The trade (all participants hate it being called that; it's the main reason he keeps using the term) goes smoothly and Tobirama, Matatabi, and Shukaku, currently the most powerful trio in the country, don't so much "make an escape" as "take the scenic route out". They also, in his opinion, get the better end of the trade. Matatabi comes with them, of course, but they also get a follower in the form of Madara, who is really not as stealthy as he thinks he is. Meanwhile, Konoha has a newly-cemented team of six, intent on either a hostile takeover or a forceful revamp of some… laws. He's not entirely sure; he wasn't paying attention.
"How was your stay in Konoha?" Tobirama asks to dark looks and badly-muffled, vaguely-horrified chakra. Matatabi makes a noise that would be more intimidating if she didn't look like a young child.
Eventually, she says: "The Uchiha aren't bad, I guess." Tobirama arches a brow at her.
"Oh?" She huffs and grumbles for a moment or two and he can see where the Uchiha must have rubbed off on her, even if she refuses to admit it. Finally, under Tobirama and Shukaku's combined curiosity, she folds.
"The kits are cute enough," she sniffs. "Easy enough to train and eager to set things on fire." There's a flicker of the self-same pyromania that Kagami, and apparently the rest of his sprawling family, pride themselves on. It's… a bit concerning but not overly surprising, considering Matatabi is made of fire, in her original form.
"Matatabi really likes kittens," Shukaku stage whispers to him. "I think she wants some someday." Tobirama can't help but wrinkle his nose. Oh, he likes children well enough and he's sure Matatabi would make a good mother if she set herself to it, but he also knows her as a small child and his brain refuses to accept the fact that she is older than him. By a lot.
"I do not," Matatabi denies while Tobirama is having a mental breakdown over the idea of Matatabi, a several hundred year old bijuu, growing up and starting a family.
"Do too," Shukaku argues back, like a true sibling would.
"Do not," Matatabi snaps back before she visibly realises what she's doing and makes a face. "I'm not arguing with a child," she says firmly. Shukaku makes an insulted face Tobirama has never seen on him before.
"You're the second youngest!" He says, affronted.
"But you're the youngest," Matatabi stresses in return. Shukaku glares at her before grinning victoriously.
"Tobi likes me best." Tobirama pauses, surprised at having been dragged into this, and eyes the small ichibi by his side. The tanuki is looking quite proud of himself, as if Tobirama's favour is the best thing he could think of. It's simultaneously humbling and exceedingly strange. Matatabi scoffs.
"So? I don't care." Shukaku gasps dramatically, something he must have learned from Kagami; he swears the sweet bijuu was never this dramatic before the Uchiha.
"Don't listen to her," Shukaku says to him, worried about his feelings. "She likes you, promise." Tobirama glances at Matatabi, walking by his other side, and finds her glaring daggers at him. Absently, he rubs at the vague soreness Matatabi left after cannonballing into his chest.
"...I'm not so sure about that," he says finally.
Slowly the conversation drifts from Shukaku supposedly protecting Tobirama's feelings (while spitting out a few underhanded insults that Tobirama is pretty sure Koharu told him were compliments) to Matatabi complaining about her stay in Konoha. Mostly the adults treating her like a child which Tobirama has to stop himself from commenting on for fear of getting suddenly eviscerated. Throughout it all, they keep up their slow pace, wandering through Konoha's expansive territory, Tobirama moving them steadily towards the Land of Rivers. Madara slinking along behind them keeps Tobirama from ever truly relaxing but he's not entirely on guard, either.
It's like some strange limbo where part of Tobirama's mind has clear distinctions between this Madara and the other Madara and the other part is telling him that, different universe or not, this is the man that tried to tear Hashirama's dream apart, tried to tear Tobirama's village apart. It's not something he particularly enjoys feeling, especially when he can feel the parasite straining against his seal with Madara's mere proximity. Apparently, it doesn't like being contained. Shukaku has had to recharge the seal when the chakra in it had run low, an impressive feat for something running on bijuu chakra, as he hadn't wanted to waste his own depleted reserves in case he needed to make a quick getaway via Hiraishin with the two bijuu.
Matatabi had been vaguely interested in it when Tobirama had paused their steady travel so Shukaku could recharge the seal without removing it but it was more out of a sense of protectiveness towards Shukaku than any real curiosity.
Speaking of Shukaku, the boy is starting to lag behind. Their pace has been slowing for a good hour now– he's not sure Shukaku is really used to having to walk so much, considering his original form lets him cross countries in minutes and Tobirama or one of his kids is usually carrying him in his human-esque form. He glances up at the sky, partially surprised to find it so close to sunset. He guesses he must have been more zoned out than he thought. Too focused on Madara and the past and the unsurety of the future.
"Let's stop here for tonight," Tobirama decides after a moment, stopping dead. Matatabi, having been walking ahead of them, shoots an annoyed look back only for her irritation to come up short when she sees Shukaku's growing tiredness. The boy in question has already dropped to the ground, leaning against Tobirama's leg. He's… not entirely sure what he's supposed to do now that Shukaku has claimed his leg. Matatabi takes the decision from him when she stalks over and scoops Shukaku up in her arms.
Madara is, of course, still tailing them, and Tobirama makes sure to avoid going in that direction as he starts to set up a pitiful little camp. There's not much to do since he, like many shinobi, don't carry tents as they muffle the sounds and obscure the sights of the forest. Nowhere is safe; not even your own country.
He doesn't have any food on him besides a singular granola bar and some spices so he makes due with a bit of hunting and foraging, bringing back rabbit and berries for his two companions. He'll probably just eat the granola.
"Hey, Matatabi–"
"If you ask me to light a fire for you," the nibi says calmly, "I will gut you."
Tobirama lights his own fire.
He starts preparing the food, listening absently to Matatabi's quiet humming and Shukaku's sleep-deep breathing, Madara's chakra oddly relaxing background noise now that the man is calm and sane.
Calm, but sad. Tobirama frowns into the fire, focusing more closely on the wildfire chakra and– there. Another flash of that bone-deep sadness. Regret, too. What would make him sad here? Surely not Matatabi and Shukaku, the man should know by now that the pair are hardly normal children. Tobirama, then? But why would Tobirama's presence make Madara sad?
Or maybe it's not truly Tobirama that Madara is focusing on. Maybe it's the lack of Hashirama. Tobirama never did look into how his brother died in this universe, despite how closely it must be tied to this Tobirama's defection from Konoha.
"You're going to burn the rabbits." Tobirama swears, yanking the rabbits away from the fire. One of them catches fire just before he does and he has to wave it around a bit to put it out. Matatabi is snickering at him and Madara's chakra spikes in amusement. The only one not laughing at his somewhat failed foray into cooking is Shukaku and that's probably only because he's still dozing.
Not for long, though. Matatabi shakes her little brother awake while Tobirama portions out the food. He gives both bijuu a generous amount and finds himself diving the rest of it in half. He stares at the fourth bowl of probably-not-the-best food, debating the benefits of calling Madara at his awful stealth.
Awful being a matter of opinion, of course, since most shinobi, particularly non-sensors, wouldn't notice him.
Tobirama sighs, annoyed with himself, and puts the bowl down next to him. "You want this food, Madara, or should I give it to Shukaku?"
iii
And now we're caught up, so updates will become more sporadic!
