Author's note: I didn't think it would be this hard to write Tobirama because there were like whole episodes/chapters with his dialogue. But damn if his personality isn't limited.
Chapter 3: Meetings
Stifling a yawn, Tobirama took the stairs to Hashirama's office two at a time. His mornings of war preparations had been replaced with bureaucratic meetings. He had never assumed that building a nation would be easy, but he had never expected it to be so tedious. He turned down a hall and stopped in his tracks, narrowly avoiding a collision with the party heading in the opposite direction.
"You move too quick, cousin." the man at the head of the party laughed. He held out his hand.
"Heh, my apologies, Kaito." Tobirama grabbed his cousin's arm near the elbow and pulled him into a brief hug. It was then that the noticed the small thing trailing behind him. The girl flitted her eyes up at him briskly before returning her gaze to the ground.
"Have you met Umika Uchiha?" Kaito asked, noticing Tobirama's prolonged inspection of the woman.
"Never formally." Tobirama crossed his arms over his chest. "You're…Madara's student?"
"Yes, sir." she squeaked.
"Apologies for the interruption, Lord Kaito, Lord Tobirama. We should go." the last member of the party, an older woman, spoke up.
"Of course." Kaito immediately acknowledged her concerns. "We'll catch up after, cousin." Tobirama gave him a quick nod before moving down the hallway at his previous pace. He entered the office to see Hashirama already in deep discussions with Kotaro, an elder of the Senju clan.
"You started without me." Tobirama objected, taking a seat at the table.
"Just matters of courtship." Hashirama laughed. "I figured you wouldn't want to be bored."
"Is that what Kaito was doing with the Uchiha girl?" Tobirama asked, turning his piercing red eyes to Kotaro.
"Much to my objection, your brother insisted." Kotaro sneered. "You've heard the rumors about her, haven't you?"
"I don't know much about her." Tobirama admitted. In the before times, he had seen the girl once or twice on the battlefield. She seemed lost, at best, among a clan of hardened warriors. She had scurried off at the first sight of him. He remembered thinking she was like a feral cat: watching him with those large eyes, back arched in fear, clinging to the treetops as she fled. Never risking even the possibility of him closing in on her. He had opted not to give chase. The only thing she seemed capable of doing was trapping his kinsmen in the illusions of her Sharingan. Illusions that were reversed by the defecting members of the Uchiha. He had never seen her cut anyone down. Whether that was because of self-preservation or benevolence, he could not be sure. Her skittish nature had not changed since the village formed. She stuck closely to her own kind, still tucking tail at the sight of any Senju.
The truth was, Tobirama had hardly recognized Umika in the hallway. The girl was always messy. Her kimono was never wrapped evenly. Her hair was often frizzy and tangled. And for one reason or another, she spent her days running through the forest like a wild animal, marring the bottom half of her dress in dirt and grass stains. She looked like a different person with her silky hair pulled back so neatly into a bun, in a kimono free of snags or soils.
"Your brother indulges Madara so much that he would have his concubine married into our clan."
"Watch yourself, Kotaro." Hashirama warned, growing impatient with the tone of the conversation.
"Concubine? I thought she was his student." Tobirama interjected.
"A farce." Kotaro scoffed. "The medics have told me of the wounds they treat on that girl. She is his plaything."
"Enough." Hashirama barked. "I will not have you disparage their character."
"Then you tell it, brother." Tobirama challenged.
"The girl's parents were killed in battle when she was five or six. Madara's father, Tajima, took the girl in. Madara has since kept her close." Hashirama swallowed the uneasy lump forming in his throat. "Even if there was something more…all of us have engaged in less than honorable behavior, especially during war." Tobirama sat back as the argument between his brother and the elder continued. He had never seen Hashirama stand so firmly before.
"Stop this." Tobirama yelled over the bickering pair. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to force down the growing headache behind his eyes. "Kotaro, you cannot confirm the allegations you have made, and my brother, while far too indulgent of Madara indeed, has stumbled onto a sound decision."
"A sound decision?" Kotaro repeated in bewilderment.
"The Hyūga and Yamanaka have already arranged marriages with the Uchiha. Their clans have collaborated in the past. The Senju's alliance with the Uchiha should also be set in blood. Not my brother's need to bend knee to their disputed leader."
"You're a fine one to talk." Kotaro leaned back in his chair. "Eager to shift the burden of alliance building onto everyone but yourself."
"Speak plainly." Tobirama growled through gritted teeth.
"Your brother has agreed to an arranged marriage with the Uzumaki clan's head family. Your cousin is marrying an Uchiha commoner just to bring the Sharingan into our clan. But you, Lord Tobirama, have yet to even answer the Fire Lord's invite to meet his youngest daughter. Most nobles only dream of marrying into royalty, and you, having a princess practically thrust into your arms, hem and haw at the opportunity to secure such an alliance for your people!"
"I have no—" Tobirama's explanation was cut short by the heavy swing of the office door. The trio looked over to find Kaito tossing a scorched cloak onto the floor. The young Senju patted out the remaining embers on his shirt and scowled through an ashen face. "What happened to you?"
"She burned me with her fire style." Kaito carped.
"Umika?" Hashirama asked, shocked at first, but then choking back laughter.
"You think this is funny?" Tobirama scolded his brother, in disbelief over the events. "Uchiha attack our own and you just laugh?" He stood, deciding to handle the situation on his own. "Tell Madara to come collect his student."
"She ran off." Kaito grumbled, wiping the soot from his face. "Good riddance, I say."
"I'll find her. Just summon him!" Tobirama ordered.