Hashirama felt bad, with the way Tobirama looked when he left.

He wanted to get up and go after him, but the onset of nausea that hit him was rather unsettling. He never got sick, even when illness went thought the clan, he never seemed to catch anything, maybe the sniffles here or there. But nothing major, so this was almost a shock to him. The fact that he had to call a retreat every time they fought the Uchiha, because he was struggling against Madara, more and more because he felt weak.

He did not like it.

And he did not want to worry Tobirama either, even though he knew he wasn't acting like himself. But he really didn't know how his actions were already worrying Tobirama, and how he's already jumped to the worst conclusion.

He knew that Tobirama was innocent, that is why he was so confused and scared, why did Madara want his little brother dead? Madara knew how much Tobirama meant to him, he would not… He would not think that Madara would be that cruel. Had he forgotten all about their dream? Their dream of peace and a village so they could keep their last brothers safe? And so children wouldn't have to die?

Did Madara really forget all of that? No. There was no way, so why?

He desperately wanted to know why. What had happened? Because Tobirama would never do anything to hurt Madara or Izuna, he knew for a fact that Tobirama was holding back against Izuna because he didn't want to hurt him. Even if it meant Tobirama was the one being hurt.

A low groan left his lips as he allowed his head to gently thump against his desk. He didn't like being this ill, it was bone chilling. He ached all over, and it felt like his body was on fire.

Maybe a nap… would not hurt anything.

He allowed his eyes to close and he was out.

The sound of his office door being slammed open had him shooting upright, though that was a bad thing, an unbelievably bad thing. Because he felt a bout of nausea hit him, and he knew he was pale, he felt clammy too.

looking up, he saw Touka, who had a scowl on her face.

"Wha-?" He did not even get a chance to get the words out before she spoke.

"Tobirama is missing, the scouts last night confirmed that a flash of what they knew was Tobirama headed towards the Uchiha borders.

What.

What?!

Touka watched as Hashirama grew even more pale, there was something wrong with her cousin, she knew it. But this was the reaction she wanted to see, everyone had thought Tobirama did something to upset Madara, and she knew her little cousins' heart was fragile, it always has been. So, if he thought that Hashirama did not believe him… He would leave. To try and make things right with he Uchiha.

And that normally meant letting the Uchiha kill him.

Hashirama swayed as he got to his feet, his hands holding him up right on his desk.

"Why would he-" The look on Tobirama's face when he left his office. "He actually thinks I don't believe he is innocent?" his mind was whirling. "I... I need to. " he went to move but only but found that his world was spinning.

"I will go with a group and we will look for him. Hashirama, you need to see a medic. You are ill, and its worrisome." She said to him.

Hashirama watched her as she left the room, he fell back into his chair and breathed slowly. "Tobi…" he muttered. It hurt to think that his little brother thought he didn't believe him. What didn't dawn on him, was that his unconscious act of pulling away from them, because he was ill and didn't know what to do about it, had instilled the seeds of doubt into Tobirama.

A small sound left his lips, he was terrified. If the Uchiha got ahold of Tobi…

He knew that he would probably die, if Tobirama genuinely thought he caused an issue for their clan, he would allow an Uchiha to kill him and take his head to Madara. And that thought alone made him even more ill.

All he could do was pray to whatever gods that were out there, that his little brother was okay.

Touka was worried, and it was warranted, the Uchiha were relentless, especially if they think they've been wronged by anyone.

So the search was frantic, they tried and tried to search as close to the border as they could without being spotted by the Uchiha border scouts. They searched for anything they could, anything that may show that Tobirama had been there.

Touka looked up when she heard a shout from ahead, she shot forward with as much speed as she could muster, she needed to know what was found.

Though, when she came across it, she wished she had not.

What was laying on the ground was Tobirama's fur pelt, she recognized it easily. He always for it. She picked it up and looked at it. (She didn't know that the Uchiha placed it back where Madara had found Tobirama, to try and put the Senju off Tobirama's trail for now). Her hands clenched in the pelt. There was no blood, so he could still be alive. But the chances of that were slim to none. She did not want to hold a lot of hope, but it was a start.

"There are two things this could signify." She spoke to her group. "Tobirama is either dead or being held by the Uchiha. The lack of blood is suspect, but we have nothing else to prove that he may be alive." It hurt her to say that. "So, until we know, no one is to say anything about this to anyone not of the clan, Hashirama will probably put a gag order on this information. Are we understood?"

There was a collective 'Yes Ma'am' from the group. So, Touka picked up the fur pelt and started to head back to the Senju compound.

There was a hush among them all, no one seemed to have a lot of hope. Why would the Uchiha keep Tobirama alive? From everything they had heard, they told their children horror stories about the 'White Demon of the Senju' To keep their kids in line. So why?

There were a lot of things that didn't make sense to Touka, and the Uchiha taking Tobirama as a hostage was one of them. That's why she was more inclined that they took him and killed him. And that thought made her uneasy. Uchiha were known for their unstable nature.

If Tobirama meet his end that way, she would tear apart any Uchiha she could get her hands on.

Make them feel the pain that Tobirama must have felt.

The only thing that calmed her, even a little bit, is to find that Hashirama had gone to the medics.

But the news she heard was not what she wanted.

"He's suffering from an ailment that we do not know of." The woman said to Touka. "It's affecting his chakra, for one. But that is not the biggest worry, he can't really use the mokuton right now. Well, he can but it causes his ailment to worsen." She spoke.

That was not what she wanted to hear, and ailment that was caused by the Mokuton? That was the worst-case scenario for all of them. Hashirama has been the strongest Mokuton user, even stronger than the original holder, their ancestor, Ashura. Butsuma did say that there was text that Ashura had died of an ailment related to the Mokuton as well.

But… She did not want to think of that. "I'm sorry, Lady Kyo. I need to tell him of our findings." She said to her.

The woman did not look happy but just nodded to her.

So Touka entered the room that Hashirama was in, and surprise, surprise, he was up and doing things he should not be. "You are never going to get well if you keep acting like a child and not listening to the medics." She said to him. Good, she was glad she startled the shit head.

Hashirama sighed. "I know... But I'm worried." He muttered. And that hurt her heart, this news was going to hurt him more. She moved over to his empty bed and sat down the fur pelt. "We found this at the border." She said to him.

Hashirama turned from the window and went impossibly pale. She knew that there was one thing going through his head.

"There are no blood stains, so we truly have no idea what happened to him, Hashirama. We suspect the worst… But there is no way to be sure." She said softly. She hated that look, the look on Hashirama's face looked as if he had lost all faith in the world. His one and sole reason to be there, was gone. And they did not even know for sure if he was dead or not. Even if the signs were pointing in that direction. And to top it off, Hashirama was ill with an ailment that seemed to be caused by his Mokuton.

The future of their clan was truly unknown. Hashirama was the only one that could keep them going against the Uchiha. Hashirama was the only one who was an even match with Madara, without him, the Uchiha would obliterate them. She only hoped that they would not have to fight the Uchiha any time soon, because Hashirama would probably die against Madara if he had to fight him now.

She backed away when Hashirama stumbled back to the bed, his hands gipping at the fur pelt, he pulled it to his chest and sunk to the bed.

Touka knew that Hashirama would be devastated if Tobirama ever died, that is why he did all he could to keep Tobirama's fights against Izuna, where the two were matched equally. But seeing this, seeing this pain on her cousin's face. It hurt her, more than anything. She knew better than to get close to him right now, so she backed out of the room to allow him time to process this.

Hashirama had stared and the fur pelt for a solid minute before he had moved over to the bed, which was a bit of a struggle with how badly his head was swimming. But he managed it, and he grabbed the fur and pulled it to his chest as he collapsed on the bed. He could not control the tears at this point. Just the thought of Tobirama being gone broke him, he did everything he could to keep Tobirama safe, and if he died, thinking Hashirama did not believe in him… It hurt, too much to think about.

A soft sob left his lips. He could not understand why this was happening. He did everything he ever could to make sure that Tobirama understood that he would always believe him, that no matter what happened, he would always take Tobirama's words over anyone else. His eyes closed tightly as the tears streamed down his cheeks, not there was a chance he would never see Tobirama again.

Something tightened in his chest at the thought. There was truly nothing left for him at this point, he had failed in protecting all his brothers. That had been his focus in his life, trying to protect them, but one by one, he let them all die… He had no reason to keep going, sure, he loved his clan. But Tobirama had meant everything to him.

He leaned forward on the bed, collapsing against it. Tobirama's fur pulled tightly to his chest.

Tobirama was really confused when they entered the Uchiha compound, he got the looks he was expecting, but he also saw that some of them had resigned looks, almost as if this had been expected, even if they may have wished that Madara would not have done this.

His eyes closed for a moment as they walked up to what he could only assume was the head house, and Izuna was standing outside the door, arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

"So, you actually caught him." He muttered. He was not too enthused by this, how could he since his rival was now his brother-in-law.

Madara huffed. "I did, but we need to talk a little later, Izuna." He said to him as he moved to walk Tobirama into the house. There was a lot of things going on inside of Madara's head now, he certainly wanted to try and figure out why Tobirama really thought he had been mad at him. Were their cultural differences that big?

He carefully led Tobirama up the stairs and to his own room, where he opened the door to lead them both inside. He sat them both down onto the bed and pointed to the rope. "This is a marriage rope." He said to him. "Is this okay?" he asked. He wanted to be sure this was what Tobirama wanted. Because he did not want to force him into a marriage.

Tobirama looked at the rope and then back to Madara. "Yes, It's okay.. I want this." He whispered to him. He closed his eyes to be able to feel Madara's chakra, the chakra he had use to seek out as a child. It made him feel calm, safe. Only Madara and Hashirama had ever made him feel this safe. He could not help but realize that he really had fallen in love with Madara. Tobirama shifted and leaned against Madara, to allow himself to finally feel the physical warmth of his now husband.

Madara smiled softly, his other hand moved and gently pet Tobirama's hair. "So, you really thought I was mad at you when I was tossing the knives at you?" he asked.

Tobirama sighed softly, nuzzling against the others shoulder. "Yes, everyone just assumed that I had done something to make you mad. Why else would you be throwing knives at me?" he lifted his hand. "My clan has long since abandoned the old ways of marriage." He said to him. "I don't even think my father courted any of his wives." He said to him.

Madara breathed softly. "I see. It is not used much here either, but there are a few who still use it. My father had done it and told us that the main branch should continue the tradition until it totally dies out." He said to him. He did gently touch Tobirama's hair. "And I am sorry, my beautiful rose. I did not think your clan would not know what it was. So, I caused issues for you." He said softly. He felt bad about that, but he was still angry that Hashirama would think that Tobirama would do anything like.

It truly made him want to punch the man.

Tobirama took in a sharp breath of air, the feeling of Madara's chakra turn angry was not a feeling he enjoyed all that much.

Madara tensed when he heard the sound from Tobirama, taking in a deep breath he calmed himself down, watching as the other male relaxed slowly. How could he forget, Tobirama was a sensor, he could feel when Madara's chakra went dark with anger. He slowly untied their hands from the rope and wrapped his arm free arm around the others shoulder. "I'm sorry, my love." He said lightly to him.

Tobirama relaxed into Madara's embrace and breathed. He was still feeling hurt over Hashirama, but he was able to feel a bit of calm with Madara. Warmth as well, the other male was like a warm fire, and had long been able to melt the ice around his heart. He knew he would be safe with Madara, the way the other male took care to try and calm himself down… Proved a lot. "Thank you." He said gently to him.

He still did not know how he was going to handle everything else, but for the moment he could just allow himself to be safe within Madara's arms. He already knew that this was something he was going to be able to get use to, very easily.

The possessive need to protect and keep Tobirama safe filling him. He did not want to allow anything bad to happen to him again. To protect him from anything he could, though he knew that Tobirama would protest that. He was strong, there was no doubt about it. A soft sigh left his lips. He knew that he would stop if Tobirama did not like what he was doing.

"You should go and bathe, I'll have Izuna leave you something to wear." He said lightly to him.

Tobirama and Izuna were around the same height and body weight. So, he was sure he would fit into something of his brothers. That, and Tobirama needed to allow himself some time to relax and think.

Tobirama nodded a bit. "Alright... That's a good idea." He admitted to him. He shifted and started to remove the pieces of his armor, setting them off to the side, along with his bag he had brought with from the Senju clan.

Madara hummed a bit as he moved to stand up as well, his eyes watching as the other male sat his things off to the side. "I had water prepared for you." He said to him. He had it done just as he was leaving, because he had planned on bringing Tobirama back, and he was glad that the other male had come with him. And had agreed to all of this… Tobirama was his husband now. That was something he had to get use to.

Tobirama blinked and smiled a little bit. "Thank you, again." He said softly to him. He owed a lot to Madara right now. He moved over to Madara and pressed a soft kiss to the side of his mouth, he then pulled back and went off to find the bathroom.

Madara blinked and felt his cheeks turn red.

Tobirama was going to be the death of him.

And Madara was very much okay with this.