The Soul of Lord Second

When Tobirama died he expected to see his brothers, Itama, Kawarama, and Hashirama in the pure land. Instead he's greeted to the sight of a young boy fiddling around with some kunai. Or Tobirama's soul is somehow bounded to Naruto's. AU.

Characters: Tobirama, Naruto

Rating T: Hurt/Comfort, Family

He couldn't move far from the boy, Tobirama quickly realized. Fifteen, maybe twenty feet at the most. Nowhere near enough for what he wanted to do, and that was investigate. Find out where in the hell he was. It feels like he's in Konoha, something in his gut is telling him he is, but honestly, he has no clue if it's true or not. The forest that they're in is nondescript and trees all look the same to him—

Hashirama's probably rolling in his grave right about now. His elder brother was always sensitive to the "plight of the trees" …whatever the hell that meant.

Tobirama tried to extend his senses but without the ability to mold chakra that endeavor was completely useless. For almost an hour the former hokage tried to get the young boy's attention, but that too was utterly pointless, for every time he tried to touch the boy—or anything for that matter—his body simply passed through them as if they weren't there…or as if he wasn't there.

He supposed that makes more sense. The last thing he recollects before awakening in the forest were the Gold and Silver Brothers towering above him, wielding what he thought were merely fabled weapons owned by the Sage of Six Paths. He threw his kunai, one he marked with his Flying Raijin seal, as a last desperate act for his survival. He hoped he at the very least brought his team enough time to escape. But that wish was neither here nor there at the moment.

Tobirama concluded that he somehow both survived and died in that encounter. Survived because his soul, his very essence, still seemed to be roaming the world of the living. But also died because his body apparently perished in the fight.

The white-haired man sighed and took a seat on the ground (well not really the ground. He noticed that his spirit never truly touched the floor, he always hovered above it slightly as if there was a second flooring only he could walk/sit upon). Since he was by some means tied to the blond boy, his curiosity on his location will have to wait until the boy left the forest.

Tobirama watched with a smirk on his face as the child readied himself once more. Determination held in bright blue eyes, the boy began throwing kunai at the wooden targets before them. The boy wasn't bad, not at all. He hit the target more often than not, and with a bit of supervision (himself excluded seeing as he couldn't touch, let alone communicate with the boy) he'd be able to hit the bullseye in no time at all.

Watching the young boy brought back fond memories of him teaching Saru, Ko, and Hum. Although when he was teaching his team he got to hit them with his water whips every time they produced substandard results. Saru, in particular, withstood the worst of his water whips. Which is why the little monkey invented the shadow shuriken jutsu (honestly that jutsu was just a play on his shadow clones, but Tobirama let the boy have that victory since he was only 12 years old when he discovered that ninja art).

The second hokage cherished those memories far more than he'd ever be willing to admit.

Over and over again the blond boy—who must've been nearing his sixth or seventh year at life—threw the kunai at the targets and Tobirama admired his resolve. The older man could clearly see the signs of fatigue settling in the young boy, the way his hands cramped, the wounds he received when he pulled the kunai too forcefully out of the wooden targets, but the child kept going despite this.

The minutes passed by easily enough and Tobirama got a front row seat to the youngster becoming better and better. The boy hit the targets every time he threw the kunai and landed a bullseye nearly half the time.

A shadow settled over the clearing and the blond began to pack up. For the first time since meeting the boy Tobirama heard him speak as he counted his kunai, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10...11?" Tobirama could hear the questioning tone in the kid's voice. Did he lose some? Glancing over at the tree the older man didn't see any laying about. Perhaps the boy—

"But I only had 10 when I started...Where did this extra one come from? I don't even remember picking it up," Tobirama looked at the kunai in question.

It was his Kunai.

The one he threw right before he died. The one that was stamped with his Flying Raijin seal.

Is that how he got here?

A/N: Hey guys what's up? So this is my first fanfiction ever, yay to me for finally making one. This is an idea I've been toying around with for the better part of three months. I'm not exactly certain where I want to take this story, so if you guys have any ideas on how you think I should proceed let me know. I don't have a beta so all the mistakes are mine, if you see something spelled wrong go ahead and tell me about it and I'll eventually get around to fixing it. Oh and please review if you like it, just saying "Hey, nice start," would really mean a lot to me.

Thanks for reading!

Youthfulfox