Now is not the time for the small talk

I looked at them while trying to decide what to ask first... Hm... Ah right!

"Tobirama, when we fought, you made water appear from the air after you did a series of hand movements. What are they for? When I tried, nothing happened!"

I looked at him in anticipation. Both Madara and Hashirama looked at Tobirama, snickering.

"Go on, explain to her, brother!"

"Yeah. She asked you a question, are you going to make a lady wait?" Madara added, earning a glance full of killing intent from the victim himself.

"If you think that it's only him, whom I'll ask, you are mistaken. I have plenty for everyone!"

The silence hanged in the air. Tobirama cleared his throat and decided not to pay those two any heed.

" Those hand movements that I did, were important hand signs for water jutsu [ Water Colliding Wave]. The hand signs are helping us to direct chakra from our "Chakra Pathway System" through pressure points, tenketsu."

"What is 'chakra'?" I heard a new term and inquired about the meaning. Tobirama stared at me for a second. What did I do wrong this time?

" Well, technically it is similar to that 'mana' thing in your world which is used to support a living being. Chakra is also essential to living. If one had run out of chakra, he or she will die out of chakra exhaustion. So, Chakra is a form of Energy. It is the combination of two types of energy: Yin, the Spiritual energy and Yang, The Physical energy." Tobirama answered.

"Does that mean that, as long as one has a strong body and mind, one can have a lot of chakra?"

"Heh, girl you are sharp," Madara smirked.

"All courtesies to my annoying tutors and noble rank."

"Khm!" Tobirama cleared his throat loud enough for us to hear, " Yes and no. One can increase his or her chakra reserves by practising and gaining experience, but there is a limit to how much can one progress."

"For some reason, the conversation turned into a school lecture..." Tobirama complained.

"Maybe you should become a teacher in the future!"

"Shut up, Elder brother."

While Hashirama returned into the world of gloom, I've got another question.

"Hey, are you two really brothers?"

Both of them looked at me at the same time.

"Yes, we are. Why would you ask?" Hashirama told me with a confused face.

"You and Tobirama look way too different.... so I thought that maybe you are sworn brothers. Also, even though he keeps calling you 'Elder brother', he acts like one more often..."

Hashirama curled into a ball and reunited with the world of darkness.

"Hahahaha! Hashirama! You just got played by a little girl!" Madara laughed to his heart content. He looked into the sky, letting the light of the moonshine on his pale skin. "You know what, Hashi, it turns out I really did miss those days. I tried to kill off all of my past that involved us as friends... Didn't quite work out it seems. Heh."

An awkward, but blissful smile formed on his face. Even though one of his eyes was covered by long, messy, black hair, his gaze appeared to be piercing through time into the distant future.

"Hey, Madara, why is this war even exists? Both you and Hashirama are the protective type of people. You would never be willing to sacrifice your subjects for something meaningless."

He looked at me with a blank expression. Turning his head in the direction of their camp, he drowned in his thoughts.

'Maybe it wasn't good to ask that.'

"You don't have to-"

"The war started long ago. Even as kids, we never left the battlefield." It was Hashirama who answered.

"Both of us met each other when we were kids and without giving out our family names, we became close friends. We trained, fooled around and discussed our dreams for the future together. We hated the way shinobi are now but lacked the power to change anything." A pained look appeared on his tanned face.

"Uchihas and Senju had, no, have a lot of grudges from the past. Loved ones died at the hands of the enemy. Yes, this is war, but losing something dear, is always painful. Tobirama and I lost two brothers, while Madara lost three siblings. Both of us now have only one dear, younger brother and I'm willing to sacrifice myself if that would've saved my brother. I believe it's the same on Madara's side."

The Uchiha nodded and continued the story. "Indeed. This war took the lives of many and even when we became clan leaders, we couldn't just stop this cycle of hatred. People killed to avenge deaths of others and none were willing to give up. Hashirama tried to make a peace talk and he even managed to convince Senju clan to forgive, but people from my side weren't able to let go. See this?"

His pitch-black eyes turned bloody red with three markings in each. Truly, those eyes are the most beautiful ones I've ever seen.

"Those appear only when the hatred inside of us grows past a certain level. A special kind of chakra is released, awakening one's Sharingan. The more dear things we lose, the harder it becomes to overcome this curse of hatred and stronger those eyes become. Many of us have it and it serves as a sort of proof that those bloody debts are not going to get settled that easily."

Looks like things are way more serious than I expected. We cannot lose any more of our time. Remember I made a remark about the ocean of questions? Scratch that! I can always do that later.

"Guys, I'm sorry. I didn't know the scale of the problem and took my sweet time talking about things that are of lesser importance." I bowed once again. I felt extremely guilty. They are already worked up with their clans and here I am, falling from the sky, literally, causing a huge commotion and making them spend their valuable time on the outsider.

Seconds appeared to become the eternity. Suddenly, a big, rough hand awkwardly raffled my hair.

"It's alright. Raise your head already." Tobirama said it in the voice as if he was calming down a child. I peeked at the expression he was making and it looked a little more relaxed and gentler. His eyes weren't emitting that piercing chill anymore.

"Oh, wow! Ever serious Tobirama has a gentle side to him! That's big news I've got!" Madara teased now embarrassed Tobirama. "Stupid Uchiha..." he muttered under his breath, glaring daggers at Madara.