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“Shikabane-hime,” Madara says, and he’s bowing.
Shikako gives Sasuke a deadpan look. This is all your fault.
How is this my fault? Sasuke sends back with a twitch of his eyebrow. This is all your luck .
Shikako shoots a look at the object he’s still holding. I’m not the one holding the bullshit Sharingan artifact.
“I am Uchiha Madara, current Head of the Amaterasu Lineage of the Uchiha Clan,” Madara continues, still bowed. Around him, the rest of the Uchiha clan bows as well. “We have asked for the intervention of the gods for one of our own, my younger brother Izuna, who is dying of a mortal wound. Please, goddess, grant us your guidance.”
Sasuke sends her an inquiring glance - all expectations and hope. You could save him - make it so that he never defects from Konoha.
Her instinctive response is Hell no, that’d change so many things in the future , but they’re already here, aren’t they? They’re very presence causes a change. Did they cause a branching universe? Is this a time loop and they were always supposed to be here?
Uchiha Izuna dies. Uchiha Madara defects. War comes to the shinobi nations.
Can she stop it before it ever begins? Is it worth it to try?
She thinks of Asuma and Hayate and all the people who were supposed to die in the original narrative. She’s already changed things - what’s one more? Can she live with herself if she turns away from a dying man?
The answer is yes. She’s not a medic, nor has she taken any vows. Even shinobi medics wouldn’t save an enemy. There is no such thing as the Red Cross here, and she already knows she can sleep soundly if it means her precious people are safe.
“Please,” Madara says, and he shuffles to the side and oh –
Izuna looks just like Sasuke - if Sasuke had grown up on strife and war and pain. There’s a wound across his torso - not critical in their time - more than so in this era.
He’s not the only wounded. Shikako can sense more flickering lights - people injured and dying - but Izuna is the one closest to death.
She could change things - make the future better or worse. Her gaze flickers to Sasuke, who’s staring at the clan with confusion and wariness and longing .
A butterfly flaps its wings, and a hurricane is born.
How many ripples in the water will this make?
She owes it to her loved ones to try. She owes it to Sasuke to Naruto to Kakashi to everyone she has ever called friend and family.
“The quality of mercy is not strained,” she whispers to herself, just loud enough for Sasuke to hear, and takes a step forward.
In front of her, Madara stiffens, torn between putting himself between a god and his brother and staying in place for fear of offense.
“I will heal him,” she says, “but it will be up to him to decide if he wants to live. This is the fate for all your wounded.”
Madara sucks in a quick breath. “You will heal all of them?”
“I will give them a better chance.”
The clan murmurs, low voices and whispers.
“But there is a price,” Shikako says.
“What is it?” Madara asks.
“I will require sustenance,” she says, because chakra doesn’t come from nowhere.
“Agreed.”
“–and I want your children.”
Behind her, she can feel Sasuke’s chakra erupt in a flurry of betrayal - confusion - fear - protective and he pulses his chakra - seeking hers out and asking for proof of identity. She sends him back it’s me - trust - peace - hold , and he settles, fully trusting she knows what she’s doing.
In front of her, the clan has erupted into angry voices - fear and rage and betrayal in their chakra sparkling like logs on a fire. Madara stands still, heartbreak in his eyes and in the slump of his shoulders, even as he steps between her and his brother, knees bending in preparation of a fight.
“That is a price we cannot pay,” he says, voice raspy and devastated.
“I want your children,” she repeats. “I want their lives.”
When he shakes his head once more, swallowing hard, she continues, “You are not to send them out on the battlefield when their childhoods have not begun,” and watches as Madara’s eyes shoot up to meet hers, “for their lives are in my hands and you do not get to throw them away.”
“My goddess–” Madara finally manages to choke out.
“You will bring peace to this land, Uchiha Madara, head of the Uchiha Clan,” Shikako says, and the sheer joy in Sasuke’s chakra and hope in Madara’s causes her to soften into a smile. “Do you agree to these terms?”
“Yes.”