For the "Rumors Of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated" day, I chose the prompt "Presumed dead".
Day 9 – Freedom And Punching His Brother
Izuna was quiet since Tobirama walked to the door of his prison. He didn't want to speak to the White Demon who kept him away from his family and his brother.
It's been months. Months of this insane captivity. One without torture, or threats, or pain. Just. Comfort. Healing. And regular conversations. Most of them were about their brothers and how stupid they were.
And today, Izuna couldn't. Didn't want. As far as he could read through Tobirama's words, Madara was more than fine, despite his presumed death. That sounded like Madara didn't need his baby brother like Izuna needed him all the time.
"Madara had an idea, this morning."
Tobirama sounded astonished. Izuna couldn't help but smirk, pulling the blanket on his chest and trying to sit up on his supposed deathbed.
"Is it as bad as it sounds?"
"No. It's a good one. He suggests creating a seal to protect Konoha from being spied, if I correctly understood the general meaning of the shouts escaping from his mouth. A pretty good idea, in a way and, of course, a lot of work for me. I will be the one who has to deal with the seal, in the end."
Izuna sighed. His back hurt. He wanted to move and do something. Something else than lying down and rest because "you came nearly to death; you can't overuse your body for an undetermined time". He didn't even know why Tobirama saved him.
"Don't say that like it bothers you. You love seals and all this crap."
Tobirama raised an eyebrow. "Yes. As far as I can remember, you do love it too. Wanna help?"
"No. I want to go home. I want to see my brother and punch him in the face for daring use my death to sign a peace treaty behind my back."
"In his defense, you were dead. What was he supposed to do?"
"I don't know, being sad because I'm dead? Mourning? Prepping revenge against you? Not whatever shit he's doing with your wooden brother. Not building a village with our enemies so we can live a long life happy together."
Tobirama blinked and turned to Izuna, his lips tight.
"I agree. It's not their best idea. But here we go, so we just have to adapt ourselves."
"You can. You're not stuck up in a fucking bed, with your fucking rival slash worst enemy taking care of your wounds for months. Fuck you, Senju, I grew up to like you a bit and this is bad. Soon, I'll consider you as a friend. And it sounds wrong."
"Why? I like you. You're smart, strong and funny." Tobirama swallowed hardly and flushed a little. "And you're pretty?" he muttered.
Izuna choked, glared at his rival, certain he misunderstood what Tobirama just said. This annoying Senju kept quiet and Izuna squinted.
"What? Did you just–? I– you– do you think–? Never mind, it's not the point here. The point is I'm sick to be kept prisoner in here. I want to feel the wind in my face, to feel the sun warm me, the smell of grass, the touch of my brother's cheek when I'll punch him… I want to go out!"
Tobirama rolled his eyes with a visible annoyance.
"You can't just walk around. I didn't prepare your brother for your resurrection; he can't handle it now! Imagine what will happen if you walk into his office without any announcement… He will be sure it's a trap, or a cruel joke and he will kill you! Damn, you're smart, so think about it before saying stupid things."
He sighed and looked away.
"Besides, if I let you go, you'll ignore me in the village, considering your words and how you're ashamed to care about me. And I don't want to be alone anymore."
Izuna had already noticed how lonely was Tobirama's life. His cousin put aside, he didn't have any friends, his brother always chose to chase after Madara before spending time with him. The other shinobis thought him a convenient weapon and civilians feared him.
Not that he cared about how Tobirama felt, no, of course, not. But, still. The man was decent.
Okay, the man didn't make Izuna want to punch him in the face, most of the time.
And he might have a little, easy to ignore (massive) crush on him. But, hey, he was Izuna Uchiha, he couldn't just admit it without being a little shit, he was not a romantic guy.
"Fair point. The 'Madara will kill you' stuff, not the 'You're like a pet for me' one."
"That's not what I'm saying," Tobirama groaned.
"Anyway," Izuna ignored with a smirk, "tell me more about this seal. If I must be stuck with you for an entire life, I may have some ideas you can use correctly. Unlike my brother who persists to misunderstand everything I say. Like my statement 'Don't trust the Senju' and the first thing he does when I die is to hug the Senju Clan Head and become friends with. I want to punch him so hard. Or drown him in the Naka River. Or write 'punch me, I'm stupid' in his back. Maybe the three of them. Not in this order."
Their brothers are a comfortable target for his anger. There was always something to say – or repeat again and again and again – about them.
Tobirma laughed, finally smiling and Izuna felt so much better.
"I know this feeling. My brother is Hashirama, remember?"
Izuna grinned with a teasing pout.
"So we can punch our brothers together. Sounds like we have a date!"