A love in time 7

"Now don't get me wrong," Hashirama spoke up after a while, his eyes focused on the phantom in front of him. "I can see you...I guess," he scratched his cheek nervously, speaking to the ghost for the first time made his nerves frazzle, "I just can't hear you but you're the one that's hanging around my brother, right? I've seen you linger around him and I'm not sure how but there were traces of….whatever you are at Tobirama's last battle. I just hope you're not a ghost." Hashirama hid his frantic worry as the haze approached him. He had seen it many times beside his younger brother and believed him to be haunted. Yet the feeling the ghost gave off was friendly...as if it wanted to be companions with Tobirama and his brother never chased the being away.

It was his first time seeing her face first and Hashirama had to admit that she was breathtaking like a forest sprite. He wondered why such a ghost would linger around his gloomy brother. In fact, there was something about her that seemed familiar to him. "Is it her face? Or perhaps I'm just making things up,"

Naruto frowned as she stood before the future Shodai Hokage. He was looking at her right in the eyes. "This is weird," She admitted and reached out to him.

Hashirama flinched as the blonde ghost touched him and felt a chilling sensation pass through his body. Sweat started to gather under his hiate yet the girl looked kindly up at him. It confused Hashirama. Her gaze seemed to admire him but he could be wrong. He gave Tobirama his space and didn't interfere in his personal life yet Hashirama couldn't help but ask, "Are you from the Land of Darkness?"

"What? Where the hell is the Land of Darkness?" Naruto shook her head when Hashirama pointed to his ears. "Stop messing around, Naruto," She scolded herself when she felt her spirit being pulled and gestured for Hashirama to follow her. Yet part of herself couldn't stop glancing at one of her idols. He was no Yondaime but he was a close second.

"So you know where he is?" Hashirama asked excitedly and trailed behind the ghost. "Ne ne ghost girl," With his previous nervousness gone, he chuckled when the admiration on the girl's face turned to annoyance. Her emotions changed quickly on her face. "Are you dead?"

Naruto felt her face flush red and exploded, "I'm not a ghost!" She huffed, her mental capacity was at her limit and before returning here her team barely survive the Forest of Death if she hadn't knocked them both out and carried them to the finish line. Although it was mean of her she was thankful that just enough people passed that they hadn't need to do a preliminary round. Kami must be watching over her struggles and opted to give her a peaceful day...for now. "I'm Naruto! Na Ru To!" She sounded out to the deaf man before storming ahead.

"Aahhh Naruto?" Hashirama rolled her name off his tongue. It was a rather unique name he had never heard about before. He was quick to adjust to the situation and easily caught up with the blonde. Observing her from behind, Hashirama could see that she was visibly tired. The prominent bags under her eyes couldn't be hidden in her phantom state and she looked rather pale and exhausted. "She's probably at the end of her rope,"

Picking up his pace, Hashirama attempted to get some information out of Naruto before she disappeared. He had seen her three times before and previously she always looked bright and excited. "It must be an unknown technique," "Once this war ends, Tobirama has plans to go look for you," He could see the confusion in her face when she looked up at him. She was wary of his quick adjustment to her and that he brought up Tobirama. "He believes you're in the Land of Darkness. It'll probably be the first place he visits after the war,"

Naruto sighed, she was getting sick of hearing about this foreign place. All she wanted to do right now, after spending the night worrying, was to sleep undisturbed.

Hashirama continued to observe her. Reading her facial expressions it was easy for him to hold a conversation this way. He was no way good at reading lips like his old friend. Just thinking about him now made him upset inside. "Perhaps it'll be a good vacation for him even though you're not there," He laughed loudly when she looked at him suspiciously. "Come on, even you must admit that he needs a break. Tobirama is too uptight," Her flushed giggle made his smile widen. "Tell me, Naruto, it may be my guess but I feel like you'll be someone unmovable in the future,"

"Are you calling me fat?" Naruto muttered bitterly and touched her chubby cheeks.

"No no no no! That's not what I meant!" Hashirama quickly explained once seeing his mistake. "What I meant to say is that it's not an easy task being in my brother's heart and staying there. It takes one heck of a lady to make that mountain move,"

Naruto was touched by the Shodai's words, placing a hand over her racing heart just as they reached the hiding place. Pointing to the cave entrance, Naruto, not once in all her years, gave Hashirama a deep and deserving bow.

Flustered, Hashirama tried to upright Naruto but his hands passed right through her causing his hands to go numb.

Although he was someone weird, Naruto enjoyed her company with the Shodai Hokage and seeing sides to him that were never mentioned in the history books. Looking at his awkward position, Naruto could see why the old man admired him so much. There was something familiar about him that stuck to her but she was too tired to figure it out on her own. Feeling Kurama return inside of her, Naruto waved goodbye to the Shodai and awoke in her dreary apartment. "What an odd man,"

"What took you so long?" Kurama grumbled as he settled down to get from rest.

"Nothing," Naruto mumbled back and got out of bed. The sun was high in the sky making her sigh, "It's probably around midday now," All the training grounds would be filled by now. Taking her time to get dressed, Naruto left her apartment and wandered around Konoha trying to pass time by.

"Have you got a minute?"

Naruto paused and looked behind her. "I was wondering when you would speak up," It was Shikamaru and Choji. "Where's Ino?"

"Where else," Shikamaru scoffed and walked beside Naruto as Choji took up the other side of her. "You look terrible. I guess your team has you down"

"Unfortunately," Naruto was still bitter about it. Her teammates weren't ready and Kakashi knew it too. It was a miracle that they passed the 2nd chunin exams. "The council ran interference again and Kakashi-sensei is tied up with Sasuke's training. The old man has gotten too complacent these years,"

"Naruto," Choji warned her with a small voice.

Sighing, Naruto ran her fingers through her hair. "I know I know. He's not the only one to blame." They walked through the crowded streets when Naruto dropped her voice so only the two could hear her. "The shadow of Konoha has grown too big,"

"What can we do about it? We're just genin," Choji tossed his bag of chips into the nearby bin.

"And Choji and I are just clan heirs." Shikamaru pointed out yet his mind was already racing. Naruto always had this aura about her that made you want to follow her and him and Choji had been with her the longest so they knew her best. She was about to move.

"I know you hate it when I say this, Shika, but I have a bad feeling," Naruto felt her flesh rise and looked around the marketplace. There was nobody there but she knew there was someone watching her. The negative emotions she felt had almost doubled since the village had opened up for the chunin exams. "I don't know what's going to happen but we need to prepare something. Anything. Whatever the worst-case scenario is then we need to plan for it."

Shikmaru only hated it when Naruto went off her gut feeling because there was no logic behind it and it made it difficult to plan. What were they supposed to plan for when they currently had no reason to be suspicious? "Then it's obvious what the worst-case scenario would be," Naruto and Choji looked at Shikamaru causing the latter to stop and turn to them. "Think about it. There'll be foreign entities in Konoha and the Hokage can't put guards on everyone that comes into the village. It'll only cause distrust between us and tension is already high as it is between the 5 Great Nations."

"Choji," Naruto's voice grew serious. She was on the move, "Find out which Nation's currently have any negative affiliations with Konoha in the past 20 years,"

"Why 20 years?" Shikamaru asked he groaned when she just grinned at him. "Another hunch, right."

"I'm on it," Choji nodded, "Anything else, Naruto?"

"Stay away from the Suna shinobi," Naruto frowned, "There's a problematic one among them." Before turning away from them, she also looked at Shikamaru, "Also, keep your eyes on about Sasuke."

"One of our own?" Shikamaru was surprised. No matter how terrible the Uchiha was, Shikamaru was sure Naruto would never spy on one of their own.

"This time it's not a hunch. Something has changed about him. His chakra is…" Naruto wondered how she could word this. He was the precious brother of her traitorous teacher. A man that is still dear to her heart. "...dark,"

"Naru~"

"Ack!" Naruto was quick to steady herself as she was tackled from behind and looked at the head that rested comfortably on her shoulder. "Ino, you're late,"

"Mou~ I don't want to hear that from you," Rubbing her cheek against Naruto's, Ino reluctantly let go and noticed the heavy atmosphere between the group. "What'd I miss?"

"Naruto's hunch," Choji simply filled in. Shikamaru, Naruto and Choji didn't want to let Ino know about the change in Sasuke. As much as a good friend that she was, her heart still belonged to Sasuke.

Ino's cherry demeanour changed suddenly and stood beside Naruto. Although it wasn't needed, Ino took her hand and squeezed it gently, "What do you want me to do?"

Naruto wasn't sure when it started or even why, but she was thankful for this team for trusting her. "I need the names of all the participants of the chunin exams," After observing Tobirama for all these years, Naruto knew it was only natural to be wary of those that enter her home. "With all the merchants and nobles coming in it'll be too hard for us to keep track of them. Once you have the list go after the nobles next." Naruto pretended she didn't see the wicked smile on Ino's face.

"All this heavy talk is making me hungry," Choji hinted, glancing at Naruto keenly.

Laughing awkwardly, "I can do dinner?" She offered, not wanting to upset Choji but she honestly wasn't hungry right now.

"Yakiniku Q at 6," Shikamaru pointed at Naruto, knowing that she was prepared to flake on them again for dinner. "If you're not there I'll tell Kakashi-sensei about Daichi asking you out last week,"

"What the hell," Naruto hissed as her face flared up in embarrassment. She thought she had burned that memory from her mind. "You saw that,"

"We all did," Ino giggled and whispered in Naruto's ear, "You're a really beautiful lady, Naru-chan~"

"Ack!" Naruto pulled away from Ino and covered up her ear, "Leave me alone," She grumbled and waved the laughing team off. If Kakashi ever heard she got a confession the man would only crumble at her feet and beg her not to leave him. He was unexpectedly clingy for such and aloof man. Once team 10 left her sight, Naruto was quick to shunshin to the thick and heavy aura of murderous intent and slammed the perpetrator against the dark alley wall. "Why are you following me?" She held a kunai up to their neck and flared her Kyuubi eyes menacingly. Her glowing red eyes met hostile green eyes that made her growl louder. "Answer me!" She had seen him before. He also passed the 2nd round of the chunin exam. Even back there he was staring at her.

"You're just like me," His monotone voice whispered threateningly in the alleyway. His sand moved around the blonde, teasing her that he could easily kill her.

Naruto felt it before Kurama could even explain to her. "You…" Her eyes widened and lowered her kunai. She could feel the demonic chakra surrounding her and looked around. She was trapped in a sphere of sand with the unknown shinobi. Her eyes returned to the redhead and asked, "Who are you?"

"I am One," He muttered before sending his sand to attack the blonde.

Tobirama:

"Naruto!" Tobirama lurched forward and gasped desperately for breath. He looked around anxiously for her but all he saw was his bedroom. "No," he whispered, clutching his aching chest. Tobirama swore that he saw her being attacked by some dark figure. He screamed at her to not let her guard down yet she couldn't hear him. "Damn it. Damn it!" Tobirama grabbed his pillow and tossed it across the room. He didn't care that his body was protesting against his movements. All he could see was the terror in her eyes as she was consumed.

"Tobirama!" Hashirama rushed into the room and tried to push him back into the bed.

"Get off me! I need to go!" Tobirama was desperate, "I need to go! Let go of me this instant!"

Hashirama gasped when Tobirama's bandages started to bleed and called for his wife, "Mito! I need your help!"

"I'm already on it," Mito was quick to toss a paper seal on Tobirama's head causing him to fall into a deep sleep. "He's fighting it," She grimaced and placed her two fingers against the seal as Hashirama tried to lower him onto the bed.

"N-Naru...to…" Tobirama tried to fight it but it was a losing battle as he was promptly put to sleep.

"Naruto?" Mito asked as she quickly got to work on Tobirama's open wound.

"He must have been stressed about his previous mission," Hashirama opted to ignore Mito and helped her clean his wound back up. "He was on the verge of death. There'll be repercussions from that mission and it will affect him for a long time,"

Mito smiled gently, "You're such a worrywart, Dear. This is Tobirama we're talking about. If anyone can pull through then it'll be our cute little brother,"

"Cute? Ha~" Hashirama sighed at his wife's terrible joke. "You better go before I wake up."

Mito gently kissed Hashirama's cheek, "Call for me if it happens again," Patting his shoulder gently, Mito left the room and gestured for the servants in the house to avoid Tobirama's room in the meantime.

"Here we go," Hashirama tore the paper off Tobirama's head and watched as his brother quickly regained consciousness. "Careful," He warned his brother that he was about to bolt up. "Your body still needs to recover from the poison,"

"Where is she?" Tobirama muttered.

Hashirama frowned, "Tobirama, do you remember what happened on your mission?"

"Haa…" Tobirama shook his head. The feeling of danger leaving his body, "It must've been a dream." Feeling his brother's worried gaze, Tobirama recounted his mission, "We were ambushed on our way back to the village. The mission was a success. I should've known better than to let my guard down,"

Hashirama kept quiet. He was the one who had sent Tobirama on the long term mission. It would've exhausted anyone and Tobirama wasn't one for sympathy. "We're tracking the poison and so far, it's leading us towards the Wind Country,"

Tobirama frowned. "Why would they interfere in Fire Country?"

"There are unconfirmed rumours saying they're looking for powerful shinobi to breed with," Hashirama swallowed hard at the thought, "I recognised 2 kunoichi at the scene. They've made quite a name for themselves in Wind. Their target must've been you,"

Tobirama laughed bitterly. "How annoying. Rats from inside the village and outside. I can never get a break, can I?"

Hashirama sighed, "Why don't you try living outside the village for a while? Mother used to do it a lot when it was rather peaceful. I can ask Mito to set up a few seals so you can have a peace of mind,"

"...That will be pleasant," Tobirama's mind wandered back to Naruto. He glanced at Hashirama, his face filled with worry of an older brother. It was just the two of them left. He could understand why Hashirama was feeling tense. "How did you find me? My chakra was too unstable to track,"

Hashirama caressed Tobirama's thick hair. "I still have a few tricks up my sleeve, Tobirama. I have to keep you on your toes." Standing up, he said, "I'll let you get some rest. Don't move too quickly or you'll agitate your wounds,"

Tobirama waited until Hashirama, listening for his footsteps to move far enough before sliding out of bed. His legs felt weak but he was determined and left his room. Clutching his aching middle, Tobirama limped towards his office and locked the door behind him, "Ha~" He sighed as he forced his body before the mirror in the room. "Please work…" He muttered. The terror in Naruto's eyes was burned into his mind. "Even if she can't see or hear me, please, whoever is listening let me see her. I need to know that she's safe,"

Tobirama's eyes widened when the mirror distorted and saw Naruto. His pupils trembled seeing her covered in blood and dirt with a furious look in her eyes. He had never seen her so mad, even when he teased her too much.

"Fuck!" Naruto swore as she placed the unconscious boy down on the bed gently. Placing up privacy seals, Naruto took a deep breath in before screaming. "AaaaaahHHH fuck!" she fell to her knees with a distressed sniffle. Naruto wanted to hit something or for something to hit her. "Why?" Her voice trembled as if she were betrayed, "Why wasn't I told there were others like me?!"

Tobirama saw her look into a shadowy corner in surprise. He was surprised to see someone who looked similar to him yet there were clear differences.

"It's a secret between the Great Nations," Kakashi knelt beside Naruto slowly, "Not even Konoho know who or where the other Jinchuriki are,"

"Jinchuriki?" Naruto sighed sadly, "Is that what we are? How many are there? Tell me please, Kakashi-sensei," She was desperate as she clung to his uniform. Her hands trembled as she pleaded with him, "Please, I need to know,"

Kakashi swallowed hard, "There are nine jinchuriki and it means to be a human sacrifice." He glanced over to the sleeping boy, "Gaara of the Sand. Jinchuriki of the Ichibi,"

Naruto tensed up, "Gaara?" she looked to the boy, "His seal..." looking back up at Kakashi, she venomously spat out, "His seal was killing him. I...I had to fix it, Kakashi-sensei...I...I could've been like him. I had to save him," She felt herself being pulled into Kakashi's warm chest and buried herself deep into his arms. "I hate this. I hate feeling this way…" She sobbed desperately. Wishing that the warmth Kakashi provided her would never leave.

Kakashi quietly examined her body as she grieved and found her arms almost destroyed. "Naruto," He muttered sadly and began to apply first aid. Kakashi had seen Naruto carry the suna shinobi in her arms yet her arms were almost crushed. He could only imagine the pain she was in trying to get him to a safe place. Naruto probably knew unconsciously that Gaara wouldn't be safe on his own wherever they fought. "Get some rest,"

"I can't," She shook her head as Kakashi healed her. "I promised I would go to dinner with team 10,"

"Leave that to me," He soothed, lulling her into a deep sleep. "I'll take care of it."

"Wait!" Tobirama called out as the image slowly faded. "What happened?" He questioned, none of what he saw made sense. He had never heard of the term Jinchuuriki before but he had heard about the Ichibi. They were one of the nine Bijuu.

The more Tobirama thought about it the more he realised that there was more to Naruto that he didn't know. He knew her tells yet he didn't know what made her passionately angry. He knew her training style yet he didn't know that she would fight even after her body had been thoroughly abused. He knew enough about her but it wasn't enough.

Tobirama knew he was the one who set the line between them. The logical part of him knew he did it to protect themselves and the villages they're from. One day they could be enemies fighting on the opposite side of each other. It was the biggest reason why Tobirama didn't want to let her get too close to him but it was too late. Tobirama wanted to know everything about her to the point he was willing to track her across the country to make sure she was safe. He wanted Naruto to come to him when she was upset and to rely on him. Clenching his fists tightly, Tobirama recalled her crying into her sensei's embrace. He wanted to be a part of her life...but he wasn't sure how to.

XXXX

A/N: There might be mistakes in here about the chunin exams. Truth be told I forgot how far they were in the chunin exams in the previous chapter. Hopefully it still makes sense though and if not then I'll rewrite this chapter in the future