37.
My breast is cold as the clay;
My breath is earthly strong.
And if you kiss my cold, clay lips,
Your days will not be long.
How oft on yonder grave, Sweetheart
Where we were wont to walk—
The fairest flower that I e're saw
Has withered to a stalk.
The Unquiet Grave
Madara sat down onto the rocky shore of the river, where Hashirama and he had played a long-long time ago as kids. He could recall meeting the kid for the first time, completely unaware of his identity just as Hashirama didn't know a thing about Madara.
Names and identities had been a burden for both of them. Destined to fight just because of a name? What a stupid principle to believe in…
While Madara didn't feel any strong devotion or friendly sentiment towards Hashirama, he did recall the memory of their meeting with some bitterness. He hated to admit it, but meeting Hashirama was a lot more meaningful later in life than he desired to admit.
Without that meeting, they'd still be at war and not creating a village together. That's why he also, along with respect, bore the feelings of hate. For Madara, that was fine. A road to glory and victory would be more fitting for the clan, but others didn't share his ideas.
Not anymore.
The young and aspiring clan leader was losing his grip and Madara hated admitting that Chinatsu did the right thing by escaping the sinking ship.
He lifted his eyes to meet the smiling face of Hashirama. Whenever Hashirama smiled, small wrinkles would appear in the corners of his eyes. Madara had no such characteristics to soften his image.
"How's it going?" he asked cheerfully. It looked like a scene out of a book, the Senju with birds chirping around and warm sunlight flooding everything. Madara remained motionless, trying very hard not to smile back at him. Just a small twitch of his mouth would do…
"Well enough. I guess I should apologize for your sister. Try not to give her a rough time, she really did try."
Hashirama gave Madara a puzzled look before it dawned to him, "OH! The divorce! Of course, I nearly forgot! Yes-yes, well now that the Konoha business has been put in motion her marriage seems trivial so the timing couldn't have been better!"
Madara's eyebrow twitched before he took a long, calming breath. Hashirama always acted like this around him. The carefree attitude only caused Madara to become even more alert than before.
How he climbed up in life while remaining so approachable remained a mystery.
"You said that we have some business to discuss."
Hashirama sighed and picked up a rock, turning it around on his palm a few times before hurling it at the water.
"Straight to the point…" he paused, trying to figure out a correct way to convey his thoughts, "The village needs a leader, and it probably should be either you or me since we, together, are the equal founders of Konoha."
"You probably believe it to be you?"
His response was tainted and Madara found it exceedingly difficult to remain passive. Worrying about Yuna didn't help to improve his mood. Next time she comes back he's making her retire early, just so he could keep her around.
Hashirama raised his eyebrows before shaking his head with a big smile, "No, Madara, I am personally suggesting it to be you."
Uchiha Madara was a man difficult to surprise. The first time he was surprised was when he found out that his mother was expecting Izuna, the second time being when he acknowledged his feelings for Yuna and the third lucky time was right now.
Hashirama Senju was apparently perfect, and selfless.
His mask slipped and Madara was literally out of things to say. All he could do was to stare at Hashirama's kind face and try to understand the meaning behind his words.
"You are insane to believe that anyone from the Senju would like me as the Hokage!"
"But why not? Your methods might be…crude… I do admit that, but where others see brutality, I see the passion and dedication that is necessary to be a good leader. If you can lead Konoha with the same passion in your heart…"
"You mean after I've been tamed?"
"Nothing of the sort!"
Madara offered Hashirama a humourless laugh, "You truly are insane. Do what you please."
Weren't you the one, Hashirama, who wanted to achieve true peace? Are you that blind that you confuse brutality with harmony?
You're too foolish, my friend…
Izuna was, for the first time in years, quietly working on something in his room. A chronicle about the lives of him and Madara.
The entire scroll was turned into a story with changed names, places to keep anyone from tracing it back to the two of them. It was funny, almost strange to recall childhood memories. Most of them were covered in blood and death while there were some loveable private moments he and Madara had shared as brothers.
Madara would be the mentor, the wise guide and Izuna was his loyal follower, too young to question his brother's ideology.
Kids probably were the most dangerous humans…So vulnerable, without their personal moral code built up based on experience. Anyone could take a child and plant a simple idea in their head.
For example, 'Killing other people is normal'
A child, with no knowledge about ethics, would simply embrace the idea as pure gold and begin building their life around it.
He started working on it just a little bit before Yuna left. She even heard about it and searched him out especially.
"Izuna, I know that I have no right to ask you for a favour…"
"Then don't," was his terse response. Izuna could 'see' her pulse quicken and her chakra pattern change.
"Hear me out. I know that you are recording the lives of you and Madara, so I'm asking you not to include me in it. Pretend that I don't exist, or write that I died during the fight with the Kunisada clan. Say that I switched sides or…anything. Just write me out of it…"
Now that was a proposal that aroused his curiosity. He turned fully around, despite not being able to see her with his eyes.
"Why would I want to do that? Don't get me wrong, it'd be my pleasure…Honestly you should've died then and there."
His harsh words didn't faze her.
Instead she laughed, "You know I have thought the same thing a lot. Now you want to do that because, both of us know that he doesn't have the time, energy or emotional capacity to carry this relationship on. I am the liability that latched onto him; caused his feelings to change and now I'm holding him back.
So when you're recording his life, I want you to remove this stain from his beautiful canvas. Pretend that I don't exist."
"So…I can use any ideas that I have to write you out? Cheating, murder, betrayals are all okay?"
Izuna's mind was racing, creating images of what he could do about her character in this chronicle. Yuna shrugged happily, "Anything is fine. Simply erase me from history. I ceased to exist along with the rest of my family."
Because of that conversation, Izuna was set on the idea of creating the nastiest character possible for Yuna but…
It didn't seem right.
This was supposed to be a chronicle about their lives. Yuna played no role in this story, and tainting her reputation and family would only remove the focus from the important things.
So, reluctantly, he decided to write that Yuna died honourably in battle, loyally carrying out Madara's orders but was stabbed with a poisoned blade. A quick and quiet death, her body was buried into an unmarked grave.
A nice way to secure a safe future indeed.
"No, absolutely not!" shouted Tobirama. During the argument, he had caused many extra dents to appear on the already-mangled table.
How it had survived this long was a mystery in its own respect.
Hashirama sighed and started playing with the edge of his sleeve, "I knew you'd react like this…I can't believe you're so predictable!"
"What I can't believe is how you decided something as important as that by yourself! Planting dangerous ideas to the head of that tyrant!"
"I can't comprehend what I'm hearing. My own brother is already creating a mess in this very delicate situation…"
Tobirama snorted and began pacing around the room, a habit of his whenever the two of them were alone.
"Everybody knows that you will become the leader of Konoha, you will be the Hokage and not Madara because unlike him, you love peace and have the dedication!"
Hashirama was forcing his tone to be patient, "Madara, unlike me, has the will of fire, an intense passion for his kin. When talking about dedication and commitment, there is no one who could rival him. We need those qualities in a clan leader. Not to mention his extensive military experience. With him around, there's no need for security!"
The Senju deadpanned, almost hitting his face on the table, "Okay the last part was a terrible argument, I admit it Tobi…" Hashirama said after short consideration.
Tobirama was still not pleased.
"You're overestimating him, and underestimating your own capacities."
Hashirama sighed and stood up from his table as well, his eyes on the same level as Tobirama's now. Equality between the two had always been an issue ever since they were kids.
"Your mind is still clouded with thoughts of anger and revenge! The Uchiha clan now isn't what it was fifteen years ago. Things have changed and Madara himself has changed. What prompted this remains a mystery."
The argument was becoming very heated between the brothers, and probably everyone outside felt it as well because the entire wing had emptied during the last few minutes. Not out of fear, but out of respect. The clan still offered the two brothers some privacy, time out of the public eye.
A smug smile spread over Tobirama's face, "I'm being angry? How about you try to convince the other parties involved with your sentiment and see how they take it, eh? This isn't a dictatorship and the leader will be chosen through honest voting and, believe me, the people are going to pick you whether Uchiha Madara likes it or not."
"What an incredibly cute offer!"
"No…it…is not."
Madara thought of putting on chakra restraints on him to keep him from physically assaulting a cripple…then again this was Izuna, so it didn't count.
"No, it really is cute. Could be a very clever trap to 'show people your true colours' how you want to 'usurp all the power' upon first provocation."
He shook his head, tapping his toe against the floor impatiently, "No, his pulse was normal and no change in chakra patterns. He was serious with all the seriousness in the world."
Izuna's smile fell, "Madara, are you alright? I haven't seen you this shaken up for a while…"
"I, honestly, don't know. This is exactly the chance I've been waiting for but now that it's here I know that I will have the full support of the Uchiha, but the Senju will despise me. This thing will probably be put on public vote and of course the people will choose to ignore the fights the Senju," he spat that name out with venom, "have caused and will only see the big, bad and brutal Uchiha clan that would only lead Konoha to its destruction."
"Basically, it's over?"
"They want me to change into something I'm not. At least not yet."
Izuna shrugged and with an ounce of humour added, "Well you can always use Hashirama's idiotic trust for your own."
Don't call it 'idiotic'… You weren't there on the river; you didn't hear his honest words back then and now…
Izuna seemed to catch Madara's mood immediately, like a dog that can spot a scent of freshly cooked meat in the air, "Don't take it personally. I don't harbour any sentiment towards Hashirama, his ideals don't match up with mine so I use the easy way out and call his trust 'idiotic'."
Madara sighed and buried his face into his hands, "Whatever happens, I'm going to lose the position…It has been a pleasure, brother."
Izuna offered Madara one of his rare, kind smiles, reserved only for him before patting his shoulder in a friendly manner. No words were needed to convey his feelings to Madara.
No matter what happens to you here on out. I will always love you.