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Once upon a time, there was a young man named Izuna who was beloved by the ocean.
Unlike the rest of his family who were bound to the land, Izuna craved the wide open horizons of the sea and the caress of the salt breeze on his skin.
So in love with the water was he that he never noticed when his older brother Madara formed a romance of his own. Until the day when Madara came home with the Heart of the Land, a glowing green gem that shone even in the darkest part of the night.
And, with it cupped in his hands, Madara grew strange and fey.
He no longer met the eyes of any of their family and always looked to the highest peak of the mountains. He did not sleep, had to be coaxed to eat, and acted as one who was no longer in the waking world.
Izuna, fearful of the change in his brother, tried to take the gem away, only to find that it could not be removed.
It was growing into his hands, becoming a part of him.
Terrified, Izuna begged Madara to tell him how the Heart had come into his possession, but Madara would only smile dreamily and talk of a young man with nut brown hair, skin bronzed by the sun, and a smile that reflected his own heart.
Their family knew not what to do.
Some of their village mourned Madara as if he was already dead, while others talked of sacrificing him to the god of the mountain. For who else could this young man be? How else could Madara have obtained the Heart of the Land? And they worried about what would happen to their home if the god of the mountain became angry.
Let him be the bride of the god, they cried. The mountain wants him, let it have him.
But Madara's family would not let him become a sacrifice and so a division grew between them and their village.
Izuna agreed with neither of these.
To keep his brother from the god, if it truly was the god, was folly.
But to sacrifice Madara, to allow him to walk up the mountain and die from exposure to the elements?
No! A thousand times no!
And so Izuna packed up their belongings, put Madara onto a raft of his own making, and poled them out to sea.
The further Madara got from the land, the more awake he seemed. He was able to talk sensibly, to eat and drink of his own will, and - finally - to sleep.
Izuna was filled with joy to see his brother returned to him, but it was not to be.
Madara confessed that what the villagers had feared was true. He had indeed wandered far, and met the god of the land. They had laughed, and lived, and loved until the god had given Madara his heart.
Knowing that it could only end in tragedy, for gods are not meant to love mortals, Madara had tried to refuse it.
However, the god would not take it back. It was his, the god insisted, and he would take no other bride, have no other heart.
And so Madara had run away, back to the village and the small life that he'd always known, only to find that carrying the heart of a god is a heavy burden indeed and one that he could not be released from.
Together, they wept bitter tears, crying at the terrible predicament that they found themselves in, and the salt water on their faces dripped into the ocean, merging with it.
As if summoned by their grief, out of the water rose a towering wave, many times the height of a man, that washed over their raft.
And when it flowed away, they found that they were no longer alone.
A young man, pale as the pearls that were occasionally found in the oysters that they caught and ate, knelt before them and he reached out to touch Izuna's face. “Why do you cry, my beloved? What has caused your heart pain?”
Izuna fell backwards, and would have toppled off the raft if a wave of water had not pushed him back upright. For all that Izuna had known that his heart was given to the ocean, he'd never before met the god of the sea.
Now his sorrow was enough to bring the god to him in person.
Madara stepped forward to protect his brother, knowing from his own experiences that this could only bring further disaster upon them, but found himself wrapped in chains of water and unable to move.
Faced with Tobirama, god of sea and storms, Izuna found himself pouring out his troubles as he'd always done since he was a child sitting on the beach.
When the tale was done, Tobirama sighed heavily.
His brother Hashirama, he told them, was an impulsive creature, filled with love for mortals and with a large heart. But, without the Heart of the Land or a lover to temper him, Hashirama would grow wroth with those who took his beloved from him and rain down fire on their village.
No longer the green god of growth and harvest, Hashirama would be the volcano that drowned their home in lava.
This terrified both brothers and they debated what to do.
Tobirama presented them with two choices. They could abandon their home, leave it behind, and Tobirama would take them wherever they wished, far from the reach of Hashirama; or they could return to their village, and he would accompany them to intercede with Hashirama on their behalf.
In either case, he would support them for love of Izuna.
With the power of a god behind them, the brothers returned home only to find the mountain already raging and their family fleeing.
Their father Tajima tried to persuade them to run away, but they refused.
So Izuna, cloaked in water, and Madara, cradling the precious Heart of the Land between his palms, climbed the mountain.
When they reached the lip of the crater, they found Hashirama, glowing all over like the lava he'd called out of the earth, and striped with dark lines. The god called out for his love, but Madara shook his head, offering the jewel instead. “I cannot hold your heart, Hashirama. It is too much for my mortal body and mind. Take this burden from me, my lord, and relieve me of this pain.”
Hashirama collapsed, keening with the pain of being rejected, and Madara ran to him, holding him with gentleness. Seeing them together, Izuna knew that they were truly united in love.
Tobirama separated from him, and walked over to cool Hashirama's fires. There was a way, he told them, but it would be a sacrifice on both their parts.
Madara could give his heart to Hashirama in return.
Hashirama, a god with a mortal heart, and Madara, a mortal carrying the heart of a god - they would be equal in strength and power. With Hashirama to support him, Madara would live forever, becoming a part of the mountain.
Madara and Izuna embraced, knowing that they would never see each other again.
Izuna walked back down the mountain, with fresh water seeping up from the ground to fill his every step, and into the ocean, never to be seen again.
So the village tells the story of how Izuna, beloved of the ocean, still lives in an undersea palace, decorated with pearls and coral by his love.
And they say that, if you climb to the very peak of the mountain and peer into the crater, you can see the giant forms of Hashirama and Madara always facing each other, united in stone and joined by the Heart of the Land.
The end.