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Kagami looks down at the ink stained fur in his hands.
"Oh gods," Saru is visibly panicking next to him. "Kagami, what do we do?!"
"Confess immediately," Koharu's advice is just as brutal as always. "And beg for forgiveness."
"We can't!" Kagami winces at the idea. "He'll be so angry!"
"Then it's the end," Saru slumps with resignation. "I'm dead, we're all dead. At least we'll see each other in the Pure Lands..."
"I won't." Koharu smirks. "I wasn't the one who spilled sensei's ink."
"Traitor!" Kagami glares at her. "It was your idea to sneak into his rooms!"
"Ah, but I was careful. And stealthy." She swings one leg over sensei's window. "And I won't be the one to be caught."
"Koharu!" Saru yells after her as she disappears into the afternoon sunlight, scrambling to follow. "Come back here!"
Kagami could chase after his friends, he knows he could - Saru's shouting will definitely have attracted attention - but he can't bring himself to move a step.
If this was a mission, yes, escape would be the priority.
But this isn't a mission.
This is his teacher, his family, and he owes sensei more than that.
So he stands his ground, waiting for the wrath that's sure to fall on him.
He doesn't have to wait for long.
There are no footsteps to alert him, but then sensei has never been one to make unnecessary noise, and Kagami doesn't flinch at the heavy hand which lands on his shoulder.
"Ink, hm?" Sensei peers over his shoulder and Kagami raises the fur for inspection. "That's not going to be easy to wash out."
"I'm sorry, sensei." Kagami can't bring himself to mention the presence of his friends, his team mates, so he limits himself to what he can say. "It was an accident."
"Yes, I can see that," Sensei lifts the heavy fur out of his hands. "Ah well, it won't be the first time."
"It... it won't?" Kagami is bewildered at the idea. "You've... spilled ink on it before?"
"Ink, mud, blood, and other things you're far too young to know about." Sensei actually smiles - smiles! - ruefully. "I used to wear it into battle you know, and that's never clean." He pauses thoughtfully, "In more than one way, really."
Kagami knows immediately what his teacher is talking about.
Another child, a different child from a different clan, might not understand, but Kagami is an Uchiha and he's lived with the fires of war since the day he was born.
"Don't fret," sensei's strong fingers comb through his hair, and Kagami pretends he isn't pressing up into that hand like one of the ninneko. "If I can't get the ink out, we'll just call it a sacrifice."
"For peace?" Kagami peeks up at his teacher. "Between the clans?"
"Exactly." Sensei smirks. "For Anija's Will of Fire."
Heh.
Kagami stores that idea away for future use.
A shinobi should always be prepared, after all.
Sensei says so.