Sacrifice and Surrender

3: Courage

Hashirama had never been entirely fond of the Senju elders, but they generally deferred to his judgment. The Uchiha elders seemed far more meddlesome than anything he'd had to deal with before.

But clan heads were the biggest pain that he'd ever come across and having them on a council was irritating. It meant that he couldn't just make decisions himself and do whatever he wanted, which wasn't exactly what he was hoping for when he became the Hokage, but it made things slower. Technically, since it had been determined that the Hokage had final say, he could just ignore them altogether - but it wouldn't exactly foster the kind of village he wanted Konoha to be. So Hashirama listened to the banal argument between Yori Shimura and Inorou Yamanaka about the disclosing of clan secrets and history into a proposed library open to all the village.

He frowned, looking over at Yori Shimura's reddening face. As far as Tobirama had discovered, the Shimura clan had been suffering after an unknown and deadly illness had wiped out many of their members. Yori had become the clan head after his father had passed, and there was a lot of pressure on him to bring their family back into a high standing. The Sarutobi had reached out to the Shimura when they'd heard the news about the Uchiha-Senju alliance and the founding of Konoha, and Yori had eagerly accepted the invitation.

Hashirama had no qualms about the man wanting what was best for his clan, but it didn't mean that he necessarily liked him. Yori wasn't a particularly kind, compassionate or understanding. He reminded Hashirama a little too much of his late father, Butsuma. A little too concerned with secrecy; he seemed stuck in the mindset of a clan, and that was the kind of thinking that didn't have a place in Konoha, which Hashirama really didn't want to have to remind Yori of it again.

However, despite the Shimura's tendency to oppose almost everything to do with progression into a new type of life, the other clans - the Sarutobi, Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi - were quite open and willing. Which, of course, meant that Yori felt like everyone was against him, and it simply wasn't true. The difference was that the other clans seemed abler and more willing to put aside old tradition in favour of new. Compromising some things for the benefits that a village could provide.

"I don't see a reason to divulge information regarding my clan for just anyone to read," Yori argued.

"It's not information that could affect the clan in any way," Inorou replied. "It's general information that almost everyone can discover if they ask enough questions. What are you so afraid of?"

"Afraid?" A vein in Yori's temple bulged. "It's not a matter of fear, it's about protecting my people!"

Tobirama seemed to be getting agitated, Hashirama noted the crossing of his arms and then tapping of his finger on his bicep.

"Are you implying that we are not protecting our own clans?" Inorou asked, accusation in his voice.

"It's your choice," Yori replied after a moment, but the implication in his tone was clear.

Hashirama held back a sigh. Inorou's eyes narrowed and Tobirama looked at his brother, his eyebrow raised in askance of when he was going to intervene before the meeting spiraled out of control.

"Konohagakure is a village built on the foundation of trust and family. We are and will always be, strongest together," Hashirama said loudly, drawing the attention of the clan heads. "To move forward into the kind of future where we can stand proudly together and protect one another, we must have trust in our comrades." He looked at Yori. "I won't force you to be a part of this village, nor will I force you to participate in this exercise of trust. But I suggest you think about how this will affect the clan relations in the village in the future. Everyone has to take the first step sometime."