Fic summary: Hashirama knows it's probably a bad idea when he does it, but it's too tantalizing to resist. What's the point of being able to see and manipulate soulbonds if he doesn't use it selfishly sometimes?
He and Madara are best friends, after all; they don't need a soulbond on top of that. Easy enough to shuffle it around, just a bit, until Madara's tied to Tobirama and Hashirama's is tied to Izuna. That way, everyone will fall in love and be happy, and they'll all be one big family, and it'll be great.
It doesn't work like that, of course.
All Hashirama's done is draw two innocent people into the endless tragedy that is his relationship with Madara.
(Sometimes he lets himself wonder why their brothers didn't have natural soulbonds of their own. It's usually the sign of someone who died young, or who lived a life devoted to a concept instead of a person, and there's no way to tell which destiny he messed around with.)
"What do you mean, Mito isn't your soulbond?" Tobirama demands, having stormed into Hashirama's office. "She just told me - she doesn't know, of course. But why don't you just, you know, do your thing on her?"
Hashirama rolls his eyes. "Seems rude to bring a third person into a soulbond without asking the second."
Tobirama goes pale. "Well," he says after a long moment. "I guess that scraps my plan for the next battle."
(He ends up going for a non-lethal strike, just to show that he can - but that's enough to convince the Uchiha that maybe there are benefits to cooperation.)
When we all fall asleep (where do we go).
Fic summary: “Oh, I know this place,” Tobirama says, squinting. “We’re in dreamland.”
“Ha, ha, very funny,” Izuna says. “Or are you saying you’ve dreamt this place before?”
He twitches a bit when he says that, because he distinctly recalls having dreamt of this place before himself, and the idea of sharing dreams with Tobirama of all peoples is just right out.
“No,” Tobirama says patiently. “I mean, we’re literally in dreamland. It’s the place everyone goes when they dream – it’s like the summoning world, or the Pure Lands. It’s a place.”
“…oh. And you recognize it?”
“I’m a lucid dreamer. Also, altering summoning jutsu into something else is hard, and mistakes get made.”
“You sent yourself into dreamland by accident,” Izuna says with a sigh. Of course Tobirama had. Izuna’s stopped expecting Tobirama to follow the rules set by reality years ago. “How did we both end up here? I thought you were about to stab me with that – teleporting jutsu of yours.”
It beat the Sharingan. Izuna would be impressed with his rival if he wasn’t so pissed off.
Tobirama makes a face. “Looks like my hiraishin isn’t quite as done as I thought it was,” he says. “I mean, I did stab you, but I also pulled us both into dreamland at the same time, and injuries don’t last in dreamland.”
“Hn. Truce, then, until we get out of here?”
Tobirama eyes him skeptically. Izuna can’t even really blame him; he’s never liked the idea of any sort of peace with the Senju, opposing even ceasefires.
“You killed me fair and square,” Izuna explains. “Sure, I survived through what is clearly a freak accident – you’re the freak in this situation, in case you missed it – but you still get the honor from it. The least I can do is agree to a truce for now.” He makes a face. “Possibly peace later, assuming your lot is still interested in that. You beat the Sharingan once; I have no doubt you could do it again, and next time it’ll be permanent. So. Truce?”
“Truce,” Tobirama agrees. “Now, the landscape’s all changed, but from what I remember I think the exit is this way…”
