Birth of the Forest

7. Raging Founder.

Naruto and Mito stood opposite each other on top of the Hokage Monument, on top of Hashirama's head ironically.

"...a few months ago, and it awoke my old life in me. Since then I have been both Uzumaki Naruto and ...Senju Hashirama."

Mito looked at him with a disbelieving yet desperately hopeful face. She had hoped for it the moment she had laid eyes on him. His chakra and emotions felt too much like Hashirama's...no one could replicate that much of a person unless it was the person himself...

She needed proof, though. To erase all her doubts and assure her that it was indeed her beloved husband reborn, standing in front of her...

"I concede that you have my husband's chakra and bloodline, and you feel very familiar. Give me proof, please give me proof..."

Naruto looked at her, the joy shining bright on his face.

"I activated your seal on the Hokage's office, Mito-chan..."

"Not enough...Tell me something only I and Hashirama would know..." Mito asked, feeling as if this were a dream.

Naruto turned his back to her and observed the space above the monument.

"It was right here, wasn't it Mito-chan? You told me we would have a son, we were alone and we had come here for our walk. The sun was rising, and I was so happy at the news. It makes me happy even today in this life to remember it..."

Tears were flowing down Mito's eyes..."H-Hashirama-kun?"

"Mokuton: Kami no niwa", said Naruto, creating the garden the exact same way he did all those years ago.

The barren land above the Hokage Monument was transformed. A lush green lawn spread over it and Cherry trees sprouted everywhere, showering the reunited couple with their beautiful blossoms.

Naruto had forgotten about Konoha's plight. It could wait...

"Then I went maniacal and started jumping around, creating a garden like this one everywhere...Until you caught me with an immobilization seal and forced me to calm down. I didn't for around three hours, though", laughed Naruto nostalgically.

"Hashirama...." said Mito yet again, rooted to her spot with utter joy. It was true...no one knew all those things except Hashirama. He really was reborn and in front of her....

"Tobirama was different though; he went outside the village for a good distance...and went even more ballistic than me. You should have seen him...Mito-chan"

Mito was slowly walking towards him, hardly believing their good fortune. A second chance, it was a second chance for them. She could be with her beloved husband for an entire lifetime now...

"I can keep telling you of things only I would know...Tsunade's first word, calling me 'Ojisan', how I met my friend Madara for the first time on a river bank, my other dead brothers, Itama and Kawarama...and I can show you something unique to me."

He turned and faced Mito, who had a constant stream of tears flowing down her face.

Mito felt her heart quicken at the sight of him.

He sported the markings of a sage...the same crimson ones Hashirama had possessed. The two concentric circles on the centre of his forehead, the rings around his eyes and the two arcs down his cheeks...

He was beautiful.

She could sense the chakra flowing through his veins like a storm. It was a glorious feeling, to immerse her mind once more in his all-consuming chakra.