Well, that was unexpected

Mada-chan

"The damage is too great. The nerves of Uchiha eyes are different from those without the sharingan." Madara watched as he plucked scroll after scroll from the wall's shelves in frustration, rolling them out across the desk in the corner to re-examine them. "There are more nerves, and they are all too tightly wound together. Add that to just how much deterioration there was, and it shows how much of a fool I was, thinking I could fix this on my first try!" Angry with himself, he swept everything from the desk. The scrolls fluttered down around his feet as he buried his face in his hands. His frustration caught Madara by surprise. It was the first time he'd seen Tobirama quite so angry, and it took a few blinks of shock before he managed to snap out of his haze and get to his feet. To keep Tobirama from any more outbursts, Madara pulled him into his chest.

"Shh," he stroked through Tobirama's hair gently (he found that Tobi enjoyed having his hair touched just as much as he did). "It's alright, love. You truly are remarkable!  Even if you could not fix it, I am seeing better now than I have in a long time." He pulled back to smile down at Tobirama's angry pout. "And, might I say, you look even more beautiful now than ever."

This sent Tobirama sputtering in surprise. This was the first time Madara had ever called him beautiful, not to mention one of the first times he'd ever been called beautiful (the only other time he could remember was when Izuna said it on their date, but that had been under his breath and not really been said to him).  Even as Madara said it, he did not feel beautiful.  He was disgusting to look at- pale beyond belief with unnatural white hair.  And his eyes had always been an insecurity of his.  They were not like the red beauty of the sharingan.  No, they only served to make the other children tease him when he was young and to give Itama nightmares. Then there were the scars from battles and experiments, which he knew Madara hated.  He was far from beautiful.

     Though he saw the conflict in his eyes, Madara decided not mentioning it would be a better course of action.  Tobirama was already upset enough about the failed operation, and he had the feeling that his insecurity was yet another thing that lead back to Hashirama.  He already had enough reasons to hate that man, and Tobirama refused to let him march into Senju territory to take out his anger.  This discussion would have to wait for another time.

     Without any idea how to respond, Tobirama instead scooped up the scrolls he'd swept to the floor.  When he was about to take a seat behind the desk, however, he found himself being lifted into strong arms and carried from the room.

     "I think you've overworked yourself enough for the day," Madara said.

     Just as he managed to get the door open, Tobirama began to push against his chest.  There was no way he was going to let himself get embarrassed in front of all the lab doctors by letting Madara carry him (not to mention who would see if Madara insisted on carrying him outside)!  "Put me down!  I need to get back to my research!"  He managed to free himself, but Madara just snatched up his hand and pulled him along.

     "No more research today.  You haven't eaten anything since breakfast, and that was at dawn.  It's passed sunset now," he paused to watch Tobirama struggle against his grip.  "No.  You need a break."

     "At least let me bring some scrolls with me!"

     "No!"  Madara pulled him outside of the lab, and locked the door behind him.  He ignored Tobirama's protests as he handed the key off to a nurse.  "You need to eat Tobirama!  And bathe.  And sleep.  We will come back tomorrow!"

     "Besides," he added.  "Izuna is likely bored without you to play with."

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