It wasn't like what happened within the Senju compound was a singular moment, within the Uchiha home, much the same was happening; Madara had returned home to a silent house, it made a change for Izuna not to have come bounding out, trying to pounce on him and climb onto his back, or otherwise surprise attack him so Madara would have to counter and pick him up and away from himself. It was irregular for Izuna to be so quiet, so Madara quickly presumed he was the lone person within the house, it was such a silent space without his younger brother running about; it's even quieter now, seems Izuna and Madara were the last of Tajima's children. Madara could remember all of his brothers running about, at times he'd swear he still could see one or the other passing a door or in the small garden space.

Madara didn't really believe in ghosts, but if he did, he supposed he wouldn't mind being haunted by his brothers, even if that was more his guilty conscience kicking in that he couldn't do more to save them from their horrible fates. Taking the silence at hand, he sought to finding something to eat, he might as well enjoy the peace while he had it, he knew the moment Izuna appeared, that would be it.

Snack and drink in hand, Madara exited the house again and sat down on the small porch, the engawa looked recently cleaned, which had him raising an eyebrow while hanging his legs over the edge. He couldn't imagine his father cleaning the wood, shaking his head, Madara doubted Izuna would do it either, the young boy would probably get bored and end up purposely doing the job wrong so he could go do something else. It was a little thing, a strange thing even, that Madara noticed such a small detail while drinking slowly from his cup. It sunk in, unfortunately he clearly hadn't been here often, again, for such a random little thing as a cleaned engawa to catch his eye. What other little quirks were new?

Madara sensed the oncoming people before he heard their footsteps, sitting around the back of the house, it was clear he was sensed being out here too because his father and Izuna appeared. Madara paused in the middle of chewing, he narrowed his dark eyes slowly, Izuna looked unhappy; it was rather easy to spot when his younger brother wasn't his usual bubbly self, mainly because he'd stand there pouting, his large dark eyes would harden and narrow and Madara swore he even puffed out his cheeks, just for emphasis.

It wasn't so much Izuna's disposition which had Madara pausing eating, it was the fact he was in gear he would typically wear if he were to take part in a fight, the fact that even his katana could be seen sheathed and on his back just had Madara brushing crumbs from himself with indifference. He stood up, cup in hand and just looked as blankly at his father and brother, as they looked at him. Madara would say he was surprised that this was happening now, but who was he kidding? The moment he sensed Saruyama and who Madara believed was her and Hashirama's brother, he could so easily sense Izuna and who seemed to be Junpei on the other side of the river too.

Hashirama being the oblivious idiot that he was, and Madara didn't wholly mean that in a nasty way, he just could be so oblivious and ignorant, had naturally little to no sensing abilities. How a boy so skilled and strong as he was couldn't easily sense his own siblings, was beyond Madara. He had sensed Saruyama appearing as easily as it was to blink. But the point being was that between them both, Madara was evidently the only one who knew that there were four sets of eyes watching them closely. Did he think that they'd appear if one of them did something that didn't sit well? Madara didn't know. The less thought on the possible fight the better.

So yes, he wasn't remotely surprised this confrontation was now happening. He presumed Hashirama had already had his talking to, Saruyama and her brother having reported all they saw to their father, likewise no doubt Saruyama would've had to have opened up about more personal questions, he was presuming on that one and the thought made him uncomfortable, his stomach had a weight drop in it as he turned and entered the house, best not do this outside.

The shoji door slid open quietly, the noise seemingly too loud in such a small space, but Madara walked in knowing full well his family were following close behind. Sitting down at the low table in the kitchen, Madara crossed his legs on the cushion below him and cupped his hands around his drink. He watched as his father and brother simply sat down opposite to him, tilting his head, Madara just waited. It was always best to not let slip unnecessary information or words, unless it was needed, it was always best to know what information was known by the opposing side.

Tajima sat there with an indecisive expression, it was like he was trying to figure out how to start this conversation, he realised it was evidently going to be an awkward one. Izuna wasn't exactly finding it as hard as his father, more used to just coming out with whatever was on his mind, he slammed his small hands on the table and pointed an accusing finger at Madara. Him just casually lifting his cup up so the vibration through the table wouldn't spill any, then further sipping some just had Izuna glaring more at him.

"How could you be friends with a Senju?!" Izuna just came out with it, his little cheeks had puffed out again in his annoyance as he leaned against the table pointing at Madara. If he didn't have Tajima suddenly pushing on his shoulder to sit, it was clear the younger boy wanted to vault across and shake his brother by the shoulders and try and make sense of this situation.

Madara could rely on Izuna for letting slip more of the important snippets of information. So, they knew Hashirama was a Senju, which meant they had further researched into the brunette, no doubt. That then meant that they'd know as much as possible about the boy, and no doubt his family. It was something which was all encompassing, their friendship just dragged everyone close by, and the implosion was imminent.

Tajima pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily before looking suddenly tiredly at Madara. "Is that what it was, a friendship?" Tajima asked, keeping his tone rather neutral. It was only fair he got Madara's side of things. Before returning home, he and Junichi had been with the elders, when Junpei and Izuna appeared relaying what they had seen, the group were stumped, disappointed a little in Madara, but also saw the chance to take advantage of whatever Madara may know.

Madara placed his hands in his lap, he looked between his father and brother before looking back at his father. Tajima still remained passive, but Izuna was steaming away, whether he was jealous Madara had branched out to be friends with someone outside the clan or never told him he had made a new friend, Madara didn't know. But Izuna was still pouting and unhappy, Madara felt bad for making his brother feel so displeased. "If it was?" Madara questioned back, Tajima's lips quirked up slightly in a smirk, he even let out a quiet scoff. Madara watched his father shake his head, it seemed like Madara answering his question with one of his own didn't even remotely surprise his father.

"You know who that boy's father is, right?" Tajima decided to try another tactic, of course it was something Madara wouldn't know. He guessed that the children had kept personal information close to their chests. Whether they knew more then they let on about each other, Tajima would never know, maybe it was easier to overlook certain aspects for the sake of trying to have a relationship.

"No," Madara answered, he could see his father wanted a physical answer, he could see it in the way Tajima's eyes narrowed a fraction.

Tajima looked upwards at the ceiling, nodding slowly he licked his bottom lip in thought before setting his eyes back on his oldest son. "Butsama," Tajima said the name slowly, watching as Madara's eyes slowly widened. Tajima hummed, leaning forwards and crossing his arms on the table, he nodded Madara's way. "Your little friend's father, is the man who conducted and oversaw the battles which took the lives of not only your mother, but some of your brothers." Whether Butsama was the one to literally kill those family members, no one would ever know, but him being tied to those fights was enough to pin some blame to him, that and he was a thorn in Tajima's side; he had fought the man more times than he'd like to admit, and he was stubborn, strong, quick and skilled, all in all, Butsama Senju was a man who was not easy to take down.

Madara looked down at the table, letting that process in his mind, there was a bitter taste in his mouth over that. A small voice in his mind was wishing to state that his own father, had probably done much the same to Hashirama's family. Had Tajima been involved in the fight that had rendered Saruyama losing her twin, or their younger brother and mother? Madara didn't know, he had seen the absolute heartbreak that had caused to feel like he could easily relate, they all could because they had all been there, but her father had been involved in the fights which had taken his mother and brothers from him. That was a hurdle his brain was struggling to overcome, the house had changed so much with the passing of his mother, let alone his siblings.

Tajima tapped a finger to the tabletop, Madara's eyes flicked up and looked at his father. With a lopsided smile, a cynical thing with no humour, even his dark eyes looked rather hollowly at Madara. "We know as much as we need to about that family. But if it gets out that you were interacting with the enemy, the elders have decided to say that it was a covert mission, undercover and infiltration. That is what you will say, if anyone ever asks you about this. Do you understand?" Tajima asked, his tone making it known that Madara couldn't contradict, he merely nodded his head, accepting to lie so it wouldn't get out that he actually had made a friend in Hashirama, let alone Saruyama; the fact she hadn't been unmentioned, had him feeling this weird mix of contentedness and relief.

Seeing as how he had nothing else to say, Tajima stood and left the room. He did glance between the brothers with a warning in his eyes, he wasn't splitting them up if they started having a fight over this, because Izuna clearly needed to have it out somehow. The pair watched him leave before Izuna shot Madara a glare, Madara inhaled slowly and exhaled just as much. "What were you thinking?" Izuna asked, even he sounded tired, Madara knew he had been watching for a while, Izuna didn't sit still for very long, but knowing it was his brother at the river, Izuna would've sucked up the discomfort for him.

"It happened by accident, and I won't apologise for that." Madara said with a frown, he did have a chance meeting with Hashirama, it wasn't planned. But he meant it, he wasn't saying sorry for the friendship he had struck up.

Izuna ran a hand down his face, he stood up and walked around the low table to plop back down beside Madara. "At least try and sound sorry! The fact you're being so typically you, isn't helping matters, big brother." Izuna sighed and watched Madara turn and face him, both sitting cross legged and looking at each other, Izuna could see his brother had put up all and any walls to keep him at arm's length from whatever he thought and felt about this.

"I'm not sorry, isn't it a bit patronising or degrading to everyone's intelligence to pretend otherwise?" Madara asked, Izuna groaned loudly and actually turned and collapse against the table, his head burying against his arms. Madara meant what he said, no one liked being humoured and if he did say sorry, they'd know he wouldn't mean it.

"You're so difficult." Izuna's voice came out muffled, Madara just frowned though he watched Izuna's face turn, his eyes looking sidelong at him, but he remained laying against his arms. Madara had to say leaning like that didn't look comfortable, but Izuna never made to move. "Tomoko's mother was in the meeting." Izuna said awkwardly, watching as Madara's eyes widened slightly.

"Why?"

Izuna leaned away from his arms and looked sadly at his brother, "Because she somehow believes that the Senju still have her father. She somehow got wind that father was meeting with the elders, Junichi was with him, Junpei with me, she got suspicious and invited herself along."

Madara frowned slowly and thought about that, "He's dead." He guessed the Senju buried him away from their own personal graveyard, Madara didn't know.

"We all know that." Izuna rolled his eyes, he sounded so done with the topic. Osamu evidently got killed when he went rogue, where his body wound up, none of them knew. But that wasn't the lone case, at times fights were so brutal and remote and away from their home that bodies would have to be left. It was bitter, painful, agonising but that was how it was sometimes.

Madara sighed, he looked at his cup and the half-drunk contents before looking back at his brother. Izuna was just watching him curiously, "So Moriko knows, which means Tomoko no doubt knows too."

"I don't think she'd share sensitive information with her daughter, brother." Izuna frowned too, he didn't think she would do that, she shouldn't do that, that was wrong, especially considering who they were in a meeting with.

Madara scoffed, he loved his brother and his simple ways of looking at things, but Madara couldn't imagine Moriko not sharing, because, after all, they were friends with Tomoko, and Moriko would no doubt want to know if Madara had ever left anything slip. He hadn't, he had kept everything private, Tomoko knew nothing about his friendship with Hashirama, but if she knew about the friendship with Saruyama, it was enough for Madara to suck air in through his teeth. That would be an awkward situation to counter.

Madara explained his thought process, he watched Izuna frown in thought before realising maybe he was right. Izuna was clueless about the Senju friendship, Tomoko knew nothing, but he could see why Madara presumed Moriko would ask Tomoko about any information she may knew.

"Tell me about the family," Madara asked suddenly, Izuna raised an eyebrow. It was clear both him and their father knew Hashirama's name, even if neither wanted to say it, like it was a taboo name in this household, they knew his father, Madara had heard about Butsama, never seen him close up though. But the rest? The other brother, the sister, even if information about Saruyama was from a different curious avenue than the other brother. Madara would say he was wanting information on people he didn't know, but also, as awful as it was, a part of him wanted to downplay Saruyama; not in a degrading way, she was too...Madara didn't even know how to describe her, but he wanted to keep her from this oncoming implosion and his mind couldn't fully figure out why.

So the brothers both got comfortable in the kitchen, Izuna telling Madara all he had found out about Tobirama, the mystery brother now had a name, and Saruyama; Madara had to admit the information on the pair was sparse, but Izuna had some prior information clearly given to him about their abilities and skills, he did note that Hashirama was clearly the strongest out of the pair, there were two other brothers, both deceased, Madara knew that, he didn't know their names and nor did Izuna, apparently.

"You should change and rest until dinner, Izuna. It's been a long and tiring day," Madara said after a few moments of silence flitted between them after Izuna had stopped speaking. Izuna just pouted his way again, Madara waved a hand his way. His brother did look like he was going to fall asleep on the table, Madara wasn't surprised that he relented eventually, Izuna stood up and walked away quietly.

Running a hand through his hair, Madara ruffled at the spikes before standing as well and exiting the house. The afternoon was long gone, early night was slowly appearing, the sounds of cicadas could be heard, even quiet hoots of nearby owls out to hunt for dinner. Looking up at the lantern that hung out here, Madara could just about reach up and take to lighting it. Standing back and looking at the flickering flame through the paper, he perked up when he heard skidding footsteps.

Holding in the annoyed noise which wanted to appear, Madara turned and stared outwards, Tomoko didn't waste time, or had been waiting until she could sense that Madara's father and brother had left the room, and she could then come knocking on the door to talk to him. She looked ticked, Madara wasn't in the mood for this, he stepped off of the porch, he slipped his sandals back on and slowly made his way over to where the girl was lurking outside of the lanterns glow.

Madara just walked past her, they weren't having this conversation on the ground of his home. He wound him making his way through the little streets to a small, wooded area, targets were nearby, they were in one of many small training areas, with dusk hanging around, no one was here, everyone was tucked up inside of their homes, enjoying dinners and conversing with family and friends.

Tucking his hands in his pockets, Madara turned and looked at Tomoko, she looked like she had been crying, her eyes were red and bloodshot, her cheeks were a patchy red too from the tears which she had shed. Madara felt bad she had been crying but also wasn't sure why she would be crying over whatever her mother had told her, even Izuna hadn't cried, he'd had his little shout then just seemed to relent, Izuna loved Madara too much for this thing to wedge them apart.

"All this time, all this time when you were not here, you were out there making friends with the enemy?" Tomoko sounded confused, like even saying it made it feel weird and real. She couldn't even think about being friends with a Senju, if she was near one, she was certain it wouldn't be breathing for very long.

"Your mother wasn't meant to share information from that meeting." Madara said, he sounded indifferent, he saw this coming from a mile off. Going through the motions didn't make it any less tiresome, he just didn't want to do this, he didn't think people would just accept and get on with their lives, but ignorance could be bliss.

"That's all you've got to say?!" Tomoko was clearly keeping herself as calm as possible for as long as she could before she exclaimed at him. Madara shifted his weight from one foot to the other and watched her storm over to him, she closed the small distance and pointed angrily up at him. "How could you do that to us?!"

"As far as I remember, I was on a secret mission to gather information." Madara said casually, shrugging one shoulder and going with the lie his father said. Tomoko evidently didn't believe him because of the noise which came from her as she glared up at him, Madara remained blank faced.

"Really?"

"Really," Madara said while looking around them, narrowing his eyes and nodding, he removed a hand from his pocket and gestured it back the way they came. "It's getting late, you should go home and so should I, before Izuna comes to try and find me."

Tomoko didn't like being patronised and watched him pass her by before stomping a foot. "Why are you lying?"

Madara looked over his shoulder at her and frowned, "Because it isn't your business," he stated simply, which it wasn't. When did Tomoko need to know everything about him, or what he got up to and everything in between? Whether she bought the lie or not, Madara didn't care. But his life wasn't her business.

"It is if you could've endangered us all!" Tomoko, Madara had to admit, much like her grandfather was truly extremely loyal to the clan, not saying he wasn't, of course he was, but there was always a limit with Tomoko's family, they always had to go the extra mile, extra being the emphasis where there were no holds barred and success and protection of the clan would come at someone's cost, and they wouldn't care.

"At the price of my brother's life, I wouldn't have done anything that would've endangered us." Madara turned and narrowed his eyes at her, if he thought for one moment being friends with Hashirama and Saruyama would hurt Izuna, physically, he wouldn't have committed. He knew Izuna was emotionally hurt, but Madara also knew that he'd work through that and not hold it against Madara, they were brothers, nothing was going to cause an abyss to appear between them.

"But you don't know that." Tomoko cynically stated while throwing her hands in the air. "They're Senju, Madara. The same clan who has taken so much from us, who we are constantly fighting against. And you believe they wouldn't go for Izuna, if they could? You are not stupid, so don't act it."

Madara looked at the sky, hoping some inspiration would hit him. Instead, all he got was the first stars of the night appearing, the white twinkling stars did little to aid him, but it just reaffirmed to him it was slowly getting late. "I'm going home, whether you want to or not, I do." Madara waved a hand at her before turning on his heels and starting onwards. He shut his eyes and sighed heavily when he heard her footsteps run after him, Madara's sleeve got grasped onto and Tomoko popped up in front of him, he looked down at the slightly shorter girl who was glaring up at him.

"You will have to fight your friend, Madara. You know this, right? A time will come where you will have to fight him, and with him comes the rest of the family which would drag your family in too." Tomoko stated while watching as he just shifted his weight again, he was listening but just not wanting to take onboard her words, she didn't know if he just didn't care, or it was things he already knew. Crossing her arms, Tomoko just stared right back up at him, "Your friend has a sister, did you know this? Oh, of course you did," Tomoko had listened to the intel her mother had shared with her, it was only them two now, so they relied on each other. A white haired brother, a dark and white haired sister, Madara's friend being the only brunette amongst them. Tomoko knew the sister, all too well on the account of her clearly dealing damage to Tomoko when they crossed paths, the white and dark haired boy was never mentioned, so Tomoko felt at least a little pleased one less Senju was roaming the world.

Madara had hoped to keep recognition from his face, but clearly, he failed in some way. "You want to kill her? Okay, when you go for her, I hope you're strong enough to deal with her brothers. Either way, you'll either kill her, or the three of them will kill you." Madara said simply, it wasn't going to end well, that fight. Tomoko pressed her lips into a thin line, Madara believed she clearly thought she could get close to get to Saruyama, not if she was backed up with her brothers. She wasn't even active in fighting at the moment anyway, not that Madara knew of, which meant unless Tomoko could find her in the Senju compound, she'd have to play the long game. Unless she wanted to truly follow her grandfather.

"Her clan took my grandfather from me."

Madara sighed shortly, it was a pain which cut deep which wouldn't ever be let go. It was Tomoko and Moriko's clear reason to keep fighting, avenge Osamu by killing as many Senju as possible. It was repetitive, and it was a cycle which Madara couldn't see the two females trying to end. Madara shook his head, was there a tactful way of dealing with this? If so, Madara seemed to bypass it, "Your grandfather decided to go off with a small group, without permission for the attack and found himself vastly outnumbered and overpowered. My friend's father, was involved with the death of my mother, my father told me that today, instead of going over the same thing like you are, I have accepted that happened, and am trying to think of a way to carry on and counterattack in a less reckless way than what you are no doubt planning, just like your grandfather."

Tomoko's eyes widened and she looked like she was going to start crying again. Madara accepted what Tajima said, to try and be friends with the girl in front of him, but he was fed up, well and truly sick and tired of everyone pussyfooting around the obstacle in the path; Osamu stupidly acted on his own and got himself and others killed for it. He didn't die a hero, there was no heroics, he attacked people while they slept which is cowardly, only cowards attack people who cannot fight back, there was no honour in what he did, none, and Madara was done with pretending like Osamu did something truly worth praise, when it certainly wasn't.

"Why have you got to be so mean?" Tomoko's voice sounded so small as she stepped back from him.

Madara just watched her, looked her over before shaking his head. He wasn't apologising, much like with Izuna earlier, he wasn't saying sorry for something he wasn't sorry for. Madara didn't want to state that Tomoko was clearly only listening to the words which involved her. He didn't know if she registered how he said Butsama somehow may or may not have killed his mother, or brothers. That apparently didn't matter, her own misery and pain did.

Stepping around her again, Madara tried to make his way home, again. "No one ever said the truth was easy to handle. Get home, Tomoko. It is getting late, and you don't want your mother to come searching for you, just like I don't want Izuna trying to find me."

"I will kill her, Madara! Believe me, I will do it!" Tomoko exclaimed, watching the boy walk away from her with his head slightly tilted, listening to her call out.

"I believe you," Madara exhaled quietly, replying so silently that he doubted Tomoko could hear him. Her want to have revenge on Saruyama was tiring, Saruyama broke her nose or something, right? In the grand scheme of things to herself, that was a ridiculous reason to hunt the girl out. Saruyama knew of Tomoko, Madara had told her, though upset and angry he knew the girl who was somehow involved in the fight that had her twin passing away, she wasn't as hellbent on revenge. Maybe that was just a Uchiha thing, the slightest of injustices and that was it, they'd throw everything into achieving their goal. Dedication wasn't a bad thing, maybe it could be if it became all-encompassing like it was becoming with Tomoko.