The Whisper || FullbusterFic » vonlane

Chapter 8: A Feeling

A tense silence had been made inside the cave. Minato couldn't do anything else but stare at his wounded hand and then look at the other one that strongly gripped Madara's glove. That man had saved his life twice during this dangerous competition and he continued to do so without knowing the reason why.

"He nailed a kunai into me to immobilize me," Minato said, taking Madara's glove off and seeing how the raven had already bandaged it. "Why...?" He began saying something, head cast down before a curious Madara. "Why are you helping me?"

"Who knows," Was Madara's only response. "Maybe... it was when I heard your horse's name. It's a beautiful name."

"It can't be because of that." Minato assured.

"Do you know what mine is called?" Madara smiled. "'Yoarashi'. Do you believe in coincidences, Minato?"

Upon hearing the name, Minato was paralyzed for a second. It was true that this changed something—  both had made a reference to the night in the names of their horses. It couldn't be some simple coincidence.

"For a moment, when I heard it, I thought that it was possible we'd have a connection, I don't know... but it can't be a coincidence that we'd think of something alike." Madara smiled. "And then there's your clan's matter: it's too weak now and you made me remember my brother's actions when he saved you from that ninja that tried to kidnap you— I don't know, Minato... you've created a weakness in me. I don't want to see you die here. You're too young to die in a place like this."

"I gave him that name because of the wind that blew that night," Minato said with a smile. "What's more... the wind is something typical in our clan."

"The day they brought me this horse, there was a great storm." Madara smiled.

"Perhaps we looked up at the sky at the same time." Minato added.

"It's possible. Come, get closer. I want to see how your hand is doing."

Minato moved the blankets over him and approached the fire where a few fish had been cooking— surely Madara had fished them out before closing the cave. With caution, Madara untied the knot on the fabric and began taking it off to check the wound. It had stopped bleeding, but the other could barely close his hand due to the pain. That kunai had been nailed through.

"It's going to leave you with a good scar." Madara told him.

"I don't care. I'm still alive."

"Yeah," Madara whispered, taking out a bottle of ointment from his clothes. "This'll help it scar faster."

"Ah!" Minato complained, trying to pull his hand away upon feeling Madara's fingers apply the ointment.

"I'm sorry, I can't do anything about the pain. It'll be difficult for you to fight with this hand for some time."

"That's fine, I'm alright."

"Deal with the pain a little. I have to heal this for you or it'll get infected."

Minato opened his hand despite it costing him to keep it open from the pain. The Uchiha's dark eyes fixed themselves upon the wound once more. The blood had clotted but even so, he could clearly identify where the hole from the kunai had been made. To be honest... it didn't appear like it had been a very decent battle. How could someone nail a kunai in someone else's hand? It was almost impossible to do that during combat.

"What happened?" Madara asked, sliding his fingers along the border of the wound as he applied the cream while his other hand fed him some fish so he could eat and recover his energies. "This isn't your typical battle wound. Did you lower your guard?"