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Hashirama was an oddball, he knew that. Despite how friendly and outgoing he was, how kind and considerate. Other kids just seemed to think he was a weirdo and would often tease him for a myriad of reasons. They would make fun of his personality. They would jeer at his hair, calling his bowl cut and the opposite of a fashion statement. They would ridicule his clothing. They even teased how his brothers didn’t look like him or that Tobirama specifically was an ‘albino freak’ which you could insult him all day but when it came to his younger brothers, it was more than pushing it.
It came to no surprise that he didn’t make friends often, much less ones that stuck around. So when he met a boy at the park while picking flowers, he was thrilled beyond measures to find that the boy, Madara, wanted to be his friend. He was snarky and kind of rude but he listened to Hashirama talk about all the greenery around him, calling him a plant expert. Madara had even told him that if an apocalypse happened, Hashirama would be able to survive with his plant knowledge! It made his chest swell with pride though the thought of the world ending terrified him. He hoped that would never happen.
“Do you know how to skate?” Madara asked, one foot on his worn out looking skateboard. Hashirama shook his head, replying with a “No,”.
“Want to learn?” The boy asked and Hashirama couldn’t say no. Madara did just listen to him rant for who knows how long. So he followed him to an empty parking lot where it was safe and he told him to go on the board and try to stay balanced. Hashirama looked apprehensive but did as he was told. He got on and immediately the board slipped beneath his feet. Hitting the ground hard, he groaned, eyes shut in pain. He expected to hear mocking laughter but when he opened his eyes to see Madara with a look of concern on his face. He tried to smile back.
“I’m sorry, you alright?” Madara asked, trying to help Hashirama back up.
“Yeah, don’t worry! I don’t think um, skateboarding is for me though,” Hashirama said, scratching the back of his head. He could be so clumsy at times, it was embarrassing. The other boy shrugged and said it was alright.
“Got a switch?” He asked and Hashirama nodded.
“Yeah! I got a cool green one!” He said, remembering how he was gifted one on his birthday last year.
“Got...animal crossing,” Madara said, looking away and Hashirama could have sworn he saw pink at the tips of his ears.
“Yes, it’s my favourite game!” Hashirama said, excited to know the boy played it as well. They made plans after that to meet up at the park and play the game. And they did just that for weeks that turned to months. They would play other games as well. Sometimes they would even just pick flowers together. Other days he would invite Madara to the community rec building where there was a public garden where you could grow vegetables in. He learned soon that Madara played baseball so he would see him practice as well. It was unfair that he went to another school but hashirama asked his father if he could see the games and was allowed to go see his best friend.
Best friend, the word made him gitty. He loved his best friend so much, looking forward to seeing him whenever he could. It was an awful time when they couldn’t see each other for periods of up to two weeks. He wanted to be with the other boy. Tobirama told him he clearly had a crush but Hashirama denied it. So what if he gave Madara with flowers that held deeper meaning like a pink camelia which represented how he missed the other boy or a sunflower because he simply adored his best friend...Wait.
Hashirama groaned, looking around at all the flowers he could pick from and gift to his friend. He liked his friend a lot and he needed to pick a flower to show his friend that well, he liked like him. Was he going to be called a freak though? No, Madara wasn’t like that. He would never hurt Hashirama. But others would. What would his dad think? This time grabbing a red rose, he marched to his destination, mind set.
When he saw Madara, he hugged him and gave him the flower.
“I like you a lot, will you be my boyfriend?” Hashirama said, convinced that it would be worth taking any and all insults or prejudices that were thrown his way.
“Wait, aren’t we already boyfriends?” Madara asked in confusion.
“Ah, no, I would know! You never asked or said anything…”Hashirama said, upset now. Had he not payed attention at some point?
“All the flowers you gave me, I know what they mean, I’ve read about them,” Madara said and it struck a chord in Hashirama heart. Madara went out of his way to learn the language of flowers. He truly was a gift from above.