Chapter Three

Uchiha and Senju

"Let me ask you something Shikaku; why are you here at this meeting?" Danzō asked smugly.

"To put it bluntly, Lord Fourth has it in writing that if something should ever happen to her to put her in a position where she's unable to act as Hokage or attend meetings with the council or Lord of the Land of Fire, I will be the one to act in her stead. Thereby granting me full range in making decisions on her behalf. In which case, without my approval it will be harder to put your little plan into action. Essentially, I'm the 'acting Hokage' until she wakes up," Shikaku explained simply.

Danzō grumbled in irritation. He underestimated Zemaria's capabilities as Hokage because of her young age. Though, he knew she'd be smarter than most in her age group simply because of Orochimaru being her father. She truly was a clever child seeing as Orochimaru was on his side and she was fully against trusting him.

'Yes, that's why she did that. It's because she knew I would pull a stunt like this; condensing the Uchiha clan to a single district near the edge of the village. Damn it! I can't do anything with Shikaku in charge like this,' he thought.

He lost this argument but he wasn't about to give up destroying the Uchiha. Shikaku suggested temporarily setting up small but livable shacks for everyone that had their homes and businesses destroyed until things were able to be rebuilt. The elders; Homura and Koharu agreed to the plan and told Shikaku to handle the construction of temporary housing. Sarutobi kept growing more and more impressed with Zemaria's skills as Hokage. The meeting was dismissed after a location was decided on for the temporary homes.

Shikaku got to work gathering the necessary shinobi and residents who were skilled in building. He separated them into two groups; one would build the temporary homes and business buildings and the other would start rebuilding the the homes and businesses that were destroyed in the attack. Danzō feeling defeated, went back to his underground to come up with a new plan to have the Uchiha meet their demise. Almost two weeks went by before Zemaria finally started to regain consciousness. Orochimaru had gone to her room every single day and stayed through the night each time. He only left to get something to eat or use the bathroom.

Zemaria slowly opened her eyes, "Mm..." As she turned her head, she noticed her father. His head was resting on the side of her bed on his right arm and he was fast asleep. "Father...?"

Orochimaru's fingers twitched before he lifted his head and opened his eyes, "Zem? You're awake?" He yawned.

"How are things in the village?" Was the first thing she asked him.

"Shikaku has taken care of things. Anyone who had their home or business destroyed in the attack are going to be staying in temporary homes in one specific location until the damaged buildings have been repaired and rebuilt," he informed.

"And the Uchiha?" She asked.

He placed a hand gently on her cheek, "They'll be able to stay spread out around the village. Shikaku told me Danzō tried to confine them to a single district near the border of the village."

She started to scootch herself up. Orochimaru helped her and pulled her pillow up so it was against her back. She yawned. Sleeping for so long, it was weird being awake again. It seemed like Orochimaru was more focused and more jumpy since Zemaria was taken to the hospital. He only wanted to take care of her and make her more comfortable. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Zemaria said.

The door opened and Minato walked in holding baby Naruto, "Oh, Lord Orochimaru, I didn't know you were still here. And I see you're awake Lady Zemaria. That's good."

Zemaria adjusted herself again, "Hey Sensei. How's Naruto doing?"

"He's doing good. I thought I'd stop in here and see how you were coming along since he had a check up anyway. When did you wake up?"

"About ten minutes ago I'd say. Father's been here this whole time," she smiled.

"Well then, that's good to hear," he said and turned to Orochimaru. "I'm glad you're such a devoted father. She really looks up to you."

Orochimaru half assed smiled, "I try. Tsunade left the village so I'm really all Zem has now. And even when her mother was still here, she didn't pay her much mind. Because of that, Zem attached herself to me instead."

Minato seemed surprised Tsunade would behave that way, "Oh. I didn't know Tsunade didn't take an interest in her own child."

"Mm... it's quite the long story," he plainly said.

They chatted for a little while as construction continued in the village. One of the nurses came to the room to check on Zemaria and was pleasantly surprised to see she was awake and coherent. She informed Lord Third and informed him she should be able to leave the hospital in another four to five days. After a short while, Minato and Orochimaru left the room to let Zemaria get a little more rest. It didn't last very long because there was soon another knock on her door.

"Come in," she said.

This time, Fugaku and Itachi entered, "I had heard you were awake."

"Lord Fugaku it's good to see you. I wanted to thank you and your clan for the help during the attack. I was right to have the Uchiha there directly handling the situation alongside myself and the other shinobi and Anbu that had a part in it," she said.

"I appreciate you being able to trust my clan to be that close to a tailed beast without fearing we'd take control and destroy the village further. I too wanted to thank you for that. I will admit that having someone the same age as my eldest son being Hokage, I had my doubts. I thought you'd be an easier target for the council to control and bend to their will. The will pertaining specifically to the Uchiha in order to eventually twist our feelings and wipe us out because of fear," he explained.

Zemaria smiled lightly, "I would much rather follow the teachings and beliefs of my great grandfather as opposed to his brother. Lord First wanted the fighting to stop; especially between the Senju and the Uchiha. I believe that I can make that happen still but this time around since mother and I are really the only Senju remaining, I'd unite the Uchiha with the entire village. If both the people of the village and the Uchiha worked together to be friendly, kind to each other, and helpful then I know we can all live here in peace. That's my goal."

Itachi seemed to be moved by what Zemaria had said. He too wanted to end fighting but he wanted to end it everywhere he could. It wasn't just the Leaf village, but all of the Shinobi world. One day, he would be strong enough to create a world of peace and harmony. He smiled a small smile, happy that he wasn't the only one who felt this way. When he had told his classmates what his dream was, they all laughed at him like it was some kind of ridiculous notion or a joke. But here was the Fourth Hokage who was the same age as him and had the same goal; peace and to end the fighting.

It was settled. Itachi decided Zemaria would be the person he admired and looked up to even if they were the same age. It made sense; looking up to someone who thought the same as you. Zemaria herself took a liking to Itachi. He seemed interesting to her ever since her first meeting with him during the Nine-Tails attack. She had seen him protect his mom and baby brother from the falling debris the first time.

She wondered what else there was to him and his personality. She also couldn't wait to get out of the hospital. Staying in one place for a long time made her antsy. She never liked it at all. The first thing she wanted to do was go back to her training. Perhaps young Itachi would want to train with her.

"Lord Fourth, may I ask you something?" Itachi finally spoke.

"Of course," she said.

"How did you get to be so strong and powerful? You're five like I am and yet I feel like being at the Academy, I can't further progress my strength and challenge myself," he told her.

She thought a moment, "Hm, let me see. I guess it would have to be due to having two Sannin as my parents to start with. Besides that factor, father had performed several experiments on my which one of them resulted in the Rinne Sharingan I have. He tried to create a whole new kekkei genkai and one other experiment he did had a permanent side affect which created the sensory ability I have. Other than that, all three Sannin had trained me. Father started training me when I turned two; the moment I could stand and walk on my own. So there's that and then testing my abilities in the last war..."

"You fought in the war that war?" Itachi asked shocked.

"That's right. I fought alongside my parents and even was part of Minato-Sensei's team temporarily after they lost a team member," she told him.

Itachi was amazed to learn all of this. It meant that now he had to train even harder just to come close to her power. Perhaps making her his rival would give him even more encouragement to work harder than he's ever had before. He was determined on getting stronger, and learning from Zemaria was a key factor in reaching his goal. Fugaku and Zemaria finished their conversation and he and Itachi went on their way.

A few days later, Zemaria gained back enough energy and chakra that she was allowed to leave and go back to assuming her responsibilities as Hokage. In her down time, she and Itachi trained together. They tried to outrun each other until Zemaria cheated by taking her leg weights off. Itachi called her out on it and she just laughed. Then she let him in on the secret to her speed and how she got it to that level.

Soon, she was invited to the Academy to demonstrate some of her abilities to one of the classes. It so happened to be Itachi's class and coincidentally they were going to have their kunai and shuriken training where they had to hit targets set around the Academy grounds. The teacher asked her to first watch the class and see how they performed as individuals. Then she'd show them what she could do. Each child was able to hit all of the targets within at least one minute. Itachi managed to do it in twenty-five seconds.

The last student did it. It took him forty seconds to complete and he had missed one of the targets. It was Zemaria's turn. She closed her eyes, had her kunai and shuriken ready, and waited for the teacher to tell her to go. He looked at his stop watch, clicked the button and said 'go!' She was gone in a flash; even faster than Minato. Five seconds later, she reappeared before them. The teacher checked all of the targets and each one had at least one kunai or shuriken pierced through either the head or the heart.

The class was amazed and impressed. Itachi stood in a frozen shock. She was so fast and so accurate. She hit every single target directly in a kill spot and she hadn't even seen the location of the targets beforehand. How did she know where they all were? The teacher was also amazed but then again, that's why Zemaria was the Hokage. More interestingly, she was the youngest Hokage in the entire history of the village.

"Well... I know who would have been the top student in the entire Academy if she were a student," the teacher complimented.

Zemaria lightly rubbed her hand over the back of her head and laughed, "Top student? I don't about top student."

'I wonder if I'll ever be able to come close to her type of power.' Itachi wondered.

"A lot of you young future shinobi could learn a few things from Lord Fourth. But speed and accuracy aren't the only things needed to be great shinobi," the teacher said.

Some of the students started to grumble. The Hokage was the same age as most of them and yet she was so much better at everything. One was supposed to also have a lot of experience in order to be Hokage. Zemaria fought in one war and it was towards the end of it no less but there she was as Hokage. It didn't makes sense to them. Months went by like it was nothing. Then years. It was when Itachi turned eleven that he was recommended to join the Anbu Black Ops. Sasuke was six years old and was about to enter into the Academy same as Naruto.

As Hokage, it was Zemaria's duty to introduce the new students into the Academy during the entrance ceremony. She was to give a speech welcoming them and encouraging them to do their best and graduate to become shinobi. Over the years, she had spent a lot of her free time around Itachi and Sasuke had grown used to her presence. A lot of the Uchiha had started to talk amongst each other about Itachi and Zemaria being in love with each other. They did seem to really like each other and enjoy the others company.

All of the new students started gathering at the Academy in the auditorium. Each one took a seat and waited for things to start. The parents smiled and told their child how proud they were that they were going to start on the path to becoming shinobi. After a short while, the Third Hokage came out onto the stage. He cleared his throat and everyone fell silent.

"Welcome everyone to the entrance ceremony to indite the all of the children here today into the Ninja Academy! Lord Fourth will be giving an encouraging speech to get the spirits pumping," he said cheerfully.

That was Zemaria's queue and she walked onto the stage next to Sarutobi, "Good morning everyone! Shinobi. What does it mean to be a shinobi? Well, I'll tell you my definition of it. To me, a shinobi is someone who is skilled in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and if they have the ability; genjutsu with the capability to fight for their village, their homeland, and their comrades. But it's not just enough to be skilled in those three fighting styles. You need tactical skills, intelligence, knowledge in medicine and spirit."

She paused to take a breath, "Lord Third, much like my great grandfather the First Lord Hokage, believed that the shinobi of the Leaf carried the will of fire. Each and every one of us have it; the passion and will to fight and defend the things and people we love the most. Being in the Academy means you all have the opportunity to learn and hone your individual skills as a shinobi. All of you have your own specialties whether it's taijutsu, specific ninjutsu, genjutsu, or even a knack for healing and using medical ninjutsu and creating new medicines. These things just need to be discovered with the right amount of training and education. Growing up, I had a deep fascination with reading. I know every single person's name, clan, specialties, potentials, and the entire history of this village. Would anyone like to ask me any question they want?"

She waited. Then someone raised their hand; it was Sasuke, Itachi's little brother, "I have a question. How was the Hidden Leaf founded?"

"A very good question. It all started when Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha first encountered each other. This was during the warring era before shinobi villages were even thought of. Hashirama's clan; the Senju, and Madara's clan; the Uchiha were the two main clans that were at war with each other in the Land of Fire. Both were very young when they met and both ended up losing one of their brothers each during the never ending war," she started off.

FLASHBACK

A young boy stood in front of the clam river skipping stones across the clear water. His hair was black and in a sort of bowl cut but with a little bit of length in the back. Around his neck was a cream colored scarf. His pants were up past his hips with a thin belt tied around it. He wore a black shirt sleeved shirt with another opened shirt over top of it. While he skipped stones, another boy about his same age noticed him.

This boy had short black spiked hair. He wore a simple black kimono. The boy watched silently from the distance. He was unsure as to whether this strange haired boy was a friend or an enemy. They were in a time of war; namely two main clans in the Land of Fire. Those clans were the Uchiha and the Senju.

The spike haired boy finally approached the other boy, "I'll bet I can skip rocks even further than you can."

"Huh!?" The boy whipped around surprised. "Who are you?"

"Oh! Did I scare you?" The first boy asked.

The other boy shook his head quick, "No, you just took me by surprise is all. I mean, we are in the middle of a war after all."

The boy laughed, "Yes, we are. My name is Madara."

"It's nice to meet you Madara. I'm Hashirama," he greeted him back.

The boys didn't tell each other their clan names. They just simply started talking about how they didn't like all of this fighting and how much death it's caused. How each of them had lost so many from their clans because of it. Madara picked up a flat smooth stone and chucked it across the water's surface. It bounced twice and then sunk down into the water.

Hashirama giggled and did the same thing. His rock bounced along the surface four times before it kerplunked under the water. Soon, the sun started to set and the two boys went their separate ways. It felt good to have something other than fighting to focus on. Making a new friend was just the distraction both Madara and Hashirama needed.

END FLASHBACK

"The two kids were friends in secret after their fathers discovered which clan each was from. Eventually, Hashirama told Madara of his dream to create a village for the Senju and Uchiha to live in peace as well as many other clans. It would even have a leader and a school for the children so they wouldn't have to needlessly go into battle without any proper training and education and there could be a specific age at which one could become a shinobi. Madara thought it would be a wonderful idea. Then one day, the two found the perfect spot for their dream to come to fruition; that would be the current Leaf village today. Well, both Madara and Hashirama built the village and named it Konohagakure; the village hidden in the leaves," Zemaria took a deep breath and paused before trying to continue.

She closed her eyes and started again, "While deciding on a leader, the name of that leader would be known as Hokage. Hashirama wished to have his friend to be the very first Lord Hokage. However, the people of the village had voiced that they didn't want Madara as Hokage but instead, they wanted Hashirama to be their leader. This highly upset Madara even if he wasn't going to say it to his friend. Upon trying to convince Madara to stay in the village, Hashirama suggested and offered to make him his successor as the second Hokage. But Madara knew in his heart that Tobirama Senju; Hashirama's younger brother would ultimately succeed him. With that knowledge, Madara left the village and promised to keep Hashirama on his toes by coming back and fighting him. What started out as a sort of friend versus friend type of deal, turned into serious battles with killing intents."

FLASHBACK

"This is the perfect spot Madara!" Hashirama smiled big.

"The perfect spot? For what?" He asked confused.

Hashirama just laughed at him, "For our dream. Remember? Building a village for our clans and many others to live together in peace and harmony. And to build a ninja academy for the kids to learn and grow into strong shinobi! Don't tell me you forgot about all of that."

Madara laughed as well, "You were serious about that?"

The two were now adults and the fighting had calmed down from what it had been when they were kids. Now would be the perfect time for putting their dream into action and bringing everyone together. They stood at the top of the mountainside that overlooked the forest below. The mountains wrapped around the trees creating a sort of protective border. It really was perfect for a village and clans to live in peace.

As the wind blew lightly through their hair, they stared out to the trees. It seemed they were both deep in thought as if to plan the entire village out in their heads; figuring out houses, business, where the school would be, how everything would be laid out. The next question was; what would the name of the village be? Would it be something easy to remember, or something with real meaning to it? Who would lead the people of the village? What would the rules and laws be?

"Hashirama, what would be call the village? What name would we give it?" Madara asked.

"How about... Konohagakure?" He suggested.

"Konohagakure? The village hidden in the leaves? It's not very creative," he told him.

Hashirama laughed again, "I think it suits it just fine!"

They both laughed together and talked about when they were kids as well as how they hoped the future would be. Soon enough, the day came when the village was finally starting to come together. The two friends were proud of their accomplishment and started making arrangements to figure out who would be the very first leader of their new home. First thing to do was giving the leader a real title. It was decided the leader would be known as Hokage; meaning fire shadow.

The people of the village all agreed and chose Hashirama as their first Hokage. Hashirama however, hoped that Madara would have been the first Hokage; not him. The decision upset Madara so he went to his clan members and tried to change their minds on staying in the village. He told them that if Hashirama was going to be the first Hokage, then his brother Tobirama would end up succeeding him as the Second Hokage. If that happened, the Uchiha clan would be doomed.

This was because Tobirama was the exact opposite from Hashirama; he hated and distrusted the Uchiha. Hashirama had faith that one day the Uchiha and Senju along with everyone in the village would be able to live together and get along. He even strived for that as the outcome of his dream while being in the Leaf village. The Uchiha didn't believe Madara and insisted on remaining in the village. They claimed he was overreacting and their clan would be just fine and even prosper from living there.

"Why? Why do you have to leave? Madara, we built this village together; with our own two hands. The people will come around. You'll see. They're all just misunderstanding. You can be the Second Hokage," Hashirama tried to convince him to stay.

They were in the newly built Uchiha underground shrine, "I would think Tobirama would succeed you as the Second Hokage. I've tried to get my clansmen to leave with me but they won't budge. If Tobirama becomes Hokage, my clan will be doomed."

Hashirama gasped lightly, "What about our dream? We have the village we talked about all those years ago. We shared the same dream; to end the fighting and bring peace to the world."

"I have a new dream now. I'll leave the village until my new dream is realized," he informed him.

"Oh? What dream is that," Hashirama asked him.

"There's no need to explain it to you now. I look forward to meeting you in combat, my friend," he said and left.

Several years passed before Madara made an appearance again. He attacked the village and attracted Hashirama's attention. He couldn't believe that his own friend would attack the village he helped to create. Hashirama had no choice but to fight him. On and off they fought each other. Each battle grew more and more intense.

Hashirama then made a choice; he would protect the village no matter what. After so many battles between him and Madara, it would all come to an end. They had one last fight with each other.

"Whether you're friend or family, if you threaten my village, I will kill you! It doesn't matter to me. I will protect the Hidden Leaf no matter what!" He yelled and dealt the final blow, killing Madara.

END FLASHBACK

"At that point, Hashirama decided that enough was enough. The safety and growth of his village was far more important than his friend. In the end, Hashirama took the final battle very seriously and ended the life of someone he saw as not only his best friend, but also someone he considered to be a brother. After all of that, over the years and through the generations it's been said that it was the First and Second Hokage who built the Leaf but in actuality, it was Lord First and Madara Uchiha," She took a deep breath and Sarutobi handed her a bottle of water.

All of them sat in complete silence. They didn't know how to respond. Most of them hadn't even known the real story behind the village's creation. How did she know all of this? Where had this information been kept? Sasuke was floored learning something he never knew about his clan. The Senju and Uchiha were supposed to live in peace together in the village but then all of this dark hatred had been created and was going on long before the village was built.

Zemaria asked if there were any other questions. Otherwise she'd move on to the next thing on the list; the introduction of the teachers the kids would likely have. Among the teachers were Asuma Sarutobi, Iruka Umino, and Suzume. After a few minutes of no response, she moved on and asked each of the teachers to come on stage and introduce themselves. After which, she explained how things would work in terms of students being placed in each teacher's class and homerooms.

Finally, each teacher explained what subject they were going to teach and what it entailed. After everything was explained, everyone was dismissed. The kids were instructed to head to their assigned classrooms for homeroom. As the adults started to leave, there was one person Zemaria had noticed early on that wasn't there; Itachi. She knew she hadn't sent him on a mission, so why didn't he show up? She decided to go find him once she was able to leave.