Note: This is not an anti-Uchiha story, despite Tobirama's thoughts in the beginning. This is fair warning. Also, this is only the prologue. Future chapters will be longer. Please RR.

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Tobirama was proud of his village.

The young Senju had poured his all into making it as sustainable as he could. He had created a vast number of programs-- the Konoha Police Department, the Ninja Academy, the ANBU, the village's rankings, and even the voting system! He had worked day and night to make sure everything would be perfect for his brother's dream.

There was always one lingering threat to all his hard work, though. Those Uchiha. It would only be a matter of time before the Uchiha put the entire village in peril, intentional or not. While it was true that the clan was filled with outstanding shinobi, Tobirama knew for a fact that he couldn't trust them any further than he could throw the nine-tailed beast. They would rebel, sooner or later.

When the time came, the village would be in serious danger. To have so many fierce shinobi attack from within would be fatal to the village if there were no defenses in place.

Despite his many warnings and discussions with his elder brother, Hashirama had never listened. Tobirama loved his brother, but the man was willfully naive when it came to the Uchiha. He had always claimed that they would come around- that one day, they would become one with the village. That Tobirama would learn to accept them and that they would grant him the same respect.

It was one of the many things he was never able to agree with his brother on. How could he blindly believe in the Uchiha, hoping that they would decide to fall into line someday? Tobirama knew the Uchiha, and he knew them well.

Just as the Senju followed the way of the earth with their unyielding perseverance and strength, the Uchiha had always followed the way of the fire. Their clan was relentless-- fierce and determined, willing to consume anything that stood in their way and use it to fuel their own power.

Due to this, Tobirama had always knew exactly how to deal with them, despite his brother's dislike of his strict actions towards the clan. If the Uchiha insisted on living by the code of fire, he would treat them as such.

A flame could be powerful; an excellent weapon which could bring even the strongest of shinobi to their knees. Even so, it was one that needed to be treated with a watchful eye. After all, unlike a sword or kunai, a flame refuses to stay still unless forced to do so. If not properly reigned in, it would be easy for the weapon to get out of hand, burning enemies and allies alike. It's only focus is to sustain itself- to expand its power. The very same thing could be said about every Uchiha he had ever met.

Not once had he met an Uchiha who was missing this fire. Their greed to expand the clan's power was dangerous. They were bound to rebel the moment he looked away. He had refused to let them burn their way through the village, whether Hashirama was willing to listen to him or not. He would protect the people of Konoha with every fiber of his being- even if it was an attack from within.

Tobirama had promised his brother that he would help him see his dream of the perfect village to the end, and even beyond that. Konoha was their masterpiece, and he refused to let it burn to the ground due to his brother's overly trusting attitude. He would protect this village. He had made this oath, and he intended to follow through on it, even in death.

It had taken some time, but he had figured it out, eventually. He was a master of the scroll, after all. He had probably created more jutsus than most shinobi even managed to learn in a lifetime. He was by no means an arrogant man, but he wasn't as oblivious as Hashirama seemed to be when it came to his own power. He was powerful, and he knew that. Which was why he hadn't hesitated to use this power to protect his village.

It was deplorable, to say the least. Even as he worked hard in the dead of night, away from all prying eyes, he knew it. He had practically felt the judgment of his long-gone father and the sadness of Itama's sullen eyes. He had ignored these thoughts as he had worked to set it up, time and time again, trying to perfect it despite the feeling of damnation that welled in his gut each time he got closer and closer.

The dead should stay dead. That's what anyone with even the smallest bit of common decency would say. It was what his father had told them each time he heard Hashirama grieving; the boy demanding that this wasn't supposed to happen. Itama was supposed to make it out alive, Hashirama had said more than once, often accompanied by a tearful desire for him to be with them once more.

Their father had never been willing to listen to these grievances, nor had Tobirama been willing to listen to his father's incessant urges to simply 'move on' as his brothers followed one by one into the grave. It was ironic really, that the man who proclaimed to respect death so much was the first to also dismiss it so easily. His father had always treated it as though it were nothing, claiming that they would adapt to it once they grew older. They never had.

Tobirama knew, even as he cast the final seal to link his soul to the village, that death was anything but insignificant. It was necessary, but never trivial. To suggest such a thing was unimaginable. Death needed to be treated with the same respect as life- it would be foolish not to.

As such, he had been very particular when creating the seal. He knew he was committing an atrocious act, but no more so than taking another life, as far as he was concerned. A necessary evil. So he pressed on, setting up the rules for the seal in such a way that he almost hoped it never activated.

He had taken a breath once it was cast, the normally stoic man having to remind himself that it was for Hashirama and the safety of the village for all time. Even if his elder brother knew nothing of his vice, he would continue on for his sake. For the sake of his dream. If that included having to tie his soul to the village and keep watch over those damn Uchiha, he would do it.

He'd come back to deal with the Uchiha, no matter how much he hated the very idea. His one comfort was that, at the very least, he would only have to return in the most dire of circumstances. He had made sure of that when creating the seal.

It would not activate unless a large scale decrease or increase occurred with their chakra at any given point. This way, he'd be able to know if they were killing each other off especially fast for the mangekyou. He would be able to step in and make sure their forces didn't grow too powerful. At the same time, if they sharply increased, he'd be able to know about it if they were to use some sort of kinjutsu to bring back the past Uchiha. There's absolutely no good reason for them to want to resurrect the amount required to trigger the seal- so it would be best if he was around to stop whatever plot they'd be planning, he assumed.

The seal seemed perfect in almost every way. He was proud of himself for his results, even if the work in question was beyond repugnant. He would be able to fully come back- body, mind, and soul- without any of the oddities that came with the reanimation jutsu. No sacrifices were required for this seal, nor could it be activated by force before the time was right.

There was just one not-so-tiny issue. Since the seal was made to build him up from practically nothing, it took much longer to bring him back. Specifically, a month. It was something he had tried again and again to fix, but a month was as low as he could bring it down to without risking a mutation in the creation process.

As such, he had bitterly admitted, he would have to act fast once he felt his consciousness returning to him. He would have no time to wait around if the sharp change in chakra happened a month before his awakening.

He would have to be fast if he wanted to destroy whatever threat those damn Uchihas had built up in time.