The old family tree Izuna FF

Chapter 24

"There she is." a voice was heard in the alley of the Uchiha quarter that had been set up for them. "Who do you think she'll choose?" another voice asked.

"Me of course, after all, she's one of the most beautiful women here." replied another.

Madara, who had been nearby, rolled his eyes. It was typical again that his men had been looking after the women. Admittedly, there were some really beautiful women in his clan. None that he would choose, though.

"Fancy doing something with us?" came the question from a man, to which there was no reply. This was a moment that made Madara wonder. So far, every woman had responded to an invitation, which was why he was surprised not to hear anything.

Quietly, the chief jumped onto the roof of the nearby alley. His dark eyes looked down onto the street, which was lit by lanterns.

And there he saw the reason for no answer. The person addressed was none other than Suzume Uchiha, who had been on her way home. But this time she looked very different from usual.

Her posture showed her tiredness, her sadness, which had increased over the months. Madara knew what had triggered it. Sleepless nights, nightmares that the Uchiha had had for weeks. They were getting worse day by day and not even Hashirama had found out what had caused them.

But Madara knew exactly where Suzume had come from. She was at Izuna's grave, as she had been many times before. The place he himself had hardly ever been to. He only knew that Suzume had always withdrawn there and talked to him.

"Come on, you haven't given a man the time of day." Madara heard a voice, which made him angry. As if of his own accord, he jumped down into the alley and put an arm around Suzume to pull her close. Bright red eyes stared into the faces of the men who had backed away.

"Madara-sama!" breathed the men, who bowed and kept their distance. "If anyone else ever dares to get close to Suzume Uchiha, they'll have to deal with me!" he hissed angrily and could feel the woman's chakra inside him at that moment.

Pure loneliness and sadness spread through Suzume as she thought of Izuna. In that moment when the men had disappeared, Madara realized how much Suzume suffered from Izuna's death. It was much worse than the deaths of her whole family.

Her heart was heavy, her body like a shell that could no longer be filled with love. A feeling that Madara had known too well and had simply pulled the Uchiha tightly to his chest.

"Madara...", Suzume finally cried when her body felt a protective body. A cry that almost brought the head himself to a standstill. A sign for him that Suzume Uchiha really loved his little brother more than anything.