Red String of Fate

Chapter 5 - Arguments between Siblings

"Why must you descend to such a state for someone like him...? For an Uchiha-protecting bastard like him?!"

"That's enough, Tobirama." Hashirama stood up, slamming his hands on his desk.

"Anija..." Tobirama whispered. Why must his brother do all this for that heartless bastard? He really didn't understand.

"Tsk," Tobirama turned his back to Hashirama and walked to the door, swinging it open.

"I know he's your best friend, but please understand where your priorities lie." Tobirama spoke, his heated and loud voice had returned to its cold and calmed state.

"I'm sorry, Tobi." Hashirama sincerely apologized, his heart feeling heavy. Tobirama heard his childhood nickname and flinched.

"Don't gamble anymore, drink only once a week if necessary. Sleep for at least six hours and make sure to eat a minimum of two meals a day." Tobirama lectured, Hashirama heard this and felt himself smile.

"Anija, I know you care for Madara." Tobirama started, Hashirama heard his name mentioned and felt his hands tremble, his smile fading away.

"But the Uchiha clan are a clan of evil. Even Madara, he has-"

"Tobirama, please." Hashirama begged, Tobirama heard his brother's desperate plea and paused in his tracks.

"Anija, no matter what, I will hate the Uchiha Clan in my heart. For what they've done to our fellow comrades, to our two brothers, and to you." Tobirama declared, leaving Hashirama and his turmoil of emotions alone in the lonely room.

A sharp pain made its way to Hashirama's head and he massaged his temples.

He understood where both parties were coming from, that was exactly why it was difficult for him. Why can't Madara or Tobirama realise that who's really to blame are those who continue this violence and hatred?

Besides from that constant worry in Hashirama's heart, he'd also been having this painful feeling nagging at him.

He felt like he'd forgotten something very important yesterday night.

Hashirama who had been engulfed in the warm sunlight for sometime began to feel sleepy, he walked over to the dark blue couch on the side and collapsed onto it, drifting into a pleasant sleep.

————

Hashirama's eyes flashed open as he fell off the couch heavily.

"Ouch." Hashirama groaned as he forced himself to stand up, sitting back down on the couch. Tobirama sat at the Hokage's desk, almost covered by the two massive unfinished stacks of paperwork.

A single source of light that hung from the roof brightened the inside of the room, outside was completely dark, reflecting how Hashirama felt deep inside.

"Even though you saw me sleeping, you didn't give me a blanket." Hashirama sulked with a pout, the scribbling noises from Tobirama's pen seemed to carry out for a long time in the silence, until Tobirama finally spoke.

"You were so comfortable napping there, and left all this paperwork here unattended." Tobirama grumbled. "You're lucky that I didn't drag you off the couch by your hair."

"Ahahahaha." Hashirama laughed his iconic benignant laugh and walked over to the desk, sitting on the side of it.

"Right, I remembered something from last night." Hashirama brought up, looking somewhat excited.

"When you were drunk?" Tobirama asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Well, yes I was drunk. But I only remembered what happened yesterday just now, when I was sleeping." Hashirama continued, Tobirama remained quiet and Hashirama took this as permission to continue annoying his little brother of his.

"This Konoha resident came into Choetsu Ramen and sat next to me. We had a short chat and he helped me home. But that wasn't what I was surprised about." Hashirama explained.

"What?" Tobirama asked, urging his brother to get to the point.

"He's an odd one. When he saw me, he looked very surprised. I remember he called me by name when he saw me, he didn't use any honorifics as well." Hashirama said, looking thoughtful.

"So he's just an impolite, caught by surprise, Konoha resident?" Tobirama summed up.

"But what was surprising was his appearance, and his chakra." Hashirama said, his expression turning glum.

"What about his chakra?" Tobirama asked, dumping the sheet of paper he had finished to one side and grabbing the next sheet of paper.

"It was slightly different, but it matches Madara's chakra." Hashirama answered, his voice elevating.

"And his appearance?" Tobirama asked.

"He looked almost identical to Madara." Hashirama finished, his heart beating fast. What if he didn't actually die? Maybe this was just one of Madara's silly pranks! Hashirama looked over at Tobirama, waiting for his opinion on the matter.