A lone figure stood at the very edge of a shimmering void, avidly watching the blurred images moving in a distance far beyond a mortal's reach.

His face was set in an expression of fond gentleness, and his eyes were glimmering with the unmistakable glow of pride.

His posture was calm and relaxed, and he did not even twitch when the sudden appearance of a dark, looming presence silenced the area around him.

"You are spending quite a lot of time on the verge of these plains, Senju Hashirama. Does it not pain you to watch from afar?"

Hashirama never took his eyes from the softly gleaming void in front of him and mutely shook his head. "I enjoy seeing their happiness. The slowly strengthening bond forming between them delights my heart."

The presence behind him darkened, and a spark of coldness spiked through the air.

"The living you are watching over violated the laws of this world. Their souls will never enter these plains. The child and your brother will face judgment for their crimes."

Hashirama remained unconcerned. "You may be the warden of this realm, Shinigami-sama, but even you have to bow to a higher power."

"The Great Eyes have been lost. I bow to no one." The dark presence twisted in indignant fury.

The ghostly figure of Senju Hashirama stayed silent.

There was nothing left to say.

He would protect his family.

Through life.

Through death.

And beyond.


Arc III: Trinity

When he woke up, he was alone. Alone in a wide, open void.

Everything was white.

Then the colors emerged. One after the other, gradually fading in.

First, they were just blurred, overlapping dots.

But the longer he stayed, the clearer the dots became.

Until he could finally see something like slowly sharpening outlines.

The details emerged after. Shades, Contours, Shadows.

He could see them all.

Next, the words returned.

First came the colors. Green, blue, red, yellow.

Then the names of the shapes they solidified in. Circle, rectangle, cylinder, square, triangle.

The objects arrived next, followed by the abstract concept of intangibility.

Then it appeared.

The perception of being.

The understanding of the word I.

And with this understanding emotions returned, and they brought memories with them.

And suddenly he remembered.

He remembered everything.

His name.

His dream.

His life.

His death.

Driven by a desperate urge to find something familiar, he wandered around aimlessly.

Until he found him.

His friend. His confidant.

But he quickly realized that something was wrong with him.

His friend had changed. He had lost his way.

He had lost his kindness.

He had lost sight of the true goal they had been fighting for.

He wanted him to stop walking this path.

He wanted him to remember.

He wanted him to return to his true self.

But he could do nothing.

He was helpless.

He could only watch.

Only stand by as his friend was swallowed by darkness.

As he walked down further down the wrong path, falling for the deceitful whispers of a false promise.

He tried to reach out, but he remained unheard.

His voice was a silent scream into the void.

Nobody heard him.

He did not even hear himself.

But he still screamed his warnings.

For days.

For nights.

But nobody listened.

Nobody could listen.

But then he heard whispers about him.

Through the souls that meandered too close to the veil.

Through the man standing at the very verge of the beyond, surrounded by the power of nature and creation.

He had a chance.

If he could find him.

The one who could hear him.

The only one.

So he watched.

So he waited.

And finally, he knew where to go.


Tobirama had never been one to waste time. Especially not when it came to threats to the village's security.

When Hiruzen failed to call for them after a few days had passed, he had immediately set out to investigate the current daimyo.

What he had seen had not impressed him.

He had watched the man for days. From as much as he had seen, the current daimyo was not a man who could be described as decisive.

Quite the contrary.

The man was fickle and prone to change his mind. He was content with the status quo and easily impressed.

He was not a man Tobirama would willingly interact with.

People like him were easily swayed by nice words and never firm in their decisions. They could not be trusted to make the right judgment.

Tobirama disliked this kind of personality. It lacked strength and willpower. People like this were unreliable and untrustworthy.

But also very predictable in their unpredictability.

That made them both difficult and easy to deal with.

All you needed was a sufficient display of strength to sway them to your side – and if Tobirama had one thing, it was strength - and intelligence.

He returned to Konoha, confident that his child would be able to deal with the man.

He would make sure of it.


In response to the current happenings, Naruto's training intensified.

It seemed like both Tobirama, and his two older friends had independently decided that he urgently needed to improve his skills.

Between them and Team Ke, Naruto hardly had any time to relax.

Which was why he had been forced to make a more or less generous use of the Shadow clone technique.

Just like he was doing it now.

While one clone was busy listening to Itachi's lecture about proper behavior for clan heads, a second one studied the Water whip under Tobirama's watchful eye and a third pored over the Second's sealing notes.

The real Naruto, however, was busy with Team Ke.

Lion had decided on putting him through advanced training today.

This was the reason why Naruto was currently running over a frozen river, trying to keep a leaf on his forehead while doing his best not to make the ice crack.

But of course, this exercise did not end here.

It went even further than that "simple chakra control" - Lion's words, not Naruto's because in his opinion this exercise was already difficult enough this way.

But apparently his teammates had a different definition for "difficult."

Naruto grumbled as he barely dodged a snowball Badger had just thrown at him and quickly flickered out of the way of Owl's snowy projectile.

He grinned proudly at his evasive maneuver and promptly missed Parrot's snowball hitting him from behind.

Naruto lost his concentration and stumbled.

The ice cracked, and he tumbled over.

But before he hit the icy ground, he was suddenly wrapped tightly in something warm and fluffy and lifted into the air.

Naruto wriggled in the strong grip and tried to get rid of the warm thing, but a determined hand tucked him even deeper into the warm cloth.

"Calm, kid, you almost fell in."

Naruto stopped struggling and looked up to see who had caught him.

It was the same dog masked ANBU who had handed him the tomato basket.

And now the man had appeared out of nowhere and wrapped him into a thick blanket.

An orange blanket.

With paw prints.

"Be careful," the man told him gruffly. He patted Naruto awkwardly on his head, adjusted the blanket and vanished before Naruto could thank him.

Naruto was left to stand on the frozen grass, looking like a gigantic fluffy cocoon and wondering, not for the first time, just who that dog mask was.

Behind him, Team Ke roared with laughter.

Naruto glared at them. "Stop laughing and help me out of this! I can't move!"

They only laughed harder.


After a highly amused Owl had freed Naruto from his cuddly prison, Lion called an end to today's training.

Badger immediately stalked over and threw his arm around Naruto's shoulder. "Soo…a little birdy told me, you, Owl and Weasel got some action together."

Parrot appeared next to them and ruffled Naruto's hair. "Our little Hare here is growing into a big bunny. "

"Jup," Badger agreed and turned his masked face towards Naruto. "So… you made friends with Weasel, eh? Well, I guess that guy is okay, even if he is a bit… stiff sometimes."

Naruto bristled. "He's not stiff! He's awesome – and he makes really mean jokes!"

If a mask could show an expression, then Badger and Parrot would certainly have looked like the epitomes of disbelief.

"He is a mean one," Owl corrected him easily and dropped the blanket over Naruto's head.

Naruto let out a displeased hiss and tried to dislodge the fluffy thing from his head. It was a futile effort, since he was still trapped against Badger's side. "He's not mean! You are mean! Now get this off me or I'll hide all your cookies!"

There was a moment of silence, then Parrot let out a low, impressed whistle. "Wow. That's a hardcore threat if I ever heard one."

"Hare is really growing up!" Badger agreed, "He can make threats now!" He sounded happy and strangely teary.

The blanket was ripped off his head and Naruto found himself looking into Owl's serious eyes. "Hare," he began slowly, "Has someone told you that you are really scary?"

Naruto scoffed.

Lion simply rolled his eyes at his team's antics.

Terrifying ANBU, indeed.


"…and then he wrapped Naruto into the blanket! It was hilarious!" Shisui finished his tale during dinner later that day, waving his arms to emphasize his point. A noodle slipped from his chopstick and Naruto's hand snapped forward to snatch it before it hit the ground.

Itachi raised an eyebrow.

Naruto shrugged, looking completely unrepentant, and munched happily on his catch. "It is a terrible crime to waste ramen."

Shisui snorted.

Itachi rolled his eyes and chewed thoughtfully on his noodle. It seemed like Hatake Kakashi was making some headway in showing open care for his younger brother.

As an older brother himself, he thoroughly approved of the man's actions. If Sasuke had been about to fall into an icy river, he would not have acted differently.

Although, he threw a contemplative look at his younger friend, unlike Sasuke, Naruto would probably have been able to stop his fall by himself.

"Who is this guy, anyway?" Naruto demanded to know and stopped in his inhaling his third bowl to ask his question. "I mean, he gives me these strange things and then runs off."

A valid question, Itachi conceded. He would have been quite intrigued about this kind of behavior, too.

Itachi pondered if he should answer or not. ANBU's identities were supposed to be a secret. Leaking their names, a heavy crime.

It was strange.

Itachi had always prided himself on his secrecy and integrity - Dutifully keeping every secret close to his heart; always ready to die to keep it.

But somehow, he did not care about these trifling things anymore.

What was revealing an ANBU's identity to a trusted person in comparison to their plan to go behind the Hokage's back?

Nothing.

What was going behind the Hokage's back in comparison to keeping his family, to keeping Sasuke alive?

Nothing.

Itachi's mind was set.

For the sake of those he loved, he was ready to become a traitor.

"His name is Hatake Kakashi."

Shisui threw him a sharp look that softened when Itachi looked back evenly.

Itachi was sure that he had just seen a hint of happy pride in Shisui's eyes.


"Hatake Kakashi, uh?" Naruto repeated after he swallowed his bite. Itachi was slightly surprised by Naruto's table manners. For someone who had grown up on his own, he was unexpectedly well-mannered.

It was one of the many puzzles that surrounded the child named Uzumaki Naruto.

Itachi was curious. Very much so.

But he had no intention to pry.

Naruto was their friend. He had seen the truth in the young boy's eyes.

That was enough for him.

No matter how much he wanted to know.

Itachi would wait until his friend was ready to confide in them.

He shook his head as said friend yelled for his fourth bowl of ramen and absently relocated a small stray slug from the back of Naruto's chair to a nearby flowerpot.


It was after dinner when they congregated in the Senju compound that Shisui made a suggestion. "You know…I've been thinking…"

"I hope you did not hurt yourself," Itachi commented drily and lowered the document he had been studying.

Naruto snickered over his sealing book.

Shisui ignored Itachi's comment with practiced ease. "I've been thinking," he repeated, completely undeterred. "So…We are a team now, right?"

"Um, I guess so?" Naruto offered and bookmarked the page to look at his older friend.

"Of course," Itachi agreed, carefully filing the document away. "Although, the term accomplices would probably be even more fitting at this point."

Shisui waved him off. "Eh, Schemantics."

Itachi twitched at the terrible word mix-up. "Semantics, Shisui. It's semantics. Do you require a dictionary?"

"There is one on the shelf next to the door. Third row," Naruto supplied helpfully.

Shisui threw a cushion at him.

Naruto dodged it easily.

"Schemantics," Shisui repeated, throwing a pointed look at Itachi. "Anyway, since we are a team, we should give ourselves a nice name, too."

Itachi rolled his eyes at the blatant provocation attempt and raised an eyebrow. "A name?"

Shisui nodded emphatically. "Every cool unit needs a name, and we are now Konoha's secret peacekeepers! So, we need a name."

Itachi rolled his eyes. "You read to many comics. Fine, what do you suggest?"

"Two-and-a-half animals?"

Itachi, Naruto and an invisible Tobirama stared wordlessly at Shisui.

"Because of ANBU…," the oldest Uchiha elaborated slowly, "…animals, you know?"

They just kept staring silently.

"The Peacekeepers?"

Unimpressed silence.

"Awesome Three?"

More silence.

"Terrifying Trio?"

No answer.

"Team seven? You know, because of this seven times rebirth thing?"

Their stares turned incredulous.

"Dango gang?"

Itachi's left eyebrow twitched.

"Ramen Three."

Naruto perked up, but Itachi shot him a very unmistakable "no-way"- look.

Naruto sighed in disappointment.

Tobirama looked relieved.

Shisui crossed his arms in front of his chest. "If you don't like my names then suggest something else!" he demanded indignantly.

Tobirama threw a look at the three children and remembered the one goal they all wanted to accomplish.

The one thing that connected them.

The one thing that had united them.

Their wish for peace.

He whispered his choice.

Naruto beamed as he echoed the name.

Itachi smiled.

Shisui grinned.

They agreed.

Heiwa.

Peace.
Harmony.

It was fitting.


None of the children knew that their random decision would have far-reaching consequences one day. All they knew was, that this small act of naming themselves had brought them even closer than before.


A/N

Soo...a new chapter for you.

I kind of had two endings for this chapter and kept switching between the two and it took me some time to settle on one.

Anyway, I am dead tired today, RL has been real stressful, so I hope you forgive me if I answer your questions after I've gotten some sleep. ZZZzzz

A little extra for you:


OMAKE (Plot compliant)

Deep down below Konoha, Shimura Danzo cursed loudly when he opened his office door and a wave of muddy, foul water forced him down and drenched him to his bones.

He pushed himself upright and hastily leaped forward to catch the file drawer floating past him.

Danzo cursed again as he tried to drag the drawer back in and yelled for his men to aid him.

Why, oh why, did he have to build his office just below the sewer?