Tobirama did his best to ignore the Uchiha bastard's blatant eyeballing as he performed his katas, a light sheen of sweat plastered on his skin as his muscles flexed and contracted with every movement he made. After another few more minutes, however, the Senju gave an aggravated huff, dropped his form, and swirled towards Madara with furrowed brows.

"What?" He deadpanned.

"'What' what?" Was the half-hearted response from the still staring Madara. Tobirama was not impressed.

"For Sage's sake, Madara. What do you want? You've been gawking at me for the past half an hour."

"I've not been, as you so eloquently put it, gawking at you, Senju! You're simply being egoistic and self-conscious."

"Please use that organ between your ears and remember that I am a sensor," Tobirama stressed the last word as he crouched down to grab his canteen, "And any shinobi worth their salt would be able to feel your eyes on them as soon as you've stopped blinking after the five-minute mark in your staring, Uchiha. So, spill. Or I'm leaving. I did not come here to be ogled at."

Madara, although the Uchiha heir would never admit to it if it was pointed out, was openly pouting. Tobirama could feel his heart pounding faster for all the wrong reasons and damn Madara and his good looks! And that meant nothing. Anybody would have their heart race if a beauty of Madara's standard were to show such an expression!

"I wasn't," Madara petulantly repeated, but when Tobirama pretended to leave, he quickly stood up from his seat on the boulder and crossed his arms, "Okay, fine. I admit that I've been staring. There, happy?"

"Ecstatic," Tobirama deadpanned, "And why have you been staring?"

"It's just that... you're barefaced," The albino felt like Madara's voice was tinged with something akin to disturbed when he said the last word, causing Tobirama to inwardly gawk in confusion.

Well, of course, his face was bared. He has no reason whatsoever to hide his identity with a mask whilst with Madara. Outwardly, however, he rolled his eyes skyward.

"Your observation astounds me. It is no wonder they call you a genius."

"I meant your skin, idiot Senju! It's unblemished!"

"... Thank you?"

"It wasn't a compliment!"

"Then what is it?"

"A complaint!"

"About what?"

"Your skin!"

"And what's wrong with my skin, Uchiha?!"

"It's flawless!"

"And what's wrong with that?!"

"Everything!"

"Make some sense!"

"I am...!"

"I assure you there is no semblance of sense whatsoever in your words!"

"But, but... You're barefaced!"

"Repeating yourself with the same words would not make my understanding of it better."

"Idiot Senju!"

"Imbecilic Uchiha!"

"Your brother's hair is stupid!"

"Your hair is stupid!"

By now, Madara has long thrown his arms in the air in sheer frustration whilst Tobirama pinched the bridge of his nose for the very same reason.

Sometimes, the Uchiha would say random things that made him look insane whilst at other times, the messy-haired teen would speak of words that were full of wisdom. Madara always has a few odd moments, and this, the albino reckons, was definitely one of them.

They traded childish insults until Madara had all but tackled him to the ground when he tried to walk away. Tobirama growled, elbowing the maddening Uchiha to try and dislodge the exasperating fool from his back. After what seems to be hours, but was in fact minutes, they both laid on their back, chest heaving as they stared at the clouds.

"Have you ever thought about getting inked, Tobira?" Madara turned his head to look at the albino, the unexpected question making Tobirama roll to his side with furrowed brows. He contemplated whilst staring into the Uchiha's black eyes.

"No. I see no purpose in making myself more identifiable than I already am."

"Would you consider inking a red line on each cheek and on your chin if I recommend it?"

Tobirama's lips parted, a refusal on the tip of his tongue, but the words halted in their tracks at the expression on the Uchiha's face. Madara's eyes were soft, almost pleading when he asked his question. It was a vulnerability that Tobirama has seen only a handful of times. And at such a look, he simply could not refuse the Uchiha no matter how insane his requests were.

With a sigh, he reluctantly nodded.

His agreement instantly made the Uchiha's lips curl upwards into an absolutely beautiful smile, and it made Tobirama's breath hitch, heart beating a mile a minute. He eagerly burnt this into his memory, as he knew that Madara's genuine smile (not a smirk or a leer) was not one to be given so easily.

He allowed it when Madara reached out to remove his happuri for him, the teen's fingers leaving a trail of heat on his otherwise icy skin.

When the Uchiha happily brought out a kit of professional-looking needles, a variety of colorful inkpots, and disinfectant, all the whilst smiling so radiantly, Tobirama felt that getting a few tattoos was worth it. Tobirama would do anything to see that smile playing on Madara's face.

Anything... That was within reason, of course. He wasn't dumb enough to be taken advantage of.

Or, at least, that was what he repeated in his mind as his head was positioned to rest on Madara's lap, his neck bared and in a vulnerable position as the latter carefully wielded a sharp needle that could puncture his carotid artery at any given moment.

Tobirama's eyelids fluttered when his friend began inking three permanent marks on his alabaster pale skin. It felt like a claim of some sorts, he self-consciously thought, satisfaction thrumming through his veins.

A/N: Oh, wow. That was a long pause between updates. I blame the festive atmosphere and the need to get drunk on such an occasion (－‸ლ). I think I lost a couple of days... Ah, the hangovers are a nightmare ༼ ༎ຶ ෴ ༎ຶ ༽...

Anyway! What do you guys think of this?

In my headcanon, I felt that Tobirama got the red lines on his cheeks tattooed to represent his dead brothers. The one on his chin to remind him that he has one left. Idk ┐('д')┌. I just feel that it's weird that canon-Tobi would get permanent marks that would make him identifiable if there was no plausible cause for it.