Silent high walls and silent heartache
The shadow of her father's death in battle weighed heavily on Uchiha Aoi's heart like a lingering haze. Madara's cold reply was like a blunt knife, repeatedly slicing at her yearning for and worrying about her family's affection. Uchiha Aoi's world seemed to be immersed in a gray, viscous liquid. All colors lost their vibrant saturation, and all sounds became blurred and distant, as if separated by a thick, cold layer of frosted glass. She became a more delicate, yet more hollow, doll, mechanically repeating the daily routine of rising, washing, greeting, learning etiquette, attending tea parties, and the usual routines of a noble lady. Her movements were impeccable, even more perfect than before, but those once calm and luminous black eyes now held a desolate emptiness, as if the soul within had been hollowed out and blown away by overwhelming sorrow and misfortune, leaving only a shell functioning in a routine manner.
News of the war outside grew increasingly horrifying. From fragments of information circulating among the nobles, each fragment unclear in authenticity, she pieced together a picture of ever-greater bloodshed and despair: the war between the Uchiha and Senju had reached a fever pitch, with both sides committing unprecedented forces, and every clash resulting in massive ninja casualties. Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, their names increasingly recurred in rumors as "arch-enemies" and "monsters," their every encounter described as akin to a catastrophe.
Her other brother, Uchiha Izuna, was Madara's most capable assistant and the sharp edge of the Uchiha clan, always active on the most dangerous front lines. Every time she heard about the bravery and danger of the "Uchiha second-in-command," Aoi felt as if her heart was being tightly grasped by an invisible hand, almost stopping.
She began to yearn desperately for the voice from beyond the wall to return, hoping to receive some glimmer of news from the ninja world, to see if he was alright. Though a wall separated them, at this moment, he was her only access to that bloody world, the only channel that could possibly provide her with any real information about her brothers. This longing grew so intense that she knew she longed to see him.
She needed to know if Madara-san was okay, and if Izuna-san was injured again. Any news, even bad news, was better than this complete, maddening uncertainty.
Finally, on a moonlit night, that long-lost, cold yet tired voice sounded again.
"...How are you these days?"
Those three simple words made Aoi's heart leap, and an indescribable bitterness washed over her. She hurried to the wall, her voice trembling with anxiety, almost impatiently responding, "...I'm fine! It's just that I've been attending some gatherings lately and heard that many ninjas from the outside world are fighting. I'm worried about you... Are you okay?" Aoi tried hard to remain calm, avoiding any sign from Tobirama, and carefully inquired about news from the ninja world.
Her caring words comforted Tobirama, but he also knew the cruelty of war. There was silence outside the wall for a moment, and then a voice rang out, still restrained, but with a subtle hint of something more subtle than usual: "War is frequent in the ninja world, but... you are strong enough to protect yourself, so don't worry."
He avoided the important issues and did not mention any information about himself or his family.
"Then do you know about the biggest war recently? I heard that the leaders of the two largest clans in the ninja world have both passed away?" Aoi asked anxiously, her voice trembling slightly. "I heard that the new heirs of the Uchiha and Senju clans are leading the war between the clans to become even more intense..."
When Tobirama, who was outside the wall, heard Aoi's question, he suddenly jumped into the wall. Aoi was startled by this action.
Tobirama looked at Aoi coldly: "You care about ninjas?"
Aoi looked at Tobirama with a scrutinizing gaze, and gradually felt scared. She sighed that she had lost her composure and asked this question when she didn't know who was on the other side. She said carefully, "I'm just curious, so I asked you."
She leaned against the cold wall, her shoulders trembling slightly, and said in a frightened and helpless voice: "I'm scared... Mr. Ninja..."
There was a long silence.
Only her suppressed, low crying sound echoed faintly in the night wind.
After a long moment, a very soft sigh, almost melting into the wind, was heard. That sigh seemed to contain a hint of complex emotions that were completely different from his usual cold and clear image.
“…Don’t cry.”
His voice was still low, but it seemed to have lost some of its coldness, carrying a kind of...almost clumsy, dry comfort. He walked carefully towards Aoi, took the handkerchief from her hand and gently wiped the tears from her face.
"Don't listen to news from the ninja world anymore. Live your life quietly. Ninjas and wars are not something a young lady like you should know about." He paused and added, his voice so soft that it seemed as if he was talking to himself, "Live a good and happy life!"
Aoi's crying gradually subsided. She raised her head and looked at his face through tearful eyes. She could hear the unusual softening in his tone, even... a very faint emotion, perhaps one could call it "heartache"?
At this moment, they only had each other in their eyes. There was only a helpless crying girl and a boy who didn't know how to comfort him but subconsciously softened his tone.
However, this fleeting, subtle flow of emotion is like a firefly in the dark night, weak and unreal. It cannot change any reality, nor can it prevent the impending, greater tragedy.
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