They assess each other for the span of a single heartbeat before Danzou lets out an irritated "tch" and moves.
"Watch out—!" Sakumo yells. Shikaku's eyes grow wide with shock as he turns, but already Danzou's sword is flashing down, ready to separate the man's head from his shoulders.
A tongue of shadow flickers out from Shikaku's heel, latching onto Danzou's foot and shooting upwards to wrap around his arm, just in time to catch him. The blade is a mere hair's breath from Shikaku's throat when Chouza's fist crashes down and crushes Danzou into pulp. The weapon skids off the padded collar of Shikaku's flak jacket, clattering off the armoured back of Chouza's gauntlet and onto the blood-soaked ground. Shikaku's face tightens in disgust as he glances back.
"Stay alert," the Nara advises, just as Inoichi shouts: "There!"
The crushed corpse is gone from behind Shikaku and Danzou is standing before them whole and hale once more, the same look of annoyance on his face and his katana back in his hand. "The arm," Inoichi wheezes, lifting his hands and activating the mind-body swap before Danzou can disappear again. A blue streak of light hits Danzou in the chest before he can even blink and Inoichi's knees buckle, his body falling backwards into Chouza's hastily outstretched hand.
Sakumo's heart jumps to his throat as Inoichi, without hesitation, tucks Danzou's blade under the Sharingan-implanted arm and wrenches it upwards. "Ugh!" Danzou's body collapses to its knees with a cut-off cry. The gory limb is snatched up by a strand of shadow and tossed towards Chouza, who stomps on it with a foot. The nasty squelch makes them all grimace but it's all done within a second.
On the ground, Inoichi's body stirs once more with a groan. "Did we get him?"
His teammates' expressions are pained. "Yeah."
The Yamanaka smiles faintly. "Need a medic," he murmurs, before fainting dead away.
"Get him to the hospital," Shikaku barks, his eyes darting between his downed teammate and the groaning Danzou, only to find Danzou gone upon his second glance. "Shit, Chouza—!"
The towering Akimichi yells as Danzou suddenly reappears next to Inoichi. Pure instinct has Chouza's arm snapping out to blocks Inoichi from harm's way, but Danzou's sword manages to cut through Chouza's gauntlet and bite into the back of his hand.
Chouza grabs at Danzou but the elder is swifter on his feet than he should be. It is like playing a game of cat and mouse.
"That was a noble sacrifice," Danzou taunts, rolling his right shoulder. "But you'd failed to take into account the fact that I'd already set my Sharingans to activate whenever I'm fatally harmed." Bringing up the blade to his mouth, he lets out a long exhale and coats the weapon with a swirling wind jutsu. "Now, you will die."
"At least we used up a Sharingan or two," Shikaku mutters, squinting hard from the strain of holding Sakumo still. Sakumo's reanimated body is pitting his unlimited reserves of chakra against his, and Shikaku is wearing down fast. "An arm for an eye. Chouza?"
"Mhmm."
Sakumo didn't even have the time to shout before Chouza's fist is slamming into him, sending his body bursting into shreds of paper as he tumbles to the ground. "Sorry, Sakumo-san," he hears faintly through his ringing ears before everything blacks out.
When he regenerates enough to be aware again, Chouza is already some distance away, stepping carefully between buildings as he delivers the unconscious Inoichi to the hospital. Alone now, Shikaku struggles to keep up with Danzou's constant, unpredictable attacks with a combination of his clan jutsu and taijutsu. The only thing in Shikaku's favour is the fact that Danzou has started to conserve his Sharingans; preferring to rely on his skill with the blade now that the Ino-Shika-Chou formation is broken. But with Sakumo up on his feet again, the Nara is both outclassed and outnumbered.
"Damn," Shikaku mutters, glancing over as Sakumo advances upon him. His arm jerks as Danzou's chakra-coated katana bites into his kunai. "Sakumo-san, not even you can break out of this?"
"Unfortunately, I've tried. Unsuccessfully," Sakumo adds apologetically. Just as he finishes speaking, he glimpses a weakness in the Nara's defences and his foot snaps out, slamming into Shikaku's stomach and sending him crashing into the ground, gasping for air.
Danzou leaps in for the finishing blow and Sakumo gasps, unable to bear looking but just as helpless to turn away.
Sparks fly.
"Stop!" Kakashi yells, his voice cracking as the blue light of his Chidori fills the street. Danzou and Sakumo both fall back, ducking away as the fist of Fugaku's Susanoo slams between them. The rest of the glowing red skeleton is braced over Shikaku, a single rib fractured where Danzou's blow had landed.
"Hmph." Fugaku helps Shikaku up, his eyes swirling with the black-on-red of the Mangekyou as he takes in the scene. The torrent of chakra from both Kakashi's Chidori and his Susanoo tugs at the Hokage's hat hanging at his hip, making the white veil flutter. "I hadn't wanted to show my incomplete Susanoo, but..." The fractured rib seals up and the skeleton rears its head. "Kakashi, I will be relying on you to hold off Sakumo. Shikaku, I will need your brain with the sealing team when they arrive. As for Danzou—" Fugaku's eyes narrow. "I will carve out every single one of my clansmen's Sharingan from that unworthy flesh of yours."
"Kakashi," Sakumo breathes as Kakashi pushes back his headband with a trembling hand, revealing the deep pain submerged in both his eyes. His Sharingan spins wildly as he draws his katana from the sheath strapped to his ANBU armour.
"Otou-san," Kakashi croaks.
"I'm so sorry." This is possibly the worst way that he could have reunited with Kakashi and Sakumo is utterly shaken. Kakashi's last ordeal had just ended and here he is putting him through more; Sakumo would never forgive himself if he hurt Kakashi in any way.
"Now isn't this touching," Danzou mutters, but then Fugaku is slamming into him with the full force of his Susanoo and the elder is in no position to make any more sarcastic remarks.
"Let's not fight," Kakashi pleads, his eyes flitting over Sakumo's face as if he wanted to memorise every bit of it.
The sword is at once too heavy and too light in Sakumo's hand as he raises it. He finds himself stumbling over his words as he speaks, anxious to make Kakashi understand. "Come at me with intent to kill, Kakashi!" he gasps. "I'm not in control of myself! Remember how much you hated this failure of a father and take me down. This will be the greatest kindness right now."
A tear wells out of Kakshi's Sharingan. "I don't hate you, tou-san."
"I know," Sakumo manages to choke out before his body lunges forward.
Kakashi grunts as he blocks the overhead blow, his heels digging into the dirt as he braces beneath the weight of Sakumo's sword. He resists for a heartbeat before he's gone and Sakumo is falling forward. The older Hatake follows the momentum and drops to the ground, twisting around to meet Kakashi's follow-up Katon with jet of water of his own.
Steam bursts between them and they fall back, pacing warily as they wait for the thick white cloud to clear.
"Sakumo-san!" His eyes flickers to the left and he spots Rin. Her hand is clasped tightly around Kagami's arm as she drags him over. Hyaku and several other ghosts are close behind, visibly shocked at the situation.
"Rin!" he exclaims in relief. "Kagami-sama."
The Uchiha ghost doesn't seem to hear him. He's focused on Fugaku and Danzou's fight further along the street, his face slowly blanching of all colour as he watches. "His arm... I didn't think they'd go so far. Hashirama's Mokuton and the Uchiha's Sharingan, that is a dangerous combination—"
"You owe us," Rin interrupts, half-chiding and half-pleading. She tugs at the elder Uchiha's arm until she has his attention. "So please! Help us fix this before Sakumo-san is forced to hurt Kakashi!"
Kagami frowns. Nodding, his lips press together in determination. "Look into my eyes." Blinking once, he opens his eyes to the red of his Kotoamatsukami and Sakumo finds himself caught in its spinning pinwheels. His limbs become strangely weightless for a moment before, for lack of any other explanation, his spirit settles properly into his bones. Protect your family.
Groaning, Kagami presses his fingers against the ridge of his eyebrows and massages. Somewhere beyond the clearing steam, Danzou lets out a wheeze as well. "That should do it." Dabbing away the bead of blood that has welled in the corner of his eye, Kagami raises an eyebrow at Sakumo. "How do you feel?"
Sakumo flexes his fingers and withdraws a kunai, sending it flying towards Danzou. It whizzes right beside the man's head and Danzou flinches back, his startled gaze meeting Sakumo's for a split second before his attention is diverted back to the raging Uchiha clan head again. "Thank you," Sakumo says, his shoulders drooping in relief.
A stiff breeze dissipates the steam, revealing Kakashi, his hands still tightly clenched in the jutsu's hand seals. "Who are you talking to?" he demands, staring at him with wide, haunted eyes. His gaze slides to Sakumo's side before snapping back, and his voice drops into a whisper. "Why did you say Rin's name?"
"Tell him, Sakumo-san," Rin says, looking up at him with the same beseeching look.
Lowering his sword, Sakumo hesitates. Would it be cruel to let him know that Rin has not moved on properly all this time?
"Just tell me," Kakashi pleads, stepping forward before catching himself. "There were times when I felt you by my side. I thought I was going crazy but…!"
Sakumo caves—how could he not? "Yes, we've been watching over you. Both me and Rin. We're here right now." He leans down as Rin tiptoes and whispers in his ear. "We're both proud of how far you've come," he says hoarsely, meeting Kakashi's glistening eyes.
The younger Hatake is crying silently, his tears soaking into his mask as the hands holding his katana drop lower and lower, until it seems to take his all to hold it aloft against Sakumo. "Both you and Rin... Ah... Obito has moved on?"
"Yes," Sakumo reassures him gently. "Don't you worry about him."
"Ah..." Unable to find words to reply, Kakashi nods silently. His shoulders sag in relief as he sways slightly forward towards his father.
"Kakashi!" Shikaku yells.
Something black cuts through the air and Sakumo's hand snaps out, the kunai between his fingers sparking as it diverts the stray shuriken away from his son. Kakashi flinches back and his sword comes up between them, but Sakumo is no longer the enemy here.
"Otou-san?" Kakashi whispers, stunned that Sakumo is now braced protectively over him despite Kakashi's blade being pressed up across Sakumo's torso, only a flick of the wrist away from his neck. It is the closest that they have come to a proper hug.
Quickly explaining what Kagami had done in a few short sentences, Sakumo gives Kakashi a small smile. "I have control back now. Until the Edo Tensei is released, please leave this up to me."
"Sir," the sealing team shouts as they arrive. There's a huge scroll in their hands as they run up to Shikaku. "We've prepared the seals to restrain the Edo Tensei!"
The jounin commander raises a hand, his sharp eyes flickering between Sakumo and Danzou, and Kakashi, caught between them. "Sakumo-san is free from Orochimaru's control. For now. Sakumo-san, what's the status of those with you?" Shikaku has accepted the existence of ghosts with remarkable ease.
"I'll fight." With a sharp look, Rin forestalls Sakumo's protests. "You promised after you went off to fight Danzou alone." Sakumo winces. Cracking her knuckles, Rin gives him a sweet smile. "This is for Kakashi. Kagami-san, we'll take over from here."
"I'm out for the count anyway," Kagami says regretfully, indicating his closed eyes. "Sakumo-san, you must destroy that arm as quickly as you can. Hyaku and the rest will back you up if Rin needs to swap out."
When Sakumo tells Shikaku as much, the jounin commander nods.
"I'll fight too," Kakashi insists, but Sakumo holds him back.
"You've been through a lot. Let me protect you once," Sakumo murmurs. "Please?"
"You're still supposed to be in the hospital," Shikaku reminds him. There's a terrible crash as Fugaku's Susanoo plummets to the ground and the Nara winces. "Sakumo-san, hurry. Looks like the Godaime's having a bad time."
Kakashi finally relents. "Otou-san," he murmurs, looking up to his father as he holds onto Sakumo's sleeve in a white-knuckled grip. "Stay safe." It's just like how he used to send Sakumo off at the gate for missions, and Sakumo closes his hand tight over Kakashi's. Kakashi's gaze shifts to the side of Sakumo's shoulder, his gaze not quite landing on Rin. "You too, Rin," he whispers.
She nods firmly and wipes at her eyes.
Stepping back and shoving his hand in his pocket, Kakashi gives his father a tight smile and turns to join Shikaku, who is a safe distance away. It feels like saying goodbye all over again, and Sakumo has to remind himself to focus when there is another crash and the sound of Fugaku's startled shout.
"So now I have you to contend with as well?" Danzou mutters angrily, stepping away from the wreckage that they'd made of the line of shophouses opposite the T&I. "This Orochimaru, making trouble for me in the end..." The dust clears to reveal Fugaku's Susanoo crumpling away at the edges, only the ribs remaining wrapped around him as he tries - and fails - to sit up from the rubble. There are black lines across his skin, the edges burning red as it crawls up his sleeves. The man groans.
Sakumo counts the number of open Sharingans on Danzou's arm as he adjusts his grip on the hilt of his sword. 'One. Two. Three. Four. Five.' The Sharingan in the elder's head is slowly misting over as he strips away the last of the loosened bandages.
"Kagami, you do know that you'd die if I do, right?" The elder's eyes narrow.
"I've allowed this to go on for far too long," Kagami replies flatly. "It's time for this to end. Sakumo-san, Rin-chan, I'll be relying on you both."
A/N: Oh boy fight scenes are difficult to write X'D Hope you all enjoyed!