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The rains were late.
Madara ran a hand over the tree at his side, feeling the deep grooves in the bark. Little water meant less food for all the animals of the woods, and it meant less game for him as well. He sniffed the claw markings, hoping they weren’t too fresh. Large predators weren’t exactly brand new to his territory but he didn’t want to deal with them either way. Getting a good whiff would help him avoid whatever had wandered through in search of food, and with any luck it would be on its way before long - assuming it wasn’t interested in moving in.
Taking extra care to listen to his surroundings, Madara picked his way through the woods, checking here and there for any potential tracks or berries. When nothing but a squirrel or two happened across his path, both of which were too far up in the trees to get to quick enough, he changed course towards the riverbed.
Briars grew thick around the tree line, reaching and grabbing at his tail. He couldn’t help but growl at them, not for the first time tempted to take a fire to the lot of it and be done. Better to see it all up in smoke than to deal with the damned things stuck in his fur.
An empty threat, of course. Especially given how dry the grass was. Torching his land might be a bit cathartic for the first few minutes but seeing the whole forest go up in flames wouldn’t exactly be ideal.
With the rains late, and no runoff from leftover ice or snow to fill it, the river was dangerously low. Fresh tracks crisscrossed all about its banks, difficult to pinpoint which led where, but that was to be expected. It was the only real source of water left within a couple of miles; this had been the deepest portion of the river, at least of what ran through his territory.
His nose was thankfully up to the task of tracking. Catching the freshest scent, at least a few deer had been through the area not too long ago, and had headed off somewhere north. It meant crossing the river, which took a bit of a detour upstream, but soon he was on their trail, jogging as quickly as he dared without making too much noise.
It was a good few miles before he caught the scent of blood. He slowed his pace, resisting the urge to run faster after the wounded prey in favor of caution. Being downwind was in his favor, and he’d seen no signs of the predator he’d smelled earlier, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be at fault for the wounded animal ahead.
The trees thinned out quickly, Madara coming up on one of the many clearings that dotted his forest. Blood hung thicker in the air here but he found he couldn’t place the smell, cursing when he realized it wasn’t a wounded deer he was tracking. Something else was injured, and no matter how hungry he might be it was extremely dangerous to head into a situation like this when he had little to no information.
Before he could fully commit to turning back, he spotted a splash of grey amidst the sea of green, ducking behind the nearest tree an instant later. He hadn’t gotten a good look at it but it didn’t seem large enough to leave whatever grooves had been clawed into his trees - but any injured animal could summon enough panic-induced strength and fury to do significant damage to his person.
A peek around the tree had his lip curling, fur bristling when he realized it wasn’t a wounded animal but a wounded intruder sitting in the middle of one of his fields.
The grey-silver fur and hair was a bit odd, but Madara knew an intelligent species when he saw one. Whatever it wanted in his territory couldn’t be good. Hesitation fell to the wayside of rightful indignation at the intrusion, Madara slipping out from his hiding place to approach it with his teeth bared.
Later, if he was ever asked why he didn’t instantly tear the other’s throat out, Madara would insist he’d merely taken pity on him after spotting the nasty wound that had him bleeding all over the place. Never in the rest of his years would he admit something as idiotic as the other man’s scent had ground him to a halt only a few feet away, ignoring the startled whip of his head in favor of blinking at him like a dumbstruck idiot.
To his credit, the intruder instantly displayed non-threatening body language. Despite being injured and no doubt concerned for his safety he showed no signs of wanting to fight, making himself look smaller instead of larger, not even bothering to show his teeth.
“I had hoped to cross your territory faster than this.”
Madara cocked his head at the admission, brought back from his dumbstruck state. Certainly not what he would’ve done, admitting to knowing he was trespassing. Only idiots trespassed in the first place, and truthful idiots were just asking for trouble. Still, he didn’t move to defend his territory, a little too thrown off to attack the other just yet.
“What injured you?” Since the idiot seemed willing to talk anyway, might as well get some information out of him. Especially since it might have been whatever had been marking up his trees.
“Territorial dispute.” At Madara’s snarl, the other’s ears flattened. “Over my territory, not someone else’s. The wound reopened.”
“What are you doing here then?”
That earned him a rather bland look. “Oh, I don’t know. Injured, crossing territory, all after a territorial dispute. Use your brain, idiot.”
“ Idiot ? Who’s the one bleed in someone else’s territory right now?”
“That has nothing to do with intelligence.” The man noticeably deflated all the same, looking near pitiful with his slump paired with his wound and rather ragged clothing. It didn’t sit well with Madara, seeing him like that - no matter that he had no reason to feel anything besides rage at the trespasser.
But the scent of blood was heavy in the air, and the markings on his trees had been far too deep to be anything but bad news.
“You can’t stay here.”
“...I can’t walk. My leg won’t support my weight.”
“No, I meant here - in this field, out in the open.” Madara crouched down in front of him, eyeing his wound. “Something big moved in recently, and chances are it’s a predator. You’ll be shit by tomorrow if you just sit here.”
The man’s ears flattened against his head, red eyes flickering up to meet Madara’s. “I still can’t walk.”
Madara considered him for a few moments, then flashed his teeth in warning. “Bite me and I’ll save whatever it is the trouble of killing you.” Without any further warning he grabbed his arm, standing up and dragging the other man up with him.
It was awkward, to say the least, having someone whose name he didn’t even know pressed so closely to his side. And with the man’s injury they made slow progress, not reaching Madara’s dens until dusk had nearly fallen around them.
The entrance was as far as he took him. There were a few furs there for him to get comfortable on while Madara went further into the cave system that he’d made his den, coming back with some spare cloths to use as bandages. On a whim he dressed the other’s wounds himself, taking care to wash and wrap them up properly.
“If you don’t give me a name, I’m going to keep thinking of you as just ‘that idiot’.”
“Tobirama.”
“Tobirama the idiot it is.” He tossed the bloodied cloths to the side to burn later, taking a moment to look around. It wasn’t the best part of his den. Wasn’t meant to be, since those were meant only for him and a potential future mate. But it felt a little wrong how bare it was, with only his oldest furs and nothing else to show for himself.
Not that he had any reason to show off to Tobirama. He shook himself before standing up, refusing to look over at his guest. “You can stay while you heal, but don’t expect me to feed you or anything.” Without waiting for any type of response Madara stormed off further into his den, putting the mess behind him to deal with later.
He fed him, of course. Despite what many might believe he had been taught manners, and he was hardly going to let someone starve under his roof. On top of keeping him fed Madara made sure to treat some new furs, ones that weren’t patchy and worn from age, for him to use as a bed. By the time Tobirama’s wound had fully healed the entrance had practically become his room - though despite how comfortable it was Madara still felt something off about it.
“It gets drafty in here at night, doesn’t it?”
Tobirama glanced up at him from where he sat on his bed, quirking a single eyebrow. “Not really, no.”
“What about when it rains? Does the wind blow that in here?”
“No, your entrance covering does a good job of preventing that.”
Madara scowled as he paced the room, certain that there had to be something he was missing. Because it just felt wrong leaving Tobirama in this room, making him stay there without…
Well, he was still trying to figure that bit out. He had no idea what the room was without.
“Do you like staying here?”
Tobirama shifted a bit, his gaze focused just past Madara’s head. “It’s perfectly acceptable. I’m very grateful for being allowed to stay in your territory, and I wouldn’t-”
“Not talking about that, talking about here . In this room.”
Tobirama’s ears twitched as he blinked over at him. “...where else would I stay?”
“I’m sure I’ve got somewhere better.” It was mostly grumbled to himself, Madara stopping to run a hand through the hanging furs that separated the entrance from the rest of his den. The rest of his rooms were all in use of course, but he could probably move stuff around to find something better for Tobirama.
“...in your actual den…?”
Madara grunted, still in thought and speaking absently. “Don’t have anywhere else.”
“You...you do know what you’re suggesting, right?”
The question was enough to pull Madara out of his own head. He turned as Tobirama stood up, watching as he shifted his weight back and forth, staring at the space between them.
“Your offering for me to stay in your den, Madara. That...does that mean the same for your species as it does mine?”
“Species? We don’t look that different.”
Tobirama waved his hand in gesture. “We’re close, but that’s not important. Madara, what would it typically mean for you to let someone into your den?”
“I wouldn’t,” Madara said simply. Though he knew instantly it wasn’t the full answer; he frowned, his tail swishing behind him, fur hissing against the cave floor. “Well, I would with a mate of course, and with anyone I planned to court.”
“And you’re inviting me in, so what...what does that mean?”
Madara stated at him for a minute. Watched as Tobirama grew oddly still, as if he were holding his breath - as Madara let his own mind wrap around the question and come to the only natural conclusion it could.
“Huh. I guess I want to court you.”
“You guess?” Tobirama’s eyes shot up, pinching at the corners.
“If you’d let me.” He shrugged, his nonchalance belied by the off rhythm beating in his chest.
“That would be acceptable.”
The answer came a little too fast, pink spreading out from the red markings on Tobirama’s cheeks. They were both left fidgeting awkwardly, staring off at the walls as if they weren’t trying to gauge each other’s reactions.
But Madara had never been one to deal with either awkward or emotional situations, and planned to get this one over with as quickly as possible so as to not have to deal with it anymore.
“Well, come on then.” He grabbed Tobirama’s wrist without any warning, dragging him off past the hanging furs and into his den before either of them could have any second thoughts over how horrifically embarrassing this all was. And since it was already well into the evening he pulled him right into his personal room, settling them both down into his bed.
Once they both managed to move past the awkwardness and relaxed, Tobirama tentatively nuzzling into his new courter, Madara decided almost immediately that he liked this plan of his. He had to throw a leg over his own tail to keep it from giving his excitement away, sneakily taking inhales of their scents and being quite pleased with how well they mingled.
He remembered hesitating at Tobirama’s when they met, staring instead of tearing into him as he should have; and as he drifted off to sleep pressed against the other he found himself shamelessly glad that someone had thrown Tobirama out of his original territory - though there would most certainly be hell to pay if he ever got hands on them.