Hello world! So, I'm currently obsess with the founders arc and I just had to write something about Hashirama and Madara. Then I realize I wanted to write about Tobirama and Mito as well, so this idea came up. Just a bunch of one shot (some connected, others not) set during the begginings of the Hidden Leaf. This is NO SLASH. Forgive muy grammar.
Hashirama wasn't, by any means, observant.
Many (Toka and Tobirama) thought this was outrageous. When you were a shinobi, fighting for your life and clan on the battlefield, anything could draw the line between life and death. Everything your opponent wear, everything your opponent reacted to, everything your opponent did, could create an opening for you to attack. In order to find that opening, you had to be observant. You had to watch your foe carefully, take everything in and analyze every single detail. Those were things that Hashirama never even bother to learn about. Well, he did know how to be observant but that was only because Tobirama taught him (he wasn't a natural). Still, it wasn't as if he was observant all the time.
When he was a child, observation had been one of the first skills his father had try to drill into him. He never really got the hang of it, so, as a solution, he always stood close to Tobirama whenever they were fighting (that, amongst other reasons). Later on, when he develop the wood style, everyone started to fear him and fights became, somehow, easy. Anyone, minus one, who faced the Senju Clan knew they had to stay away from Hashirama, for he was the strongest one, and it only took him a few handsigns to create a whole forest around the enemy.
Anyway, the point is: he wasn't observant, especially when it came to people.
Unlike Tobirama, who saw the signs in an instant, Hashirama had a hard time trying read people around. He had the habit to of always looking at the bright side of both, situations and people, no matter how gloomy things were. Tobirama said it was a bad habit, and maybe it was, but Hashirama trust the person infront of him to speak about what was troubling him/her. If not, well, there was always a point were the person couldn't stand it anymore and Hashirama made sure to be there when that point was reach.
He had known Tobirama since he was born so he knew exactly when something was wrong with his brother. He was like an open book to Hashirama. His especial strategy worked with people more like Toka and the Daimyos whenever they had a meeting.
In the end, he was observant with almost nothing (Tobirama covered up for him). Key word: almost. When it came to Madara he was always observant.
Madara...
Back when they were children playing on the river bank, Hashirama had been able to understand Madara to the point were he knew what his friend was going to do before he did it. One look, and he knew everything. The boy had been so... bright whenever he was with Hashirama. Bright eyes, bright smile, bright laugh, maybe not so bright attitude, but he was nice and he that's how Hashirama liked him. It had been so easy back then.
After they... fought things changed.
Hashirama became more observant of Madara. He had never been so attentive during a battle before. The way the Uchiha's eyes traveled from the sword to Hashirama, the way his feet moved, how the blade pierced through the air, the swaying of his locks, and spinning of the Sharingan had all received the same amount of attention. He hadn't missed a detail.
He had been looking for something, anything, that showed him Madara was still his friend. He found none, but that didn't keep him from searching everytime they meet.
Madara was the only person to which Hashirama pay all his attention to in every escenario. Whenever they strolled through the village, whenever they went to eat, whenever they spared, whenever they saw eachother... Hashirama never took his eyes away the Uchiha. If he wanted to know what Madara was feeling, truly feeling, he had to stay focused. As the years passed, both of them drifted further away from eachother, and Hashirama's friend became more and more of an enigma. It was harder and harder to read him, and it worried Hashirama to no end.
One of the things that make Madara... Madara was the fact that whenever something bothered him, everyone knew. The man's was as explosive as a paper bomb, quick to react and leaving a certain amount of destruction after it detonated. Everyone knew about it, and almost everyone was wise enough not to mess with Madara when he was angry. Everyone knew when he was angry, if there was something Madara couldn't hide it was rage. He burned with that raging fire capable of consuming almost everything.
And where there was fire, there was smoke and it wasn't hard to smell the smoke.
The Uchiha never bother with subtlety, and that was something Hashirama could always rely on, or at least... he did.
Now days, Madara had been unusually quiet with his emotions. Half-hearted smacks on the back of Hashirama's head, turned into ice cold glares coming from stone hard eyes. Occasional claps on the shoulder that use to be received with a small smile were replaced with a feral snarl and a flinch, prohibiting any kind of contact. The deep chuckles that came after stupid taunts and jokes transformed into dead-panned looks, ignoring the humor laced words and their obejective. Long trival, talks became a mixture of grunts and nods instead of the full conversation Hashirama was so used to have during their walks...
Madara was changing, and the Senju didn't like that.
Everyday he started seeing less and less of the boy he used to fight with by the river, and more of cold-hearted man that dispised any kind of human interaction. It came to a point in which Hashirama actually started to annoy Madara (which could be consider suicidal by many) just so he could get a reaction from him. It didn't take long for Hashirama to realize that he was losing his friend. All the signs were there, and if he was able to see them some effortlessly then it meant something was very, very wrong. A Madara that bottled up everything inside of him was more dangerous than a Madara who express himself freely, because when the time comes to let it all out, there would be hell everywhere.
"What is it?"
And that was the reason why Hashirama was currently standing infront of the man in question at his doorstep. He wanted, needed, to know what was bothering his friend. Better yet, he needed Madara to take it out on someone, and who better than Hashirama to fill that role? So, he plastered the biggest, most honest grin on his face before he started talking in the most cheerful tune there was.
"Good evening Madara!" He exclaimed. "I was just wondering if you would like to be my sparing partner." The Uchiha scowled.
"You are the Hokage." He said dryly. "You have work to do." There was definitely a double meaning somewhere in there, but Hashirama was too focused on the frown placed on his friend's face to care.
"Not today!" He proclaimed happily. "Today I want to spar." Truth be told, he did have work, but he was sure Tobirama could handle it on his own. His baby brother seemed to enjoy doing his paper work anyway. "Please Madara. We haven't spar together in a long time. Let's do it, for old time's sake." Normally, it wouldn't take Hashirama this much to convince the Uchiha to spar with him, but then again, Madara hadn't been acting normal, lately. The raven closed his eyes and sighed tiredly.
"Fine." It was a petty victory for Hashirama, but victory nonetheless.
The sparing match begun easily. They practiced their taijutsu like they did years ago by the river, testing eachother's limits and studying the other's movements. For a moment, Hashirama felt like he had been fighting the same boy from his childhood, but things were quick to escalate. The punches and kicks became more brutal, and less grateful, forgetting every bit of the 'dancing' part in the fight. Instead of just a simple excercise, Madara battled with the heart, pouring all his of his rage and grief on the Senju. Hashirama didn't try to fight back, it was mostly defense on his side. It wasn't until Madara had been able to go pass his guard that things turned ugly. The Uchiha saw an entrance and used it.
A kick to the jaw followed by a punch made Hashirama stumble and fall into the ground. Madara stand a few meters away from him, panting and sweating. They both took a minute to catch their breath before Hashirama raised to a sitting position, watching his friend as he kneel to his level out of exhaustion. Looking up at the sky Hashirama realized they were at least one hour away from nighttime. Turning his attention back to the Uchiha, the Hokage stood, and walked towards him before settling down so he could face Madara straight on.
He reached out and, ignoring the violent flinch his friend gave him, Hashirama placed a hand on his shoulder firmly.
"What happened?" For the first time since he went looking for him the Senju spoke with the authority any Clan leader posses.
There was a long pause, a time lapse in which Hashirama could finally see the Uchiha. Madara stared at him, scowling, but there was something in his eyes, something dark and lurching. In the past, he had had the most brilliant eyes Hashirama ever encounter with, but now... they were empty. Ever since the death of Izuna, Madara's eyes lost every resemblence of light, and now that he was facing him, Hashirama noticed the dark circles marking his pale skin as a sign of insomnia.
For an awful moment, the Senju thought Madara would simply walk away, leaving him behind like he had done so many times this last month, but, as always, the Uchiha managed to surprise him. As he looked into those bottomless pits, Madara's features turned softer, gentler, and the Kekkei Genkkai eyes that everyone in the village feared, flooded with kindness and warmth, reminding Hashirama of his days at the river bank and he couldn't help but smile.
No one knew Madara like him, no one knew what that look meant, only him. He was the only one the Uchiha trusted, he was the only he trusted enough to show him what was lying underneath that mask, the mask he used with everyone but him. Hashirama was the only one with that privalage, the only one Madara cared for enough to let down his guard. No one else could accomplish what the Senju could in just a simple gesture.
He squeezed the other's shoulder gently, comfortingly.
"Talk to me." He said in a low voice. "I want to help you." The words seem to disarm Madara even further, forcing the Uchiha to open up in the most friendly of ways.
Madara looked at him with narrowed eyes, insecure, but that flash of mistrust was quick to vanish under Hashirama's warm gaze. He opened his mouth to speak-
"There you are!"
-and slammed it shut at the instant Tobirama appeared from behind some trees, making his way to where his brother was sitting.
Hashirama loved his brother with all his heart, but Tobirama's timing could definitely use a change.
"There are some papers in the Hokage's office that requiere your sign, Anija." It was strange how Tobirma was talking at him but was looking towards Madara, sending him the same cold stare the Uchiha didn't mind reciprocating. Hashirama clean his throat in an attempt to get rid of the leaking tension.
"I'll be there in a moment, Tobirama. Why don't you start making your way back to the house? I'll check the papers there." He really hoped his brother would get the hint and leave him alone with Madara so he could solve this. One problem at a time. Tobirama glance at Madara (who replied with a scowl) and then back at him.
"Now, Anija." Hashirama ought to have a conversation with his brother about how you should treat clearly distress people later.
Turning to Madara, the Senju gave his friend's shoulder a final squeeze before standing up, and extending a hand to help him to his feet. Madara rejected it.
"Ww will continue our conversation later. In your house, perhaps?" He had been so close he couldn't give up now, but his hope was quickly smashed when all of the barriers Madara had been letting down came up around him once more.
"If you wish." His words showed agreement, but it was clear to Hashirama by his friend's tune that Madara wanted nothing to do with him for the rest of the week. He'll have to ponder on how much danger he would be putting himself if he ignores Madara's warning of 'stay away', later. Now, one problem at a time.
Later that day, Madara was nowhere to be found.
At the beggining I hated Madara like everybody else, but after watching his past I couldn't help but feel pits about him. We were used to see him as the almighty evil boss villian, but I feel that whenever he is with Hashirama we see more of his human side and that is what a want to portrait with this four shoot (because I'm dividà go this into four parts). I'll write next part as soon as I can.
Review please!