Chapter 1

Jutsu/Magic: Jutsu

Normal Speech: "Yo."

Demon/Monster Speech: "Yo."

Thoughts: 'Yo'

Hashirama Senju looked up from the fallen body of his foe, Madara Uchiha. He let out a heavy breath as he sat down next to the body, with much effort. His body creaked and groaned with pain; the battle had gone on for several hours.

During the fight, the sneaky Madara had used every trick in his arsenal: from using his new Mangekyo Sharingan, to going as far as to summoning the Kyubi. Hashirama had effectively neutralized the latter threat by restraining it with his Hokage-Shiki Jijun Jutsu: Kakuan Nitten Suishu(Hokage-Style Sixty-Year-Old Technique: Enclosed Hermitage Entering Society With Bliss-Bringing Hands). After that, he used fuinjutsu (sealing techniques) to seal it inside the body of a woman named Mito Uzumaki. Dealing with Madara's summon alone had been extremely taxing to his chakra reserves.

Then there was the matter of his evolved Sharingan; the higher form of the classic Uchiha bloodline had proved to be difficult to combat. All throughout the fight, the former Uchiha clan head had fired off his dangerous Amaterasu technique; the insatiable black flames caused the destruction of many a Moku Bunshin (Wood Clone). Truly, it was a wonder how the newly-appointed Hokage had managed to win.

Then something began to stir. The Mokuton user quickly sprung up when he caught a flare of chakra. He hastily drew a kunai. 'Another enemy, and at this time?!' thought the Senju, sighing in exasperation. But there's no one here besides myself and… He cut his thoughts short when he pointed his kunai at the supposedly fallen Madara. His eyes widened when the body disappeared before his very eyes.

"Wh-where..?" he asked, hurriedly searching for his longtime rival. "It was a genjutsu? But when did he have the time..?"

"You seem to be slipping Hashirama-san," stated the deep voice of his foe. "Even a genin would have noticed the illusion. How far your people must have fallen indeed to choose a leader who cannot notice a simple ruse. How disappointing."

"You took advantage of my momentary panic when you sent out that chakra flare," Hashirama said; it was more of a statement than a question.

"It was more complex than that, Hokage-san," Madara stated, practically spitting out the title and honorific. "You have been fighting a reinforced shadow clone for most of our battle. Only the summoning and Sharingan jutsus were actually from me, done via a quick Kawarimi (substitution). A pity that you exhausted nearly all of your chakra, whilst I still have a respectable reserve left. This battle is over," said the fan-wielding Uchiha, his red Sharingan eyes blazing and dripping blood.

"Our battle will be over when it's over, and no sooner," countered the Senju, already forming the handseals for another jutsu. "Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Style: Water Whips)!" Using the nearby river as a source, he lashed out with his jutsu, sending tendrils of water racing towards the traitor. While his jutsu was not as strong as the Suiton employed by his brother, he was no slouch in the water department.

Madara easily dodged the whips by using some sort of time-space jutsu involving his eyes. He formed a seal of his own and shouted "Katon: Gokakyu No Jutsu (Fire Style: Grand Fireball Technique)," expelling a large fireball from his mouth. The new Hokage dodged the attack by using Shunshin (Body Flicker) before he was roasted to a crisp. He countered THAT attack by aiming a hard adamantine fist at the traitor's head which he dodged with ease.

It was then that Hashirama noticed that Madara was standing completely still, Sharingan eyes boring into the hard stone of the Valley of the End. He seemed to be concentrating intently on something. "You are getting senile, Uchiha. I am over here."

To his surprise, the red-eyed man merely smiled. "I am sorry to inform you that it is YOU who are losing focus. Your posturing has allowed me complete my technique! Behold the true power of the Mangekyo Sharingan! Kamui (Might of the Gods)!"

Hashirama's eyes widened when he noticed that the stone in his immediate vicinity was being sucked into what appeared to be a black hole. He tried to Shunshin out of the area, but Madara hit him with a swift chop to the back of his head, knocking him out. The last thing the Shodaime saw was the portal that seemed to grow even bigger…

Madara chuckled as he turned to leave. With the bothersome Senju gone, he could finally take his place at the helm of the newly-founded Konohagakure No Sato (Village Hidden in the Leaves). He walked away from the scene, confident that his rule over the fledgling village would be far better than that of the wood-using fool.

That's what would have happened had Hashirama not taken precautions. At that time, his trap was automatically sprung. A Moku Bunshin emerged from one of the nearby trees and gripped the Uchiha tightly, then fused itself with one of the trees that was being sucked into the Kamui. Madara struggled to get free or, lacking that, at least dispel the portal.

Unfortunately for him, the Kamui was very chakra-consuming and left him exhausted. In addition, the wooden clone had him completely restrained; he could not even form the ram seal to dispel the black hole. "No! This was not supposed to happen! I was going to lead my clan to glory…"

He would have said more, but he had already been sucked into the portal. With no chakra source to maintain it, the Kamui dispelled itself as soon as its caster was gone. The only traces left of either combatant were the various trees and scorch marks left by their jutsus. Nearby, the waterfall continued to flow. It offered not a single word as to what transpired there…

(Konoha, One Hour Earlier)

Tobirama was worried. He knew that his brother had gone off to fight the rogue clan head. While he knew that Hashirama could take care of himself, he still felt some trepidation. After all, the (former) head of the Uchiha clan had not gotten his title merely because it was handed to him (he had, but he still had to be strong enough to maintain it).

He decided that he could not wait anymore. He quickly called several of his close friends and family. "My friends, it seems that my brother has taken it upon himself to deal with the rogue Madara. I wish to go out to search for him, and am looking for any volunteers to assist me." This statement was met by a chorus of cheers as everyone in the group agreed to help him.

The Suiton user smiled gratefully as he took in the number of people who agreed to help. He did a double take, however, when he spotted a certain woman in the crowd. This woman had the characteristic red hair of the Uzumaki clan; she was Uzumaki Mito, his brother's bride-to-be. "Mito-sama, what are you doing here? You know you must rest," he implored, knowing that she was now the Jinchuriki (Human Sacrifice) of the fearsome Nine-Tailed Fox demon.

"What do you think I am doing? I'm going to find my fiancé!" Stated the woman, her blue eyes alit with a surprising amount of fire.

"But Mito-sama, you just came from a battlefield! Even for an Uzumaki, surely you know of the dangers that could be lying in wait!" He was shocked at the force with which she had spoken. Only an hour ago she was practically bedridden, suffering through the intense pain of having her chakra coils rearrange themselves to conform to the powerful Biju's chakra.

"I know that Tobirama. I am not a genin; I can take care of myself! You of all people should know that I am a force to be reckoned with, even while injured. Now stand aside! I will find him with your help or without!" She roughly shoved him aside, catching the younger Senju by surprise and knocking him to the floor.

He rubbed his arm where the woman had pushed him; she had shoved him with such power that it actually left a bruise on his shoulder. A part of him was impressed at the sheer strength the Uzumaki possessed; the other part of him was simply annoyed at her stubbornness. He sighed in exasperation as his friend Makoto approached him.

Makoto wore a navy-blue battle kimono with a fishnet shirt and a pair of black biker shorts beneath it. On her feet were a pair of tabi and ordinary straw sandals; her Konoha hitai-ate was around her neck. Her heart-shaped face was framed by shoulder-length black hair. All in all, she was beautiful as well as deadly; an ideal kunoichi by anyone's standards. Tobirama knew better, however. She had been one of the main ones to oppose Madara's designs, and had a fiery temper to boot.

She held out her hand for the Senju to grab, which he did. When he got up, he noticed that she had her trademark Sharingan eyes active. "That woman is so stubborn. Not an hour ago she was laid up while trying to get used to the Kyubi screwing with her chakra coils. Now she wants to go look for your brother, knowing full well she's not ready yet! What's wrong with that bitch?"

Tobirama gave her a flat look. "How many times have I told you not to talk about Mito-sama that way?"

She merely shrugged in response. "I don't know, maybe twenty? Anyway, that's not the point! The bitch must have some sort of screw loose or something! You KNOW it's true! Are all Uzumaki that way?"

The Suiton user shook his head. "There is no way to get you to stop that language, is there? To answer your question, I do not know if they are; Mito-sama does not speak often about her time in Uzushiogakure (Village Hidden in the Whirlpools)."

Makoto let her shoulders droop; she had been hoping to learn more about the 'crazy bastards from the whirlpool village (her term)'. "We're getting off track. Let's organize the search party. It shouldn't take us that long to get to the Valley of the End, anyway. Maybe an hour."

Tobirama nodded his head. "Agreed. We should go as soon as possible." With that, the Senju sped off to his home to prepare.

Once he got to his estate, he hurriedly opened his door. He went into his room and opened the cherry wardrobe leaning against the western wall. He quickly put on his signature armor: a black full-body bodysuit, tabi and straw sandals, the blue samurai armor with the furry white tuft on the shoulders, and his helmet (if anyone can find a better way to describe it, please let me know).

He quickly left his house and made for the gates when he was stopped by a boy no older than seven or eight years old. The boy looked up and him and asked, "Sensei, where are you going?"

"I'm going to go look for my brother. He went off on some sort of errand and hasn't come back, so I'm going to lead a group of shinobi to go find him," the future Hokage replied. "We'll come back soon Hiruzen."

A look of worry crossed the boy's face. "Hokage-sama will be alright, won't he? He promised to show me an awesome Doton move."

Tobirama smiled at him reassuringly and ruffled his hair. "Of course. We'll bring him back safe and sound. Now run along. You and your friends have training to do, do you not?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen guiltily avoided his teacher's gaze. "Umm…yes?"

"Then get to it. Homura and Koharu must be waiting for you," the white-haired man stated, which prompted the boy to run off to join his future teammates. The Suiton user chuckled at the boy's antics. "That boy's going to be a great shinobi someday. I have to get to the gate now; Makoto-chan's probably organized everyone already." With that, he shunshined to the large gates.

(Konoha, Village Gates)

Makoto paced back and forth in front of the gates, an angry expression on her face. Walking next to her was an equally-irked Mito. Stationed nearby were the people who volunteered to search for the Hokage; they had nervous looks on their faces. The reason? They knew that both women were extremely volatile when angered.

Both of them practically exploded when Tobirama appeared in a swirl of leaves. "WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?!" they shouted at the same time, causing the volunteers to shrink back in fear.

The young Senju flinched at their tone. "I apologize, I was stopped by Hiruzen and I had to reassure him…" he stammered, hoping that would be enough to calm the women's brewing tempers.

"We already have everyone ready. We were just waiting for you. Honestly, if you were going to be THIS late we would've just left you behind. Well, come on. Let's get going," said Makoto; her tone had softened, but still had a dangerous edge in it that made him gulp nervously.

"H-hai…" he replied, gathering everyone around him. "Makoto-chan and I will head one party, and Mito-sama and Daisuke-san will lead the other. We are to search the entirety of the Valley of the End; that is where Mito-sama said they were last she saw. Let's go!"

With that, the two groups vanished in a swirl of leaves. The stony valley and waterfall were their destinations; they did not know what they would find, but they hoped that their Hokage would be there.

(Unknown Location)

Hashirama couldn't see anything. All that was in his field of vision was sand; it reminded him of the endless sands of Suna. He got up into a kneeling position somehow, and took in his new surroundings.

He seemed to be in some sort of desert; the hot winds and sand confirmed it. He briefly thought he was in the desert near the young Suna village, but that thought was dispelled when he noticed the strange vegetation. There were odd plants and cacti that he'd never seen before. A brief look at his surroundings confirmed his suspicions: whatever the jutsu was that Madara hit him with, it transported him to a new location somehow.

He slowly stood up and took a deep breath of hot air. This heat was intolerable; he was beginning to sweat buckets. Unfortunately, he possessed no other clothing; all he had on him was his kunai and shuriken pouches as well as some ration bars. He had to find some water soon; he had a fledgling village to lead, and he couldn't do that if he was dead from dehydration! He then spotted a small camp in the distance; hopefully there was someone there who could help him.

He gathered up what was left of his chakra and shunshined to the camp, making sure he reappeared in an out-of-the-way place so as not to frighten the local populace. With that finished, he leaned against the side of a small hut and promptly fell asleep from chakra exhaustion.

(Several Hours Later)

The Senju groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. He was currently suffering from a (admittedly mild) headache, not to mention his body was still slowed from using up all his chakra. A quick look around revealed a few things: one, he was no longer outside the hut, but appeared to be inside of it; two, someone had placed him on a bed that while small was very comfortable; last, he was not wearing his shinobi armor or, more importantly, his hitai-ate.

He shot up at speeds that would make a jonin break their neck, panicked. To him, it was not just a headband; it was proof of who he was and where he belonged. He tried to get up but his weakened body prevented him from doing much. Hashirama cursed as he had no choice but to lay back down.

At that time, a man chose to make himself known. He stepped quietly into the hut, a soft smile on his face when he noticed the tension on Hashirama's face. "Don't worry; I'm not here to hurt ya. I'm actually the one who carried ya in here."

The strange man seemed to relax a bit before speaking to him in a language he'd never heard before. The man raised an eyebrow at the look he was getting before stopping and speaking in his own language. "Where am I? Who are you?"

"The name's Darius, friend. I own this place. What's your name?"

"My name is…" he was about to answer when he remembered a little of what he learned when he had visited the lands to the west. If he remembered correctly, they put their surnames last as opposed to putting it first. If he really was in the west, it was better to follow their customs. "Hashirama Senju."

"Hello mister Senju. I'd like to welcome you to my camp located just outside the royal city of Rabanastre. You look like you've seen better days," the man said, handing the shinobi a canteen which he eagerly drank from. "If ya don't mind me asking, where are ya from? Ya don't look like you're from the royal city."

"I am actually from Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Do you know how to get there?" he asked, taking another grateful sip of the cool water.

"I can't say I've even heard of such a place. You look like those people from the Far East though. Maybe your village is there? I saw some of them in the city the last time I visited. When you've properly rested, I'll guide you there. I needed to pick up a few things anyway, is that a deal?" the man offered, holding out his hand.

The wood-using Hokage smiled and took it, shaking the man's hand with enthusiasm. "It's a deal. Now then, I have some questions for you…"

A/N: I was up to my neck in plot bunnies and this is the result. What do you guys think? Any responses and reviews would be appreciated, thanks. Unknownbyself, away! *uses a Gate Crystal*