Time Heals All Wounds
Summary: The day Tobirama died happens earlier, during Hashirama's time as Hokage when they are at war with almost every mew village but years after Madara's death. Only he didn't die. He somehow ended up in a time not his own and met a familiar face he though gone forever. Can he get back? And what of his new friend?
Tobirama found himself fascinated with how different this time is compared to his own, from the clothing they wore - Madara insisted they will have to get Tobirama at least one set of clothes to change and at least some undergarments - to the way they treated concepts like life and death, the value of time and even the way they spoke to each other depending on how close or how offensive they wanted to be. Yes, that part of culture definitely existed in Konoha and all around the Five Great Elemental Nations but there had never been quite so many 'categories' and ones that weren't definite as they were back home so Tobirama had made a note that he will have to be extremely careful not to offend anyone when he goes out.
And he will be going out. In a matter of minutes, after he makes sure Madara's chakra had moved far enough away that the boy won't notice him when he sneaks out of the house.
There was no way he was leaving Madara out of his sight until he assures himself one hundred percent that this wasn't his doing.
They had spent the entirety of Madara's weekend, a two day break from an education institution a lot like the Academy Tobirama had started in Konoha to teach basics to future ninja only without any of their rigorous training and with a much wider field of studies. There were still 'levels' to pass, from primary to middle to high school and then something called college, where young adults went to get 'degrees' in certain fields so they can get good, high paying jobs. Most of the schooling was mandatory by rights of law and the institution - a concept Madara had insisted he needed more time to fully explain - itself, which Tobirama found admirable, to consider children' education such a high priority, However, high school and college were not but Madara chose to go to both anyway so he can go on living his life with lesser resistance in fulfilling his goals.
It also seemed to have the added benefit of providing him with money if he kept a high enough average in his grades, for which one of the conditions happens to be that he must attend the faculty and the classes every day, keeping his attendance near perfect, which meant Tobirama was supposed to be left at the house all alone for several hours, which did not sit well with him. Not while he was still so unsure as to what had happened and how he had ended up here.
And definitely not with 'Kurama' glaring at him with its brown, almost red fox eyes all day.
He carefully and discretely climbed out of Madara's window and up onto Madara's roof as soon as the boy's chakra was far enough away, leaving a Hiraishin marker there before he started jumping from roof to roof, relying on his many years of training to remain mostly unseen. However, as these people had such minimal levels of chakra had he felt them back in his time he would have thought them recently killed corpses, he got spotted by three different toddlers and one half-drunk, half hungover man and nearly got pointed out just as many times almost before he could notice since generally such low levels went under his radar as ordinary rocks and grass, so he decided to just jump down to the streets and walk. He still drew some attention, mostly because of the way he walked and the aura he exuded, full of confidence in his skill and of his place in the world - well, usually the last part as also true but it was so ingrained in him at this point that not even missing both of his legs would change a damn thing - but people didn't find him weird, at least.
A couple of girls around Madara's current age even giggled in his direction, for some strange reason. Tobirama really never understood females all that well. There was a reason why Hashirama was the married one.
Keeping out of Madara's sight on the ground wasn't as easy as one would think. The Uchiha - because there was no way Madara will be anything but an Uchiha as long as that man's soul existed in any form, no matter what surname he apparently carried in this time and world - for all that he wore those ridiculous contraptions that created music and blocked out the noise from the rest of the world, was perfectly well aware of his surroundings and seemed to be the paranoid sort, like a true shinobi. Tobirama had gathered that it came from occasionally having to deal with hooligans who make trouble in the neighborhood and since some of them are actually involved with a gang - whose leader for now found it amusing, Madara fascinating and his tugs incompetent, though it will never be certain for how long the status quo will hold - Madara now had to look over his shoulder all the time to make sure no one will come up behind him looking for revenge or to finally deal with the little annoyance that's interfering with their business. Still, Tobirama couldn't help but think him incredibly brave for standing up for his neighbors. Many people, even if they had more power - influence - than Madara did, would not have interfered for fear of feeling it on their own hide if things were to come back and bite them in the ass.
Eventually, they arrived at this 'high school' Madara must attend and the first thing Tobirama noticed was disturbingly familiar.
The Uchiha was completely and wholly isolated, avoided; often insulted behind his back or had insults spat right in his face as he passed them by. Even with the noise-makers on, Madara must be aware well enough of what they were saying because Tobirama could not only see how his posture went stiff and unnaturally still, but he could feel it in the black haired teen's chakra clear as day. Madara knew what they were saying, was either familiar with it from long exposure or he had never really listened to his music since he entered through the gates. Either way, he knew.
And he wasn't doing anything to fight back.
Which was not at all like the Madara Tobirama knew. The man he had come to know, be it from personal experience or from Hashirama's stories of the man, Madara had never been one to stay quiet about things that displeased him or he didn't agree with. Only he had, he recalled, thinking back to the time when treatment like the one he was seeing was a village-wide phenomenon of ostracizing one of its very founders from their midst. The Madara of Konoha had found insult and indignation in such treatment, had made a fuss, had refused to take it and had left, only to return with the intentions to burn it all to the ground, the dream he had once shared with a best friend who no longer had a moment of time for him and which had been stolen from him by virtue of being the one to ultimately bend his head in their clans' war. Madara had held out a lot longer than Tobirama would have thought a grieving man would have, especially with no emotional support whatsoever since even the entirety of his clan save his closest cousin and an orphan boy had turned their back on him, too.
He would have left as well if children flinched away from him and the campfire horror stories after indulging in a few drinks were always rumors of how 'evil' and 'wicked' he was.
Madara had his respect for staying as long as he had.
Still, that didn't explain how and why this Madara wasn't reacting to this treatment at all and especially why such treatment of him even existed. The teen seemed like a rather decent person, kind, not overly temperamental, self-sufficient and overall good company, not to mention sharp and fairly well informed, having all sorts of knowledge and knowing how to use it. He had a sense of humor and was easy on the eye, like any Uchiha had ever been. Add to that that he seemed to be a fairly good cook and he was almost the perfect spouse a shinobi would usually desire. Well, he guessed he was biased since he knew this was Uchiha Madara so he knew the man to be strong, skilled and a tactical genius with enough chakra to rival his brother, but even if it's not a romantic relationship one seeks, Madara would still be a good friend.
And yes, Tobirama might still be suspecting this 'world' to be nothing more than a genjutsu or even some form of torture or test before he can enter the Pure Lands, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to give Madara the benefit of doubt that he's innocent until proven guilty. He still hadn't even started on looking into how he had ended up here, why only Madara had chakra in this 'time' or 'world' and how, exactly, was the Uchiha even alive. Those were all questions that needed answers before he can say that Madara is at fault for him apparently surviving and traveling through time.
When the bell rang, all of the teens went inside the building and Tobirama observed them, careful to keep out of sight. He refrained from using any jutsus to make himself invisible because his chakra coils had given him severe protests after he healed his wound and the nick he had caused on Madara's neck. He wasn't sure why the scratch - for the teen had been right and it had been nothing dangerous, not even all that painful all things considered - had bothered him so much, especially paired with the face,the name and the chakra that accompanied the person he had made it on, but it had and he was willing to attribute it to Madara now being too close in age with his students for Tobirama to be untouched by it. Still, either way, he had gotten some serious fluctuations in his chakra that would have been worrisome had they happened for any other reason than utter exhaustion just days before. Knowing using more than just the minuscule amount of chakra would be unhealthy, Tobirama had vowed not to use jutsus unless absolutely necessary.
Spying on one teen amongst dozens of oblivious peers was less than in need of a jutsu assistance.
Tobirama found himself perfectly content to sit on the branches of the tree outside of Madara's classroom window, hidden in the leaves much like the village this man - or some version of him - had named as he watched the teen try to focus on his lessons. Most of the morning, he was perfectly capable of it, participating in class and doing his work, taking notes and raising his hand to give answers. Nearing noon, however, Madara surprised Tobirama with taking a book out of his desk that had noting to do with his current class and starting to read it while his teacher was holding the lecture. The Senju had been under the impression that good grades were important for Madara to keep attending the school and yet here he was, practically slacking off. The teen didn't seem all that concerned about it, either, as he calmly read through most of the class.
Eventually, the teacher caught on and demanded some answer from the teen that sounded a lot like it had been about politics and the Uchiha didn't even hesitate for a second. When she asked him to repeat what she had said word for word in the past minute, Tobirama was reminded that an Uchiha doesn't perfectly remember just what they see but in fact everything they experience. Madara obviously had either been paying more attention that even Tobirama himself had given him credit for or the boy had studied this lecture beforehand, either way, Madara recited it word for word, leaving the teacher without cause to punish or berate him. The shinobi watched her huff and turn around, going back to her lecture and couldn't help himself but to chuckle. He at least knew how annoying Madara could be, even though this particular version of him had yet to prove to follow in his predecessor's shoes.
(Though now that he thought about it, perhaps the problem in that old annoyance lay in his own bias against the man. Hadn't he been lamenting not so long ago about never having given the man a proper chance before he'd finally given up on the village that had never had any faith in him to begin with? Perhaps he should be more careful not to fall into old habits now that he'd somehow been granted this second chance to do right by the man.)
It didn't escape his notice how not only the teacher seemed annoyed that there was no reason for Madara to be punished. His classmates as a whole sneered at him as though they thought it a crime someone had come prepared for class, even though it were overly so. Tobirama tried not to think about how he himself would have been perceived by such a crowd. He'd never done anything halfway in his life and he had always believed in being prepared for anything. He'd probably even be more obnoxious about it than Madara was being. As it was, the Uchiha ignored the quiet jibes sent his way and went back to his book, reading whatever content was in there intently and letting the world fade away.
He did look up at about the same time Tobirama realized one boy in particular to be glaring real hard at his host, black eyes locking on said boy. The teen's glare only got deeper and an ugly sneer crossed his young face. The sensor took notice that he had the same coloration as Madara but his facial features almost had no similarities to his host. His chakra also didn't have the faintest bit of resemblance to the legendary Uchiha - which almost tripped Tobirama up as he realized a rather staggering fact that might as well be the ultimate proof that Madara was in fact not in any way responsible for any of this, a thought he decided needed more proper time to ponder on - but it was obvious that they knew each other in some way, shape or form, if one were to judge by the judgement in the unknown teen's eyes or the sorrowful longing that was covered up by impassiveness in Madara's own. The only way Tobirama even knew it was there was because his young host's chakra couldn't lie nor hide the emotions the teen was feeling.
Halfway through the day, the facility sounded for a lunch break and most people went off in groups, taking a place somewhere within the courtyard or just outside of the fence to sit or stand together and eat lunch. Madara went to the roof all by himself, opened up the bento he had packed that morning as Tobirama and Kurama watched him and took out a familiar book. It was the same history textbook in which there had been mention of Konoha. Tobirama found it intriguing to see that his host was apparently studying it, taking down really short notes. Perhaps it was a list of references for him to look up later? The Senju didn't know why he was doing that during his free time, though. It wasn't as if it would be safe for Tobirama to learn about anything that might influence the way the world had turned if there turned out to indeed be a way to go back to his time.
'That idiot is still probably preparing a list for me if it turns out that I can't.' That sounded like Madara, either version of him, apparently. For no matter how many faults he could find in the fiery, temperamental man Hashirama had called his best friend, there were a few things Tobirama could never fault the Uchiha Clan Head and that was his skill, his shrewdness, his perceptiveness and his readiness for whatever might come his way. Madara would have probably done this if he were indeed the Madara Tobirama knew. He'd be prepared for either outcome.
That should not sound as appealing as it was.
The rest of the day went by in much the same manner. There were two more classes in which Madara was called out for no paying attention, once for once again reading some book and another time for staring out of the window, of all things. Tobirama had been painstakingly still for forty five minutes during that lecture as he had feared the teen might realize he was there. If he were ever sure this was indeed the Madara that had brought the Kyuubi to Konoha's doorstep, he would have never dared try and spy on the man. He was a sensor who nearly matched Tobirama himself in ability and range. Still, the teen seemed more interested in getting lost in his own thoughts or daydreaming, but either way, it was for the best that Tobirama leave the window as soon as possible. He recalled well the time Madara had stated to be the end of his school day. It was nearly time and he had to get to the boy's house before he did.
He was just about to leave when a wave of menace hit him, freezing him in his tracks. 'What's this?' He turned his attention back to the classroom, tuning in his senses to the small spike he had picked up, small only because the chakra signature itself was tiny in comparison to any he was used to and especially with Madara's burning so bright and overwhelmingly warm so close to it. He still managed to tack it down back to the boy who had been glaring at Madara when he hadn't been punished. He was still doing so but he was also muttering with some of his companions and none of them felt like they had any sort of good intentions.
Red eyes narrowed. 'Well, that just won't do.' He wasn't sure what the boys were up to but his senses had never led him wrong and he doubted they will now. Normally, he wouldn't bother himself with other people's business nor would he stick his nose into things that had nothing to do with him but he had a suspicion about this world he had been so sure must be some sort of genjutsu created by Madara and the kid suddenly getting hurt won't exactly help him figure it out. Not to mention that he owed him for saving his life and providing him with food, a bed and a roof over his head while he fully recovered from his fight against Kinkaku and Ginkaku and the consequences it had on his body to be so close to death.
What kind of man would he be if he didn't help the one who had offered him aid so freely?
(He'll never admit it was because he found Madara pleasant company or that he wished to make up for all of his past transgressions, even if this version somehow turned out to be a completely different Madara.)
(He'll also never admit to fearing what that darned fox might do to him if he didn't.)