The first time the Uchiha clan members suspected that the son of their leader, their beloved prodigy Madara Uchiha might just be doubly cursed, was when he suddenly stopped mid attack during the battle, rubbed his belly, announced he really needed to take a dump and teleported away.
The rest of the Uchiha made sure nobody from the other side was left alive to spread any tales.
The second time, Izuna Uchiha suspected the stress his brother was going through made him cracked in the head, as he stumbled on his brother using the precious full body mirror they kept as a show of prestige to check himself out.
Izuna first reasonably thought that his shirtless brother was looking for injuries and almost offered to help. But then, Madara flexed his pecs and abss and giggled so Izuna closed the door silently and left quickly. Unfortunately, he had activated his sharingan by sheer horror so that image was forever seared into his mind in maximum quality.
When two years passed and Madara showed no more signs of being cursed or possessed, the clan collectively sighed a breath of relief (and incidentally started a fire), thinking it had just been puberty.
Then, Izuna's little brother, Hikaru, came to him after a mission, saying that niisan has found a girlfriend because apparently Madara went on a shopping spree, buying kimonos, kanzashi, hair combs and fans, effectively spending all the money they had received for that mission.
Izuna was cautiously elated until he saw his brother strutting around the garden dressed and painted like an oiran.
Hikaru activated the sharingan for the first time. Izuna was spared more contemplation as the alarm sounded and he rushed to defend his home. The Senju were there, he thought furiously as he did his best to keep the enemy away from his brother.
He needn't have bothered, for Madara came into the fray sleeves fluttering, hair jewellery shining and eyes burning, descending into the midst of battle like a veritable goddess of destruction. It was what had saved Hikaru's life, he realised, as all the battlefield briefly stopped to gape and soon after retreated in front of Madara's wrath.
The Senju seemed to disappear for a while, a fact his father hurried to attribute to Madara's unusually ferocious (and visually stunning) presence. Hearing that, Izuna hoped their father would not make everybody imitate Madara's example, for while visually stunning, it would have bankrupted the clan thrice over.
Izuna realised he should have worried about the other part of the equation as well, as Tobirama once remarked during battle that his sister was better. The wistful tone the Senju used made Izuna miss a step and almost got him killed, but in an uncharacteristic show of mercy, Tobirama did not take advantage. It pissed off Izuna even more.
The summer came again, the summer when his brother finally became an adult in an emotional ceremony. All was well, even the skirmishes petering out as everybody concentrated on farming, fishing and their own festivals. The other shugo lords had recently gotten to an agreement with the daimyo and things were more peaceful.
It was a sultry, sweltering summer day, just after the rainy season. The whole country was a wet sauna.
The three eldest sons of the Uchiha Clan Head were together in Madara's room. All doors were fully open in hopes of catching a breeze. The incessant call of cicadas made Izuna sleepy and envious of the unbothered energy of the insects. He gave up on practising his calligraphy when he realised he had written Ice Dragon instead of Melancholy. He almost hoped to see Tobirama and get hit by his Suiton. He almost proposed they go harass some Senju too, but then stilled his tongue. Who knew how Madara would react.
Izuna sighed and laid on the tatami, loosening his obi and fanning himself. The hot air just moved around over his skin so he gave up.
Suddenly Madara slammed the poetry scroll on the tatami floor. Izuna and Kazue, who were listening to the wind chimes and desperately thinking of a cool breeze, jumped up in alarm.
Their eldest brother was looking at his arms with something akin to disgust. Izuna heard Madara mutter that he looked like a "damn eemo bampaiyaa" before getting up and going decisively to the exit "to tan."
He turned to his little brothers when he stepped on the engawa and told them they should come as well because they lacked "baitamin dee."
Izuna and Kazue looked at each other helplessly. Sometimes nothing happened while their eldest brother was possessed, but nobody knew how long he would stay in the trance or what disaster he might do or avert, so they followed him to the kitchens where he asked for "uotaameron" which made the cook look at him funny before giving him some inarizushi, then to the river where Madara took off all his clothes and stretched on the river bank, promptly falling asleep. Neither Baitamin Dee nor the Senju appeared until evening.
The next day, their brother was back to usual, except for his skin that was red and apparently itched and hurt a lot.
They all waited with bated breath to see what would happen next. Seeing his brother grow more and more despondent with each subsequent possession, Izuna did confess to Madara that his curse had saved their lives at least a couple of times. It cheered his brother up a little, but Izuna could sense his brother was afraid. "How is it?" He asked for the first time one day after a particularly short but terrible possession that had made Madara act like a small crying child for the three longest hours in his life.
"I know everything that happens, and I can influence things a little, especially if it's about fighting," Madara replied with a sigh. "But what I say or indeed what I ultimately do, is not me."
Hashirama knew that Madara was special. He had a vision that went beyond the battlefield, and Hashirama was happy to share his own ideals with him. He considered Madara a friend, even though regretfully estranged, but even he was startled one day when Madara met him on the same river bank they used to meet a long time ago and smiled at him.
Hashirama cautiously smiled back, remembering how their last meeting had gone.
"You have nice hair," Madara complimented him.
Hashirama blinked. "Thank you," he said finally. "You too."
Madara smirked while running his fingers through his black mane. "I do, don't I?" He preened. "Can I touch your hair?" He asked, making Hashirama freeze.
This was the moment of truth, Hashirama realised, where he would have to put to test all those diplomatic meetings and manoeuvring he had often thought about. Granted, his made up scenarios had been about ceasing the attacks on each other, but here it was, his test. Was it a trap or was it genuine? Hashirama took a deep breath and smiled. "Of course," he said, turning his back to his friend.
He was acutely aware of Madara's presence at his back, his chakra thrumming and buzzing in a controlled tempest behind him. Madara then tugged at his hair and ran his fingers through it, scratching and massaging his scalp and Hashirama melted in a puddle of happiness and relaxation which lasted too little as he suddenly remembered that he was not supposed to be this relaxed next to an Uchiha, notwithstanding their friendship.
He jerked back up, horrified to realise he had let his head rest on Madara's chest, stammered an apology and fled.
The next time they met, Madara seemed to be his normal previous self for exactly four seconds of blows and kicks before something seemed to crack.
"Hey, Senju," Madara said, stopping, "you like plants and shit, right?"
Hashirama nodded hesitantly, wondering what had brought the non sequitur.
Madara grimaced. "And you also make creams and pomades and shit, right?"
"Right," Hashirama replied, wondering where his eloquent friend had gone.
"Super," Madara replied with renewed enthusiasm, "because my crotch has been itching so bad I'm seriously considering just burning it off. Do you have any cream?"
"For that?" Hashirama asked, confused. "I can bring you something if you wait. I need to go back for it though."
Madara made a dismissive gesture. "Just hurry up, dude!"
Hashirama teleported back, wondering what "dyood" was. A special friend? A special enemy? He resolved to call Madara a dyood when he got back to see what happened.
When he got back, Madara had left. Hashirama ran after him and caught up in the forest, dangerously close to the Uchiha land.
"The cream, dyood!" Hashirama yelled at his friend. Madara whirled around and spat a ball of fire at him.
Sensing other chakra signatures approaching fast, Hashirama threw the ointment at his friend and ran away.