Bondage
Tobirama is helping Kiso into today's chosen outfit –a cheery yellow jinbei set printed with wind bells that is too big for him– when Izuna shoves the fusuma open and dashes in, wearing just a loosely tied linen juban.
"Treasure, Treasure!" She grabs his hand, awed delight pouring off her chakra, and presses it against her rounded stomach. Tobirama experiences a moment of incredulous hope –is it– and under his hand something flutters.
"See! Baby!" Izuna says, eyes shining and grinning so widely her eyes are almost creased shut.
Tobirama sinks carefully to his knees and rests his cheek against his wife's abdomen, closing his eyes and focusing on the tiny movements he can now feel much more clearly. This is Izuna's child moving; their child.
His child.
"Baby?" Kiso asks, reaching out to tentatively pat at Izuna's stomach. Tobirama takes Kiso's hand and presses it where he can feel the baby moving.
"Yes, it's Izuna-san's baby; can you feel it kicking?"
Kiso screws up his face in concentration, then his eyes go wide. "Hn!"
"Your baby too, Treasure," Izuna says fondly, stroking Tobirama's hair. "I couldn't have done it without you."
Tobirama snorts, sitting back on his heels to smile up at his wife. "Our baby, then."
Kiso is now up on tiptoe, pressing his ear against Izuna's lower abdomen, utterly fascinated. "Ba-tan pwomise Kiso be nii-tan," he says eventually, leaning back to meet Izuna's eyes. "Ba-tan not mean Kei-tan?"
"Oh, darling boy," Izuna kneels, hugging the toddler. "I meant Keigetsu-chan, Kiso-kun; our beautiful strong katsura girl. But now I am having a baby as well, so you will their nii-chan as well." Tomorrow they are not looking after Kei in the afternoon; the infant has a medical check-up and some vaccinations due, which have already been postponed once due to poor physical health and concerns about complications from her early experiences.
Tobirama feels very guilty and very responsible, but he is grateful that Keigetsu is now healthy enough for those essential immunisations.
Kiso ponders Izuna statement, then nods firmly. "Kiso be nii-tan twice." He bounces. "Ba-tan like Kiso jinbei?"
"You look very fine, sweetheart," Izuna assures him warmly, kissing his cheek, "Aso-kun would be very cross to see you wearing his favourite outfit, but we won't tell him, hn?"
Kiso giggles into his hands and flees the bedroom, still giggling. Tobirama remembers that Aso was one of Kiso's older cousins and his heart aches.
All these ghosts of his own making that he must learn to live with, because there is no escaping them. Perhaps time will grant him enough comfort that each reminder is no longer a stab between the ribs?
"Treasure?"
Tobirama gets to his feet, lifting his wife to hers as he does so, and leans in to kiss her. "Nothing new, my heart. What are you wearing today?"
"Well I have the morning off, seeing as I was doing the official visit on my Lord-Father's behalf the day before yesterday and today he is discussing my report and recommendations with Oba-san, so I thought we could visit Minami-san together," Izuna says. "We did promise after all."
"It can't have been a week since she gave birth," Tobirama protests weakly.
"It's been six days, and even if it is twins this time," Izuna counters, tucking a loose lock of hair back behind his ear, "she asked for you to visit, so it's only polite to be prompt."
Tobirama sags to the inevitable. "Very well then, we shall dress up and then head over once Kiso has been caught."
His wife kisses him lightly. "We can keep it brief, if you'd prefer."
There is a strong gusty breeze today and dark clouds moving swiftly across the sky, so it's no trouble to wear his beautiful patchwork-lined coat on his visit to Minami-san. Yes, dealing with the sleeves of his red summer visiting kimono with the autumn grasses and fireflies is a little challenging until Izuna shows him the trick of it –wrapping the hanging sleeve around his arm so they don't get crushed in the narrower coat-sleeves– but since he is visiting in-clan he can wear a shorter obi, so he picks the shibori-patterned murasaki purple one and ties it with the golden obi cords. Rich purple is an autumnal colour and it will be autumn soon, so he is fashionably anticipating the change in seasons.
Would be very appreciative were it to arrive a little early, in fact.
He takes his folding fan as well, because indoors he will need it; out of the wind it is still very close and humid. The painting on the inside may be sadly tragic, but on the outside is a sailing ship in full sail cutting through white-topped waves, all painted in shades of blue, which he doesn't mind showing off at all.
Izuna is wearing a daylily-yellow leno-weave visiting kimono embroidered with pale seashells, bright seaweed and black and white plover, her obi the dull green temari-embroidered one he hasn't seen her wear in a while, tied with the iris purple obi cords he made for her. The overall effect is very floral and feminine, made lovelier by his knowing that golden yellow, green and purple are some of her favourite colours.
"Off we go then!" His wife says cheerfully, collecting her umbrella from the genkan as they step out, Kiso bouncing and swinging with one hand in each of theirs. In this wind Tobirama feels a hat would be wiser, but the moratorium on allowing Senju concubines to make hats seems to extend to allowing them to keep hats, so he's not going to ask. They will walk down the road with an umbrella each and the toddler between them, all the way to Minami-san's house.
They're halfway there when a cloudburst opens overhead, heavy rain rattling over the umbrellas as Kiso squeaks and tries to climb up Tobirama's coat, necessitating some stabilisation before the toddler can be settled comfortably on his hip. All around them clansmen dash for shelter –or at least for hats and coats– and children whoop and twirl under the downpour, soaked through in their light summer clothing.
"Not dancing in the rain today, Kiso-kun?" Izuna asks lightly.
"We visiting, Ba-tan," Kiso says witheringly. Izuna laughs and leans in to kiss his hair, tilting her umbrella behind her so the water streaming off it misses her clothing.
"So we are kitten." She straightens, grin wide and unselfconscious. "Let us continue then!" She rests her hand in the bend of Tobirama's elbow, the arm steadying Kiso, and they continue on, taking smaller steps so as not to throw up mud and taking care to angle the umbrellas so they don't accidentally tip rain down the backs of their coats.
It's abruptly cooler and his new coat is much more comfortable all of a sudden; Tobirama breathes in the scent of wet earth and blooming plants as they navigate the paths between the smaller farmhouses and workshops nearest the river. None of them have storm-shutters up despite the gusty rain, but most have summer shōji of woven reeds or fine bamboo sudare in the place of paper-windowed panels, granting shade without blocking out all the light and not requiring protection from sudden summer showers.
All the houses here look similar, built in the same style and very similar in size, but Tobirama recognises the right building by its orientation relative to the other nearby structures, the trees in the orchard beside it and the vibrant vegetable garden, all the plants swaying under the force of the raindrops and the larger shrubs sheltering clumps of churring quail.
They don't walk in through the garden though; that's the back of the house. The front door faces directly onto the roughly cobbled track between the buildings, an elegant hemp-leaf kōshi design with no backing opening onto a small genkan with shelves piled high with variously tiny sandals, a step leading up to the raised floor of the inside of the house and a sudare-shōji blocking the view of the indoors.
Not that he needs to see indoors to hear the high-pitched voices of rambunctious small children playing, a steady song being sung and an earnest debate that does not seem to have moved into being an argument just yet. This house is significantly smaller than the Amaterasu Residence, yet has a great many more people in it: along with her husband and many children, Minami-san also lives with her mother. One of her sisters also lives in the neighbouring property with her own children, easily within shouting range.
Announcing themselves in the genkan prompts a commotion: seven-year-old Jōnen-kun is first to the door, sliding it all the way open with an over-enthusiastic shove that makes the panel thump lightly against the end of the groove and bounce back, grinning widely even as three-year-old Tekari-kun catches up and ducks under his arm to drag Kiso out of his sandals and into the house.
Fifteen-year-old Tateshina, caught rising from her loom as the door thudded open, arrives at a more sedate pace as the toddlers dash past her and she bows as she softly welcomes them indoors:
"Izuna-sama, Tobirama-sama, welcome; Okaa-san will be pleased to see you both."
Minami-san is not immediately visible; Tobirama assumes she is in the south-facing workroom, possibly with Naka-Coatmaker, whom he has not yet met. In the central room of the house, which runs from the genkan on the western side all the way through to the open side of the east-facing kitchen, there are only the two little boys now building enthusiastically with a set of variously-shaped wooden blocks, eighteen-month-old Kinu-chan sitting on the room's only tatami with some battered dolls and chewing an ivory animal as Midori sits next to her with a mending basket, singing quietly, Tateshina's loom on the far side of the iori and a kneeling desk with scrap paper half-covered in careful characters, which is evidently what Jōnen was doing before dashing to open the door; sure enough, the seven-year-old has ink-stains on his fingers.
Ikoma and Kitamata are evidently at the forge, working. That is proof enough that Minami-san is recovering well, although Fushimi-san not organising the children into chores is perhaps a better indicator; Minami-san's mother is rather formidable, vastly more so that the warrior who shares her name that he met while Izuna was examining the buildings by the southern bend of the river.
"She and the twins are doing well then, Shina-chan?"
"Tou-san's already picked a name for the boy!" Jōnen says eagerly. "He checked with Hikaku-sama first and everything!"
"Picking a name already? That's a good sign," Izuna says warmly. "Can you tell me what it is or is it a secret?"
Tobirama's more curious why Ikoma-san would ask Hikaku about names.
"It's Hijiri!" Jōnen says brightly. Izuna's chakra twinges, pain running sharply through it then draining slowly away as her smile never falters.
"That's a lovely name and very different to everybody else's, so it's not at all confusing."
Jōnen nods energetically. "All our names are different! Well Naka's isn't but she's the only Naka at home!"
"Your parents have put a lot of thought and care into your names," Izuna agrees solemnly, "but remember it's rude to point it out when other people's parents have been less obviously attentive."
Jōnen nods, then huffs as his sister puts her hand on his shoulder and steers him back towards his calligraphy practice. "You're wearing your new coat, Nii-sama!" He says, twisting around even as he obediently crosses the floor. "Do you like it?"
"I think it's marvellous; your mother is incredibly talented," Tobirama tells him.
"Kaa-san is the best," the boy agrees smugly, then sits back down at his desk and picks up his brush. Tateshina watches him for an instant longer, until he moves his paper and begins a new kanji, before closing the door to the genkan behind them and ushering them into the closest of the two south-facing rooms: Minami-san's workroom.
Through the paper-lined shōji separating this room from the main room, this space is entirely filled with tatami and there are many tansu lining the walls, full of scrolls and silks and jars of dyestuffs. In the middle of the room are Minami-san and a stocky girl teetering on the edge of puberty –likely Naka-Coatmaker– along with a reed basket containing two tiny infants snuggled together like kittens, a square of silk gauze draped over the top to keep the insects out and plenty of soft blankets underneath so the babies don't chill, even in this summer weather.
They are so, so tiny. Tobirama could probably balance one of them on one hand.
"Tobirama-kun!" Minami-san says brightly, standing as Naka-Coatmaker looks up from the silk patchwork in her lap, "come and sit down so you can meet the two adorable new additions to the family."
Tobirama sits; the room is full of the scents of baby skin, milk and Minami-san's good health. Yes, Ikoma-san had come to say as much and thank him, but this–
–this–
Minami-san removes the silk and hands him the tiny naked infant girl; cradled in his hands she looks even smaller. In the basket the boy stirs and whimpers, bereft; Minami-san tucks him into the front of her yukata.
Tobirama lifts the tiny nameless girl closer to his face –sleeping so trustingly in his hands– and breathes in her scent. She's still too young to have her own chakra, so all he can smell is the soft, subtle scent of infant and mother's milk, blending with the more obvious scent of Minami-san's chakra.
Her skin is so soft. She is so delicate. Not one of his aunties has ever let him hold his baby cousins when they were this small; Hashirama's thoughtless exuberance and his own loud and occasionally violent objections to it thoroughly put all of them off entrusting fragile infants to either of them. Once they were a few months old Tobirama generally had a chance, but he honestly wasn't often around and never had the time for babysitting. Too many other duties.
"What was your mother's name, Tobirama-kun?" Minami-san asks idly as Izuna settles next to Naka-chan and sets about admiring the girl's handiwork.
"Kikuno; Hatake Kikuno," Tobirama says distantly, mostly focused on the unbelievable softness of the fluffy baby hair against his cheek and nose. "Written 'chrysanthemum field'; Hatake women's names usually end with the 'field' character."
"A lovely name for a lovely lady," his host says warmly. Tobirama blinks, looking up at her.
"Did you ever encounter my mother, Minami-san?" It seems unlikely.
"She must have been a remarkable woman, to raise a son like you Tobirama-kun."
Tobirama must have something in his eye; an eyelash or something. Of course he's not crying.
He's got nothing to cry about. Nothing at all.
After lunch, when Kiso is off being babysat by Naka-Scallion and Izuna is in her study with the shōji open, poring over the latest intimidating stack of documents her father wants her to draw conclusions from in between writing letters, Tobirama abruptly sets aside the book he is reading –a comprehensive guide to Go strategy, featuring diagrams of all the known ju– and wonders what on earth he's doing.
He's been living day-to-day, or at most week-to-week, but in the long term that really isn't good enough. This isn't just a temporary interlude; this is the rest of his life. He's married to Izuna even if he's not strictly speaking her husband, he's already halfway integrated into the Uchiha clan –when was the last time he got lost trying to go somewhere specific in the compound? Longer ago than he's comfortable thinking about– and before the year turns he is going to be holding a child that shares his blood in a more immediate way than Kiso or Keigetsu.
He needs goals. He needs a strategy.
Well, goals that encompass the Senju are perhaps a little beyond his scope, but he can support Izuna's goal there; she wants peace and he can continue supporting that as and when the opportunity arises. For himself…
Well. He wants a successful marriage, like Tokonoma-ji and Sumi-ba have. Wants a spouse whom he can confide in and be confided in by, whom he can support confidently and be supported by in turn; wants a partner who listens to him and takes his feelings into account. Izuna seems to be open to that, she's been confiding in him and listening to him when he wants to talk about things, so he just has to… keep going, there.
Talk about things that are more personal, and offer to listen to her on personal things too.
But what does he want for himself?
He wants… he wants to be a good father. He's doing his best with Kiso and Kei-chan, but sometimes it feels like walking over sand dunes, unsteady and likely to give way at any moment, sending him tumbling down to land on his face with grit in his eyes.
He could talk to Haruto about fatherhood, maybe? He and Naka Two-Swords seem to have raised a very happy and steady child in Sakuya-chan. He could maybe talk to Ikoma-san as well, seeing as the man has an entire household full of children rather than Haruto's single daughter and second child on the way. He's used to caring for Kiso now, but adding Kei-chan full-time and another baby –or even babies– before the end of the year suddenly feels very immediate and rather intimidating.
How did his mother manage it, raising the four of them all alone?
Well. It's evidently possible. People have been raising children since the dawn of time, so as long as he's careful and kind he probably won't do worse than most people manage to.
But what else does he want? Being a good father is a personal goal, but parenting is a collaborative activity when there're two of you and he's not doing this alone. He's doing it with Izuna, who has made it very clear she's looking forward to being a mother and seems to know what she's doing with both Kiso and Kei-chan. Madara will doubtless also be involved in some fashion once the children are old enough, seeing as Izuna's offspring will be his heirs unless he also marries and reproduces.
Tobirama knows he wants to learn new things. He's always wanted to learn things, honestly; mostly things that would help him improve his understanding of the world and refine his ability to use chakra. But now there's no battlefield tomorrow –there will likely never be another battlefield ever again, even though he can't bear to give up his kata and strength exercises– and no missions to complete, so his desire to learn is turning in new directions.
The book on eyesight and how it works clarified a lot of things he'd never really thought to question about how the eye and the brain interact, things that he has seen in his own kin growing up. In Uchiha many of these things may be more pronounced, but the underlying processes are identical. He's planning on reading the book again and taking more notes, to see what his now-enhanced understanding lets him take away from the text.
The books on colour chemistry are also fascinating, never mind all the uses for pigments that the authors mention. He'd been aware of indicators and their value in chemistry, but never connected that to the fact they could be used to detect –and even neutralise– poisons. And Izuna is always willing to indulge him in fuuinjutsu theory, as well as increasingly willing to let him join in with a little experimentation.
Is that enough? A lifetime of matrimony, fatherhood and scholarly pursuits? Is that truly all he wants out of life?
Well, it doesn't have to be a lifetime; as the children grow they will need less of his attention. In twenty years time –and he is now shockingly likely to be still alive in twenty years time– he can always revisit his goals, as then he might well have more time to pursue other things in.
Satisfied with his conclusions, Tobirama returns to his reading; he wants to feel he is improving his play, even though he is very unlikely to ever defeat Asane-san at Go.
The following afternoon, while Kiso is out with Midori-chan, Tobirama approaches Izuna with a question that's been in the back of his mind since the outing down to the southern border:
"How does a person fight with a hand-fan?" Madara's gunbai is technically a fan, but it's almost as tall as he is and wielded as a combination of shield and bludgeon.
"Well, there're two –actually three– different kinds of hand-fan that can be wielded as weapons," Izuna explains instantly, smiling as she gestures. "There are folding fans, gunsen and tessen; rigid fans, gunbai; and also iron clubs shaped to look like furled folding fans, which are also classified as tessen. Gunsen are regular folding fans but with the ribs made out of metal, generally bronze or brass, and with thin iron plates over the outer spokes. They're light and strong, generally with oiled paper covering the spokes, and usually plain or simply decorated with the owner's mon. They're used like regular fans, for cooling off on hot days, but made of metal so as to be more hard-wearing. They can also be used for signalling and identification, seeing as nobody goes around with full-size banners anymore.
"Tessen are different: the outer plates on a tessen are genuine armour, and they may also have sharpened steel ribs. They are weapons with associated fighting styles and should be treated as such; useful for deflecting projectiles and for defending oneself from attacks at close range, as they are strong enough to parry and deflect a sword with and are perfectly serviceable for bludgeoning even when not sharp enough to slice people open."
Tobirama tries to imagine the practicalities of cutting somebody open with a fan. He suspects it would require moves such as those used by dancers; using a furled tessen like a kunai for deflecting blows makes much more sense.
"Gunbai are rigid fans, generally made from solid wood or iron, and sometimes from wood with iron plates riveted over the top," Izuna continues, "but usually not as large as Madara-nii favours. They're for deflecting blows and also for signalling troop movements, usually; Nii-san deciding to have one custom-made to use as a club and shield is mostly a response to your brother's tendency to arm his tree-tendrils and occasionally throw weapons at him."
"So when you offered to buy me a fan, you were offering me a tessen." A folding steel fan.
"If you would like one I will see about approaching a blade-smith who is willing to work with you to ensure the fan fits your hand properly and you can grip it appropriately both when furled and when open," Izuna says, "although it may take me a few tries; not all of the knife-makers make tessen. I may have to turn to a shuriken-maker instead; I'm not entirely sure how the various disciplines divide this kind of intermediate work."
And, she does not say but Tobirama hears anyway, a capable smith may nonetheless choose to refuse the commission on the basis that they do not wish to work with him.
"But even if I cannot get you a tessen immediately, I am sure a gunsen could be acquired; those do not require a steel-smith and it would be a good place to start, as you could get used to the weight and size while also being able to commission some prints to cover it with," his wife continues thoughtfully. "The clan has quite a few artists; you could always get a plain covering, of course, but a print will better disguise the fan's true purpose and the eventual tessen would be the same size as the gunsen."
"The clan has print-makers beyond those who decorate the coat-linings?" Tobirama has seen a bit of the print-work involved in making the coats of those clansmen who are not high-ranking enough to merit Minami-san's magnificent patchwork; prints and stencils are in fact the vast majority of what the master coat-maker does with her time, despite the patchwork being her specialty.
"Oh yes," Izuna agrees, "many of them are however related to the coat-makers; lots of artists in the Toyotama Lineage, which is what Minami-san was born into. The Uchiha can only support so many people involved in the making and maintenance of the clan coats, but there is a larger market for paintings and prints: to go on tsuitate and fusuma, to be attached to fans, print collections for the Trading Branch to sell, paper dolls for children to play with, to adorn shrines, as book illustrations and so on." She pauses. "Now the clan is investing in kimono-making and pottery there are even more avenues down which an artist may choose to specialise, and many of them are cheerfully doing so."
"So there will be existing prints I could peruse first, before deciding if I want to commission one specially." Tobirama is disinclined to make serious purchases right now, seeing as the Senju will be paying Izuna her demanded recompense in a week's time; it is likely to be as much in goods as in cash, seeing as luxury goods are high value and can be foregone at need. He is expecting a good number of tea bowls, clothes chests, furisode and similar status symbols to be included; swords are less likely but still possible. It depends what everyone is willing to part with in terms of heirlooms and goods squirreled away to sell when lean times come.
"If that's what you'd like to do, Treasure."
Tobirama opens his mouth to ask if they could wander out and do that now, then pauses as he notices they have guests coming in the garden gate. Izuna also glances towards the genkan, raising an eyebrow as her chakra swirls with curiosity.
"So what brings my little brother here after so many weeks of dedicated avoidance?" She muses, shuffling closer to the iori and refilling the iron kettle, then hanging it on the suspended hook over the banked fire to boil.
Saburō? Tobirama hadn't recognised him, but then again his sensing is much more coherent now so it follows that the people he had only had a vague awareness of before would feel different now he has accessible chakra to draw on. He had recognised the other visitor though; it is Kamui, who delivered his coat and the news of Minami giving birth.
Tobirama does however has a good idea of why his younger brother-in-law has been avoiding the Amaterasu Residence; given he was likely blamed by his father for Tōka's escape, his carelessness with confidential information giving her the details she needed to choose a day when those capable of outmatching her speed were out of the compound, it follows that he would choose to avoid the compound's other Senju entirely thereafter.
Tobirama was after all right there and witness to his failure. A failure Saburō has doubtless been extensively punished for.
The two teenagers announce themselves in the genkan, pause then step into the front hall in guest slippers, both of them in working indigo; training together, perhaps? Or maybe they are on the same Squad; Kamui looks rather older than Saburō, so might be his sempai.
"Izuna-sama." Kamui bows, deep but precise; this is a formal visit then. Izuna offers a seated bow in return. "I come with a petition."
"Come, sit," Izuna says, gesturing at the zabuton and the tatami around the iori, "and speak."
The two teenagers choose to sit on cushions rather than join them on the tatami; Tobirama suspects that is partially a desire to stay out of arm's reach. Izuna brews and serves tea in guest cups, which is duly accepted, then Kamui bows again before stiffening her spine and making her plea:
"Izuna-sama, I request restitution for the deaths of my aunts Taimi and Yoimi, my uncle Tento and my cousins Teshio and Rusha, on behalf of my cousins Takomi, Naka-Three and Sayomi. They are housed and clothed and their caretaker is loving, but Nakani-ba has three children of her own already and cannot be expected to provide the opportunities that you can offer them."
Izuna's chakra swirls with sorrow. "You do not ask for yourself, Kamui-kun?"
Kamui's chakra spasms. "Money for clothing, books and toys, personalised teaching and apprenticeships will all make my cousins' lives better, Izuna-sama," she grits out, "but it cannot give me back my parents or my younger brother and sister. I ask for them, not for me."
Some of those names are unhappily familiar; Kamui is demanding restitution from Izuna for the loss of kin that Tobirama has killed. Because Izuna has taken him as her concubine, and in doing so has taken his debts to the Uchiha clan upon herself.
How many times has she done this already while he was still in the Diplomatic Quarters? How many more will come forward as they realise that his wife is serious about integrating him into the wider clan?
Tobirama cradles his teacup in both hands, staring into its depths as though they hold the secrets of the Sage, as Izuna gently coaxes Kamui into agreeing to allow Izuna to pay for a personal suit of armour once she has finished growing, so her cousins can be reassured that she is well-protected in the field, along with a much finer sword.
Practical, useful things that will not crush this grieving teenager's fragile pride.
Tobirama wishes very much that he'd thought to question his father's orders before being dragged from the battlefield by Izuna. Wishes that he'd given his leopards' very vocal misgivings more thought, rather than focusing on trying to make sure no other clansman heard them. But it is too late for that now and he has to live with the consequences of his choices, however politely phrased –or not– the reminders may be.
Kamui leaves as soon as the details of her desired compensation have been hammered out, written down and signed, taking a copy to be filed in the Uchiha clan's archives, but Saburō lingers.
"More tea, otōto?" Izuna offers.
"Thank you, Nee-chan." Saburō accepts the thin-sided yunomi and holds it in both hands, staring into its depths as though he too seeks the secrets of the Sage there. Izuna does not rush him, instead pouring more tea for herself and Tobirama, then tidying the documents brought out of her study and closing up her writing desk.
"Nee-chan, did the Fatal Flower's escape help you?" the teenager asks eventually.
"Saburō, not once have I ever hoped for you to come to harm," Izuna says quietly, "but there are times when failure can be less damaging than success, if only your pride can bear it."
"You wanted me to fail? You picked me because you thought I'd fail?"
"No!" Izuna leans forward and grabs her little brother's wrist. "I picked you because I trust you, Tengu-bō. I knew you would do your duty by my concubine and my prisoner, and not stand by and allow them to come to harm. Am I pleased that Senju Tōka took advantage of your goodwill? No, not at all, although of all the ways for you to learn this lesson this is perhaps the kindest. I do however firmly believe she would have escaped regardless, if possibly a little later."
"Isn't that undermining Otou-sama, Nee-chan?" Saburō mumbles, shaking his wrist gently until his sister releases him and sits up again.
"Have my actions harmed the Uchiha Clan, otōto?"
The teenager frowns. "Nooo," he concedes after a pause.
"Otou-sama leads and guards the Uchiha Clan; his every action is made to safeguard the Uchiha Clan," Izuna says, lifting her teacup to take a sip. "So long as my own actions also safeguard the Uchiha Clan Otou-sama will not punish me for them, even when they are not actions he would have chosen himself."
That is a very neat sidestep of Saburō's original question, to which the answer is most certainly that yes, Izuna is undermining her Lord-Father and so does so regularly. Which everybody above a certain age who has seen them argue is doubtless well aware of.
"You were not punished for Tōka-san's escape, Tengu-bō," Izuna adds softly as her younger brother continues to frown; "her leaving was authorised by the Cats, and Otou-sama directed his displeasure accordingly. You were punished for revealing to her the details of the movements of your fellow Outguard."
"Which she then used to escape," Saburō points out.
"Even if she hadn't used it to escape, you would have been punished for speaking so the moment I or any other clansman discovered your failing," Izuna replies steadily. "Such laxness harms the clan and you know it does, Saburō."
The teenager slumps. "Yes, Nee-chan. Sorry, Nee-chan."
"You know better now and will not fail to measure your words again," Izuna says, tone warm but firm, "and your punishment is over, so the matter is closed." She makes eye contact. "Or at least, I hope it is closed?"
Saburō nods quickly. "Mentor Ikoma-san explained things," he mumbles, "and I'm sorry, Nee-chan."
"Forgiven, Tengu-bō." Izuna takes another sip of her tea. "How are you liking the Outguard, otōto?"
Saburō side-eyes Tobirama and gifts his sister with a suspicious squint, but does then allow himself to be drawn into a conversation which very pointedly includes only the first names of his Squad members and no specific dates or locations; the teenager is clearly trying to prove that he has indeed learned his lesson in information security.
From there the conversation wanders into 'Lineage lessons' and a whole lot of words which are individually familiar but make absolutely no sense whatsoever in context. Tobirama assumes from the general gist of the conversation that they are talking about the contents of the lessons Tajima is giving to both them and Madara –which they are clearly at different levels of competence in– regarding leadership and associated matters, but that the lessons have their own impenetrable code is not something he was expecting. Why would you do that? It seems counter-intuitive.
As the sun drifts lower in the sky Saburō's shoulders soften and his chakra eases, until the point when he states he should probably leave and finally turns to acknowledge Tobirama.
"Tobirama-san. I am glad for my sister's sake to see that you are well."
Well clearly it's not just Izuna who has inherited her father's knife-sharp tongue.
"Saburō-kun," Tobirama replies precisely. "I have every faith that in future you will be fully mindful of the loyalties of your audience, conflicting as they might be." Which is all he is prepared to say there.
His younger brother-in-law nods, eyes narrowed behind his fringe. "I am sure we will be seeing each-other more often in future." With that he makes the rest of his goodbyes and departs.
"I am sure you will be forgiven in time, Treasure," Izuna says wryly once they are alone again, "but he needs to get used to you first."
Saburō is only fourteen; Tobirama is sure there will be plenty of time for improving family relationships over the coming years, peace or no peace. Time does not stop for anything or anyone.