' gramps!! you've gotta tell me a cool story! ' give young brobito what he wants, give him the dets madara......
❝ A ‘ cool ‘ story ?? ❞ Honestly, in his wearied age, Madara wasn’t sure what constituted ‘ cool ‘ in any story he had to tell. He was too old to recall most details in any semblance of clarity, but there was one TALE that he remembered down to the formation of the clouds that day. What started as a wheeze turned into a full-blown coughing fit as he prepared to speak at length. ❝ If you insist … ❞ he began after recovering.
❝ When I was a boy, after I met Hashirama Senju, I had the displeasure of meeting his last remaining brother. Toki———Toma … Shit. ❞ Madara closed his eyes for a moment while his memory FAILED him as it did so often these days. Brows furrowed, he’d very nearly fallen asleep, hunched over like that until he was startled awake by some noise or another. ❝ Tobirama !! That bastard, ❞ he continued. ❝ Tobirama was the worst of all those self-righteous Senju. He all but invented ‘ SUPERIORITY COMPLEX ‘ . It was easy to hate him &&. he only made it easier. On the sixteenth anniversary of my late mother’s death, who passed during childbirth when my little brother Izuna was born, the Uchiha met the Senju on the battlefield for the ( seventh ) time that summer. They refused to relinquish their stolen territory&&. we refused to give it up so easily. The battle was neck &&. neck: Hashirama &&. I went toe-to-toe as usual, for no other HELD A CANDLE to his power, while the rest of our clans met their matches elsewhere. Somehow, for some inexplicable reason, Izuna ended up on the opposite side of Tobirama’s blade. I remember the EXACT MOMENT his sword pierced my baby brother. ❞
Madara’s lip curled as the memory resurfaced. He could remember counting the paces between him &&. Izuna, he could remember the all-too-familiar DRONE OF WAR fading into silence as his brother fell to his knees. The Uchiha stilled with their leader, watching the scene with wide-eyed horror, though the Senju only halted on Hashirama’s D E A F E N I N G command. Tobirama was pried away from his victim as Madara approached, &&. just as well. Had he been close enough, Madara surely would have stricken him down where he stood. Blinking, he realized he’d fallen silent &&. he glanced back up at Obito. He cleared his throat &&. continued.
❝ I ran to him, but I feared I was TOO LATE. The wound was too deep, the blood too much. Hashirama had the audacity to insult me in that moment &&. then make some MOCKERY of a peace offer. Do you know what my brother said to me in that moment, mortally wounded &&. bleeding to DEATH? ❞ He didn’t pause long enough for Obito to answer, only to press his cracked lips into a hard line. ❝ He reminded me that the Senju were the reason our other brothers were already dead. The reason why our father was dead. The reason our clan had lost so much. He reminded me that I could never trust them. ❞ Leaning forward, he coughed into his hand again, grimacing at the sight of B L O O D on his palm. Wiping it on his robes, he leaned back in his seat with a heavy sigh. ❝ I wanted Izuna’s ( last moments ) to be pleasant, so I ordered my clan to retreat &&. I took him home. Now, the only reminder I have left of him are these eyes … ❞
He flashed his ETERNAL MANGEKYO SHARINGAN at Obito, the tomoe spinning lazily amoungst the red.
❝ One day, I imagine you’ll have eyes like mine, too. ❞
