"Hey, that dude's from Konoha. Is Hashirama calling for a meeting with your great-uncle or something?"
Naruto leapt in fright and clutched his chest as [Name] appeared out of nowhere from behind him, right after he had allowed the messenger from Konoha past him at the gate and into the village to find Ashina.
"[Name], you gave me a fright!" exclaimed the Uzumaki, going bright red in the face as [Name] looked down at Himawari and chuckled, squeezing her hand as the little girl giggled. Now settled into her life in Uzushiogakure, [Name] had adjusted well, and Himawari had taken quite a liking to her as well. Boruto was still getting there, but he wasn't as hostile towards [Name] anymore.
"Sorry, sorry," said [Name], waving the Uzumaki's words away. "Himawari, do you have something for your father?"
Himawari nodded and turned around, showing her father the sling on her back.
"You forgot your lunch again, otou-san," said the little girl quietly, letting go of [Name]'s hand and backing up to her father so that he could take his lunchbox.
"Oh, thank you!" laughed the Uzumaki, squatting down and untying the sling from his daughter's back. As he took the cloth and lunchbox in his hands, he placed a hand on Himawari's head as she turned to face him, ruffling her dark hair.
"Thanks, Himawari," beamed the blond brightly, before leaning forward and placing a kiss on his daughter's forehead. Himawari giggled and playfully pushed her father back as he rose to his feet, looking over at [Name] with a small smile.
"Thanks, [Name]," he said kindly, earning a nod from the Kouhage. As he did, his smile momentarily faltered. And it did not go unnoticed.
"Let's talk when you get home," said [Name] softly, sensing something was amiss with the Uzumaki. "Concentrate on your duties for now. Himawari and I will make sure to make something tasty for dinner when you and Boruto come back home. Right, Hima?"
"Yay!"
"It's no big deal, but thank you anyway, [Name]," said Naruto with a sigh, looking at the Kouhage with a wistful look in his eye. Although they had been living together for a while now, their relationship still hadn't reached the point they had been at before the Uchiha had gotten involved. If anything, [Name] seemed reluctant to reenter a romantic relationship with the Uzumaki, but he didn't mind. Considering everything she had already been through, he didn't blame her for believing that everything, including her romances, was fleeting.
"We'll see you at home. Come on, Himawari."
As [Name] walked away from Naruto with Himawari in tow, she let out a frown as she focused her attention on the little girl's hand clutched tightly in her own. Sayuri's birthday had passed a while ago, and although [Name] had quite literally abandoned her daughter, it didn't mean that she had completely forgotten about her.
There was a pang in the Kouhage's heart as she tried recalling her own daughter's face in her mind, but found that her memory of Sayuri was hazy. It had been a year since she had last seen her, and she knew that she must have grown so much in that time. As guilty as it made her feel, whenever [Name] tried to picture Sayuri, Himawari's image was the only one that came to mind, despite the age difference.
"[Name]-chan? Are you okay?"
Himawari's voice broke the saddened Kouhage out of her trance, and she squeezed the little girl's hand reassuringly.
"Yeah," smiled [Name]. "Let's go home and get dinner started, shall we?"
"Okay!"
***
"This is unorthodox, but I called you in here because I needed to ask you something personally."
Called into the Hokage's office a few days after the Kouhage clan massacre, Sasuke stood with his eyebrow raised as he held Sayuri on his hip, while she was busy leaning out and trying to grab ahold of Tobirama.
"You seem to be very involved in raising your children," mused Tobirama as he reached out and took Sayuri from the Uchiha's hands, holding her high in the air and making her giggle. "Your father decided to bring you along while he does his errands, did he?"
"I can't risk having Sayuri out of my sight."
"Good point. Anyway, I've called you in here because I need some advice."
"The Hokage needs advice?" scoffed Sasuke, unable to believe his ears. "What kind of advice could I even give you?"
Hashirama leaned over his desk with his hands clasped, looking up seriously at Sasuke.
"We relayed the message to Ashina, but he's asked whether or not he should disclose the information to [Name]," stated the Hokage, brow furrowing in worry. "I get that the whole point of [Name] leaving the village was to let her start afresh, but her whole family had just been slaughtered. And as long as Madara is out there, she can never be one hundred percent safe. Would it be better to alert [Name] that Madara has left Konoha, or to let her live on in ignorant bliss?"
"Surely she deserves to know that her family have died too," said Sasuke, stroking his chin as he thought of how [Name] would react to the news. "It's a horrible thing, but she needs to know."
"And speaking of Madara, you forgot to mention about our tip off," called out Tobirama as Sayuri pulled at his face, trying to rub off the red marks on his cheeks and chin. Hashirama scratched his head as Sasuke raised his eyebrow, having not heard anything about this so called tip off.
"It would appear that Madara has been spotted not too far away from the village outskirts," sighed Hashirama. "But every time our shinobi try to apprehend him, he just keeps moving."
"Right. So he's waiting for [Name] to return to Konoha. Is that what you're saying?"
"It looks like it."
"Sasuke, as much as I want to alert [Name] of the circumstances, who knows what Madara will do if she returns? I'm more concerned for her safety than anything else."
"[Name] isn't weak."
"I know she's not. But Madara's been... out of it, to put it lightly, and we can't predict what he'll do to her when given the opportunity."
"... no, but we can predict what [Name] will do. If we tell her, there's a high chance she'll return to the village to find Madara for herself. No matter how much we try to tell her not to return, she'll do it anyway, just because [Name] is stubborn and she does whatever she wants. We can easily set up precautions for her return, like having someone meet her somewhere between Uzushiogakure and Konohagakure so that she's not alone when she returns to Konoha and Madara, most likely, strikes. We can also be prepared at the village so that we can intervene and take Madara under custody for his crimes, and put him on trial so that we're still being fair."
Hashirama looked towards his brother as Sasuke proposed his idea, earning a shrug from the white haired Senju.
"Hey, the Uchiha's known [Name] far longer than we have," said Tobirama nonchalantly, blowing air in Sayuri's face and making her laugh.
With a frown, Hashirama came to a conclusion.
"Very well. However, I don't want Ashina to be the one to tell her. We need to tell [Name] directly."
"Send her a letter."
"No. If we're going to tell her, we need someone to relay the message in person. But it has to be someone who will be able to handle Madara alongside [Name] once they return to the village. It'll be easier for the person who relays the message to be the same person who comes back with [Name]. And quite possibly deal with her rage once they've delivered the message."
Both Senju's eyes landed on Sasuke, earning an incredulous "hmph!" from him.
"As much as I would like to be your tool, I promised [Name] I would look after Sayuri," said the Uchiha, his gaze moving towards the little girl in Tobirama's arms. "It's not safe to take her with me, or to leave her here alone, so I'm staying here with her."
"How romantic, a man of his word," sighed Tobirama with a slight grin, earning a glare from the raven. "Very well. I don't mind relaying the message myself."
"I see no issue with that."
"Seconded. Although I'm sure [Name] will have something to say about how you allowed Madara to escape the village," said Sasuke pointedly, earning a dark look from Tobirama.
"That," interjected Hashirama, "was my fault, and I will gladly take responsibility for it."
"It may have been your responsibility at the time, but it was a promise I made to [Name]," said Tobirama, shaking his head.
"It can't be helped. The crime has been done, and Madara has escaped. We can only move forward from here."
"You're right." Tobirama gave Sayuri one last smile before handing her back to Sasuke. "I'll leave tomorrow."
"Sounds good. I hope you prepare well."
"And I'll write to Ashina to let him know," said Hashirama with a sigh, reaching over for his ink brush and a new sheet of paper. "Why can we never truly have peace around here?"
"Because as long as Madara lives, there will always be a reason for war. It's just who he is."