Madara Uchiha x Healer!Reader
Friends to lovers, set during the founder’s era
Authors note: Hey everyone! I’ve been busy lately so this took me longer to write. Also just so you know, this chapter contains vague talk of death during childbirth. I don’t think it’s bad enough for a trigger warning, but I still wanted to give you a heads up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Land of Fire, many years ago.
Today’s lessons were finished. Now, it was time for a whole lot of nothing.
It had only been several days since y/n’s father punished her for her small adventure and she already had a hard time bearing it. While she could never go outside unaccompanied, she was at least allowed in the garden. And the library. Now, even these privileges were taken away.
It was still quite early in the day and the servants typically did not bother checking on her until the evening. If she wanted to sneak out again, this might be her best bet.
If her father did not want her to escape, he should not have punished her in a way that left her alone with her thoughts. It gave her more than enough time to consider her options.
It was unreasonable to assume she could escape through the entrance. It was guarded, and all of the staff were informed of her punishment.
The window was a different story. From there, she reached a nearby tree, climbing down to the garden. It took a bit of good timing, as guards patrolled the entire property, but she eventually reached the tree she used to climb over the fence.
Now that the escape itself was completed, all that was left was to figure out where to go.
The town was out of question. She could get recognized. But the river was remote enough.
If she had been more careful with her time, she could have made it to the river and back in time. Perhaps the boys she met last time would be there. And even if they weren’t, she could just enjoy the area on her own. Either she would make some friends, or she would enjoy a nice afternoon outdoors. Both seemed pleasant. It was decided, then.
Time to head to the river.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You played dirty!” A familiar, angry voice said.
“Just admit it was a draw.”
It did not take her very long to recognize whose voices she heard. Did they not do anything other than fight? There must have been more to their friendship than that.
As she approached, she did not bother concealing her presence. The sound of her steps alerted the boys to her arrival. They both smiled when they saw her.
“Y/n! We were worried about you! Did your father find out?” Hashirama spoke, clearly excited and relieved to see her.
“He did, unfortunately. I am not allowed to leave my room for two months. Not that I care, obviously, but it’s even harder to sneak out now.”
“Aw, that’s too bad. But at least you managed.”
“I need to be more careful, if he sees me again he’s going to put me under even stricter surveillance. I’m not allowed anywhere, but the staff doesn’t really check that often. It could get worse.”
“You'd better be in time for dinner, then. But regardless, I’m glad you’re here.”
“I’m glad, too.” Madara joined the conversation. “You still owe me the winning decision later. Although neither of us is in the mood for stone skipping today.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today was all about fighting. The boys clearly duelled before her arrival and did not stop after. Y/n watched, sitting on a nearby rock, until they eventually came to rest and talk with her.
“So, as I was saying, Madara refuses to admit he first fight today ended in a draw. Clearly, I am better than him.”
“It was not a draw,” Madara said, clearly unconvinced. “I was the last one standing.”
Y/n let out a sigh. Sometimes she wished she had the skills of a shinobi. Then, it would be easier to sneak out. She would not have to worry about her safety. Perhaps her father would let her outside on her own. But no, he would never allow her to train. She wanted to be a medic first, but if she could both cause and heal wounds, it would be optimal.
“I envy you, guys. Sometimes I wish I were a kunoichi. I could walk around safely and seeing you two fight seems fun.”
Surprisingly, it was Madara who answered first.
“The fighting is fun. But being a shinobi is only fun until you have to bury those you care about.”
The shock on her face must have been obvious. She had been living a sheltered life, not having to worry about her own safety often, but even she knew of the horrors of war. Her wish to become a kunoichi did not include any desire for war experience. She did not realize how much of it went hand in hand.
She could only guess what war was like. These two boys did knew all too well. It felt wrong for them to know. They should not. It was cruel, to experience these things at such a tender age.
She might not know war, but she did know loss. How many people did these two lose? How many more would be taken from them? She remembered then, how much it hurt, when she experienced grief for the first time.
“That sounds horrible. I can’t even imagine. I mean, it was bad enough when…” she paused, contemplating whether she should tell them. They only met once before, after all, and she never spoke of her own grief before.
Well, perhaps it was time to change that. She might not know the boys very well, but they were the closest thing to real friends she ever had. She never did quite click with any of the children her father deemed suitable for her to spend time with.
“It was bad enough when my mother died. It was unexpected. She died during childbirth, along with the baby. We were supposed to be looking down a crib, not a grave.” She tried her best not to cry, avoiding the gaze of the boys. A small, rogue tear escaped her socket, before she collected herself.
“I lost two of my siblings in the war. It’s hard.” Madara spoke, finally causing her to look up.
“So did I. But when Madara and I grow up, we will find a way to make things better. No kids should spend time burying other kids. We will build a much safer world.” Hashirama joined the conversation.
Y/n was not sure how exactly the boys intended to achieve that. It might have been naive, but the idea did make her hopeful. Like her, they just wanted to make the world a better place. Perhaps she could join them in building this dream.
“You will still need healers, right? Well, I’m going to become a really good one, so I can help if you do.”
“Of course we will. You’ll be welcome. We will create a better world together.” Hashirama said, still honestly excited by the idea.
“Do you want to become a healer because of your mother?” Madara spoke again. She was not sure what led him to ask her this. She already told them more personal things than anyone else in years, so she might as well go on.
“Their deaths were preventable. The baby became stuck during delivery, causing them both to pass away. An experienced healer could have treated them. But my mother went into labor a week earlier than expected, so the one my father hired was unable to treat them in time.”
Y/n paused again, attempting to collect herself. It had been several years since the tragedy. Since then, she kept her emotions bottled up, as there was nobody who cared enough to listen. Telling the boys made these old feelings surface. They have since lost their intensity, but she still wanted to cry. There was something about telling her feelings to someone other than the walls in her room. Then, a part of her remembered those lessons deeply ingrained in her mind by her father. He got angry many times he got angry when she cried. No, she would not cry.
“I miss her dearly. I want to be for others what she lacked. If I can be the reason children don’t have to bury their mothers, or mourn who their siblings could have been, I will become one.”
“It seems like our goals are similar, then.”Madara looked at her with a soft gaze. It was as if he was thinking of how much better the world could be, too.
He was right. She was sure they could achieve their goals together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been two months since her arrival in Konoha. Late in the afternoon, y/n was about to head to her apartment. Perhaps she could relax with a cup of tea and a good book. That, or she could tend to the small, herbal garden she began to cultivate in the backyard. It was almost thriving, except for the number of pests she was unable to get rid of. It still needed work.
Little did she know her plans would soon be interrupted by an old friend.
As she exited the medical quarters, she saw Hashirama approaching her.
“Y/n! I was about to head inside to look for you. You’re done with work for today, right?” He smiled, clearly excited.
“Hi Hashirama! Yes, I was about to head home. Why?”
“I need your help. Would you be up for some drinks and cards tonight?”
The help request followed by such an invitation only served to make y/n confused. Surely, Hashirama did not need help getting drunk and gambling half his money away.
“Uh, maybe? I’d be nice I suppose, but how exactly do you want me to help you with that?”
“Madara has been overworking himself again. He mentioned something about the clan council. Last time I saw him, he looked like he didn’t sleep for two days.”
Y/n felt a mix of concern and anger creeping upon her. Rest was important. As competent as Madara was, even he could not avoid it forever.
“Does he think he can just run away from sleep? Anyway, I still don’t understand. From the way you describe it, he should be in bed, not in a teahouse.”
“We can’t exactly force him to sleep. But we can at least try to make him relax in other ways, he needs that, too. And perhaps the alcohol will do the rest for us.”
“So you just want us to have a night out, basically.”
“Yes! It’s been so long since I spent time with both of you. The issue is, Madara won’t listen to me if I try to make him do things that aren’t work. He will listen to you, though.”
“What makes you think he will listen to me? You’re just as much his friend as I am.”
“You have your ways, y/n.” Hashirama shrugged her off. She had no idea what he meant and was honestly skeptical of his faith in her. But it was at least worth a try.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sight that welcomed her upon her entrance to Madara’s office was about as bad as she expected.
The towers of paper on the table almost made it hard to see him. He looked at her as if she were just a hallucination induced by his sleep deprivation.
“Y/n? What are you doing here?”
“I haven’t seen you in days. Both Hashirama and I were wondering if you’d like to go to the teahouse and play some cards with us.”
“I am busy,” Madara responded fast enough for it to be clear that he did not even contemplate the offer. As expected, he was too stubborn to just agree.
“You know you can’t just rot in your office all day. When was the last time you did anything other than work?”
He knew she was right. A brief flash of emotion on his face gave it away. Still, she knew he would refuse.
“Go enjoy the night, y/n. I cannot go with you.”
“Is there anything so urgent that it needs your attention right now? I will leave if that’s the case, but please, at least have the courtesy to answer me honestly.” She knew there wasn’t. He had been working for so long now that he would have dealt with any urgent matters by now. But she still needed to convince him, somehow.
“Then all of this can wait. You’ll be inefficient if you’re tired.”
“Just leave. I’ll be fine.”
Appealing to reason would not work. He knew all of this already. Perhaps she needed to identify the cause of all this.
“Why are you doing this, Madara? Something is happening, isn’t it?”
“No, nothing is happening. You should leave.” He would just keep dismissing her if she kept pushing. He was way too stubborn for this.
There was one, last strategy she could implement. It was no secret that Madara was not the most patient man. He really did want her out. She really did not want to resort to this, but nothing else would convince him.
Instantly as she seated herself on the floor, he knew what she was doing.
“Not this again. I cannot work like this.” He said, clearly unhappy.
“I will not leave this room until you either go get some sleep or at least join us at the teahouse. We both know you need this.”
“Yes, I’ll be quite pleasant and happy at the teahouse if I’m forced to be there.” She wasn’t even here for long and he was already annoyed. Her plan was working.
“I’m sure you will!” Y/n made sure the sarcasm in her voice was evident. Just a little longer.
“Fine! I’ll go to the damn teahouse with you!” He spat out. Y/n smiled at her victory.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Do you have any intention of actually winning a round today, Hashirama?” Madara teased. As expected, it did not take long for him to loosen up. She knew he would underestimate how much he needed to rest. Hashirama losing hard was also a contributing factor.
“I’m just unlucky.” Hashirama sighed, finishing his fourth drink, putting the cup on the table in an uncharacteristically sloppy way. He was becoming visibly intoxicated, and she wondered how a man as tall as he could be so lightweight. “Mito will kill me when I get back.”
“You’re actually quite lucky we’re not betting money,” Y/n said, grinning. She was significantly less intoxicated than Hashirama, as she did not wish to deal with the consequences at work tomorrow. A drink or two would be enough. By the looks of it, Madara had opted for the same approach.
That was fine. If anything, she was glad she did not have to care for two drunks on her own. But it also meant he was just as good as her at cards. Both of them have won the same number of rounds so far. And they both wanted to win.
“Another round?” Y/n said, not even waiting for a reply. She shuffled the deck with her steady hands.
Just as the two friends nodded, she distributed the cards between the three of them and placed the remaining cards on the table. She would win this time and beat them both.
It was a quick round. It did not take her very long to collect the 4 cards she needed.
“Freeze!” She proclaimed, setting her cards on the table. Hashirama reacted with visible disappointment.
“We could have at least let him win a round or two.” Y/n turned to Madara, still clearly proud of herself.
“No. If he wants to win, then he needs to get better.” He responded.
“Stop mocking me you two! I’ll show you!” Hashirama said, collecting the cards.
He attempted to shuffle the deck, but failed miserably. He could not even hold it properly, let alone mix it. Somehow, half of the cards ended up on the ground.
“The god of shinobi, bested by a card deck. I think it’s time to stop, maybe.” Y/n said. While she did have ulterior motives, as ending the game now would guarantee her win, Hashirama was truly getting quite drunk.
“You’re right. It’s getting late.” Madara agreed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“It was nice seeing you two! We should repeat this sometime. See you later!” Hashirama said his goodbye and left, oddly enough, in the opposite direction, from his house.
“Shouldn’t we keep an eye on him?” Y/n was mildly concerned.
“He’ll find his way home eventually. It’s not like there’s anything stronger than him lurking in the woods.” Madara answered, clearly speaking from previous experience.
“Hopefully he doesn’t encounter a vicious deck of cards, then. I’m glad I at least remember where I live.”
“I’ll walk you home.” Madara decided.
“You don’t have to do that, you know. It’s not like I live far away. And you really look like you could use some sleep.”
She knew he was avoiding the topic again. While she was glad they spent some time together, she felt the underlying issue should still be addressed.
“Alright then. If you insist.” Y/n said, trying to balance the need not to pry too much and her concern. She could change the topic now and perhaps get him to talk later.
“So, how are the falcons doing?” She asked.
“Good. I still have to train the young ones. There was no time recently.”
“Do they tend to fly far? I saw a falcon in my garden a few days ago. There are quite a few rodents, so the falcon was probably trying to catch them. I was wondering if it was yours.”
“That’s unlikely. They know better than to venture far without a command. What did it look like?”
“The bird flew away as soon as it saw me, so I did not really get a good look. It was brown, but that’s all I can tell you.”
“Are you even sure it was a falcon?”
“Well, not really. It did look like one, but I haven’t seen any up close. I don’t really trust my ability to identify them properly.”
“I can show you sometime, if you’d like.”
“That would be nice! I was hoping you’d introduce us at some point. I might envy you, though. I always wanted pets, but the circumstances just did not allow it.”
Madara nodded, acknowledging her. His response was quiet, but she knew he was looking forward to it. They could agree on a time later.
She did not respond. A comfortable silence ensued as they walked the rest of the way.
As they reached her front door, she tried one last time.
“Thank you for walking with me. And look, I know there’s something wrong. You tend to overwork yourself when something is going on. I don’t want to pry, but I also don’t think you should bottle it up. I just want you to know I’m willing to listen, if you’ll have me.”
His face did not give his emotions away. He took slightly longer to respond than he usually did.
“Thank you, y/n. But it really is fine.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~