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Mist had started to rise, which made Madara worry a bit. He knew it would take only half an hour before it would be so thick that none of them could see anything. Tightening his grip on the horse's reins, he glanced at the rest of his clansmen.

"Let's search for a safe place, and spend the rest of the evening and night there!" he told them. He heard a chorus of eager tones telling him they all could still go on, but Madara was having none of it. The mist was dangerous.

"Niisan, have you been listening to obasan's ghost stories too much?" Izuna's jovial tone questioned from the side as his brother rode next to Madara.

"Silence, Izuna. I won't budge about my decision. Now hurry up. The mist is rising quickly," he told his brother as he turned his look to the front of them to scan the nearby area. Despite looking forward, trying to find some safe place –a cave or forest, he could only see endless grassland. He could see Izuna making a face.

"Whatever you say, niisan," he huffed in annoyance as he then quickly joined Hikaku to the back of the line they made.

Before they had started their journey, Madara had sharpened to them all they would form a line if a mist would rise while they were still on move. It had been one of the things he wouldn't bargain, just like ordering half an hour later to connect each of them onto a rope by their horses. The mist had already gotten so bad by then, Madara could only see a couple of meters ahead of himself. The white mass was already clinging to his clothes, armor, and hair, making the air feel wet and a bit suffocating to breathe. Soon, they should stop to wait for it to disappear as it would block their full view.

"Everybody! Let's sing!" Madara shouted, making his clansmen groan. "Top of your lungs!"

A singing started to fill the otherwise eerily quiet air as all the Uchihas, except Kagami, sang old Uchiha folksongs. The songs told about fierce battles, lovemaking, and blood. The typical things, yet some of the songs' lyrics were quite graphic, making young Kagami flush deep red from his face and ears. This earned some hearty laughs from Hikaku and Izuna who were behind Kagami. Despite the fact they all still rode in a line; they could see the young Uchiha's flustered face.

"Come on Kagami, from the top of your lungs, just like our fearless leader told you so~," Izuna ordered teasingly to the youngster who flailed his arms like a baby duckling that tried to take a flight. Yet both Izuna's and Hikaku's amusement were cut short as they saw to their horror how Kagami lost his balance from the horse with a small thud.

The line didn't stop as the rope had been connected to their horses in such a way that there wasn't any way of knowing if the rider would still be on the horse if they did fall or not. The line just kept going, leaving Kagami behind.

"Niisan! Stop, stop!" Izuna shouted, alerting everybody in front of him, which made each of them stop and carry out Izuna's frantic message.

Stopping his horse, Madara turned around, yet he could barely even see Naori's face behind him anymore. A curse word slipped between his lips. The mist had reached them by now fully.

"Naori, do you've more rope?" he questioned as the woman nodded her head. Curiously, she watched how their leader got down from their horse and motioned at her to do the same. "Let's tie a new rope around our waists. Naori, help me by taking my horse."

"Of course, Madara-sama," the woman quickly agreed as once they had tied a rope around their waists, they started to move backward in the line, tying the rope around each of their clansmen's waist. Eventually, they got to the very end where both Hikaku and Izuna looked frantic manner behind themselves.

"Izuna, what happened?" Madara questioned, his tone steady.

"K-Kagami! He just…we didn't…"

"Izuna," Madara spoke Izuna's name, making his jittering brother freeze and turn his wide-eyed look toward his older brother.

"Kagami fell. But…once he did, he didn't shout after us. Not even…once," Izuna told Madara, who had walked so close to his brother and his horse that he could make out his features. There was primitive fear in his brother's eyes as all the old stories their aunt and mother would tell them came fully into their minds. The dangers of mist and its monsters.

"I'm so sorry," Izuna choked as Hikaku had gotten down from his horse and was offering the end of the rope to Izuna.

"It's alright. We'll find Kagami," Madara reassured his brother as he watched his brother tie the rope around his waist. "Everybody! Get down from your horses. Let's gather the horses together by one person. We'll then make a circle where our backs will be together. If the horses do end up escaping, do not, and I repeat, do not mind it. We have to stay together until the mist settles down."

He was met by murmurs of agreement as his clansmen did quickly as told. Once they had done as Madara had ordered them to, he clasped Izuna's shoulder.

"Izuna, I'll bring Kagami. While I'm away, you've got to act strong. Do you understand?" he questioned the younger one who nodded his head. Turning once again to Naori, Madara untied the rope between them to free himself. He then took another rope that he tied between himself and Izuna. His brother still looked a little bit nervous.

"Hey, hey," Madara told Izuna, bringing their foreheads together for comfort. "As long as we're connected, nothing bad will happen to me. Now trust your big brother."

Madara could see how Izuna gulped slightly before he gave him one of his cheekiest smiles.

"You better come back, or I'll bring our clan to its ruin, got it?" Izuna told Madara, who merely let out a humming agreement. He would definitely come back to his little brother and clansmen, once he would fish the lost one.

Once the rope between him and Izuna's waists had been fastened, Madara activated his sharingan. While it didn't grant him the ability to see through the mist, he saw every little detail within his sight much clearer. Nodding his head, he started to head the way they had probably come from. It was hard to say as the only thing he could really see was just endless whiteness. Because of that, Madara decided to focus on the ground as he started to walk. His clansmen's cheers were soon swallowed by the mist along with the rest of the noises. It felt like he had been dropped into a void as he kept going. He just hoped Lady Luck would be on his side and he would soon find Kagami as he knew his attempt was like trying to find the needle from the haystack: almost hopeless, but not impossible.

He would only give up when the rope around his waist would drill upon his skin and he couldn't go further. Before that would happen, he would search for the boy. It was his duty to take care of the boy, not only because Kagami was part of the clan, but also because this had been his first mission. A diplomatic mission to Uzushiogakure. It had been very bizarre occurrence as usually, Uzumakis liked to be kept by themselves. So, when they had sent an envoy stating they would make an alliance with the Uchihas, Madara had agreed. He knew if they could make them their allies, they could finally settle down to their huge Uchiha territory.

The Uchihas maintained a huge territory that they guarded against other clans, but unlike all other clans, they move all around their territory. But with Uzumakis by their side, they could finally build the village Madara had dreamed about. No more sleeping in make-shift camps.

The Uzumakis had agreed to move some of their own clansmen to this new village when the time would come. After all, once the other clans would learn the Uchihas had Uzumakis in their village, they wouldn't dare to attack against it. Uzumakis were descendants of fey folk, after all. The power was still there as Madara could still remember vividly Uzumaki Mito's brilliant green eyes when she had shown him fey bidding techniques. Otherwise, her eyes had been unnaturally pitch-black, almost like some beast's. But Madara hadn't been scared of her, which had impressed the princess. In fact, with the addition of Izuna being smitten by Mito's cousin Kushina, the alliance had been a piece of cake.

Now if they could only get home as a whole group, Madara felt the rope around him tightening. At least he wasn't walking in circles, which was reassuring. But there still weren't any signs of Kagami. His hope to find the youngest of their group was slowly fading as he knew even if they would do a proper search after the mist would settle down, there wasn't any guarantee Kagami would still be in this world.

Shaking his head and gritting his teeth, Madara took another step, just to let out an 'oof'-noise. That was it. He had met the limit of the rope. He should now just turn back and follow the rope back to Izuna and the rest of his clansmen. But Madara still scanned the area around of himself, wishing from every God and Goddess of a miracle. After all, Mito had told him as long as he would be faithful and remember the old teachings, anything could happen. It had obviously been her way of telling him to trust the fey folk, but not stupidly so. And like Mito had been foreshadowing, Madara saw a glimpse of Uchiha fan. Narrowing his eyes, he could make out the small back where the fan had been painted upon the armor that was protecting the tiny body.

"Kagami!" Madara shouted, yet there wasn't any movement. Had the boy perhaps hit his head when he had fallen down? Or was there something else wrong with him?

Gritting his teeth, Madara tried to take the few necessary steps toward Kagami, but the rope was drilling to his armor. If he would keep going like this, it would either be cut by his armor or make Izuna act rash manner and start pulling him back. He had to think. He could always take his armor away and tie the rope around his waist, but even then, he knew it wouldn't be enough. Tying the rope again to his ankle or wrist wouldn't either help. The fact was that it was too short, and he hadn't got any extra rope with him. While such a decision could feel stupid, to not take an extra rope with him, Madara knew lengthening rope with another one was always risky. It could give in and then what? He too would have gotten lost. Also, going back was out of the option as he knew he wouldn't ever be able to get back to Kagami anymore. He also knew if he had advised Izuna with tugging once meant this and twice meant that too would have caused their own problems.

Sighing, Madara knew what he had to do. He had to weigh down his two options: to either turn back and possible lose Kagami forever or risk his life too by dropping his armor and making his shirt act as a makeshift piece of rope when he would quickly grab Kagami, hoping no monster would decide to attack them when he would do it.

Really, it wasn't that much a decision as he already knew what he would do. Untying the rope around his waist, he did tie it for a moment around his ankle. He then carefully took his armor away and placed it down next to him. With a quick, sweeping look Madara looked around. So far, his sharingan couldn't detect anything. He then took his shirt off quickly, repeating his sweeping glance. Still, it seemed he was all alone with Kagami. This could work, Madara wished in his mind as he finally untied the rope around his ankle and tied it to his shirt's sleeve. He then grabbed the other sleeve, before he swiftly rushed up to Kagami, and with a quick swoop, he took the boy underneath his arm. They could make it, Madara thought, yet, just like his mother had always reminded him, he shouldn't count his chickens before they would hatch. It was like telling the opposite to the karma or whatever force was there.

As Madara turned back to the rope's way, he froze. Next to his shirt was a creature. A very humanoid-looking one, but still a creature, as no normal person had massive wings attached to their back, yet this one had. But what made Madara stare blatantly at this person was his ruby-like eyes. Those were shining like two little fires, reminding him of the sharingan. As his focus expanded slightly, he could also see red tattoos in the man's cheeks and chin. Otherwise, the humanoid-looking male could easily be lost upon the mist as he was so white. His hair had hints of silver, yet the way the mist's water bends the light that came to it, made it look white. His skin was also milky white, and his clothes were pure white. The same water bending effect applied to his wings too as those had hints of silver here and there, but otherwise, those were almost white.

A shuddering breath finally escaped from Madara's throat. This was it. This creature could easily cut his shirt to pieces and he would lose the rope and his way to others forever. He had royally messed up.

Yet he wouldn't give up without a fight as his hold from Kagami tightened. He would fight against this creature to his last breath–

"You're blessed, just like I," the creature suddenly spoke in a deep voice, sending a shiver down Madara's spine. Another shiver went down his spine as the creature was suddenly cradling his face between its hands. From this distance, Madara could see the creature was indeed a male and he was naturally very pale as even his eyebrows were white.

"Though, why do you have black dirtying your gifts?" the other male questioned, making Madara frown at this. The man holding his face felt ethereal. It would be best to act cautious manner yet not show fear. After all, that same trick had worked to Mito.

"It's called sharingan," he told the man as he figured the man was talking about his eyes. After all, what else he could be talking about?

Something, that looked like a curious sparkled upon the man's eyes as he then let go of him. Madara still kept the man in his line of sight as surprisingly he could see him fully, despite the thick mist.

"Is the small one yours?" he questioned, making Madara briefly glance at Kagami.

"He belongs to the same clan as I, so as its leader, in a way, yes," Madara answered back, gauging the man's reaction to this. It seemed he was most curious about Madara, more than anything else.

"How many others there are?" the strange birdman asked now.

"In here? Twenty," he told the other one who glanced where Madara's rope disappeared upon the mist.

"Why do you have a rope with you? Is it a custom with your kind or…does the black in your eyes stop you seeing in the mist?" he questioned, making Madara frown. When the man had been gazing into his eyes, he had noticed there hadn't been any pupils in his eyes. Then again, the sharingan didn't either. But what the birdman was implying…

"The mist doesn't hinder you?" Madara questioned, where the other one let out an amused smirk. It was obvious they had come to the same conclusion at the same time.

"Let me accompany you back to your flock," the man offered now, making Madara sweat drop. Right, the man was a bird, so of course, he would talk about a flock.

"I can manage," Madara told back a bit weakly, knowing he had managed to wake up the other one's interest, so getting rid of him so easily would be hard. The other one merely lifted his eyebrow, as if telling Madara they both were far too intelligent in this attempt of getting rid of him. "Fine, but if you end up trying to hurt even one of them–"

"You're blessed. I wouldn't dare to, but…" He tilted his head slightly before he plucked a feather from his wings. It made Madara wince, as he knew plucking feathers from birds could hinder their flight if they lost too much. A ghost-like smile appeared to the man's lips as he was obviously satisfied with Madara's knowledge. With a short flight back to Madara and Kagami, he placed one of his feathers to Madara's hair.

Slowly, Madara nodded his head as he felt he could at least now trust the man not to attack against him or his clansmen as long he would stay civil. Something about the animal fur around the birdman's shoulders told him, the man was capable of slaying big creatures with ease.

"I'm Uchiha Madara," Madara told the birdman, making the man barely hold back his grunt.

"Tobirama." It was obvious creatures like Tobirama didn't find it necessary to have the last name or he had thought Madara was foolish by giving his name so easily to him.

Nodding his head, Madara untied his shirt from the rope and then tied it around Kagami once he had checked the boy was alright. It seemed he had gotten a big bump to his head but was otherwise alright.

Even if Tobirama would end up betraying Madara, Kagami would still have a chance if Madara would just tug the rope enough. Surely Izuna would get the sign to pull and hard. Madara then dressed back to his shirt before he put his armor back. All this time Tobirama was watching him keenly like he had no shame.

"What?" he asked from the other one once he got a bit uneasy about his blatant staring.

"Why you wear so many layers?" he questioned Madara, making Madara stare at Tobirama for a good minute.

"I don't see you being shirtless," he remarked bluntly back. What appeared was mirth, lighting up in Tobirama's eyes.

Odd birdman, Madara thought as he started to head back. Yet as he did, he noticed how Tobirama stayed next to him, flying. His feet were barely touching the ground as he somehow managed to fly, despite the fact that his position was one of a walking person's. Madara also noticed Tobirama's wings barely moved as he flew.

"How does it feel?" Madara blurted, earning a lifted eyebrow look from Tobirama. "Flying." He elaborated.

"Freeing," Tobirama told him. "How it feels to walk everywhere?"

"We've horses, but…it's somewhat frustrating. I bet even with a horse; you would be much faster than I." Madara hummed thoughtfully as he glanced briefly at Tobirama's huge wings. Those were a sight to behold.

A soft chuckle escaped from the pale man's lips as he nodded his head.

"I'm much faster than anyone. Even faster than my big brother," Tobirama confided with Madara. It made Madara feel good, that Tobirama was telling him such a thing. While it would seem like a trivial thing, as a shinobi, he knew it wasn't. Having family members could always possibly used against you.

"I've got a younger brother," Madara told back, smirking. He could already imagine Izuna's shocked look when he would see Tobirama.

"What he is like?"

"Little spitfire who is also a big mood-bringer. He always gets into trouble, but I can always trust him to have my back," Madara told Tobirama, thinking fondly of his foolish little brother.

"My big brother is a bit of the same, except he is just a big dodo," Tobirama stated, making Madara tilt his head in confusion.

"But didn't dodos already go to extinction?" Madara asked as there were still some books about said birds. Apparently, those had been very stupid birds.

"If my brother keeps being the way he is…he will soon be," Tobirama remarked dryly, making Madara chuckle at this.

"It sounds like your brother needs constant watching over," he claimed as Tobirama lifted his other wing as if to shrug.

"Mostly, but luckily his bride has managed to drill into his thick skull some common sense, so he isn't as bad as he used to be," Tobirama sighed heavily. "How one managed to almost drown in a pond as a grownup is still beyond me."

That was it, Madara couldn't anymore hold back his laughter as he had to stop to laugh from this. While he laughed, he could see Tobirama's eyes widening from what appeared to be a shock.

"S-sorry, b-but…" shaking his head, Madara laughed a bit more, before he could once again make a coherent sentence. "The image of a grownup man, flapping his wings in a pond frantic manner while screaming he will drown…it's kind of amusing to imagine the afterward of the incident."

Blinking his eyes slowly, a full smile spread to Tobirama's lips as he nodded his head to this, agreeing. For some reason, Madara couldn't tear off his look from him as it was radiating one. Yet as he kept staring at Tobirama, he could now hear from the far distance singing, making him realize he had in fact been much closer to his clansmen than he had originally thought. Turning his glance back to the rope's way, he noticed how the mist was slowly starting to clear up already. Only water droplets were a reminder of the frightening mist.

Shifting his look back to Tobirama, Madara nodded his head toward the rope's way. A comfortable silence settled between the duo as they kept going, both of them feeling like there wasn't any need to speak anymore. It was almost funny, how Madara had been so cautious of this birdman at first when it was clear he was similar to them. Tobirama only had wings that truly made the difference. He obviously had a family he holds dear to him and because he hadn't yet struck down both Madara and Kagami, he could assume Tobirama wasn't a bad person. After all, it was obvious Tobirama was highly intelligent. He could have always followed the rope or…

"Wait, you implied the mist doesn't hinder your eyesight. How long…how long you were monitoring me?" Madara questioned, only now realizing this fact. He couldn't help but feel a small, cold sweat appearing on his brow. Tobirama had promised not to hurt his clansmen or himself, but who was to say there weren't more people like Tobirama? Not to mention, one couldn't ever be sure with a folk-like him.

It was obvious Tobirama wasn't fully human, so he probably belonged to the fey or at least his ancestors did. Sure, he could recall his mother and aunt telling him if a fey folk or their ancestors would make a promise, they wouldn't break it. They hated lies, they had told him, but Madara was human and he knew it was within human nature to doubt others.

As Madara looked at Tobirama, he could see the other one's disappointment. Madara couldn't blame him, because his question had sounded accusing, rude when all that Tobirama had shown him was pure curiosity.

He cursed himself inside of his mind. Him and his stupid caution. Just a moment ago, the mood had been light and almost merry, but now it was once again heavy like the mist that had been clinging to them. Tobirama wasn't the monster his mother and aunt had warned him, Izuna, and his clansmen about. No, it was them.

"Hey, it's a good thing to be cautious," Tobirama suddenly stated, before Madara could throw an extravagant pity party to himself. "If you hadn't rescued that little one and acted the way you had acted toward him, I would have cut the rope."

"Um, thanks for not murdering me?" Madara asked, his look puzzled.

"It's not me who would have done it, but the border ones," Tobirama explained to Madara, who still looked at Tobirama puzzled manner. "Look. What you've heard about misty places like this one is probably true. Humans, like you, get lost in here. Usually, my people wander in misty places, trying to find humans to either rescue them or not. Some deserve to get taken over the border by border ones while some, like you, don't."

"Why do your people get to decide it?" Madara asked, finding it odd how calm he felt when he asked that from Tobirama. The other one gave him a long look before he flew up to Madara and cradled his face once again between his hands.

"Really, you can't see with these eyes, can you? It's fascinating," he told, making Madara frown at this.

"See what?"

"Can you trust me?" Tobirama asked back, his look calm as he gazed into Madara's eyes. The other one merely huffed to this. He only lived once.

"A little bit," he admitted the truth to him, which made Tobirama smirk at him. It was apparent his answer had pleased Tobirama. The other one nodded his head before he gave Madara a kiss. It was so out of blue, Madara barely registered it, before Tobirama's lips were already gone.

Blushing deep red, Madara headbutted Tobirama who flapped backward awkwardly.

"What the hell?! I didn't-you! That was violating!" Madara sputtered to Tobirama, yet while he tried to collect his thoughts to understand just what had happened and why, he could see. Of course, he had seen before, but this time he could truly see. He saw everything clearly like it was the sunniest day ever. He could see his clansmen singing together, waiting with their horses. He could see that only a couple of meters ahead of them was a forest. He could see he was standing otherwise in grassland and he could see Tobirama.

Tobirama was probably the most curious-looking thing in his field of vision at the moment as Madara saw what appeared to be energy all around him. The energy that Tobirama radiated felt calm and serene, it reminds him of the tranquil water. It also splashed from time to time, like water droplets, making Tobirama look truly out of this world. As Madara blinked his eyes and looked down at Kagami, he could also see similar energy around the boy, but there were also hints of red in there. Frowning, Madara looked at Tobirama.

"All living beings have energy radiating from them. The color tells numerous things about the person, their ideals, and generally what kind of person they are. Like that little one, you're holding at the moment. He is friendly and curious by nature, but there is spiciness in him. He is also a bit hurt at the moment," Tobirama explained as Madara let out a shaky breath.

"I'm taking that my sharingan is now gone?" he asked slowly from Tobirama who nodded his head at first before he shook it.

"I just fixed your vision temporarily. It's obvious this sharingan is some sort of form or perhaps a mutation of blessed eyes because it helped you to see, but not truly see," he told Madara, making the other one slowly nod to this. This new discovery was starting to make things clearer in his mind. Like why the Uzumakis had agreed to the alliance and why Tobirama had been curious about him. It was obvious, somewhere along with the Uchiha history, Uchihas had too belonged to fey or at least was married to one.

It was a bit too much to take all in once.

"I need a drink," he admitted to Tobirama, who smirked a bit to him.

"Let me make you up to that kiss by offering you one," he agreed, making Madara huff to him. He still felt a bit wounded by the sudden kiss. Not because he had disliked it, but because Tobirama hadn't asked that proper manner for his permission at first. It wasn't alright to do such a thing, especially when they had just met. Apparently, Tobirama understood something about human customs as he bowed slightly to him.

"I apologize, but it was the fastest way to make you understand."

Resisting his urge to roll his eyes, Madara settled only to huff slightly to Tobirama while stating, "That drink better be out of this world!"

"Yes, yes," the other one merely said with a fluttering of his wings as Madara noticed how his vision was turned slowly to the way it had been. It almost made him huff again, yet he nodded his head. They had already wasted enough time with this, whatever 'this' was. He then started to lead them once again to his clansmen, the mist finally clearing fully by the time they stopped singing, obviously shocked by Tobirama's appearance. Madara couldn't blame them. He was fairly sure Tobirama looked like some sort of angel of death next to him and Kagami.

"Niisan!" Izuna was the first one to speak and react as he rushed up to his brother, easily dragging others with him. "How is Kagami?"

"He is alright. Just got a bump to his head," he told him as he then thrust the boy to Hikaku. He knew Hikaku would take good care of him until he would wake up.

"Right, right, but, what's up with the bird guy? Don't tell me you did me and decided to pick a stray home! You know how much mother hates when I bring strays home," Izuna scolded him, making Madara pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Izuna, he is a person. He has a name," Madara told his brother whose look morphed now into more akin to mischievous one.

"I see how it is. If you had just told your little brother you were that desperate to get a boy-…"

"Finish that sentence, and I will do something that you'll end up regretting greatly," Madara told his brother who was by now cackling. Resisting his urge to slap Izuna upside down, he turned to Tobirama. The other one was merely looking this all with an amused look in his eyes.

This all seemed already like a promising beginning of something and Madara couldn't wait to get to that drink with Tobirama. He was sure, if the recent events in this short period of time were to imply anything, it would be mind-blowing.