Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Look what we found, Nii-saan!”  

Madara turned around and immediately yelped at what Izuna and Kawarama held up.  

“A baby raccoon!”  

“Let that go!” Madara instantly scolded. “Where did you find it?!”  

The boys suddenly looked guilty.  

“In the bushes over there…” Izuna admitted, pointing to a direction in the forest.  

Madara sighed. “Come on. Let’s put it back.”  

He guided the two boys to the area and gently let the baby raccoon go. It ran off away from them until it met it’s lumbering mother hiding a few feet away in the bushes, instantly nuzzling her baby far from the kids.  

Kawarama sniffed. “We’re sorry, Madara-nii-saan. We just thought…”  

Madara turned to the guilty children, sighed and smiled. “Don’t worry about it, yeah?” he ruffled both their hair, earning giggles from each. “At least you got to do something good today. Always return baby animals to their mothers!”  

…………….  

“You could’ve caught it!”  

“ I could’ve?? You were standing right there!!”  

Tobirama and Madara glared at eachother standing next to the rabbit trap that their prey clearly missed.  

“You were right next to it. You could have hit it with something!” Tobirama protested.  

“Excuse me?? I was busy making sure the trap was set up right!” Madara retorted.  

“It was set up right! Because I built it!!”  

“How can I trust that you did??”  

“ Hello?! I’m the better hunter here!”  

“Says who?”  

“ Everybody !”  

“No!”  

“Oh yeah? Ask anija then!”  

“Oh please, Hashirama will only take your side ‘cause you’re his little brother!”  

“Will not!”  

“Will do!”  

“ Will not! ”  

“ Will do!! ”  

“GUYS GUYS!!”  

Both boys turned their attention from growling at eachother to the said brunet running towards them with game in hand.  

“I caught a rabbit! It will be good lunch today!”  

Tobirama and Madara went silent for a while, then crossed their arms and groaned.  

“What? What’s the matter with you guys?”  

Tobirama’s ears burned. “Nothing, anija! It doesn’t matter anyway.”  

Anija already caught the rabbit we were fighting over. If Madara didn’t start the argument, we would’ve caught up to him by now!  

The albino scoffed. Madara was such a loser.  

………….  

“What’s that, Izuna-nii-saan?” Itama pointed to something in Izuna’s bento.  

“Oh, this?” the young Uchiha picked up the morsel of food with his chopsticks. “This is salmon. We get it on the far side of the river.”  

“Whoaaa!” Itama stared wide-eyed at the fish. “I’ve never eaten something like that!”  

“Wanna try it? Here.” Izuna handed Itama the chopsticks and the boy happily chewed on.  

“It tastes great! Can you teach me how to catch some?”  

“Yeah!” Izuna smiled as the two boys shared his lunch.  

……….  

“Anija is a pretty big wimp, actually.” Tobirama said, smirking   

“He can’t be!” Izuna exclaimed before Kawarama shushed him.  

“He is! Even the tiniest sound scares him,” Tobirama sneaked quietly among the fern while hiding his chakra. “Watch this.”   

Hashirama was a few feet away from the hidden boys, humming happily as he washed his face in the river. Tobirama and Kawarama suddenly leaped out of the bushes and crashed into their older brother, sending him bowling into the river.  

For a good few seconds, Hashirama wailed and splashed about in the water before he realised what actually happened.   

“Hahaha! You fell for it again, anija!” Tobirama and Kawarama laughed at the shore.   

Hashirama raised himself from the water with that same mischievous grin the brothers had just a few seconds ago. “Why, you two…!”  

Hashirama dragged his brothers in the water with surprised and excited squeals as they wrestled and laughed while splashing around. Izuna couldn’t hold his giggles in any longer and joined them as well, giving Hashirama an even bigger surprise.  

“Wait… you dragged Izuna out here to watch me fall for your pranks??”  

………  

“Hey, Madara.” Hashirama started, sitting down beside his friend on the cliff.  

“Hm?”  

“Our clans will eventually unite, won't they?”  

Madara chuckled. “I’d hope so. It’s taking a while but I’m sure it’ll happen.”  

Hashirama smiled and went silent for a while. He then bit the edge of his pinky finger until it drew blood and extended it to a surprised Madara.  

“There’s no reason for us to stay like this anymore, right?”  

Madara realized what his friend meant and smiled back. “Yeah.”  

He bit his pinky as well on the opposite hand until red dripped from the edge.  

The two boys entwined their fingers firmly.   

“I solemnly swear to be faithful to my blood brother Hashirama Senju/Madara Uchiha, for as long as the sun and moon shall endure.”  

 Both touched their foreheads against theirs in loyalty to their now permanent oath.  

……..  

“I caught the salmon, Izuna-nii-saan!” Itama exclaimed brightly.  

“You did a great job!” Izuna praised and patted the little boy’s back. He then helped gather the 3 fish Kawarama and Itama helped to catch.  

“Is the fire on, Tobi-nii?” Kawarama asked.  

“In a minute!” Tobirama called back from the campfire. “If only Madara could just spark the flint…” he muttered.  

Madara snorted. “I heard that, brat! And just for the record, you collected damp wood. ”  

“No, you did that. I’m not stupid enough to collect damp wood for a fire.”  

“Why you little-“  

“Madara!” Hashirama scolded as he gathered the fishing nets and sticks. “No fighting!”  

“But Tobirama started it!”  

Hashirama sighed and trotted down to his brothers. “Tobirama, quit trying to pick a fight with him please?”  

“Sorry, anija~ ” the albino said all innocently and Hashirama smiled giving him a gentle headpat. “Good boy.”  

Madara growled at the pampering Hashirama was obviously giving to his little brother. Tobirama stuck his tongue in his direction the minute Hashirama looked away.  

I’m getting revenge on him one day!  

“Nii-saan! The fish is here!”  

Madara’s mood changed almost immediately when Izuna, Kawarama and Itama came over with a salmon for each of them.   

“Nice work, guys!” the older Uchiha praised with a grin.  

The kids were smiling from ear to ear as all of them gathered around the fire (after a lot more bickering from Tobirama) for their dinner. Each got a salmon on a stick as they started eating away, commenting on how well the little ones did in catching their game.  

“You’ll soon become better hunters than me.” Tobirama stated.  

“Ohhh, I hope.” Madara said smugly.  

“Hey!”  

“Oh calm down, Tobirama it’s just a joke.”  

“… It better be.”  

The boys continued eating and talking as they watched the sunset wash the colours of the sky away and fade into the twilight until they finished dinner and lay down, huddled close together for warmth to get a good night’s sleep.