Work Text:
Madara stared down at the petals in his bathroom sink. He’d had a persistent cough for weeks that Hashirama had been pestering him to get checked out. He’d brushed off his concerns and now his hardheadedness was coming back to bite him in the ass. On the other hand, he was glad he hadn’t gone in because Hashirama would freak out, demanding answers that Madara couldn’t give him.
The lotus petals weren’t disappearing, no matter how much he wanted them to. When had he fallen in love with him? Sure, he’d known for a while that he didn’t hate the man anymore, had even become friends of a sort. He pushed himself away from the sink. “Fuck.” He rubbed his hands over his face. What was he going to do? He could not tell anyone about this. He just needed to get it taken care of and be done with the whole situation.
But that meant his budding feelings would be gone and that made his heart ache. A pounding on the bathroom door startled him. “Madara, did you fall in?”
Izuna. Of course, his brother had to choose the worst time to interrupt him. He scooped the petals out of the sink and shoved them into his pocket. He jerked the door open, glaring at his brother. “Ass,” he muttered as he pushed by him.
“I love you too, brother!” Izuna called after him.
Madara was one of the most feared shinobi in the world. He was not going to panic over a few petals. He made it to the living room before his chest started to hurt again. Okay, maybe he was panicking a bit. This was bad. He would just go to the hospital and have it treated before anyone could find out. It would be fine. He didn’t need these feelings complicating things.
He was glad most of the people in the village steered clear of him, especially once he was outside the Uchiha district. He just had to make it to the hospital and avoid Hashirama. He was so focused on making sure his friend did not find out about this the didn’t realize he’d rushed past someone that could sink his entire plan. “Madara-kun?” Oh shit. There was only one person that called him that.
“Mito-san,” he squeaked out. Hashirama’s very pregnant wife was staring at him with a look of concern and confusion. He was so caught. “I wasn’t expecting to see you.” He had faced off against deadly assassins and not sweated as much as he was right now.
“Tobirama hasn’t been home in several days. Hashi is starting to worry, so I was going to check on him. I just got a bit winded.” Her hand went down to her swollen belly.
Madara cursed every god he would think of. Tobirama’s lab was no place for a pregnant woman. He’d once walked in on the man and nearly lost a good chunk of hair to a jutsu gone awry. Hashirama would have his head if he knew he’d let his pregnant wife go check on Tobirama. “I will check on him, Mito-san. You should be at home resting.”
The woman rolled her eyes at him. “You sound like Hashi. Though, I wouldn’t mind not having to go all the way out to his lab. Tell him he is expected for dinner at our house tonight or I’m sending Hashirama after him.”
“I will let him know.” Once she was out of sight, Madara’s shoulder’s slumped. This was not happening. Okay, new plan. Fetch Tobirama and then go to the hospital to get treated. He would be home by evening and could forget all about the lotus petals. He clenched his fists as he drew closer to the edge of the village where Tobirama’s lab was tucked away for the safety of the village. He didn’t bother knocking as he burst through the front door, which served as an office of sorts.
He pushed on, deeper into the lab. He was not prepared for the sight that met him. Tobirama was hunched over, one of his shadow clones standing behind him. The part of the situation that nearly stopped his heart was both of them were shirtless. One shirtless Tobirama was bad enough, but two was just cruel. He suddenly found it hard to breathe as a coughing fit came over him. Tobirama jerked his head up, eyes narrowing. “Madara? What are you doing here?”
Madara couldn’t answer because a petal his lodged in his throat and he was hacking, trying to cough it up. He nearly toppled over backward when the other man was suddenly in front of him. “Shit! Don’t do that,” he said, still coughing a bit. There was no way to dispose of the petals now in his mouth and he had a shirtless Tobirama staring him down.
“Spit them out.”
“What?”
“The petals. Spit them out.” Madara’s eyes widened in horror as he realized that Tobirama had figured it out so quickly. The other man sighed, reaching over and grabbing a glass dish and holding it out to him. “Don’t make me wait all day, Uchiha.”
Madara glared at him as he let the petals fall out of his mouth and onto the dish. It was undignified and embarrassing. “How did you know?”
Tobirama shrugged one pale shoulder at him. “I’m observant.” He looked down at the petals, a look of surprise crossing over his face. “Lotus petals? That’s an odd flower for Hashirama.” He frowned and set the dish down onto his workbench. “Now, you’ve only been coughing for a few weeks, so I’m guessing you just started seeing the petals. You’re not the type to let something like love get in your way, so you’ll have it removed. I would recommend doing it soon before my brother finds out.”
“What the hell are you talking about? I’m not in love with Hashirama!” He wanted to smack the idiot across his face. That would be like being in love with Izuna. For a genius, he was certainly a moron sometimes.
“Ah, well, he seemed the most obvious choice. Lotus points to a water nature. Being an Uchiha, you aren’t close to many shinobi with a water nature.” The younger Senju brother was studying him intensely like he was one of his experiments.
Madara was confused by his comments, but he could not let him work this out. He would never live it down. “It doesn’t matter. Like you said, I’m going to get it taken care of. Get your ass home. Your brother is worried. Mito-san was on her way here. She shouldn’t have to come drag you out of your lab. Just show up to dinner or I’ll come back to kick your ass.” He turned to leave only to find his way blocked by the shadow clone.
“I have a theory that when the person you’re in love with is a shinobi the type of flower reflects their nature. A lotus would point to water, which would have worked for brother, but wouldn’t have been the first thing that came to mind. I have been studying the cases that have come into the hospital, but they’ve mostly been civilians, so I’ve been unable to compile enough data to prove my theory.” Tobirama was drumming his fingers on the workbench. “I was hoping you’d tell me who it is, but that was silly of me. You’re too stubborn for that, but you are quite emotional. I assume if I can guess who it is, it will provoke a reaction from you.”
“Tell your clone to move, Senju, or I’ll put him through a wall,” Madara demanded through gritted teeth.
“Tell me and you are free to go. This is valuable research data and I am not going to let this rare opportunity slip through my hands.” His cold, calculating tone made the Uchiha’s blood boil. “Now, a water nature eliminates most of the Uchihas, naturally. There are a few that use water releases, but none that you are particularly close to that I know of. A Senju would be the obvious choice. You have been spending a great deal of time with my cousin, but that’s because he’s heading up T&I.”
The panic he felt earlier was back with a vengeance as Tobirama continued to list off various members of the Senju clan and others that had a water nature. “Stop, Tobirama. I am warning yo-”
“Though I suppose I am the most well-known shinobi with a water nature.” Madara didn’t even think as his fist collided with Tobirama’s face. Rage rolled through him at being picked apart by the other man. This was not happening! He was not going to let Tobirama Senju know how much his smug, standoffish nature turned him on. He couldn’t tell him that he was the reason he managed to sit through the endless meetings that Hashirama insisted on having. His dry, cutting sense of humor made his heart flutter. He may not always understand everything the man rambled on about, but he could listen to him all day long. His passion was hidden under this cool facade and Madara loved seeing it peak out behind the carefully controlled mask that he hid behind.
Tobirama stumbled back against his workbench, startled by the punch. He was the fastest shinobi alive and should have been able to easily dodge it. It spoke volumes to how unexpected Madara’s reaction had been. The Uchiha’s chest was heaving as he tried to get himself back under control. He turned on his heel, ready to take out the stunned shadow clone as well if it meant he could flee this entire situation. “Madara, wait!” The desperation in Tobirama’s voice made him hesitate. “Please.” He had never heard the Senju beg before. Madara swore in his head as he turned back to face him.
The man was on his feet, digging through the cabinets above his head, frantically searching for something. He turned and shoved something into Madara’s hand. He started down at the dish, which was full of some sort of orange and red petals. “I started coughing those up six months ago. Orange daylilies. The problem with this disease is we often treat it so quickly that we haven’t had much of an opportunity to study it. I’ve been treating myself so that the disease does not progress and have been studying the effects.”
“Are you stupid, Tobirama? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?” Madara was seriously considering throttling the man. “Why are you showing me this?”
“Don’t the petals remind you of fire?”
“So?” Was he missing something or was Tobirama just talking circles around him like usual?
The Senju sighed heavily. “The person I seem to have fallen for has a fire nature.”
Madara’s stomach dropped. Of course. He was an idiot. The petals meant Tobirama was in love with someone…someone not him. Was he trying to let him down gently? “Wonderful. Can I go now?” His jaw was starting to hurt from clenching his teeth so much, but it was that or lash out at the other man again.
“You are so dense, Uchiha,” the shadow clone sighed behind him. “He’s trying to tell you that it’s you.” Madara dropped the glass dish in shock, his knees giving out a bit. Luckily for him, there were two Tobiramas to catch him.
“I must say I am a bit miffed that you have ruined my study since now we’ll both recover, but I can’t say I am unhappy about finding this out.”
“What?” Madara asked numbly, looking up at Tobirama.
“The love isn’t unrequited anymore. I was interested in seeing how long I could hold off the effects of the disease. It would have helped with treating patients that didn’t want to remove their feelings for the other person. Though this does add another point of data for confirming my theory about the link between the type of flowers and the nature of the other person.” He said all of this casually in his normal monotone way as if he hadn’t just admitted he’d been in love with him for six months.
“Tobirama?”
“Yes?”
“Shut up.” Madara kissed him before the man could drone on any more. Two sets of arms held him close as he was sandwiched between Tobirama and his shadow clone. He had no idea why the man had fallen in love with him, and at that moment, he didn’t care.