Tobirama found himself annoyed as the boy tried, again and again, to flee once he released him. To be fair, he knew it was a reasonable reaction, but that didn't make it any less troublesome to have to recapture him and set him on the couch. After the fourth attempt, Tobirama lifted the boy under the arms and held him face to face.

Looking the young Uchiha in the eyes he furrowed a brow with a long stare, his face showing no signs of amusement as they locked gazes. "Child." he warned, "Sit." his expression as unyielding as ever.

Giving the mini-Izuna a moment to comprehend this, he set him down on the couch gently. He gave a small hum of approval as he saw the boy finally settle, even if it was a few feet away from him. Tobirama sat, crossing his legs in hope of giving the child some ease. He'd rather not have to interrogate him if it could be helped. As such, he did his best to repress his 'resting bitch face' as Izuna used to call it. Damn bastard.

Before he could even begin to ask the millions of questions lined up in his mind, the Senju trying to pick the least damaging one, the boy spoke. His voice had a tremble to it, as suspicious as anyone would be in this situation. "Who are you?"

Well, that was a difficult question to answer. Luckily, he had already prepared a cover name in case he went out into public while resurrected. The story...would need to be modified. For now, though, he settled on giving his calm answer. "My name is Tobira. What is your name?" head tilted ever so slightly with interest. It'd be preferable to not have to continue calling him 'boy' and 'child' every time he thought of him.

He quirked a brow with a sense of amusement as the mini-Izuna muttered almost shyly, his hands moving to tug at his fingers nervously, "Sasuke". Tobirama paused momentarily- wasn't that the name of Sarutobi's father? He'd only met the man in passing, but the few times he'd shown up to watch his son train had been...interesting. The man had been the picture of discipline and power, so it was odd to see such an apprehensive boy sharing the same name.

He saw the boy open his mouth to say more, but nothing came out. It took Tobirama a moment to realize he was probably trying to choke out his last name, to no avail. The Senju took pity on the boy, moving on. "How old are you? Aren't you a bit young to be in this compound alone?"

While it would have been normal for him or really any child of the warring states period to be alone at that age, this was different. They'd been fighting in wars at that age, for hell's sake. They knew how to take care of themselves, even if they shouldn't have had to. One of the few things Hashirama had utterly demanded he put in the curriculum for the academy was safety.

Young children shouldn't be left on their own, even if they were powerful for their age. Someone with experience could always show along to take them out if they ventured too far. It had, sadly, been something he had learned right alongside Hashirama when the infamous meeting at the lake had taken place.

That day had pressed the idea further into his mind, even if he'd known it previously from the various battles they'd fought. He hadn't realized beforehand that an adult would go out of their way to harm a child outside the heat of battle. Even if they had been rival clans, he'd assumed the viciousness would only stretch so far.

Tobirama's inexperienced mind had been proved wrong as he followed his father to the lake, the man ready to use the chance to kill a young Madara. This had only been reinforced as Tajima had stepped in at nearly the same moment to do the same to Hashirama.

The albino shinobi had to blink away the memory as he watched the boy in front of him looking just as distrusting as Izuna had each time they met. The difference was, this child had most likely been born into Konoha. He wasn't supposed to have that same distrusting and battle-ready look. That had been the entire point of his and his brother's village!

This anger remained locked down, however. Quirking a brow with a slight tug of his lip downward, the boy finally spoke. "Six. I'm old enough to take care of myself." the Senju nearly rolling his eyes at the boy. He only eyed him with an unimpressed look, the boy insisting as he listed things off on his fingers, "I am! I can do everything a grown-up can do. I can cook, clean, and fight!" hands moving around in front of him as he spoke.

"Oh? So what I'm hearing is you almost set your house on fire on purpose?" Tobirama supplied with no lack of sarcasm. The child- Sasuke, he reminded himself - went red at the mention of the fire.

The little Uchiha glared daggers at Tobirama, crossing his arms. Well, at least he didn't seem as frightened anymore. "I know how to use my jutsu." Sasuke spoke firmly, demanding, "Was I just supposed to ignore the intruder in my house!?"

"No, but the point is, you shouldn't be keeping guard by yourself. You almost set fire to a wooden house. Had I not stopped you, you would have burned your house to the ground. Hasn't the compound been through enough already?" he spoke seriously, red eyes starring towards the child firmly.

Tobirama watched as the young Uchiha faltered at his, his annoyed expression turning into one of hurt. Damn it, Tobirama cursed, he never had been good at sugar coating. This was Hashirama's area of expertise, not his. He watched the boy swallow back his emotions, clearly resisting the urge to snarl up at Tobirama. "You're another one of those Konoha reps, aren't you?" The child scowled, much to Tobirama's surprise. "I already told you all, you can tear the compound and clan from my cold, dead, hands."

The albino mentally keened-- typical Uchiha. Threaten him and he squirms and tries to run, but take a shot at his clan and he's ready to release a Katon jutsu. Tobirama only leaned forward, towards Sasuke. His eyes narrowed, warning, "I wouldn't use those words so lightly. Stop your yelling. It isn't helping."

The albino shinobi made a point to ignore Sasuke's sullen look, the young Uchiha scooting back further into the corner of the couch. Tobirama took a breath, steadying his patients. "I'm not a village representative. I have no interest in taking this compound from you. You're an Uchiha, so you and your kin are fully within your rights to keep it to yourselves."

Sasuke seemed surprised at his words, the little ravenet nodding quickly in agreement with him. The boy threw his hands up in an exhausted fashion, though his voice wasn't as loud as it had been a moment ago. "Exactly. It's my compound." looking pleased with the elder shinobi's agreeance. The child seemed to revel in this confirmation for a brief moment before forcing himself back down to earth. "...If you aren't a village rep, why are you in the compound?"

The half-truth left Tobirama's lips before he could think to question them. "I came to check on the Uchiha clan," he explained, the lie passing his lips with frightening ease. "I've been away for a while, but I had heard there had been some sort of attack, though I don't know the details." his head tilted ever so slightly as he eyed the boy.

Sasuke seemed to pause, hands gripping the bottom of his own shirt as he looked up at Tobirama with widened eyes. His lip was quivering ever so slightly, and Tobirama wondered if he had said something particularly harsh. He didn't think so- but then again, the boy seemed to be switching between sorrow and rage at speeds that would make even Izuna impressed. He wasn't prepared for the six-year-old to ask in the tiniest voice he'd ever heard, "Are you a member of the Uchiha clan? You've just been away? Why didn't you come home sooner?" his voice sickeningly hopeful.

Tobirama didn't like the idea of pretending to be an Uchiha in the least. The only thing he liked less than that idea would probably be crushing the kid's anticipation. He settled on a half-lie once more, the albino giving a sigh to mimic grief. "Not quite. I was married to an Uchiha. He passed away quite a while ago, unfortunately, never meeting any of his clan. We didn't have the resources to travel from our home in the Land of Water to Konoha. I didn't have much reason to go by myself after he was gone, but I heard the news and it seemed like a good idea to at least check in on his old clan." his hand running through his hair in only half-false stress. He didn't want to lie, but 'I came back from the dead to knock some sense into the Uchiha only to find they're all dead!' didn't sound any better.

The young boy seemed beyond tired, his brows knitting together as he listened to Tobirama's words. His lips were pulled into a soft frown, the back of his hand coming up to rub at his eyes. "You said you didn't know the details...?" Sasuke asked with a faint sigh. "Didn't the Hokage tell you when you came?"

"No. I haven't gotten into contact with the Hokage yet. I came to the compound as soon as I arrived in the village." Tobirama mused. "Though, I do plan on visiting soon. I wanted to check in on any of the surviving members first."

The albino shinobi was surprised as he felt the six-year-old scoot across the couch, expression bitter as he settled himself closer to Tobirama. Sasuke didn't seem like the openly-affectionate type, that much Tobirama could tell even in the short time he'd been watching him. The boy must be tired, he supposed. It was nearly six pm, and he had been through a lot today and in general. As such, as uncomfortable as Tobirama found himself, he let the child inch closer and closer on the couch until he was less than a foot away.

It was one thing to want to protect the children of the village. It was an entirely different struggle to have to interact with one directly. This point was proven as Sasuke muttered grumpily, "Survivor. Member." his voice pointed as he corrected Tobirama. "Everyone else is dead besides me and the killer."

Tobirama felt his stomach drop at the child's words. "...You and the killer?" was that why Sasuke was screaming seemingly into the air for Itachi to get away? The room he had been in less than an hour ago had belonged to the one responsible for all this?

It had been an attack from the inside? Perhaps he could have understood had it been any other clan, but for the Uchiha clan to fall by their own kin? It was the last thing he'd expected. His disbelief was forced down as Sasuke nodded, the boy now tugging at the end of his shirt and refusing to meet Tobirama's eyes. "Mhm. Everyone is dead except us. He only left me. I was too weak for him to be bothered to kill." the boy's hands reaching up from his shirt to grip at his own hair as he spoke in a cracked voice, "I have to kill him. I have to avenge my clan." his teeth gritting as his pupils dilated. "How am I supposed to do that when I can't even keep my compound safe?"

Tobirama reached over, hesitantly resting his hand on the child's head. He watched as the boy's eyes widened, snapping out of the crushing panic to look up at the albino. The Senju wasn't sure what to say to break the tension, but after a long moment, settled on- "...Take a breath."