Hiruzen doesn't give in to the urge to follow Kagami covertly, but it's a near thing - beaten out only by the knowledge that Kagami would almost certainly catch him, as he always does.
He, Danzō, and Torifu are the sneaky ones, of the six of them. Team Jiraiya can do stealth, but they're a frontline team, meant to be up front and center causing the most damage and wreaking havoc on the battlefield. Team Orochimaru are the ones who strike from the shadows, taking advantage of the distraction to deal a devastating blow or slip away to complete the objective themselves. It's why they're often teamed up together on missions. Each makes up for what the other lacks, and they're brutally efficient in doing so.
Hiruzen stares blankly in the direction where his best friend has just disappeared to - toward the Uchiha Compound - concerned and unsettled and feeling none of that competence.
Kagami had been trembling.
It would be understandable if it were an aftereffect of the panic attack, but Kagami has shaken off worse before. His hands are always steady, even if his heart is in turmoil. But he had been trembling throughout their entire conversation. Nothing Hiruzen had said or done had gotten him to truly relax. The only reason he hadn't asked for an explanation was because Kagami clearly hadn't wanted to talk about it, and Hiruzen had gotten the feeling that if he'd pushed him…it might have made things worse.
Like an improperly tempered sword. Strike one time too many, and you risk shattering the blade. As it is, there are new cracks in him, new weak points Hiruzen had overlooked until Kagami's attack had laid them bare.
With a huff, Hiruzen pulls himself out of his troubled thoughts and gets going. Standing here staring longingly after Kagami like some heroine in Jiraiya-sensei's books won't magically help either of them - least of all because the last thing Hiruzen wants out of whatever this is, is some trashy romance with his basically-a-brother.
Koharu gives him a look when Hiruzen shows up late and alone, but he just shrugs apologetically at her. "Kagami had another Clan meeting," he says, smile strained.
The genin are already hard at work, sparring in some kind of vicious free-for-all, and he spots the resemblance immediately as Koharu's little terror of a child lands a truly devastating kick on one of the boys. Hiruzen winces in sympathy.
Koharu frowns, taking in Hiruzen's emotional state and quickly coming to the same conclusion Hiruzen had. "About Orochimaru-sama?" She asks, displeased. Never one to suffer fools, Koharu has even less patience for those attempting to disrespect a senior shinobi - much less a distinguished jounin who has accomplished plenty in the name of protecting Konoha and making it strong.
"Seems like it," he says, because he's not entirely sure. Kagami hadn't agreed, now that he thinks back on it. Hiruzen had just assumed, but… Koharu quirks a finely sculpted brow at him, and Hiruzen lasts maybe a millisecond before he caves. "I don't know. I think there might be something else going on. He had a panic attack, which isn't that unusual, but it was… He was acting like he'd just come off of a really bad mission."
There's no other way to describe it. One minute, he'd been joking and laughing, brimming with humor as he recounted a story about Danzō slipping up during a spar. The next, he had put his hands around his neck, and his eyes had flashed red as his breathing got more and more erratic. He had then instinctively ducked into the nearest alleyway and huddled against the wall, and Hiruzen had followed at a reasonable distance, wary.
He had only attempted to talk Kagami down once he'd ascertained that it wouldn't get him a kunai to the neck. It wouldn't have been the first time. All shinobi are dangerous, but none more so than when they can't trust their own senses. They can't tell friend from foe, so the situation needs to be handled delicately.
Luckily, however, Kagami had eventually recognized Hiruzen's voice and allowed him to help. He'd then regained his senses fairly quickly afterwards, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Hiruzen wouldn't have let him out of his sight otherwise.
But the problem is that that wasn't a typical panic attack, one triggered by whatever ridiculous sound or scent or sight that your body has now decided will fuck you up, forever. No, it was Kagami recognizing he was safe and finally allowing himself to react to what had happened to him. Hiruzen has witnessed the same reaction time and again, during the war and after, and can be reasonably sure of the difference.
But what had happened? How could it have happened? As far as he knew, Kagami had been on leave from his last mission. It's why Hiruzen had assumed he'd be available. Danzō has yet to return from Uzushio - and likely won't until Yondaime sends another squad to relieve him - and Torifu is attending a Clan ceremony, which Hiruzen had taken to mean a party between the Akimichi, Nara, and Yamanaka where they all got to fool around and eat restaurant-quality food but didn't have to invite the other Clans.
(No one has that many ceremonies, not even the Hyuuga, and they always seemed to coincide with known festivals. And besides! If they were original-alliance-only, then why had Kagami been allowed to attend a few times? No, Hiruzen isn't jealous. He's just curious, okay?)
Koharu glances around and then - in a casual gesture that no one not looking for it would recognize - signs ANBU with a flick of her hand that indicates a question. Her eyes also dart to the ground for a split second before meeting his meaningfully, and Hiruzen knows she doesn't mean regular ANBU.
(Having a specific sign for the secret corps that isn't supposed to exist would rather defeat the point.)
Hiruzen will defend Orochimaru to the end, with all of the loyalty and devotion he reserves for all Konoha shinobi because they are comrades, and the Will of Fire burns within all of them. He also truly believes that no one who Kagami trusts so implicitly could possibly turn against the village he loves so furiously.
In that vein, ROOT is not, as some would argue, an organization created to undermine the Hokage. Hiruzen doesn't know him as well as Kagami or his Team, but Orochimaru has never struck him as the type to betray those he allows close to him. Like some great big snake, like a dragon, he hoards his precious people and puts his considerable intellect and power to use almost entirely to protect them and keep them close. Thus, Hiruzen has never questioned the creation of a secret organization led by Orochimaru because he knows it was - as the man himself has said - meant to strengthen Tsunade's position and be an extension of her power.
One need look no further than the fact that its members are sworn to follow the Hokage's orders above all else to see that. Kagami, as one of its premier members (though Hiruzen technically isn't supposed to know that), is a prime example: He reports to Tsunade about ROOT in Orochimaru's place. Nothing that goes on in Konoha's shadows is truly secret.
All that is to say, Koharu's guess that ROOT might be the cause of Kagami's distress isn't coming from nowhere. Neither of them are ROOT, nor are they privy to its missions. But they have heard things from reliable sources (i.e. Kagami and Danzō themselves) and thus deduced that ROOT missions can be even darker than the darkest of ANBU missions. There is a reason for all the secrecy and subterfuge.
They've all been on missions that fucked them up, afterward. They've all got some thing from which they'll never recover. Scars that will never heal. And they cope in what ways they can.
Homura gets night terrors that make sleep impossible some nights, so he simply forgoes sleep and continues working. Torifu refuses to let anyone go hungry, Kagami most especially, because of that time they got captured in Grass. Danzō grasps as much control as he can in a world that is so often unpredictable. Koharu works herself to death training, until she is the deadliest thing in any given room. Hiruzen smokes, like his father before him, and Kagami immerses himself in the people he loves, plays with Konoha's children to remind himself of what they're all fighting to protect, smiles constantly to keep spirits up, to fool himself, maybe.
Hiruzen is usually pretty good at spotting when his friends need more than that. He's ashamed he didn't notice anything until Kagami had an attack right in front of him.
"There was…" Hiruzen recalls, contemplative. "Orochimaru-sama sent an urgent summons to Kagami two weeks ago. Apparently, they discovered something in Taki."
Koharu frowns. "In Taki?" She looks out at her genin - who have abandoned the free-for-all and have instead broken into factions, the two boys against the girl - thoughtful. "Kagami just got back from a mission in Oto two days ago."
Taki and Oto share a border, goes unsaid.
They share another look.
"Sensei is supposed to be dropping by the village tomorrow, at the earliest," she says, a non-sequitur, but Hiruzen easily follows her train of thought.
If anyone were to know what's going on, it would be Jiraiya. Not only is he Konoha's spymaster, but he's got ties to both Tsunade and Orochimaru via their genin team. Even if he doesn't know all the details, he surely has some ideas. Whether he'll be willing to impart any of that information to his students depends on both its severity and his mood, but even if he refuses, that will be confirmation enough that something is afoot. Not that Jiraiya coming back at all isn't suspicious - not after Tsunade happened to take a good look at Icha Icha and realized it was a poorly-veiled erotic fantasy about her.
"I wasn't sure we'd ever see him again," Hiruzen muses, grinning. "Whatever he's found out must be serious if Sensei isn't afraid Tsunade-sama will castrate him the moment he sets foot in the village."
Or he's just willing to risk her wrath. Jiraiya-sensei's a bit of an idiot that way. Always has been, when it comes to Tsunade.
"Hokage-sama is too magnanimous," Koharu says, with an unimpressed scoff. She might also have been one of the reasons Jiraiya had made sure to keep a few nations between him and them at all times.
Hiruzen laughs, inwardly sweating and unspeakably glad he's never flaunted his own interest in Icha Icha Paradise. No, that is a secret he will be taking to his grave - lest he join Jiraiya in fleeing his own village. That would be unbecoming of the future Godaime. Tsunade might make Danzō Hokage just to spite him. "Ten years isn't too late for a kunoichi's revenge," he reminds her, throwing his own sensei under the cart with no remorse.
"Ten years, ten months." Koharu shrugs with a terrible smirk. "Depends on when his paranoia no longer amuses me."
Hiruzen mentally lights a candle for his perverted sensei and moves on from the topic before Koharu sniffs out the truth. "Looks like your little terror won," he comments on the kids, who have finally determined a winner. The girl stands victorious over the collapsed boys, grin just as terrible as her sensei's.
"Minions!" Koharu calls, sharp, and the three genin snap to attention before hurrying over. They stand in a uniform line, eying Hiruzen with no little curiosity and interest. "This is my genin teammate, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Introduce yourselves."
The girl goes first - because of course she does - fiery red hair falling out of her twin buns and the rest of her covered in dirt and grime from the spar. She performs a perfect bow nonetheless, and her tone and expression are respectful. "My name is Mito Uzumaki. It is a pleasure to meet you, Sarutobi-sama."
The boy with brown hair in a bowl cut goes next, enthusiasm practically radiating from his megawatt smile. "My name is Hashirama Senju, and I'm so pleased to finally meet you, Sarutobi-sama!" He sounds it, too, vibrating in place like a puppy, which is totally not at all making Hiruzen want to coo at him.
Lastly, the boy with spiky black hair says, with visible impatience, "My name is Madara Uchiha. Nice to meet you." His carefully measured tone is betrayed by the fire in his eyes and his twitching as he tries not to bounce in place. Hiruzen recognizes the Uchiha's patented I'm-definitely-not-interested-How-dare-you-presume-otherwise face - Kagami's name for it, not his - but this baby Uchiha is going to need a few more years before he perfects it. As it is, Hiruzen knows a kid spoiling for a fight when he sees one.
"Likewise," he responds, amused. He snorts when Madara catches Koharu's disapproval and grimaces, but he waves off the inevitable mumbled apology. "Koharu's a tough taskmaster, but she'll make you into badass little ninja like her if you let her. They don't call her the Contaminator for nothing."
Koharu rolls her eyes, aggrieved. "Again with that dreadful name."
"The Contaminator?" Mito repeats, losing some of her poise to childish enthusiasm. "Why do they call you that?"
"Because she kicks ass, obviously," Madara chimes in, looking much more interested in his sensei now that he knows she has a fearsome reputation.
"Because she kicks ass," Hiruzen agrees, smiling at Koharu's annoyance. Not much gets under her skin, but she hates her nickname with a passion. "Come on, Koharu, you got a page in the Bingo Book before the rest of us. Be proud!"
"That's amazing, Koharu-sensei!" Hashirama gushes, stars in his eyes. Where did they dig this kid out from? His exuberance could rival Itama's- Ah wait, yeah, he had a brother around this age, didn't he? Makes sense. Only someone related to Itama could be so… this.
Koharu shoots Hiruzen a glare that promises retribution later then levels it at her students, who shut up and stand stock still. Their instincts aren't bad. "Mito won. Why?" Madara opens his mouth, indignant, but Koharu cuts him off. "Hashirama. You go first."
Madara huffs and crosses his arms, offended. Mito smiles, apparently finding her new teammate funny. And Hashirama jumps to answer Koharu while she offers criticism, cycling through emotions on each end of the scale in an exhausting loop that has Hiruzen itching for a cigarette by the end of it.
Damn Kagami for making him do this alone.
After eating, Kagami takes stock of the entire house. It is, as he is beginning to anticipate, at least in regards to himself, almost identical to his own. Maybe there are a few superficial differences, things that can be attributed to the different time period such as better made weapons and clothing (and a book series written by Hiruzen's sensei, which is best left in the untouched state he'd found it in), but overall, he finds that everything is where he expects it to be. It's both reassuring and entirely unhelpful when it comes to figuring anything out.
Next, he inspects his body, and that's where things get interesting. Inked meticulously on the nape of his neck is a rather peculiar seal. He makes a clone to get a better look, flashing his Sharingan as he does, but Kagami's no seal master. Unlike Mito, he can't take one glance and deduce its purpose. He doesn't recognize it, however, which at least eliminates a few options. Some of the stuff the Uzumaki could do with fūinjutsu was downright frightening, and Mito was all too happy to make him squirm by explaining the horrifying consequences in intricate detail. He's glad not to be on the wrong (or even right) end of one of hers.
It's not a storage seal, either, which is one of the only seals he can replicate with ease. None of the right characters for it. Honestly, it most resembles Tobirama's Hiraishin, even if only faintly. He can make out that it has something to do with time and space, but whether it's just an upgraded marker for his Sensei's jutsu (or a variation of it) or something entirely different is beyond him. All he can do for now is memorize it with his Sharingan and look into it later, along with everything else.
To that end, he steps out into the streets of the Clan Compound again and takes to wandering aimlessly, cataloging each new face and familiarizing himself with his surroundings. The Compound is much bigger than he remembers, and it spills out into Konoha proper, Uchiha homes and storefronts integrated seamlessly with civilian and various other Clan properties in a way that suggests unity better than any history book could. He even catches Uchiha chatting amiably with their neighbors, shinobi and civilians alike, none of the cool suspicion and veiled hostility he's used to, no fear.
This is what Kagami had been working towards back in his own time - first with Tobirama and later, Hiruzen. There had been wariness on all sides when the village had just been established, especially between the Senju and Uchiha, but the tension had skyrocketed after Madara's betrayal, even if the Uchiha as a whole had condemned him. Things had only just begun improving before Danzō had betrayed him, so Kagami had never gotten to see the fruits of his efforts. Had never gotten to experience how things could have been, had the village only given his Clan a chance.
It makes him fiercely, achingly proud of Clan and village both, and it solidifies his resolve to gather enough intel to slot perfectly into place in this world so that he may do what he can to protect it.
Once he has collated a mental map of the Compound - including the fringes where it intersects with the village - he begins interacting with his fellow Clansmen, coaxing information out of them with the same ease with which he had always charmed adults into giving him free sweets. It helps that they "know" him and have likely grown used to indulging him. As for Kagami, it doesn't matter that he doesn't have history with them. Family is family, and he loves them dearly, regardless.
(The only hiccups come when he runs into people he does know, people who are older and younger than he expects and people whom he had seen buried, wholly alive. In their place, he learns about those whom he had last seen alive that are either long dead here or only just lost. It's a blow all the same, every time, but he is already grieving, already in pain. Already accustomed to setting his emotions aside in favor of the mission and survival. He carves their names into his heart and moves on, carrying them with him.)
He gleans a lot about the Clan's current affairs, of course, but the Uchiha aren't so conceited or out of the loop that they would only talk about themselves. Besides, even in a Clan four hundred strong, they would run out of things to talk about. Mostly, he hears about the Clan Head and his family, Kagami himself, and the recent incident that's got everyone tense.
For example, his latest conversation:
"Ryouta-kun is really growing into his own, isn't he?" One of the old uncles sitting on the porch says, proud. "Masaru-sama'll be stepping down any day now, don't you think?"
An uncle next to him takes a puff of his pipe before replying. "Not yet." He gives the first uncle a meaningful look.
"Oh, yeah," he says, having caught his meaning. "Considering what happened with the Uzumaki…" He trails off, grim.
"Masaru-sama will likely wait until we can be sure the Uchiha aren't next," an auntie chimes in, fanning herself with an uchiwa to stave off the sweltering heat. "Or until the Clans adapt to the new power vacuum."
"Have you heard anything, Kagami-kun?" The other auntie asks, shrewd, and as everyone swivels to look at him expectantly, Kagami laughs, caught.
"You know I couldn't tell you if I did, Oba-san!" He says, cheerfully, and his aunts and uncles boo at him playfully as he makes his grand escape. "Thanks for the peaches!" He calls from over his shoulder, making off with a basket of fruit he had begged off of his relatives.
Kagami grabs one and bites into it, a little hungry after walking around for a few hours despite having eaten such a big lunch. The tangy sweetness is a burst of icy flavor that cuts through the muggy heat, and Kagami savors it, chewing idly as he contemplates.
Masaru had been the Clan Head after Madara back in his own time. He'd been younger, then, barely an adult when he'd taken over. He had actually been a few years younger than Kagami, but he was Madara's closest relative. The Elders had debated it at length, to the point that the Clan had gone years without a true Head, but they had eventually chosen tradition over any other concerns - as they are wont to do. That they believed they could more easily control someone so young never factored into it, of course.
Kagami hadn't interacted with him much. He had only just succeeded the role before Kagami's death, and the Elders had kept a firm grip on him. More often than not, Kagami had been forced to convene with them instead. Since they had been butting heads for years over his association with Tobirama, the relationship between them had devolved into that special Uchiha brand of polite disdain. Hardly anything ever got done since they spent the meetings tossing thinly-veiled insults and insinuating things rather than trying to help him bridge the gap between Clan and Village.
Honestly, if Kagami thought it would solve the problem, he might have gotten rid of them himself.
But other than making him a missing-nin, weakening their Clan, and advertising that weakness and their inner strife to not only the other Clans but other Villages as well, it wouldn't have accomplished anything. Tobirama was right in that the old generation needed to make way for the new for true change to be possible, but more bloodshed is not the answer. The Uchiha would also lose the valuable insight their Elders can bring to the table, when they deign to share it. And finally, Kagami has already had to kill kin before. He isn't keen to do it again, even if he would be able to.
Kagami doesn't know how the Clan might have turned out under Masaru's leadership in his world, but here, it's clear the Clan respects him. There have been no hints of him possibly being a figurehead or wanting a return to the old ways. The Clan is flourishing, despite three great wars and the conflicts in between. Kagami spares a glance at the Hokage Monument and considers why that might be.
Perhaps it is because the leaders of the two founding Clans were bound together by marriage.
In an intriguing parallel to Hashirama and Madara, First Hokage Naruto Senju had been friends with Sasuke Uchiha since they met as children despite their Clans' long-held grudge. There was no inciting incident such as when Tobirama killed Izuna, however, that put a wedge in between that friendship. When they became Clan Heads themselves, they wed, firmly uniting the two Clans and setting the foundation for what would become the first Hidden Village.
With Sasuke not following in Madara's footsteps and subsequently casting suspicion on the Uchiha, without having to move ten steps backwards after every two forward, the Clan has remained a steady foundation of the village, an integral part that without which it might crumble. That trust and dependence is almost certainly why the Second Hokage was an Uchiha rather than another Senju or even an Uzumaki. Nidaime Obito Uchiha's grim visage is a sign of those bonds literally etched into stone, ever present and impossible to overlook.
"Nii-san!" A bright, achingly familiar voice calls out to him, breaking him out of his musings more effectively than even a blow, and Kagami swivels around quickly enough it's a wonder he doesn't break his own neck. His long-dead sister runs up to him and smiles mischievously at his shock. "Wow, I can't believe I snuck up on you. So much for that flee-on-sight order! You're getting schooled by a chūnin."
Her good cheer fades into concern the longer it takes Kagami to respond, but she completely panics when he finally chokes out her name.
"Nanami…" He breathes through the sudden surge of grief and joy, before stuffing his complicated emotions back inside with inhuman strength before his sister can ask him what's wrong. Ironically, it is her panic that steadies him. He smiles with all of his heart and says, with complete sincerity, "You'll have to make jōnin at least before you can even think about getting one over on your brother."
End Notes: Please let me know what you think! ;)
