A.N.
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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"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."
Dream
"So if we just master a lot of jutsu and become stronger then the adults won't be able to ignore us anymore." Hashirama decided one day as he, Hino, and Madara sat atop of a large boulder.
"You must overcome your weakness and the jutsu you're not good at…" Madara added as he stood and leapt off the boulder. "…But I'm already stronger than your average adult, so I'm halfway there."
Hino leaned over the boulder's edge to get a better look at the smirking Madara. "But Dara…" the boy began. "No adult is ever going to listen to you. You're a hot head. On top of that you can't even urinate if someone is standing behind you."
Madara frowned comically and turned to Hino. "COME DOWN HERE AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE!"
Hashirama and Hino both looked at each other and burst into a fit of laugher.
XXX
"The more we all met the closer we became."
XXX
"Hey guys!" Madara and Hino turned to see Hashirama waving at them as he ran towards the two. Once he reached them the two patiently waited for the boy to catch his breath.
"I...cam up…with a…new…jutsu!" Madara crossed his arms over his chest, looking like the ever arrogant kid he was, while Hino placed a hand on his hip and tilted his head. "It's called the Secret Taijutsu, Super Katon Genjutsu, Cutting Big Shuriken, Double Drop technique!"
"Um…"Hino stated, not sure of what to say so as not to hurt Hashirama's feelings.
"I don't get it!" Madara finished for the ever polite Hino.
"To explain it better—"
"SHUT UP!" Madara ordered. "Today we'll have a vertical wall climbing challenge!"
"Hashirama!" Hino exclaimed when the boy slumped down in depression. "Dara!" Hino exclaimed. "You can't just yell at people like that!"
Madara looked down at Hino and laughed nervously. "Ok, ok…Hashirama, don't get depressed all the time. That's your weak point."
"Will Dara, be nicer to me now?" Hashirama teased receiving a blow to the head by an angered Madara.
"SHUT UP!" the spiky haired boy yelled. Suddenly they heard laughter. The two looked up to see Hino running up the rock wall like it was nothing.
"Haha! I'm first, losers!"
"HEY!" Madara and Hashirama exclaimed setting after the boy.
The three were soon at the top of the cliff panting and sweaty from the exertion.
"I…won…" Hino said as he fell down on his back a grin on his face.
"Of course…you…did…" Madara replied as he sat down followed by Hashirama. "You started before us."
Hino laughed and leaned back on his arms, his bright red eyes scanning the land. Hashirama took notice of his surroundings and smiled as a cool breeze passed by.
"You can see the whole forest from here!" Hashirama exclaimed.
"Yes…" Hino sighed and closed his eyes as he tilted his head up towards the sun.
"Hey! I bet I can beat you two at seeing! Want to challenge me?" Madara asked as he sat up right and looked at the other two boys.
Hashirama was the first to react as he turned to Madara. "You seem to be pretty proud of your eyes."
Madara smirked. "Of course I am! I have the Sha—"Madara stopped midsentence and froze as if remembering something.
"What's wrong?" Hashirama asked.
Hino opened one eye to look at his friend in interest as well. "I bet he remembered that he's not that great."
Madara nodded once and looked back at the green tree tops. "You're right. If I were that good my brothers wouldn't have died…I would have been able to protect them."
Hino stiffened and sat up to look at Madara. He placed a hand on his shoulder and offered him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry."
"It's ok." He responded. "You didn't know."
"Don't you have any brothers left?"Asked Hashirama as he looked at Madara with concern.
"I still have one younger brother." He scrapped his fingers against the stone of the cliff, dark eyes narrowed at the forest. "And I'll protect him no matter what."
"I know!" Hashirama exclaimed as he hoped to his feet. "Let's build our own settlement here! We'll make it a place where children don't have to kill each other!"
Hino tilted his head to the side and grinned. "We could have a school to teach them in the arts, and missions that are assigned depending in rank!"
"Yeah!" Hashirama agreed. "And seniors would assign the proper mission level. In our village, children won't be sent to the battlefields!"
"That's a great idea!" Hino announced as he too got riled up.
Between them Madara chuckled. "You two are the only ones who can come up with such silly things."
"Well…" Hashirama leaned forward. "What are your thoughts!?"
"Aww come on, Dara!" Hino whined as he leaned closer to his friend. "You have to admit it is a good idea!"
"Heh…" Madara turned back to the vast land before them. "Yeah! When we build our settlement I'll look after my little brother from here." He offered his two friends a grin of which the two returned.
XXX
"That place later became the Village Hidden in the Leaf. On that day I made my decision." The First Hokage paused and took a deep breath. "I chose to resist, to be able to make my dream come true."
XXX
"Ready…" Hino announced as he stood atop a small boulder in the middle of the lake. "…And skip!"
The two boys on either side of the lake threw their stones. Each skipped the water making silent splashing sounds as they passed each other until they ended on the other side with both Madara and Hashirama catching them.
"It's a tie!" Hino exclaimed. Both Hashirama and Madara laughed at their friend's declaration.
"That stone is good for skipping." Hashirama told Madara as the dark haired boy looked down at the smooth stone. "You can keep it 'til next time we meet!"
"Ok." Madara agreed. He turned to the boy still standing by the lake. "Hino, train harder on your stances next time we meet we're going to spar!"
"Got it!" Hino saluted both boys before disappearing from the lake. The two boys left soon after.
XXX
"That day I returned to my clan's settlement and was stopped by my brother who told me that my father needed to talk to me." Hashirama shook his head. "Father told me that he had Tobirama tail me, and that he had found that I was meeting with two boys. He found out that Madara was an Uchiha but had yet to know of which clan Hino belonged to. Not like it mattered, either way I would have to tail them and possibly kill them."
XXX
The following day Madara and Hashirama met up, standing on their side of the lake. Madara looked around as did Hashirama before the two turned to each other with stern looks on their faces.
"Hino isn't here yet." Madara noted to which Hashirama nodded. "Fine, first let's use stone skipping as a greeting. Ready?"
Hashirama nodded. "Yes…"
The two boys took out their stones and threw them across the lake. Both managed to catch each other's stones and flipped them over looking at them in shock.
"Hashirama…sorry…today I remembered I have something to do." Madara waved at the Senju.
"I-I see…Then…I'll go home too today." Hashirama responded. The two quickly turned away and made a run for it, their stones reading 'run away' and 'it's a trap.' The boys did not get far however because soon the boys fathers and younger brothers stood before each other.
"Looks like we had the same idea…Butsuma Senju." Said the older Uchiha. Beside him his son landed on the water, his sword drawn.
"Tobirama…" said the younger boy.
"So it seems. Tajima Uchiha." Responded the Senju's leader.
"Izuna." Acknowledged Tobirama.
XXX
"As it turned out the Uchiha had the same idea as my father. And no matter how you looked at it, Butsuma Senju and Tajima Uchiha were equally strong." Hashirama spoke solemnly remembering how his brother and Madara's charged at each other dutifully following their fathers orders. "Shinobi are trained to keep a cool head during battles. If you hesitate for even a split second, that might create and opening…and decided whether you lived or died."
XXX
"STOP IT!" Both Madara and Hashirama cried out but to no avail. Their brothers met their katana and grunted with the struggle to overpower the other.
XXX
"Both adults knew that if their son was killed before their eyes, even if it was just a little, their hearts would be thrown out of order…So in other words, the battle would be decided by who would strike first."
XXX
Tobirama and Izuna pushed back just as their fathers jumped up into the air behind them, kunai in their hands ready to throw them at the children below them. But just before either man threw any weapon a small gasp caught their attention. Instinctively the two men threw their kunai at the person standing at the lake.
Noticing who it was that had caught their father's attention, both Hashirama and Madara rushed to the lake. "NO!" Hashirama and Madara screamed as they watched their fathers kunais head towards Hino, who stood frozen in his place.
"Water Style: Water fall Jutsu!"
A large wall of water surged up from around Hino, just in time to stop the kunai from reaching their target. As soon as the wall of water crashed down onto the lake, four figures suddenly appeared from the trees landing with a splash in front of the young boy, their katana and kunai out. Madara and Hashirama quickly moved to stand in front of their brothers, both in defensive stances glaring at the four new ninja.
Two men, dressed in all black with silver chest and arm guards stood on either side of Hino, directly in front of their friend was a tall man with a child both dressed in fine kimono, all four wearing animal masks over their faces. The smaller one of the group suddenly pulled off his dog mask revealing himself to be a young boy of about eight years. He turned to Hino, his face full of worry.
"Sister, are you alright!?"
"Sister?" Hashirama echoed.
"Yes, I'm fine, Yoshiro." Hino smiled as the young boy ran into his sisters arms.
"Hino is a girl?" Madara asked as he watched the two siblings interact.
"You six!" The tall man in a tiger mask with the intricate purple kimono pointed at the Uchiha and Senju. "You have five minutes to leave this land. It is property of the Marihasha Clan and as such you are trespassing. If you do not leave within the time limit we will eliminate you."
"Eliminate us?" Butsuma echoed. "Do you really think you can?"
All tensed feeling a large amount of chakra emanate from the man with the tiger mask. "I could always dispose of you right here and now. You did almost kill my heir."
"Father, stop!" Hino exclaimed, but the man turned to the girl.
"Hinode, I have told you time and time again, ninja are dangerous they could have killed you had I not intervened."
"Father—"
"Silence Hinode! I have let you do as you please long enough!"
"Hino…your real name is Hinode Marihasha?" Madara asked, but it sounded more like a statement then a question. He smirked. "That explains why my father knew nothing about you. Your clan is a neutral feudal clan of this country." He shook his head and looked at them all sternly. "Regardless of who you are, if you hurt my brother I will never forgive you."
"Madara…?" Hashirama began.
The young Uchiha looked down at the lake sadly. "It seems like we won't be able to reach that dumb pipedream after all." He looked up at his two friends with a completely stoic look. "It didn't last long but I had fun. Hashirama…Hino…"
"Dara, wait—" Hinode stepped forward but was stopped by her father who blocked her way by extending an arm.
"You have three minutes left." Announced the Marihasha clan leader.
"Let's go." Madara ordered. "Hashirama is stronger than I am. I'm not so sure about them…" he gestured to the Marihasha's standing in the middle of the lake. "But they belong to a neutral feudal clan and we can't afford to get tangled with an assassination of a clan that has yet to do anything to us."
Tajima Uchiha crossed his arms and nodded. "All right, let's go."
"Wait, Madara! You can't really be thinking of abandoning our dream!" Hashirama attempted saddened at the thought.
"My brothers were killed by Senju…I really wish it had been different. Next time we'll meet in the battlefield…Hashirama Senju."
"Madara"
"Dara!" Hinode and Hashirama both called out to the boy who turned to them.
"My name is Madara Uchiha!" He replied, his Sharingan finally activating, much to everyone's surprise.
"You have two minutes left." Announced Hinode's father as he took out his katana.
"Hn." Tajima grunted and leaped off followed closely behind by his sons.
Butsuma looked over at the Marihasha leader and nodded. "Let's move." He ordered as he too disappeared to his side of the forest.
Tobirama turned to leave but noticed that his brother was still standing in place. "Brother?"
Hashirama kept his eyes on the side of the forest that Madara had disappeared into, still in shock by his friend's decision.
"Hashirama!" Hinode called out catching the boy's attention. "Leave now...please." She ordered as she took her hair out of the pony tail it was in and let it fall to her shoulders. He watched her put a hand on her father's larger one and look up at him pleading the man to back down.
Hashirama tightened his fists until they turned white; he was hurt by everything that had transpired. Both of his friends had now turned their back on the dream that the three had hoped to realize one day. Although he wanted to argue against it all Hashirama could do was nod and go to his side of the forest, away from the Uchiha and off Marihasha land.
XXX
"On that day that we finally found out each other's last names, Madara had activated his Sharingan…that meant that he had decided to erase me, the person who had been his friend." He sighed sadly and continued. "After that we fought day in, day out…until before we realized it, we had become the heads of our respective clans. We had arrived at the place furthest away from the dream we had wanted to come true. Do you understand what that meant?" Hashirama turned to the people in the room that had remained quiet throughout his story.
"More children died." Sayuri answered to which Hashirama nodded.
"Exactly…Our wars dragged on for years, but the Senju kept on winning. It came to the point where even some Uchiha would surrender and join us. Eventually it came to the day that I brought Madara down. It was at that point that we both knew who was really the stronger of the two."
XXX
"Madara, it is time to stop this." Hashirama pleaded as he stood over the man he still considered his best friend. "Can't we settle this like we used to?"
"You know we cannot…I am not the same as you anymore…" Madara replied. "I don't have any siblings left…I can't trust you. If you want us to straighten things out…Either kill your brother or kill yourself. Then I will trust your clan."
Both Hashirama and Tobirama were silent. Who would even consider such a request!? Behind them their clansmen began to murmur only to stop when their leader held up a hand.
"This man is crazy!" Tobirama exclaimed. "What do you plan to do? Are your going to kill me?"
Hashirama ignored his brother and turned back to Madara with his usual child like smile. "Thank you, Madara. You are sympathetic person." Hashirama stood up and shed his red armor after taking out a lone kunai.
XXX
"You were going to commit suicide!?" Sayuri burst out pushing past Sasuke and taking a step towards the First. "Why would you do something like that!? It's crazy!"
Hashirama smiled. "I take it that you never had any siblings."
Sayuri blushed in embarrassment before answering. "No…I was an only child."
"That is why you do not understand." Hashirama gently explained. "Madara had given me two choices…so that I was not forced to kill my own brother, because he knew of the pain one felt when they lost someone close to them. He let me choose so that I would not have to suffer the same way he did."
"But…" Sayuri frowned in concern and turned when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned back to see Sasuke who stepped forward and shook his head.
"Let him continue, he became the First Hokage any way that means he didn't go through with it."
Hashirama chuckled. "That is correct. Because Madara stopped me before I could."
XXX
Hashirama looked down at Madara who had mustered up the strength to get up and stop Hashirama from killing himself.
"That's enough…" Madara spoke with a low determined voice. "I've seen your true intentions."
XXX
"With that the two once warring clans joined forces, becoming the strongest union of ninja that the world had known." Hashirama grinned. "At that point it came time for us to make our village but no one could agree on where to build the settlement. That was until my brother and Madara had unexpectedly joined forces."
A.N.
And I leave you with this. I still need to edit the next chapter. Thank you all for the reviews! I appreciate each and every single one.
Comments? Concerns? Please review :)