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Tobirama wakes up to eyes peering back at him. He isn't afraid, and it doesn't startle him to watch the figures in the darkness of his room scurry around and stumble into things. His instincts are inclined to find them to be allies, and he's been a genin teacher for long enough to realize that children are strange creatures without any respectable boundaries like knocking before entering.
He sits up, already lighting the lanterns with a touch of chakra, and there's moonlight pouring in front the window. Tobirama isn't surprised to see the three main culprits inside the room: Kagami (who's hurriedly stuffing his teacher's happuri inside his travel bag), Danzo (who's pale and shaking and clutching onto Hiruzen as if letting go will end in disaster for him), and Saru (who's clutching onto Danzo just as tightly, clinging to him with legs around his waist and arms around his neck). He is surprised to find his other three students all huddled up together and packing up his things with the same vigor he's seen them have when running away after a particularly irritating prank.
"Would somebody like to explain?"
"We need to leave," Kagami tells him, already gathering some of Tobirama's armour into his arms, trying (and failing) to stuff it inside of his travel pack. "Torifu, get his sandals. Sensei, where are your sandals? Nevermind, Torifu! Just carry him!"
Torifu's at the bedside in an instant, the thirteen year old holding out his arms with a grim look of determination. "Alright, Sensei, let's go." And he hooks his arms under Tobirama's knees, as if he were going to carry him bridal style, so the man jerked back, watching them dumbfounded. He has no doubt that Torifu could carry him, but nothing was making any sense about the entire situation.
"Absolutely not, we aren't leaving. It's nearly midnight." Tobirama crossed his arms across his chest to stare them down. He would be damned if he was going to just up and leave after these brats-- he means his very beloved, wonderful students-- had thrown a fit to be allowed to stop at an inn for the evening on their way to Tsuchi no Kuni. Tobirama hadn't wanted to use the money for a single evening at an overpriced inn when he was well-aware they could handle setting up a secure camp in the woods, but Koharu had seen the signs up for the small, rickety inn in the middle of the nowhere and had alerted the others until he had six teenagers whining at him and dragging their feet in the dirt until he agreed.
He wasn't going to bow down to their whims everytime they changed their minds (well, at least not anymore).
"But we have to go!" Koharu had the nerve to look offended at his protests, as if she hadn't caused their rioting earlier in the first place.
"And why is that?"
"The inn is haunted!"
Well, Tobirama hadn't been expecting that. At all. In fact, he thinks that was proudly the least likely thing he could think of after enemy shinobi attack , the Kazekage is also staying at this inn , and Kagami accidentally stabbed Hiruzen again, we need to find a medic . Haunted inn? That's a new one for them, and Tobirama systematically adds that to the roster of excuses his students have used to get their way.
(Dutifully put beside their more creative excuses like Torifu's excuse of there was an enemy invasion and I had to fight them off that's why I'm three minutes late to practice. There had also been Sensei, my father died last night, I can't do laps today. I'm in mourning, despite the fact that Tobirama damn well knew that Danzou's father had died ten years prior. Although, to be fair, ghost in the inn didn't really compare to the top ranked excuse of Sensei, I can't do sit-ups today, I'm pregnant that twelve year old Hiruzen had told him with a straight face.)
"It isn't haunted," Tobirama says as calmly as he can manage, especially considering the fact that he has two children clinging to his arms to pull him off the bed. He swings his legs over and sighs, giving them another disappointed look.
His brother had warned him about losing his temper on these children. He was only allowed to hand out three punishments a month as a result of their tattling to Hashirama, and Tobirama wanted to save them in case there was another incident involving Daimyo, or if Koharu (who was the only one of these children that could swim) decided to lead her teammates to the river again to watch them drown. He took another steadying breath.
"It is haunted, Sensei!" Kagami cries out, nearly red in the face and looking at Tobirama as if he were a disobedient child that needed scolding. "We've been hearing noises."
"And I saw a shadow on the wall!"
"I saw a shadow figure too. It looked like a man, almost." Saru adds in, still clinging to the pale-faced Danzou. His brown eyes are wide and there's a touch of fear in them that isn't usually there.
Tobirama, however, isn't impressed by the acting, "Was it your shadow? Or perhaps one of your teammates' shadows?"
Saru hesitates.
"No, it wasn't our shadows." He insisted, and tucked himself further into Danzou's neck as if to hide from whatever was lurking outside the room. "It wasn't."
"There were footsteps too. We heard them, just outside the door." Homura reported, his eyes darting around towards the window of the room before flinching and turning away like he expected something to be out there.
"It's an inn," Tobirama crosses his arms over his chest, not impressed at all by their tall tales. "There's people. There's footsteps. Did you sense any chakra signatures nearby?" He tries to be rational, to be calm and think over all possibilities. An enemy spy? No, it wouldn't make sense for them to expose themselves.
Koharu nodded frantically, "There was none. It was the ghost. The shadow ghost. The inn's haunted, Sensei. We have to go." Tobirama glances around at the group of frightened children and tries to understand.
He was young once too. He remembers having to comfort Hashirama more than once when he swore he saw shadows in the trees that were the spirits of shinobi long dead, or when he was convinced their late mother was knocking on his door each night. But Tobirama had never seen such a phenomenon and he also wasn't childish enough to believe in shadows and ghouls and whatever other terrifying monsters a child's mind could create to make the dark seem darker. He was logical, analytical. He wasn't easily frightened by things that went bump in the night or the sound of the inn settling.
He understands to a point. It's a new environment, a new country they're in, and there's a risk associated with tomorrow's mission when they reach the next country where they might be attacked. He expected a tension, a fear or anxiety, but this seemed excessive and collaborated. Tobirama tries to put himself in their position. What had frightened him at thirteen years old? The constant threat of starvation? Remembering the feeling of losing his brothers when he felt their chakra became loose and rotten in their bodies? Disappointing his father enough to cause him to get another beating? Having his throat slashed by an Uchiha quicker than him? Logical, normal things to be frightened of. Not...imaginary ghosts.
Tobirama was almost completely disappointed in them, because they were young, but not that young. They were old enough not to be afraid of the dark. He raised an eyebrow at the group as they tumbled into each other for comfort.
"We are not leaving. I've already paid for the night here, and you all were the ones that wished for us to stop here."
"And we regret it, don't we?" Danzou interrupts, sullen. Tobirama's eyebrows furrowed at the blatant attitude, especially as it was offered to him of all people, but decided it was from lack of sleep.
"We aren't leaving. The inn is fine. I've slept the entire night so far without incident."
"Can we sleep with you then?" Kagami asks, looking far too hopeful and still a little afraid. And if he were a little younger and still had the cute little dimple he did at nine, Tobirama might have indulged him.
But these children are thirteen. They're shinobi of Konohagakure, some of the most advanced children born into their clans, and a mess of gangly limbs and wild attitudes. He couldn't let them all cram into one small bed just because they were afraid of the dark at their age.
(And also because the last time he'd let them into bed with him, Tobirama had ended up kicked in the ribs, shoved off to the side by a sideways-laying Torifu until he was nearly falling off, used as a pillow, punched and slapped by flopping sleepers, and the covers had been stolen again and again so he'd spent the entire evening cold. It would not happen a second time.)
Tobirama huffed, "You are some of the most elite genin our village has to offer. Two of you are chūnin. Are you truly telling me you are so afraid of the dark that you would rather sleep here than in a warm bed with a little privacy away from your teacher?"
Six bodies hit the floor and began to arrange themselves comfortingly, using packed bags as pillows and pulling each other close, and then it comes to his attention that they're missing a few bags.
"Where is your stuff, Danzou? Homura?"
The boys in question both flushed, except Saru yanks his friend closer and shakes his head at his teacher with that disappointed frown of his that reminds him too much of Sarutobi Sasuke.
"We had to leave them, Sensei." Homura says quietly, arranging his arms under his head to lay comfortable. "We heard the ghost knock and we all ran."
Danzou nods, silent.
And with them all on the floor but still technically inside of the inn, Tobirama is left to ponder whether or not he's actually won this battle or not. It's obvious by the determination on their faces that they have absolutely no intentions of leaving this room. It seems a waste of money to allow them to pile into one room when the one across the hallway was left empty. Tobirama stands, shaking his head at them as they clutched onto each other and jumped when the rickety floor creaked beneath his feet.
"You may have this room then," He compromises, because he was quite enjoying his time away from them and he'd be damned if he was deprived of the necessary six hours awake away from his overdramatic, trouble-making students.
"No, don't do it, Sensei!" Kagami cries out, as if Tobirama were volunteering to sacrifice himself to die rather than to just sleep comfortably for the next five hours in a different room before they needed to continue on their mission. Torifu dives for his end of shirt to pull him back, but Tobirama is efficient and quick, giving them strange looks as they protest and cry out.
"Enough, just go to sleep." He demands and shuts the door behind him.
Hiruzen has his knees tucked up to his chest, arms around them as he watches out the window. It's only been an hour, maybe two, but he can't sleep! Not knowing that his sensei's in the room, being tormented by the spirit.
The spirit that makes the footsteps and the strange noises from the walls, and the shadows that dance from the corner of his eyes, and he swore he saw something (or somebody) standing in front of the door! And he wasn't the only one! Homura saw it too.
"Maybe we should go check on Tobirama-sensei?" Danzou wonders, although he doesn't look particularly inclined to actually get up off the bed where he's clinging to Kagami to actually go check . Kagami scoffs, still holding Tobirama's travel pack to his chest and letting his legs swing off the bed right next to Homura's head.
"We warned him. But oh, he's the brave and strong brother of the Hokage, he's not afraid of the ghosts!" Kagami's voice lowered to mock their teacher, except his voice cracks halfway through so he sounds more like an irritated Lady Mito than Tobirama-sensei. "There's a reason the Uchiha clan doesn't mess with spirits. I'm not even allowed to go into graveyards, or Mom would lose her mind. You shouldn't mess with the dead."
"What if Sensei dies? What if it wasn't a ghost? What if it was a-- a monster? What if the monster's eating him?"
Torifu tilts his head to the side, as if trying to listen in on the room across from theirs. "Well it's quiet, I think. So he's either okay, or they've already eaten him." Which doesn't comfort any of them.
"I guess we'll have to mourn him. A moment of silence for Tobirama-sensei." Kagami waits a very loving, very memorable five seconds of silence. "Alright, we better choose a new sensei. Hashirama-sama?"
"No, he cries when we insult him. We need somebody tougher."
Danzou perks up, "Touka-san?" He suggests. There was a murmur between Koharu and Hiruzen of agreement, except Homura scrunched up his nose in distaste.
"She doesn't put up with us very well. And she makes us run laps when we annoy her. And we always annoy her. She's too tough." He reasoned, as everybody agreed and began to ponder a replacement for their (not so) deceased teacher, who they tragically lost to the ghost about two minutes ago.
"How about Saru's dad?"
Hiruzen huffed, "Absolutely not. Then we'd have to behave all the time. Do you want to be the one to disappoint him?"
"Oh that's true."
"Right. His sad eyes make me feel horrible. I couldn't disappoint him."
"So who can we use? It sounds like there's nobody else who can teach us."
"I guess we better hope Sensei survives."
"What if we were just making it up?" Torifu asks suddenly, sitting up off the floor where his bedroll is spread out. "What if maybe we just heard some creaking and freaked out?"
"But we saw a figure in the room."
"I guess it could have been our imagination." Homura reasons, although he doesn't look particularly convinced either. It's been two hours, so maybe it was safe for them to turn out the oil lanterns and blow out the candles and sleep for the next two or three hours before Tobirama-sensei woke them up too damn early.
Saru huffed, "It was not . I saw it. And I'm not a liar--" He paused when they all gave him disbelieving stares of mockery. Which was hurtful, but also true. "Okay, so I'm not always a liar. I saw it. Dan, you saw it too?"
"I heard-- I thought I heard whispers. But maybe I was making it up. You all were…" Frightening him, but Danzou would never admit that so instead the scarred boy scowled and said nothing else. The silence in the room was still tense after that, although it was lighter than it had been considering they were starting to feel humiliated at the thought of maybe they were wrong. And if they were wrong and it was all in their heads, made worse by the panicking of each other and their imaginations, Tobirama-sensei was going to hold it over their heads for the next--
Next however many years until they finally died. Maybe even into the afterlife, if Tobirama-sensei decided his spirit needed a laugh. (Maybe he should hope that maybe the ghost eats Sensei.)
Hiruzen's eyes were heavy, and his head felt like it was made of lead. He caught himself nodding off, the whole world turning fuzzy and warm as his eyelids fell. The dark began to overtake his vision, and he felt like he was floating. It was safe enough, he decided, to fall asleep for a little while. Maybe there wasn't a ghost after--
--all. His eyes snap open at the noise of shuffling from outside the door. Footsteps, fast. Danzou rises first and Koharu too, both drawing a kunai from somewhere on them, even if their weapons were tucked away in their travel bag for the night. (Civilians at inns and rest stops had a habit of trying to steal a shinobi's weaponry as if it were some sort of souvenir.)
Danzou takes a step closer when the footsteps approached their door. Torifu sucked in a loud breath through his teeth.
"It's the ghost!" Kagami cries out, his dark eyes wide and he's inching closer to the window like he might dive out of it to escape, even if he left his teammates behind. Saru was considering doing the same and taking the punishment for leaving from Sensei later. It was better to ask forgiveness, right? His own hand twitched for a shuriken in his pocket, and Hiruzem watched with bated breath as the door swung open. Of all the things he thought would happen, he never thought he'd be attacked by a ghost, only…
It's not a ghost?
It's Tobirama-sensei. Except something isn't right, not at all. He's paler than usual, sheet white like his hair. All the color had drained from him. His mouth was open, but no words came out but he motioned for them, glancing behind himself again and again as if expecting somebody to come out of nowhere. Wide-eyed and sweating, one hand pressed against his chest like he was trying to control his own heartbeat.
In every sense of the term, it looked like Tobirama-sensei had seen a ghost. (Hiruzen wasn't sure if that made him happy or not.)
"The inn's haunted. Come, we're leaving." Sensei says, almost frantic, with Danzou and Homura's bags slung across his shoulders. He's moving faster than usual, almost pacing in his spot, but none of them move. Too stunned by the terror in his face, as if something had jumped out at him.
"What did you see?"
"Sensei?"
"Now do you believe us?"
"Was it a ghost?"
Tobirama doesn't spare them a glance as he hurries down the hallway without them, only grabbing up Koharu and Danzou because they were close. "The inn's haunted. We're leaving ." He says louder, but distantly. He disappears down the stairs, leaving his remaining students behind and his own travel pack behind.
His students scramble after him.
"So," Kagami says when they're nearly three miles away from the inn, fleeing through the trees as fast as they could to keep up with their teacher.
Their teacher, who was going so fast that they could barely keep up, like they had an army of enemy shinobi on their tail to try to avoid. But there was nothing but the quiet of the night around them.
Tobirama-sensei glances back at him, not slowing down at all and still clutching Danzou and Koharu under his arms like they're just luggage. "Hmm?"
"Aren't you a little old to be afraid of the dark? Maybe it was just your imagination?" Kagami mimics, viciously mocking and with a roll of his eyes.
Tobirama-sensei knocks him off the branch and leaves him in the dark of the forest floor by himself, even as the Uchiha shouts in indignation (and maybe a bit of fear).