Chapter Text
Tobirama sighed as he walked into his brother’s office in the Hokage Tower. It wasn’t as though he disliked being around Hashirama, or even hated the building itself. The office was a nice enough space, rounded with a large desk in the middle on top of an ornate rug. Paperwork was practically overflowing from the surface of the desk, and Tobirama could barely see his brother’s forehead past the five large stacks that were piled in front of his chair.
Hashirama immediately looked up when Tobirama stepped inside and jumped out of his chair a moment later. His brown eyes were wide, and his long, brown hair was swishing wildly against his back as he quickly circumnavigated his desk and practically skipped over to the white-haired man, enveloping him in a large hug. It was an uncomfortable feeling, being squeezed so tightly that it was actually possible to bust a rib. That hug was Hashirama’s specialty, and it was the one that he was using against Tobirama right now. Tobirama hissed as he tried to continue breathing, not an easy job with his brother’s deceptive strength. It was like a miniature boa constrictor was slowly attempting to squeeze the life out of him.
“My beloved brother!” Hashirama cried out dramatically, jumping up in excitement and taking Tobirama up with him. “I feel as though it has been forever since I’ve seen you. How have you been? How is work going?”
Tobirama was silent for a moment, gathering up his patience for this conversation as he peeled Hashirama away from his person quickly and took a step to the side so that he was out of immediate arm’s length. “We just sat down and had breakfast together earlier this morning, brother…it’s eleven o’clock. What’s so important that you had to send a messenger down to my lab and get me? I figured that we could have had any conversation that was going to be had in the office at home.”
“Why must you always reject my efforts to shower you with love and affection!?” Hashirama wailed, his brown eyes shining over with tears. Tobirama didn’t know if they were real, or if he was just putting them on for dramatic effect. He supposed that it didn’t matter all that much one way or the other. He was acting like a blundering fool, and that was the important thing to observe.
“Because you’re the hokage of this village,” Tobirama informed him dryly. He was too used to this behavior to speak sharply about it anymore. “You need to act like a more respectable person. No one is going to want to be under the rule of an incompetent idiot, which is what you act like most of the time.”
Hashirama’s lower lip jutted out for a moment as his entire form wilted under the severity of Tobirama’s scolding. Tobirama watched him for a moment before he simply walked further into the room and took a seat in one of the chairs across the desk from Hashirama’s own chair and clasped his fingers together in his lap. He turned and looked at his brother once again, relieved to see that the pout had gone, and his usual cheery demeanor had been placed back on his visage. He didn’t have the patience for his brother’s overzealous water-works on a good day and being called away from his lab when he was getting the finishing touches down on a new jutsu was already putting a damper on his day. He decided to just remain silent and allow Hashirama to speak up first. His brother always got to his point when he was good and ready. Attempting to urge him on was a complete waste of time.
It took a few moments for Hashirama to break the silence, and it wasn’t with the subject that Tobirama had been expecting. “Have I ever told you how much I love you, little brother?” Hashirama asked, his voice nearing conversational as he leisurely walked back toward his desk. He leaned over the top of it and carefully pushed the piles toward either end of the piece of furniture until he was able to stare directly at Tobirama as he sat down. “You know that you’re a really good person, and so smart. This entire village is lucky to have a shinobi that is as good as you are.”
Tobirama narrowed his eyes at Hashirama, not liking the tone that his older brother was using coupled with the candied words that were rolling off his tongue. The only time that Hashirama ever sounded like that and gave compliments that were over the top, even for him, was when he wanted Tobirama to do something that he wasn’t going to like.
His entire form slumped as he exhaled a suffering sigh, resigning himself to a miserable time. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger as he closed his eyes and waited for a moment to collect himself. “What is it that you want this time, big brother?”
“Why do you think that I want something from you?” Hashirama cried out woundedly as he crossed his arms over his chest. He looked genuinely offended, but Tobirama wasn’t stupid in the least. He knew an act when he saw one, and Hashirama was trying to put on one hell of a show.
“Because I know you,” Tobirama replied easily. He mimicked his brother’s stance and narrowed his eyes as he waited for Hashirama to spit out what he wanted.
“There have been quite a few skirmishes on the border of our nation and the wind country,” Hashirama finally relented a few moments later. “I know that you already know about them, but I’ve gotten another report in today about seven more shinobi that have gone missing.”
“That makes thirteen now,” Tobirama murmured, almost to himself. His mind was racing at the possibilities. He knew that the shinobi from the village hidden in the sand were probably the reason for it, but it was just finding the proof that was the issue.
“Exactly,” Hashirama said. “I know that in the grand scheme of things, thirteen people gone from a large base really isn’t all that much, but it’s the fact that no one can find them is the big deal. I want you to go there and try to figure out what’s going on.”
Tobirama didn’t reply as he waited. Giving out a mission to an active shinobi is hardly grounds for the pre-groveling that Hashirama had shamelessly done earlier. That could only mean that there was a catch to the assignment…one that he wasn’t going to like at all.
“You’re basically going to be out there for moral support,” Hashirama continued after a few moments. His expression was becoming a bit more strained, and his mouth was curved into a pleading smile. Tobirama could sense the catch coming up very soon. “You can take some of the ninja into the forests and search out the hiding spots. The thing that needs to happen, though, is for the men out there to see that powerful ninja from powerful clans are stepping in to investigate the disappearances. Who better to go than the next in line for the head of the Senju clan—”
“And the head of the Uchiha clan,” Tobirama cut him off tiredly, already seeing where this was going. He felt dread starting to form in the pit of his stomach as the thought of that smug bastard entered his mind. It was no secret to anyone that he and Madara Uchiha detested each other. Hashirama might have liked to ignore it on most occasions, but he would even agree that they didn’t get along very well if someone directly asked him.
Hashirama’s expression turned sheepish as he leaned back in his chair. Tobirama didn’t know why his brother was so reluctant to tell him what he needed. It wasn’t as though Tobirama could refuse. It was his job, and Hashirama knew that Tobirama would see it through to the end regardless of the circumstances.
Tobirama supposed that it was just a part of Hashirama’s kind nature. He hated making other people uncomfortable and wanted to make it up to them in any way that he could think of to ease off his own conscience.
“How did you know that?” Hashirama asked after a few moments. “Was it that obvious?”
“Not particularly,” Tobirama answered. “It’s just the same tactical decision that I would have made if I would have overseen this assignment. I’m not upset with you over this idea. It’s a good one.” Hashirama positively beamed at that comment. He was telling the truth, though. The comment definitely wasn’t made out of something as petty as flattery. With him and Madara together, searching for the culprits behind the thirteen missing men, the shinobi should be put at ease quickly and easily. Despite his thoughts on the overall idea, there was one curveball that could be thrown into the entire plan and render it useless. “What has Uchiha said about it?”
Hashirama’s face, which had stretched into a large smile at Tobirama’s compliment, immediately dimmed, turning into almost a pained grimace. “I…I haven’t told him yet. I was wondering if you might want to take care of that for me.” It was posed as a suggestion that was very thinly veiling a plea.
“You know that we’re not that bad, right?” Tobirama questioned. Sure, they didn’t particularly care for one another, but it wasn’t as though they acted the same way that they did at the treaty delegations between their two clans, making snide and rude comments back and forth to each other the entire time that they went on. They no longer got into verbal arguments every day and at least two physical fights in a week. They went months without a single problem with each other. “Uchiha and I are both mature enough to make it through this mission in one piece. I will go and speak to him on your behalf. What time would you like us to leave?”
“As soon as possible,” Hashirama said. “Be out of the village and moving toward the wind country within the next few hours.”
Tobirama nodded in agreement and stood up. He bowed respectfully to his brother before he moved toward the door.
“Tobirama,” Hashirama said before he could walk out. Tobirama turned and looked at his older brother questioningly, and Hashirama had a worried smile on his face. “Please be careful. Madara can be a bit of a hothead at times. Try and make sure that he doesn’t do anything stupid. I’d like him back in good shape just as much as I’d like you back in the same condition.”
“I’ll be sure to watch out for both of us,” Tobirama told him, watching as his brother’s smile turned back into the radiating beam that he was used to before he walked out of the door.
His confidence may or may not have faltered after he left the Hokage Tower and made his way to the Uchiha compound. He and Madara were strictly civil toward each other because it was necessary out in public. Nothing would get done if two of the founders of the village were unable to quit acting like rivaling children and work together to get their many jobs done. That was about how far their relationship ever went, however. They still disliked each other, and they never spoke when it was not necessary. Hashirama had only ever sent them out on one mission together, and it had ended in a shameful disaster. There was no way that Madara was going to be any happier than Tobirama was about it happening again, and the hothead probably wouldn’t take it with as much grace as Tobirama was able to. He had a knack for spluttering, cursing and flailing, something that Tobirama found endlessly amusing. That would be fine, if it just stopped there, but it never did. Madara always ended up trying to take out his anger on Tobirama when the opportunity presented itself. Of course, Tobirama was just as much to blame as he was, because he stirred it up as soon as the accusations were brought out.
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he entered the compound. He stood out very starkly against the other people that were walking down the streets, and it was painfully obvious that the others there thought so too if the looks in their dark eyes, which were trained solely on him as he quickly passed them by, were any indication.
He tried his best to remember where Madara’s home was. He knew it was toward the center of the compound, but he was uncertain as to the exact place. He just stayed quiet and tried his best to keep his head down. He knew that the majority of the Uchihas were still wary of him, with Izuna, ironically, being the one and only exception. The quicker he got to Madara’s abode, the better, because the last thing that he needed was any of the Uchiha clan trying to accuse him of some sort of disturbance.
He stiffened as a shoulder roughly barreled into his chest. He skidded back a couple of feet before he regained his footing and wearily looked at the Uchiha male that was angrily standing in front of him with his arms crossed over his chest. There were three more men behind him, all of them had identical stances. Tobirama felt annoyance coiling in his gut as he looked at the group. Too late now , he thought with defeat as the leader of the group snapped, “I think I deserve an apology, jackass, since you obviously can’t seem to watch where you’re going.”
~~~
Madara was lounging around on his front porch with a cup of tea in his hand. It was steaming fiercely with the cold air surrounding it, and Madara knew that he was going to have to drink it quickly if he didn’t want the cup of perfection to turn into a lukewarm disappointment. He took another sip of it, savoring in the sensation of warmth sliding down his throat into his stomach. It was soothing and nice, a perfect way for him to spend his day off, something that he hadn’t had in months .
He shut his eyes contentedly as he moved his legs gently, allowing his chair to rock soothingly. He took another sip of his tea blindly before he sat it back on the table and allowed his mind to wander. Things have been nice today, he thought contentedly as he continued to rock his chair and relax into the comforting cushions. It’s been almost too nice…something doesn’t feel particularly right about it. Nothing ever went this smoothly for him. He hadn’t had a day off in months, and it wasn’t as though him not being at work should change that. He didn’t so much as tense up at the thought. His entire body went even more lax, and he let out a soft sigh of resignation. Something should be happening any time now, he thought. Just as that piece of information entered his mind, he heard fast footsteps steadily getting louder.
He opened his eyes and watched as young Kagami raced toward him. His eyes were swirling red orbs, letting Madara know that he was very distressed. It spelled out trouble…a lot of trouble, considering that the child was Tobirama’s young pupil. He was very good at keeping himself calm in bad situations. Something had him riled up, and it was already having Madara mentally prepare himself for a hard time. Part of him considered informing the child that it was his day off, which meant that he needed to go and bother someone else with this problem, but it was a small part of his brain. The larger part of him knew that as the head of the clan, he never actually had a day off, and it was his job to see to any problem that any of his clansmen were having.
He watched the child rush up his steps and stand next to him. He was bouncing up and down, and moving side to side urgently, as though he really had to go to the bathroom. A humorous contemplation came to him, and he almost sarcastically asked the boy if that was what had caused him to rush into his yard, but he managed to keep himself from doing so. He let out a suffering sigh. I’m going to regret this.
“What’s wrong,” he asked anyway.
“Four men are attacking Tobirama-sensei!” the boy cried out, waving his hands around in the air, as if for emphasis. His eyes were blown even wider at this, and his complexion seemed to have lost at least four shades of pigment.
He felt a small ache beginning to form between his eyes, the starting of a migraine that he knew was only going to get bigger as the day went on. Despite that, he pushed himself from his chair and moved to walk down his porch. He heard Kagami’s footsteps behind him and immediately put his hand out. “No,” he said. “You stay here.” The last thing that the boy needed was to see his sensei beat some of his clansmen senseless, which was exactly what was happening, Madara was sure. Senju was a very powerful ninja, and very few people were able to stand toe-to-toe with him. He doubted the assholes that had started this conflict were any of the ones that could.
He heard the footsteps stop and calmly kept on walking until he was past the overhang on his porch. He flooded his system with chakra and immediately jumped into the air, landing on his roof and started to run, leaping to the top of his neighbor’s house and kept going. He figured that Tobirama was closer to the entrance of his compound than his house. He had no idea why he was even in this area, but it was either to see him or visit with Izuna, the latter of which would have made no sense, since his younger brother was currently on duty.
He might not possess the man’s ungodly sensory capabilities, but that didn’t stop him from finding his position in a matter of a few seconds. The shouting helped. Madara changed his direction slightly and the voices of his clansmen quickly got louder and louder before they came into view. There was a circle formed around the fighters. It was made up of over twenty Uchihas, all of them cheering on their fellow clansmen and jeering at Tobirama. Some of the insults that they flung his way made Madara feel angry for the man. He heard ‘ monster!’, ‘evil freak!’, and his personal favorite, ‘master Izuna should have killed you!’
Shaking with fury by the time his feet touched the ground again, he felt no remorse as he grabbed the back of two of the closest people’s shirts and flung them backward, out of his way so that he could get in closer. He pinched the bridge of his nose as the ache in his head intensified from the sight alone of what was going on in the middle of the circle. One of the Uchihas was already on the ground, his nose bloody and unconscious; dark bruises were already forming around both his eyes. Tobirama was in close quarters with two of the other Uchihas. One was at his front while the other was coming at him from the back. All three men looked a bit battered and worse for wear. Tobirama had a cut on his cheek that had a few drops of blood dripping from it, while the others had bruises on their faces and the exposed parts of their arms. That only told him one thing: his clan had been the one to bring out weapons. How shameful.
They both moved to swing on Tobirama at the same time as the third man rushed in from the side, digging into his weapon’s pouch angrily. Madara didn’t even think as he moved, jumping over the fighting trio and landing next to the man. He grabbed him from the side and slung him. He flew over the crowd of onlookers and crashed into the ground quite a few feet away. He turned with a snarl, intent on grabbing the rest of them and giving them a piece of his mind, but everything was too far gone. Tobirama had waited for the most opportune time to move, and it was when it was too late for the others to stop their own momentum. Madara watched, almost in slow motion, as Tobirama ducked out of the way and stepped back, allowing the other two to do all the work on their own. They both stumbled forward, their swings still going, and both men’s fists hit home, right on the other’s face. They fell to the ground with a muted thud, and there was silence…bone crushing silence, that not a soul around him dared to break.
“What the hell is going on?” Madara demanded. His voice wasn’t very loud, but he knew that it carried just fine to everyone that was around him. “Would someone like to explain to me why it seemed as though you’ve all lost your damned minds? This is unacceptable behavior from all of you, not just the people that attacked! We do not verbally assault anyone without justifiable reason! We do not attack a single man with such disgraceful numbers, and we do not just sit around and watch while it happens!”
More silence rang out and Madara looked over at Tobirama, who was still standing behind the two men that had attacked him last. They were both laid out on the ground. They weren’t knocked out, but Madara knew that neither of them would be inclined to get back up and resume fighting any time soon. That didn’t stop the subtle way that Tobirama remained tensed with his arms crossed over his chest.
“My apologies for the shameful actions of the men from my clan, Senju,” Madara said to him formally. “I am unsure of what came over them, but I can assure you that there is no chance of it ever happening again.” Having to apologize to Tobirama caused him a nearly physical kind of pain. It went against his very nature to apologize in the first place and asking forgiveness of someone like the younger Senju brother didn’t sit right with him at all. It caused his halfway good mood to plummet to a level that was normally only seen when he was forced to attend diplomatic affairs.
Tobirama was silent for a few heartbeats, just looking at Madara. His expression was unreadable, like it normally was, so there was no telling what was going through that genius mind of his. He finally just nodded in acceptance and said, “Don’t worry about it, Uchiha. I am sure that this was all a misunderstanding anyway. I have an urgent matter to discuss with you anyhow. I’m certain that we can talk about this another day when there aren’t more pressing matters to attend to.”
Madara knew that Tobirama was phrasing it this way as a form of spite to the two men that were still conscious on the ground. It was basically letting them know that Tobirama had never even taken them seriously in the first place. He was saying that his skill was so superior to theirs that getting attacked by four of them at once wasn’t even something that he would ever consider a big deal. Madara actually found that he had to suppress a smile at that. It was ridiculously petty of him, but he supposed that the man was human, no matter how robotic he tried to be.
“Very well,” Madara said. “If you would be so kind as to follow me to my house.” He looked around at the people that were still standing around. It was very clear that they wanted nothing more than to get away before they were reprimanded more than they already had been. “I expect that you all can take care of the mess on this street? Take the men to the infirmary as well.” He heard low murmurs of acknowledgment before he turned and jumped toward the nearest roof.
He landed on it gracefully and heard the low thunk as Tobirama landed next to him. He cut his eyes toward the other man and grimaced as he saw that the cut on his face was still bleeding. He was just glad that the younger Senju was too focused on work to ever worry about anything else. Anyone from any clan other than the Senju would have been insulted and demanded some sort of ridiculous retribution. For once, he could admit that he was pleased that it was Tobirama, of all people, that had decided to show up.
~~~
It only took them a few moments to get to the road outside of his house. Young Kagami was still standing outside on his porch, his entire form hunched over in a tensed fashion, as though he was fighting back the urge to vomit. It was a humorous look on him, but Madara didn’t like it. As a ninja, he needed nerves of steel, something that the child had shown time and time again. He must care a lot about Tobirama to be this worked up.
That thought didn’t settle very well with him either. He knew that he was supposed to be supporting friendly relations between the two clans, and he was alright with most of the other Senju, but why did anyone from his clan feel the need to be friendly with Tobirama, of all people?
Kagami was just a child. Madara was sure that he would grow to see the flaws in his sensei in time.
As soon as his cousin saw Tobirama and Madara land, he perked up and dashed down the porch, rushing toward them with wide eyes. He skidded to a stop in front of them and beamed up at Tobirama. “Sensei!” he cried out happily. His voice was still high-pitched, and it hit a note that actually caused Madara’s ears to ache. He winced and brought his hand up, massaging the offended organ. “I’m so glad that you’re alright!” He launched himself forward and wrapped himself around Tobirama’s middle like a koala would a tree.
Madara halfway expected Tobirama to begin spluttering indignantly and fling the boy off him. At the very least, he expected a stern reminder of dignity, like he did to his brother, and a curt removal of the boy from himself. Instead, much to Madara’s blatant surprise, he wrapped his arms around the child, almost tenderly, and held him close.
“I’m fine,” Tobirama said gently, his voice barely above a whisper. “It was just a misunderstanding, and your leader got everything straightened out as soon as he got there.”
He let Kagami down and looked at him. “Why don’t you go and run along? I need you to carry a message to the rest of your teammates and let them know that our classes will be canceled until further notice.”
Like a true ninja, Kagami didn’t so much as question his orders. He just nodded and jumped away, landing on the nearest tree and launching himself out of sight a moment later.
Tobirama turned and looked at Madara after that, who hadn’t even taken his eyes off the younger Senju from the pure shock of the entire exchange that he just witnessed. Had Madara just seen the man show compassion ? The other man raised a white eyebrow up as he looked Madara over. “Is there a reason that you’re staring at me like a total buffoon? Has your entire compound, aside from young Kagami, contracted some sort of idiocy sickness?”
At that quip, his shock had immediately melted away as familiar aggravation took its place. He grumbled under his breath and stalked up the pathway to his house, not bothering to look behind him and see if Tobirama was following. The man was smart enough to follow without an invitation. He sat down on his chair again, and watched Tobirama take the other seat, uninvited.
“Did you come to see me on my day off just to insult me?” Madara questioned dryly. “I figure that whatever jabs that you are itching to send my way would be just as humorous to you if you waited just a little while longer. I have better things to do than to just sit here and have you verbally assault me, you know?”
“I also have better things to do than to just sit around and argue with you about your blatant stupidity,” Tobirama replied coolly, looking out at the quaint garden that grew on the left side of Madara’s front yard. “I’m here with a message from Hashirama.”
Madara was silent, grabbing at his cup of tea again. He grimaced at the cool feel of the glass against his fingertips, and didn’t even bother bringing it to his lips, knowing that it would taste awful. He refused to give Tobirama the satisfaction of seeing his face twist into an unbecoming expression of pure disgust.
The younger man was quiet for a moment as well, but when Madara didn’t speak up, he must have taken that as his go-ahead to say what needed to be said.
“Do you recall those reports about the ninja that are stationed at the border of our country where we’ve been having problems with ninja from Suna?” Tobirama questioned.
When Madara nodded, the younger man continued.
“Four more ninja have been reported missing as of today. Hashirama has become concerned and he has decided that the two of us need to take a trip out there and settle things.”
It took a moment for the blunt words to sink in, and Madara simply closed his eyes in defeat once they had. No…why him? Hashirama, for being such a nice guy and his best friend, was a total prick! Why would he think that sending them out together to complete a mission was a good idea? Why would he want to put them through this anyway? Was he trying some sort of aversion therapy technique that would help them stop disliking each other so much?
“Your brother…” Madara finally grounded out from between clenched teeth. He trailed off, however, unsure of the proper insult that he felt the too-cheerful bastard deserved.
“I don’t want to hear it,” Tobirama grumbled quietly. Madara didn’t have to look over at him to know that he was staring off into the distance with angry eyes that were narrowed in frustration. “He’s my brother now that he’s pulled this off, but I would like to remind you that I was stuck with him by birth. You, on the other hand, Uchiha, chose the moron as your friend.”
“Don’t remind me,” Madara muttered as he began rocking his chair. He wanted to go to the Hokage Tower and give Hashirama a piece of his mind but knew that it was futile. Hashirama wouldn’t change his mind about the mission. He would simply give him pouting glances and puppy-dog eyes that would slowly sap at his willpower until he felt like a total asshole for getting frustrated with the other man. He, at the very least, wanted to hold onto his anger without feeling guilty about it.
Silence settled between them for a few minutes afterward, and it was almost comfortable. It had been like that for quite a few months now. The feeling of mutual disdain for each other was still there, but Madara found Tobirama more tolerable than he used to, and he could sense that it was the same for the other man as well. He broke it, however, with another important question when it came to mind.
“How long do we have until we’re supposed to leave?” he questioned.
“A few hours,” Tobirama replied. “Meet me at the gate at three o’clock. We can leave out then. I’m sure that’s more than enough time to get your affairs in order.”
“That’s fine,” Madara muttered as he watched the other man get to his feet out of the corner of his eye. Before he could look at Tobirama fully, the man was gone. He’d probably used his flying thunder god technique to leave, rather than starting up something else by walking out of the compound again. Madara was silently grateful for his consideration. He knew that he didn’t have enough patience for another curve ball to be thrown into his obliterated day off.