Winter Night
Chapter 3
Madara waited near the gate as he promised to. He hated to admit it but he was nervous. Hashirama wanted to be with him. But could that actually happen? He doubted it, no matter how much he wanted it.
Dawn came and went too quietly for his liking. There was no way that Hashirama would leave the village without telling his brother what he was doing. So why at dawn was the village still so quiet and peaceful?
Had Hashirama just gone back to bed? Or was he secretly laughing at what an idiot he was for believing him and waiting for him out in the cold?
Hashirama was not that kind of a person. He loved with his whole heart. But the annoying little voice in Madara's head loved to warn him that someday that would definitely change. Especially since he didn't deserve someone like Hashirama anyway.
Hashirama would eventually forget about him and settle down and have a dozen kids with Mito, just like his brother and no doubt the rest of his clan and the village wanted him to. Hashirama would stay in the village where he belonged after all…
But Madara jumped to his feet when he felt a massive spike in Hashirama's chakra. He smirked. So… He was going to tell Tobirama he wanted to leave after all.
His first instinct was to go and protect him- to find out what was wrong. But this was between him and his family.
On the positive side, Madara could do whatever he wanted without his own family around to nag at him. But that was also the problem. It was lonely without them around to nag at him, or tend his wounds or celebrate a victory…
Not that there had been many of those lately. Life in their little village was easy and quiet- too quiet and too easy for someone who had grown up on the battlefield. The tranquility coupled with his trust issues frequently made him anxious.
Being in the village had its advantages too though. There were stores and shops where you could buy everything from groceries to flowers, candy and a bakery. There were bars and restaurants too, everything the larger cities had- just smaller…
But it was too quiet- too peaceful. People became nervous instantly when he was around, their conversations forgotten when he walked by. Tobirama had certainly wasted no time telling the civilians and making sure Madara knew he didn't belong there…
When Hashirama was with him it was easy to ignore the glares and the fearful whispers but when he wasn't it was a sword through the back. Just another reminder that no one wanted him here.
Madara's wife was his only remaining family. And she wasn't happy that he was leaving. But she wasn't surprised or angry either. She married him for his family name and he was fine with that since he wasn't interested in her body or her heart either.
The clan elders had decided it was time for him to marry and have children. They wanted him to "Put his ridiculous obsession with Hashirama behind him, once and for all". Because we can't forget, "Two men- in love with each other? Don't be ridiculous!" But, the only reason he went through with the wedding was a pitiful attempt to make Hashirama as jealous as he made him months earlier when the bastard married Mito.
Obviously it hadn't even worked. Not only had the idiot congratulated him on his engagement and came to the wedding, but he seemed genuinely happy for him! That was not the reaction Madara had hoped for.
Yuri even looked just like Hashirama- only female. That no doubt annoyed some of the more observant Uchiha clan elders. But Madara didn't care- he was the one who had to get her pregnant… With her long, silky dark brown hair and velvety brown eyes she was quite beautiful. She also had darker skin than Madara did but that was where the similarities with his lover stopped.
She didn't smile much and he wasn't sure he'd ever seen her laugh. But he couldn't really hold that against her. She was a ninja, after all, and as a jonin, their lives in either clan hadn't been fun or easy up until the truce.
Madara liked to fight all of the time. But even he wasn't sure if it was because he really liked it or if he just liked it that he won all the time. The only exception to that is when he butted heads with Hashirama. Although Hashirama was stronger than he was, he wouldn't strike to kill against him. And Madara took merciless advantage of that, making his lover work for every inch of ground he gained. To avoid accidentally killing everyone in each of their clans with their most powerful jutsu they usually settled for very intense sparring. But since Izuna was no longer around to keep Tobirama busy, if Madara hadn't agreed to the truce he would eventually have been killed and his clan would have been annexed anyway. At least this way they got to keep some of their pride.
Yuri was unique among the Senju though, because her grandmother, Aya, was an Uchiha. She had been taken in battle several decades earlier and was not killed because she was pregnant. Why no one tried to rescue Aya or ransome her back, Madara didn't know because he wasn't born yet. His grandfather was still the clan leader at the time. But his father had kept a loose eye on Aya's daughters even though they were not allowed to become shinobi. In all the woman had three healthy babies among the Senju before she died giving birth to a boy, which was stillborn.
The Senju no doubt hoped that her children or their children would develop the Sharingan. But Aya was from a less powerful branch of the family so perhaps that was why they didn't.
Anyway, after the truce was made Madara noticed Yuri's resemblance with Hashirama immediately. And when he was looking for a potential bride she was the only woman in either clan that he was interested in. And when he learned of her family history he was sure he'd made the right choice.
And, better yet, even Tobirama had to agree that since Yuri was "a Senju", their wedding would serve to unite the two clans. Though the idiot had promised him privately that if any harm came to her that Madara would regret it. He rolled his eyes. As if he would harm the girl when her mother and her sisters should have been Uchihas to begin with!
But anyway, he married a woman just to make another man jealous- that sounded ridiculous even to him! He hadn't told her that, of course. But someone else in the village certainly could have.
He enjoyed Yuri's cold and aloof attitude when they were in bed together on their wedding night. He'd been curious and her attempts at not reacting to his touch amused him because of the challenge it presented. And it also amused him that she wanted to do it again the next night.
Touching her while she was trying to hold back little pleasure noises that night was like that time he sucked Hashirama's cock behind a screen at a banquet while making the idiot try to be quiet. After all, Tobirama was with the rest of their clans on the other side of it getting monumentally drunk together.
Looking back on his wedding night now, perhaps he should have indulged his wife a few more times while he waited to see if he had Hashirama's attention or not. But he was definitely gay, so at the time, the novelty of being with a woman seemed to have worn off by morning.
And it was too late now, Yuri was so embarrassed (and pissed) that she'd slept alone in one of the guest rooms. And she moved her things into it that morning, and they hadn't talked much since. Which was fine with him since she was already pregnant.
He needed an heir now that Izuna was gone. They were from the most powerful branch of the family and he was its last member. Izuna had planned to have kids from a young age. He didn't have a girl in mind to be their mother yet, but he knew Madara was in love with Hashirama, so-
A noise in the forest alerted him to his surroundings. But he and his Sharingan sensed nothing. He blushed realizing he'd been lost in thought for ages.
It was now nearing noon and Madara sighed… But there was still no sign of him. Hashirama wasn't coming. His inner voice was right. He wanted to just leave and not have to worry or think about it anymore. After all, his pride didn't want to be standing here alone when time ran out.
But he didn't leave- he couldn't. Pride be damned, he was staying for the full twenty seven and a half minutes... He'd been waiting for just over four hours already! He knew Tobirama would do or say anything to keep his brother in the village for as long as he could. Clearly the brothers weren't fighting or he'd sense it, but they were almost certainly still arguing.
Could Tobirama convince him to stay in the village? Madara sighed. Even he had urged Hashirama to stay- more than once!
And yet... Hashirama promised to come. Even though right now Madara didn't really trust anyone else, he couldn't let go- not Hashirama. Not yet…
"H-Hey!" A voice called.
Madara turned to look at the gate and saw Hashirama running toward him with a backpack slung over his shoulder.
"You waited!" Hashirama said, hugging him tightly.
"You really came…"
"Sorry it took me so long." Hashirama grinned. "We won't be gone long. So Tobirama can't mess things up too much in the village, right? … Mito is going to keep a very, very close eye on him for us. Come on, let's go. We'll head southeast to the coast at Gulf Cove."
"Why would she? You don't even like her. And why southeast?"
"Yes, I do. She's nice! I just don't want her, you know, sexually… Nevermind. Do you remember when we first met and you told me that story about the Land of Crystal? It's real. It lies southwest of the Wind Country."
Madara rolled his eyes as they set out on a run. "Of course it's real! It's just ruins sitting in the jungle though. And what the hell does that have to do with your wife?"
"Look at this," He said, handing Madara the letter. "It's not ruins. People actually live there. This letter arrived yesterday. It's a lot like the first letter but the situation is getting worse. Anyway, Mito's in love with Tobi so she's going to-"
"W-Wait- One thing at a time. Mito is in love with your idiot brother?"
"Yeah. And he loves her too, apparently."
"So, the ice princess is in love? But with your wife?"
"Yeah," Hashirama said quietly. "It is weird, isn't it… I mean I don't care that they are going to be together. But isn't it wrong that we have to stay married to our wives when all I want is you?"
Madara smirked. "Relax, Idiot. We're ninjas, remember? We've literally been trained all our lives to do shit that most people think is wrong. One day we're soldiers and the next we're assassins. Whatever the daimyo wants when he summons us. But I still can't believe it. The ice princess is finally in love again… I feel sorry for Mito then."
"Will you stop that?"
"What? I'll stop calling him ice princess when he stops being one. And right now I don't see anyone around for miles, do you?"
"He's still the acting Hokage right now, you know."
"I figured. If you were here, the desk would have to be his for a while. So glad we had sex on it- twice."
Hashirama blushed. "Speaking of last night, I noticed I couldn't find my scarf when I got home..."
"How is that my fault? If you're cold you can borrow mine."
"Bastard, there was jizz all over it," Hashirama snorted. "And you wonder why he's always mad at you…"
"He was mad at me before we met!"
"Alright, I can't deny that. But you're definitely not helping!"
"I don't have to play nice if he doesn't."
"How old are we now? And besides, this morning I told him he has to play nice."
"I've heard that before."
"Yes, well, now he has Mito. Hopefully he can let go of Aniko enough to see that what happened to her or her sister wasn't your fault."
"Wait- whose sister?"
"You killed Aniko because she was attacking you, everyone saw it. We've talked about that before, right?"
"Yes, but what does that have to do with her sister?"
"Her sister was kidnapped in battle the year before- and she was raped- in your camp."
"Ah, so Tobirama's girlfriend was that kunoichi's sister? My father granted that girl a warrior's death because she couldn't bear to face her fiance after what happened. Then he gutted the bastard who attacked her and we displayed his castrated corpse for a week in the center of our camp as a warning because we are not rapists."
"That's why that corpse was strung up a week later?"
"Yes. The coward panicked and fled our camp after nearly killing her. Did you really think my father would have touched that girl? That bastard did many, many evil things, but he never harmed a woman outside of honorable combat. Besides, it isn't like the Senju haven't taken our females on occasion. My bride's grandmother spent six years in your camp having half Uchiha bastards before she was finally killed."
"You mean Uchiha Aya, right?" Hashirama smiled sadly. "My father once told me that unlike the other girls we ransomed back to you she was never a captive. She came to us, desperate to be with the man she loved because she was pregnant and her father would have killed her when he found out."
"That's absurd. You're saying she begged to stay even though my father said she clearly carried the brand of a slave on her palm?"
"Yes she did. And yes, my grandfather and the elders of my clan were assholes for branding her. But it shows that she was truly desperate to escape her father. And it means that you and I were not the first secret lovers between our clans. Of course, my grandfather only let her live thinking her children might give us a Sharingan weilder. But some in the clan were still not happy with her presence."
"That's putting it mildly since my father said she was murdered while giving birth. Her body and the dead child were dumped outside our gate without a word."
"Yeah," Hashirama sighed. "I'm sorry for that. A midwife in our camp secretly nicked her femoral artery, bleeding her. The baby died slowly because her contractions were too weak. Needless to say, the bitch responsible was immediately killed when she was caught. But it was too late."
"Funny that they ended up keeping her three daughters though. Is it true that they were not allowed to become shinobi?"
"Do you honestly think your clan would have killed or given up a single child who had a chance to develop my Mokton powers back then?" Hashirama sighed. "But, yes, that's true- there was too much chance of the girls being reclaimed in battle if the dojutsu had manifested in them. My father and I would have allowed them to train but not to fight either. But he had not yet taken over at the time and the girls married into the clan once they were old enough. From what I understand, competition for them was fierce as they were all quite beautiful."
Madara sighed. "So much has happened between our clans. No wonder everyone says we're crazy. I'm sure both of our fathers and grandfathers are perplexed by our attempt at building a village together. But I really think you can make this work."
"It's never been me alone. I would never have tried it without you. You know I love you. I don't want to do this without you."
Madara didn't answer. He sighed and then found himself tackled in the air and they rolled across the ground to the roots of a large tree. He snorted when Hashirama settled on top of him.
"Dara, please. Promise me that you won't give up..."
When he didn't answer right away, Hashirama growled. "Come on, say it. You waited all morning! You're letting me come with you! I don't want to lose you. And I'm sorry for letting Tobirama hurt you for so long…"
"Hashi," Madara smiled. "You don't need to babysit me. I can feel your chakra from anywhere. I will always come when you need me."
"Distracting me won't work because I need you right now. Promise."
"I'm not giving up. I just needed some space."
"Away from me or the village?"
"Both, but I'm glad you're here. Why do you love me when no one else does?"
"I don't know, but to me you're special- a divine gift that's all mine. I guess all most people see is your strength and skill and they're afraid to look deeper because you so rarely smile. But you also have a mischievous side and you care about people- especially children. Why wouldn't I love you? But there's one thing I'm jealous of."
"What's that?"
"How are you staying so warm right now? You were waiting for ages and you're as warm as if you were sitting at a campfire."
"That's part of being fire natured and an Uchiha. It's part of our training when we are kids. In the winter we spend a lot of time still training outside. I just find the fire within my core and draw it out, holding onto it. It becomes second nature when the weather gets cold. It takes practice to maintain, but it's not difficult if you have strong chakra. People of other elements can do it too if you focus on bringing chakra into your skin as something of a shield. It's just easier with fire. You probably already do it without realizing it, which is why you still have toes wearing these shoes no matter how cold it gets."
Hashirama thought for a moment. "I guess that makes sense. Do you actually need a coat though?"
"Idiot. If I ran around naked it would take more chakra to stay warm! I've been out here for hours."
"Well yeah, again, sorry I took so long. But that's just it- when I look at you, I can't tell you're doing it."
"You have more chakra than I do, but mine is stronger, I've been doing this all my life, and I am fire natured. One does not necessarily need to glow in order to use chakra. Being able to hide that you're using it is a useful skill on its own. Wind nature can make a blade sharper, earth users are usually harder to knock back or knock down. Water aids in healing and lightning enhances speed and reflexes, right? Well, mastery of fire can make you immune to cold- at least, until you run out of chakra."
"Yes, that's true. But I'm glad we're going somewhere warm and sunny."
"We'd better get moving again. But why the Land of Crystal? I haven't thought about that place since I first told you that stupid fairytale!"
"Get the letter back out of your pocket and read it!" Hashirama said. But neither moved to stand up. "They've written to us for help twice now."
"Their city was abandoned in the story because they ran out of treasure. What makes you think this letter is real?"
"Well, I don't know for sure… But people there need us and how can we find out if we don't go?"
Madara shook his head and sighed. "Fine, we'll go. But something about this seems off to me. It hasn't been very long since we established the village. Why would total strangers come to us for help when they're living in the shadow of the Land of Wind?"
"Have you met the current daimyo of the Land of Wind? His father wasn't bad but he's hungry to make a name for himself."
"What lord isn't? Our own has been a bit of a pain in the ass lately too. How do you think he'll take it when he finds out we've been helping the princess of a distant island get her kingdom back?"
"When they pay us for helping her, our lord will be getting a hefty stash of jewels and the economy of our village will get the shot in the arm of cash that we desperately need."
"That's if there's anyone left there to help… I think you just want to fuck me on a white sand beach," Madara purred, parting his thighs to let Hashirama settle between them. "Under the moonlight? Listening to the waves?"
"And you wouldn't?"
"Idiot," Madara smirked and nuzzled him. "If you weren't about to turn blue, I'd turn you over and ride you right now."
Hashirama blushed and stood up. At this point he should be used to Madara's playfulness. But he knew very well that he wasn't kidding.
"Come on," Madara said. "There are faster ways to travel. The sooner we get to the coast the sooner you'll feel better."
Madara summoned a giant hawk, and the massive creature was more than happy to let them climb up onto his back.
The Uchiha quickly realized he hadn't considered that the wind would make Hashirama colder. But he wrapped himself around him from behind and wrapped them up in a blanket and shared his chakra with him. By the time they saw the northeastern coast of the Genzai Gulf below, Hashirama was feeling quite sleepy because he had warmed up so fast.
"Let's stop at the Inn here in the village, for now." Hashirama said. "Neither of us slept last night. We'll look for a ship that will take us southeast tomorrow."
Madara nodded and they landed in the trees outside the village where Madara killed a couple of rabbits for his large pet. Then he followed Hashirama into the small grouping of houses on the water. The Inn, it turned out, was someone's straw house with a few spare futons in one tiny guest room. But at least their supper was good. Beef stew with fresh baked bread.
After a quick shower Madara was ready to pounce on his lover. But, the idiot fell asleep waiting for him and looked adorable. So, Madara grinned to himself as he tucked him into bed. He crawled into the small bed and snuggled up next to him and went to sleep.