"Brother?"

"Yes, Tobirama?"

At this, Tobirama looked at him in curiosity and mild displeasure. "Do you know what just happened to us here? I think I have an idea."

"Oh? What is that?" Hashirama's face was far more open than his brother's, but he was also unhappy with the present situation. They had just been in the afterlife together and had been ripped away from their family and the next thing they knew, they were here. Here with the living.

"I do believe that we have been resurrected using my jutsu. It does appear, however, that the person who resurrected us does not know about the precautions I put against the two of us should such a thing happen. He doesn't realize that we are still ourselves, despite him." Tobirama looked around for whoever it was that was supposed to have resurrected them and his eyes lighted on a pale, snake-faced man. "Ah, brother, I think I found who it was. I wonder what he wanted us for."

"We should ask him, brother, but I do not think it is for anything good. If it was, he wouldn't have wanted to suppress our minds," Hashirama said as he glared at the man called Orochimaru.

"You are completely right, sensei. He is trying to eradicate the Leaf. He has led an invasion against us and resurrected the two of you to fight me alone, inside this barrier," Sarutobi Hiruzen said as he stared at his former student and now enemy.

"Ah, I see," said Tobirama as he looked at Orochimaru. "Then I suppose we should do to him what he intended for us to do to you."

At this, wood started sprouting from the roof around Orochimaru, seeking to contain him. Orochimaru dodged and leapt away, heading to the corner of the roof where one of his agents was holding up the barrier.

On the way, he shouted, "Drop the barrier! The plan has failed! Retreat!"

The plans that Orochimaru had for Konoha had enraged the First and Second Hokage, he wanted to destroy everything that had worked for, everything they had built. They would absolutely not let that happen. So, when the barrier dropped and Orochimaru was about to escape, Tobirama summoned a water whip from underneath him and pinned him in place, allowing Hashirama to wrap him in a tree and pin him.

Hashirama just looked at him and said, "Now that we have captured him, what should we do with him? Hiruzen?"

"Well, sensei, we can turn him over to T&I once the invasion is over, however... I think most of the battling is over, so that should be any minute now," Hiruzen said while looking at the ground below.

"We should help them, shouldn't we, brother?"

"Yes, Hashirama, we should."

**********************************************************

Much later, the Shodaime and the Nidaime were sitting in the Hokage's office with the Sandaime as he was catching them up on events.

"...and the Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi inside his newborn son. I have put a gag order on everyone who knows about his parents and the fact that he is the Jinchuuriki. No one who knew his parents is allowed any contact with him and no one is allowed to speak about his status. If it got out of the village about either one, we would not be able to protect him from assassination attempts and attacks. The death of the Yondaime was five years ago, but his and our enemies remain."

Neither Tobirama nor Hashirama were particularly impressed with this decision, not believing that it would be good for the child to grow up not aware of either what he was or who he was. He would need help to learn how to control the Kyuubi and knowing your background was very important to a shinobi. Pride in who you could be everything.

"Where is this child now?" Hashirama felt for the child. Five years old and not know who he was or anything about his situation.

Hiruzen looked down at his lap. His senseis were not going to like this. "He has an apartment. I can give you the address, but he won't be there right now. His ANBU guards likely have him in custody because of the invasion."

Both Hashirama and Tobirama looked at Hiruzen like he had lost his mind. "An apartment?! Where is his guardian?! He is five years old!" Hashirama was the one out of the two of them that expressed his emotions and temper, so he was the one to voice it when something happened.

But Tobirama would not keep silent, if the situation was warranted "Yes, Hiruzen, where is this child's guardian? And, for that matter, what is his name?"

Hiruzen sighed and looked down at his desk, "His name is Uzumaki Naruto. And he has no guardian. We tried. We really did. We tried having both civilians and shinobi raise him. And none of them could be trusted with him. His ANBU guards caught several trying to kill him or hurt him. As bad as it is for him to be alone, it was that or injury."

Once again, his teachers did not look impressed with him, and they let him know it. "That is no excuse, Hiruzen. He-Naruto-should be raised by someone who cares about him. And it was your job to find that person. His parents had friends, even if neither of them had any family left. You should never have kept them away from him. You should never have forbidden them to speak with him or be around him. They are the obvious people to raise him. As it is, he is likely miserable," Hashirama scolded, "Do you know where his ANBU would take him? I wish to see him."

"I'm not sure where they would take him, but I can call them here. Before that, though, you both should know something. His father was Namikaze Minato. His mother was Uzumaki Kushina. Kushina was the niece of Mito-sama, so Naruto is related to you through marriage. He is your grandnephew, Hashirama-sensei."

"What. Hiruzen, are you saying that you have my nephew living on his own at five years old, his only company ANBU that he never sees?!" Hashirama nearly shouted. His family. This child was not only the son of the Fourth Hokage, but also his family and was living isolated from everyone around him, taking care of himself.

"Yes, that is exactly what I am saying."

Hashirama was too angry and floored to respond, but Tobirama certainly could, and did. "This is not the end of this, Hiruzen, but right now we have more important things to take care of. Summon the child-Naruto-and his guards. We wish to speak with him, speak with his ANBU, see his living accommodations, and then we will decide what will happen, but he absolutely will no longer be living alone. Hiruzen, you will not fight us on this, whatever else we decide."

Hiruzen did not respond except to say to his ANBU guards, "Bring Hound, Weasel, and Naruto here."

**************************************************************

When Naruto and the ANBU arrived, Naruto was looking at the ground and not making eye contact with anyone. This child looked so scared and neither brothers could figure out why.

Hiruzen, though, seemed to at least have an idea.

Hiruzen sighed and looked at Naruto and said, "I know that this is outside our normal meeting times, but you aren't in trouble, Naruto. There are a couple of people who want to meet you."

"Yes, Sandaime-sama."

Hiruzen sighed again, looking regretful and said "Naruto, this is the Shodaime, Hashirama Senju, and the Nidaime, Tobirama Senju. Do you know about the battle that happened just a bit ago?"

Naruto was still looking at the ground, seemingly too scared to lift his head, despite Hiruzen's assurance. "I know something happened, Sandaime-sama, but not what."

What on Earth had happened with this child? The invasion had been huge! Orochimaru's forces had destroyed a chunk of the village! Where had this child been that he did not know of it?

"Well, Naruto, there was an invasion. During it, these two were resurrected and helped us to defeat the invaders."

"Now that they are here, they are interested in you and wanted to meet you and get to know you."

"Why would they be interested in me, Sandaime-sama?"
Hiruzen was grateful that Naruto was showing some curiosity. Lately he had been so timid and scared in his presence. It saddened Hiruzen even as he understood it. Naruto had come to know that Hiruzen was the reason for his status in the village and felt betrayed by him. Felt that Hiruzen no longer cared for him. This was far from the truth, of course, but that didn't change the way Naruto felt.

"Well, Naruto, I don't know if you recognize them, but these two are the First and Second Hokage. And they heard about you. There are several things we need to tell you about why you are treated differently in the village and who you and your family are, but the first thing is that they are your family. Both the First and Second Hokages were the brothers of your grandmother."

At this, Naruto looked up in shock. He couldn't believe what he was being told. He had family?! And beyond that, family that was so important! And no one had told him before, not even the Third Hokage, who was the only person to really interact with him!

"W-what? I have family? I-really? I really do? What? What's going on? I don't understand! Why didn't I know about this?"

Naruto was getting worked up into a frenzy and was starting to hyperventilate. This was all so new to him. He had no idea what to think about any of this or what to do. His entire world was getting turned upside down all at once.

Hashirama looked at Naruto in compassion and understanding, seeing what was going on inside his head. This all must be very confusing for Naruto. "It's alright Naruto. Why don't you take some deep breaths? We're your family and we're here now. You will be alright. We were dead before, remember?" At this Naruto nodded his head shakily, "so we couldn't be there for you before, but we will now. You are our family, and we care about you. We will also answer questions you may have and tell a few other things, but those can wait until later." It would be best to let him calm down before we gave him more shocks.

Hashirama looked at Naruto and made a snap decision to question the ANBU later. "Naruto, would you take us to your apartment? We would like to see where you live and get to know you. You are our precious nephew after all."

Naruto looked at him dubiously, "My place is nothing special," he said.

At this, Tobirama looked at Naruto unimpressed, "We need to make sure that you're living situation is acceptable. You are our nephew and a child. It is our job to take care of you and we intend to do just that."

Naruto wasn't sure that he liked that thought.

*********************************************************************

Naruto's apartment was completely unacceptable. It was, in fact, falling apart. Literally. Cracks were running up the walls from a bad foundation. There was water damage in the floors, holes in some of the walls, the windows wouldn't shut.

It should have been condemned; it was unfit for habitation. There was no way that a child should have been living there.

Why on Earth had Hiruzen thought that this would be a good place for a five-year-old child alone?!

There was no way on Earth that he would continue to live here.

The brothers looked at each other, their eyes meeting in understanding. They would take Naruto with them, wherever they were supposed to live. Maybe they could move back into the old compound. Regardless, he wasn't going to live here anymore.

Hashirama was always better with emotions and understanding people, so he was the one who spoke now. "Hey Naruto, your apartment looks kind of lonely. Would you like to come live with us?"

Despite Hashirama being better with emotions and knowing what to say when, Naruto still looked shell-shocked at having a family.

If his living situation hadn't been what it was, it may have been better to introduce the new things to him slowly so that he would have a better chance of adjusting properly to everything that would be changing, but with him living alone and in destitute housing, they couldn't put this off.

"H-Hashirama-sama? Tobirama-sama? You want me to live with you?" Naruto had a very confused look on his face and was just staring at the two of them, not understanding.

"But-but-but...I don't understand. Sandaime-sama said that you're my family. But I don't have any family. I never had any family. Ever. I can't have family now. I don't know what's going on." Naruto just couldn't understand what was going on. Just an hour or so ago he had no one. No one at all. He was alone. And now he had family? Who wanted him to move in with them? It didn't make any sense. He didn't deserve any family. Isn't that what the villagers always said? That he was evil? So, if he was evil, how could he have family?

He said as such.

Hashirama's heart broke. It wasn't fair to Naruto. He didn't deserve to live like that, to be convinced of that. No one did, but especially not a child as young as Naruto.

Tobirama was furious. The village had made his nephew think he was a monster, that he didn't deserve love or a family. He wasn't as emotional as his brother, but this enraged him.

Hashirama was angry as well, but mostly he was heartbroken. His poor nephew, who had suffered so much. Who had endured and endured and endured and who believed what everyone told him. Why would he not? He had no reason to contest their words and it was the whole village.

Well.

Hashirama would not let this slide. He would not let this just sit. It would take a long while to fix this, to improve his self-worth and convince him that he wasn't a monster, when the village had been telling him that his whole life. But they could start right now.

And so, he did.

Hashirama looked at Naruto with steel in his eyes and spoke with a soft and warm voice, "Naruto, you are not a demon, you are not a monster. You are my nephew. I'm sorry that I wasn't here for you. I'm sorry that no one was. But we are here now, and we will be there for you. You aren't alone anymore. And we will make sure that no one will hurt you.

"Now, do you want to come with us and live with us? The place we'll be living will be warmer, won't have cracks and holes in the walls, and will be safe," Hashirama looked at Naruto hopefully, trying to convey love and care.

Naruto was so unsure that it stabbed at the hearts of both Hashirama and Tobirama, but he still said, "I-I guess I can come with you." He was looking down at the ground, but at least he said it. At least he trusted them enough to take care of him.

Or maybe the temptation of a nice place to live was just too much for him.

Naruto had been dreaming about the day that he might be able to live somewhere warm and safe. He had no idea who these two really were, but they felt safe. Safer than almost anyone had felt before. He didn't know them, but he wanted what they offered so badly that he just couldn't say no. He knew he didn't deserve anything, but he wanted it more than anything. So, he accepted.

"Alright, Naruto. Why don't you gather anything that you want to bring with you? We'll take it with us when we head to our place. And Tobirama?" Hashirama looked to Tobirama expectantly, knowing he would understand what he wanted.

"Yes, brother, I'll make a clone to go ask." They needed to know if they were going to be staying in their old compound or if it would be somewhere else. And if it would be somewhere else, they needed to make sure it would be a big enough place for Naruto, too.

*********************************************************************

Tobirama's clone walked back into the Hokage's office, livid. He couldn't believe the state they had found Naruto's living conditions in. Obviously, they were going to take him to live with them anyway, but this was ridiculous.

First thing's first, though. He had to find out where they would be staying.

He walked into Hiruzen's office, and unlike earlier, his Killing Intent was huge and set Hiruzen off.

"What is the meaning of this, Hiruzen?! My brother and I found our nephew living in a place that should probably be condemned, a place that a child should absolutely not be living in! He is going to stay with us, and we will take care of him."

Tobirama would not take no for an answer and gave the Sandaime no room to argue or contest his words.

Hiruzen sighed and looked down at his desk, "Yes, sensei. I understand."

Some of Tobirama's Killing Intent lessened and he said, "Now. Where will the three of us be staying? Is the compound livable?"

Hiruzen sighed again, this was way more than he was prepared to handle, he was so old. He just wanted to rest. He didn't think he would be able to do that, however. He needed a successor badly.

"The compound hasn't been touched since Tsunade left the village. I don't know what kind of seals might be in place to preserve it, but if there aren't any, then it hasn't been tended to in decades. We did try to get into the compound at one point, but it is sealed so that only blood relatives may enter."

"That's something that Hashirama and I will have to determine, then. Expect me back here. In the meantime, once we get settled at the compound, we would like his ANBU to officially visit us. We want to know more about his life, his situation, and anything they can tell us. I will send a clone when we are ready, so prepare them for the summons."

"Yes, sensei."

*******************************************************************

Tobirama's clone dispersed and brought the memories back to him. "Hashirama, Hiruzen doesn't know if the compound is livable. We should head over there and see what's behind the seals."

Hashirama looked at Tobirama and nodded his head, agreeing. "We will make sure it's habitable and then we will set up there, it will be our home again."

***********************************************************************

Standing in front of the Senju Compound again was nostalgic for both Tobirama and Hashirama. It was completely surrounded by seals to keep everyone but those who had a right to enter. It seemed that Mito had secured the compound completely before her death.

Hashirama looked at his brother and stepped forward, "Alright, let's see what my wife left for me." He placed his hand on the gate and the seals started to split and move to the side, recognizing that Hashirama was a Senju returned.

Inside the compound, everything was preserved. There was a layer of dust over everything, but the buildings weren't falling apart. Nothing was destroyed. There was no rot, no mold, no grass peeking through the gaps in floors. Mito had done a wonderful job of making sure it would still be livable when someone returned.

Hashirama looked around and said, "Let's head to the main house. My brother and I will live forever, so when you are of age, Naruto, you will be the head of the clan. Until then, I will guide you, teach you, and when you are ready, I will step aside for you.

"So, we will be living in the main house. Let's go look at it and see what's left."

Tobirama looked at his brother, "The last time I saw it, the rooms were filled with your children. If Mito closed it off, that is no longer the case."

Hashirama sighed, despondent, "Yes. I would like, at some point, to find out what happened to my children and grandchildren. For now, however, we need to get settled."