I Prefer The Stars
Summary: The Sun is the brightest star in our sky because it is the closest, but it is the far away stars, whose light we see despite such a great distance, that hold insurmountable possibilities and potential. When given a true chance to shine to their true potential, which is more beautiful? Which will lead the way?
Needless to say, Itama was enamored with his new shishou - since Madara said he will never be tied down to teaching an entire gaggle of minions, not on his life, therefore he refused to be referred to as sensei - and would not stop talking about him whenever he got the chance. Given how much time they have been spending together for the past three months since Itama's iryo training began, Tobirama got to hear about Madara perhaps even more than he would have liked.
While Madara had laughed at Tobirama's 'suggestion', he had refused to mix business and teaching, therefore he made Tobirama escort Itama to his lessons up until five weeks ago, when he deemed Itama now more than skilled enough to look out for himself, and then leave. They held meetings more often regarding their 'business' due to the consistency lessons needed for a well-trained medic to emerge at the end of the grueling training, though, some days, Madara just had enough time to show Itama something new and give him an assignment until next time.
Now that Itama could have some time in between his lessons so he can study the books and scrolls Madara had provided - all written in an identical copy of Tsunade's handwriting or the hand of dozens of other talented healers that were not even born yet, whose works Madara seems to have studied (with the Sharingan as well) and then recorded by hand for Itama to study from - they went back to their old schedule of meeting at irregular times at the prearranged locations. And Tobirama suddenly found his days ... dull. Boring. Almost empty, without hours at a time spent in Madara's presence, as he'd grown so quickly used it. It was almost disturbing how easily he had fallen into habit and while he could signal Madara to have a meeting early - something was up with Hashirama, Butsuma was planning a big skirmish with the Uchiha over their south-eastern boarder, Kawarama was being sent out to more missions than last time, Itama was removed from the active mission roaster and withdrawn from any further battlefields after he managed to heal some wounds from the last mission that brought home injured shinobi and the head healer 'caught' him in the act (Butsuma was not pleased but the medics needed more help and they all vouched that Itama seemed to possess talent for iryo-jutsu) - Madara had actually sent a hawk earlier that week that he would be unavailable for at least a couple of days so he couldn't do it even if he wanted to.
He was not sulking. He wasn't! In fact, he rather needed a respite from Madara! And he hadn't spent much time with his summons, either! Yes, this was good. Kaida would get grouchy if he didn't call on her for a bit of snow leopard cuddling. It had nothing to do with him wanting to distract himself from the fact that he hadn't been in the presence of Madara's scorching hot chakra for a while now and that it was growing rather cold.
'Who am I kidding?' He sighed in exasperation at himself, not-pouting into Kaida's side. He didn't appreciate her snort of amusement. 'I guess one could say that I ... miss him, sort of. We've grown ... closer, I think. We might even call each other friend at this point. But I don't think it should be bothering me this much.' It wasn't exactly the first time they couldn't come to one of their scheduled meetings or that they were kept away for more than three days. Except it might as well be. They'd only had three meetings before the lessons got mixed into it, so it wasn't as though as they'd managed to build a regular routine to fall back on when the immediate concern was dealt with.
Which now meant he was stuck, once again, doing clan work and trying to brainstorm old projects from his old life that he had ever quite managed to finish. It was rather tiring, as he wasn't exactly blessed with Uchiha-like memory, so even if he was a genius, he did not have the exact same data as he'd once had and he had no references written down or collected from other clans, which often left him frustrated as he knew he had solved this or that problem with one or the other project but he couldn't remember it so he had to redo some less exciting experiments and go through the same process of research and read all the same books he's once already read and found insufficient in their lack of the answers he sought. And he couldn't get the books that actually helped him find the answers that interested him because Konoha was no yet built and that meant that there was no public library available to all to read all the knowledge various different clans had collected over the decades and centuries.
'Maybe Madara will indulge me and write down the books he must have read over the years so I can at least have that as reference,' he mused with a scowl as he went through his kata routine three days after he and the above mentioned Uchiha were supposed to meet should Madara not have canceled basically at the last minute. Itama was training - practicing - in the healing hall the techniques the Uchiha had taught him so far - Itama had not even realized his new shishou was an Uchiha until Madara came to one of their meetings one day wearing the usual Uchiha garb consisting of the dark purple mantle with a high, wide collar, the uchiwa proudly stitched between his shoulder blades and had freaked out at Tobirama for being so careless and then for not having told him. Not that it changed Itama's opinion of Madara. In fact, the two-color haired boy has come to the point, relatively easily and very quickly, where he would probably be more than content to kill anyone who might say a single derogatory thing about his shishou's clan origins - Kawarama was preparing for a long term mission in two days - Tobirama was not happy about that and will probably be losing a lot of sleep over it, looking out for his brother with his senses the whole time, no doubt - and Hashirama was already out on a mission.
Which meant that he had no one to train with.
Which wouldn't have been a problem had Madara not decided now to disappear off to only the Uchiha himself knows where. Tobirama had tried tracking him down but he must have been using a seal to not only scramble but also suppress his signature so that the white haired Senju would have no hopes of finding him whatsoever. 'Whatever he's doing better be important. I'm bored and I'm losing things to keep me focused and I'm really curious as to which books he may have studied and whether he had ever checked out my own laboratory after my death. If he's ever read even a single one of my notes, I'd be fucking grateful right now.' Which was unusual in and of itself but he's seriously sick of running the same experiments with the same mistakes as in his last life instead of focusing on improving his jutsus/projects/inventions. 'Maybe I could even get his opinion? It might help me figure out any problems I myself never noticed. Madara has quite an intriguing, dangerously sharp mind behind all that hair. Maybe I could-'
"What are you up to, little cousin?" A familiar female voice asked and Tobirama very carefully did not jump or flinch, pretending he had sensed Toka coming all along. He couldn't believe he had lost himself in his own thoughts to the point that he had completely forgotten to keep an eye on his surroundings. If he'd slipped like that while meeting with Madara or while he'd been escorting Itama to his lessons ...
Unacceptable.
"What makes you think I am up to anything, cousin?" Tobirama asked with a carefully calculated snot to make himself sound casual, finishing his kata so he can settle himself into the right mindset to deal with his favorite cousin - practically sister, for all that they shared no parents between them - and pushing the thoughts of a certain Uchiha well into the back of his mind.
Toka seemed rather amused by his blank face, as she'd always been. "How about that glint in your eyes that you usually get only when you're plotting something, be it an experiment or revenge-prank at the elders or just about anyone that manages to piss you off? I know you, Tobi-"
"Don't call me that."
"You can't fool me. So spill. What's up?" And as if to prove that she won't be leaving until he tells her what is either 'bothering' him or what nefarious plans he has in store for the elders now - it wasn't his fault that he was very carefully undermining Butsuma's most stauch supporters in continuing the war with the Uchiha. They were being stupid and while he'd had no way to make people realize that the first time around, he was doing things The Kagami Way™️ this time around so that by the time Butsuma and Tajima hit the bucket, Hashirama will have less opposition to make peace with Madara and the Uchiha on more equal terms. If Madara can make structural changes in the Uchiha, Tobirama will do the same in the Senju. Starting off with familiarizing more people around his age with the idea of peace and undermining the elders that want to represent themselves as all-knowing wise old bats that should have an opinion in how the clan is ran and how Konoha should be ran when they really had none that would be beneficial or useful - so she can take part in it if she finds it hilarious enough.
Sometimes he wonders why he loves Toka so much but then she'd stand by his side no matter what and he'd be reminded that he couldn't have asked for a better cousin/sister.
Tobirama sighed and mimicked her after sheathing his katana, consciously calculating at which angle he was going down so as not to initiate any accidental physical contact the way he and Madara always seem to be doing since that day when Madara had been oh so close while healing him. Toka would just find the gesture weird and he was weird enough in the eyes of Senju as it is. Toka might not judge him for it - might even love him for it - but she'd be confused as that was simply not how Senju did things. Well, unless you were Hashirama. Physical affection was seriously only reserved for private occasions with your closest loved ones and while both he and Toka considered each other to fit in that category, the setting was far from private on this very public, very open training field where anyone could just simply walk by and see them. People were already talking how he was a demon who had seduced their most promising young kunoichi into selling her soul to him. He really didn't need more rumors going on about all the nefarious reasons why he and his older cousin were so much closer than Toka was with the rest of his siblings.
"It's nothing, really. I'm just extremely bored and I had just thought up of a way that could have helped me deal with it if not for remembering that it is not currently available."
Toka hummed, as though she were thinking over the half lie he'd spouted. He narrowed his eyes. Toka never hummed unless she was about to- "This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with Tama-chan's cute little iryo sensei, now would it?" -tease him. Tobirama glared. Itama was obviously a little traitor, though where he'd get the idea to go off and actually tell someone- "Come now, Tobes-"
"Don't call me that."
"Give me some credit!" Toka continued uninterrupted, grinning unrepentantly at him. "Seriously, did you think at least I wouldn't notice? Tama-chan is more of a pacifist than Hashbrown-" Well, that was, at least, one more reminder why he loved Toka because she was the one who had first come up with that nickname. Though Madara himself had come up with some rather interesting plant-related insults over the years, too, that were hilarious. And used rather often by Hashirama's nearest and dearest long before and after the Uchiha's 'death'. He wondered briefly if Madara would mind if he borrowed some of them now? "-and doesn't like fighting to boot. Suddenly, one day, you start training with him to make him a better fighter when he'd rather not fight at all? And then, out of the blue, he knows iryo-jutsu enough to help after that last disaster mission? After just a few weeks of 'training' with you? It wasn't hard to put it together. You have spectacular chakra control and can do some basic healing but not enough to be labeled a medic and while you may know the theory of how the more complex healing works, that's not enough to teach someone who has no knowledge or prior experience whatsoever. Therefore, it's obvious that an outsider was involved. I've never managed to trail you to wherever Tama-chan might be getting his lessons, but that didn't stop me from making him sing. And he says his shishou is the prettiest person he'd ever seen and that 'Tobi-nii was unfair in keeping him all to himself'. So tell me honestly, Tobirama." He nearly winced at his full name. Heavens, Toka was serious now. "Does your little sulk fest have anything to do with you being unable to see Itama's healing teacher?"
"I ... guess you could say we've become somewhat friends," he said, not meeting the kunoichi's eyes. He felt a bit flustered. Why was he feeling flustered?! At least he wasn't blushing ... Was he?
The older Senju snorted and leaned back until she was lying on the ground and staring up at the cloudy sky. It wasn't exactly all that warm anymore, in the first days of autumn. "Somewhat 'friends'? What's with you? Scared he might not share your feelings?"
Tobirama jerked, looking down at his cousin incredulously. "Feelings?"
Toka rolled her pretty eyes at him. "Yes, feelings, Tobi-"
"Don't call me that." It was really more reflex than anything else that had him blurting that out every single time someone other than his younger brothers butchered his given name with nicknames. Madara was bad enough with calling him things like snow rabbit, snowflake, snowman, icicle, snowball and so on and so forth. But at least it wasn't Tobi or, gods forbid, Tobes.
Toka ignored him, as usual. "Feelings you obviously have because I can count on one hand how many people you'd trust the safety and well-being of your brothers with and to and when you remove your immediate family, that leaves me and your old fuinjutsu sensei and that's only because old Kouryo-baachan would take your head off if you insinuated that she wouldn't protect her favorite student's family at any cost. Though whether the old hag meant you or Kira-sama ... "She shrugged and Tobirama had to agree with a grimace.
Uzmaki-Hatake Kouryo was one of Hatake Kira's 'handmaids' when his mother had married into the Senju Clan. A child born outside of wedlock she may have been, but the Hatake accepted her whereas the Uzumaki wouldn't. She may have carried the clan name - to spite them, no doubt - and had been taught fuinjutsu to the point of almost unrivaled mastery by her father that was then all but exiled when he officially accepted her as his child despite him being engaged to another woman within Uzushio, but Kouryo-sensei took more after her Hatake side than one would expect from anyone born of even partial Uzumaki blood. For one, her skin was pale but she had three beauty marks right under her right eye in an almost perfect triangular formation, her hair was the silver-white of the wolf clan and she was definitely wild at heart. Her eyes, old and wise, may be emerald green and she might have a single lock of red hair that was finally starting to melt into the natural gray of her Hatake heritage, but she dressed in furs, she had the Hatake facial markings and she had not one, but two summoning contracts, one with wolves, the other with hunting hounds.
The most fascinating thing about the old biddy was that she had inherited the Hatake white chakra as well as the Uzumaki proficiency at seals.
And, well, their longevity and vitality. She was in her late seventies right now and looking no older than fifty with that red streak slowly turning gray being the only indicator of her true age.
Kouryo-sensei had come with Tobirama's mother because she didn't trust the Senju as far as her youngest hound cub could throw them without chakra. She'd come and unlike Kira, who had arrived in a formal kimono with fur lining to appease her new soon-to-be clan, Kouryo-sensei had strutted in dressed like a traditional Hatake, armed to the teeth - almost literally; Kouryo-sensei had pierced the inside of her cheek to hide a single senbon in there that she can spit out at her enemies at close range, a move that had inspired one of his own jutsu later on - a fur pelt around her shoulders, hair left wild and all her clan markings clearly on display. Butsuma had always hated her. Kira had adored her distant aunt. The feeling was mutual and extended to Kira's 'cubs'.
Tobirama had rather liked her as well. She spoke deeply to his Hatake side and to her death, she was one of the rare few people he had felt genuine respect towards. He's sad she never got the chance to see Konoha. Perhaps this time around? At least he now had an actual fully trained medic on his side. Two, if Itama continues progressing and learning at this rate.
"Doesn't mean I have feelings towards him," Tobirama defended himself against Toka's earlier accusation. "We are just good friends. That's all. I trust him and I know he wouldn't do anything to Itama."
Toka whistled. "That's still a high order and very good recommendations when coming from you, Tobira." That nickname, at least, he didn't protest against. It was the least annoying one. "He must be quite special."
Tobirama hummed in agreement. He couldn't exactly refute it. Madara was special, more special than any other being on this Earth because he possessed the same, if not even greater power than the Sage of Six Paths. No, definitely greater because he'd achieved Six Paths Sage Mode, had Six Paths chakra, had the Rinne-Sharingan and had been bold enough to steal power from Otsutsuki Kaguya herself and now knew how to use it. He'd been the one to bring them here. Needless to say, Madara was one quite special cookie.
"By the Sage, you are besotted!" Toka crowed in glee, startling him enough to make him flinch. The grin on her face almost had the same effect. "So? Tell me 'bout him! What's his name? What's he like? How did you two meet? Is he really as pretty as Tama-chan says? Should I keep an ear out for wedding bells, cousin?" The harpy laughed when Tobirama felt his whole face erupt in heat, probably the visual result of which was a spectacular blush.
However, before she could continue teasing him or he could start contemplating murder and/or suicide to cover his embarrassment, the ground suddenly started shaking as though the very Earth was trying to tear itself in half. Even lying down, Toka and Tobirama found themselves being thrown about violently as houses creaked, threatening to collapse, and old trees leaned this way or that, looking like the earth was being shaken from the grip of their roots. Tobirama wasted no time in erecting an earth dome around them, only to curse as the shaking made its integrity almost nonexistent, shaking the mud right out of his chakra's grip no matter how much he concentrated on it. He, thankfully, deemed it a lost cause and reverted to water in just enough time to save himself and Toka from being turned into pancakes by a tree that had finally lost all hold in the ground and toppled sideways.
"What's going on!?" Toka shouted over the rumbling, barely heard despite Tobirama's slightly enhanced Hatake hearing and the fact that they were standing almost plastered to each other. "This is too strong to be a normal earthquake!"
Tobirama silently agreed but he didn't know what was going on. He didn't know of any doton users strong enough to create such effects and he couldn't even detect any weaker ones that could have snuck close enough to the compound to cause this. When he noticed two more trees threatening to crash onto their little water bubble of protection that had no hope of standing up to all three trees pressing down on it, he reached back and grabbed Toka by the wrist. "Hold on tight." That was all the warning he gave her before he used Hiraishin to get them out of there and to the main square of the Senju Compound, where the shaking was no less intense.
"Tobi-nii!" Itama and Kawarama called out from where they were hunkered into one of Hashirama's strongest and biggest Mokuton constructs, the grain silo, with most of the rest of the clan, beckoning him and Toka over.
"What's going on, Nii-san?" Kawarama asked, worry clear in his face and voice. "This can't be natural! Hi no Kuni doesn't have earthquakes like this!"
"It's not impossible. We'll just have to wait it out," he said through grit teeth, fear seizing his heart for a moment. Could this be Zetsu's doing? In retaliation for all the Senju and Uchiha who hadn't died despite its manipulations? Were Tobirama's brothers going to die here instead? Had all the plans he and Madara had made so far all in wain? 'I'm sorry, Madara. If I don't survive, please look out for the remaining Senju.'
Miraculously, the earthquake died down not many moments later. The Senju as a whole paused, trading looks and uncertain glances. They all knew that just because the earthquake was over didn't mean there won't be any aftershocks and those could be far more lethal if they take you by surprise because they are usually the ones to topple buildings that 'survived' the first wave.
Even more miraculously, there were no aftershocks. And most of the houses were left undamaged or in need of very little repairs. The biggest losses were breakables that had fallen and got broken and the eggs in the chicken coop, along with some very disgruntled chicken.
The injuries were minimal, given that nothing large enough to be truly dangerous - other than some trees well out of the residential area - had fallen on anyone. Scraps and bruises at most, really, and some crying children who were frightened by something they had never experienced before. Tobirama was still careful as he lead his brothers and cousin out of their little shelter, battle-trained adults soon overtaking the scene as they tried to judge if this was an act of nature or enemy shinobi. Not that there was much to study or any clues to find. Tobirama himself had not sensed any chakra in their territory and even if he hadn't felt a person, he would have definitely sensed the jutsu, especially if it was one at this scale. He was sure not even Zetsu could have hidden an action of this scale. There was simply no way!
"Tobirama-sama, can you tell us anything?" The captain of the guard asked nearly a whole hour later when any and all search efforts turned out empty, shinobi sent out to check things around the border and possibly beyond them. If the incident was indeed localized only within Senju lands, then they definitely had a very powerful enemy to concern themselves with.
Tobirama frowned as he replied. "I couldn't sense anything and I still can't. If the patrols find nothing of consequence to prove it otherwise, we have no choice but to classify this as an act of nature, no matter how much it may have seemed like a jutsu. There is simply no evidence to suggest enemy attack." All the while he was wondering, if it was indeed just an earthquake, how the Uchiha Compound and its residents had fared and whether Madara, wherever he was, was alright. 'Stupid. Of course he is! With how powerful he is, I rather doubt that something as simple as a little earthquake' - never mind that it was the strongest one he'd felt in either lifetime - 'Could take him down. Not when he could cause so much more damage with his-' Tobirama cut himself off, very glad that the captain of the guard had nodded and already turned away so he didn't see the moment red eyes widened with a sudden realization as memories of meteorites summoned at a single man's will raced across his mind. 'But why would he-?'
"Tobi-nii, can you sense shishou? I'm worried." He snapped out of his thoughts when Itama came over to him with a frown, absently biting at his lower lip in nervousness, a habit Madara was trying to quite literally beat out of him during their training sessions. Tobirama remembered how enraged Madara was that anyone would instill such behavior, consciously or not, into their child and the Senju brothers had had to unite forces - and offer quite a bribe of inarizushi - to stop Madara from marching right into the Senju Compound to beat some sense into Butsuma, too. Instead, the Uchiha had focused on improving Itama's confidence and the gesture lessened to the point Itama only ever fell back to it when he was really worried over someone he cared for.
The white haired Senju sighed, running a hand through his hair. "He's been out of my range for a couple of days now. I don't know if that means he's simply too far away-" Which was not impossible as Madara could quite literally fly if he uses Six Paths Chakra. "Or he's using suppression seals, neither of which makes me feel all that reassured."
"You two really need to stop keeping secrets," Kawrama informed them sulkily. "We're not stupid and I don't see a reason why you would have to hide anyone who would be willing to teach this baka."
"This baka happens to be capable of cracking your skull open with a flick of his finger, Ka-wa-ra-ma-kun," Itama singsonged in that way Tobirama had heard Madara do when he was threateningly taunting someone. Tobirama had actually only heard him use the tone a handful of times, the most memorable being the one when Madara had thorn the Hyuuga Clan Head apart when the man tried suggesting making the Uchiha wear, if not bare, seals that basically made their Sharingan and chakra in general useless within village walls when the Hyuuga were still negotiating joining Konoha. Madara had been vicious and unforgiving and unrelenting as a forest fire, burning burning burning until Hyuuga had nothing to stand on anymore and looked ready to shit himself regardless. Tobirama remembered being reluctantly impressed, seeing as he had known, vaguely from informants, how young Hyuuga branch members received their seals and how truly lethal they could be. That Madara wanted nothing even remotely similar to what the Hyuuga used, let alone something one of them suggested, was understandable. Once, Madara had wanted nothing more than to stop children from dying young. It was, perhaps, one of the few things that he missed and that had saddened him when the Uchiha went mad with grief and betrayed their village. "And I'm not taking you to meet shishou with your attitude. You may be a simple-minded buffoon, but I still love you and you don't deserve death by shishou. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."
"Even the Uchiha?" Kawrama challenged and was predictably confused when Tobirama and Itama both couldn't hold back a snort at the irony of it all. Before the middle brother could saying anything else - probably demand some answers - or Toka could start teasing the two uniquely colored Senju brothers, the very woman he and Toka had mentioned earlier walked up to them, shooting the younger brothers an unimpressed look and sparing Toka an amused glance. When he green eyes settled on his red ones, the second eldest of Butsuma's sons nodded respectfully to his sensei.
"Kouryo-sensei."
"Stop acting so formal already. I swear, you have an older soul than some of the ancient Hatake wolf summons." The Hatake-Uzumaki huffed, sounding between exasperated and amused. It may not have been mentioned earlier, but Kouryo had taken on an interesting mix of the usual Hatake and Uzumaki personalities. She may lean far more towards the Hatake, but she was no less hotblooded and sometimes loudly expressive - for the liberal understanding of 'loud' - about her emotions like any Uzumaki. Though in her it manifested more as an expression of opinions than outright emotions. "Unfortunately, this isn't a social call. Just spoke to that no good father of your's. He's suspicious of outside attacks or even an inside job by some imaginary traitor. He wants you and me and whoever we deem skilled enough in fuinjutsu to draw seals that would protect us from further doton attacks 'like this one', never mind that we still have no idea if that is at all necessary and it's not like seals can stop nature. Not at its finest, anyway."
He pursed his lips in displeasure. He suspected that, indeed, no seals would be of help for the 'natural' quake like the one they'd just experienced. Not if his suspicions prove to be correct, not when it meant that likely the world itself trembled just a little. He also suspected that expressing his disbelief for a need for something like this to his father would only get him a hand across the cheek or, worse yet, a training session where Butsuma would take every chance to beat on him for 'questioning his authority'. "I'm guessing we don't have much of a choice."
The grim set of his sensei's mouth said it all even without words. "If only, cub, if only."
00000
Earthquake aftershocks are unpredictable, but they usually happen within a day of the actual earthquake, usually in the first handful of hours, but it was not unheard of for a delayed reaction. It still surprised them all when the ground started shaking somehow even more violently, in several shocks, again, just the next day. As he had expected, the seals they'd spent all day yesterday and well past midnight putting around the compound proved to be less than effective. In fact, the seals didn't even register anything was wrong and then crumbled when the earth they were laid in did. Tobirama glared at his father as he kept his brothers' heads pressed against his chest, standing protectively over them, chakra coursing through his body so that he may not only remain alive but also standing should the grain silo actually collapse under the natural catastrophe happening today. That was a considerable number of hours and a lot of chakra needlessly and uselessly wasted that could have been used for much smarter, more useful things.
Like figuring the hell out where the fuck Madara could have gone and if this was really him.
It took days, really, before anyone was allowed to venture out of the compound, on Butsuma's orders no less, the paranoid bastard having convinced himself that it was an attack on them despite their scouts discovering that the whole of Hi no Kuni and a good part of their neighboring countries had been affected, too. It was driving Tobirama insane and he wanted to scream in his father's face about the idiocy he was committing as they were the only clan that stopped running missions and had almost no patrols whatsoever for two weeks. At this rate, they won't need the Uchiha to run them into the ground with the war.
Clients preferred shinobi who answered the call.
Still, his (im)patience payed off when, finally, Butsuma let up with Hashirama's return - he appears to have been expecting news of his eldest's death, for whatever paranoid reason - and Tobirama could leave the compound again. Itama, even if Tobirama had agreed with the younger's request to come along, had to stay behind - Butsuma's orders again - as he was a healer and he was still expecting an attack but was less paranoid about it. Tobirama was kind of glad even if he felt guilty about it, but he needed to be able to question Madara openly if he hoped to get any straight answers. Madara knew how to clam up when he wanted to and he didn't need that right now.
He sent out flares of chakra to signal Madara his wish to meet immediately and was glad when he extended his senses and could finally feel the Uchiha after so long of the proverbial radio silence. He immediately focused on that familiar signature and turned to follow it so he may meet the Uchiha halfway, only to realize he had made a very big, very bad mistake.
The fiery chakra signature washed over his senses in a way he had never felt another do before and he gasped, his steps faltering and not even instinct or years of training could stop him from toppling to the ground from the tree branches he'd been using for faster travel. Tobirama didn't even feel slamming into the ground nor did he hear bones snapping under the hit, the suddenly applied pressure, the resistance of slamming into another solid surface. He didn't taste the blood in his mouth, the sensation of air being knocked out of him could not reach his brain no matter how much his body tried to warn him that something was wrong.
The injuries and the pain were inconsequential, truly, unimportant in the face of the warmth he could feel washing over him like nothing he'd truly ever felt before. And here he had thought his Anija could feel overwhelming ... He had never known he could be so completely and utterly wrong.
He didn't even notice when he lost consciousness, too focused in basking in that wonderful warmth to even registered the worry in it as it came closer.