#i don't think i've ever written tobi having the morning after happies

[raendown]

Pairing: MadaraTobirama Word count: 3648 Chapter: 35/42 Summary: Not all wars are fought on the battlefield. Some are fought at the conference table, with whispers in the shadows, or even in the bedroom.

In a world where the Senju and Uchiha traditional lands were too far apart to have ever made them enemies, Butsuma and Tajima are the ones who come together and sign a treaty of peace. Madara isn’t happy to have his life signed away for him in a political marriage to strengthen the bond between their clans. He is even less happy to have Tobirama make assumptions of him from their very first night together. What follows from there is a journey of healing, of learning, and finding the places to belong in the places least expected.

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Chapter 35

For as many times as he had yelled at his brother for spouting similar flowery nonsense it was possible he owed Hashirama an apology or two and yet even that thought wasn’t enough to stop him from noticing just how bright the sunlight was today, how crisp the shapes of first frost on every windowpane. Every smile he passed only increased his cheer and if it wouldn’t be so out of character he might have stopped to laugh with some of the happy citizens walking by. Not even the much more reserved atmosphere of the Senju district was enough to dampen his spirits, a spring in his step all the way to his brother’s house where he let himself in without knocking as was his habit. Mito took one look at him and turned her head away to smother a laugh. 

“Good morning, ane,” he called, too cheerful to find any annoyance in her reaction to what was surely a foolish look on his own face. She waved him further in to the home without a word. With a low chuckle he followed the direction she had waved in and found Hashirama watering a few plants in a small side room they frequently claimed was meant for an eventual child. Judging by the sheer amount of flora contained within these four small walls Tobirama sometimes wondered if they weren’t a little more nervous than they let on about the idea of procreating. 

“Hi Tobi! Good morning!” His brother offered a blinding smile, trying to wave and water a small potted tree at the same time only to shake water all over the floor. 

“It certainly is a good morning. I trust you fared well while we were away?”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth Hashirama dropped the watering can and hurried over to feel his forehead. “Tobi are you okay? Did you get sick on your trip?”

“Begging your pardon?”

“Oh dear! It’s worse than I thought!” 

To his utter bafflement Hashirama pulled him back out to the living room and pressed him down in to the closest chair, babbling to Mito the moment they entered her view. “Darling, my dearest, something is wrong. Could you fetch me the blanket from the couch there? He’s not acting himself!” 

“I am perfectly fine, anija.” Tobirama chuckled and then chuckled harder when the sound elicited a small fit from his sibling.

“You asked if we were okay while you were gone! You never ask that! And you’re being all polite and kind and – oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear. I hope Madara isn’t sick too!” he turned to his wife with an indecisive frown. “Should we check on him or do you think it would make him angry?”

“For goodness sake, man, I said that I’m fine! Control your husband ane!” 

“Ane!?”

To his great amusement Hashirama's eyes rolled back in his head and he sank down on the couch next to his wife, fanning himself with one hand like a gentlelady experiencing the vapors. On any other day Tobirama knew he would have been fuming with temper at so many insults against his character – to be so worried about him simply for a little politeness! – but his mood was too good and today nothing felt wrong with the world. Today he had enough patience to simply recline in his chair and watch with a mild expression as Mito lost the battle with her own self-control and let slip one single string of giggles.

“Peace, husband, he’s perfectly fine,” she told him. 

“Now you too!?” he cried. “What is going on with you two?”

Reaching over to pat him on the knee, Mito took a few deep breaths to calm herself. “He had sex, darling, he’s just in a very good mood.”

Like the brave woman she was she made it all the way through her entire sentence before breaking down and exploding in to a full on giggling fit. Tobirama cocked his head to watch her, wishing for a moment that he could record her like the Sharingan could. What excellent blackmail this would have made. 

A very small piece of his mood was soured when Hashirama shot up on the couch with a ramrod straight back and a smile bright enough to light the entire village at the witching hour. “Oh! Excellent! Finally! I really was beginning to worry about the two of you again. Madara explained his clan’s customs to me – and I respect them! – it just doesn’t seem very healthy to me for a married couple to ignore that part of their relationship.”

“What if one person in the couple doesn’t like sex?” Tobirama asked, more in the mood for gentle teasing than to allow Hashirama of all people to offer opinions on something he thought had been going fairly well for a while now. Also it was fun to watch the man flail as though terrified he might have offended someone.

“Of course! It’s their choice! I just meant–”

“Did you ever ask Madara if he was even interested in that? How do you know I didn’t just tie him to the bed and have my way?”

Hashirama clapped both hands to the sides of his face, horrified. “Tobi! You wouldn’t!”

“But how do you know I didn’t?” He was so glad he’d come here first before visiting Touka. This was much more entertaining than her easy acceptance would have been. 

“Please tell me you didn’t? Oh Tobirama, I’m so disappointed, you two have been getting along so much better lately. He’s going to be so angry. Do you think I should go see him? Maybe I can settle him down, talk to him and keep him calm. You should apologize!” On and on he went, completely unaware of Mito rolling her eyes beside him, until finally Tobirama cut him off with a loud huff. 

“I am, quite frankly, very insulted you’re taking this so seriously. Do you honestly think I would ever force anyone in such a manner? I know I was just joking about it but it’s not actually a joking matter.” Tobirama frowned reprovingly. “Honestly, what must you think of me?” 

He was pleased to see that brought Hashirama up short. The man fell utterly still and one could almost physically watch the wheels turning in his mind and he processed the fact that he’d been had. It seemed to take even longer for him to figure out what to do with that information but eventually he sagged back next to his wife and drew one hand down his face as though exhausted by so much difficult thought all at once. When he met Tobirama’s eyes again he was grinning in relief. 

“You really had me going there!” he said and Tobirama only shook his head.

“Only because you make it too easy for me to do so. Truly if I weren’t in such a good mood I would be very upset with you right now.” 

Hashirama laughed nervously and offered a dozen or so apologies before Tobirama let the subject drop, turning to strike up a conversation with Mito instead. The visit ended up being quite a pleasant one despite the insult he suffered at Hashirama's assumption. After all the personal gossip had been traded and Tobirama had made enough hints at the events of his rather delightful night without actually giving them any details their chat finally turned back towards the purpose of his visit. 

Where most might have spoken with their coworkers or others in their department to catch up on what had happened in the village during an absence Tobirama knew better. The best method was to hope Mito was available and in a proper mood to spill a few secrets. Butsuma may not consider her part of the official spy network but the size of her web of connections was rivalled by very few and Tobirama knew no better hub of information than his dear sister in law. All it took was a few questions worded just right and he was perfectly caught up not only on the official things he had missed but also a few unofficial ones as well, gossip that didn’t really pertain to him but could be useful if he encountered the right circumstances. 

The one little tidbit which caught his attention the most was from a team who had travelled in the opposite direction of the capitol and came back reporting strange chakra activity in the area. Without a sensor in their group they hadn’t been able to say anything more specific than that but it was just odd enough of a warning to make Tobirama curious about what anyone else travelling through the area might have to say. For a non-sensor type to feel strange chakra activity there had to be quite a large amount of it. If he were a less responsible man he might have skipped out of the village to go look in to things himself. 

Once Mito finally ran out of gossip she was willing to share he stuck around for a little while longer, bearing his brother’s teasing about how often he smiled in the few short hours of his visit and quite proud of himself for resisting the urge to retaliate even once. At least his sister in law wasn’t quite so loud and brash about her own ribbing. When he left he made his way through the backyard to pop in on Touka where he suffered through more than twice as much teasing as he’d gotten from the other two, though once again he managed to let it all flow off his back with the help of his unnaturally good mood. It was, he told himself, nice to see his beloved family so happy even if it was at his own expense. 

Leaving Touka’s he was still in high enough spirits he had to concentrate in order to keep his face from breaking out in to a ridiculous smile as he walked back home. The office could wait for tomorrow. Whatever paperwork had piled up in his absence would still be there when he was actually on the clock; maybe if he was lucky then the people who were supposed to have been covering his duties while he was away might be inspired to actually do the work before he got there. Probably not but he could hope. 

A very small bit of his good mood dissipated, however, when he reached for the front door of his home and caught a minute flare of chakra from inside. Evidently Izuna had come to visit while he was gone. Tobirama hovered with his fingers wrapped around the door handle, waffling with indecision, hoping neither of the men inside were paying enough attention to feel him there. On the one hand he wanted nothing more than to step inside and spend the rest of his day cozied up next to Madara watching his husband shiver at every touch, hyper aware of him after last night. On the other he knew that Madara had as much right as he did to catch up with family and Izuna had proven time and time again that he just couldn’t be comfortable with Tobirama in the house. Should he leave? It would be the decent thing to do. 

But when had he ever professed to be a decent person? 

In the end Tobirama turned away from the door with a sigh only to creep his way around the outside of his own home and slip in through the window like some common burglar. As long as he stayed quiet and kept his chakra low he could at least be productive here in his home office without disturbing Izuna’s visit. The man couldn’t stay forever, after all, and it wouldn’t hurt him to let his husband have at least one decent visit without the two of them ruining everything with their pointless feud. All the white flags in the world wouldn’t matter for shit if Izuna refused to accept the ceasefire he had offered. Stubborn pride would be the death of them both.

The first thing he did was wrinkle his nose and find a rag to wipe off the desk with. After so many hours in their offices at the tower this room didn’t see quite as much use as it probably should. On the all too frequent occasion either of them brought something home to finish they prefered to work in the living room where there would still be a warm body to cuddle up with in reward for being responsible. With his work space a little easier to look at Tobirama was able to comfortably settle himself in the chair he sort of wanted to steal for his own office, pulling out enough parchment to keep himself occupied for a good long while, and settled in to lose himself among the ink. A very small part of his consciousness remained focused on the other side of the house where both Izuna and Madara remained pleasantly calm; it was nice to know they weren’t fighting for once. But for the most part he pulled his chakra inwards and kept his own presence as unobtrusive as possible.

Given a chance to guess he would probably have said he expected to stay in the office for at least a couple more hours if not several. With how volatile things had been between the Uchiha siblings and Izuna stubbornly instigating fights when they were entirely unnecessary he fully understood them taking their time to enjoy a good bonding session. It was therefore quite a surprise to have the door open and both men step in to the room after barely more than a full hour had passed. They stopped as soon as they spotted him there, of course, and Tobirama was so startled all he could do was blink back at them with his own stunned expression.

“When did you get home?” Madara demanded. 

“An hour ago.”

“I didn’t even hear you come in.”

With as straight a face as possible he admitted, “I came in through the window after I sensed Izuna’s presence.” His brother in law squinted and he hurried to add to his statement. “There didn’t seem sense in disturbing you.”

As he’d thought, the man couldn’t seem to find anything wrong with that. Madara, on the other hand, was wearing a pinched face caught halfway between gratitude and annoyance. He could easily guess what thoughts were going through that beloved head, wished he had a better solution than crawling through windows in his own home. 

“Suppose I was gonna get going anyway,” Izuna murmured eventually, cutting through the awkwardness. Tobirama waved one hand. 

“Do not leave on my account if you’re enjoying your visit. I had planned to stay in here.”

“No I really was leaving anyway. Mads was just grabbing a book that I wanted to borrow.” He looked almost irritated that he didn’t actually have anything to be irritated about. 

Rather than fight him on that – he was hardly going to complain about getting what he wanted after all – Tobirama remained silent as Madara rifled through the shelves and kept his eyes on his work in an effort to ignore the tense atmosphere in the room. It was a relief when the book was finally located and Madara shooed his brother towards the front door so they could say goodbye to each other in peace. With the door left open he could have heard what they were murmuring to each other but he chose not to invade their privacy in such a manner, not after going to so much effort just to give them privacy before. 

He had bent his head back to the papers before him by the time Madara came back in to the room but dared to peek up in the hopes that he would not find irritation there, thrilled to see his luck holding out still. His husband was leaning against the door jamb with his arms folded and a particular tightness around his mouth that said he was holding back a smile. Tobirama liked to think that smile would have been at least half as soppy as the ones he had been fighting off all morning.  

“You’re home a little earlier than I expected you to be. Thought you’d be trapped at Hashirama's forever before you made it over to your cousin’s.” 

“Ah.” Tobirama gestured with one hand for his partner to come closer. “They did both have quite a bit to say.”

“Izu says it’s super obvious that we had sex last night!” Madara immediately clapped both hands over his mouth, clearly not having meant to blurt that out. He glared when Tobirama laughed but still allowed himself to be coaxed across the room. 

“My family told me the same thing – well, Mito did, it took Hashirama a while to figure out the context for my good mood.” As soon as the man was near enough Tobirama hooked his waist with one arm and tugged, pulling Madara in to his lap where he could bury his face against the neck he had so liberally covered in love bites. All under the massive volume of hair, of course, and with the way his husband usually wore it he was fairly sure they had so far gone entirely unnoticed. He wasn’t cruel enough to embarrass either of them like that. 

After squirming a little at first Madara eventually melted in to his touches with a low purr. “He said I looked really stupid.”

“Not the word I would choose to describe you. Well, not today anyway.”

“Hey!”

Tobirama laughed and distracted the man with a few more kisses to some choice locations. 

Despite having spent most of their visit sitting around the kitchen table gabbing like old men with nothing better to do apparently Madara never bothered to actually get up and make food for him and his brother, though he decided to rectify that the moment he heard Tobirama’s stomach growling. It took a bit of play fighting but eventually Tobirama relented and allowed him to get up so they could move back to the kitchen together. He did offer to help cook but Madara shooed him in to a chair with one stern finger and that was just cute enough to convince him to listen. 

While he cooked for the most part he nattered on in a way reminiscent of his best friend, though Tobirama was smart enough not to make any such comparisons out loud, and the large majority of what he talked about had to do with Izuna. He spoke on what his brother had been doing with the ANBU since being given control of the project or what he had been up to in general and all the while didn’t really seem to remember why he usually wouldn’t talk about his brother in front of his husband. Tobirama soaked up every word with a beatific smile. He might not be terribly interested in the subject matter but married couples were supposed to be able to speak to each other about anything at all; seeing Madara so free did wonders on his heart. 

As he listened Tobirama played with one of the empty mugs still sitting on the table and tuned out a little, falling in to his own thoughts. The issue of Izuna was one he could not solve himself, clearly, making peace required the cooperation of both parties. But should he really give up so soon after only a single gesture? Did a lifetime of training how to schmooze and ingratiate himself with potential allies mean nothing? If he were completely honest with himself there were many actions he could take from here and he’d known that all along, he just hadn’t wanted to admit it. Hadn’t wanted to be the one to back down and show himself as the weaker party. Really his own stubborn pride had been getting in the way almost as much as Izuna’s had and that meant he probably had almost as much of the blame on his shoulders for the ongoing state of this ridiculous feud. 

He didn’t realize just how badly he had slipped away in to his own head until Madara set a plate down in front of him with a playful scowl that said he knew he’d been ignored. Tobirama apologized by tugging him down far enough to kiss the pout from those lips. When he looked down at his lunch, however, it stirred an idea that he wanted immediately to reject off hand yet forced himself to stop and reconsider. A feud with such deep emotions required a deep gesture. His problem up until now had been that he was thinking too small. 

“I don’t know if I like the smile on your face right now,” Madara said cautiously as he sank down in to the opposite chair. 

“What do you mean?”

“You look like you’re up to something. That is an evil smile if I have ever seen one. And I lived with Izuna for most of my life, I’ve seen more than my fair share of evil smiles.”

Tobirama resisted the urge to snicker at the irony that Madara should still be so focused on his younger brother even without knowing what thoughts had led to the expression that so worried him. Instead he reached for his fork and filled his mouth with rice to excuse himself from offering any sort of reply. His husband scowled but that was fine. He could fix that again with more kisses after they had eaten. Until then he simply continued to eat and kept his plans to himself, somehow just a little more hopeful for a happy future than he had been even just this morning. 

#rae writes #madatobi #madara #tobirama #hashirama #mito #touka #fanfiction #i don't think i've ever written tobi having the morning after happies #it was fun lol