"Remind me again. Why does the reconnaissance work fall on us one more time?" grunted a displeased fourteen years old Izuna.
He was sitting high in the sky, on his summoning hawk Kyujusho, eyes scrutinizing every inch of the sleeping compound underneath them. Some guards were patrolling the streets, but so far nothing signaled that they were aware of what was about to hit them.
Haruka was sitting not very far away, on a nearly identical hawk, named Takai. She answered her twin without looking up: "Because even if we don't agree with the purpose of this mission, we can't stop Tajima from sending our clansmen to battle. And I would rather we avoid any unnecessary deaths on our side that might come from lack of preparation. And, also, you're the one who insisted we show our cool summoning contracts to everyone the first time."
Izuna was even more displeased: "I said that because the flying part is cool. And it's not like we could have hidden it for long. If I had known that we would be used like this all the time, I would have chosen a more land-attached animal summon."
This time, Haruka didn't have to answer him. Kyujusho titled to the side saying: "If you are that dissatisfied, I can easily drop you off and be on my way. It's not like I don't have other stuff to do."
Izuna was clutching his feathers as hard as he could to avoid falling, while he kept cursing the bird in a hushed voice. At least he kept his voice down to avoid being spotted. Finally, Kyujusho let him come back on top when his brother Takai sent him a harsh scowl. It was always like this with those two, their relationship was not as harmonious as Haruka and Takai's.
Summoning animals was quite common in this world. Animals here were all dotted with various degrees of intelligence, and therefore dragged by the shinobi in their endless wars. For the most part they seemed to like it, and a lot of them even took pride in working alongside shinobi. Like the dogs with the Inuzuka clan and monkeys with the Sarutobi. Others seemed to have more of a reluctant partnership with the humans, like cats with the Uchiha clan. They didn't like being summoned and if you wanted anything from them, you had to go to their hideout to look for them. But they were also excellent spies and always had information about everything.
So, around two years ago, when Hikaku signed a contract with crows that were perfect for his genjutsu, Haruka had asked one of them if he knew about any animal that might be useful to her medical ninjutsu. The cats after taking their bribes finally told her that she might want to try her luck in the Shikkotsu forest, where the Katsuyu slug lived. That slug was supposed to have healing abilities that surpassed her own, and might want to form a partnership with her.
It didn't take long to convince Tajima to let them go look for her, because he was always on board for anything that might advantage the Uchiha clan. However, Madara was extremely busy and couldn't go and Hikaku already had a contract so Tajima refused to spare him, and that's how the twins embarked on their journey alone.
After multiple adventures in the damp forest, that they swore never to mention to anyone, because of how embarrassing they were, they were unable to find Katsuyu. Instead they found two twin baby hawks, which were barely out of the egg. It was raining and their mother was nowhere to be found, and so the Uchiha twins decided to take them with them to a nearby cave, to hide from the bad weather in the harsh forest. Kyujusho had almost instantly started bickering with Izuna, and for hours, Haruka and Takai just listened to their banter while throwing each other knowing looks.
When the rain stopped, the mother hawk came looking for her kids, and after she stopped attacking them and let Takai explain the situation to her, she was grateful and proposed that the pairs of twins sign contracts with each other. Haruka and Takai obeyed, but Izuna and Kyujusho took some convincing. One didn't want to be saddled with a scrawny human and the other wanted a cool summoning not a baby bird. After it was pointed out to them that Izuna's chakra was strong enough to make him anything but a burden and that Kyujusho's size would be comparable to his gigantic mother when he grew up, the two reluctantly agreed.
So far, aside from the bickering, their partnership was going great. The hawks were as fiercely loyal as Izuna and Haruka were. And because the contract was made when they were quite young, they could easily adapt to their partner's chakra affinity, so their combined attacks were extremely effective. Takai used Haruka's lightning to gain speed, and the one thing that Kyushujo and Izuna agreed on was that their combined Katon was a sight to behold.
Another advantage they had was that, once the hawks were big enough, they could mount their backs and use them to travel long distances or to scout areas from above without being detected. Tajima made full use of this function, and always sent the twins first to avoid any surprises. The four of them hated it, but the twin hawks understood that they couldn't exactly disobey the clan head.
Once they made sure that everything was in place and that the other clans were exactly where they said they would be, they went back to report to Tajima, in the forest where the rest of the clan was hiding. Madara was waiting for them next to the small clearing they had departed from. He didn't have a summoning animal like them. The twins had offered to take him back to where they knew the hawks lived and help him sign a contract, especially that he enjoyed falconry a lot, but he just refused. He once confided in Haruka that he felt like he was already bound to something, he just didn't know what yet.
It's not like he needed it anyway. Seventeen years old Madara was a powerhouse on his own. He was a master of all skills. His taijutsu was godlike, his kenjutsu made it look like the swords he carried where a part of him and his katon looked like the flames of hell were at his service. He had long since surpassed Tajima, and his name only could scare away armies. Some clans had given a flee on sight order to their shinobi concerning him.
The only person that could hold out to him was Senju freaking Hashirama. That bastard was as skilled in Taijutsu and Kenjutsu and his Mokuton kept getting stronger and more complex in shape. And whereas Madara had to rely on her medical skills, the Senju seemed to have developed his own brand of medical ninjutsu that he just practiced directly on the battlefield.
His newest addition to his already impressive arsenal came when Madara's third tomoe was awakened and he discovered himself an ability for genjutsu. The Senju actually learned how to use Senjutsu. The elders had explained to Haruka that Senjutsu was an art taught by either the toads of Mount Myoboku or the snakes of the Ryuchi cave and that it used the power of nature. Not much was known about it because so far the shinobi who were able to master it could be counted on the fingers of one hand, and they always kept their secret. Hashirama's grasp on it, however, seemed to be tenuous, and he only used it for limited amounts of time. But those two rivals always seemed to like one-upping each other and it wouldn't be too long before they came up with freakier stuff to keep terrorizing the Shinobi world with their power.
The twins dismounted and the hawks bid their good-byes before annulling the summon. At Madara's raised eyebrow, Izuna made a full report on what they saw, and the three made their way back to where the others were. Madara just sighed, he too didn't like what they were participating in, but he couldn't refuse orders. Even if he was the Uchiha's strongest general, he couldn't show insubordination or the clan would be divided and thus weakened. Tajima knew that and made full use of it.
Haruka went to check on the medical tent. There, twelve teenagers in the medical team's official uniform were getting ready. She smiled when she realized how much she and Touko had accomplished in the last six years. They had formed twenty four other medic-nins, and new students were scheduled to start next winter. Touko's small clinic had gotten so crowded that they had to move to a new location about three years ago, a full-fledged hospital in the middle of the compound. It had multiple wards, two labs, one classroom and the entire left wing of the first floor had been transformed into a pharmacy run by some of their students who preferred research to practicing medicine. The green house had become more than ten times its original size and was now under the direction of Elder Taka's granddaughter. They produced enough rare flowers and drugs that they were able to sell them.
The twelve teenagers, who were in the tent, were their most senior students. She had chosen them because this was the first time they were implanting their new response strategy. So far, medics stayed in the back until the fight was over and then had the wounded delivered to them. A lot of lives and limbs who could have been saved were lost that way. So she came up with a new way. She and two other medics who were the most skilled in fighting would form a team that gave emergency treatment immediately on the battlefield. She had gotten Madara, who was now in charge of assigning missions, to form a team of four shinobi whose only job was to spot the wounded and rush them to the tent where the rest of the medics were waiting. She hoped her plan would work. Because the upcoming battle promised to be gory.
They were now in the Land of Whirlpools, and were participating in the annihilation of the Uzumaki clan.
The Uzumaki were the cousins of the Senju and had deep ties with them, it was one of the reasons the Uchiha got involved in this sordid plan, but it wasn't all. The Uzumaki were sealing specialists and the best in the business that is. Sealing was basically the art of using ink and/or scrolls to stuff really big things into tiny spaces and make them stay there. It could also be used to seal away chakra or to provoke certain phenomenon, like the Hyuga clan's seal. Basically, as long as you had a rich imagination, sealing could be used to make really useful stuff both in and out of the battlefield.
The problem was that it required both large quantities of chakra and a certain degree of erudition. And in the shinobi world, being able to read and use a chicken scrawl to convey your meaning was already considered a privilege, so not many mastered it.
This put the Uzumaki in a position of choice because their knowledge was invaluable. They were strong and selling some of their products made them quite wealthy. How could they not be, when their monopoly over the market allowed them to set the prices as high as they liked. People were starting to get angry and even the usually polite Nara-Akimichi-Yamanaka axis was complaining loudly. Throw in the people's fear of the strong and the fiery tempers of the Uzumaki, which made them pass as snobbish and haughty, and you had yourself around half a dozen angry clans who were out for blood.
It all started with a small coalition of shinobi clans from the Land of Whirlpools. They decided to band together and to attack the Uzumaki clan, kill them all and steal away all their secrets. But they knew that they were not strong enough and, even if they succeeded, the Uzumaki had a scary backer: The Senju. After cursing the fact that the bully was hiding behind a stronger bully for a while, they remembered that the Senju also had enemies that weren't afraid of crossing them: The Uchiha and the shinobi of the Land of Lightning. And so they secretly sent propositions to both parties: Help us get rid of the Uzumaki, and we promise to make the knowledge about sealing available to every participant, not just one particular clan.
The proposition was enticing, but it put the Uchiha in a tight spot.
The ceasefire had no longer been effective for years. Shinobi who had accounts to settle kept bumping into each other, and at this point, it didn't even matter who started it. The killing had started again, some of it was improvised guerilla style in the woods, some of it was in proper pitched battles. The body count was always high with kids being the primary victims. And it wasn't just Uchiha and Senju, rivalries were breaking out everywhere. Even the Akimichi got into a nasty fight with the Hyuga and dragged their allies into the fight with them. Things had settled down however and apologies were exchanged, so both clans were trying to become friendly again.
In this context, the Uchiha participating in such a bloody plan would be considered normal. But banding to annihilate an entire clan was in really bad taste and the Uchiha had barely started to build a good relationship with their neighbors, even putting an end to the century long rivalry between Hyuga and Uchiha. Their heir was even a good friend of Izuna's. Tajima didn't want to give them the wrong idea. So he made a counter proposition: Instead of just keeping the knowledge to the participants, let's just make it public and let the whole world benefit. That way nobody would get the idea of hoarding it to themselves to make money out of it, and the clans who didn't participate but benefitted anyway would no longer have any objections. His proposition was quickly agreed upon and the people of Lightning who liked it too were on board. Some clan of the Whirlpools was put in charge of the preparations, and the Uchiha sent their troops in the early days of April once everything was settled. The twins reconnaissance flight was just to make sure that everybody was holding their end of the deal. And they were. This promised to be a bloodbath.
After she was done checking on the medical tent, she and the two other medic-nins, who were going into battle, joined their respective squads. As always, she was in the front with Madara, Izuna and Hikaku. They worked well as a team. Madara opens the fight, Hikaku traps people in his genjutsu and either she or Izuna finish the job. They also kept her protected when she had to focus on helping someone.
Madara had both his Gunbai and Kama in his hands ready to go. The Gunbai is a non-folding fan, carved from a spirit tree that was passed down between Uchiha clansmen for generations. Tajima, like Izuna, was more of a swordsman and didn't like to use it, and so the elder council forced him to hand it down to Madara when the latter demonstrated his prowess in wielding it. It was one of the many points his fellow clansmen and supporters felt proud about.
Izuna had both his katanas ready, as dual wielding was his specialty. He was even better at kenjutsu than Madara, a point he took great pride in. Hikaku preferred the cross bow to keep his advantage in long distance fighting. And finally she had her poison coated senbons ready. In her sleeve was a small dispenser, a gem of technology that their blacksmiths came up with after she described her needs, and her small pouch had many recharges. She also had on a cross body bag filled with emergency medical supplies.
Tajima stood in front of them and said, "Alright, everybody listen up! Tonight's goal is to bring the Uzumaki down. Your job is to get rid of as many of them as you can. Kill them, cripple them, I don't really care. But keep some of them alive, we might need them later. We will go from their south door, and slowly make our way to the middle of the compound. We were put in charge of getting rid of their leader and his kids. So if you ever come across a white haired guy with an impossibly long beard called either Madara or me, you can't take him on your own. This might sound like the description of half their clan's members but if you meet a particularly haughty one, that's our guy."
Glad you still feel like making jokes, thought Haruka. And by the look on their faces her teammates thought so too.
However she wasn't worried. The clan head guy couldn't be saved and most of the Uzumaki men too, but Madara had discreetly ordered all the people he knew he could trust to avoid killing the children and any woman who didn't put up a fight. This was all they could do to ease up their consciences. After all this was still the shinobi world, and blood had to come out every once in a while, you just had to make sure it wasn't yours.