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 new 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's return to the village went both exactly as he had expected and yet even better, in some ways, Tobirama thought as he observed the way children followed the teen like ducklings while he walked towards his favorite place to relax and listen to some music.
As he had expected, the mystery behind how Madara was even alive, let alone a decade and more younger since the last time anyone had seen him, kept the adults suspicious at best and downright scared and hateful at worst. The other Clan Heads had spent the entire first week of the Uchiha's stay in Konoha to try and convince Hashirama to banish him from the village. For once, Hashirama did not bow to their demands and refused to send his returned best friend away, citing that Madara was a citizen of Konoha and had put his life on the line when he had fought the entirety of the allied armies for their village. As was expected, he managed to outstubborn them and, as should have been even more expected, that stubbornness and his usual spark of life was back now that his friend was back, whom he had been secretly mourning ever since he had dealt the killing blow.
Madara was not going to be banished, no matter what everyone else would have wanted.
The Uchiha Clan was divided about Madara's return, too. A good half of them were eager to accept their old leader back once more, especially a good portion of them who believed Madara's lack of memory and younger age made him malleable to their manipulations. The half that wanted nothing to do with him kept calling him traitor and monster, as though they were not the ones who had turned their back on their own Clan Head during the war with the Senju, a war they themselves had always refused to end and then dared call Madara the warmonger. Hikaku was all for letting his should-be-older-but-was-now-significantly-younger cousin take back the reigns, as the Uchiha elders never dared try to pull the bullshit with Madara that they always tried to with Hikaku.
Madara himself made the decision that not only will he not be involved in clan politics until he regains all of his memories, but also that he did not wish to take the position until he is legal, meaning he expected to be given the right to turn eighteen and then decide his further life choices regardless if his memories come sooner than that.
Given it was late summer in Konoha when they arrived during the war instead of winter like in the 21st century, Madara will be turning eighteen sooner than he thinks.
That, at least, pushed back further Uchiha drama by a year, for which Tobirama was grateful for. They were dramatic enough as it was.
Living arrangements had been rather easy to accommodate for. Madara felt like a stranger in his own house and as such refused to stay there until he feels more like himself, the Madara that had lived there in the first place. And since he was completely new to this world, depsite his soul having been born into it, Madara did not have a dime to his name and no way to pay for a living for himself. Hence Tobirama found himself in the peculiar position of returning the favor for his friend by being his host this time around. Of course, he lived in a much bigger house with Hashirama as his first neighbor and a lab in a separate building in his backyard, so it wasn't exactly the same as when they had shared Madara's small home in Tokyo, but the familiarity of the arrangement left the teen a lot more relaxed than if he would have had to get used to a new place on his own. His guest room was quickly refurnished to accommodate one Uchiha and his new pet biju - and yes, Tobirama did know Kurama hated to be referred as such and would always try to bite his hand or head off if he wasn't fast enough to evade him - and Tobirama's house suddenly felt more lived in, homey in the way Madara's little house had been.
(At least clothes were not the problem. Madara had more than enough, both that he'll have and won't have to grow into in order to fill out. It was a good thing Hikaku never allowed anyone to raid his cousin's wardrobe. Regular training was already helping Madara fit his clothes better by the day as he built up muscle mass.)
Madara insisted on doing all of the cooking, for which Tobirama was grateful for. The boy had a knack for it. He also had a knack for opening the door for Hashirama and threatening him with a ladle until the man came back at a more appropriate hour than six in the morning or with a more appropriate attitude than far too happy-go-lucky eager puppy after an allnighter pulled by the pair that lived together as Madara was helping Tobirama catch up on his paperwork while he had been MIA in another time.
Being such close neighbors with Hashirama and Mito and after being gone for such a long time meant that, of course, his darling niece would run into his house whenever she felt like it. Her first meeting with Madara had been rather interesting. Tsunade had assumed them married, asked if she could be the ring girl since they weren't but they were living together which meant that they will be before deciding if Tobirama won't marry someone as pretty as Madara, she will. Madara had been mortified and Hashirama still wailed at the information that his best friend made better husband material in his little girl's eyes than he did. Thankfully, Madara said it was just a phase - "Boys her age want to marry their moms and girls like her usually want to marry their dads. It's pure psychology. Children are looking up to their role models and creating their own standards for when they grow up. It's perfectly normal," Madara had explained, saying he had studied it for his basic psychology class in school and that he had read a good book on it, which had thankfully been one of the few he had taken with himself in one of Tobirama's storage scrolls and had given it to Mito to read - that should pass in a year or two, but Hashirama was still inconsolable.
Tsunade really did like Madara, though, but perhaps more in an elder sibling sort of way. He was good with kids, a side-effect of being the only teen on a street with only a few little children who sometimes needed babysitting and sort of idolized him for playing with them when he could, and the village children flocked to him without fear, following Tsunade's and Kagami's example. Besides, he was still a child himself. No longer in the eyes of the shinobi world, since he had killed a good number of people in the war despite his best attempts to minimize casualties, but age-wise he still was just a kid. He still felt like a child, which sometimes showed in how he was surprised people wanted to hear his opinion on important matters. Perhaps that is why the kids flocked to him.
Though it might very well also be because he had interesting gadgets with noise and moving pictures and he had a plethora of stories to tell or read to them.
Parents were, predictably, weary and very uneasy, petrified almost, to leave their children in his presence, let alone care. If it were the old Madara, he could almost understand it - but not quite, not after he realized their own mistakes in creating the 'monster' they so feared - but this teen Madara, besides his love for a tough battle, had not shown any inclinations to acting like the grief-stricken figure who tried so hard but only got so far and it was, in the end, never enough. He had fought for them, risked life and limb to return the peace to this village he had no true recollection of and this was how they thanked him, by being suspicious and acting like he carried a deadly disease. And, worst of all, Madara acted like it was expected, like it was nothing new.
Truly, only the children and a handful of adults treated Madara the way he deserved.
Said children clambered all over the teen as soon as he sat down, taking their, by now, usual places all around and over him as though he were their favorite climbing post. Madara just laughed and tickled the closest child, making the little boy shriek with laughter. A passing adult flinched before relaxing as they recognized the sound for what it was. A part of Tobirama wanted to snarl at them for such a reaction but knew that would not fix things and might even make the situation even more complicated than it had any right being. Besides, none of those who mattered saw the reaction. Neither Madara nor the children noticed or cared - though Madara probably did notice with either the usual Uchiha perceptiveness or his rediscovered sensory abilities - and just continued their play. Some people looked ready to have a panic attack when the children banded together under Tsunade and attacked together, small fingers searching for ticklish spots and giggling every time they managed to get a guffaw of laughter out of their favorite playmate. All Tobirama felt was warm inside as he watched Madara having fun. The children were none even close to his age save for Kagami when he managed to sneak into the happy pile, but this was the first time in a long while that Madara got to play with other people instead of be the responsible adult in his own day to day life.
"They make quite a scene," Tobirama nearly flinched at Toka's voice. For all that he had felt her approach and linger just behind him and out of his line of sight, he had been far too immersed in the warm feeling watching the scene bellow gave him. In his mind, this was peace. Not just a lack of hostility and everyone braiding each other's hair like Hashirama seems to think it should happen, but rather echoing laughter that made the whole place feel like an eternal, warm and lazy summer day with children playing and adults just enjoying life. He wondered if this had been Madara's vision of peace, too. He'd never seemed quite content in Konoha when the tensions were still high and the children not allowed to play with each other because their parents feared what other clans might do to them, even if they, too, were children. "A scene none of us thought we'd ever see."
"That they do. But children have a way to do that. It is their innocence to the harshness of the world that creates scenes like these."
Toka snorted, but it was small, warm, soft and mostly amused. "I'm not just talking about the children, little cousin. I'm talking about Madara." Ah, that made sense, too. As he had been contemplating just moments earlier, Madara had never quite enjoyed the peace he had once dreamed of. This Madara, though, knew nothing but peace, even if not a truly peaceful life. To him, war was a foreign memory that was not even his own, not properly. Not yet, if ever. "I'm worried about him, though."
That did surprise him, somewhat. "Why?" And he's not asking about why Toka would worry about Madara but more as to what could be the source of her concern. Yes, Madara was in a rather strange position that was very much not to be envied, but he seemed to be doing fine. He'd never been a materialistic person, he'd always kept a few possessions he truly cared about. His living space had been rather minimalistic, almost spartan and militarian in only the bare essentials and a few indulgences. Though they both agreed Tobirama should have stuffed a coffee machine in the scroll when they stay up particularly late while catching him up on his paperwork.
Though he guessed he should have expected someone to grow concerned about something regarding Madara's situation. He'd thought maybe Mito would be the first, but Toka was a close second. They've all wronged Madara in the past, either with their actions or inaction, and Tobirama was not the only one who wished to make amends, to right old wrongs and make it up to this almost innocent version of the legendary Uchiha. Toka in particular seemed very fond of him. Then again, she was older than even the original Madara and this child just struck at all of their hear strings.
"Because the villagers are treating him exactly the same, maybe even worse, than they had before. And powerful or not, he still doesn't have his memories. If he decides he can't take it anymore again, where will he go? Would he even be able to survive on his own as a wandering shinobi?" She looks to him with worry and a grief he could not have imagined for this to cause her. This new Madara had, after all, only been here for less than a single month. How had he not noticed her growing this attached? Though, he himself had found himself flabbergasted and utterly blindsided with his own sudden affection for the teen. Suddenly, Tobirama could understand all too well why Hashirama had so easily and oh so stubbornly latched onto Madara in the first place. That was a rather uncomfortable thing to contemplate, actually. "He doesn't know his own allies or enemies and I wouldn't put it past those bastards-" Meaning the rest of the shinobi world Madara had trounced in the war all by himself in a single battle. "-to go after him if they learned of him leaving Konoha! I," Toka trailed off, looking a bit uncomfortable and letting her eyes drift away from him, focusing on the happy sight of Madara now teaching the kids some of his favorite songs, a good learning and memory exercise for their young minds. Tsunade's personal favorite was Unbreakable, if he remembers correctly.
"I don't want him to go." The kunoichi's soft admission startles him and Tobirama turns to her in surprise. The older Senju won't meet his eyes anymore.
Tobirama himself turns away, giving her the privacy she needs to regain her composure. "I don't think there's much to worry about. He won't just pick up and leave."
"Why are you so sure of that?" His cousin asks him and Tobirama almost shrugs.
'Because I'm here.' He doesn't say it, even if he knows it's a good part of the reason. "Because this is nothing new to him."
"Nothing new!?" Toka almost shrieks in a hiss, a strange sound that still expertly expresses her outrage, incredulity and disbelief. "What the hell does that mean!?" She demands, careful not to be so loud as to attract the youngsters' attention to the two of them.
Tobirama does shrug this time, although it's with a displeased scowl. "The treatment here isn't much better than the one he received in his own time." He expertly ignores the way she grumbles about this being Madara's proper time, even if he secretly agrees. Madara did not belong in that world, full of everything but the connection to life itself with the world's chakra all but nonexistent. "His father seems to have had an affair with the woman who birthed him, but she died and the man took him into his own family, where his wife raised and loved him as her own. He was one of eight siblings and before he hit double digits, they found out they weren't exactly related by blood and grew to hate him for his many talents and being both their parents' favorite. They ridiculed and secluded and outcast and bullied him every chance they got until he could escape and live on his own. In his school, the situation wasn't much different, as humankind is wont to be towards all things different and unique. His father saw him as nothing but a tool for his own ends and he had other relatives willing to drug him for imagined slights. He lived every day with malicious whispers following at his back for a decade, Toka, since childhood. He had time to adapt and children are exceptionally good at it."
As soon as the words were out of his mouth?, the white haired man froze. He had time to adapt and children are exceptionally good at it. But ... It couldn't be! That's impossible! Absurd! 'There is no way Madara had brought himself into such a future, right? Of course! Thinking otherwise is fanciful thinking! There's no possible or logical way someone could have that much power!'
But wasn't it? Tobirama had thought time travel impossible and yet he had found himself centuries into the future. And Madara had displayed that he clearly had some powers that no one has ever seen before. None of the other Uchiha could control a biju. And, anyway, if it was somehow possible, why would Madara ever bring himself into a loveless family that did not know how to value and appreciate each other? It makes no sense!
'Unless,' a thought occurs to him as he remembers the almost haunted way Madara spoke of a thing capable on taking away his will. 'It's exactly what he needed.'
All of his original life, Madara had only known love and loss and family and clan and war. When the village was formed, he had lost three of those fundamental concepts of his life. The Uchiha Clan than took itself away as well and Madara was left alone to go mad with grief in a place that made sure daily to remind him how little he was wanted in the village he himself had made. Of course Madara had left. But with raging emotions in his heart, clouding his head, he would have been vulnerable.
And that creature, whatever it may be, had taken advantage of that.
Madara had somehow found a way to set himself free and it seems to have involved faking his own death. Then, because he was still vulnerable and now probably with even more churning emotions as he realizes his own best friend had no qualms with stabbing him through the back, he knew he needed time to properly deal with it all. So somehow, some way, he made it. Whether he was ever planning to return remains a mystery but the fact that his memories remained, if buried deep down in his soul, gave a good hint.
Which meant Madara might have somehow even had a hand in his own impromptu journey through time? Or had he? He doesn't know what to think anymore! All that he is almost certain about now is that Madara had to have had a hand in how his own life played out.
There were just too many coincidences.
Especially as losing a single person who was meant to be his anchor was yanked away so suddenly. Death had taken Izuna and the truth Sakura-san. The way Madara reacted was almost too similar but not quite enough.
Two years of proper separation had softened the grief.
A decade of scorn from loved ones had prepared him for it from those who mean nothing to him, no matter the intensity. Those who mattered were there by his side.
Madara may have found a way to cure himself of his own grief.
And that only made Tobirama's heart squeeze harder in his chest, breathing almost a chore through the pain and sorrow he felt for his friend. He wished he could dismiss all these ideas and thoughts as silly, but the truth of the situation was ...
He feared he was right.