Final chapter! I hope you enjoy! ^_^

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me

Chapter 7: Resolution

Tobirama arrived at the village late at night, exhaustion quickly taking over as soon as he safely stepped into the village grounds. It always felt nice to be back in the village he helped build up with his older brother. The sight of happy villagers was refreshing, especially after living the majority of his life in wartimes.

He slowly walked through the streets, taking in the sight of Konoha. He almost forgot how tired he was because being in Konoha always sparked an energy he didn't even know he had inside of him. As he walked by each building, he turned his head to glance at them.

His bliss quickly dissipated when he saw a sign in front a building with his face on it that read 'Banned until further notice.' Tobirama dropped his head in disappointment. Oh yeah… he did have some unfinished business, huh?

He continued to shuffle down the street, noticing more ban signs with his face on them, which threw shots at his morale. As he walked past his favorite bookstore, he glanced up to see that he was even banned from there. That was his last straw.

Tobirama could feel anger start to well up inside of him. He turned around to go find Hashirama, but quickly stopped. The throbbing headache, exhaustion, and duty to debrief in his office after his trip convinced him to postpone his pursuit. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Okay Tobirama, let's just get through the night. We'll kill him tomorrow," he mumbled to himself as he walked towards the Hokage tower, keeping his head down so not to see any more signs that would rile him up.

Hashirama stretched his arms over his head and groaned. He was heading back from the training grounds and on his way home, feeling the fatigue take over. He had been training with both Hiruzen and Danzo since the afternoon and was being pushed to keep going all the way into the night.

"Those two are a lot," he mumbled to himself. "Or maybe I'm just getting old."

Hashirama perked up when he heard footsteps from a distance, as if someone was running. Emi quickly appeared in his field of vision, holding two scrolls in her hands.

"Emi?"

Emi skidded to a stop right in front of Hashirama and doubled over to catch her breath.

"I've been looking all over for you!" She said between breaths.

"Why?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow. Did something happen?

Emi slowly straightened back up and flashed a smile while handing Hashirama both scrolls: Tobirama's scroll and a new scroll. "I did it! I found a way to reverse the jutsu."

Excitement quickly filled Hashirama as his eyes widened. "Emi, you didn't have to come to me, I would've come to you."

Emi shook her head. "I was too excited, so I decided to come to you instead." She raised her index finger, "Listen, the jutsu can only be undone if you're in close proximity to the other person! Otherwise, it won't work."

A smile spread across Hashirama's face. Although he initially felt pooped because he wanted to try undoing the jutsu right then and there, he was still extremely grateful that Emi was able to figure something out. He placed the scrolls in his pockets and thanked her.

Emi blushed, and finally took the time to fix her hair when she realized it was probably flying everywhere from running around. "Anything for you, Tobirama."

While Emi was distracted with her hair, Hashirama reached out to grab her chin and slowly lifted it up. He leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on her cheek, causing her cheeks to redden. She froze as he felt his lips brush across her ear.

Hashirama whispered, "I look forward to our date tomorrow evening."

"Ehh? Ehhh? Did he just?" Emi's mind started racing and quickly became muddled as she processed what just happened. She stumbled backward in shock.

"Emi?" Hashirama noticed she seemed a bit disoriented.

"Ehhhhh?" She panicked in her head. Soon after, Emi's vision turned black, and her body hit the ground. She had fainted from a mixture of shock and exhaustion. For the past couple of days, she was getting little to no sleep, fulfilling her duties to Konoha during the day and working on undoing the jutsu at night. The lack of sleep had finally caught up to her and the kiss was the cherry on top.

"Emi?!" Hashirama quickly crouched down at her side. "Did I do too much?" he asked himself. Hashirama scooped Emi's limp body in his arms and stood up.

"I should probably take her home…" Hashirama mumbled as he started walking with Emi unconscious in his arms. "…But where is her home? Hmm… maybe the rest of the barrier team would know."

Hashirama started walking towards the path that would lead him to the building that housed the barrier team. Before he could arrive there, he felt Emi shift in his arms.

"Mmm…," Emi softly moaned as she slowly opened her eyes. "…Tobirama… Tobirama?!"

"Oh, good evening, Emi."

Emi looked down to see that she was being carried and could feel her face grow hot from embarrassment. She tried to free herself from Hashirama, who complied and set her down gently.

"Tobirama, I'm sorry you had to do that. I'll be okay from here on," Emi said.

"Are you sure? You look tired, Emi, it seems like you pushed yourself too far. Let me at least accompany you until you make it home."

Emi quickly shook her head, "I'll be okay."

"Bu—"

"You've been very kind to me, Tobirama, thank you," Emi said as she bowed. She cursed in her head about how formal she was being. This was the man she was going on a date with tomorrow evening, did she need to be this formal?

Hashirama smiled, "I'll take your word for it, Emi. Be careful."

Emi smiled and waved as she watched her future husband (manifesting) walk away.

xxx

Hashirama yawned as he rummaged through his pockets, looking for his house keys. He had finally made it back to Tobirama's home, ready to call it a day. Unfortunately, his keys were nowhere to be found. He pointed out his index finger and tried to make a key with his wood style technique but remembered that he was in Tobirama's body. Hashirama sighed and rested his forehead on the front door. Just his luck.

"Hmm… can I teleport inside?" he thought to himself. He closed his eyes and started concentrating, hoping he'd be able to teleport into the house. He felt the environment quickly change around him, and no longer felt the coldness of the wooden door against his forehead. The aroma of his favorite scents, a mixture of vanilla, musk, and a rich amber wrapped around Hashirama, igniting a comforting warmth inside of him. He took a deep breath, taking in the aroma, and slowly exhaled.

He opened his eyes to a familiar room and turned around and saw Mito, who was half-dressed with her upper body exposed, staring back at him with gaping eyes. Oh crap.

"M-M-Mito—"

"TOBIRAMA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE YOU PERVERT?!" Mito yelled before punching Hashirama, sending him flying into a nearby dresser, and destroying it. He groaned from the pain that radiated from his cheek and his back. He heard Mito's slowly approaching footsteps, which grew louder as she edged closer. He shot his eyes open and could see the rage in Mito's face. With one hand pressed against his cheek, he waved his free arm out in front of him.

"W-wait! Mito! It's me! Hashi! Big Papa! It's me!" Hashirama pleaded in hopes that Mito would spare him.

She ignored him and started cracking her knuckles, ready to show Tobirama her worst.

Hashirama sat up and attempted to explain himself while Mito retracted her arm, gearing up for another punch. "Please, Mito! I'm not Tobirama, I'm Hashirama! I'm Hashi!"

"What?" Mito yelled, she paused before her fist could make contact with Hashirama's face again. Whew.

"I-It's true! I swear," Hashirama began to ramble, speaking quickly without taking any breaths in between. "Tobirama accidentally came up with a jutsu that caused our minds to switch bodies so for the past couple of weeks I've been stuck in his body! I promise it's me! You gotta believe me."

Don't hurt me… he didn't have the courage to say that out loud.

Mito sucked her teeth and grabbed a shirt from the nearby closet before storming off.

"W-wait!" Hashirama began to chase after her, stumbling over broken pieces of wood from their dresser.

Mito walked with purpose, she walked with a goal and did not stop no matter how much Hashirama was trying to get her attention. Soon she found herself in front of the Hokage's office and slammed the door open, causing Tobirama to leap up from his chair.

"Mito?" He was ready to defend himself, but quickly threw that idea out the window when he saw Hashirama stumble in after her with a bruised cheek. He sighed and sat back down; the gig must be up. He leaned his head against the back of the chair, but quickly shot it back up when he heard Mito slam her hands against his desk, startling him. Mito really can be scary when she's angry.

"Hashirama, what is the meaning of all this?!"

Tobirama sighed. "Whatever he told you was true."

"Explain yourself," Mito demanded while she crossed her arms.

"I'm not really Hashirama, I'm Tobirama. I accidentally came up with a jutsu that caused our minds to switch bodies and now we're here with no way to switch back," Tobirama admitted in defeat. He was too exhausted to protect his pride.

Mito looked between the two boys with eyes filled with anger and irritation. "And how long has this been going on for?"

"A couple of weeks," they both admitted.

"And no one bothered to tell me?"

Hashirama quickly pointed at Tobirama. "Tobirama told me not to tell you!"

"Hashirama actually listened to me."

Hashirama gave Tobirama a bewildered look. No way was he selling him out right now. "I listened to you because you asked me to!"

"You could've easily said no"

"I DID—"

"Shut up, both of you!" Mito yelled as she slapped the two brothers across their faces, leaving a residual red mark along their cheeks. They both quickly brought their hands to their cheeks and groaned in pain. Mito was both angry and embarrassed that she fell victim to all of this. Angry because no one told her and embarrassed that she didn't even realize that her husband wasn't really her husband. Oh, and that she technically sucked Tobirama's toes that night. Despite this, she still felt a sense of relief knowing that her husband wasn't having an affair after all.

Mito sucked her teeth. "You both are the pillars of Konoha. What are you even doing up here? Have you been playing around this whole time?!"

The two pouted, grasping at their warm, painful cheeks. Neither of them responded to Mito's question

"Well?!"

Tobirama and Hashirama flinched. "No…" they both responded.

Mito sighed, trying to regain her composure. "Ridiculous. Can't believe you two. What am I going to do with you both," she mumbled as she started leaving the room.

Hashirama turned to Mito. "Now that you know, can I at least come home tonight—?"

Mito turned around, "You don't come home until you fix this!" She yelled before marching out of the room and slamming the door behind her, causing the two brothers to flinch again.

As soon as they felt Mito's presence fade, they relaxed their tense shoulders and let out a deep sigh of relief.

"Mito is… quite strong," Tobirama muttered as he rubbed his cheek.

"See, I told you she's scary when she's angry," Hashirama said, rubbing his cheek as well.

"You did," Tobirama admitted. He rested his head down on his desk in defeat. "I need to figure out how to undo this jutsu or I'll literally go insane," he mumbled.

Hashirama smirked, "You're in luck because I think I figured it out."

Tobirama sighed, "Please, Hashirama, I can't take any more of your nonsense. You're lucky I don't have the energy to kill you right now."

Hashirama took the scrolls out of his pocket and slammed them on the desk, prompting Tobirama to look up. Hashirama flashed a confident smile, feeling like a hero who had come to save the day.

"You bastard, you took my scroll?!" Tobirama exclaimed as he grabbed his familiar scroll. He looked over to the second one and raised an eyebrow.

"What's this?"

"A way to undo the justu."

Tobirama's eyes widened as he quickly grabbed and opened it. "And you're sure this will work?"

"I'm… 90% positive." Hashirama wanted to believe in Emi's work but of course, he hasn't tried it yet, so there's really no telling whether it would work or not.

Tobirama read the contents of the scroll, a grin tugging at his lips. "This… is brilliant! Of course, why didn't I think of this?" Subtle excitement filled his voice. He looked up at Hashirama. "Hashirama, who came up with this?"

"I did," Hashiram responded confidently.

Tobirama chuckled, "Yeah, sure."

Hashirama pouted. "I did," he said, now sounding a little less confident.

"Right, and I'm the Sage of the Six Paths. Well, whoever did this was brilliant."

Hashirama didn't bother defending himself. He just wanted this jutsu to be undone so things can go back to normal, and he can go apologize to his wife.

"Shall we try it out?" Tobirama asked.

Tobirama laid the open scroll on the table and the two positioned themselves around it. As he concentrated, Tobirama weaved a couple of hand signs before activating the scroll, resulting in the formation of a cloud of smoke between them. They felt themselves briefly black out before slowly returning to reality. The sound of their coughs filled the air as they waved at the smoke to clear it.

When Hashirama opened his eyes, he found himself staring into Tobirama's familiar red ones. Excitement welled up inside of him as he quickly felt his hair, his face, and his body. All his. He sighed in relief, he could almost cry.

Tobirama also let out a sigh of relief. "There is a God after all." He brought his hands to his back when he felt the pain start to settle in. "Why does my back hurt?"

Hashirama awkwardly chuckled, "Let's just say I need to get a new dresser."

Tobirama didn't care to question further because he was happy that he got his body back. That happiness soon turned into dread when he realized what Hashirama had left him with.

"Thanks to you, I have to go make up for everything."

Hashirama pouted. Can his younger brother be grateful that he fixed their problem?

"Can I at least get a thank you?"

Tobirama furrowed his eyebrows in disbelief that Hashirama would even ask that question. "Thank you for what?"

"For—"

"The whole village thinks I'm a pervert, Hashirama, and I should thank you for that?"

"Not the whole—"

"The whole village," Tobirama interrupted.

"Well… that's not the worst thing someone could think of you."

Tobirama crossed his arms and stared at Hashirama with narrowed eyes. He watched in amusement as Hashirama searched for words, ready to hear what kind of bullshit he'd think of in this situation.

"…they could think you're a traitor. That's pretty worse."

Tobirama sighed. "They might as well think that too."

Hashirama could sense that Tobirama was about to take his leave. He needed to tell Tobirama one last important thing. "Oh wait, Tobi, by the way, what are your thoughts on Emi Yamanaka?"

Tobirama raised an eyebrow, wondering why Hashirama would bring her up all of a sudden. "Emi? She's a fine kunoichi, well-respected by the Yamanaka clan, and a valuable asset to Konoha."

"Perfect, you have a date with her tomorrow evening," Hashirama said with a smile.

Tobirama's eyes widened. "What?!"

"She's a great woman, Tobirama! I think she'll be good for you."

"Brother, I told you I'm not interested in romance right now."

"I was just doing you a favor."

"A favor?" Tobirama stepped towards Hashirama. "Doing me a favor? This isn't a favor! None of what you did these past couple of weeks was a favor! In fact, you just made things ten times worse. The Hidden Grass Village probably thinks I'm an idiot, the whole village thinks I'm a pervert, I'm not allowed in my favorite bookstore, I've probably lost Mito's respect and the Uchihas' and my pupils', and now I have to figure out how to turn a girl down because of you!"

Hashirama quickly placed his hands on Tobirama's shoulders. "Wait, no! You can't turn her down. I kissed her on the cheek. You'd be an awful person if you cancelled now Tobirama."

"You what?" Tobirama gave Hashirama a bewildered look and swatted his hands off his shoulders. "You whore. What is Mito going to think about that?"

Hashirama gasped at the words that left Tobirama's mouth.

"What? A kiss on the cheek is nothing! I was just trying to help you out because you have no game."

Tobirama stuttered, "W-what? I have game!"

"Admit it, Tobirama. You might be a talented shinobi, but you're lacking in this department."

Hashirama watched as Tobirama's cheeks flushed, his words tumbling out in a stutter. It was rare to see his younger brother lose his composure like this.

"I-I'm not lacking. I'm j-just not interested in romance right now, I told you this," his voice slowly fading into a low mumble.

Hashirama laughed and slapped Tobirama against his back, causing Tobirama to jerk forward. "Don't worry, brother! This is what older brothers are for."

"I didn't ask you to do that!" Tobirama turned his head, avoiding eye contact. "If I had known she was interested, I would've acted on it," he muttered.

"Hmm?" Hashirama tilted his head to meet Tobirama's gaze, "Tobirama… it's very obvious that she's head over heels for you."

"No, it's not, otherwise I would've caught on—"

"It's clear as day—!"

"Shut up, brother! You irritate me! Don't try to turn things on me. Don't make me tell Mito what you did."

"Wha—. Do you even have a right to call me a whore if you're the one who let my wife suck on your toes?!"

"Against my will."

"You could've easily stopped her!"

"What was I supposed to do, kick her?"

The two bickered back and forth with each other. Neither of the two giving in to each other's argument. Their brotherly dispute was interrupted by a knock at the window. The two turned to see Madara standing on the ledge, eyeing them curiously.

Tobirama sucked his teeth. "We're not done here," he said before storming out of the room.

Hashirama sighed and walked to the window, opening it. "Doors exist, you know?"

"Today I preferred the window," Madara said as he slipped inside. "I see you've managed to undo the jutsu."

Hashirama sunk into his chair. "Thanks to the Yamanakas. Emi helped a great deal. You were right, Madara, thank you!"

Madara crossed his arms and leaned against the window. Of course he was right.

Hashirama added, "How did things go with the Hidden Grass Village?"

"It went well. They agreed to reopen negotiations. You should be hearing from them soon."

"Did you threaten them?" Hashirama asked, fully prepared to hear the worst.

"No, I didn't threaten them."

"Did you smile?"

Madara blushed, "Stop it, Hashirama."

Hashirama laughed. He caught a glimpse of Tobirama marching out of the building from his window. He could sense Tobirama's anger from where he sat.

Hashirama smiled, "Hopefully he learned his lesson from all this."

Madara turned to Haashirama, "You cheeky bastard, did you do all of this on purpose to get back at Tobirama?"

Hashirama flinched. That wasn't true at all but he didn't want to admit that he was actually trying to act naturally but repeatedly failing miserably.

"…Yeah…"

Unconvinced, Madara burst into laughter. He almost felt bad for Tobirama. Hashirama didn't leave him with an easy situation to fix after all. Madara glanced back down at Tobirama and started reminiscing on his times with Izuna. He wouldn't have minded going through something like this with him—a lighthearted, humorous moment, a distraction from this terrible world.

"Oh! And guess what?" Hashirama added. "Mito found out before we were even able to switch back."

"Oh?" Madara listened curiously as Hashirama continued, letting out a chuckle here and there at his ridiculous story.

Tobirama spent the rest of the day making amends, attempting to reverse Hashirama's mistakes. He went from building to building, store to store apologizing for his actions.

"And so… someone escaped from the prison and transformed into me and started running amuck in the village. I apologize for any inconvenience or offense it might've caused and I will do anything in my power to make this up to you," Tobirama said, bowing in front of the store manager at his favorite bookstore. He had been saying these lines all day.

The store manager raised an eyebrow. He believed Tobirama, but couldn't believe a prisoner would go as far as to do that much. Either way, it was difficult for him to believe it was Tobirama that night in the first place because it was very uncharacteristic of him. He slowly took the 'Tobirama banned' sign off the front of his store.

"That's a relief. It was very hard to believe in the first place. I thought you had lost your mind."

Tobirama's eye twitched. Well, that's not entirely incorrect. Nevertheless, he was grateful that he was able to receive his forgiveness.

xxx

Tobirama offered the neatly folded bathrobe to the onsen worker and bowed.

"I came to return this and apologize." He gave his usual spiel and was luckily forgiven by the old lady.

"You should be careful, Tobirama boy, something like this can ruin your reputation if you don't keep these delinquents in check. I've lost customers because of this."

"I'm aware of that, I apologize. I will do my best to make it up to you."

"No worries, Tobirama boy! It was definitely a sight to see." She winked and immediately burst into laughter, causing Tobirama to blush.

xxx

"What? No way! You lost this, fair and square," the man who won Tobirama's clothing that night at the pub said, not caring that Tobirama respectfully bowed.

He was at the man's home, waiting to claim his favorite shirt back after Hashirama lost it during the poker game. He didn't care about the rest of the clothes; he just wanted his shirt back.

Tobirama raised his head and straightened up. "I'm aware, but like I said—"

"I don't care! You're not getting this back. Unless you want to play me for it," the man smirked.

Tobirama flared his chakra, intimidating the young man. He quickly handed the shirt back to Tobirama. "Okay, okay, fine! Here!"

"Thank you." Tobirama said as he turned around to walk away.

"Next time don't offer what you're not willing to lose," the man mumbled.

Tobirama stopped in his tracks and slowly turned his head. "Huh?" He said in a threatening tone.

The man squirmed and quickly shut the door.

Tobirama sighed, "Tell that to my brother," he mumbled.

xxx

Tobirama bowed in front of a group of Uchihas at the Konoha police station. "…and I sincerely apologize for the scene that night."

The Uchihas looked at each other and smiled.

"Don't sweat it, Lord Tobirama."

Tobirama nodded and left the police station. He sighed. It had been a long day, and he still had more people to apologize to. He spent the rest of the day trying to make amends before going home and calling it a night.

It was bright and early the next day, and Tobirama was already on his way to the Hokage tower to drop some paperwork off for Hashirama. He ran his hands through his white shaggy hair and kept his eyes locked on the papers in front of him. He dreaded what was to come, knowing he still had quite a few people to apologize to. He didn't even realize someone was walking towards him, causing them to bump into each other. Stacks of books tumbled down to the ground.

"Oh, sorry," Tobirama said as he squatted down to help pick up the books.

"No, I'm sorry, I should've watched where I was going," the other person said as they also squatted down.

They both looked up to meet each other's gaze.

"Tobirama?"

"Emi?

Emi blushed, thinking about how they had a date tonight. She lowered her head in embarrassment and quickly picked up the remaining books with the help of Tobirama.

Tobirama quirked an eyebrow at Emi's shy demeanor, "Hmm?"

They both stood up and Emi bowed.

"T-thank you, Tobirama."

Tobirama carefully analyzed Emi's actions. So, supposedly she's into him? He observed her reddened cheeks, her inability to maintain eye contact, her lip biting. He hated to admit it, but Hashirama was right.

Tobirama finally broke the silence. "I look forward to our date this evening."

Emi's eyes widened as she met his gaze. "So am I!" she exclaimed, a bit too eagerly.

Tobirama flashed a slight grin and nodded before walking off, leaving no room for further conversation.

Emi watched as he walked away, noticing he seemed… different compared to how he was acting these past few days. Gone was the big smile and accompanying charm; instead, he appeared calm, collected, stoic. Straight to the point. A man of few words. Emi smiled; this was the Tobirama she was used to.

After giving it some thought the past couple of days, she realized something didn't seem right after all. Tobirama was definitely acting differently these past few days. She concluded that he was probably the accidental caster of the jutsu, and Hashirama was most likely the victim. He acted too much like Hashirama after all. She even remembered that Hashirama was the only person she ever told about her love for dango.

Emi giggled. They must've been in quite a pickle. She was glad she was able to help them at the end of the day. Though she was talking to Hashirama the whole time, and not Tobirama, she appreciated what Hashirama did for them. Now Emi has her foot in the door and has a chance at getting to know Tobirama on a personal level. Tobirama was always closed off, focused on his work and his duty to the village, so he never recognized her as anything more than just a shinobi of Hidden Leaf Village. Now, she could show him who she is, and maybe love can blossom out of it. Emi grew excited at the thought. She turned to continue her walk, making sure to pay attention to what was in front of her this time.

Tobirama reluctantly entered the Hokage's office, where he saw Hashirama sitting with his eyes glued to the work in front of him.

Hashirama looked up at Tobirama, who was approaching. "Oh! Tobirama! How have you—"

Before Hashirama could finish, Tobirama slammed the papers down on Hashirama's desk and started walking away.

Hashirama frowned, "Are you going to keep giving me the cold shoulder forever?"

"Yes," Tobirama responded without hesitation.

Hashirama was overtaken by his depressed demeanor. Mito already wasn't talking to him. In fact, she made him sleep on the couch last night and now his back is killing him. It's disheartening that he has to deal with Tobirama's hostility as well. None of this was his fault to begin with.

"Tobi… how many times do I need to apologize—"

"Until you're six feet under the ground," Tobirama sneered.

Hashirama flinched. "I'm not to blame here. Let's not forget who casted the jutsu in the first place."

"Whatever," Tobirama said; he was in no mood to argue.

"Tobirama," Hashirama called out in a serious tone.

Tobirama sighed and slowly turned to face Hashirama. "Yes, brother?"

"What will you do with that jutsu you created?"

"I'm going to seal it in the scroll of Forbidden Jutsu."

Hashirama chuckled, which caused Tobirama to grow even more irritated.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing," Hashirama responded as he tried to stifle his chuckle. Of course, another jutsu to be sealed in the scroll of forbidden jutsu. Classic.

Tobirama rolled his eyes in annoyance and headed towards the exit.

"Oh, and Tobirama!"

"What?!" Tobirama yelled as he turned around.

Hashirama winked. "I told you so."

Tobirama's face burned with embarrassment as he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him and leaving behind a laughing Hashirama. The sound of Hashirama's laughter filled the air, echoing with amusement as he reveled in the satisfaction of having the last laugh.

Fin!

Thanks for reading(': This was my first newly written fic since picking up fanfiction again, I hope you enjoyed!

I've already started a new short-ish fic that I'm excited about (though it'll be a completely different vibe from this story). I've also been working on a long-fic on the side.

Be on the lookout for more!~