Chapter Text
“So, what’s the exciting news?”
Hashirama agreed to meet Tobirama and Madara immediately when she requested some of his time. Any excuse to avoid paperwork.
He swiped a hand over his white haori to smooth it out, dragging ink-stains across it from where he’d rested his palm on paper that had not yet dried. Hashirama didn’t notice, and looked at the couple eagerly.
Tobirama took a fortifying breath. Seeing her brother like that, all-too-happily ignoring his work and presenting himself so messily made Tobirama’s eyelid twitch. But, she wasn’t here to pick on him. Mito could chew him out later.
Tobirama’s eyes met Madara’s, at his slight nod she turned back to Hashirama.
“Big brother,” Hashirama perked up like a puppy at being addressed, “I’m here to inform you that I’m pregnant.”
Hashirama set them with a blank smile. “What?”
“I’m pregnant.” Tobirama blandly repeated herself.
“P— pregnant?!” His brows furrowed slightly like he was confused.
“Yes.”
Hashirama leaned back against his chair, seeming in shock as he processed her words.
Tobirama stood proud and continued to gaze impassively at her brother, Madara by her side. Her fingers twitched minutely, a nervous tic she could not squash. Hashirama, normally so expressive, was not reacting. Madara linked his fingers with hers.
“Are you’re sure?” Hashirama was slow to react but a smile slowly formed. He stood slowly and rounded the desk, moving like he was afraid to spook her as he got into hugging range.
Tobirama felt her lips draw upward at the astonishment in her brother’s voice. “You’re going to be an uncle.” Tobirama released Madara’s hand to rest it over her stomach. Still flat, too soon to show, but the life within her was steadily growing. “We’re quite sure.”
Suddenly Hashirama’s smile dropped and he scowled at Madara.
“You.”
Madara held his hands up to placate the sudden rage emanating from Hashirama.
“You’ve been doing inappropriate things with my sister.”
Madara back-pedalled at Hashirama’s overwhelming fury.
“You’re being unreasonable, old friend.”
“She’s pregnant because of you!”
“I married her, it’s only natural that we’d—“
“Stop! Shut up! I don't want to hear about how you defiled my sister!”
Tobirama sighed quietly and moved back against the wall while her two idiots chased each other around the esteemed hokage’s office, flinging petty insults. The chase was brief and the hat Hashirama wore was long forgotten on the floor. Hashirama was fuelled by a surge of fraternal protectiveness and the primal need to rib his best friend. There was hair pulling, elbow jabs, a flash of teeth as Madara bit Hashirama.
Tobirama looked on with exasperated fondness. It’s like they were boys again. Instead of the widely famed and feared God of Shinobi and his terrifying counterpart.
It was all over when Hashirama caught Madara in a tackle and the shouts turned to laughter. Hashirama got him in a headlock, cheerfully choking him out while Madara did his best to hit as hard as he could to break free. Hashirama was sturdy as a tree trunk and Madara changed tactics to pulling desperately at the elbow around his throat.
“You’re going to be a father!” Hashirama cheered. He loosened his hold slightly as he looked at Tobirama, “you’re having a baby.”
Madara went slack in his arms, a tender look softening his features as he looked over at Tobirama. “First of many, I hope.”
Hashirama’s elbow tightened briefly as he laughed. “Haha, don’t push it.”
Madara was released and he quickly fixed his hair and returned to Tobirama’s side. Hashirama didn’t care to fix his appearance, hardly a hair out of place.
Hashirama burst into tears, fat, ugly sobs heaving his chest as he returned his attention to Tobirama. She tried not to roll her eyes.
Men.
“Told you he wouldn’t take it well,” she muttered to her side.
Hashirama went to draw her into one of his smothering hugs but he stopped himself before he could squeeze her, eyes darting down to her stomach.
“Can I feel?” He asked, almost shyly.
“It’s too small to feel anything right now.”
He nodded, pouting at the denial, but hugged her tight all the same. It was nice to be able to breathe for once when he held her tight and Tobirama returned the gesture.
The chakra coils slowly developing in the growing child was as strange as it was a marvel. For a sensor like her, to be so close to a new life was astounding, impossible to describe to Madara when she first noticed the pregnancy.
When Tobirama had enough she peeled her brother off her and grouched when she had to smooth the wrinkles of her clothes out.
“You have work to do. We’ll see you later.”
Tobirama firmly directed her brother toward his dreaded desk.
Tobirama and Madara took their leave.
“Now to tell your brother,” she said.
They left to find Izuna, Tobirama tracking his location in the academy.
“I think he wanted to hurt me,” Madara said.
Tobirama hummed. For a moment there the killing intent had suffocated the room and Hashirama reined it in, redirected it to roughhousing.
“Imagine how much worse it would’ve been if we didn’t tell him first.”
Madara made an amusing sound.
Tobirama mused as they walked. First of many. She always loved children, cherished her work in the academy, training and moulding young minds. They’d talked about it before, wanting a large family. They both experienced grievous losses from the death of their siblings. Child killings were abominable and Tobirama never would have considered it before the formation of the village.
The agony of losing Kawarama and Itama never left her and she couldn’t help but fear for her own children. They were from a generation where families had to be large, there was no guarantee each child would make it to adulthood.
Tobirama changed her line of thinking before it truly upset her.
“How do you think Izuna will take the news?”
“Better than your brother,” Madara answered with a smirk. “He might not like it though.”
“Because it’s me.”
Madara nodded. “He’ll get over it some day.”
Tobirama and Izuna’s relationship was infamous. From detested rivals to closest frenemies, Izuna insisted they maintained a strictly professional relationship, even as he did everything in his power to prank Tobirama until she wanted to yank her hair out in frustration. The worst of it was when he encouraged her students to join in on the pranking. Some days she missed when she actively tried to kill him in their clan wars.