Chapter two – Sage
The herb Sage when boiled can have a calming effect, it contains skin healing properties, can help with a cold, fevers and sore throat. It can also have positive effect on memory and concentration. Sage is one of those herbs that looks bland and boring, which is one of the reasons it is greatly underestimated.
"You know… I'm pretty sure that's poisonous." Said Itama sceptically looking down at the nuts and berries Naruto had brought back with her in that awfully ragged backpack of hers.
"Eh? Which one?" Asked Naruto. She'd been eating everything she'd brought plenty of times before.
"These white berries here messes up your stomach." Explained Itama pointing to the pale, rubber textured berries amongst the bucket full of different gatherings.
"WHA-!? Is that the reason why…" She trailed off looking very put out. Itama looked back at her mortified expression.
"Eh… You've never had a reaction? My brother Tobi ate some when he was younger, he was stuck on the toilet for days."
Naruto groaned and slapped her head in frustration.
Itama couldn't stop his laughter as she punishing herself.
For two weeks they had been in the forest, hiding from the Uchiha, and trying to figure out exactly where they'd ran to. The night they escaped, they had slept for a few hours before Naruto woke up from voices nearby in the night.
Terrified, they fled as soon as the Uchiha had walked past their hiding spot. There was only four of them now, but they hadn't given up hope it seemed.
It had led to them getting lost, Itama was raised in the forest but even he had gotten confused as they ran through the remains of the night into the early morning hours. They had decided to stay away for a few days until it was safer to make their way back.
Even if it was dangerous to go back, still Itama had to get home at some point. He was a little bitter he'd lost his chokutō by the boulder that night, but tried not to voice it around Naruto. He thought it would sound very petty of him to complain about a lost blade when she'd saved his life.
"Should we try to start heading back, Itama? I'm sure they're not that interested in a six year old boy, right?" Naruto asked while they fished through the berries to remove all the white ones.
"Yeah. I think we could go back now." He answered while picking out three berries in one go.
"You don't sound convinced." Answered Naruto with a searching look at the yin yang haired boy.
"I guess there's no point in hiding it… You already know I'm a Senju and you've been nothing but nice to me. They might be interested in killing me because my uncle is the leader of the Senju." He explained not looking up at her.
"Oh?" She seemed suddenly interested, which was unusual. Naruto rarely seemed interested in clan politics when he'd tried to explain how their clan operated. "What's his name? Maybe I've heard of him." She said smiling back.
"Senju Souma." He answered, biting his lip as he wondered if he'd just told her too much. Her expression fell and she went back to searching for overlooked white berries.
"Oh… No I haven't heard of him." She answered with a shrug.
"But I still think this is as a good time as any. You think we're close to the Uchiha turf, right? I'm not confident our luck will continue if we stay here much longer. There might be four Uchiha looking for you closer to home, but even I can't take on the whole Uchiha clan and expect to get out of it." Muttered Naruto.
She was bitter about her loss of skills. When she'd been hurled back in time she'd been turned back into a six year old. Seven years later she still worked on getting her old abilities back.
As a growing child she couldn't overdo it, her body had limits even Kurama wouldn't be able to heal if she went too far too soon. Like the biju mode. Apparently her chakra coils weren't developed enough to mix their chakra properly. It had burned like hell when they had tried the year before. Now they trained with small doses of Kurama's chakra instead of full blown out cannons. Her lack of food, shelter and water most of the time didn't help either.
"Also, it looks like there's a storm coming. You probably want to get closer to home before that comes down." Naruto added, gazing up at the clear blue sky.
"Why do you think that?" Asked Itama confused, he couldn't spot a cloud anywhere.
"Trust me, I know when a storm is brewing."
Unfortunately for them both, Naruto had been right.
A day later as they searched for shelter the storm hit. It took them a surprising amount of time finding anywhere suitable for two children to shelter underneath. By that time Itama had already started sneezing, and the following day he'd gotten sick.
Naruto had therefore been stuck carrying the boy while they headed for Senju territory.
On the third day she evaluated that Itama was too sick to be moved around anymore, and put him down in the first cave she came across. It was larger than anything she'd found in the last few months and could fit a full grown man inside.
Naruto had never been the typical nursing type, that had always been Sakura's area of expertise, but she did her best tending to Itama. He wasn't in any danger, she would feel it if it became bad, but he still needed all the rest and warmth he could get.
This was a dangerous problem since they were trying very hard not to be found.
She stayed close to warm him up with body heat, and dared only once a day to light a fire while there was plenty of light outside, all the while praying that the smoke wouldn't be detected.
Naruto also had to gather food and water in the mornings. Leaving Itama defenseless for two whole nerve wrecking hours, before Naruto pelted back with whatever she'd found or caught.
On the fifth day Itama started getting his strength back, and seemed to have broken the fever. Naruto still insisted they wait a little while longer until they set out. She didn't want him to collapse on her again. When he'd asked why they couldn't leave right away she's exclaimed, "I'm not carrying your sorry ass for one more day."
After that he'd only nodded and lied down again and tried not to make eye contact.
The same day as Itama started getting better, Naruto went out later than normal to gather the necessary things for a supper. They were pretty high up in the terrain from what she'd gathered. She had carried Itama uphill for a long while before finding the cave they were currently using.
As Naruto familiarised herself with the new area, she quickly found out there was a lot less trees, and more stone and rocky patches then before. While Itama had been sick Naruto had chosen to search for food by going downhill rather than upwards looking for sufficient prey.
Scouting around the area she concluded that the decision had been the smart thing to do, up here there didn't seem to be anything edible at all. Nor any water either.
Wondering if there might be any larger birds she could shoot down, she decided to try walking a little further up. Maybe she'd catch something more filling for dinner then hares for once.
Walking forward she realised that the rocky field she was situated on was actually a mountain, and that she was reaching the end of the peak since the ground suddenly disappeared a little further ahead. Looking from side to side she had the feeling she was missing something vital.
Was there an enemy around?
Was Itama okay?
She looked back over her shoulder in the direction she knew he'd be. The trees and bushes swayed lazily in the wind and nothing else was moving.
No… There was something else.
Slowly she looked back towards the edge of the mountain and lifted her gaze to the view.
Naruto felt like she was in a dream as she started walking closer. Coming to a stop, she realised that the mountain came to an abrupt stop. The edge stretched out on both sides of her as if someone had cut the mountain with an enormous axe, and removed the continuation and left a steep rocky side down to the forest bellow.
A storm of emotions rushed through her as she looked mutely out on the horizon. She trembled when she finally understood where she was.
She was home… This was Konoha… Before it became Konoha.
There was no buildings, no people or noises. The gigantic stone faces of the five Hokages was nowhere in the mountain side. She was utterly alone.
Searching the forest below with her eyes, she found the stream she remembered had ran through training ground three. She searched for where she suspected the boarders of Konoha had been… would be…
All her life she'd felt alone, but it was nothing to how she felt like now.
Naruto would never see them again. Even if she lived to the age of a hundred and miraculously saw them when they were born they would still never know her, never talk to her. Her friends… Her precious people.
Those who once had made her strong and belong would forever be lost to her. She had already realised it, but standing here gazing over the horizon she felt a new level of acknowledgement ripple through her in brutal waves.
Getting lost inside her memory, she had no idea how long she sat there staring out towards the horizon, legs dangling out from the cliff, and Kurama staying quiet for once.
Only when the sun started sinking did she remember her obligations. Rushing back at full speed she eventually managed to kill a deer. They had never gone for such large prey previously, but right now she didn't have time to look for the usual, and they would have to light a fire in the dark as well if they wanted food.
"Are we expecting company?" Asked Itama, still pale and sweaty but sitting up when she came back. Naruto plastered on her smile and laughed.
"Sorry, just us I'm afraid. I hope you're hungry though."
Looking from the deer larger than the girl right outside the opening of the cave, he giggled.
"Ah too bad. But what took you so long? I was getting worried." He asked while Naruto started skinning the deer outside.
"Went exploring and forgot the time. I'm sorry, are you alright?"
While she worked she studied Itama. He looked a lot better than he had this morning. "I'm fine, but are we going to light a fire in the dark? Isn't that what we've been avoiding?" He asked worriedly.
"I know, but I'll stay up tonight and keep watch. If we want food this is all I've got to offer." Itama seemed to be alright with this, since he just nodded and started telling her about the dream he had while she was away. Which involved an angry flying tiger summon, while he had ran around cleaning caves in the wilderness for sick wanderers.
Knowing that she should have been more careful she still couldn't feel afraid. She was home, even if no one would ever know of it.
As she listened to the young happy kid in front of her, she couldn't help but feel her spirit lift again. She had the means to make things better, and she'd be damned if she didn't take the opportunity.
Madara sat by the river bank while looking for skipping stones. Hashirama should be here any moment and he wanted to pick out the best ones before the other boy got here. He knew of course that removing all the good skipping stones before his friend got here would be impossible, not to mention the problem of hiding them all. But maybe the ones in his area.
He was surprised when Hashirama didn't come at the usual time. Stopping his search and wondering if maybe Hashirama wasn't coming today, Madara shrugged to himself and continued searching.
That just meant he had more time to remove the good rocks before the next time they met up.
Two hours later Madara looked up at the sound of footsteps. Hashirama came more or less skipping down to the river. He was in such a good mood, Madara was infected by it from the other side of the shore. He waved at Hashirama who was heading straight for him. "Guess what, Madara!" he exclaimed when he was still at the other edge of the shore, so excited he couldn't contain himself.
"You ate the wrong mushrooms for breakfast?" He answered with a crooked smile.
Hashirama grimaced, but for once didn't fall into his moping habit. Madara was getting seriously curious from this odd change. "What's up? You look like a little girl skipping like that." He teased.
Hashirama stuck out his tongue at him but other than that seemed to be in such high spirits nothing could get his mood down.
"My little brother Itama is alright!" he exclaimed, "He managed to escape. We thought he'd died but he hadn't! I mean, we found a lot of blood, his chokutō and pieces of his clothes in the forest and assumed the worst. Everyone else was dead you know. It wouldn't be the first time someone was killed without us finding the body. But apparently this girl saved him at the last moment and they ran for it half across fire country! He came back last night!" He seemed to be floating in delight as he told Madara.
"That… That's great Hashirama… I'm happy for you!" Madara said trying to sound as cheerful as was expected at such news. He was surprised and maybe a little jealous; he hoped bitterly that his own brothers could miraculously come back from the dead every day.
They had started meeting up regularly by the creek. Often talking about their dreams for the future. Where kids didn't have to fight and kill each other, and there was no more war. They discussed how it could be done and when they were all out of ideas for the day, they sparred.
They often bickered too, and most of the times disagreed on the simplest of things. But neither had even had such a carefree time anywhere else but by the river. Soon they had gone out exploring, often having races to check who was fastest and ran for miles and miles.
Madara was truly happy for Hashirama, he'd been very annoying when he'd been moping around because of his missing brother. Still, he started wondering who the attackers had been. Who had killed 'all the others' as Hashirama had put it.
It hadn't been the Uchiha had it?
"Come on, I've found a great place we can use for races. It's not far away and it goes for several miles before it reaches the mountain!" Madara exclaimed and dragged Hashirama with him towards the starting point.
Looking back at Hashirama, he wondered what would happen if he really was a Senju. Could he continue being friends with someone who had helped slaughter his own family? Could he trust Hashirama, if he turned out to be on the other side?
No.
A week later Hashirama and Madara stood by the foot of a steep mountain. The brown haired boy was excitingly telling his friend about a technique of his own invention he wanted them to master together.
"I call it the mega fist of fiery illusion shuriken slicer double impact technique!" Hashirama explained eagerly while going through a handful of signs in rapid pace.
"That's… a mouthful." Grinned Madara.
"You see, the trick behind it-" Started Hashirama but Madara interrupted, not at all interested in doing ridiculous experimental ninjutsu that the knuckle head had come up with himself.
"I have a better idea. Let's scale some walls today, to work on our upper body strength!" He said pointing up towards the mountain side. Madara almost expected Hashirama's response by now.
The boy sank down with his hands around his knees and started sulking. Rolling his eyes, Madara got off some of his irritation towards his friend.
"You can't sulk just because things don't go your way! That's your weak point. Look-" He started, but before he knew exactly what happened Hashirama jumped up and took off up the wall with a gleeful expression.
"GYAHAHAHA! I'm going to be first!" He shouted.
Madara bellowed his disapproval before pelting after him. "YOU WERE TOTALLY FAKING IT!"
Hashirama laughed as he saw the edge come closer, Madara was still metres away from catching up. He was so going to win this! Taking an uncontrolled leap over the edge and crashing into the hard rock surface of the mountain top gasping, Madara came rushing after him with the same wildness to his movements.
They both landed awkwardly, and breathed hard through their smiles.
"I so win this one!" Hashirama gloated.
Madara sneered and sat up. "Of course, you cheated!" He shot back.
Sitting up to fire back a smart response Hashirama froze. He was staring towards the cliff edge behind Madara. The boy turned, confused as to what had caught his attention so abruptly.
A girl was sitting only two metres away from him looking startled.
She had long blond hair with the bluest eyes Madara had ever seen. She also had some strange markings on her face, three lines on each cheek, resembling whiskers on a cat.
"Uh… Hello." She said waving a bandage wrapped hand, and uncertainly eyeing Madara.
It couldn't have been plainer that the two boys were shinobi, they had just raced vertically up a mountainside without the use of their hands.
"Eh… Hi! What are you doing up here?" Answered Madara studying the girl in return. He could feel her chakra even from here. She was definitely a ninja, one who didn't have very good control on her chakra it seemed.
"I came for the view." She said and simply pointing out over the mountain edge. The boys turned and looked over the horizon. For a few moments none of them spoke, all three lost in the beautiful scenery ahead of them.
"Man, what a view! I wouldn't mind living here!" Exclaimed Hashirama.
The girl giggled and smiled widely to Hashirama. "Me too. A village hidden in the leaves." She said chuckling. Madara wondered what she found so amusing, but decided against voicing it.
"Eh? That's a lame name! So simple, you just said what you see in front of you." Moaned Hashirama.
The girl seemed to find this even funnier, because she laughed so hard she clutched her stomach. The laughter went from joyful to silence as she got a hold of herself, but both Madara and Hashirama got the feeling her good mood had turned sad.
'Man, this girl is more emotional than Hashirama.' Thought Madara and gazed back over the horizon.
"Who're you?" Asked Madara absentmindedly. He didn't really care, he wanted to have a spar with Hashirama before they went home, and hoped the strange girl wouldn't take up too much of their time.
"Namikaze Naruto." She answered, looking at Madara from the corner of her eye. Both boys looked at her with surprise. Madara couldn't believe what an idiot she was. Telling your last name to strangers? Maybe she wasn't a shinobi after all.
Hashirama on the other hand had started stuttering. "N-Naruto!? You- You're the one who saved Itama!" He exclaimed and jumped to his feet.
Madara's eyebrows rose to his hairline as he looked from Hashirama to the small blond girl named Naruto. Seriously? She looked like a good draft of wind would blow her away. And what sort of name was Naruto anyway? Wasn't that a ramen ingredient?
"Oh… You know Itama?" She asked curiously looking up at Hashirama.
"Yes! He's my younger brother! I am eternally grateful to you Naruto-chan!" He said and bowed low to the sitting girl.
"I owe you now. I promised to take care of my brothers, but when it mattered the most I came too late and we all thought him dead. When Itama came home it was the best day of my life. He has told me so many stories about you! When you saved him, and then later when you helped him through his illness. I think he's a little infatuated with you now. At least he won't stop talking about you." Hashirama exclaimed while Naruto and Madara got to their feet.
"Eh… I would have done it for anyone. He's only six. I had to help." She said unsure of how to behave around these boys. "And what's your name anyway?" She looked questioningly from one to the other, her eyes stopping on Madara with an unreadable expression.
"I'm Madara." Said the closest boy with black spiky hair that seemed eerily familiar, and now she knew why. Gulping she looked quickly over at the boy with the funny haircut, focusing hard on him instead of the would-be maniac.
"And I'm Hashirama!" The second one said and stretched out his hand to greet her. Shaking her hand he continued. "Nice to meet you Naruto-chan!"
Madara greeted her only with a short nod. "Yes, nice to meet you." He didn't look it though, he seemed more uncertain about her.
"Did you get back home alright? Do you live close by since you're here? You know… Now that I think about it, I've never heard of a Namikaze clan, are you foreign?" Asked Hashirama. Naruto shook her head and told them the same thing she'd told Itama earlier.
"So you are alone? Where's your village?" Asked Madara at the end.
"Eh..." She looked over the horizon to the close growing trees below. This was home. This was her village, but obviously she couldn't tell them that.
"My village is gone. As I said, I'm alone now." She said shrugging her shoulders. Not in a carefree manner, but more in what can you do about it manner. They both grimace slightly when they heard that.
"How come you survived then?" Asked Hashirama, even though he suspected this was a dangerous subject to get into.
"I'm not sure," She sighed. "I sort of blacked out."
"I remember Itama said you heal fast! Maybe that's what happened? I heard something about how you got hit by a shuriken in the back but that the wound healed itself in a few hours." He mused still smiling.
It was great to finally have a face to the person his youngest brother was talking his ears off about.
"What? That's not possible, or are you a medic?" Asked Madara sceptically. He already knew the girl's chakra control was more or less abysmal, so it was not very likely.
"No it's not." Said Naruto and Hashirama at the same time.
"Look, Madara!" Said the brown haired boy and took up his kunai, next to him Naruto copied the movements. He slit his palm at the same time as Naruto and a little blood emerged to the surface of their skin. Both of them stuck their hand towards Madara.
The Uchiha looked confused at their morbid behaviour. Cutting yourself? What the hell…
Then his eyes widened as both their wounds started disappearing, Naruto's at such a quick pace he could see her skin healing and becoming as good as new while Hashirama still had some scarring left. The whole process had taken less than five minutes.
Madara wracked his brain for clans with an ability like this. Nothing came to mind at all. Certainly not the Senju, they would have noticed by now if one of their prisoners suddenly healed himself in the cell.
"That's… amazing. And...You never told me you could do that Hashirama!" Madara shouted accusingly while pointing at Hashirmama.
The boy then fell into his depression stance. Naruto, who had never witnessed this before, tried to cheer him up while Madara rolled his eyes in exasperation. However his mind was racing, could they be related somehow? They looked nothing alike, except maybe the way they smiled. Wide toothy grins that took up half of their face.
Other than that he couldn't see any resemblance what so ever.
"How do you do it?" Asked Madara when he couldn't deal with his own curiosity any more. If this was some technique he was so going to master it, starting from right now.
"Don't know… I've always healed that fast. I think I was born with it." Said Hashirama and looked over at Naruto.
"Me too."
Hashirama then seemed to be reminded of something important and clapped his fist into his other palm so the smack echoed over the valley. "Can you show me that clone thing? Kage bunshin was it?" He asked eagerly.
"Itama certainly has been talking a lot haven't he?" Said Naruto, but still she nodded and did the ram seal.
"Kage bunshin no jutsu." She said quickly.
Five clones popped into existence around them so suddenly Madara jumped in surprised. All eleven Naruto chuckled at the same time.
"Wicked! Show me! I mean… Please Naruto-chan, would you teach me your technique?" Asked Hashirama remembering his manners.
Even though Naruto after a few moments of hesitation agreed, it proved later she was no talented teacher.
Madara was convinced the girl was being honest, and was truly doing her best to teach them both. But when she used sentences such as; "You just, whooom you know, and then BOAH, dattebayo!" He had the impression she was a complete and utter moron.
He also voiced this opinion, and got a black eye in retaliation. Clearly she was far from as fragile as he first assumed. The brawl turned into a full blown out match, with Hashirama as an eager referee.
'She's amazing!' Was the dangerous thought that ran through Madara's head when he had to dodge to save his own life as a wind technique roared toward him. The boulder he hid behind shattered into tiny pieces as he lunged behind the next one.
She was really fast and strong compared to others their age, and very good at ninjutsu. She could also keep up with him, and she couldn't be more than a year older than them.
Never had Madara thought there could be someone else — other than Hashirama — who was so equal in strength to him. Before he'd met Hashirama, he'd never imagined anyone being his equal at their age. But in Naruto's case she might… no matter how much he tried to deny it… be a little bit… just the minuscule, tiniest amount... better.
At least for right now.
Madara was going to do some serious training at home from now on. He was mortified this girl could keep up with him. She was a girl after all. And he was supposed to be the most talented Uchiha in eighty years! He couldn't allow some homeless wanderer to show him up.
Naruto stumbled over him with her fist first. He had no idea how she managed it, but landing hard on his back he coughed as the girl fell over him. Kneeing him in the jaw as she went down.
Dust swirled around she struggled to get off him before she finally got a good grip, using his right arm to push herself off. She jumped to her feet and held her kunai threateningly above him.
Still a little disoriented after the last knock to his jaw, he only comprehended one thing.
Fuck… he lost…
Naruto considered doing it. Slitting his throat.
Just a small movement, it would be so absurdly easy. Then none of it would happen, he would never hurt another soul ever again. Her friends or her family. They could all have a future if she just twisted her wrist.
She leaned up and reached out her hand for him to grab. "Good match, Madara." She said cheekily, trying to cover up her hesitation while she helped him to his feet. The boy didn't seem to have registered it at all, he just grumbled and seemed very embarrassed by his defeat.
Naruto was trying to focus on the good points of the Madara in front of her. He was actually a lot less arrogant than Sasuke had been at that age, and just like Sasuke he had lost family, at least she thought he had. Or maybe it was later that happened…
She didn't know the details around Hashirama and Madara's friendship; all she knew was that they had been friends turned enemies, turned friends, turned enemies again. When, how or where was completely up in the air.
But looking at the boy trying very hard to act indifferent, Naruto knew she could have killed him as much as she could have watched Itama get murdered that night. It wasn't right, he hadn't done any of those things yet. Nothing started out bad at first, not even Kaguya had been evil before she ate the chakra fruit.
He was a young boy who lived in a harsh time, people had gone mad from less things than what Madara had lived through. And while he was not as innocent as the kids Naruto had originally grown up with, he didn't deserve to die without being given a chance. Wasn't that what she was trying to do? Give them all a chance?
It was then she started wondering if this might not be a good thing. To become friends with Hashirama and Madara at a young age would make things easier. Mostly because at some point she suspected black Zetsu would start looming around Madara, but also because she might be of some help.
Zetsu was the slipperiest bastard she'd ever encountered. She at all cost had to kill him or if that wasn't possible, then at least seal him away forever. If Zetsu didn't get his claws into Madara and went back into hiding it would only be to bide his time. He'd done it for thousands of years already, what was a couple more? And Naruto had a bad feeling Sasuke would be next on his list, since she was now stuck in the past, unable to help her bastard of a friend.
No, she would have to do both now, catch black Zetsu and help Hashirama and Madara in reaching their dream. How many times had she heard she had the ability to change someone's heart? And looking at Hashirama she wondered if maybe he didn't have that too, they had the same soul after all. But how would she be someone's friend while searching for black Zetsu? She would sooner or later have to leave again.
If both of them tried their best…. Could maybe that be enough? And if Madara still had any siblings then they would have to make sure they stayed alive. Naruto knew how Uchiha boys had a habit of going insane over their brothers a little too well.
"That was a really great match!" Exclaimed Hashirama as he ran over. "Itama wasn't exaggerating!" He said while looking from Naruto to Madara. "You might have some problems covering up that bruise though." He added, looking close to laughing.
"Oy! I'd like to see you do any better! She'd have you moping in a corner after a second!" He growled, and then realised he'd just complimented Naruto.
"Of course I'm tired today, you know. Was up late and sparring with Father. Still stiff and stuff." He huffed and straightened up.
"Sure, sure." Muttered Naruto with her trademark smile. Madara was unsure if she actually believed him or not.
"Come on Naruto! I'm up next!"
"It should have mission categories! You know, so that younger and more inexperienced ninjas aren't sent out on missions too hard at an early stage you know! That way there wouldn't be too many risks right!" Said Hashirama to his friends as they sat in a circle by the river bank, night had fallen but the three of them was deep in discussion about their dream.
"Yeah, but people could lie when ordering a mission, dattebayo. So there should be like, three fresh ones together with an experienced sensei. So they could all learn while doing missions, and if they came into unexpected danger there would be someone who knew how to deal with it." Answered Naruto animatedly, she knew after all from experience that this worked.
"Yeah! That's a good idea! And the teams could be specialised from early on. Tracking teams, capturing teams, fighting teams. They could be put together according to skills and personalities. That way you'd get really strong troops as a whole." Madara added. Naruto nodded, and Hashirama looked thoughtful.
"Yes, that could work… Some are genetically more able to work with tracking while others has more raw powers." He said while taking mental notes of all the suggestions that was being thrown about.
They had been sitting there for hours, but their talk hadn't stopped once the entire time. When Naruto had declined Hashirama's challenge, saving it for another day, and Madara had finally stopped moping about his loss against Naruto. Hashirama had started asking Naruto about her past. Why she was alone, what she did and finally what she wanted in the future.
Both boys had been shocked, but also happy to find a third foolish optimist who seemed to share their dream.
Madara had quickly forgotten his loss, and started discussing the things he and Hashirama had talked about for the last couple of months. Naruto, while not very patient with the drier points, seemed genuinely interested in many of the ideas.
She came with suggestions and asked for explanations to things she didn't understand. Which admittedly was quite a bit. Before they knew it they had led Naruto down from the mountain to their meeting spot where they still conversed.
It was close to midnight when Madara realised he seriously had to head home before anyone came looking for him.
Reluctantly, he said goodbye and left them as he ran to the opposite shore. Hashirama seemed to realise the same thing and said goodnight to Naruto before leaving the girl alone in the clearing, smiling from ear to ear in happiness.
She couldn't help it, even though she knew what Madara had the potential to end up as; she couldn't see this happy, slightly haughty boy as the same murderer she had met in her past. In a way he reminded her of Sasuke, and in others they were very different. Both was a good person who had been through horrors, manipulated and thrown into bad circumstances.
That night as she walked home to her cave, she swore to herself she would save Madara, just like she had sworn to save Sasuke.
And that Hashirama and Madara was going to found, and stay with her in the future Konoha.
Author Note: Thank you so much for reading!
Naruto meet Hashirama and Madara on the Hokage mountain! I really wanted them to meet here. It's a place all of them have in common. All of them dreaming of the future while they were kids, at the same place only in different times. I find it more believable that Hashirama and Madara ran into Naruto up there while she brooded and missed her friends, then she randomly running across the river somewhere in the forest.
Thank you to those who commented on the last chapters! Truly appreciate it, and they make me more motivated in writing this story.
Edited 04.2016 Chapter beta'd by the wonderful Jayden-the-Jaded.