Madara watched Hinata carefully, the jewel in his grasp. The jewel was slowly beginning to lighten, but as soon as it would lighten in color it would darken back down. This is how he knew she was in inner turmoil. He looked back up from the jewel to see she had vanished, however he knew where she had gone.

Izuna stood in the training field his target was a set of three trees, one had the name Tobirama carved into it's surface, the next had the name Butsuma carved into it, and the last had Hashirama carved into it. Blood mainly stained the tree with Tobirama's name carved into it. Izuna's knuckles were bruised and bloody, but he rushed forwards once more and continued his attack on the tree.

Hinata approached Izuna when he finished his second round of attacking the tree. “Let me see..." She says and he crammed his hands in his pockets. "Please, Izuna." She pleaded and grabbed his wrists.

Swollen red eyes continued to stay glued to the stone before him, the color continued to flicker and he frowned. He wanted to help her in her fight, but she was becoming distant with him and she was becoming closer to Izuna… he couldn’t quite understand the change, but he knew it was because of his father’s passing. He was furious as well, but unlike Izuna and Hinata, he had control over his anger.

He crouched in the tree and watched as Hinata approached Izuna and pleaded for him to stop. Eventually he watched as she forced him to let her see his hands. The concern in her soft eyes gave him the slightest twinge of jealousy, but he squashed it right back down because this was no time for that in the slightest. There was no reason for it either. He watched as she turned to  him and pinpointed his exact location.

He hopped out of the tree and made his way over to them. “Are you two alright?” he asked and Hinata nodded, but Izuna didn’t utter a single word. Izuna just continued to stare away from the two of them. “Hinata will you meet us at the compound? I need to speak with Izuna…” he said and Hinata offered a small nod before she set off for the compound.

“I’m not trying to steal her from you.” Izuna spat and Madara frowned at him. “I didn’t think you were trying. That isn’t what I wanted to talk to you about either way…” Madara said and Izuna looked up at him in confusion. “I thought you’d been avoiding me lately because she was always with me…” Izuna said and Madara frowned. “No, that wasn’t it at all, Izuna… I was… Avoiding her…” Madara whispered the last part, his regret seeping into his words.

“Why?” Izuna asked and Madara broke eye contact to look at his hands. “Those eyes… I couldn’t stand to look at them…” he whispered and Izuna frowned. “Understandable… how did you realize you’d been avoiding her?” Izuna asked and Madara frowned. “She was walking around with her eyes closed, she could tell that I couldn’t look her in the eyes.” He said and Izuna nodded. “I see… Well, brother… what is it?” Izuna asked and Madara frowned.

“I’ve received word that Hashirama has taken over the clan due to injuries his father sustained in our last fight.” Madara said and Izuna furrowed his brow, his lip twitching in disgust. “What are you saying?” Izuna asked, suspecting that his brother had developed a non-violent plan of action. “Well, Izuna…” he began, watching his younger brother to test his reaction.

“I say we strike when they least expect it. Hashirama is no doubt going to try and negotiate with us, and he thinks we are going to be mourning our father still, we should go and strike when they think we are out. But I think that we should leave the clan behind… they are starting to… disagree with our methods.” Madara said and Izuna watched him carefully.

“Of course, brother… I’m quite ashamed that I doubted your rage for even a moment.” Izuna said and Madara smirked at him. “They took our mother and our father… I think we should take their lives as payment…” he said, but froze when he felt Hinata’s chakra behind him. The color of the pink jewel flared red.

“I agree, Madara…” She said softly, her voice barely even a whisper. The chill of her tone was enough to make Izuna stare wide eyed at his older brother. The look in his older brother’s eyes said everything. This war had created a monster out of her. The sadness in Madara’s eyes was overwhelming. “Hinata… a moment longer please?” Izuna asked and Hinata nodded and turned away. When she was out of sight once more Izuna turned to Madara and frowned. “Brother… if we win this, what are your plans for her?” Izuna asked and Madara watched him carefully.

“If she would have me… I wish to wed her.” He said and Izuna nodded, a saddened smile on his lips. “Good, she loves you dearly. I would rather it turn out with you two wed. So… should we start planning our attack or do we wait on her?” Izuna asked and Madara sighed softly. “We involve her as well.”

:-:-:-:-:

She knew they were discussing her, everyone was lately… She knew they all were talking about her… the girl with the bloodstained eyes… Tajima Uchiha’s eyes. They ridiculed her, treated her worse than they did when she was blind. Apparently they thought this was her plan in the beginning. She had not intentions of ever taking his eyes… to be honest she didn’t even know what she actually thought was going to happen when she came here… she’d seen what the war  had begun doing to all of those around her and she thought she could save everyone…

Her eyes narrowed as she bitterly thought of her foolish endeavors. What had she actually been on when she came here? Thinking she could save her friends by coming here… she’s going against the god of Shinobi and his younger brother the second hokage… she was definitely no comparison strength wise. She glared up at the sky and sneered at the brilliant blue. Her eyes softened slightly and she sighed, as angry as she was at herself for the mess she had put herself in, she wasn’t sure what to do other than follow him. Somehow he had captured her heart and she didn’t understand it. She sighed as she looked at her hands. She was still here because she had fallen for him.

However, he had started avoiding her and she knew why… every time he looked her in the eyes he was met with his father’s own eyes… how was he supposed to handle that? Somehow Izuna was able to look past the fact she had his father’s eyes, but it hadn’t seemed Madara was able to at first. She sat down against the outer wall of the home she shared with the brothers. She felt their chakra signatures getting ever closer and she began to feel bad because of her anger towards them for discussing her…

She knew she was the topic of the year now, seeing as she held Tajima’s eyes… but she shouldn’t be angry at them for trying to discuss things without her, she wasn’t even supposed to be in this time. It was stressful times like these where she wished she could go home and forget about everything that happened here, but those thoughts also made her chest hurt. She glanced up at the brothers who seemed to be having a secretive conversation, which confused her. They seemed to be trying to hide the fact they were even talking, judging by the fact she saw their lips only twitch. She knew they were speaking though, their eyes said it all.

“Hinata.” Madara called and she snapped out of her train of thought. “Yes?” she asked and he held a hand out to her to help her up. She took his hand and her heart fluttered at how gingerly he had grasped her hand. “We should go elsewhere and speak… we have a plan but the clan is not to be included in this matter.” He said and she nodded as she followed the brothers. They led her to a small area in the middle of the woods where they knew no one was around.

“We are to attack within the week, knowing Hashirama he will allow us time for mourning, seeing as he is probably still tallying his own losses thanks to his father.” Madara said and Hinata nodded. Her eyes drifted over to Izuna, whose eyes held a noticeable contempt at the mention of the Senju.  Hinata looked back at Madara, and that was when she noticed the jewel that still hung around his neck.

She remembered her vow to protect him and a small smile crawled over her lips, seemingly catching the brothers off guard. “Hinata?” Izuna asked and she blinked over to him. “Yes?” she asked and he frowned. “Are you alright?” he asked and she nodded. “Are you sure?” Madara cut in and she blinked over to him in confusion. “We are worried about you… You haven’t been yourself lately and we were wondering if you were alright.” Madara said and Hinata looked at him with soft eyes. “I’m sorry… I’ve just not been handling stress very well…” she whispered and the brothers exchanged glances.

“We’ve noticed… Your temperament has changed and we were worried about you… lately you have become progressively colder in personality and we just… we were worried.” Izuna said and Hinata nodded. “I know… and please forgive me… I’ve noticed this as well. To be completely honest, I noticed this before the senju attacked… I’ve been struggling with this ever since I had lost my sight… I tried to keep it in check, but I suppose that once I’ve begun my descent into darkness there’s no stopping it.” Hinata explained and Madara frowned.

“What do you mean?” he asked and Hinata pointed to the jewel. “According to Katsuyu tht will continue to darken in redness the further I fall from her path of ‘righteousness’. Eventually she’s going to kill me.” Hinata said and the brothers exchanged panicked glances. “What do you mean?” Izuna snapped and Hinata frowned. “Remember when you took care of me when the mark was burning me?” she asked and he nodded. “That was lady Katsuyu telling me I’ve done wrong. One day she is going to kill me because I don’t think anything can save me now. “ she whispered and Madara grabbed her hand tightly and she stared at him in shock.

“I will save you from that fate. One last battle to take out the Senju and then we will live in peace… I promise… I promise you that we will live in peace. All three of us.” He said and Hinata smiled at him softly. “Alright… one last fight.” She whispered and Izuna nodded. “One last fight.” Madara said confidently.

:-:-:-:-:-:

Hashirama looked at his father in disdain, the man lay in his bed unable to even lift a finger due to the fact that when he had killed Tajima, the man had sent a wave of his chakra straight up the vine and it had critically injured Butsuma. Who knew that wood style could hold electricity long enough to damage the user…

Hashirama slid the door to the room shut roughly, no doubt disturbing the injured man. The imbecile... Hashirama bit back the sneer that threatened to cross his lips. He never wanted this. He only wanted to be friends with Madara once more, but his father had called for the death of the Uchiha, and then… poor dear Hinata as well… Hashirama’s eyes softened considerably… the woman had always been so kind and gentle, but that day… when Tajima gave his life to save her, she just… Snapped.

Hashirama sighed deeply and made his way outside to where he knew his brother to be. The garden was in full bloom with a variety of brightly colored flowers, but somehow, it still seemed to dark and sad. His eyes landed on his brother, who sat in all his disheveled glory between two gravestones. They’s buried their mother and younger brother right beside where Hinata had buried Kawarama.
  “Tobirama…” Hashirama called and the ruby eyed man looked up at him. “You should come in, you must be cold and hungry…” Hashirama urged gently. He knew his normally somewhat stoic brother was in pain… they’d all been more in touch with their mother than with their father.

Hashirama held a hand out to their younger brother and the white haired male took his hand softly. “It’s going to be alright, brother… we don’t have to fight anymore… we can call it even… we can call it all off… I don’t want to lose you too.” Hashirama whispered and Tobirama frowned. “If they do not attack, I will stand down. But, knowing the Uchiha, they will attack within a month’s time when they have finished their mourning. So, either way… this war will go on until we are all dead and gone.” Tobirama said and Hashirama frowned.

He knew what his brother said was true… So he was going to try for a truce. He was going to send a messenger to Madara to appeal for a truce. He wanted this war over and done with as much as everyone else did. He looked to the sky one last time.

“Please, Madara… Accept my truce.”

Ok guys, I know it has been far too long and I thouroughly apologize for that. This chatpter was written on a tablet so I'm sorry it's so short. However, I have a special announcement for you all. There are going to possibly be either two more adaptations to this series, or one adaptation and an extension to A Crack In Time. But either way, both of these are a guaranteed upload. I’ve finished this story in my writing journal and have actually been working on editing, now I’m typing them up and adding things in as I go.

The adaptation/ possible extension for A Crack in Time would be called The Veil of Time: The final return, it takes place after ACIT, and continues where the final chapter will leave off. Let me know if you all would love to have a cliffhanger to make you hate me until the next story, or until the next chapter of it.

Now, the other story… Which has no choice but to be another story… Tales of the Veil. And yes, this is probably exactly what you think it is. This is going to be a collection of one or two-shots that are canon to The Veil of Time during the first seven chapters, however… after the first seven, I will be taking on a few other chapters, some of which I have planned out, the rest I may take in a couple of plot bunnies from my loving fans. If you have an idea for a chapter in that story that you would love to see me write, pm it to me and I will use as many as I can find time to write.

An example of one of the chapters for tales of the veil is called, A Different Shade of Red. It’s a Tobirama/Hinata.

A second example is, The Younger Brother, an IzuHina.

So, go wild and let me know what you’d like to see from the veil-verse!!
Thank you in advance, and I hope to see what ideas you all will have for me, if any. Until next time!