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"So." Izuna pours sake into his own dish, eschewing all the careful manners his father so painstakingly taught him, before sending the bottle skittering across the table towards his rival with a flick of his fingers. "Been practising?"
"No more than you have," Tobirama catches it, of course he does, and pours himself a drink. "Anija offered to make me an oke, but Aneue convinced him not to."
"I'm always amazed whenever anyone convinces him of anything." The words are barbed but the moon is too beautiful for his tone to match them, and Izuna sips slowly, breaking its reflection in his cup. "How did she do it?"
"She pointed out that, at the size he was planning, the fish would simply cluster in the middle." Tobirama matches him, sip for sip, as always, but the dish can't hide the amused tilt of his lips.
"Out of everyone's reach, yes..." Izuna leans back, letting his gaze drift across the sky. "Unless we amended the rules to allow for water walking, perhaps?"
"It would be an interesting challenge," Tobirama nods slowly, clearly thinking it over. "In that case we would need something larger than what he was planning, perhaps even larger than the - "
"Izuna-sama!" The cry rings through the night air, breaking the illusion of peace woven by alcohol and quiet conversation, and Izuna is rolling off the engawa before he even fully registers what he's heard. "Izuna-sama! By the pond!"
"Stay inside, Kagami!" It's an order but Izuna doesn't gainsay it, no matter that it comes from Tobirama's throat rather than his own.
"Intruders in the compound." He mutters the words under his breath, knowing his rival will hear them. "Two of them."
"I see them," Tobirama's voice is grim, leaving unsaid what they both know.
Unknown people lurking around Kagami's house, a child's house, means either a trap for the guardians... or eye theft.
A child's eyes are the same size as an adult's after all, and much less well defended.
Which is exactly why Izuna is here, at home, while nii-san is away.
A hand sign, an inhale, and fire bursts forth from his lips, washing over the bushes that surround the pond, setting them alight to the sounds of twin shrieks. The pitch of those shrieks is much higher than he was anticipating however, and Izuna pauses at the wall of water that's suddenly between him and his targets.
"... are those children?" The flickering light of flames combined with steam from the water now steadily dousing them would make it hard for most to see, but are no barrier to the Sharingan.
"Mmmm." Tobirama's hum is noncommittal, but it doesn't sound like disagreement to Izuna's ears. They've both fought child soldiers before, of course - they were child soldiers - but these faces are familiar.
"You're Kagami's friends aren't you." It's not a question, and Izuna shakes his head in exasperation. Amaterasu-Ōmikami preserve him from the foolishness of idiots! "Why are you here?"
"We wanted to visit?" The bolder of the two boys looks like he's trying to work out which excuse is most likely to be accepted. "Yeah, we were just visiting."
"Visiting." Tobirama's tone is flat but conveys disbelief very well, and Izuna can feel his own lips twitch with the sudden desire to laugh. "A fish pond. In the middle of the night."
The boys elbow each other, and there's a whisper which sounds very much like "your idea" to Izuna's ears, making him roll his eyes as he scruffs both children as if they were two of the ninneko. "Alright, I guess it's off to interrogation with the two of you." Izuna keeps his grin internal as two pairs of eyes suddenly grow wide, somehow more panicked than when they were almost set on fire. "It will be up to the clan head to decide your fate when he returns."
"Izuna-sama, we're so sorry!" One of the boys bursts into a wail. "We were only going to practice!"
"Practice." Tobirama directs his gaze pointedly between the ball of water he's holding in the air, filled with fish, and the miscreants in Izuna's grip.
"Kingyo-sukui." The other boy sulks, frowning down at his feet. "Kagami said it was hard, and I said it couldn't be that hard, and then Saru said it would be easier if we practiced, and then - "
"And then you decided to practice." The shape of events is clear and Izuna shakes his head as Tobirama settles the fish back into their pond, now lightly singed. "You could have asked to visit during the day."
"But then Kagami would have known we were practising!" The boy who must be Saru - probably Sarutobi's son - looks miserable at the failure of his grand plan. "We wanted it to be a surprise!"
"And a surprise it was, for all involved." Tobirama sounds amused too now. "Let this be a lesson to you - the most dangerous ambush is the one you set, only to later realise your enemy anticipated you."
"Yes, sensei." Saru grimaces, but nods obediently. "Uh... you won't tell my father, will you?"
"We won't." Izuna confirms, relishing the relief that crosses both faces as he ushers them into Kagami's house.
"But you will." Tobirama raises an eyebrow at the babble of protest that greets his words. "Remember what I said about ambushes."
"Did you guys walk into one of sensei's traps?" Kagami sticks his head into the room, grabbing his friend's hands. "You should know better!"
"Indeed they should." Tobirama ruffles his hair affectionately, and Kagami good-naturedly puts up with it. "Help your friends wash up, they'll be staying with you tonight."
"Tobirama and I will bring them back to their parents tomorrow." Izuna smirks, knowing it makes him look malicious and not caring. It would be as well for tales of tonight to spread, preventing further incursions like this one. "But that's a problem which can be postponed until sunrise."
They watch the three boys head off to the ofuro, pushing and shoving as they go, and Izuna closes the door on them.
"You know...." Tobirama says slowly, thoughtfully. "I believe there's an opportunity here."
"And we were looking for a new challenge..." Izuna eyes his rival, seeing the same thought in those red eyes. "Will their parents agree, do you think?"
"Sarutobi will." Tobirama turns towards the engawa and their abandoned sake. "Shimura... maybe."
"I'll rely on your skills at persuasion then," Izuna grins at the look of disbelief that's directed at him. "They're Senju allies after all."
The nearly silent sigh of resignation is music to his ears, and Izuna sinks down onto his zabuton once more.
Working with Tobirama instead of against him for once?
That is a whole new challenge, and he looks forward to it.0p