The Search Begins
Just because Hashirama was one of the busiest in the new village didn't mean he got out of dealing with the elders when they were in a snit. And they were well and truly riled this time. First Tobirama causing a panic with his rush to free Indra, moving like he was gearing up for battle, then bringing a figure of legend to their budding village. A figure of horror stories told to little Senju children, a hero amongst the Uchiha. And now this. A search for another legend. Their own origin. Tobi had been absolutely delighted with the looks on their elders faces when he told them of Indra's request for him to find his brother. And he looked positively smug when all eyes turned to Hashirama, demanding answers as Tobirama slipped out to begin his search.
Tobirama, bless his soul, had stocked up on tea before dropping this latest bit of news on the elders. More importantly, he had stocked up on the good tea. Hashirama could forgive a lot for that. He needed it more than he could say, and it looked like Madara did as well. He had, after all, had to deliver the same news to his own elders. And to Izuna.
"Do you think he'll find anything?"
Madara's tone was a complex but understandable mix of curious hope, and reluctance. Hashirama felt much the same.
He really did like the idea of reuniting the brothers, and of meeting the founder of his clan. But at the same time, history as he knew it had already been turned upside down. He wasn't sure how much more his clan could take. And Tobirama, well, he didn't want his little brother to be blamed for it. There were already several members of their clan that were upset at having their views challenged. Not that that would stop him. Tobirama didn't believe in hiding the truth. Unless it came to where he got those sealing scrolls that Hashirama absolutely didn't know about. (He didn't think Mito wouldn't tell her family, but he wasn't taking that chance, not yet. Their marriage was still too new for that.)
He slipped his tea to give himself a bit of time before finally answering.
"Yes. I am certain that when he comes home he'll be bringing Ashura-sama with him."
He watched the emotions flicker through Madara's eyes feeling relieved when they settled on hopeful.
"Good. That's good. I think it'll help Indra-sama settle."
Madara was turning his cup in his hands, a thoughtful look on his face.
"Where will Ashura-sama stay? I know you'll open your home to him, same as I did for Indra-sama. But... I think they should stay together."
Hashirama bit back his initial response and frowned thoughtfully. If he woke up in a strange time and was surrounded by people claiming to be his descendants and he found out Tobirama was also there... Well. He would insist that he stay with his little brother, no matter what anyone said. Bitting his lip he let his mind race.
"What if we built them their own house, somewhere between our compounds? It would give them more privacy and neither of our clans could complain. Er, much."
Madara nodded slowly.
"Yes that could work... We would have to build them a koi pond as well. Indra-sama is very fond of ours."
He set his empty cup down and stood eyes flickering to the door and a faint smirk tugging at his lips.
"I should talk to him about this before we make any plans."
"Yes of course."
Hashirama walked him to the door biding him farewell and smiling in surprised delight when the door opened and Mito was on the other side.
"Mito-hime! Welcome home!"
He barely heard Madara's polite greeting before he was gone and Hashirama was free to sweep his wife into his arms.
"I stopped at the cave first, to get a look at the seals. I wanted to see them before speaking to anyone. I have to say I'm impressed with Tobirama's work."
Hashirama smiled, pleased as he always was when someone notices how clever his brother was. The pleasure faded quickly, replaced with budding worry as his wife continued.
"It's almost as if he learned from my grandfather. He's the only other person I can think of who would know how to break that seal."
It was almost a relief to see the first of the elders marching up to them.
***
Mito's chakra was just reaching the house when Tobirama finished mapping out the spread of the mokuton infused forest. It was bigger than he had expected, and the portion leading to the cave was an offshoot of the main forest. He figured it was safe to assume the stories about Ashura having the mokuton were true, and if that were the case... Ashura's chakra had been reaching out for his brother. It made him all the more determined to find him. And if Ashura's meditation caused the same issues as Hashirama's then he knew this search was going to be much harder than finding Indra.
Having marked the edges, and regretting not having had the time to tweak the hiraishin, Tobirama launched himself forward, pushing into the depths of the forest. He wanted to start his search among the oldest of the trees. Not that that narrowed it down much. But if Indra was sealed in old lava tubes then it would make sense to seal Ashura in a forest.
And of course the annoying bastard was just like his brother and connected to the fucking trees, making it that much harder to separate his signature from them.
"I hate mokuton."
As soon as the words left his mouth he had to fight the urge to bang his head against the nearest tree. Why hadn't he brought Hashirama with him for this part? Surely his own abilities would have been useful in finding the man?
But no. He had left his brother to deal with the elders and the numerous issues that he knew were going to pop up due to this newest excursion. And Mito had been making her way back from the cave a full day before she was even due back. Poor bastard. He would feel guilty except none of this was his fault. Mostly. The scrolls were, but Hashirama wouldn't rat him out. Hell, he doubted Moto would even be upset. As for the elders, well, they could nag all they wanted, but he wasn't cruel enough to leave a man trapped in a cave like that. (And if he thought of Touka trapped in a place she hated so much, well...) So how could he leave another stuck in a tree And of course he would always do what he could to help someone find their little siblings. As he had been doing far longer than anyone knew. Admittedly, guiding lost children back to familiar lands was very different than this.
And he had been able to keep that a secret for a very long time. Although having finally visited the Uchiha compound, and been seen by some of the children he had led home, he was sure that little secret would be coming to light soon enough. It was always so hard for excited children to keep quiet.
Oh well. It would help dispel the rumors that he hated the Uchiha. Although how those rumors persisted was a mystery, with one of his best friends being an Uchiha. Hikaku laughed everytime the rumors started making rounds. Bastard.
Noticing the change in the trees around him he came to a stop. The area was saturated in chakra, dozens of trees grown to massive sizes. This was where he would begin his search. He cursed softly before moving to the first tree and sinking his chakra into it, feeling nothing but residual chakra and growth. Pulling back he looked around and sighed. The next felt much the same, and so did the next. This was going to take a while. At least he knew it wasn't Ashura's fault. Otherwise he might have been tempted to smack the man when he finally found him.
He would find him. Hashirama had never been able to successfully hide from him while trying. There was no way he was going to let this guy ruin his record without even trying.