Chapter Text
Introducing the village to other clans wasn’t as hard as Madara thought.
He imagined wariness over the unexpected mix of powerful clans, one of which wasn’t even originally from Fire country. While people were somewhat hesitant and careful with their approach, the good relations the clan leaders seemed to have with each other definitely eased most of that worry.
Which was another thing Madara had hoped for but admittedly hadn’t actually expected.
There was no denying that as much as the village was young, so were their leaders. They were powerful, yes, but experience only came with time and it was apparent that they still lacked on that front, contrary to the clan heads of the Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Nara.
Of course, with one came the other two, they were one man and two women, all of mature age who had clearly been influenced by the war’s tendency to make people grow up faster than they would have otherwise.
The three clan heads had brought each a couple of their closest people to test the waters in the village, instead of hurrying to move along with their possessions as soon as possible. They wanted to make sure they knew and understood the state of the village before agreeing to an alliance.
Hashirama, Mito, and Madara agreed to this method and the Senju built a small residence for them to stay at. They wouldn’t be allowed to wander freely through the village, not yet, but they would be allowed to observe as a sign of trust and to honor the already existing alliance with the Senju and Uzumaki.
Most of their cautiousness came as a result of their lack of knowledge of the Uchiha. The rumors ran strong like the wind, their red eyes, hot-headed nature, and volatility were widespread facts. To outsiders, at least.
Madara found himself overwhelmed by the attention and prying, at first. It was, however, useful that Mito and Hashirama followed him closely since there was already trust between those two clans and the newcomers. Their nonchalance to Madara’s temper and being unbothered by the Uchiha’s general presence paved the way for trust.
Hashirama especially took it upon himself to sing praises to Madara as much as he could, every occasion was a good opportunity to let everyone know of Madaras’s goodwill and demonstrate how his strong feelings were more often an advantage than otherwise since Madara was caring and responsible. He even weaponized Akio, who seemed more often than not ready to topple over from the attention of many important people on him; obviously, Madara often came to the rescue which was probably the dumb alpha’s plan all along.
For all Madara was annoyed by it, he could also respect his methods.
Because they worked.
It wasn’t long before a dove came back with a formal request to establish an alliance and allow the three clans to be part of the village.
They readily accepted and aided as much as they could so that they could settle comfortably in the village.
It was a surprise how well they fit within.
They took their time with moving in and for the most part, only requested minimal aid in building their homes, they really didn’t want to bother Hashirama as much as the man insisted it wasn’t a bother at all.
All three clans were already ruled by democracy, making sure to listen to everyone’s opinion and go with what would be best for the majority. They were open and friendly.
Most importantly of all, they were extremely neutral concerning dynamics.
It was almost comical how much they didn’t give a shit.
Madara could somewhat tell, but Hashirama confirmed the Yamanaka clan head was an Omega, the Nara was an Alpha and the Akimichi was a Beta.
That made Yamanaka Koharu the first male Omega in charge of a clan, aside from himself, that Madara knew of.
Nara Eimi also broke the mold, not because it was unheard of for an Alpha female to be in charge of a clan, but because she was extremely laid back and often preferred the other two clean heads to take the reins, she was perpetually sleepy and could be often found spacing out somewhere quiet.
Akimichi Masami was an oddity simply for the fact that it was entirely uncommon to see Beta females in charge, out of all the dynamics, betas tended to be the more overlooked and passive. However, she was difficult to ignore, chubby and radiant with a boisterous laugh, unbothered by the attention it drew to herself.
Madara was utterly fascinated by them and soon, his wide eyes earned him an invitation to play shogi with Eimi. He lost. Even when he worried half the time that the woman had actually fallen asleep on him, Madara even thought at some point it was a charade to distract him and make him lower his defenses. After hours of analysis, Madara could finally make peace with the fact that Eimi would have won regardless of her demeanor, she was just that bright.
Soon after, he was invited for food and drinks by Masami and Koharu. The woman cooked a plentiful meal, the smell was fantastic, making him work to swallow the constant stream of saliva it generated.
In contrast to his evening with Eimi who only dedicated their time to the game, Masami and Koharu had plenty of questions for him. They inquired about his upbringing, his family, and his relations; they threaded carefully when asking about his abilities and any tales of battle.
Surprisingly, Madara never felt uncomfortable talking. Not even when he was the subject of the talk. Then again, they never asked too much of him and changed topics when he hesitated or closed off a bit, they were good at reading the air. Even more surprisingly so, was the fact that Madara wanted to share and be told things in return, never as a means to an end but simply for the bond it would grow.
Everything so far had felt so transactional, doing one thing with the objective of obtaining another.
His time with Masami and Koharu was noticeably less frequent, whenever they passed each other they exchanged a few words, and even Izuna seemed to be on good terms with them, it was a little weird how the two managed to make everyone feel welcome when the ones trying should be them, but it was a relief to not have to do that, at least for Madara.
Still, having lost to Eimi had brought a kind of fixation with him, when they met each other again, Madara couldn’t help but request another game. He would have called it a rematch if he was confident he was going to win. She had whipped the floor with him last time, so it was not the occasion to be arrogant, he had nothing to show for it.
Madara liked spending his time playing shogi, now that he was not constantly going out to battles and patrols and resolving conflicts. Playing the strategy game gave him the same type of calmness to think as sparring did, he didn’t get stir-crazy since his mind wasn’t going on autopilot and actually had to concentrate to make a good move.
He also learned that Eimi used the game as a language, just like he did with fights. Despite only knowing her for a short time and having exchanged relatively little about each other, Madara felt comfortable with him, some kind of security he honestly hadn’t felt since his mother passed.
Of course, the attention on him didn’t go unnoticed.
Whenever he had time to spare, he could tell that Hashirama was growing restless. Looking more and more like he wanted to say something but couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Even more so, he was throwing looks at Madara like he held the answer to his turmoil.
“Okay, spirit it out, I don’t have all day,” Madara said one morning, taking his usual seat on the opposite side of the table from Hashirama.
“W-what do you mean?” The man was startled.
Madara rolled his eyes. “You have been silently whining all week, yet you say nothing. So come out with it”
“I don’t- I didn’t want to interrupt you, you are having a good time meeting the other clan heads and everything has been going well! Everyone seems at ease seeing you around, I think it’s good”
“You are avoiding the question. What is it?”
Hashirama grimaced. “I just… everything is going well”
“So you’ve said”
Hashirama only hesitated for one more minute before blurting out. “Is now a good time to try?” Almost too jumbled to be intelligible.
But Madara understood.
“Ah, for the thing”
“Yes” Hashirama nodded, “The thing”
Had Madara been unconsciously avoiding the subject?
Well, he was definitely not putting much effort into getting things going. But it was for a good reason! He had been getting to know the other clan leaders, letting himself share stories and gain experience second-hand, he for one was much better at shogi than he was two months ago!
Okay, he had been stalling. Not on purpose, but it didn’t really matter if the end result was delaying the process anyway.
Madara sighed and ran his hands through his hair until both got stopped by the tangles.
“I like seeing you do your own thing. I have missed you a bit but I- I know. And I am not that type of person, but I… And I worry, about the current state of things. Like, idleness is the calm before the storm. I don’t want anything to happen to our dream” Hashirama mumbled his half-finished thoughts.
Still, Madara thought he understood. Because not only had he been stalling with the newcomers, but he had also been spending a lot of time with the alpha Nara while at it. Which was honestly nothing else but a coincidence, he happened to like strategy and he enjoyed the quiet. Despite their many games, they usually just focused on what they were doing, contrary to the time the Yamanaka and Akimichi tried to bond with him.
But being alone with her, spending a lot of time alone in what someone with mild eye impairment might consider an intimate setting might have been a little aggravating for Hashirama. He didn’t have the man’s bond mark but they were married and they had spent a good chunk of time together ever since forming the village.
“No, I get it” Madara reassured. “I didn’t mean to be neglectful of my duties”
Hashirama cringed. “I don’t- It shouldn’t be a duty, this is something you should want to do. I know you told me before, but if you say it like that…”
Madara put a hand on Hashirama’s shoulder. “Listen, I didn’t mean it that way. I am not the best with words, I know I am not being forced and you reaching out to ask when I have been… distant, is no crime. I don’t bite”
“You do burst in flames randomly and I am not exactly fireproof” Hashirama half-joked. And, okay, point taken. “And I guess biting is more of my job, isn’t it?”
Madara snorted. “Right, you have been much more bark than bite, though”
Bite, bite, bite.
Madara sometimes forgot how people could get so lost in their instincts; he wondered distantly if Hashirama could pick something in his scent, if there was something pheromonal going on in the ambient that he couldn’t pick up or if it was simply the talk of bites making Hashirama look like his fangs were about to burst like some lycanthrope ready to attack.
Like he was saying, you haven’t seen me yet, I can bite, I will bite.
Well, duh.
“We can do this weekend” Madara settled for. “If that gives you enough time to prepare.
Hashirama nodded with determination.
———
Hashirama was nervous, that much Madara could tell; which wasn’t particularly reassuring when he was about to carry on a life-altering medical procedure on him.
Hashirama had spent his days gathering supplies and doing last-minute research. They agreed on letting everyone but their little brothers and Mito know Madara had come down with a fever, according to Izuna that had been common when he was a kid, so the chance of raising suspicion was minimal.
Of course, the three clans were in the known of the procedure, but they didn’t need any meddling, as well-meaning as it could be, until they were done to avoid any secrets spilling.
Hashirama had refused to write down anything short of vague notes, this method could not be at risk of being replicated by anyone but himself and there was never any mention of the secret ingredient for the regeneration of cells. Madara was sure that a bit more stability in the world and more security in the village could be an outstanding medical procedure from which they could benefit, but he kept his thoughts for profit to himself for the time being.
When the time came, they settled to carry on the procedure in their studio, they barely used it anyway so it was scarce enough that they didn’t need to move anything out of the way.
“I know I got annoyed by you constantly asking if I was sure, but now it is my turn to ask, are you sure you want to do this?” Madara inquired with a raised eyebrow, standing in the doorway and watching as his appearance made Hashirama stop his pacing.
“Y-yeah!” Hashirama gulped. “There’s nothing to worry about”
“Now say it like you believe it and not like you are trying to convince yourself” Madara entered the room, looking around. There was a tray with a couple of things; gauze, rubbing alcohol, an empty syringe, and other medical utensils. “I don’t feel very reassured right now”
Hashirama sighed heavily, slumping a little. “I know, I am sorry. I swear I have been practicing and I am pretty sure everything is going to be just fine. I just… I really don’t wanna hurt you” He said, all while avoiding Madara’s gaze.
Now it was his turn to sigh. He really tried not to think about the future seeing Hashirama right now, remembering how Mito mentioned and Hashirama himself confirmed that the protecting instincts were only going to grow more intense once the bond was formed. Best not to worry about something that hasn’t happened yet, less he gets unnecessary extra stress.
He continued advancing until he was in front of Hashirama, frustrated at the other man’s lack of acknowledgment, Madara cupped his face in his hands to force him to look at him when he spoke next.
“You won’t hurt me,” He said in earnest. “And I will kick your ass if you do,” He said with mirth, patting Hashirama’s cheeks none too gently. The other man didn’t laugh, but his shoulders lost some of their rigidness. “C’mon, let’s do this before you chicken out”
Hashirama nodded once Madara had removed his hands from his face. The man took a deep breath with his eyes closed and when he let go and opened his eyes, his look had shifted. He looked focused and determined. Madara was honestly a little worried by how good Hashirama was at concealing and suppressing his emotions, he thought a bond to know how the man was feeling at times like this was going to be really useful.
“Sit down here” Hashirama instructed, motioning at a chair that left Madara at the perfect height for Hashirama to work on him. “Lean back, it will be more comfortable”
Madara obeyed, relaxing on the chair.
“Now, it is very important that you let me know if you taste blood”
“What?” Madara snapped his eyes to a sheepish-looking Hashirama.
“I don’t think it will happen, but if I overdo it your gums might start bleeding a little. It is the best indicator we have to stop” Hashirama scratched the back of his face, not seeing the frown on Madara’s face recede. “I am basically going to push out any vitamin C from the target area, bleeding gums is one of the milder early symptoms of the deficiency. If your gums start to bleed, it means I am going too far with it and I need to reassess”
“Just tell me my teeth are not going to fall out” Madara half-joked.
“No, there’s no risk of that at all” Hashirama reassured. “Falling teeth would come much later”
“Okay, you know what? Shut up. I don’t wanna know. Just- do your magic and stop stalling”
Hashirama nodded with a nervous exhale. “Let’s get this over with”
———
Madara comes to slowly, his eyes dilate with the light so he is sure not much time must have passed. No sooner is he adjusting his sight to the light when a Hashirama-shaped silhouette appears in his vision.
“How are you feeling?” Is the first thing that comes out of his mouth.
Madara scrunched his nose, making a motion to sit up but he is quickly pushed back down by a hand on his chest and he goes easily.
“Like I need to chew on an orange” He deadpans. “Water?”
Immediately a cup of water is approaching his lips and he sips slowly to not make himself sick. The cup moves away once he is done and Madara sighs.
He honestly doesn’t feel too terrible, but something is going on. He is feeling… uncomfortable. He sniffs and is made aware of the fact there is much more mucus there than it should be.
Hashirama has a tissue ready for him before he can ask and, this time assists him in sitting up to blow his nose easier. Hashirama takes a seat next to him and Madara realizes they are in his room, at least Hashirama hadn’t left him to crane his neck on that chair or on the couch in the studio, even while he realized Hashirama had never really been inside before, not really, not further than lingering at the very entrance.
When Madara sniffs again, the rush of air is almost comforting. Well, it is comforting and he would have focused on the comfort if the air wasn’t entirely tinted with the smell of the forest. A mix of wood, grass, and petrichor that transported him straight to nature.
He closes his eyes and continues to sniff, letting the scent soak him.
All too soon it feels like the scent is shifting, now it’s like the forest has dried up, gone through a season of drought in desperate need of water, Madara wonders what that means and his intrigue increases when the scent suddenly shifts once more and all of a sudden he is surrounded by gardenias. Madara has never been a flower person but this particular scent is good, not overpowering and he feels enticed to keep greedily gulping the scent… but his nose hoops against something, and he is snapped out of it, opening his eyes.
“…Madara?” Hashirama’s trembling voice calls out hesitantly.
“Yes?” He replies, he is not as deep into it as he was a couple of seconds ago but he can tell the scent is still shifting, apparently unable to decide what to settle for.
“You’re, uh, you’re kinda close? You’re on my lap?” Hashirama sounds borderline panicked.
Madara finally realized that in his purchase to understand the scent, the first scent he got to smell with his now working glands, he had ended up crowding Hashirama.
“Holy shit, it worked” Madara looked at Hashirama with his eyes wide open in wonder, this man truly was something of a medical prodigy.
“I- uhm, yes! You were… scenting me?” Hashirama stuttered.
“Meaning…?” Madara inquired, climbing out of the other man’s lap and settling to remain by his side.
“Uhm, well… people usually, like, deeply sniff someone when they are enjoying their scent?”
“Huh, well then, I guess so,” Madara said matter-of-factly. “I got hints of your scent before but this time it was so much more detailed, I could tell whenever it changed, you were shifting a lot for a minute there”
Hashirama let out a startled laugh at Madara’s honesty. “I’m gonna be sincere, you were freaking me out a bit there”
“You smell like gardenias when you get freaked out?” Madara called him out with a raise of his eyebrow, although he was kinda new to this scent thing, for all he knew Hashirama had a pleasant smell when he was spooked.
“No, I, uh…” Heat rose to his cheeks. “I just got- when you were… I, uhm… you caught me off guard, and you climbed on my lap but I, uh, I g-got happy! When I, uh, realized you were scenting me and that meant it all had gone according to plan!” Hashirama explained, sounding just a tad bit hysterical.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t really think it was going to be done with so soon. I woke up, blew my nose and suddenly I could smell shifts in your emotions. It caught me off guard too” Madara defended, starting to feel a bit self-conscious by Hashirama’s reaction.
Hashirama started to wave his hands as if to dissipate the feeling. “That’s completely understandable! I guess, neither of us was ready”
“You’re still freaking out” Madara pointed out.
“I’m sorry, please don’t pay me any mind. I, uh, do that sometimes. You just can tell better because you have the scent cues to go off of” Hashirama begged.
Madara had no choice but to accept his words for what they were, he supposed if Hashirama was freaking out because something had gone medically wrong, he would have told him straight out. So, he supposed whatever internal turmoil Hashirama was going through, he could leave him to deal with himself if his assistance was not requested.
He installed deeply in and out, scenting. Eventually, he found himself a little restless.
“So… is this it? Are we good for the bond and the rest?”
Finally, that threw Hashirama out of his head and he shook his head.
“No, I wouldn’t recommend that at all,” He said. “I would say you need to stay here at least a couple of days, tomorrow we can have visitors, Izuna and Hikaku, and then the day after we can have Tobirama and Akio over. If you are not overwhelmed by everyone, then you should start going out with your clan and then the rest of the village. And then, once you have settled we can do the bond, so it is still some way I’m the future. I want to make sure you feel comfortable before jumping straight into it”
Madara wasn’t going to lie, that was actually really considerate and nice of Hashirama. He could have marked him as soon as his scent glands worked again but he restrained in favor of Madara’s comfort.
“Besides” Hashirama continued. “I think people are going to want to get lungfuls of you before letting you go on with the bonding”
That caught his attention once again.
“What do you mean? Do I smell that different?”
Hashirama shook his head no with a smile. “It’s not that as much as you know have a scent. Before it was extremely muted, like you were intentionally concealing it and I really couldn’t tell it apart from scents carried by a breeze, but now… now you do”
“And… what do I smell like?” Madara asked, genuinely curious.
Hashirama hummed, closing his eyes and leaning in on Madara to be able to get a better sense. Okay, if this is what Hashirama saw and felt when he was lost in his sense of smell, Madara can completely understand the freakout.
He tried not to move away, even if he was compelled to lean back to avoid the closeness.
Finally, Hashirama retreated, humming once more like he was considering a difficult problem.
“You smell smokey, unsurprisingly, but there are also hints of brown sugar and metal. Like a musky scent with a hint of sweetness,” Hashirama nodded, apparently satisfied with his review.
Madara pursed his lips, not entirely happy but knowing that him being an omega, his scent was bound to have at least a hint of sweetness, if not being completely overpowered by it. At least he didn’t smell like flowers or baked goods, small blessings.
After their little scent exchange and confirming that Madara wasn’t really feeling sick or uncomfortable, they decided to spend the rest of the day as they normally would. Surprisingly, it was already the evening.
They had started the procedure early in the morning so Madara must have passed out for longer than he thought. Hashirama encouraged him to get as much rest as he could to assist his body’s recovery and make things more smooth.
After a healthy dinner full of vitamin C, each of them retrieved to their own rooms for the night.
It didn’t take a long while for Madara to grow restless. He could kind of smell himself in the room and in his bed sheets and it was nice and comforting, familiar. However, it felt like something was missing, something itching him beyond his nose that wouldn’t let him fall asleep without satiating the craving.
On one occasion, he rolled and pushed his nose against the bedding and he smelt something that immediately put a rest to the feeling in his gut. It took him merely a minute to identify what he was smelling.
The forest.
A little pissed off and a lot embarrassed, Madara huffed as he made his way out of his bed, his room, and towards Hashirama’s door, where he knocked with perhaps more force than it was necessary. A thud could be heard immediately, followed by silence and then, hesitantly: “Come in?”
Madara opened the door and tried not to inhale too deeply, even if it was proving to be more difficult than he thought.
“I can’t sleep” Madara blurted out, biting his lower lip with a frown, Goddess, he sounded like a little kid.
Hashirama looked at him, sitting up on his bed, completely out of his element.
“Oh, uhm. I am sorry to hear that. What’s wrong?”
Madara was a little relieved that Hashirama wasn’t making fun of him, he already had enough mortification.
“I don’t know” Madara shrugged. “My stupid fucking nose- I don’t know”
Hashirama tilted his head like a confused puppy, brows furrowed in conflict while Madara stood awkwardly at the threshold, avoiding eye contact and arms crossed defensively in front of his chest.
It took a minute, but finally, Hashirama seemed to have an idea, a revelation that made him widen his eyes and flush a bit. He looked around the room but settled to take hold of his pillow and extended it as an offering.
“Would this help?”
“Let’s fucking see” Madara stomped into the room, snatched the pillow, and noisily made his way out of the room, closing both Hashirama’s door and his own with more force than necessary.
Hashirama laid back down without a pillow and looked at the ceiling with his eyes wide open, sleep chased away by the development.