Chapter 8: Naruto : Uchiha : Chapter 8
Mito knew who he was, there weren't many blondes who donned the Uchiha symbol proudly on their shoulders. She knew who he was, the only outcast Uchiha in the village.
And she, for the life of her couldn't see how people could ostracize such an adorable thing in front of them so cruelly.
"How much are they?" he asked softly. Both of their eyes widened a little and they knew now what he was so nervous about.
...
The Uchiha clan, as compensation for the actions of their clan head, had to pay off all the costs for the damages caused during the rampage of the boy's father.
As such, the clan elders had seized the amount from the head family's funds taking a huge chunk off from their fortune. No one knew what happened to the rest after his mother's death.
But Tobirama did. Not for what had become of the rest of the family's fortunes, that were still a mystery in themselves as to how large they truly were and what became of them. But he knew of the boy's plight and the reason of his current nervousness.
He had come to know it through the now clan elder and his ex-subordinate Kagami Uchiha. The man had tried as much as he could to make the boy's life comfortable but hadn't been able to do much despite that.
A lone man against the rest of the clan's despise, he couldn't do much no matter how much he had wanted to. But the clan still had to uphold it's honor as the oldest and noblest of them all, and as such according to the ancient traditions of Uchiha orphan children fund.
The clan gave the boy a fixed sum of money as set by the elders of that time each month until he was old enough to take care of himself thereby by considered an adult, or had a stable income source in his life. Whichever condition was fulfilled first.
And that in itself was where the problem lay. The Uchiha clan's traditional laws hadn't been updated since a long time and the amount was a sum set decades ago, therefore not enough for a proper and comfortable living in this day and time.
Now that wasn't usually a problem for the orphaned child since the Uchiha's had their own shopping districts and way of life. Their clan members could be said as one of the most caring and protective of all the clans, as funny as it sounded it was true.
The children who had been orphaned due to some reason would get huge cuts in prices and discounts all over the things they purchased, to the point of getting some things free in their clan compounds therefore nullifying the need for any extra money other than that old fixed stipend.
But Naruto wasn't a simple orphan.
No one cared if he lived or died. Instead most would prefer it if he died and no longer a threat to bring more shame to their clan.
Mito saw through Tobirama's contemplative expression and knew that the man was rummaging through his mind for a solution.
But in this case she was a bit ahead of him.
"Tobirama, don't you have some manuscripts of the books you wrote last year for the new curriculum?" she asked him, making the shaggy white haired man nod in affirmative at her question
"But they are mere prototype manuscripts I wrote containing only the most essential of materials. It had to undergo a complete rewrite by the order of the council since my writings were far too complex and detailed for children as young as them." he cut her musings short.
"Umm can I have them please Ojii-san?" asked the soft and shy voice of the blonde who was standing quietly to the side and listening to their conversations for a while now.
Tobirama though saw his eyes, the eyes that were eager to learn. But what if he couldn't understand them? They would do more harm to the boy than good…
"Please, I'll give them back to you if I don't understand. But if you can I'll take them…" he asked him in a pleading voice and those innocent eyes made even his heart melt.
He sighed, looks like age really was catching up to him. He crushed those thoughts instantly, what was he thinking? He wasn't old, he hated being old, he scolded himself inwardly.
"Alright…" he said and Mito giggled when the boy perked up with a smile in an instant. To Naruto they served two purposes, first he got off from paying. But that wasn't the reason he asked for them.
They were incredibly complex and detailed, written by the Hokage himself. Now that was a challenge, and how would he be Hokage, if he couldn't even understand one's written knowledge himself?
Tobirama wanted to see how far the boy would go with those manuscripts. He would keep an eye over him just in case he pushed himself too far and wasn't able to cope up with the detailed knowledge himself.
Though he had a hunch that the boy might surprise him. And he loved these kinds of surprises a lot.
"Alright then I'll bring them over to your house tomorrow. Then we can see if you need those clothes and equipment really or not." he said stoically with a hint of warmth and ruffled the boy's hair who just looked at him with affectionate and longing eyes.
Naruto had seen father's do this to their children and now he knew how nice it felt. Tobirama saw it and a slice of guilt flashed through his heart when he saw those longing blue eyes that looked for affection in even the smallest of things.
He was the very reason the boy had eyes like those in the first place. He had taken his father's life, in combat or not and it weighed heavily on his shoulders now. This was why he never let emotions out of his heart.
They made things complicated. Now he knew whatever the boy would say when he came to know he was the one responsible for taking his father's life, the boy would despise him.
And deep within him he knew it would hurt him. But he would endure it, for he was a shinobi and he had promised his father to look after the boy.
"Don't worry Izuna, I've got eyes on your boy now…" he thought when he watched Mito pinch the cheeks of the blonde who was blushing and mumbling incoherently with pinched cheeks to let go, not that the Uzumaki heiress was listening to him in the slightest.
"Alright Ojii-san, Mito-sama. I'll be taking my leave now." he said politely with a slight bow and the two were surprised at the manners he had at so young an age.
Before Mito could break out of her thoughts and tell him to not call her that, the blonde was off with a wave. Now how was she supposed to tell him…
Her thoughts trailed off and she smiled at the stoic Senju slyly. Tobirama grew uncomfortable at the sight of that smile. That smile meant she wanted something and he was an essential part of it.
But the thing that annoyed him the most was that she always got what she wanted, no matter what he argued with his ever present logic. For that was the power of women that not even Tobirama Senju was able to overcome.
He just prayed to heavens that Tsunade didn't turn out like her grandmother. He even shuddered to think what she would do to men when she grew up. Her temper was already of the legendary and fiery Uzumakis.
He just didn't know then how much the relations between the Senju and Uchiha clans were going to change in the coming future.
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