Rated M for graphic descriptions of violence, abuse, child death, child soldiers, mature themes.
Tobirama Senju/Uchiha Madara pairing. Side pairings will be present.
Tags: Alternate Universe—Canon Divergence/Gods and Goddesses/Founding of Konoha/Warring States Period. Hurt & Comfort. Romance. Action. A lot of angst. Fluff. Blessed Tobirama Senju. Blessed Hashirama Senju. Blessed Uchiha Madara. Blessed Uchiha Izuna.
Extremely short prologue. The next chapter will be over 5000 words.
prologue
"Are you afraid to die?"
Itama had asked Tobirama that once, his voice small and trembling, his chakra shivering like a stunned rabbit. He'd crept into his room with silent feet on the night of Kawarama's funeral, pale and red-eyed and seeking comfort, seeking stability. Hashirama had disappeared as he tended to do, escaping from the tense atmosphere that clouded the clan without even a word between them.
"Of course," Tobirama had answered, but it had not entirely been true. Itama's eyes locked with his, already so pained despite his youth, tired in a way they shouldn't have been, shiny with tears.
Itama had always been more soft-hearted, much like mother in that aspect. At the funeral, he'd wept with his face hidden behind his sleeve, because Shinobi did not cry. Tobirama had stood silent, still and stiff next to Itama and Hashirama, because being a sensor was just as much of a curse as it was a benefit, and if he'd moved he might've just fallen apart right then and there.
Are you afraid to die? That's what Itama had asked him.
No, he thought, as his little brother curled against him, warm and alive. He remembers Kawarama's body. Grit. Bone. Chunks of dyed tissue. The taste of bile, acid on his tongue. An endless ocean of blood. Kawarama's chakra, growing smaller, pulsing with fear as it fades. Hashirama's screams.
(Kawarama had died scared.)
No, death did not frighten Tobirama as much as what it could take from him.