

Saruyama smiled more and nodded, "We have not known each other long, but I sense you have not lied to me in that time. Plus, you helped me escape and hide. Someone who is deceitful wouldn't do that."

Madara's expression softened, though he did look a little guiltily at her. If only she knew he knew exactly who was chasing them. There was relief knowing Osamu couldn't try and hurt the siblings again, predominantly her, but at the same time he did feel bad for Tomoko's heartbroken loss. He didn't know what to say, and Saruyama smiled awkwardly from the fact she could see she had thrown him off kilter.

Leaning forwards, Saruyama sent him an apologetic look as he leaned back in return. He was only really used to Izuna getting close to him, this was completely different. "We've got off track. Hashirama isn't coming down that tree, not if we keep this up."

"Right." Madara nodded and clapped his hands together, he did pause though and look her over. "You sure?"

Saruyama shrugged, "Don't know if you've noticed, but I'm clearly good at taking a hit."

"But I'm not actually hitting you." Madara whispered back to her, the pair had concocted the worst plan he had ever heard, yet he'd humour Saruyama. Ultimately the sure-fire way to get her brother from the tree, to her, was to throw herself into something reckless. Training with Madara seemed like a good idea to her. Madara was less inclined to believe her, but he watched her wave a hand at him before taking up a fighting stance.

Saruyama's expression was gentle, she smiled and looked at him in a way which had Madara shifting from foot to foot, it was like she was both grateful to hear he was going to pretend, but also there was something else lurking there; it was clear from her previous words, that she had a level of trust in him which, in all honesty, Madara wasn't sure was right, and a part of knowing that hurt, and it hurt even more to pretend like it didn't. Ignorance wasn't bliss right now.

"The person who did this to me, didn't see me as a threat in the slightest, Madara. But it didn't stop them. My father had to help me, and he already believes it is better to plan how to send me off to be wed when I'm a little older, than fight. I have no value as a fighter to him. Trust me, even if you accidentally hit me, the hurt won't compare to what I already feel."

Her brutal honesty had Madara's expression falling, she was so earnest, and he could hear how much this realisation hurt. She was pained, just not physically; she was right, not all injuries were physical. "If you were in my clan, I...we would see your worth, and protect you, even aid you with these feelings." Madara said awkwardly, from the prickling sensation at his back, he could sense Hashirama was trying to crane his neck from his tree branch to hear them, to see what was truly going on. He couldn't hear them, and he could only really see his sister, Hashirama wasn't sure how to feel about her wide red eyes as she looked at Madara.

She shut her eyes and slowly nodded, a thankful smile spreading across her lips. "That is sweet, and it is a nice thought, maybe something to dream on." Opening her eyes and looking at Madara, Saruyama could tell he felt completely out of his comfort zone talking about something of this matter. "Maybe one day, Madara. Come on, poor Hashirama is almost falling out of his tree to hear us. Perhaps we should just stand here talking." She held up her hands and widened her stance a little and stared at him.

Madara shook his head, placing his hands on his hips, he slowly sighed before giving a sure nod. "Who knew Hashirama could feel left out of a conversation?" He questioned while matching her stance and looking at her seriously.

Saruyama pouted and tilted her head, "He likes a gossip, he's worse than some of the older girls I know." She chuckled and fisted her left hand the best she could, although it caused her to wince a little.

Madara found himself smirking at that, "Hashirama the gossip," he sent a look over his shoulder at the brunette before looking back to the girl in front of him. "Now isn't that something?" He found himself chuckling, well he knew one way to irk Hashirama there. Just sneakily look like he's talking about something of interest to his sister. No ulterior motive, at all.

Madara easily held his arm up and clutched onto her ankle when she sent a high kick at him. Narrowing his eyes, Madara just stared down at her, Saruyama had just dashed headfirst at him. That was a little reckless, Madara could foresee more harm coming her way if this was how she went about a fight. Yet she yanked her foot back and followed it up with an attempt to punch him. Madara was quicker, it didn't take much to block or dodge her. He was letting her have her chance, there was strength behind her attacks, but he could also tell she was holding back. So perhaps she was stronger than he first believed. She had to be to survive so long in this world of war.

"My turn," Madara swatted her arm wide and moved in quickly, he watched her eyes widen and try and lean back to avoid the hand which was coming towards her. Saruyama winced and flinched when all he did was flick her on the forehead, being too far back from trying to lean, Saruyama's arms flailed wildly in the air. She managed to grasp onto his collar and take him down with her, the pair landed in a heap on the pebbles and gravel, needless to say the plan didn't go right.

Madara pushed himself up and looked down at her as she held her left arm to herself, his dark eyes widened, and he helped her up quickly. Patches of blood could be seen seeping through the bandages, "Okay, maybe my plan was dumb." Saruyama admitted with a wince, "It'll be okay, stop looking like that, Madara. I made this happen, not you."

"You need to have someone look at this wound again. I can't help but feel responsible for that." Madara admitted, he had tried to balance his weight and not land completely on top of her, but she still wound up hurt. He held onto her wrist and turned her arm gently to look at the bandage, she had reopened the wound alright. With a sigh he looked over his shoulder, Hashirama wasn't in the tree and before Madara could register something to say, the boy was beside his sister taking her arm gently from Madara's grasp.

"Well, you got me out of the tree. But did you have to do something that would cause you to hurt yourself?" Hashirama lectured his sister, watching her frown up at him as he just sighed in return. "It was a bit amusing watching you two, I can't lie. Sadly though, another match you didn't win." Hashirama looked at Madara, earning a glare to be sent at him. Hashirama didn't class flicking his sister on the forehead before collapsing on her as a win...

Saruyama looked at Madara before flicking her head and regardless of her hurt arm, she still pounced on her brother. Even as he jolted to a stand, Hashirama had Saruyama holding on with her good arm around his neck as her legs scrambled to wrap around him. If that wasn't enough, Madara had started to chase the pair, if only resulting to skidding and tripping his friend up, it was a dirty move which had Hashirama rolling to a stop. Saruyama had leaped off of him before he hit the ground, keeping her left arm to her body, she looked at Hashirama with a soft smile.

Madara crossed his arms with a grin, Saruyama just watched her brother sit himself up with a small pout gracing his face. "You two are the worst team."

"Our planning is shoddy, I can't lie." Saruyama admitted with an agreeing nod.

"Can't say we don't have results," Madara furthered on while glancing at the shorter girl beside him, she just laughed quietly and shook her head. She pinched the bridge of her nose with her good hand and couldn't help but despair; it was a small victory, but she wasn't going to dissuade Madara, it was clear even he knew this was not only an opportunistic moment but also a ridiculous fluke.