I do not own Naruto. I own only the plot and any original characters.
four
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the enemy of your friend is… your friend
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There comes a day when Chiasa gets kidnapped, because of course she is, and Tobirama is one of the first people on it.
It happens a week after her fifth birthday. Madara had taken her out of the village on that day and had given her a tanto, suitable for her nimble and compact form. Hashirama had gushed about father-daughter quality time, but Tobirama had found it foolish for her to be out of the village when tension had been high and thick between Konoha and Kumo.
The worst of it was that Chiasa had been taken in the middle of the night by someone who got inside the village and the Uchiha clan compound. She'd been asleep in the clan head's house, and had been kidnapped right under their noses. They chose not to kidnap her when she was out with only her dad, no; it'd been something very well calculated to bring Konoha morale down - and, most importantly, the Uchiha clan's.
The first suspect is logically Kumo, although the white haired man can't help but wonder just what they expected to accomplish kidnapping Uchiha Madara's daughter.
It's too early to be considered morning when Tobirama feels Madara's chakra right outside Senju clan lands. He knows immediately it's the clan head because he's been trained to sense this type of chakra - burning, scalding, suffocating - his entire life. He's instantly on alert, because he knows the man would never seek him out unless something was very wrong.
"She's gone."
It's the only thing Madara says, but Tobirama doesn't need anything else. He doesn't acknowledge the fact the Uchiha swallowed his pride and came to him for help because he is the best sensor in the country. Nevermind the fact Tobirama was the one to kill Izuna; he's the most likely to find Chiasa, wherever she is.
"Check the village's perimeter, they can't have gone far. I'll start from your gates."
The dark haired man is gone in a flash, and it only goes to show how desperate he must be to follow Tobirama's orders blindly.
"Tobirama?" His brother calls out to him, still dressed in his sleep robes.
"Chiasa." He merely answers, and Hashirama understands immediately. The brunette's lips form a thin line, expression hardening as his eyes turn to steel.
"Madara?"
"Told him to check the perimeter."
The Senju clan head nods, body tense and ready to spring.
"Knowing him, he most likely didn't tell anyone else in his clan what was going on. I'm going to organize a few of our own and go to the Uchiha compound."
Tobirama nods and uses the shunshin to go to the Uchiha gates. Following the subtle but easily recognizable trace of Chiasa's chakra, he passes through thick foliage, a few miles away from Konoha, when he feels another four signatures trying to suffocate hers. He stops right before a clearing, where the ground is upturned just so that he knows it's the work of an earth jutsu.
Touching the palm of his hand to the ground, Tobirama senses an underground tunnel with a medium sized cave at the end of it. A couple of shunshin is enough to get to the bottom of it, and he sees everything in slow motion.
The killing intent is far too much for a child of her age and size, surrounded by four ninja wearing Kumo attire. Two of them are instantly on him while the other two grab a kunai each and launch themselves at the Uchiha heir.
Chiasa activates her sharingan.
Tobirama sees the child trembling on the ground, scraped and bruised, a look of pure terror in her eyes. Chiasa is five and sees her own death in the glint of the kunai.
He has one chance.
His response is quick and immediate, because Tobirama has only known war. He doesn't think twice about saving an Uchiha because it's Chiasa, who he sees as a child first, and an Uchiha second.
The little girl who strolls into the hokage's office whenever her clan has had enough of her revolutionary ideas for the day and has tea with his brother. The Uchiha who smiles freely and wears bright colours, because 'wearing only dark tones is boring.' The one who openly shows affection to those she deems worthy of it, and who sometimes looks at the world with too intelligent eyes.
The only Uchiha to ever look at him without any malice or mistrust in her eyes, because he 'hasn't given her a reason to.'
She calls the hokage 'uncle' and Hashirama loves it. She calls him Tobirama-sama because there's still a wall he's keeping between them, although she's making quick work of destroying it.
It's hard to not like her. Chiasa isn't fussy or impatient like other children, doesn't speak out of order and isn't disrespectful to her elders. Tobirama's seen her laugh at his brother's bad jokes, has seen her lead Madara around the nose because he lets her. Tobirama has seen her direct smiles at him, usually when they gang up against Hashirama, and by Heavens do they think alike.
The Senju had been against capturing the Tailed Beasts as well, but had resigned himself to it because he knew Madara would most likely agree with his brother anyway. Chiasa agrees with him on a lot of things, however, and it's become increasingly easier to convince his brother to not do anything stupid with the Uchiha heir backing him up.
He wants to see her grow. He wants to see what kind of clan leader she'll become, what kind of woman she'll grow up to be. He wants to see her victorious smile whenever he praises her handwriting and quick thinking.
Tobirama wants her to call him 'uncle', and he pounces.
The two ninja blocking his way are dead with a quick water jutsu before they realize what's going on. The third one goes down with a well placed senbon, until the last one nicks Chiasa's neck with the slightest of cuts, and Tobirama's only half-aware that she's going to remember this for the rest of her life.
So instead of slicing the man's head, he shunshins between them and punches the man's heart out of his chest, the armor on his back making sure the child doesn't see it. The Kumo ninja drops dead, a hole in his chest, and the cave starts to give in.
The Senju turns around and grabs the child with the red spinning eyes, and does not flinch.
The last one to look at him this closely with the sharingan had been Izuna, and Tobirama thinks they're nothing alike. He'd seen hatred carved so deeply within the Uchiha's eyes that the sun could never shine a light on his love, a vengeful spirit full of hate. He looks at Chiasa and sees red love, sees the sun shining brightly on the darkest night. He sees the Will of Fire in her.
"Uncle, it hurts. Why am I seeing things like this?"
His heart squeezes. The Uchiha heir does not cry, but continues to tremble even as he puts his cloak around her. Chiasa looks at him, terrified, and he can only grab her swiftly and nudge her head in the crook of his neck.
"Close your eyes. I've got you."
He shunshins back up, and the first rays of the sun are slow to enter the clearing. Tobirama catches sight of Madara sprinting towards them, red armor soaked in blood that's not his. Hashirama is right behind him, as well as a few ninja from the Uchiha and Senju clans, a trail of bodies in their wake.
"Chiasa, your dad's here."
The child slowly raises red eyes and they meet the red of her father's. A sob escapes her mouth.
"Dad."
She's out of his arms before he knows it. The Uchiha clan head clutches her against his blood soaked chest, and Chiasa finally weeps. She cries even as the Uchiha ninjas stay close, but don't dare approach their bubble. Tobirama watches as a kunoichi viciously kicks an already dead Kumo ninja, watches the other two do nothing to stop her. He looks at the way they watch over their clan head and clan heir, pain and anger and love in their eyes.
And he finally understands.
Hashirama comes up and puts a bloody hand on his shoulder, but neither of the brothers take their eyes from the scene.
"Some say the Uchiha are full of hate, but it's actually the exact opposite."
Sometimes their love runs so deep it turns into hate, and Tobirama briefly wonders what would have become of Madara if anything had happened to Chiasa.
(All eleven Kumo ninja were killed. Two of them, sealing experts who were responsible for sneaking inside the Uchiha compound and taking Chiasa, were brutally killed by Madara. He'd mutilated their bodies beyond recognition and sent shinobi to hang them at the edge of Fire Country, miles from the port. The Uchiha kept the Kumo headbands on the deceased as a warning, and Tobirama turned a blind eye to it for as long as he could.)
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Roughly ten days after the whole incident, Hashirama and Tobirama are the first two non-Uchiha to enter the compound, on none other than Chiasa's invitation.
The guards welcome them in, and although they get suspicious glances directed at them, no one is outwardly hostile. Mothers don't usher children inside, and the elderly don't whisper amongst themselves. Except for one young man who looked like he wanted to say something but was stopped by his mother ("Don't even think about it. Chiasa-hime said to behave."), their walk towards the main house goes by unbothered.
"Uncle Hashirama, Uncle Tobirama."
Chiasa greets them as soon as they round the corner to the clan head's block, meeting them halfway and wrapping her arms around Hashirama's hips, then his. They both reciprocate her hug and Tobirama feels needles prickle into his skin, and he knows they're being watched by at least a third of the clan.
"Hi, princess. How are you doing?" The hokage asks softly, but with a big smile. He pats Chiasa's head in a familiar manner and the clan heir gives him a small smile in return. It's certainly nothing like how she used to smile before the incident, but it's as honest as ever, and although Tobirama sees the stark contrast between pale skin and the purple bags around her eyes, he knows she'll be okay.
"I'm doing better. Thank you both for coming." She directs her gaze at the white haired man and he nods as a rare, soft look shows in his red eyes.
"I'm glad you're feeling better." He tells her honestly, and her smile widens the smallest bit.
"Thank you for inviting us. It's an honor." Hashirama affirms still in that soft tone, as if he's afraid his usual boisterous attitude will prevent him from visiting the compound in the future. "I brought something that might be of interest to you."
"Oh?" The clan heir asks, and a curious glint shines in her dark eyes. "What is it?"
Madara had, of course, been watching them like a hawk ever since they entered the compound. Tobirama is almost sure the clan head hasn't blinked once since they started talking with Chiasa and he briefly wonders if the man is okay. As the hokage takes a wooden box out of his hakama, Madara approaches them leisurely, like a tiger would. He stands behind his daughter and puts a hand on her shoulder, but still greets the Senju brothers with a nod.
The Uchiha clan seems to break out of a genjutsu and everyone gets back to what they were doing. The clan head had determined the Senju were not a immediate threat, and that was good enough.
"Oolong tea!" Chiasa's eyes seem to twinkle as she realizes what is inside the box, a delighted smile stretching her lips wide.
"Not just any oolong tea, missy; the Nara's very own special blend."
The child gasps and turns to her father, showing off the present.
"Dad!"
Tobirama watches as Madara turns impossibly soft eyes to his daughter and pats her on the head, a small upturns of the lips on his usual stoic face.
"You talked about that tea for days, did you not? Make sure to thank Hashirama properly."
"Thank you, Uncle Hashirama!"
"I also have a present for you." The youngest Senju brother states, and Chiasa turns big curious eyes to him.
"Oh?"
The man kneels in front of the child, and it feels as if the clan has turned their stare back to him as well. He grabs a paper bag out of the sleeve of his hakama and watches intently for her reaction.
The girl is thoroughly surprised when her small hands produce a smaller potted cactus out of the bag.
"You said you liked plants, but didn't know how to take care of one. I hope this is easy enough of a start." The white haired man smirks at her and practically sees Madara start to vibrate in anger. The entire clan seems to breathe in, ready to berate him-
-and Chiasa laughs. A bell like sound that echoes throughout the compound, startling many of its residents. She throws her head back and laughs as if she's never heard anything funnier, as if this inside joke of theirs is the perfect description of their relationship - and perhaps it is.
She laughs so much tears fall from her eyes, a huge, beautiful smile on her face, red from the giggles. The clan heir carefully puts down the potted plant before wrapping her arms around his neck, hiding her face in the crook of his neck just like she did back then.
Tobirama is immensely glad the circumstances are vastly different. He pats her on the back, a rare and small smile on his pale face.
"Thank you, Uncle Tobirama."
So I may or may not have had to change the rating because of this chapter's violence. Just to be on the safer side.