Saviour || A Naruto Fanfic

Chapter Four : Tobirama

Tobirama woke up to our a warm weight snuggled up to him, lying on his chest. It took him a moment to realize that the blond head on his chest was Naruto, her hand resting on his torso.

He smiled, gently putting the girl down on the bed beside him. Was this what it was like to be a father? The innocent beauty next to him slept on, oblivious of his mind's wanderings.

After some time, though, she began to stir, and opened her eyes sleepily, gazing at him out of huge gemstone-like eyes. Tobirama smiled, as he sat up, with her huddled in his lap.

"Looks like you slept well, Naruto." She nodded against his torso, and he ruffled up her hair. "Come on, let's get ready. We can go have breakfast with the others, and then train."

"Really?!" Naruto sat upright in his lap, eyes shining at the thought of training with him. "Can Kurama help too? He's been training me for a year anyway, so it's probably wiser."

"You want to summon the fox? The council is going to have our heads for-"

"No, no, no! Kurama can assume a human form. That's how he trains me!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I suppose it's fine," Tobirama sighed. This child just surprised him at every nook and corner.

Naruto smiled, so foxily that even he was stunned, and ran to freshen up. Half a second later, she was back out again, pouting, and he looked up, as he reached for his own gear.

"Nii-san, I don't have a toothbrush," she said, and then lit up. "Can I just wash my mouth?"

"Only for today, though," he said, nodding as the girl ran back to the bathroom. He heard the sound of water, for a couple of minutes, and then his new 'daughter' returned to his side.

"Let's train!" she said excitedly, looking up at him, while he could only shake his head, smiling.

"Breakfast, then we train." He scooped her up in his arms and took her out to the dinner hall.

Hashirama wasn't the only one to notice a change in his brother, as he walked into the dining area, carrying the blond little sunshine. Unlike his normal expressionless, stoic facade, he was oblivious to the others, as he listened attentively to Naruto chattering about something. His red eyes that always had suspicion and war ready, had neither of those features now; instead, they seemed calm, gentle, even doting as they gazed lovingly on the little figure curled into him.

Hiruzen was rendered speechless. Tobirama was, as he himself had acknowledged, a man who lived on the brink of a cliff, only barely holding himself back from falling into the darkness of hate and killing. The memories of war haunted him, they never escaped his mind. Now, though, those same eyes that were once devoid of emotion, were youthful and bright. It was like the dark, suspicious man had never even existed. If he were to go out, people would suspect him of being an imposter for the Second Hokage.

Naruto was definitely the turning point. The man no woman would ever fall in love with, whose killer intent, when released in Konoha, could be felt even in Kumo, had been transformed by one innocent little girl. True, she was anything but normal... yet for Tobirama Senju to undergo so immense a transformation, as to be seen without his normally stoic face... was a little much. Could he truly have found the one he wanted to protect no matter what? And could it really be this tiny, beautiful, clueless four year old who had been thrown out by her own father?

Much to everyone's astonishment, Tobirama didn't even notice that he was the center of attraction in the room. He didn't seem to feel the questioning, surprised looks and stares that were directed towards him. Unlike ever before, he didn't seem to mind carrying the child all the way to her seat, and kept her close to him. Though he was fine with children, he never carried or pampered them like this. And he would never carry anyone unless it was an absolute necessity.

As they sat at the table, their topic of conversation became known to the other members of the clan, who were sitting nearby them. Hiruzen, Hashirama and Tsunade were all within earshot, so they listened in on the chatter between the two. Yet again, it was surprising that Tobirama was speaking so much. He was more of a listener, someone who spoke only when everyone else had finished saying their piece, and even then, his speech was always short and crisp.

He didn't ask her much, just commented to anything and everything she said. While he was known to be a man who detested sudden changes in the topic of conversation, here he was, the same man, keeping up with complete interest in a conversation that had no sense of direction at all. Whatever she said, he was listening keenly. Not that the child blabbered uselessly, but it was shocking nonetheless. Whether it be how her hair became long due to Kurama's unsealing the chakra in her genes, to how she had been forced to look like a boy for two years, how they kept her locked within the house, how Kurama had started training her at home itself.

Anyone would have thought they were related by blood. Which, in a way, they were. After all, the First Hokage's wife had been Mito Uzumaki, Kushina's grandmother. And Naruto was Kushina's daughter. So Mito was her great-grandmother, and the First Hokage was something like her great-grandfather, and since Tobirama was his brother, he became her great-great-uncle. Or at least, in a weird sort of way, he was somehow related to this little ball of sunshine.

No one said anything about what they observed, out of respect for the Nidaime. Hashirama also chose not to say anything, but he was glad of the change, as was Hiruzen. Tsunade too, seemed to be less gloomy, as she watched the two go out after eating, possibly to the Valley of the End.

She turned to her plate and began to eat hurriedly. She wanted to follow that curious little girl.