Doctor Sasori

Bonjour

But his clan was fine. Everyone was fixed up in a jiffy, and I gave the worst-cases some medicine to take over the next week.

I walked into my home, yearning for a hot bath and a good night's rest, but I found that Madara was sitting at the kitchen table. He was waiting for me.

"Where were you?" Madara demanded of me, the six-year-old looked me up and down to make sure I was okay. "I was worried!"

"I had to help another family like yours," I told him with a smile. Then I reached forward and pinched his cheek. "Of course no one there was nearly as adorable as you."

Madara swatted my hand away, cheeks red. "Oh."

I yawned, stretching my arms up. "Have you eaten?"

Madara looked away, kicking at the ground. "... No."

"Then how about I make you some dinner? Want some rabbit stew and butter rolls?"

Madara smiled at that, looking up. "Butter rolls? You have more butter?"

"I do," I told him. "I churned it yesterday."

"Lots of butter, please."

"Okay, my dear. Lots of butter."

H̰̝̔̓͐ͧ̚e͙̫̭̣̭͑̒ͣ̚l͙̣̬̈́̃͒̄l̩̱̮ͅo̪̩͑ͯ̀ͬ,̩̖̬̜͐͋ ̬̥̳ͯd̪͂ͫȍ̺̩͓͔̮ ̘͒ͩy̆̒̑o̖̦̘ű̝͔̱̙̄ ͙̭̫͕͗͂̓̾r̜̟͇̠͌̐ͭe̱̺̺̝m̰̭ė̮ͤ̑̐̀mͮ̄b̪̟̭ͧͭ̇̓ͅẽ̯̤͕́r̖ͫ ̗͒̀̍̂̉m͉̜̊ͯ̃̒͆e̱͉̊́̉̇ͧͅ?̟̝ͬ̓ͥ͗͗ͅ

The following morning, Madara returned to spend the day with me. He came early enough for breakfast, and the two of us set to work on tilling the rest of my gardens to prepare for spring planting.

Hashirama's chakra showed up half an hour into working. Madara sensed him, too, looking up and furrowing his brow. He asked me, "Is that someone you know?"

"That's the boy who I helped yesterday. His family was sick," I said, then I raised my voice, "Hashirama, you can jump over the fence!"

There was a moment of hesitation before Hashirama did exactly that. When he hopped over, he looked at everything with wide eyes. "Wow, it's like a farm!"

"It is a farm," Madara muttered.

"Everything okay, Hashirama?" I asked him.

"Yeah! I, um, I actually wanted to come by and thank you," Hashirama said shyly. "You saved my little brothers. I-Is there anything I can do to help you?"

I considered this, glancing over at Madara. "Actually... would you mind training with Maddie, here? I have a feeling that the two of you would make good sparring partners."

Hashirama's eyes brightened. "Oh, okay! Hi, Maddie, it's nice to meet you. I'm Hashirama."

"It's Madara," Madara corrected with a growl. "You really think you can keep up with me?"

Hashirama shrugged. "Won't know until I try?"

"Hmph. I guess. Alright, let's go, peasant."

It ended in a draw.

H̰̝̔̓͐ͧ̚e͙̫̭̣̭͑̒ͣ̚l͙̣̬̈́̃͒̄l̩̱̮ͅo̪̩͑ͯ̀ͬ,̩̖̬̜͐͋ ̬̥̳ͯd̪͂ͫȍ̺̩͓͔̮ ̘͒ͩy̆̒̑o̖̦̘ű̝͔̱̙̄ ͙̭̫͕͗͂̓̾r̜̟͇̠͌̐ͭe̱̺̺̝m̰̭ė̮ͤ̑̐̀mͮ̄b̪̟̭ͧͭ̇̓ͅẽ̯̤͕́r̖ͫ ̗͒̀̍̂̉m͉̜̊ͯ̃̒͆e̱͉̊́̉̇ͧͅ?̟̝ͬ̓ͥ͗͗ͅ

They both came again the next, Hashirama all dimples and bright eyes, with Madara showing a bit more restraint in his happiness but still giving the occasional soft smile. They sparred, and trained beside one another all the while asking me questions about medicine.