"You thought I wasn't serious." Tobirama said behind him, and Madara tensed, a snarl rising in his throat as Tobirama caught his arm - just above the grey shadow of his once-vibrant soulmark - and pulled him around.

"Perhaps things are different among you," Madara said, restraining the urge to lash out and trying to think, heart aching, how he could trust someone who would ignore a soulmate, "none of my clan would abandon-"

"My soulmark;" Tobirama offered his arm, showing a great, twisting tree with a hollow at its centre opening on a broad ocean, "I would never abandon my brother, but I am serious about you, Madara . . . if you'll have me."