gravity of tempered grace

There is some sick sense of déjà vu in all this. For a moment, Hashirama is even convinced that this is just another one of the nightmares that he has been periodically plagued with ever since Tobirama’s one botched mission. The way it happens, it’s just so horribly familiar—the desperate, dying wash of Tobirama’s moonlight chakra, the consequent panic and sense of urgency to follow after the call, the arrival on the scene just as Tobirama slumps motionless, his pale face like that of a bloodless ghost, and then the dawning fear that perhaps Hashirama is too late.

“Hashirama-sama,” comes a call for him. Over the sound of his racing heart, his brain barely manages to register the voice as belonging to Elder Hanabi, but he cannot seem to bring himself to look at her, can’t bring himself to move or look away. “Hashirama-sama, you must know—it was not me. I had no hand in this. Please, you have to believe me. Tobirama-sama did this to himself. I swear.”

And that—the accusation and inclination that some sort of foul play seems to be involved—is what finally jars Hashirama out of the shock of seeing his only living brother this way when they are all in the safety of their homes where these sorts of horrors aren’t supposed to be able to reach them. He jumps into action, shunshining to Tobirama’s side and running a diagnostic jutsu over him even as his mokuton reaches out to bind Hanabi in place right where she is standing.

Her cries of desperation fall on deaf ears. She will stay there until someone can come take her away for questioning so they can get down to the bottom of this. Until Hashirama can find out just who is to blame for Tobirama’s present condition. And then, sufficient punishment will be dealt. Whether that is to Hanabi, Tobirama, or someone else entirely.

Poisoned, the diagnostic returns to him. Fatally so. They will need to flush his system immediately.

Hashirama reaches out gently even as his traitorous hands shake beyond his control and his eyes water. Tobirama is so light in his arms with how frail he has gotten lately, small and painfully easy to tuck against Hashirama’s chest. Like this, for just a moment, it is as though they are both children again—back before Tobirama was forced to learn how to love with restraint, when he used to demand affection and time as though they were his right.

The haze of fear has lifted now, and a chilling clarity takes its place as he marches out of their house with his brother’s body. ‘You will find out in due time. Just be ready when you do,’ Tobirama had said. Hashirama is going to wring his neck for putting him through this just as soon as his baby brother isn’t halfway over the threshold of death.

“Secure the compound!” he shouts, his voice ringing through the otherwise peaceful compound like an alarm bell. “No one leaves! Starting now, we are entering a state of emergency. I want everyone in their houses—curfew is being imposed immediately.” The last thing he needs is anyone getting ideas about using this time of distraction to act up. Better to pre-emptively limit all activity that he will be unable to control.

That is all he has time for before he has made it to the medic’s hall where there are mednins already gathering by the door to see what has caused the commotion. They jump into action as soon as they notice Tobirama in his arms, bringing out a stretcher and running diagnostics.

“Poison,” he tells them, and his voice sounds distant to himself. “His chakra is not responding, and his organs are starting to shut down.”

The medics exchange glances and quickly move to transport Tobirama for an emergency procedure. One of them turns to Hashirama and asks, “Which poison?”

He shakes his head helplessly. “I couldn’t tell, I’m sorry.”

The healers nod and disappear behind closed curtains, taking Tobirama with them and leaving Hashirama to stand in the reception hall. He is not alone for long though, Touka’s chakra signature registering to his senses before he can actually even process her arrival.

His cousin’s face is frantic when she grips his arm to turn him towards her. “What is going on? Where’s Tobirama?”

“In there,” he answers, nodding in the general direction. “Poisoned. We don’t know what it is yet,” he turns to her with steel in his voice, “but we’re going to find out. Have a team put together to go investigate the scene. Our living room should still be untouched. Have Hanabi-san taken away so someone can take her statement about what happened.”

Touka’s eyes widen ever so slightly. “You think Hanabi-san did this?” she asks, voice hushed.

“We don’t know anything for sure yet,” Hashirama replies slowly, thinking back to his confrontation with his brother where Tobirama all but confirmed he knew what was happening to him and implied his compliance with it to some end, “but poisons are her specialty. Until we have reason to believe otherwise, she is our only suspect.” Her and Tobirama himself, but that is information he is better off holding onto for now.

“Right, of course.”

“I want every available shinobi on this. The investigation takes priority over any other assignments barring patrol. We’re going to go into lockdown until I know who is responsible for what has happened to my only heir. There has been a conspiracy against the Senju name, one that has targeted the main house directly, and we must respond accordingly.”

“Conspiracy,” Touka repeats frowning, lips pressed together.

“Yes,” he confirms. “There is no personal gain here for Hanabi-san to act alone. Nothing that would be worth the risk anyways.”

“There is only one other reason then,” Touka infers grimly, jaw set and eyes hard as flint.

Hashirama presses his lips together and nods, feeling his powers rise in response to his instinct, roiling beneath his skin and threatening to break surface any moment like the receding waves of an impending tsunami. There is no telling what he will do when they find the truth behind what has happened. The fear has yet to recede from his heart, but he can’t help the anger that is starting to boil either. Tobirama knew. He might have even done this to himself. All while knowing just what it would do to Hashirama and clearly having decided that it would be worth it anyways.

His brother might be emotionally obtuse at the best of times, but he does know Hashirama’s heart, and he wouldn’t play with it this way for no good reason, though they would both disagree on what an acceptable risk entails. Tobirama must have a damn good reason for partaking in a scheme of this measure, and Hashirama can only think of one thing that would warrant a response like this.

Grimly, he admits, “Treachery might be at play.”

And he will have his answers.

Traces of poison are found in Tobirama’s tea, and their labs manage to isolate the compound and match it to the snakeroot plant that is stated to have gone extinct according to their records.

Hashirama, who knows that there is still one remaining specimen that is kept in a very carefully curated artificial habitat where it remains in stasis and is unable to reproduce, immediately orders a thorough search of Hanabi’s family home. The lone plant has been kept secret due to its convenience as an assassination measure that cannot be counteracted by virtue of no antidotes being available anymore, but that hardly matters to him. Not when it might be the only chance of acquiring an antidote in time to actually start reversing the damage to Tobirama’s system instead of just about managing to stop the spread by keeping him in a medically induced coma, a hair’s breadth from true death.

The search does turn up both the poison extract and its antidote, and it is quickly administered to the Senju heir to start counteracting the massive amounts of toxin that his body has already absorbed. Finding these items in Hanabi’s possession also immediately makes her the prime suspect and the investigation takes shape accordingly.

Of course, the elder continues to insist that Tobirama did this to himself and managed to synthesize the poison artificially somehow. Since the Senju law demands fairness in their accusation and judicial protocol, Hashirama does order that his brother’s labs be searched as well so they may be sure of their suspect’s involvement. Unsurprisingly, however, this search yields nothing of use.

There is also the added element of doubt because the knowledge of snakeroot’s non-extinction is a secret that is only known to the Senju clan head and the keeper of the greenhouse of dangerous plants. Even if Tobirama has the capability to reproduce the poison, there is no way for him to find out about its existence and composition since it is among the classified information passed from clan head to clan head. Moreover, it begs the question of why the clan heir would want to poison himself in the first place, and no one really has an answer to that.

As far as anyone knows, Tobirama and Hanabi have no animosity between them. They are not of opposing factions, they have always appeared to be on agreeable terms in public and private, and neither side has any grievances with the other.

Hashirama is not deterred, however. Nor is he convinced.

Elder Hanabi may have belonged to the cluster of families that take more neutral stances on clan policies, but Hashirama has eyes and ears wherever it counts, and he knows of her personal friendship with Elder Kaname and, previously, with his own father. Just because she doesn’t outwardly support certain agendas doesn’t mean she isn’t contributing to their efforts and influence behind the scenes. Tobirama himself is no different in this aspect, after all, given the more private initiative he takes in helping Hashirama.

It's possible that there is more to this picture than is obvious at first glance.

With that in mind, he decides to turn the investigative efforts to retracing Tobirama’s steps over the course of Hashirama’s absence. They are lucky that his brother maintains a written schedule to keep track of any appointments since he shoulders such an extensive range of duties. It makes it that much easier to know who to approach with questions and then to corroborate all the accounts.

Slowly but surely, a pattern starts to emerge. The one to really confirm it is Senju Amaya—chief priestess of the Hachiman shrine and a trusted mentor to his brother.

“He’d look sicker after each meeting,” she states flatly, dark eyes grave as they bore into Hashirama. “I asked him even then, but he wouldn’t say.”

And that’s the part that bothers Hashirama the most. Why wouldn’t Tobirama just tell someone—anyone—what was happening to him? It is clear he knew exactly what was being done to him, so why would he allow it? To what end?

“Could he have been threatened?” he tries. “The antidote could have been used as leverage, especially if he couldn’t figure out what poison was being used against him. Neither of us ever built up any immunity to snakeroot.”

Amaya sighs and folds her hands together, silent as she thinks over her words for a moment. “Tobirama was…under a lot of pressure with you gone, Hashirama-sama,” she says carefully.

He leans forward. “Did he say something to you?”

“Not quite,” she denies, smiling wryly. “Tobirama isn’t one to drag me into political webs since he knows of my dislike for them. However, he did mention that certain parties were emboldened to make moves they wouldn’t in your presence. Parties that believed he would support their endeavours.”

Hashirama considers this, frowning slightly. “Nothing really happened though,” he notes. “I know of maybe one or two incidents, but nothing major.”

“Yes, thanks to your brother’s efforts,” Amaya agrees pointedly.

Ah. He thinks he’s starting to see the picture she’s painting now. Hashirama sets his jaw and nods once as he starts to get up to leave. “Thank you for agreeing to see me, Amaya-san. I appreciate your help.”

Amaya hums, watching him straighten his kimono. “I will pray for your success, Hashirama-sama.”

He dips his head in an acknowledgement and doesn’t tell her that it wouldn’t matter even if she didn’t. Hashirama will get to the bottom of this one way or the other, no matter what dares to stand in his path. And he has more evidence to go looking for.

They’ve already searched Hanabi’s house inside out and found nothing else of note, so he turns to the other people that Tobirama had his so-called meetings with and combs through their homes, inspecting each and every one of their belongings, and then doing the same to the people connected to them.

The parties that oppose Hashirama are careful to cover their tracks for the most part. They are never overt, and they walk the thin line between warranted opposition and outright treason, only ever making suggestions to those they wish to recruit instead of stating thins outright. Unfortunate though it is, Hashirama knows his more pacifist policies do not please all his brethren, and as long as that sentiment is kept under control, he’s fine with it. There’s a network of them, he knows, consisting of quite a few of the younger, angrier, more susceptible to suggestion sect of his forces.

One of them was bound to slip up and forget to cover their tracks properly.

Tobirama’s condition is not kept secret, nor is the investigation into what led to the attempt on his life. If anything, everything about the inquest is a loud, public affair with new information being consistently funnelled out per Hashirama’s instructions so as to keep the clan in the loop.

It is not as though it couldn’t be kept secret if Hashirama so desired, but the unease and speculation are part of his intention to send a clear message to everyone that nothing of this nature will ever be tolerated on his watch; certainly not when his family is targeted. He wants to create doubt and fear, and he wants to breed suspicion and submission because they are all useful to him for cornering those responsible by building the pressure of his presence upon them.

As soon as his investigation team finds a stack of correspondence in the house of some young kunoichi probably recently recruited to Kaname’s gang of sycophants, she cracks and, in exchange for going unpunished, tells them of exactly who her peers are and who recruited them. With just that one crack in the foundation, they are able to follow the trail bottom up and the whole thing comes crumbling down like a house of cards as the warmongering faction hurries to turn on itself now that it has become clear that Hashirama will not let them off the hook since his only brother has seemingly been harmed in the name of their cause.

Not all of them confess to anything illegal, but enough of them are willing to divulge information about unsanctioned missions and purposeful provocations against the Uchiha to incite full blown confrontations. Once Hashirama promises leniency in his action against them, they are even willing to talk about the organisational structure, including the involvement of one Senju Kiyoshi.

Kaname is too old, too assured to really pressure despite how bad things look for him right now. He understands the legal proceedings too well to know that, despite his unsavoury dealings being out in the open, he still cannot be charged with suspicion on harming the clan heir. He will be punished for taking action outside Hashirama’s wishes, but he can argue against being accused of actual treason.

His nephew is not so prepared, however. Kiyoshi is strong, sure, and he is generally a charismatic figure amongst his peers because of it, but Hashirama is the strongest. That holds weight. It means that he cannot be truly challenged. It means that, when he drops his approachability, he is not someone who will stand for being crossed. He may not be able to do much to Kaname who is older and has more influence, but Kiyoshi will be far easier to dispose of should he displease his clan head too much.

A botched mission, a training accident, some sort of obscure disease. Maybe even a poisoning.

Kiyoshi knows this too. He’s a young shinobi at his prime, approaching the peak of his career. He even has a pregnant wife at home, worried out of her mind that something will happen to the man she loves. Hashirama wouldn’t ever do anything to them for Kiyoshi’s own crimes, but should anything happen to leak about him having anything to do with attempting to assassinate their beloved clan heir, then his family will probably face scrutiny and ostracization anyway. He has a lot to lose.

“I will grant you grace should you come to my aid now, Kiyoshi-kun,” Hashirama tells him, having predicted the other man’s struggle. “You will be put on probation for insubordination, and until you have proven yourself again, your every movement will be watched and reported back to me, but I will not persecute you for treason.” Kiyoshi’s defences visibly crumble. “All I ask is that you tell me the truth.”

A noise of distress rips itself out of Kiyoshi’s throat and he buries his face in his hands. “He wanted Tobirama-sama’s allegiance. Kaname-oji knew that he could be the only one to come close to matching your hold on the clan. He kept pushing for Tobirama-sama to publicly support him, to sanction missions and attacks targeting the Uchiha, to start planting seeds of doubt against you while you weren’t here,” he admits. “And at first, it seemed like an alliance could work out. Tobirama-sama seemed to entertain the notions, taking time to hear them out and consider them when everyone know how rarely he bothers to entertain notions he doesn’t care for.”

Hashirama exhales slowly. “Except he never did anything but listen,” he concludes.

Kiyoshi nods, face weary and eyes closed. “It would have been easy for him to make a move if he actually gave a fuck about winning this war, but instead, he was just as strict about keeping everyone behind the barriers. We clocked eventually that he obviously isn’t as on board as he made it out to seem. I always thought he was just trying to waste our time by breeding false hope and making sure he knew our plans to pre-emptively put an end to them. Kaname-oji had hoped otherwise but he was furious when he realised we were being played for fools.”

Eyes serious, Hashirama leans forward and asks, “Do you know when he realised?”

Kiyoshi blows out a breath, making a vague gesture. “Probably a month ago, at least. Maybe longer. I don’t know for sure, and I don’t know if he told anyone outside our family.”

“They’ve continued to meet in that time.”

“I know he wanted to try and convince Tobirama-sama,” Kiyoshi says. “Figured that your brother was being cautious because he doesn’t know how you’d retaliate, but if we appealed with an effective enough strategy, he could come around. He’s the only real shot anyone has at opposing your authority. Kanami-oji knew we needed him. Convincing Tobirama-sama would’ve been worth the effort. If he got strong enough within the clan, having him be clan head would be way more beneficial to us.”

“Could he have threatened Tobirama if he saw that his efforts were going nowhere?” Hashirama asks bluntly.

Kiyoshi frowns at this, pausing. “I...don’t know. Maybe. Kaname-oji is a wrathful man, but I don’t know if something like poisoning is really his style.”

“It is Hanabi-san’s forte, and it is the most effective way to leverage someone’s life against them for a long time,” Hashirama points out.

Shrugging, Kiyoshi says, “It’s possible if she knew, but my uncle never told me just how much he let Hanabi-san in on. She’s a wily old bat, and she’s a little too good at playing all sides convincingly. It was her idea to approach Tobirama-sama in the first place, but she always appeared so sure he was on our side even if he was being irritatingly slow about trusting us.”

 “I see,” Hashirama murmurs, leaning back. “That is all for now, Kiyoshi-kun. I will find you should we need more…clarification later on.”

The other man purses his lips. “Just don’t forget our agreement.”

“Of course,” Hashirama says smoothly, inclining his head in acknowledgment. “Now, you must excuse me. I have a trial to prepare for.”

In the end, the trial is a very cut and dry affair with how single-mindedly Hashirama blazes through it.

He charges Kaname and Hanabi with the highest order of offenses, but their strongest allies are also persecuted for conspiracy against the clan. Most of them plead guilty under the immense scrutiny and pressure the investigation puts on them, especially with several witness testimonies and instances of written correspondence stacked against them. Interestingly, Kaname and Hanabi maintain that they did nothing to harm Tobirama. It is widely assumed that they’re just trying to avoid being outright executed for attempting to murder their clan heir, but there’s enough circumstantial evidence and plenty of motive to charge them for it anyway.

With how publicly Hashirama has led his inquest, it is no secret that he is beyond enraged and seeking to set an example no one will be able to ignore or forget. He sentences the two elders to death by dismemberment, imprisons their supporters in the worst cells, and orders for no funeral rites to be observed for them, including no graves or offerings made to aid their spirits in the afterlife. The corpses of the traitors are simply to be left in the woods to be eaten by the wild animals. The trees planted for them at their birth are to be cut down and scorched.

Needless to say, any support that might have been building around the two and their notions has since crumbled. Given the sheer magnitude of action taken against those who were caught, no one wants to be accused of having any part in the scheme that ended with their clan heir almost fatally poisoned and earn anymore of the clan head’s fury and swift brand of justice.

“All that’s left now is for you to wake up,” Hashirama whispers at the end of his report to an unconscious Tobirama, squeezing his brother’s cold hand with both of his. “Then it will all finally be over, and we can put this whole thing behind us for good.”

Objectively, there is a lot that Hashirama has gained from this. He has gotten rid of his biggest opposers, and effectively made it so that his policies will remain wholly unchallenged for quite some time while this event remains fresh in everyone’s minds. Still, he cannot truly appreciate any of it because of the fact that it very nearly cost him his only living brother.

Hashirama swallows and presses his forehead to the back of Tobirama’s hand. “Every time I close my eyes, I still see it,” he admits quietly. “You were so still and so pale, I really wasn’t sure if you were even—” he breaks off, unable to say it. “I can’t help thinking about what could have happened if I hadn’t made it in time. Or if you didn’t get treatment fast enough, or if we didn’t find that antidote. I came so, so close to losing you again.”

“But you didn’t.”

Hashirama startles, shooting up to find familiar crimson eyes trained on him, squinting through snowy lashes as though struggling to focus. “You’re awake!” he gasps, springing to his feet and lunging for the jug of water to pour some out because Tobirama must undoubtedly be thirsty after being asleep for so long. “Here,” he says, gently lifting his brother’s head and holding the glass to his lips.

Tobirama sips at his water obediently before shaking his head. “You didn’t lose me,” he says again, voice still hoarse from disuse. “You came just in time, and you saved me. I knew you would.”

The unshaking faith, the absolute certainty in the factual way Tobirama says that makes something in Hashirama’s chest swell painfully. He reaches out and smooths a hand through his brother’s hair, wordlessly running a diagnostic jutsu to monitor his vitals now that he is finally awake. “I wish you had told me,” he confesses. “I am still angry you didn’t. You could have died, Tora, and what would I have done then?”

Tobirama watches him for a moment, as if gauging whatever expression Hashirama is wearing, before he quietly says, “I am sorry, anija.” His gaze skitters away as he clearly considers his words. “It was not my intention to cause you so much fear.” He pauses and adds, “Or grief.”

Hashirama can’t help but stare at him wordlessly for that. “You’re all I have, Tobirama,” he says, fervent and insistent, his hand tightening around Tobirama’s. “Losing you is unimaginable to me. I don’t think I would actually even survive it if you left me. That you chose to gamble with your life like this—” he breaks off as his throat closes up with tears that he is powerless against. Hashirama wipes at them clumsily, but it is a futile effort as his eyes continue to water, the full stress of everything finally catching up to him. “Why would you do that to me? Why wouldn’t you tell me you were dying? That someone in our own clan was hurting you?”

The wide-eyed look Tobirama wears is telling enough of his shock and uncertainty on how to respond.  “There was nothing you would’ve been able to do.” At the wounded noise Hashirama lets out in response to that, he hurries to explain, “You wouldn’t have been able to charge them, and we would be without an antidote. Even if you managed to catch the direct culprits, the rest of their operations would have been unhindered and continued to pose a threat to your peace. I thought that if I timed it well enough—”

“It wasn’t worth it,” Hashirama cuts him off, voice thick. Tobirama stares at him blankly, so he reiterates, “Almost losing you wasn’t worth anything I might have gained from this. There could have been some other way. Some way to save you and some way to deal with them, but you made a choice for me that I would have never chosen to make myself, and it wasn’t worth the pain of seeing you fight for your life in this room for two whole weeks, Tobirama. My peace is for you, you idiot, don’t you see that? What good is any of it to me if you’re not here to see it? How would you feel if I gambled with my life for some stupid scheme?”

There is something very young and soft in the lines of Tobirama’s face. “I am sorry for hurting you, anija,” he says. “You’re right; I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I were in your shoes. I’m sorry I forced you in that position.”

Hashirama’s face crumples and, when Tobirama lifts his arms, he is quick to burrow into them, holding his baby brother close and burying his face in Tobirama’s shoulder. “You can never pull something like this again. Ever. Swear it to me.”

“Okay,” Tobirama agrees, leaning his head against Hashirama’s and exhaling slowly. “Okay. I won’t. I swear.”

And as though the world does not exist outside of them, they stay like that for a long time.