Kindling

Tobirama was small and he was terrified, he knew he was too little to take on a full squad of his kinsmen, especially the child killing squad and had he been on his own he probably wouldn’t have been able to do anything (he wouldn’t have been here, not even though he sensed it, not without Mafdet shifting into a horse to carry him fast as they wind) but he wasn’t alone. Mafdet was with him and she was in one of her favorite shapes as a cheetah and with her at his side he – he just might be able to save the baby Uchiha but – they were only four and their chakra didn’t feel half as strong as Tobirama’s even though he was only a year older and Tobirama – all he could think of was little Kawarama’s shredded body in coffin a month ago and knowing he would never see Euphrosyne in her favorite shape of a red panda again and he couldn’t let that happen to another family, he just couldn’t. So, here he was, terrified and knowing this could go very badly for him and planning to kill his own kin- though, they killed kids, Mafdet said they didn’t count and honestly Tobirama agreed- with only his daemon for back up.

Sharing a scared looked with Mafdet Tobirama took a deep breath and lunched himself out of the trees in a rush of water, using every bit of surprise he could to take them down before they noticed him and ignoring the terrified child clutching a dark puppy to his chest and cowering against the tree he was backed up against as Mafdet ripped the throat out of one Senju as Tobirama hamstrung another and lurched to cut the throat of another of the child killing squad (his cousin, a harsh man that was always sneering at Tobirama but, still, kin). The last man was down under Mafdet as Tobirama turned back to the one he hamstrung and threw a kunai (he needed a longer range weapon) until they were dead and Mafdet had finished off the last member. A small squeak behind him had Tobirama turning to look at the child, all wide eyes and chubby cheeks as he clutched his puppy daemon, “Are you ok?” Tobirama asked, trying not to sound to scary as Mafdet slipped from a cheetah into a Pallas cat to be less scary (she hadn’t settled but it had been a long time since she had taken any form other than her favorite five – well except the horse to get Tobirama here but she hadn’t liked that at all).

The toddler stared at him, wide eyed and afraid as he clutched his puppy (had it already settled? Why else would he still be in that shape rather than something scarier?) but eventually he nodded, clearly trying not to look at the dead bodies around them. Tobirama shifted uncomfortably, relaxing a bit as Mafdet pressed against his leg, small and round with fluff around her grumpy face; “Can I take you back to the border?” he asked softly, relived when the child nodded “Wha’s your name?” Tobirama asked, relived at the slightly lisping “Togakushi, th’s ‘s Alexiares” as he inched closer and took the other kids hand, leading Togakushi through the trees to the border with the Uchiha and finding a tree with a nice hallow in it Togakushi could hide in until the patrol Tobirama could feel getting closer found him. “Stay there, ok? Patrol is coming so I have to go but you’ll be safe till they get to you” he told the kid who nodded obediently, crawling into the tree with his puppy Alexiares and taking the kunai Tobirama gave him with a serious look on his small face. Nervously Tobirama glanced over his shoulder at where the patrol was closing in and Mafdet rumbled against his leg, “I have to go, ok? Stay away from the border, tell your da to let you work on defense with your duton ok? That will be safer.”

Togakushi nodded and Tobirama bolted, him and Mafdet running as fast as they could as far as they could and hoping they never had to face this child on the battlefield, he would kill him if he had to, but he didn’t want to (he never wanted to).

Tobirama was older and he knew he looked forbidding and dark with his arms folded over his chest, Mafdet in the shape of a small black-footed cat hiding in his fur ruff and making people nervous because they didn’t know where she was (it was no secret he and her were near-separated, the secret was that rather than being apart it meant that Mafdet almost never left direct contact with him – the fact that their Father trying to separate them had kept her from settling made it easier as Mafdet could be small enough to hide him if needed). The Uchiha brothers were standing across from them at the signing of the peace treaty and opening of the new village and it was the first time Tobirama had seen Togakushi since he was a child (he was so glad that the youngest Uchiha brother had taken his suggestion and become the defense for the clan compound). But even though Tobirama’s eyes lingered on the youngest Uchiha with his unusually short spiky black hair (it…looked rather a lot like Tobirama’s actually) and the Doberman at his side, most of his attention was on the older brothers; Izuna and his slender marten of a daemon- Nemesis was really the one to watch Tobirama knew-, and Madara standing next to his hulking, dark tiger who’s name Tobirama didn’t know but – it was odd. There was something off about Madara’s daemon, he was thin and wild looking with a coat that was less sleek than such a great creature should have, but why would Madara’s daemon be so….neglected?

It didn’t seem right to Tobirama that Madara would mistreat his daemon- his chakra didn’t fit that at all and the bond between them was strong, so it looked more like a reflection of Madara’s state which…was odd- but the other option was that Madara was neglected and that was so odd Tobirama didn’t quite know what to do with it! (Or with his urge to feed the big tiger and comb the bright fur and-) Tucked close to Tobirama’s neck Mafdet whispered “There’s something wrong with Uchiha-sama, we should keep an eye on them to make sure they are ok or this will all fail.” Tobirama hummed deep in his throat in agreement, pleased when he was finally introduced to the tiger as Astrum and nodding at the regal daemon in acknowledgment even as Izuna hissed about Tobirama’s deamon being gone – something Hashirama couldn’t refute given even he didn’t know that Mafdet was with them tucked against Tobirama’s neck. In fact the only person that seemed to know that Mafdet was there was Astrum who’s dark eyes lingered on Tobirama’s fur for a long time though he didn’t speak up about it.

In fact Astrum didn’t seem to talk about much of anything, focused on Madara and trying to track Mafdet when Tobirama was in the room- in fact Astrum seemed to like Mafdet better than he liked Hashirama’s Philia, much to the sun bear’s despair- and though as they set up the village there was little that Tobirama could do for Astrum without it verging into impropriety he could try to help Madara. Mafdet sneaking into the Uchiha’s office with the extra distance she could get from Tobirama through their near-separation and the climbing skills of her snow leopard shape (she took it less than the Pallas cat or cheetah but she could and did take the shape and that of a fishing cat if she wished in addition to her black-footed cat) to leave him treats and bento on his desk while Tobirama tried to make sure that too much didn’t land on the Uchiha’s desk given he seemed to still be having trouble with his clan (and his brother, Izuna made no secret of his distaste with the peace and the village even if Togakushi backed his brother and was much mellower).

It was a complicated balance and Tobirama was going a little nuts trying to keep it up even with Mafdet’s help (his daemon was still keeping out of sight when she wasn’t a cheetah, most people thought that was her settled form after all and she was secretive enough to want to  keep the surprise) and also do all of his work as well as much of Hashirama’s and keep up his work in the labs and innovating to keep the village at the top. In fact the only thing that was keeping him afloat was his new cloning technique and Mafdet’s help and even still, it was…..getting troublesome, the memory transfer was getting to be fatiguing on a level that Tobirama hadn’t realized it could be and the migraines were getting more and more common to his vague concern – at least when he had the time and energy to be concerned.

“Tobirama-sama?” the soft voice for his door had Tobirama’s head coming up as he blinked at Togakushi in his door with some surprise, the sleek Alexiares at his side looking around for Mafdet who was out at the moment stalking Madara to try and figure out what he was doing and what was stressing him out so much. “Togakushi, what can I do for you?” Tobirama asked, no quite marking the way he had dropped formality with the younger man as Togakushi kicked at the floor and inched further in, looking up at Tobirama through his lashes. “I realized, I never said thank you – for saving me back then. You didn’t have to, and you did anyway and – just, thank you” and he bowed awkwardly as Tobirama blinked at him some more. “Oh that’s not – that’s necessary Togakushi, I was glad to help you and glad you stayed close to the compound after; doing that is thanks enough for me really.” The albino told him awkwardly, fidgeting with his brush and trying not to squint against the light too much as his head pounded.

Togakushi chewed at his lip and slipped in further, Alexiares nosing the door closed, “I – forgive me if I am over stepping but, why are you taking work from Madara? Its just – he feels like you don’t trust him and on top of everything it is stressing him out since he – I told him that you saved me and that’s why he ignored Izuna and said yes to everything so having you-“ “Thinking I don’t trust him is making that feel like a bad choice” Tobirama finished, swearing as he dropped his head into his hands and rubbing at his temples in frustration, “I don’t not trust him” the albino said firmly “I just – he doesn’t seem to be doing so well, at least if you look at Astrum and we’ve been trying to help, just going about it badly it seems.” Togakushi blinked, looking more than a little surprised as Alexiares sat down with a thump “Your daemon is the one I have smelled on the furoshiki” the Doberman said in surprise and Tobirama flushed slightly but didn’t deny it.

“Oh” Togakushi said, sounding stumped “he – um, I’m not sure how much I should tell you but big brother lost a lot of political power forcing peace and he” the teen chewed his lip again “he is close to being ostracized by the clan and Izuna is making it a lot worse as well as -  well, Izuna really knows how to hurt Madara when he wants to and he has been using Madara’s need to take care of us and stuff against Mada for years; withholding affection and letting Madara take care of him to punish Mada for taking peace. That’s what is stressing him, not paperwork.” And, Tobirama thought, that would mean that thinking Tobirama himself didn’t trust him would be making it a lot worse, hells. Ok, so, Madara needed to be able to be a caretaker for some reason (his love language? Trauma response? Something taught? No way to know) and Izuna was withholding it to get back at his brother while at the same time his clan was acting like they didn’t trust him AND he thought Tobirama didn’t trust him; that, that was a lot to fix but at least Tobirama knew what to fix now!

“Ok” Tobirama said firmly “you let slip why I have been taking work from Madara and think about what we can do to get Izuna under control- I’ll ask my cousin, she might have an idea- as for the clan as a whole…..hmm, proof of peace will only come with time and we need something sooner, something the clan can get behind – too bad Hashi is married and straight as a board, I know Madara has a thing for him” (Togakushi’s eyes widened and then narrowed) “and star-crossed lovers might appeal; or only make it worse if they think his alliance is more to the Senju from that. So, maybe just as well, hmm. I will have to consider that and push for more mixing of teams so the Uchiha are sent out with more mixed groups – which means I need a seal for your eyes to reduce the risk from that so you can take further missions…”  Tobirama trailed off, muttering to himself and scratching out notes on a blank page of paper as his mind raced “should fix them while I am at it” he added, thinking of the signs of Madara’s failing vision (something Tobirama recognized all too well without his happuri), lost enough in thought that he missed Togakushi’s narrowing eyes and cocked head as well as the considering expression on the Uchiha’s face. Hmm.

Togakushi was stirring dinner when Madara got back that night, mind still miles away as his brother slumped into the room and dropped to sit at the table, he and Astrum both looking worn and worried. “So I talked to Tobirama-sama today” Togakushi said calmly, eyeing the way Madara straightened a little “asked him about your paperwork, he said you had so much to deal with he’s been trying to make sure you didn’t get overloaded and looked-” “And smelled” Alexiares interjected “-quite glum to know he was actually making things worse for you.” Madara was gapping, looking flushed and floored “But -! He has way more to do than I do! How in the world would helping me be a good thing when he has too much to do already?” his brother spluttered and Togakushi shrugged a bit, Alexiares adding, “I think his Mafdet is the one that is leaving you lunch too, the smells fit” and, wow, his brother was definitely flushing now.

“I think he’ll stop now, or at least tone it down but its not that he didn’t trust you. And him reducing his work would be good, he looks rather peaky himslef and like he had a bad headache when I was there.” Togakushi added casually, mentally thinking a ‘fuck you’ at his other brother; you want to withhold attention and care from Madara? Fine, Togakushi could find someone else for his brother to fuss over if he had to – and it was just convenient that it really did look like the Senju needed a keeper as much as Madara needed someone to fuss over in order to feel sane and connected. Madara was looking at the table with a conflicted expression and Astrum seemed floored at the idea that they had been being fed by Tobirama and his daemon, “Hm” Madara murmured “not sure the clan will like it but, he does have too much to do…” and Togakushi forced himself not to snort, he personally thought that the clan would like a star crossed lovers thing quite a lot as long as it wasn’t with Hashirama-sama – which remined him, “Hey, Mada, have you ever had a thing for Hashirama-sama?” he asked casually as he served dinner for the two of them, leaving Izuna’s portion in the pot and covered as he had for a while now.

At the table Madara spluttered and flailed, arms waving and face pulled in deep disgust, “NO! for the – ugh! – no way in all the hells would I be interesting in that walking tree and he has a wife!” the oldest Uchiha sputtered, nearly knocking the food out of Togakushi’s hands as Astrum retched dramatically. “Well” the younger Uchiha said “that’s what I thought, but Tobirama-sama seems to be worried you did so you might check that the clan doesn’t agree if you can” which really meant that Togakushi would be checking as more would talk to him than Madara these days. Madara shuddered one last time and settled, still looking spooked “I can promise you I have no interest in Hashirama, gods, yuck, the clan would hate it anyway if a spouse of mine didn’t marry in.” Togakushi hummed in agreement, not mentioning that Tobirama probably didn’t care about his last name given he had killed his own kin once upon a time for Togakushi’s sake.