Tobirama kept a keen eye on the running boy. Naruto's speed had improved even further, but it was still far from the goal Tobirama had set for him.
Of course, Naruto had long surpassed his peers by now and was quickly approaching the skill-level of an average chunin, but this was not the purpose of their training. Their goal was higher. Much higher.
They were not preparing for an exam. They were preparing for war.
The orange-masked man flashed through Tobirama's mind, quickly followed by Danzo's face.
Naruto needed to improve even faster.
His face hardened. "You are too slow," he admonished the child. "Take a five-minute break and then try again. I expect you to run this course in less than three minutes. For each time you underperform, I will be taking your ramen privileges for two weeks."
As always, his threat seemed to work. Naruto's head whipped in his direction. He looked practically scandalized. "I'll do it!" the boy immediately declared. His face was filled with determination. "I am not losing my ramen!"
Tobirama remained unmoved. "Keep your emotions under control," he reminded the agitated child sharply. "If you get provoked so easily, you will lose your focus and die. Your chakra is fluctuating. Sit down and meditate. If I see you move, your ramen privileges will be gone for a month."
Naruto froze, eyed the patches of melting snow indicating the approaching end of the cold season, and threw a pleading look at him.
Tobirama simply crossed his arms and stared at the reluctant child.
He watched as Naruto grumpily lowered himself on the wet green. "Circulate your chakra to keep yourself warm," he ordered the child. "Keep the flow steady and your aura to a minimum. Do not move. Do not speak."
It was an uncomfortable exercise, but it served well as an endurance training. At least it was better than the training he had to endure as a child.
Tobirama would never forget the hours he had spent under the cold waterfall during freezing autumn nights. Hashirama and he had been forced to stand unmoving while their father had guarded them from his place by the sizzling campfire.
"Do not move. Do not speak." had been an iron rule.
Drenched and shivering, time had stretched endlessly. The cold had been terrible. The icy water had prickled on his skin like frozen needles - even though his chakra had kept him warm inside.
Tobirama still remembered that he and his brother had allowed the back of their hands to touch whenever their father had averted his gaze for a moment.
The fleeting brush of skin on skin had been a brief moment of solace. A reminder that they were not alone.
Tobirama had hated this exercise and the idea of putting the small child in his care through the same ordeal repulsed him. Especially since Naruto would be completely alone with him.
Tobirama was not his father. He had his own methods.
And he would be as gentle as possible and as harsh as necessary.
Not for the first time Tobirama wondered if his death had not mellowed him out. He did not remember being so… considerate before. But then again, he had always been especially protective of his family, and the circumstances had been different during his lifetime.
He shook his head. There was no time for reminiscence.
Tobirama looked from the evenly breathing child to the clone practicing the water shield.
"Suiton: Suijun!"
The shield was still rather small but grew slightly in size every time he tried. But it was not yet strong enough to withstand the water whip the second clone was using against it.
"Reduce the attack force. Try to match the strength of the current shield, while simultaneously improving your shield's strength. This way you will gain a deeper understanding of power levels and improve your mastery over this jutsu."
"Yes, sensei," the clones answered in unison.
Tobirama had not told him to do it, but the child had returned to calling him teacher whenever he was training him. He supposed it was Naruto's way of differentiating between the strict teacher and his parental figure.
Tobirama approved of his method. He understood where the child was coming from. It had not been easy for him to call his father intimately while he had put him through a gruesome training. He had tried calling him shishou once, but his father had strongly disapproved. According to him, he had only fulfilled his fatherly duties.
He turned his attention back to the mediating original.
Naruto's breath was even and his chakra still a steady flow.
He was pleased. The child had come a long way.
It was early afternoon when Naruto collapsed on the chair behind the Clan head's desk, worn and exhausted from his trying training.
He did not have to wait long before he was joined by his older friends.
Shisui appeared first, looking almost as exhausted as Naruto felt. He carelessly threw his bag down and flopped on the couch. A deep sigh escaped his lips as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
Naruto threw him a concerned look "Everything okay?"
Shisui blinked tiredly at him and hummed slightly. "Let's wait for Itachi. Then I don't have to explain twice."
"Okay." Naruto opened his drawer and threw a bag of cookies at Shisui, who snatched it deftly out of the air. "Thanks!"
Naruto watched in amusement as Shisui ripped the package open and proceeded to munch himself happily through his treat.
He had already finished half of the bag when Itachi arrived. The Uchiha heir seemed uncharacteristically annoyed, and his lips were set in a hard line.
Naruto immediately shoved a box of freshly bought dango into his hands before he opened his takeaway ramen.
There was a moment of silence as everyone indulged in their favorite food.
Then Shisui sighed and put his bag down.
Naruto, Itachi und Tobirama instantly focused on him.
"The clan is getting very pushy," Shisui informed them grimly. "They demand that I keep a closer eye on you, Itachi. Your lack of attendance during their meetings annoys them - to put it mildly. They have given me a deadline. I have three months to get substantial proof that you are still loyal to our clan – and not, I quote, 'In the Hokage's pocket'. If I fail, they will set someone else on you and I fear…"
The atmosphere darkened, and the silence hung heavily between them.
Naruto threw a worried look at Itachi. "Substantial proof?" he repeated.
Shisui nodded.
Itachi was quiet. Naruto wondered what he was thinking. Was he worried? Nervous? His face gave nothing away. When he wanted, Itachi could be almost as expressionless as Tobirama.
"It appears," Itachi finally said in a quiet voice, "that today is a day of dire news. I have been approached by Danzo."
Naruto put his empty ramen box down and leaned forward. Next to him, his jiji's presence solidified. Naruto could practically feel the sharp attention emitting from the ghost. Naruto did not have to look at him to know that the man was piercing Itachi with his intelligent, dissecting gaze.
"What happened?" Shisui demanded.
Itachi first caught Shisui's, then Naruto's gaze. "He was not very talkative, but he said that I would receive a chance to proof my loyalty towards Konoha very soon."
Shisui stiffened.
'I do not like this development,' Tobirama's voice sounded inside his mind. 'Uchiha Itachi is the heir of the clan planning a coup d'état. It would take something very radical to prove that he is not a traitor.'
Naruto frowned. 'Radical? Like what?'
Tobirama was quiet for a moment before answering. 'Like eradicating the source of treason.' He sounded grave.
Naruto froze. His face went white in horror. Eradicating the source of treason? 'This is just a possibility, right? It does not mean that Itachi has to… has to…'
Tobirama did not answer.
'Jiji?' Naruto's mental voice sounded panicked.
When Tobirama finally replied, his tone was placid and analytical. 'Your friend Shisui told us that the Uchiha clan would be exterminated if the coup could not be stopped. Both of your friends are part of the Uchiha clan. One of them is the heir. The other one his best friend. If the Uchiha clan dies, your friends will die, too. The only way for them to avoid this fate is to prove their loyalty towards Konoha. Like I said before: One way, the only way - considering the time restraints we are operating under - to prove themselves, is to eradicate the threat themselves. If we look at these facts, possibility becomes high probability.'
Naruto swallowed. His gaze fell on Itachi. "This is cruel!" He suddenly blurted out, furious on his friends' behalf. "They are your family! They can't demand that you kill your family! It's wrong!"
Shisui's head whipped in his direction and Itachi raised an eyebrow. He did not appear too surprised. "How did you come to this conclusion?"
"You are the clan heir," Naruto summarized Tobirama's reasoning.
Itachi exchanged a darkly amused look with Shisui. Shisui shook his head.
Naruto thought his expression looked like a strange mixture between sadness, anger, and the "It's-Naruto-I-should-have-expected-that" look he sometimes had when Naruto did something out of the norm. It was Shisui's equivalent to Itachi's flat "I-don't-bother-even-more" expression he adapted on such occasions.
"Konoha is a military dictatorship," Itachi reminded him. There was something hard in his gaze. It was the same steely look Naruto had seen on Itachi's face when they had found Orochimaru's laboratory. "In the end, all of us are soldiers who have to obey."
Shisui snorted. It sounded derisive.
'We cannot afford to lose more time,' Tobirama commented, effectively stopping Naruto's rant before it even began. 'Has the prisoner talked yet?'
Naruto swallowed his former words and relayed the question.
Shisui's face darkened even further. "About that..." He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a piece of paper. "The agent has this seal on her tongue. We believe it prevents her from talking. She freezes up every time Danzo or Root is mentioned."
Naruto accepted the paper.
Tobirama stepped next to him to examine the seal. "How accurate is this?"
Naruto asked.
Shisui grimaced. "Very accurate. Itachi drew it while I held the tongue."
Naruto snickered at his displeased face and tried to picture the scene. Even in his head, it looked hilarious.
Next to him, Tobirama shifted, and the man's lips set into a thin line. "Naruto, what do you see?"
Naruto looked at the paper. 'Um…this part here reminds me of a secrecy seal and this…' he frowned, 'stasis?'
"Almost," Tobirama replied, "It is restriction."
'So… it restricts you if you want to talk?' Naruto inquired.
"Yes," Tobirama confirmed. "Seals that cause reactions like the ones your friend just described are usually tied to the sealmaker's chakra signature. Most of the time, they lay dormant and only activate when certain conditions are met. For example, if a certain word is mentioned or a specific action is performed. These seals are especially dangerous since they are intent-based. The sealmaker's will is stored inside his chakra the moment the seal gets activated. As long as the sealmaker lives, the seal will react to his will. But once he dies, the will evaporates, and the seal dissolves."
'Then how can this kind of seal be broken?' Naruto was curious. They had not covered intent-based seals before.
Tobirama smiled grimly. "Through the sealmaker's death. However, since this seal was most likely made by Danzo, this option is hardly feasible at this point."
Naruto paused. They had not yet spoken about what would happen to Danzo once they had him pinned down but judging by the way his jiji had just talked, the man was ready to kill him.
Danzo had been his jiji's student. It could not be easy for him to make this kind of decision.
Naruto peeked at the man's stoic face. His expression was as even as always, but Naruto could see the cool glint in his red eyes. There was not even a trace of the detached disappointment his jiji usually showed whenever they talked about the Third Hokage.
Only icy coldness.
Naruto shifted slightly until he was leaning against the man's side and looked back at the drawing. 'Is there no other way to break it?'
"What do you think?" Shisui's voice suddenly interrupted their conversation.
Naruto blinked and raised his head to look at his two expectant friends. "Well…this is an intent-based seal," he began. "It's a combination of a secrecy and restriction seal. It activates when a certain word, I guess it's something related to Danzo, is mentioned. When it's activated for the first time, the sealmaker's will is stored inside it and the seal acts on it as long as the sealmaker is alive. It only disappears with the sealmaker's death."
His friends stared at him.
"You read all of this out of these few scribbles? " Shisui asked incredulously.
"Um…actually I just read the secrecy and restriction parts out of it, "Naruto replied. He was not even lying. "The rest is just a conclusion drawn from your description. "
Shisui snorted. "Just a conclusion he says."
"If it only breaks upon the sealmaker's death," Itachi cut in before Shisui got on a roll, "we will not be able to interrogate the prisoner."
"There might be a way to temporally block the seal by placing a chakra suppression on it," Tobirama supplied. "But it is a very crude and, under normal circumstances, an inadvisable solution because the backlash on the sealed person will be severe."
Naruto hesitated for a second before repeating his words.
Shisui exchanged a quick look with Itachi, and two pairs of eyes settled on Naruto.
The steel in their gazes told him all he needed to know.
Shisui ushered Naruto out of the cell the moment he had placed the seal.
Naruto did not protest.
He left Tobirama with his friends and returned to the office.
For the next hour, Naruto busied himself with exploring the main house.
He had just finished looking through the empty kitchen cupboards when his friends returned.
Their faces were grim.
A hand settled on his head and he looked up to meet Tobirama's serious eyes.
Naruto understood. He nodded once.
They would move tonight.
The night air was still cool, and the clouds covered the brightness of the moon, leaving only a faint, glowing light.
Shisui was hiding between a pair of thick branches and peered towards the daimyo's residence. He could see several guards moving about, and he was sure that he had just seen someone pass by that reminded him of the Third Hokage.
He could hear clattering sounds from the right. A carriage was leaving the daimyo's residence. The tall figure on the coach box raised his head as the carriage passed his tree and lifted his hand to tap three times against his right shoulder.
Shisui responded by raising his hand, and the carriage drove on.
He flickered down, making sure to keep to the shadows and out of the blinding lights of the lanterns, and jumped onto the carriage.
The coachman turned his head towards him and Shisui grinned. "I take it you were successful."
Uchiha Itachi dissolved his transformation and smirked back. "Naturally."
The carriage shook slightly as a third person jumped on it and a new voice added to the conversation. "As if you ever doubted him."
Shisui shifted slightly to allow the small figure to sit down between them. "Don't stroke his ego. It's already way too big."
The small figure threw his hood back and Uzumaki Naruto grinned at Shisui. "Just like yours," he agreed.
Shisui scoffed in mock-indignation and looked back towards the residence.
Tiny lights flickered behind the darkened windows and a shadow moved inside the daimyo's office. "I guess," Shisui whispered as the cool night-wind brushed through his hair, "this is the beginning."
The carriage clattered on, carrying three children towards the road of peace.
As a child, you would wait and watch from far away
But you always knew that you'd be the one
to work while they all play
The time will come, when you will have to rise,
Above the best, and prove yourself
Your spirit never dies
(Imagine Dragons, Warriors)
A/N So...here is a new chapter for you. Life's a bic chaotic at the moment, so thanks for your patience. :D
A few words on this chapter:
1: the Fire Daimyo. Honestly, where does this man live? I mean, a man of his position certainly has his residence in a big city, but if that's the case, how can Tora always escape inside Konoha? So for the sake of this story, he lives outside the borders of Konoha in a big city about three hours away. A cat should be able to wander that far. oO
2: the nighttime excursion. It is not mentioned here but Tobirama as well as Itachi are aware of the barrier's formular. That means they can move undetected.
3: The seals on Tobirama's house and the compound have been adjusted to let Itachi and Shisui in.
Other random notes:
- The one-shot about Hashirama getting the full inheritance speech is online. It's called "Pride" in case you are interested : s/13909663/1/Pride
- Linewalkers has now a TV Trope page courtesy of Nyame. It is sorted under "Fanfic" and you can find it over the search bar.
- I suggest listening to Imagine Dragons - Warriors after / during reading the last part.