A/N: Sorry for the delay, I just couldn't sit still and type on my laptop. The next chapter will come out slow as well because I have no idea where to start even though I know what's going to happen. It's growing busy nearing the end of the semester. Please know I welcome opinions with open arms. I intended for this to be under 20k words and look where it got me.

Tee: Thanks, I'm glad you think so and I will.

Luna blanca: Aw yeah, those moments will come in the future. I'm unsure of how to get there though, bear with me haha.

Guest: I'm happy you like this!

Guest 2: You don't know how tempted I was to have them shouting, screaming at the top of their lungs, "Madara!" I'm leaning towards excluding the rabbit-goddess, but who knows, I may change my mind. That show! I watched a couple episodes and it was pretty weird in a good way. Haha yeah it does seem like that, huh? It's just that their anger is directed at different people.

A sigh.

"Well, I'll be on my way," Tobirama said, dangling his notebook at the three to show them he was a busy man despite hanging around them all evening. "I have errands to run and need to rest." The three shrugged or nodded, not really interested.

"What will you be doing?" he asked Naruto and the boy let out a long thoughtful noise.

"I'm going over to Sasuke's to play," Naruto said. He inwardly trembled, a chill skittering down and prickling the skin of his back. The temperature dipped, a menacing aura beside him signalling watch it.

Tobirama struggled with himself, alarms ringing in his head warning that it was a terrible idea to leave his brother's newly adoptive child with the dangerous clan leader. He looked at Naruto strangely, puzzled. The boy had to have guts to willingly venture into a demon's lair, though Tobirama supposed the want to be near his friend was greater than the fear. Was that how things worked?

"Okay. Let me know when you're done and I'll pick you up before bedtime." Tobirama waited for the boy's confirmation that they were clear on their arrangements.

"No, I'm sleeping over. I'll be back tomorrow morning," Naruto said.

A glance was sent to Madara, Madara returning the look. Tobirama wondered if the Uchiha would deny the boy from staying the night at his home and he wasn't sure what he was hoping hear. At the moment, he didn't think Madara would try anything funny and it was probably because of the man's earlier demonstration. He was ready to save the children if he had attacked for real. Tobirama was a person of logic and reasoning, but the idea that Madara was going to do that was beyond him.

"And is Madara fine with that?" he asked, directing the question at Naruto, yet his eyes were on Madara. He felt it in the air rather than saw the inner-struggle of the man and he would be lying if he said it didn't amuse him.

"Go home," Sasuke's sharp voice cut in. Before Madara could speak up, another childish voice spoke.

"No, I'm going." Naruto and Sasuke glared at each other, silently conversing and daring the other to say anymore that would jeopardize their true identities. Neither of them would let up and they did what was the next best option—turn to Madara to make the decision.

It took all it had in Tobirama to repress the laughter at seeing the Uchiha be put on the spot and see him this troubled. The great leader of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Madara was troubled by two brats. How comical was that? Served him right.

"It's up to Sasuke," Madara said. Honestly, he wanted to tell the boy no, he should go back to his own home where Hashirama was. Sasuke's scowl was doing a good job at convincing him that. He looked into Naruto's eyes and wavered.

Naruto cheered in victory inside his mind and pulled Sasuke away from the adults by his forearm. "Wait there, I'll persuade him."

They hid behind a barbeque restaurant and it reeked of garbage. Naruto removed his hand, knowing Sasuke was going to forcefully tear his arm away if he didn't.

"Go home," Sasuke said again. He was irritated that he had to say it a second time. Did the idiot think through what it meant to be near Madara? Or maybe he understood and didn't care. Knowing Naruto, it was the latter.

"Madara sent us here so he has to have something to send us back," Naruto started in a whisper. "It'll be easier if both of us search his house."

"I've already searched the house. There's nothing there and I couldn't get in his room."

"That's why I'm saying it'll be easier with two people."

"Leave that to me," Sasuke said, his index finger poking Naruto in the chest. "You try to find more information on your side with the Hokage and his younger brother."

Slapping away the finger on him, Naruto hissed, "We can split the task like that later."

"If you agree with that then why do you want to go to Madara's?" Sasuke asked, frowning. There was a pause. Naruto tousled his hair and casted his gaze downwards, only for it to come back up to stare at Sasuke intently.

"It makes me uneasy, Sasuke," he started and quickly added, "I'm calm now, don't worry," when Sasuke looked like he was going to interrupt.

"Madara's dangerous, that hasn't changed, and you don't know when he'll…lash out on you," Naruto reasoned. He took in a shaky breath, awaiting his friend's response. He hoped the other understood that although Madara was laying low now, it didn't mean he wasn't already suspicious of them. The notion of Sasuke living with such an unpredictable man was terrifying. Was it the slight chance that Sasuke would be swayed into hating Konoha again or his safety, Naruto didn't know which scared him.

"No…" Sasuke smirked. "He won't and you saw what happened earlier."

Yes, he did. Madara had protected them.

"How can you be so sure?" Naruto questioned carefully. He didn't like that smirk on Sasuke. It wasn't that arrogant and triumphant smirk, it wasn't like that at all. The scene of Madara whispering something into Sasuke's ear sparked in his mind and vanished.

"I resemble his little brother," Sasuke stated.

"You think just because you look like Madara's brother that he's going to spare you? Special maybe, but you can't rely on that," Naruto retorted, almost shouting. Sasuke snorted and clicked his tongue in annoyance. Well, he couldn't blame Naruto for the lack of knowledge. After all, he wasn't the one who had to listen to the full story of the village's founding era.

"He's dead, the little brother," Sasuke said, attentively gauging Naruto's reaction. The lump in Naruto's throat made it difficult to swallow. His mouth opened and closed, hesitant to draw conclusions from what Sasuke was implying with those words.

"Are you going to take advantage of that? Because you look like his dead brother?" Madara was the guy who attempted at world domination, but was something like this okay? He was human. He had…feelings? At least when it came down to an Uchiha's family they had them.

"Weaknesses are meant to be exploited," Sasuke said and there was a glimmer in his eyes, the setting sun reflecting in them. "But, I never said I was going to do anything about it."

A hand firmly pushed Naruto back.

"Were you suggesting we take advantage of the fact by twisting my words?" Sasuke sneered and Naruto glared back.

"No, I didn't say that," he replied. It gave them the upper hand; they could use Sasuke's face to keep Madara under control and off guard. They could use Madara's dead brother against him. No, it didn't and they couldn't. It made sense to do so, but it made Naruto anxious. He wouldn't stoop that low. There was always another way.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm going," Naruto said, his face leaving no further objections to whomever received the look. His tone was hard and he was most definitely not going to take no for an answer.

A sigh of resignation left Sasuke and he looked at Naruto. If Naruto's choice was to take the problem head on, he would have no problem with it. He wouldn't be responsible for who knew what would happen when it came down to worst. It'd be an interesting approach—to mess with everyone's heads rather than to stay low—he'd admit that.

"Be careful around Madara. If he ever looks at you with his sharingan, he'll see the Nine Tails in you."

Even if something did happen, we'd be okay.

"I know." Sweeping a finger across the bottom of his nose, Naruto let out a huff. When Sasuke blocked the kunais aimed at them and when he pulled Sasuke out of the way, he was confident in his beliefs. Sasuke protected him and he did the same—just like they did when they were fighting Madara. Madara was indeed strong, however, the two of them together were also strong. Naruto didn't feel like they'd lose.

"We'll be fine," he whispered to himself, smiling, and Sasuke's silent gaze lingered on Naruto for a moment longer.

Heads turned at the sight of them, Sasuke trailing behind Naruto with a blank expression and the other grinning.

"So?" Tobirama tapped the notebook in his hand impatiently. He would have liked to actually get work done tonight than waste time with insignificant issues regarding a couple of kids.

Now that Naruto recalled the event, he thought Tobirama was a jerk for testing them like that. What adult in their right mind would use the Flying Raijin Jutsu against the seven years old kids that they currently were?

"What?" Tobirama voiced, noticing the stink eye the boy was giving him. Naruto's stuck his lips out, imitating a duck's and spat nothing as his response. It baffled him.

"He's coming over," Sasuke said, ignoring the other boy's antics. Tobirama grunted and reminded Naruto he would be picking him up in the morning.

"Come." Madara gestured for them to follow and turned. As he began to walk, he felt at a loss. He'd never let anyone into his home ever since the village was formed. Besides Hashirama, there wasn't anyone he could or wanted to invite over and he didn't plan to start—even Hashirama hadn't come too often as Madara always denied him of entry every time. But now, he was getting company; welcomed or not.

Sandals scuffed against the ground as Naruto followed behind Madara at a distance. He was still getting used to the man's presence. Sasuke was the last one to move. His eyes were glued on Tobirama's red ones and they stared, locking each other in place. Without a word, they turned on their heels and headed to their separate destinations.

Books and scrolls were thrown onto the floor as Naruto searched the shelves of the storage room. He skimmed through the contents looking for traces of a time-travel or space-time jutsu study. Reaching deeper into the corner, the edge of a scroll grazed Naruto's fingertip and he groaned. He was tired of rummaging the shelves and he was hungry, sleepy too.

"Hey, Sasuke. Are you sure there's a clue laying around in the house?" He flopped onto his back, stretching his arms behind his head. Sasuke glanced up from the page he was reading.

"No," he said, flipping the page and carried on reading. "I told you I searched the house already."

"You might've missed something," Naruto mumbled. He poked the wall, bored. It had to be soft because his light taps left impressions on it. "What're you reading? Don't tell me it's Icha Icha Paradise."

"Don't compare me to a pervert." Naruto let out a breathless laugh, slapping the wall.

"If you think Kakashi-sensei's a pervert, then you really don't know what a genuine one the author of the books is. He's gotta be the world's most perverted old man!" Excitedly, his hands made motions in the air to emphasize the man's pervert level. The sparkles in his eyes dulled as his arms came down to rest on his stomach. Sasuke noticed and kept silent.

After minutes of Naruto most likely mulling over something, he decided the constant thumping noise was enough.

"Stop poking the wall," he said. The sound continued regardless of his words and he was about to march up and pull Naruto away from the wall when the sound changed into a crack.

"I think I found something, Sasuke," Naruto said in a muffled voice. Sasuke made way to Naruto's waving hand, setting his book onto the low table. He stopped, the strange sight of Naruto's head stuck in the wall was not what he expected. Sensing his friend's stupefied state, Naruto pointed to the wall before ducking his head out. The muscle under Sasuke's eye twitched.

"What are you doing." Naruto was banging the spot next to him with a fist and raking the wall, leaving a vertical chalky white trail.

"I'm stuck!" he yelled, bringing his legs underneath him in an awkward position to push against the wall. He slumped, exhausted. He could've broken the wall, but it would've been too loud, catching someone's unneeded attention.

"So what'd you find?" he heard Sasuke ask. Naruto lifted his eyes to peer into the hole he poked earlier. He squinted into the darkness. He could see the outline of a table, books and other miscellaneous items thanks to the moonlight.

"It's a room."

"And what's special about the room?" Sasuke questioned patiently. It's a shame neither of them had the Byakugan. Otherwise, they could just scan the entirety of Konoha for suspicious activity, people, objects and spaces.

"I think it might be Madara's room. There's a lot of important looking scrolls sealed up on the table…"

If he recalled correctly, the storage was beside Madara's room—the room Sasuke didn't get a chance to sneak into. But sealed scrolls…To safely and quietly unseal it so the contents remained in perfect condition wasn't a speciality of Naruto's of Sasuke's.

"Tsk, troublesome." Their options were limited. Steal the scroll, hide it, cover the hole in the wall or wait for a better time. They probably shouldn't do anything until they had a method to undo the seals on the scrolls. While he was deep in his own thoughts, he didn't realize Naruto was widening the opening on the other side.

"Can't see…" Naruto hooked a finger in the tiny hole and ripped it slightly. At the same time, him and Sasuke perked, bodies going rigid.

Shit, shit, shit, was the sole thought swirling in Naruto's mind. He felt Sasuke grab his ankles and yank.

"Ow, be a little more careful will you?" he hissed. He didn't care that he sounded panicky, inside, dread was flooding him like a broken dam.

"Don't care." Sasuke clenched his jaw and whether or not he liked it, he was beginning to break into a cold sweat. God damn it, why did Madara always have to choose the worst times possible to check up on them? He blamed Naruto for the insistent banging ruckus that drew the clan head's attention.

"Fuck this," he swore and dropped Naruto's legs. On the other side of the wall, Naruto's heart was beating erratically, shock that Sasuke was swearing overpowered by fear.

"Hurry up, Sasuke. He's down the hall already," he said, feet trying to get leverage from the ground, but ended up as him flailing his legs.

"I know just shut up," Sasuke growled. He kicked the wall hard in a swift motion and Naruto was free.

"What were you thinking? Now he'll be suspicious," Naruto chided, dragging the nearest bookshelf to cover the gaping hole. Not a second later, the door slammed open.

"I'm sure I told you two to be quiet…" Madara started. He took in the mess Sasuke and Naruto were surrounded by. "What's going on here?" he asked.

"Sasuke was looking for a book," Naruto answered, pointing to his friend. It wasn't exactly a lie, he noted.

"And that caused this mess?"

"Yeah."

"Hey," Sasuke bit out, turning his head to Naruto. Madara sighed, crossing his arm across his chest. The kid was a terrible liar. There they were sitting on the floor covered in dust, the shelves rearranged and empty and Naruto was saying they were looking for a mere book?

"Do you think I would believe that?" he asked. Naruto shrugged.

"Well, I'm not lying," he retorted. Madara's gaze shifted to Sasuke and the boy gave no indication of anything.

"Then how do you explain my broken wall?" He gestured to the only bookshelf out of place against the wall with a tilt of his chin. Naruto stomach lurched as he turned. We were careless, Sasuke thought.

The bookshelf was wide, like the ones in the library used to arrange books in two rows. There were spaces in between each plank and the hole was in plain view.

Naruto gave a nervous chuckle.

"He…ran into the wall," Sasuke said.

What?

He looked at Sasuke, an incredulous expression on him. "Sasuke…" he whispered in awe. Naruto certainly wasn't bothered by the fact his friend had just sold him out, he did that first.

Madara blinked, mouth parted in astonishment. This boy was just as awful as Izuna at lying when he was younger. The times his younger brother would pretend he wasn't tailing him, responsible for burning the kitchen and ruining his weapons by attempting to sharpen them for him were equal if not as obvious as Naruto running through a wall.

"Sasuke." The corner of Naruto's lips twitched as he pat Sasuke on the shoulder. "You…I think you need help," he said.

"I wasn't lying," Sasuke spat, slapping the hand away. Play with the kid's logic Naruto, he willed in his mind. "I heard a crash and saw your head stuck in the wall, Naruto."

"Hey…" Naruto glanced at Madara and cleared his throat. Fine, it was better than nothing. "Sorry about your wall…" He offered the other a smile. Madara sighed.

"Go to bed, it's late. I'll be sleeping in the same room." His eyes narrowed. "Don't even think about destroying any more parts of my house," he threatened. Madara rubbed his fingers in his face and temples.

"You owe me an explanation tomorrow morning and a clean up," he stated and walked away.

Tobirama strolled along the night road on his way home—he lived together with his brother and Mito. He halted in his steps.

"Come out," he said into the chilly winds. A figure appeared from the shadow, the street lamps gradually revealing the person's identity.

"When did you notice?" he asked, scratching his cheek in embarrassment. He was awarded a smack of a notebook. He looked up to see Tobirama smiling in fondness.

"From the start," Tobirama replied and added, "Don't underestimate me, Kagami."

"To be honest, I thought I was doing a good job following you…" Kagami pouted. The twelve year old was confident this time in his abilities, but it seemed it was useless against his teacher.

"So why were you tailing me?"

"Who were those two children? I haven't seen them around before," Kagami said. Direct as usual, Tobirama thought.

"If you can run some errands for me, I'll have an answer." The firm tone made Kagami immediately straighten his back.

"I'll do it," he said and Tobirama smirked.

He couldn't get a wink of sleep. Naruto rolled onto his back. Who knew Madara didn't have a couch for him to sleep in? Or an extra bedding to boot. He stared at Sasuke's back. It was cramped on the futon because he had to share with Sasuke.

A groan behind him alerted Naruto. He took a peek at the man sleeping upright by the door of Sasuke's room. There was no way he could sleep with Madara in the same room. What ninja was he to turn his back on a skilled and dangerous shinobi?

Before Naruto even noticed, he fell asleep.

Naruto…

What?

Are you listening, you little brat?

He gasped and bolted up. He looked straight ahead, a glint in his eyes. The sheets rustled and Sasuke turned to face him, an unsaid wondering.

"I know what we have to do first, Sasuke."