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Armour fixed in place, weapons in their pouches or sheaths and hitai-ate in hand, Tobirama turned to his spouse when he heard the rustle of kimono that accompanied a quiet – but purposefully audible – step towards him. A dark grey eye in a pale-skinned face stared at him as Kakashi closed the distance between them and took Tobirama’s face in his calloused hands. A kiss – soft and chaste – pressed lovingly to his lips. Tobirama placed his free hand on his husband’s waist, allowing their foreheads to rest together when the kiss broke.
Kakashi had changed immensely from that traumatised young man who Tobirama had found in the forest almost three years ago, just after the deaths of Uchiha Tajima and Senju Butsuma. He was still a deadly shinobi, still kept his skills sharp, but Hashirama had never ordered him to battle and had instead had him stay at the Senju compound as a last line of defence for the children and non-combatant clan members. The years of relative peace for the compound – despite there still being skirmishes with the Uchiha and others, and battles like the one Tobirama was about to leave for, the Senju compound was in itself peaceful – had gone a long way to healing Kakashi’s wounds, both mental and physical.
Tobirama wasn’t the only one who had courted the quiet shinobi, but he had been the successful one, as he had been the only one who was able to see the warrior beneath the quiet surface. It had intrigued him at first, and then it had become one of the things he loved most about his husband.
“I want you to come back to me,” Kakashi murmured, and Tobirama tugged him closer. “But be wary of what you do to accomplish that.” Tobirama frowned, and Kakashi kissed him again – just as chaste and soft as before – before slowly pulling back from the half-embrace they were in. “Don’t kill Izuna. I know Hashirama has never thought to tell you he expects you to let him live. He seems to think you can read his mind. But he and Madara bonded over their wish to see their brothers live, and so Madara has told Izuna to spare you should he have the opportunity for a killing blow.”
“One day you will tell me how you know this,” Tobirama sighed, and kissed Kakashi again – harder, this time, but not rough – before donning the hitai-ate that held his white hair from his eyes in battle. “That does, unfortunately, sound like something anija would expect me to just know,” he added in a grumble. Kakashi smiled, and then tugged up the cloth mask he wore over the bottom half of his face in public, reducing what was visible to only the small section of skin around his grey eye.
(Tobirama had never asked how he came to have a Sharingan as his other eye, but he had faith his husband would tell him eventually. He never used it, always kept it covered with chakra-suppressing seals stitched into the cloth that covered it, and so Tobirama was the only one who knew about it.)
“Come back to me,” Kakashi said again, “and if you do need to use your fancy new jutsu against Izuna, make sure it isn’t a killing blow you hit him with. Perhaps Madara will realise your brother is serious about peace if you spare Izuna in an obvious manner.”
“You are incredibly optimistic about Madara’s intelligence,” Tobirama told him dryly. Kakashi just laughed.
The battle started much as any other did when against the Uchiha. Hashirama immediately engaged Madara, warbling about peace as per usual, while Tobirama went straight for Izuna and Touka was swiftly locked in one-on-one combat with Uchiha Hikaku. Izuna was one of the few who could actually keep up with Tobirama, Sharingan or not, and usually Tobirama felt a kind of thrill at locking blades with him.
His heart wasn’t in it today, though. Not with Kakashi’s words lingering in the back of his mind. He didn’t let it slow him, of course, nor pull his blows, but he didn’t… he didn’t care anymore. He was as tired as anyone of this war between their clans, and to have an end vaguely in sight was just making that tiredness all the more known. Even if only to himself.
He didn’t trust the Uchiha, not at all, but he did trust Kakashi’s judgement. And, in hindsight, he could see moments where Izuna had had a chance to strike a finishing blow, yet had only given Tobirama a minor wound.
He pushed Izuna away and used the force to push himself back as Hashirama and Madara barrelled through where they’d been fighting; Uchiha and Senju alike scattered like a school of fish when a pebble was tossed into the water, well used to avoiding their clan leaders when the two began to brawl like this.
Tobirama took the moment’s reprieve to centre himself, ribs smarting from the blow Izuna had landed just before they’d had to avoid Hashirama and Madara. If he knocked Izuna out, he could end this battle here. If Izuna was unconscious, Madara would call a retreat so as to prevent any more loss of life.
He just had to strike hard and fast. The space between them allowed for that.
Izuna blew a fireball at him – he countered with a water dragon. The steam as a cover, Tobirama drew and threw kunai as a distraction, fully capable of telling where Izuna was despite the steam.
As expected, Izuna dodged. Tobirama ‘reached’ for the seal he’d tagged one of the kunai with.
He stepped.
He struck.
Izuna crumpled, blade clattering from his hand, and Tobirama turned to catch him by the arm before he could bounce his thick skull off the hard ground.
“IZUNA!” Madara roared, and Tobirama hastily ducked the sword swung at his head before throwing Izuna’s limp form at the angry Uchiha and flitting over to Hashirama using the same technique he’d just used to hit Izuna.
Hm. He needed a name for it… he shook his head slightly. Later. That was a problem for later.
“Madara,” Hashirama began, stepping forward, and the Uchiha clan head glared at him with blazing red eyes. Tobirama cleared his throat.
“He’s uninjured,” he said, quiet but audible, when Hashirama stopped and Madara turned that glare to him. “I could have delivered a killing blow, but I did not.” He resolutely ignored the way Hashirama’s cold battle mask was starting to give way to his usual ridiculous self. “I am as tired of this as you are.” He turned to leave, deliberately turning his back on Madara with the knowledge Hashirama would stop any kind of attack. He sheathed his sword. “Send a messenger when you are ready to talk treaties and I will ensure the elders hear it out.”
He left before Hashirama could start blubbering, signalling a retreat as he did so. The Senju followed, trusting his judgement, and Tobirama kept part of his attention on Hashirama and the Uchiha even as Touka fell in beside him.
“What was all that?” she asked softly, her voice too quiet for any but him to hear. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
“This morning Kakashi raised a point I had yet to consider. I trust his judgement.” Touka hummed, thoughtful rather than disbelieving, but didn’t answer. “He appears to have been correct,” Tobirama added, and then leapt forward to lead the retreat as he felt Hashirama’s chakra catch up with those at the rear of their squad.
Touka could press him for answers later. He had a husband to get back to.
Kakashi glanced up when Tobirama entered their study, and stood to welcome his husband back. Three years ago, when he’d somehow flung himself through space-time and ended up in this man’s path, he’d never thought he’d be where he was now.
He missed his home, true, but being here meant he could prevent most – if not all – of the horrors of his childhood (and earlier) from coming to pass. And he’d gained a husband and family from it.
Tobirama was a bit battered, but he seemed unharmed. He must have already stopped by their bedroom, for he was in one of his more casual outfits that he only really wore on his days off, and his hair was clean and loose.
“How did it go?” Kakashi asked, leaning in to kiss Tobirama lightly.
“I almost lost my head to Madara, but Izuna lives,” his husband told him, and Kakashi felt almost overwhelming relief.
It was a step in the right direction.
“That’s good. Tell me what happened?” He would need to tell Tobirama about his Sharingan – and his time travel – before Konoha was formed. It would lead to some uncomfortable questions if that came out during negotiations or the early days of the village being built, so it would be best that Tobirama, at least, knew of it.
Curled in his husband’s arms, bodies still warm and breath still slightly irregular, Kakashi steeled himself for the conversation to come. He could look back, now, and recognise that he’d not been in a good mental place for most of his life, but it was still strange to speak willingly of events from his past that had messed him up even further than he’d already been.
“About my eye,” he began, and Tobirama looked down at him. “The left one. I need to tell you the truth before there are claims of theft.” Tobirama’s face was calm; he was apparently unsurprised by the implied confession.
“I was already aware you carry a Sharingan,” Tobirama murmured, and Kakashi blinked in surprise. “I was the one who found you, and it was uncovered when I did.”
Ah. Kakashi had… forgotten about that. Somehow. Perhaps because it hadn’t been brought up in the past three years…?
“You do not need to explain it to anyone, not if you aren’t ready,” Tobirama continued, and Kakashi sighed and shook his head. He tucked his face back into his husband’s neck, nosing at the bruise staining Tobirama’s pale skin in the shape of his teeth. Tobirama’s arms tightened around him.
“I need to tell you, before I tell Hashirama and Madara and Izuna,” he murmured. “I always said I couldn’t remember how I ended up in your path, but you know that’s a lie.”
“Yes. Though you’ve always been truthful about not knowing how you ended up there.”
“That is the truth. I had a mishap with a space-time seal, and the backlash sent me here.” Kakashi paused, tucking himself closer to his husband and praying that Tobirama didn’t react too badly. “I’m from a version of your future. With me here and Izuna alive, things have changed. For the better, I hope.”
“I believe so,” Tobirama said into his hair, and Kakashi smiled. “I assume the eye is from an ally, not an enemy?”
“My best friend,” Kakashi admitted. “He was dying, and I’d lost mine earlier that day, so he told our medic friend to transfer his eye to me so he could see the world with me. I said no, but he insisted, and Rin—” his voice cracked a little on her name, time and healing having done little to ease the memory of her throwing herself on his blade, “—she listened to him and did the procedure.”
“A dying wish,” Tobirama said, and Kakashi made a small sound of agreement. There was silence for a long moment, one of Tobirama’s hands stroking through Kakashi’s hair and fingertips rubbing over his scalp soothingly. “His name?”
“Obito.” Kakashi sighed, feeling tired even after giving so little detail. “Uchiha Obito.”
***
Weeks passed, messages flying back and forth between the clans, until finally the elders of both had given in enough for the clan heads – and a few others, as both guards and representatives – to meet to finish sorting out the details of the treaty that would be signed. Hashirama was bounding around like a puppy, all bright eyes and overenthusiastic happiness, but even the most cynical of the clan were tentatively hopeful. They’d never got this far towards peace before, and all of them were sick of losing their loved ones. Tobirama was keeping an ear and eye on the discontents, but Kakashi had simply smiled at the most outspoken and they’d backed down immediately.
Tobirama did love his husband, even if he didn’t show it much in public, and the way Kakashi could cheerfully radiate killing intent with an innocent, kindly smile on his face was just another thing Tobirama appreciated about him.
Then came the day of the meeting, and Kakashi was dressed for battle for the first time outside of sparring since he’d appeared in Tobirama’s path. He didn’t have armour like Tobirama, Touka, or Hashirama, but something more along the lines of the mesh woven into one of Mito’s outer kimono layers. It looked like he wasn’t wearing any kind of armour, and Tobirama knew that would unsettle the Uchiha more than if he was wearing something similar to Touka.
His presence alone would go a long way to unsettling the Uchiha, and despite agreeing with Hashirama that peace was necessary, Tobirama wasn’t looking to be friends with the Uchiha. He would work with them, and treat them fairly if they did the same in return, but he wouldn’t go out of his way to make friends among the clan. He wouldn’t attempt to stop Kakashi from doing so, if he so chose, but there was too much bad blood between Tobirama and the Uchiha clan for him to try it himself.
Though he did have to admit he was looking forward to seeing the Uchiha delegation’s reactions to Kakashi, especially since none outside the clan even knew of his existence, let alone that he’d married Tobirama.
The meeting had been set to happen on Nara land, with three neutral clans presiding over the matter. Allied clans would be welcome at later negotiations, but this first one required only the Senju and Uchiha. The Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka – allied to each other but neutral to other clans – were to make sure the proceedings went as according to plan, and that there were unbiased parties present so as to avoid the treaty’s terms being swayed one way or another.
This hadn’t happened last time, Kakashi knew. The fighting had instead gone on for a few more years, and it was only after most of the Uchiha had surrendered to the Senju – and after Madara and Hashirama fought to what could have been either of their deaths – that Konoha had been founded. He didn’t know how things would change from here, but he hoped it would continue to be for the better.
Arriving early – because Hashirama was impatient – had caused them to be met with sighs of irritation from the Nara and amusement from the Yamanaka and Akimichi. Kakashi simply allowed his eye to crease with his smile when this generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho all looked at him curiously, and stayed behind Tobirama with a casual slouch and his hands in his pockets.
He’d missed messing with people’s heads, he had to admit. Putting them off-balance with his lackadaisical mannerisms was half the fun. Driving them around the bend by pretending to ignore them was another, but he may not get away with that in this meeting.
The Uchiha had arrived early, too, and all of them tensed when they saw him. He pretended not to notice, hanging back as Hashirama and Madara went through the formal greetings, and then leaned against the pillar beside Tobirama’s place when everyone else settled at the negotiation table.
“I would assume everyone knows everyone else here,” the Yamanaka began, and Kakashi had to restrain a laugh as the Uchiha all bristled. She stared at them, looking so much like a female Inoichi that Kakashi suspected she was a direct ancestor.
“Oh!” Hashirama exclaimed, beaming happily as he turned to look at Kakashi and then back at the Uchiha. “I forgot none of you have met Kakashi yet!”
“Yo,” Kakashi drawled, waving a hand lazily, and controlled his expression not to show any hint of his amusement when the Uchiha bristled again. They were like cats, all of them. It was funny. If he was a cat person, he might even say it was cute.
“He isn’t a Senju,” Izuna – who looked a hell of a lot like an older Sasuke, which was disconcerting – protested. “He—”
“Actually,” Touka interrupted, drawling and amused, “he is.” The Uchiha again looked at Kakashi in disbelief, and he allowed his visible eye to curve with his smile. He didn’t look anything like a Senju, and his colouring was all Hatake. Not that he thought the Uchiha knew that second part.
“How—”
“He’s my husband,” Tobirama stated, voice flat, and Kakashi rather thought he and Touka were the only two who knew that Tobirama was amused. Kakashi knew his husband had been looking forward to this.
“Husband?!” Izuna squawked, and Kakashi finally moved away from the pillar he’d been lounging against to drape his arms over Tobirama’s shoulders from behind, chin on top of his husband’s white-haired head.
“Do you have a problem with that, Uchiha-san?” he asked politely, smiling even as he let the killing intent radiate off him. Izuna went gratifyingly pale and shook his head rapidly, and Kakashi kept his smile and killing intent for a moment longer – mostly to prove a point – before resuming his lazy mask. “Good to know.” He then straightened and went back to the pillar, slouching against it once more. He could hear the smugness in Tobirama’s voice when his husband next spoke.
“Now introductions have been made, can we begin?”
The Yamanaka-Nara-Akimichi trio called for a break around noon, and Tobirama went to Kakashi as soon as it was acceptable to do so. The silver-haired shinobi had been mostly silent throughout the morning, apparently uninterested in the proceedings, but Tobirama was a sensor and incredibly familiar with his husband – he knew that Kakashi was paying far more attention than he appeared to be.
“The Nara have some interesting flora in their gardens,” he murmured to Kakashi when he came to a halt in front of him. Kakashi straightened, stretching his arms over his head and rolling his shoulders before he dropped back into his slouch. Tobirama’s lips twitched up on one side – the irreverent nature of his husband should annoy him, but he knew Kakashi was doing it to provoke a response.
“Don’t lose track of time,” Touka called when the two of them moved towards the doors, and Tobirama glanced back over his shoulder at his cousin. She looked amused, a teasing glint in her eye. “Save it for your bedroom.”
“Touka!” Mito reprimanded, while Hashirama whined and covered his ears. The Uchiha looked utterly offended, though Tobirama did think that was a permanent state for them.
“Maa, Touka, I wouldn’t be so crass as to be caught in public,” Kakashi drawled, and Touka laughed heartily. Tobirama just rolled his eyes – as expressive as he would let himself be in front of the Uchiha – and placed a hand on Kakashi’s back to gently propel him out of the room.
Kakashi’s eye was filled with sly amusement when he turned to face Tobirama again.
“Don’t start anything,” Tobirama warned, not bothering to suppress the smile that formed at seeing his husband so mischievous. “We only have a short time before proceedings begin again.”
“Killjoy,” Kakashi murmured, but he didn’t sound like he meant it. Tobirama leaned down and kissed him briefly, keeping it chaste out of respect for their hosts, and then sighed and rolled his eyes when he heard a familiar voice squawk from the doorway to the room they’d just left.
“What are you doing?!” Izuna screeched, and Tobirama let his head drop onto Kakashi’s shoulder. “Don’t be indecent!”
“WHAT?!” Hashirama bellowed, and footsteps rushed towards the door from inside the room.
“I should’ve killed him when I had the chance,” Tobirama groaned.
Kakashi just laughed, loud and bright.