I do not own Naruto. I own only the plot and any original characters.
three
.
change will inevitably come, for better or for worse
.
It had all started with Madara grumbling to himself under his breath.
That enough made me raise my head from practicing kanji and look at my dad, because no matter how full of paperwork he is, he almost never complains out loud. He frowns and writes as if the paper itself had done something to him, yes, but he rarely voices his displeasure.
I stood up quietly and made my way into the kitchen. I made tea exactly the way the cleaning lady - Momoka-san - had taught me to, the way dad likes it. I brought it to him and when he finally raised his dark eyes to look at mine, there was a deep set frown on his young face, something that'd been stressing him out more than the Elders wanting him to marry.
"Here's some tea, dad."
His appreciation came in the way he relaxed his shoulders and nodded at me, pushing his paperwork aside and taking the steaming hot teacup in his hands. They were calloused and full of burn marks, enough that he barely felt how hot the ceramic was. Madara had noticed me looking at his hands and then glanced at my own, still pale and unmarked because all he'd had me doing was katas. He'd gotten an odd look in his eyes that made me wonder just what was going on inside his head.
"Have you ever heard about Tailed Beasts, Chiasa?"
"No, dad."
Madara finished his tea and ruffled my shoulder-length hair briefly, then patted the space next to him. Wordlessly, I'd gone and sat down, close enough to touch. After a split second of hesitation, he'd grabbed me and put me between his legs. Grabbing a blank scroll, he started to tell me about a goddess named Kaguya, her sons and grandsons, and the Tailed Beasts. Madara had told me, in a very low tone, about power beyond our imagination, and how the leader of the village wanted to imprison the Beasts and distribute them amongst the other villages to show power and a will to get along.
He'd finished his story and I felt upset. Angry.
"It's not fair."
"What isn't?"
"Capturing and imprisoning the Tailed Beasts. They haven't done anything, have they?"
"...not unprovoked, no."
I'd crossed my arms, pouting.
"They're beings with their own minds and emotions. It's wrong to want them in a cage like that."
'I may not know how to write a lot of kanji, but I know how to speak, dang it. Listen to me, dad.'
After listening to me rant, Madara had stayed quiet for a long time after that, leaving me to let out my anger in all the difficult kanji I'd been unable to write properly. The next morning, he told me we were going to meet the village leader - the hokage.
.
Hashirama is a powerful man and the leader of one of the first ninja villages, so he's entitled to think very few things can throw him off.
When he heard that his old friend had adopted a young child, he'd first thought Madara had finally gone crazy, then became hopeful as he'd received reports from the man himself that she'd been officially declared his daughter and clan heir.
The oldest Senju had, of course, wanted to meet her as soon as possible, especially when it seemed like Madara was finally staying in the village more often. He'd wondered what kind of child she was, and how the Uchiha was raising her.
It's truly ironic and a sign of what's to come that Hashirama finally meets the Uchiha princess a couple of months later not because of his request, but because of the child's own volition.
"Welcome, old friend! And welcome, young lady! Might I have your name?"
No one in the room misses the way Madara carefully cradles the child on his left side, keeping his body and dominant arm between her and Tobirama, who stands at the Uchiha's right. She's a cute little thing - straight black hair, pale face and big black eyes, and she really does look like a princess all dressed up in a dark pink and navy blue hakama, sitting prettily up in her father's arm.
Hashirama doesn't miss the way her eyes dart to each person in the room, assessing the situation, before she glances at Madara, then at him. Not for the first time, the Shodaime wonders what the Uchiha has said about him.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hokage-sama, Senju-sama. I'm Uchiha Chiasa, and I'm four years old."
The oldest Senju very nearly melts in his chair, because she's cute in the way only children get to be; in that naive way they give out information to whoever might be listening, emboldened by their parent's presence and the safety that entails. In the way they try to speak like adults, in the way they look fearlessly at him, as if he hasn't slaughtered thousands.
He wants to hug this child and protect her himself, an urge that comes up whenever kids talk to him. He hopes his kids will be as cute as this one.
"Chiasa-hime, the pleasure is all ours! Please, call me Hashirama, and call my brother Tobirama. I've been waiting to meet you."
Madara sneers at him with his eyes, in the way only Uchiha seem to be able to do. His old friend doesn't move a facial muscle, except his eyes are glaring daggers at him.
'Well, if it depended solely on him, I'm sure it'd take a while longer to meet her.'
"We've come to give you the answer on the Tailed Beasts issue."
The Uchiha clan head cuts through the fake pleasant mood like it's nothing, cutting straight to the chase and leaving no room for small talk. Next to the Shodaime, his brother tenses up immediately, eyes darting to the child still in Madara's arm.
He'd said 'we', and Hashirama finds that both interesting and fearsome.
"Impatient as always, Madara. We've got time, there's no need to jump to the serious topics like that."
The Uchiha tsks at him, clearly wanting to state his business and leave at once - and Hashirama can't really blame him, not when he's got his daughter and the man who killed his younger brother in the same room.
"Fine, fine. So, what's your opinion on this matter?"
Instead of answering, Madara keeps silent. Hashirama's eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets when his old friend meets his child's eyes and gives her a nod.
"With all due respect, capturing the Tailed Beasts might not be the best course of action, Hokage-sama."
The room is silent for a few seconds, and even Tobirama seems surprised. The Shodaime quickly gets a hold of himself.
"Oh? Could you explain why?"
"Certainly." Chiasa burrows further in the Uchiha's body, as if getting comfortable, and speaks confidently. "In the first place, I believe it is not right to imprison them for our own gain. They are powerful beings with the potential to destroy the world as we see it, yes, but they also have minds and feelings of their own, and have left humans alone unless provoked. They have existed for longer than we have, and with how few their interactions with humans are, I think they just want to be left alone."
Hashirama is no expert in children development, but he's 100% sure they're not supposed to be this eloquent. Sure, she might stumble at a couple of words, but if she speaks slowly it's perfectly manageable. He glances at his brother and sees the man equally surprised, but hiding it better. He stares at Madara and watches the Uchiha preen, pride and joy shining in his normally expressionless eyes.
"Secondly, capturing them would most likely take a lot of resources and manpower - things we, as a new village, do not have to spare. Taking them down would mean sending our most powerful shinobi to the task, and even with the Uzumaki clan's formidable sealing skills, it wouldn't be a quick job. In that meantime, Konoha would be highly susceptible to enemy attacks."
He's pretty sure his jaw is on the floor, although he can't say he really cares about it in this moment. Chiasa looks him in the eyes and roasts him, and he takes what he said about her being naive back.
'Just what has Madara been doing to her?!'
"Lastly, but not leastly, there are better ways to make the village grow and to become stronger without raising the stakes so highly, in my opinion."
"Do you have any suggestions?"
It's Tobirama who asks, and it immediately raises Madara's hackles. The Uchiha silently snarls at the youngest Senju, who looks at the child with cool red eyes. She meets his gaze without an ounce of fear and charges on.
"I do, Tobirama-sama. Konoha is already home to many powerful clans, and I'm sure many more will join us in the future. Rather than focusing on raw power, perhaps we could focus on a… softer one."
"What do you mean?"
Hashirama is both excited and fearful in the face of such huge potential in a tiny body. He feels his mouth pull up in a grin, and catches Madara giving him a warning glare.
"Make deals with merchants and invite them to live here. Give them power over some decisions, but not too much. Make them feel as if they're important to Konoha. Invite artisans and other people who sell their trade. Export goods all over the nations. Monopolize one or two types of trade, so that you can only get it here. Send ninjas periodically to the daimyo to protect him and show good will. Hold festivals to entertain our people and to flaunt all we've accomplished to the other villages."
"Where did you hear this from?" Tobirama asks suspiciously, arms crossed in front of his chest. Madara growls, a deep rumble that comes from his chest, and Chiasa wraps her arms around his neck - not because she's afraid, no, but to soothe him. It works, somewhat.
"Are you implying my child stole these ideas-"
"A lot of it came from the Landlady, to be honest."
She interrupts her dad and they have an entire conversation solely with their eyes before she turns to the white haired man.
"The Landlady back at the district spoke a lot about something she called soft power. It's a series of strategies to monopolize and advertise something, making it so that the best place to go is yours. That, and Elder Kaito likes to talk about economy."
Hashirama has the feeling that's only a half-truth, but he knows Madara, and he knows the man wouldn't make his child memorize such an extensive speech just to spite Tobirama. More than that; if it truly wasn't Chiasa's idea, the clan head wouldn't have such a look of pure pride in his eyes.
"With that being said, the Uchiha clan's standing is this: we do not support capturing Tailed Beasts under any pretext or circumstances. If you'll excuse us."
The Uchiha pair leaves the hokage's office an hour after entering it, and the Senju brothers are left with a foreboding feeling and a lot to think about.
("I'm sorry for interrupting you, dad."
She kisses him on the cheek on a whim, and he grunts in response.
"Hn. Don't do it again."
"Okay.")
.
.
The Tailed Beasts deserve better as well GET OFF MY DICK