I'm considering switching perspectives to Sasuke after chapter 10. It'll return to Tobirama later, but I think it'd be a good change of pace. What do you all think? Any input is appreciated.
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This was...very uncomfortable, to say the least.
Tobirama had been around his brother's children and grandchildren long enough to know how difficult they could be, but there was a stark difference between watching Hashirama coddle his children and having to care for them himself.
That wasn't to say he'd been an absent uncle or granduncle, no, but he had never had the same responsibilities as Hashirama when it came to the children. He listened to them babble on about stray animals, sure. He was able to assist the academy-aged ones with their homework when Hashirama hadn't been much help, even. He had no problem training the teens and had happily congratulated his niece at her wedding.
Still, that was all very different from what was happening now. He'd never had any of his brother's little ones seek him out for emotional support. He might be close to them, but he was the last person anyone should go to if they wanted comfort. He was more likely to give the grieving person logical advice on how to deal with a situation or attempt to convey his comfort through somber silence than to offer up one of Hashirama's overly warm hugs. Which probably wouldn't work for him, anyway.
He had thought this was abundantly clear. Most people picked up on it fairly quickly. That was, except for Sasuke, apparently. That, or the child had simply decided he didn't care.
Tobirama had to resist his first instincts to tell him to stay still while he went to go get Hashirama. There was no Hashirama, not anymore, unfortunately. So Tobirama was forced to look over at the panicking boy whose lips had begun to blubber, eyes watering over in a pitiful display of misery.
With no shortage of discomfort, Tobirama realized that his hand was still planted carefully on Sasuke's head as the boy took unsteady breaths. He knew he was supposed to do...something. Had this been Hashirama and his little ones, the loud-mouthed shinobi probably would have swooped the boy up and allowed the boy to let out ugly sobs against his chest.
Then again, Hashirama knew his family quite well. Tobirama had no such liberty when it came to Sasuke. He'd barely met the child- they hadn't even succeeded in a full conversation yet. Yet here he was, the only one around to aid the boy. He supposed his way would have to do for now, even if it wasn't ideal for dealing with young children.
"...Put your hands up," he spoke firmly, eyeing the confusion that began to mix with Sasuke's teary face. When Sasuke showed no signs of moving, he carefully moved his hands, reaching out to lift the child's wrists up so that they were over his head. He luckily didn't receive any resistance, Sasuke seeming to of settled on listening for now. That much he was grateful for. "Good. Now take a deep breath." he paused momentarily, "Then let it out. Good." he praised as Sasuke at least attempted to follow his instructions. The boy's breath was still shuttered, small hiccups escaping his trembling lips.
The few loose tears that had been dribbling down from Sasuke's eyes and to his cheeks had begun to slow their pace after a moment, the boy seeming to stop more due to the praise than the actual assistance. Well, Tobirama would take what he could get, he supposed.
When the boy had stopped shaking quite so much, Tobirama let go of his loose hold on the boy's wrists, settling on awkwardly resting it on the boy's back. The albino shinobi watched as Sasuke hurried to wipe at the tear stains, sniffling in an attempt to clean himself up. His embarrassment was clear, the child not knowing what to do any better than Tobirama himself. Well, at least he wasn't crying anymore.
"Are you hungry?" the elder of the two settled on asking, watching the boy's dark eyes shift up towards him. Spirits, it was so strange to see someone who looked so much like Izuna act like an actual child. Sure, Izuna had been a bit hot-headed and even teasing at times, but his rival had never shown such vulnerability. He supposed he should count this as a testament to how well the village has done.
It wasn't exactly common, but there had been times when camps had died out with only one or two survivors. Back then, those shinobi would usually grieve for a week or two then shove it down to focus on the rest of their allies. To see Sasuke so openly broken a month after the event spoke wonders for how rare mass death was these days.
So why didn't he feel any joy when he saw Sasuke's small nod, the six-year-old wearily wiping his eyes and murmuring something about having just finished shopping the day prior? He bit back the feeling in his gut that told him this was all so wrong. It gave him that same terrible taste he always found at the end of a victory. The same bitter taste that grew when he saw his kin laying dead at his feet alongside the Uchiha. It was a sickening thought- to feel joy over the fact that fewer people were dead. There was always that small voice there to antagonize him, pointing out that he had no right to be joyous over a victory where even one of his allies had died.
He found himself moving despite his inner conflict, the trained shinobi casting calm red eyes over the young Uchiha who had settled on pointing at all the different ingredients in the kitchen, babbling on nervously about what they could make. "-Or there's the stuff for tomato sandwiches, or rice and vegetables, or egg sandwiches-" the boy suggested.
Tobirama furrowed his brows at this, drawn out of his stewing thoughts as he heard the child's words. "You said you just went shopping yesterday?" he inquired, watching as the boy snapped his mouth shut, nodding up at the unfamiliar shinobi. "Where's the meat?" he asked, not having seen any in the fridge.
Sasuke didn't seem to happy with the question, but pulled out some packaged turkey, letting it drop onto the counter unceremoniously. "There's this. I haven't bought any new meat since it costs a lot," he explained. "But it started getting fuzzy. I figured I should save it for last since it tasted weird. I don't want to eat it unless I'm really low on money." he explained.
Tobirama felt his lip slightly curl in disgust, his eyes drifting over the obviously foul meat and clueless boy. He picked it up, glancing over the indeed fuzzy texture. He could see a spot where it had a small bite taken out of it, probably bitten into and repackaged by the six-year-old out of disgust if he had to guess. "I sincerely hope you didn't swallow that?" he sighed, relieved when Sasuke shook his head back and forth.
"It tasted weird, but I didn't want to waste it so I just spit that part out. I figured it would be a good back-up meal if I really needed it," he explained, as though it was the most reasonable thing to do. Tobirama supposed it would be, to someone as young as Sasuke. He doubted proper food maintenance and preparation had been on his parent's minds when he was still in need of a step-stool to reach half the house. The academy or training were most likely far more pressing matters at that point in time. They must have assumed they had plenty of time to teach him still, Tobirama thought sourly.
Shaking his head briefly, Tobirama tossed the package in the trash. "It doesn't matter how hungry you are. Do not eat things with fuzz, weird colors, or strange tastes." he spoke with renewed annoyance at the lack of adults in the house. Whose bright idea was it to leave a six-year-old alone like this? "Does anyone come by to check in on you, Sasuke?"
He was at least glad to see a small nod as the little ravenet moved to play with his small bangs, Tobirama pressing past him to get out the rice. He supposed this would have to do for now until he could go out to stock up on some meat. It wasn't healthy for someone that young to not have a balanced diet and he doubted the kid was making sure to get protein from other sources.
Unfortunately, the shinobi's relief was short-lived as Sasuke's words came from behind him. Tobirama was glad he was busy filling the pot with water and rice, back turned to Sasuke. Otherwise, he might worry that the darkening expression on his face would scare the boy. "Mhm- the Hokage said he'd visit every month to give me my monthly budget from the Uchiha clan's savings. He came by every other week to make sure the burning was progressing, but he stopped those visits since I finished." his voice quiet as he spoke.
"...Burning?" he could understand keeping the clan savings until the kid was older- who knew what a child this young would do with such a fortune- but what the hell did he have to burn? He knew the Uchiha burned their dead- after all, it was one of the many things that had always struck Tobirama about the clan. The way they'd fight and fight, never giving up until they had every single dead body that had fallen on the battlefield taken home. He'd only learned later on from his brother that they apparently found it essential to burn each and every one of them without exception. Still, surely the village hadn't left him to take care of his dead clansmen on his own? There had been far too much blood for it to of been a small clan. They clearly hadn't shrunk much.
...Mentally, he reminded himself to check in on the other clans. He hadn't felt any Uzumaki or Senju, but that wasn't too shocking with his repressed chakra. Not to mention the Uzumaki's tended to live in their own village despite Hashirama's assurances that they were welcome to join them. He could only hope a tragedy such as this hadn't occurred with his clansmen. The thought made his insides turn, gulping at the thought as he set the rice on low and worked to chop the vegetables.
Focus on what was in front of him, he reminded himself. Focus. He could feel the boy watching him, but didn't comment. He wasn't too excited to get his answer, and the boy didn't seem too eager to give it up either. Unfortunately, it was probably a bad idea for the village to have let the boy set fire to who knows what given the little incident in the living room barely an hour ago. Damn pyromaniac Uchiha.
"The clan." Sasuke finally muttered when Tobirama continued cutting while staring him down. He felt a bit bad, knowing his eyes had been unsettling to those around him for numerous reasons throughout his lifetime, but still. He needed the confirmation. To hear Sasuke admit that his guess had been correct was not comforting in the least. He might have sliced the last carrot a bit harder than necessary, but he paid this no mind as he saw Sasuke's cheeks puff up in nervous fear. "You better not tell me that I should have let the village do it too." he spoke, nerves laced with anger.
"Well, from what I gather, the Uchiha clan was quite large. It's improbable for you to have burned them all by yourself. If you wanted to be present for the cremation that would be understandable, but to do it alone would be-" he began, dumping the vegetables in as he spoke. He only paused as he felt a small pressure on his side. He set the cutting board aside, looking down at the little ravenet.
The boy had shoved both his hands against Tobirama's side, as if to shove him. "I said I didn't want to hear that!" the little Uchiha demanded, glaring up at Tobirama. He seemed to freeze when he met Tobirama's narrow red eyes, hands lowering to sit anxiously in front of his chest. His pale little fingers gripped into his palms, fists shaking ever so slightly despite his continued glower towards Tobirama. When Tobirama only raised a slender brow, the boy seemed to hesitate further. "...Uchiha take care of Uchiha, in matters of both life and death." the child spoke, words Tobirama had heard uttered among his rival clan more than once. He had no doubt it was a phrase that had been hammered into the boy from a young age. "The village shouldn't have tried to take them away. It wasn't their place...it was mine. They were my clan. They were my responsibility." his words unhindered despite the small steps he took back from Tobirama. "They...you have no right to try and make me feel bad about not giving up my clan's rituals for the sake of hurrying. I don't care if it took me a few weeks. I did it right."
Though he had no idea why the boy kept backing up whenever he looked at him, Tobirama had to admit he was at least impressed he was able to speak through his obvious nerves. He supposed he could be rather intimidating. Still, though, Sasuke wasn't really wrong. The village was supposed to unite the many clans to become something great but there were some lines that simply couldn't be dissolved. How the clan's dealt with their own dead was one such line.
"I am aware that it was your right to control the situation how you saw fit." he mused, wiping his hands. Even if Sasuke was barely past his waste. "That didn't make it any less probable. I was merely going to point out that it would have been difficult for someone so young to chop the wood required and such. Even if you didn't want anyone interfering with the ceremony, you probably should have accepted the help when it comes to setting it up. Unless it's particularly important who cuts the wood for the pyre, there's no harm in seeking a bit of help from your village." he spoke firmly, turning his attention back to the stove as he sturred the veggies into the already cooked rice.
Handing the boy his bowl and a pair of chopsticks, Tobirama motioned him to the table. Sasuke seemed uncertain about his words, merely watching him with a look of distaste. The thought of the boy standing over pyres every day for weeks made Tobirama's stomach turn. That couldn't have been healthy to go through on his own. Tobirama internally hoped that the boy had at least had a sensei there for moral support, if nothing else.
After a brief moment, small fingers wrapped around the bowl, Sasuke taking it despite the sullen expression on his face. Tobirama found himself mentally sighing for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. Oh, this child wasn't going to make this easy, was he?