A/N : The long awaited epilogue, guys. Enjoy. And tell me your thoughts.
"Well, at least I can trust Madara to help him heal."
Hashirama whined, attempting to nudge the heavy weights that were draped over his back while at the same time not wanting to tear his gaze away from the scene that was unfolding in the office. He has responsibilities as an elder brother to protect his baby brother's virtue after all.
(Though, from the way Madara was pinning Tobirama against the wall, hands roaming hungrily all over the Matatabi jinchuuriki's body while said jinchuuriki was rendered flushing as red as his own sharingan, whimpering softly against Madara's throat—it might not be Madara's virtue that required protection.)
(Hashirama was forever going to blame Touka for including his innocent baby brother in that one seduction mission.)
"At least my baby cousin found a reliable man to hold his leash."
Hashirama dug his elbow to the hard abdomen that was half-clinging to his back. Touka has no right to make that comment.
"Times like this I wish I had the sharingan."
Hashirama whimpered in pure disbelief upon hearing his soon-to-be wife's words.
Tobirama let out an embarrassingly heated groan.
Hashirama did not want to know what Madara's hand was doing despite his inability to tear his gaze away from the little gap of the door they were peeking from. He shifted a bit, starting to feel the strain of supporting three different weights on his back, as Mito, Touka and Jiro leaned heavily over him, trying to get a better look inside the room.
Hashirama inhaled a deep breath and peeked through the gap again.
The God of Shinobi screamed in horror.
"So mean, Madara-chan," Mito huffed, eyeing the not-amused deadpan stare of her brother-in-law and the embarrassed flush of the Uchiha Demon. "Tobirama-kun. I expect better from you."
"The privacy ward is there for a reason," Madara grumbled, sending an annoyed look at the unconscious form of his elder brother. "How the hell are you able to break Tobi's genjutsu this quick?"
Mito tsk-ed delicately.
"We know that we're attempting to peek on an Uchiha who happened to be the strongest sensor in our history," the Uzumaki princess stated, tilting her head in Tobirama's direction. "It is an expected situation."
Touka placed her arm on top of Jiro's head, using him as an armrest as she grinned down to the reanimated corpse with a fond gleam in her eyes. "And this dead brat looked terribly amused for some godforsaken reason."
"I'm older than you, Touka-chan."
"You're forever fourteen, Jiro-kun."
Madara rolled his eyes, lacing his fingers with Tobirama's as he practically dragged the older man away from Mito, Touka and Jiro.
"Don't break the genjutsu for him," the Senju's Clan Heir warned, pointing at Hashirama's unconscious form. "And if he asked, I'm not going to visit until he learnt the meaning of 'privacy," he huffed, turning around to face Tobirama. "Teleport us home."
Tobirama's tiny smile was content and indulgent as he obediently obliged to that demand.
In a blink of an eye, both of them disappeared, leaving nothing as a sign that they have ever been in the office in the first place apart from the unconscious form of the Shodai Hokage.
"Home, he says," Mito remarked, amused. "Since when did he move out of our compound?"
"Don't mind that," Touka said, gesturing wildly at the spot where the duo was previously standing. "Did you see how they talk to each other? I'm not imagining the one-word conversation, right?" she mused, voice hitching in disbelief. "Remind me again how long have they been together?"
Jiro snorted.
"Officially? Three months," the reanimated Uchiha said, wriggling his head away from beneath Touka's arm. "The actual courting? Probably a few months after Konoha's construction began."
Touka gaped.
"Well, fuck," the Senju's kunoichi swore, eyes widened in disbelief.
Mito hid a snicker behind her sleeves as Touka's expression became more and more bewildered—the Senju kunoichi's voice was soft and trembling with disbelief as she mouthed;
"Those two skipped straight to old married couple phase in just a few years."
Jiro hummed in agreement.
Hashirama took a solid three months to resist his brotherly urge to butt into his baby brother's romantic life.
It was a torturous three months for the Hokage but was a highly amusing period for Jiro, deeply hilarious months for Touka and highly entertaining experience for Mito. Madara exercised the Senju's hidden kekkei genkai of holding deep spite against his own elder brother, refusing so stubbornly when Hashirama whined and begged him away from his partner, much to the amusement of said partner. He naturally stayed with Tobirama, making himself at home in the warm atmosphere of the Tobirama clan's compound. The children on the famed inventor's clan have started to see Madara as a permanent fixture in their compound, bounding over to the Senju every morning to greet him with a hug or kisses and hounding him every night as he collaborated with Tobirama to craft their bedtime stories.
By the time Madara finally deemed that Hashirama has learnt his lesson and agreed to return to the Senju's compound, the children were so used to his presence in their home.
Like all children, the Tobirama clan as a whole used their brightly manipulative charms when they asked Hashirama if he was going to return their Madara-oujiichan before their bedtime.
The God of Shinobi lost to the manipulative children.
Madara officially moved into Tobirama's compound.
Touka regretted that she played a part in killing Jiro.
The deceased Uchiha was awesome. He was a perfect balance of an adorable loving aniki and a mischievous evil big brother. Neither Tobirama nor Izuna escaped his interference, much like neither Hashirama nor Madara could ever escape Touka's own interference in their life.
He could be her perfect soulmate if he is alive.
But he couldn't, because he has long died.
Touka shook the emotions away, reminding herself that she was a seasoned shinobi and deaths were a part of her life. She leant over the reanimated corpse, wrapping her strong arms around his undeveloped shoulders as they attempted to peek into the open gap of the closet.
It has been a full 24-hours since they launched this plan. Something should have happened by now.
Touka's eyes softened when Jiro quirked a relieved smile once their gaze landed into the huddled duo in the closet.
He is so cute.
"You're horrible," Madara grumbled somewhere from his sulky perch behind them. "Both of you are."
Touka snorted and turned around to shoot her baby cousin a flat look. "You said it yourself that you're very tempted to shove them into a closet and lock them in until they sort themselves out."
"I can't believe you literally shove the Uchiha Demon and Uchiha-fucking-Izuna into a literal closet," Madara retorted, eyeing the red barrier surrounding said closet in complete disbelief. "Both of you are terrible."
"I highly doubt shoving them both in a get-along shirt would be effective," Jiro piped in absent-mindedly, voice soft as he leant to peek into the closet again.
Neither Touka nor Madara commented when the reanimated Uchiha discreetly wiped his eyes with his sleeves.
Touka hugged him. As much as it saddened her to know that his time here was approaching to an end, she was happy that he finally has the hope to achieve his dream after these twelve and a half years being taken from his rightful place in the afterlife.
She leant over his head to peek into the closet again, feeling her own happiness welled in upon seeing that her (second) favourite Uchiha was finally able to start getting over his pain and mend the broken bridges of his past.
It was such a heartwarming sight, to see the Uchiha brothers embracing each other like true brothers, after all these years of watching them going against each other—Izuna's hatred to Tobirama at first, before the Kumo debacle happened and the situation was reversed when it was Tobirama who was wary of Izuna, fearing to be abused and feel pain again.
There would be more struggles and stumbles in their path of reconciliation—considering that Touka did not miss the slight gleam of doubt in Tobirama's eyes, even when Izuna so desperately clung to him, looking like he did not want to let his elder brother slipped from his hands again—but they were no longer alone.
Hashirama and Madara would not let them return to their hostile beginning. The leaders of Ino-Shika-Cho clans adored Tobirama way too much to see him suffered from his own fears. Kagami, despite his reluctance, prioritised his father's happiness more than anything else. The brothers would be fine.
And perhaps it was a selfish desire of hers, but she honestly didn't mind if the Uchiha brothers took their damn sweet time mending their ties. She really didn't mind.
Touka cast a longing look to the fond glaze in the pronged sharingan of the reanimated corpse in her arms.
Yep. The Uchiha brothers could take their damned sweet time.
Touka wouldn't mind.
"Madara."
Madara grunted, planting a kiss on Tobirama's forehead, before lavishing the closed lids with fluttering kisses. He moved down to Tobirama's nose, kissing along the bridge before nipping at the tip. There was a somewhat chortled laugh that erupted from Tobirama's throat, prompting Madara to repeat the action, nipping the tip of the pale nose again.
Tobirama leant up to capture the Senju's lips in a languid chaste kiss.
"Tease," he murmured when they parted, taking the chance of Madara's dazed condition to return the favour and nip on the Senju's nose.
Madara flushed.
"I'm not teasing you!" he vehemently denied but seemed reluctant all the same to leave his comfortable spot atop the older man.
Tobirama huffed a quiet laugh. "Liar."
"Am not!"
"Then?" Tobirama questioned, throwing an arm over the mass on top of him when Madara started to squirm away. "You have been showering me with these little kisses and hugs every time we're alone. Not that I'm complaining, but—"
"I'm compensating."
Tobirama blinked, confusion evident in his dark eyes. "What?"
Madara looked up to meet those dark eyes, the gleam in his eyes was fiercely determined. He gently cupped Tobirama's jaw with one hand, the other curled on the man's solid bicep with fevered determination as he continued his earlier task, showering Tobirama's face with kisses. He ignored the baffled gaze of his lover as he curled his fingers around the strong wrist, tracing trails of kisses up Tobirama's arm—completely appreciating the mass of muscles that the older man has regained since the past months.
Madara kissed the tip of Tobirama's fingers, his breath was warm as he murmured against the battle-roughened palm;
"I'm compensating all the love you have been denied all these decades."
He punctuated those sincere words with kisses up Tobirama's clothed shoulders and ended up with a playful kiss at the length of Tobirama's jaw.
"Just accept the love, okay?"
Tobirama flushed pink, eyes darkened with overwhelming emotions.
"You can't just say that," he whimpered, dark eyes closed in strained patience behind his silver hair. "Sage help me."
Madara hummed in amusement and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips.
Tobirama groaned.
Then, he fisted his fingers in Madara's shoulder-length hair, flipping their position until Madara was caged between his limbs. He leant down to return the favour, nipping and kissing every inch of Madara's exposed skin. Sliding the loose kimono off Madara's right shoulder, his lips peppered the scarred skin with bruising kisses, leaving his mark all over the flushed skin. Madara's hands came up to fist his own hair, a tiny gasp escaped the Senju's lips when Tobirama sucked a lovebite right at the junction connecting his neck and shoulder.
Tobirama bent down to kiss the pendant that was etched with the pattern of his Mangekyou. His hands completely slid the kimono off Madara's shoulders, leaving the fabric bunched up at the younger man's waist. He held the pendant between his lips, eyes hooded with want.
"I want to see you only wearing my claim," he murmured, hands slipping down to untie the simple obi that was hiding Madara's torso from complete exposure. "Just this," he added, kissing the embossed pattern on the pendant, "Wear only my claim and nothing else."
Madara whimpered, back arching in want as he pressed his bare torso against Tobirama's body, aligning the length of their bodies together, hands tangling in the silver hair as he pulled the older man into another kiss. This time, it was nothing like their calm innocent kiss earlier. It was hungry and wanting, a reminisce of their first kiss—all passion and exhilaration packed in an aggressive duel of tongue and teeth as if that was their very last kiss—as Madara's hands mapped each scar on Tobirama's pale body while the Uchiha did the exact same, indulging in his curiousity to learn everything about his partner.
It was then when the universe decided to be a horrible cockblocker and interfered.
"Shishou?"
Tobirama quickly pulled away, tugging the Senju's sleep kimono back up and hid Madara's marked chest from view as their door slid open. Light spilt from the hallway through the gap of the open door, and Tobirama instinctively slapped his hand over Madara's mouth, stopping the curses from falling out of the younger's man's lips as the children dragged their feet to his bed, pillow and plush toy in their grip.
He schooled his face to that of an indulgent loving look, fixing his own kimono before he rose out of the bed.
"Yes, children?
"Can we sleep with you tonight, shishou?"
Tobirama's gaze landed on their hopeful faces, noting the tears streaking some of those chubby cheeks and his heart instantly melted. The Uchiha Demon smiled indulgently, gesturing to his bed as he nodded his permission;
"Of course, sweethearts."
The horde of children clambered onto the bed.
Madara buried his face to the pillow and screamed.
"I swear to Rikudou Sennin," Madara grumbled the next morning, stabbing onto his food with his chopstick. "We're not even married yet, but this already happened."
Tobirama laughed, brushing the uneven strands of Madara's bangs and tucked the dark hair behind the Senju's ears.
"Sorry," he mouthed, though the quirk of his smile was completely unrepentant.
"Honestly!" Madara whined, lips curled to a pout even though he did lean towards Tobirama's palm. "We're supposed to be frequently cockblocked once we had our own children, not when we're still dating…."
"You know that they're my kids, Madara," Tobirama hummed, smiling indulgently. "It's natural for them to seek me when they have nightmares."
"I know," Madara grumbled. "Why the hell you think I didn't kick them out?"
"Because my kids are your kids too?"
Madara flushed pink, spluttering adorably.
At the head of the table, Kagami fondly pretended to gag.
"Tobi, why is the fucking cat out?"
Tobirama grimaced.
Matatabi yawned, curling her fiery tiny form on top of Tobirama's chest and closed her dual-coloured eyes. Her tails flicked back and forth, almost tauntingly playful as she let out a loud purr, resonating her purr with Tobirama's heartbeats.
"I accidentally created a new jutsu?"
Madara gave him a blank stare.
"U-huh. You accidentally created a new jutsu," the Senju deadpanned, sounding entirely unconvinced. "Accidentally."
Sensing that Madara wasn't buying his bullshit, Tobirama quickly gestured at the purring cat on his chest.
"She demanded it," he blurted out, wincing at the unamused glare from his lover and the all-too-smug purr of the Niibi. "She used to be free, Madara," he tried to placate his scowling lover, eyes lowered in a way that he knew would make the younger man caved to his pleas. "Tabi sacrificed her freedom to keep me alive. This is the least I can do for her."
It must have worked, because Madara's eyes softened by just a tiny bit—the gaze he sent towards the mini bijuu was soft and grateful. The Senju dropped his mission supplies by the door and strode towards where Tobirama was lying on the patio, raising a tentative hand to brush the blue flickers of the tiny bijuu's flame.
"I won't burn you, Mada-chan," Matatabi purred, stretching so lazily like the feline she appeared like as she tipped her head to the side to butt the top of her head with Madara's palm. "Stroke away."
Madara obeyed, running his curious fingers through the blue flicker of her fur and had to restrain an awed gape when all that he felt was softness and warmth. He cheered up, lips stretched to a grin and like all cat lovers in the world, he couldn't resist but reached out his other hand so that he could hold the two flaming paws, pressing his thumbs to the pleasantly warm pads of her paws.
"Oh, sage," Madara blurted out in pure surprise, bringing Matatabi's paws up to press up against his cheeks. "Soft."
Matatabi scowled, silently regretting her demand now. "Human, NO."
"YES," Madara retorted, rubbing his thumbs all over the softness of her paws. "YES."
Tobirama quirked an amused brow, lips twitching to a smile.
"You will pay for this, human," Matatabi grumbled, but didn't make any move to retrieve her poor paws from the gleeful Senju. "You. Will. Pay."
Tobirama smiled indulgently.
Later that night…
"Tobi, put the fucking cat out."
"I—" Tobirama started, sending a pleading look to the purring bijuu that was nestled on Madara's pillow. "Tabi—"
"No," the bijuu growled, tails flickered to lightly slap Tobirama's cheek. "I have decided to sleep with you two tonight."
Tobirama let out a heavy, suffering sigh.
Madara spluttered in rage.
"I'm not being cockblocked by you; you fucking, slave-driving, asshole cat—"
Matatabi didn't even bother to open her eyes when she stopped Madara's tirade;
"I can give him cat ears and tail if you drag your sorry ass to the bed and cuddle me now, human."
"Tabi!" Tobirama shouted, shooting his bijuu a scandalized look.
Madara stopped spluttering in rage and now was gaping in surprise, cheeks flushed pink as a lustful glaze floated into his dark eyes when his gaze shifted from the bijuu towards her scandalized jinchuuriki. Tobirama sent him a warning glare, his voice was quiet and dangerous when he hissed;
"Madara, don't you dare—"
His words fell to deaf ears as Madara dazedly nodded.
"Okay," the Senju agreed, crawling up the bed to curl around the flaming cat.
Matatabi smirked, kneading her paws against Madara's chest.
Tobirama shot them both a disbelieving scandalized glare.
"I hate you both," he muttered.
"No, you love us," they retorted.
Tobirama buried his face to the pillow and groaned in distress.
"By the way, did you know he is working on another interesting research?"
"Oh?" Madara murmured sleepily. "Wow. I'm so surprised."
Matatabi snorted. "You're lucky that you're so cute all sleepy like that, Mada-chan."
Madara sleepily flung his hand, knocking the bijuu's head.
"Aren't you curious?" the bijuu prompted again. "About his new research?"
"Tabi, I demand your silence else I'm summoning you back into my body."
Matatabi didn't give a single fuck to that threat.
"It is an interesting research, though."
Madara yawned, honestly not bothering to even try to stop those two. He was still recovering from his earlier mission, needing more rest to replenish his depleted chakra reserves, so he wasn't in the mood to indulge in the argument between his lover and their cat. The bijuu versus jinchuuriki arguments faded to white noises to his ears as he slipped back and forth between sleep and half-consciousness. It was a funny conversation though, as none of their arguments made sense to Madara's sleep-addled mind.
"You know that normal couple discuss with each other first before they make babies, right?"
"Tabi, STOP."
"Just a heads-up. You're lacking common sense in normal human interaction."
"You're not even a human, Tabi."
"I want one of the babies to be named after me."
"Get in line," Tobirama half-snapped. "Hiruko-sama and Kōjin-sama first."
Matatabi snorted
"I can't believe you choose that leopard and panther before me," the bijuu fake-sobbed. "You broke my heart, Tobi."
Tobirama groaned.
Madara stopped attempting to stay awake.
These two honestly didn't make sense at all.
Tobirama has prepared himself for this day since the day he returned from Kumo.
It was by sheer luck that Jiro noticed his fear of getting hurt again, and the elder has made another huge sacrifice when he gave up his chance to return to the afterlife, remaining in the living world with them until Tobirama gathered himself back together.
Fifteen long years the elder had sacrificed—resisting the longing to return to the Pureland—so that he could be there for his little brothers.
Tobirama cast a look towards his sister-in-law, eyes softened in gratitude at the exhausted woman and quirked a thankful smile when Izuna shifted his gaze from his exhausted wife to meet his gaze. Izuna smiled brightly at him, the hint of anxiety was still there as he still could not forget their rough past, his worries of losing Tobirama was still evident in the way he behaved, despite these past few years the Uchiha Clan Head has spent mending his mistakes.
Though, his smile turned bittersweet once his gaze fell on Jiro.
Jiro might think that he was being discreet about it, but both Tobirama and Izuna saw the slight nod their reanimated brother gave to Hashirama, and the responding bittersweet smile the Senju gave in return.
The living Uchiha brothers knew that it was time.
Everything needed an end, after all.
They have kept Jiro here for far too long. It's time to let go.
"Anija," Tobirama called, voice hoarse and cracked at the impending goodbye but he steeled his resolve to meet the eyes of his reanimated brother, hands holding tight to the little precious bundle in his arm. "Would you like to hold your nephew?"
Jiro stared at the newborn infant with widened eyes.
The reanimated corpse tentatively reached out for the bundle, hesitance and worries splashed all over his face even when Izuna carefully arranged his arms before Tobirama tucked the newborn infant into his hold. It was evident that Jiro was no stranger to babies, because he instinctively adapted to the light weight in his arms, rocking his arms and smiled when the little babe gurgled and gave him a toothless sleepy smile.
"Too bad he didn't get your good looks," the reanimated corpse teased, giving a cheeky grin to Tobirama. "He looked so much like his mediocre father."
"Oi," Madara said somewhere behind them, though he was so obviously over the cloud nine to even attempt to add any heat into that.
Tobirama smiled forlornly.
There was an arm thrown over his shoulder and he instinctively reached out, squeezing Izuna's hand, knowing that they both needed each other's support for the looming goodbye.
Jiro stared at them both, smiling in approval at the way they were leaning to each other before he offered the child to Madara, rolling his eyes when the Senju immediately latched to the infant and activated his clan's secret kekkei genkai, wrapping the little babe with protective wave of chakra, much like how Jiro had seen Hashirama did to his own son. Jiro cooed at the baby once before turning around to face his baby brothers, smiling fondly at the mournful glaze in their eyes.
"Come here you troublesome brats," he huffed, extending his arms in open invitation, only to snort in amusement when they both immediately rushed into his embrace.
One of them was almost thirty-four, while the other just celebrated his thirty-second's birthday, yet these two were still his troublesome baby brothers. He sighed, squeezing their shoulders when he heard the choked sob that tore from Izuna's throat and felt the subtle trembles of Tobirama's body. When they finally let him go, Jiro immediately raised both of his hands, flicking his chakra-coated fingers to their foreheads.
Tobirama hissed. Izuna yowled.
"Anija!" "Nii-chan!" They exclaimed in unison.
Jiro snorted.
"Don't rush to come to me," he warned, grinning at the similar scowls they gave him as they rubbed the faint bruise on their foreheads. "And for fuck's sake, try to get along."
He leant down to kiss the bruise on their foreheads before they could even retort.
"Goodbye, otoutou."
He then gave an urging nod to Hashirama.
Hashirama's eyes were glazed when he released the reanimated Uchiha.
Jiro's soul rose to the light as his body disintegrated to flakes of swirling papers. He shot a soft smile to the steeled gaze that Touka directed in his direction, mouthing something to her. Touka looked away, body trembling while her jaw hardened, teeth gritted in a tight vice. Jiro reached out his glowing hands to curl on his brothers' cheeks.
"Goodbye, Anija," Tobirama murmured, hands reached out to Jiro's glowing one.
Beside him, Izuna sobbed a wrecked goodbye, mirroring Tobirama's action.
Jiro smiled, aligning their palms together. "Be good to each other," he mouthed, lips curled to a stern smile.
His baby brothers nodded obediently.
Jiro was moments away from fading to his rightful place when his brother-in-law finally spoke.
"We're naming him after you."
Jiro blinked, staring at Madara with widened eyes. The Senju gave him a cheeky grin, gesturing to the child in his arms.
"And I'll lock them in the closet again if they fight," Madara assured, tipping his head in the direction of the Uchiha brothers, unintentionally invoking a chortled silent laugh from the fading soul. He looked up to the soul, face softened with fondness and love that he usually reserved for Hashirama.
"So, rest in peace, Aniki."
Jiro faded with a bright smile.
"You know that this would mean we need to make another three kids, right?"
"Kōjin, Hiruko and Matatabi. Another boy and two girls," Madara hummed, still entranced with his child—lips curled to a smile when little Jiro grasped his fingers in those tiny little fists. "Yep, I know."
Somewhere in their background, Hashirama spluttered.
"I'm not allowing you to name my nephew and nieces after your summons and the Niibi!"
They all ignored him.
"I can be surrogate again," Reiko offered cheekily from her curl in Izuna's embrace. "It felt so nice to be treated like a queen. I enjoy the treatments I get while being pregnant, but Izuna and I do not wish to give our daughter more than one younger sibling."
"You enjoyed having three of the most important shinobi in Konoha as your slave for the whole nine months," Izuna snorted, but cradled his wife closer anyway. "I always know that you're a sadist."
"You love me regardless," she giggled, squeezing his hand. "And I think Matatabi is a cute name for a girl, Aniki. Madara-niisan," she nodded to the pair, internally cooing over the way the new parents hovered over their newborn infant.
"Don't encourage them!" Hashirama retorted, only to let out a startled choke when Touka clotheslined him.
"Shush, Hashi," the Senju kunoichi grinned.
Hashirama spluttered, rubbing his bruised neck.
Mito delicately side-stepped her spluttering husband, reaching out her glowing hand towards Reiko and gave the Uchiha matriarch a pleasant smile.
"Would you like a prescription for quick after-birth recovery?"
Hashirama wailed at her betrayal.
Ten years later, Matatabi was summoned out from her jinchuuriki's body to meet Tobirama's youngest daughter.
She imprinted on the little girl instantly, smothering the infant with her protective chakra until it melded with the babe and gave the newborn a similar marking like the bijuu's own markings near her eyes. The child's dark eyes shifted to a lighter tone, carrying a subtle gleam of green and yellow in the onyx orbs.
"What the fuck?"
Tobirama sighed. "Touka, language."
"I carry that brat for 9 months. I want to know what your cat just did to her."
Matatabi purred, wrapping her flickering tails around the sleeping infant.
"I make her mine."
Madara snorted. "I pity our future son-in-law."
Tobirama huffed a quiet laugh.
And they all lived happily ever after.
THE END
A/N: If it isn't clear, they had 4 kids through surrogates. Izuna's wife is the surrogate mother for Madara's kids and Touka is the surrogate for Tobirama's.
Tobirama's clan main family is the one that wields the rinnegan.
Kbye.