—-
Inside the Senju residence, the tall, dark-haired woman stuck her head out from her room door and cautiously looked around. Crap! She was not supposed to have woken up so late into the afternoon...plus there was something she was supposed to have been doing...what was that? Something was off, as well...
She sighed and placed a hand onto the wall beside her. Her head was pounding. "Oi, shitty brat—" She stopped and stood in the middle of the hallway, hearing her voice echo lightly.
Oops.
As if to assure her of her thoughts, the front door suddenly slammed open and an urgent presence made its way inside the house. "Toka!" The footsteps became louder and closer. "Are you here?"
She groaned. So he'd been out. And he didn't even bother. To wake. Her. Up. "What is it?" A few seconds later she was met with Tobirama, looking physically weary but mentally overcharged.
He approached her steadily, observed her disheveled black hair, and how it fell out of her ponytail, bun - or whatever it was that she called that mess. "I need to talk with you."
Toka raised an eyebrow at his own wind-swept hair and looked off at the wall. "I have a headache. Go away."
"Save your hangover for later...right now there is something important I have to tell you..."
"Go tell Hashirama." Her thickly-lashed lids lowered as she watched his mouth open, and then close.
He faltered. "I...I can't."
"Why not?" She looked at each of his eyes, seeing a repressed urgency in them. "Where else did you go? Did you two fight?"
His mind went back to the aftermath of the recent meeting. "You could say that..." His lids lowered as he let out a breath. "Toka, just listen, that's it."
Smirking to herself, she uncrossed her arms and began to walk out of the hallway into the living room. "You don't seem yourself, today." She blew her deeply parted hair out of her eye, then felt it settle back onto the left side of her face. "Have you met someone?"
Tobirama began to falter once more, but quickly regained his composure. "I can't talk to Hashirama about it because it's about...the Uchiha." He walked over to the opposing couch where she sat, and looked at her face once again. "It's about Madara." He could almost hear her sigh.
"...And what could be so important about him, right now? Going by the time, you came back to town with Hashirama an hour ago, right? How did the meeting with the Fire Lords go?"
"It went fine..." He shook his head slightly, mentally kicking himself over not recalling on the details of the discussion. After all, he was too focused on the possible calamity of— "Madara as the Hokage."
She didn't blink. "What?"
"Hashirama thinks that the leader of our village should be Madara, and that leader is to be the 'Hokage'. He was also unwilling to let anyone else have a say in the matter..." His dark eyes lowered. "...Including me..." No. It was not wrong to interject, he thought. Democracy is important, and Hashirama couldn't see that. "Although I finally convinced him otherwise..."
She sighed. The aggravation was clear in her expression, but Tobirama could tell she'd begun to go back to her normal self. "Brat, you know Hashirama is capable of making his own decisions."
His gaze returned to her sharply. "Not when it comes to Madara."
"Why are you telling me this, Tobirama? If you were already able to convince him to see your way, then what is your problem? Why are you still going on about this, even after you got your way?" Her half-lidded, dark teal gaze bore straight into him.
"He is just so blind when it comes to that bastard."
"And you are not?" she returned sharply. She let that sink in for a moment and studied his rather subtle reaction. "Hashirama may want to see the good in everyone...but all you see is the bad." Seeing him mull over her words, she stood up and made her way to the dining table and placed her left hand on it lightly.
God, her head was still pounding. Why hadn't Hashirama stopped her from drinking so much? I need someone to prevent me from executing my bad habits. Hashirama is not capable, Tobirama thinks it's fun to not intervene, Madara simply joins me, and no one else in this family likes me enough to even talk to me... She closed her eyes.
She needed a husband, wife... somebody. Already twenty-six, and she had no interest in anyone whatsoever. Of course, it was not exactly an easy time to find something as rare and complicated as actual love.
"Argh..."
Glancing at his clan member's self-frustration, he thought well about his own. 'All you see is the bad.'
Tobirama knew he was the introverted type; he felt more at ease and relaxed when in the presence of his own company. All this village building...acting cordial with others when he just wanted to bang his head against the wall repeatedly at their stupidity...being Hashirama's brother, dealing with Madara, and now this 'curse' the Uchiha clan possessed... People exhausted him. But meditating, thinking, planning...all these things gave him a revitalizing energy that no person had ever been able to offer him before.
Except for...
The woman was quickly erased from his thoughts for the sixth time that day, as he returned to Toka's weighty words. Geez... Even if only at twenty-six years of age, his 'older sister' had an amount of wisdom that even the elderly would be envious of.
Once he was done thinking, he resolved to resume the conversation that Toka had left off for him to eventually continue. But when he opened his mouth, no words would come out.
Instead, the kunoichi sighed and said bluntly, "Just...stop. I am tired of your petty rivalry with Madara; it goes nowhere. Is there something wrong with him being the leader of the village?"
Tobirama's mind returned to his earlier conversation with Kyoko. Hardened logic and stubbornness carried his words back to him. "Yes." His voice was clear. "It's especially wrong when nobody else has the chance to have a say in who will be making the decisions for them."
She gave him a subtle, knowing look. "Nobody else...including you."
He ignored her prying. "Hashirama is usually very considerate of everyone around him...but he could be screwing the whole village over this one, selfish decision," he said firmly, then sneezed into his arm feeling an unpleasant, warm sensation spread under his cheeks.
"And so...how did the meeting. Go?" she asked once again.
"...Uhh..." Looking to the side, he tried to pick out what could have held any importance of the useless banter between the Lords and Hashirama. Most of it was just small talk and friendly chatter, and then it ended – surprisingly swift. To his vexation, Tobirama had only been thinking of two things at that time: his unyielding infatuation with Kyoko, and his coincident aversion to her. He found himself equally attracted to her, yet also repulsed by her...
Disgusted with himself, he wondered if he'd let the 'Curse' become an obstacle in his understanding of her...if Kyoko had deserved his secret revulsion.
But, no...Kyoko was a female. As far as he knew, he'd not encountered a single female in the Uchiha clan who had possessed a Sharingan. So then, there should not be any problem...
"...Hello?" Toka's husky voice interrupted his thoughts.
He blinked and looked away. God, even at nearly twenty-two years, he was daydreaming as if he was ten years younger. "I'm so glad you quit smoking," he said distantly, as he picked himself off the sofa and went to pour himself a glass of water.
She raised an eyebrow at the remark on her voice.
Once inside the kitchen, he remarked in a low, distracted voice, "The Aburame are forever in my debt...creating this ingenius plumbing system..." and brought the glass to his chapped lips.
Sitting casually at the dining table, Toka lowered her eyelashes and folded her hands in front of her. She sat quietly and uttered the belated response, "Indeed..."
Both shinobi then blinked at hearing the front door slowly open. They turned their heads and stared at the two ninja entering the home, then looked back at each other, mildly raising their eyebrows. Time to disappear.
"Don't. Just don't," the Uchiha stated brusquely. He took his coat and hung it over the back of his companion's head.
The door was slammed shut. "Madara, can you let me speak for just a second?"
"No, Hashirama. I don't want you to speak," he said in low voice, pressing forward.
The Senju was backed into the wall of the front hallway. He looked at the face just inches away from his own, staring at it for a long moment, before suddenly turning to his right, checking the dining area.
No one.
Hashirama let out a breath and returned his attention to Madara. "Then...what do you want?" He stared in quiet adoration at the ambitious eyes in front of him before they suddenly broke his gaze. He blinked as Madara moved forward, further into the home.
"No one else is here?" There was a slight echo to his voice as it reverberated within the walls with its characteristically warm depth.
Oh, how Hashirama loved that voice. "Ah..." Walking toward Madara, he removed the coat from his head and attempted to smooth out his long, straight hair. "Tobirama usually goes out around now. Although since he's sick, he might be in, sleeping. And Toka..." He thought for a moment. "Ahh...I have no idea. She does things...on her own schedule."
"An admirable quality, no doubt," Madara remarked as he entered the kitchen. He observed an empty glass on the countertop. Someone had been here not too long ago. He scanned the area around him. "You underappreciate her, you know," he said.
Hashirama entered the kitchen as well. "...I feel like you dote on her a lot," he commented, raising a casual eyebrow.
"It's the other way around..."
Pulling out a chair, Hashirama looked at him with mild curiosity. "Hm?"
"My older siblings were killed...as you know. To suddenly become the eldest of your siblings...can be burdensome." He leaned against the low section of the countertop and crossed his arms. His eyes shifted to the unusually quiet Senju. "But that is something you can undoubtedly relate to."
"...No," he replied carefully, looking down at the table. He fiddled with his hands. "Not as much as you. In my closest family, the eldest shinobi with the most power is Toka. Plain and simple. There are no 'elders' in this family. And none wish to hold the kind of power she does."
"And what kind of power does she hold?" he stated, rather than questioned.
Hashirama looked up and met his eyes. "Responsibility. Accountability. Those are her jobs. And she does them well."
"So then, what is your job?"
A few seconds passed before he blinked and echoed slowly, "My...job..."
Madara stared down at him from the angle at which he stood. The five feet away from each other felt like just five inches. "Yes." He could see the gears trying to turn in Hashirama's head; they were stuck – trying to move past each other, but only grinding and grinding and grinding away in the same spot. He could see that all firm composure the man had previously had was now gone. And for some reason...this pleased Madara.
Was it knowing that Hashirama had failed to properly defend him in front of Tobirama? He knew that Hashirama's method of choosing a leader was not fair, but neither was leaving it up to a democratic vote. People were stupid— they didn't know what was best for them.
But Hashirama knew. Tobirama knew. Toka knew, Kyoko knew, and he himself knew. Even little Kagami must have known. Regardless of whether or not it was 'fair', letting one intelligent person pick a rightful leader was the only way progress could be properly made in the village.
Remembering some of the lengthy conversation he'd had with Kyoko just prior to meeting with Hashirama once again, he scowled.
—-
"Aniki, the method of how the leader is chosen is irrelevant. What matters is the result. Are the people happy? That is the ultimate question."
"That's my point. So if Hashirama gets to decide a leader, I'm more than fine with that."
"You forgot the 'people being happy' part. What if they're not happy with who he decides?"
He refrains from giving an immediate response, and bites his tongue. Of course, she does not know that it was he who Hashirama had wanted to choose. "Kyoko, you're too young to understand."
A bitterness is evident in her expression. "In case you've forgotten, Izuna and I were the same age. But that is beside the point..."
His tone changes. "Don't...bring up Izuna."
Kyoko scowls. "He doesn't belong to just you. He was also my best friend." Her eyebrows rise slightly, as she looks off to the side. There is a quick moment of something indescribable that subtly passes across her face. And for that moment, she looks near inconsolable.
"Shut up."
"No you shut up. And now you're letting your arrogance get in the way of what's right." Her expression twists into bitter regret. "...Again..."
Madara's hands clench into fists. "Do not start this."
She stares back into his eyes. "If you had not been so damned arrogant, –"
"Watch your tone, —"
"Stubborn, and unyielding—"
"Stop it," he growls.
"—Then perhaps so many of our own would not have died out of your own unwillingness to cooperate!"
Madara shoves her against the wall with force, holding her by the neck. He looks at the eyes that remain defiantly set upon him. Judging him. Looking into his soul and reading out everything he already knew. Like a mirror.
He knows she's right. But it hurts. It hurts to know that someone could know so much about him, list out his stupid mistakes in front of him...so easily...and after all of it, still love him in the end.
His eyes widen.
Isn't that what Hashirama had done?
Feeling Madara's grasp on her loosen, she forcefully shoves him off and speaks in a low, hoarse voice. "Go to hell."
He stands in place, watching her slowly move away from him. And he burns.
"I'm already there..."
—-
To have somehow earned the love of the kindest people he knew...
It sickened him.
Looking back at his companion, his eyes softened. It was not Hashirama's fault that the town was most likely going to elect him as Hokage. After all, the renowned Senju was more than a capable leader; Madara knew that very clearly. Hashirama was the only person he trusted to fulfill the position. Seeing the man still sitting in the chair, lost in thought and stuck behind his mental obstacles, he sighed. "Forget it." He walked over to the shinobi and looked down at him, and smiled faintly.
Hashirama stood up, assuaged of his introspection, and mirrored Madara's expression with subtle relief.
"Let's go for a walk?"
Hashirama's smile broadened. "Sure." He left the kitchen and checked the other rooms to see if anyone was home, so he would know whether or not he needed to lock up. First, he passed Toka's room. "Toka..." Seeing no sign of her, he shut the door. Then he went to the adjacent room and knocked quietly on the closed door. "Bro, you in there?" Slowly turning the handle and opening the door, he stepped inside and nearly tripped.
"G-gah," he mumbled, looking down at the source of his near-fall. He raised an eyebrow. Tobirama was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall space right beside the door. "What are you doing down there?" he asked. Squatting down, he faced him. "You shouldn't sleep on the floor, you know. Geez," he muttered. "I thought I told Toka to look after you."
He looked up at him. "I know. Now go, punish her."
Hashirama sighed and grinned, and then picked up his brother by the shoulder and tossed him onto the bed. "Did Tobi-chan happen to go training today?" He poked Tobirama's side incessantly with both hands, like a small child. "I can tell. Your chakra is half-gone."
"Shut up," the younger shinobi mumbled, curling himself up into the blanket. He sighed. "Now...get out."
"You're such a workaholic," Hashirama remarked, talking over him. "And you're still warm. Don't get up until the fever's gone."
"Have a nice walk with Madara," he said casually.
Hashirama stopped, and gave his brother a sly, duplicitious look. "Especially after our conversation earlier today, Tobirama, I'm done. If you eavesdrop on me again, I'll let Madara deal with you," he said rosily, and walked back out.
—-
It had been a relatively quiet walk for the first half-hour, as the two silently enjoyed each other's company, like an old couple who had been by each other's side for longer than they could remember; but on the inside, both of their minds were very active, and far from harmonious balance.
Madara reflected on the hours that had passed between now and their parting at the cliff of the mountain. How he'd stood upon the ledge, feeling a level of peace he hadn't felt since... Never before. How he'd really wanted to attend the meeting himself, but did not want Hashirama to know...how he'd eventually gone and followed the two and overheard their conversation – their argument...how now, even while he wanted to avoid the topic at all costs, it kept resurfacing in front of his eyes...
And it was all he could think about.
So now, placing the protectiveness of his clan over his newfound love for Hashirama, he eased his way into conversation, in an attempt to manipulate whatever truth Hashirama had heard from his younger brother. "...You know, Toka may dote on me sometimes, but you dote on Tobirama."
Hashirama turned to look at him. "Huh?"
"Big time."
"..."
Madara returned his look. "What?"
"I do not dote on Tobirama."
"Yes you do. You're such a...grandpa."
"What?"
"..."
Hashirama looked away from him, settling his gaze on a falling leaf. He watched its slow, soft descent until a sudden, harsh gust of wind blew it completely out of sight. "He's saved my life more times than I can count."
"Just as you do him."
"Yes..."
"Hm."
Unintentionally slowing his pace, Hashirama said just as slowly, "...You know, if there's one person you definitely don't dote on...it's Kyoko-san."
"Kyoko?" Madara echoed. Why was he bringing her up, of all people? With creeping realization, he wondered if Hashirama had figured out his motives for the conversation and was trying to show that he'd been aware all along.
"Yes."
He looked off to the side. "She doesn't need doting on. I depend on her."
Hashirama frowned lightly. "All the more reason to encourage her."
Thinking of a way to keep the conversation away from her, he quickly differentiated, "Encouraging and being affectionate are entirely separate things."
"Not for women."
"Excuse me? Since when are you an expert on women?"
"I'm not. But that's how my mother saw it."
Madara was silent for a moment. Maybe Hashirama hadn't figured out his motives. Which begged the question – "Why are you asking about Kyoko?"
They soon entered a forest-like area, and the deep evening sky could only be seen in large, dark blue splotches between the mostly naked, pale branches of the trees above. A few ash-colored squirrels raced around one skinny tree nearby, and then quickly hopped to the next, openly enjoying their fervent game. A few seconds later, they both raced across the shinobis' path.
"Why not?"
"But why?" he pressed again.
"Well, for a woman you depend so much on, —"
"I didn't mean I actually depend on her—"
"—you really don't show enough affection for her," he finished thoughtfully, letting a mild concern lace his expression.
Madara stopped. That was it. "And just what the hell do you know about affection?"
Hashirama stopped as, well. "A lot more than you do, apparently."
"Don't lecture me about my own family," he said lowly.
"Well you two seemed to get along fine, but as your adviser and confidante, don't you think she has enough of a burden as it is?"
"It's the same with Tobirama. But you don't see me complaning about you two—"
"The difference is that I let him know that I am grateful for his existence! I'm not like you, only being kind when the benefit is for myself...You, only being kind to suit your own needs."
"...That's not true," he said, surprised at how easily, how intuitively Hashirama had gotten under his skin...without even knowing what this was all about.
"You're manipulative, and selfish." Hashirama kept his voice level and devoid of emotion; something he had picked up from his brother.
"Stop. Talking." Was this the same man who had wanted to make him Hokage, just earlier that day?
Hashirama moved closer to him. "No." His face remained impassive with only a hint of faint concern. He didn't want to intimidate him, but he didn't want to be shut out, either.
Seeing him step closer, Madara moved back. Then, a glimmer of grim recognition could be seen in his eyes. No...he did know. "You were there..."
All this time, Hashirama had him figured out from the start.
"I was." His light frown deepened. "After the discussion with the Lords of Fire...you overheard us talking, didn't you? Tobirama and I."
Madara would not have broken his gaze at hearing such a blatant fact, but knowing that Hashirama had done just the same made his heart twist just ever so slightly.
"After I figured out you had been outside, I followed you, wanting to apologize for what my idiot brother had said...but you went home. I looked through the glass and I saw you talking with Kyoko-san...arguing with her." He couldn't think of why the two had gotten so worked up...and why Madara had reacted the way he did when she had brought up Izuna. "The whole compound must have heard you. Madara, how often do you two actually fight...like that?" He remembered the way he'd pinned her by the neck, as if so offended by her words that he felt something like a murderous rage toward her.
"She's a ninja," Madara dismissed evenly.
"Who deserves some respect," he finished for him.
"It's none of your business what I do, who I talk to, or how I act."
"Even if not doting," he interrupted, "I know you are very capable of showing affection..." he said. His tone quickly changed as he uttered, "Unless I just dreamed whatever happened back at the river."
Madara stiffened. "Maybe you did."
Involuntarily, Hashirama's frown slowly slid upwards, in subtle hurt.
"..." Averting his eyes, Madara folded his arms. He noticed how assertive Hashirama was being today; it wasn't like him. Knowing that he had caused Hashirama to become agitated bothered him somewhat, but also...excited him. Casting a small, unnoticeable glance toward the man, he saw him staring off to the side; yes, the hurt was indeed evident...
Without thinking, Madara moved forward and pressed his lips against Hashirama's. "You get depressed so easily..." he murmured, moving one hand through Hashirama's hair and holding the back of his head. Madara had never imagined what it meant to be seductive, but if he could have read Hashirama's thoughts right then, he would have learned that it didn't matter – because coming from a man like himself, just the suggestion of affection was a turn on for Hashirama.
"First you argue with me, then you kiss me..." Hashirama whispered to his ear. "But...how long will the 'kiss' part last, before we end up fffhhhng agnn...?" he asked, his last few words muffled by Madara's lips.
Feeling a hand snake around his back and move him closer, Madara replied in a whisper, "You'll know...when I know..."
—-
After a day outside with the kids, he came home for the second time that day. His parents were out, and his siblings busying themselves, elsewhere. He went to wash his face, and returned to see something white wedged behind the potted plant near the small window.
Another meeting is bound to occur within a few days, the paper said. He'd hear about it, soon. He knew. After all, he'd heard the argument loud and clear, outside those walls...and now, nearly half the clan knew. They were angry, and upset. After the treaty acceptance, they were once again ready to swallow their pride in order to maintain the peace they had finally achieved – and he knew it was no longer an option to sit idly by and hope that things fall into place.
But he also feared that others may not agree with him; it was unfair, but time and time again they'd been disappointed, and no longer held the same respect towards the man as they once did, before. Therefore, action had to be taken...and he'd already been contacted.
Fear could no longer hold him back. If 'he' served as a threat to the stability and fairness of this alliance...
Setsuna looked outside the window, feeling the sharp edges of the note graze against the palm of his hand. Yes, he would go meet with his cousin to see what he had in mind.
—-
A/N: Aah, so I did some art for Toka, finally. I already did Tobirama a while ago (you can find it in my art tag), so I decided to do her, for now. Gah. What a beautiful woman. She deserves some more art, really. (I finally made a character blog for her, by the way! Link is on my page)
(In case it gets confusing between long updates (I apologize for that), chapters 4-8 all take place on December 25th, the day after Madara's birthday)
Thanks for reading. I'd love to hear your thoughts (*´・ｖ・)