Kakashi was fairly sure that his last gift had been well-received. After all, he had followed Itachi's advice to the T, right? And his team's newest ANBU member had to know what he was talking about, having a younger brother of his own.

That was why Kakashi found himself bent over his notes, looking for the best way to proceed.

Pakkun threw a mildly confused look at his summoner because the last time he had checked, Kakashi surely had not needed reading glasses–and in his opinion the magnifying glass was a bit over the top, too.

Really, Kakashi should just give the kid something to gnaw on. Kids loved toys, right? Maybe he should suggest a rubber bone?

Or perhaps a rubber ramen cup? Pakkun scratched his head and continued watching his studious summoner, lazily chewing on a piece of steak.

Tobirama watched as the young boy dodged under Parrot's strike, only to jump out of the way of Badger's shuriken.

The two men were tag-teaming the child, engaging him at a pace so quickly, Naruto had barely time to think.

The Nidaime carefully cataloged each of the boy's movements, storing it away for future evaluation. He was rather satisfied with what he was seeing so far. Naruto was getting more flexible, and his reaction speed had improved immensely. But it was still not enough.

Not enough to hold up against the threat, Tobirama could feel slowly creeping closer.

He would have to thoroughly speed up Naruto's training.

And there was only one way to do it.

Tobirama waited until Badger had pinned the child down, effectively ending their sparring match (and today's training), before he signed for Naruto to follow him towards the ledge.

The child replied with a subtle twitch of his head, signaling "Affirmative," and proceeded to give his team a happy goodbye.

"You seem tense, Itachi," Shisui remarked calmly, silently coming to a stop next to his best friends. "Are the elders bothering you again?"

His friend smiled grimly. "They are getting more insistent. I have recently been asked some rather pointed questions."

"They are still doubting your loyalty to the clan," Shisui muttered quietly.

Itachi snorted. "The Uchiha are part of Konohagakure." He bent down, picked up a stone and threw it angrily into the river. The surface cracked. "There should be no distinction between us and them."

"And yet there is," Shisui sighed quietly.

"I am worried," Itachi finally admitted after a long silence. "If they truly go through with that…"

"They won't," Shisui replied firmly. "If it comes to that, I will do it."

"I'd rather you would not have to," his friend answered, keeping his eyes on the frozen river.

"I am not exactly looking forward to it, either." Shisui ran his hand through his hair. He looked rather defeated. "What about Danzo?"

Itachi grimaced. "You know his position. Threats to Konoha have to be..."

"Terminated," Shisui finished, looking glum. "Yeah."

There was another silence.

"Sasuke is still oblivious?"

"Yes," Itachi answered fiercely, not even pausing to think. "He will not get dragged into this. I will make sure of it."

Shisui smiled lightly. "Good. At least one kid should keep his innocence."

Itachi threw him a knowing look. "You are talking about Naruto."

The young man hummed in agreement. "He's a very perceptive kid, and sometimes I swear he knows more than he lets on."

"How so?" Itachi asked, interested and eager to change the subject.

Shisui's lips twitched. "He actually gave all of us a five-minute lecture on why it's a bad idea to throw up barriers during combat."

His friend laughed. "He did?"

"Yeah, he got really passionate about it, too," Shisui chuckled. "And when Badger did it anyway, Naruto smuggled a slug into his backpack while Badger was busy talking with Lion."

Itachi was snickering by now, his dark mood instantly forgotten.

Naruto threw a curious look at his teacher. Tobirama-jiji seemed to be rather deep in thought today, and the look he was now throwing at the child gave Naruto a strange sense of foreboding.

"Um, jiji?" he suddenly began, hesitant to interrupt the man's musings. "Can I ask you something?"

The Second raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"My chakra natures...are they really that uncommon?"

"Yes," Tobirama answered, fixing the boy with a serious look. "Even if someone is born with two affinities, they are rarely of equal strength. Usually, one affinity is more dominant than the other. In your case, water and earth are equally dominant."

"So, I really might be able to combine them?" Naruto sounded almost hesitant.

The Nidaime paused and considered the child in front of him. "We have to wait and see. We shall revisit this topic once you have learned to control both of your natures."

Naruto was not really satisfied with that answer, but he agreed anyway.

"The recent events have proven that the pace you are growing at is not quick enough," the ghost told him in a solemn voice. "We have no idea who this masked man was that attacked you, but I have a feeling that we have not seen him for the last time."

The Nidaime paused and gazed sternly at the child. "As it stands, you are currently no match for him. If you were to engage him as you are now, you would be dead in less than a second."

Naruto's eyes widened. "So, he's as strong as ji – the Hokage?"

Tobirama smiled wryly, absently noting the fact that the child had rescinded the familiar address. "Hiruzen might be a strong shinobi, but he is definitely not the strongest one out there. The world is vast, child and not confined to this village. "

His face turned serious, and he put a hand on the stunned boy's shoulder. "There will always be someone out there who is stronger than you, Naruto. Never forget that. Be proud of who you are and what you can do, but always keep in mind that the person in front of you might just be the one able to defeat you. Never underestimate your opponent."

Naruto nodded slowly, still trying to wrap his head around the power scale.

"This man, is he stronger than you?" he finally asked, not really sounding like he believed it to be possible.

Something like amusement flitted over the Second's face at Naruto's disbelieving tone. "I am not sure, Naruto," he answered honestly. "I believe I could have dealt with him while I was in my prime, and my brother would have certainly defeated him easily. Between the two of us he would never have prevailed."

He paused and stepped away from the child. "As for the question, if I were able to defeat him now, well, I would prefer it to remain unanswered for now. I will not risk your safety while you are under my protection."

"Then I'll get stronger!" Naruto replied confidently, looking determinately at the man. "And I'll start now!"

Tobirama felt strangely nostalgic when he saw the fire in the child's eyes. He vividly remembered little Itama looking just as enthusiastic shortly before death had claimed him.

He really loathed what he was about to do, but there was no other choice. With the masked Uchiha and Danzo around, Tobirama could not afford to take any risks.

Naruto's safety was of the highest priority now.

He mentally apologized to his brother.

The child felt the Nidaime's attention settle on him and suddenly the man's presence sharpened, the softness around him falling away until the teacher was gone, and the warrior emerged.

Dangerous and deadly.

"I hope your determination holds," Tobirama told him. "Because we are going to up your training now. Make three clones, Naruto. I am going to do something that I haven't done in a very long time."

Slightly nervous at the man's ominous tone, the child obeyed. "What are you going to do, jiji?"

The man smiled mirthlessly. "I am going to put you through the Senju wartime training regimen."

End of Arc I

A/N Yep, that one's a short one. But there's not much left to tell in this arc, so I ended it here. It's mostly to clear up confusions and to show what people are currently doing.

But now it's your turn! I am up for suggestions on how to tackle Naruto's training! Visit the poll on my profile to vote for your preferred option and feel free to send suggestions via PM on what you think this "Wartime training regime" should include. You have the entire week to spam me with your ideas on what the Senju could have possibly taught their clansmen. The first three people whose ideas I like get to come up with something Tobirama can do to annoy Danzo! (Just keep in mind that is has to fit his personality ;-) Let's help him get revenge together. :D

This is my thank you for all these lovely comments you are leaving me =) I'll be answering you individually later, I am currently using my break to post. *coughs*