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Tobirama barely stifled a sigh as he watched Hashirama pace, mumbling nonsense as his face cycled through every expression from horror to anger to worry to happiness as he fought himself on how to respond to the news Madara had just smugly dropped on his head.
Finally, Hashirama stopped, facing the open doors of his home's engawa as he took a deep breath before turning back to look at them, a brief furrow appearing in his brows when he saw the possessive way Madara kept his arm around Tobirama's waist, one broad hand settling protectively over his stomach.
"When I said 'The only method I want you to bring life into this world by is the natural way', this is not what I meant." Hashirama stressed, running a hand through his hair.
"But it is natural, Anija. A male and a female reproducing is natural, even if my current status as a female is new and temporary, I have—" Tobirama was cut off by Hashirama groaning, collapsing dramatically onto the zabutan across from them and planting his face into the wooden table, no doubt pouting.
Madara laughed quietly, the sound accompanied by a shiver-inducing brush of warm breath on his ear.
Hashirama looked up pitifully from his lamenting. "Does this mean I have to call you Imouto now?" He asked.
Tobirama frowned in thought. While he knew logically he was changing some rather major things by altering his body in such a way, he hadn't truly considered the social implications of it.
"…No, I don't think so." He decided. After all, he was still a "he", regardless of what body he inhabited. Being referred to as a woman didn't make him upset either ("Cute little housewife" Madara's taunting words from that first night they'd spent together rang in his ears, the memory alone enough to make him feel heated) but it still felt a bit unusual.
"Good, I wouldn't have remembered that at all!" Hashirama finally sat up, looking at the two of them for a moment more before he set his glare on Madara. "And you! How dare you defile my otouto!" He shouted, pointing at the smug Uchiha.
"He came to me to ask for it, I just gave him what he wanted." Madara shrugged the accusation off. Tobirama didn't deny it, instead just choosing to sip at his tea while his brother and… lover(?) bantered with a lightness that had been missing for many months.
It seemed like a weight had been lifted from Madara's shoulders since Tobirama had confirmed the presence of life in his womb that morning, along with the successful summoning and connection of Izuna's soul onto the little life.
Well, truly, it'd started lifting since the first time Madara had bedded him two weeks prior.
Tobirama had spent more nights in Madara's bed than his own since then, the other man's attention laser focused on the singular goal of impregnating him with as many kids as possible, his seemingly endless stamina leading to more than one sleepless night as he pounded Tobirama into the mattress with an intensity he had previously witnessed him display only on the battlefield.
In the end, his labors bore fruit, for nestled together in Tobirama's womb were twin sparks of life.
As much as Tobirama wanted to place the soul of Kawarama or Itama into the twin of Izuna's reincarnation, he had to admit, he was… Selfish. He chose instead to place the soul of Madara's eldest brother, Togakushi, into it.
If anything went wrong during this first pregnancy, he didn't want it happening to his brothers.
Sure, there was little-to-no chance of damage to the souls, with failsafe after failsafe built into the seal-reinforced jutsu to ensure they'd be released back to the pure lands if the fetus they inhabited proved nonviable, but the thought of it... Of somehow accidentally damaging them…
Tobirama would not be able to live with himself if such a thing happened. Perhaps it would've been smarter not to use Izuna as his test subject, but Madara had been going mad without intervention, and if it fails, he will simply go mad once more. It would not be too terrible a loss.
(Tobirama ignored the uncomfortable memory of what it felt like when Izuna died, how Madara's steady bonfire-blaze of Chakra turned to raging flames and choking smoke, ignored the dread he felt at the thought of the Uchiha clan head's slowly recovering flame of chakra turning once more to a funeral pyre of anger and hatred.)
"—That's it!" He tuned back into Hashirama's shout, just in time to see his brother vault over the table, tackling Madara—who had luckily not been leaning on Tobirama at that moment—to the floor.
Tobirama hid his smile behind his cup as he watched the two most deadly men in Fire country wrestle on the ground like clumsy schoolchildren having a brawl.
"You didn't even court him!" Hashirama wailed, pulling on Madara's mess of hair in an attempt to throw him off balance.
"Hah?! That's your main issue?!" Madara yelled back, shoving at Hashirama's face to push him off.
"Of course! My otouto deserves to be loved!" Tobirama calmly shifted to the side when one of their flailing limbs got too close, missing his arm by a hair.
"Fine!" Madara said, the words abruptly freezing their fight.
Tobirama blinked, perplexed. Hashirama sat up, looking at Madara where he laid out on the ground. "Really?" He asked, disbelief clear on his face.
Madara hesitated for a moment before glancing at Tobirama, a little spark of something possessive appearing as their eyes met.
A smug smile that should not be half as attractive as it was appeared on Madara's face. "Of course, he's carrying my children, he's mine."
Tobirama felt his cheeks heating up a bit, looking down at his tea. Despite the way the words flustered him, he was sure Madara was joking, mocking him.
An idea quickly disproved by the next words Madara said, sitting up into a proper posture to formally ask a question Tobirama had never imagined being spoken; "Senju Hashirama, I request leave to court your brother."
Tobirama sat his tea down with a clack before Hashirama could answer.
"…No." He denied. He had already gotten too… attached as it was. He had known sex often forged connections between people, but he hadn't thought he would be so affected by it.
Best to cut off the growing affection now before it clouded his judgement later.
Any further thoughts on the matter were cut off by an arm around him, pulling him back into the increasingly familiar warmth of Madara's chest.
"What was that?" Madara's voice was quiet, an edge of danger to it. Tobirama scowled at the feeling it evoked.
"You heard me." He challenged, attempting to pry himself from Madara's grasp.
A sharp breath escaped him when the other arm came around to press him further into Madara's hold. "I thought we had already discussed this," Madara mused, "you certainley weren't arguing when I spoke of fattening you up for years to come with my children. A sweet little wife waiting for me at home, a body to worship for it's ability to give life, a home full of kids…" The words were whispered in his ear, too quiet for Hashirama to hear over the sounds of nature from the open shoji that faced the garden.
Tobirama hesitated, a tug of want pulling at him.
"Would you really abandon your children, Tobirama? Force them to live without their mother?" Madara coaxed.
Tobirama… Hadn't thought about it, but now he knew with a burning certainty that watching his children from afar wasn't something he could manage.
"No, I… I can't leave you to raise them, Kami knows you'd never teach them any more than battle, they'd be half feral if I left them with only you as a parent!" Tobirama bit his tongue against the first far too honest thought he almost let slip, hiding it with snark.
Madara laughed, the movement jostling Tobirama, who frowned (pouted, Madara always jibed), but felt more at ease for the noise.
"Fine. Anija, give him permission." Tobirama decided.
Hashirama, who had retreated to the other side of the table after their hushed debate began—though he had been looking increasingly concerned the longer they whispered—smiled, the tension on his shoulders fading.
"If you're sure, Tobira," Hashirama waited until Tobirama nodded before continuing, "Very well. Uchiha Madara I formally give you permission to court Senju Tobirama with the intent of marriage."
"Thank you." There was something soft in Madara's voice as he spoke those two words, arms relaxing around Tobirama into a loose cradle rather than the possessive squeeze it had been. "I'll take care of him."
Against his will, Tobirama was almost looking forward to it.