Kindling

Tobirama wasn’t sure what he had done to make Izuna so angry, one minuet they were discussing (arguing, there were Uchiha involved) the protections and rules for Guides and Sentinels and then Izuna was furious at him and Tobirama didn’t even know what he had said. “-the fuck do you even have a say in this!? you don’t matter here?!” and, oh, oh that… hurt. he hadn’t realized that- his eyes flicked to Madara who was watching his brother as Izuna shouted at Tobirama and. oh. He turned back to Izuna (his hands were shaking again) “Izuna, I know what it feels like to-“ Izuna made a sound of fury and lunged to his feet and- ah. Stupid. His eyes were red and black (he hadn’t thought that he would be attacked… here he…. should… have… reali- chained naked between two posts, taste of metal and salt in his mouth, his jaw aching, the faint jingle-bite as a spur dug into him, the smell of the sweet drug on the gleaming metal, blood and sex, jingle, jingle, jingle, jingle                                                                                             )

 Izuna didn’t quite know why he was so mad, but it was just- just that Madara was only just out of the Null room and was still refusing to think about finding a Guide and Izuna was going to loose his brother to a zone; so when they were talking about Guides and Sentinels in the village with the Senju brothers and one of the Yamanaka Elders who worked with Guides ( the Yamanaka had a couple- they seemed to be like the Uchiha except with Guides instead of Sentinels) and Tobirama- cold bastard- started injecting opinions about how things should be run, about stuff he had no knowledge of, when he said that the adjustment and training of Guides should be outlawed (if they weren’t trained how much worse would they be? How much more likely to try and Pull his brother and bond him against his will?) Izuna lost his temper. Just, he was so angry, how dare- how dare- and he didn’t even feel his sharingan activate, his Mangekyō Sharingan, until he was looking into surprised red eyes and for one second Izuna could feel the Tsukuyomi take hold (jingle) before the albino crumpled to the floor.

Madara and Hashirama shot to their feet, Hashirama dropping immediately to his brother’s side and checking his vitals “Izuna-“ his brother said, horror in his voice; Hashirama turned on him, his face horrible in anger and fear “What did you do?!” he hissed. Izuna stepped back “I-“ (his eyes ached, and his vision was blurry) “I- he was-“ “Izuna” said Madara and Izuna swallowed “Tsukuyomi” he whispered. Madara looked at him with horror in his eyes and “Tsukuyomi?! Izuna, why?!” but Hashirama, Hashirama had realized what Tsukuyomi was and with a sound of deep agony he lunged at Izuna; Madara threw himself between them, catching Hashirama around the waist “Hashi!” but the fury was fading from the Senju’s eyes, turning to despair “You have killed him” he whispered in a voice like a tree cracking “you have killed my brother in every way that matters”

Madara couldn’t remember ever being so disappointed in his brother but, to use the Tsukuyomi on Tobirama- god Izuna, how could you? And the way Hashirama’s voice broke… the other man shook Madara’s hold off. Dropping next to his brother again he carefully laid his hands on Tobirama’s face, fingers just brushing against the red slashes tattooed there; he took a shaking breath and Madara felt him begin to slide chakra into the – holly shit those, those were seals, why did he-? the seals lit up with a dull red light and for a second that was it and then Madara could see faint glows from under his clothing (how many seals were there?) and – and suddenly the normally still and stoic Tobirama screamed, his face twisting in agony until the sound was sharply cut off as the albino started choking, whimpering pitifully with every hastily caught breath. “Shhh, please, be calm little brother, it will be alright, please, please,” Hashirama whispered, tears slipping silently down his face as he fed power into the seals and Tobirama twitched under him (god his face, Madara wished he had never seen this); and then – a whisper, a thread of power shaking and fractured and faint and – “Your brother is a guide?” the Yamanaka asked sharply, Hashirama nodded absently “Powerful, Father hated it. he- no please brother hold on- he fought the Adjustment, didn’t let them break him then” (Izuna twitched and Madara frowned, what was Adjustment exactly?) “so Father- the seals are to help him fight the fracturing.” The old woman knelt down next to Hashirama “What is he reliving then? Adjustment is sensory deprivation mostly, why-?” (Izuna spun to Madara who felt a pit open in his stomach) Hashirama gave a broken, bitter laugh “That? No that’s not- Tobirama was spur-broke” “no” whispered the woman, horror writ large on her face “No, and he- he doesn’t act- how?! Oh god if that’s… Senju-sama, it might… it might be kinder-”

Hashirama folded over his brother sweat dripping down his face and gasping roughly “To kill him?” he gasped (Madara recoiled, what? there was no way… right?) “maybe it…” (Hashirama sounded mad and heart broke, shredded around the edges) the fuck? No. just no. Tobirama was…. the fuck was Madara letting him die from this. Madara shoved the Yamanaka out of the way and leaned over the frightened, agony ridden face, gently opening red eyes (he was crying, Tobirama was crying) and letting his sharingan spin into life and falling forward (jingle     jingle    pain    jingle     don’t understand-jinglejinglejingle    blood       semen     jingle          ) he shoved the phantom sensation away, ignoring the terrible horror and fear and confusion and- ignoring his shaking and the bile in his throat (  Tobirama, Tobirama, come to me darling, follow my voice, Tobirama    )  as he reached for the other man, there was something… something…. A thread? A bright thread between them, how? (days he lost on the way back from Wind Country, dreams filled with a warm rich voice coaxing him into rest and hands gentle on his face drawing him back to himself, vanillarivermintsweetwatersage, of a rolling song, a presence calm and-) oh. Oh, how had he-? oh god. (       Guide, please, guide, Tobirama, mine, please,      ) he clung to the thread, wrapping himself around it, distantly he heard- “no, if you bond with him now you could follow him or be bound to a” -Madara didn’t care, Tobirama had been his Guide for years he wasn’t going to let go of him now, not when he knew that Tobirama was never going to force him (why would he when he never had before? Madara could trust him); the thread thickened, grew wider and stronger until- bond. And (he pressed   him   self to   a thin shaking    blood slick   back   arm around    “you’re mine, mine, come   back with me”)