Archive of Our Own

Izuna is six years old when he first has a dream that can only be called strange. In this dream, he walks in unfamiliar places, talks to strangers and practices unfamiliar techniques. When he wakes up, Izuna feels better than ever, realizing that he has remembered everything that he dreamed - a rather unusual phenomenon for him. Enthusiastically, he tells his mother and older brother about the strange dream, and the latter happily pats him on the head, while their mother with a smile reveals the truth about soulmate to Izuna.

Izuna cannot help but be thrilled to learn that somewhere in this world there is a man destined for him by fate itself. Someone who is perfect for him, someone whose love will be absolute and pure. Maybe the fact is that he is an Uchiha and the sensitivity inherent in the representatives of his clan allows him to love his soul mate in advance and with all his heart, but Izuna is really happy. He is still a child with his naive understanding of love, but so what? Since that day, he has been impatiently waiting for new dreams, every night whispering to the stars to show him a piece of his soulmate's life.

Months pass, Izuna makes up a portrait of his future lover from the grains, sometimes wondering if he is doing the same thing. By the age of seven, he already knows that his soul mate is a boy (this is a little scary at first, but Madara, his loving and understanding older brother, quickly calms Izuna down, saying that there is nothing terrible about it). In addition to gender, Izuna knows the approximate age of a soulmate, assuming that they are either the same age or another boy a little older, and a few more little things like a taste for food, a favorite set of clothes or the view of the night sky spread over the place where his soulmate lives.

Unfortunately, Izuna never sees mirrors in his dreams. Maybe his soulmate doesn't like to look at them, or maybe he's just unlucky, but the result is the same — he can't see the other boy's face. It's not too annoying, Izuna doesn't have time to mope over such a small thing during the war anyway, but still the lack of the opportunity to represent heis soulmate is a little upsetting. Just a little.

At the same time, when Izuna's gaze falls on the mirror in reality, he involuntarily tries to look better. Straightens his back, tries to look serious, straightens his hair with a little concern. This is stupid, and he is convinced of this when Madara accidentally catches him making antics in front of the mirror and starts laughing out loud — so much so that he cannot stop for several minutes. Izuna sulks at him until the evening, until Madara finally manages to beg for forgiveness, but after this incident avoids mirrors.

Izuna has been seven years old for six months when he realizes that his soulmate's training is ninja training. He remembers with delight the kunai he dreamed about and shares the wonderful news with his mother with awe. She smiles, as she does every time Izuna tells him about his dreams, but this time there is a subtle worry in his eyes. She makes Izuna promise not to tell anyone about the new dream — neither about him, nor about the subsequent ones, which will prove that the boy, who is still unfamiliar to him, belongs to Shinobi.

A couple of months later, his mother dies. Izuna drops bitter tears on the ashes, which are the last evidence of her existence, and breaks his promise, pouring out his soul to his older brother that night. Madara pats him soothingly on the back and says in a confident voice that Izuna's soulmate is probably also an Uchiha. The one who will fight side by side with Izuna, the one with whom they will cover each other's backs, defending with all their might on the battlefield.

Madara is too confident. Izuna has no reason not to trust him.

Izune is nine when he first meets Tobirama Senju. One look at the offspring of a hated family is enough to make something unpleasant arise in the soul of the Uchiha. His enemy is wary and clearly not friendly— not that it's weird, they're literally going to kill each other, and Izuna is the same. But aggression causes aggression, and the sight of Tobirama makes Izuna's blood boil. Among other things, he does not understand why some Senju has red eyes, so reminiscent of the desired sharingan. It's too annoying.

They cross blades, and the realization of the equality of their strength catches up quite quickly. They are destined to become eternal rivals exactly until one of them kills the other in the heat of battle. Izuna understands this, and he is sure that the other boy understands it too.

Later that night, Izuna closes his eyes and imagines joining forces with his soulmate to deliver the decisive blow that ends Tobirama's life.

He dreams of a river.

Izuna ignores the warmth spreading through his body, characteristic of every awakening after fateful dreams, and decides that this is a memory.

***

A month has passed since Izuna's thirteenth birthday. Spring is still young and hardly noticeable externally, but it is already exerting its influence in the hearts of people. Everything is mixed up — the romanticism of spring, teenage hormones and the sentimentality of the Uchiha. Izuna sighs in love, waking up after another peeping at the life of a soulmate. His body is buzzing with the need to meet, cuddle, kiss. He is increasingly looking at other Shinobi — looking for familiar hands, wanting to finally see them not only in a dream. For some reason, he can't handle the feeling that he's already seen, he is desperately looking for, but does not find. Madara shakes his head, looking at his search, but doesn't say anything.

"He loves cats,” Izuna remarks in April. He and Madara are resting after sparring, sprawled on the ground and watching the clouds slowly floating across the sky. The sun glides over their skin with warming rays.

Catching his brother's puzzled look, Izuna adds, “My soulmate. I dreamed about him today.”

"You've been dreaming about him more and more lately," Madara remarks, shrugging his shoulders. “Probably because you're growing up. Or you often see each other in reality, and fate tries to make you understand about your connection as soon as possible. However, it doesn't matter. What about the cats?”

Izuna blossoms when he hears that his soulmate may be a frequent guest in his life. He smiles contentedly and squints, exposing his face to the sun and letting the pleasant warmth caress him.

“He noticed a cat that had climbed a tree and did not know how to get down, and decided to help her. He was so clever! Oh, you should have seen how fast he did it, Aniki! One moment — and the unfortunate kitty is already in his hands. And he stroked her so gently, and then fed and...”

“Okay, okay, I get it”, Madara laughs. “It seems your soulmate is a good person. Then I can be calm.”

Izuna echoes his brother, and his ringing laughter reverberates around the training ground. He's probably feeling too good, but who can blame him for that? Every little detail about his soulmate, snatched from his dreams over the years, makes him fall in love with an unfamiliar boy more and more. And Izuna really can't even call his soulmate a stranger anymore, because after so many years it seems to him that only the name and appearance remained unknown to him.

"Do you think it's possible that he's not from our clan?"  Izuna asks. He doesn't often see another boy's training — at least not physically — and therefore can't say much about the technique, but it seems to him that it is far from the techniques typical of Uchiha. Izuna is not worried about this, but he is interested in his brother's opinion.

Madara shrugs his shoulders.

"It's not that important," he says calmly. "We've already found out that he's a good man, haven't we? So even if he's not an Uchiha, it's okay," Madara suddenly grins. “The main thing is, pray that it's not Senju.”

The phrase, even if said in jest, causes Izuna a wave of disgust, and he dramatically contorts his face, pretending nausea.

“Ugh! Aniki, don't joke like that anymore, or I'll stop talking to you!”

“Where are you going to get away from me?” Madara grins again and jerks up to his younger brother, stretching his hands to his stomach and starting a tickling attack, as he often did when they were children. Izuna bursts out laughing and unsuccessfully tries to crawl away.

The sky above them is light blue. Izuna is in a great mood all day.

***

The end of spring is overshadowed by several serious battles with the Senju clan. Izuna doesn't even know who initiates these battles, but he fights with enthusiasm, putting the maximum of his strength into each attack. He and Tobirama are circling in an eternal dance, waiting for one of them to make a mistake. The speed with which Tobirama improves irritates Izuna, because other people's skills do not give space for a victorious maneuver. On the other hand, he is even admired — hardly anyone of his age could have stood up to him for so long.

And yet he manages to push Tobirama a little during the last battles. He is not winning, but there is a growing feeling in his chest that something good is about to happen, something that will bring him the long-awaited triumph and praise of his father. Izuna feels that victory is already near, anticipation has been keeping him in a pleasant state of tension for the last few days. Perhaps he is just wishful thinking, but his mood is steadily improving, and with it his confidence is growing.

Izuna does not admit this, but he understands that it is because of the frequent dreams about his soulmate. In recent days, he has been seeing fragments of someone else's life every night, and this cannot but please him. It seems to him that a little more, and he will finally see something in his dream that will allow him to find his destiny. He fights, thinking about the upcoming meeting, and his movements surprisingly get better from these thoughts. Madara jokingly says that Izuna should put an end to the eternal battle with Tobirama and kill him so that fate eventually gives the last clue, and Izuna will lie if he says that these words do not motivate him.

May is about to end, and the weather, as if mourning the lands stained with spilled blood, decides to deteriorate. The heavens are thunderously cursing people who have found joy in countless murders, and the battles between Senju and Uchiha are getting fiercer. Thunder also rumbles in Izuna's dreams, and the boy's heart freezes at the thought that his soulmate may be nearby. He's fighting harder than ever.

On the last night of spring, Izuna falls asleep with the firm belief that she will learn something very important. And he finds out — a familiar face flashes before him in his dreams. The face of a disgusting, vile man, the one whom Izuna sees every battle, but with whom he never engages in battle, because his brother is there for this.

He doesn't want to admit it, but there's no reason for him to dream about Hashirama Senju, except for one thing.

Izuna wakes up panicking, and his brother has to spend the whole morning with him, soothing him — an unacceptable luxury during the war. Seeing Madara's sincere concern, Izuna does not find the strength to admit what happened. He just doesn't know how to say that his soulmate has been someone from Senju all this time.

Izuna can't concentrate for the next battle. He involuntarily tries to look for the one whose life he has been dreaming about for the last few years, and is distracted because of this. In a fight with Tobirama, this is unforgivable — he obviously does not care about the mental anguish of the enemy, and he uses Izuna's poor concentration against him. The sharp blade cuts through the Uchiha's side, and the boy hisses in pain, exerting all his strength to dodge the next blow that promises to take his life.

Madara comes to his aid, hurriedly taking Izuna as far away from Tobirama's deadly blade as possible. The retreat signal sounds, and Izuna does not know if his father decided to do this because of his son's injury or for another reason. He doesn't care about it — the burning pain overshadows all thoughts, and even the notorious soul mate fades into the background.

Izuna loses consciousness when the healers bend over his body. He longs for blissful darkness, but instead he dreams again. He is not surprised by the images of the Senju camp, nor is he surprised by Hashirama's reappearing face. But his words are imprinting in Izuna's mind with a sharp pain — a pain so intense that even the wound received today pales in comparison.

"Tobirama, are you okay?"

Izuna answers "probably" in a rough voice in his dream.

When Izuna wakes up, he can't hold back his tears. He's not okay.

As if having achieved what he wanted, fate retreats, ceasing to bring Izuna and Tobirama together in daily battles. The Uchiha temporarily quiet down, healing their wounds, and the Senju are in no hurry to advance. Deep down, Izuna is glad about this. Even when his wounds are healed, he doesn't yearn to return to the battlefield. He doesn't know how to look at Tobirama, doesn't know how to fight him, doesn't know what to do next. Izuna cries for seven nights in a row, pressing his face into the pillow to stifle his own sobs. Madara sees that something is wrong with him, but believes that it is because of the injury. Izuna doesn't want to change his mind.

He is afraid to even imagine how his brother will react when he finds out who Izuna's soulmate is.

This is actually bullying. How could fate be so stupid? Why have two people become soulmates, trying to kill each other throughout their lives? They have no future, no opportunity to be happy together, so what's all this about?

Izuna wonders if Tobirama knows that they are destined for each other. He won't be surprised if it turns out that Senju really knew all this time and tried to kill him, despite that.

After all, Izuna is going to do the same thing, isn't she?

A month later, their clans clash in battle again. Looking at Tobirama's unusually pale face and his tense, even frightened look at the sight of Izuna himself, Uchiha realizes that he was not the only one who was in the dark all this time. But it doesn't matter, not anymore.

Tobirama didn't know, but now he does.

***

They are fighting with even more ferocity than before. Tobirama attacks first, and Izuna, upset by his  pressure, has to make every effort to prevent new wounds. The boy realizes that this is an expected development, but his heart can't help but ache when Tobirama pummels him with furious blows one after another.

Senju plans to kill him today. Izuna is almost ready to let him do it.

In the heat of their own battle, they move away from the clash of their clans, moving deeper into the forest. When the sounds of someone else's battle subside, Izuna and Tobirama stop in a clearing large enough to continue the fight, and catch their breath, carefully watching each other.

Suddenly Tobirama raises his hands as if asking for a pause. Izuna is too exhausted to refuse him this.

“Hey,” Tobirama calls out, panting. “Do you already know? About dreams...”

Izuna bites his lower lip and looks away. So he was right, and Tobirama was really able to understand that they were soulmates.

"So you know,” Tobirama concludes, observing his behavior. “This is a huge problem.”

"I know,” Izuna finally whispers, clenching his fists. Outwardly, he is tense and ready for battle, but inside him a little boy who dreamed of sincere and fateful love is crying because all his dreams and hopes have been called a problem. “What do you suggest?”

Izuna knows Tobirama quite well — as it turned out, even better than he thought. He understands that the pragmatic and intelligent Senju has clearly come up with some kind of plan. A way to break their bond, a way to get other, real soulmates. There must be something like that...

“We can't let each other have dreams about our lives. This is fraught with leakage of important information for the clans of each of us, so I hope you will agree to cooperate," Tobirama replies meanwhile. He is tense and serious, Izuna's heart breaks from the coldness of his tone.

No, of course, Izuna did not hope that anything would change between them. He did not expect warmth from Tobirama, and he does not expect it now. But still, it's one thing to understand that your soulmate doesn't give a damn about you at all, and it's quite another to deal with it directly…

And yet, maybe for a single night, Izuna imagined how their lives might have turned out if the existence of one did not consist in killing the other. Just once, but it was enough for reality to hurt several times more.

“I understand,” Izuna responds dully, still wondering what Tobirama is going to suggest. “But we can't control it.”

"That's right, so all that remains is to get rid of these dreams," Senju shrugs. “And we have two options — either we continue to fight to the death of one of us, which is somewhat problematic, because, unfortunately, we are equal, and we will have to really not end our fight, even when one of our clans decides to retreat...

“Either?..”  Izuna asks uncertainly, raising his eyebrows. Unfortunately, he guesses what Tobirama is going to suggest, but he hopes with all his might that he is mistaken.

“Do you know that soulmates dream about each other solely in order to meet, identify each other and all that? Then the visions disappear. But just a meeting can be accidental, people may not understand that they are destined for each other, so a special action is needed that serves as a signal to stop dreams... Oh, I think, as an Uchiha, you should be aware of all these details, your clan is obsessed with the concept of soulmates," Tobirama snorts contemptuously. “In any case, we can do that action by ending this whole stupid story and eliminating the possibility of information leaking through us.”

Izuna feels like he's been punched in the gut.

“By action, do you mean?..”

"A kiss,” Tobirama calmly replies. “It's disgusting, of course, but it's better than leaving everything as it is. I would prefer a battle, but it's clear that it can...”  The boy looks around at Izuna, sliding over the blades in his hands, and sighs resignedly, admitting, "take a while."

Izuna tries to keep an indifferent look, not giving Tobirama even a hint of how much Senju's words hit him. Izuna was a well-trained Shinobi, and therefore it is not difficult for him to hide his emotions, but deep down he just wants to close his ears so that he never hears Tobirama again.

Uchiha are romantic and emotional, it's no secret. And Izuna is the same. He may be stronger, he may be better or more talented, but he is still an Uchiha, he is still a boy who a couple of months ago dreamed of pure love, of a first kiss and a soulmate next to him. And now, when his soulmate sincerely calls the possibility of their kiss disgusting, Izuna cannot help but feel pain.

“So what?”  Tobirama hurries him. “We don't have much time, decide quickly. If we don't end this matter now, then all that's left is to commit suicide so as not to become a traitor to the clan.”

“Where is the guarantee that you won't stick a kunai in my neck when I get closer?” Izuna asks, swallowing. "And where are your guarantees that I won't want to kill you with caton when you let your guard down?"

"I'm not going to let my guard down," Tobirama says emphatically. "I'll be ready for you to try to kill me. And you're not likely to relax either. But even if something goes wrong and I suddenly die by your hand, it's better than causing the deaths of my comrades. And you know as well as I do that the information we can learn through each other's dreams may well lead to this.”

Izuna sighs. He realizes that Tobirama is right. Kissing and ending fateful dreams is literally the best option they have. Izuna is devoted to his clan, and even if fate treated him so cruelly, giving him a sworn enemy as a soulmate, this is not a reason to betray his family. His father, his brother.

The thought of Madara, instead of giving strength, brings even more anxiety. Izuna doesn't want to think about what will happen when his brother finds out about what happened — band he will find out, Izuna simply won't be able to hide the truth from him for long enough. Madara is smart, after all, he'll figure it out after a while.

A lump rises in his throat. Izuna is not ready for the disappointment that he will definitely meet in the eyes of his older brother.

“Okay, let's get this over with," he puts his blades away, showing his seriousness. Tobirama does the same, although it hardly means anything, because each of them has more than one hidden weapon under their clothes.

They approach each other, and Izuna doesn't think. His mind shuts down, allowing his thoughts to slip away one by one from reality. Somewhere on the periphery of his mind, he realizes that he won't be able to dodge if Tobirama suddenly attacks, but he doesn't care. And it's not even that he believes in Senju's honor as a warrior, it just doesn't seem to him that life is so important at this moment to cling to it. Izuna closes his eyes—another mistake, but who cares?

Tobiram's rough palm touches his cheek, holding his face, and after a second, chapped and rough lips cover Izuna's lips, swollen from constant nervous biting. And Izuna hates how his heart freezes at this gesture, hates how his legs buckle from proximity, hates how he likes the fact that Tobirama kisses him. He likes that he is taller and Izuna has to lift his head slightly for a kiss, he likes the weight of other person's lips on his own, he likes the tenderness — obviously invented by the sick after so many shocks Uchiha's brain — with which Tobirama touches his cheek.

All these feelings are so contradictory, and Izuna would rather die right now than experience them.

Tobirama pulls away from him — seconds have passed, but for the young Uchiha it feels like an eternity — and exhales barely audibly.

“Izuna?” He whispers with sudden shock. “Are you crying?”

Izuna opens his eyes and touches his own cheek in disbelief, surprised to note the moisture on his skin. He blinks, trying to break the spell, and then looks blankly at Tobirama, as if he can explain the reason for his tears. Suddenly, Senju is no longer an enemy — he is just the same discouraged boy who seems to be the only one who could explain to Izuna what is happening.

Because Izuna doesn't understand.

But so is Tobirama.

“Why you...” he begins, swallowing nervously, and the recently removed hand reaches back to Uchiha's face — for a moment you can imagine that Tobirama is going to wipe away his tears. But a sudden noise distracts them both. Izuna reacts first, jumping back about eight meters and drawing his blades. Tobirama hesitates for a second, still too surprised by the enemy's behavior, but quickly rebuilds and pulls out his own weapon.

A moment later, two more people appear on the field — Madara and Hashirama. They run to their brothers, while sincere concern is visible on their faces.

“Izuna!” Madara exclaims excitedly, her gaze darting from her brother to Tobirama and Hashirama and back again. He tries to assess the condition of another Uchiha, while not letting the enemies out of sight. "Didn't you hear the retreat signal?" We're leaving," Madara notices the tracks of tears on other people's cheeks. “What happened to you? Damn Senju hurt you?!”

Izuna shakes his head negatively, hastily wiping his face with her sleeve. He takes one last look at Tobirama, but a sharp pain in his heart makes him hastily turn away. He and Madara retreat, rushing to join the other members of the clan. The image of Tobirama does not leave Izuna's head until he meets his father, and his shocked face is imprinted in his memory, it seems, for the rest of his life.

Does he guess how much their connection, dictated by fate itself, influenced Uchiha? Izuna is sure that after his shameful reaction to the kiss, Tobirama knows for sure about it.

At night, Izuna sheds tears again, silently pouring out his suffering into the pillow. It hurts him that his first kiss, to which he attached so much importance due to the romanticism of his Uchiha nature, happened to a man who hates him, and the circumstances that led to this kissing are simply disgusting. At the same time, Izuna was incredibly tired, trying to avoid uncomfortable questions from Madara all day. His older brother takes care of him, but Izuna's stomach turns at the thought of having to tell the truth.

Tired and heartbroken, he simply does not find the strength to resist his pain. Izuna sobs softly, mentally burying his dreams, love and dignity.

That night, he dreams of the Senju clan. Fate, no matter how cruel it was before, decides to finish him off completely.

***

He feels sluggish and depressed for the next few days. Madara, of course, notices his condition and tries to reach Izuna to find out the reason why he looks worse than ever, but to no avail. Izuna avoids him with all her might and even volunteers for a patrol, just not to stay next to her older brother.

Jumping on the treetops and scanning the surroundings with an absent-minded gaze, Izuna finds himself thinking that he cannot concentrate on his business. His mind is clouded, there is only Tobirama in his head, their meaningless kiss and Izuna's shame that followed it. Questions are also raised by the dreams that have not stopped, their existence mockingly reminding that the connection between Tobirama and Izuna has not disappeared. Why didn't the kiss get rid of their night visions? Izuna wants to know, if only to figure out what to do next. Is Tobirama right, and suicide is the only way to eliminate the threat to their clans?

He needs to refresh himself, Izuna realizes, jumping off a thick tree branch and landing silently next to a briskly beating small stream. It seems that there is a spring nearby, and its icy water is exactly what Uchiha needs now. He scoops up water with his palms, wincing at how his fingers instantly begin to tremble from the cold, and quickly washes himself, shuddering his shoulders when drops of water run down his neck under his clothes.

Izuna blinks the water, fluttering his eyelashes, and this becomes his fatal mistake. His eyesight fails him for a split second, but that's enough time for the ninja, who is waiting for his chance, to strike at the boy.

Izuna curses, tries to dodge the sudden attack, but a sharp pain pierces his entire body, and suddenly shackles his limbs with an invisible chain. The chakra stops being felt, and Izuna feels panic rising in him when he cannot activate his sharingan. He cannot resist and falls flat on the ground, coughing from the dust he has raised.

“And this is really luck," he hears an unpleasant low voice in his ear. A rough hand grabs his hair and lifts his head so that all the shinobi around him can see his face. Izuna can count six people besides the person who is holding him. “I didn't expect it to be so easy.”

“And I said that seven people per child is too much,” another ninja approaches Izuna closely and examines his face with interest, while the boy responds with a look full of hatred. "He may be Tajima Uchiha's second heir, but he's still too young. And he can't compare with his older brother.”

"I wouldn't say that, you should have seen him on the battlefield," the man holding Izuna grins. " If I hadn't put a chakra restriction seal on him, he would have killed at least five of us. His sharingan is awake, don't forget.”

“How to forget what we are here for,” the ninja finally stopped looking at Izuna's face and shrugged his shoulders. “Let's go back to the base. It is better to extract the sharingan in a safe place.”

Extracting... what?!

Izuna turns cold. That's why these shinobi needed him? Were they going to steal his eyes? He doesn't like this arrangement at all. The boy twitches nervously, but the invisible chain only binds him more tightly. One of the ninjas approaches him with a rope, and soon physical restraints appear on his body. Izuna curses his captors right up to the moment he is gagged.

Disgusting.

He hates himself for the situation. Unfortunately, Izuna understands all too well that what is happening is only his fault. If he hadn't been so careless, if he had faithfully performed his duties, and not been soaring in the clouds, thinking about a soulmate... If he hadn't been such an idiot, he wouldn't have been captured! Izuna almost regrets that he was not killed on the spot, because shame spreads like a bitter sediment down his throat. My eyes are starting to sting, but it's more from the wind.

Shinobi did not even think to knock him out, rightly believing that the imposed restrictions are enough, and Izuna decides to take advantage of the fact that he is conscious. He carefully watches the road, memorizing it in order to return, and at the same time feverishly comes up with a plan. He's not going to give his eyes to some unknown ninja. In addition, it is obvious that the case will not work with eyes alone, and it is good if the kidnappers decide to kill him after extracting the sharingan. But more dangerous ideas may rest in their thoughts — using Izuna to blackmail his father (although a lost cause, fatherly love is nothing compared to the obligations of the clan, and Tajima would rather kill his son with her own hands than allow herself to be blackmailed), selling him to some pervert or other options that Izuna even thinks about I don't want to.

They've been on the road for four days and it's frankly disgusting. Izuna isn’t fed, not bothering about his well-being at all, and all he gets is a few sips of water on the third day, when thirst starts to drive him crazy. He shuts down several times during the journey, unable to keep awake for so long in his condition. Such a journey takes away strength at an amazing rate, and Izuna can hardly concentrate on figuring out how to get out. The only thing he notices is the inability of the ninja who put the sealing seal on him to keep it in a stable state. A couple of times a day, Izuna feels for a few seconds how the chakra gradually begins to return to him, but this, unfortunately, is not enough to be able to finally get rid of the seal and kill all the kidnappers.

On the fourth day, they reach a dilapidated stone structure on the banks of a river unknown to Izuna. However, the appearance is deceptive, the boy realizes when he finds himself inside the building. It is quite habitable, and the basement looks too good and clean at all — swallowing, Izuna realizes that it is there that he will lose his eyes. Fortunately or not, none of the enemy shinobi group has sufficient skills to get his sharingan without any problems, and therefore they are waiting for a ninja medic, who for some reason is delayed. Well, Izuna reluctantly notes that Shinobi are prudent — after all, if the notorious medic had been in the kidnappers' team, Uchiha could have killed him by resisting.

Therefore, it remains only to wait.

“Have you already decided what we will do with the boy after receiving the sharingan?” asks the skinny ninja, who, as Izuna managed to understand these days, was from the Yotsuki clan. Under normal circumstances, he would have died a second after meeting Uchiha, and therefore Izuna's current situation makes him very angry.

"I would’ve kill him and won’t bother,” the sealing ninja shrugs. “Even without eyes, he can be dangerous, so you need to constantly maintain a seal on him so that he does not use the chakra. I'm not going to do this.”

“It's a sha-a-ame,” sighs Yotsuki, walking up to Izuna and taking the gag out of his mouth. “Pretty face, in a brothel with arms and legs would be torn off. So much money could have been received!”

"Fuck him yourself if you like," another shinobi shrugs. “We will definitely not sell him.”

Yotsuki seems to be inspired by this idea and cheerfully looks at Izuna.

“Really!” He laughs and leans towards the boy. “Hey, if you try to be good, I promise to arrange for your pretty eyes to be pulled out less painfully. You’ll just have to work with your wonderful mouth a little bit, okay? It really shakes me when I look at your plump lips and imagine how you...”

Shinobi doesn't finish the sentence. Izuna spits in his face in disgust, watching with grim satisfaction as the saliva cuts into his cheek. The sight of a humiliated and absolutely furious Yotsuki pleases him a little, although, obviously, it is not worth the subsequent strong blow, from which Izuna flies against the wall with a painful groan.

"Bastard Uchiha, I'll fucking kill you with my own hands after I fuck the whole soul out of you!"  Yotsuki shouts, viciously kicking him in the stomach. Izuna curls up as much as he can, because that's the only way he can protect himself from being beaten, but it's clearly not enough. Each new blow deprives him of air, and, in the end, Izuna loses consciousness, seriously thinking about how to bite off a piece of his tongue unnoticed.

***

He wakes up to a noise coming from the street — noise obviously caused by the battle. Izuna does not know who is fighting, but there is a ghostly hope in his heart that his clan could find him. What if Madara came to save him? Izuna has to close her eyes to ward off the expectations that have arisen in her heart. He will not survive if his hopes are not fulfilled.

There is only one ninja left in the room — the one who sealed Izuna's chakra. He doesn't look at the boy, focusing his attention on the entrance to the shelter, and Izuna realizes that this is his chance. He waits patiently for the sounds outside to die down — whoever was fighting against his kidnappers, the victory clearly went to him. The sealing ninja tenses up, ready to face the enemy. His ability is dangerous, and Izuna cannot allow Shinobi to have time to put a seal on a stranger.

Uchiha frantically collects all the chakra she can use due to the weakening of control over the seal, and spends it on caton. The fireball turns out to be weak — but it flies at the kidnapper from behind, and this is enough to distract him. Shinobi curses, spinning on the spot when his clothes ignite. At the same moment, another man appears in the room — and a kunai, accurately thrown by him, plunges into the throat of the sealing ninja. The corpse falls to the stone floor with a thud. Izuna looks at the newcomer.

Tobirama.

What the hell.

“Are you okay?”

“What are you doing here?!” Izuna asks at the same time and freezes, squinting in disbelief. Then he speaks in a voice dripping with bile. “Oh, of course I'm fine. So, a pleasure trip with my friends.”

"I noticed,” Tobirama nods. He sighs and walks over to Izuna, starting to cut the ropes that entangle him. “I admit, my question was inappropriate. As for yours... I'm here to set you free, obviously. How is your chakra?”

“It is recovering,” Izuna answers automatically, noting that with the death of the last kidnapper, the seal restraining his chakra disappeared, as well as the invisible bonds. The boy shakes his head. “No, wait, what does "release" mean? Why do you need it? And how did you find me?”

“I do not know if you are aware or not, but our dreams have not stopped," Tobirama is a little confused, remembering exactly how they tried to control the fateful connection, but quickly returns to an impassive expression, continuing to cut the ropes. “I found you by artificially putting myself to sleep for an hour and a half and following the path that I saw. You did great, you looked around the area well, it helped.”

Izuna blushes slightly at the praise. He purses his lips and tries to stand up when Tobirama finishes with his bonds. A sharp pain cuts through his ankles like lightning, and Izuna sinks back to the floor with a painful sigh. He looks at his feet and only now notices how unnatural it look.

Damn Yotsuki did a good job of breaking his limbs. It's amazing how Izuna didn't notice this before, but he was probably too surprised by the meeting with Senju to pay attention to the pain. Now he can focus on her, and he doesn't really like it at all.

Tobirama frowns at his injuries. He gently lays Uchiha on his back and weightlessly runs his palms over his left shin, concentrating the chakra.

"I won't be able to cure it, but at least I'll ease the pain and make the situation a little better," he says. "If Hashirama had been here, he would have done better, but he's too busy right now trying to convince your brother that Senju wasn't involved in your kidnapping.”

“Madara...” Izuna whispers, frowning. His brother is probably worried sick right now. Izuna feels guilty, realizing that she is making Madara worry again. He doesn't want to think about how much trouble he's causing, so the boy selfishly shifts the subject. “You didn't answer my question. Why are you helping me? Why are you treating me?”

"It doesn't matter where you are — with the Uchiha or in captivity — as long as you have dreams about my life, there is a possibility that the Senju clan's information will fall into the wrong hands," Tobirama replies, shifting his hands to Izuna's right leg. “I can't let that happen. We need to sort out our connection, and it seems a little difficult to do that if you've been kidnapped.”

Izuna closes his eyes, ignoring the painful stab in his heart. Of course, Tobirama was only worried about the secrets of his clan, there was no point in even suggesting anything else. And Izuna hates himself for having already thought— hoped—that maybe just a little bit, just a little bit, but Tobirama worries about him.

“But... You don't have to save me," Izuna cautiously remarks. "If you kill me now, you'll get rid of the problem, won't you? I'm not in a position to be able to do anything against you," he adds bitterly.

Senju thinks for a moment, but shakes his head and returns to healing Izuna.

"First of all, I'm not going to let my brother down, who I promised I'd find you for. Secondly, we seemed to agree that we should defeat each other in a fair fight, and not take advantage of the vulnerability of the other. Otherwise, everything would have been resolved on the day of our ki...” Tobirama breaks off. In the darkness of the stone shelter, it is difficult for Uchiha to say for sure, and the chakras for using sharingan are not enough yet, but it seems to him that the ears of the older boy are slightly reddening. “The day we last saw each other.”

Izuna doesn't ask anything else, falling silent. If Senju decided to spare him for some reason, that's great. Izuna doesn't complain. There might be problems in the future, but he would take care of that later, but for now he could relax a little.

The pain gradually passes away, erased by Tobirama's skillful hands. It's still unpleasant, but it's much easier. His heart involuntarily fills with gratitude, but any words of gratitude freeze on his lips before they can break. Maybe Uchiha is in love, but he is not going to show more sentimentality than he has already shown.

Admitting that he is in love even in his thoughts makes Izuna shudder and close his eyes, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm his racing heartbeat. Tobirama seems to take the change in his condition  to the count of his treatment and touches Izuna's sore arm with unfamiliar tenderness, sending waves of warm chakra. This only makes Izuna worse, and he realizes with horror that he has completely lost. He dug his own grave and jumped in there himself. He fell in love with his eternal enemy.

And he can't do anything about this infatuation.

Tobirama finishes the treatment and scrutinizes Izuna, assessing his condition.

“Can you get up?” he asks uncertainly.

Izuna leans on his good arm, not wanting to risk the one that Tobirama had just treated, and tries to stand up. Pain pierces his limbs, shooting through his feet as he shifts his weight onto them.

Tears well up in his eyes, and he gasps, trying to balance himself to distribute the load to minimize the pain, but to no avail.

Tobirama shakes his head and turns his back on him. He crouches down, looking back.

"Get on," he says in a tone that brooks no argument. “If you try to walk by yourself, you will slow us down because of your pain. It's too inefficient a waste of time, I'd rather carry you.”

Izuna blushes furiously.

“No way!” His voice trembles with a mixture of indignation and shame.

"I can throw you over my shoulder and carry you like a sack of potatoes," Tobirama rightly remarks. Izuna curses the whole world and climbs on his back.

Senju is well-built physically, and this was clear even during the battles, but now Izuna is convinced of this again. Because Tobirama moves with him on his back as if Uchiha doesn't weigh anything. And the little romantic boy inside Izuna is thrilled and ecstatically screams at this fact, while the adult and more rational version is horrified by the situation in which they find themselves.

They get out into the street, and Izuna is distracted from his conflicting thoughts, looking around the battlefield. The bodies of the Shinobi who kidnapped him are scattered on the ground, and Izuna feels grim satisfaction seeing his tormentors dead. In fact, it's amazing how Tobirama dealt with all of them — it both pleases Izuna and makes him feel ashamed of his own incompetence again. He continues to stare at the corpses as Tobirama makes his way past them, apparently deciding to leave them as they are. Uchiha's gaze stops at a particularly disfigured corpse — if others look normal, then this Shinobi was obviously given a rather difficult death. Izuna is surprised to discover that the corpse belongs to Yotsuki.

His heart skips a beat.

"Did he make you angry?"  Izuna asks in an unusually quiet voice.

Tobirama doesn't need to look to know who he's talking about.

“Yes,” Senju answers honestly, but that's where the revelations end. He doesn't specify what caused his anger, but Izuna's stupid, stupid mind thinks of everything on its own.

The boy hugs Tobirama's neck tighter. This can be explained by trying to get comfortable, but Izuna knows that Tobirama will understand. He doesn't care. Senju is hardly unable to hear how hard his heart is beating now.

They rush through the forest in complete silence. Tobirama is focused on getting through unfamiliar territory faster, not excluding the possibility of enemy Shinobi being nearby, and Izuna is just trying to hold on tight so as not to fall. The situation somewhat reminds him of his childhood, when Madara loved to ride him in this way. Those days have long passed, but warm memories remain, and now Izuna cannot help but feel a pleasant nostalgia. This makes him snuggle closer to Tobirama, covering his eyes. Just for a while. He wants to forget who they are. To imagine that everything is fine, that they are not destined to kill each other. That his soulmate helps him, and not a Shinobi from a hated clan.

The sun is hiding behind the horizon, and the sky is covered with massive clouds. Tobirama frowns and snorts irritably, and then turns off the planned path and rushes towards the mountains. Izuna is initially tense, assuming a possible trap, but still decides to trust Tobirama. It's not like he could run away or anything like that right now. If other Senju are waiting for him... Well, Izuna can still commit suicide to prevent other Shinobi from using him.

But, of course, there is no trap. The rain begins to catch up with them in heavy and rare drops when they are halfway towards the mountains. Forty minutes later, they finally reach their destination, and Tobirama quickly finds a small cave. It will not save them from the cold, but it will hide them from the wind and the already heavy downpour.

In the cave, Tobiram and Izuna take off their outer clothes, getting rid of the unpleasant feeling of cold and wet fabric sticking to the skin. There is nothing to change into — none of them planned this trip, if their situation can be called that. They warm themselves and dry their clothes near a campfire built with the help of Izuna’s caton. Although Uchiha himself is not exactly frozen – the fire seems to flow through his veins, warming him from the inside - but Tobirama settles as close to the fire as possible, shivering from the cold. He sneezes, and Izuna suddenly finds it charming, however, immediately reproaching himself for stupid thoughts.

“Aren't you hungry?” Senju asks at some point, looking closely at Izuna. "I... didn't see you being fed in my dreams."

Izuna again has to calm his heart, which freezes, naively assuming that there is worrying behind the usual question.

"They really didn't give me any food, but it's okay," the boy shakes his head. "I can hold out for a couple more days. Madara and I are trained enough to survive in such situations, my father took care of that.”

Tobirama frowns and opens his mouth, clearly about to say something unflattering about Tajima Uchiha's parenting methods. Who do you have to be to starve your own sons for the sake of training? Stopping from unwanted comments at the last moment, Tobirama simply reaches for drying clothes and pulls out a handful of nuts from some secret pocket. They're wet, as are the clothes, and there aren't many of them, but that's obviously all the boy has. Izuna sighs convulsively. He can live without food for a few more days, but that doesn't mean he doesn't want to eat. Tobirama looks at him uncertainly.

“Do you want to?” with a slight nervousness in his voice, he suggests, as if afraid that Izuna will refuse him.

"Are they poisoned?"  Uchiha asks suspiciously, ignoring the fact that his heart warms at the realization that the older boy is ready to share his pathetic belongings with him.

"Do you think I would waste poison on you even though I've had millions of opportunities to kill you today?"  Tobirama asks irritably.

Izuna gives up and reaches for the nuts. To his surprise, Tobirama gets up to come closer. However, his hand sweeps past Izuna's open palm and stops near the boy's mouth. Izuna doesn't need much time to figure out what Senju expects from him. The heat of embarrassment covers his body.

Without interrupting eye contact, the boy tilts his head slightly to reach the nuts offered to him. His lips briefly touch Tobirama's rough skin, and both ninjas' breathing falters at this moment. Izuna swallows. Tobiram's fingers are still at the level of his lips, and Uchiha does not know how much longer he will be able to suppress the desire to touch them.

Finally, Tobirama flinches, as if realizing the situation they are in. He silently turns away and walks away. His face might be red–or maybe it was Izuna's imagination playing out, wishful thinking. The boy can't deny how much he wants Tobirama back.

Izuna goes to bed first. Resisting at first –because who in their right mind would agree to sleep next to a man who has spent most of his life trying to kill him? – but then agreeing that Senju doesn't have to wait for his unconscious state to kill him.

He dreams of a battle. Without a doubt, this is a battle with Shinobi kidnappers. Izuna enjoys watching them die at Tobirama's hands one by one. Call him petty, but he really enjoys the suffering of his tormentors. Izuna likes to watch how the ninjas inevitably lose to Tobirama, how their faces distort when they realize their death. But most of all, Uchiha is waiting for the death of the most unpleasant Shinobi for him. And he is not disappointed. Senju is really going crazy with anger, torturing Yotsuki with his jutsu. And even if Izuna already knows the result, it's still nice to watch the process. In addition, he learns something new that he could not notice in those fleeting seconds when they passed by the corpses of Shinobi. For example, he sees which part of Tobiram's body is cut off by Yotsuki first. Izuna blushes the next morning, now absolutely sure that his assumptions about the causes of Tobirama's anger are correct.

It flatters him. It touches him. It makes him hope.

They change, and now Izuna is awake, guarding them from the invasion of unfriendly Shinobi, but actually watching Tobirama sleeping. Izuna finds it difficult to look away from his face. He looks at every line, activating the sharingan to memorize everything in detail. And the longer Izuna does this, the more he realizes how much he is mired in his feelings. Falling in love with a soulmate, born after so many dreams about someone else's life, intertwines with his perception of Tobirama and mixes to form something new - something that Izuna hoped was supposed to become hatred, but eventually turned into even stronger romantic feelings. And Izuna can't do anything about this connection – he gives himself to her completely, mentally burying the remnants of sanity and pride.

The boy approaches the sleeping Tobirama, ignoring the pain in his legs, and gently, almost weightlessly, runs his fingers along Senju's cheek. Izuna's heart is racing and her body is shaking. He shyly pulls his hand away, feeling the ghosts of touch on his fingertips, and returns to his seat. It seems to him that Tobirama has woken up, but he is silent, and Izuna is also not going to discuss what happened.

After all, Tobirama was never a fool. He should have realized what was going on with Izuna the day he stole his first kiss, while breaking his heart at the same time.

***

They're moving much faster than a group of kidnappers. Apart from the night spent in the cave, Tobirama hardly makes stops, stopping no more than fifteen minutes a couple of times a day. The next night, they continue to move towards the border between the territories of Senju and Uchih, and by morning they are already approaching the ill-fated meeting place of their older brothers.

They are waiting for them there. Izuna notices Madara from afar, and his heart starts to hurt again. The infatuation he has been reveling in for the past two days is replaced by horror when Izuna remembers his situation.

Someone has to die.

“Izuna!”  Madara rushes to him, and Hashirama looms next to him. Madara looks terrible, to put it mildly – there are dark circles under his eyes, his hair is disheveled, and his lips are bitten from nerves. He literally snatches Izuna out of Tobirama's grasp when he tries to pass him. “Izuna, Izuna...“ Madara mutters restlessly, while his sharingan randomly turns in his eye sockets, assessing the condition of his younger brother. "I'm so glad you're okay, I'm so glad you're alive… What happened, who did this to you?”

Izuna wants to answer, but instead a sob escapes from his throat. All the emotions that he has been so diligently suppressing for the last few days – months - are spilling out in a powerful waterfall. Izuna is sobbing in his brother's arms, clinging to his clothes and gasping for air. Madara, horrified, tries to calm him down, clearly not understanding how his question could bring the boy to such a state.

“What did you do to him?!” Finally, he turns to Tobirama with a hateful and accusing look. Izuna calms down slightly, stopping sobbing, but unable to lift his head or even tear himself away from his brother. He continues to sob occasionally while Madara pats him soothingly on the back. “I will never believe that you, Senju, are not involved in this. What the hell did you do to my little brother?!”

"Madara, don't jump to conclusions," Hashirama intervenes, stepping between Madara and Tobirama. “Tobi found Izuna using his sensor abilities and brought him back. And now I'm ready to heal Izuna's wounds. We're trying to help.”

"A lie," Madara growls. “You found out that Izuna was kidnapped before I found out about it. How?!”

Hashirama wants to say something, but falls silent and looks at Tobirama in confusion. He doesn't have an answer to that question.

Tobirama sighs resignedly.

"I didn't find Izuna because of my sensor's abilities," he admits.

There is a gloomy triumph in Madara's gaze.

"So you admit that the Senju are connected to the kidnapping?"

"I didn't say that," Tobirama snaps. “First listen to the rest, and then draw conclusions, stupid Uchiha. He was kidnapped by a group of Shinobi from different clans, they wanted to get his sharingan. I've killed them all, but obviously they're just part of a vast network. But that's your clan's problem. And I found Izuna by following my dreams.”

Madara squints in disbelief, and then his eyes widen in realization. He looks in horror at Izuna, who in turn freezes, ceasing to breathe. Izuna's whole world is falling apart, almost like the day Hashirama from dreams addressed him as Tobirama.

He knows, he knows, he knows.

“I'm so sorry...”

“Izuna…”

Oxygen stops flowing.

“I should have told you right away…”

“Izuna!..”

His body starts to tremble.

"I'm a traitor to the clan, I know…”

“Stop it, Izuna!”

The world is getting too noisy.

"I mustn’t live, aniki, I mustn’t …”

He scratches his hands with his nails, leaving red streaks on the skin.

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry...”

Izuna is suffocating. He clings to Madara and looks at him with a desperate look.

“Kill me, aniki! I can't go back to the clan – I'm a threat. We can't get rid of these dreams, we've tried, but it's no use. I'm so sorry that I put it off so much, I really regret it, I swear! Please, please kill me, I don't want to be a traitor anymore, I don't want to let you down anymore!” He begs. Tears are streaming randomly down his face.

“Izuna, stop it!” Madara screams, not caring if he can be heard. There's pure horror on his face – he's horrified of me, he hates me, he doesn't consider me his brother anymore – and his voice sounds like Uchiha is barely holding back her own sobs. “What are you talking about, Izuna?! How can I kill you? You are my only younger brother, my dearest person, I will never allow myself to hurt you.”

“But I... Senju, he...” Izuna sobs. “W-we are soulmates… I don't deserve to live after that.…

"You didn't choose your soul mate, otouto," Madara says sadly, gently running his hand through his younger brother's hair. “It's not your fault.”

Izuna shakes his head.

"But my fault is that I didn't do anything," he says. “Senju could have obtained classified information because of this connection... and I... did nothing.”

"Speaking of which," Hashirama says softly, carefully cutting into the conversation. “Do I understand correctly that you and Tobi tried to... uh... stop these dreams in the traditional way for soulmates?”

Izuna hiccups. Tobirama nods, not taking his worried gaze away from the two Uchiha.

"That's why I asked you to find out if there are alternative ways to end this," Tobirama grimaces. “I still don't understand why it didn't work out.”

"I really studied this question, although of course you didn't tell me who your soulmate is," Hashirama says reproachfully, shaking his head. “Dreams stop only in two cases – the death of one or both partners or their kiss. There are no other options.”

“But we kissed!” Tobirama answers indignantly. “Why didn't it work?”

Sadness settles in Hashirama's eyes.

"Fate does not exclude the possibility of an accidental kiss when soulmates have not yet realized their connection and have not begun to feel feelings for each other," he says softly. “In such cases, the dreams do not stop. For it to disappear, it is necessary that both people recognize each other as their soulmate and be in love.”

"So it's impossible," Madara breathes out resignedly, hugging Izuna closer to herself. "One of them has to..." he doesn't finish, letting the unspoken "die" hang in the air. You don't need to be a good judge of people to understand that Uchiha is in turmoil. Obviously, he is ready to fight for his younger brother to the end, but now Senju has the advantage.

"Kill me," Izuna repeats, tugging at Madara's sleeve. His panic state passes, giving way to an apathetic one. The eyes, red from tears, not from sharingan, look empty. “Don't fight. You can't win. Not with a ballast like me.”

"We're not going to struggle," Hashirama says quickly, while Madara tries to find a word to reject Izuna's offer. “Perhaps we could come to an agreement? For example, promise not to disclose any information that Tobi and Izuna see in their dreams?”

"Nonsense," Tobirama shakes his head, ruining Hashirama's hopes with regret. “Imagine, I will know about the death trap prepared by the Uchiha. Will I have to keep quiet and watch our people go to certain death? To watch their corpses come back to us? To look at their families, knowing that I could save them?! We won't be able to keep quiet if we find out something like this.”

“That's why the war is terrible!” Hashirama snaps. “The people of our clan are suffering, the Uchiha are suffering, everyone is suffering! Madara!” He turns to his former friend. “Don't you see that?! Why are we doing this? Why are we discussing something that will inevitably destroy the lives of people close to us, our younger brothers?”

“And what do you suggest?!” Madara clings to Izuna as if he is trying to hide him by pushing him into his heart. “Are you talking about peace again?! It's impossible! Our fathers will never agree to this!”

“So kill me!” Izuna shouts, suddenly breaking free from Madara's embrace. "You're an idiot, aniki, you're betraying the clan by keeping me alive!" there is a kunai shining between the boy's fingers, probably stolen from his older brother. “I wanted to… I really wanted it to be you..." Izuna's voice becomes quieter, breaking with pain. "But if you don't want to... I'll handle it myself."

Madara doesn't have time to react – but Tobirama does. He is next to Uchiha in the blink of an eye, pushing Izuna to the ground and knocking kunai out of his hands, which is already cutting the delicate skin of his throat. Izuna falls, crying out in pain, and Tobirama falls on top of him, grabbing his arms to restrict the boy's movements. A bloody line is spreading on Izuna's neck – not fatal, but nevertheless scary to the point of horror. Hashirama quickly orients himself by directing his chakra at the wound and starting the healing process.

Madara is just shaking.

"Izuna..." he says in a hoarse voice, but is interrupted.

“Idiot, what are you up to?! Do you think I dragged you here for nothing?!” Tobirama shouts angrily. "If you die, it will be by my hand and on the battlefield. Don't you dare humiliate me by choosing such a pathetic death!”

“That’s enough,” Izuna twitches as if he wants to wrap his arms around his head, but Tobirama continues to hold him, and the boy just closes his eyes. “That's enough, please. You saved me, thinking that your brother would find an alternative way to end our dreams, but that didn't happen. One of us has to die, and it has to be me. P-because it was I who succumbed to this connection and ...” Izuna does not finish, sobbing. An unspoken confession weighs heavily on the minds of all who have heard it.

There is silence.

"Oh, Izuna," Madara finally approaches him, gently pulling him towards her while Tobirama pulls away. "How long ago?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Izuna whispers, not responding to his brother's embrace. "Please, let's just get this over with. Senju... Hashirama, don't treat me. I don't need it.”

The flow of the chakra really stops. Izuna hears Hashirama moving slightly away from him. He relaxes. Nobody says anything. He knows that they should have understood after his confession. It's his fault, and he's the only one responsible. Probably, even Madara can't do anything against such an obvious manifestation of Izuna's weakness. This is the end, and the younger Uchiha is happy about it. It would all be over, all his suffering would finally be over. He will no longer be a threat to his own clan. He would no longer be a traitor to his brother. Madara will kill him, and Izuna will die unhappy, but knowing that he did the right thing.

He feels the movement of the air and involuntarily tenses up, preparing to meet the blade rushing at him.

Instead, he feels warmth on his lips. Izuna gasps, not understanding what is happening, and he is pulled into a kiss – much more gentle than before, much more pleasant than before, much more loving than before. Izuna trembles and tries to pull away, but someone else's hand is on his waist, which pulls him even closer. And Izuna gives up, letting all thoughts disappear and responding to the kiss. His soul is soaring and his head is spinning, he gives himself to his soulmate, allowing Tobirama to do anything with him.

"We will definitely come up with something," Tobirama whispers right into his lips, ending the kiss, but slowly moving away. "But don't you dare die before that."

Izuna nods in fascination, feeling the butterflies begin to flutter in his stomach. His heart rejoices, and the boy cannot resist his desires. He could curse his Uchiha consciousness for this, but instead prefers to kiss Tobirama again – awkwardly and not at all like the confident kiss that Senju gave him. Tobirama responds instantly, taking the initiative, and Izuna melts.

“I think we can stop worrying about their dreams anymore?” Hashirama's hesitant voice is heard somewhere to the side, addressing Madara.

"In the name of the Sage of Six Paths, just shut up.”