Chapter Text
Tobirama had no idea what was happening or what he was doing. This was not a situation he was used to and he did not like it. At all.
How he had gone from attempting to get Madara-sama to approve the the latest diplomatic dispatches so they could be sent out by courier tomorrow morning to being chased through the village by what felt like every Sharingan user in the Uchiha clan was a mystery.
Thankfully, Kagami-kun had warned him off but there had been no time to get more details before his sensor abilities had registered the change in chakra as several clan members activated their Sharingan and he had instinctively turned to flee.
His initial assumption had been a coup or some other threat to the village that had to be neutralised, but the language Kagami-kun had used was all wrong for that.
Run. Participant. Runner. Caught. Challenge.
The capital letters had been evident in Kagami-kun’s tone, implying these were established roles for an existing practice. A ritual of some sort perhaps? Kagami-kun had immediately assigned him the role of Caught implying that he was the prey in this particular hunt and he was running blind - something he detested doing. He needed more information.
How was he to get it though? Going back to the Uchiha compound was obviously not feasible as it was crawling with active Uchiha. Not a normal pattern for them, as they usually rose with the sun and slept shortly after sunset. Their compound was usually very quiet at night but right now it bore an uncomfortable resemblance to a kicked ant nest.
He cast his senses wide. If he couldn’t get information from the compound, his best option was to find an isolated Uchiha and get the information that way. Who was alone and abroad this night? Unsurprisingly, Madara-sama was in the compound, as was Kagami-kun. Interestingly, the distinctive fiery crackle of Izuna’s chakra was off in the shadow of Hokage tower. It was suppressed too, something he had only felt Izuna do on the stealth and infiltration missions they had run together. Only long experience with his former rival and now friend allowed him to isolate it immediately.
Izuna then. Decision made, he reached out for the closest Hiraishin marker to Izuna and pulled himself across the village.
Appearing in his office, he expanded his senses once more. A few people were still working in the mission room, others moving through the archives. Otherwise, he appeared to be alone.
Or almost.
The slightest whisper of a sleeve was all that saved him. He met the katana that snapped out of the shadows with his own kunai.
“Seto-san.”
Seto-san inclined his head in the slightest of bows, about all he could do when they were pressed together in such a confined space. “Senju-sama. An honour as always.”
Tobirama applied more pressure, testing the limits of Seto-san’s commitment before allowing Seto-san to back him closer to the open window. “You sealed your own chakra. Ingenious. I almost missed you. How did you know to ambush me?”
Seto-san huffed a soft laugh. “You are not the only sensor in this village Senju-sama and your participation tonight has made you a high profile target.”
Tobirama raised a white eyebrow. “Is there any chance you can tell me what this is all about?”
Seto-san shook his head. “If you make it to sunrise, you should speak to Madara-sama. He can give you more information.”
Well. That gave him a definite time limit, which was always useful data.
It was Tobirama’s turn to bow now before he forced Seto-san’s katana away from his neck, disengaged, and then leapt out of the window.
The tips of his fingers caught on a window frame one floor down, the scrape of a heel on the wall served to redirect his momentum, and he landed almost on top of his erstwhile rival.
“Izuna.”
Izuna gestured for him to come closer before spinning his own chakra out to wrap around both of them. “Pull it in! Everyone and their grandmother can feel you right now! You’re like a rock thrown into a still pond.” He pulled Tobirama into the shadow of the tower with an arm around the neck.
Tobirama exhaled shortly with impatience. “What is going on.”
“You do know that was supposed to be a question right? You still know what those are?” Izuna smirked at him.
Normally Tobirama would have been perfectly happy to indulge his friend but right now, under a pursuit with unknown rules and unable to evade without potentially causing harm to fellow Konoha shinobi, he had no patience for Izuna’s antics.
“This lasts until sunrise. No one is trying to kill me. Capture or incapacitate only. I somehow signalled my willingness to participate in this asinine ritual by being in your compound after sunset. Did I cover everything?”
“Ooh! An actual question!” Izuna wilted slightly under his hard stare. “Almost. If you’re caught then you get…”
Instinct made Tobirama duck out from under Izuna’s arm and doge for the left just as arms reached out to grab them both.
“Damnit!” Izuna swore rolling out from under the arms. “Not fair, nii-san!”
Madara-sama’s low chuckle rumbled like thunder. “All’s fair in love and war, Izuna. And you chose to broadcast the location for both of you. You can’t blame me for taking temptation when it's on offer can you?”
Tobirama met Izuna’s eyes and unspoken communication passed between them. As one, they used the Shunshin to break in opposite directions. “Bye Tobi! See you at sunrise!” Izuna carolled obnoxiously as he sped away.
Tobirama wanted to object to the hated diminutive but there was no time to do so with Madara-sama in hot pursuit. The largest threat in the clan and it was after him. Not a situation he wanted to be in.
He weighed his options. Large destructive ninjutsu were obviously against the rules. Any previous incidents involving such would have definitely been brought to his attention so they must not be available to the participants. That was to his benefit. That left genjutsu, taijutsu, and kenjutsu, all things they were far more evenly matched in. He was faster overall but Madara-sama knew the village as well as he did. There was no real way to hide. Anija would certainly have been willing to offer protection but he was out of the village at the moment. If this was a serious fight, a speed taijutsu match would probably have been his best option but it wasn’t. He only had to evade capture until sunrise.
He thought longingly of his well warded lab. What he wouldn’t have given to know if retreat to safe ground was against the rules. On the other hand, given Seto-san’s well prepared ambush, he wouldn’t have put it past the Uchiha to have stationed someone there too.
Fleeing across the rooftops, he expanded his senses once again, mentally mapping all the Uchiha clan members he knew by name. As he suspected, Hikaku-san was lurking outside his lab which Izuna was heading for with all speed. He mentally wished them both luck.
Madara-sama, on the other hand, was attempting to herd him back towards the Uchiha compound. Instead, Tobirama took a deep breath, reached out for the Hiraishin marker in training ground 44, made a hand seal, and teleported away.
Several hours later, Tobirama rested in the crowning branches of an oak tree in the absurdly named Forest of Death. Honestly, he thought, Anija should never be allowed to name anything. How ridiculous. Still, the residual chakra left behind by his brother had served well to camouflage his own signature and confuse his pursuers as he led them through traps and the territories of various animals.
Dodging Madara-sama and several other Uchiha through the trees was not his idea of an amusing time though, and he was not looking forward to working a full day after a night without sleep. He now realised why both Madara-sama and Izuna had previously notified him that they would be taking the day off in advance. He wished he could do the same. On the other hand, that was a valuable clue which he could use as a warning for when they would be doing this - whatever this was - again. He would be certain to avoid all members of the Uchiha clan and their compound between the hours of sunset and sunrise on those nights.
Still, the sun was breaking above the horizon and he could feel both Izuna and Madara-sama converging on his position.
Leaping through the trees, they joined him just as the sun rose high enough to reflect off his happuri.
“Good job,” said Madara-sama gruffly, clapping a heavy hand on his shoulder from behind. “You actually beat Izuna’s record.”
“Oh come on!” Izuna whined “Only by an hour!”
Tobirama turned to face them. “Now do I get an explanation?”
Izuna threw an arm over his shoulder, shoving Madara-sama’s hand off. “Absolutely. Let me feed you breakfast and I’ll fill you in. That way you’ll have all the information you need for next year!”
Tobirama froze. “Wait. Next year.”
Madara-sama cocked his head like one of his birds. “Well sure. The reigning champion always competes the next time.”
Tobirama resisted the urge to put his head in his hands. “Why am I the only sane one in this village?”