43Author's Note: Hello! So, we're here to see if anyone is still out there after three years, which I kind of doubt, but I was hit with a bit of inspiration to finish this chapter that I started so long ago! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Warnings: Death, Language, OOCness, Un-beta'd.
Word Count: 4,332
Minato didn't know what to say. Now the conversation with Hashirama a few days prior made more sense. Now the worry both of them had for their friend has come to fruition. Hashirama had to be right. Tajima must have had something planned that Madara didn't agree to. Minato isn't sure what it could have been seeing as they are part of a warring clan, but he must have either planned something Madara couldn't forgive or order Madara to do something he couldn't follow through with that lead to this. That's the only thing that Minato can think of. He can't imagine what it could be, but it had to of been something bad. Really bad.
He reaches up slowly and puts his hand up on the back of Madara's head to encourage him to keep leaning on Minato. It wasn't often that Madara would let himself be so vulnerable around him, so he has to be as gentle and non-threatening as possible. He wasn't going to say anything, he wasn't going to prompt Madara to speak. He was just going to let the older boy feel whatever pain is coursing through him right at this moment, then he's going let him talk when he's ready.
Minato occupied the moments of silence with wonders of how it all came to this. He wouldn't know the truth until Madara was ready to speak about it, but that didn't mean he couldn't wonder about it. Madara is hot-tempered when dealing with most people, but his father is different. For so long Madara has wanted nothing more than for his father to be proud of him, to be able to do the magical thing that will settle his father's sudden, uncontrollable rage.
From what Minato has come to understand, ever since Madara's mother was killed in a Senju raid against the Uchiha two years prior, Tajima has lost all inhibitions. He's literally been going crazy; making huge decisions and rash plans. All he can focus on is killing each and every Senju. No one can say even a kind word about anything somehow faintly related to the Senju without setting him off, making him go absolutely ballistic.
It's like the Uchiha have to tip-toe around their clan leader now. Anything and everything they do around him has to be micromanaged, lest they are on the receiving end of a very pissed off clan leader. That was no way for people to live their lives.
It's something that has been a source of both annoyance and pain for Madara and Izuna since their mother died. They miss her terribly but find it hard to grieve because of their father's rage toward the Senju and his reluctance to allow either of them to speak about their mother in his presence. They can't even mourn in front of, or with, their father. The only time they can mourn is when they are away from him. Usually with Minato and his parents.
Minato can remember it, two years ago when Madara and Izuna came to his home really late at night, after his parents went to bed. Madara actually crawled in through his bedroom window, scaring him into awareness. The moonlight turned his pitch black hair a pretty gray color and cast a flattering shadow across the left half of his face.
At first, Minato didn't recognize Madara right away. He was just a dark, looming figure leaning over him in the shadows. The kunai under his pillow that his friends insisted that he keep there for his safety gets wrapped up in his fist and he swings it toward the person's face. Madara catches his wrist easily and pins it to the bed, staring down at him mutely with this terribly broken look on his face. Minato's grip on the kunai loosens until it slips through his fingers and onto his worn, lumpy mattress.
Minato just stares up at the older boy sitting over him. Madara's face is twisted into unimaginable pain and torment. There is pain gleaming in his eyes, something horrible flashing in those pitch-black depths. He's seeing something that is bringing him an unbelievable amount of pain, that seems to be on repeat in his mind. Whatever it is, it's playing over and over again.
Madara doesn't look ready to talk at that moment, he looked like he was trying to find himself in his memories. Whatever it is that's haunting him, he's trying to bring himself out of it. Him stopping Minato's kunai was more of a reflex than conscious action. A part of Minato's happy that he's not as skilled as they are, or maybe Madara's danger instincts wouldn't have just stopped his kunai, but also broken his arm for trying to assault him. So there's the diamond in the rut.
Minato looks past Madara to see Izuna sitting at the edge of his bed, near the 'door' cloth. He's half turned toward them but not enough for Minato to really be able to see his face. His long, messy bangs hang in the way so that all Minato can see the tip of his pale nose and that's it. Minato stares at him for a few moments, trying to discern from the looks on their faces what it is exactly that has upset them so much. They weren't the type to talk to people about their pain until they were ready to. Most of the time they just want to relish in their pain until they become numb to it like they were pretending it doesn't exist.
Minato reaches up with his free hand and tucks some of Madara's long dark hair behind his ear. "I'll wait," Minato whispers in the darkness to his childhood friend.
Madara closes his eyes tightly like he needed to hear that. His Adam's apple bobs up and down as if he's having trouble swallowing. He looks like he wants to talk about it but can't find the courage, or the words.
"Minato?" Miyayoi peaks her head into the room. Minato swears that his mother had to have some sort of super senses. Minato can't sneak in or out of the house without her somehow knowing. Same with his friends. She seemed to always know when someone was coming in and out of the house. She looks over at Minato, tilting her head a bit at the sight of someone leaning over her son. "Oh!" She looks slightly alarmed, not sure who it was in the darkness until she spots Izuna a few feet in front of her. "Izuna-baby?"
Miyayoi steps into the room, reaching out to gently place her hand under his chin, moving it toward the moonlight so that she can get a better look at his face. Izuna was crying, Minato later learned. That's what Miyayoi saw.
Miyayoi steps into the room and holds her arms out for Izuna and at first, Minato thought he wasn't going to do it, he was just going to sit there, but he stands up slowly and steps into her arms, bowing his head into her shoulder. He hugs her as tight as he dares, trying not to hurt her, but desperately clinging to her in order to center himself. A terrible, heart-wrenching sob escapes him as he tries hard to control himself as his body starts to shake.
"Oh, baby," Miyayoi says softly, petting down his dark hair. "What's wrong, baby? What's hurting you?" She turns her head and kisses his hair, letting him hold on her as tightly as he wanted.
"Mother..." Izuna sobs. "Mother is... she... she was..." He starts shaking like crazy, crying so hard he can't seem to breathe. His entire body shakes with his cries and every breath that he takes. He falls to his knees, wrapping his arms around her mid-section, not wanting to let her go. She runs her fingers through his hair, before pressing him closer.
"Oh baby," she says softly. "Oh, sweet boy."
Minato sits up slowly, not wanting to startle the older brother, who looks so pained by the sound of his little brother's mournful cries. Izuna seems to have pulled him back into his own body. Once Minato is sitting up, he pressed his forehead against Madara's, knowing that his friend wasn't one for physical comfort or touch, so he tries to be delicate to what he needs - which is skinship - and what he wants - which is his dignity and pride.
Minato didn't care how they looked. His friend was in pain - agony judging by the look on his face - and needed him there.
Minato pulls himself back into the present, mirroring his memory, except now he's standing outside with one of his best friends, but in just as much - if not more - pain as the night his mother died. Minato turns his head slowly, whispering into the slightly older boy's ear, "I'll wait."
Madara's shoulders shake hard as he seems to relive the time when he and Izuna snuck into Minato's home to be away from his family and the rage and pain they were all feeling. The loss of his mother now coupled with the loss of his father feels like a fresh pain once more. But the situation with Madara's mother was very different than the situation with his father's it seems. Minato couldn't imagine what happened that lead to this, but he knows that there was a profound reason behind why it came to this, but he isn't sure he would be able to imagine it - or if he would want to.
Minato could never imagine killing his father. He can't imagine what would lead to that.
Madara wasn't interested in talking for a long time, but Minato needed to make sure the groceries got home in time for his mother to make dinner, and neither of his parents would mind having an extra member at their table, no doubt. And this way, Madara wouldn't have to think about what happened. At least, not for some time. And he would be safe from pressure and judgment at Minato's house with his parents.
"Hey," Minato says slowly, peaking up through the split in Madara's hair to look into his dark, defeated eyes, "help me take this stuff home, okay? Mom wants to get dinner done before nightfall. Join us."
Madara didn't speak but managed to get ahold of himself enough to pick up a few of the bags from their feet and follow Minato through the trees toward his home. Minato wasn't going to ask. He wasn't going to push Madara. There is no doubt he wants comfort, it's why he's with Minato instead of alone, but he doesn't appear to be ready to talk about it just yet. And that's fine. Minato will wait until his friend is ready. And maybe being in a more relaxed environment will make him feel better. And no doubt Izuna will be looking for him soon enough.
If he isn't already.
And after checking all of Madara's normal hiding spots, he will come to Minato's house, no doubt. Minato's not sure how long they have been standing out there in the forest.
With one hand loaded with groceries, Minato wraps his hand around Madara's inner elbow to pull him along. A part of him is worried that in Madara's half-delirious state, he'll just wander off. The last thing that Minato needs is to chase his friend around in this forest when Madara is feeling the way that he is. Minato isn't able to imagine how any of this could have been this way, but he hopes that somehow it's going to be okay.
Thankfully, Madara doesn't fight him on the way.
Kazuhiro and Miyayoi are in the kitchen talking when Minato pulls Madara into the house. "We're here!" Minato calls, pulling Madara over to the table to put the bags down onto them. They both remove their shoes and nudge them toward the door and out of the way.
A little bit of life returns to Madara as Miyayoi coos, "Madara-baby!" She scoots across the room, opening her arms for him, which he accepts, hugging her tightly in return. She kisses his cheek before pulling back a bit to look at his face, before frowning a bit. She looks up into his eyes, staring at him for a moment before cupping his cheeks, running her fingers across his cheekbones before pulling his downward and kissing his forehead. "Stay for dinner, lovely boy, I have something for you afterward."
Madara nods slowly but doesn't speak. He keeps his head bowed, looking like he might cry again, but somehow manages to not cry despite looking like he wants to. Maybe this was crueler than kind to Madara. Miyayoi steps away to start working on dinner while Kazuhiro delicately lowers himself to the table after giving Madara a hug as well and waves for both the boys to follow suit.
"Madara, how are you doing, my boy?" Kazuhiro asks, looking at the dark haired boy at the other end of the table.
"I'm okay," Madara mumbles, looking pale.
Kazuhiro stares at him for a moment, considering something before looking over at Minato and asking, "How was your trip? Did you run into any trouble?"
Minato shakes his head. "No, I'm good." He offers a sideways glance over at his friend, worriedly. "I was on my way home when I ran into Madara. I hope you don't mind that I invited him over for dinner."
Kazuhiro waves his hand dismissively, shaking his head. "Not at all. He's part of the family. We are happy that he's here." Dark eyes find the young man, who was staring down at the table, looking like he's seen a ghost. Both Kazuhiro and Minato stare at Madara, who seems so lost in thought he doesn't realize. There is a pause in the kitchen, and Miyayoi is turned, also looking at Madara with a gentle, sad look on her face.
"Do you need help, mom?" Minato asks.
Miyayoi peaks out the window next to her before glancing back over at Minato. "Yes, but first, let Izuna in."
Minato blinks while Madara twitches at the mention of his younger brother. There is a knock on the door while Minato is already pushing to his feet and heading to the door behind Madara, opening it to see the younger Uchiha brother standing there, dark eyes sad.
"Is he here?" Izuna asks quietly.
Minato nods, stepping aside, gesturing for Izuna to enter into the house. He does, removing his shoes next to the collection by the door before walking over to Miyayoi in the kitchen, kissing her on the cheek and lowering a bag filled with sweets and another with some vegetables before heading over to Kazuhiro, dipping low to give him a hug in greeting that Minato suspects was a few moments longer than usual before finally pulling back.
He goes over to the seat next to Madara and lowers next to him while Minato goes to wash his hands and help his mother make dinner. Izuna and Kazuhiro manage to carry a light and easy conversation, while Madara just sat there quietly. Izuna would look over at his older brother sadly, dark eyes lowering a bit before carrying on with whatever he was saying or listen as Kazuhiro would tell him about one thing or another. Miyayoi and Minato would throw in their two-cents every once and a while to keep the conversation going without too many awkward breaks, but Madara's foul mood was tangible.
Minato didn't have to say anything to his parents for them to know that something was wrong. They considered Madara, Izuna, Hashirama, and Tobirama their other sons, and knew them very well. They could ask Izuna what happened and he would probably tell them, but Madara was a lot more secluded. He wasn't nearly as open with how he feels as Izuna or Hashirama were. He was more like Tobirama. Whereas Tobirama would rather not talk about it and deal with it alone, sometimes Madara just needed time before he would say something.
And other times he would wallow in his pain until he's over it.
Minato hated it when they did that. Tobirama and Madara, he means. If he's having a tough time cracking someone - and that's usually Tobirama - he would trick the white haired young man into his home and Miyayoi would get him to talk nice and quick.
Once dinner was ready, they all crowded around the small table and ate while chatting lightly. Kazuhiro and Madara sit at the separate ends of the table, Izuna and Minato squeeze into one side and Miyayoi sits at the other. There is a few moments of silence while everyone eats. Madara forces down a few bites before laying down his chopsticks and looking completely miserable.
Miyayoi reaches over and places her hand over his, wrapping her little, wrinkled hand around his own and kills him with a kind, "I love you, gentle boy."
Tears spill from his eyes and he bows his head to hide them, shoulders shaking a bit as he cries quietly, his heart broken. Miyayoi's face twists in pain as she slowly scoots over to him, wrapping her arms around the dark haired clan heir - er leader? - and pulls him close so that he can cry into her shoulder. She reaches up, smoothing down his wild, curly black hair lovingly.
"What happened, Izuna?" Kazuhiro finally asks, turning brown eyes to the younger brother.
Izuna looks devastated at his older brother before turning his own dark eyes to the man who he loved like a father, maybe in some ways more than his own father before responding, sadly, "Our father... he... went too far. He orchestrated an attack on the Sen... I mean, on the enemies main camp. But that camp was filled with women and children. Most of the warriors were on the field fighting. Madara opposed the plan, tried to talk our father out of it but..." Izuna looks over at his brother, thin dark eyebrows pulled together tightly. "Father wouldn't listen. This was the same thing that killed our mother. Madara didn't want to follow in their footsteps. He and Father fought and..." He chokes, not able to put it into words.
Izuna looks painfully vulnerable. Minato's heart is broken. He hates to see his friends like this. He knew that Madara was more of a protector by nature and wouldn't ever attack innocent women and children. Minato just couldn't believe that Madara had to actually fight his father from attack the Senju's camp. Of course, Madara wouldn't condone something like that. Especially since it was how his own mother died. Minato is mentally brought back to that night again. How both brothers came out to see him because they were in so much pain and couldn't bare to be around their father. How they were so broken and hurt and lost. That was, without a doubt, the worst moment of their lives. Minato could just tell. And it broke Minato's heart to have seen them like that. But this was so much worse.
Madara killing his own father is probably going to haunt him for the rest of his life. He will never be able to forget that moment for as long as he lives. What a terrible way to start his reign of his family. Minato's sure they won't ever forget it either. Or let Madara forget, even if he wanted to.
"Oh, sweet, gentle boy," Miyayoi murmurs, kissing Madara'a hair. "I am so sorry, sweet boy."
"Is everyone.. okay?" Kazuhiro asks slowly. "I mean, aside from..." He hesitates, not wanting to say it. Miyayoi pulls away from Madara to glare at her husband before hugging him close, then, reaching with one hand across the table to take Izuna's hand and squeeze it with as much strength as her little body could handle.
"The clan is okay," Izuna offers, voice tight. He peaks over at his older brother to see if he'll react at all to them talking, but he doesn't move from Miyayoi for a moment. "I made sure everything was in order before I came out here. I dont think anyone is..." he hesitates, not wanting to disrespect his father, especially now that he's gone. "I'm afraid for some, this was... it was probably a long time coming."
"Oh no," Miyayoi says, shaking her head. "Don't say that, sweetie. Surely that's not true."
"Since the death of our mother..." Izuna says slowly, "our father hasn't been the same. More angry. More volatile." He looks sad. Minato puts a hand on his shoulder, hoping that his friend would be able to find strength in it, somehow. Izuna offers him a half hearted smile that looks almost painful and Minato only feels worse than before. He wish he could take away their pain somehow, but he hasn't the faintest idea in how to do that.
"Losing the person you love most in the world is painful," Kazuhiro admits slowly, looking at the back of Miyayoi's head. As if feeling his eyes, she peaks over at him offering a sad smile back at him.
"I wish it didn't have to be like this," Madara mutters, finally pulling away from Miyayoi, looking worn and exhausted but not daring to meet anyone's eyes. Crying has taken all of his strength. Now he just looks tired and defeated. "It shouldn't have ended this way..." He roughly forces the heels of his palms into his eyes to try and somehow recover from his pain and having cried his eyes out just moments before.
"I know, gentle boy," Miyayoi says softly, smoothing his hair out of his eyes a bit. "I wish things could have been better." They didn't know that Madara killed his own father, Minato realizes. It wasn't said. But maybe they suspect, maybe they don't. But Minato won't say. His parents would try to be understanding, no doubt, but that's a tough reality to accept. Even if Madara looks broken over it. If neither brother want to share the specifics of how their father died, then Minato wasn't going to either. The fact that matters is Madara is in charge now, as the new clan leader. The Uchiha clan was his now.
Izuna said they fought, and his parents can probably guess what that meant, yet somehow it's not real if they don't put it into words. Not really.
"Know that no matter what, this place is your home too, and we are your family," Miyayoi says, tucking some of Madara's fringe behind his ears not at all dissuaded in her gentle ministrations despite him being unable to look her in the eye. She looks over at Izuna to show that the invitation extended to him as well. "We love you boys. All of you."
"Thank you, Miyayoi-san," Madara says softly, closing his eyes. "Thank you."
"Thank you," Izuna says just as softly. A pause, then, "I guess that means the time has come."
Madara opens his eyes, finally looking over across the table at his little brother, nodding slowly. "Yes, I suppose it does. I think... it's about time to end all of this nonsense between us and them."
Minato perks up a bit. Were they talking about what he thinks they are? Are they talking about the end of the war between the Uchiha and the Senju? Like, in real time? Minato has known this day would one day come, and it rested almost solely on the shoulders of his childhood friends, but he couldn't actually believe that it was right over the horizon now. Especially since they are both the leaders of their respective clans, Madara and Hashirama could put an end to this war and push onward into fulfilling their shared dream of forging a village together.
Oddly enough, Minato didn't know if it was ever going to happen, and now that it's being spoken about and doesn't seem like a pipe dream any longer, it doesn't seem real. No doubt it won't happen within the next few days or anything, Minato had to guess that something like that takes time and a lot of preparation, but it feels so close that Minato can barely contain the spike of excitement that shoots through him despite trying to keep calm.
"What do you mean?" Kazuhiro asks, tilting his head to the side, confused.
Izuna offers a thin smile, happy that this war is finally coming to an end, no doubt, but the death of his father is still too fresh to actually be happy at the moment in spite of it all. "In due time, Kazuhiro-san. But hopefully nothing but good things are over the horizon."
Yes, Minato hoped so too. Despite how dark and terrible this situation is, hopefully it is simply the transition from a dark time to a better future for all of them. One can only hope.
