He’d expected Izuna to struggle or fight against his desperate attempt at drawing the resurrected Uchiha into his arms. Instead, he just sort of sagged unexpected into his arms and the albino ninja found himself pinned under the shorter man’s dead weight.
The armor Izuna currently hated protected him somewhat but Tobirama knew it was hardly an idea position for either of them to be in. The armor plating bit into his back painfully but it was slightly better than kneeling on that hard stone floor. Or perhaps it was the fact that—finally—Izuna was close enough to touch and grab onto. Tobirama’s arms closed around the Uchiha gently, those long-fingered hands falling into the familiar pattern of holding him close. One cupped the back of that dark head and threaded his fingers through those dark strands of hair and the other pressed against the small of his back.
“What reason would I have to trick you, Izuna?” Can’t you see how much I missed you?! Was what he wanted to demand but he kept that accusation to himself and buried his nose into that tangled mane of black hair. The texture of Izuna’s artificial flesh against his own was strange and a little unsettling. There was no warmth radiating from his slightly papery feeling skin and it just served to remind him all over again that this was just false life given to an inanimate form. No matter how far he’d come with his jutsu, he still couldn’t bring Izuna back.
Not with flesh and blood…not to restore him to true life.
The limitations of his jutsu were frustrating but as Izuna soon learned, it wasn’t without its advantages either. He felt the blow of his hand hitting his armored chest hard enough that it knocked the wind from his lungs.
He’d crafted the Edo Tensei with the utmost care so unlike Izuna, Tobirama was not surprised by the way that wounded hand seemed to knit back together seamlessly though he could understand why it might be shocking or even horrifying to someone who wasn’t expecting it.
Sure enough, the horror was plain to be seen in Izuna’s eyes and it hurt more than he’d been expecting to see it there in those eerily colored eyes. “The jutsu is designed to bring you back from your point of death. It’s not true life but merely a simulation of it.”
Tobirama knew he could have lied, could have tried to spin the truth to make it more palpable for Izuna but he opted instead of offer it wholly and unvarnished in hopes his former lover would see it for what it was. He moved the hand that had been cupping the back of the dark-haired man’s head slightly so he could cup his cheek and jaw tenderly and bring that eerie gaze back to meet his.
“You’re in a sort of stasis and any damage the body sustains will be absorbed automatically so that the jutsu can maintain the stasis. In a lot of ways you’re more powerful and invulnerable in this form than you ever were when you were alive.” He knew he shouldn’t be telling him this. It could give Izuna all manner of ideas but Tobirama had made a silent promise to himself that he would be forthright with the other man from here on out. No more lies, no more hiding. Just the truth no matter what it might cost him.
no subject
The armor Izuna currently hated protected him somewhat but Tobirama knew it was hardly an idea position for either of them to be in. The armor plating bit into his back painfully but it was slightly better than kneeling on that hard stone floor. Or perhaps it was the fact that—finally—Izuna was close enough to touch and grab onto. Tobirama’s arms closed around the Uchiha gently, those long-fingered hands falling into the familiar pattern of holding him close. One cupped the back of that dark head and threaded his fingers through those dark strands of hair and the other pressed against the small of his back.
“What reason would I have to trick you, Izuna?” Can’t you see how much I missed you?! Was what he wanted to demand but he kept that accusation to himself and buried his nose into that tangled mane of black hair. The texture of Izuna’s artificial flesh against his own was strange and a little unsettling. There was no warmth radiating from his slightly papery feeling skin and it just served to remind him all over again that this was just false life given to an inanimate form. No matter how far he’d come with his jutsu, he still couldn’t bring Izuna back.
Not with flesh and blood…not to restore him to true life.
The limitations of his jutsu were frustrating but as Izuna soon learned, it wasn’t without its advantages either. He felt the blow of his hand hitting his armored chest hard enough that it knocked the wind from his lungs.
He’d crafted the Edo Tensei with the utmost care so unlike Izuna, Tobirama was not surprised by the way that wounded hand seemed to knit back together seamlessly though he could understand why it might be shocking or even horrifying to someone who wasn’t expecting it.
Sure enough, the horror was plain to be seen in Izuna’s eyes and it hurt more than he’d been expecting to see it there in those eerily colored eyes. “The jutsu is designed to bring you back from your point of death. It’s not true life but merely a simulation of it.”
Tobirama knew he could have lied, could have tried to spin the truth to make it more palpable for Izuna but he opted instead of offer it wholly and unvarnished in hopes his former lover would see it for what it was. He moved the hand that had been cupping the back of the dark-haired man’s head slightly so he could cup his cheek and jaw tenderly and bring that eerie gaze back to meet his.
“You’re in a sort of stasis and any damage the body sustains will be absorbed automatically so that the jutsu can maintain the stasis. In a lot of ways you’re more powerful and invulnerable in this form than you ever were when you were alive.” He knew he shouldn’t be telling him this. It could give Izuna all manner of ideas but Tobirama had made a silent promise to himself that he would be forthright with the other man from here on out. No more lies, no more hiding. Just the truth no matter what it might cost him.