Kindling

Madara stared at Tobirama in some shock, trying to get over the- mildly infuriating- Fenghuang suddenly leaving his hair alone in favor of weeping over Tobirama (and weeping? What was up with that?) and more importantly the shock on Tobirama’s face at his sudden burden. Had….Madara ever seen the albino look that emotional? (Ok, that wasn’t fair, Tobirama had looked emotional when peace was signed, Madara just hadn’t known what to do with that, so he had ignored it.) On the other hand Madara was infinitely familiar with how heavy the Fenghuang was, he knew every inch of her owl like talons and the strength of her long swan-like neck, he was all too aware of every single one of her twenty five pounds and the power contained within that nine foot wingspan. He had seen that hooked hawks’ beak up close and personal as his fringe was preened and though Madara loved birds- honestly he had hawks already and wasn't unfamiliar with them preening his hair for him- still, a Fenghuang was nothing like his hawks (the weight for one! His armor was heavier but not isolated on two small points and only on one shoulder for a week). So yeah, he understood why Tobirama looked so shocked and confused at his sudden burden and there was something hilarious about the wide red eyes and slack thin mouth; Madara could almost see Tobirama thinking through what he was seeing and coming up with a giant ? that Madara could almost see floating over his head.

The Fenghuang seemed to sob and Tobirama abruptly turned on his heel, heading into the village at a fast clip with a confused Hashirama and Madara following behind him as Tobirama wound through the buildings, seeming impervious to the looks he was getting. The Fenghuang had been there a week already but it was still met with wide eyes and awestruck expressions though worry seemed to be starting up as they moved through, actually Hashirama seemed worried too; muttering under his breath “Weeping, why do they weep? Why would a phoenix weep? I know this! Weeping-“ in a loop. It was distracting enough that Madara didn’t realize where they were going until they were on the front stoop and Tobirama was sending Madara sad confused big eyes that had him moving to knock on the door before he even had a chance to think about it (how…..how did Tobirama have an expression that devastating?) and Madara was still reeling when Touka opened the door and blinked at the grouping on her porch as Tobirama held out the bird and turned the sad, sad eyes on his cousin who winced and quailed a bit before visibly rallying and holding open her door to let them in (Madara had to admit to being a bit impressed with how quickly she rallied, he was still flailing for cognizant thought).

Automatically Madara followed Tobirama into the house with Hashirama taking up the rear until he cried out in realization, followed by a pause as he paid attention to where they were for the first time Madara was sure given the quiet “Touka? Oh! Touka” he heard muttered behind them as Tobirama led the way into the kitchen and sat at the table, laying the Fenghuang on the scarred surface. Promptly she shuffled closer and laid her graceful crested head on Tobirama’s shoulder, pearl colored tears sliding down her feathers to soak his mission creased blacks. “Touka” Tobirama said again, leveling his older cousin with another lethal look and the other Senju sighed, “The phoenix showed up about a week ago, mostly it has stayed with Madara and preened his hair” Madara swallowed as he got a bright red-eyed look “once in a while it is with Hashirama though I think it doesn’t like him as much. It’s being taken as a good omen and an omen of divine approval for the village and done more to pull the clans together the last little bit than anything else. No, we have no idea where is came from or what it wants or anything about it-“ “She’s female” Madara interrupted, wheels still spinning in his brain “-but Madara says it’s female so.” Touka shrugged and Tobirama frowned, “Probably is then,” he said “Madara hawks so he would know best” and – just – what? How did Tobirama know he hawked? Why was Tobirama standing up for Madara? And how had they still not addressed –

It was then that Hashirama made another little “aha!” noise and dove for his brother, nearly sending Tobirama tumbling out of his chair in his enthusiasm as the older Senju squawked, “where are you hurt?!?!” at the top of his lungs and for a second the two brothers were just a whirl of flailing limbs and fathers until Touka waded in with a dark look, heaving Hashirama away from his brother by the back of his robes and fixing a mussed looking Tobirama with a dark look. “Are you wounded?” she demanded and Tobirama shook his head though understanding was starting to dawn on his face as her grim look forced him to continue “No, it was an easy mission. I’m totally fine” which….yeah no, he looked way too tired for fine but whatever, Touka was turning to Hashirama with a dark look anyway and Madara – wasn’t ready to act like he maybe cared. “Hashirama” Touka growled and the clan head held up his hands defensively, blurting out “The phoenix is crying! Phoenix tears are a symbol of healing said to be able to cure any wound or curse or hurt of body or soul as long as both are still tied together and the Shikigami hasn’t cut the soul free, it is said a phoenix will only cry when greatly moved for great wounds, and it’s tears only work on the one for which it cries, so why would she be crying on Tobi if he’s ok?”

There was a long pause and then Touka turned back to Tobirama with a raised brow, her face darkening when he nodded in reluctant agreement with his brother’s words and Tobirama sighed, looking very tired and confused all the sudden, “I don’t know why she is crying then, I swear I didn’t get hurt on the mission- you can check if you must brother- and I don’t know why she is crying on me. Maybe there is something we missed in the lore? Or maybe she thinks albinism is something broken and cursed like Father” and wasn’t that interesting.

Madara stood back as Touka sighed and moved to make tea while Hashirama set to scanning his brother carefully, the Uchiha turning everything over in his head; albino huh? Not too shocking as Madara had long thought so but that his ‘Father’- and yes, Madara could hear the capital F- called albinism a curse….and for Tobirama to say it so casually, well; on top of the emotion (and those deadly looks) and the defending Madara and the Fenghuang liking him – well, Madara had a lot to think about though there was one thing that was still bothering him….

As he and Hashirama were turned out of Touka’s house- Tobirama and the attached Fenghuang remaining as there wasn’t really anything else to do- after the big Senju didn’t find anything major wrong with Tobirama other than ‘the usual’ (which, what was that?), Madara turned to his old-new friend and asked quietly, “Why Touka?” and Hashirama smiled wistfully, kicking at the dirt as they wound their way back to the Tower. “Ah, that. Tobi has always adored Touka and when he was younger – well you know that he and I haven’t always been great with each other, or, well, I have been careless of him and with father – well, never mind that. Tobi always thought Touka was just the coolest and whenever he hit something he couldn’t handle- mostly people stuff, things you can’t look up and research, things being smart doesn’t help you with- he would go ask Touka. Hells Madara you have no idea how cute it was” (Madara thought he maybe had an idea) “all white hair and huge eyes when he was little and so serous! And always toddling after Touka because he was convinced she could do anything. Now even though he’s older and had self sufficiency beat into him if you throw him bad enough he still goes to her for help – that’s part of why I was so sure he must have been hurt.” and there was just…a lot in that; one, that was fucking adorable and Madara kind of wanted to melt but two, ‘beat’? What the fuck did ‘beat’ mean? What did it mean?! And three, how had Hashirama missed how clearly exhausted Tobirama was? Surely that wasn’t normal, right? Right?