A.N.
Bless all of those who have reviewed, faved, and followed my story. I really, truly appreciate it!
If you have not kept up with the manga from here on out there may be spoilers.
Disclaimer: Naruto does NOT belong to me.
Sayuri and any characters that have not and will not appear in the manga and/or anime are completely original.
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"The Sharingan activates when the user is experiencing something particularly strong, it in turn makes the person stronger. Almost all of the ones who experienced strong emotions are captured by darkness…and the greater that darkness in them becomes the more powerful their eyes get. After that it is near impossible to handle them, like in Madara's case."
"Madara really loved his little brother…probably even more than your brother loved you." Hashirama added to his brother's lecture.
"In any case I channeled their power into something that could be of use to the village. However, if they ended up destroying themselves for the sake of the village, that cannot be helped. By doing so they were still useful to the village in a way."
"Tobirama, would you stop talking like that?! The one you're talking to is a pure Uchiha child!" Hashirama scolded his brother who merely glanced away.
"What is important is the village. The village is the point. You should know this brother."
"I could care less." Sasuke interrupted their little argument. "I am neither pure nor a child. First Hokage…my question to you…" Hashirama tuned his full attention to the boy. "What is the village? What are shinobi in the first place?"
The man raised a hand to his chin closing his eyes in thought. "What is the village and shinobi…?"
"Itachi, my brother, was used by the village and still he risked his life to protect it, he died proud of being a shinobi of the leaf." He then gestured to Sayuri. "And her, despite finding out that the village's council had agreed to illuminated her clan even though they had nothing to do with what my clan was planning, she's still willing to put her life on the line out in the battle field to protect the village." He deactivated his Mangekyo. "And the shinobi who started it all, what are they. I want to hear the truth from you before making my decision."
They all turned to Hashirama waiting patiently for an answer.
History
"And what decision would that be?" Yukan asked the young teen.
Sasuke turned to face him. "To destroy the village or—"
"Destroy the village?!" Tobirama repeated. His chakra suddenly spiked putting all of them in alarm. "I'm going to…" the room began to tremble around them.
"Tobirama..." They all felt the Firsts chakra spike as well. It wasn't until the two men looked at each other that the others took action.
Sasuke placed himself in front of Sayuri while Juugo dashed to stand in front of both of them. Suigetsu hid behind Orochimaru slowly taking his water form while the Sannin formed a single hand seal as his chakra flared up.
"Lower your fingers." Hashirama ordered his younger brother.
"Huh?" Sayuri leaned around the other two to get a better look at the Second Hokage and sure enough his fingers were raised slightly.
"Fine…You don't have to raise your chakra so much, brother." Tobirama grumbled as his fingers relaxed, the pressure in the room livening up a bit.
Suddenly Hashirama burst into laughter making them all jump. "Sorry, sorry!" he apologized as he stepped forward.
"W-wow…" Minato whispered as he watched some dust fall from the ceiling. Yukan looked relieved next to the Fourth as he dusted his coat off.
"Let me tell you, Sasuke. You had a really great brother. Even better than me." He pointed at himself. "I can talk to you about the village but it would be a long story."
"Could you possibly tell him what he needs to know? We're running short on time." Orochimaru asked as he lowered his defensive stance.
The Third looked confused. "What do you mean short on time?"
"We're at war." Sayuri answered, still partly shrouded by Juugo. "Madara Uchiha was revived and he's come up with a plan to wipe out all the shinobi. He calls it the 'Moon Eye Plan.'"
Hashirama shook his head and sighed. "This world is always at war…"
The Second Hokage concentrated and turned to his right facing a wall, confirming that they really were fighting. The Fourth, however, looked stunned as a slow smile made its way on his face.
"It seems to be the truth. I can definitely sense Madara's chakra." Tobirama said as he continued to stare at the wall.
"Then we should head to the battlefield too!" Exclaimed the Third.
"You're being controlled by my Edo Tensei, I can limit your movements." The third glared at Orochimaru who looked pretty proud of himself. It wasn't every day that you called the shots amongst five of Konoha's strongest.
"Sayuri," the girl turned to her father who tilted his head to get a better look at the brunette. "Were you fighting as well?"
"Not really," she shook her head. "I spent a good three days tracking down this guy's…" she pointed at Orochimaru. "…Apprentice because he had used the Edo Tensei in the war. After that I was on guard duty for the Feudal lords and the Clan Heads."
"You!? On guard duty!?" Yukan looked rather appalled. "You should have been with them. If something were to happen to the Hokage and—"
"Yeah, I know I got lectured by the other four heads already, I don't need to hear it from you." She grumbled, crossing her arms and looking away.
"So what are you doing here?" Hiruzen demanded. "You should be back there on duty, not here chatting!"
"It's not like I had much of a choice!" Sayuri retorted. "They came here and I had to protect the village." She sighed. Not like I'm going to have any luck doing that at this rate.
"And I'm on Sasuke's side. If he isn't satisfied I might even use you to crush the Leaf." Orochimaru added.
Hashirama turned his attention to Sasuke, who stared back with apprehension. Yukan turned to his daughter not liking that her companion was thinking about destroying her home. Tobirama on the other hand scoffed and began to walk away.
"I think you're not understanding, Orochimaru." He placed a hand on the wall. "You might have improved the jutsu, but this time you brought us all back with almost all of our power. I am the one who created this jutsu and I will not allow you to use it to control me!" The wall cracked easily under the pressure of his chakra. "Brother, I am leaving."
Suddenly the white haired man froze his body quivering. Hashirama took one look at his brother and chuckled. "Sarutobi, you have raised a skilled shinobi." Tobirama turned to glare at Orochimaru who accepted his brother's compliments. "Well then," the man beamed. "Do not worry, Orochimaru. I will first free that boy from his ill fillings on the village." Hashirama exclaimed as he dropped to the ground, crossing his feet in an attempt to become comfortable. "…Where should I start…?" He closed his eyes, a smile plastered on his face. "Right, from the very beginning."
Hashirama tilted his head and eyed Sayuri. "Little Marihasha, do you know of your clan's history?"
Sayuri blinked in surprise but nodded none the less. "I was told by the ANBU."
"Let me tell you, something. Your ancestor had much to do with this too."
XXX
A stone flew across the river only to get half way across before sinking. A young boy dressed in all black bent down to pick up another smooth stone with a pout.
"This time I'll get it across for sure!"
Suddenly out of the corner of his eye he saw a stone fly by skipping across the river and landing with a dull 'clack' on the other side.
"You should aim a little higher when you throw it." The dark haired boy turned to see another kid his age with straight black hair.
"Who are you!?"
The boy grinned. "Well you could say I'm your rival at stone skipping!"
The boy dressed in black glared. "I asked who you are, tell me your name!"
"My name is Hashirama. I can't tell you my surname."
The other boy stared at Hashirama with slight distrust. "Well then, Hashirama, look!" He raised a stone up catching the other's attention. "This time I'll make it." He quickly turned and threw the stone. His stance reminded Hashirama of that of a shuriken wielder.
The stone skip across but just before it reached the other side it sunk.
"Bastard! You stood behind me on purpose to distract me, didn't you! I'm sensitive I can't even pee if someone is standing behind me!"Hashirama jumped back in fright and quickly sunk down drawing circles on the ground with a saddened look on his face.
"I'm sorry." Hashirama apologized.
"Uh…" The boy looked down at Hashirama. "You don't have to get depressed. I'm sorry, it was just an excuse."
Hashirama looked up at him from his spot on the ground. "I didn't know you had such an annoying tendency."
The other boy growled, a frown on his face. "I don't know if you're a good or a bad guy, you jerk!"
Hashirama suddenly jumped up with a grin on his face. "But you do know that I'm better than you at stone skipping!" he laughed making the skipping motion with his hand.
"Next time I'll use you instead of the stone!" the boy growled.
"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to make you mad." Hashirama mumbled sadly crouching down again. "I'm ready to be thrown in the river to make up for it…go ahead."
The other boy sighed. "You do realize you're annoying too."
Hashirama chuckled. "I just hope I can get to the other side."
"I can't stand you! Go away!" The boy yelled pointing back at the forest.
"Well then…" Hashirama was up on his feet and turning on his heel when the boy pulled him back.
"No, hold on!"
"Should I go or should I stay, which is it?" Hashirama looked over his shoulder looking rather sad until something caught his eye. "What's that?!" he asked as he ran across the water to the floating body.
"Are you a shinobi…?" asked the boy when he saw Hashirama standing on top of the river as if it was firm ground.
"The war is going to reach this place soon. Go home." He replied with a tone so serious it made him sound much older than he looked. "I have to go." He jumped over the body to the other side. "See ya!"
"My name is Madara…" the boy called out. Hashirama froze and turned to the boy on the other side. "Not revealing your surname is one of the ninja rules."
Hashirama nodded and smiled. "I thought you were a ninja."
The two boys eyed each other carefully before turning away.
XXX
"That was the first time I met him." Hashirama smiled sadly. "We were at war back then. Children were being sent to fight along with the adults. If you were walking and could hold and throw shuriken and kunai you had to fight." He sighed and shook his head. "My father was pretty strict about that too. He believed that children were not children, that they were shinobi…he believed that turning children into shinobi meant that you loved them."
Tobirama crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes listening to his brother while the rest looked at Hashirama solemnly.
"It was a warring period. The average life span of a shinobi and any other citizens was about thirty years." Tobirama clenched his fists as Hashirama closed his eyes. "What lowered it…was the death of many children." He took a deep breath and looked at Sasuke.
"Our younger brother died at the age of eight. I met Madara again the day after at the same river side." He chuckled. "He told me that the only way to stop the fighting was by being completely open to the other person, and not to hide anything from them, that way a truce could be made. But we both knew that was impossible. No matter what we did, we could never really know someone's inner thoughts.
"So there he was, another stupid kid who, just like me, wanted to change this chaotic world. But instead of being surprised, I thought Madara was a divine revelation. Although it's not like we had the same opinion on everything. After that we kept on meeting, always without revealing our surname, we showed each other our shinobi techniques and talked about the future. Always by the river that divided us, in a land that did not belong to either of one of us." He shook his head. "And then he brought someone else into our little haven."
XXX
The two boys were sparing when they managed to punch each other under the chin sending them back. Madara fell to the ground with a dull thud and turned to Hashirama.
"Your taijutsu and kumite are good…you can even tie with me." Said Madara as he propped himself up on his arms.
"This is not a tie." Hashirama replied. "I'm still standing."
"Eh?" Madara closed one eye, a smirk on his face. Suddenly a stone fell on Hashirama's head bouncing off of it making the boy fall back from the pain. "What was that?"
The two boys laughed, it wasn't until they heard a quiet rustling that they stopped, frozen in their spots. There was a small shadow on the river that slowly made its way to them. Hashirama and Madara both sprang to their feet readying themselves for a fight until the figure got closer. There in the middle of the river stood a kid, his black hair tied up in a pony tail, eyes the color of sapphires, he wore a long sleeved training shirt and training pants that reached a bit past his knees.
Hashirama was the first to step back searching for a weapon when Madara suddenly ran to the kid. Hashirama was expecting to see blood spill but nothing other than a sharp cry came. There stood Madara, fist raised, his face in an angered scowl as the kid held his head in pain.
"How many times do I have to tell you to quit sneaking up on people!?"
"Sorry, Dara…" the kid whined. "I forget…maybe if you stopped hitting me on the head I'd remember."
"Gah!" Madara slapped his forehead. "You're hopeless."
"Madara…" Hashirama called out. "Who's that?"
"Huh?" the boy with the spiked hair turned to the kid that was quietly wiping tears away. "Oh, yeah I forgot to tell you…this here," he yanked the kid forward by the arm. "…Is Hino, he and I have been meeting each other here for a while now. Actually that day I first met you I was actually waiting for him to show up."
Hashirama looked at Hino, who glanced at him and turned back to Madara. "It seems that I am not the only one with memory problems. Maybe I should not have hit Dara in the head so hard either."
"What are you blabbing on about!?" Madara turned to yell at Hino who held his ground looking at Madara apathetically. "That was one time!"
XXX
Hashirama chuckled. "Madara treated Hino as if he was his own little brother." The first Hokage glanced at Tobirama and smirked. "I began to see more and more of Hino. Whenever we had spars, Hino was our referee. He trained us and we trained him." The first Hokage turned back to Sasuke. "But most importantly he had our same dream."
A.N.
This part of the story is rather long. Seriously when I wrote it was 18 pages long. So I'm splitting it up and decided this was a good place to stop.
Any questions? Concerns?
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