Madara was halfway through the speech he 'd spent hours preparing, in full view of the entire council of advisors, when his words stumbled and his entire body grew warm. From the other end of the table Hashirama and Izuna gave him looks of great concern. He avoided both of their gazes. After clearing his throat he cast around trying to pick up the threads of his carefully laid arguments and continue on but the stride had been broken, the careful build up he 'd been relying on interrupted by an untimely wave of something he really didn 't want to think about in a room filled with stuffy clan heads.

'We 'll have to think on this matter a little more, ' Yamanaka-san told him when he stuttered to a halt for the second time.

'Don 't give me that, ' Madara snapped. He knew as well as everyone else in the room what that meant. It meant no. 'I haven 't even gone over- '