"I tried to warn you about that. I don't think he likes being picked up." Minato said as he tried to calm Tsunade down. She had put down the little guy down on the bed next to her as Shizune and Kushina went to help her with her clothes. Minato and Sarutobi exited the room to head back to the living room. It would take some time for this mess to calm down. Soon five people were sitting around a table and a child could be seen sleeping behind them. The room held a heavy atmosphere and all parties were staring at a scroll on the center of the table in front of them. The first to break the silence was Sarutobi "How about we start with something easier? Tsunade have you thought about a name for that child?"

"Actually, yes I have." Tsunade looked behind her at the sleeping child before turning back to the rest. "I was thinking of naming him Tobi after the second hokage. I think we all know that he supposedly never had any children but I'd like to think there is a possibility that he could be related to him somehow."

"Tobi Senju. I think it's a great name" Kushina chimed in.

"Lady Tsunade does this mean that you are going to raise Tobi?" Shizune asked with a hint of hope in her eyes.

"Yes I think I will. If he really is a Senju then I would very much like to resurrect our clan. I don't want to put pressure on a child but for now whether he is or isn't I would like to take care of him. I'm not sure what the future will hold especially after reading that but would you be willing to lend me a hand?" Tsunade looked around the room hoping for their support.

The room was unanimous in its decision to support Tsunade. Kushina even joked about having little Tobi marry her daughter if she had one. A loud sound of laughter erupted and the mood started to brighten. They spent the next few minutes talking about how they wanted to get things for little Tobi. Kushina and Shizune wanted to take him shopping to get him some cute clothes. Sarutobi just sat there drinking his tea but he was enjoying the look of happiness that had returned to Tsunade's face. Noticing that the tone had shifted Minato figured it was the best moment to discuss what they had called people for. He asked Shizune to guard the entrance of the house as the rest needed to discuss the contents of the scroll. Minato then unrolled the scroll and left it out for all to see.

Dear Hokage,

I have left a present for you. I didn't expect to find this when I went out shopping at a research base. I just couldn't help but think of what a new Senju would do for you so I decided to gift him to you. Although I come bearing gifts for you it doesn't mean that I'm not asking for anything in return. I made a trade with someone and to hold up my end I need to let you know about a few things. I'll also make some suggestions to help you out too.

The first is something that concerns something very close to you Mr. Fourth. On October 10th you and your wife will die. You will give up your life protecting your village while Kushina will die due to childbirth complications. Your now orphaned child will be the new jinchuuriki but I can't offer any information about that. The biggest factor to your deaths is that the nine tails seal is its weakest during childbirth. You will be attacked at this moment as information will leak. I suggest having a child earlier than you planned hoping to catch your would be assailants off guard.

The second is that you should tend to your garden more often. Its seems like the roots and foundation that you left alone have become a cancer. It is best to treat the tumor before the disease can spread. It should be easily identifiable as long as you don't let your past interfere with the future. If nothing is done about this then the future will be filled with regrets. Without a healthy forest around The Senju won't be the only clan that disappears from the leaf.

Last but not least, the hidden village of the mist will undergo a change if it hasn't already. Interfere in their war and help the resistance, doing so will net you a few nice things. Their fourth is being controlled and the way its done might interest you. I have held up my end of the deal. Enjoy your gift and hopefully you don't disappoint the one who did this for you.

P.S Mr. Fourth you should go shopping in the hidden grass village after you've had your child. You should be able to pick out something lovely for your wife and it will make a lovely present.

"If we can believe this then Kushina and I will be dead in a year and a half at the earliest. It's still half a year until October and if Kushina was pregnant then we would already know. We will talk about the suggestions mentioned later once we have some time to ourselves. I'd prefer that decision to be between the two of us. With that being said let's move on to the second one as what Kushina said earlier makes sense. We can't prove anything about the future right now but these other ones may be able to tell us if the sender is worth trusting."

"Understandable. The second point is most likely talking about Danzo if I had to guess. It's not a cleverly hidden message but I think that's the point to it. As for the third one we haven't had much recent intel coming from there. It might be worth sending a few extra men to see the current situation there." said Sarutobi as Danzo was the only name who came to mind.

"What do you know about Danzo? I know practically nothing once he started that organization of his" added Tsunade from the side.

"I'm more curious about what they mean about controlling the Mizukage. Does anyone know anything about him?" Asked Kushina.

"We've given Danzo a bit of free reign in what he wanted to do but it sounds like it will be a mistake according to this. Maybe we could plant someone at his side to get some information out of him? Unfortunately there isn't much we know about the Mizukage's abilities as he hasn't been around too long. We have a lot of work in front of us if we want to trust what's in this scroll. Any ideas on what you think the part about the clans is talking about? Should we also investigate any potential threats to them? Kushina do you think you could ask Mikoto about the Uchihas? If there's a possibility of danger to them she might have an idea. Does anyone have someone they're close with inside of the Hyuugas?"

"I'll see what I can do but she's pretty perceptive. She's going to pick up on something being off since I normally don't care about how their clan is doing. Should I make some things up if she's suspicious or can I tell her a bit of the truth?"

"I'll leave it to you when it comes to that. If you want to tell her a bit go for it but not everything." Minato said before continuing "I trust everyone in this room about this but let's try to keep this circle small. I'm not sure what kind of threat the village will face that will cause me to die but I want to avoid that future as much as possible. Sarutobi I want you to be in charge of gathering information about the mist and I'll take the charge of the interior problems. Tsunade I think you should find a new home for the Senju clan but don't rush into anything right now. I can prepare a small house for you and Tobi to live together for now if you'd like. For now please stay here with Kushina as I need to go to work."

"I'll take you up on that offer Minato. Also you might want to ask for Jiraiya's opinion on this. He might be very interested in what's written here. Since he's been wandering around then there is a chance he might know a little about the mist." Now that she had said her piece Tsunade got up from her seat and went over to the sleeping Tobi. She took the little boy and held him in her arms. Looking at him in her arms caused her to smile. To others it was the first time they saw her truly smile for a long time.

Minato and Sarutobi left the house shortly after the impromptu meeting finished. Tsunade, Kushina and Shizune spent the rest of the day taking care of little Tobi. The biggest problem they faced was that none of them knew anything about raising children. They all had ideas of what they wanted to do for the little guy in front of him. Tsunade wanted to spend time with him, Shizune wanted to make sure he had the essentials for a child and Kushina wanted to dress him up. In the end the three decided to do what they wanted but they would need help. Kushina asked her friend Mikoto Uchiha for help.

It took her less than an hour to come over. Her son Itachi was already five years old so Mikoto had some leeway in leaving her home and her experience could help the three. When Mikoto entered the house she was surprised when she saw Tsunade, Shizune and Tobi. Mikoto trying to break the ice giggled before saying "I didn't know you had a child Lady Tsunade."

"He's not mine." She spat out defensively.

"I thought so. If you had a child the village would be in an uproar trying to figure out the father." Mikoto said in jest. "I think I have an idea of why I'm here but I'll ask just in case."

Kushina then filled Mikoto in on how Tobi had been found. Tsunade then told her that she would be his guardian for the time being and that she would need help on how to care for a child. She didn't have any hands on experience in this area. Mikoto gladly offered her help to the three. It didn't take long before the three felt a little more comfortable taking care of Tobi.

Shizune had left the hokage's house once she had been given a list of errands to run for Tobi. Kushina told Tsunade that she would take Mikoto to do some shopping for Tobi's clothes. Tsunade was left with Tobi in the house. She decided to watch over the sleeping child next to her enjoying the time with him. Tobi woke up and surveyed his surroundings. Realizing he was no longer in the drawer he started to panic. Tsunade quickly tried to calm him down by rubbing his back but it only made him struggle more. She soon sat him on the couch and backed up. She bent down to Tobi's eye level and started talking to him "My name is Tsunade. Can you tell me who you are?"

Tobi stared at Tsunade for a brief moment before trying to leave the couch. Tsunade then moved him back to the couch. "Do you have a name?" Tobi shook his head and once again tried to run away from her. Once more Tsunade placed Tobi back on the couch in front of her.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Why are you trying to run?" The others had already talked to Tsunade about how scared Tobi was earlier. Now that she saw it first hand she understood something has already happened to the kid. Tobi stared at Tsunade, open his mouth then closed it. He repeated this a few more times then just stared at his feet. Tsunade didn't want to force him to answer so she tried to softly place her hand on his head to reassure him. The moment her hand touched his head Tobi started screaming. He yelled as loud as he can and flailed wildly trying to get away from Tsunade.

"Hey, hey, calm down kid. I'm not going to hurt you" Tsunade took a step back as she got curious to why he was so scared. "Who are you afraid of?"

It took a few minutes for Tobi to calm down enough to let out one simple word, Snakeman. This word caused Tsunade to lose it as she could only think of one person who this could describe. Her former teammate, Orochimaru, the man who had betrayed the village for his own selfish desires. Part of the letter finally clicked for her. The research center must have been one of his hideouts, but where could it have been? She now had more questions than answers but she had plenty of time to find out more. Since Tobi was finally cooperating she might as well try to find out a little more.

"What does the Snakeman want?" Tsunade didn't know how much Tobi could understand her so she might have to ask a few different ways. Knowing him it could be any number of things that he wants. If Tobi was a Senju then it might narrow it down unless he was created in a lab. Tsunade wouldn't put it past him to make a clone of her grandfather and his brother. His experiments had already crossed a line a long time ago and nothing was out of the question in his pursuit of knowledge. Tobi got up off the couch once more but this time Tsunade let him. He went to the door which led to the backyard and Tsunade followed close behind. She opened the door for him which led to a small yard. Tobi walked a few steps and then crouched in the middle of the grass putting his palm on the ground. He looked back at Tsunade, who nodded slightly. Tobi looked back at the ground. In the next moment a circle of flowers bloomed in front of him, growing in all directions. It went from a few flowers to over a foot in diameter. Tobi took his hand back from the ground tried to stand up and fell over. His eyes were closed as he was breathing heavily.

Tsunade was shocked beyond belief when she saw what he just did. Her mouth was left hanging open as she saw the flowers bloom and then spread. Once she saw Tobi fall over she immediately ran over to him to check on him. It only took a second for her to know what was wrong. He had used up all his chakra to make his little flower circle and fell over in exhaustion. She picked him up with a huge smile on her face. He really was a Senju and he showed it just now. When she was little her grandfather had shown that he could make flowers as part of his kekkei genkai. Unfortunately she would never be able to use those jutsus herself. Tsunade brought Tobi back into the house and laid him back on the couch. The only thing left to do now was wait for everyone to come back.

It was evening by the time everyone had gathered back at the Minato residence. Kushina had returned with Mikoto and were happily chatting about the clothes they had bought for him when they went out. They pulled out each set of clothes to give Tsunade a show as they dressed the sleeping Tobi in everything they bought. It didn't take long for the three of them to forget about the time as Shizune walked into three women dressing a toddler. She didn't know what to expect when she got back to the Namikaze residence but it certainly wasn't this.

After having a great time at the expense of Tobi Kushina had started making dinner for everyone. Now that Tsunade wasn't caught up in other's pace she decided now was the time to tell the others what happened earlier. "I got Tobi to talk a little while you were out. I figured I'd wait until Minato got home to tell what he said but I think he might not be as scared anymore. I also confirmed he is a Senju too."

"Lady Tsunade are you serious? He really is a Senju?" Shizune was the first to respond to what she heard.

"Yes, I think he left enough proof. Want to see?" Tsunade teased as she got up and led the others to the back courtyard where a circle of flowers was. "When I was asking Tobi about himself earlier he led me out here to show me something. It took him a little bit but he made those and used up all his chakra in one shot."

"He really has the wood style? That's amazing." Kushina replied while picking a flower out of the circle "Thanks to him the bald spot was cleaned up."

"Who's child is he? Kushina didn't really tell me much about him when we spoke earlier but I know about your family's history Lady Tsunade." Mikoto was curious but she also knew that there are some secrets she might never know. Tsunade looked to Kushina for a little help with this since it was her idea to bring in an outsider.

Kushina got the hint Tsunade was sending her but she didn't have anything prepared. She could only let out some sounds that made this even worse for herself in trying to explain things. At this time Tsunade decided to make her own decision since Tobi was already a senju in her mind maybe she could get some information from Mikoto. "Tobi was dropped off by an unknown person last night. They left him on top of the hokage's office but the weird part was the note left with him"

"What did the note say?" Mikoto's question was said with a bit of curiosity.

"I can't tell you most of it but what I can tell you was that there was some vague threats made to some people in the village." Tsunade looked at Kushina hoping for some help. She let out a sigh before thinking of what to say.

"They said that Minato and I would be dead within two years if we don't make some changes." Kushina explained to Mikoto what she needed to know in hopes of enlisting her help. How that the two of them would probably have a child as soon as possible to throw off whoever it was that wanted them dead. In the end Mikoto told her that she would tell them about anything weird in the clan but nothing to betray them. This was the best that she could ask for right now. She didn't want to ruin their friendship so she didn't ask for anything extra. Soon dinner was served as Minato walked through the door. Once dinner was finished Tsunade thought it was time to tell the rest of the room what she learned. She caught Minato up on what Tobi did earlier and then told them about Tobi being scared of the Snakeman. Once the word Snakeman was spoken the table became quiet. Just like Tsunade the rest had all come to the same conclusion. For Minato this was another thing in the long list of things he needed to find out more about. He used to be proud of how much his village knew but now it seemed like it wasn't even close to enough.

A week later Tsunade and Tobi were moving out. The Namikaze couple were getting back into their normal routine except for one major change. Minato had more on his plate as Hokage than he ever had before. From what little he could get right now he was sure the letter he received wasn't just some wild speculation. The two had decided to follow the advice that was given to them in the letter and maybe this might change their future. The investigation into the mist village would also have to wait a bit longer as a week wasn't enough to finish that job. In the meantime he had called for Jiraiya to come back to the village to ask him about myriad of subjects. Slowly but surely that scroll was changing Konoha.

Jiraiya immediately went to see Tsunade once he found out about Tobi. He couldn't be more happy for her knowing that she finally had someone to call family again. The two hadn't seen each other for a few months so they spent some time catching up. Once they finished with that Jiraiya started to talk about what he wanted to know

"I have to say none of the things I've heard from you today have shown up in my investigations. I've only been able to get a sniff of his trail or finding abandoned bases. If this child really was rescued from one of his bases it would be a miracle. I wonder how he managed to find someone from the Senju Clan outside of the village." Jiraiya shared his thoughts for her to hear.

"I don't know. I wish Tobi was a little bit older so he could tell us more about his surroundings before he got here. I've tried asking him a few different questions but he won't answer me. I think he understands me but he won't tell me anything. Maybe he doesn't know himself or he doesn't trust me yet. I mean it has only been a week" Tsunade sighed as she finished her drink.

"You know maybe in the future I can take him in as a student and show him some things." Jiraiya said as he looked into the distance. "I'm sure he'll have a great future ahead of him with you standing behind him"

"As long as that pervertedness doesn't rub off on him then I'll think about it. Tobi's too adorable to turn out as rotten as you." She said with a laugh. It has only been a week but she had already become so protective of him. Jiraiya enjoyed seeing her like this as it had been a long time. Their talk soon became one sided with Tsunade recalling how their week together went. She told him about everything he had remembered about where he stayed and who he met. Unfortunately none of this had helped Jiraiya other than letting him know there is still a lot he needed to find out about Orochimaru.

Days passed by quickly for Tsunade. She had made a home with Tobi and she was starting the process of bringing the Senju clan back becoming the temporary head of the clan. Minato had helped her greatly in the process. Kushina and Mikoto had been giving her a crash course in childcare as she needed all the help she could get. Tsunade made a promise to herself to slow down on the drinking and the gambling. She wanted to make sure that their future was bright.

Life, however, will not always be without pain and suffering. When she got home one night she found that Tobi had fallen into a coma as he slept in his new bed. She was a top class medical ninja but his situation was beyond what she could handle. Soon she had stopped drinking all together and focused everything on Tobi. She wouldn't let him leave her like the rest she was determined to do anything to stop it from happening again. Many people visited Tsunade in the next few days, doctors, medical ninjas, friends and acquaintances. None of it made her feel any better as Tobi wouldn't wake up. Doctors had no consensus on what caused this and any medical ninja was a lower level than Tsunade. Friends had tried to console her but it soon turn to concern as she threw herself into training. Kushina and Mikoto had stopped by often to try and lighten her load as they truly cared about her. Shizune had offered to take care of the clan duties that Tsunade had just started.

Days passed and Tobi didn't wake up. Days turned into weeks and Tobi still didn't wake from his coma. Weeks turned to months and months turned into years with no results. Soon four years had passed and Konoha was a changed place.