Knight in Scarlet Armor (Madara Uchiha/Izuna Uchiha)

Izu? Aka-chan? Mada-chan?

Chapter 9

"Yosh," Izuna chimed, turning to face Akane with his hands on his hips. He had led her to the same training area.

"What if I'm in no mood to train? To get dirty?" she said with a look.

"You're covered in blood and God knows what else, and you're afraid of a little dirt?" He kicked the ground playfully.

"Not afraid, just...not in the mood to get dirtier."
"That's the worst excuse. I think you're just scared."

"Scared? Of what -"

"Me," he grinned. She fell silent. "So you are."

"More so of looking like a fool in front of you. I know basics, but how much do you expect to teach me?" She shrugged.

"You're smart. You pick things up quickly. You have potential, but you have to stop being so pessimistic, Akane," he pouted.

"It's kind of hard when no one wants me around," she sighed.

"Still moping about that? I already told you, the only thing that matters is that I like you," he chuckled. "And Madara, but who cares 'bout him, right?"

"I guess -"

"Ja, shall we start?" he cut her off, aiming a kunai at her with an extension of his arm.

"If you insist." She couldn't help but smile.

"Smiling at the enemy will get you killed. Catch." He tossed her the weapon. She lunged forward, putting two fingers through the open hole of the handle.

"Nice," he smirked. "We'll continue the basics until you've mastered them. You needn't worry about actual nin-jutsu, not yet, so long as you can dodge, predict movement, and counter attack with hand to hand combat. If you ever are exposed to battle you'll most likely be with Madara. I doubt he'd let anything happen to you. I'm not saying you should depend solely on him, but he's got your back is what I'm getting at."

"Mmm." She nodded. "Do you have my back, Izu?" she giggled. An arm fell to his side as he stared at her.

"Ooh?" he raised an eyebrow. "Izu? I don't think I've heard that before. Is that my new name?"

"Unless you don't like it," she shrugged. He watched her closely, spotting the light in her eyes, the joy in her voice. Of course Madara had told his brother everything about his meeting with Akane; how they met and where, the home she lived in and her parents, her monster of a father. So Izuna knew she had suffered. He knew she had trouble trusting and was never too comfortable around others. He knew that all this young woman wanted was to be happy and live a life doing what she loved most; helping others with her abilities. It hadn't been much time since she arrived at the compound, but seeing her smile and knowing he was the one making her laugh like a child warmed his heart; that he could be there for this girl who had absolutely nothing but wanted so badly to prove herself and earn a place amongst the Uchiha. Izuna smiled.

"Well, if you're going to have a nickname for me... I should have one for you no? Aka-chan?" Akane flushed at the nickname, her father had called her that all the time whenever he was in one of his 'moods' but hearing it come from Izuna's mouth... it sounded nice, in fact before now she hated the nickname but now she knew that if Izuna was the only one calling her that she'd be okay with it.

"If you have a problem with it, I can always drop it -"

"No. Don't. It's sweet," she said softly.

"Good, because I really didn't want to drop it."

"As long as you are the only one calling me by it, Izuna," she smiled warmly. He parted his lips to speak, but nothing came out. For the first time in probably all his life, Uchiha Izuna stood there speechless, a shade of pink washing over his cheeks.