The court was described aptly as a pit of vipers.
The Noble Shinobi Clans were an embarrassment, never acknowledged or addressed. They were the stain of the court, the simpletons, the barbarians that licked blood from the edge of their blades. The only reason they weren't removed from their positions was because they were given their title during a tenshi's reign, before Daimyōs gained the dominance where they were practically separate dynasties. No Daimyō, no matter how powerful, had the right to remove their title and their land.
The Daimyōs of the Elemental Kingdoms were still united in name under the Heavenly Throne, and anyone who dared to undermine the symbolic authority would find themselves being united against. None dared to reach for the Throne again.
Tobirama sat in the sun with two scrolls across his lap, eyes downcast and hair reaching but to his shoulder, smoothing a hand across the old high-quality paper. He was comparing the different historical records of different feudal lords, scrolls he had asked the Elders to provide him with as an incentive for training. The fact that it was a reward went unsaid, of course, they would never stoop to a reward for good behaviour, that simply wasn't done. Tobirama was giving it his all "because of respect and fear for the Elders", and nothing else. (This was an insult, a backhanded reward, praising Tobirama for his obedience when it was all too clear he was a free soul.)
He closed his eyes.
(They better pray they die of natural causes before Hashirama is Clan Head.)
The Fire Daimyō Court alone was more powerful than the Emperor, wasn't that interesting? Tobirama certainly thought so, tracing a finger over the name of the nobles of the Hi no kuni.
And here are the Uchiha. Tobirama's hand came to brush against the calligraphy .
The ink warped the paper over time, imprinting the shadows of a steady brush onto the words, traceable by hand. Tobirama noted how early on — compared to the other Noble Shinobi Clans — the Uchiha was scribed. Tobirama thought that perhaps the Elders might have removed that name, or at least placed it behind the Senju.
(Pride did things to people.)
Or maybe the Uchiha feud hadn't devolved into a mindless thing when the scroll was scribed. Tobirama found no one willing to tell the history, nor anyone that remembered why the feud started, but perhaps the Uchiha were reluctantly respected as worthy opponents back then.
(His mind inevitably conjured up the romantic, if violent, concept of honorary rivalry, the willingness to protect the vulnerable, the choice to turn away from the children, the choice to choose a rival of your own, and the glorious battle. Tobirama pictured the artificiality of a healthy rivalry, and knew that it was probably more his own fantasy than reality.)
If the scribes of then were unwilling to sacrifice integrity for hatred, then no future generation would dare change the scroll, as to adhere to the Clan Laws that prohibited change to anything stored in the Archives.
(To counteract this law, the Archives were only open to the Main Family and a branch that was forbidden to do anything but provide counsel. The branch were, ultimately, subservient to the Main Family in terms of hierarchy, if not in status. Convenient for changing facts of history the Senju didn't like.)
Tobirama saw himself perhaps marrying into that branch, if he didn't want to be Hashirama's aide. The other sons of his father would probably marry into that branch, if they did not seek opportunity in marrying one of the other shinobi clans. Or perhaps they would simply be shinobi.
He sighed, moving to take notes on a scrap of paper with a prototype pencil, noting down the Uchiha titles and the way to address each branch, sketching down the official crest and the main banners.
There were three main lines: Of the Sun, of the Moon, of the Storm. The allusion to the Three Divine Children was appreciated, and Tobirama wondered if there were any customs one should adhere to when in presence of them. He was not permitted to read those scrolls (if they existed at all), but Tobirama wanted to know.
It was only basic decency.
Tobirama, as the second legal son of the Senju, would not be presented to the Tenshi, whose territory was but only a small extravagant section of the Capital. He would, however, be presented to the Fire Daimyō, as the legal son of a legal wife.
The Uchiha, as a Noble Clan of higher status, would send someone to scout him out, and build his portfolio, something to be sent to the Uchiha's Ruling Family, especially to the children that would, perhaps, encounter him in conflict.
"The Uchiha?" Senju Tadahake, 7 years old, a son of a former Neutral Scribe. He was his temporary tutor/study buddy, like a human dictionary, or a fact checker. Convenient, and his father requested him as Tobirama's tutor for his pending presentation before the Fire Court. He was a sly one, and one could see the beginnings of the handsome face that charmed him to most. He was a noble, if not quite a proper one, but his popularity was more to his charisma than his bloodline.
Tadahake was a grandson of one of the previous Fire Daimyō's illegitimate daughters, a Lady of the Court. She had a daughter, whose father was not named and didn't need to be named, as he was not as important as a Lady. Said daughter and her husband were still active at the Capital Court, and Tadahake travelled back to the Senju Clan to tutor him on the ways of the Court on request of the Senju Clan Head. (With the company of his guards and a few personal servants, of course.) His parents were the classic Shinobi and Lady Fairytale, once renown across the land as a success. It raised the Senju's reputation slightly from illiterate barbarians to lowly peasants, still barely human. It wasn't much, but it did help the Senju get through the winter that year. That was why Tobirama's father needed to request — and not order — Tadahake to tutor Tobirama.
There was, of course, a favour granted in return, but Tobirama was too young to know of such things, at four years of age.
Tadahake shifted over, carefully lifting the scroll to examine the section Tobirama was reading. His luxurious long black hair, uncommon among the Senju, was tied back into a high ponytail that Tobirama eyed in slight envy. It reached the floor, if just barely.
"The Uchiha?" Tadahake repeated, tearing his mint green eyes away from the scroll to look at the younger child. Said younger child nodded, carefully lifting the scroll from his lap to scoot away, setting it down onto the floor carefully.
"The Uchiha." Tobirama took a sheet of higher quality paper to finalise his notes, "I suspect I would 'chance' an encounter with them at the Capital."
"And it wouldn't do for you to seem ignorant." Tadahake agreed, seemingly talking to a peer instead of a toddler who still had a tiny lisp when he spoke, "Make casual eye contact with a peer, but avoid it with those above your station. They respect power, of course, and blood." Tadahake began to roll the scroll back after slipping a bookmark to where Tobirama stopped.
"Like we don't?" Tobirama raised an eyebrow, inking down his notes with a brush and unable to look away, "All the Shinobi Clans respect these things."
"The Senju respect status over power and blood both," Tadahake corrected, speaking careless words around the Second Son, "The Senju Elders hold much over the powerful Senju shinobi. The Senju respect order and propriety above all. They kill with mere rumors." He referred to the Senju as "they" instead of "we", indicating no sense of belonging to the Clan of his father. He wouldn't dare speak like this to anyone else of the Senju, but Tobirama and him established a rapport early on when it was clear they were both "geniuses beyond their years", and it was apparent that Tadahake found some kinship with the Second Son.
(Perhaps it was some sort of connection between peers.)
Tadahake was not a proper son of a proper princess. He was the son of an illegitimate daughter of an illegitimate daughter, despite his relation to the Daimyō, he was not respected by the Clan, as he was both young and improper. He was not a Senju in the ways that mattered, and his father was a borderline outcast before his marriage's great success in the court. Both Tobirama and Tadahake ridiculed the Senju for their two-faced behaviour secretly.
"Like my mother." Tobirama nodded, gathering his notes as he stood, moving to place them to dry in the shade. Tadahake helped him bookmark his scrolls, "||Did I tell you about it yet?||"
Tadahake rapped his knuckles against the invisible wall in the air, "||Well, bro? Spill le tea.||"
Tobirama couldn't help but laugh, eyes squinting and curling up as he tried his best to maintain his balance while laughing his ass off.
He sat down next to Tadahake, "||So you know Hashirama's mother is a man.||"
"||No shit,||" Tadahake set the two scrolls asides, reaching out for the newer scroll he brought to educate Tobirama on court etiquette, "||Everyone fucking knows.||"
And everyone worth their salt did. It was a huge scandal. The Hyuuga were uppity about it for weeks, the Kaguya threw a feast in celebration, and the Uchiha were smug about it for months.
"||My old man's heterophobic,||" Tobirama leant back on a hand, legs splaying out carelessly, "||Hated my mother because she was a transphobic and homophobic bitch. Honestly I don't blame him, but like, he used my albinism to accuse my mother of infidelity and executed her after she tried to kill me with tetanus.||"
Tadahake blinked, head snapping over to look at Tobirama, "||Bitch what.||"
Tobirama nodded, "||Yeah, also Butsuma has some complex over his dead husband like slay, but honestly lowkey toxic for us.||" Tobirama spread out the newer scroll across their laps, multitasking like he was 16 and a gossiping drama queen again.
"||Bitch no.||" Tadahake gasped, "||It's giving—||"
"||Guilt complex too.||" Tobirama nodded solemnly, "||Over the girl he framed and executed. Man's not just gay and traumatised, he the wholeass circus.||"
"||It's giving, like—||" Tadahake flicked his wrist in the signature fruity hand flip, "||I could smell his issues three yards across the meeting hall.||"
"||Crippling fear of parenthood and commitment.||" Tobirama agreed, "||If I don't get a present on Mother's Day I swear to fucking god—||"
"..." Tadahake shrugged, "||That's rough, buddy.||"
"||...I hope we live in a major crossover fanfic.||" Tobirama said in lieu of a response, "||So I can tell Zuko you delivered his line horribly.||"
"||I hope you get over your fear of affection from people you care about.||" Tadahake took his fan out from his sleeve, snapping it open to fan delicately against his face, "||I see you, Tobirama, you ain't slick.||"
"||I'm not a tsundere!||" He lifted his head up from his new scroll to snap a horrified reply to Tadahake's accusation, "||Take that back.||"
Tadahake lifted his face from behind the fan, which was hand-carved and hand-painted, "||I never said anything about a tsundere.||" His pretty face, still cute and round with baby fat, was impossibly smug.
"||Shut up and help me read.||" Tobirama demanded.
"Hai, hai." Tadahake shut his fan with a slight smirk, "There is a long way for you to go, ||my little padawan||."
"You are literally 7." Tobirama gave Tadahake a baleful look.
"Still older that you, ||pipsqueak||. Now, when you see the bird motif, they're probably—"
"No, ||fuck you||, stop tensing your cheeks." Tadahake smacked Tobirama's arm lightly with his fan, "Start over."
Tobirama massaged his sore face with his hands, "||Aren't they supposed to like, forgive children for their mistakes?||"
"Not for you they won't." Tadahake shook his head, spreading his fan open with a light hand, "They'll tolerate you for this year at most. Unless you ||absolutely grind their dismissal into the ground with your performance||, you'll be forgotten."
Tobirama groaned into his hands, taking a moment to scream in indignation into the void. Tadahake showed him no sympathy.
"Look, I'll give it to you straight," Tadahake peered over from the top of his fan with a practiced apathy, every angle designed to make it look lofty instead of an uppity asshole, "||You're scum unworthy of being below their foot, got it? That's what you are in their eyes, so you have to make them look past their dismissal|| if you want any influence in the Courts."
"||Great.||" Tobirama pulled his head out of his hands, wiping away his frustration, "Got it."
He pulled on his derision for the nobles, letting it tug at his eyes until they narrowed tastefully into a haughtiness layered underneath humility and flawless smiles, "Is this better?"
Tadahake frowned, if a little lighter than before, "No, don't imitate me." He looked Tobirama up and down, "Everyone knows me by now, and even though the opposites theme is cute, you won't appreciate it."
"Go for the '||innocently admiring your status that I'll never reach||'?" Tobirama smiled faintly, eyes widened as he looked up in curious (if feigned) adoration.
"No, dial back on the ||I want to kiss your ass|| and go for the ||apathy||." Tadahake lowered his fan and snapped it shut, "Draw interest without sacrificing your dignity."
Tobirama took a deep breath, "Alright." He looked up and tilted his head back slowly, letting his exotic eyes draw interest with their contrasting calmness, "Is this better?"
"Smile." Tadahake demanded, "Almost there, I think."
Tobirama let a small timid smile play on his lips, "This?"
"...no, dial back a little. More ||uppity mommy's boy||."
Tobirama smiled politely.
"Good." Tadahake nodded, "If that doesn't get you a private meeting with someone, I'll ||shit myself doing a handstand||. Expect questions about your mother from other children when alone. Behave like you're ||heartless||, and someone will get intrigued enough to invite you back. They like the challenge. 'Good company' isn't quite enough for you."
"No fucking bandages." Tadahake tilted his head back haughtily, yet Tobirama knew that no one would find it offensive because Tadahake was meant to be proud and arrogant, just like shinobi were born to die, "I've heard more comments about a shinobi's "exotic wrappings" than you've eaten grains of rice."
"No bandages." Tobirama agreed, silently wondering how the fuck Tadahake could make swearing so elegant.
"Go for exotic and respectful." Tadahake fanned himself absently, going over the options in his head, "Bold colours. Play on your ||albinism||."
"Not too bold," Tobirama turned to examine the cloth samples with sharp eyes, "That one?"
"Go all ||searing their eyes|| in." Tadahake's other hand straightened the tassel hanging off his fan, "Sharper."
Tobirama found the attendee, asking quietly for a showing of more vibrant fabrics. The attendee nodded, leaving the two with a simpering "Just a moment, young masters". The other staff of the clothing store quickly removed the current selection from their line of sight.
The next display of fabric was arranged pleasantly to display each colour in their fullness, and despite the high saturation, it did not grate against the eyes. Tadahake immediate zeroed in on that one vermilion bundle, pointing at it with his now closed fan.
"That one. Put it against his skin." The attendee did so, layering it over Tobirama's hand. The contrast served to lighten his complexion, resembling the complexion of Caucasians in a life long gone.
"That one, then?" Tobirama nodded up at Tadahake, who had the store pack up the bundle to be delivered to his mother's weavers, "Good, now for your ornaments."
Tadahake proceeded to take Tobirama on a week long shopping trip.
Tadahake clapped soundlessly, "Red is ||totally your color, don't let Kishimoto fool you into wearing blue-grey bullshit.||"
Tobirama, freshly showered and draped in the robes Tadahake commissioned, lifted his hands to perform a mock-salute, "||Fucking Japanese men and their fashion sense.||"
Tadahake fanned himself shallowly, "I suppose some could fashion you for a Yukion'na, if you play on your ||apathy||. Give them the performance they want and something to talk about."
Tobirama smiled, letting it fall short just below his eyes, "If that is what you want."
"Don't worry, little cousin," Tadahake's eyes curved up in the sly way foxes do, "Backhanded compliments are ||so the rage|| these days in court. You won't believe how many invitations you'll get to ||gossip|| if you keep this up."
"Oh, spare me." Tobirama murmured, eyes downcast, "This one shall endeavour to stay in their good graces."
The two spent perhaps a moment or two in the playful stalemate before breaking out in laughter.
"||You trust me?||" Tadahake whispered lowly, a dark twist of malicious intent suddenly rippling through his chakra. If Tobirama could not sense the uncertainty and underlying fear, he would have immediately jumped to the conclusion of betrayal.
Unfortunately, or fortunately for Tadahake, Tobirama was a natural sensor.
He told Tadahake as such.
"||I have not found one person able to shield their thoughts from me.||" He said with a placid smile and calmer eyes, looking up lifelessly, "||This is why I despise this world.||"
Tadahake let loose a terrible breath, "||Valid, I suppose.||"
They spoke no more on the subject, but the conditional trust between them expanded.
"Onii-san, look!" Tobirama slid open the shoji door to Hashirama's private study, styled for court and smiling a little guiltily at his older brother he may or may not have slightly neglected in favor of Tadahake. He dropped into a polite bow in both apology and appeasement, looking up afterwards.
Hashirama finished off his caligraphy with an affectionate sigh, turning to his younger brother with a wide smile, "Tobirama!" His warm greeting told Tobirama that all was forgiven. (Hashirama was still a little upset, so he didn't stop Tobirama from completing his greeting bow. They needed no words of apology.) Tobirama closed the door behind him, walking at a face pace to reach Hashirama quickly (and so his robes could flutter behind him like flames dancing in the wind).
Tobirama giggled, lifting a sleeved hand to cover his mouth in imitation of Tadahake, "Onii-san, look!" He gave Hashirama a little spin, giving a delighted little laugh that melted Hashirama's sullen feelings away.
(Tobirama looked young for the first time in his life.)
Hashirama set his brush down to catch Tobirama's hands gently, "You look amazing, Tobirama." Hashirama smiled warmly, looking his younger brother up and down, "Red looks so well on you!" Tobirama swatted playfully at his older brother's loose grip, giving him a big hug on the waist once Hashirama relented with a quick huff.
"And silver." Tobirama pointed out the snowflake motif on his robes, "Do you think that I should choose darker silver for my hair?"
Hashirama frowned thoughtfully, "No, I think it's great already, and it matches your embroidery." He patted Tobirama's hair carefully.
Tobirama gave Hashirama a warm, if small, smile.
They spoke long and deep, that night, the last they shared their room.
(Tobirama could not share a room with his brother after his court debut.)
And he would depart for the capital the next day.
The court was surely a pit of vipers, but perhaps Tobirama found a little amusement in the drama and power struggles constantly occuring. His sensing gave him more tea than anyone ever could, a witness to the various attempted infiltrations of the Shinobi Clans, the Temples, the Onmyōji, and the Sages. (Apparently everyone wanted a glimpse at the next generation of Shinobi.) Tobirama could sense the efficiency of the eliminations inside the Daimyō's palace complex.
(A testament to the capability of Fire Priests.)
His presentation to the Daimyō would be during the New Year's week of feasts, on the eighth day, where all Noble Shinobi of the Land presented their important children to be debuted in court. The Shinobi's Eighth was held once every 5 years, as it circled between the various chakra users in a cycle broken only by the fortune told by the Fire Priests. As fortunes go, if the Daimyō wills it, he could bar any of the chakra users from being the guest to the New Year's Eight, but as the Daimyō respected the 5 year cycle, it was not a major concern.
The Capital was a place of equal amounts luxury and poverty, people from all over the nation are drawn to the place, resulting in the mix-match seen in the streets. The custom was that all shinobi were to abandon disguise and attend the Eighth Day Banquet with full glamour and shit. That meant Tobirama would lose the opportunity to explore the city, and he would just have to take Tadahake for his word regarding his territory.
"||Honestly, you stick to the shinobi, and I stick to the nobles.||" Tadahake hid his lower face behind his fan, walking in front of Tobirama as they approached the rooms the Senju Party would be staying in, "||We have someone in the fabric and fashion territory, she offers to take commissions. We also might have someone in Sand and Thunder, but Earth is looking a little too rocky to tell if there's one of us there.||"
"||And Water?||" Tobirama picked up on Tadahake's attempt at playful deceit (and the pun) easily, "||The Seamstress is there, right?||"
"||Clever,||" Tadahake said with a smile, "||Correct. She's currently thriving in the Water Court.||"
Tobirama came to a conclusion, "||A legitimate princess?||"
"||Correct again.||" Tadahake slipped his shoes off, stepping into the rooms, "||You're catching on quick.||"
"||Sand and Thunder... Let me guess, they're wary towards you?||" Tobirama followed suit, "||Smart.||"
Tadahake laughed soundlessly, "||You flatter me. But yes, a teacher and a doctor in Sand. One of them is a shinobi and the other is a noble, but neither of them will tell me who is who.||"
They sat near the fire-pit, servants fluttering everywhere to clean the place out. One brought them tea leaves and Tobirama watched Tadahake exhale flames onto the timber placed down neatly in the sand by Tadahake's personal servant, boiling water (Tobirama summoned it) for the tea.
"||Another one in Water is an author.||" Tadahake fanned the flames symbolically, because chakra flames were honestly bullshit and broke the laws of physics, "||She's a Kekkei Genkai user, and a close guard of the Seamstress. She chose the title "Bard of Whispers" in respect towards her last DnD campaign and she's a hardcore fan. Honestly can relate, but like, the Fox sounds better.||"
"||She'll regret that title later in her life, but also she sounds badass.||" Tobirama got a little excited, "||Wait, shit, what's mine?||"
Tadahake snickered gracelessly at that, giving Tobirama a sense of dread, "...Tadahake...||What codename did you give me?||"
"||The Racist||— oof!"
Tobirama punched Tadahake's side sharply to show his displeasure, but Tadahake was triggered into a laughing fit instead.
Tadahake wiped the tears from his eyes, "||Nah, we didn't do you like that. It's|| 'Byakko'." Tadahake raised his hands in surrender anyways, "Fine, fine, I'm sorry, I'm sorry please don't hit me I'mtoofragileforthis—"
As a legitimate son of a Noble Clan, Tobirama would be presented to the Daimyō first, as there was no children in the clans above him to debut that year, but he would stay until all the Clans have presented their legitimate children.
As a shirako, Tobirama was only allowed to present himself before the Daimyō because fortune of the new year belonged to the colors red and white, telling of prosperity and stability. Now that these two colors were seen as the lucky color of the year, Tobirama was invited to present himself to bring good luck because of his albinisim. If it was any other year, he would have been forbidden to attend entirely.
Because of the apparent "favor" of the Daimyō, who had said nothing but an errant "Invite the shirako of the Senju for good fortune", Tadahake's mother gained a slight swell in popularity, and therefore Tadahake was to present him to the Daimyō in thanks. The act was gratitude to both Tobirama and his father, as Tadahake's introduction boosted both Tobirama's and his Clan's standing before the Daimyō.
As long as Tobirama didn't present himself to the Tenshi formally as Hashirama did, Tobirama was honestly free to go as wild as he wanted.
The Senju cousins were in a side hall, awaiting the summons of the Daimyō.
His eye-catching robes and exotic appearance drew eyes, but once the children found no fault in his peculiarities, they defaulted to envy and admiration both. It was honestly amusing, but Tadahake's sharp quiet commentary made it better.
"||Look at you, holding the Daimyō's favor.||" Tadahake mouthed, "||They've got themselves all jealous because a middle aged man mentioned a child.||"
"||He calls you|| 'nephew', Tadahake." Tobirama whispered beneath his sleeve, "||You're one to talk.||"
"The Hyuuga's third daughter is totally planning your public humiliation." Tadahake skimmed over the topic smoothly, "She's mad you ||stole her thunder|| and did it better than she ever could." He eyes the Hyuuga carelessly, watching her purse her lips tightly.
Not even a violent death at the hands of an assassin. Lame.
"...you're saying that like she'll ||ever get any thunder|| as a third daughter." Tobirama said with a harmless smile, "Adorable but honestly ||lowkey sad||." The Hyuuga took a deep breath, and the Clan representatives antagonistic towards the dōjutsu clan began to subtly listen into their conversation with hidden amusement, unveiled because of Tobirama's sensing ability.
The change in chakra alerted Tobirama to their shift of attention, igniting a little bit of mischief in his placid eyes.
"Her father's looking to marry her to the Daimyō's youngest son." Tadahake smiled benignly under his fan at the Hyuuga in question, "That's why she's in sky blue, ||which is totally not her color. Her mother would never have allowed it if she was alive.||" True to that, while it did not take away her beauty, it did wash her eyes out and made her a little yellow tinted. The girl started glaring at them in earnest, but the Hyuuga Court representative was more appreciative towards their words, and held her back. Tobirama honestly pitied the girl now. What did she do to deserve this nauseating mixture of distain, jealousy, hatred, pity and scorn from the adult accompanying her to her Court Presentation—
Was that a branch member as an escort? That Hyuuga girl was a Main Branch, right??
Tobirama hissed, "Did you really need to ||do her like that||?"
"If this year's colors were black and white, she would have been the ||centre of the show||," Tadahake skipped the topic entirely, "She's mad because in her eyes, she's already the future ||queen||."
Tobirama blinked, "But it's the youngest ||prince||. His mother is a ||concubine||, what is the girl thinking?" The whispers in the hall swelled slightly at his severe tone, forcing the Hyuuga's third daughter and the Senju's shirako in the spotlight. The adults in the room refused to show obvious interest, but saying shit out loud inside a waiting hall full of shinobi honour bound to refrain from outright attack was just the same as using a microphone to air dirty laundry.
The 'code' the Senju were speaking was an obvious power play, especially towards the Hyuuga daughter. The conversation was obviously degrading, but also without fault. No one could prove they were badmouthing the Hyuuga girl. The Hyuuga may be a noble clan, but their ways have disheartened them to many as well. Let's not say the Uchiha and their longstanding pissing contest of "who has the prettier eyes", let's talk the Aburame, who have been slighted multiple times in missions where the Hyuuga "just so happened to pass by" when one of the Aburame Shinobi was about to strike a mission deal with a noble client.
The Hyuuga just so happened to have beef with the Senju as well, on the topic of "Who came from the Sage of Six Paths" and "My bloodline is better than yours". Notice how the Hyuuga wouln't say shit about bloodline superiority with the Uchiha, who was the current highest ranking Noble Shinobi Clan?
Look, you endear yourself to the uppity sort of nobles, you get unpopular. God knows that the only things saving the Hyuuga Clan from complete isolation was their money, their noble connections, their high turnout rate in terms of Kekkei Genkai, and their — admittedly — high quality shinobi.
"||The youngest son of the Daimyō has an advantage because the Daimyō is only in his thirties, and by the time the Daimyō kicks the bucket the youngest son will be the youngest. And a young ruler in contrast to the eldest son who is only 17 years younger than his father? What she doesn't realise is that by that time, there would have definitely been younger sons born, and those sons would be the ones with the biggest advantage.||" Tadahake "tsk"ed quietly despite his smiling eyes, "You can imagine how awful the life of a third daughter is. She's ||compensating|| for the fact she'll never amount to anything through her blood the way everyone around her does."
Small but audible gasps (these were the people approving of the Hyuuga Slander, because shinobi were trained to remain silent even taken by surprise) all across the room at the open insult, but Tadahake smiled flawlessly at the fuming Hyuuga girl, because he said everything under his breath and in code, the Hyuuga couldn't do anything but whisper back if she didn't want the accusation of escalating the situation. However, she didn't have a cooperative companion, who ignored her attempts of whispering insults, probably in an attempt to humiliate the girl belonging to the Main House.
Tobirama dropped his sleeved hand slightly to direct a smile towards an Aburame representative who was looking a little tense under their veil (probably first time), "||You don't like her?||" His eyes were placid and cold despite his show of friendliness, earning him a small nod in return.
(Shinobi respected apathy.)
"||I don't.||" Tadahake admitted to it quietly, "||Her superiority-inferiority complex pisses me off. I don't know why she thinks she's above everyone else. You know better than anyone else how awful her training is going, right?||" The girl reddened up, ducking her head presumably in tears. Tobirama did know, because the girl's chakra seemed more civilian than shinobi. A disgrace, in all honesty.
"||Don't you think we're going a little too far?||" Tobirama noted the Hyuuga girl relaxing somewhat from his words, "||Shit, do you think...?||" The girl snapped up to glare at them in obvious hostility.
Too obvious.
"...you might be right." Tadahake frowned, "I hate her even more now. ||Poor her too. Literally any other clan would have been better for a thirdborn.||" The girl clenched her fists, "||Don't like that, missy?||" Tadahake's hostility went far beyond the usual smack talk between clans into deep personal territory decades ago, but the discovery of the Hyuuga's identity — or maybe it wasn't a discovery? Tadahake was far more dangerous than Tobirama could know — it made Tobirama far more willing to get hostile as well.
Before the Hyuuga could respond in English, however, Tadahashi smiled in that sly way foxes did, "||Before you open your mouth, Hyuuga, you don't want to be accused of treason for speaking Senju code, do you?||"
The girl swallowed her anger again. Tobirama honestly felt a little bad for her, but again, she was an uncontrolled variable that Tobirama was very interested in ending. She did not spark interest or respect, so unfortunately for her, like the few unsavoury transmigrators that Tadahake encountered throughout his life, she would be barred from the Courts, if not killed.
Tobirama honestly didn't care that much. If her goals in a world with magic was to marry rich, they had nothing to say.
She was a hidden liability, and nothing more. Tobirama would not waste time with her, and neither would Tadahake.
The two hid their hypocrisy underneath the facade of cruelty, embarrassing her for no more offence than the offence she caused by being her.
The Daimyō was a man that was not born to rule. He earned his right to rule, by tearing a bloody path.
Tobirama could see it still, the boy that had raised his sword to the heavens after he beheaded his father and imprisoning his elder brother. He could see it in the steel in his eyes, hidden behind the illusions of a hearty and generous ruler. He could sense it, in his chakra that screamed his superficialities.
Tadahake had bowed his greeting and announced his arrival.
Tobirama did his entrance, and he gave the gathered nobles a cursory and uninterested sweep of his exotic eyes, folding neatly into a grovel the next second.
There was no satisfaction caused by his submission.
Those that took pleasure in submission from shinobi because of the role reversal between "strong" and "weak" could find no true submission in him. Those that built identity around the respect they were given took no satisfaction from his insincerity. Those that saw no worth in shinobi were incensed by his impudent attitude. Those that found power in the submission could not get it.
The interest of the court was piqued.
The Daimyō was superficially impressed by his manoeuvre. Tobirama could see the understand rippling through him, and the inherent disregard and dismissal.
No matter.
But what drew Tobirama's attention was the teen sitting just under the Daimyō, to his left. The *shame and jealousy* tainted him, and he hid it behind his fan in ill grace.
Shame, because of his jealousy and his inaction. Jealousy, because he could not feign his submission to, presumably, the Daimyō.
Tobirama made an educated guess.
Tadahake took the empty seat left for him near the Daimyō, which was far nearer than Tobirama's seat. He engaged the Daimyō in conversation with ease, which the Daimyō liked a lot more sincerely than his superficial feelings towards Tobirama.
The Daimyō smiled and gave Tobirama the grace to rise, giving him the closest empty seat not occupied by his court. It was right next to a noble that probably build his identity around the authority nobility offered him. As such, the man was offended by his insincere grovel.
But this was the court, so they offered their grievances in a subtler cunning way.
Backhanded compliments and logical traps.
"Oh, your fair skin is so *exotic*, your mother must feel so proud to have a son like you." An insulting reference to his dead mother, to which Tobirama shut down any similar discussion neatly with, "My dearest mother has been dead for a long while, so I can't confirm your *kind* compliment, but I will pass it onto her during my prayers." The various numbers of faux pas committed by the nobles offended by his attitude found no anger nor offence from Tobirama, who faced everything with a placid smile and dead eyes.
Sometimes, he didn't even need to speak.
"Your eyes are so *red*, I wonder who you got it from?" Accusation of being a bastard/product of infidelity, to which Tobirama just directed the noble with a wordless stare and a polite smile. The silence swept through the court in anticipation of his response, further pressuring the noble in question.
His political enemies did the job for him, humiliating the man with a similar backhanded compliment.
By the end of it, Tobirama had 8 invitations given to him by nobles that wanted to coerce him into submission by public humiliation or private threats. Tobirama accepted with nary a show of fear, eliciting respect in those that were smart enough to understand that Tobirama understood the threats. Like the Daimyō, and the teen.
And then, the next shinobi children were presented to the Daimyō. Tobirama retreated from the spotlight as Tadahake started to target the Hyuuga girl in excess, aiming at her glaring weakness of not having her formative years in this world. Her failure to keep up with the various references thrown at her and Tadahake's insistence of pointing out her mistakes in excruciating detail ruined her from ever entering court again. The Daimyō feigned pity and asked Tadahake why he was targeting the Hyuuga in a way phrased as if protecting the girl.
Tadahake gave his explanation:
"I hear she wants to marry your youngest son, Daimyō-sama. I am simply testing her, and she has demonstrated her inadequate breeding." Exactly where it hurt. The Daimyō removed the Hyuuga girl from the court when she burst into tears. She would likely never be seen again without a brand of the Caged Bird.
Tobirama made eye contact with the teen radiating pity and self-hatred, eyes quiet and still.
*Hello, tenshi-sama.* Tobirama smiled, a pretty, polite thing that did not reach his eyes, and watched the horror sweep through his jealousy.