CN Mention of child abuse, mention of dead family members, child deaths

The elders

Hashirama knelt in front of the small family shrine in the house. Then he rang the bell, folded his hands, bowed to the ihai of his ancestors and paused for a moment before offering them a bowl of rice and edamame. As the old incense candles had burnt down, he removed their ashes and lit new ones.

"Okāsan," he began with a loving smile. "I am trying my best to protect my little brother, as I promised you. I hope I can do this to your complete satisfaction. Every day I regret that you had to pass away before I could fully understand the powers I was given. I'm sure you would have liked my flowers. Still, I am a failure when it comes to ikebana. I prefer to let things grow.

Kawarama, every day I thank you for standing by our side and walking your path with us for a while. At the time I thought your death was pointless, but now I think that was the moment that started it all. I hope I didn't let you down and made the best of what you gave me.

Itama, my little baby brother. I hope you are not angry with me for making peace with our enemies. I have not forgotten that it was they who took your life. Still, perhaps you will understand why I had to put an end to this cycle of violence. Either way, you have permission to knock over my rice bowls if you are not satisfied with me."

He paused before turning to the last ihai. "Otōsan." His voice was serious. "I want to thank you too, because you made me who I am. You gave me the love you could give and taught me how to fight. I hope you can at least be proud of my skills on the battlefield, if nothing else. I didn't follow your path, I know, but I had to. I couldn't watch this anymore."

He straightened and sat back on his heels. Even with his brother always complaining about his supposedly non-existent sensory abilities, he had noticed Tobirama watching him. He felt the latter's gaze at his back while somewhere in the house the workmen who had been supposed to come that day were rumbling.

"That you can still thank even Butsuma," Tobirama grumbled. "After all he did to us."

"He just didn't know any better, and I think in his own way he meant well for us. And I thank him for that."

Tobirama snorted. "If you say so. I, for one, will do nothing of the sort."

Hashirama grinned. "That's why I'm doing it! Don't want him to come back as a vengeful ghost and knock over more than our rice bowls."

"Hmph. But now take care of the other things on the list today."

Hashirama looked at his brother, annoyed. "What is it today?" he grumbled.

Tobirama waved a sketch. "I have re-planned our house. And this time you stick to the plan, otherwise it will end in disaster again like the present state. Then the workmen can lay the electricity. After that, we have a meeting with the Uchiha elders. Madara still hasn't said what they want from us, but looked very disgruntled every time I asked him."

Hashirama rose and accepted the sketch. "And that was definitely not because of the way you asked?"

"Pah!"

Hashirama looked at the sketch. "Why do we need electricity anyway?"

Tobirama gave him the look. "Most of the other clans have long since moved ahead with the times, it's about time we do as well. It's hard to believe you wooden head want to turn the whole shinobi world upside down while clinging so stubbornly to old traditions."

Hashirama relented. "Whatever."

Together they left the small room. In the doorway they met the workmen, who bowed hurriedly and then followed them outside as Hashirama told them he had a little something to do first. As they passed, Hashirama automatically grabbed a straw hat and put it on his brother. Then they all stood in front of the house. He looked at Tobirama's sketch again and made sure to hold it the right way round. Then he looked at their house, clasped his hands together and let his chakra work.

Wooden walls sprouted from the earth and joined those already there. Massive beams wrapped around each other as if they were pliable ropes, forming new structures. In the end, Hashirama had almost doubled their living space and also changed the layout of the rooms according to his brother's wishes. Well, if Tobirama thought they needed so much space ... At least he had left him his garden, which adjoined the house.

"And you're sure I can't build all the houses like this? It's much quicker."

"Yes!"

"All right, no need to get loud …"

The workmen gaped at him with open mouths. He handed them the sketch. "My brother has marked everything important on this. I don't know anything about this newfangled stuff, but he insists. Have fun."

They left the craftsmen to their work and headed for the ceremonial hut where, a few weeks ago, Hashirama and Madara had sealed the peace between the two clans. Madara's house was still unfinished (perhaps he would be persuaded now that he had seen the changes to the brothers' house) and the elders of the Uchiha clan did not deign to sit in Hashirama and Tobirama's kitchen. So the small house was a good compromise.

Bringing together two settlements several days' journey apart had proved logistically ... challenging. Very few people wanted to commute constantly between the new village and the old home. So the first step had been to build temporary accommodation with large communal rooms. At least Tobirama had allowed his brother to do that, if he was already keeping him from building the actual houses. The older members of the clan, however, preferred to wait and see and stay in their old villages. After all, one had to have some privileges when one grew so old in a world where most did not even see the age of forty.

The air was filled with the sound of bustling activity. Trees were being felled everywhere to make timber and, more importantly, space (Hashirama would later re-grow each felled tree elsewhere). The felled trunks were stripped of their branches and bark and then sawn into beams that were already piled metres high to be processed further. Everywhere, hammering and drilling and sawing were taking place and the silhouettes of the first streets could be made out. Hashirama, Tobirama and Madara had spent many nights planning the shape of the village.

Everywhere they went they heard casual conversations, to Hashirama's delight even between Senju and Uchiha now and then. People bowed deeply to them as they passed, and Hashirama waved cheerfully. Tobirama also looked pleased. Children played among the adults, even if they too stayed with their clansmen more often than joining the children of the other clan. They had practically imbibed with their mother's milk the knowledge that the Senju and Uchiha were enemies, and even if children were far quicker at making friends, too many of them had already seen the battlefield and would not immediately be able to overcome the old drill. Hashirama hoped, however, that they would become the bridge for the adults.

Hashirama was jolted out of his musings when he heard a child crying. A little ahead of them, he saw a little girl from his own clan kneeling on the ground, clutching a broken toy. Before he could react, Madara stepped out from between two piles of wood and knelt in front of the girl. It looked at him with wide eyes, and when it realised who he was, it went quiet all at once. Madara obviously tried to comfort her, but made things worse.

Hashirama smirked. Oh dear. He stepped up to them and knelt beside Madara. Then he sprouted a small wooden horse from his hand, which leapt to the ground and galloped around the girl. The girl's eyes lit up, all tears forgotten. She clapped her hands enthusiastically and laughed. Then she remembered her manners and bowed gracefully to Hashirama.

"Thank you very much, Senju-sama," she said.

Still smiling, Hashirama placed a hand on its head. "Enjoy it."

Gingerly, the girl took her new toy in her hand and then hurried to her mother. The two men rose again and looked after her.

"This is unfair," Madara remarked.

Hashirama looked at him questioningly.

"You can grow wood from your body and no one finds it in any way disturbing, while I am just me, making children cry."

"Did you look in the mirror this morning? With your scowl, I'd run away crying too."

Madara gave him an extra scowl. "Have you looked at your clothes? This is what my grandmother wore!"

Hashirama hung his head. "But they're just tradition," he whined.

"Stop your bickering and come," Tobirama reminded them.

They followed him and soon arrived at the hut. The two clan banners were still flying and the lucky charms were fluttering on the gables. No one had bothered to take them down yet, they all had more important things to do. But at least the two banners made a nice picture and Hashirama didn't really want to have them removed.

The two elders of the Uchiha clan were already present and awaiting them inside. Madara had arranged for tea to be provided for them. As they entered the engawa, they slipped off their sandals and knelt with a bow in front of the door. They may be the clan heads, but nevertheless they too paid their respects to the elders, as was proper.

"At last," someone crooned. Madara had already told Hashirama about the elders of his clan and so he assumed it was Uchiha Naoki.

For Madara, that was the reason to push open the door. They entered and with a renewed bow they knelt at the table opposite the two elders. Tobirama remained in the background, he was after all the younger of the brothers.

Uchiha Kimora leaned forward and eyed Hashirama intently. Hashirama tried to look as friendly as possible. She adjusted the glasses on her nose. "So this is the demon from the woods. Looks like half a portion to me."

Ouch. That hit home.

Madara beside him stirred. His hands, resting on his knees, were clenched into fists, and Hashirama felt the fire simmering beneath the calm and controlled surface. He must truly loathe the elders. He wondered what the reason was.

"Honoured elders, we have come at your request," he said, yet actually kept his eyes down. The proud and indomitable Madara pretended to be lamblike.

"Mainly so we can see if you are really soiling the memory of your brothers and your father," Naoki clarified. "And lo and behold, there you are kneeling by the side of those Senju dogs. But all right, you're the clan head, so there's nothing we can do about it."

Madara's hands trembled slightly and that was the only thing that revealed his emotions. "Is that all?" he pressed out between clenched teeth.

"Give us the truce you signed, Madara. I want to read it and learn what you threw away your family's lives for," Naoki demanded.

Madara fished the scroll out of his coat. Two editions of it existed, the other was in Hashirama's possession. They had put their seals under both. They were copies of the truce that Hashirama had sent Madara after the battle in which Izuna had been mortally wounded. When Madara had finally accepted, none of them had bothered to adapt the wording to the circumstances and simply signed it as it was. They had all been too tired to care about trifles that no longer mattered anyway.

Naoki unrolled the rice paper and skimmed the script. Kimora leaned over to catch a glimpse of it too. He looked up and glanced first at Tobirama and then at Hashirama. "Heal Izuna? Well, I guess that didn't work out," he remarked sarcastically.

Slowly, Hashirama understood why Madara did not think much of the elders. "Unfortunately, things were looking different at that point," he said regretfully. "I regret from the bottom of my heart that Izuna had to die, I wish everything had been different. But not even I can bring the dead back to life. I am all the more glad that we were able to make peace after all, and that no more blood need be spilt."

Kimora looked at him again with that piercing gaze. "At that point we were still enemies, and yet you wanted to heal your enemy? Good grief, Madara, you really let yourself be defeated by such an idiot. If only your father knew."

Fearing that the hut they were in was about to explode in one of Madara's fireballs at any moment, Hashirama hastily interjected, "It was just bad luck. Madara and I are equally strong, he has shown me that in many fights. It could just as well have been Madara who struck me down."

Naoki sat back, clearly not convinced. "Well, things are what they are. I know that the Senju follow bloodline tradition when they appoint their clan head, but it is different for us Uchiha. We follow strength, and you, Senju-sama, have proven yourself stronger. Thus, the Uchiha are now the first clan to be annexed by you. Extinction by your hand would perhaps be more merciful, but well, then we must live with this disgrace. But also know that with us Uchiha things are done a little differently, we elders have a say in the affairs of the clan as does Madara."

Hashirama saw that there had probably been quite a bit of miscommunication here. "I have not annexed anyone and I have no desire to do so," he stressed. "Madara and I are on the same level in this matter. If you, honoured elders, wish to continue to be involved in the affairs of the clans in the future, that is of course out of the question and can be arranged. Knowing the wisdom of age at our side in an advisory capacity can only be for the benefit of all."

Kimora snorted. "A smooth talker you certainly are. The question is whether those words will be followed by action."

"Be that as it may," Naoki added. "Madara has proved weak once. We acknowledge your leadership, Senju-sama."

The two old men bowed to him.

"I am sure that the cooperation between the two clans will soon bear rich fruit!" said Hashirama optimistically. Beside him, Madara seethed, but surprisingly could still hold on. Well, somehow he could understand his friend. The elders had insulted him in one go.

"We'll see." Kimora remained sceptical. "That will be all."

They bowed and left the room. Madara stomped angrily into the forest, and when he had gone far enough, he slammed his fist against a tree. The wood cracked audibly. Hashirama was wise enough to keep a safe distance, and Tobirama also stayed behind him.

"Those damned old farts!" growled Madara, hitting the trunk again. The crown of the tree trembled. "Every time the same thing! Every time they try to undermine everything I do!"

"I am sure they will soon see they are wrong," Hashirama tried.

"You shut up, baka!" nagged Madara. "You have no idea! If it weren't for those assholes, Izuna would still be alive and no one would be whispering about my eyes behind my back!"

Hashirama put off asking what Madara meant by that until later. He wasn't that stupid after all. With a frustrated cry, Madara kicked the tree, felling it for good. And because that was apparently not enough, he set it on fire afterwards.

Tobirama stepped up to his brother. "Someone is approaching us fast, an Uchiha by the chakra signature," he reported to him.

Before the Uchiha reached them, Madara took out his frustration on a few more trees, and even then his anger still didn't seem to have fully dissipated. On the way they had come, an Uchiha approached whom Hashirama had seen a few times before on the battlefield. The man apparently realised at a glance that there was no fighting going on here and that only some trees were falling victim to Madara's temper, and waited patiently until his moment had come.

When Madara had finally let off enough steam to be ready for somewhat reasonable conversation again, he turned to them. Even though the Sharingan had left his eyes again, they still burned with anger.

"What do you want, Hikaku?" he hissed.

Aha, so this was Hikaku, of whom Madara thought so highly. He certainly seemed to be familiar with the whims of his clan chief, for he did not back down. Quite an achievement that deserved recognition.

"So the meeting with the elders went as expected," he remarked, glancing at the trees burnt to ashes. "I come to report that a group of foreign Shinobi are approaching us."

"What bad luck for them," Madara growled, making it very clear that he would prefer to use them as a punching bag.

"What clan? Do they want to join us?" inquired Hashirama hopefully.

"About thirty people from the Yamanaka clan," Hikaku reported. "They didn't make a hostile impression on me. They should reach the settlement soon."

"That's the whole clan, they're not a big group," Tobirama remarked. "And where the Yamanaka are, the Nara and Akimichi are usually not far away either."

"Oh, that's wonderful news!" exclaimed Hashirama excitedly, the unpleasant experience with the Uchiha elders already forgotten. "Let's go quickly and greet them."

Madara sighed in annoyance. "If I have to." His chakra had calmed down considerably in the meantime. Hopefully he wouldn't scare the newcomers away again with his sinister attitude.

They made their way back to the blossoming village, and just as they arrived, they saw Tōka greeting a group of strangers. That meant she was glowering at them, unwilling to move aside even a millimetre as long as Hashirama did not explicitly allow her to let the strangers pass.

The Yamanaka clan consisted of a single family. The Shinobi were in the company of both their elders and their children, and had apparently also brought most of their belongings with them. For Hashirama, this made the case clear.

He stepped towards them and spread his arms. "Welcome, friends! I take it you have come to join us?"

The newcomers looked at him with a mixture of irritation and suspicion. Some of the younger children hid behind their parents. Had they been told this nonsense about the demon from the woods too? Hashirama made a mental note to get this out of the way as quickly as possible.

A man stepped forward and bowed. "I am Yamanaka Inori and the head of my clan. We have come to seek your protection as we have been driven from our land by the Hagoromo clan. We do not have much to offer other than the special technique we have passed down in our family for generations. I sincerely hope that this is enough for you, Senju-sama, however little it may be."

"Of course it is!" Hashirama beamed. "Anyone who wishes peace and asks for help is welcome here, and we do not even want anything in return. It shall be enough if you lend us a helping hand or two in building this village."

Inori's eyes nearly fell out of his head at these words. Whispers arose among the Yamanaka. Then Inori dropped to his knees in front of him and pressed his forehead to the ground. "Shinobi no kami, you are too kind! We will do everything in our power to repay this debt."

Hashirama had never cared much for such gestures, but if it gave people pleasure, they should do it. As long as they didn't start building shrines for him ... "You should also thank Madara-kun. Without him, none of this would be possible."

The Yamanaka's whispering died away as they looked to the two Uchiha at Hashirama's side. Madara gave him a meaningful sideways glance.

"But you haven't forgotten that we Uchiha maintain a loose alliance with the Hagoromo, yes?" he said quietly.

"All the better. It does underline our point that any old enmity can be overcome."

"Whether the Hagoromo will see it that way, I doubt. They will probably see it as the Uchiha's betrayal of them if we shelter their enemies."

"All the more reason to help these people here."

"Do what you can't help doing, but my advice to you as a friend is that in the future you think at least a moment longer before you drink to brotherhood with the first clan you meet."

For Hashirama, that was the end of the matter and the Yamanaka were now spontaneously and quite unceremoniously a part of the blossoming village. He would not have thought that other clans would join them so quickly, but it pleased him all the more.

While some of the surrounding workers took care of the newcomers, Tōka stayed at Hashirama's behest. While she was here, they might as well discuss that other matter they had discussed in the onsen the other day. The onsen that Hashirama had rebuilt but where they were still banned ... He quickly pushed the thought aside.

"Tōka-san, it is fortunate that you are here right now. There is one thing we need your help with," he began. "Now that the foundation for the village has been laid, we must also ensure its security. You have always been very good at such things, and so I would like to entrust you with this task."

Behind him, Hikaku said something quietly to Madara and was about to turn away, but Madara stopped him. "No, stay, because this is a matter that concerns you too. I want you to stand by Tōka-san in this and together bring the Shinobi of both clans to work together effectively."

Tōka and Hikaku gave each other long looks that spoke of scepticism. But then they both nodded and stepped towards each other.

"I know you from some fights," Tōka said. "You're not completely stupid."

"And your tactics have proven to be a tough nut to crack many a time," Hikaku replied.

Hashirama was sure that this had laid the foundation for a fruitful collaboration.