A/N Happy New Year! :D

Lion rolled his eyes when he felt the very familiar chakra signature already present at the meeting room. Honestly, did Hatake not have better things to do on his day off than to spy on them? Like reading that smut novel he had recently discovered? It was not like they were going to eat that kid. It was Naruto, after all.

How had he even found out that they were going to use this place? At the rate the man was going he and the older Uchiha boy could start a club for overprotective older siblings.

He shuddered at the thought, his eyes falling on the scroll sitting innocently on the tabletop.

Lion took it and the observing chakra signature vanished. Hatake had left.

So he was the one who had placed the scroll?

Curiously, he opened it.

It was a mistake.

The scroll unrolled and unrolled and unrolled until it covered the entire length of the very spacy room. Twice.

Lion squinted at the kanji written on it. They were tiny like someone had tried to put as much writing onto the scroll at possible.

Right at the top of the scroll, written in blood-red and very threatening looking kanji, were the words:

Things not to teach Naruto

Lion groaned and against his better judgment, he glanced over some of the writings.

Cats are evil. Don't tell him otherwise.

The door is not an adequate manner to enter the room, only windows are.

The fastest way to reach your destination is to take the long way round. Don't teach him otherwise.

Wordlessly the man scooped the paper mess into his arms and took out his pen. Moments later, the not had a nice clean line going right through it.

Then he left to find his unit.

"Guys. Hatake was nice enough to leave us a training plan! Come and look at it. "

Team Ke immediately congregated around the scroll and peered at the title.

A moment of silence.

Then:

"Captain, why is the not in the title crossed out?"

"Hatake must have changed his mind," Lion replied blandly and pushed his pen deeper into his pocket.

Team Ke stared at their leader.

"You are saying Hatake wants Naruto to be youthful?!" Owl demanded.

Lion coughed. Maybe he hadn't thought this through carefully enough.

"Let's forget about that one," he suggested.

Team Ke sighed in collective relief.

Naruto jumped after the quietly moving Badger, trying, and failing to match the man's pace. They were racing through the treetops and it was Naruto's job to keep up with him. It was still dark outside, so he had a hard time keeping his eye on Badger who was clothed completely in black.

It was an exercise that trained his speed, his agility and forced him to concentrate fully on his surroundings.

"You are losing him," the Nidaime remarked calmly, "Concentrate, child and listen."

Listen?

What should he listen to?

Seeing the question on the child's face, the man elaborated. "You cannot move completely soundless. Especially not when you are navigating through trees. Listen to the leaves. Determine the pattern in which the wind makes them rustle and find the sound that breaks it. That is where you have to start looking."

Naruto threw him an incredulous look. He was supposed to listen to leaves? That was so boring!

The Nidaime – who knew his charge all too well- smirked slightly. "You need to learn patience child. Patience and discipline. Now find him. Or you won't be allowed any ramen for a month."

Naruto's eyes widened. No. Not again! He swallowed and forced himself to concentrate. He would not allow his ramen to be taken from him again.

Tobirama glanced at his peacefully sleeping charge. The child had had a very taxing day and was in dire need of some rest. It was unlikely that he would wake soon. Which meant, Tobirama would not be missed for quite some time.

The ghost threw a last confirming look at the boy, he did not like leaving him alone while he was sleeping and therefore vulnerable, before he left the apartment. There were some things he had to check on.

The street was almost empty at night. The lively bustling of people replaced by an almost eerie silence. Konoha was very strict with its curfew rules. After two am nobody below the rank of chunin was allowed to leave their properties anymore unless they were accompanied by an authorized person, part of the Uchiha police force, on a mission, or granted permission by the Hokage himself.

Since Shinobi tended to move silently anyway, nighttime at Konoha usually was very quiet.

Tobirama touched the ground next to him and concentrated. He still remembered the chakra signature of the ANBU members. All four of them.

But it was one ANBU he was especially interested in.

Owl.

He had been the most jovial of the team and he possessed a unique touch to his chakra that was very familiar to Tobirama.

A touch that screamed of a Sharingan.

A very powerful Sharingan.

He had to check it out.

Tobirama was not someone who would let a potential threat pass by.

The signature led him to the Uchiha district. That in itself was no surprise at all. What was surprising, however, was the house the chakra trail had led him to.

He knew the building.

He had been in there quite often before.

The Nidaime started at the door of what used to be Uchiha Kagami's house.

Tobirama was strangely reluctant to enter. Kagami had been one of his most trusted, one of the rare few he had actually considered a friend.

Slowly he phased through the door.

The interior had changed. The furniture exchanged for something newer. But the painting was still there.

Tobirama stared at the drawing of the thundering waterfall. It had always been the first thing he had seen when he had entered this house.

It was both comforting and disconcerting to see it again after what seemed - no what was a lifetime ago.

He half-expected Kagami to step through the adjoining door to greet him. But the night remained silent.

Tobirama shook his head. He was losing himself in memories again. He had no time for sentimentality. There was so much to do and his time too short.

He floated to the door that used to lead to the bedroom – and it still did. But now it was a different person sleeping in there.

Or rather, not sleeping there.

A young man, barely out of his teens, was sitting on the bed, writing what seemed to be a mission report.

Tobirama glanced at the name written on the sheet.

Uchiha Shisui.

As if feeling invisible eyes on him, the young man raised his head and looked directly at Tobirama, unknowingly meeting his gaze.

The Nidaime found himself meeting choral orbs, full-of-life and yet diminished like a clouded sun. There was a hard glint to it. Determination. Strength. But the edge was taken away by something else. Something softer. Love. Devotion.

Tobirama knew this gaze. He had seen it in Kagami's eyes more than once. The Nidaime felt himself relax slightly.

Uchiha Shisui had passed.

For now.

He would still keep an eye on him, though.

It was way too easy to twist that love into a soul-devouring hatred.

The Nidaime left the house that was both so familiar and yet so strange to him and his mind wandered to his other most trusted people.

If Kagami and Hiruzen had a family, then what about the rest of the Goei Butai?

Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane, Danzou Shimura, Torifu Akimichi.

Maybe Kagami's best friend Danzo had married, too?

Perhaps they had even raised their children together.

They had been very close after all.

He would definitely go and check on them sometimes.

But for now, he had to leave. He glanced at the sky. Naruto would wake up soon.

He walked out of the Uchiha District, never seeing the dark figure melting into the ground only a few steps behind him.

The bowl was getting bigger and bigger. The piece of miso under his feet growing to an impossible size. Naruto's mouth watered. He stepped back and jumped. But suddenly the bowl was shaking under him, causing ripples on the watery surface.

"-ruto."

Naruto struggled to stay on top, the broth closing in on him at a rapid pace.

"Naruto."

His dinner was saying his name. He could hear it calling for him louder and louder.

"Naruto!"

The boy ripped his eyes open and stared directly at the painted crimson stripes of an ANBU mask.

Naruto screamed and instinctively scrambled backwards, his heart beating rapidly.

The ANBU immediately jumped back, somehow managing to look sheepish despite his mask. "Oops."

"Woah, Parrot. You scared him." That was Badger's voice. Naruto felt himself relax.

There was a soft rustling of cloth next to him and suddenly a hand ruffled his hair. Naruto turned to look at the Owl-masked ANBU. "Sorry kid. We didn't mean to scare you. Parrot was just being an idiot again."

"I was not!" said ANBU protested loudly.

A disbelieving snort cut through the air. It sounded like Lion. "I told you not to lean so closely over him."

Parrot grumbled. "How was I supposed to know that he would start screaming?"

"Because that's a common reaction when you wake up to an ANBU looming over you?" Badger offered helpfully.

Lion sighed. "Cut it you two. Parrot, apologize to Naruto. Naruto, sorry for scaring you. We will work on your awareness. Can't have you sleeping so deeply that you forget your surroundings."

"Sorry, Naruto," Parrot repeated obediently.

Naruto could not help it. He laughed and soon the room dissolved into cheerful laughter.

The child collapsed on the grass after the end of his first and rather grueling taijutsu lesson, breathing very heavily.

It was the first time he had actually fought against a real opponent outside the academy. A very skilled opponent on top of that. Parrot was good.

The man looked down at the bruised boy and tilted his head. "You wouldn't be in that state if you didn't constantly forget to dodge, kid."

"I didn't forget!" Naruto protested halfheartedly "You are just too fast, Parrot."

"Then I suppose you just have to get faster, " Parrot replied cheerfully. "Or I might just decide to call you Turtle."

"Aw. Now you are just being overly harsh again, Parrot," Badger commented, appearing soundlessly next to him.

"Yeah. It wasn't that bad," Owl agreed, flopping down next to the child, and bringing his hand up to ruffle Naruto's already mussed up hair. "And he's more like a sunny little rabbit, the way he always jumps around."

"A sunny rabbit, eh?" a fourth voice remarked, and everyone turned to look at the Lion-masked ANBU jumping down from the branch he had watched the spar from. "Seems fitting."

Team Ke exchanged silent significant looks.

"Then…" Parrot began, sounding very ominous. "This means…"

"It does," Owl nodded solemnly.

"Agreed," Badger chimed in, equally sober.

"Confirmed," Lion answered seriously and turned towards the confused child.

"Welcome to Team Ke, Hare."

Naruto's eyes widened. Without a second thought, he jumped up and threw himself into Lion's arms. "Thank you," he whispered quietly, his voice raw with emotion. "Thank you."

Lion closed his arms around the child and exchanged a meaningful look with his teammates.

"Group hug!" Owl announced cheerfully and pounced.

Parrot and Badger looked at each other, shrugged, and joined in.

The Third deactivated his crystal ball and leaned back with an approving smile.

Over the next weeks, Naruto fell into an easy rhythm. Standing up at the break of dawn, training with Team Ke until midday and spending the rest of the day learning from the Nidaime. The man's knowledge was rather vast, and Naruto actually found himself interested in the stories he had to tell. For some reason, the Second was adamant about teaching Naruto everything he knew about Konoha's clans, even though he seemed to put a special emphasis on the Uchiha clan.

"Sensei?" Naruto asked tentatively after the man had ended his lecture. "Why are you focusing so much on the Uchiha?"

The Nidaime paused, carefully considering how to answer. His eyes wandered to the window. Naruto knew what that meant by now. His teacher was recalling a memory. It did not happen often, but every time it did, he would get that distant look in his eyes and Naruto would feel the desperate urge to latch onto him and hold him down, terribly afraid that he would vanish right in front of him like the ghost he was.

"The Uchiha...," the Second began finally. "…are a very strong clan. The bloodline limit they possess, the Sharingan, allows them to access incredible powers. But this power comes at a steep price."

"A price?" Naruto repeated, settling down onto the grass next to the Shodai's tree. He liked the warm and comfortable feeling it gave him. It made him feel strangely safe and protected.

"I have told you that my brother's dream was to break the circle of hatred," the Nidaime continued quietly. "And there used to be plenty of hatred between the Uchiha and the Senju clan. The Uchiha always were a clan who could hate passionately. But what many are not aware of is that this hatred is born out of love."

"Love?" Naruto stared at him, not really understanding where this was going. How could you hate because of love?

"Uchiha love deeply and wholly. Some of them even to the point of obsession," the Second answered. "But when those they love are taken from them, the emotional pain they feel will manifest itself in their eyes, awakening the Sharingan."

"And that's bad?" Naruto tilted his head.

"Not necessarily," Tobirama answered truthfully, "But many of them develop a strong hatred towards the ones who hurt their loved ones – and the deeper their hatred, the stronger they become. Once they reach a certain point there will be no reasoning with them anymore and they will follow a path of destruction. "

The Second looked at Naruto, his jaw set into a grim line. "And then they will become a threat to their own village."

Tobirama stepped forward and laid a heavy hand on the boy's shoulder. "That does not mean every Uchiha is that way. I have known plenty of them who channeled their love into their village, and I could not have asked for more loyal comrades." He paused for a second. "Still, treat every Uchiha you meet with caution, Naruto. "

"I don't like that," Naruto grumbled. "They are part of Konoha, too and I don't believe they will hurt it! It's their home!" He glared heatedly at the ghost in front of him. "And I'll protect them, too!"

The ghost smiled wryly at the determined child.

Truly, so similar.

But he was pensive.

The air around Konoha had changed, the tension was almost palpable. The Uchiha clan seemed especially restless. Dissent was growing among Konoha's population.

It was worrying because it hinted at some unspoken, some deeper problem he was completely unaware of.

He had the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

Tobirama glanced at the cloudy sky. A storm was coming.

He sincerely hoped his charge would not be caught up in it.

A/N

Uff, there you've got a content heavy chapter. First off congratulations to everyone who thought the Uchiha was Shisui! You got it right.

Second, I chose Hare, because it's both an english animal name and apparently means "sunny" in Japanese, too. I thought it was fitting. So you can decide which meaning you prefer.

Third, This chapter is a bit darker, because from now on we are slowly moving into the more serious parts of the story. (But I'll still keep the light moments).
AnimeIsLife0407 Glad you like it so far =) I'm trying to balance Naruto's personality with Tobirama's effects on him. It's more of a challenge than I thought. And thanks for pointing that out - I've corrected it.

Blu3b3rryT3a Thanks, because I really needed him now ;-) And there you've got Tobirama's motivation for "inspection." *xD*

Yamajiji Sure =). I am glad you liked it! And I am secretly glad that I don't have to write about a group of kids weeding a garden...

vyoom Thanks for leaving your thoughts! The cut from his age group was done deliberately, because things are going to get more serious soon. There will be no time for anyone to "catch-up" with him.

alharethabdelmonum "I humbly accept thee oath. Rise, my knight." ;-)

Ahmed554777 Thank you! I think ANBU are both over-and underused at the same time. Overused, because of the "Naruto joins early tropes" and underused because they really are a good choice as a vessel's is a military asset after all. About other ghosts, I'll leave a perhaps for now. ;-)
And don't worry about genders, I am fine with being thought of as either. *xD*

Darkdoom III You are touching an interesting point with the possession here. I've not yet decided if the storyline will allow it, but I am not opposed to that idea. In regards to taking suggestions, I don't mind you voicing them, my story is always developing, but I'll probably
keep it a gen fic. I want to keep it between Tobirama and Naruto.

OneAutumnLief Thank you! I am really happy that you enjoyed it so much :D - and I hope you will keep enjoying it.

AzlaHashi Wow, I am floored. :D Your comment made me really really happy and I am honored that you found something you are looking for in this fic. I sincerely hope you continue enjoying it. And to answer your question: It's a ghost thing. ;-)(And I really don't know how it ended up on reddit
when it's still so new...)

Narurofan626272 Thank you! Somehow he is really easy to write for me. =)

istane99, nirmtheworm14, fanjaled Thank you =)

Princess Hinashi You know one now ;-)

Jeck2910 Thanks! Balancing power is always something I am worried about. I want him to be strong, but not too strong and I always try to show how / when he is learning something relevant. To your concerns about sealing: Don't worry. I have no intention of making this the solution to
everything. I am thinking more into the direction of barriers, wards, rituals and space
right now. Thanks for that interesting fact about the Hiraishin. I am not sure yet if I want him to learn that at all.