Trying to live life on as if nothing had happened proven to be fruitless. Tobirama felt like the world was out to get him, he felt his walls crashing down on him. He was beginning to show the first signs of paranoia, and it was effecting many around him.

Hashirama, who usually snuck up on his younger brother in order to surprise attack him, received a kick to the face and a terrifying scolding on his attempted attack, and the end resulted in his younger brother frantically apologizing and retreating to his room.

Hashirama had been baffled and was worried about his younger brother. Tobirama was becoming fearful of everything, the slightest touch, the softest noises...and he would tense at the mere site of an Uchiha as well.

Were they really all that scary? Hashirama didn't think so, they all looked exactly the same. Without the sharingan, they were grey eyed, pale skinned dark haired people. They looked completely harmless.

Despite the fact, Tobirama continued to act rather strangely at a confrontation with the Uchiha clan. And still, there was no explanation as to where Tobirama had vanished off to during the meeting. That seemed to be the source of his "condition"

Hashirama decided that if he wanted his brother back to normal, that he would have to ask what was wrong, despite the fact that he was starting to fear his brother. He was becoming something he wasn't used to , something alien to the older Senju. First, he'd be so angry at Hashirama that he would throw a pan at him, anything in his hand, and then in a second, he'd be a sobbing mess apologizing and retreating upstairs and locking himself in his room, than later that same day he'd stare at his plate of dinner and give Hashirama the silent treatment for the entire evening.

It wasn't long after this routine began that the older Senju concluded that there was something his brother wasn't telling him. Something important, but something really bad.

So, it was after his brother's continuous routine that Hashirama had decided to take action.

HIs brother had once again retreated upstairs, neglecting the plate of perfectly prepared food that Hashirama himself had made (aside from being a skilled ninja, he was also an excellent cook).

Hashirama followed his brother upstairs, quietly and undetected. He heard the familiar sound of the lock clicking in the door, and then silence.

The older Senju could destroy hundreds of men in seconds, could impose fear on the Uchiha leader with just a glare, and yet, he felt as if he was bathing in a tub of sweat and as if his legs had turned into jello at the mere thought of confronting his brother.

With a sigh, he found himself standing before his brother's door, a fist up ready to knock. However, he heard a soft and distant sound from the room that made him stop.

At first, it sounded like soft whispering or a humming of some sort, but as he strained his ears he heard a soft whimpering as if his brother was crying. His heart dropped to his stomach at the sound of his little brother crying.

The older Senju placed a hand on the lock and used his wood release to allow a wooden key to be molded. Silently, he unlocked the door and closed it behind him, and stared at the mess of his brother on the floor.

Tobirama's small room was always clean, his bed made up, his desk organized with papers neatly sorted, and books in their proper place. The window curtain was usually open, allowing the sun's soft rays to warm the room. However, Tobirama's room was the exact opposite of that, and there he was in the middle of the mess, his back against his bed and his head down as his fingers were buried deep in his shaggy hair and his knees were drawn close to his chest.

Hashirama rushed towards his brother, stepping over clothes and papers that had been tossed carelessly aside. Kneeling carefully in front of him, Hashirama placed two hands on his brother's shoulders and pulled him into a hug.

At first, Tobirama tried to fend him off weakly, probably not knowing who it was. But slowly, he fell into his brother's embrace and buried his head in his chest. Hashirama gently rubbed the back of his brother's head and pulled him close, humming soothing tunes in order to relax Tobirama.

"Please, no more silence, Tobirama, what's wrong?" Hashirama practically begged, "just tell me!"

Tobirama said nothing, instead, he only cried harder as Tobirama begged. He didn't want to burden his older brother, he didn't want him to know how weak he had been. Hashirama wouldn't believe him if he said nothing though, so he lied.

"It's stress and guilt," he began, carefully drawing out his lie, "i've killed so many people beforehand...and i just cannot get past the fact that some of them are innocent people, people who are just following orders."

Lucky for Tobirama, Hashirama bought it, " I feel that way too, sometimes. But, it's not liked people are being controlled to fight, i'm sure everyone has a choice...is this really what's bothering you?"

Tobirama considered telling him the truth, considered getting the pain off of his chest and crying out his suffering to his brother. He considered it, but he didn't do it, he just couldn't tell him.

"Yes, Hashi, that's all." he said bluntly, his tears coming to a halt and his eyes blackening, and his voice steadying, "That's all.."

"Tobi?" Hashirama asked, noticing the sudden silence that had befallen the two. He grabbed his brother by the shoulders and held him up, his heart racing when he noticed red eyes rolling to the back of his head.

He gently shook his brother, and when he received no response, shook him harder and harder, hoping that his brother's eyes would just snap open. But when they didn't, and Tobirama began to shake violently, Hashirama knew that guilt wasn't the half of it, it probably wasn't even a real reason.

Hashirama knew a couple of people who could tell if one was lying or not, and if they concentrated long enough, could even read the minds of their victims.

So, gently wrapping his shaking brother in a blanket, Hashirama jumped through the window and made his way to the Uchiha compound.

OOOOO

Another wave of fire missed Izuna's face by a mere inch, and with anger, his eyes turned towards those of his older brother, now mere feet in front of him, moving towards him with dangerous speed a kunia wedged in his teeth while a katana was in his hands.

Izuna crouched down low, and just as his brother was about to strike, Izuna put his weight in his feet and sprung up high in the air, landing directly behind his brother and shooting an array of fireballs.

Izuna hated playing the defenseless one, but, the role alternated every week, he'd get to have weapons next time. But, for now, he was dependent on skill alone.

His brother was left temporarily rendered by the fire, so Izuna ran at Madara through the flames with full force, intending to punch him and finally win this battle. But Madara had already seen this coming, and countered his punch, swinging Izuna to the ground and pinning him there with a foot to the chest.

"Is something on your mind Izuna?" Madara asked curiously, "you've been acting out of it."

"Out of what?" Izuna asked as he pushed Madara's foot off his chest and trying his best not to think of the albino Senju.

"Just out of it in general, you know. Your attacks are sluggish and you're never paying attention to me when I speak to you," Madara replied, still applying pressure on his younger brother's chest.

"Hmm, let's think. Ah, i'm fifteen, i'm co leading a clan of bloodthirsty barbarians, and i'm in the middle of a war that i'm actually not sure what it's about," he said sarcastically, "will you please GET YOUR FOOT OFF OF MY CHEST , MADARA!"

"Hormones," Madara coughed as he removed his foot.

"Excuse me?" Izuna said, sitting up, "i'm not sure i heard you correctly"

"Nothing," Madara replied, "And how is the Uchiha clan bloodthirsty?:

"I could go on and on Madara, you know I could," Izuna retorted, his eyes returning back to their original grey state, "we're tainted and we do nothing to stop it."

"Okay, Buddah," Madara joked, but suddenly, his tone turned serious as he looked ahead of the forest clearing they had been practicing in, "Why is Hashirama running towards us?" Both brother activated their sharingan, but deactivated it when they saw the crumpled form of the younger Senju in his arms.

Izuna felt his throat dry and his body tense, he knew this would catch up with him soon.

Before either of the Uchiha could say anything, Hashirama Spoke first, his chest heaving and he himself panting.

"I need your help," he blurted out, "I know you can read minds, I know you can tell if someone's lying! Well, I think my brother's lying to me about something really bad, Madara and Izuna, please help me, I don't know what to do."

Hashirama stopped and took a deep breath of air, and continued on, "And I think he's sick too! Please, I came to you because I know you two can help, I'll explain on the way, but you're eyes and knowledge go beyond that of mine and you can really help him, I trust you two."

Madara's heart ached at the site of the younger Senju's shaking form in his older brother's arm, and looked towards Izuna and imagined what he would do if his younger brother was in the same situation. Apparently, Hashirama trusted the two (they were allies anyway), and their sharingan could get the truth out and maybe even more.

Izuna however, wanted no part of this. He had warned Tobirama, yet the Senju had no intention of listening to him, however, his brother had other plans.

"Yes, Hashirama, we'll help you," Madara said bluntly, but his eyes holding concern, "Follow me."

And with that, Izuna knew that his clan's already terrible reputation was going to hell now.

Ooooo
I'm sure there's no spelling mistakes, but if there are, sorry feel free to review. Hope you liked this chapter, I'm writing another story with these characters as this story comes to an end, please review, tell me what you think of it. I don't own Naruto and never will. God bless, and happy belated Valentine's Day!