fusion with another fandom, take it as a kingdom au; connected to the previous chapter

background madara/fem!hashirama

.

.

"that was unthinkable," tobirama said, ushering a jug of water to hashirama who sat unceremoniously on the ground. "what was lord ashina thinking?

she gulped a lot of water at once, letting few droplets trickled down her dirty skin. "the best for the house of uzumaki, like all lords do," she said with a huff, unclasping her battered armor to breathe more easily. "he made an offer to me. alliance."

tobirama frowned. "for what? they've been our allies for centuries; our kin and bannermen…" he trailed off, staring into the flapping entrance of his private tent. the victorious cries of the imperial army was carried inside by the wind. "but of course, he wouldn't simply waltz into your battle with madara without any purpose in mind."

"the uzumaki has a better leverage now that the nine tails is sealed within his granddaughter," she continued, her voice hoarse.

"and madara's power now is less than half, thanks to him."

"we owe him too much." she slowly lifted her head to look at her brother. "apparently the sealing was lady mito's idea. not his."

"how old is she, seventeen?"

"sixteen," hashirama corrected, pausing briefly. "lord ashina wants you to marry her."

tobirama choked on his own drink, spluttering. "what!?"

hashirama stared blankly at him. the bags under her eyes were thick and dark; the result of battling her own husband for three days and nights without stopping even once. to make things worse for her, madara had brought the nine tails, the strongest of chakra beasts, into the battle. her wood could stop the beast momentarily, but with madara's fiery attacks, it quickly turned into an attrition.

in other words, had uzumaki ashina didn't intervene, they would be dead now.

"ridiculous," he poured himself a stronger substance. "i'm more than twice her age. if lord ashina wants an alliance, it's better to marry her to either of the twins."

"my sons aren't even ten." hashirama drew a long sigh. "i knew you would refuse but think about it–"

"no."

she made a pained expression. "think of it like a duty–"

"no," he repeated, his back facing her.

"you're still heirless, tobirama."

"we have a lot of cousins. they're smart and strong enough to be the future lord or lady senju."

her armor clattered as she rose to approach him, taking a bottle of sake for herself from the table. "you never tell me why you refuse marriage offers upon offers, instead locking yourself in a damp library all year long, trying to revive the dead."

"my research will be useful in the future, too." tobirama calmly drank his sake. "i have no time for matchmaking."

"are you sure you don't have anyone in mind? lord ashina won't mind you turn him down if you already have a fiancée."

tobirama tensed. "enough–"

"so who is it?"

he narrowed his eyes, hating how perceptive his sister could be at times. "there will be no marriage between us."

"but… why? even if she's a commoner, i will be okay with her as long as you're happy–"

"if you cared about my happiness, you would turn lord uzumaki down without even informing me about it."

hashirama was taken aback by his harsher tone. "tobirama–"

"you want to know why i never considered to bring it up to you?" he slammed his empty bottle on the table, cracking the porcelain. "we saw first hand your marriage life with madara and how disastrous it is. we didn't want a marriage tainted with politics like yours. you two could maintain peaceful facade but look at us now–we're having another civil war again. if i was married to her, we would have to choose between our siblings or our marriage."

"don't tell me…" hashirama gaped at him, in the verge of tears.

"don't say it," he looked away. "marriage for us was a mere pipe dream. madara and you gave us enough reason to remain unmarried."

"brother, i'm so sorry–"

"get out."

hashirama left without another word, and he was grateful of it. his chakra slipped out of his control, flailing and bursting wildly until he reached for his scroll about the reanimation. maybe when he did succeed someday, tobirama would tell her about what just happened between him and his sister. the thought calmed him better than a bottle of sake.

and at least izuna didn't have to see him waging war against her brother again.