Reunion

Chapter 2

Several months had passed and Hashirama and Madara was still seeing each other in secret, though Hashirama was almost certain his wife knew he had a lover. Not that it mattered, their marriage was one of convenience after all, and they were friends rather than lovers. Had his lover been anyone else he would even have told her who, but as Madara were supposed to have been killed ten years ago, not to mention he was still regarded as a traitor to the village, he couldn't do so. That part was what was nagging his conscience.

The Senju had a difficult time feeling guilty at the moment though as he sat with his lover close to him on a lumpy and mildly uncomfortable couch in a nondescript inn; they were staying at the same inn, not coincidentally of course, and this time Hashirama didn't have any bodyguards with him, only the genin his brother was training. The Hokage was acting as his stand-in while Tobirama was on a long term investigation mission. This meant Hashirama could actually speak with Madara in public, since the children were to young to remember Madara, even if they had heard rumors about the so called "Uchiha demon". They were currently out running an errand for Hashirama, which consisted of gathering certain herbs for one of his medicines. This was sure to keep the genin occupied for most of the day, so the couple were allowed to do whatever they wanted for a few hours; and so they settled for cuddling on the couch in Madara's room. "Cuddling" meant in the literal sense Hashirama keeping the Uchiha close in an iron-grip and nuzzling his neck while said person tried to wriggle away every few minutes, and sighing when his attempts inevitably failed.

"How long will those children be gone?" Madara wondered, and winced slightly as Hashirama kissed his cheek.

"Probably until evening..." The Senju mumbled against Madara's collar bone, his arms tightening slightly around Madara's waist when the other once again attempted to distance himself. "Stay."

Another sigh, "fine. What do you want to do then?"

"I'm content just holding you like this, so please let me for once?" Hashirama smiled kindly. "You're always so tense and wary."

"Old habits die hard I guess." Madara said monotonously, and then started slightly as his lover suddenly pulled him in for a kiss, though he quickly melted into it and responded. The connection broke too soon for his liking.

"I'm thinking of passing the Hokage title to Tobi permanently so I can step down." Hashirama confessed.

A frown appeared on Madara's face at this, "how come?"

"Because I want to spend more time with you of course. We've been "seeing" each other for five months when in reality we've only had the opportunity to meet properly seven times. It's getting on my nerves." Hashirama then shrugged, "and besides, Konoha could use a change in leadership."

"But you still have your wife and child to think about. Quitting wouldn't really make much difference, since you'd only have to spend more time with them instead."

Giving this statement some thought, the Senju came up with what he believed to be a suitable solution. "I'll fake my own death."

"Excuse me? Why would you do that!?" Madara was understandably shocked, and even more so when the other's grip on him tightened once again and another hard kiss was pressed to his mouth.

"I'd rather be with you, " Hashirama's voice held an edge of desperation in it when he pulled back. "I've already missed out on ten years with you because of the village. They are strong people, they will manage without me. And as for my immediate family, I barely see them as it is; since the Senju elders have been in charge of raising my son in our customs all this time. Honestly I'm not sure if we could really call ourselves a family at all... It's just a front."

"But it's in the middle of a world war!"

"Which is why it will be easy to get killed. At least supposedly."

Madara had run out of words to respond with and just stared at Hashirama, who reached his hand out to caress his lover's wild hair, which had the Uchiha subconsciously leaning into the touch.

"I love you." The older man continued. "And I want to always have you beside me. As awful as it may sound you are more important to me than the village. I already told you I founded the place for you."

"But-"

"No buts! Konoha forced me to try and kill you once before and I refuse to make the same mistake again. This time I choose you over them."

Madara lunged forward and roughly connected their lips, arms wrapping around his former enemy's neck. He was smiling slightly when he pulled back. "So you'll always stay with me?"

"Yes." Another kiss. "I love you so much."

The Uchiha's only reply was the tightening of his arms around Hashirama's neck.

"Well this is actually pretty nerve-racking," Madara mumbled softly to himself as he observed the battle from the shadows of his hiding place. He watched as several cloud shinobi launched a series of attacks against his lover, who evaded them with ease, only to suddenly leap into the air and disappear amongst the tree tops, appearing behind one of the enemies a second later, blood staining the forrest floor a deep red as his blade slit the shinobi's throat.

Two more ninja growled and lunged for him, making him drop his blood-soaked sword to the ground; but Hashirama soon kicked them off and turned to pick it up again. As he did so another ninja suddenly charged at him.

The Senju looked up to where he knew Madara was standing, smiled and let himself get it by the enemy's lightning strike, which burned a hole right through his chest.

The remaining shinobi looked quite stunned that they had actually managed to kill off the shodaime, but they soon pulled themselves together and turned to help their comrades fight off the other Konoha ninja.

Madara snorted at their foolishness.

"So what do you think?"

The Uchiha turned to glance over at his lover, who just emerged from the woods behind him. "I think it was clever to produce the mokuton clone while hiding behind the trees, since I'm the only one who can see through it. Everyone genuinely believe you are dead."

Hashirama gave an almost invisible smirk, and reached out to help the Uchiha to his feet. "which was kind of the point of this entire battle. Our side will soon retreat to regroup."

"So it would seem." Madara mumbled as he noticed the Konoha shinobi disappear into the woods again.

"Where should we go then?"

The Uchiha thought for a while, "to the land of snow. I haven't been there in a while so the inhabitants won't recognize me."

"And they don't participate in the war so we should be able to avoid any familiar shinobi." The Senju added.

Madara nodded and grabbed Hashirama's arm, and used a teleportation jutsu. The next moment they were standing on the street in a small community in the land of snow. Quickly finding a suitable inn the couple decided to rest for a while before deciding what to do next.

"You know we won't be able to stay in one place for long, right?" The younger man said slowly as they entered their room. It was small, containing only the necessities; a bed, a dresser and a small table with two chairs.

A nonchalant shrug was his only response, "Ah well, it will be just like before Konoha was founded, when we never had a permanent settlement."

Hashirama then smirked and embraced Madara, who flinched as usual.

"Only this time I don't mind so much because I have you to keep me company." He whispered affectionately.

The Uchiha rolled his eyes bemused. "You are so sappy."

"Yup." Hashirama said happily. "So what's the first thing we're gonna do as nomads?"

Madara smirked and moved in even closer to Hashirama, standing slightly on his toes to trace the Senju's ear with his tongue. "I don't know... What say you?"

In response he was roughly pushed up against the wall with the older man attacking his lips fervently and hands caressing his body. He chuckled lowly and returned the ministrations with equal fervor.

Epilogue

The two stood on top of the cliff overlooking the village. It was cold and the wind was blowing harshly as Hashirama heaved a sigh for the tenth time that minute.

"Do you miss it?" came Madara's voice from slightly behind him.

"Of course I do. And I especially miss my closest family." Giving one last sigh the Senju teared his gaze from his village to look at his lover instead, and was instantly soothed by the mere sight of him; since he was the reason he left in the first place.

Reaching out, Hashirama took Madara's hand in his and was pleased when the Uchiha let him. "But I would miss you more. And besides, I can still watch over them from afar."

Madara glanced back down to the village shortly; this was the first time since he left that he actually came back here. Which was purely for Hashirama's benefit of course. Since his clan disowned him he had nothing to tie him to Konoha anymore.

"I suppose."

He then felt the Senju pulling him into a hug, and for once he decided not to struggle even if he still felt slightly uncomfortable with it, though Hashirama seemed pleased he stayed in place.

"I love you," was whispered into his hair, and he closed his eyes while leaning in closer to the other man's warmth, obviously surprising him quite a bit.

He gave a somewhat content sigh, "I love you too... I think."

The arms tightened around him as he felt Hashirama smile into his hair. "'I think' is better than not at all."

"I suppose." Madara said again, and moved away from the embrace. "Shall we go then?"

The former Hokage nodded and laced his fingers with Madara's, the smile never leaving his face as they walked away from the village without looking back.

The end..?