The Uchiha clan, one of the two most formidable clans in Konohagakure no sato. It wasn't a secret to anyone that they were one of the two founder clans of the Hidden Leaf village. Neither was it a secret to anyone that it was one of it's founding father's, belonging to that very clan, that betrayed and attempted to annihilate the very place he nurtured with his own hands.
Madara Uchiha.
The name alone was enough to instill fear among the hearts of any and every shinobi worth their salt, anyone who had ever picked up a history book regarding shinobis knew that name.
That name was the very definition of power and legacy he had left behind.
The power to cave landscapes and mark a whole new valley, just to leave a mark when the man really went all out in his battle prowess.
The Valley of the End was still a reminder to all those who had ever mistaken to forget the name of the menacing legend, the devil that once roamed across the Land of Fire like the Reaper himself. Annihilating the very existence of any person he found unworthy of breathing from the very face of the earth.
But not many knew that the man had married in secret.
Yes, Madara Uchiha, the tyrant, crimson eyed demon, the very virtue of death himself. Many names had been given to the legendary shinobi but none had ever imagined him to be a man who would ever even think to have a family.
But he had.
The man who was rumored to be completely unstoppable against anyone other than the legendary Shodai Hokage Hashirama Senju. The same man wielding the Mokuton, the only one who ever went toe to toe with Madara, and lived the next day to tell his tale.
The man who tamed the Lord of the Bijuus, the Kyuubi in the palm of his hands with a mere glance of his menacing eyes.
That man had a family.
He married a simple woman, and he had a son. A child, born when the man had married a woman of his own clan, one who had managed to creep into the small cracks that were in that stone faced man's heart.
Together they got married and gave birth to a child. A child who was trained by his father, to meet the expectations of his eyes. No one knew of their existence even within the village, since Madara's fame brought with itself the hatred of his enemies too.
The child who he had named after the very brother who had succumbed to his wounds, in his very arms and had left Madara with the power to take on the world by himself.
Izuna.
The boy had lived peacefully amongst his clansmen and villagers for quite some time.
But it was only a tiger sleeping among it's prey.
Waiting for the time to break free his fangs and claws and wipe the very existence of the people who he believed were the reason for his family's destiny.
His mother, who he loved with all his heart had gone to the point of death just because the grief of losing her husband had been too much for her to handle.
That had been the night, the night when he had let the darkness that hid in the skies to overtake his very being and gift him the power to wipe out anyone in his path.
That night he had awakened the eyes that were only wielded once in history by his father.
That night he wielded the Mangekyou Sharingan.
With the new power coursing through his veins, he had started his rampage. The rampage that had destroyed the better part of a third of the village's infrastructure and countless lives were lost in his wake of total insanity.
Only one man stood a chance against him.
It was as if history was repeating itself. As if their predecessors had taken birth yet again through a reincarnation.
Tobirama Senju, the Nidaime Hokage of Konohagakure no sato had taken charge that night. He was the one who stood in front of the insane man and stopped his slaughter midway before it could continue on any further.
Surely he was no where near the levels of power his elder brother, Hashirama Senju once wielded. But after years of experience as a shinobi and as a Hokage to the village there were few who dared to challenge him to a fight.
However Izuna Uchiha wasn't any man. The fight had lasted the better part of the night before his newly awakened eyes had no more to give into the fight against the Fire Shadow who stood tall above the defeated man that lay on his feet.
There were few that Tobirama had respected in his life with all his heart. His elder brother and surprisingly Madara Uchiha was one of them.
He didn't respect him for his actions in life. No they were disgraceful in his eyes.
He respected the man for his strength and character. The man held himself like a man of his stature should. And for that he had Tobirama's respect. But above all what Tobirama respected the most was Madara's loving heart.
Yes that was what Tobirama knew to be true no matter how ridiculous it sounded to anyone else.
He had done his fair share of studying into the power that hid itself behind those crimson eyes. The power that the world once cowered before. And finally his search had led him to the truth. He had gained the answers he was looking for after years of study into the secrets lurking behind those eyes. The answer was quite simple in the end.
Hate.
That was the answer that had shown itself to him for the fruits of of his labor.
The greater the hatred in the bearer's heart, the greater the visual prowess shall be.
But Tobirama knew it to be a contradiction in itself. For, if hatred was the key to unlocking the power behind those eyes. The trauma had to have come from a trigger that led it wielder to that hatred itself.
And once again the legendary Senju had devised the answer. This time too the answer was very simple, always in front of everyone but no one bothered to question it.
Love.
Now one might say how are love and hate related? They are the polar opposites in reality, just like light and dark, Yin and Yang.
But that was where the key to his answer lay. For Light to exist, Darkness had its existence too. Yin and Yang always were in perfect harmony, for without one the other cannot exist.
The greater the love an Uchiha hid within his pure heart. The greater the hatred would be when it was crushed by the world.
As Tobirama had stood tall, his shadow looming over his defeated opponent the Uchiha had asked for one last wish.
Tobirama Senju was many things in life.
Calm, stoic, calculative, logical, deceptive, a genius. But dishonorable wasn't one of them. Just like every Senju and every Uchiha, he kept one thing over all the others.
Honor.
And there wasn't anything more dishonorable than to deny the last words of a man breathing his last breath in the world.
So he had crouched down as the dying man had whispered his last wish in his ear. Never before had Tobirama been so close to having his heart go under a cardiac arrest as that very moment.
His wide eyes, astonished in disbelief stared at the dying Uchiha who merely smiled sadly with a warmth in his eyes that was never present even once during his battle.
Tobirama watched his eyes turn dull, as the life within them disappeared when his chest stopped heaving breaths and he passed on peacefully.
Tobirama never believed in superstitions, but at that very moment the concept wasn't too foreign to him. For it had happened yet again right in front of his very eyes.
History had repeated itself and he had bourne witness to it himself.
He crouched down and laid his palm over the man's lifeless onyx eyes. His hand slid down gently and closed the eyelids of the fallen man in respect and regret. For that day, he had made another child an orphan and taken away the shadow of his father from his life.
But he had given his word to the dying man; to take care of his legacy in his stead. And he would be damned if he let that promise go to waste.
Don't worry Izuna, your legacy rests safe with me I promise you