Chapter Text
Foreword
Before I give this to you, I wanted to share with you a few things, if you don't mind (if you do, just hit next chapter below):
I got the idea for this writing other pieces. Some of you have heard me mention a larger piece inspired by my work Peach Flower. That larger piece (now on hold... because my cowriter has been MIA for over 4 months now and might be dead?) inspired "The Devil, the God, and the Magnolia." And then I got to thinking that strong, vibrant, badass Mito might be the whole reason Madara is fucked in the head. And that got me thinking of all kinds of things. Now I have this. I typically try to make romance a PART of a story, rather than the central focus, but in this I think romance IS the central focus. It's a controversial pairing, of course, so you're welcome to take it or leave it. I have plenty of other shit you can read, after all. Madara's going to seem a little OOC because *I* think he's hiding something to protect himself. Mito might piss you off. And Hashirama... well, he's always going to be adorably goofy, and I love him to bits. AND YES, EVERYONE IS BAD AT MATH. There, I said it. There's a whopping big secret hidden in plain sight here that no one seems to catch onto. Deal.
A note on the title: Using "Forever" seems a little cliche and cheesy for my usual work. However, the word and all of its meaning shows up throughout, and I think Madara's scheme to literally come back from the dead doubles up the meaning. His definition and Mito's seem to be a little different.
A note on ages: I use Seelantau's timeline on the Naruto wiki for most things. It's pretty damned good, but as most of you know, the Naruto storyline is convoluted and sometimes contradicts itself, so it's not perfect. For the purpose of this story, I made Madara and Hashirama the same age, Mito 1 year older, Izuna 5 years younger and Tobirama 3 years younger. I think that corroborates Madara being so protective of his younger brother, and Tobirama being so mature and responsible. At the beginning of the story, the Leaf Village cofounders are 18. Shinobi grow up fast, faster in a war era. I still wanted them to be a little hotheaded and inexperienced, though, so I started there.
My writing style is hasty. I know this. I have so many ideas clamoring to leave my imagination and be written down that I slam out stories faster than most. I edit them as much as I can, but I HATE writing tiny little details, like the angle of a hand or the way the wind is blowing. Fuck it. I do what I want. It makes it less vivid, but it lets me publish faster so I can move on. I'm trying to spend more time on this one, though, because I want it to be really powerful. Please, if you have the time to leave me a comment, I appreciate knowing if I am succeeding in entertaining you. Comments, in all honesty, make my day. I remember you when you leave comments, and I listen to your feedback. I have, on occasion, been known to write things especially FOR you, just because I want to make you happy.
One more thing: I try to be as canon-compliant as possible. (Spoiler alert?) I don't always succeed. So feel free to point out my flaws. I probably won't change anything, but I do like to know about it. It's fanfiction, though. Whatever. Most writers do whatever they want regardless of what I want to read, so HERE *pushes story at you* Just fucking read it. :P
Thanks for all of your support!
--Duckess