"Be still."
As hard as Madara tried to control himself, he couldn't help the way he jerked away from Tobirama's hands. His instincts told him that it was a threat to his eyes, and in the Uchiha clan their eyes were practically synonymous with their lives. He knew that Tobirama could be trusted- he knew- but it was hard to fight your own instincts.
Tobirama sighed tiredly and took a step back. After nearly half a day examining every scroll on eyes and the mangekyou in the Uchiha compound, he thought he had finally made a small breakthrough. However, he could not test out his theory if Madara kept squirming away from him. Medical ninjutsu required precise chakra control, and he could not properly perform his jutsu if Madara would not stay still. He wished that Izuna and Madara hadn't fought him so hard on his acid idea (it would not have been the first time he used acid on himself for his experiments, and his sensory abilities would have been enough had his eyesight been lost. The two of them had completely overreacted).
"Do you think you could put me to sleep? I do not know if I can be still long enough for the jutsu." Madara shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The idea of letting someone tamper with his eyes while he was unconscious was not particularly appealing, but he felt it was a better option than moving too suddenly and making the jutsu take a turn for the worse. To both his relief and disappointment, Tobirama shook his head.
"I have never performed such an operation before, and I am unsure if it will be harmful. I need you awake to tell me if your vision worsens, so I can undo any damage I may cause before it is too late." He swept his eyes around the room for a distraction. It was minimalistic- the only furniture was two operating tables and a desk, but the walls were covered in shelves overflowing with medical scrolls. His gaze landed on one of the operating tables. It had straps to hold down a patient if need be, but he refused to use it unless as a last resort. Being strapped down and experimented on would likely traumatize Madara. Pulling his eyes away, he moved to stand in front of Madara again, where he was seated on the slightly more welcoming operating table. As opposed to the white restraining table, this one was red and made of a more comfortable material (the red was likely to help cover blood spots). When they first arrived early that morning (just after dawn, at Tobirama's insistence), Madara ordered a doctor to have this one moved into the room after seeing the other table.
Once he was within arm's reach, Tobirama took hold of Madara's chin. When Madara reflexively tried to pull away, he tightened his grip. It was not hard enough to bruise (he would never want to hurt his fiancé), but it was enough to keep him from moving. Gently, he asked "Do you trust me?" When Madara nodded- which was hard with his face in such a tight hold- Tobirama moved his other hand over his eyes, holding Madara in place when he tried to back away.
The instant relief from the pain in his eyes forced Madara's body to relax. When Tobirama's chakra made its way into his skin, he was surprised by how warm it felt. He realized that it was a sensation befitting of a healer: warm and calming. He could feel the chakra as it moved through his skin, the way it wrapped itself around something behind his eye. There was a slight pinch as Tobirama worked- probably from him repairing nerves- and Madara noticed the subtle way his vision changed. The things around him gradually became less fuzzy, the slightly blurred silhouettes of objects became more clear cut (after so long with poor vision, he had forgotten what it was like to see clearly! Though far from perfect, the world already looked so much better). It seemed that Tobirama had done it! In only a single day, he had managed to solve a mystery that generations of Uchiha doctors hadn't been able to crack. But then Madara heard him swear under his breath, and his chakra faded away shortly after.
"What happened?" Tobirama looked beyond frustrated, and Madara couldn't tell if he was more upset that the jutsu failed or that he failed.
"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."
••••••••••
Sure enough, Izuna was waiting for them at the door when they returned. It was a mystery how long he'd been sitting there, but he threw himself into Tobirama's arms as soon as he appeared in the doorway.
"You left me!" He was practically sobbing in Tobirama's ear. "You were gone before I woke up. You're so horrible, leaving me alone in this house with nothing to do!"
This was yet another assurance in Tobirama's mind that Izuna was still just a child, despite being in his twenties. "Sorry, Izu. You can come with us tomorrow. For now, I might have something to make it up to you." He held Izuna's chin tightly, just as he'd done to Madara, and brought a green glowing hand to his eyes. Izuna sighed deeply in bliss and sank limply into Tobirama's arms. Even though the jutsu has lasted under a minute, he found that his eyes hurt much less and his vision was already much improved. Though, his mangekyou damage was not nearly as bad as Madara's to begin with.
"You're amazing, Tobi! We should have kidnapped you ages ago!" At that, all three men burst into laughter. Izuna and Tobirama leaned heavily on each other as they wheezed for breath, and Madara shook with silent laughs behind them. Izuna was the first one to recover, and he took both of their wrists to drag them into the kitchen. There was food sitting on the table, which was still fairly hot. Tobirama remembered hearing that Izuna was a disaster in the kitchen, so he assumed someone else must have cooked.
"Eat up, the both of you!" Izuna shoved them both into seats and pulled three plates from the kitchen cabinets. "You must be exhausted. Luckily, Tohru-chan and her mother dropped off dinner for us a little while ago. She said it was 'a gift for the pretty man', and I'm assuming she was not talking about me."
Seeing as the clan would have obviously known Madara's name, Tobirama assumed that they meant him. "Tohru?" He could not recall meeting anyone by that name, though he'd met many clan members when out with Izuna.
"You met her on our dat..." At the sharp glare from his brother, Izuna cringed. "Our day out. She was the little girl who turned red when you smiled. I'm sure you have an admirer now."
Tobirama smiled. He remembered now- Tohru and her mother were the first people he'd met in town. She seemed to be a sweet young girl. And her having a crush on him was the most precious thing he'd ever heard.
"Tohru-chan will be sadly disappointed when she realizes we are to be married." Madara gruffly chewed a mouthful of rice. He seemed genuinely upset, and Tobirama found it oddly charming.
"Are you jealous of a child, Madara?" Tobirama received a glare in response, which only made him want to tease him more. "Oh, don't worry Mada-chan. Tohru won't be able to steal my heart so quickly." He laid his head on Madara's shoulder and smiled at him jokingly.
As usual, Izuna hopped on the chance to torture his elder brother. "Yes, there's no need to worry Mada-chan." The grin he sported was devilish. "I will defend our Tobi's heart from all who seek to steal it!"
At that, Madara's head thumped against the table dramatically. He muttered something into his arms, but all Tobirama could catch was "I cannot stand living with the two of you". Which he knew was a complete lie. He loved Tobirama, and he was incapable of living without his brother. So he was stuck.
As if in sync, Izuna and Tobirama both wrapped an arm around him and leaned into his side. Since he wasn't looking, they flashed each other evil grins. Oh, Madara was in for a lifetime of torture. And love. But mostly torture.
••••••••••
"Izuna, I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent." Tobirama smirked smugly when Izuna was left speechless and pouting. Madara had abandoned them after dinner to meet with the clan elders, which left them alone in the house with nothing to do. As a source of entertainment, Izuna tried to start up an argument, which Tobirama quickly shot down.
"You are so cruel! Damn devil." Izuna sulked over to the edge of the bed and curled in on himself. They were laying in Izuna's bedroom, though neither quite remembered how they got there. His room was much less luxurious as Madara's (or Tobi's for that matter), and everything was neatly packed away into drawers and wardrobes and shelves. Madara had once mentioned that he was a neat freak, but this was the first time Tobirama was seeing it for himself.
"Your room does not match your personality."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Tobirama shrugged. As childish and chaotic and Izuna was, he expected his room to be just as crazy. However, the room hardly even had a speck of dust out of place.
"It's so," Tobirama had to search for the word. "Plain."
"Well, that's because I hide the good stuff." Izuna rolled over to his nightstand and reached for the bottom drawer. He pulled the entire thing out of its place and settled it down gently in the middle of the bed. The inside was a mess of oddities- rings, children's toys, and photos among the clutter- but what stood out most was a large black book. It was hand bound in leather, with Izuna's name etched into the bottom corner. When Tobirama cracked it open, he was surprised to find it filled with drawings. Most often drawn was Madara (in his office, asleep, a silhouette of spiky hair and broad shoulders). There were many of the clan, even one of Tohru. Even the occasional drawing of Tobirama in battle (though many of the older ones were vandalized with devil horns and the like, depicting his former hatred). Each drawing was so life-like he half expected them to leap out of the pages at him.
"Izu," he breathed. "These are amazing!"
Though Izuna refused to make eye contact, Tobirama could tell that he was smiling. "Thank you."
"Why do you hide them?" This made Izuna curl in tightly on himself. For the first time since they met, Tobirama saw that he was insecure about himself. He reached out to grab Izuna's hand, and received a thankful squeeze in return.
"Because they are a useless skill." When their eyes met, Izuna's were building up with tears. "My father was a man of war, and therefore anything not fitting a shinobi was useless in his eyes. When Madara took over clan leadership, I knew he wouldn't feel the same. But I still could never bring myself to show him."
Tobirama still did not understand. "I'm sure Madara would think they were incredible!" He got back a watery smile.
"Probably. My brother would likely encourage me in anything I do. But this," he rubbed at his face distractedly. "My father was so strong. He was a warrior among warriors. A model Uchiha! And Madara has all of our father's best qualities, not to mention his kindness and passion. He grew up to be a man our father surely would be proud of. But me? I don't think I would live up to his expectations. I feel like this would make my father disappointed in me, somehow. It is not for war, nor for the betterment of the clan. It's my selfish pleasure."
If anyone knew what it felt like to disappoint their father, it was Tobirama. He was created to be his brother's weapon and a replacement in case the clan head fell, but he selfishly ran away to join the Uchiha. His own clan's enemy! "I know how you must feel, Izu. I'm sure my being here alone would disappoint my father, not to mention all the other failures I've had in my life. But, I've realized something." He pulled the boy in for a tight hug, which Izuna quickly melted into. "What I realized is that you cannot live your life trying to be someone you are not. Your father may not have accepted this, but it makes you happy! And there's plenty of people who would think your art is amazing and welcome it with open arms, myself included. Do what makes you happy."
Izuna sniffled happily. "Thank you, Tobira. I think I needed that."
"Any time." He pressed a kiss into Izuna's hair, and he was reminded of Itama. It made him smile.
"And if it still bothers you that it can't be used for war, I'm sure I could create a jutsu to fix that."
••••••••••
When Madara returned back home, he almost immediately went into a panic. Tobirama was no where to be found! More often than not, he was in either his own bedroom or Madara's, and both of which were empty. He was not in the kitchen, nor in Madara's office. Not in the garden, or in the bath, or in the sitting room! For a while, Madara thought about sending a search party to look for him. His last stop was to Izuna's room, to ask if he'd seen Tobirama and, if not, if he'd help to search.
As he reached the door, he heard a soft snore. If Izuna was asleep, he probably did not know where his Tobirama was. But he still felt the need to check on his little brother (he often fell asleep in awkward positions or without a blanket, so Madara sometimes went in to make sure he was alright). As he eased the door open, he was unsurprised to see that Izuna was uncovered. He was, however, surprised to see him tucked up against Tobirama's chest sleeping peacefully.
"I'll kill that traitor." If it weren't for the fact that Tobirama was also uncovered, he would have left Izuna to sleep cold. Grumpily, he marched up to the bed and pulled a blanket over them from Izuna's wardrobe. As he maneuvered around the bed to pull it up higher around their chests, he finally got a good look at Izuna's face. When he saw the tear streaks and puffiness, he realized that they were cuddled up like this because Tobirama was comforting him.
"...I suppose I'll forgive him. This time." Not wanting to feel left out, Madara pulled the blanket back and settled himself on Izuna's other side, wrapping an arm around his little brother worriedly. Why had he been crying?
Unbeknownst to him, the devious duo was awake, and they smiled privately at Madara's jealousy.
I totally didn't stay up until 2 in the morning writing this when I have to be up at 8:30 to study for my final. Totally.
Superbeast scroll is one of my favorite jutsu so of course I had to give it an origin story! Izu probably won't use it often, but when he does it'll come as a shock to Mada-chan.
To everyone who has voted for this story ily. And I absolutely love getting comments and replying so for everyone who bothers commenting you're my favorite and I appreciate you!