Tobirama was visibly wiped of emotions, his expression frigid and glacial enough that even Kawarama felt safer traveling at a 10 meters distance away from him. His clansmen (bodyguards, the elders had insisted) followed Kawarama's example, all of them staying at a tentative distance while still keeping him inside a circle of protection.

Tobirama would've normally snorted derisively at the mere thought of anybody succeeding at an ambush while he was actively kneading chakra, but due to how terrible his current mood was, he unfortunately enough didn't have it in him.

While his body moved with tandem, following after the Uchiha delegation at a respectable distance (a few hours away from the Uchiha compound now) his mind was entirely elsewhere. His inner eye was steadily keeping track of Madara's chakra signature, unmoving for the past half an hour, and by the sense of things, was at rest next to Ryouta and an unknown tiny being- a newborn.

At the reminder of the small and very, very distinctly different yet familiar chakra signature, an involuntary scowl made its way to Tobirama's face, causing Kawarama to move another meter away. To be truthful, Tobirama reckons that nobody actually knows that he was able to backtrack a person's antecedents via their chakra signature.

In fact, Tobirama doubts that even Madara (who everyone knows is a certified genius) would be able to pull apart and study a person's chakra signature in depth, at the level Tobirama was able to.

What the masses were ignorant about was that when a child was born, their chakra signature would be a mixture of their parents'. The percentage of who they take after were more randomized, however (he was still researching about it).

Take Tobirama and his brothers for example.

Hashirama has over ninety percent of their father's chakra signature and little of their mother's. Tobirama has about seventy percent of their mother's. Kawarama has about thirty percent of their mother's. And Itama was a perfect blend of their parents'.

As for the Uchiha main family members, Madara has about twenty percent of Tajima's chakra signature. Izuna has a little more than Madara. Ryouta has the highest percentage out of the five brothers; ninety-five percent. Yakumi has sixty percent. And Takumi has forty percent.

If Tobirama's grandparents had still been alive and MIA, he would have been able to track them by using Butsuma's chakra signature as a pointer even if he has never met them before. This made Tobirama quite the tracker, but that was irrelevant.

What was relevant was that the newborn's chakra signature has Madara's in it, as high as ninety percent, in fact, proving that the baby to be definitely Madara's.

Just to be clear, Tobirama had also sensed the remaining ten percent exactly fifteen days ago, on the day Madara had left the Senju compound (Tobirama wasn't a stalker. He had been worried at Madara's abrupt departure). By the sense of things, Madara had been next to her the whole time she was giving birth. And then proceeded to continually cycle healing chakra into the newborn's body up until three days ago.

It was with a rotten realization that Madara had concealed his status as a husband - a married man - from both Tobirama and Itama. And Tobirama was positively irked at the shocking discovery. He knows he shouldn't take it personally since Madara has the right to keep his own secrets, and that Madara, as a clan head, was expected to have many heirs to secure his lineage.

But his hateful heart was not in agreement with his logical mind, causing his emotions to be all over the place.

Just the thought of Madara being with someone else made Tobirama physically ill. It was illogical. He knows it was. But he couldn't help it. Hence, he decided that it would be better to - later in private - congratulate Madara on becoming a father. That way, he could move on. That way, he could be genuinely happy for his best friend.

Gritting his teeth at the uncomfortable tightness of his gut and downright painful pounding radiating from his chest, Tobirama exhales all of those pathetic feelings out of his body and breathes in deeply to clear his mind. He needs to remain focus on the Senju-Uchiha alliance. He has no time for such distractions. He needs to prioritize.

With practiced ease, he pushes all that worthless heartbreak into a metallic box inside his headspace, which goes into another secured box, and then pushes said box into the deepest and darkest corner of his mind, never to be tampered with again.

He was used to discarding his emotions.

After all, Tobirama was a shinobi first and a human second.

Kawarama peeks hesitantly at his older brother, usually so detached and callous, now a bundle of angst. It wouldn't be obvious to outsiders, but Kawarama has known the man his entire life, hence it was easy for him to see that Tobirama was feeling out of it.

And wasn't that just strange? That the cold-blooded ice queen of their clan feels something other than irritation, exasperation, and anger?

Kawarama can't help but wonder if someone had replaced his brother with a more human-version of him. Never before has he seen the albino so... sad... for the lack of better wording. Not even during their parents' funeral or the at the passing of many of their clansmen.

The downright melancholic vibes were freaking him out, honestly.

So Kawarama did what he always did when he didn't want to think about a problem. He ignores them. Meaning, he tries his hardest to ignore the pitiful, doleful eyes of his brother. They've never had a heart-to-heart before, and Kawarama won't start one now. He would leave Tobirama's weird mood for either Hashirama or Itama to deal with.

Besides, he wasn't really happy with his brother at this point in time. For the past few months, he has been feeling awfully suspicious about Tobirama's easy acceptance of this alliance meetings.

The Uchiha clan have been their nemesis for many centuries. So how could Tobirama, someone who was their father's prized weapon, just drop all the hatred their clan feels for the Uchiha and agree with Hashirama that peace between the two clans was possible?

Hashirama was the dreamer in their family. The Idealist. Tobirama, on the other hand, was the realist. Always clinically detached from any situation and making choices that discomforted many. Tobirama was their family's monster. So why was he so adamant about this alliance? He should be the first one to refuse, to deny, to do whatever it takes to stop Hashirama from accepting.

'He's planning something', a voice in his head whispers, has been for quite some time. 'This alliance is a mistake.'

Kawarama purses his lips, wholeheartedly agreeing with the voice in his head.

Yes, there was something suspicious going on with Tobirama, something everyone had overlooked. But Kawarama wasn't the second-in-command. Even if he questions Tobirama, Hashirama nor Itama would not listen. His voice, too, played little part in the clan's politics.

If only he was stronger, he could challenge Tobirama for his position and do his best to persuade Hashirama that this was all one big mistake.

The elders would agree with him.

Kawarama simply needs a chance to take Tobirama out of the picture-

No.

He physically shakes his head to rid such thoughts from his mind.

Why was he thinking of such vile things? An usurping? Fucking hell, Kawarama. Tobirama may be a cold-blooded killer, but he was still his brother, his family. He was not a kinslayer - he wasn't going to assassinate his older brother!

'What if he's planning something with the Uchiha? Do you remember that your dearest brother had talked privately with Madara back then? How suspicious... Do you reckon he's planning to betray the Senju? What if this is all a trap?' the voice continues, bringing many unpleasant scenarios to mind.

Biting his lower lip, his gaze lingers on his brother's armored back, his fingers twitching to reach for his blade. But in the end, he clenches his fists and inwardly yells for the voice to shut up. For now, Kawarama would keep a close eye on his brother. Nothing else.

He ignores how the voice mocks him for his sloppy and soft decision.

With a baby cradled in his arms, Madara makes his way to his backyard with Kagami at his side, pudgy fist bunching the fabric of his hakama. He was still lethargic, but his partially wet hair played a good part in shadowing most of his weariness from sight and his haori covered the tired lines of his shoulders.

A hot soak in the bath had also done him good, though he could've gone without Kagami swimming mid-soak. The toddler was never one for stillness and Madara dreads the thought of (officially) teaching the boy how to meditate in the future.

"Who is Da-sama carrying?" Kagami finally asks after many curious looks. "And why does akachan have old people hair?"

Madara snorts, amused at the toddler's simple mindset. Not that he blames the child for his ignorance. All Uchiha, after all, have dark hair, disregarding the elderly.

Privately, he wonders if Kagami would call Tobirama Tobi-ojiichan or something equally funny after Madara introduces them. Wouldn't that just be hilarious? To call a man in his prime an old grandpa just because he has white hair... Sage, Madara really wants to see that.

For that reason alone, Madara would not enlighten Kagami on albinism.

"Before I answer your question, bunny, may I have a look at that?" Kagami obediently complies, parting his lips and sticking out his tongue. Madara's Sharingan whirls to life for a second, confirming the legibility of the seal, before he nods. "This here is my baby sister, the princess of our clan," Madara lied with a straight face, idly brushing off the discomfort he feels at seeing the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal on someone so young.

As much as Madara tries to be a better person, he couldn't afford to have Kagami witness the secrets of his household and leak them due to carelessness. There were plenty of skeletons in Madara's closet, too many to hide from a frequent visitor. This was also one of the reasons why Madara refuses to accept servants now that he could afford them.

It would have been easier to deny Kagami access into the Uchiha main family house, but Madara chose to be selfish (and hates himself for it). He likes having Kagami close to him. Furthermore, Ryouta, another person Madara has placed the seal on, says that the seal doesn't hurt when applied.

So yeah, better to be safe than sorry. It wasn't paranoia if the whole world was really out to get him.

"Oooooooohhh!" Kagami gaped cutely. "That's awesome! Can Mi-kun be her friend even if she's our princess?!"

"There's nothing stopping you from being her friend. I know this is exciting, but let us use our indoor voice, alright bunny? She's sleeping."

"Oopsie," Kagami adorably puts the hand that was not holding onto Madara's hakama on his mouth. "Mi-kun is sorry."

"That's alright, child. Now, what would you like to do whilst we wait for your mother to fetch you?"

"Can't Mi-kun stay over?" Kagami pouts.

"I'm afraid not."

"Tomorrow?"

"Not this month," Madara gently declines the sleepover.

For one, they would all be far too busy with entertaining the Senju. Two, Kagami's mother was adamant that her son not spend time with Madara after the Purge. Even now, he could sense her chakra signature pacing up and down the street, no doubt worrying herself silly at Kagami's disappearing act.

Madara takes pity on her and decides to exhaust Kagami enough for the boy to be suasible, before letting Izuna drop the boy home. Izuna, at least, wasn't unwelcomed by the masses like Madara was.

"But Mi-kun hasn't stayed here for so long..." Kagami looks up with teary eyes, his gait slowing. Madara sighs inaudibly and slows his steps so that Kagami won't trip to keep up with him.

"I know, bunny, and we'll figure something out. But for now, how about we continue with the dance lessons? You enjoy them, don't you?"

The toddler immediately perks up, bouncing energetically at the suggestion.

"Yes! Mi-kun misses dancing with Da-sama!"

After replacing their slippers with something more appropriate for outdoor wear, they walked to the middle of the backyard with Madara balancing his daughter in one arm.

Madara retrieves a tessen from his tattoo seal as soon as Kagami finishes with his stretches and warm-up, which consisted of a set of ten push-ups, sit-ups, and squats, followed by one round of running around the backyard (small stuff that would help Kagami's physical state whilst at the same time making him look healthy rather than well trained).

The war fan looked harmless like any other folding fan, but it was heavy with iron plates, and when he snaps it open, there was a hideous painting of a black bunny on it, which looked more like a rat, courtesy of Kagami's lack of drawing talents.

He gives it a few test swings - the force of his swings causing the trees to groan and bend like a rubber band, much to Kagami's glee - before snapping it close and handing it to the toddler, handle first.

Kagami eagerly reaches for it, and despite the fan's heaviness and dwarfing length, longer than the boy's arm, the sweaty toddler holds it single-handedly without much strain.

"Take your stance," Madara orders.

The younger Uchiha promptly adopted the proper posture, wielding the fan as if it were an extension of his arm. Madara nods in approval, and at the wave of his hand, Kagami begins his kata. Kagami was usually clumsy and childish, but right now, he appears sophisticated and graceful, eyes sharp and full of discipline, knowing that playtime was over.

"Keep your movements sharp despite the fluidity of this exercise," Madara asserts as he circles around his student, fixing a few holes every now and then. "Tessenjutsu is a dance that utilizes your opponent's strength against you. The fan itself is mostly used to fend off kunai, shuriken, or senbon, but a weapon, no matter its size, is a deadly tool in trained hands."

When his daughter started to whine in her sleep, Madara begins to gently rock her whilst lowering his volume, not stopping at circling around the sweating toddler.

"Keep your elbows tucked, Kagami. Are you that desperate to become an amputee?"

Madara snarks whilst pulling out his own wine red tessen, worn and scratched from the many battles it has seen, and unhesitantly stabs the blunted butt of the weapon into Kagami's inner elbow. The boy flinches and scrunches his face in pain (blinking his watery eyes rapidly), but continues without a single word of complaint, wisely aligning his elbows to prevent them from flapping like a duck's.

"Abysmal footwork! No student of mine will have two left feet," Madara barks, mercilessly throwing a number of kunai at the boy.

Judging by the trajectory, Kagami's feet would be skewered if he continues to move in that direction. The boy quickly reacts, however, eyes narrowed in determination as they quickly take in where the kunai would land and correctly fixes his footwork. His right foot narrowly avoids the fate of becoming a pincushion.

It made Madara hide a proud smile behind his open fan.

Kagami, despite many of the abusive whispers gossiping about his status as a half-blood, was a prodigy like Izuna and Ryouta. Madara has only started the boy's training not too long ago; a month before the Purge happened, and he has already progressed far into the basics of tessenjutsu.

It was really too bad Madara could only teach him sparsely and not fully, blotches of knowledge he tries to squeeze into the boy's brain despite the short time frame.

When the elders found out that Kagami has been visiting the main family house frequently, they believed that Madara was merely giving Go lessons to the half-Uchiha (which was half-true), what with Madara having gifted the boy a normal wooden fan used for decoration purposes rather than battle.

Kagami, from what he has observed from afar, would use the fan to train in his bedroom, wisely keeping his lessons a secret, knowing that his mother would prevent him from learning more if she realizes the truth. Especially since she was a civilian, disliking the mere idea that her little boy was training to become a killer.

Madara understands her hesitancy, as he himself was a parent and would prefer to keep his daughter free from the horrors of the battlefield. However, he would not succumb to such gooey emotions. In this era, men tend to look down upon women, seen as weak and easily controlled. And Madara seethes at the thought of anybody taking liberties with his daughter.

Even if her albinism and premature birth bring forth a physical fragility, making her more vulnerable to being targeted by men, Madara would train her harder to overcome such hurdles. Nobody, and he means nobody, would best his daughter if he has anything to say about it.

At the feeling of a soft pat on his chest, his gaze strays to his albino daughter, who was sleepily blinking her cherry blossom eyes at him, one fist flailing about and hitting at his chest ever so often. He smiles at her, happy to see her awake and in awe at the adorable color of her eyes. The shade was mesmerizing, and at the right angle, they would have a reddish tint at the edges.

He was tempted to name her Sakura there and then.

"I-Is she... huff... awake?" Kagami asks breathlessly, still executing one of the tessenjutsu techniques.

Seeing that Madara was in a good mood, he told Kagami to go and cool down so that they could have a short break and makes his way to the kitchen. After preparing some refreshments, he sat on the edge of the engawa, holding a baby bottle to his daughter's lips. Kagami slumps next to Madara not a moment later, thoroughly soaked in sweat but has a wide, refreshing grin on his face.

"Mi-kun forgot to ask just now. What is hime-sama's name?" Kagami blinks curiously and reaches for a glass of milk.

"Yes, aniki, what is the name of our princess?" Izuna butts in, slumping bodily over Madara whilst wrapping his arms around the older Uchiha's waist and settling his chin on Madara's shoulder. "Woah. No offence, aniki, but you look like you've just given fucking birth. Look at them dark circles. Damn."

"... Thanks," Madara gives the cheeky brat a dry look. "Took your time, didn't you?" He had sensed Izuna's chakra signature entering the compound hours ago.

"What is Izuna-sama doing here?!" Kagami latches onto Madara's haori with a pout. "Let Da-sama go! Da-sama is Mi-kun's today!"

"Possessive little shit, aren't you?" Izuna blew a raspberry at Kagami. "This is my home. Where else would I fucking go?"

"Language," Madara sighs.

As usual, Izuna ignores his reprimand and continues to tease the toddler, riling the boy up until Kagami screeched in anger and all but threw himself at the smug looking Izuna, who releases Madara to jump out of the boy's leap.

"Meanie! Stupid ugly bald meanie! Izuna-sama is the evilest adult ever!"

Izuna dances circles around Kagami, slipping out of the boy's grip like a slippery eel. With a devious glint in his eyes, Izuna swoops in for the 'kill' and dangles Kagami like the boy was some kind of disgruntled kitten. Cute.

"Behave, children," Madara rolls his eyes when they, again, ignore him. "Alright. I'm going."

He skillfully ducks underneath Kagami's wayward limbs, pockets the boy's tessen, and walks to the front door. Izuna would remember to report to Madara after he has had his fun. For now, he should let in the guest that Izuna has left waiting at their entrance.

"Tobirama," Madara greets, eyes crinkling in happiness. It was a thrilling sight to see his childhood friend and the clan's number one enemy standing outside his home. "I apologize for the wait. Come in, we have much to discuss."

The Senju's lips part, ready to return his greeting, but halted. Those ruby red eyes blinked as they gaze at the baby Madara was feeding, a myriad of emotions flashing across his features until, finally, they settled on pleasant surprised. Somehow, it felt as if there was something off about Tobirama, but Madara wasn't sure what it was.

"I dread at the idea of you caring for a child with special needs," Tobirama slips into a pair of offered slippers and raises a judgemental brow at the snow leopard design.

"That's why you're here, Tobira," Madara smirks. "You're Kazuha's godfather, after all."

Madara's Sharingan whirls to life as he smugly soaks in the utterly gobsmacked expression the older albino was wearing on his face. It feels infinitely satisfying whenever he manages to shatter this loveable iceberg's poker face.

A/N:

Thank you for all the wonderful name suggestions! There were seriously so many...! I had a tough time deciding! ( ´∀｀)b In the end, I've decided on a symbolic name, filled with older Madara's sentimentality and is quite Uchiha-sounding. Kudos and virtual cookies to those that helped me with this name (〃´∀｀)!

Kazuha (和葉) = Kazu "和" is Peace/Harmony, and Ha "葉 " is Leaf.

Please, tell me your thoughts ( • ̀ω•́ )✧