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?
Madara would be lying if he said he wasn't excited to get home and more impatient than ever before for the last bell to ring than he had ever been in his life. He had been living all alone since he was fifteen and a half, even if he had only been able to buy the place as his own when he turned sixteen. Kurama was there but he wasn't human company no matter how fond Madara was of his fox companion - never pet; there was somehow too much intelligence in the fox's eyes for Madara to ever call or consider him a pet, even in teasing.
Now there was an actual human being waiting for him to come back and spend time with them, even though he seriously doubted Tobirama had stayed inside the house since he left this morning, several hours ago. The man would probably go stir-crazy, even if he was someone completely new to television, radios and whatever other piece of technology him and his ninja pals had never seen or invented before - apparently some countries had seen some rather interesting inventions when he had visited them and they resembled some of the everyday appliances Madara used in his house.
However, Madara would also be lying if he said he hadn't been expecting or that he was surprised by the group of boys from his class that were waiting for him just beyond the gate - after all, no fighting allowed on school grounds. No one wanted detention or to be suspended. He sighed as he caught sight of the five boys, lead among them Utaha Kiachi, Madara's ten months older brother. Once upon a time, they were practically twins, sharing everything from toys to beds when one of them - usually Kiachi - had a nightmare and then, one day, like the rest of his siblings, Kiachi started resenting him.
Now, Kiachi would gather a posse to put Madara in his place anytime he felt his younger brother was showing off too much, as if Madara wanted to be asked inane questions by their teachers. Either way, they rarely ever dared try to touch him, no matter how many boys Kiachi gathered to back him and his friends up, since no one wanted to test out how rusty (or not) the ten years in a row regional champion had gotten since the last time Kiachi saw him in action. They had tried once, just a few weeks after Madara had finally moved into his new little home, and it hadn't been pretty. The saddest thing was that the only thing that got bruised was their over inflated pride and yet Kiachi's two closest 'friends' had cried and one of the random backup tugs he'd recruited had even peed himself when Madara turned to him after he was done with everyone but Kiachi (because he would never lay a hand on his siblings, no matter how big of an asshole they each can be) and had fled as soon as Madara had barked at him to run.
This happened again and again, no matter how many times Madara managed to disarm them or disorient them enough to calmly walk away. He rarely got rough with his classmates, as he didn't want to get dispelled and have to return to his parents' house. That would be equal to torture as far as he was concerned. He can handle the verbal bullying and everyone knew a bit far too well that physical bullying will only get them landed in a whole world of pain. The only reason Kiachi's little band never got to feel the full brunt of Madara's strength and skill was because they were with Kiachi. The bastard knew Madara would never raise a hand on family but he had apparently forgotten that Madara still valued his pride.
Really, he was almost expecting them to be outside of the gates, waiting for him.
What he wasn't expecting was to see white hair, red eyes, pale skin and pale red tattoos waiting for him on the other side of the road.
Completely forgetting about his brother and the group of boys ready to bother him, Madara gaped at Tobirama, hurrying over to the gate to gawk some more to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. Sure, he had known there was no way for the nin- shinobi to stay inside the house the entire day without getting bored or irritated by Kurama's obvious dislike towards him but the Utaha had never expected that his new housemate might come to his school and wait for him! 'Or, as is more than likely, he had followed me this morning since I never told him to which school I go to and where it is.' Either way, Tobirama was here, waiting for him and glaring at his would-be bullies and Madara ... felt inexplicably happy for it. Even if it was all too likely that the white haired man had no idea of what would have taken place had he not been there to distract Madara and provide him with a quiet way out.
(Even if it was even more likely that he did; he was a ninja.)
He walked right past his brother and his cronies without even noticing it, not paying any attention to the crowd Tobirama had gathered with his unique appearance and confident attitude as he commanded respect by doing nothing but standing there, looking bored as hell despite the glares he sent at Kiachi's little group.
"Followed me to school, did you?" He asked in amusement as soon as he crossed the street, lips curling upwards in amusement. Tobirama sent him a suspicious look.
"You were able to tell?" Madara blinked in surprise a couple of times, taken aback by the blatant admission.
"Uh, well, you're kind of new here and I hadn't exactly told you which school I attend or where it is, so I kind of just assumed. Didn't really think you actually followed me to school, though."
"Oh," Tobirama blinked this time, a bit slower than usual and the Utaha realized he was embarrassed. How peculiar. "Well, I did. I figured I had no other way to entertain myself and there was no way I was staying the whole day inside with your crazy fox. Thought it might be interesting to see where you studied."
"Not much to see, I fear." Behind him, he could hear the students who had stayed behind to gawk at the handsome stranger waiting for their most hated student whisper among themselves regarding their very peculiar interactions but Madara didn't care. Let them talk about how weird it was someone as strange as himself knew someone as good looking as Tobirama. They didn't need to know the man had quite literally fallen from the sky - or a roof - and had then tried to kill him before blacking out from blood loss. That was between him and the shinobi. He would like nothing more than to just get back home, make this man some fish he had said he liked so much as a reward for doing something he was probably unaware helped Madara in preventing this day from being completely ruined and talk the man into telling him stories about his own homeland.
Tobirama, though, seemed to have other ideas as he didn't budge from his place and continued glaring at the boys who had been ready to get their prides bruised and confidence broken just moments ago, even if they weren't aware of it. "I fear I've seen more than enough. Such a disgrace, classmates treating each other in such a manner. If they were my students, their punishment would be so severe they'd beg me to string them up by their heels instead."
Was it just him or was Tobirama projecting murder with his presence alone?
'Get yourself together, Madara, you're obviously loosing it!'
The teen shrugged and finally decided to leave while he still had a chance. Tobirama would either follow or commit a crime that no one will be able to trace back to him or Madara and the Utaha was strangely alright with that, as long as one of the bodies wasn't Kiachi. "I'm going to the market. You need anything? I'm thinking fish."
It was heavy handed and not subtle at all, but it got the albino's attention and he finally started walking after Madara with a final glare at the other students left gawking after them. "If you don't mind, I'll do the picking. There's a certain trick to knowing which fish is less than a day out of its natural environment."
And it was indeed an interesting and effective trick. Apparently, animals have chakra, too, and Tobirama was something called a sensor, a type of shinobi who is particularly sensitive and capable of sensing chakra's smallest details to identify different species, people, nationalities and chakra natures as well as chakra reserves. Tobirama spent the entire walk to the market explaining all about it, going into theories and definitions and examples with a glee Madara had not thought this calm and collected man capable of. Definitely a scholar then, and an enthusiastic one, at that. Then, he demonstrated and found them the best fish with some sweet little old lady at a very pleasing price. Madara was indeed happy and resolved to take Tobirama shopping with him more often.
The problem with the rather pleasant trip, though, was that he knew Kiachi was following them, though he wasn't sure how many others were with him anymore. At least this time it was out of curiosity rather than any more malicious or menacing reasons. Still, Madara had been careful in making sure no one, not even his mother, knew the new address at which he lived for fear of his fellow students or even his own family coming and giving him unexpected - and deeply unwanted - visits and causing trouble in is neighborhood just to get back at him. Or annoy him into participating in sporting activities for the school. Or coming back into the dojo as an active tournament participant.
Or, heaven forbid, if his father were to come and pester him about better utilizing his talents.
He knew Tobirama knew they were being followed but the shinobi said nothing so far, just leading him around the market as he judged vegetables and fruits for maximum freshness and ignoring Kiachi and his followers. After they were finished and left the market to head home, Madare wondered if he'll have to say something. He really didn't want Kiachi in his home - he kind of feared if the slightly older boy will even manage to escape his house if Kurama were to catch sight of him. Kurama might have all of the necessary shots to be a legal pet but Madara was sure the fox would give itself rabies at the sight of one of his siblings just to ruin their lives - but he would also rather not tell Tobirama about his family situation, either. They pretty much still were nothing more than strangers living together by chance.
"Does the name Izuna mean anything to you?" Madara nearly whiplashed his own mind as he was dragged out of his thoughts by the unexpected question, not answering in favor of peering up at the man walking to his right in curiosity. Red eyes were facing straight ahead but the teen had no doubt his roommate was listening to him. "Or Tajima?"
"Just some really old names that rarely anyone uses anymore," he answered after a long moment of silence in which he had tried to figure our where the other was going with this line of questioning. "A bit strange, too. Like my own, I guess. I thought my mother was high as a kite for naming me 'spots' but she seems to think its cute so I don't really care. Maybe she had been high on painkillers. They sometimes give those during labor and considering she had given birth to Kiachi not even a year earlier, I guess a second pregnancy might have been a bit too much." At the curious sound the other made and the look sent his way, Madara cursed himself for actually venturing into a topic he himself had been very hesitant to ever touch just moments ago. "My brother," he ended up saying and pointing behind him to where Kiachi was in the middle of - what he thought was stealthy - changing posts to be closer to the pair. Madara's lips involuntarily curled in disgust at the pathetic attempt and the insult to himself if Kiachi and those other idiots indeed thought he wasn't aware they were there. "I unfortunately have five more of them and two sisters. Kiachi is closest in age to me considering we're practically the same age and I'm the fourth eldest, so go figure which way my luck runs most of the time."
"Your family is alive and yet you live alone? And you ... don't get along?" For some reason, the Senju sounded quite a bit incredulous about this. Madara shrugged, figuring he might as well explain the whole thing now that he had already breached the subject.
"Yup. Well, I only don't get along with my father. My siblings don't get along with me." Once again, he indicated in Kiachi's direction and Tobirama's eyes only narrowed further. "Don't know how or why. We were mostly fine and got along well but then, one day, out of the blue, they all sort of just ... turned on me, I guess. Started ignoring me or making fun of me. Father is a heartless jerk that only cares about reputation and money and fame. He was annoying. My siblings were getting unbearable. In the end, I decided to cut my losses where I have to work extra hard for every dime and the lack of seeing my mother and I moved out as soon as I found a place which I could pay rent and bills for. Bought it as my own just months ago. The harsher lifestyle is definitely worth it to get some peace of mind. I thought I was going to end up mad in that house."
"And your parents allowed it?"
"My mother signed the papers to give me custody over myself when I asked her. It was the greatest gift she could give me, even if she ended up stuffing my suitcase's pocket with enough money to pay the first few months of rent. Said it were my birthday and Christmas gifts. But not even she knows where I stay and I'd prefer to keep it that way."
"Ah," was all the other man said, obviously catching the hint but he still didn't do anything about it. Madara wondered if it was going to be something flashy, which meant that Tobirama was searching for a discreet place to preform whatever jutsu he had in mind. They walked like that, in silence, down several more streets before Tobirama suddenly grabbed him and ducked him into the next ally, two good blocks away from his street, and tucked him close against his body. "Hold onto the groceries and don't let me go."
"Wha-?" Madara started to ask but that was all his companion said. Then there was a flash and something almost like electricity - or more likely pure energy - raced across his skin and the last thing he heard of his brother was his pounding, running footsteps and his voice yelling "Don't let them get away!" before he found himself nearly slipping on roof tiles as he gripped onto Tobirama in panic. When he dared open his eyes again as his roommate coaxed him to, Madara found himself looking down on his street from the roof of his own small one story house. "What? How!? How did we-? What did you-? Just how!?" Tobirama, the bastard, just laughed at his confusion. "We were just way over there," he pointed in the direction from which they should have come from if they had been walking. "And now we're here!? And why on the roof!? Stop laughing, Senju, damn it!"
That, if anything, set him off more and Madara huffed. Secretly, though, he was happy he could actually pull some happiness out of the man whose own world was long gone and he was stuck with a mess like Madara in a tiny house and with a strange fox. The albino looked far too serious for it to be healthy. Laughter suited him and his deep, rumbling voice.
Despite the potential to ruin the rest of his day, the evening was anything but. Madara rewarded Tobirama with some freshly baked fresh fish and a nice salad with soy sauce, they watched a comedy show and laughed - or chuckled and smirked in Tobirama's case, but that was still a victory in Madara's book - or he would explain certain aspects of the humor behind some references that someone from the past had no hope of understanding and even Kurama was mostly content to sleep in his lap instead of wasting such a peaceful evening glaring and growling at their newest household member. The Senju helped take care of the dishes and Madara set up their sleeping arrangements, the two of them actually honest to god bickering about which parts of the show were the best. Just two days ago, Madara had feared Tobirama will find offense in every breath he took and here they were now, content to quietly drift off to sleep without exhaustion pulling them under like the first two days.
Not a single thought was spared on dick brothers and asshole fathers.
Madara felt ... content.