Archive of Our Own

Apparently, Uchiha don't do long term undercover missions. Not in the way that Tobirama understands them.

It's about their bloodline Madara insists to him, youngest brother tucked against his side like he has been practically since the day Tobirama brought him to Konoha. They don't allow their shinobi to go out without contact for longer than it takes to birth a child, and rarely have the opportunity to do so anyways, because their looks are so distinctive.

Togakushi grunts something that sounds like "I wish they were" which prompts his brother to tug him closer and for the younger to make a disgruntled noise. Madara makes a similar noise when Tobirama tells him that he knows the location of several Uchiha chakra signatures that he knows haven't been in contact with another of their clan members in much longer than that.

Tobirama thinks he might regret mentioning it. Not only is he made to sit down and explain where every one of them is -- Madara apparently has not compulsively been keeping track of every out of place member of his clan since age ten -- but within a few days is dragged into going along on a multi-country retrieval mission of all of those unaccounted for Uchiha.

So far: Three defectors. One living like a hermit in the wilderness, two who had started their own families in distant villages. Tobirama had stood back and let Madara handle punishment as he saw fit; though the punishment for defection is practically universal amongst shinobi clans, and he didn’t witness anything surprising.

One was a woman living out in the countryside who claimed she had no idea she was an Uchiha at all. She worked as a servant at a larger manor and likely would do so until the day she died -- she cautiously but thankfully accepted Madara's offer to be brought to Konoha to work for the Uchiha instead.

This final stop is far more concerning.

Tobirama and Madara scout the mountainside around the outskirts of an old fortress. Local intel had indicated that it was abandoned by its warlord ages ago, yet the place isn't in disrepair. It can't exactly be called a hive of activity, but there are people -- guard patrols, watchmen, a few wandering about in merchant's clothes instead of armor -- and one Uchiha, deep in the main building, who hasn't moved once since Tobirama began focusing on them.

"…There used to be more." Tobirama says lowly. "Whoever is there is the only one left, now."

"This is bloodline theft happening right in front of us." Madara spits back. "I should go down there and burn them all alive."

Thankfully, Madara is actually a better tactician than that, and the group in the fortress don't seem to believe anyone is hunting them. It's easy work to ambush a group as they leave -- with the element of surprise on their side the fight doesn't even last a full minute. Madara makes short work of grabbing each one by the throat and scouring their minds with the sharingan before dropping them to the ground, empty drooling husks. He's so furious he doesn't even try to hide anything he's doing from Tobirama, who itches to take notes.

"Useless." Madara declares, snapping the neck of the last man. "These are all new blood, none of them even know who our Uchiha is, much less how they got here. It's like they don't know they have an Uchiha at all."

Likely these were all too far down the chain of command to know anything worthwhile. These thieves have had that Uchiha for a long time, and advertising that would have invited their death sentence to come much sooner.

"We'll grab one of the sellers then." Tobirama decides. "Did you at least find out anything about their defenses?"

Madara has scraped their minds of every detail, of course. With that intel in hand and Tobirama's sensory abilities in play they quickly find a spot to scale the fortress wall unseen.  Now that they're closer Tobirama can't help but notice the state of disrepair that this place is in, the paint is peeling, the walls crumbling, some of the defensive wards they pass by are totally inert because they’ve run out of  chakra used to power them and no one saw fit to recharge them.

Tobirama knows that this place has been continuously occupied since he first sensed Uchiha here over a decade ago, but how does a group of thieves clever enough to get away with stealing multiple Uchiha let their base of operations end up in a state like this?

Their slow crawl through the fortress does little to explain things. The two of them go room by room, Madara beating or otherwise forcing information out of every person they come across and growing impossibly more irate with each one who knows nothing. Their operation is obviously in decline, he rants, but so badly that no one is even aware of the Uchiha in their basement?!

Between the two of them they decimate a good portion of the people stationed in the fortress before anyone becomes even slightly suspicious. By then, Madara grows impatient.

"This is a waste of time." He says, holding one of the thieves by their head as they struggle against him, "I'm just going to kill them all and we can clean up afterwards."

He sends the body sailing through the wall and follows after it, hands flicking through the signs of some no-doubt overkill fire jutsu to kill everyone in the courtyard below. Tobirama sighs -- probably overly fondly considering the situation. It can be a pain, but sometimes decisive action really is the best way.

He gives it a moment for the flames to die down and leaps out after Madara -- ostensibly to cover him, in actuality to keep him from burning the entire castle to the ground before they've retrieved what they're here for.

The thieves do put up a better fight than Tobirama had expected from them based on their performance so far. For all that they had no idea about their own Uchiha prisoner, every single one of them recognizes Madara and more than a few of them try to use techniques on him that are meant to counter the sharingan. Having fought better users of these techniques all of his life, Madara has no trouble dealing with them. Tobirama keeps an eye out but otherwise leaves the man to his fun, mostly staying around the edges of the lopsided fight to catch out anyone who might try to flee.

It doesn't take too long -- Madara can sometimes be very efficient when he wants to be. By late afternoon there isn't much more left of the outside of the fortress than ash and bodies in various states of dismemberment. The only life left that Tobirama can sense are the scattering of chakra signatures underground, and he's been gathering what keys can be found while Madara calmed himself down. One of them is actually a clever little seal tag that changes the shape of the other keys on the ring that it's kept on -- either it's required to open the associated doors, or it allows access to an entirely different set of doors…

"Yes, yes." Madara agrees, following behind them as they descend from one scorched out room into the lower floors. "Take it back with us, pick it apart to remake better. But focus on the mission right now."

Tobirama scoffs at the implication that he wasn't and continues fiddling with the keys as they step out into a long hallway lined with heavy doors. Behind these are the people that Tobirama suspects that the thieves were using as their 'stock'. They'll get to freeing them eventually, but Madara has his priorities and so they pass them all by until they reach the a door at the far end of the dusty hall. The last one with an occupant inside.

Most of the other doors they've passed haven't had any extra protections on them. This one comes with not only three chain locks, but a seal tag placed over the seam between the door and its frame. Madara has no response to the slow stare Tobirama turns in his direction. He huffs to himself and slides the seal tag back onto its ring. He'll have to leverage that nonsense later, for now, it's a simple matter of sending in a pulse of chakra at the right intensity as he slides the key into the lock. As he suspected, these people were not so skilled even in their prime that they made the seal on the door separate from the key. As soon as he turns it in the lock the tag on the door curls up and peels off on its own.

The other locks are easily opened, but before Tobirama slides the last chain away he knocks on the door.

"Uchiha-san." He calls. "There are two of us here to take you away from this place and back to your clan."

The only answer they receive is the sound of metal dragging against stone as whoever is inside shifts around. Tobirama shares a glance with Madara who is frowning uncertainly but motions for him to continue. Even if whoever is inside tries to attack them, they're unlikely to be able to get past both of them. Tobirama pulls the door open with a nearly deafening creak.

The man inside is kneeling on a moldy pad of straw and chained to the wall by his neck. He's looking up at them when they step inside, but his hair is long and unkempt and falls over his face so that his eyes can't be seen. Unusual for an Uchiha, Tobirama thinks, until the man tilts his head enough for some of the hair to shift and reveals a pair of empty sockets.

Madara makes a high pitched sound that is the closest he will ever come to admitting pain, and Tobirama sighs mentally. They might fly into a rage or become horribly ill, but it seems that no matter what, Uchiha always become useless for a time after seeing an eye injury. Which leaves him to deal with the victim of bloodline theft for the moment.

"Are you able to speak?" Tobirama asks. This sort of thing is much easier when there is an agreement that both sides can abide by.

The Uchiha doesn't move for a long moment, and then his throat starts to work.

"Yes." His voice comes out thick and rasping. "But I doubt I have anything to say to you."

"I only have yes or no questions." Tobirama answers. "If I give you some water, will you drink it?"

This answer takes a long time as well, Madara gripping the door tight all the while, but eventually the Uchiha dips his head in a nod and so Tobirama retrieves his own waterskin. He checks that Madara is at least paying enough attention to back him up should something happen and approaches to place it just in front of the man. He remains tense until Tobirama backs away and purposefully lets his footfalls make noise. Only when he's out of arms reach does the Uchiha reach his hands out to find the water and lift it to drink.

Tobirama glances at Madara as he does, and finds that he still does not look well. He's pale, brows pinched, and when he sees Tobirama looking he leans in close.

"I don't want to be right about who this is." He whispers first. Then he takes a steadying breath. "I am Madara, current head of the Uchiha clan. The thieves here have been eradicated and will not touch you again."

A breath leaves the Uchiha on the ground that might be a laugh in another circumstance.

"…That's a new one." He mutters towards the ground. Then he clears his throat, able to speak louder, "I'm in no state to do anything for or against you. Whatever you want from me, you'll have to do it yourselves."

Madara makes another wordless noise of upset, his hands tightening into fists, and so Tobirama steps in with. "As already stated, we're going to remove you from this place and transport you back to the Uchiha compound."

Supposedly in situations like these it's best to be clear with your intentions and not to overwhelm the rescued person with too many options. Tobirama can move as obviously as he likes and not be seen so is forced to go on with " I'm going to remove the chains on you now."

The man’s head remains slumped as Tobirama sorts through the ring of keys to find the correct one but goes painfully stiff when Tobirama brushes against him to fit it into the lock around his neck. Tobirama pulls the entire chain away and lets it fall to the ground with a loud clank, and the Uchiha shudders, breath coming out shaky as his hand comes up to brush against a throat that's bare for the first time in years.

"…Right." Tobirama says after a moment of this. "Now, are you able to walk on your own?"

This response comes out delayed and hoarse. "Hah. No, not for a while now."

"I'll carry him." Madara finds his voice again, though for some reason it's equally hoarse. Tobirama steps out of the way to let it happen, awaiting the moment that they man they're rescuing finally decides to lash out, but the worst he does is jerk an ineffectual fist into Madara's chest as he's lifted into a bridal carry, and that seems mostly borne from suprise. They make their way back to the surface, a few of the other prisoners shout or pound at the doors of their prisons as they pass by, but it's otherwise silent. Madara seems almost as tense as the man he's carrying, eyes fixed forward and jaw locked tight.

As they step back into the sunlight there's a breeze. The Uchiha in Madara's arms takes a shuddering breath when he feels it on his face.

"…Ash?" He murmurs.

He seems to be speaking to himself but Madara answers, voice low. "Every thief I found here was burned alive."

As well as most of the infrastructure and surrounding vegetation. Tobirama glances back at the fortress as they pass by the scorched outer walls.

"We really should consider collapsing the whole place before we go. No one has been using this for anything worthwhile in a long time, now." Actually, now that he's thought of it… "By the way, Uchiha-san. If you were wondering, it's been about fourteen years since you were brought here."

Tobirama is answered with a high pitched wheeze, the man suddenly slumping in Madara's hold.

…Ah, that may have been too much to share right away. And yet Madara doesn't so much as sigh at him for the misstep, his attention is fixed entirely on the person in his arms.

He hadn't cared nearly this much about any of the other lost Uchiha they had found. Hmm.

They circle the fortress and climb back up the surrounding mountains until they reach the source of the spring that feeds the now contaminated well down below.

"Lay out a bedroll." Madara demands. "Actually, better, one of those sealed up campsites of yours."

Mouth curving down, Tobirama sets about following orders. He recognizes that it’s a bad time to test Madara’s temper, and so he doesn't start up the usual argument about how the entire thing is still experimental and prone to failure. The tent and firepit come out functional at least, though camouflage that's supposed to surround them ends up a complete mess, branches snapping as soon as they leave their sealspace. Madara makes no snide comment like he usually would, so Tobirama takes the bedroll from the tent and rolls it out. As soon as there's a soft place to set his cargo down, Madara carefully lowers the man to rest on it, then turns to set a pot of water to heating. Tobirama lingers on the edge of this, unsure what to do since their rescued Uchiha is sagging with exhaustion and so clearly overwhelmed.

Soon enough the pot is steaming and Madara is wringing out a rag. He kneels down next to the man, his voice low again.

"I'm going to wipe you down." He hesitates, throat bobbing. "Please correct me if I do anything wrong, Kuro-nii-san."

Kuro is a name that Tobirama recognizes from the tablet on the shrine in Madara's house. Ah.

Kuro only sighs in response and lets himself be maneuvered around like a ragdoll. He doesn't deny Madara's claim of being his brother, because he doesn't respond at all. The longer the silence goes on, the more pinched Madara's expression until he finally shoots Tobirama a look that is somewhere between anger and helplessness.

…No, Tobirama supposes he wouldn't be very happy to find one of his brothers in this situation either, but he's not sure what Madara wants him to do about it.

Although, when Itama had first been delivered to them, Tobirama couldn't stand the idea of an Uchiha being near him for quite some time, so it's possible that Madara feels the same. And even if that isn't the case, Kuro is unlikely to want to speak of anything with a stranger nearby. There isn't anything around that could threaten Madara, so there probably won't be any harm from stepping away to give them some privacy. Tobirama is curious of course, but he's sure he'll be getting to know Kuro better soon anyways.

"I'm going to free the other prisoners." Tobirama announces into the silence, then turns to go do just that.

This also is not a task that he should be in charge of. Some of the people he frees are deliriously thankful to him. Many of them break into tears as soon as they step outside. A few try to attack him, and he lets them and those whose first instinct was to run flee into the wilderness without pursuit; there are already enough people that it will be troublesome getting back to Konoha. If they believe they can take care of themselves, he's inclined to let them. All the while he keeps his chakra sense spread to keep a mental eye on the periodic flares and dampenings of Madara's chakra. His is so loud that his brother's can hardly be felt.

At this point he distributes what food and blankets he has left in his seals, quietly questioning the prisoners about where they came from and when they were taken. Between Hashirama's compassion and Madara's hatred of bloodline thieves, it's unlikely that either of them will agree to do anything like ransom the prisoners back to their families, but knowing of their origins is still interesting. Aside from the single Uchiha, most of the clan names he recognizes are from Grass and Rain country. His attempts at asking about the timeframe of their capture and imprisonment leads to more emotional distress, but Tobirama gets the picture that this group must have stopped operating in Fire Country around the time that Madara and Hashirama ascended to clan head. It makes sense: there were far fewer untrained children running about after that.

"For those of you interested, we will take you back to Konoha and make an attempt at reuniting you with your clans.” He announces to them once things have somewhat settled.

Part of him hopes that at least a few of them will refuse -- transporting a group this large will be a pain -- but most of the response he gets is confusion. It seems like many of them have never heard of Konoha before, or even the concept of a Shinobi village. More than a few aren't certain that they have clans to go back to, and those that do agree also agree that Tobirama will be able to return them more safely than they will be able to on their own. Going by foot isn't very feasible, so Tobirama sits with them and fields nervous questions as he draws out the seal that should help stabilize such a long distance hirashin with this many extra people. By the time he's finished, and by the time he's done fielding all of the questions that the newly freed prisoners are brave enough to throw at him, Madara's chakra has calmed significantly -- almost miserably, and Kuro's has smoothed out into either unconsciousness or sleep.

"I need to retrieve two more, and then we can go." Tobirama tells them as he stands. Then, after a moment of hesitation, "It may take a moment, so do not panic."

…Why did he even bother saying it if it's just going to cause everyone to get upset again? Tobirama reassures them that they are the only ones alive in the area and are safe from danger, then that he is only going up the mountain, and finally is made to promise to return before sundown. Ideally they'll be back in Konoha before sundown. Only then is he allowed to head back up the mountain and to the little campsite.

As expected, Kuro is laid out on the bedroll, every blanket in the camp covering him. With his hair somewhat clean and out of his face, the resemblance to Madara is almost strikingly obvious. Kuro is gaunt, and far more pale than Madara is, but the square of their jaws, the bow of their lips -- they're just the same.

Madara is perched right at his side, of course, too paranoid about his brother to leave his side, too paranoid about his surroundings to sit inside the tent. Tobirama is slow to approach so that Madara can get up from his spot and meet him halfway, far enough away that they can speak lowly and Kuro won't be disturbed.

"There are seven people who will be travelling with us back to Konoha. Considering their states, and our supplies, we should move them there as soon as possible."

Madara hums a noise that might be agreement, but he still looks so miserable that Tobirama doubts he's heard what he's said at all. Tobirama sighs and reaches up to flick him on the forehead, which startles him into slapping his hand away.

"That really is your brother then? Won't he want to meet Izuna and Togakushi again as soon as possible?"

"…He still doesn't believe that I am who I say I am," Madara admits. "Konoha is too much too soon."

"The faster we take him there, the faster he can get used to it."

"Hirashin?"

"How else?"

Madara still seems to be hesitating, so Tobirama adds, "I assume proper medical care will be overwhelming as well, but that should be done as soon as possible as well."

"Fine." Madara relents. "…After he wakes up."

"I don't believe I am asleep" Comes a voice from the ground, still sounding quite ragged. "Though it's hard to tell."

Madara immediately turns to go fuss over Kuro again, but before he can start doing something like demanding pillows, Tobirama speaks up, louder, "Uchiha-san, do you have any complaint about being moved to the Uchiha compound immediately?"

"Didn't I already say I can't do anything?"

"That's not what he asked." Madara snaps. Then sighs, face contorted in pain. "If you don't want to go right now, we don't have to."

"But there will be a proper bed where we're going." Tobirama adds. "And a bath."

Kuro breaths out a sound that might be exasperated or might be amused. "No need for bribes, it really doesn't matter to me."

"Then let's go." Tobirama pushes. He knows it's not the agreement Madara was hoping for, and it shows on the man's face, but he doesn't argue, and Kuro does nothing more than grunt as Madara lifts him up again, blankets and all. For a moment, he stares at Tobirama like he expects to be taken away immediately.

"We're meeting the rest of them down the mountain." He drawls, not sure if Madara didn't hear Tobirama tell him about the other prisoners or if he simply doesn't care. With the swipe of a seal tag he packs away the camp he has set out back into its subspace -- the real test of the seal will be how disorganized it is when it comes back out. Madara grumbles but starts moving down the mountain at a painfully careful pace.

"I should warn you." He starts after a few minutes, face turned down towards Kuro. "Traveling by hirashin isn't a pleasant experience…"

Madara begins with all of the usual warnings -- the movement is instantaneous, and so is likely to cause dizziness and nausea, and loud, so if you don't protect your hearing in advance, you're liable to lose your hearing on arrival. He then goes on to continue complaining, going on and on about how the instant of travel is one of the greatest horrors he's ever had the misfortune to experience. Tobirama has heard it all before -- Madara's melodrama is half the reason he hasn't put much effort into fixing those problems.

"Would you prefer to walk?" He asks. "Anyways, your brother is blind, so he won't suffer most of those issues."

Madara makes a high pitched sound that probably would be a shriek if he wasn't carrying someone in his arms.

"Don’t say that like it makes it better!"

"But it does…?" Tobirama had assumed that Kuro has probably been blind for most of his imprisonment and has probably gotten used to it by now. "Apologies if your blindness is a sensitive subject, Kuro-san."

Kuro lets the walk go on in silence for a long moment before asking, "Who did you say you were, again?"

Well if he's asking directly, Tobirama sees no reason to dance around it.

"I am Tobirama Senju." He answers, "I am engaged to your clan head."

The answering silence lasts for a painfully long time.

"Senju?" Kuro rasps. "You said Senju?"

"A lot has changed since you were captured"

"Evidently." Kuro agrees. Then: "Senju?"

Madara looks as though he's inventing novel new ways of being uncomfortable in this situation.

"He's not so bad most of the time." Madara defends, then after a beat, adds, "And he's blessed."

"..."

And just like that Kuro's energy seems to fail him again, the man sagging down into Madara's grip with a deep sigh. None of them can find anything else to say for the rest of the walk down the mountain.

The group Tobirama had left behind has huddled up against the remains of the fortress wall since he left them, as though seeking cover. Tobirama can't tell from what, since the weather is fair and there still isn't anyone alive aside from them for miles around.

"We're going to go shortly." Tobirama greets them, and is greeted back by a series of surprised shouts and sobs, and no less than three people making their shaky way over to him like they mean to grab at his hands. He pulls away and instead rolls out the seal he'd been working on onto the clearest spot of ground, expanding it to its full size with a pulse of chakra.

"Go stand in those circles, three or four to a group. And make sure you're holding on to each other." He commands. It takes far too long for Tobirama's liking for them all to shuffle into place, but he wasn’t expecting very much either.

Madara, always so prone to whining when Tobirama brings him along on a hirashin jump, is actually the last one to move into place. His shoulders brush Tobirama's, but he doesn't grab onto him like he usually does, given his hands are full. Tobirama's cue is instead when Madara tells his brother, "This is the jutsu I was warning you about. Get ready."

…Perhaps the additional seal to help account for extra weight could use some work.

Both the start and the landing are far more rough than usual, Tobirama's ears pop and he stumbles as his feet touch Konoha ground; his reaction is one of the more tame ones. Madara grunts and goes to one knee, Kuro gripping his coat with white knuckles. The rest of the travelers are all in various states of collapse; some are crying again, some are dry heaving, not one of them have managed to remain on their feet.

Besides Tobirama himself, Madara recovers first, though it takes him more than one attempt to get fully to his feet with his brother still held in his arms.

"Mmgh. You have things handled here, don't you?"

Tobirama glances out over the field of collapsed bodies and sighs. He doesn't want to deal with them himself, but he knows he couldn't make Madara care right now if he tried.

"I will." He waves Madara off, "Give Hashirama all the warnings about his patient beforehand, or he will be putting his foot in his mouth."

That makes Madara huff a small laugh, but he doesn't stick any longer than that, turning and disappearing into the trees that surround the field Tobirama had taken them to.

Getting all of the people that have been rescued off the ground and convincing them that, no, they haven't died, and no, they aren't being tortured for information is… a process. It's more difficult to herd them through Konoha and towards the admin building than it is to deal with academy age school children. The relative quiet of the basement floors of the hokage tower are a relief to all of them, though Tobirama doesn't get the chance to rest for very long. He finds his own secretary first, then the staffing manager, and has them find volunteers to help intake all of these people. Thankfully they already have extra clothes set aside, and enough food to feed all of them is as simple as asking the first Akimichi he sees. He ends up having to co-opt one of the chunin barracks for a few nights, but none of them complain about it as soon as they hear the word 'stipend.'

At least none of the refugees have any immediate interest in becoming Konoha shinobi, which simplifies things. Only about half are interested in finding the families they were taken from. The rest don't care -- were sold off on purpose, or taken too young to have any memories of them. Tobirama writes up his mission notes on how best to destroy that fortress in between interviews. By the time he gets to fully pass the situation off on somebody else and go home, the moon is high in the sky.

Madara is still awake when Tobirama ducks through the door, dressed down like he's ready for bed but hunched over the dining table with his face in his hands. His clothes aren't even wrinkled, like he hasn't even tried to lay down, and he does not look up to greet Tobirama or start giving him explanations about what's happened in his absence. After lingering in the doorway for a few moments, Tobirama removes his shoes and wanders off to go get ready to sleep himself. He's found that sometimes, Uchihas just need to stew.

Indeed, by the time he's tucking himself into his futon, Madara makes a silent appearance only to flop over and press his face into Tobirama's chest, holding him there with his arms pinned to his sides for an uncomfortable length of time. Normally, Tobirama would have no patience for these kinds of dramatics, but in these circumstances… Yes, Tobirama can empathize with Madara finding his brother in such a situation.

Still, the position starts to grow uncomfortable after a while, and there's no chance of Tobirama actually being able to get any rest like this so he twists around in his fiancé's grip until he can free an arm and rap his knuckles on the top of Madara’s head.

"Enough sulking. Lay out your problems and plan for them."

In response Madara squeezes him even tighter.

"He still refuses to believe that any of this is even real." He mutters. "He treated Izuna like he was a hallucination. Togakushi is still too afraid to go see him."

"I'm not sure why you're surprised. We've upended his entire life in less than a day. If anything, you should have waited longer to let anyone see him. I doubt he's used to pleasant company."

The reminder makes Madara growl.

"Hush." Tobirama soothes him. "I've already drafted a plan to destroy the rest of that place. You can make your additions in the morning."

"They're going to be big ones." Madara rumbles into his throat. "I don't want a single bit of ash to be left of that fortress by the time I'm through."

…Physically impossible, but Tobirama figures that this is just hyperbole and agrees. "There won't be."

It will be a shame Kuro is blind and won't be able to see it.

Tobirama ends up, annoyingly, having to follow his own advice. Kuro shouldn't be exposed to many new people while he's this early in recovery, and therefore Tobirama should not be bothering him, no matter how curious he is. He could probably get away with it, being one of the ones who rescued him, but now that he's said it he has to keep to his own word.

Of course he's curious about Kuro's recovery. His presence seems to have totally taken the attention of not only his fiancé, but everyone in his fiancé's immediate family, too, and all of them are some shade of distressed whenever Tobirama sees them. Hashirama, as the man's attending doctor, is affected by the mood too, and frequently finds Tobirama to go be weepy near after his appointments.

As he hears it, now that Kuro has been given a comfortable futon, he has curled up in it with no intention of leaving. He has to be coaxed into eating his bland doctor-approved food and still makes comments about how long his delusion is lasting, and no one is happy about any of it.

He ends up channeling his annoyance with the situation into the other people who have been rescued, taking the opportunity to question them about Kuro as he does, but the man turns out to be as much of a mystery to them as he was to his own captors. Tobirama isn't even surprised, really. The longest any of them were held was four years -- nothing like Kuro's fourteen. He doesn't even find anything interesting in his background checks -- as expected everyone hails from some clan with a notable bloodline which makes it easy enough to address the letters and send messengers off with the news. There is one case where they have to inform one of the refugees that their clan no longer exists, though they don't seem too surprised -- anyone left would have been captured just like they were.

All in all, the problems that he's able to handle end up easy to solve and ultimately unsatisfying. He distracts himself a little more by planning out the specific explosive seals to be used in that old castle's destruction and is otherwise left feeling like a cat pacing outside of a room that it's been locked out of.

He could, he knows, take this time while Madara, Hashirama, and even Izuna, are distracted to take some uninterrupted time to work on his backlog of jutsu or one of his other experiments, but instead he finds himself lingering outside the room that Kuro has been put in.

It's not so wrong to want to see the results of your hard work, is it? Anyways, if he's quiet Kuro won't even know that he's there.

Tobirama pads into the room, surprised to find it otherwise unoccupied and for the moment Kuro is without a minder. Otherwise, it is as he has been led to believe: its occupant is a lump on his futon, curled up under the blanket and ignorant of the way the afternoon sunlight streams inside.

Tobirama approaches, trying to peer over the blanket to get a good look at Kuro and is rewarded only with the end of his hair peeking out. It's been trimmed since Tobirama has seen it last.

He should leave now, like he shouldn't have entered the room in the first place, but his curiosity has already gotten the better of him. So, making sure he keeps his voice low, Tobirama asks, "Kuro-san, are you awake?"

He waits for a long few seconds and receives no answer, the shape beneath the blanket not even shifting.

In that case, there should be no harm in lifting up the blanket either, just to see?

Kuro is curled up on his side, chin tucked in to his chest and arms folded into his stomach. Still very much underweight, but he's clean and looking less jaundiced than he had been. Tobirama has scarcely been looking at him for a second when he heaves a sigh.

"Which one are you?"

Ah, not asleep then.

"I am Tobirama. I'm just here out of curiosity."

Kuro does raise his head, able to pinpoint where Tobirama is standing with the accuracy of a man who could see.

"Tobirama..." He mutters to himself. "The one who said he was a Senju? I wasn't convinced that had happened..."

"I am real." Tobirama answers dryly. "I hear you've been having issues like this. What does it take to convince you of reality?"

"Oh, nothing." Kuro answers flippantly. "All of my hallucinations have gotten very believable over the years, which is what makes you so confusing. I never thought I could invent an idea as crazy as a Senju marrying in..."

"Truth is stranger than fiction." Tobirama sniffs, reaching down to poke Kuro in the shoulder. He doesn't flinch, but he does wrinkle his nose."I haven't married in yet, I'm only engaged to Madara right now. Your doctor is a Senju too, you know."

"That man is a Senju?" Kuro blanches. "He offered me candy after he injected me with something, last time..."

"He does that." Tobirama agrees. "If you ever mention a favorite, he'll try to bring that too."

"But, then..." Kuro frowns, pushing himself to sit up. Tobirama nods to himself with approval at the fact that he's strong enough to do so. "How does this work, then? Are you a war bride? Or did the Uchiha lose?"

"Oh me and Madara didn't start courting until long after peace started. I think the main thing that made everyone want to consider peace back then was... Well, Butsuma Senju and Tajima Uchiha both disappeared at the same time, without a trace. Everyone was convinced that they'd managed to do each other in, somehow, and while both clans were in mourning, someone pointed out to both sides how that same thing was bound to happen again and again for as long as we were at war. There were more complexities to it, but that was the inciting reason, I believe."

Even now, Tobirama has never managed to figure out what happened to his father. It was truly like he vanished from the earth during the few hours that Tobirama had been asleep that night. Though he must admit, he never did put that much energy into hunting down the culprit.

Kuro's frown deepens and lingers as he tries to puzzle out the complexities in question. Tobirama tries to help him along.

"Madara and my brother -- that is, the Senju clan head -- were friends before this happened and wanted peace from a young age. They were both certainly working to make peace happen behind the scenes, too."

"You --" Kuro shakes his head, then eases himself back down onto his futon -- lying normally this time. "So the Senju clan head is my doctor, and his brother is going to be my brother and law. You see why I struggle to believe this is real?"

"No."  But what Kuro believes is real or not doesn't matter to Tobirama. "Whether you believe it or not, it's the truth. Now is there anything you need from me before I go?"

"Hah. New eyes?"

"They're being worked on." Tobirama answers -- Uchiha have eye replacement down to more of a science than even the Senju do. Kuro's troubles stem from how long those wounds have been healed over. But he assumes that Hashirama has told him as much already.

Kuro makes a pinched face, but he doesn't ask for anything else so Tobirama pushes himself to his feet and leaves him at it.

He passes Izuna on his way out, who looks alarmed and immediately goes to rush in to see Kuro like Tobirama has done something to him. Annoying man -- why would Tobirama go through the trouble of rescuing him just to do that?

Apparently that conversation caused something of a breakthrough with Kuro -- not that he believes any more in the reality of his situation, but rather, he's apparently been 'engaging more.' Asking questions. Tobirama reads this as the man trying to find and poke holes in the logic of his hallucinations. If he really is hallucinating, it's good practice.

Moreover, he's apparently declared Tobirama as 'one of the most interesting' and has started asking when he's going to appear again. Which has led to Tobirama becoming a part of the small group of people who care for Kuro. In his case, due to his work schedule, Tobirama's presence is usually reserved for evening meals, him and Madara usually arguing over which place is the most comfortable to sit for minutes as Kuro tilts his head and listens.

This is how another breakthrough -- if one wants to call it that -- happens.

Kuro's diet has slowly been becoming less restrictive, no longer bound only to broth and plain rice, Madara can finally put his kitchen skills back to good use, and the spread he's prepared today is particularly abundant. Mito returned from a trip home recently, and as a gift for Tobirama brought back a sealing scroll filled to the brim with fish, persevered as fresh as the moment it was caught. The plates in front of them are filled with all kinds of seafood -- fried snapper, raw tuna, grilled mackerel, and even one of Tobirama's rare to find favorites: a bowl of goose barnacles in brine. It's the first dish he reaches for once they start to eat, though Madara gives him an uncomfortable look before he can bite through the skin.

"I don't actually know if I've done those right... They look, uh..."

Tobirama bites through the foot and sucks it out of the shell, the salty water coating his tongue so strongly that the barnacle might as well still be in the ocean. He sighs contentedly.

"They're good." He confirms, reaching for some of the crispy fish skin next.

Kuro is slower to eat, like usual, sliding his hands across the table until it finds each dish and getting himself a small bite of each one. Tobirama thinks nothing of the barnacle that he retrieves for himself until he's turning the shell over in his hands.

"This is food?" He asks.

"Allegedly..." Madara mutters.

"Yes." Tobirama says over him. “There's a soft part, bite into that and pull it out of the shell.”

Uncertain, Kuro turns it over again and bites through, only to start coughing.

Madara, of course, immediately jumps the table to make sure that he isn't choking only for Kuro to irritably wave him off. Voice hoarse, he says, "What is this?"

"Barnacles." Tobirama sniffs. If Kuro doesn't like them, that just means more for him.

Kuro begins to laugh, face falling into his palm, the kind of laughter that sounds like it will escalate to crying if it continues for too long. But he stops himself, sucks in a big breath, and says. "A Senju feeding me barnacles. You really can't make this shit up."

He takes another barnacle from the bowl and eats that one too. Madara watches with wary concern, but Tobirama can only shake his head.

"At least one of you has good taste."