I started reading.

I went to the library of the medical faculty, borrowing thick books about neurology which I sat down with for hours. It was work that I had to do outside of my own studies, so my sleeping schedule was slightly deprived, but I learned fast, and I found it incredibly interesting.

I did, however, not come closer to a solution to the problem. The chip was small, yes, but would cover an area of brain that encompassed thousands upon thousands of neurons, and each of them needed to be connected to the chip. It seemed an impossible task.

Beside thinking about the problem ahead, I also took some time to think about the conversation I'd had with Tobirama. It had been interesting to say the least, which was more than I could say about some actual people I'd conversed with. And I couldn't help but think about how professor Senju had the computer on at night, enabling Tobirama to collect more and more information at an incredible speed. I wondered how it would be like to converse with him now, when a few more days had passed...

As my thoughts got stuck in the conversation with Tobirama I thought that maybe, I would feel less distracted if I read in professor Senju's lab instead of my apartment or the library. But as I blipped my card, opened the door to the building and then unlocked the door to the lab in the same way, I realised that working in the lab would provide a whole new level of distraction because Professor Senju worked there, too. 

"Izuna..."

Professor Senju was standing in front of his computer, dressed in a black shirt and cream chinos. His hair was loose, and he had his glasses on.

He looked fantastic.

I saw he was coding something on Tobirama, and I was suddenly curious about the two of them together. What kind of conversations did they have? Did they even converse? Surely, he must test his creation, right? And did Tobirama have a different tone with him than with me? I thought back to the tone Tobirama had had with me; pretty neutral, even if it did contain a hint of humour. 

"Professor Senju", I said, looking to the side, suddenly very aware of myself.

He approached me then, towered over me, pressed himself against me, grabbing my chin with his fingers, firmly but not harshly.

"I thought we were on first name basis", he said darkly.

"Hashirama", I said; I felt daring.

He connected our lips.

"Mmm", I moaned, closing my eyes, grabbing his arms.

He de-clattered the desk behind me by just swiping his hands so that everything, pens and notepads and whatnot, fell to the ground, leaned over me so I had to bend backwards over the desk. He pulled his fingers through my hair lovingly, his lips just as soft as his caress. His hands continues along my arms, tattooing lines, all the way to my palms until he could pin my hands on the desk above my head.

He pulled down my trousers then, turned me around so I was on my stomach on the desk, still standing with my Vans on the floor. He put his fingertip to me, let his finger slide in, spent some time stretching me until I was a mewling, moaning mess.

"God, Izuna..."

"Hashirama", I said.

I felt the now-so-familiar sensation of his tip at my opening, and instinctively pushed myself back against it.

He sighed as he penetrated me.

I screamed.

"Hashi!!"

He thrusted, the desk making incredible noises beneath us that would have woken the dead.

Oh, wow, that was insensitive considering the location. Never mind. 

"Hashiii!!!"

Now I'd used his first name I seemed unable to stop, and I grabbed his hair as he came, whispering his name over and over as he shouted into my mouth, our lips touching but his desire to scream too strong for him to kiss me until finally, he slumped over me.

"Your turn", he said, standing up on his hands.

"No", I said, moving so I was laying on the desk full-body so I could grab his head and pull him towards my chest properly.

He tried to lift his head to look at me, but I pushed it down softly.

"But-"

"Sex isn't about coming for me", I said. "It's about emotions."

Hashirama frowned, as if this was something that was hard for him to take in. I guess it would be for most men. He didn't ask me to explain, however, which did make me slightly disappointed. Instead, he moved so he was next to me, pulled me in towards him instead. That slightly disappointed me as well. 

"I wanted to tell you something", he said. 

I looked at him.

"What?" 

A smile spread across his face then.

"I've figured it out. I figured out how to make Tobirama move his body."

I was quiet for a while, not quite keeping pace with the rapid change of subject. But then, I understood what he'd said.

"That's fantastic!"

He explained the code to me, and it was so advanced, even I had a hard time getting a grip of it.

"Now..." He kissed the top of my head. "It's up to you to figure out how to implant the chip."

"You seem much smarter than me", I said. "If you figure something out, you tell me?"

"Of course", he said. "But, Izuna, I have a brain for maths, for programming. You have a brain for everything. That's why I've asked you." I was, undoubtedly, incredibly flattered by this statement. "I could read a book about neurobiology just like any sucker. But I need someone like you, who understands maths and programming on the same level as me but is also good at studying in general."

I frowned.

"You mean you're not?"

He smiled.

"I'm decent. But no. I hardly ever studied. Just understood things."

I set my face. I really, really didn't want to disappoint him. 

"Okay", I said. "Okay, I will not disappoint you."

"Good boy", he said, as if he could be disappointed if I didn't succeed.

I got very, very good at neurology, being lucky enough to be able to skim through the books and understand and learn the things that stood there quite quickly. 

I was, however, not closer to figure out how to implant the chip.

One evening, I sat at my desk trying to focus on my own studies, but to no avail; my mind kept slipping back to the chip, and what to do about it. Finally, I sighed, got up, packed my study material into my backpack, and went out. I walked all the way to the university and let myself into Hashirama's lab. 

The computer was on but sleeping, so I woke it up. Tobirama was running in the background, I saw, collecting data.

Hello.

There was a long pause.

It's good to see you, Mr Uchiha.

Feel any feelings yet?

Another long pause. What was going on? He used to answer so quickly.  

No. Why, do you need me to?

Kinda. Would've been nice to have someone to talk to.

You can always talk to me. But if you need true empathy, I would be happy to talk to you when I can feel it.

I smiled a little. Despite the delay in answers, I enjoyed this. 

It's going to happen, isn't it?

What is?

You. Feeling things.

Long pause.

Yes. Yes, now I am certain it is. 

I sighed.

"It's just... I can't figure out how to implant the chip."

Another long pause.

May I recommend a book?

"Okay", I said.

An image turned up on the screen. It was a book. Epilepsy was the title.

It's available in the medical library.

"Is it open at night?"

24/7.

"Too bad", I said.

Long pause.

Why is it bad?

I smiled.

"I enjoy our conversations. If it hadn't been open, I would have had a reason to stay talking to you."

I threw the door open, smiled triumphantly, scaring the hell out of Hashirama who was standing in front of Tobirama. I suddenly wondered if Hashirama had just chosen a name similar to his name and then fed words into that name to make it look like an abbreviation. I pushed the thought away. 

"A-ha!!" I screamed. "There he is!!" 

"Jesus fucking Christ, Izuna, you scared me!"

"I don't care!" I said, going to him, holding the book Tobirama recommended in my hand. "I figured it out!"

Hashirama frowned, not yet understanding what I was talking about.

Then, it went up to him.

"No way..." he whispered.

"You thought I wouldn't, didn't you?" I said, but I was smiling.

"No, it's just..." He laughed. "God, Izuna, I just thought you would need a few months. This is fantastic!"

I looked behind him, at the computer.

"I had some help." 

Hashirama didn't turn to look, but was entirely focussed on me. To my surprise, I saw Tobirama wrote something to me behind Hashirama's back.

Knew you would figure it out :* Smart boy

Wait, what?

Then, the message disappeared, and I got even more confused; the program was made so the conversation disappeared only when the converser clicked it away, or wrote something new. If Hashirama hadn't changed that, it meant that Tobirama had figured out how to override it. He'd over-ridden his own coding. It was impressive and incredibly scary.

"Explain", Hashirama demanded, and I forced myself back to him.

"Well..." I began, looking down on the book. "You know what epilepsy is, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, convulsions all over your body."

"Can be. It can also be other forms of attacks, like just twitching of your leg, or your hand, or disappearing for a while. But those happen when just parts of the brain are affected. If the whole brain is affected, you get convulsions all over your body. But..." I put the book down on his desk; it was heavy. "It can start focally. In just a tiny aspect of the brain, then spread out to encompass all of it. So it starts with, for example, your hand convulsing, then within a minute, it's your entire body. This is because all your neurons, that is your brain cells, are connected. The epileptic attack can start in one neuron, then spread through your entire brain."

Hashirama frowned and nodded, indicating he was following.

I saw the exact moment when it went up to him.

"So that means..."

"We only need to connect the chip to one neuron. Possibly a few to be on the safe side."

"That saves a lot of time. It's still terribly microscopical, however." 

"I've thought of that, too!" I said triumphantly. "What's even better is, we don't need to connect them cord-to-cord. Chip-to-neuron. The entire membrane of each neuron can carry electricity. We basically just need to place the chip down into Hermes' brain." I sighed, disappointed in myself. "I should've figured this out long ago."

"I'm still very impressed", Hashirama said. "So, now comes the next problem. We need a neurosurgeon whom we can trust."

I sighed again. I had been thinking about this, too.

"We've got one", I said.

Hashirama's frown deepened. 

"Who?"

I looked up at him.

"Madara. My brother who runs the flower shop."

"I didn't know you had a brother who runs a flower shop", Hashirama said.

"I've told you, like, six times."

"Well, I wasn't listening, but that's superb!"

Hashirama couldn't speak for a long time out of pure excitement. 

I couldn't speak out of sadness that he hadn't listened to me and hadn't even apologised. 

And out of nervousness about asking Madara to operate again.