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Tobirama watches Anija and the Uchiha heir play their absurd game of skipping rocks across the river. He's personally not particularly interested in their activities, but Anija is his responsibility and the other boy is an Uchiha.

He's known all about it, of course, ever since Anija came back from their first meeting and began planning their second. Anija is sly and manipulative, much more than most people realise, but subtlety is not something that he does well. The excessive sneaking and suspicious hiding gave him away as surely as it does when he tries to steal snacks from the kitchen.

So he followed and saw them meet. He almost stepped forward, sword drawn, but he held his peace and has been rewarded.

Anija, it appears, has made a friend who shares the same dreams as he.

It's a good thing, a comfort that Anija sorely needs and that Tobirama cannot provide, giving him solace from the brutality of their home. With every death, Anija has become more broken even as chichiue’s rage has grown, and the loss of Itama was enough to drive him into open rebellion.

Anija is like the wood that he wields, a sapling young and strong. But, hit it in the right point, and it breaks.

Tobirama knows that he is that weak point.

It is why he has made every effort to become stronger, to distract their father, and to take as many burdens as he can off Anija's shoulders. It has cost him, and cost him dearly, but he is water and he can flow around obstacles that he cannot wear away.

Survival is what he does.

Which is why he is here.

Usually, he is content to observe Anija and the Uchiha through the use of his sensory abilities. However, he made sure to be here today because another element has been added to the situation, a factor that he has no way to predict.

The other Uchiha heir is here, the young one.

Tobirama felt it as soon as the other boy left the Uchiha compound, and he set out immediately.

If the two Uchiha join together to attempt an assassination, they will find that Anija has support as well. If the younger Uchiha merely reports back to their Clan Head, Tobirama’s actions will depend entirely on the response that he receives.

Tobirama will observe, and only if Uchiha Tajima sets out with murder in his heart will Tobirama speak to chichiue. Bringing their father into this situation has always been a last resort, but a necessary one that he has always had to hold in reserve.

Better Anija's anger and chichiue's rage, than to lose his brother to the blade of an Uchiha. Tobirama swore it over Itama's grave and sealed his vow with blood and hair.

No matter what, Anija will live.

So he waits and he watches from his perch in the trees as the grass on the Uchiha side of the river rustles. He feels the outrage, and so has an instant of warning before the younger Uchiha heir bursts out of his hiding place and begins to berate his older brother, upbraiding him for being so much of an idiot as to not recognise the Senju heir.

Despite himself, Tobirama feels a pang of sympathy.

Yes, the older Uchiha - Madara, if the information from their spies is correct - is a fitting match for Anija, and Tobirama himself often wishes to bellow at Anija in the same manner. He would never actually do it, of course, that would be disrespectful, but it is a very nice fantasy.

However, Madara promptly takes revenge on the other Uchiha, tackling him and grinding his face into the dirt, hissing at him to be quiet.

That's familiar too.

They truly are siblings.

Anija, of course, is making a great show of his bewilderment. "Um, Madara? Who is this?"

Tobirama wants to cover his face with his hands, but refrains. He should be used to it by now, but Anija's lack of decorum and failure to act as dignified as a Clan Heir should is always vexing to him.

At the same time, with the two Uchiha scuffling on the riverbank, there's not much point in hiding anymore. No matter how this turns out, Anija and Madara have been discovered. His own presence is unlikely to worsen the situation, but Anija will need a balancing viewpoint, and the Uchiha should know that they too have been observed.

So Tobirama leaps down from his tree, approaching on silent feet. "That is his brother. The other Uchiha heir. Which you would know if you paid any attention to the descriptions coming in from our spies."

Anija gives him a quick wink behind the strands of hair that screen his face and Tobirama almost rolls his eyes. Anija's insistence upon playing the fool has long since become little more than a thin disguise for most of their clan, but the Uchiha are unlikely to be as familiar with him as the Senju. Despite its many disadvantages to someone in a position of authority, being underestimated gives Anija many opportunities and the least Tobirama can do is support his brother in the endeavour.

Pretending that Anija is a witless idiot who doesn't even read reports is simply good sense.

Madara looks up sharply, clearly surprised at a new voice in the conversation, and Tobirama silently judges him for not being more aware of his surroundings. Izuna, on the other hand, takes advantage of his brother's distraction to squirm away and rise to his feet, pointing at Tobirama with enough dramatics to be worthy of an entire kabuki play. "Well, I know who you are, you white haired bastard! You're the other Senju heir! And you’ve been spying on us!"

Tobirama really does roll his eyes this time. "You could only know my identity if you were spying on the Senju in turn, so you will excuse me if I do not play into your hypocritical double standard."

Tobirama watches closely and sees that Izuna looks momentarily satisfied at that statement before he descends into wild arm waving yet again.

Interesting.

Even more so is the way Madara immediately seizes his brother around the shoulders as Izuna tries to charge forward, hands grasping like claws. "Why you little -!" Izuna's voice is a shriek and Tobirama knows that they will soon begin to attract attention if they haven't already.

Perhaps that was Izuna's plan all along.

However, Anija clearly has no intention of allowing this conversation to be made any more public than it already is. He reaches out and pulls Izuna away from Madara, wrapping the younger boy in a cuddle. "Madara! You little brother is so cute!“

It looks and feels affectionate, but that hold is almost unbreakable. Tobirama should know, as he has been subjected to it often enough. It appears that Madara has either not pierced Anija's mask of affability, or is playing the same game as Tobirama, for he only pinches his nose and says "Is that really all you got out of this? Really?"

At the same time, Izuna vehemently protests his circumstances, even as Anija attempts to snuggle him ruthlessly into submission. "Let me go, you idiot!"

Once again, Tobirama feels a modicum of sympathy, so he makes a peace offering. "Good luck with that. If you figure out how to make it happen, let me know." It is said grumpily, but the offer is genuine and they can all tell.

Anija pouts at him exaggeratedly, and Madara looks momentarily amused. Izuna, unappreciative, simply devolves into incoherent and undignified screaming, something Anija only makes worse by petting his hair.

Madara has obviously given up on getting anything out of either of them until they establish who is the winner of this farcical battle of wills, for he turns to Tobirama in an appeal to sanity. "Your brother is an idiot."

Now that is an undeniable truth, no matter which way Madara means it.

As such, Tobirama sees no harm in agreeing. "With a distorted sense of priorities," he replies with a nod.

He's expecting more conversation, hopefully something which will allow him to asses exactly how well Madara knows his brother. Instead, Madara merely blinks. There is a long pause before Madara speaks again.

"Those are my words," Madara's voice is hesitant, and Tobirama freezes in shock.

He has no idea what to say, but his silence only serves to embolden Madara, for the other boy grows more assertive. "Those are my words! Hey! Are you listening to me?"

Tobirama takes a deep breath. However this came about, he must now deal with it. First, confirmation. "Are you sure?"

Madara yanks up his sleeve, revealing the characters on his forearm. "See for yourself!"

Tobirama reaches out, hand hovering over the words, and it is only when Madara raises his arm that they touch. With that encouragement, it doesn't seem overly bold to trace the characters. "I do see."

Madara's voice is hushed, respectful of the magnitude of the question that he asks. "Do you have my words?"

Tobirama can only reciprocate, unwrapping the bandages around his left forearm. He does not know if he would rather his words are Madara's or not. To have an Uchiha for a soulmate is more than problematic, it is a political nightmare.

To have a broken - mismatched - soulbond is a recipe for heartbreak and a life of misery.

It's a struggle to keep his voice calm, but he does his best. "I do have the words 'your brother is an idiot' on my arm, but many people have said that to me over the years. Anija has been attempting to provoke people into saying it as soon as he realised what my words are."

Hearing his name and the topic under discussion, Anija drags Izuna over to participate in the conversation. "You know I only want you to find your soulmate, otouto!"

"LET ME GO YOU MOR - oh. Ohhhhhh..." Izuna's shrieking cuts off abruptly as he notices their predicament.

Madara's hand flashes out and grips Tobirama's wrist tightly, as if to defend their connection from his brother. "It's my writing. We're a match." His voice is immovable, earth rather than the fire his clan is so well known for.

Tobirama feels much the same, but this choice is not his to make. "I agree. Anija. What do you wish to do?”

"Um... Run away to the Uzumaki?" Anija looks like a rabbit caught in the stare of a wolf, and Tobirama wants to hide his face in shame.

It's clearly an instinctive response, based more on their mutual desire to leverage Anija's planned betrothal to Mito-hime in order to remove their father from power than an actual plan, and it is utterly unhelpful. For one thing, how would that solve this problem? For another, why would the Uchiha do it?

"Anija." His flat stare and tone are a warning to contribute or be quiet.

Or, alternatively, make sensible and well thought out decisions. They do not need to be detailed, Anija has never been good at the minutia of daily living, but that is what Tobirama is for. He just needs Anija to tell him in which direction they should take this.

However, that is not what he gets. Instead, Anija droops like a plant deprived of water and begins to whine. "I don't know, Otouto!

Izuna takes advantage of it to wriggle out of Anija's slackened grasp. "No, no, that's actually a good idea."

Madara looks incredibly unimpressed. "You want us to run away to a Senju allied clan. Really."

"Yes! They'll hold us hostage!" Izuna is afire with the idea, and Madara groans in frustration, covering his face with his free hand.

"Izuna... That's not -"

Most of Tobirama's mind is already making the mental leaps to flesh out Izuna's idea, but a small part of him notices that Madara has yet to release his wrist. It feels... nice.

But Izuna first.

"I see your plan. They will hold all of us hostage, and our parents will have to go to Uzushio to collect us. We can have the soul marks independently verified before their arrival, and our fathers will then have to publicly acknowledge that we are a match. It could be a foundation for a peace treaty based on our marriage."

Izuna points at him, but this time in an excitable rather than frustrated manner. "Exactly! They'd have to negotiate publicly. People would be watching them."

“They would be more likely to grandstand, but also more likely to be reasonable." Tobirama cannot resist listing some of the additional benefits of this plan and Izuna feeds off them.

"We already know which items would be most likely to be a part of a peace treaty.” Izuna's voice is still high with his youth, but the plan it presents is worthy of a mature shinobi.

Tobirama is nodding his agreement almost before Izuna finishes speaking. "We could present our fathers with a list of what the other would be most likely to accept, as well as a list of things that would never be considered."

Izuna looks sly. "A little manipulation..."

"... and they would ask for things that they know the other could not afford to say no to, simply because they will wish to embarrass each other in public." Tobirama finishes Izuna's sentence.

"We could even bring the Uzumaki in on the plan, if you think they'd be willing to play along.”

Izuna looks questioningly at him, and Tobirama makes haste to reassure him, thinking of the amusement on Mito-hime's face at the idea of publicly cornering chichiue. "I can say with certainty that they would."

Izuna looks thrilled with the idea of more allies in this, their shared plan to outwit their parents. "Then we could suggest that they -"

This freely flowing exchange of ideas is exhilarating to Tobirama, so of course Anija has to interrupt.

"Are you sure that they're not a match too?” It's a whisper, but the kind of whisper that actors use when they want to make sure that the audience can hear them.

Izuna subsides, disgruntled, and Tobirama pouts. He wants that feeling back.

The Uchiha heir is intelligent, willing to share, and his plan is just the right blend of realistic and unexpected to succeed. Tobirama has never had another person understand him so well. Suddenly, the idea of peace between their clans is not merely a formless ideal to be strived towards but an actual goal with an achievable path. Being able to work with another mind so similar to his own only adds to the motivation.

Tobirama's thoughts are interrupted when a strong arm seizes him around the waist.

"My soulmate." It's a low growl, and Madara glares at Izuna fiercely.

Now this is nonsense that Tobirama will not stand for. He turns in Madara's arms, towards a face that goes from annoyed to welcoming with a speed that makes him blink.

However, it is as well to set his boundaries now.

He grasps Madara's arm and heaves, flipping Madara over his shoulder onto the ground. Madara grunts with the impact.

"I do not appreciate being manhandled." Just to be sure that Madara understands him, Tobirama makes eye contact, something that is safe enough while Madara's eyes are still a liquid black. After all, he will need to become used to it, if they truly are soulmates. To fear the Sharingan will be counterproductive when his future husband and brother in law will use it regularly.

Point made, Tobirama leaves Madara lying stunned on the ground and gestures to a nearby fallen tree. "Izuna, would you care to sit? We can discuss this further."

Izuna casts a glance at his older brother and smirks. "Certainly. Always nice to talk to someone clever."

Tobirama smiles slowly.

Yes, this is a family that he certainly won't mind marrying into.

Chapter Text

Madara has always trusted in fate and the gods to bring him to his soulmate.

The words on his arm are clearly a rejoinder, part of a larger conversation, so he knows that it will be he who speaks first. As such, he’s made a point of speaking to every single person in his clan and none of the responses have fit. He knows that his soulmate is not an Uchiha.

His soulmate is from outside the clan.

That's dangerous for any Uchiha, much less for the heir to the clan, but Madara is determined. He'll find them and bring them home, however he has to do it.

Perhaps they'll be a young maiden that he rescues while on a mission, or a merchant that he's been hired to guard. They could even be a scholar that he meets at a court function. He can only hope that it isn't another shinobi, for that would mean far too high a chance of their meeting on the battlefield.

So, when he meets his soulmate, Madara is completely unprepared.

Izuna's voice chatters and fades as he and Tobirama walk away, leaving Madara gasping for breath on the ground. Those eyes, red as the Sharingan, which met his own without fear... no one outside of the clan has done that for him, not ever.

Hashirama's face comes into view above him, upside down and full of concern. "Madara? You okay?"

Madara feels the grin taking over his whole face and makes no attempt to stop it. "I'm in love."

And he is.

Tobirama is perfect.

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