As soon as the contingent of Uchiha has relocated themselves inside the large, military green tent, Madara lowers himself onto a zaisu chair at the only table available, directly across from where Hashirama has already seated himself at. Izuna took a seat not a second later at Madara's right, and Tobirama at Hashirama's left. Itama and Kawarama both stopped outside, probably not a member of the bureaucratic team.
The rest of the Uchiha delegation lined in formal seiza behind of him, whilst the Senju council was already allocated behind their clan head.
Hashirama appeared sprightly, his grin so wide that it was on the verge of splitting his face in half. Madara settles for a smirk as a greeting, knowing that any other expression would make him look deranged or unhinged rather than non-hostile. He wishes he could have a personal chat with Hashirama after this meeting - or maybe during one of their breaks if there was time for it.
The rest of the people here sans Tobirama (incredible poker face as always), however, were stiff and looking at each other with explicit wariness.
Poor Izuna appeared ready to bolt to Madara's keen eyes, uncomfortable with the close proximity to the two powerhouses that were Hashirama and Tobirama. Or perhaps it was due to the Senju outnumbering them 1 to 3 inside the tent, not counting the guards situated at the entrance and the army outside.
Madara wanted to wrap his arms around Izuna and soothe his little brother's distress away, but any show of weakness right now was ill adviced. He settles for discreetly placing a hand on his brother's thigh, squeezing it once in an attempt to comfort.
Just when he was about to remove his appendage, Izuna's clammy fingers intertwined with his glove-clad ones. Noticing the nervous twitches, Madara didn't have the heart to pull back despite all logical reasonings (his brotherly instincts prohibits him from doing so). He was thankful that the table obstructed any curious eyes from what was happening from the waist down, at the very least.
Madara soon directs his attention to the Senju patriarch.
"I thank you for the warm reception and this prime opportunity of an alliance, Hashirama-dono."
Madara hated formalities. However, at this point in time, it was a necessity.
The Senju elders would nitpick anything to deny them this alliance, hence, they needed to be politically smart in their choice of actions and words. Judging by the grimace on Hashirama's face, the Senju has the same impression. Kind-hearted and easy to forgive Senju Hashirama may be, but a fool he was not.
"It should be I who thank you for proposing a treaty between our clans, Madara-dono," Hashirama says, tone and expression dripping with utmost sincerity, "I, Senju Hashirama, officially commence the Senju-Uchiha Peace Conference with Senju Tobirama, Uchiha Madara, and Uchiha Izuna. Let our clansmen bear witness to our amicable exchange at the prospect of an alliance."
As soon as Hashirama announces the beginning of the conference, Madara cut right to the chase, his tone solemn and profound. Uchiha Madara has never been one to beat around the bush if there was no need to do so.
"I have already prepared a few stipulations beforehand. As it is but a rough draft, any terms you believe that need to be revised can be negotiated."
Hikaku got up and passes around a copy of the bill Madara had written to the rest of the Senju council, lest they bitch about the Uchiha trying to one-up them. Izuna, on the other hand, directly hands Hashirama and Tobirama each a copy of the drafted proposal whilst Madara articulates each term word for word, pausing only when someone asks him to elaborate further on a segment.
The papers they had distributed aren't the actual treaty that the two clans had agreed upon during Madara's first life itself. These documents had a lot of intentional loopholes placed in them, as he plans to steer the Senju council into gradually thinking that they were the ones who would get the better end of the deal.
When Madara's dark pool of eyes met Tobirama's ruby red ones for a split second, his friend nodded discreetly.
They had both discussed and agreed upon the terms of the final treaty - all through letters with Itama acting as their courier.
The draft that Izuna and Hikaku handed out was actually compiled by Tobirama and Madara both, seeing that Tobirama knew more about his clan's council than Madara could ever. They would work together to, slowly but surely, herd the Senju clan into agreeing to what both Madara and Tobirama had agreed upon prior to this meeting.
Initially, Tobirama had been worried about Madara's people kicking up a fuss and ruining their plans, but Madara had assured him, repetitively, that his clansmen would not complicate matters and they should focus more on the Senju elders.
He didn't actually say it, but Madara believes that Tobirama did get the subtle message that Madara wanted their clans' alliance to be concluded as soon as possible.
He hopes that they could settle this within a month at the very least (no matter how improbable it seems), rather than half a year as they did in his previous life. He didn't have the time to personally attend all the peace talks if it drags on for too long. And although he trusts Izuna and Ryouta to attend them in his place completely, he was a paranoid man, believing that anything that could go wrong would go wrong.
Madara was soon interrupted from his droning (narrating the bill unenthusiastically, honestly. Hashirama looked on the verge of falling asleep despite his prior excitement, eyelids drooping at Madara's monotonous recitation. Even Madara himself wanted to sleep from how boring he sounded) when one of the Senju elders began to loudly proclaim his disagreement with more than three-quarters of the terms.
And then someone -coughIzunacough- from his side decided that it would be a great idea to snidely chide said elder about how uncouth it was to interrupt another person when they were speaking. It didn't take long for the tent explode into discord after that, with everyone trying to out-talk the other.
Majority of the Uchiha had puffed up like disgruntled cats whilst the majority of the Senju had their hackles raised like aggravated dogs, a sign that both parties were trying to instinctively make themselves look larger to intimidate each other. It would have been a highly amusing sight if not the migraine he feels building up behind his eyes.
Madara withheld a sigh.
This was going to be a long day.
Day one of the Senju-Uchiha Peace Conference ended late into the night, with a few breaks in between when the tension ran too high to diffuse. It was agreed that they would continue 'talking' tomorrow.
Unfortunately enough (but entirely speculated), there hadn't been any changes made to the draft itself as, most of the time, the council were squabbling like children rather than negotiating like grown men (at least Izuna didn't seem to be nervous anymore, having joined in the 'fun').
It had been mentally draining, as he needed to remind himself continuously to reign in his KI.
With a tired roll of his shoulders, he and his clansmen followed after a scowling Kawarama who showed them into another training ground, this one with many tents already set up. Madara was led to the biggest one. He muttered a thank you, bid his clansmen good night, and entered it. It was quite unfortunate that he was too exhausted to seek Hashirama out this time.
Laid inside was a simple bedroll made of animal fur. It was good to know that despite the mistrust the Senju hold for the Uchiha, parties who came to negotiate a truce were treated accordingly.
In his previous life, the conference had taken place at the borders between the Uchiha and Senju land, where their respective clans slept in sleeping bags during the freezing night and attended the peace talks under the burning sun. It had been hell.
He buries his face into the bedroll. Madara knows that he wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight - what with being inside enemy territory - but he has to try to rest as much as possible. If his mind continues to refuse to unwind after an hour or two, he would cease any futile attempts to sleep and do something more productive; like meditate.
"Aniki? Are you asleep?"
The flap of his tent flutters slightly when Izuna ducks down to enter. Madara grunts to show that he was still awake, though he remains unmoving from his prone position. When he feels his brother sit next to him, he was quick to wiggle closer to the warmth until he has his head nestled on Izuna's lap.
Slender and calloused fingers soon began to run through his long mane, carefully disentangling any knots they find (which was a lot). Madara almost melted into a puddle of goo at the blissful scratches to his scalp, eyelids fluttering to a close at the relaxing stimuli.
If he was a cat, he would be purring.
"What's your opinion on how the meeting went? Will this attempt at peace be a wasted effort?" Izuna murmurs, soft enough to not startle Madara out from his relaxation. He hums to buy some time for his lazy thoughts to gather.
"Deeply unimpressed. However, I have already foreseen such a result. It will take time, but I assure you that I will only show my hand once I've drawn the royal flush. Trust me, Izuna - Takumi, Yakumi, and our unborn children will not have the threat of war destroy their childhood. They won't be forced onto the battlefield like us."
"We made no progress, though." Izuna pointed out.
"It is only the first day." Madara counters.
"If you say so..."
"Stay the night?"
"Ok. But don't expect me to get any sleep when we're surrounded by Senju." His brother grumbled petulantly.
Madara only patted the younger Uchiha's knee in wordless gratitude. The two Uchiha brothers soon fell into a comfortable silence, with Izuna's fingers continuing their soothing ministrations. It didn't take long for Madara to doze off, feeling safe and content with Izuna here with him.
It was hours later did he blink awake, having sensed Itama's chakra signature at the edges of the training ground, flaring ever so slightly that it would alert sensitive sensors. One look at Izuna was enough to see that despite his little brother's proclamation that he would get no sleep, he was out like a light, drooling even.
Madara gently bundles his adorable little brother into a burrito tight enough that it would take some time to escape from, before slipping out of his tent and carefully sneaked behind his stupidly tall disciple.
"What are you doing here?"
Itama's two-colored hair whipped about his forehead when he snapped his neck to face him so fast Madara was afraid that the Senju would have a spinal dislocation. Instead of wincing at the sudden creak of bones, Itama beamed and bounced closer until they were standing only an arm's length from each other.
"Dara-shishou! I'm sorry if I woke you up..." Itama trailed off with a sheepish grin.
"It's fine. What are you doing here?" He repeated his question, hands wrapped around his biceps in an effort to keep warm, "It would be unwise for us to be seen together. I am the Uchiha patriarch right now, not your elegant shishou."
"Ehh... But Dara-shishou punches like a gorilla, is violent like a hurricane, and thunderous like a sailor. Elegant isn't exactly the word I would choose to describe my shishou. Ah, but Dara-shishou is very attractive, so it's ok even if you're temperamental. Good-looking people get a pass no matter what they do and how they act."
Madara felt his right eye twitch violently.
Truthfully, over the years, he has already come into terms with his disciple's foot-in-the-mouth careless commentaries (usually directed at Hashirama or Kawarama). He was even often entertained by the hilariously, insulting opinions Itama has to say about everything and anything.
However, at times like this, when such barbed words were pointed at him, he feels the metaphorical arrows brutally stab him through his gut and the urge to vomit blood intensify.
Itama only continues to smile brightly, his droopy eyes making him appear unimpeachable. Evidently, the Senju has failed to realize that he has, yet again, just straight-up insulted Madara's everything, from his personality to his characteristic. Not to mention the ambiguous compliment (more like a backhanded insult).
Madara tightened his fingers around his biceps to prevent them from 'accidentally' breaking the brat's skull. It wouldn't do to brain his not-so-cute-anymore teenage student. Tobirama would be a nightmare to deal with if Itama returns home with blood-caked hair.
"What are you doing here, brat? I won't ask again." He gritted out.
"Oh, right!" His idiot disciple exclaims softly, plopping a fist on a palm as if he has just remembered the purpose of his visit. Madara couldn't help it. He facepalms. "Toboe came with a letter. Since you're here, I think it's from one of your brothers - I didn't look inside, honest!"
Itama was quick to add that he hadn't looked at the contents as he hands Madara the tiny scroll, sweating nervously. Squinting his eyes dubiously at the taller shinobi just to play on the brat's nerves and make the skunk-haired Senju sweat a little, he only decides to unroll the scroll after a full minute has passed.
His lips quirked upwards when he hears a sigh of relief. Revenge sure was sweet, no matter how petty.
The second his eyes landed on the words written on the tiny scroll, however, he lost all amusement.
"Itama," He began, his hard tone making Itama stand at attention, "I need you to escort me to your gates."
"Wha- Shishou...? Are you leaving? What about the conference tomorrow?" Itama bites his bottom lip worriedly.
"I'm urgently needed elsewhere."
Madara wraps his fingers around Itama's wrist and tugged him hurriedly towards the general direction of the Senju compound gates, lips pursed in displeasure. He didn't want to leave Izuna alone on a diplomatic assignment without Ryouta there to reign him in, but he was out of options. He needed Ryouta to continue protecting the Uchiha compound in their absence.
Hopefully, Tobirama would pick up Madara's slack and not taunt his little brother into a bristling ball of anger.
"Hand this scroll to Izuna - you know who that is, right? Good. He's currently sleeping at my tent - and relay that I will be expecting him back home in two week's time by the latest. And inform Tobirama of my departure. Tell him that something came up and I won't be readily available for an undetermined period of time. If you understand, repeat what I just said."
"Pass the scroll to Izuna-san, tell him that you want him home in two week's time the latest, and inform Tobi-nii that something came up and you need to go home and that you won't be available for however long it is until the urgent thing is settled."
Itama repeats softly whilst simultaneously signaling the Senju guards on patrol to stand down when they looked ready to tackle Madara away from their third heir.
As soon as they were at the gates, Madara passes the tiny scroll to Itama's awaiting palm and rushes to the Uchiha compound.
Madara really, really hates surprises.
A/N:
Cliffhanger (๑ゝڡ◕๑)! Can anyone guess what happened to frazzle Madara so? I'll give any who guesses right a virtual cookie ( • ̀ω•́ )✧!
Unfortunately, I don't know shite about meetings between two government bodies to write it in full. Pardon me on that front (´～｀ヾ)... I really, really, really don't wanna research about it. Especially when I have no interest in such matters (they're so boring that I'd rather watch paint dry). I'm not a politically minded person (〃∀〃)ゞ.
P.S. Thanks for all the wonderful comments and extra kudos (≧ω≦)ゞ! It's hilarious how everyone agrees that Madara will only realize he has a crush on Tobira... decades later Buahahahaha ( ՞ਊ՞)!