shameless nardo art

Alternative Version:

The wedding day is over. And Tobirama can't stop smiling. He's married. Married to Madara Uchiha, of all people. If someone had told him this years ago, he would have laughed in their face.

Instead, he's standing in the middle of the Uchiha family's ancient room, still wearing his wedding clothes and trying not to look too excited.

The entire main Uchiha family is there. Even the servants. An antique box sits in the middle of the room.

Tobirama assumes it's another strange family tradition and is delighted when they explain that every new family member must play a game.

"A game?" he asks, amused.

No one answers.

The room is unnaturally quiet.

"This is a Uchiha tradition?" he asks.

Still no answer.

Madara stands tense beside him, his hand gripping Tobirama's so tightly it almost hurts.

Across the room, Izuna is staring at him with something that looks disturbingly like pity.

Tobirama blinks.

"Should I be worried?"

No one says a word. How strange. Trying to ease the tension, he laughs softly and reaches into the a box.

The card slides into his hand.

Hide and Seek.

Silence the kind that makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Madara goes completely pale. Someone curses under their breath. Izuna closes his eyes. Tobirama looks from one face to another.

"I don't get it. Are we really going to play hide and seek?"

No one explains. Because how do you tell someone that the family has to kill him before sunrise?

The game begins.

Tobirama is still confused when Madara suddenly grabs his shoulders.

"Listen to me. You need to hide."

"...Why?"

"Just trust me."

"Madara "

"I'll help you," Madara says quietly. "I'll do everything I can. I'll keep them away from you for as long as possible."

"Them? What is happening?"

Madara's expression twists with guilt.

"Just trust me, Tobi. Please."

For the first time that night, Tobirama sees genuine fear in his husbands eyes.

"Hide until dawn," Madara whispers. "And I swear to you. I'll find a way to get you through this."

The fear in his voice makes Tobirama's stomach drop.

He has never seen Madara look like this before. Tobirama doesn't argue. He simply nods and disappears into the mansion. It doesn't take long to figure things out. He overhears two servants talking. About the curse. About the sacrifice. About how everyone will die if the groom survives.

He thinks they want to kill me. On my wedding night. Because of a curse. That's unfortunate. Because now he understands. They're hunting him.They plan to kill him.

He should be horrified. Instead, he feels something old and familiar settle comfortably in his chest. The same feeling he had during the war.

A servant rounds the corner and nearly screams when he finds Tobirama standing there.

"L-Lord Tobirama?"

Tobirama smiles. The servant reaches for a knife. Tobirama moves first. It's almost embarrassing how easy it is. The servant never makes it back. Not long after, another servant disappears. Then another.

Panic begins spreading through the mansion. No one understands what's happening. The family was supposed to be hunting the groom.

So why are people dropping one by one?

Madara's heart nearly stops when he hears that the third servant has died. He immediately assumes the worst. They're getting closer to Tobirama.

He fights to get past his family, but they hold him back.

"You can't help him!"

"The curse comes first!"

"We have no choice!"

Tobirama is calmly wiping blood from his hands. A fourth body falls. Then a fifth. The mansion slowly changes. The hunters become nervous and afraid. Then paranoid. Because they aren't finding their prey. Their prey is finding them.

By the time Madara finally escapes his family and finds Tobirama, he almost doesn't recognize the man standing before him.

Madara has never seen him on the battlefield. When peace came, Tobirama had already put his armor away. To Madara, he has always been Hashirama's quiet younger brother intelligent, sharp tongued, perhaps a little delicate. Someone who spends more time with scrolls than swords. Someone who needs protecting.

Instead, Tobirama looks perfectly calm. A small streak of blood on his cheek. And entirely unafraid.

"Tobi?" Madara whispers.

Tobirama turns.

"Oh, there you are."

He's smiling. As if nothing is wrong. Madara stares.

"...What happened?"

Tobirama blinks.

"They tried to kill me."

A pause.

"So I killed them first."

Silence.

"You killed them?"

Tobirama frowns.

"They were trying to kill me, Madara. What exactly did you expect me to do? Was I supposed to wait for help?"

Madara honestly has no answer to that. Because suddenly, so many things make sense. The way Hashirama never worried when Tobirama traveled alone.The old scars. The way Tobirama always seemed too aware of every exit in a room.

For the first time, Madara realizes something important.

He never actually knew the man he married. He fell in love with the peaceful version of Tobirama. Not the one forged by war. Not the man who survived an era where children carried weapons. Not the predator wearing white wedding robes. Madara only knows one version of Tobirama. Hashirama's quiet, fragile younger brother. The brother who stood behind the God of Shinobi. How can he be this blind?

Tobirama tilts his head.

"...Why are you looking at me like that?"

Madara opens his mouth and closes it. Then opens it again. There is no sound. Madara decides that perhaps the curse is not the biggest problem tonight. Because the Uchiha family made one terrible mistake. They thought they were hunting Hashirama's fragile little brother.