Chapter Text
They were building the village. Madara was still surprised it was actually happening. Not to say it wasn’t a fight to get anything done, but everything was going much smoother than he ever could have hoped for.
Most of the ease could probably be attributed to the silver-haired man sitting across from him.
It turns out that Tobirama was just as ruthlessly efficient at city planning as he was on the battlefield. Where did he even learn about plumbing systems?
Irrelevant, he could just picture the other man’s response.
Ever since the initial peace negotiations, Madara had kept a close eye on Tobirama, and he liked what he saw. The Senju heir was highly intelligent, loyal, with no patience for fools and a dry humor that flew over many people’s heads. Not to mention he was incredibly attractive.
What was initially a fascination with the man had swiftly devolved into a stupid crush.
Madara watched Tobirama viciously cross something out from the proposed treaty for the Trinity clans, furrowed brows indicating the level of stupidity he thought he was reading.
Oh, who was he kidding? He was miles past a simple crush by now.
He looked down at his own notes, brushing his bangs from his face.
Once development of the village began in earnest, Madara fought to be the one working closely with Tobirama. To be fair, none of the other Uchiha actually wanted to spend an extended amount of time with the man, and those that did were most likely intending to sabotage the planning or start a fight.
As Madara glanced at the Senju through his lashes, he thought back to what Hashirama had told him about Hatake courting traditions.
“The Hatake as a whole are very in-tune to their instincts,” he said with a smile, “and they’re incredibly pack-oriented. Their courting traditions allow a suitor to prove they can be a supportive spouse and pack-mate.”
“And you do that by…?” Madara asked, trying not to stare at where Tobirama had walked away.
“Ok, step one: a demonstration of strength! Show that you can protect your intended and their pack.”
A demonstration of strength… It wasn’t a stretch to say that Madara was one of the strongest shinobi in Hi no Kuni, and Tobirama was well aware. Is he still supposed to prove his strength? Although, Tobirama had only experienced Madara fighting while they were still enemies. Hashirama said this was about proving you could protect your spouse. Maybe he could find a joint mission they could go on together?
“You seem distracted.”
Madara startled at Tobirama’s voice as the other continued scratching out sentences and making notations.
“A bit,” he said quickly, “I’m not sure how you can sit still for so long.”
The younger man hummed, still writing. “It’s easy to get lost in a task. I just have to do something later to run out the excess energy.”
That’s it!
“Let’s spar,” Madara said, laying his brush down with a clack.
“What?” Tobirama asked, finally looking up from his papers in confusion.
“To get out some energy, and then we can finish our paperwork. Let’s spar.”
“The two of us?” Tobirama continued to stare, wide-eyed.
“Yes,” Madara said, leaning over the table with a smirk. “Why? You scared?”
Red eyes narrowed.
“You wish,” the other growled, the sound rumbling in his chest. Madara’s smile widened.
“Great! Follow me.”
And with that, Madara jumped up and lept out the window, a deep sigh following him as Tobirama did the same. A few quick shunshin and the two were on the other side of the burgeoning village in one of the newly made training grounds. Already, the soft grass underneath was showing the wear of many feet turning spots to compacted earth.
“Rules?” Tobirama asked at his side, placing his ever-present fur gently on the sidelines.
“Taijutsu only, to a tap-out or pinning for ten seconds.”
“Taijutsu only?” The Senju seemed to perk up, strangely enough. While he knew Tobirama’s hand-to-hand must be good, he was much more known for his ninjutsu and sword work. Even though his face seemed as blank as ever, Madara was sure Tobirama seemed excited for some reason.
Madara nodded and got into position. “Ready?”
Tobirama flashed him a grin, long canines gleaming. The expression startled Madara enough he was nearly too late throwing up a block as the other man flashed in front of him.
Fast, he thought with a wild sort of glee as the two of them fell into a rhythm.
Tobirama was unlike anyone he’d fought before. Even though Madara was physically stronger, the silver-haired man seemed to nearly dance out of reach. At one point, Madara nearly overbalanced when Tobirama dodged by falling into a backbend and then twisting the momentum into a leg hook.
Nothing the man did was predictable. It was the most fun he’s had in a friendly spar in ages. He and Hashirama have fought enough they barely have to focus on what they’re doing. With Tobirama, it was like a puzzle, trying to figure out how to trap and pin him before he flipped away again.
He wanted to know what it would be like to fight Tobirama all out when the man had his full arsenal of tricks and jutsu to play with.
They were starting to breathe heavily when Madara feints, baiting an underhook and using his body weight to grapple Tobirama to the ground. The man landed hard on his back while Madara readjusted and got a strong grip before he could recover and break free.
Tobirama snarled and snapped his teeth, pupils dilated and fangs nearly nipping at Madara’s throat when a flash of fire overhead startled the two apart.
“Madara!” Hikaku, suddenly appearing, frantically ran over, looking worriedly between the two men. Behind him, Senju Touka was walking calmly to catch up. Where had those two come from?. “What’s going on? Why were you fighting?”
“What?” He asked, scowling. Why did they have to interrupt now of all times? “We were sparring.”
The other Uchiha didn’t look convinced, nervously stepping closer to his clan head.
“Madara,” he hissed quietly, “It looked like he was about to rip your throat out with his teeth.”
“Oh please,” Touka said, finally reaching the small group after picking up Tobirama’s fur. “They were playfighting.”
Play-? Madara glanced over to Tobirama, who was pointedly looking away, arms crossed.
Hikaku looked at Touka like she was crazy. “Beating the shit out of each other is playfighting?” Touka slung his fur back over Tobirama’s shoulders.
“You’re a shinobi, relax,” she said, rolling her eyes, “No weapons, no jutsu, rolling around, play-biting? Kind of obvious.”
“What about the White Demon playing is obvious?”
Madara wanted to bury his face in his hands in dismay. Hikaku seemed to realize his mistake as Touka narrowed her eyes.
“It’s a pretty normal bonding activity, especially among the Hatake,” she said, frowning. “You should be grateful to even be considered-“
“That’s enough, Touka,” Tobirama interrupted. “There was no harm meant.”
No, Madara thought, annoyed. Just the patented Uchiha foot-in-mouth no jutsu..
Tobirama turned to Madara. “We can finish our work in the office tomorrow.” Before he could respond, the two Senju left.
Great. Only the first step of courting and he’s managed to fuck it up.
“Why did you interrupt?” He growled, turning to glare at the other Uchiha. The bits of metal along Hikaku’s sleeves jingled as he put his hands up.
“It really did look like you two were fighting,” he defended. “It would have been bad for peace if two of the village founders were caught at each other's throats like that.”
Madara groaned, succumbing and covering his face with his hands.
“It was going so well…”
Hikaku looked on in confusion before he seemed to have an epiphany.
“Madara. Really? The White Demon?”
“Don’t call him that!” Madara shouted, flustered. “And shut up!”
Hikaku only sighed. “Good luck breaking the news to Izuna.”
Madara paled.
He had only just started the courting process. He could probably wait to tell Izuna.
—————
“Second part of Hatake courting traditions: prove you’re good with children.”
“What? Children?”
”Yep! Even if you don’t have kids of your own, Hatake usually raise children communally, so you still need to show you can take care of them. Plus, Tobi loves kids!”
Ok, this one would be easy. Madara liked kids. He used to take care of his younger brothers and cousins all the time. If he just so happened to ‘borrow’ his cousin Tomoe’s son no one would bat an eye. Tomoe would be grateful for the day off. Kagami was a great child, but he was… very energetic.
And if he just so happened to take Kagami to get dango from Tobirama’s favorite tea shop, and subsequently run into the man, that was just a happy coincidence.
“And who is this?” The Senju asked, after nodding to the free seats across from him.
“I’m Kagami! I’m five! I’m gonna be a ninja like Mada-ji! Who are you? Are you a ninja? Are you friends with Mada-ji? Do you know any cool jutsu?” Kagami started to ramble excitedly while Madara settled him on a cushion and flagged down a waitress.
“It’s nice to meet you Kagami,” Tobirama smiled slightly. “My name is Tobirama. Yes, I’m a ninja, and yes, I’m friends with your uncle. I know many jutsu, although I don’t know if they’re cool or not.”
Madara tried not to feel smug about Tobirama calling him a friend as he ordered tea and dango.
“Kagami is my cousin’s son,” he said, patting the boy’s wild curls. Kagami smiled up at him, front baby tooth missing where it had fallen out the day before. “I help her out every so often by taking him for the day.”
“Mada-ji promised to get me dango cuz I lost a tooth yesterday and I didn’t cry when there was blood everywhere!”
“He fell out of a tree and the loose tooth got knocked out early,” Madara said in response to Tobirama’s questioning glance.
“I see,” the man chuckled. “Dango does seem like a good reward for being so brave.”
“Yeah! Mada-ji says sugar solves all problems!”
“Is that so?” Tobirama said, shooting a sly look at the older man. Madara flushed.
He had a sweet tooth, so what?
At that moment, the waitress came back with his order, preventing Kagami from exposing him further. Madara placed some of the hanami dango in front of Kagami after removing them from their skewer. He didn’t want to risk the boy trying to throw them around like senbon. Again. Tobirama looked surprised when a plate of shoyu dango was placed in front of him. He shot a look to Madara as he picked up a skewer of the savory rice cakes. Madara refused to feel embarrassed.
Tobirama wasn’t much of a fan of sweets so he ordered the soy sauce grilled dango, so what?
As they began eating, he looked over at the suspiciously quiet Kagami, who was looking wide-eyed at Tobirama as the Senju took a bite.
“Your teeth are pointy. Are you a vampire?”
“Kagami!” Madara hissed, mortified.
Tobirama merely chuckled, flashing his long canines and causing Kagami to squeak. Madara tried not to stare.
“No, my teeth are a Hatake clan trait.”
“Is it like how we have the sharingan?” Kagami asked, leaning over the table to look at Tobirama closer. Madara pushed the plate of dango out of the way of Kagami’s trailing sleeve.
“Close, but not quite. Fangs and silver hair are physical traits shared among the Hatake. It’s more similar to how most Uchiha all have dark hair and eyes.”
“Ohh, ok.” Kagami sat back down, curiosity sated, and began eating his dango again.
Kagami started chatting about learning how to throw shuriken, Tobirama listening intently and asking questions now and then.
Madara sighed. Not a disaster, but his second courting attempt could have gone better.
Later, once they were walking home, Madara asked Kagami where he’d even heard about vampires.
“Izuna-ji told me a story about them!”
That brat, he thought, staring at the sky.
Maybe he shouldn’t put off telling Izuna about his courting of the Senju any longer.