Day of Nawaki's birth
The day arrived faster than anyone expected. Especially not Akira when he looked at the tiny little pink baby swaddled in white cloths. Just yesterday, he was a fresh graduate from the academy, still engaging with Tsunade in their useless banter (well, nothing changed), and now in the blink of an eye, Nawaki was born.
Poking one of his chubby cheeks, with Tsunade doing the same on the other side, Akira asked absentmindedly despite already knowing the answer, "What's his name?"
"...Nawaki. I'll name him Nawaki."
"It's a nice name..." he murmured back, thinking of things no one else understood.
And as the two poked the new-born with their own small fingers, their mother, Senju Tsuyoshi, looked tiredly but lovingly at her three children.
'What a beautiful picture...I wish tou-san could see itef as well...'
Her thoughts of the Shodaime Hokage, Senju Hashirama and her father, trailed off as her own two children left the room.
Staring down at the small, innocent and undefended baby, Tsuyoshi couldn't help but think of the time when her father told her a story. The story was about a bet between him and her mother, Mito.
Back then when she had still been young and fiery, much like her daughter, she often made one-sided competitions with Hashirama, which might have been the reason for the rivalry between their grandchildren.
When they found out she was bearing a child, they placed bets on what gender the baby was, and the winner could choose the name. Hashirama guessed it was a boy, and if his gambling skills were any better than future Tsunade's, Tsuyoshi's name would have been Nawaki. Mito, with her 'mother' instinct, guessed right and thus was the naming of their child.
Tsuyoshi decided to honour that by hence naming her new-born son by the name of Nawaki. Hanaku had already agreed to it anyways.
'It is a nice name, isn't it, tou-san?' she thought, with a reminiscing smile on her face.
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Akira had complicated feelings. His mental age currently was one of a grown adults'. His brief eight years in this cruel and bloody world, added together with his not much longer sixteen in his previous life totaled into twenty-four years.
He didn't have perfect memory, no, and it had been a full eleven years since he read the Naruto manga. It was almost impossible for him to remember every detail in those conditions. All he could try to scavenge from the deeper ends of his mind was the probable date of Nawaki's death - a day after his twelfth birthday.
That much was certain to him, and he was set on preventing it, not as long as he was alive. Seeing his big brown eyes staring up at him, those distinct blushes on his cheeks full with baby fat, made Akra feel unexplainable emotions.
From the instant he saw the baby in their mother's arms, a rush of happiness and love filled him, but it was different from what he felt for Tsunade. It was a feeling that made him want to protect him with his life, to shield him from any dangers in the world.
Perhaps it was the feeling of someone who just became an older brother.
And now that Nawaki was actually born, just the thought of his future death in the original made him want to shrink into himself, as he knew full well about the future events yet could do nothing to prevent it.
Perhaps he would be just needlessly blaming himself had that happened, as some things were just meant to happen, if you let fate run its course. But Akira was a disturbance to that, a change of pace for once, and whether that was good or bad was up to him to decide.
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Timeskip
"Akira-nii! Can you please teach me that super cool jutsu?"
A small shout snapped the said boy out of his stupor.
"Hm? Nawaki? What jutsu do you mean?"
"You know! The one that okaa-san said you developed yourself at my age!" he replied happily, waving his hands animatedly.
Deadpanning, Akira thought about the sheer amount of times their mother had used him to throw the little gremlin, who was always greedy for more, off her back.
"That jutsu is called 'Raihimo'. It's a B-rank ninjutsu, a little too advanced for you."
"Eh? But okaa-san said you made it yourself at my age! How can you develop a ninjutsu that's too advanced for someone your own age?"
"Well, some people are just built different. The heavens are not fair, Nawaki," Akira smiled, ruffling the light brown hair of his younger brother, effectively annoying him.
After complaining about his hair being all messed up, Nawaki finally got him to stop.
Akira smiled again, a genuine and gentle smile that practically radiated warmth and comfort. Seeing this, Nawaki couldn't stay mad and 'spared' him graciously.
He thought back to a year ago, when the First Great Shinobi War had ended. It was the end of a war that took plenty of lives and dyed the lands with the blood of shinobi and kunoichi alike, and the start of a period of peace that would allow all nations to recover.
It was also the time when the fated death of the Second Hokage would arrive.
***
Flashback
"Don't be a child. At this moment I am not your relative, your mentor nor your friend. At this moment I am your Hokage, and my word is law.
If I had not taken into account your talent and loyalty to Konoha, I might have already thrown you into the cellars for an attempt on brainwashing the Hokage into not attending a peace treaty, despite any relationships of mine with you."
The cold and unforgiving words sank deep into his heart as Akira realised however hard he tried, without revealing his true origins, Tobirama's death was inevitable.
"...I understand, Lord Hokage. Apologies for my rudeness. I shall not bother you any further, goodbye."
It was the last 'goodbye' they'd ever exchange, and it was one that was made as Hokage and shinobi, rather than the grand-uncle and grand-nephew.
It was also one of his regrets as he volunteered his life in order to save his students, the future pillars of Konoha. Despite his normal calm and unfeeling, Tobirama definitely had soft spots, and Akira was one of them.
In his last moments, he wished he had listened to the desperate boy, but it was wishful thinking, even if he went back in time to tell his past self, who would listen to someone who was not even a decade old and was telling you not to form an alliance that could save thousands of lives?
But he should have been more suspicious at the very least. Or even stayed a bit more vigilant. Tobirama once got a glimpse of the boy's eyes, not the usual sparkling and mischievous eyes, but eyes that saw things no one else did.
Maybe if he had noticed that sooner, he would still be alive, but he had no regrets, as the next generation was destined to be great, at least as much as he could guide.
Flashback End
***
Now that he thought of it, it really was wishful thinking on his part. No relationship with Tobirama could have made him choose another option.
Defeating the Kinkaku forces was out of the question, so the only option left was to convince him not to go.
But if you thought of it more, that was actually more crazy, wasn't it?
After all, who would listen to a boy who sometimes liked to play pranks and always had a twinkle in their eye? It was probably a joke to most if they heard it, but only if they seen those same eyes but with a gaze that seemed to penetrate all barriers...
***
Words ~ 1313
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