Chapter 1- The boy found in the woods

Deep in the times of the warring states period, the Uchiha clan was hired by a rising feudal lord to steal a scroll containing financial transactions from another rising rival. This man's goal was to gain knowledge of his rivals clients to either eliminate or convert his manpower and stock to his own control. The rival of this man was not ignorant of this plan, and he hired the Senju clan to prevent a loss of clients. The Senju clan sent a group of a dozen elite shinobi, Hashirama was the team leader of one half, while Tobirama lead the second.

As the two teams head to the interception point, Tobirama sensed a chakra signature nearby that didn't match a known shinobi clan.

Stopping the teams, he said to Hashirama, "There's a chakra signature near here that I don't recognize".

"Is it the only one you can sense?" Hashirama asked as he wonders whether or not it was a hired a mercenary shinobi to stall the Senju.

"Yes, but he's very young, seems to be a boy around five years old." Tobirama explained

"You think he's dangerous?"

"Very unlikely, although there's something strange about his chakra nature."

"What is it?"

"He seems to have three natures."

Hashirama wonders how to handle the situation, he decides he can either approach or avoid the boy.

"Do you think we should approach the boy?" he asks his brother.

"I don't see why, but we do have a mission and we've wasted enough time already."

Hashirama decides a boy with three natures is worth checking out, as the potential could be extremely useful.

"What are the three natures?" he asks Tobirama.

After a brief moment he responds, "Earth, fire, and water, with an equal balance between the three."

"Tobirama, I want you to take my squad to the interception zone."

"Alright, but you're going to catch up to us. Father won't be happy if we bring a threat back to the clan quarters."

"I might not be as bright as you, but even I know better than that. But on the other hand his potential could turn the tides."

"Alright, then I'll proceed with the mission."

Hashirama breaks off to investigate the child. He finds the boy by a stream eating a fish that appeared to be poorly cooked. The boy notices him and pulls out a battered kunai in defense.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to steal your fish. But I would like to ask how you cooked it." Hashirama attempts to calm the boy with a humorous approach.

The boy lowers his kunai but continues to stare for several seconds.

"I used my fire style ninjutsu." Answers the boy in a nonchalantly.

"Do you know any other ninjutsu?"

"I know a water ninjutsu in the water that makes fish close to the dirt come out of the water."

"I see, so then you get them with that kunai?"

"Yes, if I use my hand they might go back to the water."

"I see, but where are your parents?"

The boy pauses for a few minutes. "My mommy died when I was born." answers the boy.

"Where's your father?"

"My uncle told me he died doing something when I was a baby."

"And where's your uncle?"

"He told me to wait here until he came back. He gave me this." He gestures to the kunai. Hashirama looks over the boy's tattered clothes. He can tell that this boy has been alone for some time. It's obvious he was taught basic ninjutsu, but beyond simple swipes and stabs did it appear he knew basic combat.

"How long ago was this?" he asks the boy.

"A lot of days… this many." says the boy as he holds up all of his fingers with a sad expression. Hashirama could tell it was far more than ten days since this boy was abandoned. There was no reason to leave a boy in the woods alone. It was a miracle he survived this long without being killed by animals or other ninja.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to ask your name." the boy sits in silence looking at his kunai. Hashirama wonders if the boy even knows it. "I'm Hashirama Senju, have you heard of me?"

"No." the boy responds calmly.

"Ah, well what is your name?" Hashirama pauses wondering if this was the right question. "Do you know your name?"

"Mizuko..." answers the child. Off in the distance the sound of weapons clashing draws close to the stream where Hashirama and Mizuko sit.

"Come with me." says Hashirama as he hoists the boy onto his back piggy back style.

After a few short minutes Hashirama regroups with his brother whose armor is covered in splashes of blood. He notices there are only five men with Tobirama.

"Where are the others!?" asks Hashirama when he notices Tobirama with the scroll.

"They died in order to buy time for us to obtain the intel and escape." replies Tobirama with a stern voice. "They sent Izuna and a team of at least ten elite Uchiha in order to steal this scroll. If you were there the mission wouldn't have suffered so many casualties, especially at the hands of Izuna Uchiha."

Hashirama's face turns pained and dreaded. "I'm sorry I wasn't there.

But we need to help Mizuko find his uncle.

"Who the hell is Mizuko!? Is it this child!? Do you realize we lost half the men we left with!? We have far more important matters than helping find some bastard who leaves boys in the woods to die." Tobirama yells in a scolding tone.

"I refuse to leave a child so young to die in the woods. We will discuss this later."

"I wonder what Father will have to say about this." The other Senju move in silence the remainder of the journey back to the clan quarters.

When the Senju returned Tobirama returned to the clan leader Butsuma Senju. This man was also the father of both Hashirama and Tobirama.

"So the mission was successful." Butsuma stated calmly.

"Yes, but we lost half the team in the process." replies Tobirama.

"That is unfortunate, but there sacrifices aren't in vein as long as we stay ahead of the Uchiha. Although I understand Izuna Uchiha was team leader of the enemy forces. You two have always been evenly matched, but casualties could've been avoided with Hashirama's presence." states Butsuma.

Hashirama sat quietly with the weight of his decision. He sacrificed six elite shinobi for a five year old boy. He was surprised how quickly his father found out about Mizuko.

"So Hashirama, was this boy worth the loss of our Senju brothers?" Butsuma asks Hashirama.

"That's not what it was about, it was about leaving a boy in the woods to be killed." Hashirama replies with a harsh tone. "The loss of lives is always unfortunate, but the loss of youth is unbearable, children are those who decide the future of the shinobi world."

"I see." ended Butsuma.

"So what will become of the boy?" asked Tobirama

"That's Hashirama's decision." Butsuma bluntly states. "He's grown into a young man, it's time for him to learn to live with his decisions."

Hashirama pondered over this. He decided to visit Mizuko in the clan medical quarters. He walked through the doors and approached the head medical ninja. As he walked to her desk she smiled at him.

"Where's your brother?" she asks him.

"He's busy with developing a new technique. Where's the boy I brought in?"

"You mean the five year old, average height but tall for his age, dark brown hair, light brown eyes,"

"I'm familiar with his appearance, I'm the one who brought him in. What's his health condition?"

"He's underweight but not quite malnourished." the Doctor explains. "Would you like to see him now?"

"Yes if that's fine with you".

"He's in the second room right side."

"Thank you." Hashirama says as he heads to the room where Mizuko sat looking out the window. "How're you feeling?"

"The beds are soft and the food is warm. The nurses are nice… Do I have to go back to the water?" Mizuko asks with a frightened tone.

"You can stay here if you want. "

"Really!?" asks the boy with an excited expression.

"Yes, you can stay as long as you like." Hashirama smiles at the boy. "Actually I can bring you to your room if you want."

"Can we go now I really wanna see it."

"I'll be right back." Hashirama tells the boy as he leaves to go ask the nurse if Mizuko is ready to leave the medical quarters yet. He gets the confirmation and waits outside for Mizuko.

"Who am I going to live with?"

"You'll stay with my brother Tobirama for now."

"Oh. I want to stay with you Hashi." Mizuko states with disappointment.

"He'll make sure you're food is good and your bed is soft."

"But he doesn't look as nice as you Hashi, Tobi looks mean."

"Yeah he but he has a soft side. He can show you some really nice water style ninjutsu. He might be the best water style user in our clan." Hashirama tells Mizuko in a reassuring tone.

"Ok… but what's a clan?"

Hashirama thinks about this for several seconds.

"A clan is a group of people who are live together like a large family. Most of them become shinobi and learn ninjutsu to complete missions to earn money for their clan."

"What clan am I in?"

"That's up to you to decide."

The boy wipes his eyes after a pause. "I want to go to sleep."

"It is getting late, I'll take you to your new house."

Hashirama leads Mizuko to Tobirama's house. When they arrive Tobirama takes Mizuko to his room and shows him his bed.

"So I guess the boy is now my responsibility despite you bringing him here."

"Sorry about that. But you're the only one who can train his water style to its full potential."

"So how long am I going to play the role of his father?"

"As long as he needs you to be. He has no family or friends."

"Very well. But you will need to have a hand in his training as well. You are not going to just hand me this child completely."

"I intended to, but what do you think of his three natures?"

"I can train his water style, but the other two are beyond my abilities."

"Well we can focus on that later, training three natures at once is difficult even for the most elite."

"In any case it's time you head home too. Today's mission won't stop the Uchiha for long. We might have another mission by the end of this week."

Hashirama thought about what this new boy might bring to the world. He decided his work would be cut out for him and knew he needed to find someone to watch after Mizuko if anything ever happened to him or Tobirama. He had to keep the boys potential hidden from his father to avoid a waste of young life. But Hashirama went to bed fine that night.


Hashirama and his brother are around age 17 and 16 respectively. It is estimated that the Hidden leaf was founded around Hashirama's mid to late 20's.