Chapter Text
13 year old Kagami shifts nervously on his feet as he stands outside Tobirama-sensei’s house, the morning air cool against his skin. He’s a few minutes early, something Tobirama-sensei would probably approve of. Punctuality is one of those virtues the man valued almost as much as precision. Kagami glances at the door, steeling himself, before knocking lightly and stepping inside.
Tobirama-sensei greets him with his usual curt nod, his sharp eyes briefly scanning Kagami before he speaks. “Go to the lab. I’ll join you shortly.”
Kagami dips his head in acknowledgment. “Yes, Tobirama-sensei.”
His footsteps echo faintly as he makes his way through the house to the lab. It’s a space Kagami has grown familiar with over the past months, though its wonder never truly fades. The first time he entered, he felt like an intruder in a place that thrummed with restrained power. Now, it feels less daunting—but no less awe-inspiring.
He steps into the room, the faint scent of ink and metal filling his nose. Seals of varying sizes and complexity line the walls, alongside shelves packed with scrolls and intricate tools. Kagami doesn’t touch anything; Tobirama-sensei’s warning about his experiments is etched deeply into his mind. “Some of these could level the entire house if mishandled,” Tobirama-sensei had said, his tone too even for it to be a mere exaggeration.
Instead, Kagami heads to the desk along one wall and takes his seat. The chair creaks slightly under him, the sound loud in the quiet room. His eyes fall on an unfamiliar seal on the desk’s surface. It’s intricate, its loops and curves weaving together in a way that almost seems alive. Kagami leans closer, careful not to touch. The urge to trace the lines with his fingers is strong, but he resists. Tobirama-sensei’s lessons about seals are clear: never touch what you don’t understand.
His curiosity is interrupted when his elbow brushes against an almost-empty cup of tea. The cup teeters for a moment before toppling over. Kagami’s stomach drops as it hits the stone floor with a sharp crack, shattering into jagged pieces.
“Shit,” he mutters, dropping to his knees. Panic claws at him as he hurriedly starts gathering the shards. He doesn’t know why he’s so flustered—Tobirama-sensei wouldn’t yell at him for something like this. Still, the thought of disappointing him is unbearable. His fingers fumble over the shards, and a sharp sting makes him hiss. Blood wells up from a cut on his hand, a bright contrast against his pale skin.
Footsteps echo from the hallway. Kagami’s heart races. He sweeps the shards onto the desk, hoping to at least look like he’s fixing his mistake. But as he straightens, his eyes catch something alarming: the unfamiliar seal on the desk is glowing faintly, its lines pulsing with an ominous light.
Kagami’s breath catches. He spots it immediately—a smear of his blood at the edge of the seal. “Fuck,” he whispers, his voice barely audible over the hum now emanating from the desk.
The door bursts open, and Tobirama-sensei strides in, his eyes narrowing as they take in the scene. His usually composed face flashes with alarm as he sees the glowing seal. “Kagami!” he barks, his voice sharp enough to snap Kagami out of his frozen state.
Tobirama-sensei lunges toward him, hand outstretched, but it’s too late. The seal’s glow intensifies, and the air around Kagami warps. He barely has time to process the look on Tobirama-sensei’s face—a mix of urgency and something unspoken—before his surroundings blur and shift.
The lab vanishes.
***
Kagami blinks, disoriented, as the world around him sharpens into focus. He’s no longer in Tobirama-sensei’s lab. Instead, he’s standing in a clearing surrounded by towering trees, their leaves silver under the light of a full moon. The air smells of damp earth and pine, and a soft breeze brushes against his skin. It’s night—so why does it feel like a dream?
No, not a dream. A nightmare.
His heart pounds in his chest as he takes in his surroundings. He feels smaller somehow, his limbs lighter, but his mind is too foggy to figure out why. In the middle of the clearing, several meters away, a figure crouches over a dropped mission pack, its contents spilling out—food, weapons, and supplies. The figure’s posture is achingly familiar, and Kagami’s breath catches in his throat.
It’s Kazuki-nii-chan.
His older brother’s dark hair glints faintly in the moonlight as he reaches for the bag. Kagami’s stomach churns, dread clawing at him. He knows this scene. He knows it far too well. His blood freezes, his body locking in place.
“No,” he whispers, his voice trembling. Then louder, desperate, as though he can shout away fate itself, “No! It’s a trap!”
Kazuki-nii-chan hesitates. His head turns slightly, as though he’s heard Kagami’s warning. But it’s too late. His hand already touched the bag.
A deafening explosion tears through the night. The force of it ripples through the clearing, shaking the trees and sending leaves cascading to the ground.
Kagami’s cry of “NO!” is drowned out by the sound of the blast.
The force throws Kazuki-nii-chan backward, but before Kagami can fully process what’s happening, a larger figure appears out of nowhere, tackling his brother out of the way. The two figures—Kazuki-nii-chan and the one who saved him—are hurled against the trees, their bodies colliding with sickening force.
Kagami is thrown back, too. But he’s far enough away from the explosion that he only ends up with some bruises.
For a moment, there’s only silence, save for the ringing in Kagami’s ears. His body feels heavy, but he forces himself to stand up. He stumbles forward, his legs unsteady beneath him. It’s like his body doesn’t fit him anymore, too small, too clumsy.
When he finally reaches them, he collapses to his knees beside Kazuki-nii-chan. There’s blood everywhere, dark and glistening in the moonlight. Kazuki-nii-chan’s face is pale, his breathing shallow.
Kagami’s throat tightens. “Nii-chan,” he chokes out, his voice breaking.
A groan draws his attention to the figure lying beside his brother. Kagami’s stomach twists as he realizes who it is. Izuna-sama.
The rational part of Kagami’s mind screams that this is wrong. Both Kazuki-nii-chan and Izuna-sama have been dead for years. But in the suffocating grip of panic, logic is drowned out by raw fear.
He’s not thinking. He’s reacting.
His eyes dart between the two of them—his brother and the Clan Heir, both bleeding, both dying. His hands tremble as he places them over Kazuki-nii-chan’s chest, the warm, sticky blood soaking into his skin. He knows he can’t save them alone.
But Tobirama-sensei taught him what to do in situations like this. His voice echoes in Kagami’s memory, calm and precise: “If you ever need immediate medical attention for your teammates, pulse your chakra like this. Do not misuse it, or I’ll have you scrubbing windows, paint fences and weed flower beds for a year.”
The thought of Tobirama-sensei scolding him barely registers. Kagami draws in a shaky breath, then pushes chakra, sending out the emergency signal. He pulses it again and again, pouring as much chakra into it as he can manage.
The emergency signal pulses through the clearing like a heartbeat, fierce and steady, pushing against the oppressive silence. Kagami grits his teeth, focusing all his chakra on sending out the desperate call. He knows Tobirama-sensei will come. He has to. He always does. That trust is the one solid thing Kagami clings to in the chaos.
A faint voice breaks through his concentration. “What... what are you doing?”
Kagami’s head snaps toward Izuna-sama, who lies slumped against a tree, blood pooling beneath him. His voice is weak, barely audible, but his sharp gaze pierces through Kagami’s panic.
“I’m getting help,” Kagami replies quickly, glancing back at his unconscious brother. His words are resolute, but his hands tremble as he moves to Kazuki-nii-chan’s side. The sight of his brother’s pale face twists something deep in Kagami’s chest.
He presses trembling fingers to Kazuki-nii-chan’s neck, checking for a pulse. Relief floods him when he finds it, faint but steady. “Okay,” he mutters under his breath, half to himself, half to his unconscious brother. “You’re still here. I can do this.”
Kagami forces his hands to steady as he begins to treat the wounds. He tears strips of cloth from his own shirt, binding them tightly around the worst injuries. The blood soaks through almost immediately, but it’s better than nothing. His hands feel... wrong. Were they always this small?
He moves to Izuna-sama next, but the older Uchiha shakes his head weakly. “Stop... It’s too late. You should run. Go to the compound. Tell Nii-san... Just go.”
Kagami’s jaw tightens. “Stop talking.” He presses a hand to Izuna-sama’s side, wincing at the sight of the jagged branch impaling him. “You’re not dying, Izuna-sama. Sensei will be here soon.”
Izuna-sama’s brow furrows. “What sensei?”
Kagami freezes for a fraction of a second, thrown by the question. What sensei? What kind of question is that? Everyone knows Tobirama-sensei is his teacher. But now isn’t the time to explain.
“Just stop moving,” Kagami says firmly, dodging the question. “You’re making it worse.”
Izuna-sama’s lips twitch into something like a grimace. “Kagami... you’re wasting time. Leave us and go. You’re just a kid. You can’t—”
“I’m not leaving,” Kagami snaps, his voice louder than he intended. “You’re concussed, Izuna-sama. You’re not thinking straight. Sensei will be here soon, and he’ll fix this.”
Izuna-sama’s face darkens with pain and frustration. “We’re not going to make it. My lung’s punctured. And Kazuki... he’s worse off. There isn’t a medic skilled enough to save us. You need to leave. Now. We’re too close to the Senj—”
“Sensei can,” Kagami interrupts, his voice firm. He doesn’t even realize he’s clenching his fists until his nails dig into his palms. “He might not have chakra reserves like Hashirama-sama, but he knows how to fix a punctured lung. He’s done it before.”
Izuna-sama shakes his head faintly. “Stop dreaming,” he murmurs. His voice is weaker now, but his eyes are filled with a desperate kind of conviction. “Leave. That’s an order.”
“Shut up.” Kagami’s voice wavers, but his glare is steady. “Sensei is going to be here soon. He’ll heal you, and Kazuki-nii-chan too. Then I’ll tell Madara-sama what happened, and he’ll throw you into the koi pond for pulling this reckless stunt. And you’ll deserve it.”
Izuna-sama stares at him, something unreadable in his expression. He opens his mouth, but Kagami doesn’t give him the chance to speak.
“Stop arguing,” Kagami snaps, leaning back over Kazuki-nii-chan to check the bleeding. “Sensei is coming. You’ll see.”
Deep down, despite everything—despite the blood, the fear, and the impossible odds—Kagami believes it. Because Tobirama-sensei has never let him down.
The clearing is silent but for the rustle of leaves and the faint, labored breaths of Kazuki-nii-chan and Izuna-sama. Kagami keeps glancing at the tree line, willing Tobirama-sensei to appear. His hands tremble, and he clenches them into fists to steady himself. He forces down the panic clawing at his throat.
Then, at last, he feels a shift in the air. Tobirama-sensei steps into the clearing, his presence as sharp and imposing as ever, clad in full battle armor. The moonlight catches on his headpiece and reflects off the polished metal of his breastplate. For a moment, Kagami feels a rush of relief so strong it nearly topples him.
But something’s wrong. Tobirama-sensei’s movements are too quick, too sharp, and his face is set in an expression Kagami has never seen before. His crimson eyes flick over the scene, taking in the bloodied bodies, the destroyed vegetation, and Kagami kneeling in the dirt. There’s anger in his eyes, but it’s not directed where Kagami expects.
Kagami scrambles to his feet, his words tumbling out in a rush. “Sensei! I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to! I was waiting for you in your lab, and I accidentally broke your cup! I tried to clean it up, but I cut my finger, and some of my blood got on the seal you were working on, and then—and then I was just here!” He sucks in a shaky breath. “But that’s not important right now! You need to heal Kazuki-nii-chan and Izuna-sama, or they’ll die!”
Tobirama-sensei stops mid-step, his expression unreadable. Kagami is used to his teacher’s calm demeanor, the sharp focus that always seems to radiate from him. But now, Tobirama-sensei’s eyes are wide, his face a mixture of something Kagami can’t name.
Izuna-sama’s voice, weak but firm, breaks the silence. “Run. Get out of here.”
Kagami throws him an irritated glance. “You’re concussed, Izuna-sama. You’re not making any sense.”
Tobirama-sensei’s gaze snaps to Kagami, and his voice is low but urgent. “What seal are you talking about? Draw it. Now. Use a stick—no chakra.”
Kagami hesitates, glancing at his brother’s prone form. “Sensei, this isn’t the time for—”
“Now!”
The command in his voice leaves no room for argument. Kagami swallows his frustration and picks up a broken branch. He crouches down where the earth is bare, cleared by the explosion, and begins to sketch the seal. He tries to remember every curve, every loop, but his mind is a jumble, and he’s not sure he’s getting it right.
When he’s finished, Kagami steps back and looks to Tobirama-sensei for approval. The man’s reaction isn’t what he expects. His eyes widen further, his mouth parting slightly as if he’s been struck.
“When,” Tobirama-sensei asks, his voice slow and deliberate, “did I become your sensei? And why were you in my lab?”
Kagami stares at him, baffled. Does he think Kagami hit his head? “You became my sensei last year, when I graduated with Torifu and Danzo. You’re our jonin instructor.” He gestures vaguely. “And I was in your lab because you were going to teach me how to make a storage seal for small objects today.”
Tobirama-sensei’s expression grows even stranger. Kagami has never seen him look so... unsettled. “Why,” Tobirama-sensei presses, “am I teaching you sealing?”
Kagami blinks. “Because Hashirama-sama and Madara-sama said it was important. Something about showing the union of the Senju-Uchiha-Alliance.”
At that, Tobirama-sensei gasps. The sound is sharp, almost pained. Izuna-sama, who had been silent for a moment, lets out a faint, strangled noise.
Kagami frowns. “Sensei, stop checking me for memory loss or something. I’m fine—the explosion didn’t hit me that hard. But Kazuki-nii-chan and Izuna-sama aren’t! You have to help them!”
For a long moment, Tobirama-sensei doesn’t move, his sharp red eyes locked on Kagami as though trying to solve some impossible puzzle. Then, slowly, he steps forward. His armor clinks softly as he crouches beside Kazuki-nii-chan and Izuna-sama.