Kindling

Mito smiled at Hashirama, watching the man flail around the room as he tried to figure out how to not insult her and also discus what needed to happen without actually talking about it, Hashirama had no idea how to do subterfuge the way his brother did and Mito thought it was adorable. “What need do you have of me Senju-sama?” she asked, unable to resist tormenting him a little; he froze, mouth flapping a little as he stared at her with huge doe eyes (she must not coo at him, not matter how cute he was) and visibly searched for words “Uh….” he said blankly. Mito raised an eyebrow, watching him squirm “uh, um, I mean, um” she was torn between stringing him along (he was cute, but he was also part of the reason she was here and she was shinobi enough to still want to hurt him for that) and helping him figure out how to make this work without having to talk about it – the way that Tobirama always managed to leave it ambiguous as to whether he was helping them or not. “Do you wish me to serve tea for you as I do for your brother?” she asked sweetly, taking a little joy in poking at him right up until she saw a dark look flash over his face at the mention of his brother “Tobirama has many things on his plate” he said a little stiffly, and then shook himself trying to shake off the stiffness and shooting her a apologetic look “he said that you were pleasant company” aaannnddd then his eyes went huge as he put together what he had implied with the hour of the night. Mito winced a little, feeling a bit bad for making things so hard for him after what she had heard a few days ago “I have never minded serving him” she said more gently, only to frown when he grimaced a little and stiffened; “I do not think I have ever heard anyone says such a thing about my brother” he said, voice raised a little and Mito felt her eyes go big, did someone listen in on the Senju brothers even here?

“He is a – stern man” she said softly and Hashirama relaxed a little; Mito eyed him for a minute- he was a handsome man and a good one as far as she could tell- before standing and walking over to him, sinking down in front of him and tucking his hair behind his ear with a faint smile (she wanted to purr at the look on his face). She leaned forward and brushed her lips against his ear, “I don’t mind a little kissing, leave a few marks on my neck and I wont mind” she told him softly, far to quietly for anyone but him to hear; he swallowed hard, pulling back and searching her face for a moment, kind eyes serious until she touched his cheek and his face relaxed in relief. He was gentle and slow as he kissed her, lingering and cautious and so, so careful of her; she sighed and twisted until she could sit in his lap, stroking his hair as they kissed (he was a good man). It was a long time until they drew back and then only when he began to shiver as she wrapped her arms around him, she sighed and coaxed his head into her neck holding him gently as he cried into her shoulder biting the cloth there in an attempt to keep himself silent as he sobbed (how long had it been since he had been able to cry? Or been held in anyway? How long had he had to hold himself together?); it frightened her a little, this was the deep sobbing of a desperate man, of hope long worn down to nothing.

Madara watched Tobirama carefully, side eyeing him as the Uchiha head chopped wood - he had long since gotten used to the heat of the sun on his skin, and was deeply grateful for the cream that had appeared outside their homes and kept his kin from painfully burning under the to strong sun, which, Madara paused, wiping his forehead as he turned to look at the pale Senju (Tobirama jerked his eyes away almost too slowly, forcing himself to ignore the stunning Uchiha shirtless), the pale Senju, the Senju Madara had never seen with the burns even when skin like that should burn extremely quickly; and what were the chances that there was a way for Tobirama to keep his skin safe and also a cream that the Uchiha were given out of nowhere? He might not have believed it if it weren’t for what Mito had said about Tobirama protecting the clan and what he had seen as he watched ever more closely but as it was he noticed; he noticed the Senju that were quietly doing their best to help all seemed to orbit around the Senju brothers and Tobirama in particular, the way no children were ever hit and anyone that tried showed up later covered in bruising having been used for a sparing partner by the vicious younger Senju, the way the Hatake seemed to watch Tobirama anytime he was in view, tracking him the way a pack does their alpha and while they reacted similarly to Hashirama it wasn’t as pronounced. Add that to the way Tobirama always seemed to be between his clan and his father and Butsuma’s allies and it painted a picture of a man doing his very best to protect the people he could; the only problem was the labs, everyone know that it was Tobirama’s labs that produced the monstrous power that Butsuma wielded (though everyone knew that he almost never wielded it, preferring to send his sons- which was an interesting thing on it’s own) and yet the few men and women that helped in the lab always deferred to Tobirama with clear respect and affection.

Across the courtyard Tobirama shifted, pale hair moving with the breeze and catching Madara’s eyes for a long moment (whatever else Tobirama was he was certainly a stunning man); Madara frowned thoughtfully down at the wood he was cutting, this whole thing was so tangled up and Madara hated it, this wasn’t his preferred mode of operation- he had always disliked subterfuge- but then again there was nothing about this that was how he might have wanted. He snorted, stretching his back (Tobirama nearly swallowed his tongue and put his back to the Uchiha) and looking around for Izuna and finding his brother hunkered down next to the water trough staring at the ground with a sulky look on his face; Madara sighed, as good a time as any he supposed, and headed over to the younger Uchiha. “Izuna” he called softly, Izuna’s head snapped up his expression lightening into a please smile “Brother!” he said (softly, thank the fire); Madara smiled despite his frustration, he saw so little of his brother these day with them being housed in different buildings that any chance to speak was something Madara cherished after over six months mostly apart, “How are you?” he asked quietly as he pumped water into the bucket set out for them to drink from. Izuna scowled down at his feet (…why wasn’t he working? And how was he getting away with it?) “I hate this” he muttered; Madara sighed, “I know ‘zuna, but you’ve got to get better at playing along” Izuna’s temper flared, glaring darkly up at Madara “Why?” he hissed “Why should I make it any easier for then too treat me like shit?!” Madara lashed out fast than his brother could see, whapping him on the back of the head sharply “Shut up, the only reason you’re not dead is because the Senju brothers” (best not to mention Tobirama) “are getting involved on your behalf. But you acting like a dick is putting them at risk” Izuna’s face scrunched in anger and Madara slashed his hand through the air, keeping his voice down only though the knowledge of how bad it would be for Tobirama if they were caught “and it’s not just them Izuna, we’re working on a way to get out of here and you’re putting that at risk. You need to cut it out and keep your head down” Izuna ducked his head with a petulant look but didn’t argue.

Hashirama shivered, he was nineteen and his brother was curled next to him in the encampment of those sent out to beat the Nara into submission. Honestly he had thought that the pragmatic clan would agree to ally with Butsuma rather than fight and run the risk of the annihilation that had happend to the Hōki family (they were all gone now, the whole family wiped out and both he and Tobirama had played a part in that) but they must have had more pride than he thought; or more optimism. Tomorrow they were going into battle and could only hope that the clan head would bow and live rather than ask their entire clan to die; Hashirama hoped, hoped desperately, that they would, he couldn’t bare it if he had to do something like that again and he knew Tobirama- though he bore it better than Hashirama- was wearing down under the pressure. “I think sometimes that he is the only person that can kill us” Hashirama murmured, not having to look to know that Tobirama was listening; the albino hummed “Possibly, though Madara might be able to if our plan doesn’t work. but I think we can get him, all we have to do it go after Izuna after all” Hashirama grimaced, he disliked this idea; using Izuna as Madara’s weak spot to get both to surrender make his skin itch but they had to few options for anything else to work. Hashirama dragged his fingers through his little brother’s hair, scratching at the nape of his neck “It will all be alright” he murmured looking up at the cold cruel moon “it’ll all be alright.” (his brother didn't call him out on the lie)