The atmosphere in the cave was back to awkward.
Truth be told, Setsuna's pregnancy wasn't really a secret. The whole clan knew about it, the Hyuga did too, and basically anyone invited to the wedding would be able to feel the baby's chakra.
About a month ago, it started emitting its own chakra, and since it slowly forming pathways were independent from Setsuna's, she couldn't suppress them. It was one of the reasons why women pregnant with shinobi's children were forbidden from stepping outside their compounds. Madara's baby also emitted such a strong chakra, twice what a fetus in its state of development should, that nobody was able to miss the pregnant lady whenever she stepped in the room. Pregnancies weren't Yuril's area of expertise, so the follow up was done by one of her students who had also had an apprenticeship with a midwife. The doctor strongly suspected twins, but since both the parents were powerhouses on their own, and given the lack of modern equipment, they wouldn't be able to tell until the delivery day.
They couldn't just volunteer this information to people who were officially their enemies, even if they probably had their doubts. Madara was taking all the precautions he could to ensure the safety of his child, and that involved keeping the Senju as far away from him as possible. Especially when their group also had an Uzumaki with a grudge against the Uchiha. He and Yuril exchanged a look, before he said eventually. "That's just a dumb tradition. We wanted a winter wedding, so that everyone could celebrate with us. Can't exactly pull people out of their missions in the summer for a party."
The Senju didn't seem convinced by his answer, but Hashirama chose to put an end to it. "That's great! Look at you, Uchiha Madara, planning a wedding! Who would have thought? Well, I guess that I should congratulate you on the behalf of the Senju clan. I wish you all the love and happiness in the world. Hopefully for a very long time ".
Before Madara could say anything, a slide snicker came from Mito as she bowed her head and said, "God help us all if that love came to be cut short."
It was Yuril's turn to be angry now. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?".
Mito raised her head and looked her rival dead in the eye. "It means that if someone as powerful as your brother came to experience your damned Curse of Hatred, nobody will be able to foretell what will become of our world. Even the Uchiha should be worried, instead of rejoicing."
Madara's hand was firmly keeping her in place, otherwise she would already be tearing the bitch's face. She looked at the rest of the Senju brothers, angry and confused, looking for answers she didn't feel like getting from the redhead. "What the hell is she talking about? What Curse of Hatred?"
Hashirama only frowned, looking for a way to explain without hurting anyone's feelings. Tobirama was less thoughtful. "It's a theory the clans have come up with regarding your Sharingan. We all know that Uchiha are people greatly devoted to love and friendship, even if you tend to conceal your more affectionate traits. However, when the object of their affection is lost, an Uchiha's love can instantaneously turn into hatred, leaving them more inclined to do anything and everything in their power to achieve their goals and show their own superiority, regardless of the consequences and repercussions of their actions. The despair of these experiences causes a manifestation of a unique chakra within an Uchiha's brain, impacting the optic nerves and creating the Sharingan. The more advanced the form gets, the more it requires extremely painful experiences, which causes the user to delve into darkness until it utterly consumes them "
Yuril's breath was caught in her throat, because of how angry she was getting by the second.
Bullshit! How dare he slander them like this? What can he even know about the Sharingan? What does he even know about the Uchiha?
If such a rumor kept going on, they would be in some deep trouble. Public image was an important factor in politics, and if people started believing that the Uchiha were a bunch of twisted lunatics, how will they ever be able to negotiate on an equal footing with the others. Yuril was aware of her clansmen over the top passionate personalities, but if you phrase it like that, and give the whole thing a name as horrible as "The Curse of Hatred", you clearly are trying to push people into mistrusting them, and even fearing them, when all they had done was experience some very human emotions. Yuril could smell the stink of a dirty political machination taking place.
Looking around, everybody seemed to share his opinion. Mito had a smug look, Hashirama was looking everywhere but at them, and even Madara seemed to only glare at the Senju, with no intention to refute them. She put her hand on his to get his attention and asked. "Did you know that such rumors were circulating about us?" He didn't have to answer. His expression said it all. Fuck it! She needed a smoke.
Reaching out to her bag from the pile, she took out a small pipe and Tabaco. She really needed to figure out a way to make cigarettes. This was getting ridiculous, she felt like a James Bond villain. While taking her first puff, she asked Tobirama. "When you said 'clans', I assume you meant the Senju clan, right? You come up with this crap, and then you start telling it to other people as facts. I don't suppose that you have any kind of proof to back up what you are saying?"
She was clearly shooting at the messenger, but his self-sufficient, and matter of fact tone was a good enough excuse to do so. Tobirama was on the defensive. He knew that an argument was about to happen. And he was right. Taking a deep breath, he answered in a tone that he probably meant as understanding, but just came out as condescending. "It may be hard for you to admit, but we have seen it many times, and our theories are the only thing that explain the reality."
Yuril took another puff. " Interesting."
They all sat in an awkward silence for a couple of minutes. Finally, Yuril looked at the ceiling and said in a light and cheery tone. "You know, I have a theory too. Would you like to hear it?"
The frown on the albino's face deepened, but he didn't answer. She continued anyway. "I think that the Senju's incredible life force and vitality come from sucking out other people's life force. I believe that you have a dungeon somewhere in your compound, where you keep a lot of innocents, and every time you need something, you just go down there, pick up someone, and suck him dry to keep going.".
Hashirama and Madara gave have the same incredulous look. She avoided looking at Mito, because that would push her to commit murder, and instead focused her gaze on Tobirama, who was about to burst. She cut him off before he could start raging. "Now, of course, everybody in here knows that I'm just bullshitting. My theory has as much value as your own. It comes from the same hateful place, and tells a narrative that suits one of the involved parties, while greatly damaging the image of the other. And both of us have the same amount of scientific proof to back it up. Which is none. And yet, imagine this with me: Tomorrow, when the wedding is over, I will take an hour or two of my valuable time to come up with a better story than the one I just threw in after two minutes of thinking. Give it as many details as I can to make it believable, maybe throw in a couple of rituals, or some blood sucking. I'm a brilliant person, I'm sure I can come up with something good. And then, I will start telling it, just like you do with so much confidence. Maybe even use my identity as one of this word's top medical practitioners to spread the rumor about some disturbing stuff I found while doing an autopsy. Not many will believe it at first, but you have enemies other than us. They will pick up my story, add their own twist to it, and then spread it some more. Before long, ignorant, illiterate villagers start hearing about it, and then believing it. After all, you do have inexplicable healing abilities, and the resources to keep such a thing going on. How long do you think it would take before people start fearing your clan? Or start questioning the origin of your brother's kekkei genkai? It's kind of freaky that he is the only one to be able to awaken a power that was supposed to be a legend, don't you think? And it just happened to be a couple of years after the Uchiha clan birthed a genius that was surpassing all the Senju his age. Such a lucky coincidence."
Yuril's smug look was only rivaled by Madara's genial smirk. The Senju were at a loss of words from her threats. The other three, "sleeping", shinobi had stopped pretending, and joined them around the fire. Yuril gave the other group a harsh look. "You're not the only one to notice that the Uchiha are passionate people, to say the least. We are aware of that fact. But don't try using that against us. You can't take a couple examples and make a general rule about the whole clan. I'm sure that if anyone bothers to look, we will find people just as crazy and hateful in your clan's history too. Hatred, anger and despair don't pick or spare you because of your last name. They aren't something you can inherit at birth. That's the nurture part in 'nature VS nurture', motherfucker. If you don't believe me, take a look at your own father. You're a science guy from what I hear. Try telling me objectively that he isn't just as batshit crazy as mine."
The Tabaco in her pipe was almost gone. Everyone was just gazing at the fire pensively.
In a way Yuril was glad Mito had brought this up. She had been an advocate for peace with the Senju since day one. She had blindly encouraged her brother, and put her trust in Hashirama. She wasn't dumb, she knew that a lot of angry feelings and mistrust were looming over the whole ordeal, but she had had hope. Still did. But not if it would put her clansmen in harm's way. They were loving and hardworking people, and didn't deserve such a disgusting propaganda going on against them. As a former spy who had staged more than enough political incidents, this was her game. She knew of the effects rumors had in politics. How many good politicians and political agendas were ruined because of a tiny rumor about morality? How many "democratic" elections were won by carefully crafted lies? How many countries were destroyed because of people's suspicions?
Either this gets nipped in the bud, or she will personally make sure that everybody was on even ground when negotiations start. She had meant every word she had said before.
The elephant in the room couldn't be ignored anymore, so Yuril started. "Let's talk openly for a minute. I believe that all the people present in this cave know that Madara and Hashirama are working towards peace and a better world in general. Everybody here has a job, and they take it seriously. At least the Uchiha do. We have worked tirelessly for years to make change happen. And even if I don't know what exactly you have accomplished on your side, I have been willing to give you the benefit of the doubt so far. Peace will involve a lot of diplomacy and a lot of politics in the future, and don't you dare think that I will let you screw us over later, or come up with ways like this to destroy our public image and push us out of the sphere of influence. If peace is ever going to happen, it will be on equal terms with as much honesty and democracy as possible. Any funny business and I will show all of you what a true curse of hatred looks like when I burn your whole compound to the ground, with you in it. I hope you get that two can play at this game of slandering the other, and that from now on I will always be one step ahead of you. You don't want to play this kind of game with me."
She had smoked all her Tabaco, so she took out the small box for a refill, and got up to smoke near the entrance of the cave were she didn't disturb anyone.
But not before throwing Hashirama a harsh look and saying, "And you mister peace-and-friendship, you can claim your goodwill all you want, but it serves to nothing if you don't accompany it with some firm actions. If you can't even defend your friend from being slandered to his face by your hateful brother and cousin, how the hell do you think yourself capable of uniting the Uchiha and the Senju?"
And with that she stormed with the satisfied look of a mother who had just scolded her kids after they misbehaved. In a way, she felt just like that. She was now in her thirties, mentally, and she felt responsible for all these kids and their dreams. She won't let them go down a wrong path if she could help it.
But the truth was that she didn't know if she was helping.
As she stood facing the falling snow, she kept thinking about all she had done since coming to this world. Leadership roles were never her strong suit. She was brilliant and could follow a line of thought if she had to. Most of the time in her previous career she only needed a target's name and a goal. Command trusted her devious mind to come up with the rest. But she had no experience dealing with the bigger picture. She didn't have the kind of visionary mind that could see the world for what it was and decided on how to remodel it to fit her vision. Most of what she did these few years, was like now, just reacting to events created by others. She let her own position, emotions and views guide her. So, for all she knew, she could be hurting instead of helping. She could be acting selfishly when she thought that she was just protecting herself and loved ones. The philosophical wormhole she had thrown herself into probably had no correct answer, and yet she kept agonizing over it.
Madara came in to join her after a while. They both had their backs to the others, and he silently took her pipe and took a big huff. She jokingly said, " Your future bride might kick me out of your house if she thinks that I'm teaching you bad stuff."
He gave a laugh at that and gave her back her pipe. As they watched the snow fall, he said in a hushed voice so that the others couldn't hear them. "You made some good points earlier. Always knew that my baby sister can be one hell of a shrew when she feels like it." She didn't answer, and only raised an eyebrow, urging him to continue. "But it also feels nice to know that you're there to guard my back, you know. Even when I think that I'm being crazy, the fact that you're here helps. So if you say that you don't believe in the curse of hatred, I don't either. What I want to know is: What makes you think that their word can still be trusted? Even if you just gave them one hell of a scolding, you clearly still haven't closed the door on an alliance with them. If anything, this is the first time someone talked about it so openly.".
She just stared at the snow once again. "I already told you once, you can never know for sure what's in someone's mind. When the time comes, you will just choose to believe in them, or not. Trust your gut. It has showed on multiple occasions that it knows what it's doing."
The snowstorm was starting to die down. The two hours that followed Yuril's outburst were heavy on everyone. Nobody could go back to napping. They all just sat around the fire, as far away from each other as possible, lost in thought. When it became safe enough for them to travel, each group silently picked up their stuff and went to the entrance of the cave. The Senju watched as the twins summoned Yozora and Sora and mounted them in pairs. Izuna and Hikaku knew to fly away first, because Hashirama clearly had something to say to the other two. The rest of his group was waiting for him a few feet away, to give them privacy. He came closer to Yozora, with a determined look on his face and said, "I will make this right, I promise. I didn't see things in the way you put them before, but now I do. I won't let some baseless rumor stand in the way of our dream. Words don't hold much value, I know that. So I will prove our commitment to peace with actions."
Yuril raised an eyebrow and gave him the tiniest smile. "I'll be waiting to see it then. Oh, and also…".
Hashirama's signature mocking smile came. "I know. You were never here, we saw nothing. This past few hours never happened, you will deny it tooth and nail."
That made her laugh. And then Yozora took off and sped up to meet with Sora. Once their squad was complete again, Izuna asked. "So how did it go? Think you can trust them?"
Yuril gave Madara a look. Only he knew enough to answer that question. From behind her came his determined statement. " I don't know, it's too early to tell. Right now all we can do is keep working towards our own goals. And when the time comes, we will make sure that we are strong enough to get the best outcome possible for ourselves. That's all we have control of." His answer seemed to be good enough for the rest of the group.