The man with the x-shaped scar waited with a patient smile as the shinobi slowly bled out at his feet. The blood felt warm and sticky as it dried on his hands, but he hardly minded. He had been raised on this sort of work.
"You're not from any village," the dying man breathed, his words strained with anger and blood loss. The scarred victor stared down at his opponent, leaning gingerly on one leg. A kunai had sliced across his thigh barely missing an artery. He cursed his clumsiness, but remained smiling down at the man whose eyes had become glassy. A forehead protector fell loosely across his neck, glinting to catch his attention.
"I would not dishonor my clan so by ignoring the sacrifices of my ancestors and signing treaties for peace," the scarred man said, half-surprised at his own anger. It had been so many years; he thought the rage had simmered into a cold revenge, but the sight of the Leaf nin hit a nerve.
"Do you think you will be much longer?" He inquired politely, leaning his head to the side as if to gage how many breaths the dying man had left. It felt like one too many.
The dying man laughed bitterly, spitting up blood. "You got somewhere else to be?"
"As a matter of fact, I do," he answered, leaning against a tree as his adrenaline began to fade and the throbbing in his leg grew more painful. "You see you are simply one check on a long list of people I plan to kill."
The dying man coughed, this time the blood spattered onto the scarred man's robe. He frowned in annoyance.
"It felt like you had it out for me," he rasped, knowing the bodies of his two comrades lay dead nearby.
The scarred man smiled. "It is not your fault you hail from the clan that has brought me such pain—but it is often the innocent who have to pay the ultimate price."
The light in the dying man's eyes began to fade. He was beyond hearing the humming of the man with the x-shaped scar.
"You will not be lonely in your grave long." He promised, his mind already conjuring the face of his next victim—the one who got away.
But the dying man no longer cared about the man slowly dimming from his vision. Instead, he used his last heartbeats to think on a beautiful blonde playing in the garden with her ethereal mother, a woman round with a child that he knew in his heart would be a son.
AbAbAbAbAbAbAbAbAbA
Hashirama sat quietly at his desk, sneaking concerned glances at his younger brother in-between the piles of paperwork. It did not take a genius to know Tobirama had not returned home for a few days now. Dark circles loosened the sharpness around the garnet eyes and the palest hint of a beard bristled from his jaw.
Yet business continued as usual.
Papers were neatly ordered in carefully considered stacks and a summary of the disastrous events of the Kage Summit waited for his final approval before being sent to the heads of the village clans. Tobirama leaned against the desk tapping a finger methodically against the surface as he listed the foreseeable repercussions of the failed negotiations. It was the only sign the lack of sleep was fraying his nerves.
Hashirama steepled his fingers as he rested his elbows on the desk, trying to concentrate on his brother's sobering predictions. It was proving difficult. His mind kept jumping to the young boy, the spitting image of his brother when they were children, and his heart pounded with joy. His prayers had been answered.
There would be someone for Tobirama when he was dead and gone. Someone for him to cherish and protect. The weakness left in him from his battle with Madara had not faded and the wounds refused to heal—though that was a secret that had only been shared with Mito. He had no need of a medic to tell him he was not long for this world.
"He doesn't like peas," Hashirama interjected suddenly, lifting his chin as if an idea had just occurred to him. A muscle worked in the white-haired shinobi's jaw, but Hashirama continued. "It's funny. I remember Mother didn't like peas either."
Tobirama reined in his irritation enough to speak. "Are you at all capable of turning this into an intelligent conversation?"
Hashirama leaned back in his chair with an amused half-smile. "Your son doesn't like peas," he explained with a teasing slowness that made his brother's eyebrow twitch. "I thought that might interest you, seeing has how you have managed to miss dinner three days in a row now."
Tobirama shuffled the papers in his hands as he dismissed his brother's obvious scolding. "We are likely on the brink of war, brother. The boy's pickiness seems rather small in comparison to the possible destruction of our village."
His older brother let out a long weary breath. "You are always about the big picture," he grumbled. Tobirama didn't see any reason to honor this with a reply.
"In regards to our missing team, I suggest we send Hiruzen, Homura and Danzo as part of the search team."
Hashirama quirked an eyebrow. "Not Koharu? Her tracking skills would be useful."
Tobirama did not look up from the paperwork in his hand. "She has not been cleared for missions yet."
The older Senju brother leaned back in the chair shaking his head with a sudden weariness. His brother did not forget and he certainly did not forgive easily. Removing Koharu from the team assignment would be her punishment for her rogue mission with Hiruzen.
"Very well." Hashirama conceded. "Though I would advise you be far from the office when she discovers she's been kicked from the mission."
Tobirama was too distracted by a yawn to answer.
"Go home, brother," Hashirama sighed, snatching the pile of paper from his younger brother's hand. "Believe it or not I can run the village for an hour or two on my own."
AbAbAbAbAbAbAbAbAbA
By Sakumo's fourth day in the Senju compound, he was thoroughly convinced the servants had an agenda to see him die of boredom. Up until this point in his life, his days had been filled with chores on their small farm and training with his grandfather. He had never been given the opportunity to sit still.
He was beginning to thoroughly hate it.
There were no chickens to feed. No meals to help cook. And no one to take the slightest interest in his training. Sakumo grimaced as the morning sun fell across his bed and covered his eyes with a groan.
Tobirama had promised he would be trained. And yet he had not seen the white-haired Senju since the night he foiled his escape.
Maybe you're too much of a weakling to train, reasoned his inner voice. Tobirama had moved so fast, not even giving him a chance to put up a fight. Maybe that had sealed his fate; sentenced to death by boredom for the crime of being a long-lost son with little promise. He groaned again.
Fortunately, it was at this moment Ryuu decided to clamber loudly down the hall, kicking a ball off the walls as he went. Sakumo's head lifted with interest as the red ball flew into his room, missing his shoulder by mere inches. Ryuu skidded to a halt as he realized whose room he was entering.
The easygoing face scrunched together slightly, either in annoyance or anger Sakumo could not be sure.
"So this is where you've been hiding," he finally snorted, bending down to pick up the ball. Sakumo stiffened.
"I haven't been hiding," he snapped. "I just don't want to get in anybody's way."
Ryuu rolled his eyes, passing the ball from one hand to the other as he spoke. "What do the servants care? They're instructed to stay out of your way not the other way around farm-boy."
Sakumo bristled. There was a distinct difference in Ryuu's manner from when they were in the hospital together. Then it had been Ryuu's presence that caused a fiery annoyance within him—now it seemed the roles had been reversed. There was an inexplicable urge to throw out an assortment of names at him, but—
Saku, if you can't say something nice…
He resigned himself to merely flopping back down on the bed, perfectly willing to ignore the other presence in the room. But the presence would not leave.
"Is it true what they're saying?" Ryuu asked, his voice suddenly soft. Sakumo tilted his head up slightly to get a better look at the boy who towered over him.
"Is what true?" He asked, allowing his hackles to lower.
"That you—that you're Uncle Tobirama's son." He managed to push all the words out as if he could not wait to get rid of them.
Sakumo's eyebrow twitched. "Supposedly."
"So that makes us cousins," Ryuu sighed, sitting on the bed as if the confirmation made him too weary to stand. "Crazy."
Sakumo looked him up and down with steeled suspicion. "Do you have split personalities or something?"
"What?"
"A minute ago you looked ready to start a fight and now we are practically cuddling." Sakumo explained, watching with satisfaction as Ryuu leapt to his feet with a speed he had not thought him capable of.
"Maybe it's just hard to resign myself to being related to a country hick like you!" Ryuu shot back. His face had lost most of the animosity, replaced with a more teasing anger. Sakumo felt tensed muscles relaxing. Leaping to his feet, he took possession of the ball from Ryuu's grip, careful not to jog the bandaged hand.
"It's going to be even harder to swallow when I beat you," He smirked, kicking the ball as it dropped—the universal sign the ball was in play and the rules of war prevailed.
The two bodies clashed as they tried to make it through the doorway together, the ball flying far from their reach. Elbows jostled soft flesh as legs were kicked from underneath them, pushing them into a graceless pile as they fell into the hall.
Sakumo was the first to scramble to his feet, following the ball at a break neck speed as it continued to roll farther away. Ryuu appeared at his heels, shouting obscenities as he tried to pull Sakumo down by the collar. But Sakumo was just a hair faster. In moments they were atop the ball, kicking and clawing it away from one another as they reached the edge of the hall. It would either fly out into the courtyard or down another long hallway of rooms; it was simply a matter of will.
With a forceful kick, the ball flew from the tangle, rolling speedily down the unusually empty corridor. Sakumo was off in an instance, racing down the ball for the sheer delight of movement that had been denied him for days. He was far too euphoric to notice the hallway darken as he followed the ball or the hesitant pause of his cousin as it rolled into the room at the end of the hall.
"Sakumo we shouldn't—" But the high timber of his cousin's voice was ignored as he sped into the room with the confidence of a victory.
The ball sat still in the darkness of the room like grazing prey. Sakumo smiled triumphantly as he made to pick it up, until a single pale, frail hand shot out from the darkness grabbing him by the scruff of his neck and jerking him backward with surprising strength.
"What's this?" A voice rumbled feebly, like a storm dying in the atmosphere. Sakumo jerked, trying to pull away but the grip remained firm on his collar. "An intruder!"
"I'm not a—".
It was only his quick reflexes and intuition into the temper of old men that saved Sakumo from the cane baring down at him with alarming speed. The aging corpse before him frowned through eyes buried in wrinkles.
Ryuu could only watch helplessly as Butsuma Senju raised his cane to land another strike, a curse to all youths leaving his lips with the rasp of falling sand. It was said his grandfather was once a great shinobi, but he had not been quite right in the head since the loss of his leg. Ryuu had always assumed his uncle had inherited his white hair from Butsuma, it wasn't until he found a rather old photograph that he realized his hair had once been as black as his own father's.
Sakumo dodged again as the moving carcass struck. "Cut it out, old man!"
The corpse stiffened. "Old man? Old man! Why you little urchin. I am the great Butsuma Senju! I have razed villages and destroyed generations of shinobi all while leading the greatest clan on this earth!" The cane came down again with a greater furry. Sakumo slipped back a little further, causing the old man to lose balance, effectively toppling him into a white heap on the floor.
Ryuu blanched as his life flashed before his eyes—fully certain the old man was going to kill them both as soon as he struggled upright. Sakumo, a veteran of his own grandfather's tantrums, merely sighed and knelt down to help the old cadaver up.
Butsuma refused his hand with a murderous glare.
Rising with a painful slowness, he appraised Sakumo, his milky eyes squinting over him as if he were a new species of rat that had entered his quarters.
"You look suspiciously like one of my sons," he said finally, fingering his cane thoughtfully. Sakumo glared back, but this only caused him to laugh, revealing toothless gums. "The one who was always so quietly defiant."
Ryuu, with the self-assurance of still being alive, stepped respectfully before his grandfather. "This is Sakumo Hatake. He's Uncle Tobirama's son."
The old man's thick, white eyebrows raised a fraction as he scratched the wrinkles that made up his chin. "I thought that child died. Too weak like his mother."
Sakumo's eyes shifted in confusion to Ryuu who visibly cringed.
"Much like you father I have been granted more than one." A deep voice interrupted.
The two boys turned to the doorway where Tobirama leaned with arms crossed. He wore a frightfully heavy, bloodshot look as he stared over their heads at his crippled father.
The toothless grin remained firm in the folds of Butsuma's sagging cheeks. "I thought I recognized that pigheaded glare in him."
Tobirama ignored the remark, instead narrowing his eyes at the two boys. Only one had the common sense to look contrite.
Sakumo's head remained defiantly high.
The white-haired shinobi stepped away from the door with a sigh, dismissing the boys with a firm nod of his head. The pair quickly scrambled through the door, thankful for an excuse to leave the presence of the old man.
Tobirama made to follow, but the irritating sound of chuckling caught his attention.
"Something amusing?" He asked, his voice carefully disinterested. Butsuma's long jowls jiggled as he continued to laugh. Tobirama sighed, turning away once more. Perhaps the old man had finally lost all of his senses.
The laughter died. "I always thought you were better off without children, Tobirama. You care too fiercely—like the damn Uchiha. That's why I saw no point in your union with Yuri. Your notion of love leads to violent ends."
Tobirama stalked away without answering, his fists clenched. If he stayed in the room a moment longer, he would merely prove his father right.
AbAbAbAbAbAbAbAbAbA
"Good morning, Miss Koharu!" A cheerful voice greeted from behind the counter, as the kunoichi entered the Yamanaka flower shop.
"Hello Misa," she said, returning the smile with a pained one of her own. She had long given up on begging Misa to drop the honorific. It was time to accept they would never go back to Koharu and Misa the Inseparable.
It was an indescribable hell to walk into the shop every week and be greeted by a best friend who no longer recognized you.
"I have your order ready." Misa presented the small bouquet of white irises to her in the same cheerfully distant manner as she did every week. Koharu accepted them gratefully, careful not to touch Misa as she grabbed the bouquet and placed the money on the counter. She could not bear to see the confused fear in her friend's eyes every time a stranger touched her. She could not bear to see the once indomitable kunoichi crumble to the ground in hysterics.
"It's funny…" Misa said in an uncharacteristic moment of chattiness. "There's a gentleman who comes in here every week to buy the same flowers. I guess I'm not the only one who loves them."
Koharu paused for a moment at the door. So Kagami came to check in on her as well. She wondered if he felt like a fist had pounded into his chest every time he left the shop.
Death had been far too good for those mercenaries.
Misa bowed in farewell as Koharu hurried from the shop, suddenly unable to breath. Her disoriented pace from the shop nearly caused her to crash into Hiruzen, dressed in his full body armor.
"Hello, Koharu." He greeted as he neatly caught her arm.
As she regained her balance, she looked the Sarutobi up and down with confusion. "Are you being assigned a solo mission?"
Hiruzen hesitated, suddenly looking uncomfortable. His inability to meet her gaze only heightened her suspicion. "Well…not exactly. You see—"
"Hurry up, idiot!" The distinct growl of Danzo carried over the bustle of the street. Koharu looked past her teammate's shoulder to see Danzo and Homura waiting impatiently, similarly dressed in their battle armor. Her eyes narrowed.
"It's nothing personal, Koharu." Hiruzen gulped. He hoped she wasn't able to notice the beads of sweat appearing on his forehead as he tried to explain away her obvious exclusion. "I'm sure the Hokage just wants to give you some time to recover before assigning you a mission! I mean it's only been a few days since you were in the hospital."
The flowers folded with a sickening crunch as her hands balled into tight fists.
Hiruzen took a step back.
"The Hokage had nothing to do with this," she growled with the low fury of a tigress. "This was all him."
Hiruzen assumed as much as soon as he noticed Koharu's absence from the mission brief. It seemed their sensei had not forgiven Koharu for their impromptu mission after all. He had merely lulled her into a false sense of security.
Hiruzen shook his head.
While his punishment had taken a physical toll it was obvious that Tobirama knew cutting her from a mission would be a far more appropriate punishment for his most prideful student. Hiruzen regarded the crushed flowers with pity. It was only an inkling of what was in store for their sensei. It was probably for the best he was getting out of town—it was usually the innocent bystanders that ended up getting hurt in these situations.
Hiruzen tried to make his exit as casual as possible, his hands relaxed behind his back. "Right. Well, we have to get going," he said, taking another large step back. But Koharu no longer noticed his presence, her thoughts far away.
"Took you long enough," Danzo snapped as Hiruzen ran to them. He frowned in irritation as Hiruzen continued to run past.
"Let's go!" He shouted over his shoulder. "I don't want to be anywhere near here when she finds Sensei!"
In the end, it was the other Senju brother that bore most of the brunt of Koharu's cold fury. Hashirama was handing his cousin, Toka, the files on her three new students when the young kunoichi burst into the office. The two older shinobi blinked in surprise as the secretary flittered at Koharu's back in helpless distress.
Hashirama balked, sensing the storm that was about to break in his direction. Toka merely raised a slim eyebrow in mild surprise.
"Something we can help you with, Utatane?" Toka asked, her voice deceivingly level. Her dislike for the younger generations was well known and it had just been exasperated by the news she was being assigned a team of snot-nosed kids to teach. Koharu's breathing slowed and her posture straightened stiffly as if she were just released from a genjutsu.
"I'm looking for Tobirama-sensei." She said, her tone equally controlled despite her hands curled into fists. Toka shuffled the files in her hand, the only sign of her own irritation at the interruption. "As you can see he isn't here, Utatane. I suggest you knock next time. It will save you from looking foolish."
The younger kunoichi blinked meekly.
"Is there something I can help you with?" Hashirama asked politely, though he immediately regretted it. Koharu's confident fury returned with the small reminder of her reason for being in the office in the first place.
"You assigned my team a mission without me," she said bluntly. "Why?"
Hashirama shifted uncomfortably under her unblinking gaze. He wondered if she had learned that look from his brother.
"Is that any way to talk to your Hokage?" Toka tsked loudly, but Koharu ignored her. Hashirama steepled his hands, resting them against his lips. He hoped it gave him the air of great wisdom while he frantically racked his brain for an excuse. Why had he sent Tobirama home again?
"We thought it best…"
"We?" Koharu repeated in disbelief.
"Maybe more Tobirama," he admitted slowly. "But as Hokage I…"
Koharu rolled her eyes. "He thinks he can punish me for saving his son's life!"
"It's more the principle of the thing…" Hashirama doggedly continued. Koharu turned to the doorway where the secretary still flittered.
"I mean if people think they can just go on unsanctioned missions whenever they like where does it end…" Hashirama said raising his eyes to the ceiling as his voice lifted with the air of superiority. He took a deep breath for a rather impressive monologue about working together for the good of the village.
"She's gone sir." The secretary coughed politely. He felt himself deflate.
"Thank you, Miss. Ono," he mumbled, his head suddenly on his desk. Toka's eyes remained on the doorway, thoughtful..
"That little girl has finally decided to grow up," she said finally, turning her attention back to Hashirama.
The God of Shinobi lifted his head slightly. "How do you mean?"
"To be honest I never understood what Tobirama saw in her. She comes from a civilian background and has civilian emotions," she explained evenly, tucking the files beneath her arm. "I thought he was leading a sheep to the slaughter."
"What's changed your opinion?"
Toka shrugged. "She's breaking his carefully constructed mold. A few more years and he will have a real fight on his hands."
Hashirama looked thoughtful, until the kunoichi broke the moment with a snort. "Looks like I'm going to have to wait in line to strangle him—assigning me students. I'm too old for this!"
Hashirama leaned back in his chair. "Nonsense! There's no one else I trust to teach my son. And Tobirama agrees."
Toka reopened the files, flipping past Ryuu's page to stare at the photograph of a disheveled youth who stared unhappily back in a hospital gown. If it weren't for the cut of his black slate eyes, she would have sworn she was looking at an image of Tobirama when they were kids.
"A Hatake huh," she laughed. "Who would have guessed that was his type? I thought all the women of that clan just stayed home embroidering and waiting for their husbands to return for a good fuck."
Hashirama glared at the vulgarity. "I'm sure she was very meaningful to him."
Toka rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a child, Hashirama. Sometimes you fuck just to fuck. And sometimes that means you end up with an unfortunate surprise." She tapped her chin. "Unusual for such a careful man."
Maybe Toka was not the best teacher for his son, Hashirama thought, wondering if it was too late to swipe the files from her hand.
"Well," she shrugged, turning for the door. "What's done is done."
She stopped in the doorway, turning back to Hashirama with uncharacteristic concern. "Any word of Katsuro?"
Hashirama frowned at the mention of his eldest son. "His team is still missing. We've had no contact. I sent Hiruzen and the other's to provide back up for the Inuzuka search team."
She merely nodded before leaving. Silence was far better than false comfort.
AbAbAbAbAbAbAbAbAbA
Tobirama tossed the red ball. Sakumo caught it before it flew into his head.
"Is this how you spend your time? Playing childish games and tormenting the elderly?" The white-haired shinobi snapped.
Sakumo frowned as he lowered the ball into his lap. "It was an accident! I didn't know you kept corpses around the house."
Tobirama studied him, a kind of war raging behind his tiger-eyes. Ryuu gurgled in what may have been a warning or merely nervous burping.
"Pray you have the fortune to live so long," Tobirama growled through gritted teeth. "Though the way you are testing me makes it seem unlikely."
Sakumo's eyes narrowed. "If you just trained me like you promised this wouldn't have happened!"
"Perhaps I have given you the impression that the world revolves around you," Tobirama said folding his arms. Ryuu visibly wilted. He was about to be caught in the middle of one of his uncle's infamous lectures. "It doesn't. This village was created to offer peace and order to a land that has never known such a thing. It does not function on hopes and dreams, but on hard work and structure. That leaves very little room for selfishness and luxury. Perhaps you were raised with the belief that the individual comes before the majority, knowing your grandfather that seems most likely, but here the village comes first. Until you can show me you are an asset to the village you are merely a hindrance."
Sakumo felt his face redden in a mixture of shame and anger. A hindrance!
"How can I show you I am an asset if you never give me a chance?" He snapped.
"I will expect your record to speak for itself. As of today, you and Ryuu have been assigned to a three-man team that will be trained by Toka Senju." He ignored the squeak of surprise from his nephew, who had until this point been trying to make himself as small as possible, and continued. "When she has deemed you ready, your team will be assigned missions that will contribute to the success of the village."
Tobirama looked down at the boy who appeared unimpressed.
"Is that a problem?" He asked, his voice dangerously low.
Sakumo rose to his feet, dusting the grass from his pants with a nonchalance that seemed inappropriate for someone facing one of the most dangerous shinobi in the world. The boy finally looked up at his sire with a cold flint that matched the fiery garnet of his father.
"I never signed up to help this stupid village," he said defiantly. "All I want is to take down the scumbag that murdered my family. If you can't help me do that, then I see no point in staying here."
Silence reigned. Not even the birds dared cut the tension and Ryuu prayed fervently to any god that was listening to literally be anywhere else at the moment.
It was Tobirama who finally broke the unholy silence, his pallid face calm and cruel as he spoke. "Then you are free to go."
In that moment, Sakumo needed no further encouragement. In an instant he was racing away from the garden, past the compound gate and into the bustling streets of the village. He could barely see where he was going through the blur of tears he refused to allow to fall. He ran out of breath at a small bridge overlooking the river that cut through the edge of the village. For a moment he merely stood as his heartbeat raced at the same pace as the swift moving water.
"You don't make life easy for this old dog," a voice admonished over the rush of moving water. Sakumo quickly kneaded his hands into his eyes, hoping he could wipe the tears away like dirt, as he noticed the little dog that appeared at his feet. "I've done more running in my retirement then I ever did as a nindog."
"Just chalk that up to another reason why I am a hindrance." Sakumo scowled. Tobirama's words had felt like a slap with every sentence. He would have taken a beating from that Old Man Senju's cane any day if it meant he never had to feel the sting of those words again.
"I shouldn't be here," Sakumo sulked, resting his chin over folded arms. "I should be out there looking for that scarred-faced bastard."
Tomo lifted his pudgy paws to rest on the lowest rung of the wooden bridge, his jowls flexing as particles of water splashed in his mouth. "I never understood how the human answer to death was always more death."
Sakumo bristled. "You think I should just stay here and do nothing! Just let my family's killer get away and spend my days forgetting anything ever happened?"
"It would be better than tarnishing your mother's memory with bloodshed." The little pug bit back with a growl. "All she ever wanted for you was to live a peaceful life away from the petty world of warring clans and dying children. Your father is offering you that life."
Sakumo turned is head away in disgust at the mention of the man. His mother had been right. His eyes were the color of old blood. "All he wants to do is keep me under his heel. We've barely even talked and all of a sudden, he has my whole future planned out for me. He wants me to be the house dog when I was always taught to be the wolf!"
Tomo snorted dismissively causing snot to fly onto the boy's pants. "A stupid story. A chaffing collar seems a small price to pay to protect your home and family."
Sakumo pursed his lips for a moment. He had never thought of it like that.
The dog scratched behind his ear, the equivalent of a shrug. "I've also never understood human's affinity towards animal qualities. Your species have plenty of your own abilities that makes you fierce as any beast that roams this earth."
"You're awfully wise for someone that always thinks his reflection is another dog." Sakumo said dryly.
Tomo sniffed. "One day you will thank me for such vigilance."
Sakumo laughed. He felt his muscles slowly relax as the boiling frustration seeped away from him. The river's breeze cooled his reddened face and he found he could breathe once more. He took in a long breath as he regained an even temper.
"I guess I could give this place a chance," he said reluctantly as he looked out to the village beyond.
"There's a good boy!" Tomo barked, rising to his feet.
"But that doesn't mean I have to like him." Sakumo said crossing his arms pointedly. "And as soon as I'm strong enough I'm going after that murderer."
"Obviously." The little dog smirked as he recalled the face of another white-haired boy that had stared at him with the same determination.
AbAbAbAbAbAbAbAbAbA
"Who the hell does he think he is?" She snarled, forcing Kagami to duck quickly to avoid a foot to the face. "Stalling my career as a punishment!"
The Uchiha quickly took another step back as the other little foot made to connect with his jaw. He had long ago learned that it was best to take a more defensive approach when sparring with a fuming Koharu. Despite the bruises he usually walked away with, he enjoyed these little sessions. He had never known anyone else's eyes to spark like molten gold when they fought. It was rather fascinating to watch.
"Did you really think Tobirama-sensei would let you get away with risking your life like that?" He asked, stupidly.
This time a fist made a beeline for his gut. Kagami caught it with a grunt.
"You should know by now that he doesn't forgive easily." He said breathing heavily. They had been at this for hours now—ever since he had caught her on her way to murder Tobirama. Kagami personally thought their sensei should be kissing his feet for volunteering to be Koharu's human punching bag.
He was saving the man's life after all!
"You don't think there should be some kind of exception for saving his own fucking kid!" Koharu gritted as she freed her fist from his tight grip.
"You are giving sensei far too much credit for being sentimental." Kagami said bluntly, quickly lowering himself to swipe his legs beneath her feet. She merely jumped, avoiding being knocked to the ground.
"It doesn't make you angry that the whole time he was gone—the whole time that we thought he was dead—he was simply living this whole other life." She snapped, lifting an elbow to knock out his chin. He grunted as it grazed past his cheek instead.
"I saw her, Kagami," she hissed, rolling her shoulder back for another punch. "That woman was beautiful and he just left her as easily as he left us! What's to stop him from doing it again!"
The Uchiha sighed, swiping his head right. It appeared the kunoichi was not one to forgive and forget easily either. It was certainly her and her teammates who had suffered the most when Tobirama had failed to return from a mission those many years ago. They had walked around the village like ghosts then. Pale and lifeless, they had moved as if they no longer wanted to have anything to do with the living.
"Probably nothing," he admitted, lowering his arms for a cease-fire. Koharu reluctantly lowered her own. "But what does that change? Are you always going to live with this constant fear of being left behind or are you going to accept fate and live your life?"
Koharu's lips parted slightly in surprise. With her hair disheveled and pale skin shimmering from sweat, Kagami thought she looked particularly fuckable this evening.
As if sensing his thoughts, her kissable lips turned into a sharp frown. "I hate when you try to be wise."
"Who's trying?" He smirked, linking his hands behind his head. This earned an indulgent smile and a sharp prod to the rib. He might have just kissed her right there, if his focus was not interrupted by the insistent grumble of his stomach.
Koharu laughed. "I suppose buying you dinner is the least I could do for using you as a training dummy."
"My people prefer the term 'high-performance mannequins'." He sniffed, his handsome face mockingly haughty as his stomach growled again.
They ended up at a small ramen shop, frequented by shinobi for its proximity to the training grounds. It was also, unfortunately, the place of work of one of Koharu's other older sisters, Leiko. She had married the shop owner's son and could have passed as Koharu's double if she wasn't ten years older and eight months pregnant.
Leiko noticed them from across the counter as they slid into their usual booth. "Well, well, well," she called across the room as she wiped her hands on a dirty dishrag. "Wait till mother hears about this little date!"
Koharu merely moved her hand in an obscene gesture, her eyes never leaving the menu. Leiko tittered before turning hawk eyes to the wait staff.
"I love it when you act like a lady," Kagami said devilishly, resting his cheek in his hand with admiration.
Koharu glanced over at her sister rebuking her sniveling husband. "The whole family thinks that I just scare all the prospective men away. Like I threaten them with a kunai or something."
Kagami took a long drink of water. "You did punch that kid in the nose when he tried to kiss you outside of the academy." He reminded.
"That's when we were kids." She snorted. "And he had it coming!"
"Uh-huh," He smirked, pretending to return his attention to the menu. Instead, he was watching the little crease that appeared between Koharu's eyebrows when she was making important decisions. In this case it was deciding between beef or shrimp in her ramen. Kagami thoughtfully rolled his tongue over the bridge of his mouth as he covertly watched her. Maybe now was a good of time as any…
"Sakumo!" Koharu called out suddenly. Kagami looked up to see the skinny white-haired boy sulking past the open door. The boy blinked at her for a moment as if he had just been startled from a deep thought. Koharu gestured for the boy to sit beside her, pulling a fallen leaf from his hair as he sat. Kagami watched the scene in fascination. For a moment she almost looked motherly.
"Order something." She said, shoving a menu into the boy's face. "You look like a walking skeleton."
Sakumo looked over the menu hungrily before raising a suspicious eye at Kagami. "This isn't a date is it?"
Kagami felt the air leave his lungs. Koharu's laugh a punch in the gut.
She wiped a tear from her eye, still smiling. "This is my apology dinner to Kagami. I used him like a human punching bag today."
Sakumo nodded, attention returning to the menu, his fears abated. Leiko reappeared to take their order, staring a moment too long at Sakumo. He stared back. She would have looked exactly like Koharu, he thought, if Koharu ever decided to swallow a giant ball.
"Well who is this adorable third wheel?" She asked, her voice a little too high.
"This isn't a date, Leiko!" Koharu growled. Leiko merely flitted her wrist at her little sister, as if she had heard all this before.
"Sure, sure." She smiled, showing all her perfectly white teeth. They quickly gave their orders and Leiko walked away with a self-satisfied strut.
"You really can't swing a cat around this village without hitting one of your sisters, Koharu." Kagami teased.
Koharu kneaded the bridge of her nose. "Tell me about it."
"How many do you have?" Sakumo asked.
"Too many."
Sakumo leaned back thoughtfully. He had always secretly desired a sibling. Or more specifically a brother. Someone to share in his agonizing training with their grandfather or to help him cheer up their mother in her moments of melancholy. Just someone to talk to in the long winter nights and play with in the long summer days.
Much like you father, I have been granted more than one son.
He had tucked that interesting fact away for another time, but it suddenly resurfaced, conjuring a ghost in front of him. A son. A boy. A brother. He was wrapped in darkness, hidden by shadows, but if Sakumo concentrated hard enough he could conjure an image of an older brother. A boy almost identical to himself. Sharing the same frustrations of having the white hair of an old man.
The banter of Koharu and Kagami faded as the food arrived. All of them tucking gleefully into their steaming dishes. Sakumo chewed his meal thoughtfully. Swallowing slowly before speaking. "Does Tobirama have another son?"
The chopsticks halted at Koharu's lips at the same moment Kagami began to choke on a noodle.
"In a manner of speaking." Koharu answered, setting down her chopsticks. Kagami gave a nudge of warning, but she saw no reason to lie to the boy.
She continued. "His wife went into labor too early. She died. Her and the baby."
Slate black eyes widened slightly at the golden orbs that stared unblinkingly back. So Tobirama had lost two important people… the same as him.
Koharu refused to elaborate, allowing Kagami to change the subject.
"So have you been assigned to a team yet?" He asked quickly, his voice almost an octave higher.
"A team?" Sakumo questioned. "A team for what?"
Kagami's face slipped into an almost evil looking grin.
"You'll see," Koharu promised.
Sakumo did not have to wait very long. The following morning, he awoke to Ryuu standing over his bed already dressed in his training gear.
AbAbAbAbAbAbAbAbAbA
"I don't get it," Sakumo yawned as he followed Ryuu through the compound gates and towards the practice grounds. "Why do we need to be put in teams with a sensei? Isn't your family supposed to be the one to teach you all that stuff?"
Ryuu looked over his shoulder, jealously noting Sakumo's ability to look cool despite rolling straight out of bed. Why couldn't he get his hair that effortlessly messy?
He sighed. "Dad thinks it's better that the clans come together to teach the next generation. It keeps the village unified if we all work together."
Sakumo chuckled, burying his hands deep into his pockets. His grandfather would have had a heart attack if he had known the extent of these clans' collaboration.
Ryuu stopped suddenly at the edge of the field where a girl with the curliest dark hair Sakumo had ever seen, sat on the ground reading a book. The girl looked up sharply at the sound of their arrival, closing her book with a snap.
"What the hell are you doing here Haruki?" Ryuu demanded.
"Obviously I've been assigned to the same team as you, stupid." She said, looking Ryuu up and down as if he were the dumbest thing she had seen since a fish on a leash.
Ryuu visibly cringed. "Kill me now."
Haruki flipped her hair away from her shoulders, turning her attention to Sakumo with the same dubious look.
"I've never seen you before," she snapped, clearly not sure what to make of him. Sakumo grimaced; he could already feel he wasn't going to like her.
"I'm Sakumo Hatake," He said extending a hand. She ignored it.
"I thought all prospective genin are supposed to go through the academy," she sniffed. "Did your parents pay someone to let you skip it or something?"
"No—I," Sakumo stuttered, feeling uncharacteristically flustered under her intense gaze. "I was told—"
"The kid is here on his own merit." A voice interrupted from behind. The trio turned to the newest member of the group who appeared before them in a casual flash of smoke.
"As are you two." The kunoichi stared fiercely down a long-angled nose. "Or else I would not have agreed to waste my time on a team."
The three young students stared up at her blankly. She sighed, feeling a nerve twitch in her temple. "I am Toka Senju. There is no need for you to introduce yourselves as of now. If you somehow manage to pass my test today, I may get around to learning your names later."
"But you already know my name." Ryuu interrupted. "Don't you?"
"Unless your name is The-Youngest-Senju-Brat Senju," Toka said testily. "Then no."
Haruki looked over smugly as the red-headed Senju deflated.
So this was another relative, Sakumo thought. The disdainful curve of her mouth reminded him a little too much of another Senju. He grimaced, before thinking better of it, fearing he had inherited the same trait.
"Uhm Toka-sensei," Haruki piped in, raising her hand rather obnoxiously high in the air. "You mentioned a test? I thought we already passed our exam for the Academy."
Sakumo thought he saw a vein enlarge on the right side of their sensei's temple. It was becoming clear they had not exactly endeared themselves to her.
Toka snorted. "A half-wit could pass that exam."
This time it was Haruki's turn to deflate and Ryuu watched with eyes that shone a little too bright.
"My test is meant to prove you have the skills to be a shinobi out in the real world."
"Is the test in the box, Toka-sensei?" Sakumo asked, his attention turning to an innocent enough looking box at her feet, which had begun to growl.
For the first time since they met, Toka's lips cracked into a smile. It was an unsettling sight. "That is correct, White-Haired-Student."
Opening the box, Toka-sensei kneeled down to pick up a yowling orange tomcat by the scruff of his neck.
The three young students stared back blankly.
"A ninneko?" Haruki asked uncertainly.
Toka shook her head. "Nope! Just an old tomcat I caught behind a fisherman's stall."
The orange tomcat protested loudly as she swung him by his scruff, revealing a missing fang. It's long claws winked sharply as it tried to swipe at their sensei. She ignored it, rummaging around in her pouch. The tinkling of a bell mixed with the furious growls of the cat as she held them both up.
"I don't get it." Ryuu said, his eyes wearily following the swiping motions of the feline. "What the hell are we supposed to do with it?"
"I'm inclined to believe, Youngest-Senju-Brat, that you have all of your father's impatience and none of his skills." Toka sighed as she tied the bell around that cat's neck.
Ryuu's face almost turned as red as his hair.
"I am giving you one hour to catch the bell on this cat. If you can't…" Toka shrugged. "Well then I'll have to kill it."
"What?!" Haruki shrieked. "But it hasn't done anything!"
Toka stared levelly at her only female student. "Since when has that ever mattered in the shinobi world?"
The three exchanged nervous glances, before Ryuu managed to return to a state of over confidence.
"It's just a stupid cat," he declared, puffing his chest out a little. "How hard can it be?"
At the end of the hour, the trio had gained several scratches, a fair amount of bruises and one broken toe—but no cat.
Ryuu looked near tears as Sakumo and Haruki fought to catch their breaths. All eyes were intensely focused on the cat, smugly licking its paw on a low hanging branch above them, ignorant of its bleak fate. The bell twinkled contemptuously around its neck.
"Please Toka-sensei," Ryuu pleaded, his voice little better than a whine. "Don't kill it!"
Toka appeared instantly at the cat's side, causing it to give a hideous hiss and scramble to the end of the branch. Instead of emulating their tactic of chasing it, she remained quietly where she sat. With a small clicking of her tongue she caught the cat's interest and it's small orange head swiveled curiously in her direction. Another moment and it began to move slowly towards her, it's whiskers twitching for any sign of a trap. She held out a hand as innocently as possible and the cat inched closer. In an instant she had two strong arms around its middle and it purred happily in her lap.
"And that's the only way to catch a cat." She did not look up from scratching one pointed ear. "If you can't catch a simple tomcat then I can't imagine you capable of becoming lethal shinobi."
Sakumo felt a familiar heaviness settle in the pit of his stomach. He really was a hindrance—just as Tobirama thought. Absolutely useless!
"However…" Toka continued, releasing the cat. "Under my tutelage perhaps that will change."
"But—but," Haruki stuttered, her bottom lip trembling as she watched the tomcat stretch. "I thought you were going to kill it!"
Toka flashed a smile again. Sakumo was beginning to recognize it as a dangerous sign. "There are three things I wanted you to learn from this exercise." She held up three long fingers.
"One: a life is always on the line when you are on a mission." A finger lowered.
"Two: a shinobi must be able to use guile just as skillfully as force." Another finger dropped.
"And three: Shinobi lie."
The cat jumped lightly from the branch to the ground in front of them and flashed them a wide, almost human-like grin.
"Stupid kittens." It laughed, holding its tale high as it disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
"Heeeyyy," Ryuu said slowly, his mouth slightly open. "But you said the cat wasn't—umppf!"
Sakumo slapped a hand over his cousin's mouth before he managed to sound any more stupid.
AbAbAbAbAbAbAbAbAbA
It took two days for Koharu's temper to cool and then another three to swallow her pride. Day five found her standing outside the door of her sensei's office, with clenched fists and a harrowing glare.
She let out a long, slow breath.
He knows you're just standing out here.
Then why doesn't he invite me in?
Because as inflexible as you are, Koharu, he is immovable.
She would have to be the one to take the first step if she ever wanted to be assigned another mission. With a set jaw, she knocked twice.
"Enter."
Tobirama did not bother to look up as she came to stand in front of the desk. His hair almost completely shaded his eyes as he continued to scribble out a form. She forgot how young he looked without the happuri. Despite her clenched fist she resisted the desire to reach out a hand and brush the feathery locks away from his brow. Although it was a rather easy urge to resist when you knew the fiery glare that was waiting for you from behind the innocent fall of bangs.
She cleared her throat. The scribbling stopped and he looked up.
"I can't decide if you have come to apologize or burn my office to the ground." His tone was steady, but that was no indication of his mood. The man could insure order with a whisper.
Her chin rose slightly. "That's because I haven't made up my mind yet."
"Let me make it easier for you," he offered in the same neutral tone. "Neither one will get you placed back on the mission roster."
And just like that, all the patience and understanding she had spent a full five days cultivating and conjuring into a worthy apology flew out the window. His eyes met hers with a look tailored for whining children, subordinates with excuses and the occasional scorned woman. Her mouth set in a hard line, prepared to do battle.
What she did not realize was Tobirama had been fuming over this far longer than she. The moment he had turned the corner to see her lying in that hospital bed, his mind had begun to whirl. Despite his better judgment, he had taught his most eager student the transportation jutsu that dangerously depleted her chakra. And in training her, he had apparently failed to instill the gravity of her limitations. It was this failure that almost got her killed. It was his pride that almost lost her.
"I did not come here to apologize," she lied, resting her hands on her hips to keep them from fidgeting.
"You don't think you deserved to be pulled from the mission?" he asked simply, folding his arms as he leaned back in his seat. "You think I should have given you a pat on the back and let you go on your way after a week-long stint in the hospital from an unsanctioned mission?"
"When it is put like that…"She protested, but Tobirama merely continued.
"I agreed to teach you my transportation jutsu because I thought you were smart enough to know your limitations. For your chakra amount, it was meant as a tool to transport you from eminent danger in a battle—certainly not for long distance travel." His tone grew colder with every word.
"Hiruzen and your little adventure could have just as easily ended with your death or Sakumo's if that jutsu had been executed incorrectly."
"Well it wasn't," she snapped. Her cheeks burned, her temples throbbed. She had not been lectured like this since she was a child.
Tobirama's eyes narrowed. That was not the tone to use with him.
Koharu's fingernails clawed into the calloused flesh of her palms, refocusing her emotional pain into a controllable, physical hurt.
With a deep breath she tried again. "What I mean is, I followed your instructions. I did not fail."
Tobirama did not react right away, regarding her for a long moment with no emotion on his pallid face.
He sees a child; of that she is certain—a little girl with aspirations but no shinobi pedigree.
"Hashirama thinks I am being too harsh on you." He finally said, turning his head toward a sunlit window. In the evening light, he almost looked like a petulant child.
"That was kind," she said off handedly. "Considering how I stormed his office."
It could have been another trick of the light, but perhaps there was a small upturn of his lips.
"I don't do this for my own amusement, Koharu." He sighed, garnet eyes shifting to stare directly at her. "It is my responsibility to ensure that your generation is better than mine. That my mistakes do not become yours."
She cocked her head slightly as the last remnants of her anger dissipated, replaced by the warmness she felt ever since she became his student. The man saw far horizons when most others barely looked beyond their front gate.
As a little girl she had wanted to wrap her arms tightly around him, to somehow capture the sense of safety he emanated. She thought that wonderful confidence could be hers if only she held on to him tightly enough. That innocent longing matured alongside her as she grew under his tutelage. Sometimes the desire almost felt violent in her chest when she looked at him. It had grown far beyond a childish need for reassurance; it was now a woman's need for acknowledgment.
Koharu opened her mouth to speak, to tell him she had grown-up. To tell him to look at her with the same lovely fierceness that she so obviously gazed up at him with. But fate did not allow it—
"Sensei," a voice rasped as a cloud of smoke engulfed the space between Tobirama and Koharu. She suddenly found herself staring at the armored backs of Hiruzen, Homura and Danzo. Homura turned slightly to incline his head to her, but his face was unreadable.
"We found them, sensei." It was Hiruzen's voice, unusually rough, that cut through the last remnants of smoke. "They're—"
"Dead," Danzo cut him off, his tone devoid of emotion as always.
"I suspected as much." Tobirama rose slowly from his chair, his feathery hair overshadowing garnet eyes.
"We'll go and make our report to the Hokage," Homura said softly, making to leave.
"No," Tobirama's head rose sharply. "I will tell him."
The trio nodded. Hiruzen stepped forward to place something on the desk. Koharu's eyes widened at the sight of a forehead protector covered in blood.
"I'm so sorry, sensei," the young Sarutobi whispered.
But Tobirama's attention remained entirely on the headband. "You are all dismissed."
Koharu was the last to leave, following on the heels of Homura. She was too much of a coward to stay and watch her sensei's shoulders shake.
AbAbAbAbAbAbAbAbAbA
"I'll ask my dad to reassign us." Ryuu said, an air of hopefulness about him. "He could find us someone easier."
"If it seems easy, it probably means you're already dead," Sakumo yawned, unintentionally reciting one of his grandfather's favorite sayings.
Ryuu quirked an eyebrow. "This isn't the warring era anymore. Nobody dies on the battlefield these days, old man. Her methods are outdated!"
Sakumo and Ryuu returned to the compound in a numbing state of exhaustion. Mito and her daughter-in-law, watched their swaying approach with sympathy from the comfort of the porch.
"Mo-mo!"Tsunade shrieked, wriggling like a fish from her mother's grasp. Her short legs carried her with an ungraceful speed, tumbling her into Sakumo's knees. He tried not to wince, the cat scratches stung. Tsunade looked up at his hair in wide-eyed worship, raising her arms up to him in longing. The muscles in his arms protested every inch of the way, but he carefully lifted Tsunade up to settle on his hip, offering her unhindered access to his hair. Damp and sweaty though it was.
Ryuu slumped down next to his mother. She began to fuss over a scratch that still bled slightly down his neck.
Sakumo could not help but look upon the scene with a twinge of jealousy. Ignoring her protest, he returned Tsunade to the ground, intending to lick his wounds in the comfort of his bed.
"Sakumo." Mito's voice chimed like a bell in the large courtyard. He turned to her.
"I know you must certainly be tired, but would you mind fetching Tobirama for dinner? He would never leave that stuffy office if left to his own devices."
Ryuu frowned. "Can't you just send a servant to—" Whether on purpose or by accident, Mito's hand grazed a particularly deep scratch across his arm, interrupting his sentence with a pitiful howl.
Sakumo stiffened. He had managed to avoid Tobirama for a full five days and was hoping to continue evading the man's presence until one of them expired of old age.
It seemed Mito had other plans.
She gave him no room to protest, giving him simple directions to the hokage's office as she guided Ryuu into the house to clean his mostly superficial wounds.
Sakumo flexed his jaw in annoyance at Mito's obvious tactic. He did not appreciate the feeling of being cornered.
A surprised laugh burst out from the woman who remained sitting on the porch. Kaede, wasn't it? The wife of Ryuu's older brother and Tsunade's mother.
His startled expression must have appeared wholly offended, as her smile quickly returned to the usual stoic mask.
"Forgive me," she said, rubbing her swollen belly. "It's just…Lord Tobirama makes that expression all the time. It just caught me by surprise to see it on you."
Not sure what to say and even less certain how to feel about it, he merely sighed and turned away, gathering up the nerve to face his father.
Night pressed against the sun, bruising the sky with a vibrant sunset. Long shadows walked through the narrow streets of the village as lanterns were lit for the coming night. Sakumo had never seen so many people in one place before. There was a strange bustling in this place he had never witnessed in his own village, not even on their largest festival days. All these people made the air seem heavy. It made him long for the quiet sanctuary of the farm and the silent embrace of his mother.
His mother.
The thought of her caused an invisible hand to wrap tightly around his throat, making it difficult to breath, difficult to see.
He turned down a street as Mito had instructed, willing the tears to remain behind his lashes. The street was just as busy as the last. Shinobi and civilians alike making their way home or to the nearest sake shop. Yet amid all the dark heads and whirling shadows, Sakumo could make out a clear absence of color.
Tobirama strode towards him, his head bent over sheets of paper clamped tightly in his fist. People on the streets bowed their head in respect as he passed and though he never looked up, he somehow managed to expertly sidestep the carts and small children that riddled the uneven street.
The invisible hand released from Sakumo's throat, allowing him to breathe again. Was it because the man was his father that he felt such tremendous security or could every villager that walked past claim the same feeling? Would he ever be able to exude the same confidence in his height? The same pride even with his head bent? Would he ever walk down a street to heads bowed with such respect and gratitude?
Sakumo had not realized he had stopped in the middle of the street, until a body clipped his shoulder. He grumbled a curse and then another when he discovered he could no longer see the white-haired Senju before him.
"It's a little late for you to be out wandering the streets, Sakumo." Tobirama's voice cut clear and deep just over his shoulder. He reeled on his heel to find Tobirama, only a few feet away, still staring down at the papers in his hand.
Sakumo's eyes widened. How had he not noticed him walk past?
Noting the silence, the white-haired Senju let the papers fall to his side, his full attention now on the boy.
"Lady Mito sent me to fetch you for dinner," Sakumo mumbled, pushing his hands deep into his pockets.
Tobirama rubbed a tired forefinger across his brow, sensing the same set up Sakumo had noticed. "I suppose Ryuu must have told her about our…exchange."
His voice was far softer than anything Sakumo had heard before. It was silvery. The words almost melting with exhaustion. And for the first time, Sakumo did not feel pushed away by the tone of his voice, but rather pulled in. He took a cautious step closer.
"I am sorry for calling your village stupid." He hadn't meant to say anything. Certainly, hadn't meant to apologize for anything. Yet the words tumbled out from his mouth in a jumble, trying to fill the cavernous space between them.
A rumble of thunder.
Sakumo looked up.
Not thunder. A chuckle!
It was low and tired and certainly did not reach the garnet eyes, but for a moment there was less darkness around him.
"I have called it far worse." He sighed, eyes looking blearily down the long, narrow road that rose up to the lone stone face.
His attention snapped suddenly to Sakumo, considering him. "This was your first day on Team Toka, correct?"
Surprised, Sakumo nodded. "We failed the bell test."
He winced. Another confession without meaning to!
Garnet eyes crinkled. Sakumo felt a hand press into his back, pushing him forward. With his mother this would have been intended as a gesture of comfort, but the little he knew about this man made it more likely this was simply a means of efficiency. They were standing in the middle of a crowded street after all.
The hand lifted. Sakumo did not like the way its absence bothered him.
"No one is meant to pass it on their first try." The same silvery voice. The same desire to move closer. "Hashirama broke his arm the first time he tried getting them from our father. Of course, the lesson was a little different back then."
Sakumo's head rose in interest. In the stories he had been told Hashirama was nothing short of a god. Surely, gods could not fail something as simple as a bell test.
Another thought struck him.
"Did you fail it too?"
Was there something human in this god as well?
Tobirama nodded with a small smile of remembrance. "I focused too much of my chakra on my sensory abilities—passed out from chakra exhaustion before I could get my hands around them."
Sakumo snorted in surprised delight.
The white-haired Senju lifted his head haughtily at the sound. "Of course, I got it the second time around."
The boy raised an eyebrow—unimpressed.
It struck Tobirama in the strangest way how much Sakumo was like his mother. Kana had never been much impressed with him either. She had given him the same quirk of the eyebrow when he had tried to disappear into himself.
Tobirama grimaced. He had not meant to think about Kana. She reminded him of death. And death reminded him of the bloodied forehead protector in his pocket and the heartbreaking task that lay before him.
Tobirama had hoped the long walk would allow him time to plan. But his usually focused mind kept wandering to the boy at his side. There was potential to be found in the confidence of his steps, the attentive flicker in his eyes. The foundation had already been laid by his grandfather. Even Toka had grudgingly admitted in her report that 'despite the disadvantage of being a snot-nosed brat, he appeared highly capable, perhaps even possessing genius qualities.'
In order for the village to survive it would need strong shinobi. Now more than ever.
Tobirama cleared his throat. The boy's head jerked to attention. "It occurs to me that being on a three-man team may not allow you to develop your skills as quickly as you would like."
Steel eyes widened. He had the boy's full attention.
He continued. "If you are willing to put in the work, I would consider instructing you in your techniques when my schedule allows."
The boy's eyes were now as wide as rice bowls.
"You mean you will train me?" Sakumo's voice went almost an octave higher, an unfortunate trait he must have learned from Ryuu.
"When my schedule allows." He reiterated.
Sakumo did not seem to hear. In fact, he appeared to bounce the rest of the way home.
Hashirama met them in the courtyard, seemingly relaxed and content with a cup of tea in hand. Tobirama glanced at the boy, staring at his uncle with an unfathomable expression.
"Sakumo." The boy turned to him, an eager soldier. "Run and tell Mito we will be in shortly."
Sakumo nodded, though it was clear by the flash of his eyes that he knew he was merely being dismissed.
Hashirama smiled at the boy's back.
"Every time I see him, I expect my younger self to be trailing not far behind. The old poets were right, brother." Hashirama took a long sip of tea, the steam curling around his nose. "True immortality lies in our children."
Tobirama clenched the forehead protector tight in his hand.
His brother looked up at him expectantly. Still calm. Still content in these last few moments. Tobirama did not know if it was kindness or cruelty that forced his hand forward, raising the bloodied headband up like an offering.
"I'm so sorry, brother."