AN: An update! Not much Sakura in this one, but she will be back soon! As always, thank you for any favourites, alerts, and, especially, reviews!

Warnings: This chapter definitely has my terrible logic written all over it!

Torbirama leaned forward on Hashirama's work desk to rub his temples between his index fingers. His happuri rested to his left, having been removed moments earlier. Despite a painful headache burgeoning between his closed eyes, he continued to sift through the various chakra signatures dancing behind his eyelids. It had been three days since his brother left and he took on the role of Acting Clan Head and babysitter to one civilian child, Sota. Three very long days filled with sorting Hashirama's disorganised paperwork, setting up fire sentries in case any smoldering embers reignited, assigning missions, and trying to foist the petrified kid onto unsuspecting clan members. This tactic only worked half of the time.

Unfortunately, said child was sitting in a chair across from him looking terrified to breath in his presence. A result of being unexpectedly snapped at for becoming a bit too curious of Hashirama's belongings. Despite the near constant fear, the boy was handling the situation with his family and being stuck with him remarkably well. There had only been one reported incident from one of the women he had stuck the kid with. Apparently, during a quiet meal, the kid had become inconsolable about the potential loss of his family for a short while. Tobirama, himself, had yet to see anything of this sort while with the kid, but the brat was probably to terrified to think on the matter in his presence.

The silence between them was awkward at best, but it did allow him to focus on his tasks. Carefully, he examined the surrounding chakra signatures for any signs of unusual activity. On the side, he was also keeping tabs on Hashirama's mission to rescue the merchants. They were making good progress. By his estimate, they would make contact with the Uchiha shortly. As he thought about them, he felt a frown forming so he forcibly reminded himself that he needed to trust Sakura and the Uzumaki, even if they did not trust him. He also knew that his brother could more than look after himself.

A quiet sigh filled the room breaking his concentration and causing him to crack open an eye to regard the culprit across from him. The boy stilled and looked back at him with wide eyes.

"Yes?" he enquired.

Sota fidgeted. After a moment, he found some previously hidden courage and asked, "Why are you so m-mean?"

Tobirama straightened up out of surprise, bringing his hands down to rest palm down on the desk. He had not particularly thought of himself as 'mean'. The boy's expression morphed further into one of true horror as he realised what he had said to the Senju Clan Head's scary brother. A feat that the sensor did not think was possible, given the kid's already fearful demeanor. He hummed to himself, watching Sota flinch in response and tried to think of a way to explain things to someone as young as he.

"Sometimes, in order to improve the prospects of the clan as a whole, sacrifices have to be made."

Sota looked at him in confusion, saying, "I don't understand?"

He leaned back into his chair, weighing the pros and cons on elaborating further. Whatever tale he spun, it would be unlikely that the kid would fully comprehend or remember any of it in a few years. Seeing no harm on giving away some well-known information about his role as a counselor to his brother, he explained,

"Typically, you only look out for yourself, correct? Maybe your parents or a sibling, but there is no need for you to consider anyone else in your daily activities? Sure, you care for the others in your merchant caravan, but you think your actions do not really affect anyone aside from your immediate family?"

Sota tilted his head, mulling over the question. Eventually the boy nodded. While Tobirama was not entirely certain that the boy was following completely, he continued nonetheless. Even if he was not good with young children, he did enjoy teaching.

"Now imagine that you are the leader of your caravan. You now need to look after everyone under your care and be aware of how your decisions will affect them as a whole. Your actions will almost always reflect upon them no matter how insignificant they may seem to you," he paused, allowing Sota a moment to think about this, before proceeding, "As the leader, you always need to think of the welfare of your fellow merchants, prioritizing their needs over your own. You also need to be a source of inspiration and hope, helping to give them a purpose and a vision of a future they can look forward to and work towards. Do you understand?"

He waited for the kid to acquiesce.

"However, this is a lot for any one man to balance. You will likely have an advisor to help you with your decisions, be it a close family member, a fellow well liked merchant, or someone you hire, if you can trust them enough. It will be their job to keep you aware of the consequences of any action you take. They will help to give you the whole picture of a scenario. The good and especially the bad. They will be your cautioning hand and the one to help you carry out your ideals and bring them forth into reality -if you are willing to listen. They will be the one to help with the logistics of your choices and the one to look for flaws in them."

He broke eye contact with the merchant's son and looked around his brother's office, taking in all the scrolls neatly rolled up and tucked away into cubby holes curtesy of his cleaning spree. The office was fairly small with its walls lined with scrolls, a small desk in the center, and a few chairs lined up against the wall opposite of him for visitors. Sota currently occupied one of these chairs.

"The more idealistic the leader, the more grounded the advisor needs to be because the leader and advisor must balance each other out. At least in my opinion. My brother is a clan head that is full of grand ideas, hopes, and dreams. I do not doubt for a moment that he will not be able to bring them to fruition, but he has trouble matching those things to reality as it stands now. He is blinded by certain aspects of how the world works such as refusing to see the darkness in others."

His gaze drifted back to Sota, finding him leaning forward in rapt attention.

"You understand a little of this darker side to the world because of your recent experience with the Uchiha and us. This is why, as my brother's advisor, I need to compensate for his failing. In order to balance him out, I need to see the worst in others, to see the flaws, and provide the means of achieving his dreams. I am not here to be a friend to all of the clan. Nor am I here to put my needs above theirs or to encourage my brother to make uniformed decisions. I am here to make sure we all survive so my brother can motivate the clan to live for a brighter future. Perhaps I am 'mean' as you put it and not well-liked, but it is necessary in order to ensure my clan has my brother operating at his best. Besides, Hashirama is approachable enough for the both of us."

He allowed himself a small smile as he thought about his sociable brother. Sota's face scrunched up as he mumbled in distaste,

"I do not think I could be like you."

Unexpectedly, a short bark of laughter broke free from him.

"It is a good thing then that you are no advisor to unwavering older brothers!"

Sota blinked owlishly, seemingly surprised that he was capable of laughter. He scowled back at him, but it did not have quite the same effect as it used to have. A few minutes of comfortable silence fell over them and Tobirama almost considered going back to his chakra scans when the child spoke up once more,

"Could I become a ninja like you one day?"

He blinked, stopping his automatic response of no in its tracks, and considered the inquisitive boy once more. The boy had small chakra reserves, but that was not unusual in a child his age, even among clan children. However, chances of the kid finding anyone to teach him were slim. Few would ever consider it worth their time and none would willingly give up clan jutsu to an outsider. Instead of denying him, he asked the question that automatically sprung up to his mind.

"Why?"

The kid was quick to respond, "I want to learn to fight so I can protect my family. Can you teach me to be a shinobi?"

If Hashirama had his way there would be no need for children to learn how to fight. Tobirama was not so naive. He was just as strong of a proponent of anti-child shinobi as his brother, but he also understood that not everyone had common decency to leave children or civilians alone. The Uchiha, once again, being his prime example. They never failed to set a bad example of humanity. His own father had not been much better. As well, he could also recognise the genuine desire in the boy's eyes to protect those dear to him. He knew how it felt to be utterly useless in defending those precious to him, especially after his younger brothers' deaths.

However, after a moment's deliberation, he replied, "No, I will not teach you to be one of us."

He watched Sota's crestfallen face as he carefully put his happuri back on and stood up. With a wave of his hand, he motioned for the boy to follow him out of the building. Sota morosely trailed behind him as he led him to a damaged post within the clan training grounds. At the kid's questioning look, he added, "However, I can teach you some basics while you are still with us."

Nothing serious of course. Only a thing or two that every shinobi knew. There were some things in the shinobi skillset that he believed everyone should know, clan member or civilian. Being able to perform basic self defence was one of them. He ignored the exclamation of joy from the kid, finding himself uncomfortable with the reaction. He reached into his pouch at his waist and pulled out one of his kunai. He held it out handle first to let Sota take it and have a closer look at it.

"Do you know what that is?"

Sota took it cautiously from his outstretched hand and brought it close to his face almost giving the white-haired man a heart attack at its proximity. Before he could snatch the weapon out of the boy's hands to prevent any accidental eye gauging with the sharp point, Sota stopped his examination and tried to return it to him blade first.

"Is this a kunai?"

The Senju nodded. Sota beamed at him again and prompted him to take the weapon from him. Instead, the Senju grabbed another kunai from his pouch and demonstrated the proper way to give back a weapon before putting it away again. Brown eyes widened in apology and the kunai was then offered handle first. This time, he took it.

The afternoon passed by slowly, but it was far from unpleasant to him. Passing on his knowledge and better enabling future generations to succeed was a favourite pass time of his, even if others did not always appreciate it. The kid was not a threat anymore and he would be unlikely to become one in the future so there was no reason not to show the boy the basics.

In the end, it turned out that Sota was not a bad throw with the kunai. He lacked strength behind his attacks, but he was accurate. Aside from kunai throwing, he patiently explained some of the first defensive manoeuvres that all shinobi children learnt. He did not get Sota to practice these quite yet, figuring that he would have time to show him before Hashirama returned. It also gave him a moment to relax from the stress of his current problems. It also helped that Sota was a willing participant in his lessons and that he had finally ceased to shake at the mere sight of him.

Later that night, after he put Sota to sleep in Sakura's bedroll upstairs, he laid out his drawings of the two seals that they were investigating onto the kitchen table. His drawings, which he had handed over to the Uzumaki for study, had been given back to him for safe keeping until the they returned.

Now, he ran a critical eye down his portrayals. If he was going to be blamed for their existence and Sakura's arrival then he might as well learn as much as he could from their intricate patterns. He had an excellent memory and an eye for detail after all. The knowledge he could gain from them might prove useful in the future.

Idly, trailed a finger over the lines as his mind worked. It was impossible for him to have created them despite the Uzumaki's implications. This he knew to be a fact. Not unless his future self somehow developed the ability to time travel to the past for the sole purpose of creating the seal to send Sakura across a vast distance to his current location. But what would be the purpose in that?

Another idea cropped up. Was it possible that she was from the future and had been sent backwards? However, if that was the case, would her being sent back in time not erase the future in which he would know to do such a thing? Or was this a self-fulfilling loop?

He paused, mulling that idea over and almost laughed at the implausibility of his thoughts before promptly dismissing them. Time travel was impossible and it was unlikely to be discovered in his lifetime, if at all. What purpose would sending Sakura here serve anyways aside from the possibility of saving a few extra clansmen that should have died in battle? Even ignoring the time travel, he would have to know where exactly she and her village had been located in the first place. That was information that she was adamant in her refusal of sharing. If she was from the future, he would have to live long enough to see the invention of time travel and still somehow know where she would be at exactly the right moment. That is how precise this seal was. Another impossibility. He tried to dismiss the ideas. Unfortunately, the more he tried to forget them, the more the thoughts of time travel would continue to niggle at the back of his mind. And niggle they would for quite some time.

He shook his head, suddenly feeling alone in the candlelit room. He had become used to Sakura's irritating presence and her absence bothered him more than he cared to admit.

He had considered going back to his actual residence while she was gone, but the idea of Sota rummaging unchecked through his things had given him pause. Until that first night, he had been unable to confirm if the boy was still a threat. Thankfully, he had chosen to come back here because Sakura had stopped by briefly before she had departed to borrow some shinobi gear from him. She would not have known where to find him otherwise and she was apparently to shy to ask Hashirama. He had raised a brow at that, surprised, but he had decided to help her out with the repeated mental mantra of his promise to himself to trust her more.

He had resorted to going to his actual residence with her in tow to find some pants for her from when he had been younger. Even his slightly too large pants for her small frame worked better for combat than the kimono she had been wearing. They allowed her infinitely more flexibility. Following a moment's hesitation, he had even offered her some of his kunai on the condition that she try not to lose them. He had concluded at the time that she could not fight or protect her team if she had no weapon.

The memory reminded him that he needed to question her some more once she came back. It still bothered him that she claimed that she did not remember much of the circumstances that brought her to them. She recollected a surprising amount of detail of her village and culture for someone who could not remember where her village was situated. He let his train of thought go after a second, reminding himself that his brother knew more than he did and Hashirama obviously seemed to trust her enough to go on a mission with her. Perhaps she had told him that information. He felt a brief moment of irrational jealousy towards her trust in Hashirama over him, but could not fault her for it. Until the moment of his lending of his personal kunai, he had shown no faith in her. In her shoes, he would mistrust him as well.

Well, it would not due to dwell on such thoughts. He leaned forward in his chair to douse the candle flame, noticing the wax had melted quite a bit since he had sat down and started to study his seals. He could use at least one good night's sleep while he had the chance to take it. He had a feeling he would not get too many opportunities to have one in the near future given recent past events.