"Why are you so silent?" Madara asked his brother while they rested after training. It was a wonderful day, indeed, he noticed. Birds chirped gleefully, flying above the two males, the morning sun shone brightly but the weather wasn't too hot. Madara felt like he could fall back asleep right there on the hard wood he sat on at the moment.
It was common for him to brood and sit around in silence, not so much for Izuna. That's why he got curious.
"I wonder what she's like…"
"Tsk." The older of the two siblings sighed, as always when his brother brought up his future bride. "You could have just picked any eligible girl you liked, and spare yourself the suspense. Who told you to leave it up to father?"
"I couldn't make up my mind! There are so many beautiful women in the clan. If I could… I'd just take all of them." Izuna grinned stupidly, but it was wiped from his face almost immediately by a smack on his head.
"Why not, father? That certainly would make a significant boost in our natality." Madara snickered, supporting his brother's silliness.
"You better behave. It's about time you both get serious." Tajima lectured, standing tall above his sons. "Go wash up, Izuna, and change into formal attire. We are meeting with your in-laws at noon."
As the groom-to-be left, Madara relaxed again, seemingly not minding his father's presence. Don't start with it, don't start with it again… He prayed inaudibly.
"It would be appropriate for the eldest son to be wed first. There's still time." Of course you started with it.
"No." Was Madara's short response, as he didn't bother to even glance at the man. Only five more days were left until the wedding, he hoped that he'd be left alone after that.
Since Tajima didn't seem to be leaving first, Madara excused himself, grabbed his weapons and strolled back to his room. On the way, servants and relatives alike brushed past him in almost blind hurry, each carrying this or that, preparing for the wedding to be held in only a few days. Madara felt as if he didn't exist, as none of the people from his surroundings seemed to mind him ever since all that ruckus about Izuna's marriage began.
He wasn't jealous – of course, he wished for all the happiness to befall his younger sibling – and he most certainly wasn't having second thoughts about his decision not to be wed as well. It probably wasn't even him, but everyone else, who made him feel the strange way he did.
As the in-laws were coming over soon, he also hit the bath and changed his clothes. It was only appropriate that he would greet them too.
When he took his seat beside Tajima at the long table, wet strands of his long hair still stuck to his pale face here and there, earning him a disapproving gaze from the older man. He would maybe protest if they were alone, but they weren't, other relatives sat there as well.
Why did it matter what he looked like, anyway, as long as he's clean? It's not him who they're coming to see.
"Do you think they might bring her along?" Izuna whispered in his ear, playing with his own fingers as if he was nervous.
"Probably not. And get a grip already, you have to be serious when they get here. What are you, a maid?" Madara scolded. He didn't even really see a reason for Izuna to be so anxious about his bride's appearance. Father most definitely wouldn't choose one that isn't pretty and besides, for the most part it was obvious what she looks like – her hair is black, eyes dark and skin fair. The thought was somewhat funny to him, but he got no time to share it as an older couple was led into the room by a servant.
Everyone stiffly exchanged formal greetings, the bride's father and Tajima being the only exception, they were old friends. Izuna sat proudly, keeping his eyes straight so that he made eye-contact with almost everyone in the room. He played his role well, successfully hiding how dumb and nervous he truly was just a minute ago.
The in-laws talked about their family branch, and the dowry, and a little bit about their daughter. Nobody mentioned their late three sons, who died aimlessly battling some random clan. The men in their family were known as admirable shinobi, Madara was aware. Genetically, they were very promising. The women trained only so much so they can defend themselves if necessary, like everywhere else in the clan.
"Mego wished to come along, but lord Tajima insisted for the children to meet only at the ceremony." Mego's mother spoke once all the important issues were cleared. "Instead, she sent this, a present for her groom." She smiled lightly, carefully handing Izuna something wrapped inside silk cloth.
The boy's pleasant surprise was more than obvious as he, at first eagerly, then nonchalantly – as he remembered how he needs to act – unwrapped the fabric. Inside was a silver sun-shaped amulet, adorned with red tassels, and a handmade decorative knot at the top.
"Please, tell her I'm most grateful, mother in law." He said seriously, feeling the charm under his fingers, then went to attach the thing to the sword at his hip.
"It shall bring him luck in the mission he and I have to do." Tajima joined in, sporting the tiniest smile. "We will be back in time for the wedding, of course."
Right, Madara remembered. He'd be home alone for at least two days. That was perfect; he needed to meet with Hashirama anyway.
"They're coming back! They're coming!" Sumi, Mego's handmaiden, called excitedly upon seeing the girl's parents walk towards the house.
In less than a second, Mego appeared next to her, their bodies squeezed together, as they both stared out the window.
"Oh, Gods. Do you think mother remembered to give him the charm?"
"Of course, lady! How could she forget?"
"You think he likes it?" She asked worriedly.
"I think he loves it!" The handmaiden reassured, laughing when Mego hit her shoulder playfully, embarrassed. Their laughing fit went on for a while longer, after they tried to step away from the window at the same time, but got stuck.
For a while, both girls bothered Mego's elderly mother with this or that question, asking for details about Izuna's behavior or appearance.
It's no surprise, but every living Uchiha girl had a small crush on the leader's two sons. Not only because of their good looks and proud demeanor, but also for their position in the clan. Anyone who had a daughter of proper age has had their eyes on them, especially after Tajima declared he is searching for a bride for his younger son.
Mego considered herself immensely lucky. Her family was one of the most formidable in the clan, her dear father was a childhood friend with the leader, and she even managed to get the younger of the two sons.
Not that she would complain if they were giving her to Madara, but he was somehow scary and distant. Izuna seemed to be much nicer, she daydreamed.
During such hard times of war and problems every clan was going through, there wasn't much for a girl to do. They got basic shinobi training as children, then when they got more feminine, all there was to think about was marriage. Some women complained, some went beyond that and trained harder to become a full-time shinobi.
According to a few of her friends, all there was to marriage were house chores and raising children. She assumed they all just lacked sense for romance.
She didn't. Hers was overly developed, it could be said.
Since she was old enough to care for the opposite gender, Mego was crazed with love tales. Even now, she had a whole stash of scrolls hidden in her dresser – her parents didn't approve of her reading such literature, they considered it misleading.
But, just imagine! Nice house, handsome husband and hot romance. Her blood boiled at the thought. What in the world could be better?
It wasn't the night that Izuna and Tajima departed that Madara sneaked out, but the following one. He decided to wait out for the two to go far enough before he makes his move.
It was the third time he was going to meet with Hashirama, not to play around or fight, but to discuss serious matters. There were so many projects to plan and obstacles to cross - the biggest one being their own families.
Neither of them mentioned anything about the 'village' they envisioned to their clans, and they kept it a secret especially from their parents. Madara could swear Tajima would kill him if he knew what he was up to.
The sun was just setting when Hashirama sat down beside him and started babbling about random things he never asked about. He listened for a while, not minding, but soon he was no longer in the mood to waste time.
"Where were we the last time? Education system, right?" He cut the other off in the middle of some meaningless sentence.
"Yes!" The Senju adapted right away, his everlasting smile present as usual, stating this or that thought about the matter.
Madara was truly confused by how much he was able to simultaneously love and hate a single person. This man was his dearest friend and, hopefully, comrade, but on the battlefield he would try his hardest to kill him. Same instance could be applied to his father, as well. He'd catch himself wishing to hear the old man had gone missing during a mission or something, but then there were times when he subconsciously went to risk his own life to protect him.
"After Izuna's wedding, I will bring it up before father. I think it's about time we start working things out."
"I agree." Hashirama smiled. "I'll do the same. I'll try to get Tobirama to agree first, father listens to him more than he does me."
He removed a leather bag from his shoulder and placed it between them, going through its contents until he pulled out several paper scrolls.
"I had to write down some things so we don't forget anything important." He unwrapped a few and showed the writings to Madara.
"Why the hell would you write down such obvious things?" The Uchiha scolded, irritated. "You just made needless clutter…"
"Yeah, well…" Hashirama scratched the back of his head. "Sorry about that, I got carried away. I need you to keep them with you for a little while, father sensed I'm hiding something so he's been snooping around."
Madara agreed and soon after they parted ways, and he headed back to the camp.
It was very late, the waning crescent moon was high up in the sky. The camp was still, empty, since almost everyone was asleep by now, the crumbling of the papers in his arms was the loudest sound he could pick up. He slowly made his way between the wooden buildings, heading for the center, where his own household was located…
Then he heard it.
A rustling and murmuring close by, and hurried steps in different directions. He couldn't even keep up with all the thoughts that came to him at the moment; was it an enemy shinobi? Was it Senju or some other clan? Had Hashirama dragged him out just to give others a chance to sneak in? How skilled were they, and how many of them were there?
Carefully, he placed the scrolls on the ground – frowning at the tiniest sound they made – and leaned his back against the nearest wall, waiting for the stranger to come from around the corner. Their pace was unchanging, they advanced in his direction all the same – so they had not sensed him yet.
His kunai was ready in his grip, as he waited still, until a tip of the person's toe appeared behind the wall. Instantly, Madara stretched out his free arm, grabbed the intruder by their cloth – collar, he assumed – and pulled them over, having them pressed between himself and the wall, pointing the kunai at their throat. His eyes didn't leave them even after they dropped whatever it was they carried.
His piercing gaze was, however, soon replaced with a dumb stare when he got to look at his catch. It was an Uchiha woman, a servant, judging by her attire.
Her eyes were tightly shut, as well as her lips since she probably was trying not to scream. The question was: why? Wasn't that exactly what a non-kuniochi would want to do when a strange man grabs her from around a corner?
"What are you doing out so late?" Madara asked sternly, taking a step back. He still hasn't lowered his guard, though, just in case.
"Please, let me go, my lord!" She whispered pitifully. "I was just buying something for my lady!"
"What?"
"These!" She crouched down, collecting a bunch of papers. "Just some novels and drawings."
Madara could feel a headache creeping into his senses. All that stress over nothing.
"Alright. Just go." He rushed the maid, then collected his own things and finally went home.
The morning was bright, refreshing and nice, for a change. Tajima was still away, so Madara was free to take his time relaxing and minding his own business. The day went on normally.
He trained, dealt with some minor issues in the household, sharpened his blades.
After lunch, as he was relaxing, it occurred to him to take a look at Hashirama's scrolls once again. If he was going to bring the matter up to Tajima fairly soon, he couldn't afford to leave out anything important.
As he had pointed out before, the dumb Senju wrote down even the most absurd things, like 'name the village' or 'build a tall fence', but there were some useful stuff noted here and there. Taking another scroll, he unwrapped it and took his cup of tea, sipping on the beverage while reading.
'Yuuki shuddered when his rough hands made their way to her obi, tugging at a single string, making the kimono slide down her porcelain-like skin, leaving her bare before the lustful gaze…'
He nearly dropped the cup and spilled the hot tea all over himself, choking when he failed to swallow it the right way.
What the actual fuck?! Disgusted, he backed away from the sheet of paper as if it was a monster. Damned woman, he cursed, remembering it had to be the servant girl that switched her own papers for his.
Hopefully, her 'lady' would not pay much attention to the incoherent scribbling on the stray scroll. But, hopefully. He hated that word. It rarely meant things will go his way.
Fearfully, he took another glance at the erotic contents of the other scroll. Who even enjoys this?!