When Naruto Uzumaki opened his eyes, he noticed something distinctly wrong about himself. Namely that he could open his eyes. His first glimpse of the world around him showed that he was in some kind of wooden box. But that wasn't right. Thinking back, the blond was sure he remembered dying peacefully on his bed, the last thing he did was say goodbye to his grandchildren and Kurama, and then he closed his eyes to join his family and friends in whatever came next, whether it be the afterlife or what.
So why was he here, in this decidedly small wooden box? There seemed to be just enough room to wave his arms and legs about, but not much else. Looking around with his limited range of vision, not to mention the box was in the way, the Uzumaki tried to deduce where he was. Suddenly, a woman came into his field of vision. Watching through hazy eyes, Naruto noticed that the woman was strangely tall. She picked him up and carried him into another room without a word.
Upon entering, Naruto looked around himself. It was a bare wooden room with a bed and a table beside it. A cloth hung on the wall above the bed and sitting in it was a woman with long white hair. Beside the woman on a wooden chair, was a man with short-cut brown hair. The woman holding him stopped in front of the bed and handed him to the one in the bed, who took him gently into her arms. Wait- now that he thought about it, why was he so small?
The albino-haired woman smiled softly while holding him in her arms, "oh, aren't you such a cute little boy?" she cooed, stroking his hair and brushing a lock of brown hair away from his face. Wait- brown hair? "there's no doubt- you'll defiantly be a handsome young man someday," okay, what was she talking about? Who were these people? The nurse spoke up then: "do you have a name picked out yet?" she asked gently. The woman looked up at her for a moment, smile still present, before looking back down at him, "yes, we have a name all prepared- welcome to the world- Hashirama-Chan" she said happily.
Naruto froze, his mind stuck on that word. Why had that woman called him that name? the name of the first Hokage and his former life? Hashirama. The woman turned to the man, "look Butasuma, isn't our son adorable?" she asked. The man, now known as Butasuma frowned slightly, before his lips twitched into a soft smile, "yes he is Ayumi, he's the most wonderful son we could have asked for" he replied. The Uzumaki really had no idea what was going on, but he was beginning to feel extremely tired. Slowly closing his eyes, Naruto figured he'd either wake up and find out this had all been some weird dream, or he'd still be here tomorrow, in which case, he'd figure out what was going on then.
N/Ĥ
'Well, so much for the dream theory' Naruto thought, as he was being breast-fed by the woman called Ayumi. 'Ayumi Senju,' he thought as he looked at her face, 'my new Kaa-Chan'. Despite the fact that Naruto Uzumaki had been very dense as a child, the years he'd spent as Hokage had wizened him up a bit, and with all the weird stuff he'd encountered in his old life, waking up as a baby Hashirama Senju was fairly easy to adjust to. Or maybe it was just because his new body felt so comfortable. Well, maybe comfortable wasn't exactly the right word.
More like, natural, right. And while Naruto at first couldn't understand why, he soon remembered. After all, who could forget meeting someone like the Sage Of The Six Paths, or the fact that he was the reincarnation and holder of the Sages youngest sons Chakra, will and life force. And, now that he thought about it, he remembered that Hashirama had also been a reincarnation or transmigrant of Asura, so technically they shared the same Chakra. That was why this body felt natural to him, because it had the same Chakra he had had before. Well, now that he'd figured that out, it was time to figure out what to do with his new life.
As Ayumi, or Kaa-Chan- man, that was going to take a while to get used to- burped him and rubbed his back, Naruto thought on everything Sasuke had told him about what Hashirama had said about his childhood. He remembered his friend saying that to begin with the Shodamine had had three brothers, but two had been killed by Uchiha Clan members during the Warring Clans Era. Well, he decided, since they were his brothers now, he had double the reason to keep the boys safe. Speaking of brothers, he also remembered that Madara had been Indra's Transmigrant during this time, just like how Sasuke had been Indra's Transmigrant during his time. He knew that one day he would meet the other boy. He fully intended to keep the Uchiha on the right path this time, and bring peace to the world once again.
Right now though, he had years to wait to meet him, four blood-related brothers to wait for and keep safe and a whole god-damned War to try and survive. Naruto, turned Hashirama sighed as his new mother put him down for a nap in his crib and left the room. Oh well, it's not like his past life was any easier- at least this time he had a family to support him, even though from what he'd been told about Hashirama's father, the guy was a real jerk who forced even his own sons to fight and caused them to die in war. Well, he'd just have to make sure he was strong enough to keep them all safe. But in the meantime, it would be a boring few months until he could begin training or even walking or talking. Well, he guessed he'd get started on crawling in the meantime.
N/Ĥ
Hashirama had recently learned to walk. He also learned to speak a few months ago. He was currently in the forests surrounding the Senju compound. The boy knew that soon his father would begin his Shinobi training, he knew that soon he would be thrown into the war- and he was determined to be ready. Unfortunately, being strong in this time was a double edged sword. He would be able to better protect his family, but he would also be forced to fight and kill sooner. Naruto was, by nature, a peace-loving person, even though as a child in his first life, he had been more of a: punch-the-problem-in-the-face-until-it's-not-one-anymore type of person.
However as an adult, he had tried his hardest to solve all his problems, or at least the ones that were able to be solved this way, with peaceful methods. He really felt he had grown and matured with all the guidance he'd had from everyone. Now though, he was facing another war, and the stronger he became, the less of a chance he would have to watch the people he cared for die. The boy's eyes dimmed. He still remembered what had happened in the Fourth War, watching all those people die. Knowing they were dying for him. He'd promised to protect his friends and all he could do was watch as they threw themselves down at his feet- all for him and their future. Neji, Obito, even the people he'd never met- all sacrificing themselves for his sake. Hashirama's eyes darkened, he'd already seen too many precious people die, he swore never again.
This time he'd protect everyone. No matter what.
N/Ĥ
Hashirama Senju was now one year old and had begun his training, though in secret. He'd unlocked his Chakra a few months previously, and had started on the leaf-wetting exercise. It was the easiest one to do without letting people know. Closing his eyes, Hashirama breathed slowly and deeply, while placing his palms together with the leaf in between and focused. Drawing upon his Chakra he focused it to the leaf in his hands. Slowly the moisture in the air condensed and floated into the leaf in his hands. The brown-haired boys face creased in concentration and sweat dripped down his face.
Make no mistake, this was a lot harder than it looked. It took at least seven more minutes for the Chakra-infused water to coalesce enough to even dampen the leaf. When the boy opened his hands he grinned in satisfaction upon seeing one end of the leaf soaked through. Suddenly, a knock at his bedroom door, caused him to hide the leaf quickly. "Come in" he called. The door opened to reveal Ayumi walking inside. She had a big grin on her face, which caused the Brunette to tilt his head to the side in confusion. "Hello, Hashi-Chan" she said gently, kneeling down to be at his level and taking his hands in her own. It was a good thing they weren't still wet. "I have something I need to tell you, something very good, Musuko" the woman said happily. Hashirama blinked. Something good? "what is it Kaa-Chan?" he asked. Ayumi's grin got even wider, "well, how would you feel about being a big brother?" she asked.
The Senju heir's eyes widened. Tobirama was going to be born soon? "yeah, 'Tebbayo!" he exclaimed excitedly, then slapped his hands over his mouth. For some reason, he'd retained his verbal tic from when he was Naruto Uzumaki, despite it originally coming from his first Kaa-Chan, Kushina Uzumaki. Normally his new father, Butasuma would frown whenever he said it, so he'd worked on suppressing it as best he could. But sometimes when he was excited it just slipped out. Ayumi just giggled at his enthusiastic response, ruffling his hair affectionately, causing the boy to pout, "don't worry, I'm sure your new baby sibling will love you, verbal tick and all" she assured him playfully.
Hashirama gained a determined look, "and I swear I'll protect him or her with all my strength, and I never go back on my word" he said without a shred of doubt in his eyes or voice. Ayumi's face became serious as well, and she hugged her son tightly to her, but not too tight, "I know you will Hashirama, I know" she said softly, but with a proud smile on her face.
To Be Continued