#peppymint1986

Except it didn't. The beautiful robes and flowers were still there. The four futons were still there. And here he was, barely dressed in what appeared to be some kind of expensive fabric in a way he'd never seen anyone dress before.

"You look confused." A familiar voice barked, laughing. Tobirama sneered, looking behind him and Izuna smirked in return.

"Shouldn't you be dead?"

"On the contrary. I think my act worked rather well. Even Aniki didn't figure it out until we returned from battle." Tobirama made a face. Izuna had always been a crafty rat but to not let his brother in on a plan, well, that's just risky on Izuna's part. He turned fully to face him and the Uchiha spoke again. "It was the only way I could separate you from your people."

"Be done with this farce, Izuna." Tobirama growled. "I was prepared to die when I came here gathering intel."

"Die?" Izuna tilted his head. "Oh no, Senju. You've got it all wrong. You're not going to die. It's going to be far worse."

"So torture then? Be plain, Izuna."

"Ooo, so familiar, Tobirama-san." Izuna snickered mockingly. "You're a hostage for peace."

A beat.

"Is that what all this is for? A bribery?" A pale hand gestured to the extravagance.  The younger Uchiha brother shoved off the open door frame and strode into the room.

"Nope. That would be preparation for the Marriage Hunt."

"The _what_?" Tobirama's voice dropped several octaves, a dangerous and threatening tone.

"The m-a-r-r-i-a-g-e h-u-n-t." Izuna drawled, grinning from ear to ear, all teeth. Red eyes narrowed at the man before him.

"Marriage to whom? I'm assuming you mean me as one of the intended parties."

"I do." Izuna sighed, "If only you'd been a woman. This would have worked out perfectly for everyone involved." He shrugged, running a hand through his bangs.

"And why is that?" Tobirama's wheels were turning already. If being a woman would get him out of this, he'd have no choice but to use _that_ jutsu. He frowned internally, it wasn't like it wasn't useful, because it was. He had, on more than one occasion, used his disguise jutsu to turn himself into a beautiful naked woman to gather intel. He just hated being anyone else. And a sexy jutsu just wouldn't be-

"Well, then you could bear heirs."

Tobirama's mind skidded to a halt, screeching at painful speeds into a flaming dumpster of chaos.

"What." Was all he managed to get out before Izuna started laughing. His mood quickly soured. "Your jokes are not appreciated-"

"Who said it was a joke? I was being honest-"

"Izuna." A deeper voice cut the air like a hot knife and both men turned to see Madara standing in the doorway. Tobirama's eyes were quick to assess the situation. A just bathed Madara in sleeping yukata with his hair braided, most likely for bed as Tobirama assumed his hair would tangle like Hashirama's throughout the night. He looked slightly flushed, as if maybe he had been training before hand? Or maybe he'd soaked too long in a hot spring. Madara cleared his throat. "Don't you have somewhere to be?" Izuna looked from his brother to Tobirama before exiting the room without another word. Silence fell into his empty space and Tobirama waited for the boisterous yelling that always commenced between Madara and his brother to erupt into this scenario.

But it didn't. "Are the accommodations to your liking?" A very quiet Madara inquired, throwing the albino for a loop.

"No. I would prefer a dungeon. Perhaps be bound with rope like any other normal captive." His eyes narrowed. Madara's face twisted, and for a moment Tobirama thought he might laugh but he just sighed instead, irritated.

"You're not a normal captive."

"I'm not some stolen princess."

"Right." A long pause by the Uchiha. "Suppose I should fill you in then, Prince."

The Senju scoffed, attempting to fold his arms but unable to do so with the chained bracelets and instead awkwardly let his arms hang. Madara continued, not moving an inch toward Tobirama. "This is no bribery. Though I suppose it looks that way. You're a hostage for peace. I should take care of Hashirama's little brother, keeping him safe, Hashirama is most likely to agree to our terms of peace instead of a Senju dominated treaty." Madara was making sense however,

"That doesn't explain the misuse of clan funds for such luxuries. And I know you don't make enough money personally for all this." Tobirama wasn't intending to be mean, it was just a fact.

"You'd be wrong. On both accounts." He paused. "I have been saving my mission funds since I was eight. Every Uchiha does for a time such as this."

Now Tobirama was really confused as he was sure it was plastered all over his face. Madara looked him in the eyes. "For their intended bride."

"I am no bride." Tobirama snarled, teeth and eyes sharp, feeling his defenses raise like a cornered wolf.

"No? I guess I'll settle for a groom."

"_You_?" The albino was exasperated now.

"Yes. Me. You will be marrying me, groom." Madara stated plainly.

Tobirama's mind whirled to life again. So Izuna set this up, acting as if he was mortally wounded to lure a Senju here in the hopes it would be him, to capture him as a hostage and force him to politically marry his brother.

"Why not just ask?" Tobirama confessed his curiosity. Political marriages between feuding clans or lands often brought peace along with it and though his family had never considered the option because the Uchiha head family was also all boys, it was clear the Uchiha didn't carry such prejudices among them if their Head had preferences such as ... this. But the look on Madara's face was nothing short of offended.

"Like you would have agreed to this otherwise." He growled. "I'm no idiot, Tobirama. It is and always will be an intellectual battle of strategy with you." Though Tobirama was always matched against Izuna, he couldn't help but feel a bit prideful that his prowess was acknowledged by someone else of Hashirama's caliber. Then again, he should have known. Madara was no fool indeed.

"What makes you think I'll agree now?"

"You will." Madara seemed sure of himself, which in any other situation Tobirama might have admired such a trait but right now it scratched at his last nerve. He huffed in return. "Sleep well, groom. Your room is guarded by the best Uchiha have to offer and a priest. I don't suggest making a break for it either. If you care about your brother's peace, you'll play nice for at least a few days. Give yourself an opportunity to see things from our perspective." Madara turned, back to Tobirama, a bold move for a shinobi then looked over his shoulder at him. "By the way, you look delightful." His eyes spun red and Tobirama instinctively looked at his throat instead, mind spinning, confused and wondering what that meant. He looked up when the door shut and he finally was alone again.

Part 2:

Madara was beside himself when he caught Tobirama sneaking into the compound after Izuna's supposed injury. The albino clearly didn't mean to get caught but Izuna had laid enough traps that both Madara and Tobirama would run into each other on purpose. The surprise on both their faces sent Izuna cackling right into the koi pond.

He sighed, looking over at the Uchiha children, too young for battle, scampering around the scantily clad Tobirama and asking him a million questions about his appearance. Apparently, the Senju thought him a monster.

"I am just a man."

"But you're so pale!"

"How'd you get a blank Sharingan?"

"Why's your hair white? Are you old?"

Madara laughed to himself. Surely Tobirama didn't expect this kind of treatment but to say Madara was entertained by it was an understatement. He paused outside the temple waiting for Tobirama to catch up.

"Persistent."

"They're eager to learn."

"Do you not teach them of the White Demon?" Tobirama spat. Dark eyes looked at his contemplative for a moment.

"No." Was all he said, leading Tobirama inside the temple.

Tobirama admitted to himself, he'd never seen a temple like this one before. Long black drapery hung from its rafters, a simple washing basin at the entrance.

"Follow my lead and try not to be disrespectful." Madara chimed, moving to the washing basin, systematically washing his hands and face then praying and shrouding his face with a black veil. When Tobirama did the same, a gloved hand reached and stopped him, handing him a white veil instead. He frowned. Insistently, Madara shook it at him silently. Tobirama rolled his eyes and took it, putting it over his head and following Madara behind the fabrics and soft candle light.

A large statue of a woman emerged, surrounded by flowers of crimson color and other Uchiha, the men shrouded like Madara, the women were not. They didn't look up at him. All except the male at the front, unveiled, a priest Tobirama supposed. A priest that bowed to him when he entered. The albino attempted to bow in return when the priest stopped him,

"No. Among all the people here, it is you who is most honored." The look of confusion on his face made Madara snicker. The priest continued, "You seem puzzled, Moonchild."

"Very."

"I will recount for you then." The priest nodded to Madara who left Tobirama's side and knelt in prayer next to his kin, "Our lineage hails from Indra and his wife, Amaterasu." He gestured to the woman. "It is from Indra we received our eyes but from Amaterasu we gained our love."

Red eyes gazed up at the woman holding the infant in her arms. The priest continued, "After the death of his brother, Ashura-"

A lie. Ashura lived and Indra died.. Ashura is Senju lineage.. Tobirama thought to himself, listening.

"Amaterasu was heavy with child and was kidnapped for the unborn child's potential." It didn't take a genius to know where this was headed and Tobirama stiffened. "The child was taken from her before it's due time and it didn't make it. In her rage, Amaterasu burned the entire valley with black flame that none could extinguish. When she returned to Indra, in her distraught, she thought she would never again bear a child." A long pause. "But she was wrong. She was blessed with a Moonchild. The babe grew and from her, our clan was born. A child with skin as pale as the moon, eyes like red stones, and hair as white as snow."

Tobirama wasn't an idiot. This was a description of him.

"So, naturally, we hail Moonchildren as blessed. As heaven sent. And you, even though you're the enemy, to kill a Red Eyed Moonchild will bring the wrath of Amaterasu down upon us."

It all made sense now. Tobirama looked up at the rubies that was set as the child's eyes. The reason why most Uchiha would never touch him, only retaliating out of fear of their lives. The whole reason why Izuna never outright killed him when he had the chances. Why this whole situation had occurred. Silently, he looked at the priest. "Only women are permitted to speak in here. Of course besides myself and.. well.. you." The Uchiha were making more sense with each day and part of him hated that they did. He just wanted to go back to when it was a simpler time, attacking the enemy just because they were the enemy and not understanding them at their core.

The women, less of them in battle than Senju, were guardians of the home, the most powerful and most protected by the Uchiha men. The reverence they have for their women, the understanding they have of life and death. And the way they gazed upon him as if their very insides were confused. He barely noticed when he and Madara returned to the head house.

"They're conflicted." Madara spoke at last, escorting Tobirama to his captive room, almost as if reading his mind. "People like you... are a blessing and they think the Senju have been blessed above us. They lost hope when you entered battle against us."

The silver and gold bangles clinked as Tobirama entered the room, contemplating all he'd seen and heard in the past few days. "They seem to have hope before my capture."

"That-" Madara began, standing in the doorway, "-is because of me." And with that, he closed the door, leaving Tobirama sneering to himself of how self-absorbed Madara really must be.

Part 3:

"You've got it all wrong."

"What do I have wrong, Izuna?" Tobirama sneered, it was the end of day three and he had yet to decide for himself what he would do.

"Aniki said we lost hope seeing you in battle, but he never said he was the one to bring us hope. He said it was because of him we have hope."

"You're speaking in circles." Red eyes narrowed, sitting on the floor, still refusing to use the many luxuries provided to him in the room.

"He said he'd bring you to our side. Well, more specifically, he said he'd marry you."

"Excuse me?" The albino pursed his lips, "You expect me to believe that your brother said that when he was a child?"

"I don't expect you to believe anything." Izuna set the very plain cloth down on the floor. "He said he would. We all laughed because of course, it wouldn't work. You're a male. But it occurred to me.. that marriages don't require children to be valid." The younger said, as if he'd had a revelation. "Political marriage specifically. So here we are." He put his hands on his hips, waiting for the answer.

Tobirama sighed, he'd seen and heard many things in the past few days, most of which did in fact, sway his original opinion of the bloodthirsty Uchiha he'd grown to hate and respect over the years. They were a clan gripped by a love deeper than the Senju, crazed with the pain that losing that love brings. It was Hashirama's dream, this peace. Tobirama could never really imagine it in his head, but he could theorize on how to accomplish such a feat. Many policies, many treaties, and so so much trust would be needed. But this... this capture turned everything on it's head. He could  single handedly stop this centuries' old war. Him. The second born of the Senju Head. Not the Mokuton User. Not the first born, his brother who shone like the sun and commanded respect with his very presence.

Him. A child of water and moonlight and darkness.

It was a long moment before he reached for the garment silently. He could hear Izuna's breath hitch. Was he really going to do this?

"Tell me how it works."

Part 4:

When he stepped out into the open with Izuna wearing only the loin cloth provided, he held his head high and walked straight to Madara. Surprised, the Uchiha flushed an interesting pink from his face down his chest, which only made Tobirama's eyes wander. They were dressed the same, and as per Izuna's instructions, everything looked to be in order. "Betrothed." Tobirama drawled bored like.

"You're going through with it?"

"Yes. Hashirama isn't the only one who wants children to stop dying." Tobirama huffed, hand waving. "Though I've never entertained the thought of a man before." Madara raised a brow. "There isn't much time for such things in war."

That was a lie, Madara knew quite well that sexual encounters were not just the norm in war time, it was honestly the quickest and most effective way to blow off steam. Every shinobi had done it if not with both sexes, then at least one or the other but from the look on Tobirama's face, he was unfazed. "Have you ever..."

"I don't think I need to be here for this conversation," Izuna nearly yelled to not hear whatever response had tumbled out of Tobirama's mouth. "Okay you've got your instructions. The marriage hunt begins now. Get going!" He flickered away and like that, the two men were standing nearly naked and alone at the forest edge of camp.

"We need to get going before they catch us." Tobirama only nodded at Madara's remark, gesturing for him to lead the way. With that, Madara darted into the forest, Tobirama on his heels. It was intensely quiet for a long period of time, Madara scanning the forest with his Sharingan as they put space between them and the compound. He paused on a branch, pulling Tobirama into a hollowed tree trunk with him. Except he didn't account for Tobirama's height and his eyes widened when the albino's head smacked on the opening with the force of his pull. A pale hand went up to hold his face and Madara tried not to laugh, listening to see if the loud thud had given them away. Tobirama looked unimpressed, but followed him into the tight space, surprised at just how bulky Madara's torso was compared to his own. Chest to chest, they hid inside the trunk, whispering and keeping their senses open.

"I sense fourteen at seven position." Tobirama whispered.

"They're not close enough for me to see yet." Madara looked back at the pale chest before him in the dark, trying not to flush again with their proximity.

"What's your plan?"

"I say we cross into Nara territory and wait out the rest of the day. The sun is rising." Tobirama scoffed looking bewildered at his shorter companion.

"I am NOT hiding nearly naked in NARA territory even if it is for peace."

"You could always hide fully naked." Madara immediately looked away as both of them flushed and scowled. "If we don't hide, we'll spend all day running and by night fall, the clan will be upon us. And I know their tenacity. They'll keep coming until we're both captured and if we want peace, we can't let that happen."

"Then we go north into the mountains."

"Are you crazy? It's nearly winter and you want to go into the mountains, in less than a fundoshi?"

"There's a hot spring-" Madara pulled Tobirama down to his knees, nearly flush with his waist as the top of the trunk was shattered over them. Ignoring the placement of his face so close to an erogenous zone, Tobirama took the initiative and lifted Madara onto his shoulder, bounding upwards as kunai trailed after them.

He picked up speed, silently thanking the gods that Hashirama had grown into the thick tree trunk brother he became or Tobirama would have never gained the strength to pick Madara up like this and bound away. With Madara using wind jutsu to cut down trees to block the way of his kin as he berated Tobirama for carrying him like a sack of rice, the sun seemed to spark brighter over the horizon and through the leaves. Suddenly, the albino tumbled forward, nearly planting them both into a cliff face and dropped Madara who squawked as he not so graciously caught himself on a hanging rock.

"What the hell, Senju?!"

"I should be asking you the same." Tobirama spat, holding onto another rock.

"I was helping you!"

"By hitting me with wind jutsu?"

"By propelling us forward faster!" Tobirama paused, a tactical moment when he realized Madara wasn't just limply hanging onto him, he was trying to work with him the only way he knew how. He opened his mouth to respond when a fire jutsu flashed between the two hanging on the side of the cliff and they both bolted upwards for the edge to keep going.

"You should have warned me you'd use that tactic!"

Madara just gave his companion a dirty look as they raced through the next bout of trees, fire licking at their heels. It wasn't long before they both broke through to the other side, right into a farmer's field. "Where the hell are we?"

"Oh gods damn it." Tobirama face palmed, then turned. "They're right behind us. Hurry."

"W-what?!" Madara squawked as Tobirama yanked him through the rice field, past the very confused farmer and into the bushes on the other side.

"They'll have to slow down through the field or risk burning it." Tobirama raised his voice over the sound of the wind as they ran, Madara too focused on the hand grasping his wrist to do anything about it.

"And we just-"

"Izuna didn't say we couldn't be seen. He said we couldn't be caught."

"That's not the point-"

"Then what's the point?" Tobirama looked around, engrossed in the chase now, body flexing as they stopped for a moment to reconsider their surroundings and listen for their hunters. Madara's eyes wandered over the companion before him and huffed, tearing his eyes away to scan the perimeter of their line of sight.

"It's not about the chase. Well it is but-"

"Izuna said-"

"Izuna didn't say-"

The two jumped as they were interrupted by a hailstorm of senbon. Madara tackled Tobirama, and the two rolling down a hill into a creek, fall leaves jumping into the air as they went. Madara groaned, now they were wet and cold, and- his brain stopped when they stood up and Tobirama looked around.

"What's wrong with you?" The albino snapped his fingers in Madara's face who blinked and suddenly looked up.

"You uh.."

"I what? Spit it out, Uchiha."

"You lost your cloth."

Tobirama's lips pursed as he decidedly did not look down to check and tried to decidedly not blush at his nakedness. He could hear Madara swallow. "Not something you like?" He hissed, touchy about the subject of his body.