Wabi-Sabi

***

The ferocity we show our foes must be tempered by the lesson we hope to teach.

Frank Herbert

***

To celebrate the first light returning and the awakening of Hashirama and Madara, the Uchiha decided to throw the largest party Tobirama had ever seen. Mito compared it to the elegant balls thrown in Uzhisho to celebrate the king but admitted that those involved less blood…and drugs.

Far less drugs….and blood.

Apparently, unbeknownst to anyone but their closest allies, the Aburame produce the most potent hash on the continent. It had gone unnoticed for so long because it was less addictive and less potent than opium. The rush of euphoria was replaced by heightened senses and utter relaxation that's actually kind of terrifying to see on the Uchiha.

And the honey wine. The Aburame also produce honey wine and that and their hash are apparently the only things that can addle the Uchiha for more than a few minutes.

It's not like the Uchiha had many inhibitions to begin with, but it's still rather impressive to see how many they lose under the effects of the wine and smoke.

The Inuzuka are just as crazy as they normally are and the Aburame just watch everyone, mellow and amused.

Tobirama does not manage to get to Hashirama before his big brother gets into the wine. As suspected, if the Uchiha's physiology can't fight it off, neither can Hashirama's mokuton, and in the five minutes it takes Tobirama to find him, he's red cheeked and already making a fool of himself among the dancers, swinging Izuna and Mito around until they're breathless with laughter.

He'd spent the first period with Aiko and her family, who were a bit disturbed by the blood that began to well up from the ground.

"It's the heat from the Uchiha bringing it to the surface." Tobirama had explained. It was thermodynamics. Easily explainable despite its ghoulish appearance. It was the same blood used to maintain the Uchiha's wards.

"Still, it's a bit of a…questionable practice, don't you think?" Aiko murmured. She avoided the dancers, which became more difficult as time went on and more and more people got into the wine and the hash and the regular sake.

Even Kagami and the children were dancing, though Tobirama had been relieved to see Ren and a few other adults making sure they didn't get the alcohol or drugs.

"It's called a Blood Dance," Yoruichi and Kisuke explained when he'd finally left Aiko's side. "A nod to the ancestors that the Uchiha have practiced since the beginning."

"Lady Kikyo has stories of the old dances, with Indra and his Water Princess. Back before there were five lands and few cities." She sounds almost wistful when she says it.

"Do you know why we always start and finish the dance under the moon?" Madara asked, wandering over. He'd been dancing with his clansmen earlier, Tobirama hadn't realized the man could move…like that. Sleek and graceful like a cat. His chakra had been pouring off him and anytime he'd danced closer to one of the ceremonial fires it had erupted like that stupid volcano.

Yoruichi and Kisuke immediately latched onto him, the three of them swaying dangerously. Tobirama reached out instinctively to stabilize them and somehow ended up with a lapful of Uchiha.

"Really? How much of that honey wine have you fools had?" They were too uncoordinated to get up and no amount of squirming was freeing Tobirama, so he resigned himself to a few uncomfortable minutes before they got bored and wandered off.

"No, really, do you know why, Snowflake?" Yoruichi used the other two for leverage to push her face into his.

Tobirama jerked back when her wide golden eyes appeared so close his own went cross-eyed.

A warm, fury presence appeared behind him, Jiro sprawling behind Tobirama and sticking his nose over his shoulder.

"Jiro did you get into the wine?" Madara demanded, using Tobirama's shirt to pull himself up and sniff the wolf's snout. "You know you're not supposed to drink that!"

"I didn't!" The wolf insisted, panting happily. Even Tobirama could smell the honey on his breath.

Trapped between the drunk wolf and three drunk Uchiha, Tobirama had just about decided to give up on everything when Madara rolled his eyes and scratched the wolf's ears.

Kurama appeared, still the size of a housecat and immediately leaped onto Madara's head. "Did you drink without me, Uchiha? How dare you!"

"You're not supposed to drink it either!" Madara screeched.

"Oh my god, stop yelling!" Yoruichi yelled. "I'm trying to tell Tobirama why we dance!"

"He knows why we dance," Madara grumbled. "We start and end every dance under the moon, because we want Kaguya to see us. To know that we're still alive, still free."

"So, she'll look on us with envy," Yoruichi cackled.

And that was…

Tobirama signed, "Is there anything you Uchiha do that isn't a fight with someone?"

"No," four voices responded in all their drunk glory.

Tobirama was never drinking again.

And then, a boom of chakra that Tobirama unfortunately recognized as Hashirama spotted them.

"Oh no-"

"GROUP HUG!"

He landed before any of them could get away.

***

Tobirama had never considered how much energy or chakra dancing for an entire day could take but by midday he was surprisingly fatigued. Of course, he'd spent a couple hours attempting to reign in the madness that was Hashirama, Izuna, and even Mito drunk on honey wine.

Madara had been no help. Following Tobirama around like a lost puppy, drunk enough to go past the point of ridiculous behavior and straight into mellow acceptance.

It was weird.

Even weirder that Kurama and Jiro had followed him. Jiro was perfectly fine, but the demon fox had a mouth to go with his fearsome reputation and no fear in expressing his many, many opinions.

He was very, very upset that no one had allowed him to drink any of the honey wine.

By early evening he'd resigned himself to their presence, anytime he tried to leave Madara somewhere else, some random Uchiha would bring him back a few minutes later. Aiko had found him briefly, but was visibly uncomfortable with Madara, the wolf, and the fox and returned to her family after a few minutes.

Touka was with a few Senju peers, she'd relaxed enough to drink and talk to a nearby group of Inuzuka but was avoiding the dancing itself.

He'd passed Renji with Kasumi and Itachi, laughing with a handful of Aburame and Inuzuka who looked to be their peers. And Sana was dancing with Hikaku and Mito's cousin, Nadeshinko.

Even the Aburame clan leader, who'd seemed somewhat saner than the other three clan leaders currently residing in this compound, was dancing while she smoked hash from an ornate pipe.

"Snowsnow! I found Shishou for you" He turned at the sound of Kagami's voice and found him towing Madara behind.

Never mind that he'd never asked. His few minutes of peace were over.

Kagami didn't let go of Madara until he was tucked right next to Tobirama on a bench that had been dragged out for the occasion. Jiro sprawled over both their feet.

He looked far too pleased with the picture.

"What are you up to, brat?"

Big, wet eyes peered up at them. "I'm just trying to take care of you, Shishou."

Tobirama found Madara's look of disbelief reassuring. The wine might have made him mellow, but it hadn't made him stupid.

Kagami ran off not long after that and the Great Calamity seemed content to sit on a bench and share a pipe with an old enemy.

Tobirama wasn't overly fond of smoking, and though he'd enjoyed the sip of honey wine he'd tried, he generally preferred a less sweet sake on the rare occasions he did indulge.

But when Madara offered the pipe, he was curious enough to try it. This was the safest he and his clan had ever been, he realized, there was, logically, no better time.

Granted, it had taken a near apocalyptical event to make it so. Safety was safety and for the first time in his life Tobirama didn't have to worry about anything more than his brother making a fool of himself.

And since everyone else seemed to be making fools of themselves tonight, he decided there was no point to wasting anymore energy on it.

He took the pipe, sniffing at the ash. Sweet and spice assaulted his nostrils.

Of course it was spicy.

Freaking Uchiha and their spice.

"You don't have to try it."

But when Madara moved to take it back, Tobirama leaned away and took a defiant pull.

Big mistake.

Smoke and spice filled his lungs and set his nerves alight. Just like that stupid tea Hashi had thought was so funny. Tobirama started coughing- correction, he started hacking up his lungs.

Dots appeared in his vision, there was fire in his lungs, and then suddenly heat suffused his entire body.

Madara's palm pressed firmly against his back, pushing chakra that put smothered the fire into something warm and soft.

He took a few deep breathes and felt his muscles relax and then they kept relaxing, and he slumped against Madara, feeling something like jelly.

He blinked, the ceremonial fires sent up sparks of all colors, turning the dark sky into a glittering blanket of something that almost looked like stars.

"Whoa."

"Yeeeeeeep."

Hashirama found them like that an hour later. It was officially night, the dance closing in on twenty-hours and Madara and Tobirama were sitting alone, Jiro sprawled at their feet, watching the flames.

Leaning against each other!?!?

Hashirama just managed to clamp his hands over his mouth in time to contain his squeal.

Izuna appeared at his shoulder, sweaty and disheveled, smears of Mito's lipstick in interesting places. "What's got you so excited, Dandelion?"

"Look, look!" Hashirama dragged him around to see. "They're sitting together! They're becoming friends!"

Izuna knew that glazed look. "I think they're high out of their minds."

A gleam entered Hashirama's eye.

Izuna cut him off. "No."

"But-"

"You cannot keep getting them high. At some point they need to be functional."

"What about just until they-"

"Do you want to sleep alone?"

Hashirama's pout was the stuff of legends. Unfortunately, Izuna was immune, due in no small part to the fact that'd he'd grown up with Madara's, which was incredibly rare and heartrending.

"Come on, Dandelion, I'll swipe you a few of those beef dumplings the Inuzuka made." And he didn't even complain when Hashirama draped himself over his back as they walked.

"I'm so cheap," Hashirama sighed, but internally he was still screaming. Tobirama didn't like drinking or smoking or gambling or relaxing.

And up until today, he'd still stubbornly insisted he didn't like Madara at all.

Finally, there was progress!

Finally, there was hope on the horizon!

He couldn't help but squeeze Izuna in his excitement, making the smaller man squeak and elbow him in the stomach.

Mito was waiting for them by the steamed bun stand, in the middle of stuffing an entire bun in her mouth when they arrived.

Bless her heart, she immediately shoved buns in both their mouths.

***

Tobirama remained chilled and relaxed until the final hour of the dance. Everyone was exhausted and sweaty and stripped down again because the between the chakra and the dancing the temperature in the compound had jumped almost twenty degrees. It'd be nice until tomorrow morning when it cooled to its regular temperature.

Unfortunately, a relaxed Tobirama was apparently a talkative Tobirama and talking to Madara always made him an angry Tobirama and by the time Hashirama found them again, they were yelling.

Much to the amusement of the crowd around them.

"I don't care if it worked, it was still a stupid idea!"

"It can't be a stupid idea if it works!"

"Yes, it can!"

"No, it can't. By definition a stupid idea is a stupid idea because it didn't work!" Madara shrieked, arms flailing.

"Using a volcano to put out a wildfire is a stupid idea, Uchiha! It's the stupidest!"

Alright so they were both clearly still a little high.

Jiro was hoping around their feet, excited even though he had no idea what was going on. Kurama yawning off to the side.

"Ah, what happened?" Hashirama asked Sana, who was watching with Hikaku and Nadeshinko.

Hikaku sighed, "Everything was fine until they opened their mouths."

"The story of life," Nadeshinko muttered. Mito's younger cousin tended more toward acerbic than either Mito or Behito. A little less refined and elegant, a little more fiery and vicious. Of the three, she'd fallen in with the clans easiest, befriending Sana and Hikaku especially. It was amusing to watch her tow around the gentle Senju and the quietest of the Uchiha captains, but their friendship had gone a long way to thawing things between the Uchiha and Senju. Between the three of them and Renji and Kasumi and Kagami and the children who were all still too young to care about old grudges it was going faster than Hashirama had ever dared hope.

"What if it hadn't worked?" Tobirama's voice was getting that shrill edge that came out when his brain couldn't compute someone's level of stupidity.

"But it did!" Madara had never been very good at letting go of a good point. Hashirama was intimately familiar with the level of stubbornness he could summon. Those lifetimes they'd spent in the mountains of the Land of Snow had left ample time for years long disagreements.

Madara was stubborn and Hashirama could be petty and frankly, they both thought it was just a lot of fun to argue.

It was less fun to watch Madara and Tobirama argue.

Not because he was jealous, because it was always fun to watch Madara argue with someone else, watch that moment they realized they were never going to win because Madara just didn't give up.

But he wanted a wedding not a fight, so this was disheartening.

"You have to fight fire with fire," Madara insisted.

"Water puts out fire!" Tobirama even shoved a finger in Madara's face.

"There was no water!"

"You can't control a volcano," Tobirama snapped.

"Something doesn't have to be controllable to be useful," Madara sneered.

"If it's not controllable you can't guarantee the outcome," Tobirama snarled.

Ah, that was the crux of everything wasn't it? Hashirama mused. Tobirama liked to understand and know and control and Madara was purely instinct and curiosity.

Oil and water.

Or rather, water and fire.

But Tobirama rarely cared enough to argue this passionately. Usually, he was cold and dismissive and cutting.

And Madara just didn't engage if he didn't think the opponent was worth it.

Plus, Madara was already in love with Tobirama.

So, there was that.

At least he had one advantage.

It should have been a lot easier to get them together than it was actually turning out to be.

Why was everyone he loved so stubborn, Hashirama wondered. No matter what it seemed like they were all determined to the exact same thing but all in their own ways. And God forbid any of them ever admit they actually liked someone *cough*Izuna*cough*Tobirama*cough*. Or they would and then they just REFUSED TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT *cough*Madara*cough*. Or they told Hashirama he couldn't do anything about it when he knew exactly how to fix it *cough*Mito*cough*.

At this rate he was going to be dead by the time he got his wedding.

"Best to go break that up," Mito mused, sucking on a jelly sweet made by the Aburame.

"Where's Izuna?"

"Defending the honor of the Uchiha by proving how many dango balls he can fit in his mouth at once."

"May the honor of the Uchiha supersede all else," Hashirama intoned.

"It's against your cousin."

"He's fucked. Touka cheats."

"Hmmhm," Mito finished off her jelly sweet and pulled out a stick of said dango. She graciously allowed Hashirama to have one, "Aren't you going to stop this?" She gestured to Madara and Tobirama with the last two and then stuck them in her mouth.

"They're bonding," Hashirama hedged.

"Tobirama is not going to fall in love with Madara over an argument, Dandelion."

"You don't know that, he's weird! He might like it!"

Mito shook her head, but she looked fond. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined she would take to this life so well, but she hadn't batted an eyelash.

In fact, she seemed more interested and engaged than she had in any of their previous lives together. Excited to build something from the ground up when before she'd simply married in. She'd immediately taken to Izuna, already calling him theirs, except where Izuna could hear because he was stubbornly resisting any attachment to anything after Midoriko. Joke was on him though, because Hashirama and Mito weren't going anywhere and they had Madara's blessing and the support of his entire clan if it came to keeping Izuna alive and healthy and as close to happy as a Uchiha who'd lost their love could be.

He'd get it eventually. There was no harm in letting him work through it on his own.

But back to the stubborn bastards he needed to focus on now.

"Is not!"

"Is to!"

"Is not!"

"If it worked, it was a good idea!"

"No, it wasn't!"

Uh oh, Tobirama was starting to get the crazy eyes. Pupils dilated, whites bulging. The last time Hashirama had seen those he'd had to run for his life and hide out for several days before it was safe to return to his room.

He still maintained he hadn't done anything to deserve them, but Tobirama obviously disagreed so they'd agreed to disagree and not bring it up again. 

Izuna wandered over, scowling. "Your cousin cheats."

"Prove it," Touka taunted at his shoulder, shit-eating grin plastered across her face.

Izuna snarled at her, but Hashirama threw an arm around his shoulder and pulled his attention to their brothers. "Look at them."

"Yes, I realize they're being stupid, Hashirama." Izuna sighed the sigh of one truly tired of hearing about the same subject over and over again.

"Help me fix it."

"No. Leave them be."

"But-"

"No."

"Fine." Hashirama sulked, but apparently it didn't work on Izuna or Mito, who just ushered him away from the spectacle.

Most people were leaving as Madara and Tobirama's argument had basically spiraled into 'is not' 'is too' and neither refused to let it go.

They'd come back inside when they got cold anyway.

***

Hashirama is planning something. He's far too happy. He didn't even complain once after he settled in to help this morning. He's just been sitting there, doing paperwork and humming.

Humming.

The bastard is planning something. 

Madara watches him across the desk through narrowed eyes. "I know you're planning something, Flower."

The actual sun has nothing on the smile Hashirama gives him. "What are you talking about, Heart?"

They stared one another down across Madara's cluttered desk. The upside of knowing someone so well for so long is that you knew them well enough to know every tell.

The downside was that they knew you well enough to know how long to hold out. 

They were still staring one another down when Tobirama, Izuna, and Mito arrived with the senior leadership of all three clans. They'd taken to cramming themselves in Madara's office to work, leaving the daily management of the compound's occupants to the Uchiha captains and a handpick group from the other three clans. 

Madara's chakra was enough to warm the office without a fire so they could save on kindling and the silencing wards were strong enough to allow them to be blunt about the situation without scaring anyone else.

The only one missing this morning was Tsume, who made her own schedule much to Tobirama's consternation. 

He growled when he saw them, "What the hell are the two of you doing now?"

They both ducked their heads, back to their paperwork. "Nothing."

Tobirama eyed them, suspicious for good reason as Mito bustled around and seated everyone. 

Inuzuka Mayu was more relaxed than her mother, probably a survival instinct with Tsume as a mother. Aburame Shina was similar, the two women were nearly impossible to rile, which had served them well so far in dealing with the mess that was Uchiha and Senju together. They seemed to like Mito, sharing the looks all women did between themselves when men were being ridiculous. 

They seemed to find Madara terribly amusing, since he kept catching them studying him and smiling and since Madara was still mystified by the female gender in general, it seemed wisest to ignore it. 

It felt like a trap whenever they questioned how he was doing, and his long-honed battlefield instincts always told him to flee when certain questions were asked.

They were giving him that amused look again now as Tobirama settled into the only open seat next to Madara and shuffled his paperwork.

Had Hashirama said something to them?

Or one of the other Sharingan users?

Was that why Hashirama seemed so happy? Was he dragging them into his delusions of romantic matchmaking?

Madara was well aware that Tobirama was never going to love him back. Had accepted that and moved on.

***

Moved on my ass, she hissed and then quickly fell silent when Hashirama's chakra rose.

***

Yesterday marked the first time Madara and Tobirama had managed a vaguely civil conversation, granted Madara had been drunk in the beginning and then they'd both been high, but still, progress was progress.

He sat next to Madara in meetings sometimes now, even when everyone else wasn't manipulating things so there was only one available seat. And he seemed equally exasperated with Madara as he did with Hashirama most of the time.

Even staid acceptance was better than pure hatred. An existence spent at the edge of Tobirama's life was better than nothing at all.

Even if having him sit next to Madara while they worked felt like the missing piece had finally slotted into place.

Now that the immediate threats had passed, a large group of people was beginning to realize how large they were and how little space they had available. There will be fights before long. All the progress they've made will be undone if they can't carry on the momentum they've found so far.

Hashirama's been exhausting himself trying to settle any little dispute that came up. If not for Mito wrangling him or Izuna loosing himself to melancholy, someone probably would have killed him by now for sticking his nose in their business.

Thankfully, even the strongest and the healthiest of them were still recovering from everything that had happened so there was still a bit of leeway.

Madara's hawks left the aviary everyday now, swooping in and out of the ever-growing shafts of light. The adults had relaxed enough to allow the children to play outside the compound walls with minimal supervision and Kagami had been working on a map of all the little weeds forcing themselves throw the lava rock.

The children still checked up on that first dandelion weed multiple times a day, measuring its growth like they did their own. The children of the Inuzuka and Aburame had taken to the others like they'd been together all their lives, and the shrieks of children had continued to go a long way to keeping morale high.

Even when they were causing mayhem.

"We need a formal organization for duties," Tobirama said, interrupting Madara's wandering thoughts. "Soon the light will be strong enough to send out patrols and messengers to the nearby clans. We need to get ahead of it."

"If there are any left," Touka muttered.

Madara ignored her. Hashirama's cousin was a bit of downer thus far and Madara himself was too prone to slide into the darkness to spend much time around people like that. If he so much as sighed Hashirama tended to cling like tick to a warm body until he was satisfied Madara was okay.

It was nice, of course, to be loved…but also annoying as fuck when Madara felt fine and had work to do.

 Hashirama's innate skill to will life into other people through sheer determination did have one upside, Izuna was looking nearly alive most days. And he hadn't said anything that was concerning recently. 

 Madara had never thought that the knowledge that his little brother's bed was occupied every night would comfort him, especially since he knew the person in it so well, the good, the bad, and the weird, but at least Mito was there to make them somewhat normal.

Somewhat.

Madara eyed the red head across the table. Mito looked sweet and regal and refined, but she'd barely blinked at anything that had happened so far and Madara had caught her stuffing multiple entire meat buns in her mouth and an unbelievable number of sweets. Enough to make Madara's teeth hurt in sympathy. There was something there under the surface, some beast that hadn't been revealed yet.

Madara was looking forward to seeing it come out.

Something bounced off his hair. "Fuck off, Izuna."

"Pay attention, asshole."

***

Tsume's existence is an abomination against whatever god you choose. She was not meant to exist alongside the human race, she was meant to destroy them, strip their flesh and chew on their bones.

She'd clawed her way into existence on a battlefield long, long ago, but it had been called Sekigahara before it had been forgotten. Thousands upon thousands of bodies left where they fell. Men and boys, women and girls, who would never see their homes again. 

Mothers searching fruitlessly through the bodies to find their children. 

Never mind that within hours they'd begun rotting beyond all recognition. 

Even a mother's love wasn't that strong.

The miasma had begun to gather even before the battle commenced, almost since the moment that valley had been chosen to decide the fate of the rulers back then. A black cloud seeping out of the earth that had slowly infected anything that set foot on it.

Back then Kikyo had just become the last surviving child of Indra and his water princess, and her nieces and nephews were entering their twilight years. But the newly formed Uchiha were thriving, and she'd begun to venture farther and farther as they grew in strength. She'd met the emerging Aburame in what was currently called the Isles of Flowers. A handful had traveled back with her, interested in establishing trade with a much larger population but equally interested in continuing their tradition of yokai hunting with the first clan they'd found that shared it.

Sekigahara had been the last battle of a long, brutal war that had seen the end of the Land of the Ancestors and the foggy first decades of the Warring Clans Era.

Kikyo and a couple of her strongest Uchiha and Aburame had made the long trek to the battlefield after word had come that it was finally over after three days of non-stop fighting. By the time they arrived, the miasma had turned the rotting battlefield into a soupy mess and the first wisps of what would become Tsume had begun to pull together.

For whatever reason, Kikyo wasn't even sure herself, she and her hunters had hesitated. Instead of destroying Tsume in the cradle, they waited and watched for the two days it had taken her to start clawing her way out of the miasma as her form began to solidify.

Her body hadn't been complete, or even human-shaped, by the time she'd made her way to the surface and first glimpsed the overcast sky and fetid air. There were still a few mothers who'd refused to listen when Kikyo told them to run, their exhausted, desperate wails carried over the battlefield by the wind.

Kikyo had recognized the yokai crawling from its womb of miasma and rotting bodies immediately. "A mu-onna," she told the others, impressed despite herself.

Rare. Powerful. Harder and harder to kill the longer it lived. They needed to be killed in the cradle, but as they'd approached, they'd witnessed something that had surprised them all.

Even though she'd only resemble a rotten blob then, Tsume had tried desperately to crawl away from the approaching figures. 

Mu-onna yokai were violent, aggressive, and insatiable and Kikyo had never seen one run before. 

She'd made a terrible noise; Kikyo told her years later. Some kind of crying scream that started out sounding like pain but quickly became more like sobbing. 

"-hg." 

"Is it trying to speak?" One of the Uchiha asked, circling around to stop its attempt to crawl away.

"Ur-…hu-hur..gh."

"What's it saying?" The Aburame murmured. They'd always been more philosophical than their allies.

"I don't know."

"It's non-sense."

"Hu….rtt."

"Wait-"

"Hursss."

"Hurts. It's saying it hurts."

"Huuurtssss."

"Incredible. I've never heard one speak before."

"Hurtrrsss."

"Is it injured?"

"No," Kikyo had waved them back, curiosity winning out.

"Hyyy.."

"What?"

"If you don't want to die, speak up."

"Whhyyyy…hurts…Wwwhhy? Hurtsss? P-paiin. -oo…-ch."

"What pain?"

"Why is hurting so much?"

"Something's wrong with it."

"S-so mu-…much paainn."

It only dawned on Kikyo when the mu-onna curled into a ball and started to cry. "Oh."

"What?"

"Kikyo-meijin?"

"Sooo much pa-pain. Whhyyy?"

"It's talking about the dead. The suffering. The miasma."

"It can feel that?"

"It's a mu-onna. It's literally formed from the pain of the mothers who lost their children on battlefields."

"I've never seen one like this, though."

"Never seen one this young. They're so strong they usually last a long while. And the longer they last, the stronger they become."

Tsume had sobbed there in the middle of that battlefield as her body had taken shape under the watchful eyes of Kikyo and her hunters.

None of them had the will to kill her after that.

They'd let her be, kept a watch and ensured no one wandered too close. It had taken several days before Tsume had gathered itself enough to crawl out from the field of rotting bodies. It hadn't looked like much then, a vaguely female-shaped mass covered in gore and dirt. She'd grown to the size of a teenager by the time she stumbled across her second human interaction. 

An elderly couple on a small plot of land not far from the battlefield. They'd left when the armies arrived and returned now that they were gone.

Kikyo who'd been watching, had almost intervened, worried Tsume or the couple would be violent towards the other, but instead, the elderly couple had taken one look at the half-developed yokai and taken her in. 

Tsume had lived with them for the rest of their lives. Seven years she'd had with them, with their kind smiles and their endless patience and willingness to teach. Occasionally a Uchiha or an Aburame had checked in, but aside from a few foolish bandits, no one had picked a fight. They'd given Tsume the name she'd carried ever since and the marks on her cheeks.

Tsume had cried for a very long time after she'd buried them and still, all these centuries later, carried their ashes with her.

She'd sought out the Uchiha after that, made a deal with Kikyo that had allowed her to live provided she only took lives that earned their death.

And even Tsume wouldn't deny that she'd spent a good decade cutting a swath through the population of the Land of Fire before she'd met Kuromaru and turned her attention to traveling the world with the old god. 

It had been decades before she'd returned to Kikyo and become her student. Kaguya had returned during the period, the first time Tsume had witnessed the Mother of Chakra break free. She'd fought alongside the force Kikyo had managed to scrap together and found herself growing in strength with every loss they suffered. 

Kaguya had realized it at the same time as Kikyo, but by then it was already too late. Tsume had grown strong enough to face the Mother of all Shinobi by herself with a decent chance of survival. After her defeat, Tsume had agreed to abide by the Law of Non-Interference, partly because Moro was terrifying, but also because she'd grown enough to understand its importance. Witnessing Kikyo's struggle to convince the shinobi of the world of Kaguya's threat and their own laziness in avoiding the inevitable had soured her on them for a while, but eventually she'd settled among them and her descendants had formed the first vestiges of the Inuzuka within a handful of generations. 

Kuromaru had stayed with her through it all. 

But Tsume had never forgotten what had birthed her. What she was. The Inuzuka carried a little bit of it in all of them, the same way the Uchiha all carried part of the Sharingan, even if they never woke it. 

In that first life she'd followed the rule. Believed in the Law of Non-Interference that the old god's abided by.

Maybe this time she shouldn't. She knows Naruto, Sasuke, Iruka, and Itachi are struggling to carry the duty left to them. It's not fair to leave it all on them again. 

But life isn't fair, is it? Tsume is painfully aware of this fact. But she is also aware that she is already an abomination. A yokai thriving in the world of humans. 

Do the rules even apply to her?

Kikyo and Moro might have something to say about it, but Kuromaru has been silent, he's always been more willing to cross that line than the others, and Okuninushi hasn't even shown itself yet, but the weaver never truly turned its back on the world.

And Kikyo and Moro only resist because they're afraid of the human race becoming too dependent and losing their own will to fight.

None of them wanted Kaguya's return, but they couldn't fight the war for the humans. There was no hope for survival with a race that wouldn't fight. There had even been times when Tsume herself hadn't been convinced their will was strong enough. Barely two generations before, they almost hadn't won. Kikyo and Tsume had ended up taking the brunt of the fight because there hadn't been enough of bodies on the field to hold out, even when the will had been there.

She'd hoped the seal would stay strong long enough to let the population of Shinobi grow enough to make the next fight easier. It had taken Kikyo and Tsume nearly two decades to return to full strength and now this prick Zetsu was running around again.

The little ant was blessed by the gods of luck and the next time Tsume got her hands on him or any of those lucky gods she was going to rend them limb from limb.

See how long their luck lasted after that.

Madara and Hashirama have had many chances to make up for the mistakes of that first life, their own and others. Unfortunately for them, they are the ones the Rinnegan, Kikyo, and Tsume have chosen to carry this burden. Because they were strong enough, even if they didn't believe it themselves yet.

They would though.

If there was one thing these two idiots had it was willpower, they'd get there eventually.

Maybe Tsume can nudge them along though, save herself the headache, although there's no doubt it would be entertaining. 

Still, she is trying not to add to the suffering in the world…

A little nudge won't hurt.

And well, Tsume was born to be a landmine meant to rend the earth so a landmine she will be.

She barges into their meeting, because none of them have the balls to tell her off, throws her arms around Madara and Hashirama and demands, "Where's my village, punks?"

Ah yes, so satisfying. Mito looks so shocked, Madara and Hashirama so betrayed, like they thought she wouldn't out them just for the entertainment of Snowflake and Firefox's outrage when they realized their brothers had been fully intending to move forward with their village and they'd never be free of each other.

***

Tobirama doesn't speak to Hashirama or Madara for the rest of the day. Hashirama sulks but eventually rolls his eyes and lets Tobirama be angry.

Madara looks…Madara looks…. Tobirama isn't sure what he looked like, but he hadn't expected the Great Calamity to flinch like that. 

Izuna had just left, Mito hurrying after him. Hopefully, they gave Hashirama the earful he deserved later.

He's not sure why he's so upset about it. Hashirama hasn't shut up about his village since the day he met Madara and now things have been going their way to a degree no one could have ever predicted.

Or even considered.

Hashirama's never explicitly said they were giving up on the village either. Tobirama just assumed it was understood that there were more important things, like reestablishing the Senju Clan and rebuilding their home.

Their old home.

Not a totally new one.

The sheer amount of work. They might have the bodies to finish the basics in a year. 

Of the funds that they definitely don't have.

They'd have to negotiate with the Daimyo for land and give up the ground their clans have lived and died on for generations. He could stop them dead by refusing to allow the village and it wouldn't be a surprise.

What leader would want two large military parties joining forces but remaining out of his sphere of control? The clans had a precarious relationship with the Daimyo and the government already. Half the reason the Daimyo's army was always so large was the constant paranoia that the shinobi or clans would attempt a coup.

Even the Daimyos in the Land of Iron worried in the same way about the samurai clans.

Like they didn't have enough to deal with already, Tobirama thought sourly. Little men with little minds occupied the capitol, oblivious to the threats outside their walls unless they wanted to see them.

Things like Kekkei Genkai and seals would never be allowed to exist outside the Daimyo's control if he truly understood their capabilities and the clans were just as adept at keeping that from him as he was at understanding what a cataclysmic effect it would have if the clans stopped obeying him.

They had a great deal of freedom compared to the civilian population, but there was a balance that had to be maintained in order to keep the peace.

Hashirama and Madara's village would drastically upset that balance. 

Neither of them is stupid enough to miss that, which makes them stupider than Tobirama realized. 

Picking a fight with a fucking empire. Even those two aren't strong enough to take on all the forces of the Daimyo themselves…

….right?

Hashirama is still keeping secrets. So is Madara but Madara doesn't owe Tobirama any loyalty or affection, so he's less angry about that.

And Hashirama is an idiot who thinks that protecting people justifies keeping secrets.

Tobirama is firmly of the opinion that if you love someone you tell them what they need to know to be safe.

As long as it had nothing to do with Tobirama's experiments.

Or any jutsu he was still working on.

Or his special ink because it was a pain to find properly ground ink that didn't clump or run when he needed to write as quickly as possible. Not that he had anymore. It had gone up in flames with the compound and he'd been making do with the shitty leftovers the Uchiha weren't using. 

He was going to have to invent another means to write with if this kept up.

Jiro was waiting when he got back to his room. The great white wolf was sprawled out on his back, snoring in a way Tobirama honestly hadn't realized canines were capable of. 

But then he wasn't a normal wolf, so who knew for sure.

The damn thing took up most of the futon too and if he wasn't so warm and soft, Tobirama would have kicked him out the first night he snuck in. 

Right now, though, all that soft fur looked terribly inviting. It was a few degrees warmer every day, but still far too cold for anyone born in the Land of Fire. Especially Tobirama, who's water affinity left him colder than most on a warm day. Hashirama kept trying to put more clothes on him whenever he ran into his big brother outside, no matter how many Tobirama was already wearing. 

Since Mito had forcibly moved Hashirama and herself into Izuna's room, Tobirama had a room to himself, which was nice.

Jiro didn't count.

He did need to check on Touka. And he'd promised to spend a night with Aiko soon after he put her off after the last time. Technically, he had time to go over tonight, but he also wanted to go out with the first patrol early in the morning and if he went to Aiko's she'd either get woken up when he left or he wouldn't get enough sleep.

At some point he wanted to spend time with Hashirama too, just the two of them, but that could wait until he was a little less angry.

Never make decisions when you were tired or angry. Tobirama had read that in a book somewhere, but he could never remember which one. And he'd never been able to find it again. 

It could all wait until tomorrow he decided. One full night of sleep while he could still afford it and then he could deal with everything else.

His nighttime routine was drastically diminished now, just splashing water on his face and brushing his teeth so he put out the candles and collapsed next to Jiro in a matter of minutes. 

He started to doze off in seconds, turning and tucking his body against the warm wolf.

One night and then he'd deal with everything.

***

Senju Aiko was annoyed. The party had been fun, the Uchiha weren't bad when they were drunk or high, but she hadn't been able to spend any time with Tobirama. Whenever she managed to get away from her parents or friends, she'd found him with the young kunoichi and her pale shadow or with the Uchiha Clan Leader himself, and she didn't particularly like any of them. 

And then they'd gotten Tobirama high!

And then she hadn't seen him at all today. It didn't even seem like he missed her. 

But Tobirama was easily distracted. She'd known that even before they'd begun dating. He had a lot of interests and was an expert in so many fields. He had a lot of responsibilities as the Clan Heir, at least until Hashirama had children. Or Hashirama died and Tobirama became clan leader. He'd have less time for her, but being the clan leader's wife would be nice.

And they wouldn't have to keep living with the Uchiha, because that was absolutely Hashirama's doing.

Tobirama took on more than he needed to, always so eager to help. Aiko had tried hinting that they needed more time alone together, especially now. One of her fellow Senju shinobi had asked her out at the dance, mistakenly believing she and Tobirama were over because no one had seen them together in so long.

Aiko has not put all this effort into this relationship to just let it fade away into nothing. Her parents and cousins are asleep, so she slips out and makes her way across the compound. Tobirama's room is in the main house and while she doesn't like him being so close to the upper ranks of the Uchiha, it is fitting for his station.

She's not entirely sure why, but she doesn't like Uchiha Madara. Though the rest of his clan seems okay. It's hard, impossible really, to separate the Great Calamity from the fear he inspired before and what they've seen of him over these last couple of months.

That he was so willing to execute those that tried to force sacrifices during the fire, when they needed every able body to survive, when he's sworn to protect them, had been a jarring reminder of the cruelty he was capable of.

She's not sure why Tobirama and some of the others are so quick to defend the actions that day. Being at someone's mercy doesn't mean turning a blind eye to their mistakes.

Everyone is still recovering from the dance, which was fun but she's not a fan of getting drunk and making a fool of yourself, there should have been some decorum, so her journey is peaceful, and she reaches the main house without issue.

Tobirama gave her access, so the wards don't even ping as she slips in the back door and makes her way to Tobirama's room. He should still be awake and working, he's a night owl in that regard, otherwise he'd promised to come find her.

To say she's disappointed when she finds him face asleep with the wolf is an understatement. She can't stop the flare of anger in her chakra before it wakes him, though she tries to force it back down as fast as she can.

"Aiko?" He's adorable when he's half-asleep and she likes knowing that there are very few people who see this momentary weakness. The wolf yawns and rolls over when Tobirama sits up. 

There's fur everywhere and it makes Aiko grimace as Tobirama stands. "What's wrong?"

"Why are you sleeping here?" She tries to keep the emotion out of her voice, anger and hurt, because getting emotional is the quickest way to lose an argument with Tobirama.

As it is, he looks confused, which is adorable, "This is my room," he looks around as he says it, like he's double checking to make sure he's right.

"You said you would come see me if you finished early." He'd promised. "It's only ten." Tobirama frequently pulled all-nighters. His regular bedtime was one or two am when he wasn't busy. 

This was early for him, and he'd promised.

"We decided to break for the night and start early tomorrow," he yawned as he said it. 

"Then you should have come see me," she couldn't help but snap. "You'd rather sleep here with a dog?"

"Wolf." Tobirama corrected without thinking and then immediately winced.

"You'd rather spend time with that animal than me?" That hurt. 

***

"No, that's not-" Tobirama stopped, confused at the conclusion she'd drawn. "I was tired, so I went to sleep. I'm taking the first patrol out tomorrow morning at four. There was no point, neither of us would have gotten any sleep."

"You could have come over just to sleep. Do you think I'm trying to make things harder for you?"

"I didn't say that." Why was she being so emotional? She knew what Tobirama's work was like. How little free time he had. Especially now. She'd never had an issue with it before. "Why are you upset now?"

Warmth suffused the room.

Violent warmth. 

Tobirama turned and Aiko spun around to find Madara in the doorway. 

"Everything alright?" The Great Calamity's sleeping robe was blood red and slipping off one shoulder, his hair wilder than normal. He'd clearly just woken up.

He must have woken for the same reason Tobirama had. Aiko's chakra spike, which hadn't actually been that strong. Aiko was above averagely skilled at controlling her chakra.

Few shinobi were sensitive enough to pick up that small a spike. Tobirama hadn't realize Madara was a sensor of that level. 

Aiko was glaring openly at the Uchiha Clan leader. 

And Madara was glaring right back, chakra roiling, smothering Aiko's out completely.

Tobirama doubted he even had to try to do it. She was laughably outmatched. 

So why was she being so foolish?

"What do you want?" Aiko snapped. Tobirama stared at her. Aiko was never that openly disrespectful.

"Just making sure everyone is okay. I don't remember adding you to the wards." Madara looked decidedly unconcerned as he said it. Almost bored, but Tobirama could hear the steel underneath the underneath. 

…Did he tell anyone when he added her to the wards?

….

Apparently not.

Shit.

***

It is the camp law: people going to their death must be deceived to the very end. This is the only permissible form of charity.

Tadeusz Borowski

***

~ tbc