Red String of Fate

Chapter 6 - Stand by your Words!

Tobirama finally placed down his pen, finally tearing his eyes from the paper, focusing them on the hopeful expression shown on his brother's face.

"Are you sure you weren't just drunk?" Tobirama asked, Hashirama shook his head.

"No, I remember what he looks like. He looked exactly the same as Madara, except his hair looked less spiky and his creases were less noticeable." Hashirama described in detail.

"Are you sure this isn't someone who just looks like him?" Tobirama frowned.

"Tobirama, when he saw me I could feel his emotions escape him. He was surprised, he seemed happy in a way, but he was also guilty, he seemed so sad." Hashirama explained, his expression turning pained.

Tobirama didn't say anything for a while, out of the two of them, Tobirama was definitely one who did not understand complicated things such as emotions. Tobirama would rather look at everything from an analytical point of view, he struggled to understand others feelings. On the other hand, Hashirama understands others' emotions too well. People would easily open up to him, begging him to solve their problems.

Yet every time when it came to Madara, Hashirama struggled to figure out his friend's emotions. Perhaps it was because Madara's emotions were in turmoil, or perhaps he did everything he could to hide his emotions from the world, perhaps it was both.

All this thinking caused Tobirama to sigh.

"Well, do you know his name?" Tobirama asked, Hashirama's whole body seemed to freeze.

"Great, you didn't even get his name." Tobirama reacted with a groan, massaging his temples.

"He lives in the village, and I walk around all the time." Hashirama said.

"You walk around too much of the time." Tobirama corrected, he enjoyed his walks with leisure and ended up leaving all the paperwork to Tobirama, to be specific.

"Ahaha. Well, I'm bound to bump into him sometime." Hashirama concluded.

"Yes, yes. Go to bed already, I'll continue working on this until I retire for the night." Tobirama nagged, Hashirama complained as he walked towards the door.

"Tobirama, I know you can't forgive the Uchiha yet." Hashirama quietly said.

"But, Madara is important to me. So please, if you see him, don't hurt him." Hashirama pleaded, Tobirama glared at the desk.

"If he's still alive." Tobirama rectified.

"Tobirama, you know what I mean." The older Senju spoke, the younger Senju said nothing.

"Good night, Aniji." Tobirama finally said, breaking the awkward silence between them.

"Good night, Tobi."

————

Madara groaned in exasperation.

Whoever was at his house continuously knocked on his door, Madara who had wished for nothing but to be left alone felt attacked.

"Everytime I try to get some quality sleep." Madara growled, crawling out of bed, wearing his black turtleneck and trousers. He stormed downstairs and slid the door open violently, glaring at his unwanted guest.

"M-Madara-sama." Tadashi stuttered, hurriedly bowing to appease Madara's anger.

"What is it?" Madara demanded, combing the long fringe that covered his left eye backwards with his hand.

"I was just worried, so I came searching for you." Tadashi explained quietly, staring at Madara's visibly thinned arms.

"If you're here to commiserate me, then scram." Madara snarled, catching onto Tadashi's stare. Indeed he felt weak at the moment, he felt tired, lightheaded, starved and most importantly, he felt this overwhelming sense of guilt. So he definitely did not need someone to come over and invade his personal time.