Saviour || A Naruto Fanfic

Chapter 9 : She Saved Me [Tobirama]

Tobirama put Naruto to bed and quietly left the room, almost walking into his elder brother.

"So, she is asleep?" Hashirama asked conversationally, though he already knew the answer.

"Yes. Why are you here, Aniki?" Tobirama asked, with slight displeasure to his bland tone.

"Why were you ignoring me before?" Hashirama asked. "You've been acting a little odd today."

"That's my line!" Tobirama hissed. "You were the one who brought her into the Senju! How can you make her feel at home here one day, then go around talking to clans about taking her in the next?! How unstable are you planning to make her feel? Why would you do such a thing? Did you see the look in her eyes, when Inuzuka mentioned that, the expression when she looked at you? But you didn't so much as look at her, you were busy welcoming those OTHER kids."

"I.. never thought of it that way." Hashirama realized that he had deeply hurt his brother.

"You never think, Aniki." Tobirama turned away. "You always act on the spur of the moment."

"I'm sorry, Tobirama." Hashirama looked slightly guilty. "I thought it was for the best."

"It wasn't. I don't care if you thought it was the best way or not, I won't let go of her. Unless she wants to leave. I can't believe that you actually, even for one minute, believed that. Most of those clan leaders only want credit, for housing the jinchuriki. Good going, Aniki."

"Tobirama. This isn't the way you normally behave, what's wrong with you?" Hashirama asked.

"You are what's wrong with me! You always do stupid things without considering others' feelings. I'm never letting go of Naruto, not on your orders nor anyone else. She consented to be my daughter - given, she calls me Nii-san, since her actual father is still alive - but no way in hell will I give up my daughter for anyone! And that includes you, Aniki!" Tobirama growled angrily.

Hashirama inwardly smiled. How long had it taken for Tobirama to become truly involved with someone? To care for a person without any logical reasoning? Maybe the man just wasn't cut out for romance, but that didn't mean that he was incapable of loving. He smiled at his brother.

"You know, adversity brings out the best in some people," the older man said. "Never would I have thought a day would come when you would fight tooth and nail to protect someone like this. You never give your best, even when it is for the village, but you do enough to be respected. It's the first time you've even mentioned that you won't let someone go. Frankly, I'm a bit surprised about it still, but the change in you is a good one."

"You're rambling on about nonsense again," his younger brother sighed. "You just don't know how to be serious, do you? Sometimes, I feel that Naruto is more mature than you. Not that you're setting a good example for her in the first place. Why don't you ever think before you act?"

"Tobirama," the First Hokage smiled knowingly, "you never had the habit of considering others' feelings either. You just decided whatever was best for the village, no matter how many people were displeased or not in favour of your idea. I honestly didn't think that you were so attached to her, or I wouldn't have called you there. I didn't mean to ruffle your feelings, not hers. They had a fair point, so I wanted to see what she felt. If she wanted to go, you couldn't have held her back."

"She wouldn't choose a life with people she isn't familiar with," Tobirama said, smirking.

"Act any more arrogant and she'll tire of you."

"No she won't. I'm her father figure now."

"People can tire of their parents too, Tobirama."

"She won't tire of me. That's just absurd."

"You really know how to act like an overprotective father, you know that? Give the kid some space, it really can't be healthy for her, to have only crazy old war heroes for company."

"Stop bossing me around, Aniki, I'll be doing as I wish and no one takes her from me."

"No one is planning to. When will you get your head around that? She didn't want to go with any of the clans, and she's staying here, so why are you making such a big fuss out of it?"

"You tried to send her away, in case your memory has started failing you once again."

"Wrong. I asked you to come, so that if she was interested, and only IF that was the case, she could go with one of the clans. And it is only courteous to listen to their wishes, Tobirama."

"How many times must I tell you before you realize that it does not always pay to be courteous, Aniki? And how many times have you gotten yourself into a fix over that ridiculous courtesy?"

"There's absolutely no point in trying to get you to see sense, is there, Tobirama?"

"That's my line! You absolutely refuse to see where I'm coming from, like always."

"You really are behaving childishly now. In any case, I have no wish to separate you two."

"Then you should have just rejected their offer outright, instead of dragging her into it."

"She had to know what they had offered." Hashirama grinned. "Were you scared, Tobirama?"

"NOW what on earth do you mean? Me? Scared? Of what? A few clan heads?" The younger brother scoffed, but there was a glint in his eyes that said that he wasn't completely secure.

"Were you scared that she might have chosen them?" Hasirama deliberately dropped the bomb.

"Fine, I was. I didn't want to lose the only person who I've loved. When I'm around her, I don't see the pictures of war, or the corpses of near and dear ones lying cold. I don't remember the stench of death, I don't see blood painting the streets when I walk with her. I see light, I can feel her joy when she laughs, I feel happy when she does. She saved me from the edge of darkness. For that, I can only ever be eternally grateful, and I want to be by her side." Tobirama smiled. "But it's not like you wouldn't have missed her, if she decided to go with the clan heads."