Arrival of the Storm
Aggravation. If there was one word to describe Madara’s day so far, that’d be it.
Tobirama had graduated from just standing there babbling, to bouncing around the office, picking up charts and reference books, gleefully shoving them at the brothers, as if in a demented parody of a child’s show and tell at the new academy.
He couldn’t take it anymore. When he next had the chance, he grabbed Tobirama by the fur behind his neck, put his other hand over the STILL TALKING man’s mouth, and with all the authority of a clan head ordered, “ENOUGH!”
Tobirama crossed his arms over his chest as he went silent, and if Madara had Hashirama’s betting habits, he’d bet money that under his hand, Tobirama was pouting. Madara let the Sharingan bleed into his eyes.
Wrenching his head away from Madara, Tobirama demanded, “What are you doing? Is something wrong? Is the village in danger?” His eyes welled up with unshed tears, “Oh no! I should have been paying more attention to my sensing rather than my experiments!” He choked up and Madara shook the man and interrupted what was looking to be ANOTHER round of nonsensical babble.
“Be quiet! I’m checking that you are, in fact Tobirama. You are not acting like yourself.” A flash of light and Madara was holding only the fur.
Tobirama had used his hiraishin to flash himself into a crouching position in the corner behind his desk. The man was using his water release to form miniature rain clouds over his head, complete with rain. “How can I act as anything but myself, if I am myself.” He started muttering to himself as his cloud started growing bigger and darker. His mutterings were moving towards psychology and getting quieter. Both Uchihas were silent and staring at the abomination of wasted chakra. It started inching towards the paperwork pile next to his desk.
Just before the first raindrop hit the papers, a voice cut through the office. “Tobirama.”
Everything froze. Tobirama, his rolling storm cloud and even the raindrops. Hashirama stood in the doorway with a look of mild disapproval on his face. “If you soak and ruin even one piece of paperwork, I will have you rewrite every single piece of paper on your desk.”
The look of outrage on Tobirama’s face was a balm to Madara’s soul.
Hashirama wasn’t finished. In a vindictive hiss he added, “In triplicate.”
Horror bloomed on the three other faces in the office. That wasn’t a punishment. That was straight up torture. Every bit of water that Tobirama used vanished in an instant as the man rushed over to his brother. “Hashi-nii! Why must you be so cruel to your otouto?!?!?” He looked up at his brother with teary eyes.
“Have you been messing around with seals in your lab again?” Izuna demanded as he flailed his way back into the conversation. Another flash back into the corner and the storm cloud and rain had reappeared. This time with lightning and thunder rumbling through the cloud. “What the fu-?”
“Mito locked him out of his lab for the duration of her mission. He’s sensitive about it, so I would suggest not saying anything more.” Hashirama drawled out as he walked over to the menace in the corner. “Are you feeling under the weather Tobirama?” His answer was another crack of lightning. “Let’s get your head out of the clouds, hmm." Reaching a chakra coated hand through the thunderstorm, Hashirama pulled his brother out. “If you weather the storm of your paperwork, and get it done quickly, you may join me for dinner at that new restaurant by the Akimichi compound. The one with the grilled fish you like.” The storm immediately dissipated.
With a gasp of delight Tobirama tackled Hashirama with a giant hug. The giant tree didn’t even budge. Hashirama’s face morphed into a soft look that was only ever present on Tobirama in the presence of his brother. Madara noticed that both Senju had the exact same face. Coloring and personality wildly differed so it wasn’t something that most people would pick up on. Madara could have lived without this knowledge.
Letting go of his brother, Tobirama dashed over, snatched his fur from Madara, and hurried back to his desk. Before he even started, Hashirama noted, “It has to be done correctly. Don’t rush through it. No mistakes.” Ignoring the squawk of dismay, Hashirama turned to the Uchiha. “Izuna. I believe you have paperwork of your own to get done.” As Izuna scurried to his own desk, the Hokage motioned for Madara to walk with him out of the office. “I need your input on a meeting that we are to attend tomorrow.”