Naruto : Chronicles of the Uchiha

Chapter 4

~~Somewhere in the village~~

Mito Uzumaki, the heiress to the great Uzumaki clan and the sealing mistress herself was walking in the fields with a baffled look marring her beautiful face, regardless of her age.

She had set out to go and find Tobirama, knowing he was likely the only one who could settle her mind. Since Tsunade, her firecracker of a granddaughter was due to start her Academy tomorrow and had picked the house over her head to go shopping for her dress and equipment with her Ojii-san and Baasan.

The first place she had looked into, was the first place anyone would go to find the ever-stoic and brooding Senju these days.

The Hokage Tower.

But what surprised her truly was that rather than finding him there. There wasn't a trace of life near his office. The secretary wasn't there to be seen and Tobirama's desk was unkempt with half-filled paperwork stacks.

Now this intrigued her. For a man who was hell-bent on getting everything perfect, his table had surprised her. She wondered what had come over him to leave so abruptly like that.

But there was no trace across the Tower for the man. So finally, she had given up and resorted to desperate measures.

Her special ability, Negative Emotions Sensing had kicked in at that moment. She was renowned for her sensing ability as the strongest sensor in the world for quite some time now and was surprised when her senses led her straight towards the quiet, secluded clearing behind the Hokage monuments.

And when she arrived there...

" *WHIP* Kyaaa!" she heard a soft panicked yelp followed by what seemed like chasing footsteps. She pushed the bushes away after following those strange sounds to their source and her violet orbs widened in shock at what she saw.

"Hey come on! Now we're square! Both of us are wet and you hit me once too!" the blonde yelped, dodging another whip while Tobirama was having the time of his life. It had been so long since he had cut loose and he couldn't even remember when he had joined in on some childish antics like this one today.

And on top of that, he was getting to hit a Uchiha without any consequences.

"Then why don't you stop running?" asked Tobirama following the sprinting blonde who picked the small sleeping cub up in his arms and rolled to the side effortlessly for another dodge.

"Will you stop then?" he asked, his breathing a bit erratic now and his voice pretty hopeful. He hadn't intended to piss the man off so much.

"No…" Tobirama said and Naruto's mouth opened and closed at his honest reply wordlessly, completely baffled in confusion. Tobirama wanted to assess his stamina a bit too, plus, not that he would admit it to anyone.

This was a little fun…

"OH COME ON!" he shouted and he barely managed to dodge as he jumped aside from another whip. his eyes roamed around the surroundings planning possible ways to run. But when his azure eyes caught the stare of the baffled and aghast-looking violet ones a plan formed in his head making him smirk.

Mito stood there, staring at the scene in front of her in utter disbelief.

Never had she thought in so many years that she would see Tobirama Senju acting so childishly as if he were his elder brother.

She stopped the urge to slap herself believing she was either in a Genjutsu or she was just... dreaming

Her thoughts were broken off when a golden blur barreled straight into her waist and a small pair of arms slid around her hips tightly.

She looked down and her motherly instincts kicked in, wrapping her own arms protectively around the little boy's head and brushing his hair gently.

"Hey what's wrong little one?" she asked in a gentle motherly voice and her heart twisted when she saw those adorable-looking puppy dog eyes that were shimmering a little with unshed tears. Couple with the usual shine and beautiful color of his already attractive sky blue ones, well needless to say the charm worked perfectly.

"Miss, that scary man is chasing me and hurting me with those water whips… please help me…" he faked a soft sniffle between his words, and Mito's violet eyes turned murderous, aura of righteous woman fury engulfing her. Her reasoning capabilities went out the window as soon as she heard that soft sniffle coupled with those adorable eyes and killing intent washed over the fields while she brought his face close into her stomach.

Tobirama, unaware of it all was wondering where the boy had sprinted off to when he felt a humongous amount of killing intent from behind him making him shiver.

He suddenly had a feeling of foreboding which proved to be quite effective in this case as an Adamantine Chain wrapped around his stomach and reeled him back quickly like a rag doll.

His confused amber eyes stared into the murderous violet orbs of his sister-in-law in utter confusion. He couldn't get why she was so angry and for that matter why he was hanging upside down in mid-air while his ankle had a chakra chain wrapped around it.

He turned his head up, which was down in Mito's eyes and his eyes widened a little when he realized what had happened and how much trouble he was in right now.

The blonde giggled softly in Mito's arms who was gushing inwardly, thinking he was feeling ticklish from her strokes and not seeing him stick out his tongue at Tobirama and mouth some words that made Tobirama give him a death glare.

"Shinobi don't play fair old man!" he read the blonde's lips and fumed inwardly at the nerve of this brat. And when he saw his soft snickers of victory and turned his head down, which was up in Mito's case, and saw her scowling face. Her intimidating posture was towering over him, her hands on her hips to make her point clear.

"Mito this is all a misunderstanding you see…" he tried to reason with the bristling Uzumaki heiress who was in no mood for negotiations. Already falling under the charm of Naruto's Puppy Dog Eyes no Jutsu.

"Tobirama Senju how dare you scare a little innocent child like that? Have you no shame? I didn't expect this, least of all from you." her regal voice scolded him and he shrunk a little like a child in front of his mother.

"But I didn't…" he stuttered in fright but trailed off when he saw her eyes narrow dangerously and his ear was being pulled and twisted quite painfully.

"Now listen here big man, if I find you chasing innocent children and scaring them like that again…" she trailed off and he gulped seeing her silent threat, nodding furiously.

He sweat dropped a moment later. Wasn't he a Hokage and the strongest shinobi in the world right now?

To be scolded by a woman, being held upside down at that was a great wound to his pride. Especially, in front of the blonde who was barely stifling his giggles and watching the scene in amusement.

Tobirama threw him a betrayed glare when he was dropped face-first into the ground unceremoniously. His body twitched a couple of times comically, and Mito's eyes turned to the blonde who was hiding in her embrace snuggling happily and they softened instantly.

"There no one will trouble you like that again, alright?" she asked and he nodded ever so innocently with a grateful smile. He smiled at the nice woman and nodded happily, she had a calming aura that made him smile and go to her almost instantly.

They heard a cough and Naruto turned to see Tobirama dusting his clothes off and trying to gather up what was left of his wounded pride right now.

"So Mito what brings you by here to find me?" he asked trying to change the subject and the Uzumaki heiress blinked innocently and realized what she had come here for in the first place.

"Tsunade had picked the house up over her head because you didn't come for her shopping appointment as promised. It took a lot of sweets and desserts just to calm her down. She's pretty annoyed right now. I came to find you but you weren't at the Tower and then that search led me here." she explained simply and he nodded.

"I lost track of time," he said honestly and the Uzumaki heiress gave him a knowing smile. No matter how he tried to mask it she had seen that playful smirk on his face when he was involved in his childish antics mere moments ago.

Naruto looked between the two nervously, seeing how they had forgotten about his presence here, and looked up at the orange sky only to realize how late it was.

"Umm I should probably just go, it was nice meeting you two," he said in a soft polite tone making the two adults blink. Mito though caught his shoulders and gave him a stern look that made him freeze in place before her eyes softened and she cupped his cheek in her hand gently.

"You must be joining the Academy too right?" she asked softly and he nodded, blushing a bit in embarrassment at how she treated him so kindly. He wasn't used to this behavior with everyone almost always giving him the cold shoulder.

Mito squealed in delight inwardly at the adorable boy who was a shy mess at her mere touch right now.

He was so cute!

She turned her eyes to Tobirama who had his arms crossed and was looking at the scene in fascination as if it was a movie for him to enjoy.

"Tobirama since you have missed your spree with Tsunade already, why don't we take this adorable thing with us to make up for lost time?" she asked with a playful smile. He smirked and nodded, raising an eyebrow at the boy who was looking between the two with lost eyes.

"Of course, he is in need of new clothes and equipment for the Academy too," he said, nodding in affirmative. Naruto's eyes widened and Mito watched him squirm nervously.

"What's the matter?" she asked him in a gentle voice and looked to see his adorable wide eyes looking at her apologetically.

"Umm you don't have to, I mean I have clothes already in my house…" he said softly, trying to make them see his point that he didn't really want them to see.

Both elders glanced at each other in confusion before turning back to the nervous blonde.

"Then you must need books and scrolls right? I mean you can't have those since the curriculum is revised almost every year by Tobirama?" she asked him and he bit his lip and said nothing. The two elders were quite curious at his strange actions now.

Mito knew who he was, there weren't many blondes who donned the Uchiha symbol proudly on their shoulders. She knew who he was, the only outcast Uchiha in the village.

And she, for the life of her couldn't see how people could ostracize such an adorable thing in front of them so cruelly.

"How much are they?" he asked softly. Both of their eyes widened a little and they knew now what he was so nervous about.

The Uchiha clan, as compensation for the actions of their clan head, had to pay off all the costs for the damages caused during the rampage of the boy's father.

As such, the clan elders had seized the amount from the head family's funds taking a huge chunk off from their fortune. No one knew what happened to the rest after his mother's death.

But Tobirama did. Not for what had become of the rest of the family's fortunes, which were still a mystery in themselves as to how large they truly were and what became of them. But he knew of the boy's plight and the reason for his current nervousness.

He had come to know it through the now clan elder and his exsubordinate Kagami Uchiha. The man had tried as much as he could to make the boy's life comfortable but hadn't been able to do much despite that.

A lone man against the rest of the clan's despise, he couldn't do much no matter how much he had wanted to. But the clan still had to uphold its honor as the oldest and noblest of them all, and as such according to the ancient traditions of Uchiha orphan children fund.

The clan gave the boy a fixed sum of money as set by the elders of that time each month until he was old enough to take care of himself thereby being considered an adult or having a stable income source in his life. Whichever condition was fulfilled first.

And that in itself was where the problem lay. The Uchiha clan's traditional laws hadn't been updated for a long time and the amount was a sum set decades ago, therefore not enough for a proper and comfortable living in this day and time.

Now that wasn't usually a problem for the orphaned child since the Uchiha's had their own shopping districts and way of life. Their clan members could be said as one of the most caring and protective of all the clans, as funny as it sounded it was true.

The children who had been orphaned for some reason would get huge cuts in prices and discounts all over the things they purchased, to the point of getting some things free in their clan compounds therefore nullifying the need for any extra money other than that old fixed stipend.

But Naruto wasn't a simple orphan.

No one cared if he lived or died. Instead, most would prefer it if he died and was no longer a threat to bring more shame to their clan.

Mito saw through Tobirama's contemplative expression and knew that the man was rummaging through his mind for a solution.

But in this case, she was a bit ahead of him.

"Tobirama, don't you have some manuscripts of the books you wrote last year for the new curriculum?" she asked him, making the shaggy white-haired man nod in affirmative at her question

"But they are mere prototype manuscripts I wrote containing only the most essential of materials. It had to undergo a complete rewrite by the order of the council since my writings were far too complex and detailed for children as young as them." he cut her musings short.

"Umm can I have them please Ojii-san?" asked the soft and shy voice of the blonde who was standing quietly to the side and listening to their conversations for a while now.

Tobirama though saw his eyes, the eyes that were eager to learn. But what if he couldn't understand them? They would do more harm to the boy than good…

"Please, I'll give them back to you if I don't understand. But if you can I'll take them…" he asked him in a pleading voice and those innocent eyes made even his heart melt.

Oh, how the mighty has fallen.

He sighed, looks like age really was catching up to him. He crushed those thoughts instantly, what was he thinking? He wasn't old, he hated being old, and he scolded himself inwardly.

"Alright…" he said and Mito giggled when the boy perked up with a smile in an instant. To Naruto they served two purposes, first, he got off from paying. But that wasn't the reason he asked for them.

They were incredibly complex and detailed, written by the Hokage himself. Now that was a challenge, and how would he be Hokage, if he couldn't even understand one's written knowledge himself?

Tobirama wanted to see how far the boy would go with those manuscripts. He would keep an eye over him just in case he pushed himself too far and wasn't able to cope with the detailed knowledge himself.

Though he had a hunch that the boy might surprise him. And he loved these kinds of surprises a lot.

"Alright, then I'll bring them over to your house tomorrow. Then we can see if you need those clothes and equipment really or not," he said stoically with a hint of warmth and ruffled the boy's hair who just looked at him with affectionate and longing eyes.

Naruto had seen fathers do this to their children and now he knew how nice it felt. Tobirama saw it and a slice of guilt flashed through his heart when he saw those longing blue eyes that looked for affection in even the smallest of things.

He was the very reason the boy had eyes like those in the first place. He had taken his father's life, in combat or not and it weighed heavily on his shoulders now. This was why he never let emotions out of his heart.

They made things complicated. Now he knew whatever the boy would say when he came to know he was the one responsible for taking his father's life, the boy would despise him.

And deep within him, he knew it would hurt him. But he would endure it, for he was a shinobi and he had promised his father to look after the boy.

"Don't worry Izuna, I've got eyes on your boy now…" he thought when he watched Mito pinch the cheeks of the blonde who was blushing and mumbling incoherently with pinched cheeks to let go, not that the Uzumaki heiress was listening to him in the slightest.

"Alright Ojii-san, Mito-sama. I'll be taking my leave now," he said politely with a slight bow, and the two were surprised at the manners he had at so young an age.

Before Mito could break out of her thoughts and tell him to not call her that, the blonde was off with a wave. Now how was she supposed to tell him…

Her thoughts trailed off and she smiled at the stoic Senju slyly. Tobirama grew uncomfortable at the sight of that smile. That smile meant she wanted something and he was an essential part of it.

But the thing that annoyed him the most was that she always got what she wanted, no matter what he argued with his ever-present logic. For that was the power of women that not even Tobirama Senju was able to overcome.

He just prayed to the heavens that Tsunade didn't turn out like her grandmother. He even shuddered to think what she would do to men when she grew up. Her temper was already of the legendary and fiery Uzumakis.

He just didn't know then how much the relations between the Senju and Uchiha clans were going to change in the coming future.

Authors notes::

There's not much to say except this: please review and share your thoughts…

Also, don't forget to follow and favorite! And main thing do follow and support the original Author NxSE.

This story has almost completely taken over my mind, and I'm brimming with ideas for future arcs that I can't wait to bring to life.

While revisiting the original work, I stumbled upon a minor bashing scene that feels out of place. I think it needs to be removed. Instead, expect some added layers of politics and jealousy to enrich the story's depth.