The rewrite of 'Tobirama Senju Reincarnated: Second Hokage's Heir' is finally here. The second chapter is already done too, and I'll post it a few days after this one.
As mentioned in the original version, this story is heavily inspired by 'Nidaime's Descendant' by Sechrima, as well as 'Nidaime no Sairin' by Narutoenthusiast.
I don't own Naruto or anything else that this story borrows from.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage and the third ninja to gain the title of God of Shinobi, could only stand frozen and watch as his two predecessors stepped out of their coffins. His teachers, Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju, stood before him in all their undead glory, courtesy of Orochimaru's forbidden jutsu.
The only relief he had was that the third coffin, which undoubtedly held his one and only successor, Minato Namikaze, failed to rise out of the ground, and was promptly swallowed by the dimensional void that had summoned them in the first place. It changed little as before him still stood two of the greatest Senju that ever existed and the founders of the Hidden Leaf Village.
"Hmmm, Hiruzen? Is that you?" asked Hashirama.
"You've gotten old, Saru," Tobirama said.
"Yes, it is I. It's been many years since both of your deaths. You've been summoned back to the world of the living through the use of the Reanimation Jutsu, thanks to a rogue student of mine Orochimaru," replied the old Hokage after managing to gain a semblance of composure.
"Yes, I just couldn't help but find the entire situation satisfyingly ironic. Seeing my former sensei getting killed by his own former senseis, after which I'll unleash them upon the village they struggled and endeavored so hard to build," said Orochimaru with a sadistic smirk.
The First Hokage put his hand on his face in exasperation, "No matter what era, there is always conflict."
"Yes. Isn't it wonderful?" Orochimaru chuckled as he pulled two kunais with a sealing tag attached to them.
The action hadn't gone unnoticed by Tobirama, analyzing them at a moment's notice and quickly discerning their purpose. Before the pale-skinned man could react, he went through several hand signs. After finishing them, the reincarnated Hokage's form glowed brightly for a second, and his sickly pale complexion gained a lot more vitality and color.
The other spectators all stared at him in confusion, before Tobirama went through a sequence of new hand signs and put his hand on his brother's forehead. A large seal formula spread out from the point of contact, which both the sannin and his former master recognized as a Contract Seal. Orochimaru could only watch in disbelief as Hashirama's soul was released, and the ashen body started falling apart, revealing a Sound genin inside it.
"How did you free yourself? It is impossible!" Orochimaru demanded, enraged.
The Second Hokage gave him an intense look. "Do you take me for an amateur, stripling? I had always considered the possibility that the Reanimation Jutsu might be used against the village, for which reason I created a countermeasure. As of now, I am no longer under your control." As soon as he was done elaborating, he made a single hand sign, instantly putting the former Leaf ninja on guard.
"Water Style: Water Shockwave"
A giant wave of water was created out of thin air, hurtling with frightening ferocity towards the sannin. Forming a hand sign of his own, he created an earthen wall to defend himself, the superior of the two elements effectively blocking the attack. Keeping the hand sign, Tobirama called out a new jutsu.
"Water Style: Severing Wave"
A highly pressurized beam of water shot out of his mouth and cut through the wall, as well as one of Orochimaru's arms. Jumping back, the snake summoner opened his maw wide and out of it came a new pair of arms, which grabbed the edges of his mouth and forced them apart even further, allowing his completely healed form to rise out of it.
He frowned at this sudden change of events, quickly coming to the realization - as much as it burned him to admit it - that the invasion was over. There was no feasible way he could fight two kages of their caliber, and Tobirama alone was probably too much to handle by himself. As it was, his body was already weakening. The time for a new body would soon be at hand, and he'd never been one for unnecessary risks.
It was better that he survived and destroyed the village another day than die right now and never see his dream of mastering all jutsu come to fruition.
"Pull the barrier down! We're leaving!" Orochimaru ordered through gritted teeth.
"Right!" yelled the Sound Four simultaneously.
After the purple barrier was dispelled, the Sound ninja made a quick getaway, leaving the two Hokage on the roof to watch them retreat.
The physically older of the two approached the other, "Tobirama-sensei, I cannot thank you enough for this."
The Second Hokage just nodded. "Yes, it appears to be fortunate that he has revived me, despite the unfortunate intention behind it."
"I am sorry about that. Orochimaru used to be a student of mine until he went rogue for various experimentation on people. He apparently has a desire to learn the secrets behind all jutsu of this world, a desire that has driven him mad." Hiruzen's face turned grim.
Tobirama crossed his arms in thought. The last time he had seen his student was before he had enacted the suicidal plan to act as a decoy for the Kinkaku Force in order to allow six of his subordinates to escape, and Hiruzen had only been 22 years old when the title of Hokage had been unpremeditatedly dropped on him. Seeing him now, in what appeared to be his late sixties - and still with the Hokage title, if the robes discarded to the side of the roof were of any indication - he was curious about the state of affairs of the Hidden Leaf Village.
There was the option of remaining, at least for a short while, to assess the current condition of his village and offer his assistance, though there could be arguments about how his presence would 'tip the balance', or 'went against the laws of nature'. Bah, he was a shinobi, not a religious zealot; he colored outside the lines, and he especially didn't pay heed to any nebulous, abstract rules with no concrete foundation.
He had sworn to ensure his village's protection and prosperity, and if he did it postmortem? Well, if there was a god or a few up there, they could suck on it for all he cared. A kage's primary concern was always his or her village.
"I shall stay here to help you capture and kill him. He must be stopped, and no one can threaten the village and get away with it. The fact that he can perform my jutsu with greater success than myself is worrisome, too." Plus, the traitor had tried to use his body and power to kill one of his students. He rarely took things personally, he was too jaded a man for that, but he could make an exception for the pasty-skinned bastard.
Hiruzen smiled warmly at the prospect of his undead teacher staying for a longer amount of time. "I am grateful for your help, sensei."
Tobirama just smiled back and looked out at the village that was still in the middle of an invasion. "There will be time to reconnect later. Now, we must end the invasion. Who are we fighting against, anyway?" he asked as they both jumped from the roof.
"My ex-student's own village, the Hidden Sound, and the Hidden Sand Village. Originally, they were our allies, but Orochimaru somehow persuaded them to attack us. I assume he took advantage of their rather poor economic and military state to convince the Kazekage to renege on our alliance," the old man replied, landing a flying kick on one of the sound shinobi.
The reanimated Hokage nodded as they got to work in taking care of the invaders. He was well-aware that the Land of Wind's lack of natural resources put the Hidden Sand in a precarious position economically-wise, the very reason the First Kazekage had demanded 30% of the payment the other kage were going to give for the tailed beasts and a part of the Land of Fire's fertile land. Though he hadn't disagreed that the price had been high, he had been much more vehement against the expected threats of war.
Sudden, but expected, which spoke a lot about the ninja of their time. He remembered the headache being the first feeling he got when the first Five Kage Summit had gotten... rowdy. Not a gasp of surprise, not a shout of outrage, but an exasperation-induced headache.
Reto's high demands aside, he had empathized with the man's efforts to guarantee his village's future. He hadn't forgotten the trials he and his brother had gone through to realize their dream, nor the countless losses the entire ninja world had suffered before the wave of peace, however temporary, had swept through the continent. He had not been ready for another war - or at least not a war born due to the other kages' petty reactions to the Kazekage's fairly reasonable request; a request they themselves could've empathized with.
For the sake of establishing peaceful rapports between their respective villages, concessions could have been made. Should have been made. If they had, perhaps this wouldn't be happening today.
Perhaps.
For the rest of the day, they fought the invaders. Thankfully, due to his reanimated body, he had limitless stamina and chakra, even though he could use only as much chakra as he had when he was alive at any given time. The Leaf ninjas were buoyed by the arrival of not only their Third Hokage, but the Second as well. The fighting ended not long after their arrival, quickly becoming obvious that the forces of the Hidden Sound and Hidden Sand were no match for them.
As they watched their people cheer in elation, Tobirama couldn't help but ask something that'd been nagging him, "Saru, I wasn't able to sense much Senju chakra. While there are traces here and there, they are faint. Why is that so?" The conclusion was pretty obvious, but the notion was so hard to even consider, he wanted to hear it from the horse's mouth.
Hiruzen flinched and seemed to hesitate - that didn't bode well - before turning to him, "I'm sorry, sensei, but most of them have died fighting in the rest of the First and the entirety of the Second and Third Great Ninja War. Not to mention that, during that period, most Senju newborn were female and most of them married outside the clan. As it stands, the only person who carries the surname Senju is Tsunade, your grandniece."
Sadness and frustration welled within his zombified body. The greatest shinobi clan in the world, his family, was practically gone. Wiped off the face of the Earth by the passage of time like a stone that had borne the brunt of too many waves. It was nigh inconceivable.
On that note, that also meant something else.
"Then I have no descendant, no heir," sullenly said the normally composed man.
The Third Hokage gazed at him thoughtfully. He didn't know whether he should tell him, but looking at the man, morose as he was, he knew he couldn't keep the truth from him. He never could lie to, or omit the truth from, Tobirama-sensei, even when he wore his default expression of sternness. Besides, it had gone on long enough and this was the golden opportunity he'd been waiting for. He wasn't about to let it slip.
"Actually, there is one more. You do have one descendant," the aged kage said.
Tobirama looked at him in surprise, "I do? Who is it, and how is this person related to me?"
"His name is Naruto Uzumaki, and he is your great-grandson. He's close to 13 years old and a genin of the village. Your daughter married Kazuya Namikaze, and they had a son who was named Minato Namikaze, who ended up being the Fourth Hokage."
Tobirama raised an eyebrow. "If that is so, how come you're still Hokage?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer to that question.
Hiruzen pursed his lips, he hated having to tell his teacher about his own grandson's death. "He died 13 years ago."
"How, if I may ask?" the Second Hokage inquired further, ignoring the small pang of grief at the news.
"On October 10th, 13 years ago, the Nine-tails attacked the village, and Minato died to protect it."
His sensei looked as if he was slapped out of the blue, barely able to form a coherent thought, "The Nine-tails escaped from its jinchuriki? Saru, how did this happen? Don't tell me it was Mito who-"
The Third Hokage shook his head, "No, it wasn't her. She had been dead for over a decade already. The name of the second jinchuriki was Kushina Uzumaki. She was Minato's wife and she had been giving birth to a child when the Nine-tails somehow escaped, though I don't know how that was possible. Minato had been with her, and he was an accomplished seal master. The best theory is that someone must have intervened and released it while the seal was weak. The theory is supported by the fact that the Nine-tails had suddenly appeared in a cloud of smoke in the middle of the village."
A Summoning, thought Tobirama, which was an amazing feat in and of itself as only two people had been able to do it.
Madara Uchiha and his brother Hashirama.
However, the cursed Uchiha had died a very long time ago so it couldn't have been him. Not to mention that the only way to summon a tailed beast was to take control of it. It was doubtful that someone else had Wood style, which left only one other option: the Sharingan. This was something that Tobirama had been trying to prevent; the birth of a new Madara. A personal mission that he had assigned to himself. To realize that he had possibly failed was like a blow to the gut for him.
"Minato had used the Reaper Death Seal to imprison the Nine-tails inside a newborn baby, sacrificing his soul to the Reaper in exchange," Hiruzen stated with a tinge of sorrow, recalling the feeling of uselessness as he watched his successor and his wife die from outside the barrier.
"And this child is the one this Kushina woman had given birth to, and the child is Naruto, correct?" Tobirama said after putting the pieces together.
Hiruzen nodded and suddenly turned sad, which did not go unnoticed by him.
"What's with that face?"
His student took a deep breath before sighing in resignation, looking up at him forlornly. He hated to be the one to break this to him, "I was there when Minato died. Before passing on, his dying wish was for everybody to treat Naruto as a hero. Of course, for that to happen everybody had to be aware of the baby's newfound status."
Tobirama scowled at him, causing the old man to look like a deer in headlights. Despite the fact that he was now nearly two decades his senior, his sensei still made him feel like a greenhorn child.
"Why? If what you say is true, the Nine-tails should have inflicted significant damage to the village. Many people must have died, while others left traumatized. Why release his status as a jinchuriki after that?" Tobirama demanded. How could the fruit of the fruit of his own loins be so stupid? He wondered what his student's excuse was.
Hiruzen sighed and looked at him, which caused Tobirama to soften his glare when he finally noticed just how truly old and tired he was.
"Both me and Minato were just that naive, I'm afraid. As you've already guessed, his plan didn't work out as well as hoped, not by a long shot. He was hated and shunned for all of his life with very few people who actively showed care for him. I certainly couldn't force people to change their opinion," the old Hokage said.
"Noble sentiment doesn't equate positive results." The Second Hokage scoffed at such a quixotic notion. He had dealt with enough of that during his brother's reign. "That was a very foolish decision my grandson made. I have also noticed that you gave him his mother's clan name instead of his father's. Why is that?"
"Minato had made many enemies in the Hidden Stone and the Hidden Cloud during the Third Great Shinobi War, where he earned the moniker "The Yellow Flash" for refining and perfecting your Flying Raijin. We were still recovering when the Nine-tails attacked; the risk of assassins and kidnappers was too great. It's also the reason that I didn't tell Naruto himself of his father," Hiruzen stated.
Tobirama sighed and acknowledged his point, despite the pain his great-grandson must have gone through.
"With whom did he live?"
Sarutobi's sheepish visage told him all he needed to know, and Tobirama's glare was back at full force. He understood the need to hide his heritage, but this was unacceptable.
"In order to keep the balance of power among and avoid favoritism, it was decided that no clan should have a jinchuriki in their family. The decision had been supported by the feudal lord himself; there was nothing I could do about it. He lived in the orphanage till he was 6. After that, I managed to get him his own apartment."
The Second Hokage was a very calm and collected individual, almost never caught off guard, but at that moment, he felt rage like rarely ever before. This wasn't why the village was built. It was built to destroy the boundaries between the clans and to be a place for children to be just that, children. But they willingly let a child be mistreated due to paranoid fantasies; his own great-grandson, and the son of the Fourth Hokage no less. Tobirama had little doubt that at least half of the clan heads had known that Naruto was Minato's offspring; it was the Hokage who was expecting a child for over half a year.
He clenched his fist before heaving a great sigh of frustration. There was no point in getting worked up now. What was done was done and nothing could change that. However, that didn't mean that nothing could be done for the boy's future.
"I shall train the boy myself, and stay with him until I deem it appropriate to leave this world. There is no way I'm going to allow a member of my family to grow in solitude and pain if I can do something about it. His heritage should be revealed to him if no one else," Tobirama declared, finality evident in his tone.
Hiruzen smiled, "I will give you the documents that state and prove your blood relation to him. While I still believe this is a very vile jutsu, sensei, I can't help but be thankful for it just this once. Naruto can at last meet an actual member of his family and finally catch a break in his life."
Two hours later, Tobirama could be found in a hospital room, staring down at the prone form of his great-grandson as he slept. The reports said that he fought the One-tails jinchuriki, who had used a full tailed beast transformation, but Naruto had managed to summon the chief of the toads from Mount Myoboku and had been able to create over a thousand shadow clones, a jutsu of Tobirama's own making. His descendant came out of the battle victorious.
As he looked down at him, he couldn't help but notice the physical resemblances they had. The spiky hair, the same shape of the face as he had when he was his age, his nose, and other, more subtle similarities.
Yes. This boy was without a doubt his progeny, and as the Second Hokage, he swore to help him in any way he could.
I hope you'll like this rewrite better than the original. Don't forget to review!
Recommendations:
Hoshigaki by writer168
The Lost Namikaze by FaerieLight
Hear the Silence by EmptySurface
ROOT by Nightmare Sired Muse (Naruto & Pokemon crossover)