Eight hours. They'd been at it for eight unforgiving hours. His heart refused to slow down and the whole world felt like it was spinning. Just a few moments, even a handful of seconds, and there would no longer be time to stop and catch his breath.

War—the thing the First Hokage tried his whole life to avoid—had finally come to claim the first generation of villagers.

Danzō wondered if perhaps it was inevitable. The only thing the village succeeded in doing was building warfare on a grander, more terrifying scale than ever before. It wasn't the Shimura Clan against the Hagoromo Clan anymore. It was the whole of the Hidden Leaf going up against the whole of the Hidden Cloud and Hidden Stone. What once would have been limited to about two hundred to a thousand warm bodies per skirmish hit exponential values. It was thousands…tens of thousands…hundreds of thousands...

'Where are they? Did I lose visual?' He chased a Kumo kunoichi into the heart of the wilderness, knowing there had to be several more not too far away. And yet everything had grown deathly still.

The leaves rustled and a silhouette darted through the trees. Before he could bring himself to stand, an onslaught of kunai and shuriken rushed toward him. Adrenaline kicked in and he jumped out of the way just in time. A split second longer and his teammates would have found his impaled body hiding behind a bush.

The woods were surrounded by mountains on all sides, leaving the forest deathly quiet. No birds chirped. No frogs croaked. Although it was early spring, no sign of any sort of life other than insects and shinobi were nearby.

The head of the Yamanaka Clan once told Danzō about his clan's old woods and how quiet they used to be. Those woods were littered with the hanging corpses of all who trespassed. This wasn't the same forest, but the same sordid miasma permeated the air. The silence was so thick that he feared he'd choke on it. No one else was near.

'We're on our own. Shit...shit...' Where the hell was everyone!?

The silence broke for something far more hellish: a mass explosion. Upon detonation, the earth left behind a crater: yet another scar on this marred, already ruined world. Along with the hurled weapons, large and sharp pieces of displaced wood flew in all directions.

Danzō wanted to move, but his feet were stuck in place. His brain reacted, but his body didn't. A large tree trunk fell beside him, and he realized this was it. This was how he would die. His shut his eyes, took a deep breath—

But someone grabbed him, pulling him out of harm's way.

It took a while for Danzō to open his eyes again. When he did, he quickly realized that his savior was none other than Sarutobi Hiruzen: his best friend, his rival, and the source of all his envy. Hiruzen had draped his startled friend's left arm around his shoulders. Concern was rampant on his face. "Are you okay, Danzō?!"

'Why are you looking at me like that? I'm fine!'

Why did it always have to turn out like this? Why was it that even though Hiruzen was the one who sought out trouble, it always seemed to find him instead? And when it did, Hiruzen never failed to jump out of the shadows and save the day. Forever the hero. Forever the golden boy.

It used to be admirable. Now it was just pissing him off.

"That's overdoing it, Hiruzen!" He shoved his friend off him. It was a miracle no part of him had been injured. Only his most important thing, his pride, had suffered a blow.

Hiruzen bit back a laugh and brushed some of the dust off his outfit. "Oh, come on. Don't be like that!" Did this amuse him? Was his friend's hurt pride a source of amusement to him? "At a time like this, we can't afford to lose any comrades. Right?"

Danzō huffed in response, letting all the bad air out of his mouth and nose as a frustrated sigh. Since this was for the sake of the squad and not just himself, it wasn't worth it to argue. Annoying as it was, Hiruzen had made the right call in saving him from the explosion. He just wished he hadn't made such a big deal over it: like some hero rushing in to save a terrified damsel.

At least he could see his teammates again. They were hurrying over: trying their best to hide the fact they were worried sick. "Kagami! Torifu! Are you guys alright?"

"Yeah, somewhat," Torifu grunted. He'd been through worse. Out of all of them, he was the only one Danzō believed was truly unfazed.

Kagami smiled at him, but said nothing. Not a single curl on his dark head was out of place.

Another quick, relieved sigh left Danzō's lips. 'At least I can account for my team. We didn't lose anyone.' But now he had to wonder if the same held true for Hiruzen and his team.

Compared to the others, Homura and Koharu were mediocre at best. Danzō had the superior squad, but that wasn't going to count for much. Hiruzen was one of those gifted wunderkind who could make up for his team's shortcomings through his own talents. Those two didn't have to be great in order to function. So long as they had a high performer like their teammate in their group, they could coast through most missions without having to even lift a finger.

For a brief moment, he wondered if losing them would even be a bad thing. If they didn't have to worry about those two being captured by the enemy, they could focus on everyone who actually pulled their weight. The only thing that snapped him out of his thoughts was Kagami's response to Hiruzen.

"There's too many of the enemy! What should we do?" Before Danzō could open his mouth to make a recommendation, Kagami threw out one more word: Hiruzen. He'd sooner ask for Hiruzen's opinion.

A fist clenched.

"Let's regroup with the Nidaime," Hiruzen proposed. He'd only taken a couple seconds to decide the group's next course of action. He rushed ahead of everyone else, knowing precisely where to go.

Danzō remained in the very back: putting as much distance between Hiruzen and himself as possible. "...tch."

...

Team Tobirama and Danzō's escort unit met at a rally point beneath one of the largest cypress trees. This whole time, Koharu and Homura had remained at their mentor's side: never daring to go too far out of range. Danzō called them out on that exact same bullshit two days ago. They hadn't fucking learned.

Homura stammered, insisting he and Koharu stayed behind to protect the Nidaime. Danzō didn't buy that for an instant. They wanted Tobirama to protect them, not the other way around.

'Useless,' he thought. 'We should have taken Inuzuka Kariudo or Yamanaka Hanako. At least with an Inuzuka, we'd know precisely how many enemies are hanging out in the woods.' Yet all they had to go by were Tobirama's sensor abilities.

The Hokage's fingers touched the earth. He closed his eyes, feeling the chakra of those nearby. Everything rumbled: like thunder coming from the earth rather than the sky. Those low, ominous booms were something Danzō could feel even in his bones. It took a while for Tobirama to respond. When he did, his words didn't bode well for the group.

"We're surrounded. There's...there's about twenty of them…"

In Danzō's eyes, Senju Tobirama was practically a god on earth: a force of nature compared to the mere mortals who made up the rest of the Hidden Leaf. A man had to be truly formidable to hold the Hokage seat, and their honored Lord Second made his brother's ideals more realistic and attainable.

Tobirama wasn't a revolutionary. He was evolutionary: improving the skills of those below him by inventing and documenting new jutsu at breakneck speed. Every shinobi close to Tobirama had him to thank for many of their signature techniques. He could drown a man in the desert, his suiton technique was so strong.

But most important of all, Tobirama always came out triumphant. Always.

"Judging from their pursuit skills, I'm guessing they're from Kumogakure…most likely from the Kinkaku Squad."

'Should have picked the Inuzuka,' Danzō thought again, giving Homura another unimpressed glance.

Homura faked a smile at him, not even attempting to look sincere. "Counting you, Hokage-sama, there's only seven of us."

Seven against twenty. Those were almost three against one odds in the enemy's favor. Goddammit.

"Homura!" Koharu's nails dug into her teammate's thigh. "Where do you think such a weak attitude will get us?!"

'That's mighty big talk for someone who's been hiding under the Nidaime's skirt this whole time, Koharu.' Danzō kept that remark to himself, if only because he wanted to see where this was going to go. Koharu had it in her to boss Homura around without much fight back. Whatever she decided to do, Homura would do. If she told him to jump, he'd ask how high.

"They still don't know our exact location. Not yet. Right now, we should consider breaking through them with an ambush ploy and escape."

Danzō was about to say that was the stupidest thing he ever heard, but Kagami beat him to it. "That's impossible! Our only viable choice is to have someone act as a decoy and draw their attention."

They all knew it. Kagami was right. And out of the whole lot, Kagami would be the absolute worst choice to sacrifice for the sake of the mission.

As an Uchiha, he was the only one to hail from a clan whose ability could be transferred to someone else. The thought of Kagami's body being dragged off and scrapped for parts by a Cloud Ninja was unacceptable. So, naturally, he would be the one to suggest a decoy plan.

Torifu turned his head away from Kagami, unable to look at his teammate. Danzō noticed the beads of sweat building on the Akimichi's moon-like face. "A decoy?" Torifu's mouth turned into a long, flat line. "That's a suicide mission. Who's it gonna be?"

'In other words, Torifu; you aren't volunteering, either. It can't be Kagami and you're not willing.' Had he been in Tobirama's position, Danzō would have reviewed the worth of each person's skill set and chosen the most expendable: probably Koharu.

'But a weakling could talk. I wouldn't put it past either one of them to crack under torture, which would be devastating for us. This is bigger than the seven of us. This is bigger than Lord Second. This is for the village. Our decision could change the outcome of the entire war.'

His face felt hot, but chills shot through his body. Danzō's heart beat in his chest so hard and fast that his lungs ached. It was like a trapped red bird, pleading to be set free. He just hoped and prayed no one in the group noticed his worry. It was unbecoming of a shinobi to advertise his feelings for all the world to see.

'I'm a shinobi. I've decided to die on the battlefield, as is fitting for what I am.' He didn't want to do this, but he could. Every shinobi had to be prepared to sacrifice himself for a mission: no matter how much he valued his life.

Yet as he had these thoughts, his eyes kept going back toward Hiruzen. What was he thinking right now? Did he have that kind of resolve? It was one thing to throw a friend out of harm's way and look out for the team, but another to throw one's life away.

Hiruzen had a mother at home who adored him, as well as many other friends outside of this group. People loved being around him. He was upbeat, friendly, charming, handsome, and usually good-spirited. If anything fun was transpiring in the village, Hiruzen honed in on it as though it were a beacon. Someone like that deserved to go home.

So why couldn't Danzō raise his hand? Why did it tremble, refusing to leave his thigh? 'I'm going to say it. I have to! It HAS to be me!' And yet the damned hand stayed in place: nails digging in until it hurt. When he took his pants off later to bathe, he'd see five tiny bruises from where his fingertips pushed too hard into his flesh. 'Why?! I want to do it, so why!?'

"...I'll do it."

His heart froze, but the trembling stopped.

"Sarutobi!"

"Hiruzen, you—"

"Don't worry." It was that same smile: the same one Hiruzen had made when he'd asked Danzō if he was alright. That smile said it all: if it meant making sure no comrade got left behind, he was willing to die. "Not to brag, but I'm the one best suited among us."

He'd thought about Koharu and Homura's incompetence. He'd considered the risk of Kagami's sharingan being stolen. He'd noticed Torifu's unwillingness to throw his life away. And, nauseatingly enough, he probably shared similar thoughts about his best friend that Danzō shared about him.

A little bit of vomit crawled up Danzō's throat. He forced himself to swallow the bile back down, as well as all his bitter feelings, when Hiruzen's smile only grew. "I'm not gonna die."

The shaking had stopped, but something much worse had taken its place: a horrid realization that he, Danzō of the proud and powerful Shimura Clan, was a goddamn coward. Somewhere in his heart, he felt relief. With this one inaction; everything he built up for himself to this point, every sacrifice and technique, was moot. There would never be another opportunity like this, at least not with the people for whom he wished he could show off. Just once, only once, he—

That hand was on his back again. Most of it had only managed to touch Danzō's armor, but he could feel the tips of Hiruzen's index and middle fingers brush against the back of his neck. It tickled his dark hair, some of which was still standing up from that frightful moment. This close, Hiruzen knew. He'd felt every goosebump.

"I'm leaving everyone to you now, Danzō. I'm sure you can—"

"SHUT UP!" Danzō didn't just slap the hand. He pushed Hiruzen away, livid. "I was going to raise my hand! Stop acting so cool by yourself! I'LL be the decoy!"

Hiruzen's eyes grew wide, not appreciative of this sacrifice. Maybe he wasn't doing this for the glory after all. Maybe he really did choose this because his friend meant more to him than his own life did. And that was how they differed. Hiruzen's priorities weren't in the right order. He cared about the individual more than the group.

"My father...and grandfather...they died in battle, like true shinobi. Self-sacrifice is a shinobi's duty!" So why was it that he felt so much smaller with every word? All eyes were on him: more in horror and pity than anything else. Neither of those things were anything he wanted.

"Obviously..." Tobirama broke up the conversation. "I'll be the decoy. You are the young flames that will continue to protect the village with your Will of Fire."

Was he mad, insane, or just suicidal!? "You can't do that! You're the HOKAGE! There is no shinobi in the village more important than you!"

And what did Tobirama expect to happen when he died? Hadn't the village already been through enough grief with one Hokage's death? The internal battle would begin anew: with qualified shinobi who felt entitled to the role scrambling and fighting over who should lead next.

So many good men died last time. His father died last time, as had Hiruzen's. It was a bloodbath and the worst chapter in Konoha's history. What transpired after Senju Hashirama's death was even worse than Uchiha Madara's assault.

This was the first time Tobirama had ever made a mistake in front of Danzō, but it also made him realize something disheartening. He thought like Hiruzen.

"Danzō..." Tobirama's pink eyes narrowed upon the young man. "You're always competing with Saru over something, aren't you?" Saru. His pet name for Hiruzen. Something he'd called him since their academy days. "What we need right now is to unite as comrades and work together. Don't mix personal affairs into this."

The trembling returned, this time in rage rather than sorrow. His teeth clenched so tightly that they hurt.

"The truth is your decision was too slow. You must first take a calm look within yourself to find out who you really are."

A coward. A jealous little coward.

"Right now, you'll just put everyone at risk." Those same words, he'd reserved for Koharu and Homura. This man dared use them on him? He was that useless?! "Regardless, Danzō, Saru...there's no need to hurry to death at your age. That time will come soon enough. In the meantime, hold onto your lives."

So he would. He would never forgive Tobirama for these final words, but he'd follow orders. If Tobirama wanted him to hold onto his life and improve, he would do so. The next time he had an opening like this, he wouldn't hesitate. He wouldn't be second place forever: eternally condemned to hide in Hiruzen's shadow. He'd—

"Saru?" Tobirama stood, resigned to his fate. "Protect those who love the village and those who believe in you. And take care of those you will entrust the next generation to. Starting tomorrow...you'll be Hokage. Saru, I'm leaving Konoha to you."

…

The Kinkaku Squad was neutralized with no bodies moving from the obliterated field. This Pyrrhic victory came at the cost of the Second Hokage's life, but their greatest threat was no longer an issue. Senju Tobirama's final sacrifice to his older brother's great dream would be Sarutobi Hiruzen's first triumph in his new role. Despite all odds, the First Great Shinobi War would turn in Konoha's favor.

"Everyone's accounted for on the enemy side," Torifu remarked. "Twenty in total, almost all appear to be dead." He reached for a kunai and took a deep breath. "It could be a trap, though. Someone could be playing dead."

Kagami activated his sharingan, scanning the area. "Torifu's right. There's five injured out there. With medical care, I think a couple of them could live. The other three...there's no way. They're dying."

"Let them die, then." Danzō took the kunai out of Torifu's hand and took a step forward. "We only need one of them." His teammates stared at him in disbelief and horror; watching as he recklessly threw himself into the ugly aftermath. There was no talk of backups or teamwork. This was reckless abandon: something they had never seen in him. Danzō was usually their strategist, but grief could bring out the worst in people.

"Has he gone mad?" Koharu whispered, leaning on Torifu. "What's wrong with him?"

"How long have you known him, Koharu?" Torifu asked. "Eighteen years, like me? Or did you know him before we started Academy?" He didn't give her time to answer. "Don't you think that's enough time to know exactly which buttons to push to set him off?"

Koharu's mouth opened, but her words came out garbled and incoherent. She sat upon the ruined, muddy earth and watched as this man she'd always seen as calm, confident, and self-disciplined turned into a completely different person. She feared this new Danzō: this cold, unfeeling, untouchable creature who wore her old friend's beautiful face.

Judging from the fact Homura didn't go out there to stop him or even say anything to make him quit, he clearly agreed with her. "This is bad. Is this..." Her eyes went wide. "Torifu, you don't think this is because Tobirama-sensei named Hiruzen instead of—"

"Say something if you're alive!" Danzō called out, stealing a sword from one of the corpses. "If you are, it might be your lucky day! We'll be taking one of you with us. And if you comply, your life might be spared!"

A shrill, inhuman laugh left his throat. It was a noise none of them had ever heard him make before. "There's no need to hurry to death!" It was a horrid mockery of Tobirama's words. "That time will come soon anyway!"

He kicked a corpse. "Are you alive?" No answer. He slit the dead woman's throat. "And you?" Silence. Another slit throat. "What about you?"

Unable to stomach watching his friend's self-destruction progress any further; Torifu rushed after Danzō and slapped the rusted weapon out of his comrade's hand. "What the fuck is wrong with you!? Just because the Hokage didn't pick you, you're—"

"Torifu." Danzō narrowed his eyes. The blood-stained sword trembled in his shaking hand. "Answer me honestly. Do we need more than one prisoner? If not, then let me do this." He could barely hold the sword straight. It quivered with rage. "For heaven's sake, just let me be useful for once and actually do something!"

Torifu gave his friend's chest a strong push. Danzō lost his balance and fell on a corpse. At least, he thought it was a corpse until the man groaned. "That's not my call to make, Danzō. It's the Hokage's." Danzō bitterly pointed to the only familiar blood-soaked corpse out of the entire lot. "Not him, asshole. Hiruzen."

But Hiruzen was too busy looking at his teacher's body. There were over eighteen different entry wounds from spears, long blades, and other weapons. A shuriken was lodged in Tobirama's right eye socket. Judging from how much drier that blood was, his eye was one of the first injuries. The white fur on Tobirama's armor was soaked crimson, along with some of his hair. Hiruzen placed his teacher's head upon his lap and began working to remove the weapons.

"I heard everything," he called out. "Danzō? If going on the rampage right now will get it out of your system; then by all means, continue. Choose a hostage and kill the rest."

…

Danzō chose the smallest of the survivors: a twelve-year-old girl he suspected would crack under pressure. All they had to do was keep her restrained and alive up until they turned her over to Torture & Interrogation.

Kagami made a fire so the squad could cook their rations. Although everyone tried their best to ignore Tobirama's corpse, it proved impossible. Every few seconds, Koharu's eyes returned to the blood-stained burlap sack they made the Kumo ninja place around Tobirama, and she lost her composure. At the edge of the campground, Danzō heard her weeping into Homura's chest.

"We should have gone through with my ambush plan!" she sobbed. "They didn't know how many of us there were. Sensei...sensei had that Kage Bunshin jutsu. We could have made up the difference and..."

"Ssssssh." Homura stroked Koharu's hair, doing his best to reassure her that everything would somehow be fine. It had come out of the double-buns Koharu always tied so neatly. She'd tried to copy Senju Toka's hairstyle, but never could figure out how the topknot worked. Her chestnut-brown locks fell to the small of her waist, catching light from the campfire. "Ssssssh...it doesn't matter now."

"Of course it does! He's dead! He—"

"He would want you to be quiet," Danzō interrupted, poking the fire with a stick. Nobody else had the nerve to tell the grieving kunoichi to shut up. Judging from the slow nod Kagami gave him, at least he was thinking the same thing. "If you bawl too loudly, you'll give away our location."

Koharu glared at him, eyes puffy and cheeks red. Her lips pursed into a flat line, though her hands continued to tremble. The way her fingers curled like dead spiders, Danzō strongly suspected Koharu was fantasizing about strangling him.

"Do you want to scream at me, Koharu?" That took her aback. "I don't care if you do, but it'll have to wait until we return." Until all of them returned. "Unless you want to join Lord Second. I'm sure we packed a second sack, just in case." The hysterics began all over again, but devolved into much quieter and more acceptable whimpers.

Hiruzen's hand heavily thumped onto Danzō's shoulder, fingers digging into the flak vest. "Cut her some slack, would you?" The kettle on the fire started to whistle, indicating its contents were ready to pour and share. He reached to divide the rations evenly between the six with the small leftover quantity going to their prisoner. "We just lost our mentor. You and the rest of Konoha lost your Hokage. We lost a good friend, a teacher, a second father figure—"

"What about Shinobi Rule #25?" Danzō interrupted. "Hm? A shinobi must never show their tears." He craned his head back to look at Koharu again. "You need to get a hold of yourself. If you can't even follow the basic rules, you're doing your teacher's memory a disservice."

Koharu threw a kunai. Torifu caught it, giving her a warning glare. "I know you're upset. That's why we'll give you a pass this time. And you..." He now turned his disappointed face toward Danzō. "You need to calm down, too. You scared the shit out of us earlier."

"What are you talking about? I am calm." As calm as he could be: outwardly placid, internally seething. Hiruzen had been right in his judgment call earlier in letting Danzō continue the carnage. It did soothe the nerves. He felt calm again.

Had everyone here only been passing acquaintances rather than people he'd known for almost his entire life, nobody would have doubted his words. But they knew him: from Homura to Torifu, they knew him.

"Liar." Kagami exhaled slowly, letting his shoulders slouch. "I don't even need to use my sharingan to know when you're lying. You're upset, too."

"At least I'm not crying."

"No. You're sulking, and that's just as counterproductive."

Danzō got up, took his food, and decided to eat beside the prisoner instead. When he gave her a kick for good measure, he at least was able take solace in one thing. She was trembling now, not him.

…

Everyone was at their worst: tired, grieving, bitter, and uncertain of what future awaited them when they returned. It was now their third consecutive day with once-a-day meals, soldier pills, no sleep, and Tobirama's corpse. He wasn't getting any fresher. Not even the delicate smell of springtime flowers could mask the scent of decay.

The last time Danzō looked at the bag, it appeared larger than before. 'He's starting to bloat,' he realized. 'Another day or two at these temperatures and he'll rupture.'

"I can't believe I went this long without losing anyone close to me," Koharu confessed. "I still have both my parents. All my friends are alive and well. I never...I didn't think the first person I'd lose would be my sensei."

"Me either," Homura chimed in. He'd grown up in a single-parent home his entire life: just his father and himself. "I didn't even see a corpse until I was seventeen. Outside of funerals, of course..."

"My first was my father," Hiruzen confessed. "After Lord First died, my father ran for Hokage." Danzō's father had done that, too. "But then all hell broke loose. My father's dreams became so rotten that he poisoned himself. Everyone suspected the Yamanaka Clan of foul play."

"Suspected?" Torifu snorted. "Please. We all know Yamanaka Osamu made his sister do it and lobotomized her to cover his tracks. Yanagi was nothing short of a witch."

The bad dreams...Danzō remembered those dreams. His father died in that chaos, too, spending his final moments trying to protect Lady Mito. He reached to touch the X-shaped scar on his chin, remembering what a half-asleep trance made his father do to him. The scar went down to the bone and had taken months to heal. Despite his mother's warnings that picking at it would make it worse, the wound got infected.

"My mother used to carry me on her back when she went to war." Before Danzō could tell Torifu how impressive he found that, the Akimichi continued. "Mind you, I don't remember any of that. I was a baby. The first death I actually remember witnessing..." His head turned toward Kagami. "I think it was your first, too. It was that time a guy from your clan tried to stop Lord Second from becoming Hokage."

"Oh, yeah..." Kagami slowly nodded. "One of Tenjin's sons. I remember Nidaime-sama made him pick between the two who participated and survived. One got a long prison sentence. The other got a public execution. We went together. Danzō, you went, too."

"I know." Danzō sipped some of the hot water. They had boiled it for sanitation purposes, but it still tasted like he'd imagine sewage to taste. "But that wasn't my first experience with death.

"I was five-and-a-half. My grandfather was invited to gamble with the First Hokage and wanted to take me along. The plan was for me to keep track of how many times the dice hit a certain number because my grandfather suspected they were loaded. I sat on his lap, eager to help, and pointed out that every third roll, the dice struck nine.

"So, naturally, he bet on nine every third round and held off the other two. The den owner caught on and waited until Lord First left for the bathroom to confront my grandfather. An altercation happened. Without even getting up or moving me out of the way, my grandfather stabbed the man in the chest."

Everyone stared at him, faces turning white. They all knew that Danzō's grandfather outlived both of his parents. His father was decapitated in a fight when Danzō was eleven. His mother died from a brain aneurysm two years later: leaving him orphaned by thirteen. After that, his grandfather checked in on him once every two weeks until Danzō reached adulthood.

They knew the old man: cold, ruthless, and well-disciplined in the old ways. He'd died in combat only a year ago: back when the war first started. Everyone feared him and Hiruzen in particular had concerns about his influence over his friend. With only that old man for familial support, Danzō changed drastically.

He used to be a somewhat sensitive boy who liked fancy teas, painting, and keeping journals. The more time he spent with his grandfather, the less he outwardly advertised those hobbies. He became more withdrawn. More serious. Hiruzen couldn't even remember the last time he'd genuinely laughed out of joy.

"The man gurgled for a few seconds," Danzō continued. "I think that's what they call a death rattle. Then he—"

"ENOUGH!" Koharu scooted closer to Torifu this time, leaning on him. "Just stop talking!"

…

Upon their return to Konohagakure, Koharu and Homura wasted no time leaving the group to see their families. Koharu's parents rushed to their useless daughter: scooping her into their arms and allowing her to have a good cry. No wonder she broke the rules. Her parents were overly permissive softies who treated a woman in her mid-twenties like she was still a little girl.

"It's going to be weird to break the news to my clan," Kagami whispered to Danzō. "I told you what Setsuna tried to pull a couple of years ago, right?" Danzō nodded. "As many problems as they had with the First Hokage, most of the clan were relatively fine with him. Lord Second, not so much."

Danzō was well aware. The most popular rumor regarding Uchiha Madara's betrayal was that he went on the rampage when he discovered Tobirama was the popular choice for Hashirama's next-in-line. For the first time, he could somewhat sympathize.

'But I'm not like Madara. No part of me would ever betray this village. If Hiruzen truly is what's best for Konoha, then I'll support him. If he proves to be incompetent, then I'll make my move. Whatever I do, the village must benefit. It was entrusted to me, too...'

When Tobirama became Hokage, some members of the Uchiha Clan worried that the position could turn into a Senju dynasty. Some even accused him of conspiring with the Yamanaka Clan to murder their candidate.

Uchiha Setsuna, who once held a rank as the co-captain of the Konohagakure Military Police Force (and therefore carried as much political clout as the clan head), tried to stage an assassination plot a couple of years later. Fortunately for Tobirama, the Uchiha head was an insecure woman who recognized her reign would be cut short if Setsuna became her clan's mouthpiece.

Recognizing it was in the Uchiha Clan's best interest to distance themselves from Setsuna and his treachery, Kazusa aligned herself with her Hokage and betrayed one of her best and brightest. Setsuna became her sacrifice: proof of Uchiha's loyalty to Konoha.

But from Danzō's perspective, that didn't make Uchiha Kazusa patriotic so much as it made her pragmatic. She and the Inuzuka head, Kariudo, weren't that much older than Danzō himself. They'd ascended to leadership as very young adults. Someone that inexperienced needed an older adult's support or they'd make mistakes. Kazusa knew that. She made the right choice.

"I'm guessing there's going to be a lot of rejoicing among the Uchiha now that the Nidaime's dead?" Danzō watched as Kagami frowned and slowly nodded his head. "I see. How do you feel, Kagami?"

"Do you even have to ask me that? How long have we known each other?" Kagami was taken aback by the question. "I may be an Uchiha, but I consider myself to be a member of this village first and foremost. He was my Hokage, too. I would have given my life for him if commanded to do so, whether I liked him or not."

'I tried. I couldn't raise my goddamn hand.'

"Danzō, I thought you knew me better than to think I'd rejoice in losing a—"

Danzō placed his hands on his comrade's shoulders, looking him right in his black eyes. "I promise I wasn't questioning your loyalty, Kagami. Lord Second was lucky to have someone like you. I'm lucky to have someone like you."

"And now Hiruzen..." Kagami sighed. "Poor Hiruzen. He's going to need all the help he can get."

"That's why I'm having this conversation with you." Danzō leaned in, placing his mouth so close to Kagami's ear that the Uchiha could feel his teammate's lips brush against him. "None of us want a repeat of what happened when Lord First died. Let's make sure all of us are on the same page with the same goal in mind."

Kagami nodded, but this didn't feel completely right. In his heart, he had to worry. "You'll have this same talk with Torifu, I presume?"

"Of course. Maybe after he delivers the prisoner to Torture & Interrogation. I don't want Yamanaka Osamu to be the first person I talk to about official matters now that we're home." Hiruzen would deliver Tobirama's body to the morgue. He insisted on being the one to do that, loyal student that he was. Nobody would deprive him of his chance to say goodbye in private, alone, before the funeral. "I have my own task."

"Oh?"

"Don't you think Tobirama's next of kin needs to be notified of his death?"

'Tobirama. Not the Hokage.' That slip of the tongue didn't go unnoticed. "Right...we'll talk later..."