Chapter Text
Kagami watches the Shodai's back from the teal-leafed tree behind the river. He's not actually the Shodai yet, but that's all Kagami has ever known him as—that and Uncle. Maybe that's why he feels nothing but reverence while watching his clan's enemy stand by the water, Hashirama's red kimono sleeves rippling in the wind and long dark hair swaying while dusk's golden light halos around him and darkens his visage.
He looks young, young in a way Kagami couldn't see when he was a child yet it’s so clear now.
He also looks lonely, and Kagami shouldn't but can't help leaping off the branch and landing on the pebbled ground behind him, purposely kicking some rocks to announce his arrival. The man either doesn't hear him—unlikely for even a shinobi lost in thought—or he's giving Kagami a chance to turn back to safety.
Yet Kagami knows Hashirama never hated the Uchiha and he's wearing a cloak to hide the white and red fan decorating his shirt anyway. So he nears until he's caught in the Hokage's long shadow.
"Senju-sama." Kagami winces at the childish lit to his voice, still unused to it, yet he perseveres. "How are—" No, too personal— "It's been a while since you came here," he says like that isn't a much creepier way of introducing himself.
However, Hashirama must not perceive a four-year old as a threat because he doesn't ask how Kagami knows about his visits to the river. He just tilts his head slightly and hums.
"Yes," Hashirama says so softly the breeze almost covers the word. "It has."
Kagami senses he has more to say so he looks down, giving him time. The gold-painted river laps at Hashirama's sandals, fishes splashing in the distance. Kagami wonders if anyone else comes here too...if his sensei ever used to…
"I like to think here."
Kagami looks up as the Senju turns, and his dark eyes are strained, his smile brittle. "But lately my thoughts keep drifting to an old dream of mine." He sighs, gaze falling. "One I fear won't ever become real."
Kagami frowns. He hadn't known the Shodai ever doubted Konoha would be formed, assumed such an optimistic man always believed…but guess even the God of Shinobi was only human.
The Uchiha's eyes narrow and he nods. "Peace…it's easy to dream of here, so far from the war."
Hashirama stiffens, and ah, he hadn’t expected him to understand. Yet Kagami ignores his burning stare and gazes at the hazy orange sun setting behind the hinoki trees, the light warming his childish face.
"Maybe you've been too kind." Kagami's expression hardens. "Maybe you should stop asking for peace and start demanding it."
Hashirama's breath hitches, and Kagami smoothes his face into a blank mask just like his father taught him, his already bound chakra burying itself deeper inside him until even he can't discern his own emotions.
"If Madara is captured by the Senju—" Hashirama chokes—"The Uchiha wouldn't dare face you in battle, and if they foolishly do, the loss they'd suffer would leave them incapable of initiating another fight."
He slides a corked vial of foggy liquid out of his sleeve and into his hand.
"All it would take is a sedative in Madara's meal, timed to take effect after he's left the compound. If the Senju are there when that happens…"
He lets the suggestion hang heavy between them. Hashirama's lips flap but he says nothing. Kagami waits another minute, yet when he still doesn't speak, he turns, blinking away the half-circle afterimage of the setting sun.
"Please, consider it, Senju-sama."
He bows down to his waist. Then he walks onto the river, treading the middle to avoid showing himself returning to the Uchiha side. Hashirama may suspect he's an Uchiha on his looks alone but he'd rather not give himself up completely until peace is secured. Until he can see Father and warn him about—
Blood drenches Kagami's palms, streaming down his trembling arms and glimmering brighter than rubies. A sob tears out his throat while he scrabbles at the torn blue armor over an unmoving chest. Wake up, Tou-san! Wake up, wake up, wake up!
He screams and weapons are singing through the air, footsteps thundering across the field but it doesn't matter as his Sharingan burns—
Kagami inhales sharply, eyes wide and shuddering while his tightly wound chakra almost slips free. Father is…Tobirama-sensei is…
Kagami grips the cloak over his chest, teeth clenching. Peace is but months away yet there's nothing he can do to save his father until Konoha exists. And his time here is limited. So he has to give the Village a jumpstart, and once it's here, tell his father everything. Then maybe Tobirama-sensei can…maybe he won't…
Kagami shakes his head. No time to dwell on what ifs. He glares up at the peach-orange sky. He's got a mission and he will not fail.
Kagami slips away to the river as often as he can. It's easy since his mother passed weeks ago in this time, and though he's not glad she's gone—her soft yet firm hands and gentle timbre while she adjusted his fingers around his first shuriken will always be a treasured memory—it gives him a convenient excuse for his sudden maturity and any other oddities he exhibits now that he's eighteen going on five. His parentless status also leaves him under no one's direct supervision, for the whole clan is expected to care for orphans and he's free to sleep at and get meals from any home capable of providing.
So he leaves the house at dawn, silently weaves in between the houses and marketplace stalls, and avoids the fire-smoke chakra signatures until he's lost to the shadows of the forest. He hunkers down on the tallest tree a ways from the river, senses spreading across the area in a web that will alert him at the slightest provocation.
Hashirama doesn't come back. Hardly anyone comes through the forest save for a few Senju and Uchiha patrols. No one else dares getting so close to their borders.
Kagami gets comfortable on the tree, laying out his legs across the branch while he inks down everything from Konoha legislations to the Village’s architectural designs from what he remembers and keeping his senses open though they're nowhere near his father's sensing abilities. He's in the middle of writing the Academy graduation requirements when water-ice signatures emerge in great numbers. He assumes it's a Senju patrol until flames-ozone signatures spark beside them. A battle is starting.
He quickly puts down his brush, rolls up his scroll, and stuffs both into his weapon pouch. Then he hops to his feet, his lips curving into a catty smirk. It's about time.
Kagami leaps, flipping and jumping between branches with his feet barely dusting a tree's bark before he bounds towards the next. The world blurs, leaves flying around him, and his body sings at the release of pent-up energy. He hasn’t been able to spar for days and he’s only been able to train at the clan dojo after everyone sleeps, always hengeing into another Uchiha in case he's ever caught.
The sky darkens, smoke invading the blue. Kagami's expression grows serious while he slows, steps quieting. Heat shimmers the air, the stench of burning grass stings his nose, and he stops on a low branch, looking down.
Senju and Uchiha throw themselves at each other in a razed field, the earth smoldering. Scarlet flames tunnel into a Senju's armored chest and he cries out, bowled to the ground. A blistered fist stabs a kunai into an Uchiha's shoulder and the Uchiha growls, returning the favor with a kunai to the Senju's thigh. Both fall into a tangle of writhing limbs, dirt dusting their clothes.
Kagami notices his Sharingan is on and hastily winds back his tightly wound spool of chakra until just a thread maintains his Sharingan. He forces himself to ignore the violence, scanning over Senju forces and not lingering on anyone's hair or face lest he spots silver-white bangs over blood red eyes.
A kunoichi is laid out in a blackened crater, not too injured, but her chakra is barely more than a blue flicker in her core. Two Senju flying through the air are scraping the bottom of their reserves and five are flagging from lack of chakra. There's a dozen more half-empty Senju but the rest are less severe cases. So Kagami inhales a steadying breath, locks his Sharingan on those in dire need, and unwinds his chakra. He lays his palm on the tree, his chakra pulsing into the bark and shooting down to the earth, racing towards the Senju.
His chakra flows into their soles, flushing through their systems, and their dying sparks eagerly gobble up the new chakra source. Most are too focused on dodging shuriken and katons to notice, but the kunoichi on the ground's eyes fly open as she jolts awake. Others who had been swinging katanas pause. One pair of red eyes dart towards his hiding spot for a second before shooting back to Izuna as the Uchiha spits crimson flames.
Kagami's vision twists and the forest swirls into a green mass, his head oddly light. He rushes to turn off his Sharingan and siphon back his chakra, frowning when a small puddle pools inside him before he tugs up nothing. Okay, maybe went too far.
Kagami drags himself into a stand and weakness shivers his legs. He groans, falling against the tree trunk. Yep, definitely too far.
Yet what's done is done. So he wipes the sweat off his face, turns from the battlefield, and hops onto the next tree. He lands hard on the branch, knees trembling while his arms swing loose because they're suddenly too heavy to throw back in a proper shinobi stance.
Still, he gathers his strength and jumps onto another tree, going from branch to branch until he drops onto the river. He immediately sinks onto his hands and knees, water splashing and drenching his cloak sleeves. His chest rises and falls hard, throat scorched from too fast breaths, and he closes his eyes.
After a couple of minutes, he opens them. His weary raven eyes stare back from a child’s face. He quickly averts his gaze and pushes himself up.
Kagami looks over to the Uchiha side of the river. A bird caws twice from the thick treetops. His feet don't move.
Slowly, he looks to the Senju side. Tobirama smiles while he turns from stirring the pots on the counter, green yukata fluttering.
"Welcome home, Kagam—"
He jolts awake in the darkness—huh? Kagami rips himself off the cold hardwood floor, crickets humming loudly outside. Where…
Kagami stares at the unfamiliar room. A bed sits in the corner by a half-shut closet, moonlight streaking down its neat blue covers. Fear stabs his heart, his eyes widening. This isn't an Uchiha home.
His fingers arch, nails scratching the too smooth floor—mokuton built? He looks up at a window with wooden sliding panels and barely makes out towering wooden gates surrounding unfamiliar rooftops. However, he has to be sure so looks above a stack of scrolls on the desk…
The Senju symbol gleams off a pinned white cloth banner. He has to leave now.
Kagami stumbles to his feet right as the door opens. He throws himself into the closet soundlessly only because of his shinobi training, but can't fully close the door as footsteps enter the room. He bites his tongue and doesn't dare breathe while leaning against the shadowed interior, peering out the thin crack between the closet door and wall.
"Anija," Tobirama growls and Kagami's heart stops.
Joy, agony, and sorrow claw through his chest, and it takes everything to shove down the swell of emotions before his chakra goes wild.
"I am fine." Tobirama wrenches free of Hashirama's grip, blue armor clanking while he steps out of reach and levels an irate glare on his brother.
Hashirama's hands hover where he'd been holding Tobirama's arm, eyes big and wet like a puppy abandoned in the rain. "Are you sure? You inhaled so much of that poison—"
"I've already taken the antidote." Tobirama huffs, striding towards his desk and gripping the chair tightly. Hashirama might mistake the action for one of anger, but from this close Kagami notices he's leaning on it—he’s exhausted.
"I will be fine by morning."
Hashirama frowns yet lowers his hands, though he clutches the ends of his black shirt tight. "Okay." His voice wilts along with his body. "I'll check on you in the morning."
Tobirama's eye twitches and he whirls back. "I don't need you to—" He scoffs, shaking his head, and he must really be exhausted to give in so quickly.
Hashirama knows this too because his face creases and he reaches out.
"I'm going to bed." Tobirama shoves off the chair, scowling at the window.
Hashirama's lips purse. However, he nods, sighing, "Goodnight, Tobi."
He turns and walks out, pulling the door shut behind him. Tobirama waits for his footsteps to drift away and then exhales, a dazed, worn expression weighing down his face. Kagami tenses as the man starts undoing the straps of his armor. Please don't hang it in the closet, please don't.
Tobirama sets the armor against his desk and Kagami dares to breathe in relief while the man reaches to pull off his happuri. Kagami looks down as he changes out of his clothes and instead listens to the rustling and padding of bare feet until the mattress groans under his weight. Kagami waits anywhere from minutes to hours for the sheets to stop shifting and then another ten minutes of silence to make sure he's truly asleep.
Carefully, he pushes open the closet door. Tobirama's young face rests angled towards him. Wretched longing twists Kagami's heart and tears sting his dark irises. He should leave, doing anything else would be reckless, dangerous. But Kagami has felt reckless and dangerous ever since he woke up in a too tiny body, screaming up to the sky while his Sharingan burned and his father's blood ran down his hands. He'd screamed and screamed, heart thundering and sweltering heat seizing his eyes as he clutched them.
"Tou-san!? Where's Tou-san!? I have to help—!" he'd babbled while hands grabbed his arms, shushing him over what they thought was a nightmare.
Yet he wouldn't calm down and they'd eventually knocked him out with a genjutsu, mercifully not noticing his fading Mangekyō as he dropped on his futon. It wasn't until he woke up the next morning and stared at his baby face in the bathroom mirror that he'd realized what happened.
Kagami digs into his weapon pouch and pulls out the scroll with Konoha's building designs and reasoning for how the land should be divided among clans. He goes over to the nightstand, lays it down, and turns to the window. He hesitates, looking back.
His father's peaceful expression scratches at his already fragile, cracked mind. Kagami wants to hug him, pull him in close, and feel his warm—not cold—skin. However, he's risking enough just lingering.
So he bows his head and whispers, "I love you, Tou-san."
He's out the window and shunshining from roof to roof before the sound reaches Tobirama's ears. The Senju's face twitches, but exhausted, he doesn't stir.
Yet there’s a gasp outside the bedroom. Hashirama, eyes wide and mouth agape, stares at the closed door. He couldn't be certain, had merely glimpsed that odd child through the window from a distance, but if he heard right…
He doesn't dare say it, yet the thought bangs around his head until he's left with one conclusion that settles in his bones like a deep-rooted tree.