Chapter 2
“—Anija!”
Someone was shaking him, pulling him out of his dreams. “Anija wake up!” Tobirama called his brother again, trying to wake him up.
“Huh—?” Hashirama lifted his head from the table, a paper was stuck on his forehead. He pulled it off while looking up at his little brother, vaguely registering the bento on the table that wasn’t there before.
“When did you get here Tobi?” Hashirama asked, moving his hand through his hair, untangling a stubborn piece.
“Couple of minutes ago, you did ask me to come earlier have you forgotten?” Tobirama said, crossing his arms.
“Oh! Yeah! You know about the Oharta thing, I assume, so I have decided that Madara and I will go investigate it further tomorrow. I need you to act as Hokage for a few days, my dear outoto.”
Tobirama looked as if he wanted to argue against his decision to go on a mission but found another reason to object nevertheless and said “You sure you need Madara for that? Isn’t it better if the two of us stay in the village, as much as I hate the Uchiha I don’t think it’s wise to leave him unsupervised outside of the village”.
Now sure, Hashirama was expecting some kind of resistance from his little brother, but not an outright attack on his friend.
“Would you stop implying Madara is a rabid dog who needs to be on a tight leash?! He’s my co-founder which also means he’s as much a leader as I am. So please treat him with the respect he deserves!” Hashirama said, getting tired of the way Tobirama treated Madara.
It was no secret they couldn’t stand each other, especially so soon after a century long war between their clans. Still, as the founders of Konoha, they should set their differences aside and set an example to the people.
And it seems they have a long way to go.
“Anija, haven’t you heard the rumours about him lately? Or are you choosing which ones you believe? And respect him? Even his own clan doesn’t have any respect left for him! Pah!” Tobirama slammed his hand on the table in anger, and turned his head away.
“That’s enough Tobirama! This is exactly the reason I want him to come on the mission with me. We have been talking about this time and time again, why can’t you see? He’s a kind man, he just needs time.”
Tobirama was about to answer his elder brother but Hashirama countered with another argument “look” he pointed at the bento on his desk. “Madara made this for us, asking me to spend time with you before I take my leave. He knows how important you’re to me. I just want you to try to look past the prejudice, it hasn’t been easy on any of us, especially on Madara.”
Tobirama was left unsatisfied, he was about to argue once more that the Uchiha is unstable,
but couldn’t find his voice again. A pair of chopsticks were pushed into his hand. “There. Tobi have some, it’s really good and this time he didn’t put any chilli on it!” Hashirama said with his mouth full of rice. Tobirama was hesitant needless to say, he was scared Madara was planning on poisoning him. One would ask why would he poison Hashirama as well, but this man rarely gets sick, and his body is healing extremely fast, so it’s safe to assume the only one who will be affected by it in this scenario would have to be none other than Tobirama. No one would suspect him. What a great plan. Ugh.
Hashirama knew his brother well enough to know what he was thinking and instead of persuading him, he just took a piece of the food and shoved it into Tobirama’s throat. “Well? How is it Tobi delicious isn’t it?” asked Hashirama with a sweet tone, his head resting on his hands, looking ominously directly at Tobirama. Tobirama, having to swallow the meat, has faced defeat and admitted “Yes this is very good, even for an Uchiha”.
Hashirama smiled as Tobirama kept eating with him the food. This is the best he’s going to get from his little brother. “So, tell me about your day Tobi, I haven’t seen you since the morning”
•
It was far too early for anyone and anything to be awake at this hour. Yet Madara was wide awake, he was staring at the ceiling of his empty bedroom with unfocused eyes. It’s been a long time since he had a proper sleep, his restless mind wouldn’t let him be, the nightmares and the dull pain in his chest were something he couldn’t get rid of. It wasn’t anything new, he learned the consequences of wars in his early childhood. The constant fear, stress and starvation that was looming over him and his brothers.
One of his most vivid memories was when he was forced by his father into a room full of corpses. Ranging from small children to the elderly all wearing the Uchiha fan symbol. It was a lesson meant to teach him about the responsibility he has to bear. He was only four at the time, he just lost two of his brothers to the war against the Senju. He might’ve said something to his father, he couldn’t remember, and the next thing he knew was that he was sitting in the middle of a pile of dead people waiting to be buried or sacrificed to the goddess. He remembers the lock closing behind him, the rotting smell that wouldn’t go away and stick to his clothes many days later. He remembers the cunning words his father had said before he left his son there.
“You, Madara, are now the clan heir. You have to learn now, those are the people who lost their lives because of the Senju. They were fathers, sons, mothers and daughters and they all perished because of the enemy.”
“We can’t have any compassion for the Senju, Madara. They made this! They will continue this until they exterminate all of us! Madara do you understand your duty?!“
He couldn’t recall what was his answer to that but he remembered another angry scream from the man. “One day your little brothers would be amongst these corpses if you keep your naïve behaviour up!”
“Look around Madara! Look at their faces do you want your brothers to die?!”
The familiar feeling of dread consumed him, he couldn’t get out, they were staring at him, suffocating the room with the smell of death, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest, he could hear them begging for revenge, salvation from their future leader. But he wanted none of that. He wanted to go back home and see Izuna.
The room seemed to get smaller and smaller as time went by.
His father was right however, he led towards the downfall of his brothers. They’re now nothing but ashes. He doesn’t know for how long he was locked in this chamber, His father came to get him home,but not before they walked through the whole camp. He looked at his clan members, who were still alive. His ears were ringing from the sound of people, his eyes hurt from the change of ambience. The bright colours were irritating to him. The smell of food and fresh blood washed over him.
He looked at a toddler resting upon his mother’s chest. He couldn’t take his eyes off him as he painfully resembled the dead child he had seen earlier.
And then, he understood, he assigned himself with the mission to ensure his brothers would live. He will protect those children just like him who never wanted to shed any blood.
His body felt numb as if he needed to be pulled out of a state. Suddenly, he felt the cold air of the night piercing through his bones at once. The extreme sudden cold made his body shiver and regained somewhat consciousness as he jumped out of his futon. He decided he needed to do something,anything to find a distraction from this feeling of emptiness and distress that pressing on his mind.
So he packed. He made himself useful and prepared much needed supplies for his and Hashirama’s travel later that day. He made sure to pack some of the leftovers he cooked for Hashirama yesterday. Some scrolls, additional information on the Amaterasu goddess he stumbled across in the Uchiha sacred library, his weapons and money.
Immediately upon finishing packing, Madara decided to head out of the compound, to visit his brother before sunrise.
It wasn’t an irregular sight, sometimes Madara would go to Izuna’s grave and bring his favourite dish, talk about his day while cleaning his monument. He would sit beside the gravestone or lean over it as if they both cuddle together like they used to when Izuna was much smaller while the storm was raging on and the thunder was rolling. He would talk about his clansman, complain that Hikaku being an absolute ass lately or the cursed clan elders who have never stopped bickering and criticising him. Just like in old times, when Izuna helped him share the burden. Sometimes he’ll talk about Hashirama. Although he would feel guilty for it because he went against his own brother’s wishes- he trusted the Senju.
He knows that this peace is temporary and unstable. Soon other countries will follow suit. This is nothing but a vacuum period of uncertainty. The human urge to take and gain power will not stop because of the system that He and Hashirama built.
But the tall tanned man wouldn’t leave his mind. Maybe it was worth fighting for, even if he gradually loses his faith in Konoha, Even if he didn’t belong there, Even if Hashirama was the only one standing beside him.
So, for once in his lifetime he was going to be selfish, he would trust his friend’s dream, for now, he will help him to protect the village until he cannot linger on anymore.
•
The sun was rising, the colours in the sky were changing slowly. Konoha was quiet the only thing you could hear was the wind blowing. Madara looked at the village underneath the cliff, letting himself soak in the stillness of it all. He closed his eyes, then put his arms forward as if accepting the breeze. Washing away all of his thoughts and emotions. He takes a deep breath, then takes a step forward. His leg hovers over the edge, almost letting himself fall.
Hashirama appears behind him, just in time to catch him. As much as Madara couldn’t tolerate the presence of someone behind his back, he lets Hashirama sneak up on him grabbing his robe from behind back to safety.
“Madara! Good morning my dearest friend!” Hashirama’s voice was booming, he wore a big smile. He exchanged the long ugly Hokage robes with his familiar armour and training clothes. His long hair was straight and shiny, his skin was tanned and his olive brown eyes were glowing with boyish charm.
A complete opposite to his features, dark fluffy hair which always looks messy and tangled. His skin was porcelain, so bright you could probably see it glowing in the night. His eyes were dark with a reddish tint that always bore a saddened look.
He was shorter than Hashirama which definitely makes him saltier sometimes since Hashirama never passed the opportunity to tease him about it. What can he do? Those dammed Senjus look like a goddanm trees.
It was quite funny how different they were but then again they felt whole together, they worked like clockwork especially when fighting. They have some experience fighting alongside each other, keeping Konoha safe from threats. But even when they fought back at the warring sides, their battles were special, not only because of the sheer power they unleashed
upon the battlefield but also because of how in sync they were, their chakra together gave the people around them some sense of balance, they were Ying and Yang. Their fights changed the fang shui and created new environments, they could level a mountain with a single sweep of a sword. Hashirama could grow entire forests and Madara could burn them with the enteral flames of the Amaterasu. One is death and the other holds the power of life.
“—Madara? Are you listening?” Hashirama’s voice reached his ears.
“No.” He answered with a smirk as he folded his arms.
A cloud seemed to pour on Hashirama as he wore his depressed expression.
“That’s so rude, I can’t believe this! Is that how you treat your precious friend and more importantly your Hokage?!”
“Oh shut your face hole, you wood brain! You probably were blabbering nonsense again, so really I just did myself a big favour and prevented another headache for myself!”
In response to this, Hashirama pouted at him like a child, even faking a tear in his eye. “You’re so mean to me! Maybe I should go without you”.
“Oh no! Don’t leave me behind my Lord! What would I do without your blessed presence?!” Madara begged dramatically with one hand reaching out for his friend and the other clenching on his own chest.
The moment he caught Hashirama looking at him he quickly changed his whole attitude “suit yourself, I’m going back home” and spun his entire body to the opposite direction.
Hashirama was quick on his feet and stop Madara’s movements as he appeared in front of him. He locked his arms around Madara’s head to keep him in his place. “Noooo! It will be no fun without you!”
“Fine! I will accompany you. You’re heavy you brain dead idiot! Get off me at once!” He pushed Hashirama off him.
The said idiot cheered in victory and flashed his famous smile at him once again.
“Come on! Let’s get to business huh?! I haven’t been outside the village for so long!”
“Yes yes Hashirama. I get it. You’re excited to photosynthesise now you’re finally outside your stuffy office. Lead the way. Hopefully this case will be worthy of our attention.”