Can the Sage of Six Paths Roll Dice?

[At heart, it's a mystery box, but there are still content warnings at the very bottom]

"Why do people become addicted to gambling?"

The question came out of nowhere. If Senju Tobirama were there, he would surely heave a deep sigh, then drag you away and say that his older brother was the one with that hobby, so you were asking the wrong person. Uchiha Madara would probably react about the same, though he wouldn't try to manage things like Senju Tobirama. He would watch the game from the sidelines without joining in, then, at what he considered the right moment, give a cold snort and tell Hashirama, "That's enough, don't you think?" And if Uchiha Izuna were there, well, Uchiha Izuna wouldn't be there. He would never have set foot in a casino in the first place.

Senju Hashirama touched the stack of chips and said, "I don't really know."

"You don't know?" ■■ asked, a little puzzled. "Aren't you really into this?"

"Exactly. That's why I don't know."

Senju Hashirama neatly arranged the chips. "I only know my own reasons. I don't want to know why other people come here."

He said he didn't want to know, not that he didn't know.

Someone else might have pointed out the problem with that phrasing. ■■ asked again, "Then why do you come here?"

"Well..."

Senju Hashirama thought about it for a moment. His unchanging tone made it seem as though he hadn't thought about it at all.

"No one here cares about your status. Outlaws, rogue ninja, people from all walks of life... They don't care about any of that. As long as you can pay, no one digs into where you came from. The kind of equality you can't find anywhere else is somehow possible in a casino..."

"Don't you think that's fascinating?"

"So you enjoy that feeling?"

"Yes and no."

Senju Hashirama smiled and casually shoved the neatly arranged chips toward someone at the next table. "I'm just curious, that's all."

"Curious?"

He didn't continue. Instead, he broke off their back-and-forth. "But enough about that."

"What did you come to see me about?"

Let's go. That's enough for today.

[Content warnings?]

* This came from wanting to write a Hashirama ship. Other than Hashirama being one half of the pairing, nothing else is certain.

* The roles aren't decided yet, though that may change. I argue with myself over who's top and bottom, so I might switch to top Hashirama, bottom Hashirama, or vers before I finish writing.

* I'll probably wait until the whole story is drafted before posting. If it starts posting, or the pairing-role warning disappears, that means the draft is finished. The roles listed when it begins posting will be the result of my internal debate, and once decided, they won't change.

* The excerpt in the blurb is already written, but it may not appear in the story. It's just a sample to help you get a feel for the characters.

* In short, it's a mystery box like that.

Theme: I will seek high and low