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"Fall in love with me"
"To enter a proper relationship or because you want a foothold on the Senju?"
It was probably fucked up of them that that was Tobirama's first thought. Even more that Izuna was relieved that his outburst was taken that way.
He hadn't meant to blurt it out. He had been doing his best to avoid thinking about the very possibility, in fact, because shinobi were cowardly by nature and clung to what they had.
Izuna had always been a good shinobi. It was one -the hundredth, the thousandth- thing Tobirama and him had in common.
So Izuna smirked his most wicked smile and pretended Tobirama's snort didn't make something small and twisted hurt in his chest.
Peace between the Uchiha and the Senju didn't happen overnight, for all that sometimes it felt like it had been imposed all at once. In the instant a blade had sunk into a child-stealer's chest instead of Izuna's side. In the second Tobirama had left his unprotected back to Izuna to save an Uchiha child.
In the moment Izuna chose to guard that back instead of taking advantage of the opportunity.
Most of the time, Izuna regretted it.
Other times, he saw children laughing instead of learning to kill. Other times, he saw Kagami, who still lit up whenever he saw Tobirama, who had been so full of pride when told that manipulating the rogue shinobi into going near the battleground had been really clever, had saved himself and their clan. Those times, Izuna bit his tongue.
Izuna hadn't agreed with Madara when he first said it. The instinct to put aside a battle to rescue a child wasn't some signal of the potential for peace and cooperation, it was basic decency. Having a ceasefire and letting their people mingle with the Senju wasn't saving the clan; if anything, it was putting them in even more danger, even if the immediate consequence was less deaths.
But their people were tired of battles and weary with grief. Even if Izuna still thought that generations old grudges couldn't be put aside that easily, he could reluctantly admit that a proper rest from warfare -not just an armistice but the two most powerful clans in Fire Country united for the purpose of protecting their members- had been good for them. Maybe even needed.
He still couldn't see it lasting. The moment morale and numbers recovered, old hatred would surge again like scabs bursting open. There was just too much blood, too many deaths on both sides for things to go any other way.
Already the old, the orphans, the recently bereaved... Those who hurt the most were starting to make noise again.
Madara probably couldn't see it, too drunk on the apparent success of his childhood dream. While Izuna could admit that he had been wrong about Hashirama's reasons, he didn't think he was mistaken about the Senju in general. They were waiting for an opportunity -for an excuse- to strike.
Just like the Uchiha.
Maybe that was where he went wrong in trying to explain himself to his brother. Izuna said "Don't trust the Senju" and Madara heard "Hashirama is trying to lay a trap for you", but that wasn't what he meant at all.
Hashirama was an idealistic fool who wore his heart on his sleeve. Anybody could see that.
But Hashirama was that way because he could afford to be. He was so powerful he didn't need to bother with subtleties or traps.
He was so powerful it didn't occur to him that his people could ever disobey him.
Granted, Madara had the same flaw. When they could rearrange the entire topography of their battlegrounds, the possibility of paying lip service to an order they didn't believe in probably never crossed either of their minds.
Fortunately -and oh, how it burned thinking of him in those terms-, Tobirama was there to keep an eye on their clan as Izuna did for the Uchiha.
For the past months altercations had been kept to a minimum, and never devolved beyond shouting. Either one of them, or sometimes both, would typically intervene at that point.
Never Madara. Never Hashirama.
Those two were too busy with their plans for a village "hidden in the leaves" and other ridiculous projects. Always with their eyes to the future, never looking back at the people behind them.
Izuna was legitimately worried his brother's heart would break when this arrangement went up in flames.
It was the height of irony that he would be the one to make sure it lasted as long as possible. Even if he still thought it was a terrible mistake, the benefits to the clan were undeniable, and Izuna was willing to put in the work to stave off the inevitable disaster.
Even if it meant working with Tobirama.
As well-matched as they'd always been on the battlefield, it made a certain amount of sense that they followed similar thought patterns. The fact that the asshole looked good helping Izuna police their clans... Well, he was pretty sure that was a special circle of hell created specifically to punish him for his sins.
Not that he was planning to repent and convert to a peaceful lifestyle or any such idiocy. If anything, Izuna was more than willing to cheerfully gut the first idiot who commented on his eyes straying anywhere at all.
A rest from constant warfare was all well and good, but having time for those kinds of wandering thoughts was miserable.
The first time he'd seen Tobirama practicing water jutsu on the river, Izuna had felt a shot of pure lust suffuse his entire body.
It had quelled his appalled musings about them starting to get along quite nicely. Clearly, Izuna's body was just reacting to an appealing form that did not belong to anyone in his family.
Horribly mortifying, and a personal betrayal from each drop of blood that travelled south when seeing the asshole shirtless, but understandable.
He'd enjoy the view, mentally mourn the fact that a quick trip to a bar to take care of his frustrations would be a hilariously bad idea with tensions as high as they were, and move on.
Then things got complicated.
It started when, against all odds, the plans to build a village went from idealistic musings to something that they expected to implement.
Izuna and Tobirama had been occupied keeping relations between both clans at a low simmer, so neither of them had been involved to curb their siblings' wild ideas. Predictably, the plans were a mess.
They spent weeks of Tobirama screaming himself hoarse at the two buffoons until they reworked them from the ground up to take into account road planning, defensible infrastructure and plain Sage-damned logic.
Izuna spent most of those meetings agreeing with Tobirama, something he resented so fiercely he got Madara to shut up from his reflexive denials with just a glare once. If Izuna had to set aside their rivalry and actually listen to what the Senju said, then Madara sure as hell couldn't just shut his ideas down either.
The problem came precisely because they agreed for once.
Both clans were making more noise at the prospect of moving to the village, which forced them into actively cooperating instead of just working towards a common goal.
Soothing the ruffled feathers of those whose opinions had been rebuffed by the clan heads -and even those who had agreed but wanted to complain anyway- required, depending on the situation, either blunt logic or careful manipulation.
Tobirama excelled in the former and was rubbish at the latter. Izuna had the opposite problem. And obviously, their clans weren't so wonderfully accommodating as to always require the skillset their respective clan heir dominated.
The end result was that they had to address those problems together, and a couple of particularly fraught times alone with the other's clan. Which was a wonderful show of cooperation and unity, considering the only other example was Madara and Hashirama, and those two spent most of their time at the construction site.
It worked beautifully, and relaxed the inter-clan tensions by a lot. It paved the way towards something that might not actually blow up in all their faces in short order. It left them both seething at the end of the day.
Agreeing that the fact they agreed on things infuriated them was a new and exciting flavor of irritation that Izuna made sure to thank Madara for the opportunity to discover. A few weeks in and his brother didn't even protest being ranted at the second he entered the house.
Giving vent to their frustrations became, ironically, one of their biggest frustrations. Managing clan relations was tedious work that they handled with disgustingly well-practiced teamwork. The prickly irritation that was the byproduct of that process was much more difficult to get rid of.
The first time they tried to let off some steam by sparring almost started the war anew.
They had isolated themselves as much as possible, both because they were destructive shinobi even if not quite on their brothers' absurd level and because letting their clans see them fighting smacked of bad idea. However, as clan heirs and recognized warriors in their own right, they couldn't exactly expect their movements to go unnoticed. Especially after the first few explosions.
Every malcontent on both clans would have probably joined them with intent to kill if Tobirama's sensing range hadn't been so ridiculous. As it was, even running back from the section of forest they had just barely scorched and insisting through clenched teeth that they were just training together, like good friends, really only averted disaster by a hair's breadth.
Madara and Hashirama flatly forbid them from sparring together again.
They contented themselves with sniping at each other for a while.
Of course, they had to do it in a way that let them switch over to friendlier banter if they came across anyone looking for excuses to pick a fight. Which wouldn't have been a problem if Izuna's banter didn't have an unfortunate tendency to resemble flirting.
Bad word choices were made, exhaustion and stress left them careless about how their comments would be received, and extremely unfortunate timing left both of them in front of Izuna's house at a particularly charged moment in their conversation, brimming with frustration. In a night Madara was spending at the construction site.
Long story short, they ended up in bed.
"Miss me?", asked Madara the next morning.
"Not really" Izuna answered, aiming for teasing and probably landing closer to 'covering for something incriminating', judging by his older brother's raised eyebrow.
"Oh? And what brought about this change of heart after all the warnings about sleeping in unsecured quarters close to, and I quote, 'deceitful, vengeful Senju'?"
"Well, the empty house IS convenient for sex"
There was a moment of stunned silence in which Izuna cursed himself and all of his ancestors, but especially Tobirama for fucking him stupid.
"...Izuna?" His brother finally managed, looking equal parts astonished and grossed out.
"Sorry, sorry. Too much information, right? I guess I'm still not entirely coherent" How Tobirama managed to leave right afterwards with his composure intact would forever remain a mystery to him.
Madara looked even more uncomfortable at that last tidbit, then tentatively offered "As long as it was someone you trust, then it's really none of my business"
Izuna busied himself with preparing breakfast and very carefully didn't say anything. Madara started looking alarmed.
"Izuna?"
Izuna made what he hoped was a neutral-sounding hum and continued heating up the rice. Clearly it was safer for him to abstain from words this morning.
"Please tell me it wasn't a Senju" Madara finally implored. Izuna started setting the table.
"Izuna!"
"Didn't we just agree it's none of your business?" Izuna tried when his brother physically blocked his path to the counter.The rice was going to burn and it was going to be Madara's fault.
"As long as it was someone you trusted!" His brother's voice had been gradually rising in pitch, and right now it was starting to edge towards yelling. A couple more minutes and the whole encampment was going to know what they were arguing about.
"Well, it's not your business either way" Izuna said, and hoped that his serious expression made his brother back down, or at least realize that he meant business. The last thing he wanted was for this tentative peace to shatter because his brother blew a fuse over a one night stand.
"When did you even have time to pick up a Senju?" Madara still sounded distressed, but at least he was being quieter about it. Small blessings. "Everybody says you spent the whole day with the White Demon..."
Izuna didn't know what expression was on his face, but considering it made Madara pale and trail off, he was retracting his earlier relief.
"Tobirama?!" His brother presumably said through strangled choking, before continuing more clearly. "Him?! Him of all people? Izuna! He almost killed you!"
"So did I!" Izuna protested with deep offense, because clearly his wits had deserted him.
For a second Madara looked like he was actually going to pass out, but he managed to stumble into a seating position. Then he hid his face in his hands.
"Izuna, why him?!"
"Do you actually want an answer to that question?" Izuna retorted with a raised eyebrow, because if he was doomed he might as well make this as excruciatingly mortifying for Madara as it was for him.
His brother made a pained sound, then raised his face with surprising force "Did he even apologize for almost running you through?"
Izuna blanched. They were shinobi. Being more understood by one's opponents than their own family was commonplace, but there was something especially heinous about Tobirama immediately getting something his brother didn't even seem to contemplate.
"I could never work with him if he did!" He snapped, far more harshly than he'd intended.
Madara looked taken aback. Izuna resigned himself to explaining something he'd always seen as intrinsic to shinobi life and sighed, taking a seat in front of his brother.
"We were at war", he started, calmer this time. "Our objective was to kill the other. Not injure. Not force into a retreat. Kill", he emphasized, making sure to look his brother in the eye. Madara likely had forgotten that resolve, considering his clashes with Hashirama were glorified spars.
"So?" Madara tried to bluster, but he looked uncomfortable. It was a relief to Izuna that he could see what he was getting at as long as he put some thought into it. Their worldviews weren't completely alien after all.
"So if he apologized he would be lying, because at the moment he acted he would have felt no remorse over killing me. Just like I wouldn't in his place. Or worse, it would be like saying that killing, even to protect our families, was a mistake. Even if we are walking a different path now, even if it might eventually prove better than what we were doing before, I can't believe killing to protect my family was a mistake. Neither of us could." Izuna had thought that no shinobi could think that, but apparentely Madara and Hashirama were closer to it than he'd be totally comfortable with. Still, even though he hadn't had this conversation with Tobirama he was pretty confident that in this at least they agreed.
They may not have their older brothers' bond, but the battlefield fostered a kind of understanding nonetheless.
Madara's face scrunched up, but instead of continuing their much more poignant talk about philosophy he burst out with "I can't believe you'd choose to pursue a relationship with him"
"Rela-! It was a one night stand, not a marriage proposal, Madara!"
His brother levelled him with an unimpressed and totally unwarranted look, then asked carefully "How do you feel about him?" At Izuna's gaping, he elaborated. "Because you spend all your time with him. I know that's because the both of you are working to keep the clans on board with the plans for peace, but I'd think that'd leave you sick of his face, not" -his nose scrunched up and Izuna wanted to roll his eyes at his prude of a brother- "horny"
"...I enjoy hi-his company" Izuna finally muttered.
Madara's snort likely meant he'd taken Izuna's stumble as reticence, at least. Izuna was heartily sick of his brother seeing through him, and he didn't know what he'd do if he'd been forced to admit to the rather more incriminating I enjoy him that wanted to come out.
Hopefully Madara would have been distracted by the innuendo, but... The truth was that Izuna enjoyed Tobirama. He enjoyed spending time with him, their conversations, calling him a dork when he went soft and gentle with children, his quicksilver smile and even how much of a brickheaded moron he could be in social situations.
Having a Senju so close in his day to day life and enjoying it might no longer be treason against his clan, but Izuna still wasn't completely okay with it. And it seemed to be getting worse. Even now, he hadn't finished breakfast and the idea of seeing Tobirama left anticipation and a strange feeling bubbling in his stomach. Izuna thought it might be dread.
Tobirama didn't say anything out of the ordinary that morning. Izuna thought they were on the same page about acting like it had never happened, until he abruptly broached the subject while they ate an early lunch in a secluded corner of the forest.
Izuna didn't know if he should be offended or envious of Tobirama's perfectly blasé expression as he nonchalantly explained that, no matter how pleasurable, it would really be for the best if there were no repeat performances. It stung Izuna's pride that Tobirama could be so cool and collected about it, but not so much that he said anything stupid. He merely snarked back that he thought that went without saying. He pointedly didn't comment on how the topic ruined one of the very few relaxed moments they had lately and rolled his eyes at Tobirama's equally sarcastic insistence that clarification was for the best to prevent misunderstandings.
They finished their lunch with more irritation than usual, but they had both made their points and agreed on a course of action, so complaining seemed childish.
Their resolve lasted all of a week.
With the first houses of the village already up and functional, it was only a matter of time before the first families started moving in. In light of that, Izuna and Tobirama spent their time managing frayed tempers and brainstorming ideas to encourage their people to mingle in a non-hostile environment.
They became overenthusiastic.
The plan, at first, seemed simple: get some children from both clans to play together. Young enough that they hadn't inherited the worst of their parents' hatred.
Considering how fond Kagami still was of Tobirama, and Madara and Hashirama's success, they thought it had a good chance at working. And, to be fair, they were right. The children had no problems playing together. Most were overjoyed to have new playmates, in fact.
The problem were the parents.
In hindsight, letting the children meet when a bare decade ago adults from both clans were literally hunting them down was probably nightmarish for their guardians.
Especially since most of them didn't feel like they could deny their clan heir's requests, much less in a matter that had the clan heads' implicit encouragement.
Izuna spent the longest hour of his life stewing in guilt and watching the adults of both clans like a hawk for any reflex reactions. Which would be perfectly understandable and entirely his fault, but would also turn the afternoon into an unmitigated disaster and probably destroy his brother's dream before it could take proper shape.
So he settled for glaring at Tobirama as the safest option and didn't take it personally when he did it right back.
As they made their way from their last duties of the day, they revisited every other idea they had, trying to pin down other avenues they could pursue. As well as ways to mitigate the worst of the fallout when the children started asking to hang out again with their new friends.
Unfortunately, they were both feeling guilty about causing anguish to their clan members, which made their conversation stray dangerously close to talking about feelings. And there was an angry fourteen-year-old in the back of Izuna's mind that screeched with fury at treating a Senju like a trusted friend but seemed to consider using his body to feel better just on the verge of acceptable.
Izuna was pathetically grateful about Tobirama letting him spend the night and not commenting on how they broke their word. He didn't say anything about this being "the last time" either, likely knowing as well as Izuna did that they both needed outlets for their stress and had very limited options for it.
Izuna was as close to a good mood as he could be walking towards his house early the next morning in the previous day's clothes. At least until he saw his brother already up and waiting for him with a faintly haunted expression on his face. This time Madara made sure Izuna had had tea and enough time to wake up fully before trying to strike up a conversation, too.
For the next few months, people started moving into the village. Madara and Hashirama were first, of course, while Izuna and Tobirama stayed in the temporary encampment with the rest of their clans.
It was a good system, meant to let people acclimatize at their own pace -or at least while all the buildings were being constructed- without leaving either group directionless or vulnerable. Izuna dared to contemplate the possibility of peace succeeding long term.
Then his cousin Akira came to talk with him.
Izuna blinked at the door of Tobirama's office. He was suppossed to go see Madara. He was sure he had meant to seek out his brother.
"Fall in love with me"
"To enter a proper relationship or because you want a foothold on the Senju?"
A bitter snort took Izuna so by surprise that his eyes teared up. He'd spent so much time telling himself that Tobirama didn't have the power to break his heart that he had forgotten that his family could do it just as easily.
His family wasn't suppossed to break his heart except by dying. His family was suppossed to be safe. He was suppossed to be able to always trust them.
Between one blink and the next, Izuna had opened the door.
He'd thought that he'd managed to coat his screaming feelings in the protective numbness of mission and battle, but whatever was on his face made Tobirama leave his work aside.
It was distantly flattering, considering that usually Tobirama had to be pried away from his desk. The absurd thought finally unfroze him and Izuna walked towards Tobirama without saying a word.
Then he sat on his lap.
Confirming his thoughts about how rattled he must have seemed, Tobirama allowed it. He even let his hands hover over his hips before settling with the softest of pressures on his waist.
Izuna was being held like he was something fragile, and he hid his face on Tobirama's neck because he didn't want to aknowledge that that was exactly how he felt.
"Akira came to talk to me today" he finally managed, sounding soft and vulnerable and way too tired to be properly horrified by it.
"Okay" Tobirama whispered back equally softly.
This was probably a bad time to realize he was in love with his greatest rival.
"He wants to attack the Senju" Izuna continued instead of dealing with his feelings finally punching him in the face. Tobirama's reaction -the stiffening of preparing for battle, but still holding him gently and making no move to get up or rush him- didn't exactly help his endeavor. "He has five accomplices. The plan was for me to organize another get-together of children, only this time the Uchiha wouldn't attend" Instead, Akira and his co-conspirators would.
Izuna clammed up. He didn't want to think about his family doing something like that. Even if Akira was old enough to have gone child-hunting on Tajima's orders, he'd always thought that nobody in his clan would do that when given a choice.
He didn't want to think about Akira assuming Izuna would be alright with something like that.
"Where is he now?" Tobirama asked, still painfully gentle even if he clearly wanted to rush to protect his kinsmen.
"Trapped in a genjutsu" Izuna replied woodenly "He cornered me in my house, so the other five shouldn't know anything yet"
Tobirama leaned back enough to make eye contact without forcing Izuna out of his refuge on his shoulder. "You are a master of genjutsu, but he is still an Uchiha"
Izuna dropped his gaze and burrowed closer. "He's in Tsukuyomi", he finally whispered.
Tobirama went very still. It was relieving, sort of, that he understood. Tsukuyomi was for enemies. Using it against a clansman was... horrible. The greatest sin Izuna had thought Uchiha could commit.
It had been reflex.
He had been listening with a blank face and mounting horror as Akira spoke of treason against the clan and against Madara. As he spoke like all of Izuna's efforts for peace had been 'clearly' forced and against his will. As he blithely condemned them to retaliation, putting his grudge before their very survival, before their own children.
Before he could even process what was happening, his Mangekyo had been spinning.
Tobirama sighed, and it relaxed his whole body. "We do have time to do this without causing a fight, then. It is a pretty terrible way to be validated, but... we are shinobi. It's our life"
Izuna blinked, caught off guard. If Tobirama's thumbs weren't rubbing careful circles on his back he'd have thought that Tobirama hadn't understood his feelings after all "Validated?"
"Haven't you ever felt like we are holding our siblings back?", he said, so casually that it took Izuna a second to recognize one of his ugliest fears spoken aloud. "We are always advising for restraint and caution, and yet this peace they have been trying to build for so long has brought nothing but good things"
Izuna huffed. "We did have a point. It doesn't really make me feel any better"
"No, I didn't think it would. But we are doing something necessary, after all. Balancing their optimism out"
Izuna closed his eyes "I don't want to tell Madara"
It was childish and weak. Madara wouldn't be any less heartbroken if Izuna wasn't there to see it.
Madara wouldn't be any less horrified by what Izuna had done if he wasn't the one confessing.
"Do you want me to do it?" Tobirama instantly offered, like it wasn't a horrible idea to interfere in the internal strife of the Uchiha like that. Like Izuna hadn't made a terrible mistake coming here instead of to his brother in the first place.
Izuna swallowed around a lump in his throat and just this once let himself be weak. "Please"
Tobirama nodded, kissed his forehead and left without another word. Izuna tried not to instantly miss his warmth where he was curled up on Tobirama's chair instead of him.
He might not have Tobirama's love, but he had his body and his regard. For shinobi, that was already plenty.
It would have to be enough, because Izuna wasn't remotely ready to let him go.
"—in Tsukuyomi."
Madara recoiled.
He wanted to deny that Izuna would ever do such a thing, but Tobirama sent him a glare fiercer than anything he'd ever worn on the battlefield. Madara's mouth shut with a snap. Probably for the best. He had no idea what he would have said.
"Where is Izuna now?" he managed when he got his equilibrium back.
"In my office" the Senju answered, emotionless once more.
"Alone?" Madara bristled. Tobirama sent him a dirty look.
"It's not like this could wait. I made sure nobody would disturb him. He's safe"
Madara made a skeptical noise. The temporary encampment was just that, temporary. It was meant to make it easier to move into the village without risking their non-combatants going on long journeys alone and weighed down by their possessions. Also to make it easier for those who were assisting in the construction to get there and get the clans used to their future neighbors. There wasn't as much of a sense of respect for private spaces as there had been on the compounds.
Then the likely meaning hit.
"You locked him up?!"
For someone who had never looked anywhere near his eyes in their whole lives, Tobirama was getting a lot of practice at conveying extreme anger through eye contact.
"I put a seal on the door" He said through gritted teeth. "Nobody can come in, but he can leave any time he wants"
Madara ran through his mental checklist of seals the Senju had shared with them.
"I've never heard of a seal like that" he commented more calmly. It wasn't strange that the Senju had kept some things in reserve, but Tobirama of all people wasn't one to slip up like that.
"I created it" he said simply, as if creating a seal wasn't an incredibly difficult process that usually took decades. Madara stared.
"When?" he finally asked when it became clear Tobirama wasn't going to elaborate. The Senju looked at him like he was stupid.
"When I left my office"
Madara blinked. Then he sighed and gave up.
"I'll go interrogate Akira. Yes, I can snap him out of Tsukuyomi." Tobirama closed his mouth. Madara hesitated, then begrudgingly conceded. "Take care of Izuna"
Tobirama nodded and immediately left. Madara rubbed at a tension headache and started making his way to his traitorous cousin.
He still couldn't believe he'd gotten saddled with Senju Tobirama of all people as a brother-in-law.
Madara blanched. He couldn't believe he'd gotten saddled with Hashirama as a brother-in-law.
He needed to get to know Mito. Immediately. If he couldn't at least get along with the only sane member of that family he'd go spare.
"—so we thought we could preserve each clan's wedding traditions, but also consider any couple that spends a year cohabitating as married."
The elders of both clans immediately exploded in an unprecedented show of unity. Izuna was somewhat impressed that Hashirama had found something absolutely all of them hated. They even agreed that none of them would support the idea.
Working through the implications himself, Izuna actually found himself in favor. Secrecy was a shinobi's life. Even if the village was made to protect both clans, extra layers of security were never a bad thing.
"I agree with the 'year of cohabitation' rule" he said over the din. Immediately, the elders shifted their glares on him. Izuna rolled his eyes. "Shinobi that don't want it known they have vulnerable partners or children would be safer. And it's not like anyone would get married on accident. Every ninja worth their salt can check a calendar"
The old people looked at his serious, reasonable expression for a couple of seconds. Then there was another explosion of noise.
In the end, Tobirama had to remind them all that Hashirama and Madara were the clan heads, and that even if they had needed their permission to implement the rule, none of them had been able to come up with a reason other than 'tradition'. So the matter was settled because the elders were too outraged to string a single sentence together.
Izuna quietly sent a prayer for his brother and Hashirama's souls, because they would probably have to deal with lots of headache-inducing rants courtesy of Tobirama's bluntness. He was unspeakably glad that Tobirama and him had been relegated to designing the village defenses while their brothers took up clan relations after the whole Akira mess.
If there was a small, vindictive part of Izuna that was looking forward to directing Akira and his minions into building a wall to protect the very children they'd wanted to hurt... well. Children dead because of the grudges of adults had been his nightmare since before he was a shinobi.
It was fitting that Akira got to experience it in gory, horrifying detail after making Izuna relive it.
Not that he'd known that was what he had shown Akira in Tsukuyomi until his brother told him afterwards. Madara had looked sad and understanding when Izuna confessed that he'd been too rattled to even conciously choose an illusion.
It was the only reason Izuna hadn't thrown Madara in a pond for being so damn hesitating when he knocked on Tobirama's office and then, after Tobirama had left them some privacy, even asked if anything untoward had happened while they were there. Seriously. They were dealing with a sensitive matter. They weren't animals.
The good news were that Akira's 'co-conspirators' were brats. Fourteen to sixteen-year-old orphans that were hurting and easy to take advantage of. As soon as Madara reminded them of the likely consequences, they'd been stricken.
They'd even volunteered to help the defenses of the village as penance. Akira hadn't protested, apparentely sobered by what he'd seen. Izuna still planned to keep a close eye on him.
Fortunately, Hashirama had built him and Tobirama a house on the outskirts where they could supervise the building of the wall. It was probably meant as a place to rest when they had to be at hand for whatever reason, seeing as there was only one bedroom. Still, Izuna would feel better living there full time until the defenses were armed. Tobirama had had the same idea, but that was fine.
They could share until they had the time to buy another bed.
The building of the wall took just short of a year. Considering the size of the village, it was a pretty impressive time. Izuna had thought that the uncharacteristic support from both clans was a sign that they were managing something approaching cohesion, but apparentely the reason was much more petty.
Their honored elders, in all their wisdom, had made their concerns known to their closest and most trusted kin, which had resulted in the fastest building project in the whole village.
Madara's shoulders had been shaking with laughter when he told a very incredulous Izuna that, because the old farts had been gossipping and making assumptions, everybody was determined to make sure the project took less than a year. Just in case Izuna and Tobirama 'accidentally' spent all that time living together.
Izuna massaged his temples, groaning just from the memories. He could appreciate, in an abstract way, a vicious rumour campaign as revenge for not letting them have their way, but... so petty.
So damn petty.
Useless, too. Basically every able warrior had been over the moon with the marriage rule, no matter the possibilities of inter-clan marriages.
Hell, Izuna was pretty sure that had been half of Hashirama's reason for the proposal. Only, instead of fearing that their children would be 'corrupted' by someone from other clan, everybody was making bets on his and Tobirama's relationship.
To the point that when they even approached a store to go buy that second bed, rumours and stares followed.
It had taken all of Izuna's restraint not to let those old bastards know just how much their plans had backfired whenever they made pointed comments in his general vicinity.
They were young, in a pretty comfortable arrangement and only had one bed. Izuna's libido was most definetely not complaining about the situation.
Though now that the project was finished and they were going back to their clan holdings the rumours should finally die.
Izuna blushed a little. He didn't want to know what the rumour mill would have to say about what he was doing right now.
Fortunately, he was a very sneaky shinobi. If he wanted to spend that last night to mark the full year of their cohabitation in their bed like a lovesick fool, it was nobody's business but his own.
He was sure Madara wouldn't tattle.
Opening the door felt really nostalgic somehow. It was like this place had become home despite the short time they had been living in it. Everything looked warm, inviting and like he'd spent an eternity here instead of just a year.
Down to Tobirama making dinner in the kitchen.
Izuna blinked, but didn't break their stunned eye contact. Tobirama was a hard man to read, but Izuna was pretty confident that he was just as surprised as him.
Mainly because the meal was burning.
Tobirama reacted as soon as he smelled it, turning to try to salvage their food and somehow looking wildly happy even through his back.
Tiny details of the two years since peace was declared between their clans rearranged themselves in Izuna's brain. Like the fact neither of them had packed a single thing.
Izuna laughed.