'Twas a quiet summer's evening in the Hidden Leaf village. A gentle breeze wafted inside the office from the window behind Hashirama's back and fanned Madara's red cheeks. The slight colouration came from the sudden rush of anger that rapidly sent the blood from his raging heart into his pale cheeks.
"Must I be the one to do this?" he asked in a tone that did nothing to mask his displeasure.
"It must. It can be no one else." replied Hashirama, calm and unbothered as still water, yet not even bothering to stop his lips from curling up in amusement. There weren't very many instances that got so much as an unintentional glare from Madara. He was a man who'd be coined reserved on the worst of days. Today, however, was not one of those days.
"Have some Jonin do it." rebutted Madara stubbornly.
"This is a matter of international diplomacy. I'd be a fool to disrespect an ally as close as Uzu by sending in some no-name shinobi who'd be derided as a greenhorn by Ashima on first glance." Hashirama replied, waving his hand dismissively to admonish him for having suggested such a half-cocked idea.
Madara pursed his lips contritely, having no rebuff to his words. He knew the kind of man Ashima Uzumaki was. Harsh, stubborn, and judgemental, and more impulsive than the worst of his kin—which was a feat of itself. The phrase 'first impression' mattered more strongly to him than anyone Madara had ever known.
"Then send your brother in your stead. He is your blood and next in line for the Hokage seat. Better he learns diplomacy now, loitering around his relatives, loitering around his relatives, than be a lout like his brother who has no appreciation for the finer things in life." Hashirama ignored the last jibe and the ire that was becoming alarmingly visible on his face, and focused more on the thinly veiled disdain the comment prior had held.
"While Tobirama is a good interpreter of my words, this is not a matter I'm comfortable entrusting to him. He might be logical and straight-forward, but he is callous and has the real-world nous of a hammer." Hashirama made his voice lower and leaned forward to stress his next words. "And you must use your name and the weight and power it carries for something that is not to instill fear into other's hearts. This seat I occupy is not a familial inheritance, you of all people must see that—we made sure it was made as such."
Madara didn't look the least bit abashed to have had his contemptuous comment be noted and commented upon. Madara knew his own faults very well, and he made sure Hashirama knew them better. He never was one to circle around his thoughts, and though not quite as blunt as Hashirama's younger sibling, he despised skirting around an issue he felt strongly about—and he did feel very strongly about this.
"Why do you assume he will listen to me when he hasn't so much as bothered deigning a response to your missives?" asked Madara.
"Because he respects you." Hashirama replied simply. "He need not like you to respect you. I know him as I know you. He respects power. You are powerful, and as such a man worthy of his respect."
"I'm not some cheap solicitor you can throw around to get a political advantage." he said finally after a moment of silence. Hashirama smiled hearing the first drops of resignation seep into Madara's voice. He'd already convinced him, but his Uchiha pride would simply not allow him to yield without getting in the last word.
"I'd be more than willing to throw you around in an empty field. If that's what it takes to make you see reason, that is." Hashirama said glibly, grinning like a child who'd just managed to take a jar from his stingy sibling was wont to do.
"Hmph." Madara smirked, his chest puffing up in pride at his taunt. "I'd like to see you try."
Hashirama said nothing, simply put his elbows on the desk and crossed his fingers in front of his lips. Madara leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and began tapping his index finger silently. His mind began mulling over the proposition Hashirama had just made. It'd indeed be an honour for anyone to take Hashirama's mantle, though temporarily, and go solicit a matter of such importance on his behalf, but Madara didn't much fancy butting heads with the Chief loon who'd led the biggest troop of overzealous lunatics in the five nations for the better part of five decades.
He preferred bending people to his knees, not to his words.
Madara set off from his mansion for Uzu the following morning. The day was clear and the breeze was cool. Felt like the perfect day for an outing. The central street of the village was just beginning to get its bearings. The shopkeepers had unfurled the Noren and were putting out their produce for sale in full display. Madara got a lot of nods from adults which he respectfully returned each time. But the children kept ducking behind their parents or a corner every time they caught a glimpse of him coming near their general vicinity. While he was happy that his intimidating countenance kept them at a distance, it was still a bit irksome to be treated with such coldness from the innocent half of the village. He damn near felt like a child molestor, at times.
He began lengthening his strides as the village gates came into view. The guards at the gate stood up once they could make out his silhouette, and offered him a silent salute to send him off with their regards. He respected that about them. They never really stopped him when he was going out on a mission, or even when he was returning in. He had heard the rumors the Chunin of the village spread in his name—that he was prone to putting guards under genjutsu with his Sharingan just to get on his way a few seconds quicker. There was something to be said about the intent. The thought had crossed his mind a few times if he was in a bad mood, but he had certainly never used his Sharingan on an ally.
As he walked through the threshold on the Hidden Leaf village, he began quickening his feet even further. There was a mile-long circular ring of nothingness circling the entire village. It was Hashirama's idea to help the patrols of the village have an easier time with anyone thinking about trying some monkey business over the walls. He had been more than happy to help Hashirama incinerate the undesirable trees with a quick area-wide Fire technique, but after the first half-mile long wildfire he had created on a whim and had taken Tobirama the better part of an hour to put out, he had been told to just stand by and let Hashirama take care of creating the clearance.
The mile-long clearance ended in barely a few seconds, and he pushed a menial amount of chakra to the soles of his feet as he got closer to the tree-line. He felt the Chakra circle in the balls and heels of his feet, and pushed his knees lower. The ground cracked slightly as he leapt up to the nearest tree, and after the first jump the rest of the steps were soundless. The trees began going past him in a blur of green as he began making his way due east.
It was a day's run for a normal shinobi. An hour for him if he was intent on getting there as fast as possible, but since he was looking to take it easy for today he was bound to reach the port by mid-day. He dug his hand in his pouch and took out a knife to cut the wires disrupting his way. A couple of them were a bit harder to spot, probably left by Chunin patrols for any unsuspecting stragglers that got too close to the village. But most of them were harmless traps left by children and genin who were too lazy to trip the wires before they left for home. It did give him something to do while jumping through the trees, and it made him a bit happy to see how many children could now leave traps for fun, and not for taking lives like it used to be in his childhood.
As the sun bagn getting overhead, the trees began thinning out and the view to the sea began getting clearer. His speed took a hit as the ground became softer with the coastal breeze, and the smell of the ocean hit his nose. The dockyard was bustling with fishermen and traders and merchants from the Lands of Water, Wave and Uzu. He entered the dockyard and began searching for any redhead mad enough to take him to the Land of Whirlpools.
A lanky man wearing a bandanna eyed him up and down and began approaching him. Madara crossed his arms and looked over his shoulder to find himself a more suitable guide.
"Ya lookin' for a boat, sir?" he asked Madara, rubbing his palms giddily as he got a good look at the silk of his clothes.
"I am." his smile widened hearing Madara's response, "But your boat won't take me where I need to go."
"The right price can even find you God in these parts, 'tis still a place you want to go to. Name me the place and the proper coin, and I'll take you wherever 'tis you wish to go!" he said jovially.
Madara paused his searching gaze for a moment and fixed it on the man. He knew it to be a waste of time, but the man would keep pestering him till he realised he wasn't a customer he wished to take to his destination.
"The isles of Uzu." just as the last word slipped past Madara's lips, so did the smile and all traces of colour from the man's face.
"To that dreadful place? What for, sir? Forgive me for saying this, sir, but you look like a kind soul" Madara snorted but kept his words to himself. "There's loads of nice places you could visit that won't kill ya before ya ever got to see them. There's nothing in those parts but storms and monsters, take my heed and leave this fool's errand here!"
Madara crossed his arms and pursed his lips tightly, and the word slipped his mouth before he could think over it. "… Coward." he murmured disdainfully. The man's smile crumpled and morphed into an angry snarl.
"Better to live a coward than die a fool! Do whatever you want. Die if you want to!" was all he said before turning on his heel and leaving in an angry stomp. Madara sighed and shook his head tiredly, continuing on his search for any signs of red-hair but found none. His eyes stopped roaming and his entire body went rigid when he felt a tiny hand slide over his kimono and weigh the coin purse hidden inside. He could hear the soft clinks of his money as the hand weighed it and pulled itself back without the pouch. His hand instincively shot forward and caught the dainty wrist before it got out of his reach.
"I can take you there." the culprit said in a tiny voice. "Am going to Uzu anyways."
Madara raised a brow and peered down at the scruffy mop of black hair and tired ebony eyes staring up at him. He looked no older than five physically, but his eyes seemed older. His skin was paler than his own and his features marked such a stark resemblance to those of his own kin—which could absolutely not be the case since each and every Uchiha was accounted for in the clan's records—that he nearly forgot that the kid had just tried to swipe his pocket not a minute ago.
"You are not an Uzumaki." Madara said after he gathered his bearings a few seconds later. "Don't think you can fool me by leaving me stranded on some no-name island. I've been to Uzu several times. I don't need to go to the archipelago on the outskirts of those seas. Only a native of those isles can know the tides well enough to get me safely onto the mainland—and the mainland is where I need to go."
"I am from the mainland. Was planning on leaving for it tomorrow, but you seemed to be in a hurry. So I'll take you there for whatever amount is stashed in that purse you've got tied to your hip. Or you can clap your hands and pray to your creator to put the right breeze in your sails and take you there. That's fine by me, as well, but I'd advise against it." He raised his hand and jabbed his thumb pointedly at the mass of shipwrecks visible in the distance.
Madara's lips curled in disdain at the child's tone. It bothered him to hear a child with those features speaking in a tone so ill-suited to a kid with that face. But the more pressing matter at hand was his getting to Uzu on time. His first instinct was to say no to the child and move on, but he could see no red-haired people in the vicinity of these waters, and even though he had been there a number of times before traversing those waters by himself would take weeks and half a dozen destroyed boats.
"Prove it." Madara said after a moment's deliberation. The child cocked his head in what seemed to be apparent confusion at his words. "Prove that you are who you say you are. Prove it to me that you are a native of the mainland and you have yourself an accord. I'll even throw in something a bit more than what you tried to swipe from me."
The child scowled at him fiercely and crossed his arms. "I did not try to swipe anything from you. That is not to say I couldn't—I very easily could if I wanted to. It would not be very hard to swindle you. You wouldn't even know if I did! But I don't need to be a common thief to earn my bread." he insisted fiercely, the beginnings of a pout budding on his face.
Madara suppressed the smile threatening to break onto his face. He didn't seem offended because Madara had more or less called him a thief. He seemed to take offense to being seen as an incompetent thief. The odd offense the kid had taken to his words was almost adorable to a man like Madara. But before Madara could retort a reply of his own, the kid rummaged for something in his pocket and then held out his tiny fist to him. Madara held an open palm beneath his fist and felt something small and smooth drop on his palm.
His eyebrows shot up seeing an opulent piece of Opal resting in his palm. "Where did you—" Madara began to say in a dumbfounded voice, but couldn't find the words to make his statement whole. The kid quickly swiped back the gemstone from his palm and pocketed it.
"They are common on the beaches of Uzushio's mainland. Theres your proof. So you want me to be your guide, or no?" the kid huffed and snapped his head to the left dramatically. Madara didn't bother stopping his smirk this time and held out his hand to the child.
"Look like we have an accord." the kid grinned toothily, whether it was from the prospect of earning money or from the fact that Madara was now regarding him as an adult Madara did not know. But it did look very nice on him. "… What's your name, child?"
His smile faltered a bit, but not by much and it didn't stop him from replying with a boisterous. "Sasuke!"
AN: This is something I've had on my mind for a while. I don't usually do Sasuke much, but I felt a take by a Naruto author might be refreshing on this site so here it is. Founder's era is a guilty pleasure of mine to write, and I've never truly done Madara in a fic before either.
There's a certain lack of Madara-Sasuke dynamic on the site, too. For the people who want updates on updates of other fics, review/flame/hate-bomb me over DMs. Leave the review section of this story for reviews of this story alone. I'll try to respond to all DMs I receive for the next couple of days.
For personal update, as India has been a cesspool for covid I've not been lucky enough to evade it. But thankfully I wasn't hit with the worst of the symptoms. I hope this is a good read by itself, and I hope to hear what you lot think about it. I don't even know if the fandom is still alive or not. Do try to leave a review not to the lines of "Please update" as I'd like to read you people's thoughts on this. I hope everyone is well in this dire climate, and my prayer's go out to those who were not lucky enough to evade the clutches of Covid.