Story Summary: Madara, because he's not an idiot, takes about four seconds to realize he's been turned into a furry beast. Looking at his shaking legs, the black fur bristled up in agitation, he understands that he has no idea how he got himself into this mess. MadaTobi Fox!Madara, SEMI-GRAPHIC VIOLENCE.
Story Warnings: Graphic violence, cursing, blood, amorality, war, death, the consumption of human meat by animals.
and here is number 5! this story was originally thought up with kitsunegeddon in mind, though i couldnt stop myself from posting early. since we are allowed to use stories that are already posted, ive added this to the collection, and have updated it :)
shi-bi no kitsune
v.
"I've never heard of the Kaguya clan," Mito says with a frown once their captive has fallen unconscious. Madara can see the man's chest shakily rising and falling from the seal he's been placed in, the soft pulsing of the active seal a fascinating sight.
"In Senju legend," Tobirama starts with a frown, a furrow in his brow, "she is mentioned. A moon goddess that was the mother of the Sage of Six Paths. She's not mentioned beyond that though."
Madara's ears perk up at the detail, his ears twitching as he finally moves from his position by the door. He had seated himself there during the interrogation, not wanting to be any closer to the blood that was being spilled. While watching the rather effective torture techniques Uzumaki Mito used was interesting in a way, Madara was still slightly afraid of being to close to human blood. It had become quite clear to him that he didn't know how to control himself around a person who was injured. He hadn't felt the need to go forward and consume the injured nin's body, so he thinks he might be safe. He's cautious as he approaches, his nose twitching as he slowly breathes in deeply. Blood is in the air, but it doesn't stir any type of hunger in Madara. Happy, Madara's tails whip in contentment as he trots over to Tobirama, unashamed as he climbs into the white haired man's lap.
"That doesn't give us much to go on," Harikēn replies with a frustrated huff. "We've gotten all we can from him. I was hoping that we might have been able to treat him as a hostage in order to meet more of hi clan, but if his words can be trusted at all, his clan doesn't seem to deal with hostages."
"His clan is barbaric," Mito adds with a sneer sent in the man's direction.
"We have no idea if they'll send more of their kin to spy on the Uzumaki or not," Tobirama points out, one of his hands finding its way into Madara's thick fur. Madara lets out a content chirp, eyes growing heavy as Tobirama's nails scratched lightly downs his back.
"Scouting to find a way to kill off the Uzumaki," Harikēn scoffs at the reminder of the nin's supposed purpose. It hadn't taken him long to break, surprisingly, as he had looked paler and paler the longer that Mito had him in her clutches. He had puked several time throughout her harsh treatment, tears streaming down his face as he gave up his mission and his clan.
"They'll have to try harder next time," Mito replies in an equally scornful mocking tone. Harikēn snorts at her tone, quite obviously used to her sense of humor, but their conversation was cut short when the man gasps loudly, a retching sound summoning their attention to him.
Madara looked on in surprise as the seals that were supposed to keep him unconscious were flickering, their glow struggling to do their job before they puttered out, once more being covered by a disgusting looking putrid vomit. Madara wrinkled his nose at the smell that assaulted him, disgusted by the wafting scent.
"He shouldn't be this sick," Mito says slowly, concern starting to find it's way into her voice.
"Go get Shida-san," Harikēn tells her as he climbs to his feet to approach the groaning man. He crouches down, letting his large hand rest against the man's shiny forehead, an eyebrow raising in surprise at what he feels. "He's burning up," Harikēn says in surprise, looking up to meet Tobirama's eyes as Mito quickly exits the hut.
"How can he already be sick?" Tobirama asks, gently shifting Madara so he's no longer in his lap. Madara won't admit it to anyone but himself, but he pouts a little at losing his comfortable seat, ears drooping slightly as he follows Tobirama to examine the sick shinobi.
"He shouldn't be," Harikēn replies, his eyes roaming the prone body before him. "I wouldn't be surprised if Mito's methods left him sick to his stomach; that's usual. This fever? On-setting so quick? No, something else is happening."
Mito returns then, an older woman following her through the entrance. Her once red hair is now graying severely, Madara notes, revealing her to be older than everybody in the room. Her face is wrinkled as well, but it doesn't detract from her pleasant features, her eyes a shade or two lighter than Harikēn's.
"Shida-san," Harikēn greets respectfully, standing from his crouching position to give her a nod. The woman nods in return, not saying anything as he approaches the whimpering man with a sharp gaze.
"What is he suffering from?" Shida asks, her hands confidently going to replace Harikēn's on the man's sweaty forehead.
"We don't know," Mito admits grudgingly. "I didn't do anything differently when interrogating him."
Shida hums thoughtfully at that, removing her hand from his face and instead using it to check his pulse. She frowns at whatever she finds, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "He has a rash," she mutters to herself, pulling down the man's collar to reveal the red patchy skin that was hidden from their sight before. Shida hums again, studying the rash, before she lets his clothing fall back into place, her focus going from his neck to his tensed jaw and clenched teeth. "Bite me and I'll castrate you," Shida says with no inflection in her voice, causing Madara to wince at the image he forms in his head. Shida takes her hands and pries open the man's jaw, turning his head so they could all see into the man's mouth.
Madara recoiled slightly, in sync with Tobirama as the man does the same, both of them surprised at the sores forming in front of their eyes. The man's pallet and tongue are covered in painful looking sores. New ones form in seconds, no buildup required as they painfully start to ooze liquid. Shida closes the man's mouth with a disgusted noise, letting him return to his whimpering through clenched teeth.
"What the hell was that?" Mito asks, her voice airy from shock.
"Well," Shida says, her voice gravely now that it's at full volume, "if I had seen any of those symptoms through a period of a week or so, I'd say this man had been cursed by a Hōsōshin."
"Smallpox?" Harikēn asks is disbelief. "But that takes weeks to go through a full cycle of symptoms! He wasn't even feverish when Tobirama brought him in."
"Yes," Shida hums, eyeing the man's writhing body. "It's rather curious isn't it." She watches him for another moment, the stunned silence from the others leaving the only sound in the hut coming from the sick man. Finally, Shida turns and looks directly at him, her gaze piercing as she meets his eyes. "You wouldn't have anything to do with this, would you yako-san?"
Madara puffs up at the implication, his mouth twisting into a snarl. He hadn't done anything to the man! He hadn't even been near him during the interrogation process. The only time he dared approach him was when-
Madara blinked, losing his ferocity as he came to an abrupt realization. With a hesitant step, he slowly approaches the writhing man and Shida, passing her kneeling figure and instead going down to the other end of the man's body and nosing at his ankle. Madara pulled back quickly once he did so, surprised at the reek the man's ankle gave off. He couldn't even get a whiff of the curling scent when he wasn't right next to it, so it caught him off guard when he nudged the man. Shida immediately moves closer to the man's leg, pulling up his pants to reveal a nasty bite wound. The area around Madara's bite had turned black at some point, lines similar to poison spreading out from the afflicted wound. Scars that looked identical to that of smallpox were spread all over the man's leg, the skin on his muscles rubbed a raw red as new scars formed slowly, their path traveling up.
"Gross," Mito coughs, unable to hide her nauseous expression.
"Ah," Harikēn adds, unable to say anything else at the sight before them.
"Note to self," Tobirama said after a moment, "do not let anija around you; you will bite him out of sheer self preservation and I refuse to be the clan head."
Madara gave Tobirama a miserable look, unamused. Well, he thinks with a grimace, he had found his demonic power rather easily after all.
Fortunately for Madara's stomach, they don't stick around for much longer. The man will be dead in only hours, the process that usually takes over a week accelerating and occurring in only a few hours. Madara allows Tobirama to pick him up and carry him, unwilling to exert much energy in his current state of fatigue. Shida had confirmed that since the disease seemed to be spread by Madara's bite, it wasn't contagious as it should have been. While slightly grateful he wasn't going to be responsible for any Uzumaki getting sick, he still felt emotionally drained from the experience.
With this, it truly confirmed for him that he is a fox demon. He is a dangerous mythological beast. He is stuck with four paws, four tails, and a growing attachment to an albino Senju that before these past few days, he had shown absolutely zero interest in knowing.
The journey home is no where near as active as the race to the Uzumaki was, the scenery around them blurring as Tobirama carries them across the water, through the plains, and then into the trees that surround the Senju occupied lands. Madara just allows his thoughts to drift, plans fleeting and unfinished. He has no idea how to get himself out of this situation. Hell, he doesn't even know how he got into the situation to begin with! His last memories are distorted and he has no idea what he was even doing before he found himself waking up as a nogitsune.
It is the early morning by the time he and Tobirama approach the Senju compound, Tobirama having only stopped for a minute or two to rest before continuing on. Madara understands, he would want to get back home as soon as possible himself. It's when they approach the compound, however, that Madara's heart drops and finds its way into his stomach. Approaching from the opposite direction are flags that bear the Uchiha clan symbol; accompanying them, in a twist Madara never thought he would get to see, is the white flag of parley.
"What in the world...?" Tobirama says, his steps faltering slightly as he catches sight of the approaching Uchiha party. His voice is incredulous and a quick peak up at his face shows that both of his eyebrows are raised in complete surprise. They reach the clan's entrance before the Uchiha do, both of them greeted by a tense Hashirama, who is accompanied by several of his frowning clansmen.
"The Uchiha sent a messenger hawk ahead of time," Hashirama quickly updates them as Tobirama found their way to his brother's side. "It was signed by Izuna, not Madara. I have no idea what they want."
Tobirama grimaces at this, glancing back at the Uchiha shinobi who are now only a few hundred feet away. He glances down at Madara, his lips pinching into a concerned frown, before he gently puts Madara on the ground, crouching down quickly to look him in the eye. "Shi-san," he whispers to Madara, his red gaze soft. "Will you please do over to the walls and hide in the bushes? The Uchiha could be completely honest with their desire to discuss some type of terms, but they could also be lying. I don't want you getting hurt."
Madara feels conflicted. One one hand, the Uchiha are his. He is the clan head, he should be screaming with joy at seeing his brother and his kin. And yet, he looks at Tobirama's concern and he can't help the bubbling of pleasure that fills his chest at Tobirama's undisguised concern. He isn't Madara at this moment, he realizes. He is Shi-san, the nogitsune that has inexplicably attached itself to Tobirama. So, with a soft chirp, Madara brushes against Tobirama as he dashes to the full looking bushes that line the inner walls of the Senju compound, hiding close enough so that he can hear the two groups should they actually start discussing anything.
"Uchiha-san," Hashirama greets as Izuna comes into view, several others following him as they stop a dozen or so feet away from the waiting Senju.
"Senju-san," Izuna responds, a slight grimace making its way onto his face. None of the other Uchiha look excited to be there either, sneers and glares adorning their faces as they stand behind his little brother. Hikaku is at his brother's left shoulder, one of the few Uchiha gathered that doesn't watch the Senju with derision. Burūmūn, one of the Uchiha who was always willing to listen to Madara's talks about peace between clans, was situated at Izuna's other shoulder, his face blank as he stared down a female Senju who was standing at Hashirama's side.
"To what do we owe this visit?" Hashirama asks amicably, eyes sharp as he looked over Izuna.
Izuna's eyes were dark as he returned Hashirama's intense gaze, his face twisted into something similar to grief. It surprises Madara, the intense looks of sadness that fall over his clan's faces. Why were that grieving? Had someone dies in the few days Madara has been stuck as a fox? Anxious, Madara perked his ears up and strained to hear Izuna has he finally answered Hashirama's question.
"The Uchiha are looking to officially make peace with the Senju," Izuna says, whispers breaking out from the Senju at his words.
"Then where is your clan head?" Tobirama asks with suspicion. "Should Madara not be here to see this through?"
Izuna's cold gaze lands on Tobirama, the dark bags under his eyes causing Madara to softly whimper. His brother looks so pale in the early morning light, as do the others behind him. Hikaku actually looks close to tears and it makes Madara's stomach drop in dread.
"Madara," Izuna draws out, his throat clicking towards the end, like he too is fighting back tears, "was discovered dead towards the border of our lands. He had taken his own life."
All of the air seemed to suddenly be sucked out of Madara's lungs, his mind going blank at Izuna's words.
"What?" Hashirama gasped, his words sounding distant as Madara started to drift.
"His dream was to one day have peace between our two clans," Izuna says, grief finally making its way into his voice. "I will make that dream a reality if its that last thing I do."
Madara doesn't hear anything after that, because suddenly, he remembers.
bum bum bum. they found madara's body? he committed suicide? what does madara remember!?