Alone No More

Burdens Turned Into Blessings

Warnings: minor character death, minor swearing and alcohol (if you're picky), minor sexism, and Hashirama is an emotional wreck.

Please enjoy!

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Years after Sairi's daughter married Butsuma Senju, Faiashi took it upon herself to become the messenger and representative of the Hatake clan, allowing her to visit the Senju clan, anytime she wanted. This was most helpful when the first Senju heir was born, a babe who was the spitting image of his father. Faiashi took great joy in guiding the couple through the first steps of parenthood. She smiled fondly as she watched Butsuma gently cradle the baby they named Hashirama, as he spoke softly to his exhausted wife. Butsuma's father stood next to her throughout the ordeal and was grateful for her help, adding that the head family's household was much more lively now. Faiashi couldn't help but agree.

Despite seeing weariness in the Senju clan head's deep brown eyes, she liked him. He was almost as family-oriented as a Hatake, with a booming and kind smile. And he had the gift of being able to keep Butsuma from always thinking negatively. Butsuma admired his father and always tried to be positive, but he was a shinobi in this war-torn world, and being positive and caring was no easy task.

A couple of years later, just as Faiashi's granddaughter started going into labor with her second child, enemy forces marched toward the Senju compound. Despite wanting to stay with his wife and protect her, Butsuma had to leave with his father and the other Senju warriors to fight off the intruders. Hours later, Faiashi brought two-year-old Hashirama to meet his new baby brother, Tobirama, who looked exactly like his mother but had crimson eyes just like Faiashi's brother. Not long after, a messenger informed them that the invaders were the Uchiha clan and that they had killed the Senju clan head. Luckily, the messenger said that Butsuma was unharmed and was speaking to the elders in his newly appointed position as clan head, as well as taking his father's body to the clan's mortuary to prepare the corpse for burial.

When Butsuma finally arrived, the two women could easily tell that the new clan head was not well. He looked exhausted, with bloodshot eyes and deep bags underneath them; his posture slumped, and his body trembled slightly. However, the two women could not tell if it was from the cold, leftover adrenaline from battle, or the emotional pain he was feeling from losing his father.

Upon seeing the pale sleeping baby in his wife's arms, Butsuma gave a faint smile. While gently ruffling the baby's silver hair, he mused at how much his new son had inherited from his mother's Hatake heritage. Until the tiny newborn opened his eyes and looked at his father with crimson eyes.

Butsuma froze for a moment before pulling his hand away from the baby, his expression turning furious. A heated argument soon started about the baby's red eyes. Fearing for the stress on her granddaughter and newborn great-grandson, as well as the still grief-stricken Butsuma, Faiashi calmly explained that her brother's eyes were also a reddish hue.

However, she didn't mention that they only turned red when her father saved them. Luckily, Butsuma accepted the explanation, and his second son was named Tobirama. He still doesn't like his son's Sharingan red eyes. Faiashi couldn't fault the man for that. After all, Butsuma was raised his whole life to hate the Sharingan, and now he has a son with similar red eyes. She doesn't think Butsuma would be cruel to Tobirama, but she keeps an eye on him, just in case.

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The group watched as years played out before them, like a home movie. The Hokage looked at everyone's expressions but couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy as he watched his ideals grow up through Faiashi's eyes, allowing him the chance to see Lord Hashirama and Tobirama-sensei again. Even if he saw how the two brothers lost so much of their family and watched what family remained, they had become hardened and embittered by grief and war.