Won over by food, a friendship set in motion

Beside an unremarkable river.

"Mmm, that smells amazing..." The boy with the bowl cut gripped a flat stone and hurled it. It skipped several times across the water before finally sinking. "Madara, can you smell that?"

"Is that... grilled fish?" The boy with spiky black hair folded his arms and sniffed the air carefully.

They were the young Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.

The two had met by the river as children. Keeping their surnames hidden from each other, they had become stone-skipping rivals and honed their skills together.

"Over here..." Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha followed the river upstream, rounded a wide bend, and found the source of the aroma.

A white-haired boy who looked slightly older than them sat beside the river. A fairly large campfire burned in front of him, with something cooking in a black iron pot above it and several medium-sized grilled fish propped up nearby.

The lingering aroma came from those fish.

"Hmm?" The white-haired boy was gnawing on a fish. Only after the two had watched him for quite a while did he notice his unexpected visitors.

"Hello?" Seeing how young they were, he waved at them amiably. "Want to join me?"

"Thanks! Did you make this? It smells amazing!" The guileless Hashirama Senju's eyes lit up at the invitation.

"Hey, be careful." Madara Uchiha was somewhat wary of this stranger and warned him quietly. But after looking the boy over and finding nothing amiss, he followed Hashirama Senju.

The white-haired boy was very welcoming. Without moving from his seat, he gestured for them to sit beside him.

"It's been ages since I've seen anyone my age. I'm Ichiro, Watanabe Ichiro. What should I call you two?" Watanabe Ichiro had created this persona using the twins card. He had named the older brother card Watanabe Ichiro, planning to sacrifice it later, and named the younger brother card Watanabe Ichiro.

"I'm Hashirama! Sen... uh, just call me Hashirama."

"Madara."

"Would you like to try my cooking? I'm pretty confident in my skills." Watanabe Ichiro picked up two grilled fish, wrapped them in leaves, and offered them over. Hashirama reached out and took his immediately.

Watanabe Ichiro's hair color and hairstyle reminded Hashirama Senju of his own younger brother, Tobirama Senju, giving him an inexplicable liking for the boy.

Besides, he knew quite a bit about medicines and was confident in his own constitution, so he was hardly on guard. He took the fish and bit right into it.

Madara Uchiha tugged at his sleeve to stop him, but failed. Speechless, he pressed a hand to his forehead.

Watanabe Ichiro noticed his distrust and spoke up to ease the situation.

"Don't you like fish, Madara? Would you like to try a specialty from my hometown-hot pot?"

He ladled some broth into a wooden bowl with a wooden spoon, blew on it, and drank it down. Then he filled another bowl with some of the ingredients from the pot and offered it to Madara Uchiha.

Madara Uchiha accepted it with an embarrassed word of thanks, holding the rim of the bowl and looking rather unsure what to do.

"Mmm, the grilled fish is delicious! Let me try the hot pot!" Hashirama Senju leaned over and snagged a slice of mushroom from Madara's bowl with his teeth. He nodded to show it was fine, and only then did Madara lower his guard and start taking small bites.

Madara was still so small at this age, and rather cute. There was no hint of the arrogant, dazzling figure he would become during the Fourth Shinobi World War. Watanabe Ichiro stroked his chin and watched their interaction with a smile, relieved that his attempt to approach them had gone so smoothly.

"I put mushrooms and rabbit meat in the hot pot. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any chilies, so the flavor's a little lacking. What do you think?"

"It tastes really good," Madara answered honestly, quickly finishing a bowl. Great Hua's cuisine completely outclassed the food of any other region, so Watanabe Ichiro was not at all surprised that it had won the two over.

Watanabe Ichiro set aside some food and shared out the rest. The three devoured it all, and the atmosphere grew much friendlier.

"Where are you from, Ichiro? Watanabe... I don't think there's a clan by that name around here?"

"We fled here from the north, and my younger brother and I are all that's left of the Watanabe clan, so it's no surprise you haven't heard of us, Madara. Oh, and my little brother is absolutely adorable. I can introduce him to you sometime." Watanabe Ichiro put out the fire, picked up the empty earthenware pot, and reached for the wooden stick beside him to support himself as he went to wash it.

Both boys' eyes fell on his missing right leg. Hashirama Senju still had a grilled fish between his teeth and could not free his hands in time, while Madara Uchiha immediately stepped forward and took the pot.

"Ah, sorry for the trouble, Madara."

"It's no trouble." Madara felt bad about his initial wariness and hostility toward Watanabe Ichiro. He washed the pot, turned it upside down to drain, and handed it back.

Then he took two rice balls from inside his clothes, looking a little embarrassed.

"By the way, have you had enough to eat, Ichiro? We ate so much of your food. I brought plum rice balls. They might not be as good as your hot pot, but they'll fill you up... They actually taste pretty good. My little brother made them, after all."

"Aww, I'm so jealous. My little brother is adorable too, but he's never cooked for me. Mmm, he's always calling me an idiot, too... Boohoo, now that I think about it, I have it so rough."

The three chatted for a while, agreed to meet again, and went their separate ways, thoroughly satisfied.

"Watanabe... hmm, that sounds a little familiar." Madara and Hashirama moved elsewhere to spar, climbed to a summit, and collapsed beside a rock face, panting.

"Huh? Never heard of them. A fallen noble family, maybe? He doesn't look like he has any chakra at all... Whew, I'm a little worried about him." Hashirama wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Shinobi clans have been fighting around here a lot lately. It's really dangerous for Ichiro."

"But doesn't it seem strange? An ordinary person who has trouble walking, staying in such a dangerous place for so long?"

"But where isn't dangerous for ordinary people? They never know whether they'll live to see tomorrow. Does it matter where they stay?"

Hashirama rolled over and picked up a leaf fluttering in the wind. "Besides, I don't think he means us any harm. The care he puts into cooking, the pride he shows when he talks about his little brother, the way he treats us so kindly... none of it seems fake."

He held the leaf high and squinted at it against the sunlight. "Someday, I want to build a village where I can keep my little brother safe, where ordinary people like Ichiro can live happily too."

Madara imagined it: Izuna and his brothers who had already died, all living happily together. He, Hashirama, and Ichiro would not have to fight or kill, or wander from place to place. They could eat and joke around together in peace. A smile rose to his face despite himself.

"...Sounds good."

The three carved the times they were free onto stones and agreed to leave them at a fixed spot beside the river. Using that method, they met a few more times. The three young boys quickly grew close enough to call one another brothers. Madara and Hashirama mainly respected each other's strength, while Watanabe Ichiro had earned their respect chiefly through his cooking.

Feeling that the time was about right, he brought out the younger brother card.

"Ahem, this is-my adorable little brother!"

"Hello, everyone. Thanks for looking after my big brother all this time!" The white-haired boy, who looked almost identical to Watanabe Ichiro, bowed reluctantly.

"But let me make one thing clear: I don't trust you at all! I'm here to keep an eye on you! My big brother trusts people too easily. With his personality, it's incredibly easy for people to trick him. If I don't watch him carefully, he could easily end up dead in some unknown corner. So don't think you can get chummy with me!"

Well, that personality really was...

Hashirama and Madara recalled Watanabe Ichiro's earlier advice: "Ichiro is an adorable kid, a little like Madara. He's very wary and a bit stubborn, but he's easy to get along with. Just stroke his ego and praise him a little."

"Oh, your little brother is so cool! What presence!" Hashirama clapped happily.

"He really is impressive," Madara Uchiha recited woodenly after Hashirama Senju elbowed him.

"I'm not... not really... You-you're pretty decent people. You can hang out with my big brother."

Watanabe Ichiro cheered wildly from behind him. "See? My little brother is so adorable!"

"I'm so jealous. My little brother never acts cute with me~~ How can little brothers be so different?" Hashirama Senju's eyes shone.

"My little brother is super clingy. Sigh, the moment I'm out of sight, he gets all teary-eyed and asks where I went..." Madara Uchiha began showing off.

"Waaah, I'm so jealous. Boohoo..."

They horsed around for a while, then settled down to nibble on grilled fish and chat about anything and everything. Notably, Hashirama Senju had brought Watanabe Ichiro a sturdy, durable crutch. Its material was unknown, but it suited his height perfectly and was very convenient to use.

Next time, I'll introduce my amazing little brother to them too, both Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha thought as they parted.