Twin Leaves in the Shadow

45章

Waking up next to Madara was a huge relief. It felt like everything was right in the world again. Hashirama couldn't stop himself from admiring the man he loved as he slept peacefully beside him.

As he watched, he noticed Madara was beginning to stir awake.

"It's hard to sleep with you staring at me," Madara sleepily joked, as he peeked with one eye open.

"I'm sorry, you're just so pretty," Hashirama teased.

Madara rolled his eyes before a shy smile crept on his face. He leaned over and kissed Hashirama before hopping out of the bed.

"If you're not in a hurry, I can make some breakfast," he offered sweetly.

"Breakfast in bed?" Hashirama grinned from ear to ear.

"Spoiled," Madara scoffed with a smile.

He disappeared from the room and headed down the hallway. Hashirama could hear him beginning to prepare food in the kitchen. All he could think about was how perfect his life would be if he could have this everyday. If he could just be with Madara forever.

____________________________________

-The Conference Room-

Today was the first time a meeting would be held since the situation with Madara came to light. The meeting was just a general update on the progress of the growing village, but it still caused strife in Hashirama. It was nerve-racking because he still wasn't sure if any of the village's clan leaders knew about it. It was going to be uncomfortable sitting in a room with a bunch of people that detested the general idea of Madara and them being together.

Hashirama sat at the head of the table, watching as everyone came inside and took their usual seats. Tobirama was seated on his left side with his nose in some paperwork, while the seat on his right remained empty.

Madara's seat.

His eyes stayed glued to the door. He wasn't sure if Madara was going to even show up. However. during breakfast, he didn't say anything about ditching the meeting. It was almost time to begin, and Madara still wasn't in the room.

Is he afraid to show up?

Is he worried about the others?

Did someone tell him not to come? Like Tobirama?

Does he just not care?

As his mind raced, panic started to overcome him. If he did show up, he had to act distant towards him. Tobirama would be watching them closely, watching for any hint that they could still be together.

Before he could get too consumed with his thoughts, he spotted his familiar face walk into the room. He paced over to his seat beside Hashirama without uttering a single word to him.

Hashirama wasn't sure what to do.

Should I greet him?

Should I say nothing at all?

Is he just as freaked out as I am?

Why the hell didn't we talk about situations like this beforehand?

"Good afternoon, Lord Hashirama," Madara greeted.

So, we are just going to be formal.

"Good afternoon," Hashirama quietly replied.

To his left, he could just feel Tobirama's eyes on him. His attention was piqued.

To avoid any altercations and discomfort, Hashirama announced quickly, "Let's begin."

"We should finalize the placements of clans. There are a few changes that have been made to allow for more expansion of business and such." Tobirama spoke out first.

"What are the changes?" Hashirama prodded.

"Most will stay where they are located, but Sarutobi clan will be relocated from the west side to the east side and the Uchiha clan will be relocated further South." Tobirama explained.

Everyone seemed to nod agreement, but in the corner of Hashirama's eye he could see Madara becoming very frustrated.

"I wasn't made aware of these changes," he remarked, leaning forward to meet Tobirama's eye.

"It shouldn't be a big deal," Tobirama quipped.

"You're relocating my entire clan without giving me any warning until now. I consider that a big deal." Madara grumbled before turning his attention to the leader of the Sarutobi clan. "Sarutobi, were you made aware of your clan's relocation?"

The man nodded, looking nervously towards the men seated on each side of Hashirama.

"Interesting," Madara scoffed as he crossed his arms.

"I'm sure there was a notice sent to you, but you were probably too busy with other things. If you're catching my drift," Tobirama replied in a snide tone.

Hashirama whipped his head around and glared at his young brother. He couldn't believe he could be so bold in front of everyone in the room.

"I haven't agreed to any of these changes," Hashirama chimed in, keeping the conversation on track.

"You'd be a fool not to, big brother. These changes will benefit the village greatly. More clans are coming in and businesses are continuing to grow, so we have to do this." Tobirama stressed.

He was afraid to look at Madara as he agreed with the explanation Tobirama continued to give. It seemed harmless to Hashirama, but he could sense Madara's disapproving glare on his back.

Madara knew this relocation was a punishment to his clan and to him. It was being covered up as something beneficial for the village, but it was going to hurt the Uchiha. They were already the farthest away from the center, and now they were being pushed back more. Anything he said was going to be twisted around by everyone in the room, so he decided it was best not to fight it further. What hurt him the most was Hashirama's obliviousness to the situation. He was being fed pretty lies to hide the ugly truth.

He remained pretty silent throughout the rest of the meeting. Madara only spoke if he was directly addressed. He could tell Hashirama was avoiding his gaze, which frustrated him more.

"Once you're back from your trip, we will have other kages arriving to discuss plans for the Tailed Beasts," Tobirama concluded.

"That will just involve you, myself, and Madara, right?" Hashirama asked.

Tobirama grimaced. It was obvious that Hashirama had said something wrong.

"We will discuss those details later," he answered dryly.

Hashirama was a bit confused, but nodded anyways. He waved his hand to dismiss everyone at the table. The leaders filed out of the room and vanished into the hallway.

Somehow, Madara had slipped away without Hashirama noticing. He didn't even say a word to him. Hashirama hoped it was just because Tobirama was still in the room and he didn't want to risk any suspicions. But deep down, he knew the reasoning was something else.

He's angry.