Extra long chapter to make up for the sudden dip in updates. Finals are coming up, which means the school year is almost over. Updates should be a lot quicker once summer break arrives. Thank you all for being patient and your wonderful reviews. It appreciate it a lot.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Tobirama found himself sitting cross-legged across from the boy, not bothering to get himself a bowl as he settled onto the zabuton. He wasn't particularly hungry, his stomach still settling after reforming. It was probably best not to waste food anyway, if the boy's budget was so tight that he was keeping that disgusting meat just in case.

A budget which clearly didn't take his appetite into consideration, the Senju noted as the boy took calm, large bites of his dinner. The boy's cheeks seemed to puff up, the child's baby-face becoming emphasized as he ate.

That was yet another thing he'd have to discuss with the current Hokage, he mulled, idly tapping his finger against the thick wood of the dining table. It made sense to moderate how much Sasuke was able to spend, but it should at least be enough to make sure he was properly fed. It seemed like he was piling up quite the list of inquiries. Hopefully, this new Hokage would cooperate with him without much hassle.

Though he had originally planned to slip in and out, things had changed. That much had become evident the moment he saw the blood splatter lining the streets of the Uchiha compound.

He had expected the Uchiha to be the ones in need of reprimand, but as he looked to the boy in front of him, it seems he was wrong. As Sasuke scowled down at a bit of vegetable he had dropped onto his lap, it was obvious that it was the Uchiha who needed aid from the village. Aid they- or rather, Sasuke- was not getting or accepting for some reason.

It was something he'd need to bring up and get fixed as soon as possible. Asura forbid the only survivor die of malnutrition or food poisoning. If this was how the only remaining child of a clan as prominent as the Uchiha was being treated, he found himself concerned for the village dependants as a whole.

When he'd envisioned his return to life, he'd assumed the village would have grown into something even better than he had left it. Not...whatever had happened that resulted in him being made to comfort and cook for a six-year-old Uchiha child.

He still found Sasuke's earlier explanation detestable, to say the least. The Hokage only showed up every month to give the child his monthly allowance. Tobirama sat back a bit, hands resting on his knees as he took a breath of annoyance. His sharp scarlet eyes watched the boy make his way through the bowl, displeased at the idea of him being alone so often.

Sure, he likely spent most of his time at the academy, but that was vastly different. The staff of the academy had who knows how many children to look after-- they hardly counted. They were fine to supervise him, he had no doubt. That didn't mean they'd be able to competently make sure he himself was actually alright.

Then when Sasuke came home, there was apparently no one there to make sure he did his homework? Kept the house in healthy conditions? Fed himself properly? Given, he was doing all of that minus his lack of protein, but that was beside the point. He was six. As Tobirama sat across from him, the boy's head barely came up past his elbows.

Surely, there had to of been someone willing to play babysitter for at least a few hours of the day? Hell, make it a high D rank mission. Babysitting was part of that category. Surely the village wasn't doing so poorly they couldn't afford to pay some genin to do that much.

Even if he was able to take care of himself, anything could happen to the boy. Ire at the thought filled him as he watched the little ravenet fiddle with his chopsticks. He could be kidnapped by someone wanting a sharingan. With all the boy had gone through, Tobirama highly doubted he hadn't unlocked it yet.

Or, worse yet, Itachi could return to finish his younger brother off.

That was a thought that disturbed Tobirama immensely, fingers tightening ever so slightly on his knees. It would be so easy for Itachi to slip back into the walls of Konoha, given his current power level seemed to be astronomical for his age. He could sneak in at any time to kill off the child in front of him, ending their bloodline outside of he himself.

Come to think of it, how had Itachi seemingly killed them all off on his own and escaped? From what he had gathered, it had been a massacre from within, by the hands of Itachi Uchiha alone. Sasuke hadn't called out for anyone else. The teen seemed to be a fairly well-established shinobi, based on his room. Even so, the boy hadn't had a certificate for advancing to the rank of jonin. So a chuunin had taken the entire clan out in one night, the only exception being his younger brother?

Something felt off about it, but Tobirama couldn't quite place it. His eyes narrowed further at the thought. It seemed unreasonable to think that someone so young was able to cause such damage without setting off any warning signs.

Then again, it wasn't impossible. If someone as talented as Madara, for example, had been born in a time of peace...well, it wouldn't look pretty to be on the opposite side of his interests. That much alone could be told from the crusted crimson that decorated the Uchiha compound.

Yes, he'd definitely have to ask around and gather more information on the Uchiha Clan's slaughterer. It was dangerous to have a person so willing to murder his own family roam the lands free. Who knew what he'd do, or if he'd come back to finish things up.

The muttering of an uncomfortable 'Thank you' pulled him from his thoughts. His previously narrowed eyes snapped out of their thoughtful position, the elder shinobi giving Sasuke a glance-over once more. Ah, he'd absent-mindedly noticed the child's squirming, but he hadn't realized it was pointed at him. He really should avoid falling into his own mind when he was unable to use his sensory powers at their usual potential.

"You're welcome." he settled on, standing and taking the bowl as to give himself something better to do than accidentally scare the boy. He moved towards the sink, inquiring, "What time do you usually go to bed?" as he quickly rinsed the bowl and chopsticks.

He could hear the boy standing from behind him, his footsteps padding softly against the floor as he moved to stand nearby. The boy was doing that a lot, Tobirama noticed. Tailing him around despite his weariness. "When I'm tired."

Well, that was specific, Tobirama sarcastically huffed in his head at the boy's vague answer. "And when, typically, is that?" he asked, finishing the dishes and rubbing his hands against the kitchen towel as he turned to look Sasuke over. A shrug was his only response, much to Tobirama's inconvenience. "Well, are you tired now?"

"Yeah." was the only response he got, Sasuke idly having taken to looking around the room rather than at him.

Tobirama noticed his displeasure at the mention of sleep, but didn't comment as he suggested, "You should go brush your teeth and head to bed, then. It's getting late."

"Yeah." came the apprehensive reply, the child moving towards the stairs to get ready for bed. Tobirama sighed to himself as the boy headed off, rubbing his temple. That was a good sign, he drawled sarcastically.

Tobirama took steady steps over to the living room, the dark-clad shinobi settling onto the window seal with a brief shake of his head. His fingers wrapped around the soft fabric of the curtain, pulling it back. The sky was dark, the moon a clear waning gibbous. Perhaps he was still just adjusting to his body, but to him, it seemed like the moon rays were almost washing over the compound.

It would have been quite beautiful, had it not been for the morbidly contrasting bloodstains on the sidewalk. They seemed to taint the easy tranquillity of the compound, a heavy reminder of what had happened. The glass shards seemed to shine under the moonlight, the broken windows aiding the blood in destroying any previous disillusion of a peaceful night.

Tobirama's hand ran through his hair, the Senju feeling a wash of guilt flow over him as he let the curtains fall closed. He hated the idea of making the boy go to bed when he was so obviously trying to avoid it, but there wasn't much that could be done. He had seen enough horror throughout his lifetime to have a pretty good idea of why the boy was dragging his feet so much, any holes being filled by the gruesome image outside. Nonetheless, the boy couldn't simply stay up until he drove himself to exhaustion. It wouldn't be good for the body-- he would know.

The ruffling of clothing behind him had him turning his head to eye at the boy who'd apparently finished brushing his teeth. The young Uchiha had also changed into a pair of dark blue pajamas, he noted idly. He didn't miss Sasuke's pointed looks away from him, the six-year-old's sulking being aimed towards the rest of the room.

Small hands made to grab at the dinosaur plushy, holding it close to his chest as he paused briefly. The boy's brows were pushed together as he hugged the toy, large dark eyes flickering over to Tobirama after a moment.

The elder shinobi merely rose a brow, waiting for the boy to say what was on his mind. He had turned from the window seal, fingers interlocking as he eyed the boy up and down. He waited for a moment longer, frowning to himself as the boy turned to head upstairs. Sasuke padded over for the staircase, apparently abandoning his initial question.

Tobirama shook his head briefly at this, standing to follow the boy at a much calmer pace. He was sure Sasuke had noticed, since the boy paused at the top of the stairs to look down at him. The little ravenet looked almost nervous as Tobirama didn't stop his pace towards him, the silver-haired shinobi only pausing as he reached the top of the staircase as well.

Sasuke's quick movement out of the way left Tobirama standing at the top of the staircase alone, the boy moving to put his hand on the door. "I'm going to bed." the boy spoke in almost an assuring manner, though it still held the tint of weariness to it.

Tobirama nodded, arms crossing on habit as he eyed the child. "I'm aware." he mused, raising a brow at the boy as he moved forward. He silently ushed Sasuke into the bedroom, the small Uchiha sending him huffy looks at his vague replies. Well, if the kid wasn't going to be clear about what he wanted, Tobirama couldn't very well help him. Outside of not wanting to sleep, the silver-haired shinobi wasn't sure what the kid wanted.

So he settled on leading him to the bedroom, watching as Sasuke moved to climb into bed with the toy. Weary glances were directed at Tobirama, which he couldn't really blame the boy for. Still, as the boy nested under the covers, Tobirama couldn't shake the distinct feeling that the boy had something he wanted to say.

When the boy's mouth remained closed, his dinosaur plushy tucked firmly under his arm, Tobirama finally gave in. Sasuke was sending him an owlish look, his pale complexion and big dark eyes not helping him steer the image away. "If you want something, you need to ask. I can make my guesses, but I'm not a mind-reader," he commented, leaning on in the doorway with his arms and legs crossed idly. The light from the hallway filtered in through the room, illuminating Sasuke's small form in the dark.

The young Uchiha's eyes widened slightly at the words, seeming to nest further into his blankets. His mouth opened, only to snap shut the next moment. Tobirama steadied his patience as he waited on the boy once more, remaining calm. It took only a moment longer for Sasuke to finally summon the words that had been caught in his throat. "Are you going to leave soon?" the words unsteady and weary as they left his mouth.

"I was planning on heading into the village tonight, yes." Tobirama tilted his head slightly as he examined the boy briefly. "Though, I do plan to leave a clone behind should you need anything." he added.

Sasuke's head shook back and forth briefly, emphasizing, "No, I mean. Are you going to leave soon?" his words overly pronounced as he repeated the question. "To go back to your home."

Ah, so that's what he was going on about. "I don't plan on leaving anytime soon." he admitted, "I'll be staying in Konoha until I'm sure this situation is better."

"Situation...?" Sasuke's brows furrowed as he looked up at him in confusion. "But the clan is already gone. There's nothing to fix here." his fingers tightening on the toy beside him. "The only thing left to do is kill Itachi, but I can't do that for a while yet." his eyes widened as he finished speaking, jolting up and into a sitting position as his voice rose. "You can't kill Itachi, that's for me to do!"

A soft sigh left Tobirama's lips as he moved forward and out of the doorway, hand moving to rest on Sasuke's shoulder as he nudged the child back down. "That's not what I meant." it was definitely something that needed to be addressed, but later. Not now, right before the boy went to bed. "I meant you. Not Itachi." he explained.

When the boy hesitantly laid back down, Tobirama removed his hand, instead laying it in his lap. He had squatted down beside the bed so that he didn't hover, his voice low in hopes of keeping the boy calm. "I know you've been living alone for almost a month now and are getting used to it, but it can't stay like that any longer. It's not safe."

Sasuke looked like he wanted to argue, but luckily, didn't. Tobirama was grateful for that much. "You've done a good job of taking care of yourself and your clan. I'm sure they'd be proud of you. Even so, they'd want you to accept help from the village at some point. You mentioned that they've been sending people to help, but you've been sending them away?" he ventured as carefully as he could.

The young Uchiha blushed lightly at the praise, a warmth emitting from him as he heard it. His eyes seemed to well with a sense of pride, smile making its way to his lips for only a moment before it promptly dropped again. The joy seemed to filter out of him the moment he heard mention of the village representatives, a small pout replacing his smile. "Yeah..." the boy looked torn between apprehensive and unrelenting. "I don't want the village's help. I'm an Uchiha. Uchiha are supposed to take care of their clan. That means it's my job to keep what's left safe."

"The village is here to help you, Sasuke." Tobirama reminded, eyes narrowing ever so slightly at the boy's words. "The Uchiha clan is part of the Leaf Village. They aren't opposing forces-- they're on the same side as you."

"No, they aren't." Sasuke looked frustrated as he tried to explain, looking up towards the ceiling as he pulled his words together. "The village isn't helping, even if they say they're trying to or think they are. They want me to move into public housing and away from the compound. They tried to take over the funeral process. How- how would you feel if your village tried to take your home? Or didn't let you put your husband to rest?" his head shifting to look at Tobirama, meeting his eyes with something akin to desperation.

Tobirama found himself quiet for a moment, rolling over the thoughts in his head. His initial response was to defend the village's integrity- to point out that it was safer for Sasuke to be in the village, where it would be harder to kill or kidnap him without notice. Not to mention the damage it most likely caused, to be living in a place where so many clansmen had been murdered. It was unreasonable for a six-year-old to of burned so many on his own, his mind supplied as well.

Even so, Sasuke's questions echoed in his mind as he sat in silence. Tobirama felt his brows furrow at the thought. After all, as village-centric as he tended to be, he did still have a clan. He found himself momentarily wondering what it would be like- to be in such a situation. He could almost imagine it-- his clan somehow dying out, being forced to live with the Uzumaki clan and denied the right to bury his family.

Logically, it would make sense. If he were six when such a thing happened, it would be hypocritical for him to say otherwise. The Uzumaki were long-time allies of the Senju. It would be similar to Sasuke being made to integrate further into the village, if not better since it'd be one clan rather than an array of them.

Still, he couldn't bear the thought. He was by no means an emotional man, but he wasn't heartless either. He loved his clan. They were his family. Just as the Uchiha were to Sasuke. Not to mention the Uchiha clan's painstaking love for each other.

It took a moment for Tobirama to settle his thoughts and swallow the lump in his throat, but finally, he explained it as best he could with the child's perspective in mind. "I understand why you're hurting, Sasuke. The village was wrong to try to take them from you without cooperating, but that doesn't mean you need to refuse all aid. If you and the village are going to fix this, you both need to work together."

After another long moment, Sasuke finally spoke, though his heavy eyes had turned to look back up at the ceiling. "But what if I mess up?" his small voice came, clearly uncomfortable. "If I say something and accidentally give them permission, or stop fighting, they might take it all. This is all I have left of my clan. I don't want them to make me move or try to take over something else."

In other words, Tobirama noted grimly, he was scared that the village would take advantage of him not knowing how this all worked. So he was refusing all aid. If Tobirama had to make an educated guess, he'd say that them trying to move in so quickly on the compound and funeral had made him weary.

"They won't take advantage of you. The village is supposed to help the clans that make it." Why it was being so pushy about all but stealing clan property and funeral rights, he wasn't sure. The clans make the village-- the village doesn't own the clans. Obviously, something had changed since he had left. The possibility of an incompetent Hokage seemed more and more likely by the minute. As one of the village founders, he refused to allow it to stand if this was the case. The village he helped make didn't try to intimidate children into giving up their home. "...I'll make sure they don't."

Sasuke ventured carefully as he rested his stuffed dinosaur on his stomach, playing with the arms as if to distract himself. "...Because you're kinda my clan too? Even if you were far away, you were married to an Uchiha. So you're part of the Uchiha clan too, which makes you wanna protect it?" he asked, Tobirama finding it bittering that the boy found it necessary to draw such lines.

"I want to protect the Uchiha clan because it deserves to be protected just like any other clan of this village." the words feeling heavy in his mouth, almost foreign. It deserved to be protected just like any other clan...he couldn't help but feel a bit deceptive even as he spoke this full truth, considering the eggshells he'd walked on with the clan and all the precautions he'd left to keep it in check.

Like a flame, he'd said...now he wondered if he'd snuffed it too much. He could only hope that the village wasn't taking advantage of the clan's downfall because of anything he'd said or done. He had only wanted them to be watched, not...this. Their clan's downfall possibly being used as a chance to seize property and remove all possible traces of it from this child. It was as though they were trying to eliminate the clan itself by taking advantage of its internal issues.

"So you don't count yourself as a member of the clan?" Sasuke's voice cut through his internal struggles, the young Uchiha looking at the toy on his stomach and pointedly away from Tobirama. The boy's jaw was locked as he spoke, blinking a bit too fast to be normal. Tobirama sighed at the boy's clear attempt to hide his misty eyes, a sense of unsureness filling him.

His knee-jerk reaction would be hell no-- he was a Senju, to claim to be an Uchiha was just wrong on so many personal levels. The sour taste it left in his mouth only worsened as he internally glowered. He wouldn't have such a reaction if he had to pretend to be an Uzumaki or a Hyuuga, he knew. His initial response only strengthened the lingering feeling in his stomach. Perhaps...he really had been too strict with the Uchiha. Which may have led to the village's similarly sour perception of the clan.

That would mean, he narrowed his eyes at the thought, that this may be partially his fault. Perhaps this was karma's twisted way of responding-- leaving the results of his actions right there in front of him, watery-eyed at the thought of a possible clansman rejecting their title. He could only hope he was looking too far into it. That this had all been a big coincidence. Selfishly, though he hated the thought, he almost hoped the new Hokage was merely corrupt and would take advantage of any clan's downfall the same way.

...Regardless, that didn't stop the torn child in front of him from looking any worse. He'd lost his clan, and was struggling to hold onto the last of its remains. To refuse the title when Sasuke was so clearly choked up about the idea of there being someone left would be cruel. As conflicted as it made Tobirama, he wasn't about to smack away the child's hidden attempt at reaching out just to save his pride.

Tobirama was not an inherently cruel man, and so, he found his cold hands moving to smooth over the boy's spiky hair with a low murmur of, "I never said that."