Disclaimer: All my love for this saga won't change the fact that I do not own Naruto.
English not being my native language, please forgive me for the eventual errors I might do, I'll do my best to avoid doing them in the first place or remove them after the fact.
Summary: A story of Hashirama Senju, the one who revolutionized the Shinobi world. AU.
Season I
Chapter Four: Lost
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"Big sis'!" wailed Itama, head buried in her neck.
"Ush now, we are not out of the woods yet."
Itama tightened his grip around her, nodding damply in her hair. Hashirama kept her senses on alert, as she rushed through the air cautiously.
She couldn't have more than a meagre dozen of minutes ahead from the Uchihas, she needed to put some real distance between them and her brother, before allowing herself to rest a little.
She ran further, deeper in the forest, her little brother nudged on her back, until the crest of warmer colours started to show up through the foliage above them.
Then, she stopped.
Her younger brother's head, who had been bobbing steadily for the last half hour, shot up all of a sudden and Hashirama could have sworn she heard a stifled yawn as the young boy started to adjust his position.
She chuckled lightly.
"I wasn't sleeping," Itama said defensively.
"Sure you weren't," the girl nodded with an understanding grin. "Off you go, then."
She let the boy slide on the ground gingerly, before taking a large gulp of air.
She never thought she would have been able to carry him for so many hours straight, in such unfamiliar terrain and adverse conditions.
But now, her body was making it known that she'd have to reconsider doing this kind of thing right after having battled powerful shinobis on her own. Her muscles were just sore and she groaned as she let herself sit on the ground right next to him.
"Big sis', are you okay?" asked Itama, looking up to her with an expression mixing concern and admiration.
"Don't start fussing over me, silly! You know how I am, I'll be as good as new in a couple of hours," smiled Hashirama while pulling him closer to her. "If anything, I should be the one fussing over you, I - you really scared me there for a minute. What happened back there?"
Itama's head fell, showing either embarrassment or fear, she wasn't sure.
"I don't know. The enemies… they were there suddenly, and I - I couldn't see you or the rest of the group anymore… I know that I am a shinobi of the Senju now, that I have to be brave like our father, but after Renji fell... I was so afraid Hashirama, I thought they would kill me, so I tried to escape somehow," he muttered, face screwed in a peculiar scowl. "I'm sorry…"
She sighed.
Of course, he had been afraid. For all she knew, Renji was tethering on death's door and Itama was still a child - they all were, really. A six-year-old shouldn't be on the battlefield no matter what, but here he was, prayed on by veteran warriors and their genjutsu.
This world was spiralling into madness.
"Being scared is normal Itama... It's because we are alive that we are able to feel that way when we face a danger," Hashirama said with a voice she meant to be soothing but betraying how upset she was instead. "But as shinobis, we have to keep our heads whenever that occurs, otherwise it will put us, our comrades, or the people we are protecting, in harm's way. Do you understand?"
"But, you came to save me!" said Itama energetically.
"I was lucky enough to track you and that group of Uchiha down, but things could have gone differently," Hashirama said darkly. "I could have tracked you too late, or in time but they could have been too strong for me to take on, or reacted differently to my tactics… You need to be more mindful on the field in order to survive Itama, even if I'm here with you, so don't go and run off like that again, please."
He looked up at her intently, searching her eyes, before reaching for her and embracing her in a tight hug.
"I will, I promise! I'm so grateful that you went and saved me, Hashirama!" he repeated, voice muffled in her hair. "Thank you so much!"
Hashirama could feel the tears welling-up as she looked fondly at Itama's bi-colored hairs. She had always loved his hair; they were so vibrant and bright and unique - just like he was. Itama was so kind, she couldn't help but feel he should never have been brigaded into this life of violence in the first place. Seeing him in his overgrown and battered green armour was even more farcical than usual… He deserved so much better from life...
"I'm your elder sister, Itama. I didn't do it because it is my responsibility to look out for you, that loud-mouthed Kawarama and that mull headed Tobirama (she heard him chuckle lightly) ... I did it because you are my brothers, and I love you all, and as long as I'm able to I will never let anything happen to you. Ever. Just, don't make it uselessly harder than it already is, okay?"
"I love you too big sis'," said Itama while grinning sheepishly. "You're so awesome, I want to be like you when I get bigger!"
They smiled at one another, the boy looking at her eagerly while she tried to prevent menacing tears from rolling on her face. He was so warm and full of life… She needed a change of subject, lest she start crying for good.
"Well, we have travelled pretty far since the skirmish and... I'm beat Itama," Hashirama said with a dry laugh. "I need to rest for a little while before we start moving again. I'm not sure the Uchihas won't try and still go after us. I might have made the matter worse actually."
"How so?" asked Itama, looking back with uncertainty in the direction they came from.
"I killed some of them, Itama. They might want to make a point in finding us and dispose of us now, instead of dropping the pursuit altogether. This could be really bad."
Itama gaped at her, suddenly looking very ashamed of himself.
"I didn't think about it this way, "he admitted, a little aggravated.
"It's okay, it's really my fault anyway. I didn't have the strength to take their whole party, I just hope we won't pay for that down the line. I - we need to find shelter somewhere, so we can recover a little, okay? We'll figure out how to make our way back to the clan after that. Deal?"
"Deal!" responded Itama enthusiastically.
And with a proud smile, he helped her to her feet before following her, as daylight started to peer through the branches of the forest.
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"You shouldn't drink this water," warned Hashirama as her brother went for the small pool of water that had been trapped between the creeks of a fallen tree. "It could make you ill."
"But why? I'm so thirsty," complained Itama. "And we drank from ponds before! Why is this one different?"
"Don't you remember that time Kawarama drank water directly from the water pond beside Toka's old house? He was ill for two days afterward," said Hashirama simply. "That water is the same, see how murkish it is? It's been here for a while…
We'd need to boil it to make it proper and we can't do it right now. Do you want to risk being ill, Itama?"
"Well no," admitted the boy with furrowed brows, "but then, do you have any water left?"
"As a matter of fact, I do," smiled Hashirama as she grabbed the container attached to her waist. "Here, take my flask."
Itama's eyes lit up at the vision and he thanked her greedily before drinking the water at once. This felt so good! Water never tasted like this back in the village...
"Careful now, don't drink it all at once!" she scolded the young boy severely. "We don't know when we'll get more."
Itama choked up a little and relinquished the container with a pained expression. Of course, she was right.
"Sorry, I was so thirsty… I forgot," he said guiltily, groaning.
"You are such a kid sometimes…" sighed Hashirama, ruffling his hair with one hand.
Despite his protests, Itama loved when his big sister did that. It felt very comforting to him, even though he would never admit it to her openly. And he definitely needed that comfort currently.
They had been trekking for a whole week now, renouncing Nakasendo Way altogether and trying to stay clear from the main paths in the Red Forest for fear of being ambushed.
As Hashirama had predicted, the Uchihas hadn't given up on them, on the contrary.
A group of six men, including the ones she had beaten up the night she saved her little brother, had roamed near their resting place less than twenty-four hours after that fight.
From what she had been able to pick up from their conversation, they were determined to find her specifically and skin her alive (Hashirama had noted humorlessly that they were of the belief she was a young boy as well… absurd).
The Red Forest was an extremely dangerous place for them right now with the Uchihas scouting it, so Hashirama had decided to try and go to its edge, before circling around it cautiously.
They were Senjus and had learned to move through such an environment very early in their education. Even if they were going through uncharted territory for them, Hashirama was hopeful they would make their way back to their village safely that way.
It would take an enormous amount of time though, and they absolutely had to be stealthy about it, masking their traces and suppressing their chakra - an exercise neither of them were as adept with as their brother Tobirama.
"We should start moving again, Itama," she said seriously. "The Uchihas are relentless, it's better if we can get more distance between us and them as soon as possible."
Hashirama noticed the shiver that went down her little brother' spine at the mention of the Uchihas.
She wasn't really surprised, he had had a few restless nights since the skirmish, and them scouting the area where they were hiding a few days prior hadn't helped.
"You are right, big sis'", grimaced Itama while nodding in agreement. "I hate that they won't leave us alone though."
"I hate that too, Itama," said Hashirama with a sad smile to the boy, "but the fact they went back to get reinforcement shows they mean business."
Of that, she was certain: those new Uchihas were among the ones who led the initial assault on their camp.
The fact that they had been unable to track them down properly (so far) meant, at the very least, that they didn't have any experienced tracker or good sensor type among them.
Maybe those who were had been killed during the fights...
Be that as it may, they were either confident or enraged enough to still hunt them despite this clear disadvantage.
Relentless indeed.
Suddenly, Itama lit up, almost bouncing on his feet.
"Maybe father will send us someone too! Maybe he's looking for us!" declared Itama enthusiastically.
Hashirama eyebrows shot up at the suggestion, but she refrained from dulling her brother's hopes about this.
Even though she was the eldest among his children, she was just a girl.
And Itama was only the smallest son of their father Butsuma.
She was no fool.
He would have looked for them, true, but not with the same urgency as he would have done with, say Tobirama, who was fated to lead their clan someday.
Best rely on themselves, he would say if he was here...
"I'm sure he is", said Hashirama, somewhat forcing her smile this time. "But until we meet him and our clansmen, we need to stick together and move along with our plan."
"'Rely on yourself', just like Tobirama keeps saying!" remarked Itama.
"Exactly like Tobirama keeps saying," laughed the older girl good-naturedly. "You and I think much alike, isn't it? Now, I'm fairly sure we are approaching the limits of the Red Forest. We'll be able to circle back soon. Hopefully, the Uchihas won't see that move coming, and we'll be able to bypass them without them noticing."
"Yes big sis'! Let's do this!" grinned Itama, who seemed to have puffed up at her previous remark.
"That's the spirit!" Hashirama chuckled.
Even though she was a child too, she was confident in her abilities to succeed with their plan.
She was no Tobirama, but she still was the most talented kunoichi of her generation, at least that's how the adults perceived her.
Even though she had to force his hands to make this mission, she knew her father thought along those lines himself, partly why he had relented to her request.
And with proper development, she could one day lead her own platoon like Toka had started doing this year.
This was pretty rare for girls to be allowed on the frontlines, let alone teenagers.
This was a mark of strength among them… Toka was an inspiration to Hashirama, even though she could tell the other girl wasn't so fond of her.
Still, she was hellbent on getting both Itama and her back home. She could definitely do this.
"Besides, wouldn't it be nice to get home for your birthday?" she said teasingly. "Or as close as possible at the very least."
"Do you believe we could manage?" Itama asked with his brightest grin yet.
"Of course I do, little one."
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As if on cue, luck decided to turn against them.
Three days after they had reached the limits of the forest and started to follow its edge, Itama sprained his ankle while trying to reach for berries in the woods.
Hashirama scolded him for his impatience - she had been willing to get them herself as it was easier for her - and even more when she realised he had consumed some of the berries with an unfamiliar colour, instead of triaging them.
She was worried they could be poisonous or simply rotten - she watched Itama closely the rest of the day.
The boy was brave enough to go through it, limping on his own and refusing his sister's help, but by the next morning he couldn't set foot on the ground without yelping.
This is how Hashirama ended up carrying him on her back again, while they were journeying back to their clan's territory, on a steadily higher terrain.
And the next day, what she had been afraid of finally manifested: she noticed Itama's temperature had raised the moment she picked him up to start walking at dawn.
Hashirama was worried about him having caught some sort of infection because of those berries.
Seeking them after had caused even more damage than she initially believed…
Hashirama was conflicted.
She had basic medicinal knowledge that she had picked up while observing their father but, really, she wasn't knowledgeable with healing techniques and herbs.
Realistically, giving her own chakra was all she could manage, inefficiently at that - she tried not to think about her cousin Renji's condition when she left him during the camp attack...
And now?
She felt powerless, feeling Itama getting hotter and sweatier as the day passed, breathing more and more shallow. He needed tending, a place to rest and stay warm, better food and water.
This reconciled badly with their attempt to get back home and evade the roaming Uchiha...
Finally, she decided they would stay in an improvised shelter for the end of the day and, at the very least, the next one too - Itama wasn't in condition to travel anymore.
He was burning with fever.
Hashirama found a little bulge close to the forest border and tried her best to arrange it so her brother could be at least comfortable.
It wasn't much really: digging and covering the soil with leaves so his body would be isolated from the ground as much as possible.
She even broke a fire in the middle of the next day, to keep him even warmer, and ceded him her upper cloth tunic, staying only in her bandaged undergarment.
The adults would have yelled at her for doing this, but right now she couldn't care less how unsightly she looked.
Only Itama's health and well-being mattered; besides she was still years away from showing...
The fifth morning, Itama's temperature had finally settled back, and his breathing was steadier.
He was still pale, but less than he had been two days before. Hashirama allowed herself to ease into scouting their surrounding area a bit further, looking for food or maybe a supply of clear water.
She couldn't say she was enjoying the experience.
The temperatures weren't kind with her clothing on, but without the upper part, they were downright unforgiving…
They must have journeyed much farther than she thought, their country wasn't known for the low temperatures, quite the contrary…
But she was sure they were still edging the Red Forest, they weren't lost at the very least…
Still, even with her rigorous training, she was not equipped to face even more cold, and there was no point in getting ill too; she decided to go downhill rather than uphill out of convenience.
Hopefully, she would find something to prepare a good meal for Itama - and her.
She was tired of berries and fallen fruits, and such a regimen wasn't helping in maintaining her strength.
The terrain was surprisingly rocky once you really got out of the forest, the trees becoming sparse and being replaced by rough patches of moss and bushes, or simply cold hard stone…
Not an area breathing of bounty.
Maybe she could risk killing a bird? Hashirama thought to herself, while eyeing a flock of birds flying high above her.
There had been no signs of enemies for days now, and Hashirama was cautiously optimistic about it - they might have been thrown off by their manoeuvre.
There again, killing a bird in broad daylight by shooting rocks at it… Tobirama would say she was chancing it, being reckless, and a part of her would agree.
They never knew who was watching the sky; she would have to find other preys.
As she progressed, the terrain eventually became so rocky Hashirama suspected they had, somehow, reached some sort of mountain while trekking.
Her suspicion was confirmed when she realised that the field simply plunged a little further ahead of her.
How strange.
She knew they had been going uphill for a while before Itama hurt himself and fell sick, but she didn't suspect they had gone so far upward…
This worried her.
The region they lived in wasn't known for being very hilly, let alone harbouring mountains with deathly cliffs! The Senjus were of the forest, always had been.
Could she have drove them too far astray into the country of Fire?
Hashirama approached the edge of the field she was on.
It came to such an abrupt stop, she felt as if it had been caused by something other than the assured hand of nature.
The steep side plunged below inside a forest which seemed very dense, much denser than the one they had trekked in or the ones around their home.
She lifted her gaze toward the horizon and her heart sank.
There was an ocean of green for her eyes to see.
And from so far up, she didn't recognize any of their kind…
This was unknown territory. Maybe they had reached the limits of the Red Forest.
She felt a stream of emotions crash against her resolve, pointing, accusing as she gazed at the panorama in front of her: she had lost them.
They were utterly alone.
It was the first time since they had started their journey back that this fact hit her so brutally…
There would be no rescue because their people - their family! - didn't even know they were there or even alive… and she would never get Itama back home… not alive at least…
She felt great shame for feeling that way and, for a minute, she stood there, staring at this limitless sea of trees, struggling to not be overwhelmed by her current turmoil.
Then, Hashirama swept away the menacing tears while starting to search the forest below: maybe there was a sign she had missed, something who would help her understand where they were or, better yet, where they needed to go…
As if to spite her, she could see the helm of the trees far under sway lazily from one side to another, to the gentle touch of the wind, almost gleaming…
Hashirama frowned and looked back toward the patch of trees she had just eyed.
A stream of water was reflecting the little light that managed to pierce through the dense foliage of trees…
It seemed rather large for a simple stream in fact…
A river maybe?
Hashirama tried to follow the minuscule patches of reverberated light here and there, straining her eyes greatly with a discrete amount of chakra, her frown more pronounced than ever…
She could make out the water running along the base of the cliff, limping around the rocky formations and somewhat circling it halfway to the east before vanishing completely - underground, she suspected...
She had never set foot in this region, yet Hashirama felt that set up was meaningful to her.
But in what way?
Why did she feel such a strong sense of familiarity to it?
And dread?
It was as if her mind was trying to tug her in a direction, pointing to something she knew but had ignored until now, forgotten…
She sat there for a while, watching the sun turn more and more red, battling furiously with the edge of her mind that refused to surrender the memory she knew she had, the knowledge -
And then something clicked, causing her to freeze at the sudden realisation.
A body who shouldn't have been there, hailing from underground caves far up north, carried by a river gushing through the forest…
Hagoromo!
This was Hagoromo territory!
This was extremely bad!
She started to run back immediately, rushing to reach her little brother at top speed, all considerations about food and water forgotten.
The Hagoromos were known allies to the Uchihas, right now they might be looking for them, warned by the Uchihas of their escape…
She cursed herself for not realising it before and letting Itama alone for such an extended period of time.
She had been reckless! He was such an easy target even without taking into account his injury and illness…
Foolish, foolish girl!
When she came back to camp she was in a proper state of panic, but had the biggest relief seeing Itama alive, sitting up on his improvised couch, still pale but looking overall better.
She grabbed him in a tight embrace, causing him to look at her confusedly.
"Big sis'?" he asked uncertainly.
"I'm sorry it took me this long… I - I didn't catch anything."
"It's okay, we still have some fruits, haven't we? I like those too," Itama smiled weakly.
Hashirama laughed.
"What happened?" he asked while she studied him further. Happiness was etched in his traits: he must have been waiting a long time for her to come back.
"I figured where we are - more or less. It just took me some time."
She sighed.
"We are in Hagoromo territory."
Itama's eyes widened, and creases of worry appeared on his face.
"But… they are allies of the Uchihas!" he blurted out.
"That they are," murmured Hashirama somberly.
She hadn't forgotten some of the crests of the warriors she fought more than a week ago before pursuing Itama's would-be killers...
"We need to go!"
"No, you need to get better first", Hashirama stated adamantly. "Then we'll move."
"But -"
"Look", she interrupted, "I won't be able to carry you all the way back to our clan, I'll need to keep some of my strength in order to repel them, if it ever comes down to that. But I don't think it will. We have been in this part of the mountain for a couple of days now, chances are they seldom patrol so far up in this area, I bet their caves are unreachable from here... That, or they are mobilized elsewhere. Either way", she continued determinedly," no one knows we are here - yet. I'm sure we have left the Uchiha behind chasing the ghost of our tail - this is our chance. If we keep a low profile just like we have been doing this whole time, the Hagoromo won't discover we were here before we are long gone."
Itama stared at her thoughtfully, seemingly taking in what she had just said.
Despite the situation, he didn't seem as agitated as when they first fled the Uchihas.
"But big sis', how will we do that?" he finally concluded. "Get away from them?"
"There's a river coming out from the mountain, in the east. Chances are it is the Naka River or one of its tributaries", Hashirama started explaining while sitting next to him. "The Hagoromos will be surveying the entire area below us, and especially the passage where the river comes from. It has to be one of the accesses to their caves. My plan is to avoid the entirety of that area by trekking to the other side of the mountain and make our descent from there. We'll bypass them and make our way to the river further down its stream. From there, we'll just have to follow it until we reach the territory of our own clan. It can't take us more than two, maybe three days even if we are wary and extra careful of the Uchihas showing up. We'll be close to their place too. "
Itama nodded, seemingly in agreement with this.
"I trust you, big sis'! Everything will be alright, I'm sure. I just wish we would have made it before my birthday! See -"
And the young boy started elaborating on how he had really hoped he would get a fishing rod, so that he could finally join their uncle Rambuto fishing parties, just like Tobirama…
Hashirama listened to the enthusiastic rambling of her little brother fondly.
Even though they were currently in enemy territory and in an inordinate amount of danger, she couldn't help the burgeoning optimism she felt growing in her. They were going home.
This last part of their journey was resting on her, and she would make sure to make it happen no matter what.
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Sweating profusely, the boy breathed deeply, focusing on the task laying ahead, the one he had to accomplish. Victory depended on it.
Heart.
Jugular.
Liver.
Neck.
Spine.
Temples.
All good options. All deadly.
One strike, and he would end the enemy right there.
One strike, and he would make their father proud.
The boy chose: with his stature, the jugular vein was his best option.
He visualized the strike: he would have to move fast, force his body to reach his target quickly as his father had taught him…
He could do it.
He was a shinobi now; he could definitely do it!
Pushing himself over the edge, the boy lunged toward his target, kunai glimmering in one hand, determination and decisiveness etched on his traits.
"Everything will be alright… "
But the other shinobi suddenly appeared and lunged with him immediately, accompanying the movement of the armed hand flawlessly.
A grasp, strong as his father's, steered the weapon somewhere it wasn't meant to be : his own neck.
Cold steel buried itself softly and deeply into his flesh; an "oh" escaped his lips as they rolled on the ground, the enemy free hand grabbing his collar, and his leg shooting up hard in the middle of his chest.
He was flying now, the ground not ground anymore, the sky not sky anymore.
All the air in his lung was expelled as he crashed against a tree - air, and blood.
So much blood… His small form crumbled to the ground, astonished and helpless.
Oh.
The boy could still feel the metal foraged into his own neck; his hand was going numb…
Was he crying now?
He was, wasn't he?
Or was this blood he felt dripping on his cheeks? Strangely, there was no pain… How?
Wasn't jugular a vital point?
Wasn't it painful when it was severed?
His eyes searched for the other shinobi"s.
The gaze was piercing, as much as the kunai drawing away his life with every beating his little heart was taking desperately.
Next to the shinobi, the target was laying on the ground, motionless.
"You… stupid kid…"
Why was the shinobi crying?
He acted like him, like a real shinobi would, like his father would have wanted him to...
His role had been fulfilled, he could rest now, couldn't he?
"Get up!"
A voice?
Was it addressing… him?
The boy tried to obey the command, but it was to no avail: try as he might, his body wouldn't move anymore.
Why wouldn't it move?
"Get up!"
His eyes tried to look around.
He heard shouts and the clinking of metal going against metal.
More cries as the ground itself bursted into the air...
"Get up, NOW! Itama!"
He couldn't.
He was so tired, so sleepy too…
He couldn't go up anymore.
Itama? What a strange name…
The boy murmured sorry to his father, his eyes on the little form that was now getting up.
So sorry he wouldn't be a shinobi anymore... He needed to rest so much…
The boy stopped moving, laying motionless.
Gone.
"Tch. Useless."
Useless to the bitter end, but close enough for one last attempt at the enemies - the corpse was ideally positioned now…
The ninja perched on one of the trees above smiled to himself as he shouted "Kai!"
The boy's body detonated.
The explosion took out everything, as smoke and debris scattered everywhere in the clearing.
Was it a direct hit? wondered the ninja, crouching behind the tree's foliage.
He wasn't sure, he couldn't make any body parts or chunks of armour on the ground…
Did they dodge then?
At least, that brat's death hadn't been in vain: the enemies were done for, reinforcements would be coming with that explosion...
A raging cry interrupted the ninja's train of thoughts and suddenly, the ground moved.
"MONSTERS! YOU WILL PAY! " bellowed the enemy shinobi. "DOTON: DOCHUBAKU!" were the last words the ninja and his remaining Hagoromo clansman heard, as a landslide of earth engulfed the area instantly, so powerful the previous devastation of the clearing seemed like a mere prelude, sweeping everything alive and not on it.
Both enemy shinobis were dead long before the wave stopped, and the earth became serene again…
Itama, who was carried by Hashirama quickly before the explosion and the launch of her jutsu, contemplated the devastation in front of him.
Did Hashirama do this? It was such a carnage… There was no trace of their enemies anymore, beyond huge amounts of blood splattered all around the clearing.
The little boy wanted to throw up.
"Don't Itama," Hashirama ordered him. "We have to go immediately."
She was crying, staring blankly at where that other shinobi had exploded.
A boy, barely older than her brother…
And she was the one who killed him.
Her!
Itama grabbed Hashirama's hand, a sadness settling in his eyes, and they departed in silence, moving along the river as fast as they could muster, with feverish terror and rage in their hearts…
The siblings pushed themselves, running and hopping in and out of the trees and along the waters, feeling terrible after that last battle, after the death of that young boy.
They reached their village just as the last light of the day was disappearing.
Exhausted, traumatized, but alive.
They were greeted by uncredulous whispers and sad faces as they crossed the streets; surprise and shock were everywhere, smiles few and far between as they progressed in the village.
What was happening?
Why was the atmosphere so sombre?
Dozens of people were gathered near the Council Hall.
As Hashirama and Itama approached, the crowd split open to let them pass, murmuring and pointing at them.
She felt a small hand lodge itself into her own: Itama looked fearfully at her.
Dread filled Hashirama.
Something awful must have occurred while they were gone… Something they weren't ready for… They walked slowly to the front of the crowd and, once they made it to the Hall, they saw.
They saw the wooden caskets.
They saw the bodies inside.
They saw their worst nightmare come to be: their brother Kawarama was laying there, his face serene and his eyes closed.
He was dead.
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Author's note: The shinobi world is an unforgiving place… Hashirama and those around her learn it every day of their life…
Thank you for taking the time to read the fourth (already!) chapter of Hashirama's journey as a shinobi!
Next chapter mark the mid-point of this first season.
A chapter scheduled for next week!
Hope you had a good read! See you then.