Too Big For Rain (Izuna!SI) Ch.1

(Summary - Man is Inserted into Izuna Uchiha during the warring states period, now he has to live during the bloodiest time in shinobi history, all while avoiding his fate.)

— ??? —

Death wasn’t something I was afraid of, but it wasn’t something I embraced readily, either.

As I floated in the empty void of darkness, I wondered…what was the purpose of all I had done, if this would be my conclusion.

Now that I was dead, there was no end, no beginning, just darkness, yet consciousness.

It was hell; it had to be.

*POP*

Huh?

Now it was dark, but I didn’t feel like I could move about in the darkness as I could before…Did something happen?

“Iz…”

A voice; how long has it been since I’ve heard a voice?

“Izu…”

I felt far from the voice, but more than anything, I wanted to go toward that voice, to grasp the one calling me and never let go.

I didn’t want to be alone anymore!

“Izuna!”

My eyes snapped open as I shot up from my lying position; immediately, a warm body slammed into me, wrapping me up tightly.

“I-Izuna! You’re alive!”

Izuna? No, that doesn’t matter…this is a person! How long has it been since I’ve held a person?!

I wrapped the boy? In my arms tightly, fearing if I let go, I would be tossed into that dark abyss again, cursed to float around in nothingness for all time. The way this person held me, it felt as if they feared the same, and I was content to stay here if need be.

“Enough.”

We heard a masculine voice beside us say. The person holding me continued for a couple of seconds before slowly pulling away and cupping my face. Then, I saw his face: a child, a boy, but above all that, he looked familiar.

…But I don’t know where I’ve seen him before.

“Wipe those tears from your face, Madara.”

Madara…I knew that name, and I knew it well, or at least I did once upon a time. My head hurt, and my mind felt hazy…but at least I had a head, a body, a being to sustain my consciousness.

“Yes, Father.” The boy, Madara, stood up, giving me one long look before leaving the room.

“You gave us quite the scare, Izuna; losing you would be a tremendous loss to our clan’s future success. I expect you to have a speedy recovery.” The black-haired middle-aged man explained before walking out of the room, leaving me alone.

As I stared at the door, suddenly, I felt a burning pain in my head. I clutched it and avoided screaming by biting the sheets that covered me. Knowledge and information about a life I had not lived flowed into my mind at a disorienting rate, and just as soon as it started, it ended.

I let out hard, haggard breaths as I attempted to process everything that had just flowed into my mind.

I was Izuna Uchiha, eight years old. My brother was Madara Uchiha, nine years old. My father was Tajima Uchiha, and my mother was Fumina Uchiha. Since Izuna was four years old, he had known nothing but battle during the day and quiet rest at night, rinse and repeat.

I…Izuna had come down with a chakra illness and had been too sick to continue fighting, and inevitably, he died; his soul left his body, and I took over.

I clutched my head once more and gritted my teeth.

“What…the fuck.”

My words were quiet, but they embodied everything I felt and thought.

“Naruto.” That’s where I was, or more specifically, the world that the anime/manga was based on. The elemental nations during the warring states period.

The door to the room opened, and in walked a slender, black-haired woman. I quickly recognized her as Fumina Uchaiha, my mother. She brought in a basin filled with water and a rag. She dropped to her knees before me, dipped the rag in the water, wrung it out, and placed it on my forehead.

“You must recover quickly, Izuna.” She said before getting up and walking out.

Her words angered a part of me that wasn’t me. She was supposed to be my mother, yet never once had she bothered to care about Madara or me. She was a solemn soul who cared for nothing, not even herself. A husk of a woman that wandered around following the orders of our father.

“...Fuck.” I whispered; it was as if my mind and Izuna’s were merging, or more specifically, our souls.

The pain started becoming unbearable, so instead of forcing myself to continue with the mind-splitting aching, I laid my head down on the uncomfortable futon and closed my eyes.

— The Next Day —

I opened my eyes, feeling much better than before, enough to sit up without overwhelming pain.

“You’re awake.”

I heard beside me; my eyes scanned over to see Madara leaning against the wall with a slight smile on his face.

“Can you walk?”

I nodded, pushing the sheets off of me and slowly standing up. I felt a little wobbly, but that was more because it’s been a while since I’ve been in a body. Floating around as a soul for god knows how long has left me a little rusty.

“Good, Father wants us at the table,” Madara said, moving aside and opening the door.

“O-Okay.” I walked out the door, followed by Madara, and went through the house. Izuna’s memories were leading me, and after only half a minute of walking, I slid a door open to see a kitchen. In the middle of it were four seats on the ground surrounding a low table.

Our parents were sitting there, observing us with cold eyes.

“Sit,” Father ordered, and swiftly, Madara did so, sitting beside him. I followed his lead, sitting beside my mother and looking at the food before me.

“Eat quickly. We have another assassination mission today, and as always, our target has hired the Senju to defend him.” The older man explained, and Madara wasted no time, scarfing down as much food as quickly as possible.

I picked up the chopsticks, initially having trouble with them, but upon relying on Izuna’s muscle memory, I could grasp my food and eat.

A tear ran down my face as I swallowed the food. It had been too long since I had anything to eat, and though the food wasn’t anywhere near the level I had once been used to, it was still food, and I was incredibly thankful.

You never know how much you have until it’s all gone.

Father scrutinized me, and I quickly wiped the tears from my face. Crying was something we had beaten out of us ever since we were younger, and I’d rather not have the man feel as though I needed a repeat lesson.

The rest of the meal was eaten in silence. Once we were done, Father stood up and left without a word while Mother quietly took our plates and began washing them.

“Let’s go, Izuna.” Madara stood up, gesturing me to follow. We left the kitchen, but not before I gave the older woman one last parting look. Never once had she even said a word to Madara or me, even though we were about to head to the battlefield. But it’s not like I should have expected anything from her.

These parents of Izuna, and now mine, were cold. Unbelievably so.

Madara and I left the Uchiha Main House and entered the clan’s compound.

“Hey, Madara…and Izuna!” Both of us turned to see two boys running toward us. I quickly recognized them as our friends. The older boy, Satoru, has short forehead-length hair, while the younger one, Kazuma, has shoulder-length hair. They both had been our friends for longer than we could remember. “It’s good to see you’ve recovered, Izuna!” Kazuma grinned, giving me a thumbs up.

“...U-Uh yeah, I’m happy too,” I said awkwardly, looking away. The awkward silence between us told me they were looking at me questioningly.

“He’s still a bit out of it; leave him be,” Madara spoke, crossing his arms. “Have you both prepared for the mission?”

“Yeah.” Satoru nodded, adopting a more serious attitude. “We’re ready whenever you are, Madara.”

“Good.” Madara nodded, walking past them, and we followed.

We continued on our way until we reached the Uchiha armory and entered. “Elder Takeshi, do you have our blades?” Madara questioned. The older man sitting in a chair behind a counter looked up, his eyes narrowing upon seeing Madara.

“Yes, Young Lord Madara, they’re right over there.” He jabbed a thumb to one of the counters in the corner, and Madara gave a quick bow, something we all mimicked. We walked over, and Madara grabbed a kunai that I recognized as his while the others grabbed some tantos. My eyes locked onto a katana this body had held many times before. A katana that Izuna had used to kill dozens of times. I picked the blade up, quickly getting familiar with the weight.

“That’s all, thanks, elder,” Madara said, walking out, and we followed him again.

“So, think the Senju will be exhausted? I heard they had a mission to combat the Sarutobi.”

“The Sarutobi…worthy foes, I could say so if the Senju weren’t…so resilient,” Madara answered, looking back at me, his eyes softening in concern.

A flash of a black-haired kid around our age with a long pole smacking his way through our forces flashed in my mind, his pole slamming hard against my form, sending me flying away from the battlefield.

Sasuke Sarutobi, that name will always stick with me. I’m sure Hashirama or Tobirama had their work cut out when they faced him. That monkey summon of his was always a pain to combat.

“Damn, I hoped for a nicer day, but we can never have nice things.” Kazuma groaned.

“Not as long as the Senju breathe,” Satoru growled, his hate of our rivals showing strongly.

“One day, our fighting will end,” Madara said suddenly, stunning me and the other two. “Whether it be through war or peace. One day.” The conviction I heard in his voice made me smile small.

Images of Hashirama and Madara battling as kids raged in my mind from Izuna’s memories before they were replaced by older versions of them, shaking hands and unifying the clans under Konoha.

That…was the future I wanted and the one I needed to create.

“Let’s go!” We heard our father shout from the gates of the clan compound. We quickly ran over to him, and once we did, he started running, followed by the older members of the clan. “Today, we claim victory!”

“RAAAAHHHHH!” The Uchiha men roared as we ran. I realized that the speed we were running at… was faster than anything I had ever been capable of. It was faster than anyone on my Earth had ever been capable of. Not even the fastest cars could keep up with our battle rush.

“Stay close as always, Izuna,” Madara ordered, and I gave a nervous nod. Even if I had Izuna’s memories to go off of, I had never killed anyone, I had never fought for my life, and now I was being thrust into volatile combat where my life and the future of my clan were on the line.

We ran for several minutes before we heard our father shout again.

“Senju in sight! Show them the might of the Uchiha!”

“RAAAAHHHHH!”

I caught sight of the grown men rushing toward us. My eyes scanned them, looking for my opponent and seeing the locks of white hair, the boy’s red eyes eyeing me with firm determination.

Tobirama Senju.

The clans clashed against one another, and the sharp sound of blade against blade filled my ears, but I focused on my opponent, clashing my katana against his kunai. Tobirama jumped back, weaving through hand seals and spitting out a water bullet.

Muscle memory forced my hands to weave through hand seals of my own.

‘Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!’ The water bullet and the fireball clashed, producing a mist that enveloped the battlefield.

“Let your eyes blaze true!” Father ordered, and many of the Uchiha around us followed his command, activating their sharingan. I clicked my tongue. I didn’t have it yet, nor did Madara, Kazuma, or Satoru.

Tobirama rushed me, his kunai grazing my cheek. I slashed my blade, aiming to take his head, but he avoided it, sidestepping and counterattacking. I blocked his kunai strike and looked into his eyes as we grit our teeth in exertion.

This was a child, an eight-year-old fighting against me, another eight-year-old. Two children were cursed with the fate of fighting one another until one fell forever.

I hated it. My hate for it was reflected in my eyes. Tobirama’s red eyes widened as he jumped back, sweat beading down his forehead.

I caught a glimpse of my reflection in my katana. Red eyes with one tomoe in each eye.

My sharingan. A sign of my burning hatred for everything that has happened thus far. From the horrid abyss I had to exist in, to this hell  I currently found myself in.

I rejected all of it!

I pointed my blade at Tobirama, who eyed me cautiously, although he avoided looking into my eyes. My firm resolve burned brighter now than it ever had, and I uttered four words I intended to stand by for all time.

“I vow to live!”

— Chapter End —