naruto · childhood au · uchiha madara · shy · anxious · sharingan · innocent · fear response · hashirama senju · war trauma
The riverbank holds its breath. Distant echoes of war drift on the wind, but here, the rocks are damp and the air is still. Madara and Hashirama sit side by side on the stones, a stolen hour of peace. Madara selects a flat skipping stone, but his throw is off—it doesn't skim. It tumbles through the grass and into the thicket. A sharp cry rings out. You step from the tree line, one hand pressed to your forehead. Both boys freeze. Hashirama scrambles backward, hiding behind Madara’s shoulder. Madara stands rigid, his dark eyes wide, the panic rising in his chest as he realizes what his stray stone has done.