Work Text:
“Madara, wait! Come on, talk to me!” Hashirama ran through branches and nearly tripped over several tree roots.
“Get out of my sight! Go away!” Madara ran out onto a smaller clearance, having no cover of the forest left.
“Madara, please. It was an accident.” Hashirama tried again.
"An accident? Where was he aiming then? To cut his hair?!” Madara snapped back.
From a high tree several feet away, two shinobis sat hidden.
“What is this about?.” Mito inquired. She’d seen Hashirama run after the Uchiha after the battle was down to a draw, neither side able to continue.
“Beats me.” Tobirama lied. He knew why, and he really hoped Hashirama would not say anything that’d make things worse than they already were.
“Hashirama, Izuna is dead.” Madara’ voice barely kept from cracking.
Mito looked down in sympathy. While the Uchiha were their enemies, she knew all well what war does to people. She glanced at Tobirama, whose face showed no emotions.
Madara shoved Hashirama away when the latter tried to approach him “You know what. I want you to leave. I don’t want to see you.” he turned to walk away, but Hashirama grabbed his arm.
“No, Madara. We have to get past this. We cannot let this stop our future.” he said. His voice was firm, but still gentle. Madara hated how it had the power to calm him down. Not this time. He was angry.
“Hashirama, I don’t care about that now.” he said through his teeth. He was so overwhelmed by everything. Why did Hashirama had to bring this up now?
“So you want to bail on us? On all we worked for?” Hashirama’s voice was still calm, but Madara could sense it become a tad more serious. Madara kept looking away.
“Is that what you want to do? To bail when things get a bit hard?” Hashirama continued. Madara bared his teeth. Why did he have to bring this whole debate up now? Izuna was not even a full day down in the earth. His body was not even fully cold yet and-
“That-” he murmured.
“What?” Hashirama stepped closer.
“That is just insensitive, Hashirama.” Madara shook Hashirama’s arm off, crossing his own in defiance. "Your argument is out of place."
“Then what? Madara, what do you propose we do then? We’re in a tough spot again! Do you want to fight for us, or do you want to bail?” Hashirama ran around him to face him. Madara kept avoiding his gaze. Hashirama leaned down to his level, and cupped the Uchiha's face, so he had to look him into the eyes. The grasp was not too firm, but he trusted that Madara would not try to immediately get away.
“Madara, please. You can be mad at Tobirama, you can be mad at me as well, but it won’t bring Izuna back." Tobirama narrowed his eyes at that. It was their duty to protect their own clans first and foremost.
"That’s why we need to unite the clans to make sure that no one will have to experience this tragedy. Ever again.” Hashirama said. Madara could see that his eyes were gleaming. “Please, don’t throw our dream away because of this.” he begged. He placed his head in the crook of Madara’s neck, leaving a gentle kiss. Madara’s face softened for a second, but when Hashirama tried to kiss his face, Madara shoved him away again.
“No, Hashirama! Don’t.” he practically jumped away, desperate to put any sort of distance between them “ You can’t just kiss me, and think you’re going to make it all go away. It doesn’t work like that! It- it doesn’t make it any better!” he yelled at the Senju, his mask of stoic composure falling away.
“Alright. Alright. Sorry.” Hashirama raised his hands. This was a bad move. He couldn’t afford to upset Madara further.
*
Neither of them moved for a while. Tobirama sighed behind his cover. He hadn’t known the situation between his brother and Madara had been so… intimate. It was an unfortunate predicament, especially in this era. It was a forbidden fruit for the shinobi, for the people such as them. And now that they had both tasted it, the taste had grown bitter, especially in Madara’s mouth.
*
“I think I should go.” Madara said at last. His voice bore no anger, no emotions at all left to give.
“What?” Hashirama was at a loss of words.
“The following week, I’ll relocate the clan. We cannot stay here. I cannot stay here.” Madara finished. He sounded so defeated. Nothing like the Madara Hashirama had clashed with on the battlefield, or shared meaningful conversations with at the river bank.
Hashirama once again ran up to him, turning him around by the shoulders. His eyes were vacant, as if trying to remove himself from this spot, from this time.
“Listen, that day you said that as long as we had each other, that there was nothing we couldn’t work out-” Hashirama’s own voice began to crack. He was desperate. Madara once again tried to push him away.
“And what the hell did I know?” he said, but no battle remained in him. It didn’t matter anymore. Hashirama couldn't stand to see Madara this... empty. Even him being angry was better than this.
“There has got to be a way we can make it work. I- I can’t imagine my life without you. You know… Without these arms. Your face. And your heart. Your good heart. And, and…” Hashirama fell to his knees, clinging to Madara's form as if he was afraid that he'd disappear.
Madara stood still, but his shoulders were shaking. He sniffled loudly. He did want peace. He did want to stop all the fighting. But he couldn't ignore how Hashirama just discarded Izuna like that. As if he was but dust to brush off after a fall. No wonder, he still had a brother left. He didn't know how that felt like.
“No… No, I can't, you're just another Senju to me now. I used to think of you as someone that would never, ever hurt me.” he pushed Hashirama away for the last time, but this time, it was more gentle. Hashirama slowly rose to his feet, tears rolling down his tanned face. Madara’s own tears fell, resenting being reduced to this.
“And all this time, I can’t stop seeing Izuna’s body being lowered into the ground.” he covered his eyes, not wishing to be seen like this, least of all a Senju he once considered a person of his dreams. He truly had no one left.
“It doesn’t matter what you say or what you do, Hashirama. It’s just changed. Forever.” he said, his voice shaking. He hadn’t moved, but it seemed to Hashirama that he was gradually fading, slipping out of his grasp.
“This- this cannot be the end. We were so close.” Hashirama reached his hand out weakly. He couldn’t accept it. Was this really how it ended? All what they shared was lost in an instant? Was all of it so fragile?
“Then how come it is?” Madara wiped his tears, and left the sobbing future Senju clan leader alone on the clearance.
*
“Should we do something?” Mito turned to Tobirama, still crouched on the high branch. Tobirama stood quiet all this time. What has this all come to, all just because he killed another Uchiha?