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Chapter Text

"Er... excuse me?"

"What do you want?" Tabirama asked without any interest, not even bothering to turn to look at who was talking to him.

Any interest he might have had in anything and anyone before had died with his Clan. As powerful as he and Hashirama were, this attack had only proved that all the strength of the world was useless. Men would always find it in themselves to destroy, just destroy, so what was the point?

Hashirama was trying to be accepted, to thank his childhood friend for being so welcoming, when there was nothing to suggest that this could ever happen. He needed others, so he accepted with all his heart the Uchiha who were hoping to put their strength to good use, but Tobirama just could not do it. They were not his clan. He had followed his brother and would do as he asked without complaint and without ever questioning his authority, but there was only so much he could do.

The looks and whispers of hatred that followed him wherever he went did nothing to change his state of mind. He was grateful to have a roof over his head and unpoisoned food on his plate, but there were days when Tobirama thought he would rather live alone as a hermit in the woods than have to live with this family.

If it was not for Hashirama, if he was not there to support and protect him, and if his brother was not also on the verge of a mental breakdown, he might have done it. As it was, they depended on each other more than ever and could not afford to be out of sight for more than a few hours before being seized by a growing and irrepressible anxiety, even for Tobirama who could feel the chakras.

At least it was a good thing they had not been allowed to leave the Uchiha clan compound since they had buried their own.

"If you have nothing to say, leave, I have no time to waste with you. And if you're thinking of killing me to avenge some loved one... well, you'll find out exactly how I earned my reputation."

He could not die now, he was all Hashirama had left, he would not do that to him. If he had to compromise his position by killing one of his old enemies, then so be it.

"I don't want to kill you!" The voice shouted with a kind of frank spontaneity that caught his attention long enough for him to confirm his suspicions.

A child.

"So what do you want?"

"I... would you agree to train me?" The boy asked, forcing Tobirama to bend his ear as his voice gradually dropped.

"Train you?" The albino repeated, uncertain.

"Yes!"

"... why? Why me?"

"The Elders say that because I'm a half-blood I'll never have a Sharingan, but the Senju don't have a Sharingan and yet they're all afraid of you," the child said quickly, as if afraid of being interrupted and refused. "They're afraid to even look at your face as if you were the one with a Sharingan. I want to be strong, please teach me, I'll do absolutely everything you ask, I'll never complain, I promise!"

"Absolutely everything?" Tobirama teased, amused by the boy's determined gaze.

"Yes!"

"Do you know how to use your chakra to climb trees?"

The boy looked down at his feet sheepishly.

"No, they don't teach me anything, sorry."

Fortunately for him, Tobirama liked to teach people things, especially when they were eager to learn.

He had nothing better to do these days than think about his own jutsu, but he was not testing anything because he was trying to keep it a secret, so...

"Come here, depending on how you get by with this, I'll think about it."

A huge, happy and surprised smile appeared on the boy's face as he hopped in his direction.

"Thank you so much! My name is Kagami, Tobirama-sensei!"

Dumbfounded by the actually appropriate nickname, he frowned and glowered at the boy, who took no notice and stared speculatively at the trees around them.

"So... how do I do this?"

Fifteen minutes later, Tobirama was ruffling Kagami's curly hair in disbelief. He could not remember ever having seen a child of that age have such fine instinctive control of his chakra without prior formal instruction. Sage, the boy did not even know how his chakra flowed through his body until Tobirama explained it to him, and yet he had managed it so quickly?

This boy had potential, he was a natural talent, and the infinite possibilities were almost dizzying.

"Be here tomorrow at dawn, I'll have a training programme set up by then."

"Yes, sensei! See you tomorrow sensei!"

"... See you tomorrow Kagami."

Chapter Text

"Do it again."

The actions were slow but not unreasonably slow, the moves were good, and yet the boy kept getting it wrong. It was... infuriating.

"Again."

Again and again the same failure, and he knew it was not a problem of explanation because Kagami had understood the concept and proved it by explaining it back to Tobirama. Everything was fine until about five seals, after that it was all downhill. It was extremely insufficient.

Another dispersal of chakra.

"Stop."

Patience, Tobirama knew it, was not his best quality. He always had to make an effort in this area in order to have bearable social interactions on a daily basis. It was hard work, but it was for his clan, they were worth it.

His family brought out the best in him, so sometimes Tobirama would consciously try to talk to people the way he would talk to his father, his older brother or his cousin, and sometimes even Itama or Kawarama when he was with children from the Clan, and it went pretty well. He still remembered Father's relief and appreciation when he had congratulated him on his work on his temperament.

As Hashirama could testify then and now, he had worked more on the mask than on his deeper nature.

The Uchiha had not been the ones to destroy the Senju, but he had lost too many to them to make that kind of effort again, and it was a recurring problem he was trying to keep under control.

He still could not get over the Uchiha boy's genes enough to forget the past and talk nicely though. Maybe deep down he did not want to either. He would probably get bored of it in a few days, like everything else.

"You're still too drifted, your chakra's all over the place, how do you expect the seals to have any effect?"

"I'm sorry."

"You stood on the water for several hours yesterday, now you can't even hold a few signs. If you're not going to try, don't waste my time."

Not that he had anything more interesting to do, even his experiments were losing their interest in his heart, but he was too irritated to care.

"I'm really trying, I swear!"

"Then do better. Again."

The boy went from failure to failure so Tobirama changed his approach. Even the best pupil would not succeed if his teacher was unable to adapt to his specific needs, and Tobirama was beyond the haughty arrogance of idiots who thought themselves incapable of making a mistake. Life had proved to him, for as long as he could remember, and repeatedly, that he could, had and would make mistakes.

"Take a break, come here."

The boy surprisingly did not look relieved but anxious at the prospect, so Tobirama took it upon himself to reassure him:

"Why are you pulling a long face? I'm not going to eat you."

"But..."

"What's that?" He said when the rest was said so low that it was inaudible." Speak distinctly," he added more firmly and with an involuntary sharpness when the boy looked at his feet but said nothing.

"You're going to show me the door because I can't do it. Is that articulated enough?"

His eyelid twitched but he was careful not to retort immediately because this was a bratty child and not someone really disrespectful or ill-willed... at least he had not had that impression so far.

"Don't think you'll be rid of me so soon, and don't think you know what I'm thinking. If you want to give up, give up, I can only show you the right way, not walk that path for you. If you don't intend to come back tomorrow, I won't hold you back."

The boy considered him carefully before choosing a tree and climbing to a low branch to sit down. Hmmm... Message received loud and clear, Tobirama did not need words to recognise someone who had decided to cling to something.

"So. Explain to me what you think is wrong. I'm not going to get angry, just tell me."

Frowning, thoughtful and clearly frustrated, his stubborn little pupil seemed to brood for a few seconds before opening his mouth. Then he looked at him again and sighed, looking away and pouting.

Ok... what the hell was that? Itama had never been like that.

That said, Itama was a gentle, listening and respectful angel without any of Hashirama's unpleasant faults, so it was not fair to compare anyone with him.

"There are too many of them."

"Too many of what?"

"Too many hand signs! There's too many of them, I can hardly retain them all!" He shouted at him, bending his legs to hide his face in his knees, wrapping his arms around them in an immature movement that reminded Tobirama once again that he was a child.

"Yet you manage to do the succession of hand signals I showed you, just slowly."

"Yes, but after a few of them I'm no longer sure of myself and I think about it and it breaks my concentration. I'm sorry."

Oh. Tobirama ran a hand over his face to hide his shame before he regained control of his expressions. That was it. The fear of disappointing. He was intimately familiar with it, he too tried to be irreproachable... to be sure he would be loved. Tobirama may not have been family, but he was the only person willing to give the kid a chance, and he must have been pretty desperate to approach Tobirama to begin with.

"Don't be sorry, I showed you all the signs this morning and you only knew five of them beforehand, it's not... it's not a big deal. I'm not going to get upset if you need time to learn, you'll be practising the basics of Taijutsu and Kenjutsu for years to come."

"Yes, but this is Ninjutsu, you said it was simple, and it's too many hand signals for me. I'm stupid, I don't understand why I can't do it."

"There are too many, uh…"

Well yes, Tobirama supposed there were a lot of hand signs to learn, and the combinations of seals to perform the techniques perhaps required a bit too much for a beginner like him. Tobirama had always been a genius, he did not really understand the way people who struggled did things or thought, but... well, the Kenjutsu method could probably help, could not it?

Repetition, again and again, ad infinitum.

If they practised them enough, they would stick in his memory deeply enough for him to use them easily and more importantly instinctively to perform them without thinking about it.

"I see. Come down from there and we'll test your speed and memory."

"Ok?"

"Right, then. Dog! Horse. Rabbit. Bird. Tiger. I said tiger! Right. Tiger! Yes, again, come on!"

By the time he had finished with Kagami that evening, the boy had not tried a Futon again but knew all the hand signals inside out, and Tobirama had already planned to do this kind of training every morning for several weeks to make sure it stayed in his head. In the meantime, no Ninjutsu tomorrow so as not to demoralise him, they were going to throw shurikens.

"Be there-"

"At dawn, yes sensei! See you tomorrow sensei! Tell your brother I say hello!"

"... at dawn. See you tomorrow."

When he got home, Tobirama had a headache and went off to lie down in the dark, exhausted by the children's seemingly boundless energy. Had he ever been like that at that age? Sage, he must have been unbearable and a hell to deal with.

Chapter Text

Tobirama hid a smirk behind his hand.

He did not know if he was really getting better, but at least his body was hurting a little less these last few days. Hashirama thought that the unknown poison that had started to attack his body since the attack was beginning to weaken, and that improved his mood a little.

It allowed him to sincerely appreciate every moment spent outside, away from an unfamiliar and stifling house with a grieving brother and two men who had previously been mortal enemies now hosts.

They had behaved far better than he had hoped, and they were on their best behaviour, which was... unexpected. They were at their mercy, Tobirama in particular, but they had never taken advantage of it. It was then that he realised that Hashirama had been right to have faith in his childhood friend, even if Madara's whole attitude left no room for rational hope. Their friendship was strong enough for love to outweigh hate, and knowing how much this Clan hated the Senju in general and its albino in particular, he must really love Hashirama deeply.

Whether Tobirama liked it or not, if there was one thing that could make him earn his favour, it would be this one. Madara was there for Hashirama, and Tobirama was infinitely grateful for that.

"I've done it!" He finally heard.

"Again," he answered without even looking, lowering his head towards the book he had taken so that the child would not see him having fun at his expense.

"Again? But I've already hit it five times, like you asked me to!"

"When you've fifty of them on it, we'll do something else."

The Senju bit his cheek as he heard the boy repeat "fifty" in a properly horrified tone. Kagami was a fairly expressive and energetic child.

"But it's never going to fit on a single target," the child finally objected.

"It will, if your aim is good."

"But it's going to look like a porcupine!"

"So what? He fired back, counting the number of 'buts' he had already heard today."

With these three, that made seven times already, he was beginning to dare answer back to him and question his methods and Tobirama was very proud of himself for getting him there, until now he had just obeyed without asking questions: Tobirama liked people who could put their brains to work.

It had still taken a week of carefully prepared interactions to get to this point but it was good, and he was lucky, children adapt better.

"But the target will break!"

Eight.

"So don't break it."

"But it will."

Nine.

"So you're going to try again on after the other until you can do it."

When he went back home that evening, Kagami stayed a little longer, determined that his third target would not end up on the ground like the first two, but Tobirama knew that would happen so he did not linger to spare him too much humiliation.

"Don't worry, you'll make it. Eventually."

"Of course I will."

"Hmm hmm... good evening Kagami."

"Good evening sensei."

As he walked quietly at a slow pace because he should not pull on his wounds and Hashirama had actually made a point of reminding him that every gesture slowed down the healing process even with his care, Tobirama wondered how long it would take him to understand that he had to throw shurikens and not just kunais to get there. Oh, it was a bit sadistic, he was well aware of that. After all, he was the one who had put the box of kunais on top of the box of shurikens before giving one to the boy and telling him "practise your aim".

He was really going to get there one day, though, and he would be very proud of himself for having found a way around it. Tobirama would even wait a few weeks if he had to, but it would take that long for throwing to become an obvious and easy reflex so it would not be a waste of time.

Three days later, Kagami had cracked, though he did not react as Tobirama had expected. Desperate to practise the Katon that Tobirama had promised him, the clever and ingenious boy attached shurikens to the loops of his kunais with a string and threw them. By the time he had five of them stuck in the target, the kunais with the shurikens had grown to over fifty weapons and the boy had turned to him in annoyance, having already destroyed dozens of targets.

"There, is that good?"

Who was Tobirama to curb creativity?

"It’s good."

Not what he had expected, but good all the same. Very unexpected and interesting, a bit like Kagami himself.

Chapter Text

Tobirama winced when he saw the boy's lips all injured. Katon. Another excellent reason to appreciate Suiton.

"You continued to train last night after I left," he accused the boy as he patted balm on his dry, crusty lips, reluctantly thinking to use his own chakra to heal it even though his own medical recommendations for his leg did not recommend it. "I specifically told you not to."

"Kenjutsu method," the boy replied guiltlessly with a shrug, holding back a movement when his lips hurt. "Repeat it until you succeed, try until you make it."

Tobirama would be so proud of himself for converting him to his second favourite training method after 'being naturally talented and achieving almost everything effortlessly' if it did not come back to bite him in the arse now.

"Are you answering back to me?!" he snapped, slapping his head. "I'm the experienced adult, I know better. If you want me to be your sensei you have to listen to me, what good is a student who doesn't listen to me?"

"I'm sorry, I do listen, for real, it's just that it didn't seem like a real problem last night."

"And I'm sure you loved suffering last night, you genius. You must have known it was going to piss me off, after all I told you to go home. Why is so important in Katon, seriously, I don't understand this obsession with you bloody pyromaniacs, you're not that interested in genjutsu."

These were two of the main attributes of this Clan, yet Kagami could not care less about illusions, as if the impossibility of having a Sharingan completely sickened him even at the thought of it. The Katon, on the other hand, was a must, even though he seemed more spontaneously admiring of the Raiton. Really incomprehensible.

"I just want to know how to make a fireball."

"It's quite simple and common, though," Tobirama pointed out, remembering that he had already seen a lot of Uchiha use it in combat. "What's so important about that?"

"It's ninjutsu that only a true Uchiha know how to use. It's when you pull one off that you really become a ninja for the Clan. The others make fun of me because I can't do it."

"Do you really think they'll stop laughing when they see you burn your lips doing it?"

Probably realising his stupidity, the child took a step back and scratched his neck.

"Probably not," he admitted, having learnt during their few weeks of interaction that Tobirama liked him to answer, even if it was stupid, because at least he took responsibility for his actions or thoughts.

Tobirama was a fervent defender of the spoken word; it was important to say things so as to understand them better and remember them. Those who realised their mistakes and admitted them out loud were less likely to repeat them.

"I think I got it though."

"Good for you."

"Don't you want to see?"

"See what, the result of your disobedience?"

Blushing with shame, Kagami lowered his head.

"I'm sorry," he then said softly.

"What use is it to me if you're sorry if you die one day soon out of stupidity? I'm not saying things in the wind, the aim is for you to survive, we're talking about your life here. Do you seriously not realise how dangerous it is for you out there? You're a child, you'll always be the first person they attack because you'll be the weakest."

"That's why I have to learn a lot faster, so I can defend myself and protect the others!"

... Tobirama did not know if this child reminded him of himself or of Hashirama when he spoke like that. Perhaps it was both of them. In any case, it was hard to be angry at a child who reminded you of the idealistic child you used to be.

"I know, but it's stupid not to listen to me, I'm smart and I have experience, you're smart but you don't have that experience, so listen to me and stop messing around."

"All right, then. What are we going to do today?"

Tobirama pointed to the senbons that had never been used before. Throwing needles was quite different from throwing kunai or shurikens.

"Senbons, and I hope for your sake I don't end up a porcupine."

"Sensei, I'd never do that!"

Guess where the first senbon landed? About a foot away from Tobirama, who was a long way from the target.

The horrified look on Kagami's face as he stared at his hand, the target and the senbon was perhaps the best lesson he could have make that day.

"So, are you going to be more careful now?" He teased, smiling affectionately as he heard a tiny "shut up" that the boy muttered under his breath.

It was cute.

Chapter Text

"It's just a small test, really, take it easy with the pressure you put on your body."

"I understood that the seven first times, brother."

Hashirama gave him a look full of cynicism, the kind of distrust that said 'I know you too well to trust your superficial assents' and to which Tobirama silently responded with his own 'We both know that I will do exactly as I wish, so what are we waiting for?' who kept them still for another twenty seconds or so before his older brother threw something at him.

At last!

Tobirama ignored their audience and moved, just relieved to be able to use his chakra again, he would have waited as long as his brother deemed necessary as he recognized that he was much more knowledgeable and expert than him in the field of healing, but this, this was what really made him feel alive.

His body was more than his tool, it was his life, it was what he found fulfilment in, if he suddenly became incapable of fighting... he did not know if he could recover.

He dodged a few more attacks and finally Hashirama became confident enough to take it a little more seriously with him, and Tobirama felt without even having to look that curious people were coming to see them in addition to Izuna and Madara who had with them emergency medical supplies in case he pushed himself too hard. It must be said that the Mokuton was now Hashirama's favourite and was a rarity that no one could admire without fear and was a mystery that they could not copy, it must have been incredibly attractive from a scientific point of view. And even just visually, it had a certain style.

"You're dragging things out!"

"If you knew Tobirama like me, you would know that it is extremely difficult to touch him!" Hashirama responded to the provocation, summoning dozens of roots as if to prove his point, which Tobirama dodged with ease without even looking at most of them.

Chakra's eyes were much better than his real eyes anyway.

"He is slippery as an eel," he heard Izuna mumble, and Tobirama was proud to hear a hint of grudging admiration from the other.

He had certainly angered the Uchiha over the years.

Tobirama punched and punched and punched again, feeling free again, alive, and his first Water Dragon for his brother was a relief.

He was not completely broken and useless.

Something in his body changed in that moment, something was off and wrong but, unable to tell where it was coming from, he kept moving and relying on his chakra to move at the appropriate speed. Until his body said stop, that is, and it was as violent as it was brutal. A blade was approaching his neck, but Tobirama let go of his own to hold his leg with both hands the second he felt his wound reopen:

"Stop!" He shouted, trusting his brother to stop and indeed the other managed to react to his lack of defence and deflected his blow to avoid him, slowing down suddenly.

"What is..."

Tobirama could not respond, hardly breathing through the pain as he constricted the wound, feeling the blood ooze and drip through his fingers, pooling on the ground at a speed that made him fear a consequence he forced himself not to think about.

"Lie down," Hashirama instructed, replacing his hands with his own already vibrating with a familiar chakra so powerful it was almost like a burn to his senses as a Sensor. "Izuna, lift his legs to slow the blood, Madara, give me the seal I told you about, yes, this one."

The albino heard Izuna mumble a prayer for him when Hashirama ripped off his pants. It was the first time anyone other than Hashirama had seen his leg, and if his instincts and the paleness of their faces told him anything, it was that it was not a pretty sight.

"You'll be fine, it's probably only superficial compared to before," Hashirama tried to reassure him while his movements quickened.

"With so much blood?" Izuna muttered, looking...worried?

Yeah, no, he should not rely on his reaction, Hashirama, Hashirama knew better and he did not look distraught, just concerned, maybe it really was not that bad.

"It's going to be okay," the other repeated, placing his seal on the wound.

Activating the seal made him feel like thousands of needles were being stuck into his body and, to his brother's panicked and surprised reaction, that was not part of what the regeneration was supposed to do.

In the hope that did not mean it would not work.

As he passed out, the last thing Tobirama saw was Kagami, looking distressed. Tears ran down his cheeks and in the boy's eyes, a black tomoe seemed to mock him in eyes that were of the colour of blood.

Well fuck.

Chapter Text

Tobirama had spent five days in a row lying down to recover, his brother refusing to let him take even a single step, insisting that he be carried wherever he needed to go in the house. If he had not known that this was a reaction born of his brother's fear of losing him, he would have called him a ridiculous idiot and gotten up the very next day after the incident, but he knew, so he endured it all in silence. It was particularly embarrassing for his ego, but he was not dead and found some comfort in that fact.

He wondered how Kagami was doing, though. How he had reacted after seeing him collapse. How he had experienced the awakening of his Sharingan.

Because he had a Sharingan, and Tobirama was not paranoid or unsure of his own abilities to the point of thinking he had lied about believing he would never have one. He did have one... but why now? The coincidence was troubling. Was there a reason?

That kid... at this hour, they would normally have been together for a few hours already, maybe even taking a break where Tobirama would pretend not to enjoy listening to the boy rambling on and on with an enthusiasm that he sorely lacked.

Had he continued to train? If so, had he been rational or had he been foolish like Tobirama, pushing himself too far beyond his limits? The Senju hoped for his sake that the child would take only the best of him and not his flaws.

Slumped in his futon, he turned and turned before grabbing the little bell that had been given to him so he would not have to shout unnecessarily and shook it. The door opened and Tobirama was briefly speechless. He had expected to see Hashirama, not an annoyed Madara who had slammed the door open.

"What is it?"

"... Hashirama?"

"He's out. What do you need?"

Tobirama closed his eyes for a moment, seriously wondering if he should really answer because he felt humiliated just thinking about it.

Unfortunately, his bladder said yes, and his brain reminded him that he might not be able to hold it in, and then it would be even worse.

"I need to go to the toilet," he muttered, avoiding Madara's gaze.

"Oh, yeah, sure."

He did his business in the pot brought to him and sighed as the man walked away.

"I'd like to go out too."

The Uchiha looked at him hesitantly before approaching him very slowly, as if he might explode. He was clumsily lifted up and carried outside, both of them remaining silent from start to finish except for a very flat "Does it hurt?" and an equally curt "No. Move."

"Thank you," he said anyway, because he knew how to be polite.

"You're welcome. Call me if you need me."

He asked to be put on the ground, in the grass, and ran his hands over it with relief, using his now sharper perception to search for Kagami's chakra presence. Where was he?

He found him in their usual spot, but motionless. Damn. He hoped he was not too shocked by what he had seen.

He was so young, Tobirama did not want his own thoughts for him. He wanted him to continue to be cheeky and enthusiastic even though he himself no longer had any joie de vivre. He wanted him to continue smiling and laughing sincerely, even though he himself no longer knew how to do so.

He would find something.