"Once it has taken root in your heart,
hatred is the most difficult thing in the world to shake off."

Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle


It has been eight days since Tobirama's death and Hiruzen is apparently going to insist on giving the man full funerary honours.

After spending more money than the war-torn village could afford on a grandiose funeral and then spending vast amounts again three days later in a second ceremony to remember their "greatest teacher", here they are on the seventh day mark since the man's belongings were burnt in place of his body to pay their respects yet another time.

It would wear on the patience of a saint. With all the fighting that is still taking place throughout the country, remembering a man whose name Kagami would sooner erase from history books is the last thing that he wants to do.

During the first two times, Kagami had managed to avoid making any public demonstrations. His presence at the back of the procession had been enough to assuage the masses who had come for the spectacle. The absence of tears on his part had not gone unnoticed, but that had easily been forgotten. Tobirama himself had been the first to advocate that tears were useless to a ninja.

Today, though, it looks as though Hiruzen has finally reached the end of the list of people who he could ask to speak in honour of their beloved lost leader. Kagami tried to explain that he was unsuitable for the job, that public speaking was not his forte, but Hiruzen insisted and since it might have raised a number of eyebrows if Kagami had outright refused, here he is now.

He stands behind a podium, in front of an audience as they wipe tears from the corners of their eyes. Some are fake, but the majority, Kagami suspects, are quite genuine.

They had not known the Senju like he did.

Anyone would think that Tobirama wasn't, in fact, directly responsible for killing many of those who presently made the Leaf cemetery their home. Anyone would think that dozens of their fellow countrymen weren't, in fact, dying every day on the front lines of the still ongoing First Shinobi World War.

"Today, we mark the passing of a great man," he begins. "The last great ninja of one of the Leaf's noble clans."

The Senju are scattered throughout the crowd – one here, speaking to an Inuzuka, another there, consoling their forlorn family. Until that exact moment, Kagami had not realised how fortunate he was to have the opportunity to address them like this. From this vantage point, he can see them all and their sorrow makes him feel alive.

Yes. Cry, like I did for my family. I did this to you, you bastards.

Kagami looks at Hiruzen. Even his eyes are watery. How pathetic.

"The Second Hokage once told me that he considered everyone in this village, all of us, to be his family. To the Uchiha, there is nothing more important than family, so it warmed my heart to hear that. I think that, more than any signed treaties, that kind of attitude was what put an end to the bloody era that came before. I was proud to stand beside such a great man."

Until that moment, Kagami had not consciously realised that bringing Tobirama to his knees had not been enough to satisfy him. He was proud that he had done it and gotten away with it, but now he sees that his work is not over.

It would never be over, for as long as his family was threatened by the Senju's "love".

"So, to the Senju, I would say this: I will do everything in my power to keep these ideals alive, to protect this village, my family, from anyone who would do them harm. This I promise you, and I always keep my promises."