Acquired Love by Time

by darkaiyo

Summary:

Team 7 didn't make it in their fight against Kaguya in different dimensions. So the Sage of Six Paths grants reanimated Hokage a chance of fixing it all before it started, but only one can go. They chose Tobirama Senju because he knows Uchiha better than anyone else and has the best chakra control over all of them.

When he woke up in his 9 year old body next to his long dead twin, Tobirama swore he'd prevent Kaguya from coming back. And for that he must watch Madara closely in order to catch Black Zetsu and deal with the source of the disaster himself.

And what's the best way to closely watch someone from their enemy clan if not marrying them?

or

Time travel Tobirama AU, where Tobirama decides to marry Madara to prevent The Fourth Shinobi war.

Chapter 1: Prologue

Tobirama couldn’t believe it actually worked.

The idea was curious, intriguing, but honestly ridiculosly far-fetched. Because it shouldn't have been possible. Space-time seals were hard to control and any mistake could split one into pieces through time and space. Tobirama knew all the dangers these kinds of seals implied: he created one before.

But before he didn’t have the support of a damn Sage of Six Paths. And of course, he didn’t have an indestructible body. Hiraishin allowed the user to move really fast through space, but it would punish them if they tried to cheat time too much.

That’s why it had never even occurred to him to try to travel through time, not just space. Not to mention to travel so far away in the past.

But it worked. He found himself in his nine-year-old body, in the house he once called home. He could feel Hashirama’s chakra in the next room. Quiet, sleeping, alive. It wasn’t as strong as Tobirama remembered it, now he was still an untrained child: it was unpolished, unlike it on the battlefield that Tobirama had just left.

And next to Tobirama was… his twin. Itama. Sleeping, curled up around his blanket, frowning at the morning sun that shone from the window through curtains just at his face. Itama’s chakra was smooth like silk, soft like a pillow and so, so alive.

Tobirama felt his heart and lungs squeezed, as if by some large hand.

He’d never ever let Itama fade away again.

The only downside was that he couldn't feel Kawarama’s chakra. It seemed like he was already dead. Pity. The grief at losing his brother crushed him once more, causing him to close his eyes and offer a silent prayer, apologizing for not being there for Kawarama once again. Kawarama was so young, even though he was older than Tobirama and Itama.

Still, he was just a child.

But he couldn’t blame everyone who helped him to make this jump. They gave all their power to fix the timeline from the destructive goddess. They shot him back through so many years already. He couldn’t blame them for not sending him a little further. There would be no logic in senseless blaming and what-ifs. The right thing to do was to concentrate on the present. And become better. He had to.

He couldn’t save Kawarama, but he was going to save Itama. It was already much more than Tobirama could ever ask. Who else got this kind of a second chance?

He could prevent the Fourth War. And wars before that. He could prevent all downsides of their village. He could prevent Danzo from growing up so suspicious of the Uchiha clan. He could save the Uchiha clan from being massacred by their own child by making sure that the Uchiha clan was part of the village.

He could save Izuna from being killed by Tobirama’s hand.

He could save Madara from insanity, from getting obsessed by delirious dreams. From being influenced by Black Zetsu.

Right, Black Zetsu. He needed to do something about him. He was the main reason that the whole disaster even happened.

But he was quite elusive. It was hard to sense him even for Tobirama and he didn’t have a good understanding of what exactly he could do and what he actually was. Not a human for sure. But he knew that Black Zetsu was the one who manipulated Madara’s feelings and pushed him to insanity. That would not do.

Of course, the easiest course of action was to simply kill Madara and destroy the whole clan. It’d be easier and would require less planning.

But Tobirama refused to go on this path. Hashirama would be destroyed if Madara died. He was once, when he thought he killed him by his own hand. He died believing he killed his best friend. It was heart wrenching to see Hashirama so utterly heartbroken. Tobirama would like to free Hashirama from this pain if he could help it.

Also there was no guarantee that Black Zetsu wouldn’t find a new pawn to play along with his plan. The Uchiha clan, at least, was a known variable. Tobirama knew them. He battled them, worked with them, even taught some of them. It was easier to notice them crumbling by Black Zetsu’s influence than trying to catch someone entirely new.

So, now his plan was to actually get closer to Uchiha, not to kill them all or try to control them like feral beasts. What a novice experience.

Tobirama scowled at the blurry ceiling. Being back in his early childhood, he didn’t yet have the seals which helped with his poor eyesight. It wouldn’t be an easy feat to live like this again. Of course, he still had years before he had acquired his reputation as an Uchiha slayer, but still they wouldn't allow Senju on their lands, especially close to the main line. They wouldn’t trust him.

“Bibi-chan? Are you awake?” his thoughts were disturbed by his little brother, who just woke up and sleepily rubbed his eyes with a fist.

He never thought about it before, they were the same age after all, but Itama was such a cute child. Tobirama always loved children and his brothers. But seeing them now like this…

He never thought he could love them even more.

“Good morning, Ita-chan. Did I wake you?” Tobirama asked, sitting up on his futon and softly smiling at his brother.

“Only by thinking so hard,” Itama huffed, also sitting up and crawling into his brother's arms for a hug. How could Tobirama ever deny him? “What were you thinking about? World domination?”

“Ah, you can say that,” Tobirama smiled, ruffling two-toned hair. “Would you be my right hand man?”

“Sure! If we are the one dominating the world then no one would ever fight, ‘cuz we’d be so strong we’d stop any fight!” Itama giggled, rubbing his cheek in Tobitama’s neck, scenting him.

They always did this, Hatake blood was strong in them. Tobirama understood it only when he got older. Why it was so important for him to have scents of his close ones on him. Although, admittedly, his sense of smell wasn’t as superb as a Hatake’s, it still brought him comfort.

He didn’t remember how many nights he had spent with his nose in Itama’s clothes after his death, trying to catch the last notes of his scent.

“It’d be nice to never fight again,” Tobirama smiled wistfully. He never actually shared his own dreams with Hashirama, but Itama knew all of them. Itama had always listened and supported him.

“Yeah! And then we can do whatever we want to! And then you will get married and have a lot of kids!” Itama's smile widened and butted his head against Tobirama’s shoulder.

Okay, this was new.

“Huh? And how did you come to this?” Tobirama asked, arching his pale almost see through brow.

“You told me yesterday, silly. Did you forget? You said you want to have your own kids and that you’d never treat them like chichiue treats us. That you’d never send your kids to die, like Kawarama…” Itama’s voice became quieter with every word.

Tobirama hugged him tighter, pulling him closer.

Admittedly, Tobirama didn’t remember every other conversation he had with Itama. Tobirama died when he was 39 years old. It’d be impressive if he’d remember what he and Itama talked about when they were 9. He’s smart, but not that smart.

“I have to get married first,” he said after a while. “I don’t think I’d be the best candidate for marriage.”

“It’s okay, you’re really pretty. Any girl would like you! Or boy!” Itama smiled, tugging at his twin’s hair.

Tobirama smiled back. Itama, as usual, knew him better than everyone else.

“I’m glad you think so,” Tobirama said untangling himself from his brother. “We should get ready or chichiue will scold us for sleeping in.”

“Yeah, yeah…” grumbled Itama, standing up to put away their futons. “Gonna train today? You have to be strong to get married well!”

It was meant to be a joke and teasing. But…

“Huh. Maybe I will…” Tobirama said thoughtfully. “Maybe I will…”

“Sometimes you’re so weird, Bibi-chan.” 

---

Art by yours truly:

Chapter 2: Saving Itama and imitating normal human beings

Being a child again was annoying . No one listened to him, no one took him seriously. Did he really have to wait for all these years to get a decent pair of shinobi pants? Should he always explain himself when he asked for sealing ink and paper to study and make more explosive seals or storage scrolls? He didn’t even try to ask for special imported sealing ink for his tattoos.

 

Being an adult for so long, Tobirama forgot how it was, when his life didn’t belong only to him, when his every move was monitored and approved by someone else. 

 

Of course, some might say that this was exactly the way shinobi lived in Konoha.  But no, it was different. Hokage wouldn't berate his shinobi for eating more vegetables or being angry that they didn't fall asleep on time.

 

Ridiculous. Inefficient. Annoying.

 

He couldn't wait to be older again. But first he needed to make sure Itama survived his childhood. 

 

It was actually stupidly easy. As far as his opinion was questioned because he was a child, he was a trusted shinobi. Being serious and never caught on pranks was doing wonders for his reputation in the clan and his father’s opinion of him.

 

“Chichiue, are you sure it's wise?” asked Tobirama, when his father gave Itama the Mission. “Itama is not much of a fighter.”

 

Itama glanced at him, but said nothing. But the stubborn press of his lips said everything Tobirama needed to know. As much as Itama didn’t like to fight, he was not bad at sparring. His usual opponent was Tobirama, after all. So yeah, he definitely felt offended. 

 

Tobirama paid him no mind. Itama would thank him later.

 

His father huffed, looking from the mission scrolls he was browsing to see if there was something he could give to Tobirama, since Itama already got his mission.

 

“You dare to question me, boy?” he asked, annoyed, but not yet mad. “Itama needs to toughen up. He can't always hide behind your or Hashirama’s back. And it's a simple courier run, it doesn't even have a deadline. Itama can't always sit in the compound and laze around. Stop coddling him.”

 

“I'm not sure it's wise to send him alone, since there is a group of Uchiha near our borders. They don't move much, so it might be an ambush. Perhaps, Child Hunting Squad?” said Tobirama standing up and pointing at the map on the wall where the Uchiha were hiding. 

 

Tobirama could feel Butsuma and most importantly Itama’s surprise in their chakra. He didn't tell anyone about his ‘progress’ in sensing yet. Could he even call it ‘progress’ if he just uses knowledge from the future? 

 

Sensing depended mostly on his concentration and ability to differentiate chakra signatures. So it came to him with experience and he had that in abundance. It could be hard to explain, if someone asked, but Senju didn’t produce these kinds of sensors. It came to him from his mother’s side.

 

“Are you certain?” Butsuma put the scrolls on the table. Tobirama nodded. Butsuma felt more thoughtful. “You have trained your senses well. To be able to feel the borders…”

 

Tobirama felt like it would bite him in the ass later, but for now he needed to concentrate on Itama’s mission. But he noted not to mention that he could actually sense not only clan borders, but the whole Fire Country and a little bit further. 

 

“There’s five shinobi. Chun–," wait, no, there was no such thing as chunin rank yet. No village meant no ranks at all. “Ah, middle level, but it's already more than Itama could handle.” 

 

Itama’s chakra curled in fear and he noticeably froze in place.

 

“Hm, true. Child Hunters, you say?” Butsuma looked at the map and then at Tobirama. “You've got yourself a mission, Tobirama.”

 

Itama’s chakra felt like he wanted to protest, but Tobirama sternly looked at him and he closed his mouth. Hm, it seemed like ‘the Kagami look’ worked well on his brothers as well. 

 

The mission was simple. Lead older Senju to the Uchiha, while Itama acts like a bait. Tobirama's role was mostly tracking Uchiha and protecting Itama and himself just in case. 

 

Though without a doubt the older Senju will get an order to protect them by any means necessary. They were heirs after all.

 

Even if one could describe Butsuma as a heartless, shitty father, he didn't actually want to lose more of his children if he could avoid it. Plus destroying a whole squad of Child Hunters would be a great bonus in his eyes. 

 

As far as Tobirama didn't want to kill Uchihas, he was not going to have mercy for someone who killed his brother in the first timeline. Even if he didn't kill them himself, which would've been more satisfying, ensuring that his brother was safe was much more important. 

 

Itama felt nervous when they left to prepare for the mission together. 

 

“Don't worry, Ita-chan. I won't let anything happen to you,” Tobirama said with conviction and determination that he used when leading his shinobi to the First Great War.

 

“We're going to be the one playing bait… And Uchiha…” Itama looked at the floor, fidgeting with the bondage that he used to keep his pants in place. 

 

Right, this was Itama’s first encounter with Uchiha. And once, it was the last. 

 

“Don't worry, Ita. We will have a whole team with us. I heard Touka will come too,” Tobirama smiled, taking the bondage from Itama and helping him secure it on his ankles.

 

Yes, maybe he actually coddled his younger brother. Sue him, he grieved his brothers’ death his whole life. 

 

“Touka-nee-san?” Itama asked, surprised. “She is strong!”

 

“Exactly. She'll deal with Uchiha while we will go to the client and take the package,” Tobirama nodded. 

 

Touka, for her age of 14, was already a really strong shinobi. Even though many Senju didn't like her much, since she was a woman on the battlefield. But they couldn't deny a strong warrior going to the battlefield, could they? 

 

“Maybe chichiue will see reason and won’t send us on these kinds of missions on our own anymore,” Tobirama signed. He hardly believed it. But now he could at least monitor his brothers with sensing and send reinforcements, or even come himself with Hiraishin.

 

He already marked all Itama’s clothes with it at night, so he wouldn't have to worry. 

 

The only problem with Hiraishin in general was that he didn’t have the right kunai and no one would make them for him soon. Ugh, being a child was annoying!

 

“You didn’t tell me about your sensing,” Itama pouted. Well, it was expected. Tobirama always told him everything. But now he had way too many secrets to hide.

 

“I didn’t notice it got so much better,” Tobirama lied, shrugging. He got training for his senses while he was visiting Uzushio in the first timeline. “I noticed Uchiha only because their chakra is always fire-natured and they have more chakra near their heads if they awoke the Sharingan.”

 

“It’s so cool!” Itama said in awe, but quickly scrunched up his face. “Ugh, we’re twins, but only you have something cool like that!” 

 

“Don’t sell yourself short, Ita-chan. You, at least, understand people better,” Tobirama stood up as he was done with Itama’s wrappings and started to prepare himself.

 

“You just don’t bother, Bibi-chan. People are interesting! If you’d try to imitate me or others, people would like you more,” Itama said, fixing his clothes and shrugging on his armor. 

 

“Pass. I’d rather study chakra theory.” Tobirama scrunched up his face. 

 

That was his automatic response, but then he remembered his own mission not only to save Itama, but to save the world. He paused for a second, thinking this through. 

 

“Though maybe you’re right. I do need to understand people better,” he said carefully. 

 

“That’s the spirit! So are you ready? You’re slow, Bibi-chan!” Itama was already waiting for him at the door of their room.

 

No one in their right mind ever called Tobirama slow before… 

 

“I was the one who helped you!” He threw a pillow to his brother’s laughing face.

 

---

 

“Hey, squirts! Ready for the big mission?” Touka jumped at them, where they were standing near the big gates that were mostly trees, than usual wood, waiting for the rest of the team. Touka ruffled the twins' hair, making a huge mess of them.

 

For Tobirama, who never bothered to try to tame his wild hair, it didn’t make much difference, it was more annoying, and in his cousin’s case a little painful, so he just swatted Touka’s hand away. But Itama screamed, jumping away from their cousin, trying to put his hair in order and separate colors on their designated sides.

 

Touka laughed at him and tried to jump him once more.

 

“Stop it, Touka. We don’t want our cute little baits to look unpresentable, ne?” the older Senju asked, walking towards them.

 

It was Kosuke. He’s a good pick for this mission. He was stealthy, but still could give a good hit. He was good. Tobirama would say that he could be tokubetsu-jonin if he’d measure his clanmates as Konoha nin. 

 

“Don’t scare them even more, dumbass. They’re what, five?” the other voice joined in. Kosuke was slapped on the head by an older man. Takeshi, good leader and experienced shinobi. Jounin.

 

So, with Touka they had a good balanced team on their side. Touka’s genjutsu and taijutsu, Kosuke’s stealth and ninjutsu and Takeshi’s leadership and overall well-rounded skill set. The once Niidaime highly approved this team composition. Though he would like not to send nine year olds on any mission, except D-rank, at all.

 

“We’re nine!” squeaked Itama, pouting. Cute.

 

“Yeah, that’s what I said,” Takeshi’s eyes narrowed with mirth and a smile. 

 

“Does our age really matter? What’s important is the mission,” Tobirama said, crossing his hands. He was done with people pointing out how actually small his body was. 

 

“Always so serious, little cousin,” Touka laughed and tried to ruffle his hair again, but he slapped her hand away before it could even touch his head.

 

“Ow! You’re hurting my heart, baby cousin,” she pouted, rubbing her hand in mock hurt. 

 

“You will recover. Mission?”

 

“Yes, yes, so details…” Takeshi was about to start his explanation, but was interrupted by loud yelling, making them all turn towards the noise. 

 

“Ahhh! Tobi-chan! Ita-chan!” Hashirama, whose chakra felt a bit dischived and frantic, ran towards them, waving his hands. “You’re leaving?!”

 

He slammed at them with his full speed, knocking them off their feet. Touka shamelessly laughed at them and the older men just signed. They were the heirs after all and everyone got used to Hashirama’s antics. No one tried to scold him for being too affectionate with his siblings, especially after Kawarama died.

 

Tobirama just let it happen. He’d grow out of it, he knew that for a fact. But for now he had to indulge him or his older brother would sulk for a whole week that his baby brothers didn’t love him anymore. Even though being slammed with a whole sturdy 12 year old fucking hurt.

 

“Yes, Anija, we have a mission,” Tobirama grunted, trying to widdle away from his brother’s grip. 

 

“I thought only Itama would go! I thought I could finally have baby Tobi for myself for a while!” Hashirama said, gripping them harder and squashing his cheek at Tobirama’s. Itama made a choking sound and, at the same time, scandalized noise.

 

“Change of plans, squirt. We’re taking them both,” Touka said, when she was done laughing and was just giggling a bit from time to time.

 

“Aw, no fair!”

 

“Anija, let go!” squeaked Itama, trying to overpower Hashirama’s hands. Futile. Hashirama was much stronger than him. 

 

“No way! Now that you go on a mission I must hug you more!” Hashirama said, squeezing them once again. 

 

Both Tobirama and Itama made suffocating noises. As much as Tobirama wanted to indulge him, since Kawarama died not so long ago and he completely understood his worry, he could go without asphyxiation before the mission.

 

Hashirama stopped trying to strangle them only when they heard two loud claps behind them.

 

“Okay, okay, esteemed heirs, hugging time is over. We have to brief the mission,” Takeshi said, looking at all the children sternly. Right, he had kids of his own, if Tobirama remembered correctly.

 

“Fine, fine. Keep each other safe, okay?” Hashirama let them go and stood up from the ground, but placed his hand on each of the twins' shoulders.

 

“Sure!” Itama smiled at Hashirama. He loved their elder brother's affection. Especially when it was not used as a strangling technique.  

 

“I’ll do whatever it takes to keep Itama safe,” Tobirama promised seriously. It was a promise not only to Hashirama, but to himself too. 

 

“Good. Good luck,” Hashirama beamed and let go.

 

“Aw, don’t I get a hug?”

 

“Ah, how could I forget!” Hashirama slammed at Touka, who laughed and actually was the one who taught him these kinds of hugs and enjoyed them. Tobirama hated her for it a bit.

 

“Touka…” Takeshi signed. Tobirama resonated with it. It'd be awhile when they could start the briefing.

 

---

 

The twins were running as fast as they could through the forest, their footsteps echoing through the eerie silence. They ran near the ambush, but didn’t quite cross them, choosing to detour a bit deeper into the Senju territory. It wouldn’t be the usual route, since it would take more time for them, but they had to investigate whether the pursuers were truly after them or there was some other motive at play.

 

The more time went by, the more Tobirama felt a growing sense of unease. The mission smelled fishy from the start. What were the chances that Uchiha intercepted the information about the mission just to kill one more Senju kid? Or that the client would appear to be an Uchiha in disguise? That was exactly the type of mission clans sent their kids to do. Messengers, couriers. If they knew that the clan got this type of mission and their destination, it’d be so easy to catch a child and kill or steal them. 

 

Still, they agreed to this mission, they had to finish it. If it was a trap, and there was no client at their destination, instead a shinobi craving their blood, he would just teleport them near home, consequences be damned. 

 

Had Itama been alone, unaware of the situation, he might have fallen directly into the Uchiha's clutches. Again. The thought sent shivers down Tobirama's spine.

 

But now, using Tobirama's intel, their objective was to lure Uchiha right into their team’s hands. 

 

Uchihas noticed them. They were close enough that Tobirama could sense their chakra pulsing with excitement, predatory intent, and even a hint of relief, despite their attempts to conceal it. Probably didn’t bother much, since they were after children. Easy prey.

 

Of course they didn’t know about Tobirama’s senses. Tobirama noticed them yesterday, so they were laying in wait for a while and only now they could surge. So they were after them. They went right into Senju territory just to chase them.

 

Before the Uchiha claimed that Itama was killed because he crossed their border. 

 

Bullshit.

 

It was a Child Hunter Squad.

 

Followed, Tobirama signed. 

 

Itama nodded, looking a shade paler than usual.

 

Even though they were kids with much shorter legs, they still could keep Uchihas at bay. This was the Senju territory, they knew it better.

 

Plus he could feel their team near. They should cross them soon.

 

“Well, well, well. What do we have here? Two little mice thought they could slip away unnoticed?” a man appeared before them, forcing them to stop and pull out kunai. 

 

Probably a squad leader. He hid his chakra well. Tobirama cursed. He didn’t feel him separating from his clanmates on the move. Did he get rusty while he was dead?

 

Itama looked at him in panic, keeping quiet but frantically sending chakra signals.

 

“Uchiha. You are trespassing Senju lands,” Tobitama said, by habit, trying to sound intimidating. But he still had the squeaky voice of a 9 year old. 

 

The man laughed. 

 

“Oh really? I didn’t notice,” he said sweetly, clearly mocking them. “So, little ones, wanna play? We promise it'll be fun.”

 

The other four fire-natured signatures appeared behind them, closing their way of retreat. 

 

“Five adults and two children? Not really fair, is it?” Tobirama scoffed, just in case, kneading his chakra to cover their escape with water. 

 

“Oh, little mouse. Soon you will find out that life is not fair at all,” the Uchiha said, pulling his sword from his back. By the sounds of it, the others followed his suit.

 

“Then we should level the field, huh?” asked Touka, swinging her naginata in the move to behead the leader.

 

The other Senju appeared behind every Uchiha. Tobirama could hear, some Uchiha dodged, some were killed instantly. But he had no time to appreciate his clan’s skills.

 

“Itama, come on,” he said, catching his brother’s hand and moving them away in Shunshin.

 

This jutsu wasn’t actually known in Senju or Uchiha yet. This technique was copied by some Uchiha when they were about 20 and later they shared it with the village as a sign of good will.

 

Didn't matter. At least his brother was safe now. 

 

“Wha–. Bibi-chan what was that?” he asked, eyes wide. Itama looked around, finding the battle between Uchiha and Senju away from them.

 

“I will explain later. We have to get away. Now!” Tobirama stressed, pulling Itama away from the battle.

 

No one followed them. Two Uchiha were dead and the other 3 were engaged in battle with their clanmates.

 

Now they had to be careful before they engage with the client. Tobirama didn’t remember what happened with the mission after Itama died in his first timeline. He was too preoccupied with his twin’s death to pay any attention to these details.

 

So he had to make sure it was an actual client.

 

---

 

It was hard to believe, but the mission was legitimate.

 

Their client was a prissy old businessman. He was a civilian and Tobirama could easily confirm it, since his chakra coils were so untrained. The client had some questionable trades with someone else and they needed to exchange scrolls. But since they didn't trust each other the plan was to give Itama and Tobirama the scroll and send them to meet up with another shinobi that the other guy hired to exchange scrolls.

 

The client emphasized how important these scrolls were, but didn't tell them what was inside. It didn't matter, though. They would deliver it anyway.

 

The twins took the scroll without a question and went off to the meet up point.

 

The meeting was supposed to happen in a big city. It was the second biggest after the capital. 

 

Tobirama never liked the place. It was nice for its peace and that no one could attack anyone or they'd risk to upset the daimyo, who didn’t want clan wars to interfere in civilian affairs and disrupt the peace of his subjects. But also this place was loud and so crowded. So many people at once gave Tobirama a headache. He tried to keep his senses at bay, but there were a lot of chakra signatures and each of them registered in his mind. Even Konoha with its own share of people, was never this bustling. 

 

And the worst thing of all, they couldn't even ascend to the rooftops! It was considered disturbing of peace.

 

“Don't worry, Bibi-chan, we're gonna be there soon!” said Itama, checking in with the map where the client indicated their meetup spot. Senju were a literate clan, most shinobi clans were, but many civilians mistrusted children with written instructions. 

 

Nevertheless, the instructions could serve as a training tool for Itama, honing his tracking and following skills, so Tobirama gave it to him. Though Tobirama would like to destroy it later. Just in case.

 

“I worry if it's another trap,” Tobirama said grimly, clutching his brother’s hand. He didn’t let it go since they left the forest.

 

“But they can't attack us here! It's a neutral city! They'd be tried and banned by the feudal!” Itama replied, unconcerned.

 

This city’s laws said that shinobi were prohibited from bringing their feuds within its boundaries. If anyone attempted anything, they would be apprehended (at least attempted) by samurais and subsequently tried in court for disturbing the peace. And of course the clan would be banned from entering the city ever again. 

 

It was stupid to cut out the whole clan, but these were the laws of the local feudal. Even if Tobirama disapproved, he had to follow it or face the consequences. Yet, he doubted they would encounter the Uchiha here.

 

“Still, they could follow us after the deal is finished,” Tobirama shook his head, thinking about ways to shake off a tail in this city. He remembered it well; he had visited it numerous times before, as an heir to the Senju, advisor to the Hokage, and then as the Hokage himself. It didn’t change much through the years which played into his hand nicely. 

 

“You're so pessimistic. Come on! It's our first time here! Cheer up a bit,” Itama smiled, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he gazed around the city, the shops, and the people, who dressed so differently from them. He was too careless and it could kill him one day. But, that's why Tobirama was there. Now he'd always be there for his brother. 

 

Tobirama shook his head and concentrated on walking, but sometimes he tugged Itama’s hand a little to keep him from becoming too entranced by the city's charms.  

 

“Hm, it should be around here…” said Itama, checking instructions and looking around. The meeting up point was in a quiet park, its tranquil atmosphere contrasting sharply with the vibrant chaos of the main street. “The map says we should go to the fountain. Let’s go?”

“Wait a minute,” Tobirama let go of his brother’s hand and crouched, touching the ground. He let his senses go to feel the shinobi that should be waiting for him.

 

Yes, the shinobi was waiting for them there. The first thing Tobirama noticed was that the chakra coils weren’t as long as the average adult has. So, a child, like them. Maybe a little older or simply taller. Made sense then.

 

The second, oh, shit. Fire-natured. Strong affinity. It might be a Sarutobi, who were allies of Senju, or worse case scenario, an Uchiha. It felt awfully familiar, so, probably an Uchiha kid. And the age, a little older than the twins.

 

How many kids of their age do Uchiha have? He doesn’t think that many, or Madara would try to find friends in his clan, not to cling to Hashirama and gaining a Sharingan because they couldn’t stay friends.

 

“Damn it,” cursed Tobirama, rubbing his face in exasperation. That ruined his original plan.

 

“Bibi-chan?” ask Itama, crouching near him with a concerned look on his face.

 

“High probability that our meet up shinobi is an Uchiha,” Tobirama informed his brother.

 

“W-what? Again?!” he squeaked. 

 

“It’s a child, I doubt he knows that he should meet up with Senjus,” Tobirama said, standing up and scowling.

 

The chakra felt dulled, it seemed that the child ahead was bored and was waiting for a while. 

 

Tobirama stood up, but didn't stop sensing jutsu just in case.

 

“Okay, we don’t want any conflict with him, right? Take off your armor and the headband,” Tobitama took off his own happuri that had the Senju mon on it. Then he took the only storage scroll that he could make. He had materials for only one, any more and their sealing masters would notice missing materials. 

 

Still, better than nothing. Tobirama rolled the scroll on the ground and placed happuri there.

 

“Huh? But chichiue always says to present our clan proudly and taking it off would be a treason…” Itama said shocked, but started fiddling with his armor’s clasps.

 

“Chichiue says many things that are wrong,” Tobirama huffed, placing happuri on the scroll. “And how would he know? It’s not like we have to put this little detail in the report.” 

 

“Yeah, I guess…” nodded Itama and started shedding off his armor. “Where did you get the scroll by the way? Did chichiue give it to you for a mission?”

 

“I made it,” Tobirama said with pride in his voice, taking off his armor. Of course he made it, he had all the memories and knowledge! 

 

“You did? Wow, that’s so cool, Bibi-chan! Will you teach me? I could put so many plants in it!” Itama said, putting armor on the scroll and vibrating with excitement.

 

“If I get the materials again, sure,” he nodded and put his own armor down too.

 

One puff of chakra and their things were safely hidden in the scroll. Tobirama rolled up the scroll back and put it in his bag.

 

“Now come on. We have an Uchiha to meet. I’ll do the talking,” he said sternly, his tone not expecting any arguments.

 

“You? The talking? If you say so. Try not to pick on him much or he will try to fight us just ‘cuz you’re being an ass,” said Itama, rolling his eyes. 

 

Tobirama huffed, but dropped it. Itama agreed, didn’t he?

 

They set off to the fountain where the Uchiha was waiting for them. Madara. It was him. It was hard not to recognize him. However, Tobirama had to do a double take, since ‘The Madara’ in his head was tightly connected with his older vision. The version at the Fourth war with Hashirama’s face on his chest and mad laugh.

 

Now Madara looked just like any other Uchiha child. At least his silhouette. Tobirama pushed a little bit of chakra in his eyes to help him see a bit better. Black hair, black eyes, usual Uchiha high collared shirt. Though he was a funny kid, he seemed to be a world apart from the demon they had fought. It looked like he lost most of his teeth at once and was sprouting a good hole in his mouth while his adult teeth were growing. His lips were fuller, his eyes even larger, and, typical for baby Uchihas, he had burned off his eyebrows, giving him a look of perpetual surprise.

 

Tobirama wanted to laugh at him a little. He didn't remember that Madara had been an ugly duckling in his childhood, and the sight of this young, unassuming boy was a stark contrast to the fearsome image he had of the war.

 

He was sitting on the fountain border, playing with water, looking as bored as he felt in the chakra sense. 

 

He noticed them right ahead. Even without their armor they were unmistakably shinobi.

 

“Are you the ones I should meet up with?” Madara asked, squinting his eyes. Probably noticing that there’s no clan mons on their clothes. 

 

Itama nodded, getting the scroll they needed to exchange from his pouch.

 

“Well, you’re late!” Madara said, jumping from the fountain and pointing finger at them.

 

“Blame it on our client. He decided to save some money and not to pay for urgency,” Tobirama huffed and looked at Madara carefully. He needed to get the right time to start on his plan.

 

“Ugh, what an asshole! I’ve been waiting here for three hours!” Madara yelled, stomping his leg. What a cute and childish thing to do. You couldn't even tell that he’d be able to destroy the whole world years later.

 

“Well, let’s not make you wait any longer,” Tobirama said, taking the scroll from Itama. “At the same time?”

 

“Yeah okay,” Madara grumbled, but complied, taking out his scroll in his left hand. 

 

Tobirama did the same and got closer to Madara. He put his scroll in Madara's right hand, and Madara placed his scroll in Tobirama's right.

 

Yes, it was perfect timing.

 

While they were exchanging scrolls, their hands “accidentally” touched and Tobirama channeled more chakra into his cheeks to make them look very blushed. Shyly he looked away, trying not to meet Madara’s eyes, but he looked at him again, blushing more.

 

The exchange took barely 5 seconds, but it was enough. In the corner of his eye he saw that Madara had a slight blush on his cheeks as well, looking very surprised. His chakra surged with excitement and it seemed to become even warmer. 

 

Tobirama also heard a sharp intake of breath behind him. Itama’s chakra felt so shocked. Right, it was a bit early for childhood crushes for them, but it was the perfect time for Madara to get one. 

 

“A, um…” stammered Madara, getting redder and redder by the second. His chakra was frenzied, almost panicked. Hm, did he not like the touching? “It is nice to meet you, um…?”

 

“Tobirama. And you?” he said quietly, shyly looking at the older boy. 

 

“Tobirama…” he whispered quietly to himself, but Tobirama heard him since he was still standing so close to the other boy. “I'm Madara,” he answered, smiling a little and moving backwards a bit to give Tobirama space. But his chakra became even warmer and was curling in a pleased spike. Oh, so he liked touching, then. 

 

“I'm Itama, by the way,” his brother said, squinting at Madara suspiciously. He was tense and was hovering over his twin's shoulder. 

 

“Nice to meet you too,” Madara said and nodded at his brother like the afterthought. His eyes got back on Tobirama again. 

 

Tobirama was so curious to know what exactly he was thinking about. His chakra didn't tell him much, but he remembered that it had the same qualities as Hashirama’s when he looked at Mito.

 

“I, uh, I'm on schedule, so I have to go,” Madara said, looking upset that he has to leave early. 

 

“I hope we will meet again,” Tobirama willed himself to look at Madara softer. It wasn't hard to do, he was an adorable kid, to be honest. 

 

Madara’s chakra turned hot. 

 

“Me too,” Madara said way too fast and blushed again like he didn't mean to say it out loud. “Okay. Bye, Tobirama! Bye, Itama!” 

 

The older boy waved at them and basically fled.

 

“What was that, Bibi-chan?!” whisper-yelled Itama when Madara ran enough to be sure he couldn't hear them.  

 

“What? It was talking,” Tobirama pushed the scroll into Itama’s hands. It was still technically his mission after all.

 

“No it was not! What was that with the blush and flirting?!”

 

“You said that I have to imitate other people more. I thought it is the way you should talk with pretty boys,” Tobirama shrugged, taking his brother’s hand once again and pulling him away from the fountain.

 

“Well only if you like them! And he’s an Uchiha!” Itama was gesturing with his other hand widely, looking like he’d pop a vein.

 

“Uchiha’s are pretty,” Tobirama said, shrugging.

 

“Well, maybe… Wait, so you actually liked him?” Itama furrowed his eyebrows.

 

“He has a nice chakra.”

 

“You didn’t answer the question.”

 

“Well at least he didn’t attack, right?”

 

“Tobirama, you’re not answering the question!”

---

Art for the chapter by me :

Notes:

hi! thank you for checking it out! hope you liked it!

it's my first ever big fic in English that i'm actually sharing! and btw English is not my first language (i do hope i will hold up to the reputation of these words lol)

go yell at me at my tumblr @hibiscusseaart. you can also find the basic outline of the au there if you want, but boy do i have so much more planned for this fic.

lil udpate: fixed some typos and little continuation mistake, Tobirama is the younger twin now >:)

oh and go say thanks to @kosmotauri (@instant-bull on tumblr) who is my wonderful beta! without him i'd never actually commit to it!

pls let me know what you all think! but since it's my first fic be nice okay

EDIT: art from Sanska! https://www.tumblr.com/sanska/778633724610887680/though-he-was-a-funny-kid-he-seemed-to-be-a?source=share

Chapter 3: Jealousy, jealousy

Summary:

Madara crushes hard and Tobirama tries to remember how to be a child.

Being one of the youngest of five siblings was easy. Well, to be precise, it was easy being the fourth child and the first, long awaited, boy in the family. Of course, two years later Izuna was born, but Madara was still considered the true heir and the future head of the Uchiha clan. 

 

It was no secret that because of it, he got a lot of attention from everyone in the clan. Well, when they had the time for him. But even his always busy father took some time to teach or just spend time with him, always smiling at him and ruffling his hair from time to time. 

 

Though, sometimes Madara felt a little bad for his oldest sister, Togakushi. Despite the fact that she was a girl, she was initially the heiress. Usually Uchiha traditions dictated that the heir must be a strong shinobi, meaning a man of course. But their father couldn't just wait for a boy to be born, since death could claim him at any time, so he made his first born daughter an heir as a precaution. 

 

He didn’t have much luck later, since the next two children were also girls. Kurohime and Myoko. The clan didn’t have much choice other than to train Togakushi as an heir the whole time, raising her as a boy. 

 

Thankfully, seven years after Togakushi’s birth, a boy was born – Madara. Though the clan didn’t make him an heir immediately. He was still a baby and Togakushi was already announced to be a legitimate heir. Of course, they were a noble clan and if they were civilians, some might’ve asked them why did they change their heir so suddenly and it might’ve looked bad for them. But they were a shinobi clan. No one could interfere in their inner clan workings and tell them who could be an heir and who couldn’t. 

 

Still, they decided to leave Togakushi as the ‘public’ heir, who visited daimyo’s court or went on some diplomatic missions with their father. Madara was allowed to grow up and train in peace inside the protection of their compound and stay a secret for a while. Togakushi was older and had more training so if anything happened, she had more chance to survive than baby Madara.

 

What exactly Togakushi thought of him, because of all of it, he didn’t know. Even though she was his sister, Togakushi felt distant. For the first years of Madara's life she felt more like a figure than a person: a tall, skinny girl with short spiky hair, always tired-looking eyes and huge eyebags. She always dressed like a man, never wearing anything girly. Kurohime would try to get her in some pretty kimono just to see what she would look like in it, but Togakushi always refused.

 

Madara never quite understood her: she had the prestigious position he always wanted for himself, but she never seemed to cherish it like she should have. His oldest sister always had a somber feeling around her. She rarely talked, always preferring books and scrolls or training over socialising with others. And even then she never enjoyed training like Madara did. She always looked tired.

 

They managed to narrow their rift after their mother was killed in the feud with the Senju. Togakushi was twelve, Madara was only five. She was the one who mostly took care of her siblings from that moment. She made sure Madara ate properly, that his clothes were intact and that his futon was made each morning. She provided a sense of order. He couldn’t not love her after that, could he? 

 

At least Kurohime and Myoko were a little bit more… energetic. Kurohime, five years older than Madara, lived up to her name and grew to be a beautiful young woman. She was nice to him, but only liked her girly stuff and barely trained to fight, unlike Togakushi. Madara knew that she went on missions too, but he didn’t know much about it. Something about honey? Did she visit Aburame to buy honey from them?

 

Myoko looked a whole lot like him: something many pointed out, making them both feel sick. She hated his guts. Something about him being the favourite or something, not that Madara cared much. They had only two years of difference, so their clanmates never batted an eye at their vicious fights and yelling at each other. But at least it was fun . 

 

And then there was Izuna, who Madara simply adored. Of course, his little brother was a little spoiled brat, but he was way too cute not to love him. 

 

Before his twelfth birthday approached, Madara could say that he had a somewhat happy childhood for a shinobi from a clan that warred with another big clan. His mother's death was a tragedy admittedly, but in the face of everything, Madara was raised to be thankful it was only his mother. Every day he was thankful for his elders, for his father, brother and sisters. He was thankful he could be the part of the Uchiha clan and serve it at such a young age: even though no one let him go on the battlefield yet, he went on other missions with a team or by himself. He even killed people before. 

 

Somehow Madara didn’t think that was what children should do before they had all of their baby teeth fall out. 

 

But at least most of his family was alive and happy. He helped to protect them. 

 

Clearly the Universe thought that he didn’t learn his lesson.

 

That damned winter changed everything. The feud became more real than ever, when his father brought home Togakushi’s body. She was killed in the Uchiha-Senju skirmish by none other than Butsuma, the Senju clan head.

 

Then a month later, when they barely recovered from their eldest sister’s death, Kurohime and Myoko went on a mission. Father said it was supposed to be a simple infiltration. A noble girl and her bodyguard.  

 

They went missing. 

 

Later they were found dead by an Uchiha search team. 

 

All of the main line children, the main line daughters, were now dead.

 

The clan, and even his own father, acted like it was expected . They said that the women's place was inside of the compound, not running around on missions or fighting Senju.

 

But didn’t they assign them to these roles themselves? Maybe they were wrong too. Maybe they should’ve let his sisters stay behind and be protected inside the compound's walls, not sent out to try and protect the clan themselves. 

 

The spring went through in a blur. He barely noticed that he became the eldest sibling and the official heir, like he always was destined to be, too caught up in his quiet mourning and getting used to empty rooms in their house. He didn’t take it well. How could he? He always thought it would happen because he got strong enough, so that he could relieve his older sister from her burden and become the protector of the clan. That was not how it was supposed to go. 

 

Though there was something that Madara was, selfishly, quite glad about: now all of his father’s attention was on him, when he wasn’t busy with the clan matters. Before, he often spent time with Togakushi, since she was his heir. It was a nice change, in spite of the horrific price it cost. Like any younger child, Madara craved more of the attention of his parents. But his father mostly just trained him. Hard, unforgiving. He even began to teach Madara the intricate workings of the clan and the art of politics. Eugh. 

 

As far as Madara was initially happy about getting father’s attention, he quickly found that he wasn’t enjoying it as much as before. Maybe because now it was only training and studying boring papers. Never playing shogi or other games, talking about books he read or just simply talking about his day anymore. He was never just his son anymore. Only the heir. 

 

To add to it, the elders watched him like hawks, scrutinizing every move, criticizing every mistake and pushing him to be better, stronger. To be the heir. To survive when his sisters could not. And of course, to protect his last remaining brother.

 

Was it why Togakushi always looked like that? That’s why she had eyebags and was always tired?

 

With all this attention occupied, he didn’t even have time to find friends within his clan! He had some before, when he wasn’t considered the ‘official’ heir. After he became one, some kids distanced themselves from him, acting all polite and a little scared, since he was the future clan head. Some wanted to stay friends, even if it was just because their parents said so. Madara wasn’t dumb, he understood the perks of befriending the leader of the clan so early on, he just couldn’t play anymore, since he was so busy now. And some... simply died on missions.

 

So he barely had any peers to play with these days. Of course, he had Izuna, but he was still his younger brother, and, even though he loved him a lot, it was different. 

 

Madara crumbled under the weight of this pressure and loneliness. The mental strain combined with the overwhelming grief of missing his sisters proved too much for him. But his clanmates were sure it was a great way to make him stronger: maybe he’d even awaken his Sharingan this way. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

 

What a glorious way to fuck up a child, huh? 

 

Under the constant pressure, Madara started to run away from the clan for simple walks, just to have some time for himself, under the guise of ‘training in the forest’. To, for a while, pretend that the clan didn’t exist and no one actually wanted him to do the impossible and surpass everyone just because he was the future clan head. He even chose to wear clothes without the uchiwa sewn on it, just to feel like a normal kid for once.

 

He didn’t know he’d meet his first friend outside the clan doing the same. Madara still wasn’t sure what clan Hashirama belonged to and he was afraid of the answer. Maybe, deep inside his soul, he knew. But still he wanted to pretend just for a little longer. When was the last time he could play a game or to just fool around with a person his age? And the fact that Hashirama was quick to make up a challenge, whether in the form of games or spars, helped a lot. They did not dwell on complicated matters much, only sharing their dreams of peace. It was a lot of fun to have someone like Hashirama in his corner and it helped him get distracted from the heavy thoughts.

 

Though he didn’t appreciate the fact that he got thrown in the river at all!

 

“Hashirama!” he bellowed, sitting in the mud with river algae on his head. “You asshole!”

 

Hashirama didn’t answer, since he was oh so busy laughing his ass off and pointing finger at him! And Madara called that his best friend!

 

“Have to be faster next time, Madara!” 

 

Madara grumbled and tried to stand up from the cold river as soon as possible, but then he felt his shoe slipping from his foot and getting stuck in the mud. SHIT!

 

“My slipper!” he squeaked and dived into the cold water again. He couldn’t lose his shoe! How would he go back home without it? What would he say?! Good shoes, especially shinobi shoes are hard to get, Madara would never hear the end of it… 

 

When he got his shoe back, he got even more algae in his hair. It'd be a nightmare to clean up and he just had the bath yesterday! 

 

“Stupid Hashirama,” grumbled Madara under his nose, shaking his head in hopes some algae will just fall off. No such luck. Damn his thick hair, it was all stuck now.

 

While he was at it, he almost didn't notice a vaguely familiar voice coming from the other side of the river that didn't belong to the Uchiha clan territory. 

 

“Anija? Anija!” on their shore of the river came out a boy from the trees. He wore a stern expression on his face, but it somehow didn't make him ugly at all. Madara recognised him instantly.

 

“You! You're the one from the mission! Tobirama!” Madara yelled from the river excitedly, pointing at him with his muddy slipper. He didn't expect to meet the pretty boy ever again! 

 

The boy turned and looked at Madara with slightly raised eyebrows. Fuck, he was still in the river and covered in mud, damn it. A wave of embarrassment washed over him; how could he be seen like this in front of such a pretty boy, who actually paid some attention to him and even blushed when they touched hands back then. Ugh, not like Madara was pretty when he was clean, but now he was also dirty. Tobirama definitely would never look at him ever again. 

 

“Ah, Madara. I didn’t expect us to meet so–,” Tobitama was saying but was interrupted by Hashirama.

 

“Wait, you two know each other?!” he yelled, rushing towards Tobirama and looking from him to Madara and back.

 

“Yes, Anija, we met at a mission once,” Tobirama said, looking at his brother with disdain since he interrupted him.

 

Wait.

 

“Brother?! You two?” Madara asked, looking from one boy at the shore to another. “How can you even be related to Hashirama?”

 

When Hashirama said he had brothers he expected them all to have these terrible bowl cuts and happy-go-lucky demeanor. Madara certainly did not expect that one of his little brothers would be a celestial beauty with red eyes shining like a pair of sharingan without tomoes!

 

“Hey!” Hashirama sputtered in outrage, clearly coming to the wrong conclusion, protectively hugging his brother’s shoulders with one hand, “my Otouto is VERY pretty!” 

 

“Exactly! How come you're so ugly then?” Madara teased, smirking at his best friend. He couldn’t resist.

 

Hashirama started sulking, sinking onto the ground and picking on the stones of the shore. 

 

“I’m sure you will grow up handsome, Anija,...” Tobirama tried to cheer up his brother, patting his head, then paused and said thoughtfully, “...if you would only grow out your hair. This haircut is horrendous.”

 

Madara couldn’t hold back a loud snort as Hashirama’s face grew even more depressed. Turns out Tobirama was not only pretty, but also funny. And actually had taste.

 

Then the pretty face turned towards him and Madara was once again painfully aware of his own state. Was it too late to try to drown himself? 

 

“If you get out the mud and remove the algae, you will be quite handsome yourself,” Tobirama said easily and nonchalantly, like it was a known fact.

 

What ? Madara? Handsome ? Madara felt his cheeks and ears burn despite the cold water of the river. No one had ever told him that! Everyone always talked about how strong and talented he was, how fierce his Katon was and how skilled he was on the battlefield. But complimenting his appearance? Especially from someone around his age? Never. And the gap in his mouth between his front teeth did little to enhance his appearance. Not to mention the dark circles and bags under his eyes that seemed to grow no matter how much he slept. 

 

His little brother on the other hand received many compliments, so it wasn’t like their clanmates didn't ever do that. Izuna was very cute, that was true, and Madara could understand the urge to tell him that, even though Izuna often scoffed and insisted that he was not cute at all.

 

But for someone to tell him that he was handsome, when he was sitting in the river, covered in mud and algae, with a gap in his mouth… Was Tobirama actually stupid? Or did he really think this way?

 

“Stop sitting in the river, you'll catch a cold,” Tobirama frowned, walking towards him, casually using chakra to cross the water. And he was younger than Hashirama and Madara. Madara learned water walking when he was eleven! It was only last year! And since Hashirama said that his brothers were three years younger, Tobirama had to be about nine. He learned water walking even earlier than him! So Tobirama probably was smart!

 

Oh shit.

 

While Madara was having a crisis, Tobirama reached him and held out his hand. Madara reluctantly reached back, but did not grasp it yet. He didn’t want to soil these pale small hands with the mud he got when he was searching for his shoe. Tobirama quickly lost patience and with a swift movement grabbed his hand himself, not caring about the mud at all, effortlessly pulling him out of the river. And he’s nine and smaller than him, so this meant he used chakra to enhance the strength of his body. So he was also a good shinobi.

 

Oh no.

 

Madara barely managed to regain his composure and found his footing on the water still holding a petite hand in one of his. Another still clutched the slipper tightly. 

 

“Uh… thank you?” Madara said, almost whispering, looking at Tobirama with huge eyes. 

 

“You're welcome. Come on. Maybe we can make a fire to dry you,” Tobirama said and then smiled. Oh shit . Madara felt like his heart tried to get out of his chest. He dumbly nodded and followed the boy, when he led him to the shore by hand. 

 

“Anija, why would you do that? Look at him,” Tobirama huffed, when they reached the oddly not sulking Hashirama, gesturing towards Madara, whose clothes disgustingly clung to him and the slipper that stayed on his foot made loud squelching noises. 

 

“We were sparring!” Hashirama pouted and threw a pointed glare at Madara. What's up with that?

 

“Well, he can't go home like this. His family would start asking questions and it'd be so easy for them to deduce that he was near the river. What would happen if they followed him here and saw you?” Tobirama asked sternly. 

 

Hashirama huffed in an answer, but said nothing. Tobirama was right after all. So he was the reasonable brother. No wonder, with an elder brother like Hashirama... 

 

Then Tobirama turned to him again and pulled his hand out of Madara’s, making his heart stutter and his chest fill with disappointment. Then Tobirama leaned towards him and started pulling algae out of Madara’s hair. Oh, Kami, he was so sweet .

 

“Anija, go look for firewood.” Tobirama said, huffing, annoyed at his small height, and forcefully making Madara sit right there on the ground. It was quite a vulnerable position, but at least Tobirama remained standing in front of him, not moving to stand behind his back. 

 

“But I can make it right here!” Hashirama said, jumping up from his spot. What?! He never told Madara that before! Of course, they had known each other for no more than two weeks, but still...

 

“Your control is still lacking, Anija. I don't need a whole tree; I need firewood. Go ask the trees to help,” Tobitama huffed, dismissing his brother with a wave of his hand and then gently tugging on Madara’s hair, combing it with his fingers and scrunching strands a bit to squeeze out the excess water from them. 

 

Madara felt frozen in place, looking at Tobirama’s waist since it was just before his eyes.

 

Hashirama huffed more, crossing his hands and looking at them suspiciously, but relenting to his younger brother’s instructions. Also, ask trees ? That's a funny way to dismiss someone, maybe Madara could use it on Izuna. 

 

“Will you help with the fire, Madara?” Tobirama asked, distracting him from his thoughts of how exactly Hashirama would ask trees to help. He moved a bit to the side, but never went fully behind his back.

 

It was oddly considerate.

 

“S-sure,” he answered, fidgeting with his wet belt. “How did you know that I don’t like someone standing at my back?”

 

“Like any shinobi does,” Tobirama said sarcastically, eyeing the mud-caked parts of Madara’s hair. “Hm, I can try to dump you with Suiton to clean most of the mud. But I understand if you’d decline the offer.”

 

Madara almost said yes, but… Tobirama was right that he actually didn’t want to tempt fate. Tobirama didn’t seem like he had any ill intent, the boy was literally helping him to clean himself, but actually asking to aim Suiton jutsu right at him? 

 

Yeah, no.

 

“Thank you, but the river higher up is cleaner than here, so…” Madara said, waving his hand in the direction he meant.

 

Tobirama gracefully nodded, not even the slightest annoyed that his suggestion was declined. Hashirama and even Madara’s own little brother always whined at least a little if Madara called their ideas dumb. 

 

Damn, Tobirama was so smart.

 

---

 

If you asked Tobirama about why he decided to help Madara with cleaning up, he would say that it was a plan to get him used to Tobirama's presence and touch.

 

But in reality, Tobirama just couldn't stand to see a dirty child in cold water. It was July, but the water was still chilled to the bone and the wind was biting like a sharp blade. Of course, Madara was a shinobi, a strong one, but if he got sick or was caught because there was evidence that he went to the river, it would ruin Tobirama's plan. And many shinobi did die not in epic battles, but from simple diseases. That's why Tobirama pressed and would press again for building a hospital in Konoha as soon as possible.

 

Thankfully, Madara didn’t mind Tobirama fussing over him and even ordering him to strip and go clean up in the clear water upstream, while Tobirama would try to fix his clothes somehow and Hashirama was looking for firewood.

 

Judging by his chakra, Hashirama wasn’t thrilled by Tobirama’s attention to his best friend. If he got jealous of Madara it could get problematic. Though for now, he was content to talk with trees. But if Madara was done washing sooner than the wood was here, Madara would be even colder. 

 

Tobirama thought of flaring his chakra so Hashirama would notice and hurry up, but knowing Hashirama, especially at this age…

 

He walked towards a tree nearby and squinted at it critically. 

 

“Can you tell my... bigger sapling to hurry up, please? Another sapling needs warmth after he’s watered,” Tobirama said to it, hoping it would be enough. 

 

He always felt like an idiot talking to trees in their tree like analogies. He thought Hashirama was lying to him, trying to prank him that the tree might not understand him otherwise, but unfortunately it was true. He would bet that other Senju shared Tobirama’s sentiment. But, judging by his own experience, it worked for Hashirama far better than flaring chakra or using sign codes. He was just way too easily distracted to pay attention to the chakra around him, but somehow he was always so attentive to trees and plants.

 

The leaves of the tree rustled in the gentle breeze, and Tobirama took this as a sign that his message had been received. It was hard to tell. Trees don’t talk and don’t move so Tobirama had no way to understand them like Hashirama did.

 

Tobirama went back to Madara’s clothes. His mind supplied him to mothers and wives of his own clan taking care of their husbands’ laundry. Tobirama scrunched up his face in disdain and drowned the clothes in water again.

 

“Tobi-chan! I got firewood!” Hashirama called out, running towards his brother and starting to make a campfire. “I didn’t know you could talk to the trees too! I’m so happy, they–”

 

“No, anija, I don’t,” Tobirama interrupted. “I just asked them to pass a message, hoping trees would understand.”

 

Hashirama wilted and pouted, excitement disappearing in less than a second. Tobirama thought that if he’d look close enough he’d see little flowers that bloomed from his emotions on his head, losing their petals in the face of reality. Well, it’s not Tobirama’s fault that Hashirama came to the false conclusions. Well, at least he was stacking the wood properly.

 

Tobirama signed, squeezing excess water out of Madara’s clothes to hang them over nearby branches. 

 

“Talking to who ?” Madara’s head peaked out of the bushes. He was naked except for fundoshi since his other clothes were covered in mud. He was trembling like a leaf and hurried to light up the wood Hashirama brought.

 

Hm, it seemed like Madara hadn't mastered chakra control yet. He couldn’t even warm himself with it and his fingers barely bent to make seals. Ah, a pity Tobitama didn’t have any coat on himself. He was quite content with the weather and wore his usual sleeveless top and pants. Hm, Hashirama on the other hand…

 

“The trees!” said Hashirama, getting excited to talk about his tree friends, but Tobirama interrupted him, sneaking to his back and stripping him of his green haori and a scarf. “Ack , Tobi!”

 

“Madara needs it more than you,” Tobirama said, coming closer to the boy with slightly blue lips and putting the yukata on his shoulders. 

 

Madara’s chakra grew warmer, like a fire kindling inside him, despite him being cold, and he pulled the clothing tighter on himself. Tobirama took the scarf and wrapped it up around Madara, so the damp hair wouldn't drop cold droplets on his skin, making him even colder. Then Tobirama took the boy's hands in his (Hashirama made a choking noise for some reason) and started rubbing them in his, to warm them up so that the boy could make seals and make fire.

 

Madara’s chakra grew even warmer. Tobirama stole a glance at his face. His cheeks were very red. Good, he was warming up then. But he looked a little shocked and was barely moving.

 

“Maybe I can teach you how to circulate chakra to warm yourself up later. It's harder than water walking, but if adults can do that, so can we,” Tobirama said, looking at Madara thoughtfully. The boy nodded silently. How strange. Tobirama did not recall Madara being so quiet. Hm, come to think of it, he didn't speak much the whole time since they met, did he? Maybe it was because he is still young? Hashirama-from-before told him that Madara was a little shy as a child. 

 

Well, at least his chakra didn't read as agitated. No, it was warm like a nice heater in winter or the warmth of the summer sun on a pleasant day, neither overly hot nor uncomfortably cold. 

 

Hashirama on the other hand felt annoyed. Oh, so he got jealous after all.

 

“How did you meet?” Hashirama asked, pouting and squinting at them. 

 

“On a mission, Anija. When I accompanied Itama, remember? The client wanted us to meet up with another shinobi and exchange scrolls. This shinobi turned out to be Madara,” answered Tobirama with a slight roll of his eyes.

 

Madara stiffened. Hm, did he think that Tobirama would reveal his identity as an Uchiha? Tobirama had plans to do this, but later and more delicately. Their relationships were still so new and fragile, they would crumble under the weight of the Senju-Uchiha feud. They needed to get stronger. 

 

Hashirama only pouted more, while Tobirama was warming up Madara’s hands. 

 

“That should do it. Try seals again,” he declared when he deemed Madara's hands sufficiently warmed. He let them go and seated himself nearby, but not too close. They needed space. 

 

Madara nodded and slowly, but surely made necessary seals and breathed out a little fireball that lit up the wood nicely. Immediately Madara drew closer to the source of warmth, clutching the haori even tighter.

 

“Wooa, it’s such a useful jutsu!” exclaimed Hashirama, sitting a bit closer too. Madara puffed up a little, clearly proud of his clan’s signature jutsu.

 

Did Hashirama really not realize that it was an Uchiha jutsu? Or he just chose to ignore it? Tobirama would have to work on that. They must confront reality, lest reality confront them with force.

 

“Hm, I wish I could see it all out some other time,” Tobirama said. Madara was strong, even as a kid. But he would be curious to see how his Great Fireball jutsu fared against his adult version.

"I can show you!" Madara said quickly, scrambling to stand up.

 

Tobirama caught him by his arms and forcefully sat him back. Madara fell on his bottom with a wet smack. 

 

“No, you still have blue lips. Later,” he said sternly. 

 

The other boys wilted a little. Madara did, because he wasn’t allowed to show how cool he is right this moment and Hashirama because he wanted to see how strong his friend actually was. 

 

While the boys were sulking and warming up, Tobirama was content to sit in silence. The sun was warm, despite the breeze, and the river's sound created a peaceful ambiance. 

 

“Maybe we can cook some fish?” Hashirama broke the silence, never quite able to sit still for long. Or perhaps he was just hungry for lunch. 

 

“Hm, we could. But someone has to catch it,” Tobirama said, eyeing the river. “Does this river even have fish? It’s shallow here.”

 

“Yeah, if we go higher. But it’s.. uh,” Madara stumbled with his words.

 

“The Uchiha territory,” Tobirama nodded. Right, the Naka river went all the way to the Uchiha compound. Now he remembered, it was placed there exactly because the Naka river had generous fish spots. 

 

The boys shut their mouths again, clearly uncomfortable with the topic.

 

“Anija, go ask trees, maybe you can find something by foraging,” Tobirama offered, since hungry Hashirama would be insufferable. 

 

“Oh, maybe I can find potatoes! Or wait, maybe I can grow potatoes!” Hashirama jumped from his spot excitedly and was already trying to make a seal.

 

“Go grow them further away. As I said, we don’t need a whole tree right here if you lose your control again,” Tobirama scrunched up his nose.

 

“You’re so boring, Tobi-chan. Are you sure you’re the younger brother?” Hashirama pouted. “You should be like, ‘Wow, Anija, show me more cool jutsus!’” He flailed his arms dramatically, resembling more a bird than a reasonable human being. 

 

“Mhm, not going to happen,” Tobirama evenly said, picking a stick and moving burning firewood around to get more fire. “Go try to grow potatoes further away.”

 

“You just want to send me away from you and Madara,” Hashirama crossed his hands.

 

“You’re the one suggested to find food, stupid,” Madara grumbled. His chakra felt even warmer.

 

In the end Hashirama did go to try to grow some food, even though he was huffing and puffing the whole walk to the trees. 

 

Madara and Tobirama stayed sitting by the fire. The silence wasn’t comfortable, Tobirama could feel that something was bothering the other boy by the way his chakra was lurching and curling anxiously. 

 

“Why are you so nice to me?” Madara finally asked suspiciously, his voice unsure. 

 

“Why not?” Tobirama asked back, poking his stick into the fire from time to time, watching the sparks dance. “You’re nice and I’m being nice back. And Anija is nice too.”

 

“Hashirama is different. He’s dumb and has no mean bone in his body,” Madara scoffed. 

 

“I beg to differ. You’re not the one living with him, after all,” Tobirama hummed, not really offended on his brother’s behalf. He could protect himself from some stray insults just fine. And against popular belief, Hashirama could be very mean. Especially if he found out that someone ate his favorite dessert while he was busy. Honestly, his pranks were tipping over into plain bullying from time to time.

 

“No, I mean, he doesn’t have any ill intent or something,” Madara mumbled, looking back at the fire.

 

“But I could?” Tobirama asked, lifting a brow and side eyeing Madara, who squirmed in his place, tugging Hashirama’s yukata closer.

 

“You’re smart. Everyone knows that smart people are the most dangerous ones. Especially if they’re nice to you.”

 

Tobirama smiled. There he was, the little genius shinobi. As much as Tobirama was wary of Madara in general, he was the cutest kid.

 

“I’m being nice to you because I like you. Your chakra is very warm,” he said, almost whispered, his voice soft and gentle. It was one of his most treasured secrets. He never told anyone about it in the previous timeline.

 

But now his goal was to endear Madara and build a connection so Tobirama could get closer to him. Every good shinobi knows that to excel in infiltration you must show something true or vulnerable about yourself. Or lie so well no one ever could tell. 

 

Tobirama was a good shinobi and he could deliver lies with no stutter nor remorse. If no one knew, then it wouldn’t hurt anyone, right? But for this mission, that would take most of his life, he had to stick to the truth, at least about his feelings. Time could unveil even the best of lies, and Tobirama couldn't afford slip ups. 

 

Time was both his ally and an enemy. 

 

Madara's face quickly turned the same shade of red as on the uchiwa clan mon. He turned away his gaze to hide his burning cheeks and ears in Hashirama’s scarf.

 

Adorable , Tobirama thought, smiling to himself as his heart softened.

 

Honestly, Madara’s cuteness as a child was such a blessing. Tobirama was afraid that he would have to fake fond smiles and warmth in his voice and be miserable the entire time. But he saw brightness in Madara's face, a promise of incredible wit and brilliance that was to follow. How could he hate this child for crimes he had not yet committed? Ones Tobirama would make sure he would never commit. He would try as hard as he could to save Madara from the Uchiha’s Curse of Hatred. 

 

---

 

Later that day, while Madara was warming up and drying himself near the fire, they roasted sweet potatoes that Hashirama (surprisingly) successfully grew, even though they were way too big and sweet to be considered normal. But they were delicious, and Tobirama didn’t want to discourage Hashirama from training and experimenting just because he was doing it to impress his younger brother and his best friend.

 

Hm, maybe Hashirama could recreate it at home? Itama would love to try them and extract seeds from their flowers. 

 

All in all, it was a good and successful day. Madara even asked him to come back again so he could show the proper Great Fireball Jutsu. Madara actually liked him. Wonderful, it was all coming together as it should.

 

Tobirama accepted the invitation with a nod and tiny smile, even though it made Hashirama huffy. His best friend paid more attention to his younger brother than to Hashirama himself? A pity for sure. Not being the center of attention was new for the future clan head with an incredibly rare Mokuton release. But he had to taste the bitterness of rejection once in a while.

 

Now the only problem was to slip away from the compound on the day they decided to meet. Of course Hashirama wanted to meet again already the next day, but it would be too suspicious, so Tobirama and Madara discouraged that.

 

They decided to meet two days after, since that day their father should leave for a diplomatic meeting with Hyuuga to discuss their overlapping trade routes. 

 

For Tobirama and Hashirama, this was a golden opportunity to slip away undetected, since Senju didn’t look after their kids as closely as the Uchiha did. 

 

He didn’t know how Madara could slip away from the Uchiha compound, but he said it wouldn’t be a problem with his family. Weird. The Uchiha kept their treasured kids on a tight leash, away from the blood thieves. After all, most of the Uchiha kids had the potential to awaken Sharingan. It was unusual that the Uchiha let Madara wander around unattended. But he was considered a very strong shinobi for his age (in Tobirama's metric he could be already comparable to a jounin level), so maybe they didn’t worry about him too much.

 

The Senju clan had a different outlook on this matter. Hashirama awakening Mokuton was a miracle even among their clan, why bother trying to steal a Senju child with no guarantee to get the bloodline gift when it would also anger the whole clan and their horde of allies?

 

It made things easier. For a while they could meet up in peace, especially since Tobirama planned to monitor their surroundings constantly.

 

Though, Tobirama could never hide something like this from Itama. So of course he told him, even though Hashirama was pouting so fiercely, that Tobirama thought he might dislocate his jaw. Honestly, what’s the point of hiding it? Together they could coordinate their outings into the wilderness far more effectively than trying to hide it from Itama too.

 

The most challenging part was actually explaining to Itama why he was the one who was supposed to stay behind and cover for them. But Hashirama had the best friend rights and Tobirama was specifically invited. And someone had to tell their clan that they didn’t run off to play all together, but Tobirama was helping Hashirama with chakra control. Why out of the compound? Because no one wanted random trees sprouting around, did they?

 

Itama, being the nine year old as he was, pouted immensely. The only thing Tobirama could do was to promise to take him with them the next time.

 

Why did all his brothers pout so much? Was it some kind of hereditary curse that Tobirama had somehow missed? It made him stand out even further: a stone-faced, serious child among the two most expressive kids in the whole compound. 

 

Still, with enough asking and bribing with Mokuton grown huge potato slips, Itama let Hashirama and Tobirama slip away from the compound to ‘ train ’. Once again, it was time to continue charming one Uchiha Madara.

 

Tobirama signed as he skipped through the lush forest behind his older brother. How was this his life? 

 

The object of his thoughts and the bane of his existence was already at the river, skipping stones with intense concentration. He lost it the moment Hashirama yelled his greetings.

 

Madara scowled at him for being loud, but brightened a bit once he saw Tobirama behind.

 

“Oh, you actually came!” he smiled warmly.

 

“Why wouldn’t I? I promised,” Tobirama said, shrugging. He always tried to keep his promises. Especially to children. The shinobi world was already filled with lies, broken promises, and discarded treaties, no need to create even more of it. 

 

Also keeping track of all the lies was hard, that’s why Tobirama tried to minimize it or keep to one legend that worked for the whole situation.

 

This second life would really be a complicated one, huh?

 

Madara's smile widened at his words.

 

“So what do you want to play?” Uchiha asked him.

 

“Hey, you never ask me what I want to play!” Hashirama shoved his friend on the shoulder.

 

“Yeah, because your games are stupid !” Madara answered with a kick to Hashirama’s shin.

 

Ah here they were again. It seemed like time didn’t change them at all. Children, adults. Still getting into petty fights.

 

It escalated quickly to sparring. The boys clearly forgot about him. Well, not an unusual thing for them. Tobirama was used to it by now. In the first timeline he was always forgotten and pushed to the background. It was always Madara and Hashirama. Not Madara, Hashirama, and Tobirama. 

 

Was he… jealous? Of attention? That was… new. 

 

He frowned at these new feelings. They were completely illogical. Why would he be jealous ? Hashirama was his brother, who was quite generous with his affection to his baby brother. And Madara was his new mission.

 

Then why did it bug him that they forgot about him? 

 

He had no answer. Itama was right, feelings were not his forte. Maybe he could ask him later.

 

He sat on the nearby stone, looking at the fight quietly and noting Madara and Hashirama’s Taijutsu levels. They were not the best he had seen, but then again, they were still children. With time and practice, they would grow into it. Sparring with each other would help them.

 

“No! You’re stupid!” yelled Madara, throwing a punch at Hashirama’s chest, but missing. Hashirama dove under his arm, trying to catch Madara off guard.

 

Ah, it seemed the boys had escalated to simple insults while Tobirama was paying attention to their moves. Tragically, something they never grew to refine. 

 

“I’m not! You are! It’s stupid to blush when someone touches your hand! It’s just a hand!”

 

Madara stumbled, his face flushed, and he jumped back, putting distance between him and his best friend. He threw a quick glance at Tobirama, who tried to appear more interested in the conversation than he actually was.

 

“See! Stupid!” Hashirama pointed a finger at Madara’s red face, his own expression filled with exasperation.

 

“N-no it’s not! You just don’t understand it yet, Hashirama!” 

 

“It’s just hands!”

 

“No it’s not! It’s like… It’s like couples do! Like husband and wife!” 

 

Oh, so Madara had some understanding of romance, but he still had a little childish outlook on it. Or did they not have boyfriends and girlfriends in the Uchiha? Tobirama honestly couldn’t remember. Every Uchiha he had met in his previous life always talked about their spouses or their fiance. Regrettably, if he wanted to continue his pursuit, he probably should investigate this further.

 

“But Tobirama is also a boy! He can’t be your wife!” Hashirama yelled.

 

Okay yes, Tobirama agreed, he definitely wouldn’t be–

 

“Yes he can!” Madara yelled back.

 

The albino signed, pinching his brow crease like an old, exhausted man. 

 

“No, I can’t be a wife,” Tobirama said loudly, standing up from the rock and stopping the flow of the fight. Both boys flinched like they forgot that he was still here. “Hashirama, don’t be homophobic,” seeing Hashirama’s confused face, he clarified. “Don’t talk like that. Boys can marry boys, it’s just not how it is done for our clan,” he said sternly. Hashirama had never said things like this before. Was it because of his jealousy? Tobirama would like to rip this sprout out early. 

 

Of course, it was not his fault. Traditionally, the Senju clan valued marriages between a male and a female. Preferably arranged ones to get the most out of it. It was important to have a child and produce an heir, or better multiple heirs. Sticking out of this norm was frowned upon in their clan and was going to be a big hurdle for Tobirama. 

 

He would gladly change it when they founded the village. Konoha laws would tolerate any marriages, not just traditional ones. It was one of the conditions from the Uchiha clan. They valued love above all else.

 

Speaking of Uchiha..

 

“Madara, I won’t be your wife,” he turned to the other boy. 

 

Immediately Madara dropped his gaze to the ground, clenching his fists and pursing his lips. His chakra dulled in what Tobirama could recognise as disappointment. Oh these Uchiha dramatics.

 

“But I don’t mind being a husband,” Tobirama said coyly, looking at the boy and making him look up, blinking rapidly.

 

Madara blushed furiously. Tobirama could see it clearly even without squinting his eyes. Such a bright red was hard to miss.

 

“But Tobi–!” Hashirama whined, his chakra displeased and erratic.

 

“No, that’s enough, Anija. Why are you even arguing about it? Didn’t we want to play something?” Tobirama asked, trying to distract the boys from the topic. But he had successfully planted a seed into Madara’s mind, looking at the way he blushed. Or was it from anger? No, he was smiling a bit. Did he? He thought he did. 

 

Damn it, Tobirama couldn't see properly. He had to get to Uzushio to get his red seal tattoos on him as soon as possible, because his eyesight right now was shit. It might be dangerous for him to rely solely on his other senses. 

 

“But– Ugh– Fine! Then let's race!” Hashirama huffed, dropping the subject. 

 

Madara nodded, but then smirked and yelled, “To the cliff!” And went off.

 

Hashirama and Tobirama had nothing else to do except to sprint after him. 

 

---

 

Sitting on the top of the cliff where once was carved both the head of his older brother and his own, was a tranquil experience. The wind gently caressed his face, and he took a deep breath, savoring the fresh air. Below him, the trees swayed gently, their leaves rustling in a soothing rhythm. The sky was a clear, blue canvas, dotted with fluffy white clouds that seemed to dance across the horizon.

 

Hashirama and Madara were doing the same, almost laying on the ground, still breathing hard from the race, their faces flushed with exertion. Tobirama didn’t fare any better. He had to work on his stamina more. He came in second after Madara and it was only because he didn’t try to rush like Hashirama and used precise steps. That, and his chakra control was much better. If Hashirama used his head more, Tobirama would have come in third place. The thought displeased him greatly. He always took pride in being the fastest shinobi. 

 

But the race itself was surprisingly enjoyable. Tobirama didn’t remember the last time he had so much fun running around and climbing up to the top of a cliff. When did it stop being fun? 

 

Tobirama closed his eyes, letting the sound of the wind and the rustling leaves wash over him. Did he even do that when he was a child, outside of training? He didn’t think so. He barely could remember anything before his teenage years, except training and battles with the Uchiha clan after Itama died. 

 

He hoped it wouldn’t be an issue anymore.

 

Tobirama opened his eyes and looked at the trees below, remembering the way the village started. It was making Tobirama nostalgic. And also annoyed. He couldn't believe he had to draw all the plans all over again . But at least he could make it better. Looking back, some of his ideas were… not ideal.

 

“We’d have to put the Police department near the center and the jail itself at the outskirts,” Tobirama mumbled, looking over the place where the Tower was built before.

 

In the first timeline, he placed Police HQ near the jail only because he hoped that if another Madara would show up in the Uchiha clan, they could contain them more easily and keep an eye on them while there. But it seemed like it was a mistake. The Uchiha clan should not have lived as some sort of outcasts on the outskirts again. It didn’t do any good for the village or the Uchiha themselves. 

 

Now he would look after all of it himself. 

 

“What are you talking about?” Madara asked, frowning in confusion, breaking his thought process.

 

“What’s a police?” Hashirama asked with the same expression as Madara.

 

Ah, so they lived. 

 

“It will be a force to detain criminals inside the village,” Tobirama answered and then muttered under his breath. “The outside matters should go to ANBU only. Yes, a clear divide would be good...”

 

“Oh Tobi! I didn’t think you would think about it so seriously!” Hashirama squealed and rushed to hug Tobirama, who scowled, but let his brother squeeze him to the degree of almost cracking ribs with his uncontrolled power. Honestly, if Tobirama wasn’t a trained shinobi, his ribs would not have survived.

 

“What village?” Madara asked, looking more and more confused.

 

Oh right, he didn’t know.

 

“It’s our dream,” Tobirama answered, making Hashirama happily whimper right in his ear. “To create a village where every clan can live in peace and where kids won’t have to fight adult’s wars,” Tobirama explained, squirming in Hashirama’s hug. 

 

This, he would make sure of. Before going back in time the other Hokage told him about many things that happened during their time. And when he heard of the Second and Third war and how it was handled, and how many child soldiers were used, he was fuming. They hadn’t made this village for kids to fight wars again! Oh, they had no idea how strict laws Tobirama had planned to prevent it from happening again. 

 

“I never thought you believed in it, Tobi! You said it was a dumb dream and would never happen!” Hashirama squeezed him again and put more weight on his younger brother, almost making them topple over and fall, but Tobirama strengthened his tiny legs with chakra to stick to the ground.

 

Right, he did say that when he was little. He always thought that the war with the Uchiha would be endless and that peace wouldn’t be achievable. Especially after Itama’s death.

 

“It is stupid to just dream of it. You have to make plans for it, create a structure. Then you have to convince people to leave their homes for something new. It can’t just ‘happen’. We have to create it ourselves,” Tobirama said to Hashirama, finally breaking free from the hug, but eyeing Madara. He didn’t know how this talk went in the first timeline.

 

Madara looked thoughtful.

 

“But why?”

 

“It’d be safer for everyone. More resources, more adult shinobi. No one will be able to send kids younger than twelve to battle. I’ll make a law,” Tobirama huffed. “ Very strict one, with no loopholes. No one will have to bury their kids or siblings who barely lived a decade.”

 

Hashirama quietened in his excitement. It wasn’t even a year since they had buried Kawarama.

 

Madara’s chakra also turned sour, dropping and curling into his body as if trying to hide. Right. He was one of five siblings originally. And at the end of his first life he was the only one left.

 

“The village will also help us all to survive winters. And help with money. It’d be easier to demand more pay for missions if we’re united. Less competition,” Tobirama said, remembering that the Uchiha were not doing well financially right now.

 

“Yeah and we’ll be so strong, no one will try to fight us again!” Hashirama beamed, jumping up and waving his hands.

 

“You two sure dream big, huh,” Madara’s tone didn’t indicate anything, but he had a tiny smile on his face and his chakra filled and expanded a bit in a way it usually did when people thought of something good. 

 

Tobirama remembered the first conversation with Itama he had after waking up in this timeline. 

 

“Mhm. We will get strong, build a village, and then get married,” Tobirama took Madara’s hand in his, looking directly into his eyes. 

 

Madara froze under his touch, blushing with his whole face, ears, and even down to the neck.

 

“H-huh?!” he gasped, but didn’t pull his hand away, eyes wide and surprised. 

 

“WHAT?!” Hashirama yelled so loud that he scared some birds from the trees below. 

 

“R-really?” almost whispered red faced Madara, looking at him with shocked, but hopeful eyes.

 

“Wait! WAIT! Shouldn't you ask for chichiue's permission first?!” Hashirama yelled, jumping up on his feet. Tobirama eyed him with annoyance. He would not like it if Hashirama ruined his chances just because he was jealous of his best friend.

 

“Like I need his permission to do anything,” Tobirama huffed, turning away from Hashirama. 

 

His opinion on Butsuma was so low, he barely tolerated him as a man. He was way too cruel and it had been only because of his actions and decisions that Itama and Kawarama were killed. His only use was to warm the place of clan head until Hashirama was ready.

 

Madara eyed them worriedly, his chakra anxiously curling inside of him, getting colder. Tobirama squeezed Madara’s hand in his, trying to comfort him. Stupid Hashirama, trying to ruin his perfect plan of saving the world. 

 

“What about my permission?!” Hashirama asked, crossing his arms and pouting fiercely. 

 

“Are you unhappy about me marrying your best friend?” Tobirama arched his eyebrow.

 

“Uh, yeah, you know him only for two days!” Hashirama accused, pointing a finger at him.

 

“Oh, it's an easy fix then,” Tobirama waved a hand in a dismissive motion. “We just have to spend more time together. Plus I don't plan to marry him right now . I told you, we're building a village and then marrying.”

 

Madara’s chakra grew a little warmer again, as his lips couldn’t contain a small smile.

 

“But- No- Tobi-chan!!! I-.. You can’t do that!” very childishly, Hashirama stomped his foot on the ground.

 

Tobirama squinted his eyes at Hashirama, annoyed, but shifted his attention back to Madara. According to the Uchiha’s chakra he was getting really upset at Hashirama’s words. He even turned his face away from his friend. Nope, not happening. Upset Madara meant potentially insane Madara. 

 

And it’s not like he actually wanted to ruin their friendship.

 

“Anija, shut up. You’re upsetting Madara,” Tobirama said, pulling said boy closer and hugging him. “And didn’t you say that arranged marriages have to go and that people should marry for love? Why are you so mad about me doing exactly this? I like Madara.”

 

Madara made a surprised noise close to a whimper against his shoulder, fisting his black top in his fingers.

 

“But it’s too fast to marry! You can’t just say things like this to people you just met!” Hashirama said. Oh, so he decided to play ‘ the older brother ’ now. 

 

“Why not? I’m just stating my intentions clearly. Madara doesn’t mind. Do you?” he asked Madara, patting his hair gently.

 

“I don't mind!” Madara shook his head vigorously. 

 

“See? I don’t understand what’s your problem,” Tobirama said, huffing and hugging Madara closer.

“Bu-.. but…” Hashirama was out of arguments and just sank down to the ground, emitting a depressed aura. 

 

“Don’t worry, we will invite you to the wedding. I promise you'll be my best man,” Tobirama said, ending this conversation. 

 

Madara did not leave his arms for a while, seemingly still shocked, but pleased with this turn of events. Thank Kami they’re still kids and talks like that were somehow considered sensible. 

 

In the first timeline, his student Kagami had wanted to marry him, his teacher, until he was fourteen, when he finally realized that it just wouldn't happen. Tobirama couldn't comprehend those irrational feelings back then. Why would Kagami even think of him this way? He was way older and could’ve been his father at that age. 

 

Tobirama sighed, hugging a quite content Madara closer. This plan better work out. He just signed himself up for the longest honeypot mission he ever took. 

 

‘Marry Madara Uchiha to avoid the end of the world.’ Joy. 

 

And he wouldn’t even get paid for it. 

 

Tobirama sighed again and hoped that Madara would at least be a decent husband. 

Notes:

hey it's finally here! this chapter took some time cooking huh.
this fall was rough for me and for my beta, Dante. I got sick in the middle of it and Dante was busy af. I think its the AO3 curse in the motion.

some notes you might find interesting:
Timeline about Tajima’s kids. I use “before/after Naruto birth” years:
Tajima marries his wife - 84 before Naruto birth
Togakishi - 83 bnb
Kurohime - 81 bnb
Myoko - 05.78 bnb
Madara - 24.12.77 bnb
Izuna - 10.02.74 bnb

For reference, this chapter is happening in June of 64 bnb. Madara is 12 and Hashirama is 11 (he will be 12 in October). Tobirama and Itama are 9.
Kawarama died in fall 65 bnb, he was 9 (yeah idc that we have the canon age of his death at 7).
Togakushi died in December of the same year (she was 18-19) and Kurohime and Myoko died in January-February 64. (16-17 and 14)

And yes, Kurohime has gone on honeypot missions since she was a teen. A fucked up reality of Warring Era shinobi. Though I don’t think Tajima would assign her on smth too harsh, my hc Kurohime was enjoying it herself. She was a sly fox who liked to fool stupid men. Though keep in mind she was still a teen who might’ve not realized what was happening to a full extent. What exactly was happening on her missions I will leave to your imagination.

Complaint!!! I got peer pressured into giving Madara a gap between his front teeth. Before I had Madara just losing his baby teeth, but EVERYONE kept pointing out that “hey no, usually kids lose their front baby teeth earlier”, so yeah okay I cave in. I can’t even have shark changing teeth shinobi in this house /lh i don't mind lol

Anyway, ending this huge ass author notes with big thank you to everyone who helped me with this chapter! It was a hard one, I had many issues with it + I had to rewrite some of it to fit Madara’s sisters.

So big thanks to:
instant-bull - my wonderful beta <3
TitaniaFaerieQueen, oh-no-its-bird and fashionredalert for reading it through, throwing ideas in me fixing some of my tenses mistakes along the way and making Dante think I actually got better and hyping me up!
and my bestie Colloi who is like a coauthor at this point and was the one who threw the idea of Madara having older sisters into me and making me stumble and stress over this chapter even though I thought of it as finished. love you girl <3
(i used tumblr usernames for now pls tell me in dms in discord or tumblr if you want it changed)

honestly this turned into a group project at this point

and yes chapter title is inspired by the song Jealousy, jealousy - Olivia Rodrigo

Chapter 4: Child's play

Notes:

TW: anxiety attack

—Izuna POV—

 

As far as Izuna was concerned, all of this was stupid . And dangerous. 

 

Aniki said that his friends are nice and even blurted out that he even likes one of them, but still, they can be from any clan. Any. Even the Senju! How could Madara trust them so much and go to play with them all alone? Especially when he had such a nice little brother like Izuna. Honestly, Aniki should be more reasonable as an older brother and an heir of the Uchiha clan.

 

So when Madara said that he could join him, Izuna jumped at the chance. Someone had to make sure these “friends” were trustworthy enough to let Madara play with them. Of course, Aniki was meeting with them for a long time already, about three weeks, and nothing happened. Yet . Izuna was determined to be sure that nothing would ever happen. Madara was his last surviving sibling after all.

 

And Madara had mentioned that he liked someone. Izuna couldn’t let it slide. ‘Like’ is almost ‘love’ and love was very serious business! He would make sure that this boy was nice to Madara and didn't have any weird ideas. Because, clearly, his Aniki definitely didn’t have any indication of a clear head and his usual concentrated composure on his face. No, he wore a dreamy and soft look on his face, which sent shivers down Izuna's spine. 

 

Who the hell was this boy to charm his brother so much to lose his mind?!

 

But he could admit one thing: the fact that they were meeting at the river was nice. Especially since it was so hot outside and it would be heavenly to splash in the water… Wait, no, he has a mission . Ensure these children were trustworthy enough for his Aniki. Yeah. He couldn’t get distracted by playing games like a little boy anymore! He turned ten this winter! His father had said he must act more mature, since one day he would become Madara's heir. Well, until he had his own kids anyway. So, he had to act like a grown up and not play with strangers until he knew they were fine.

 

When the Uchiha brothers emerged from the dense forest, Madara’s friends were already waiting for them at the opposite shore. The boy with weirdly cut hair, like someone put a bowl on his hair and cut at the ends of it, was skipping stones and talking about something loudly. Was he really a shinobi? Why so loud?

The other boy with unusual black and white hair was sitting near the bowl cut one at the shore, listening to what the other had to say. Was the one with the bowl cut explaining something to him?

 

The third one–

 

What?! Third ?! But Madara said that he had only two friends! If Izuna was confident that they could take two random kids in a fight, three would be much more of a challenge! UGH, it was so unfair!

 

The third kid was sitting in the shadow of the trees, his hair completely white like the second’s half, just not as curly. He was reading some sort of scroll. He was pale, even paler than anyone in the Uchiha clan. If Izuna didn't know better, he would think that it was a ghost and not a boy.

 

Izuna eyed Madara, who himself also looked a little surprised at this development, but said nothing and waved his hand to the other boys. In contrast, Izuna tensed, readying himself for a battle or an ambush. Madara didn’t know the third kid and yet he trusted his other friends that it was safe. Madara, who was always the most careful shinobi Izuna knew! 

 

“Madara! You’re here!” yelled the bowl cut kid as he noticed them, smiling and waving his hands in turn, distracting Izuna from his internal panic. The boy stopped waving for a second when he noticed Izuna, but then smiled wider and waved with two hands. 

 

Madara smiled in turn and then pulled Izuna to follow him by his shirt.

 

“Come on, I’ll introduce you,” he said.

 

Izuna reluctantly followed. He had to trust his Aniki. Even though he clearly wasn’t in his right mind. At least Izuna himself had some sense in his head.

 

“So!” Madara started once they crossed the river. Izuna’s control on water-walking was still a bit wonky, but he did it, even with his brother’s supporting hand on his elbow. “This is my younger brother Izuna, so be nice!”

 

Madara sent a pointed look at the bowl cut kid. Izuna scoffed. Like he would allow them to be mean to him.

 

“Of course we will be nice!” said the kid with a smile, sounding a little offended, like he’d never even dare to be mean to Izuna, almost jumping from excitement. “Hi, Izuna! I'm Hashirama! It's nice to meet you!” 

 

“Yeah, yeah. This is Tobirama,“ Madara gestured towards the white haired boy (ah, so he didn’t know the half-and-half one then) with a smile and a warm tone. Right, he said he liked someone from here. So it must be Tobirama. 

 

Izuna squinted, scrutinizing the boy, who stood up and put his scroll away when they came near. The boy definitely looked exotic with his white hair and sharingan-red eyes. When he stood under the sun it looked like he was glowing. Now Izuna could definitely see why Madara might have liked him. But…

 

“Nice to meet you, Izuna,” Tobirama nodded. Then he had a tiny smile on his face, like he was glad to see him. Izuna frowned. 

 

He looked at the boy’s red eyes. Something felt wrong. The look in his eyes. It felt too calculating, too careful. They didn't match his smile. He saw this expression only on adults before.

 

He didn't like this.

 

“And this is?..” Madara asked, looking at the other boy. 

 

“This is Itama, my twin brother,” said Tobirama, putting a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “We promised that we'd take him here someday and today was a good day to slip away all together, so...”

 

“Nice to meet you, um, Izuna-kun. And you must be Madara-kun. It's nice to meet you again,” Itama said, eyeing Izuna’s brother with suspicion. Well at least someone has some amount of common sense here. 

 

But now, looking closer, Izuna could see that the boy also had one red eye, even brighter than Tobirama’s. It was unnerving. What’s up with these red-eyed kids?

 

“Uh, yeah, it's good to see you again too,” Madara said awkwardly.

 

Wait a minute, ‘again’? Oh Izuna would pull this story out of his brother for sure. Izuna narrowed his eyes suspiciously, and his face took on a slightly arrogant look, imitating many other older Uchihas, but he nodded, trying to be polite.

 

Still both the white haired one and the half-and-half gave him a strange feeling. Maybe because Izuna wasn't used to seeing red-eyed non-Uchiha. Red eyes meant battle ready. And even though these guys clearly didn't have the Sharingan, Izuna didn't like the idea of ​​red eyes belonging to someone other than their clan. Tobirama was giving him an especially weird feeling. 

 

For that brief moment, he looked at Izuna as if he really did have the Sharingan. A calculating, tenacious gaze, which now rested on his brother. He should definitely try to stop Madara from coming to this river again! 

 

But Madara himself seemed oblivious to the oddities, staring at Tobirama almost with awe. Izuna kind of understood why he was looking like that. With such an appearance, Tobirama looked more like a living ghost, a spirit, or even a small god with regal features, snow-white hair and scarlet eyes. The appearance, for a boy, was so beautiful that it clearly concealed danger. And Madara didn't love anything more than he loved danger. He always thought he could handle it. His brother always wanted to tame the storm, or at least a bijuu, but for some reason, he decided to start with this strange boy! 

 

“Tobirama! You wanted to see a big fireball!” Madara exclaimed, when they were done with introductions. He jumped to the boy, looking as excited as ever.  

 

‘No, no, what are you doing, Aniki?!’ flashed through Izuna's head in a panic. It was a clear give away as to which clan they belonged to! Didn’t Madara himself insist on wearing clothes with no Uchiha crest on it?!

 

“Right, we didn’t see it in its full glory yet,” nodded Tobirama, taking Madara’s hand in such motion, that screamed familiarity, like they’ve done it a hundred times already. “But I presume, you should perform it near the water, right?”

 

Now, since when did Tobirama know that Great Fireball Jutsu was trained near the water?! Did Madara already say anything?!

 

“Oh, right, you haven't shown it to us yet!” Hashirama agreed and then smirked. “But you promised it so long ago, I thought you had given up on showing it off.”

 

“I was perfecting it, dumbass! I couldn’t show my future wife– Ouch!” Tobirama stomped at Madara’s foot with force, his pretty face twisting with annoyance. 

 

The nerve to do this to Izuna’s Aniki! Madara should retaliate like he always did to any bullies in the clan! 

 

“Okay– okay, future husband,” mumbled Madara, doing nothing to push back (!!!), letting a younger boy trample over him (quite literally). He turned to talk to Hashirama once again. “I couldn’t show him a half-assed Fireball, okay?”

 

Yes, okay, any Uchiha would agree that it was better to show off to the future spouse when one is in his top form. But what did he mean, Tobirama was his future husband?!

 

“You still don’t have my permission,” mumbled Hashirama, crossing his arms and pouting. Finally, someone with sense. 

 

“Ah, so you don’t want to go to their wedding, Anija?” innocently asked Itama.

 

“Wha-, no, I do!”

 

“We got your permission then, great,” blandly said Tobirama, making Hashirma choke on his protests. Tobirama pulled Madara with him to the river and talked to him sweetly. “Come on then, beautiful, let’s look at your Fireball.”  

 

‘Beautiful’? Ew, who even talked like that? Tobirama sounded like an old man. There’s no way Izuna’s Aniki would fall for tha–

 

“Yes!” Madara's eyes lit up as his cheeks turned red and he gently squeezed Tobirama's hand, looking warmly into his eyes. “But be ready, maybe we'll even need your Suiton to extinguish fire! I'm strong, you know!”

 

What?! Really?! Izuna almost choked on air, scowling even more now. A devious fox! He bought his big brother with flattery! Honestly, he thought Madara was smarter than this.

 

“Fine, but don’t burn the forest down! Trees will be so sad!” Hashirama huffed and hurried after them. Right, so this one was senseless too. Did he think trees could be sad? What a child. 

 

Izuna ran over to Madara, grabbing his sleeve, making him and Tobirama, who still held his Aniki’s hand , stop.

 

“Is this really necessary, Aniki?” Izuna whispered, not wanting to let him go with those boys. He would have enjoyed watching his brother's fireball again, but this technique would give away their origins for sure! 

 

Madara, it seems, understood his words in his own way. 

 

“Of course! You saw how big and hot my ball is!” Madara chuckled, looking at his younger brother with pride in his eyes. “Let's go!”

 

He grabbed Izuna’s with his other hand, pulling him and Tobirama onto the water's surface and standing facing the current. 

 

“Hey, Hashirama, Itama! Get behind me!” he yelled. 

 

Hashirama and Itama hid behind him at his command. Hashirama grabbed his other younger brother by the shoulders so that he wouldn't get burned if anything happened. Tobirama, however, was not in any danger, standing right next to Madara. At his left. Truly, like a wife! Izuna took his place on his right, like his proper heir, eyeing Tobirama with displeasure. Not that this cold statue of a person even noticed .

 

The seals formed one after another with honed movements. Madara trained and trained a lot. The clan was happy about it, Izuna himself was impressed by Madara’s motivation. Apparently his Aniki wasn't training so much for the clan's benefit. 

 

Madara exhaled the Katon, curling it into a fireball that grew and grew, filling more and more space above the river. The water under it boiled almost instantly, blowing steamy clouds all around, overpowered by the heat. Madara, as clever as he was, must have foreseen it, that's why he sent the katon downstream, otherwise the boiling water would burn their feet. 

 

The other brothers, standing behind them, looked with surprise and delight at how quickly the fireball grew and how big it became.

 

"Wow!" Hashirama exclaimed.

 

"Wow," Itama echoed, looking over Tobirama's shoulder and squinting from the heat.

 

Izuna, while watching his brother’s impressive skill, also watched Tobirama closely. The boy was mostly squinting, barely even looking at the great fireball Madara produced. In the end he even closed them! Well he was rubbing them with his hands, so maybe they were irritated by the heat. It often happens to Uchiha, who trained katon for the first time, but still! How could he not pay close attention to his Aniki?! Especially when Aniki trained his Fireball just for Tobirama! So ungrateful!

 

Soon part of the ball slowly sank into the water, and part dissolved in the air, Madara turned around with a wide and proud smile. 

 

Tobirama clapped his hands a little, still squinting a bit and blinking fast, occasionally rubbing his eyes.

 

"That was very impressive," he said, taking Madara's hand again and examining it carefully. "No burns. Good control, with that amount of chakra. Very impressive."

 

The audacity to think that Aniki would get burns to begin with! 

 

“Do you really think so, Tobirama?” It seemed that Madara was much more delighted by the boy's praise than by the perfect Great Fireball.

 

“It couldn't be any different, Aniki!” Izuna butted in, trying to distract his brother from the boy. “And he didn't even look at the end…” he grumbled, now glancing at Tobirama angrily. 

 

“Oh no, did I hurt you?” Madara asked, noticing the way Tobirama was still rubbing his eyes, hurrying over him and looking at him worriedly, taking his hand in his once again. He wasn’t even upset that Tobirama barely watched! But Aniki loved attention, especially when he showed off his jutsus!

 

"I just have sensitive eyes," Tobirama answered, blinking, almost like batting his white eyelashes to Izuna’s Aniki.

 

Izuna pursed his lips. He really wanted to convince his brother that it was not worth hanging out with these boys! He didn't like Tobirama! And it was not because Izuna was jealous or anything. It was that–!.. Tobirama was dangerous! And weird! 

 

"You can't look at such bright things, Bibi-chan," Itama reminded him worriedly, like his twin was some kind of frail lady, softly patting his shoulder. "The healers say that otherwise your eyesight will deteriorate even more."

 

"Yes, I remember," Tobirama grumbled and defeatedly nodded to his twin. “It’s fine, don’t worry.”

 

At that the Uchiha brothers shared a look. Eye problems were something that they knew really well thanks to their clan’s dojutsu. 

 

"Good! Still, Madara, that was really cool!" Hashirama enthusiastically joined the conversation. "How long have you been training?"

 

“All the time!” Madara chuckled, putting his hands on his hips and proudly throwing his head back, pointing his nose to the sky.

 

His moment of pride was short lived, as Madara once more looked closely at Tobirama. He exhaled sadly, taking Tobirama's other hand.

“I wanted to show another technique, but it's much more hot and dangerous,” he said, then looked at Tobirama. ”Maybe later...”

 

Izuna also exhaled, relieved. Oh, thanks Amaterasu, his brother wouldn’t blab about all of the clan techniques. He was very self-confident at times... 

Hm, come to think of jutsus, maybe it would be better to find out what these boys were capable of. It would at least slightly compensate for how easily Madara showed the clan technique. Information was always useful. 

 

“So, what do you usually do here?” he asked, since any other talks died down.

 

“Lots of things! We play, spar, compete. Tobi-chan sometimes helps us with chakra control!” Hashirama shared with Izuna easily, not even trying to look into it. Did he trust him so much just because he was Madara’s little brother? That was so stupid!

 

“And they didn't take me with them,” Itama pouted.

 

“But without you, we would have definitely been spotted right away! And then Chichiue would have definitely forbidden us all to wander outside the clan,” Hashirama said worriedly, hugging his younger brother by the shoulders. “You helped us a lot! And now we can stay here all day!” He turned to Madara and Izuna with a smirk. “See, father allowed us to train together outside… he doesn't know we're here, of course.”

 

“Well, yes, and he was in a good mood today...“ Itama nodded. “And what do you usually play?”

 

“Well, we race, play onigokko* and throw pebbles at targets. Tobirama really likes ninja hide-and-seek!” Hashirama smiled.

 

Izuna heard what he wanted. Now he had an opportunity to distract Tobirama from his brother, who barely paid any attention to the main conversation, because the red-eyed boy was whispering something to Madara’s ear. Honestly, he’s worse than some clan girls who wanted to go out with his aniki just because he’s the clan heir! But, for some reason, Madara actually paid attention to his advances. He never did it to girls'. 

 

"Aniki, can we play ninja hide-and-seek?" he asked. Since it was Tobirama's favorite game, maybe he’d back off from Madara at least for some time! And maybe Izuna would be able to tell what kind of shinobi he was by the way he played.

 

"Huh?.." Madara finally got distracted from the pale boy and their secret conversation. “Yeah! Let's do it! There are a lot of us, it will be much more fun. But you'll have to hide really well if Tobirama will be ‘the oni’*. It’s hard to hide from him!”

 

Madara had so much pride in his voice, clearly happy that his– no, not future husband, not crush, no, no, no !– this Tobirama was skilled enough to find boys older than him.

 

"It's good training to hide chakra. If I found you, it means you didn't hide well," Tobirama shrugged, clearly not even bothered by the praise. 

 

"You always say that, Tobi-chan!" Hashirama accused him. "You're too good of a sensor!" 

 

“Anija, but you also have it easy. You ask the trees to tell you where everyone is,” Itama reminded, making Hashirama stumble over his own words.

 

“I–Ita-chan, you didn't have to give me away so quickly,” he muttered.

 

“Eeeh? But you gave Bibi-chan away and said that he is a sensor,” Itama said innocently, looking at his brother with his big, multi-colored eyes.

 

Tobirama snorted with laughter for some reason. See! Weird!!!

 

“Then let Madara search. He is also a sensor, but he still has a lot to learn,” Tobirama suggested.

 

What?! Madara was growing to be the best sensor in their whole clan. There was no way Tobirama might be a better sensor than him, right? They were just bragging!

 

“Or maybe Ita-chan will be the oni?” Hashirama suggested, trying to get a little revenge on his younger brother, who gasped in indignation and shoved him in the shoulder. Of course, since Itama was younger and smaller, it didn’t do much to Hashirama, who mockingly raised up his hands.

 

“Not fair! This is my first time here and you know this area well!” he said. “Bibi-chan said that Madara needs to train, so let him!”

 

“I'll be the oni!” Madara volunteered easily. “Just hide well, otherwise it won't be interesting!”

 

“Okay, Aniki,” Izuna agreed easily, thinking about his route and eyeing Tobirama from the corner of his eye. 

 

“Then I'll count up to 60,” Madara ran to the nearest tree to count and not to look. Even though Izuna was sure he would track them all with his chakra sense anyway. 

 

Madara loudly started counting and all the boys bolted in different directions to find someplace to hide.

 

–POV Tobirama–

 

The Senju brothers hid in various places. Hashirama, as usual, hid high up in the tree branches, and Tobirama was sure they were happy to cover him with their lush foliage. Itama hid closer to the ground, somewhere in the bushes, away from the main road. Or maybe he found something interesting and got distracted. It was hard to tell by his chakra alone since in both situations it felt so focused.

 

Tobirama chose his Anija’s path, but not so high up, sitting at the standard height of a ninja travel so that he could quickly escape in case he sensed Madara. 

 

Since he was hiding among the foliage, he threw on a light-masking henge, which completely changed his appearance. His bright white hair turned dark green, his skin darkened a couple of shades, and his clothes were dyed dark brown. This would make him harder to spot for the naked eye, but at the same time, the jutsu emitted some chakra and Madara could notice it. 

 

At least Tobirama hoped he would. He noticed that a twelve-year-old Madara’s sensing wasn't even a quarter of what it was in his prime. He started to train this ability later in life? He had assumed Uchiha’s focused on sensing prowess. 

 

He hoped that these games would spark an interest for training chakra sensing earlier. Uchihas had a habit of mostly relying on the power of their eyes. And Tobirama couldn’t blame them, the Sharingan was powerful and feared for a reason. But if Tobirama wanted Madara to survive his youth and beyond, he had to be able to notice the vile, dark, but subtle Black Zetsu’s chakra.

 

A familiar chakra presence pulled him out of his thoughts. It was not Madara so he did not start to run, but he sat down on the branch in a position from which it would be easy to flee. It was easy to notice the annoyance flowing in the chakra near him. He didn’t just because he was distracted. Again. 

 

"Izuna?" Tobirama called, looking right at the source of chakra. 

 

Izuna's chakra had been acting very tense and angry since their first introduction. Was he suspicious of something? A small satisfied smile appeared on Tobirama's face. What a bright boy. As expected of his former equal. 

 

(He couldn’t, in his right mind, call a ten year old equal anymore, right?)

 

“You're still visible,” Izuna said, coming out of the shadows of the forest, looking up from the forest floor and folding his arms across his chest. He quickly hopped along the branches and in mere seconds stood next to Tobirama. “You really think you can fool my Aniki like that?” Izuna asked, squatting. “You hide carelessly, and deliberately stick out your chakra. I thought you were serious about this ‘game,’ but you’re just goofing around like a little kid.”

“Oh, I can hide well enough.” Tobirama smiled slyly, hiding his chakra completely; even with his henge, it was easy. He still had experience from previous years and it helped him a lot in controlling his chakra, especially while it was so low. ”But why should I? This is just a game, not training.” At least as far as Madara and Hashirama knew. “And the chase is the most interesting part of hide-and-seek.”

 

Tobirama knew from experience that if he hid too well then they would look for him for a very long time, but that was simply boring. When was sitting in ambush ever interesting? Running from a pursuit, leading someone on a false trail, playing with them as they try to catch up–  that was thrilling. Especially since the only danger he could face if ‘the oni’ caught up to him was to be thrown to the ground and briefly rolled in the mud. Though Madara will probably try to hug him and then try to convince him to work together, like he’d done once before. It was actually a lot of fun to team up against Hashirama like that. Tobirama had used henge as Madara and they almost gave Hashirama a heart attack.

 

Izuna's eyes widened in surprise as he sensed Tobirama’s chakra – or lack thereof. Then, his eyes narrowed.

 

“You're younger than me, aren't you…?” he muttered, slowly looking at Tobirama and then casting his gaze about the forest. “Do your brothers know how to hide like this? Did they teach you?”

 

“No, they’re not as good at chakra control as I am,” Tobirama shrugged, letting go of his tight control and giving Madara a chance to sense him again. “That’s why we’re playing this game.”

 

“But Hashirama is older than you. He doesn’t know how to hide his chakra?” Izuna asked, frowning.

 

“He has much more chakra than I do, so it’s no wonder that he has trouble with it,” Tobirama answered. He couldn't say no to a child who is curious. Even though the child was starting to become very annoying. Besides, playing open cards could possibly gain some of Izuna's trust. 

 

“But if he’s your older brother, doesn't he understand that we’re not the only ones who can play hide and seek in this forest?” Izuna asked, gaze piercing into him, making Tobirama frown at the sudden change in topic. How did he jump from Hashirama having more chakra to him not understanding basic safety?  

 

“Aniki is always cautious! But now… What did you do that made Aniki different? Made him forget that the huge fireball he wanted to show you could attract danger?” Izuna looked at Tobirama with a sudden fierce hostility. “And after that show, you don't even try to hide properly! Because of you, Aniki became careless! He doesn't even try to look for you by chakra, because he knows it's too easy with you being so obnoxious with it!”

 

Tobirama wanted to take a deep breath, but he knew it would only anger Izuna more, thanks to his typical Uchiha temper that could take anything as offense. Honestly, who did Izuna take him for? And since when was it his fault that Madara’s suddenly careless? He started to walk alone on non-Uchiha land before they met on the river. Wasn't that careless by itself?

 

To be fair, Izuna had valid concerns. Anyone could go check where this huge fireball came from and who created it. If Tobirama were in Izuna's place (and he was once) he’d be concerned too. But did Izuna forget that Tobirama was a better sensor than Madara, and that he could actually sense if someone was coming in their direction? Did he deliberately forget or did he just not trust him?

 

“First of all, there's no one around us for at least an hour by shinobi run. I’m always  monitoring our surroundings to avoid being “played with,” as you say,” said Tobirama. He was starting to get irritated, but he managed not to let it show on his face. ”Second, even though he has the makings of a good sensor, Madara relies too much on his eyes. I'm trying to instill in him the habit of searching by chakra, and not just looking for us by hair color among the foliage.”

 

“He's just not interested in searching for you by chakra!” Izuna argued, jumping up from his seat. “If this is a game like you say it is, then he won't give it his all like when he goes out to punish border violators. Your frivolity can lead to tragedy, and you dragged Aniki into this. And don't act like you know everything! You can't, you’re just nine!” Izuna glared at Tobirama. “Even adults stumble, and we follow in their footsteps. These mistakes are dangerous, and one day, adults will have to deal with the consequences of our mistakes.” 

 

Izuna didn’t say anything else, just jumped onto a nearby branch and ran off. 

 

Tobirama just signed. So now a ten-year-old drama queen’s teaching him about life? And why did Izuna think he’s not taking this seriously? Because of his age? 

Tobirama closed his eyes and tried to calm down. He didn’t want to give away his position, especially since Izuna just yelled at him and moved away, which would have attracted attention. He had to stay still. Tobirama didn’t forget that even though barely-a-teen Madara was already a fearsome shinobi that scared a lot of adult shinobi.

 

He didn’t move from his hiding spot, merely pressed himself closer to the tree, because Madara was already close and running off would give him away more easily. He still wasn’t as fast as Madara was. Damn his short legs. He couldn’t wait for his growth spurt.

 

But it seemed his efforts to hide were futile.

 

“Found you!” Madara landed right in front of him, not out of breath at all, but with his eyes filled with excitement. He immediately hurried to pin Tobirama down to the trunk of a tree.

 

“Did I start getting better or did you get distracted?” he chuckled, pleased with his catch. “You're usually the hardest to find!”

 

Tobirama smiled at the boy and placed his hand on his cheek, making the boy blush bright red.

 

“I got distracted by your brother,” he answered honestly, stroking Madara's blushed cheek with his thumb. ”And who said you caught me, hmm?”

 

Tobirama came closer to Madara, hugging him and looking into his eyes.

 

Madara choked on his words and quickly, not to miss the opportunity, hugged Tobirama back.

"And now?" he whispered, squeezing Tobirama in his arms.

Tobirama smiled slyly and then nuzzled Madara's nose with his. Then he formed seals with one hand and used the substitution technique, leaving the boy hugging the log. 

 

Tobirama jumped to the side, quickly breaking the distance from Madara, but intentionally running past the place where Izuna was hiding. Let him run too, since he was so smart.

 

“Tobirama!” Madara exclaimed behind his back, by the sound of it, throwing the log aside and running after him. 

 

Ah, pity, he didn't even notice Izuna on their way. Expected, but still, Tobirama would love to see Izuna running away from his favourite Aniki. Oh well, he wouldn't deny himself some entertainment of running around the forest with Madara on his tail.

 

—

 

In the end Tobirama allowed Madara to catch him, if only because otherwise he would not have calmed down and would not have started looking for others, trying to catch up with Tobirama. Yes, Madara was faster, but Tobirama still had years more of experience and lots of ideas on how to use substitution techniques.  

 

With the addition of Tobirama, who was dragged around as an oversized prize for Uchiha’s achievements, Madara tracked everyone down and caught them. They gathered again by the river, resting from all of the running around, splashing some water on their heads to cool off. Even Izuna seemed to have fun in the end. Catching him was fun, who would’ve thought his baby rival could screech in pitches that high?

 

After submerging his whole head into the river to fight off the heat, Tobirama shook off some excessive water from his hair and sat down, leaning against Madara's side. He was shamelessly using the larger and taller boy as a canopy to hide from the scorching July sun.

 

Also wet haired, Madara slightly leaned against Tobirama in return and almost grabbed his shirt from behind, apparently wanting to hug him, but presumably getting too shy. His heart was pounding so hard that Tobirama could hear it even without channeling chakra to his ears.

 

So Hashirama was right. Madara was a shy child. How adorable.

 

A little smile appeared on Tobirama’s face as he leaned to him closer, pressing his cheek on Madara’s shoulder. Madara’s chakra blazed in, what Tobirama now could easily discern, as embarrassment. Not a bad kind though, since his chakra didn’t turn a bit sour like when Hashirama was making fun of him and taking it too far.

 

"What else can we do?" asked Itama, who shook off his usual coat and used it as a blanket to sit on.

 

"Mm, sparring?" suggested still heavily breathing Hashirama, who left only his pants on himself, his hair sticking wildly after a ‘helpful’ dunk in the river, courtesy of Madara. 

 

"We had a nice warm up," Tobirama agreed. Sparring might be a good idea, after all, Itama needed to be introduced to the Uchiha fighting style sooner or later. Better to do it without bringing too much danger to him, in a more controlled environment.

 

“Then I'm with Hashirama!“ Madara was more charged than ever, flushed from the activity and their closeness. "Last time was a draw!

 

Ah, of course. Hashirama was always his first choice in sparring. Tobirama could only roll his eyes at it.

 

"I want to fight Tobirama," Izuna said, his eyes tense, but chakra curious. 

 

Well, that was to be expected. At least he was not so angry after a play and refreshing. Tobirama nodded to Izuna. It seemed that the boy was destined to be his rival. But, at least for now, they didn't have to fight to the death. Just a friendly sparring match with Izuna. Should go well.

 

Though it was hard to take him seriously when he looked like a wet kitten. Madara threw him in the river when Izuna said something snarky that Tobirama didn’t catch. He noticed it only when Izuna was already flying towards the water.

 

"He-he, let's see who comes out on top this time!" Hashirama jumped up, smiling confidently and pointing finger at Madara. "I'll prove to Tobi-chan that his Anija is way cooler, and that he never should marry you!”

 

Itama giggled, Izuna spluttered and Tobirama just sighed. The last thing he needed was for them to fight over him.

 

"Ita-chan, you too!" Hashirama declared, hearing his younger brother giggle.

 

"But I already think that you're cooler," Itama blinked innocently. Just as Hashirama tried to puff himself up with pride, Itama continued, "Though it's hard to blame Bibi-chan. At least Madara has a better haircut." 

 

Hashirama sadly sat down on the ground, picking at the pebbles under his feet.

 

Madara rolled with laughter, causing Izuna to look slightly dumbfounded and eyeing his brother with something like wonder and disbelief. Weird. Did Madara not laugh at home? But Tobirama could understand it. When Butsuma was home all of his children, except for Hashirama, also avoided laughing too loudly, since their father could think of it as them lazing around and doing nothing productive. 

 

After Madara’s laugh died down, he jumped up, letting go of Tobirama. “I'll beat you even if I had a stupid hairstyle too. And I'll prove to Tobirama that I'm way cooler than you, and he'll be happy with me!”

 

"Oh no, no! You need to prove that you'll be a good husband!" Hashirama got riled up too, standing up and also ready to beat up Madara right here and now. "He's my younger brother! The youngest! He's still a baby! He can’t marry you!”

 

Tobirama just rolled his eyes, pressing fingers on his eyebrow with a deep sigh. This again. How many more times will they bring it up?

 

"Is Itama supposed to be so much older just because he was born just an hour earlier?" he grumbled.

 

Itama just giggled cheerfully.

 

"It's okay, Bibi-chan, we all know that you have the soul of a 40-year-old man," he smiled, clapping Tobirama on his shoulder.

 

What. 

 

No, he was right, of course, but… No, it was probably just a coincidence. Didn't matter that this was the exact age Tobirama died. Well, not exactly, he died when he was 39, but still. It was a common phrase to use. Tobirama snorted to hide his confusion and even some fear of being discovered. He decided not to bring this topic up again and turned his gaze at the boys yelling at each other. 

 

"Oh, I'll be strong enough to defeat you, which means I'll be able to protect him! And then he'll cook me his signature fish each time!" Madara didn't let up, riling up Hashirama even more. "And you won't be able to stand in my way!”

 

"I will!" Hashirama shouted and rushed at Madara with precise blows, which Madara blocked with ease.  

 

"Should we wait until they finish?" Tobirama asked Izuna in the meantime.

 

Izuna nodded absentmindedly to Tobirama, watching the chaos that their older brothers had created. His face was tense and even a little disappointed. He muttered something under his breath and started to draw on the ground with a stick.

 

"Why do they think that I can't defend myself?" Tobirama sighed rhetorically, rubbing his closed eyes, which were tired from the sun.

 

Itama only shrugged.

 

"You are the ‘wife’," he said, looking at how the two older boys fought and yelled at each other.

 

"I am not a wife," Tobirama almost growled. "I am not a woman and I do not intend to take that role in marriage.”

 

"A wife should have children, Tobirama can't do it," Izuna reluctantly agreed, bringing a little rationality.

 

"Tell that to the Yamanaka women. Or the Hatakes. They'd tear you to pieces," Tobirama snorted. The Uchihas still had an outdated view of these things. He remembered their reluctance to accept new ways of the village, that women should be allowed to go on missions too, not just stay inside of the compound to protect the clan or the village in that case.

 

"Yeah, Shiro-chan would definitely do that," Itama giggled, remembering their rebellious cousin, who was always against such things and made scary faces at those who suggested that she should find a good man and have many children with him.

 

"I mean, Tobirama can only become a husband," Izuna drawled boredly, trying not to be distracted from the fight. 

 

They fell silent when Madara performed a rather elegant move with a dodge and a turn in the air, and then an attack with Katon, which he seemed to have done without any seals. Fast. Madara simply managed to fold them before that, but it was not clear when exactly. The boys slowly moved to the water, away from their younger brothers.

 

"He spent a lot of chakra," Tobirama said casually, feeling that Madara's control had slightly sagged due to the rush of a fight.

 

"Why doesn't Hashirama use... well... it ? " Itama asked in a whisper.

 

Indeed, Hashirama had yet to use Mokuton in any sparring with Madara, mostly fighting him only with taijutsu and low-level techniques without using his bloodline limit. He also couldn't use shurikens and kunai, since they got those only for missions and training. After all, the Senju clan didn't have their own blacksmiths, like the Uchiha had.

 

"I forbade it," Tobirama answered. "Too noticeable, especially if they get carried away.”

 

Inside, Tobirama shuddered slightly, remembering the fights of adult Hashirama and Madara from the first timeline. Of course, right now they were children and couldn't do as much damage as if they’d be adults. But still, even with their current power level, they could attract unwanted attention.

 

Itama hummed in response, satisfied with the answer. Izuna was not.

 

“And Katon is not noticeable?” Izuna huffed. Seemed like he was still pissed about that talk in the forest.

 

“It is and Katon is also forbidden in spars, Madara! ” Tobirama yelled the last part, reminding him about the rule.

 

Madara threw a betrayed puppy eyed look at Tobirama, but quickly was distracted by a foot approaching his face.

 

“Why is this different from the Great Fireball then?” Izuna hissed, probably pissed that Tobirama crippled Madara’s chances of winning the spar.

 

“That was a carefully controlled demonstration and there was no one around us for at least a 2 hour shinobi speed distance,” Tobirama explained. “Besides, Katon is banned in spars mostly because burns are a pain to heal later.”

 

Of course Hashirama had excellent healing abilities, but Tobirama had to factor in his young age and inexperience. It shouldn’t work like that, since usually the kids healed faster than adults, but it worked backwards for Hashirama for some reason. Probably, because his self-healing developed alongside the Mokuton itself. 

 

Tobirama never uncovered this mystery since after his invention of Edo Tensei Hashirama-from-before never let him experiment on humans, himself included. Not that Tobirama was too interested in humans themselves at the time. He had his hands full of other jutsu ideas and then the village came to be. He had much more work to think about instead of Hashirama and his Mokuton.

 

Maybe this time he’d let him. Tobirama was not going to pour himself over inventing complicated jutsus like Edo Tensei. And after the Fourth War Tobirama was not eager to show it off. It would be better if it stayed only as a memory in his mind. Besides, Hashirama absolutely hated it. 

 

So if Hashirama allowed, Tobirama was quite curious about his healing and Mokuton, since in the future-that-won’t-happen-anymore there was a lot more unsettling interest in his brother’s abilities than anticipated. There should’ve been none. He was dead and buried. Hashirama himself always said that disturbing someone’s final rest is a taboo and Tobirama learned it the hard way. Did people forget or just disregarded it?

 

But now he had an alive and healthy Hashirama running around, trying to punch his best friend’s face. Who knew that this time travel would give him a chance to try to understand what all that fuss about First Hokage’s cells was about?

 

Meanwhile kid versions of Madara and Hashirama were very carried away by the fight. It didn't take long, but they almost flew into the air, continuing to strike and block each other's blows, until Madara twisted, delivering a very successful kick that sent Hashirama just into the water, breaking the surface. Having landed after him, Madara immediately ran to give Hashirama a hand so that he wouldn't be carried away by the current down to the river.

 

"Nice one," Madara said to his friend, quite out of breath, catching Hashirama’s hand in his and smiling cockily. “Now I can marry Tobirama.”

 

Hashirama grunted, grabbing Madara's hand and holding on to it, finding support on the water's surface again.

 

"No way!" he whined when he was stable on his own feet. "I lost, but next time I'll definitely win!"

 

“No take backs, loser. He’s mine!” Madara laughed and darted towards the shore.

 

“NO!” Hashirama pushed forward and tackled Madara to the water again, making them both lose control and fall in, screaming.

 

So childish… But it was so heartwarming to see them acting like kids and not baby soldiers they had to be everyday in this war. 

 

"Wow, he beat Hashirama," Itama breathed out. Hashirama was unbeatable for him. If Tobirama could sometimes defeat him with clever strategy or speed, for Itama it was yet something unimaginable.

 

"Madara is strong," Tobirama nodded, very familiar with his potential. The main problem now was to make sure that this potential would be used for the good of their future village, and not against it...

 

"Of course he is!" said Izuna, proud and inspired by his brother's triumph.

 

“ That’s your fault, Hashirama! ” yelled Madara, when both of their older brothers managed to drag themselves back to the shore.

 

“Nu-uh! You were the one talking nonsense!” huffed Hashirama, shoving Madara, making him stumble and almost fall back in the water, and running off.

 

“Tobi-chan! Will you dry me like you did Madara last time?” Hashirama jogged to them and sat on his knees before Tobirama with puppy eyes.

 

“It’s hot, you will dry off by yourself,” Tobirama rolled his eyes.

 

“But you did Madara last time!” his brother whined, crawling closer to Tobirama.

 

“I remind you, that it was cold that day,” he grumbled, in his turn, crawling backwards from soaking wet Hashirama. As much as he loved water, he didn’t enjoy getting soaked just because Hashirama wanted attention.

 

“But.. but– It’s not fair!” Hashirama launched himself at his little brother with a huge hug and he was not having it. With all the speed he had, he tried to jump up and avoid the wet hug, but his body was still younger and not as trained as he was before, so he ended up in a soaking brotherly hug.

 

“EW, Hashirama, get off me! You’re wet!” He tried to kick his Anija in the ribs, twisting and turning, while Hashirama laughed. Evilly. 

 

Itama also giggled, barely hiding his smile behind his hand. Traitor!

 

“Oi!” Madara finally reached them too and taking on the situation, his first decision was to try to get Hashirama off of Tobirama by his clothes. His only clothes.

 

“Hey, my pants!” Hashirama squeaked, trying to get a hold on them with one hand and forgetting that he was holding Tobirama. 

 

It was his chance. Tobirama quickly wiggled out from Hashirama’s hold and rushed to hide behind Madara. At least he was not laughing like someone . Tobirama eyed a now-fully-laughing Itama and a barely holding his laugh Izuna with displeasure. Traitors, all of them. 

 

“Ahhh, Tobi!” Hashirama whined when he lost his prize, his bottom lip wobbling.

 

“Fuck off, Anija,” Tobirama calmly said, eyeing everyone from behind Madara’s shoulder, who puffed up proudly and raised his arm to protect Tobirama from any other wet brothers. Maybe it might look cowardly to hide behind someone’s back, but against Anija’s excessive amounts of affection? Yeah, he’d prefer to hide behind Madara, who was all too happy to play a samurai in shining armor to save his beloved. 

 

Hashirama gasped, “Tobi-chan, it’s a bad word!”

 

Itama laughed harder and Madara turned his head to him in surprise.

 

“So we've been allowed to kill people since the time we learned how to hold kunai, but can’t swear?” Tobirama huffed, crossing his hands across his chest. “That’s stupid. It’s just a word.”

 

“But–... my innocent little brother…” Hashirama sniffed, lowering his gaze to the ground. “First he gets engaged, now he swears…”

 

“Engaged?” Itama asked after another fit of giggles. 

 

Izuna tensed, his amusement dying down immediately.

 

“Anija’s exaggerating. It was merely a promise,” Tobirama waved his hand in a dismissive motion.

 

“I won over you in the spar though!” Madara said, turning back to him and taking his hand. “So we’re definitely gonna marry!”

 

"Aniki, you can't say such things so easily," Izuna grumbled. His gaze slid in the direction of the Uchiha clan lands and stopped at his brother. "Tou-san won't approve, you know that.”

 

Madara’s chakra immediately faded, burning not so bright and excited as before, turning his darkened gaze to his brother. 

 

"Well… Tobirama is so talented, maybe he'll agree?" Madara said, his voice strained, trying to turn this topic more of a joke than something serious. 

 

"We'll see," Tobirama smiled and looked Uchiha into the eyes, taking his hand and squeezing it in his. "I can be very persuasive when necessary. Besides, we have our whole lives ahead of us, don't we? We still have time to change his mind before the wedding.”

 

Still more time to make sure no one will oppose their peace.

 

“Chichiue would not approve either," Hashirama reminded, looking a little worried of how seriously Tobirama was speaking about this. Like Tobirama ever joked about such matters.

 

"As if I care about his opinion," Tobirama snorted with a coldness in his voice.

 

"Change my mind first, Tobirama," Izuna said, standing up menacingly. "Why should I trust you? Think that you won't deceive my brother? Are you even worthy of him?”

 

Izuna was clearly ready to fight.

 

"Izu... " Madara sighed.

 

"We agreed on a sparring match," Izuna recalled. "Are you ready, Tobirama?”

 

“Of course," Tobirama nodded, letting go of Madara's hand. And he couldn’t help to taunt Izuna a little, "But it's bold to assume that Madara needs his younger brother to approve of his choice of spouse. And Madara is not a fool, he'd probably guess if I tried to deceive him.”

 

Of course, Tobirama was counting on Madara not guessing, but so far his plan was working wonderfully. The acknowledgement of Madara uncovering Tobirama’s schemes would set his self-confidence in stone. 

 

"Aniki doesn't need my approval," Izuna took a comfortable position to jump and attack. "But he does need my opinion." 

 

Tobirama took a stance, closer to the water, waiting for Izuna's first move.

 

Izuna jumped up very quickly, attacking from the side, getting blocked, then moving behind Tobirama and attacking again. For his age, he was very fast, but the moves were so familiar, even though a little clumsy and not as refined as an adult’s version of Izuna. 

 

Tobirama, who was used to fighting him, responded at the same speed, although not as quickly as if they would have fought on the battlefield. It was just a spar with a child, who perhaps was older than him by his body, but way younger in terms of the mind.

 

He kept telling himself that. 

 

There was another reason for his slowness. Usually when sparring or in battle, Tobirama tried to keep a cool head and not let his thoughts go astray. But now just before his eyes were flashes of the battlefield from his own past. The battle at the Naka river with their fathers by their side. His anxiety rose, remembering that fated (or cursed) day. 

 

Memories of different fights against Izuna, struggling to keep up with the speed and power of the Sharingan which almost rivaled Madara, made him tense even more and fight more carefully, but not attentively enough. 

 

And finally the day he finally one-upped and defeated Izuna. The catalyst of the whole world collapsing because of Madara's grief-caused madness. What if Tobirama did something wrong now and...?

 

Tobirama's body seemed to stop obeying him, immediately panicking at such a possibility. He would not have a third chance. He already sacrificed a whole timeline, and now so many lives, current or future ones depended on him. It was crystal clear: if Izuna died, the whole world would die. Because Madara couldn't be stopped. 

 

Because of the rapidly approaching panic, Tobirama's reaction became slower and his breathing quicker. He tried to shoo these thoughts and memories away and suppress this reaction, as always, schooling his face in a cold mask. He was a shinobi, he had to concentrate on the fight. But it didn't work. This fear felt way too big for his body to handle and his body was still too small, not trained enough. Regulating his emotions with a rush of chakra was useless. Honestly, it felt like it made it worse . Before it made his mind sharper and calmed his nerves. Now he quickly was becoming a mess of unregulated emotions and trembling limbs. Can it be that it was a trained feature of his body to react to chakra this way and not the effects of it on its own? 

 

Izuna was delivering pinpoint blows closer and closer to the most vulnerable parts. Tobirama realised that he was losing . He tried to concentrate on the spar, but he couldn’t force his body to cooperate. His breathing became ragged and he could barely see, not only because of his naturally bad vision, but because of dark spots lingering in his vision caused by his overventilation. He could barely hear anything behind his thumping heart and rushing in his ears. 

 

If he could just calm the fuck down!

 

He blocked Izuna’s blows only thanks to his father's training of fighting through emotions. But he was forced to get into a defensive position under Izuna’s unrelenting attacks, since he wasn’t sure that if he’d try for a blow, it wouldn't turn fatal in his panic induced condition. Panicking shinobi – a very dangerous shinobi.

 

But just defence was still not enough. Izuna, even at 10 years old, was already strong. If it was a real battle, he’d try to run by Hiraishin to have his meltdown somewhere safe, where no one could see him. But he couldn’t do it now. It will reveal too much. No one will believe that a nine-year-old could invent such jutsu. He has to wait at least until he visits Uzushio.

 

Tobirama tried to focus on chakra sensing to ground himself in Madara’s warmth, Hashirama’s comforting steadiness or familiar coolness and softness of Itama’s chakra. But he couldn’t. How can he calm down when all of the chakra he was trying to distract himself with was also filled with worry and anxiety?

 

It didn’t help that Izuna used Fire Ball Jutsu, but not quite as intended. It was not a huge ball, but rather a small burning fan, forcing Tobirama to retreat and close his eyes to protect them from fire. This was his downfall, because of his panic, the conflict between his body screaming to kill the threat that came close and mind reminding him that Izuna simply can’t die or everything would be fucking useless, he fell under a very simple, dirty attack. Izuna kicked Tobirama under the knees, causing his legs to fly into the air, and he himself fell on his butt. 

 

That moment it was clear that the fight was over. Tobirama lost. He closed his useless eyes, trying to calm himself on the ground and forcing his body to breathe deeply. 

 

It was quiet for a second. 

 

“Get up.” 

 

Tobirama flinched at Izuna's voice, still trying to gather himself. He opened his eyes and saw very much alive Izuna looking at him with a weird expression on his face, but without the same hostility that had been there before, even extending his hand to him, following his brother’s example after his own spar with Hashirama.

 

Slowly, Tobirama took Izuna's hand, rising from the ground with a slight wavering. 

 

His brothers, it seemed, couldn’t wait any longer. Madara also didn’t make them wait for him.

 

"Tobirama, what's wrong?" Madara asked sympathetically, grabbing his hand. "Are you feeling bad?"

 

"Bibi-chan, are you okay?” Itama worriedly chattered at the same time, carefully taking his other hand. “You’re burning up!” Oh, he was? Tobirama frowned, trying to get a hold of himself. Yes, he could feel his cheeks were warm. But he thought he was hot because of Izuna’s katon. “Is it the sun? Let’s get you under the shade," his twin gently pulled and led him to the shade of the trees.

 

"You’re all red. I'll get some water," said Hashirama, running to the river to collect clean water and folding his fingers in his Mokuton-usual seal. Ah, he’s gonna make another ugly cup then. 

 

“I–‘m?” Tobirama slurred, confused with the way everyone talked all at once. He pulled the corner of his lips downwards a bit displeased that his tongue didn’t obey him and refused to properly pronounce words.

 

But at least now he could concentrate mostly at the feelings of his twin ( his twin, who was once dead, who he once lost when he was so young, who he mourned this whole life with the other brother– ) and Madara’s ( dangerous and consumed by madness and grief, who Tobirama basically created himself by killing Izuna, Izuna who died so young and for the stupid war– )  grip on his hands. 

 

Itama’s hand was soft and familiar, like he never forgot it, like he was used to his touch, even though he spent the last 30 years missing it everyday.

 

Madara’s was completely unfamiliar, rough from training with the kunai and shuriken. But his grip was tight and steady.

 

He opened his eyes, which he didn’t even notice that he closed, finding Izuna, who also came closer, but now looked and felt gloomy. He couldn’t discern what he felt, since he wasn’t so familiar with how his chakra reacted to his feelings. But he could tell it was something complicated and not pleasant.

 

They sat him down in the shade of trees and then Hashirama brought him some water in a huge wooden cup, which Tobirama generously drank and even splashed some on his face.

 

Slowly Tobirama's breathing started to even out and most of the panic retreated.

 

"Bibi-chan overheats easily. He can't stay in the sun for long," Itama explained to their new Uchiha friends. 

 

"The Katon in my eyes didn't make it any better either," Tobirama nodded, covering his eyes and rubbing them with his fingers. He still had white spots jumping in his eyes, "Damn my weak eyes."

 

"Now, now, Tobi-chan, don't swear," Hashirama said softly and surprisingly carefully patted his younger brother’s head. 

 

Tobirama felt warmth spreading through his body, not because of overheating, but simply because of his older brother’s fussing and his twin’s presence so close. He couldn’t help but be reminded of their childhood when they were all together: Hashirama caring for the twins as a responsible older brother and Kawarama trying to mimic him. It was a memory so old that Tobirama almost forgot about it since he never appreciated it enough, as most little brothers do.

 

But now it was so close to the memory. Only one person was missing. 

 

No, he couldn’t dwell on this right now.

 

"Izuna’s Katon was very weak. He didn't want to hurt you, did he?" Madara had some steel in his voice, which once will grow into power that Madara from Tobirama’s past had. 

 

By the movement of his chakra, Tobirama could tell that Izuna reluctantly confirmed his words with a nod. Madara signed and squeezed his hand again.

 

"Are you feeling better, Tobirama?” he asked, unusually quiet and earnest in his voice, putting his arm around Tobimama’s shoulders and glancing at his flushed face.

 

“Did something happen, Tobi-chan? Or did you get sick again?” Hashirama asked. Of course, he would know that this is not the way Tobirama usually fights.

 

“He was fine when we played hide-and-seek,” Izuna huffed.

 

“Bibi-chan has good stamina. So, are you sick?” Itama squinted at him suspiciously. Ah, so Itama didn’t believe it. Not surprising, with how often Tobirama was sick, Itama knew all his tells and he had none lately.

 

Tobirama shrugged, not trusting his voice. Even if he said that sparring with Izuna had made him panic, how would he explain it? Today was their first time meeting, why would he? No, it would be better to blame it on the weather and his weak health. He got sick often in his childhood. 

 

He needed to calm down. He can’t keep making them all worry. He kept his eyes closed and concentrated mostly on the chakra of the boys around him. Hashirama and Madara's concerns burned around him, and Izuna and Itama felt weird. Maybe suspicious that it was not just because of the heat? Fuck, he would need to explain it all to Itama. 

 

No, stop, he had to calm down, not to send himself into another anxiety attack.

 

To distance himself from his own feelings and worries, he placed his hand on the ground, expanding his senses more and checking on chakras of both their clans. 

 

The Senju compound felt calm, even plain boring. Touka was training with the others in the clan. Their father was, once again, away on a meeting with a civilian clan about trade routes. Nothing interesting there, so he moved towards the Uchiha. 

 

And oh, they were way more active than usual. Shinobi were running around the clan's territory, as if looking for someone. 

 

Tobirama frowned, placing two hands on the ground and spreading his senses wider.

 

“What is he doing?” he heard Izuna ask, distracting him from his task with a loud voice.

 

“He’s a sensor, he’s sensing,” Itama patiently explained. He never said “-duh” since he was a polite one of all Senju brothers.

 

“Yeah, I know that . But why? Didn’t you say he felt sick?”

 

“Maybe he found something? He has that look…” Hashirama murmured.

 

“What? I don’t feel anything,” Madara said, his voice even louder since he was so close.

 

“I have a better range and now I’m checking our surroundings. Now can you all please shut up?” Tobirama barked, making all the boys fall quiet at the sudden rise of his voice. 

 

With the relative, since he still could hear the boys gesturing to each other and Izuna’s offended gasp, silence he found what he was looking for. An Uchiha team which was moving through the forest in their direction.

 

“Ah, your clan found out that you two are not in the compound," said Tobirama, opening his eyes and looking at the Uchiha. "They sent a search team. Three people. Very annoyed. One is definitely your close relative.”

 

It was Tajima, but at his age Tobirama didn’t meet him in person, so it’s better not to mention that. It wasn't  like the Uchiha brothers had a lot of close relatives these days. 

 

Izuna snorted at first, but then flinched and took two steps back. 

 

"How do you know what clan we are from?" he hissed, tense and readying to battle. "Aniki, get away from them."

 

Hashirama and Itama tensed beside him.

 

Madara looked at his brother and then at Tobirama with a confused expression on his face, but stood up.

 

"Tobirama..." he started, sounding unsure.

 

“Oh, please, did you forget how we met?” Tobirama huffed, arching an eyebrow, getting up from the ground. "Hashirama, Itama, come on, we need to go." 

 

“O-okay,” Itama said, following him and looking worriedly at Tobirama, and then off into the forest.

 

Hashirama, weirdly somber, stood up without a word. Ah, yes, his perfect dream started to fall apart.

 

Well it was a matter of time. He would get over it. 

 

But someone might not. Sensing how stressed Madara was, Tobirama slowly, not to scare Izuna even more, walked up to him and took his hand, squeezing it. "See you later, Madara."

 

Then he hugged the boy as a goodbye. He didn't resist. Good. Then Tobirama whispered in his ear. “Don’t worry, I won't tell Hashirama, if you don’t want me too."

 

Madara slowly nodded in response and hugged Tobirama back.

 

“Gah– Aniki!” Izuna gasped. “You can’t do that! What if they’re Se–!”

 

“Shut it, Izuna!” Madara barked, interrupting his little brother and tightening his grip on Tobirama. He was not ready to break their illusion so soon.

 

Izuna shut his mouth, but Tobirama could feel clear displeasure and offense in his chakra.

 

Madara hugged him for a while and it seemed that he would not let go any time soon, so Tobirama broke their hug himself. The team was still not so close, but it was better not to test fate.

 

“See you next time,” Tobirama said. “And don’t get caught anymore.”

 

“O-of course! See you!” Madara nodded, stepping back, but getting more serious by the minute. "Bye, Hashirama, Itama. Now come on, Izuna, we better hurry."

 

Madara turned to his brother and took him by the sleeve of his shirt, pulling him in the direction that Tobirama pointed at when he threw him a questioning look.

 

"Bye, Madara, Izuna! See you later!" Hashirama waved with a tense smile and then took Tobirama and Itama’s hands, gripping them tightly.

 

Itama waved at the Uchiha kids, looking at them with a thoughtful expression.

 

“You can’t be serious, Aniki! You’re gonna go here again?!” Izuna whispered loudly, when he and his brother went a little bit further away from the Senju brothers, eyeing them with distrust.

 

“Shut it,” Madara grumbled, leading his brother away, but eyeing the Senju brothers with anxiety in his chakra. 

 

Was he worried because of them or for them? Tobirama would like to believe in the latter. They did become close these weeks. 

 

“You need help, Bibi-chan?” Itama asked, when Hashirama pulled them away from the river and led them towards their clan.

 

"I can handle it," Tobirama grumbled, but still held on to his older brother. After all, the lights were still dancing in his eyes and he was a bit dizzy. 

 

But he couldn't show Itama his weakness right now. He needed his twin to be sure of him, that Tobirama could save him no matter how bad his condition was. 

 

Hashirama, thankfully, didn’t say a word, his grip way too tight.

 

“Hm, okay…” Itama said, eyeing him with suspicion. It seemed he would like to fish for answers later, when it was only two of them. 

 

As much as they both loved Hashirama, they always had their own secrets. Their older brother was still older by three whole years. For kids it was almost like being from different worlds. 

 

They didn’t speak much after. Hashirama was somber because of the situation with Madara, and Itama was thinking something over. Tobirama was monitoring their surroundings with a chakra sense to make sure they didn't have a tail. 

 

Luckily, they managed to leave before they were noticed by Uchihas or anyone else. Judging by chakra, Izuna and Madara successfully met with a very disgruntled team, though their chakra felt not as angry when they finally reached the kids, mostly relief. 

 

It seemed that since that moment, it would be more difficult to meet with Madara. 

 

—Madara POV—

 

Since that busted day when Madara decided to invite Izuna with him to the river to meet his friends, his little brother started trying to persuade him to give up on his meetings with Hashirama and Tobirama. Honestly, now Madara quite regretted doing that. Not only Izuna still didn’t shut up about his friends being dangerous, but because they left the clan compound together without telling anyone about it, the clan panicked.

 

The clan and, what was worse, his father , was very displeased that he took Izuna with him on his walks. Madara was trusted to be strong enough to signal for help or run away if something happened to him in their clan grounds. But not to protect Izuna. 

 

And yes, okay, Madara wouldn't take Izuna with him again, because he suspected that his little brother somehow hurt Tobirama beforehand, since it was not in character for him to lose a spar in such a way. Usually Tobirama fought really well, even teaching them, the older kids, something! Sure his body was weaker, but with chakra knowledge it leveled the field. Madara still wasn’t sure how his younger brother could hurt Tobirama, so he didn’t confront him about it. As father said: “always observe and then attack.”

 

As much as Madara loved him, Izuna could be such a pain. So Izuna should bear his stay at home for a while for sure. 

 

But the clan was adamant that Madara stayed too! Madara didn’t understand what was the big deal. He was already strong enough that it was only a matter of time when father would allow him to go on the battlefield with the other adults. It was baffling that he could fight enemy adults on missions, but couldn’t go on simple walks out of the compound within the Uchiha clan territory!

 

And now if they did see him as he tried to slip away from the compound, they asked him where exactly he was going and why. Usually he was turned back and made to do some chores, train or study something, since he had free time to run away for walks. He already missed some of the meetings with Hashirama and Tobirama because of it! But he tried not to push it. It was an inconvenience for him, but it was a real danger for his friends. And he really didn’t want that . Father never trusted another clans too much and he would be against any friendships with them.

 

Not to mention that if his father and his friends met, it could end in tragedy, if Izuna’s suspicions are correct. That they are Senju. From the clan which killed his older sisters. 

 

Madara didn’t want to think about it. And it was not like Tobirama or Hashirama did it themselves. Togakushi was killed by the Senju clan head and Kurohime and Myoko were killed by adults for sure. 

 

Tobirama and Hashirama were way too young to send on such important assassinations anyway. He couldn't be sure that they’re Senju. They didn’t tell him  and Madara certainly wouldn’t ask himself. 

 

(Maybe he was too deep into denial.) 

 

When Madara finally reached the river for the meeting, he was in a foul mood from the start. Izuna once again caught him leaving (maybe he also had sensor abilities?) and tried to talk him out of leaving the compound. Madara snapped at him and ran away. It wasn’t his greatest moment, but he was so tired of all of these endless and useless talks! That was why he started to leave the compound in the first place!

 

“Where’s Tobirama?” was the first thing he asked, when he saw only Hashirama skipping stones and no sign of white hair in the shade in trees.

 

Hashirama stumbled in his throw, surprised by Madara’s appearance.

 

“Ouch, so you’re not happy that I’m here? You just want my baby Outoto?” he asked, pouting and crossing his arms. 

 

“I am–, I mean, I'm glad that you’re here, but– Anyway, I’m just surprised that Tobirama is not. He didn't skip before,” Madara blushed at the implications, but inside he only felt burning disappointment. Of course he was happy to spend time with his best friend, but it was Tobirama . He was really looking forward to seeing him today and maybe getting another hug, but… And remembering how their last meeting ended… “Is he okay?”

 

Somehow Hashirama deflated and dropped the pout. 

 

“Yeah, he’s fine, don’t worry. He was just called on a mission. He said it was a fast one so he might join us later,” the last part was said in a weird tone, which made Madara frown.

 

“What, are you unhappy that he will come later?”

 

“Wh–, no!” Hashirama spluttered. “It’s just… Since you two met, you are always together. Like you don’t even want me as a best friend anymore.”

 

Oh, Hashirama looked genuinely sad about it.

 

“Stupid. Of course you’re my best friend,” Madara scoffed and looked sideways, still fighting off his blush and admitting his feelings out loud really didn’t help. “Tobirama is different. He is going to be my wif–, I mean, husband. I still will need a best friend.”

 

Hashirama’s face did something complicated. Yeah, right, Hashirama was still against their marriage, but in the end he beamed and rushed to hug Madara. “You’re my best-best friend too, Madara!”

 

“Wh–, hey, let go, you oaf!”

 

Madara barely fought off Hashirama’s hugs. Honestly, why would he even need a verbal confirmation, wasn’t it obvious? 

 

Then Hashirama declared this time to be “besties’ time” before Tobirama joined them. He dragged them into all sorts of games they played before Tobirama started to meet with them too. Some games Tobirama didn’t approve of, calling them dangerous. If it was anyone else, Madara would just call them a pussy. But with Tobirama… No, he didn’t think that Tobirama was a coward. He just kind of acted like an adult, worrying about them. And usually Madara would wave these concerns off, but Tobirama always used very vivid examples of what could go wrong and Madara, like any Uchiha trained in genjutsu, had a really good imagination. Or maybe it was just Tobirama. Usually Hashirama was also a little green in the face himself. So yeah, Tobirama was way too convincing. 

 

But now they could do stupid things and not worry about gruesome consequences, because no one was around to remind them about it! 

 

It was fun to spend time with Hashirama without looking around and making sure that he could make a good impression on Tobirama. Madara wasn’t sure why Tobirama said nice things about his appearance a lot, but he couldn’t say it didn’t make him feel nice. Still, he’d like to impress his future fiance with his skills, not his looks. But it also made him a little self-conscious all the time that he had to do his best. It was nice to just relax and play.

 

Madara barely noticed how the time flew. He almost got startled when suddenly Tobirama jumped down from the trees, looking frantic and breathing hard. He was in armor and happuri, proudly bearing his clan's crest. 

 

A Senju clan’s mon.

 

"Tobirama?..." Madara almost whispered.

 

“Hashirama, we have to leave,” Tobirama said, walking to his older brother and catching his hand. “Madara, your father and Izuna are coming here.”  

 

All of the Madara’s insides turned cold. He looked at Hashirama, who also tensed and shared his look. 

 

Frantically, Madara spread his chakra to try to sense his family and… right, of course Tobirama was right. They were coming and they were close. Maybe less than ten minutes away.

 

"Y-you need to run…” Madara muttered, his gaze darting from Hashirama to Tobirama and back.

 

"W-what?" Hashirama asked, dumbfounded.

 

"Hashirama, the head of the Uchiha clan will be here now, we can't stay here," Tobirama almost growled, pushing his older brother in the direction of their clan. "Come on, go! I'll catch up in a second.”

 

"What–? No! I won't leave you here!" Hashirama immediately resisted, pushing his legs against the ground.

 

Tobirama clicked his tongue in displeasure.

 

"Okay, fuck it, doesn’t matter,” Tobirama huffed and left Hashirama’s side to dart towards Madara. He almost flinched, when Tobirama grabbed his hands, but he was careful and almost gentle and looked directly into his eyes. “Madara, listen to me, please"

 

"Uh, I… " Madara mumbled. Why was Tobirama wasting time on this, didn’t they need to run? But knowing Tobirama… It must be important. "Okay, I'm listening.”

 

Slowly the seriousness of the situation got to Madara, but he still held on to Tobirama's small hands, even though he felt two familiar chakras approaching. It… It was probably the last time they met like this. Father will be here so soon and their little island of childhood will be destroyed, making them just shinobi again, no matter the age.

 

And now… Tobirama probably wanted to say goodbye. Forever. Madara was an Uchiha, and his friends are…

 

"Hashirama and I are from the Senju clan," Tobirama began, jumping right into it and making Hashirama inhale sharply, but he didn't pay any attention to his older brother, not shying away from Madara’s gaze. "Hashirama is the heir, so when we grow up, it will be in our power to bring real peace between our clans and stop this senseless war. That's what you want, right? For children to stop dying, for Izuna to be safe?"

 

Madara slowly nodded. It didn’t sound like a goodbye yet.

 

"We must achieve peace. You are the heir of the Uchiha, and we are the heirs of the Senju. We have a chance to end it for good. Of course, while we are young and weak, no one will listen to us. Therefore, we must make it so that even our fathers will have no other choice, but listen and obey," Tobirama said firmly, but almost desperately, squeezing Madara's hands in his. "Let's promise each other that we will become strong, achieve peace between our clans, and then secure it with a marriage between you and me.”

 

"Tobirama!" Hashirama choked out. Oh, it was probably the first time Madara heard Hashirama call his brother with his full name, not with a cutesy nickname.

 

Suddenly someone else jumped from the bushes, startling Senju brothers into the fighting stances. But it was no Uchiha.

 

Itama looked like he just sprinted from the clan’s compound right in the training clothes, without his usual yukata, in a tight ninja costume. He looked frantic and panicked. 

 

"Bibi-chan! Anija!" Itama grabbed Hashirama’s hand  "We have to go!”

 

“W-what, wait, Itama, what are you doing here?” Hashirama asked, taking his little brother’s hand, but stilling much to Itama’s displeasure.

 

“No time!” he huffed, tugging the older boy harder.

 

“Is Butsuma coming?” Tobirama asked grimly, taking Madara’s clenched fist in his hand again.

 

“I.. I don’t know, come on, we have to leave!” Itama shook his head, pulling Hashirama with him and throwing panicked looks at Tobirama. 

 

"Ita-chan! Tobi–" Hashirama squeaked in surprise as he was roughly pulled away.

 

"He'll catch up, let's go!" Itama spoke anxiously.

 

Tobirama turned to Madara again. "Do you promise?" he pressed, looking Madara in the eyes.

 

It took little time for Madara to decide. Didn’t he already agree to it way before?

 

"I promise!" Madara answered fervently, squeezing Tobirama's hands tightly in response. 

 

He couldn't move from the spot, from the joy and bitterness that overwhelmed him. Madara felt that his father and brother would come here now, but he couldn't move, because this was still a goodbye, even if not forever. Still it was tearing him apart from the inside. Tobirama was sure that they would meet again, but his father... He would simply kill all the Senju before they could achieve that! Madara looked down at Tobirama's hands, clenched in his. 

 

“Will we meet again soon?” he asked quietly. He couldn’t handle even the thought that he might not see Tobirama for a long time.

 

"I will do my best to create a peace between our clans," Tobirama said a little quieter, but his voice was unwavering. Tobirama was so sure of it. "I have to go. Be careful and grow strong, Madara Uchiha.”

 

Tobirama came closer and suddenly something soft was pressed to Madara’s cheek. He froze, allowing the boy to kiss him, and then a familiar voice struck him like lightning.

 

"Ah, so this is it," Tajima’s voice was calm, but Madara knew better than to not be afraid of it. "What pathetic methods..."

 

"Run," Madara whispered, pushing Tobirama away and turning to his father.

 

"Well done, Izuna. Who knew that all three of Butsuma's offspring would be here," his father gave a short command, and Izuna, not daring to argue, drew his sword, holding it in front of him, clutching it tightly in his hand. "It seems that Amaterasu-sama granted me an opportunity to avenge my daughters.”

 

Tajima’s smile was bitter and vicious. Madara looked at Izuna with a frown and fury in his eyes. He brought their father here! He would expect Izuna to boast or to look smug that he was right in the end and his friends were indeed Senju. But his Otouto just lowered his gaze a bit with a guilty expression.

 

"Take care of the white one, Izuna." Tajima ordered and Izuna immediately obeyed.

 

"Hashirama, Itama, go away!" Tobirama shouted, taking a sword seemingly out of thin air and blocking Izuna’s sword with it. 

 

"We're not leaving without you!" Hashirama yelled, making a seal. Suddenly the wood sprouted from under the ground, trying to entangle Izuna and Tajima's legs. 

 

Most would think that Tajima would try to single Tobirama out since he was the one close to Madara. But it seemed that Madara’s father was determined to kill the eldest and most dangerous Senju heir first, darting towards him.

 

Itama threw a couple of desperate kunai towards Tajima, hoping to distract him while Hashirama restrained the Uchiha. No such luck. The Uchiha clan head didn't fall for such childish tactics, working his blade with precision and cutting the branches growing quickly in his direction and darted towards Hashirama and Itama. Tajima cut off the branches again, threw the sword into the air, managing to make seals and launching a fireball straight into the cluster of branches.

 

Madara’s head was splitting with anger, despair and even some betrayal. He couldn’t believe it was happening. It seemed like his worst nightmare. It made his throat clog and his eyes burn. Was it all because of the Senju? Or because of his father and brother? But he couldn’t blame his family. He also couldn’t blame his friends. They were children . Even Hashirama was younger than Madara.

 

Everything was confused and mixed up in his head. His father's Katon brought him to his senses a little. If he didn't do something now, Hashirama, Itama and, probably the worst, Tobirama, would die. And he just promised–

 

"Izuna!" he called. 

 

Madara ran up to Tobirama and his brother, knocking Tobirama's sword out of his hands with a clear blow, and immediately intercepting it. Tobirama stumbled and jumped back, watching Madara with a sharp look.

 

Izuna, who already broke into a smile, also lost his sword, which was knocked out of his hands and seized by his brother.

 

Madara cast a furious and piercing glance at Izuna, hoping that the message was clearly received. Tobirama caught up fast, immediately darting towards his brothers, since Izuna was distracted and not an immediate threat anymore.

 

Then Madara rushed towards his father, who was mercilessly crushing Hashirama's Mokuton with a sharp blade and fierce Katon jutsu, although he had not yet reached the Senju brothers.

 

Tajima's blows were fast, swift, deadly . And Madara threw himself right under them, blocking the next blow with two swords. He did not even close his eyes in fear, desperately staring into his father's eyes. The upper blade was cut in half and his father’s blade was stuck in another, stopped only by his will.

 

"Madara?.." his father frowned questioningly.

 

"They didn't hurt me or Izuna!" Madara said firmly. "And they were not the ones who killed our kin!” 

 

"So you want me to leave these brats behind so they can kill you and Izuna later?" Tajima huffed.

 

"At least that's fair!" Madara exclaimed, pushing his father away with a surge of chakra. If Madara wasn’t so desperate to stop the fight, he would be surprised that he managed that. His father was strong .

 

"Fair? You want fairness? Fine. Then kill Butsuma's eldest son yourself before he kills you," Tajima suggested coldly. 

 

Madara turned gray, lowering the stump of the blade and the damaged sword.

 

"I will lose," he said quietly. "If he fights for the lives of his brothers, I will lose and will be killed myself.” 

 

Madara let go of the damaged weapon, which fell to the ground with a clatter. "Don't kill them, or I'll come under your attack again," Madara warned, looking up at his father. His gaze was heavy and serious.

 

Tajima looked at Madara with an unreadable expression. Then he looked at the Senju brothers, who were standing all together behind Madara’s back. 

 

Slowly Tajima sheathed his blade.

 

“How interesting…” he drawled. "So you want to end the Senju you called friends ,” Tajima spat the word, ”with your own hands then. Fine, I will spare them for now. They might be useful. But if I hear that you went to this river again, they won’t live for long. And I'll start..." Tajima pulled a kunai and threw it behind Madara, making him panic and follow its path. It was stopped by Hashirama’s Mokuton just before Tobirama. "With him. I’ve seen enough. Come now, Madara. We will talk about your taste in… friends at home"

 

Madara felt his headache only getting worse, he felt like he was about to cry, but the tears were boiling and couldn't get out. He obediently approached his father, trying not to look around, he felt sick.

 

“Madara..!” He heard Hashirama’s voice, but then it quieted, but it still made Madara look back at the Senju brothers with a newfound clarity.

 

“Don’t, Anija. We have to go, while we can,” Madara saw Tobirama say, keeping an arm on Hashirama’s shoulder. Madara didn’t hear it, but he could see his lips so clearly he could recognise what he was saying. 

 

The only thing he could hear was Tajima walking away, confident that his sons would follow him.

 

"Peace will happen regardless of whether our fathers want it or not," Itama whispered distantly, looking at Madara, and then turned his gaze to Tobirama. "Right?"

 

"Yes. Peace will happen. Madara promised," Tobirama nodded, intently looking right into Madara’s eyes. Red meeting red.

 

The words of Itama and Tobirama struck him like a bell, resonating as if throughout his entire body.

 

"I promised," he whispered under his breath, hoping someone from the Senju brothers would understand. "There will be peace." 

 

He looked at his friends for the last time, lingering on Tobirama, then turned and walked away.

Notes:

*onigokko - japanese version of a tag game
*oni - it

hi! hope you enjoyed this middle aged man being bullied by a 10 year old <3

Keeping up the trend of posting a chapter each month. I'd post it earlier but I was legit attacked with migraines this month and I was miserable.

Big thanks to Dante for being a beta for the chapter and Burnz for being an early reader!
Also sending my love to my bestie Colloi who was basically a coauthor for this chapter.

Chapter 5: Kiss it better

Notes:

tw before chapter: this chapter will contain close romantic relationships between 14 yo and 11 yo, which i hope that everyone understands is not okay irl cuz it’s too big of an age gap for teens. bc of this I added several new tags including morally grey Madara and Tobirama, since what both of them are doing is not okay and based on obsession and manipulation respectively.

Madara POV

 

The mission sucked .

 

No, really, even though Madara enjoyed the thrill of hunting down and squashing some arrogant fools, who thought it was a good idea to steal from one of the Uchiha hideouts; it was a chore.

 

To add to that the opponents were not strong enough to pose any kind of a challenge for Madara, forget the fun of it. No interesting chase, no traps, no dancing. Nothing! Once he reached them, these clearly very terrified and adult shinobi immediately crumbled under Madara’s skill with Katon. He stole the huge scroll with an Uchiha mon on it back without breaking a sweat and then made the thieves regret this whole stupid endeavor.

 

The fight ended before it began and he was disappointed. Honestly, he spent a week catching up to these fools for this ?

 

It almost made him wish for another skirmish with Senju. At least Hashirama would be there and, boy, was he fun to dance with. Almost the same as it was fun to spar with him back then, by the river, but now they had to actually try to kill each other by their fathers’ orders. 

 

Two years passed since the day they had to part ways and cut contact. These were… not easy. 

 

The clan as a whole never knew what happened. Father couldn’t allow them to know that his son was basically a traitor, getting all cozy with the enemy. Still, he was beyond disappointed in him. With his choice of friends, not being smart enough to guess that they were probably Senju and then even daring to protect them and talk back to his father, his clan head.

 

Not to mention all the talk about Tobirama. 

 

“ Falling into his trap, his seduction ,” Tajima spat. “ To fall for such perversion. No son of mine will be used like this. You will use him instead. Consider yourself lucky, son. Your Mangekyo is guaranteed. ” 

 

At first Madara tried to argue, yell, and even plead for Tobirama’s life. He was only nine! 

 

Tajima wasn’t pleased by such a humiliating display. Madara quickly learned to keep his mouth shut. It was safer for Tobirama this way. Tajima wouldn’t dare to kill his son, his own flesh and blood, but he still could kill Tobirama or any of the other Senju brothers just to punish him. 

 

Tajima even said that if Madara would keep up with this rebellion, he'd make Izuna an heir.

 

Izuna, who was present for this talk (probably to set an example of how not to act), was weirdly pale and quiet. 

 

Out of sheer rage and fear for his friends, Madara didn’t talk to Izuna for three months. And much to Madara's disappointment, who maybe would like to spar with his younger brother and let off some steam, Izuna never tried to defend himself. But it was clear how hurt he was. 

 

But Madara couldn’t be angry with his little brother forever. He didn’t think it was possible to completely cut Izuna off, especially when his little brother looked so miserable under the emotional strain this fight had on their family. Madara didn’t want to lose more siblings.

 

Looking back on it, Madara understood that Izuna was only ten back then and he couldn’t say no to his father, when he ordered him to show where Madara was. 

 

Still, he couldn’t shake off the feeling of betrayal that clung to his thoughts like a leech. And he didn’t want to feel like Izuna betrayed him. Because he didn’t. It wasn’t his decision after all.

 

But it still hurt. Even when two years have passed.

 

At least with time, the Senju brothers could become stronger. Maybe one day Tajima’s threats would become completely empty.

 

With Hashirama, it definitely became true. Madara doubted that Tajima could easily kill the Senju heir now. With years Hashirama became more and more proficient with Mokuton, making him a real challenge and a threat for many Uchiha. Sometimes Madara couldn’t help but wonder if his father and his best friend engaged in a fight, who would’ve come out alive? But he refused to lose either of them. That’s why Madara preferred to fight the Senju heir himself, not allowing anyone near. It was only fitting after all. Heir against heir. 

 

But Madara wasn't so sure about the twins’ abilities. He never saw Itama after that day, but he regularly saw Tobirama fighting in skirmishes and making it out alive each time. Madara rarely had a chance to actually watch Tobirama fight, since he was pretty much always occupied with his own battles, but from the talk in the clan he knew that the albino was very skilled for his age, using his small stature as an advantage against adults. While Madara was a little worried that the Senju clan could allow a child, not even a teen, in such battles, he was grateful for an opportunity to see Tobirama. 

 

(Even if it meant worrying over Tobirama since Tajima often tried to attack the boy out of pure spite. If not to kill, then to maim. Madara was never more grateful that the Senju clan head was similarly fixated on targeting Tajima, distracting him from any other Senjus. He seemed to hate when Tajima’s attention was on something else.)

 

Still, through the years Madara cherished the memories of that fleeting summer month they spent together, hopelessly yearning for more. To talk once again, to hold his hand. To fulfill the promise. 

 

But he wasn't so sure Tobirama would want the same anymore. They were so young back then, Tobirama was even younger than Izuna. And they made such a serious promise. But what are words to a child? Children change their opinions and crushes three times a week. Izuna certainly did back then. Most likely, Tobirama didn't even remember what he asked Madara to do and didn’t even suspect how much it affected him.

 

The thought that Tobirama might not have cared about him anymore hurt. But Madara hoped that it was saving him from a bigger heartbreak. His father's words that Senju cannot be trusted and Izuna's suspicions only fed into these thoughts, even though he really didn’t want to believe them. But, sometimes, for a fraction of a second, their red eyes would meet on the battlefield. 

 

Usually Madara was pretty good at reading people, but with Tobirama and his constantly neutral face it was hard, especially since these glances were so brief. But since they were etched into Madara’s memory forever he could run them over and over in his head to heart’s content.

 

It was hard not to notice how Tobirama carried himself and the intense looks he sent Madara. Just as Izuna said. Calculating. Assessing. Sometimes he even felt like in Tobirama’s eyes he was a rabid animal, who should be put down the second he acted out.

 

Still, Madara couldn’t help but cherish those crumbs of attention from the younger boy, which made his heart jump.

 

How stupid... Still loving someone he spent only a month with two years ago. It was such a long time ago, two years. An eternity for a child. Who knows, maybe Tobirama even hated him now. 

 

And Madara couldn’t blame him. It would be for a good reason. Madara was a shinobi and it was his duty to follow his father’s orders. One of them was to get rid of anyone violating Uchiha boundaries. Permanently. Especially the Senjus.

 

As much as he wanted to end this war, to end these mindless killings, he had to keep his thoughts to himself. He had to become stronger so that he would be at least listened to, if not obeyed, just by the right of the strongest. 

 

Just as he promised. Become stronger and establish peace with the Senju clan. Maybe if he fulfilled his promise, Tobirama would not hate him too much for killing his clansmen.

 

Madara shook his head, driving away the chaotic ball of unpleasant thoughts and worries. These tended to catch him when he did something monotonous, like reading some boring books his father made him study, practicing calligraphy or travelling through the forest that from the first glance looked the same from every angle. Still, he was on a mission. He had to get the scroll back to the clan and be on the lookout in case these idiots had a backup. No time to spend with his head in the clouds. 

 

Just in case, Madara concentrated on his sensing. It still wasn’t as good as Tobirama’s, who could cover so much ground and not get overwhelmed by all of the responses. Maybe it would never be as good as Tobirama's, but Madara was the best in his clan so far, or compared to any other shinobi he had met.

 

The forest around him was quiet. 

 

–Wait.

 

Madara frowned in concentration and activated his Sharingan, eyes darting to the place the chakra was acting weird.

 

There was something familiar about it. Oh…

 

Madara chuckled to himself bitterly. What were the chances? Speak of the devil. A White one. And headed straight to him. 

 

How could Madara turn down such luck?

 

He stopped, leaning his back against a tree and smirked, looking in the direction where Tobirama’s chakra was radiating, barely hidden, not even trying to hide like he did years ago. Too confident? Well, Madara was sure it was unlikely that the younger boy had anything to surprise him with, if Tobirama was looking for a fight. 

 

"Well, hello," Madara greeted leisurely, when Tobirama finally showed himself, jumping from tree branches before him, still keeping his distance. 

 

Finally, Madara could look at the boy for more than a second without Hashirama trying to throw a forest at his head.

 

"Hello, Madara," Tobirama responded calmly, as if they had never parted. Still, two years had passed and the difference was clear. The albino had grown taller, slowly turning into a teen like Madara already was. 

 

But even if he didn’t know Tobirama’s exact age, he knew better to assume they were the same age. He suspected that Senjus had giants in their lineage for sure, since even Hashirama, who was once smaller than him, now was much taller than him. (Looking at his own clanmates and his father, Madara couldn't hope to catch up.)

 

Still to this day Tobirama didn’t lose such dangerous cuteness he possessed back then. The boy who got Madara’s heart in his hands with cute cheeks, bright blushes and soft smiles was still there, even if a bit taller. The boy who Madara was starved for approval from more than anyone else. 

 

Madara allowed himself to take in the picture. Tobirama wore simple light ninja clothes with added loose happi* and a sleeveless shirt. Very loose happi. That made him halt his appreciation for a moment to question that choice of clothes, since it didn’t look like something that Tobirama himself would wear. From what Madara saw Tobirama preferred more practical clothes than something loose like that. Did he steal the happi from Hashirama?  

 

Still, he could see the hidden strength in Tobirama's body. Madara yearned for the opportunity to test himself against his love's abilities – to see how they both fare in a proper dance. 

 

While Madara was blatantly staring, Tobirama slowly came closer. Madara was not sure about his intentions yet, but he allowed it. He was sure he could take Tobirama if push came to shove.

 

“You’ve grown taller,” Tobirama noted when there was only a few meters between them.

 

“You too. A bit," Madara smirked, peeling himself off the trunk and looking down, only slightly, at Tobirama.

 

Oh how fortunate that Madara never deactivated his Sharingan. Now the beautiful picture of Tobirama with the most offended pout was forever etched into his brain.

 

"Somehow I doubt you're here because you missed me so much," Madara drawled, his red eyes never leaving Tobirama, even for a second. He hoped to meet his gaze, but Tobirama was stubbornly watching Madara’s shoulders. It hurt. So he didn’t trust him anymore.

 

Madara’s emotions changed rapidly: from happiness of meeting once again to anger and distrust and again to longing in a flash. Along that, a question was ringing in his mind: did Tobirama start to hate him on his own or did his family also pressured him like Madara’s did?

 

Madara couldn’t let Tobirama hate him.

 

Uchiha slowly walked towards the boy. He missed him so much and yearned for their meeting, even if he tried to bury those feelings. It seemed like it didn’t work anyway. The second he saw Tobirama walking towards him, he abandoned that endeavour completely. Even if Tobirama found him in this forest only to put a knife through his heart. Metaphorically and literally.    

 

The thought flashed through his head. If they were together all along, this would have never happened. Maybe if he just took Tobirama with him, convince him to stay with the Uchiha, then no one would put poisonous thoughts into the albino’s pretty head and nothing could separate them... 

 

He liked the idea. A lot, actually. But for that he needed to get closer. Even if Tobirama had forgotten their promise, Madara remembered very well how two years ago he desperately wanted to marry him.

 

Tobirama didn’t try to increase the distance between them, watching Madara’s every move.

 

Then he started to speak. 

 

"Hm, who knows? Maybe I ran away from home specifically to meet you, my love?" Tobirama drawled, slyly narrowing his eyes, his lips pulling into a tiny smile. But with his Sharingan trained to read body language he clearly saw Tobirama tensing, but not backing down from Madara’s approach.

 

“Ran from home in full combat gear?” Madara asked, while his heart melted. It could have been a trick. A ruse to lower Madara’s defenses. 

 

If it was, it was working.

 

Madara approached Tobirama, stopping only when there were mere centimeters between them.  

 

“You think I wouldn’t prepare if I intended to run away?” Tobirama scoffed as if offended at the mere possibility of it. Perhaps he forgot himself, still used to their past dynamic, but at that moment he finally met Madara’s eyes. 

 

That was his chance!–

 

“None of that,” Tobirama said sternly, dispersing Sharingan laid genjutsu as if it was an annoying fly. 

 

Madara would admit, he was not the best in terms of genjutsu, surely not compared to his cousin Hikaku, but he was certainly not the worst. Far from it. Perhaps second or third best after Hikaku and Izuna.

 

And Tobirama detected and got rid of it so easily! Of course it wasn’t a battle ready genjutsu aimed to crush his enemies’ minds, but still! 

 

Madara gaped, trying to drill his Sharingan into him.

 

“Forgot your promise already?” Tobirama hummed, as if he didn’t do something groundbreaking for any Uchiha. No wonder Izuna was so frustrated every time he had a chance to fight him.

 

“Never,” Madara whispered, slowly and softly catching Tobirama’s hand in his. The fingers twitched a bit, but didn’t retract. Maybe since the genjutsu failed, he could just convince him to go back with him?

 

“So what was this then? Uchiha way to say ‘hello’?” Tobirama asked, still tense, but clearly giving him a chance. 

 

“Of course not. Every Uchiha knows tact, we’re a noble clan,” Madara immediately tried to defend his clan.

 

“Clearly someone forgot to teach it to you then,” Tobirama huffed, his pretty nose scrunching up in displeasure. As cute as it was, Madara didn’t like it.

 

“Then I have to make amends,” Madara promised, closing his eyes to turn off his Sharingan and raising the hand he was still holding and pressing his lips to slender fingers. He once saw an eastern client do something similar to his lover and she was touched by it.

 

He wasn’t sure for how long he should do it, but he couldn’t deny himself the pleasure of being close and touching Tobirama once again. He felt like a drug addict. Once he had Tobirama in his arms, he could never forget it, only yearning for more. 

 

He looked at Tobirama’s face again and it was clear that he was not expecting that, his eyes growing bigger and cheeks flushing. Adorable.

 

Once he finished the light kiss, he gently squeezed Tobirama's hand, grinning warmly. 

 

It seemed that nothing, not even his family or Madara himself, could stop his feelings, especially once he had Tobirama so close once again.

 

Tobirama gently moved his hand, intertwining their fingers, erasing years of gloomy thoughts Madara had piled up. 

 

"What a charmer you are," Tobirama said, almost aggravated, but pressing himself against Madara, hugging him with his free hand and touching his nose with his own. "I missed you. These two years have been unbearably boring without your company.”

 

Madara’s heart thumped and pounded so loudly he was barely able to hear anything. They were so close and Tobirama told him the truth. No lies could hide from Sharingan. Tobirama truly missed him. Madara quickly blushed, just like two years ago.

 

“I thought it was you, who might forget the promise,” Madara confessed quietly. 

 

“Don’t be an idiot,” Tobirama scoffed, but didn’t back out. “I was the one who came up with it.”

 

“Yes. You did,” Madara sighed, the smile never leaving his face, but then he said a bit sadly. “I wish we were never separated again.”

 

He hugged the boy tighter, leaning closer to his face and he whispered warmly into his ear, noting how its tip was bright pink, “Tobirama, do you want to go back with me? If you were an Uchiha we’d always be together...”

 

“So you would break your promise? Maybe you’re the one who forgot. You promised me peace and the village. Only then we’d get married,” Tobirama said sternly, but was still softly holding onto him, moving his hand lower on his back, stopping only to start slowly stroking his spine.

 

Who would’ve thought that a touch like this would make Madara shiver? 

 

“Can’t we get married before peace?” Madara mumbled, feeling his cheeks burning.

 

“Hmm, we could arrange a marriage to strengthen the bond between our clans at peace talks, but not sooner. If we’d marry right now I will become just a traitor of the Senju clan and the war might escalate. Hashirama wouldn't forgive you. We don’t want that,” Tobirama said, looking into Madara’s eyes with an unwavering conviction.

 

“Yeah,” Madara exhaled. He didn’t want this stupid feud to continue, especially if it was because he did something stupid... and at the cost of Hashirama’s friendship. He didn’t forget how protective Hashirama was of his little brothers. 

 

He also didn’t want Tobirama to stop stroking his back, but with how low his hand was inevitably it bumped into a huge scroll that was hanging on straps that were wrapped on Madara’s torso.

 

“What do you have there?” Tobirama asked, peeking over Madara’s shoulder.

 

“Nothing important,” Madara waved it off, enjoying how close the albino was now and how his silky soft hair tickled his neck and cheeks.

 

“It certainly looks very important,” Tobirama said, eyeing the scroll with interest and moving out of Madara’s embrace. 

 

Yes, of course, Madara didn’t expect that Tobirama’s curiosity and love for different scrolls would vanish with age, but he sure wasn’t enjoying how his interest shifted from him and their promise to the stupid oversized scroll. He tried to catch Tobirama’s waist to keep him in place, but Tobirama slipped out of his hands.

 

“It’s an old Uchiha relic. Was collecting dust in archives but two idiots decided to steal it,” Madara huffed, eyes never leaving Tobirama, since he started to get behind his back to see the scroll better. Maybe once his curiosity was satisfied they could get back to hugging? 

 

“Why?” Tobirama asked.

 

“I don’t know, I didn’t ask questions, I just killed them! Can we not talk about it?” Madara started to get more and more annoyed, turning his front to Tobirama. He should look at him , not some scroll!

 

“Tsk, tsk, sloppy. I was just curious, that’s all,” Tobirama shrugged nonchalantly.

 

Madara almost choked on his spit.

 

“Sloppy?! I got rid of them for good!”

 

“But do you know why they wanted this scroll? How did they get it from your archives? Or if they have any more accomplices?” Tobirama kept his monotone speech, but for Madara he couldn’t help but hear aggravated and even accusatory tones in it.

 

“Well I don’t care! If they come back, I’d just kill them again!” 

 

“You’d save yourself time if you’d get rid of the root of the problem in the first place,” Tobirama sighed. Like he was disappointed .

 

“Well I don’t care about this dusty old scroll! It’s been in archives for centuries and no one cared about it! I went after those thieves only because no one should be unpunished for stealing from the Uchiha clan!” Madara raised his voice, but it seemingly barely bothered Tobirama, his face looking neutral. But Madara could see clear as day the exasperation and annoyance in his eyes.

 

He couldn’t bear it. They just met once again and Tobirama was already annoyed and disappointed with him. Even having a nerve to talk down to him and act like he knows better. All because of this stupid scroll!

 

“Why do you care about it so much? Even my clan doesn’t care,” he huffed, crossing his arms.

 

“No particular reason,” Tobirama said, shrugging a bit. Lies. Even without Sharingan swirling in his eyes he could see it.

 

Madara squinted, but didn’t say anything. Instead he came closer to Tobirama, gently embracing the slightly tensed boy again.

 

“After so long, we just met again and I don’t want to argue or fight with you,” Madara confessed, pressing his cheek to Tobirama’s, slowly taking the boy's hands in his own. He was mildly surprised that the albino even allowed that.

 

“I’m not trying to fight with you,” Tobirama sighed and, since they were so close, his hot breath went right into his ear. Madara kept his shiver from showing, but the burning on his cheeks threatened to become even stronger. 

 

Wait, no, he needed to do something.

 

“Then you’re being mean. Mean-mean Tobirama,” Madara tutted, shifting his hold to Tobirama’s wrists, which in turn made him tense, but he didn’t try to get out of the hold. 

 

Now in Madara’s hands were Tobirama’s whole career as a shinobi and possibly his life. One chakra enhanced squeeze and it could be over. Tobirama had to trust him.

 

And the best part was that they still looked like a couple who were just holding hands. 

 

This thought made Madara’s insides soft and tense at the same time.

 

“So, why do you need my scroll?” Madara asked, holding the pale wrists tighter.

 

Tobirama frowned, testing how tightly Madara was holding him. He didn’t let him get away, pressing his wrists closer.

 

“Sly, as usual,” Tobirama hummed under his breath, puzzling Madara. He was often praised by his strength and battle plans, but not for tactical thinking. ”It’s very cute, but I don't appreciate being questioned while manhandled,” Tobirama huffed, then suddenly he moved faster than Madara could predict, taking him by surprise. When he activated Sharingan, Tobirama already had his one hand free, while Madara was holding him tight with another. 

 

Tobirama tried to twist free, but Madara's grip was strong. With a determined look in his eyes, Tobirama tried to form a seal with one hand, but Madara reacted faster, and responded with a burst of pure chakra he had in abundance, sending Tobirama flying back against the trunk of a nearby tree. The impact jarred and overwhelmed his senses so Madara had time to press against him and hold his wrists tightly pinned above his head.

 

“So, now you'll tell?” Madara asked, winded after their little scuffle, but smiling widely. Oh, how he yearned to dance with Tobirama. Of course, it was not a full dance, just a mere exchanging of blows, but it was already way more exciting than the fight he had a few hours ago.

 

“Brute,” Tobirama grumbled, testing Madara’s hold, but this time Madara pressed tighter, pinning him to the tree with his whole body. Tobirama eyed him with disdain, clearly not enjoying the fact that he was caught.  

 

“Fine,” Tobirama sighed. “First of all, you may relax, this scroll is not an objective for a mission. In fact, I already finished my mission and was just coming back when I sensed you and decided to approach. We have never seen each other outside of the battlefield since that day. I wanted to talk to you alone.”

 

Madara felt more blood rush to his face at the implications. He knew what it meant in the adult world. Did Tobirama really want to go on a date with him? He couldn’t lie to himself, dreamt and hoped for that for ages…. But he still suspiciously squinted his sharingan to see if there’s any indication of lying in Tobirama’s body language. The boy seemed tense, but no more than usual when another shinobi was holding him down.

 

It wasn’t enough though. 

 

“That's it? Why didn't you say so? Why did you try to escape?” Madara asked, frowning. Why did they even have to fight?

 

Tobirama’s ears and cheekbones flashed red.

 

“I told you, I don’t enjoy being restrained,” Tobirama said with a voice of steel.

 

Weirdly it got to Madara. But he didn't lessen his hold. 

 

“Prove it,” Madara said.

 

“Prove what ? I thought I showed you that I don’t enjoy it clearly enough,” Tobirama grumbled, pushing at Madara’s hold again.

 

“Prove that you really missed me and it’s not just words. Prove that you still want to marry me. Marry me for me and not because it's convenient to marry an Uchiha heir for peace,” Madara quietly said, looking straight in the red eyes. 

 

Tobirama grew quiet and stopped struggling. His face was neutral but his eyes looked like he was contemplating something in the pretty head of his. 

 

“How curious,” Tobirama muttered under his breath so quietly, Madara barely heard it even standing so close. “Fine. Come here.”

 

Madara didn’t expect Tobirama to try to tug his wrists out again, which distracted him and he didn’t even notice how the boy’s legs pulled him closer, making him almost fall into the boy and his face came so close. 

 

Then there was something soft against his lips. 

 

Oh.

 

Oh.

 

He was being kissed.

 

Madara felt all blood in his body rush to his face. He had never been kissed before. Not like that. Not on his lips . 

 

He didn’t even know what to do! Desperately, Madara scanned through his memories trying to find something. Oh right!

 

The first thing he did was close his eyes as he saw some of the clan’s couples do and nervously pressed back, returning the soft kiss. He didn’t know what else to do than to just press back, though.

 

But it was enough for now. Madara never anticipated it would be so soft. And lovely. Tobirama’s hands twitched in his hold, but he still didn’t let go, pressing against his lips more.

 

He could do that forever.

 

Sadly, the world was always against him and cut down his ‘forever’ way too soon. The sound of a kunai sticking into the bark of a tree with a voice that nearly made Madara jump out of his skin interrupted them.

 

“Let go of him in this instance!”

 

He backed off from Tobirama a little and looked at the source of said voice.

 

Oh shit.

 

Hyuuga. Not one or two. A whole team of five. Or even six if he sensed them correctly.

 

Tobirama also tensed under his weakened hold, looking at Hyuugas with surprise. So they weren’t with him then.

 

“We won’t allow a child of an allied clan to be defiled like this,” Hyuuga, maybe the team leader, snarled with conviction.

 

“D-defiled?!” Madara almost choked on air. Oh fuck, they think he wanted… Oh no. No, no, nope!

 

“Madara, we have to go,” Tobirama whispered, tugging on his hands again and Madara released.

 

Hyuugas didn’t look pleased and Madara had doubts these blind-looking assholes would go away if he nicely explained everything to them. The Hyuuga–Uchiha grudge was legendary in its own right, though not outshining the Senju–Uchiha one of course. Thankfully, Uchiha didn’t share many borders with them, so there was little opportunity for real conflict to arise.

 

Slowly Hyuugas started to circle them.

 

“Don’t even have to say anything for yourself, you brat?” A younger Hyuuga with a headband on his forehead huffed.

 

“We will help to get rid of this Uchiha-wretch, don’t worry little one,” one of the women in the group said serenely.

 

He couldn’t defeat them all. Madara was strong, his chakra reserves still full, but he also had mission cargo to take care of and now Tobirama.

 

“Tobirama, careful with your eyes,” Madara warned, flashing through seals and exhaling a huge cloud of smoke filled with hot ash*, then barked and grabbed Tobirama’s hand, “Move!”

 

Of course, smoke screens were usually useless against Byakugan users, since they could easily see through them. That’s why Madara had to raise the temperature of the ash to create more fire, to make it hotter. At least Hyuugas were going to be busy with the heat.

 

But Tobirama’s eyes… Madara looked back for a moment to check if Tobirama was okay, but turns out he caught up with the program fast, holding onto Madara’s hand tightly and following him to the way out of the hot smoke clouds, his eyes covered with the wide sleeve of the happi. Huh, turns out it was not as impractical as Madara thought. 

 

They jumped onto tree branches, moving away from the ash cloud as fast as possible, but it soon became clear that not all Hyuuga were affected by Madara’s jutsu.

 

At least four followed. Great. As much as Madara was grumbling about no challenge before, now there were too many Hyuugas and they all looked experienced to take them all in one go.  

 

“These tricks won’t work on us!” one of them huffed, quickly catching up with two kids.

 

The Hyuuga (who honestly looked all the same and Madara didn’t want to spend any time remembering who was who) aimed a Juken attack at Madara. He knew that he had to avoid them at all costs, but the Hyuuga was too close. Suddenly, a kunai rushed into the white-eyed man, making him retreat. Madara used this opportunity to get away. And he was right to do so, since a second later the forest was shaken with an explosion, creating a barrier of smoke and debris.

 

Not that it helped much to hide from Hyuuga’s eyes.

 

“Uchiha is controlling the boy!” Madara heard the man’s pained yell. 

 

Yeah, right, like he wouldn't just shake off Sharingan genjutsu as if it was kids play.

 

The explosion slowed Hyuugas for a second, but it wasn’t enough for them to get away completely. Still they could try. 

 

“High level, we have to get away,” Tobirama said, jumping from branch to branch and sending explosives into Hyuugas occasionally. “Most likely the elite of the clan, one doesn’t have the seal.”

 

“The heck are they even doing here?” Madara grumbled, then jumped up from the branch and formed a huge fireball. Good luck trying to follow them by jumping on coals!

 

Madara caught up with Tobirama as soon as possible.

 

“Hashirama would weep,” the boy hummed, but said nothing of disapproval of this method. “You got one for sure.”

 

“Good. Maybe they’ll back off,” Madara smirked.

 

“Doubt it. They’re stubborn especially when they think they’re doing something righteous and noble by their standards,” Tobirama said, throwing more projectiles with exploding seals at Hyuugas. How many of them did he even have there? “Can you go faster?” 

 

“Only if I leave the scroll,” Madara said. It may not have looked like it, but the scroll was heavy and it slowed him down by a good margin. 

 

“Hm, not an option then. Prepare yourself, we’ll have to engage,” Tobirama said. “Do as much damage as possible, if they’re injured enough, they stop following us.”

 

“Since when are you the captain?” Madara snapped, dodging from shurikens that were sent his way.

 

“Do you have any better ideas?” Tobirama calmly asked.

 

Madara grumbled under his nose, because no, he didn’t have anything better yet and Hyuugas were faster and approaching. As much as Madara didn’t like that he was being bossed around, especially by someone he was supposed to protect, that was the only plan they had and it was doable. He was really good at doing damage after all.

 

Eventually Hyuugas caught up to them and soon Madara was engaged with two at the same time. It was pretty challenging, since he never really fought Hyuugas before and he had to adapt to their style, while also trying to avoid their attacks as much as possible. He didn’t even have time to get his sword out! Each of their strikes was precise and calculated, designed to block his chakra points. He couldn’t continue to fight them with taijutsu. 

 

He barely felt the chakra aimed straight at his head. He didn’t have enough time to react, only prepared himself for a blow, when suddenly he saw a flash of white. The next moment he saw Tobirama's body and his head hitting the tree bark.

 

The fuck was he doing?!

 

“Watch it! Senju won’t be happy if we kill their kid!” A Hyuuga barked, distracted.

 

“I didn’t–..” the one who hit stammered.

 

Madara didn’t pay them any mind. That was what he needed. He dashed to Tobirama, while two were distracted and the other was too slow. As fast as he could, he hauled barely conscious Tobirama on his back, desperately trying to get through seals for Haijingakure no Jutsu*, but he was too slow, Hyuugas were approaching and Madara was still not done and with Tobirama on his back he wouldn’t be able to get away!–

 

Suddenly, the world spun. 

 

Only because of extensive training and lots of wall and ceiling walking Madara didn’t throw up, only falling to his knees for a moment. He pressed Tobirama to his back to make sure he was okay, with another hand holding their weight on the ground. He tried to calm his spinning head, panting heavily.

 

“What was that?” he gasped, looking around. They were… somewhere else.

 

“Hiraishin,” Tobirama answered like it explained everything. Then he groaned. “I missed the right mark. We are fifteen minutes away from them. Let me go, we have to get away.”

 

Tobirama struggled in his hold, but Madara saw how badly he hit his head, so he didn’t allow him to get free, putting both hands under Tobirama’s thighs and squeezing. 

 

“I said let go!” Tobirama almost growled. Madara never heard him make this kind of sound before.

 

“Look me in my Sharingan and say that you will be able to walk straight right now. You’re gonna slow us down,” Madara said, struggling to stand up and readjusting his new weight. Damn, Tobirama sure was heavier than he looked. 

 

Surprisingly that shut Tobirama up. Good. Madara really needed to concentrate on finding a safe escape route and channeling more chakra to his muscles to hold both Tobirama and the scroll. 

 

Madara wasn’t sure where to go, but he was sure that they needed to get away from the frantic Hyuuga chakra he sensed. He couldn’t carry Tobirama if the Hyuuga would catch up to them though. They needed to hide.

 

By some divine luck, Madara spotted a little cave. It was small enough to let two children fit through the entrance, but not enough for adults. 

 

It was a tight fit. The cave was really small with a low damp ceiling and dirty insides, but they settled down anyway. Madara, as the bigger one, let Tobirama lean on him, basically allowing him to sit on his lap sideways with a hand thrown on his shoulder. The realization of how close they were made Madara’s cheeks burn again. 

 

Tobirama scrunched up his nose.

 

“You good?” Madara quietly asked, noticing a displeased look on his face.

 

“Yeah, but judging by the intensity of my headache I probably have a concussion,” Tobirama mumbled quietly, closing his eyes for a moment. “Do you have some water? I usually use Suiton, but I'd prefer not to risk it."

 

Madara nodded, digging out a flask out of his pocket. Internally he was quite impressed that Tobirama just performed some kind of a very complicated teleportation jutsu in this state. Even though he said he failed and moved them to the wrong place, it was a definite success. He got them away from the enemies and gave them a chance to regroup. 

 

Even if by that he stole what was supposed to be Madara’s job as a senior and a future husband. 

 

"Here,” Madara pressed the flash into Tobirama’s hands.

 

“Thanks,” Tobirama quickly took it, sipped on water and gave it back.

 

Silence fell over their tiny cave. Madara used this time to listen to the forest around them, trying to predict where Hyuugas were and how much time to recuperate they have. Tobirama placed his head on Madara’s shoulder with a tired sigh, making the Uchiha stiff for a moment. Well if the opportunity presented itself like that… 

 

Madara hugged Tobirama’s waist, pressing the boy closer. Tobirama didn’t protest. The opposite, he snuggled to him and got comfortable on his lap, sighing with contentment. So trusting, even though they just fought each other. 

 

And he couldn’t help but remember the kiss that followed and was so rudely interrupted. Honestly, if there weren't so many pale assholes Madara might’ve killed them just for that.

 

But this hug… so nice, like it was meant to be.

 

That was, until Tobirama started to fidget again.

 

"Water?" he asked in a tiny voice. The headache was probably bothering him. 

 

"Here. Take as much as you need," Madara gave Tobirama the flask. They could find more water later when the immediate danger would pass.

 

Tobirama sipped water again, clearly trying to save it. Then he corked it and kept it in his hands, closing his eyes.

 

“Hey, don’t fall asleep,” Madara shook him gently, which made Tobirama groan. 

 

“Asshole,” he muttered. “Where is my water? Also, what are we doing here?"

 

Oh fuck. That wasn’t good.

 

"We.. we are waiting for Hyuuga to lose us, remember?" Madara reminded him, pressing the flask in Tobirama’s hands to his chest.

 

Tobirama squinted at him, as if trying to remember.

 

“Ah, right,” he said after a moment, when the realization hit him. 

 

“Are you okay?” Madara gently asked.

 

“Maybe. Headache. Maybe a migraine?” Tobirama signed. “I hate migraines, they’re the worst.”

 

“What’s a ‘mig-rai-ne’?” Madara frowned at the unknown word. 

 

“Mmm... I don’t remember how sensei* explained it... Basically it’s a very long headache that can last up to three days,” Tobirama huffed. “Sometimes it can give you an aura.”

 

“Aura?” Madara skeptically eyed Tobirama. He knew about such long headaches that made him see spots in his eyes and got them quite often if he overused his Sharingan. But ‘aura’? Isn't the aura what some civilians call chakra when it becomes visible? Maybe Tobirama was worse than he thought. Or Tobirama had some insane teachers. Is that why Tobirama was always studying these scrolls? Compensating for piss poor teaching? 

 

“Yeah. I don’t have it now, though. Or maybe I do. I’m not sure,” Tobirama sighed as even the thought of not knowing pained him.

 

“You’re surprisingly chatty,” Madara said, rubbing Tobirama’s back. The boy shrugged.

 

“Anija calls me a koel because I talk so much and he doesn’t understand what I'm saying.”

 

Madara wasn’t very pleased to realise that he relates to Hashirama in this matter. He wanted to understand what Tobirama wanted to tell him.

 

“Why are we in a cave though?” Tobirama asked. Again.

 

“Hiding from Hyuugas,” Madara exhaled. Father told him that breathing might help to manage his anger. He wasn’t angry, but he sure was annoyed. 

 

“Oh,” Tobirama sighed and looked over the cave. “Why? Training?”

 

“No, they attacked us, when we were.. um,” Madara blushed, not knowing how to say it.

 

“Oh! Right, we were kissing!” Tobirama perked up, almost jumping from his spot, but his burst of energy was immediately dumped as he hissed and pressed fingers on his temple.

 

“Don’t do that, you’re gonna hurt yourself,” Madara grumbled, blushing from how loudly Tobirama exclaimed. He placed a hand on the back of the boy’s head to make him press the forehead against Madara’s shoulder, allowing him to hide from the small light from the entrance of the cave in his voluminous hair.

 

“Mhm,” Tobirama hummed.

 

“But don’t fall asleep, got it?” Madara said seriously. He wasn’t sure why Tobirama shouldn’t sleep, but that was what older shinobi told everyone who was sleepy and had a concussion. Maybe they just didn’t want to carry them. 

 

Tobirama sighed with agitation again, but didn't say anything for a while, idly playing with strings on the water flask.

 

But it seemed that he couldn't sit still for long.

 

"Hey, Uchiha,” Tobirama called again. Was he that mad Madara didn't let him sleep to call him by his clan name? 

 

“Hm?” Madara pressed his lips tight until they turned white. 

 

“What are we doing here?"

 

Madara felt his blood boil. He loved Tobirama, but it was annoying!

 

"I'm telling you for the fourth time, we're waiting for Hyuugas to lose our tail!" he raised his voice, making Tobirama hiss in pain.

 

“Ouch, stop that. You Uchiha are so emotional,” Tobirama huffed. What was that supposed to mean?! “Wait, did I ask that already? Maybe I have a concussion."

 

"You think?” Madara grumbled.

 

Tobirama just sighed sadly.

 

"I miss Anija,” he said quietly like he was mostly talking to himself. “He’s nice to me when I'm concussed."

 

Wait, stop, he couldn’t be angry with Tobirama. What if he left Madara? Not that he’d go too far away in his condition, but still, he couldn’t make him think that he should. 

 

"Uh…" Madara awkwardly rubbed Tobirama’s back again, his mind scrambling to conceptualize how Hashirama would comfort his younger brother. Nothing came to mind. He could only imagine how Tobirama would comfort Hashirama, since he saw that happen before. “There-there?”

 

Well, that was lame. But he can't lose to Hashirama in this! 

 

He pressed Tobirama closer, rubbing his back and with a slight tremor in his heart kissed his cheek. That was their third kiss!

 

“Don’t play with me Uchiha, I know you hate me, because I killed Izuna, but..” Tobirama rambled on, but Madara didn’t catch the rest of it.

 

“Because you what ?!” Madara choked out of himself.

 

“And I don’t want to do that again, Izuna is funny, I like him..” Tobirama kept talking in Madara’s neck like he barely noticed anything.

 

“Wait, wait, hold on,” Madara wheezed, pressing on Tobirama’s shoulder to shake him a bit. The back of his mind supplied him with ‘Should I be jealous? Did Tobirama like my Outoto more?!’

 

“But don’t worry, Uchiha. Your brother is gonna be fine,” Tobirama slurred. “He can’t die. Or it's gonna be the end of the world...”

 

Okay, maybe Madara somewhat agreed with that because it was his little brother’s death they were talking about, but..— 

 

“and alien invasion."

 

Ah.

 

Now Madara saw the whole picture. Tobirama fucking lost it. Oh they were so fucked. How could Madara save himself and Tobirama from Hyuugas? Should he even save Tobirama from Hyuugas? They’re the ones who wanted to save him from Madara. But he couldn’t leave Tobirama here all alone with a concussion. What if he thought Madara abandoned him? No way he would do that. Plus he couldn't trust those pale assholes to actually bring Tobirama back home. 

 

He protectively hugged him tighter, while Tobirama babbled more about aliens and chakra beasts and some evil black goo..? 

 

Yes, he couldn’t leave him like that. What if it was brain damage?..

 

"Hey, is that a summon contract you have there? Can't we reverse-summon in their world?" Tobirama said, tapping at the scroll behind Madara’s back. 

 

“Uh, you can do that?” Madara blinked at Tobirama. 

 

“Yeah, it’s easy,” Tobirama shrugged. “Every type of summon animal has their own space to live. Like you know, Mount Myoboku? I heard there are huge slugs!”

 

“No one can go to this mountain and no one knows what’s there,” Madara reminded Tobirama. Was this another nonsense, like with aliens? 

 

“Maybe for a good reason,” Tobirama rolled his eyes. “I’d be pissed if someone went into my room unannounced. Except for Itama. And Anija,” Tobirama gave Madara an intent look and said. “Maybe you too, if you’re good.”

 

Tobirama petted Madara’s hair, his cheeks growing hot again. 

 

Madara would melt into this, but he was distracted by a distant voice.

 

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Hyuuga found them.

 

“You sure they would have a realm?” he asked urgently. 

 

“Positive,” Tobirama nodded.

 

“And you know how to get there?”

 

“Yeah, it's a simple sign sequence. Just the reverse of the usual summoning jutsu. That’s why it's the reverse summoning,” Tobirama said like it helped.

 

"I... I don't know the signs for usual summoning," Madara awkwardly admitted. Was it weird that he didn’t know? Not many Uchiha had summons. Was it common in the Senju? 

 

“Really? I thought…” Tobirama scrunched up his face. “Maybe it was that other Uchiha boy? Huh, okay. Roll out the scroll, repeat after me and channel chakra into it. I won’t channel my chakra though. Anija says it’s bad for me to try to use chakra when I have a migraine."

 

Getting the scroll from its case in such a tiny place was a struggle, but with enough shuffling he rolled out some part of it. Then Madara turned on his Sharingan to not miss any seal, but Tobirama was slow, like he was used to showing someone how to do seals for a jutsu. Madara couldn’t do that anymore, he could only do them fast, cutting corners at any unnecessary seal he could.

 

Madara mimicked Tobirama perfectly, channeling the chakra into the scroll just as he heard “I found them!” from outside the cave.

 

His heart thumped fearing that they just spent these seconds on something useless and that there was no summon world.  

 

But then the world whirled. 

 

Notes:

*happi - traditional tube-sleeved Japanese coat
*Katon: Haijingakure no Jutsu - Fire Style: Art of Hiding in Ash (I find it silly that ninja always repeat the name of the jutsu so im just gonna use end notes to note what exactly I meant)
*Juken - Hyuuga's Gentle Fist
*sensei - usually means teacher, but that's also a way to address a doctor
---

Well hello it's been… oh wow almost 6 months. In my excuse I may have become a victim of fic author curse. Life has been very hectic lately with work and lots of health issues (nothing bad, more annoying and everything just piled up). But I just returned from a vacation where I had a little recharge so now I can write!

Tbh this chapter was written for some time but I had several issues that stalled me. For example a stupid ass issue that Byakugan can see genjutsu in a person. But I sorted it out now even without rewriting :DD! Note that this is Madara’s POV and he may come to some wrong conclusions.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And thank you for your kind words about the fic in the comments! Reading them helps me to keep writing, even if I do it pretty slowly <3

As always big thanks to Dante, Mouse, Burnz, Titania and Nelieliel for helping me out with this chapter! Special thanks to Dante and Mouse who spent literal hours betaing this 7k chapter <333