Lady and Ghost (A Madara Uchiha Story) Naruto fanfic

Chapter 7: Flower Buds By The Riverbank

A/n: Listen to 'Somewhere Only We Know' original by Keane covered by Elizabeth Gillies and Max Schneider for better reading experience.

        Madara's hair colour is sometimes black with a dark blue pigment and in some frames simply ink black. I'm sticking with ink black/charcoal black since female lead's hair colour is dark blue.

      Italicized lyrics- Crazier, Taylor Swift
  
     Enjoy.
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ʀᴏsᴇs ᴀʀᴇ ʀᴇᴅ
ᴘʀᴏʟᴏɢᴜᴇ

We were both young when I first saw you
I close my eyes
and the flashback starts
I'm standin' there
-Love Story (Taylor's version), Taylor Swift
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[In the eyes of Madara Uchiha]

        I was a ten year old boy when I encountered a child just like me by a riverbank. Skinny and dramatic with bangs like a coconut. He became my friend and rival. It was a friendship that felt just right, as if willed by destiny.

I walked across an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand

       Once again, I treaded through the familiar path to that place only we knew. I remembered all the trees and the shrubs I ran past like the back of my hand. It was a desolate place that no one knew of.

      Someplace, I didn't have to be an Uchiha. I didn't have to be a child soldier. I could only he a child. And have a friend and just... Be myself.

I felt the earth beneath my feet
Sat by the river and it made me complete

[Felt through the skin
of Hashirama Senju]

        I know that I am naive and stubborn. But even then, it didn't stop me from being hopeful. I have a friend, who understood. Who is just like me. Handsome and rough around the edges.

       It was a bond that filled the hole in my heart. I didn't have responsibilities, by that riverbank where only my friend and I knew.

       I'm the older one and most of the time I bested him. We were rivals at the same time, pushing the limits of our prowess together.

       The forest surrounding me was a natural feeling. A connection I felt with the earth resonated with my soul. Beneath my sandals was the earth, all too familiar.

       I reached the river and the soft bubbling muse of the gentle flowing fresh water waved over a feeling of peace and serenity. Small ripples echoed from the bank with soothing whispers of the trickling water.

Oh simple thing, where have you gone?
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on

       Hashirama watched the river flow. He was young, only ten years old and yet he was old enough to know what death had meant and so did any children his age and all of them he'd met.

       Something so simple as being a child, to run free and be innocent was a luxury the children of the warring states could never have.

       As he grew older, more was expected of him and Hashirama looked desperately for something to hold on to. Like a fever dream. A hopeless, fairy tale dream.

So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and

       Madara shared the same sentiment. He had only lived ten years on earth and yet, those short years had exhausted him. He would never admit to anyone but he feared growing up and growing old in the battle field.