sacrifice
Tobirama pretended to be occupied at a fruit stand.
His targets were a few meters away, looking at various stores and such. Tobirama had taken this mission instead of Itama. He had to politely argue with his father that the young healer needed more time to mourn. It had only been two weeks, after all.
So here Tobirama was, about to assassinate a few men who were of the Uchiha clan. The targets were spies, but additionally, they were part of a child-killer squad. Tobirama was ready to kill. He’d found them easily, memorizing their chakra signatures swiftly. Now it was just a waiting game. He knew that they were due to get some more information for the Uchiha, and while he could stop them before they did, that was not his mission. His job was to kill them, away from any populous of people. So a mugging or tricky poison in the middle of a busy town center would not do. It was okay, Tobirama reasoned, because this was all part of being a shinobi. Sometimes you had to wait for an opportunity to present itself, and sometimes you had to make it. In this case, he would have to lie in wait. It was boring, yes, but better Tobirama do this mission than his sweet little brother Itama.
Tobirama had requested his father to relieve Hashirama and Itama of their duties in favor of training their Mokuton— something Hashirama would dread just as much as a mission— as it was something Itama needed. Butsuma had reluctantly agreed, so long as Tobirama took on more missions to compensate. He was okay with that, it was nothing new. As long as his brothers were safe, nothing would stop him from doing what he needed to do. So Tobirama diligently followed the Uchiha child-killers, despite the dangers he knew might befall him.
It was a strange feeling, really. Seeing the Uchiha who had children’s blood on their hands pass by people with cheerful and human expressions. They’d taken away lives, and there they stood, blending into the bustling crowd, as if they weren’t monsters. Shinobi did a lot of shady things, a lot of things that civilians would without a doubt call inhumane, but to go out of their way to murder a child who is clearly outmatched? That was a low that not many reached. Tobirama, in truth, was not briefed as to why the group of child-killers were in the town. At least, not until he felt the chakra of a small, Hyūga child.
Tobirama quickly thanked the fruit stand merchant for letting him browse before disappearing down an alley. He didn’t use any chakra to climb the buildings, careful not to alert any shinobi nearby. It took him a bit longer than he liked— Tobirama really couldn’t wait to grow up and not be so small— but he made it to the rooftops, where he’d be able to see the child-killers easily. And from the new height, it was clear to him, a trained shinobi, that they were not blending into the crowd, no. They were trailing the young Hyūga child. The child was dressed in newbie-shinobi gear, subtle but clearly unworn. The leather in the child’s outfit had little to no creases, the color in the sandals still bright and not dulled with use, and the mesh armor perfectly intact. It was undoubtedly this child’s first mission. The Uchiha child-killers followed until their target got to a more secluded area. Tobirama saw the Uchiha ready themselves to lunge.
Tobirama was faster.
He used chakra to jump off the rooftop, startling the Uchiha out of their focus. He landed right in front of the Hyūga child, who looked at the albino with terror in their eyes. Tobirama said nothing, picking up the kid— probably six or seven— and took off into the forest. The child-killers regained their bearings and quickly followed.
Tobirama used chakra to jump from tree branch to tree branch. The Hyūga child in his arms trembled but held on tight as Tobirama raced toward Hyūga territory. The other clan wasn’t explicitly allied with the Senju or Uchiha, though they clearly favored the Senju for their lack of rivaling dōjutsu. Their compound, while not a secret, was not usually visited without a notice in advance. The young Senju was banking on a Hyūga patrol coming across the chase, and taking the child to safety while Tobirama and some backup take care of the Uchiha. Sensing to Tobirama came naturally— and he couldn’t turn it off— so spreading his range far was like jamming a scalding hot knife into already-soft butter. Meaning it was very easy to sense that there was no Hyūga patrol near them, and there wouldn’t be for at least an hour.
Great. Lovely.
Tobirama ran faster and faster, creating a decent distance between him and the child-hunters.
“What’s your name?” Tobirama asked, voice raised so the kid could hear him.
“I’m not allowed to say,” the Hyūga child timidly answered, speaking into Tobirama’s ear.
“That’s alright. I’m Tobirama,” the albino introduced. “It’s nice to meet you.”
They went higher in the trees and the Hyūga child hugged the Senju tighter.
“I’m gonna try to bring you back home, okay, kiddo?”
“…Okay.”
Tobirama cradled the child tighter as he weaved through leaves and branches, a protective urge spreading through his veins. He had gained distance toward the Hyūga compound, but the irritatingly persistent child-hunters followed. He stopped using chakra to expand his sensing range, instead opting for using that chakra to run faster along the treetops.
“Hold on tight,” Tobirama reminded the Hyūga child.
He quickly formed a shadow clone, moving slower so he could hand the child to the replica besides him. The clone nodded, taking the child and running off toward Hyūga land while the original Tobirama turned to face his opponents. Now a fraction of his chakra was gone, but it made no difference to Tobirama. The child-killers approached and he burst off in a new direction, leading the pursuers toward the Naka. Without the added weight of the child, he was able to run faster, weaving through foliage elegantly.
The Uchiha squadron forewent the clone and Hyūga child in favor of Tobirama himself, or perhaps they didn’t realize. Whether they did or not, they were still hot on the albino’s heels, which caused Tobirama to start thinking. What would have happened today had Itama actually taken this mission? His little brother wasn’t suited for combat against multiple opponents, he was too young for that type of vigorous training, so why had his name been in the contending for the completion of this mission?
An image of Kawarama’s broken, beaten, bruised, bloody, body on the ground. The terror that this squad would have put his only alive younger brother through, had he gone on this mission in Tobirama’s stead. Suddenly, Tobirama stopped, on the branch, turning as he felt the enemy chakras near. Well, it was time to do a little experimenting, no? His brain quickly unsorted all of his memorized experiments and tests, stopping on one. The most inhumane one. The one where, if anyone ever found out, he would be ostracized from the Senju clan, perhaps even banished. His family would never look at him the same.
The Edo Tensei.
Surely, surely if he could bring back Kawarama… Surely no one would mind the desecrated bodies that had to be used in order for his littlest brother to see the sun again? One would have to be heartless to deny him that chance, no? He needed to try. He’d done it once before, with a few bugs and small animals, but nothing truly to this scale. If it worked, if he could revive his littlest brother from the clutches of death…
He had to try.
…
The Uchiha squadron consisted of 5 grown men.
Uchiha Takane, Uchiha Hisasato, Uchiha Deto, Uchiha Akishi, and Uchiha Otsuro.
Takane was the squad leader. He was known to be one of the only people in his clan who enjoyed and excelled in child-killings. Uchiha Tajima was starting to disband the squads at the request of his heirs and disdain of the Elders, so this would be one of Takane’s last missions with his squad. Takane had no spouse, no children, for he was a forsaken man who killed children in his spare time. Who would want to fraternize with the likes of him?
He took a slimy pride in the success of his missions, but right now, he wished he had retired earlier. His last job, the finalone, was to eliminate some rookie Hyūga kid who was getting information. It was clearly a newbie at the job, which was a boring way to end his career, but then something interesting happened. When Takane and his team had followed the child to a more secluded are of the small town, a small blur jumped down from the rooftops, picked up the Hyūga, and took off running. Takane and his men were stumped for a quick minute before giving chase to the small pair. The blur had turned around for a split second to throw a kunai with an exploding tag before taking off into the trees with their bounty.
When the white haired kid had turned, even for a split second, Takane’s active Sharingan caught the symbol on the kid’s happuri. Senju.
He barked orders at his men to ignore the Hyūga kid in favor of the Senju, and without question they obeyed. The sensor in their group, Otsuro, took a short bit to expand his senses to the max. He reported that, at one point, the Senju kid had duplicated somehow and was rushing the other child toward the Hyūga compound. Otsuro quickly reassured that the Senju that was headed toward the Naka was the stronger of the two, and they should go for that kill lest they run into any Hyūga patrols.
The five men sprinted toward the lone Senju.
“The Senju kid stopped,” Otsuro muttered. “We’re approaching fast. The little shit ran just out of range, about 50 meters ahead.”
“Got it. Akishi?” Takane asked.
Akishi grunted and held a giant shuriken.
“Deto? Hisasato?”
“Yes sir.” “Ready, Takane.”
They rushed forward into a relatively small clearing. The white haired kid stood on top of a rock surrounded by plants and the like, back to the group. Akishi raised his giant shuriken as Hisasato unsheathed his sword. Deto plucked a bag from his back, taking out a fistful of black powder. Otsuro activated his Sharingan as Takane stepped forward.
“Senju,” Takane boomed. “You interfered with our mission.”
The kid was silent, plucking off armor, piece by piece. The too-big metal plunked and clinked when it hit the rock the child stood upon, before making a soft thump as it hit the grass below.
“Surrendering, Senju? That’s no fun,” Takane snarked. “Must be a weak one, then.”
The Senju child slowly turned, red eyes glaring from beneath white hair. The child said nothing, continuing to pluck bits of armor off, but not touching the happuri.
Red eyes. That was a bit startling to the group, but they had a job to do, and the boon of killing a Senju warrior was much greater than that of a Hyūga brat.
“Must be mute,” Akishi snarled. “Sad we can’t hear the little demon scream.”
Takane took another step forward, the Senju’s eyes not leaving his. “Get down from there, kid.”
The Senju blurred by, fast even for the two active Sharingan. Takane whipped around to see the Senju child, kunai in palm, stabbing through Deto’s chest. The Senju kicked Deto’s corpse into Otsuro and rushed toward Hisasato. Hisasato managed to block the kunai with his sword, but then the little brat kicked him where the sun doesn’t shine. The kenjutsu specialist keeled over, incidentally impaling himself on the Senju’s kunai. The Senju kid twisted the kunai as he ripped it out of Hisasato’s chest, shoving the adult to the side. The Senju spawn placed a seal on corpse and turned around. Akishi froze upon seeing the little kid’s cold, red eyes on him. The small Senju’s face was splattered with blood.
The three remaining adults stood in shock, processing what they just witnessed. The Senju child took off the face-protector.
“You got blood on my happuri,” The child whispered. “It’s dirty now. Because of you.”
“We—” Akishi was cut off by a blade in the neck and a seal on his forehead.
“Akishi!” Otsuro screamed, pulling out his sword and rushing toward the kid.
The Senju spawn dodged each swing of Otsuro’s sword, terrifying emptiness in young red eyes. The child quickly incapacitated the Uchiha, slapping a seal on his chest. Takane backed up slowly as the Senju child pulled themself off of the paralyzed Otsuro.
“No… no, stay back!” Takane cried, slipping onto his ass. “We didn’t do anything!”
The Senju child stalked over, power in each step taken. The child placed a paralysis seal on the back of Takane’s neck before starting to prepare some scrolls. The small child dragged the bodies, both dead and conscious, to line them all up.
“Five,” the child muttered, reaching down to feel the corpses. “Twice with one spare. I could—”
A small asphodelus sprouted by the child’s hand. The Senju’s red eyes widened, looking around at blooming rhododendron.
“I’d like…” the child started, yellow jessamines sprouting around Akishi’s corpse.
The Senju child pet the grass, a soft look in his empty eyes. “Ah, gelsemium semperviren. I see. Perfect, thank you.”
“Who… are you,” Takane rasped, struggling against the paralysis seal.
“I have many names. I’ll list a few should you recognize any,” the Senju boy snarked, twirling a plucked flower. “Your worst nightmare. The White Demon. Aniki. Freak. Otouto. Senju Butsuma’s spare son. Senju Tobirama. The boy who just unlocked Mokuton.”
Takane’s eyes widened, Sharingan spinning wildly. “Butsuma? Senju Butsuma?”
“That’s what I just said. What, are you hard of hearing?” Tobirama mused. “Even if you were— which I truly doubt— I would think the Sharingan would be able to help you read lips, no?”
Tobirama dragged the terrified Otsuro and the very dead Akishi into some weird seals he’d drawn on the ground prior to the battle…
Takane was screaming in his mind. How did they not notice the seals on the ground before they’d engaged in battle? They were elite shinobi, damn it!
The Senju boy performed some hand seals and smeared the blood of Akishi’s corpse onto some seal paper. Takane was lost as to what was happening. Otsuro screamed as paper-like things started attaching to him, but soon went limp when he was fully covered. Tobirama took a few steps back, chewing on his lip and furrowing his brows.
“What did you do?!” Takane growled.
Tobirama said nothing as the papers continued to merge into… Akishi?
Akishi looked off, though. There were cracks on his skin and attire, and his scleras were black. He didn’t move, instead looking around with his eyes frantically, activating his Sharingan while he was at it.
“You’re not moving,” Tobirama muttered, disappointed.
“C… Can’t…” Akishi ground out. “Wh’t…”
Tobirama frowned. Pouted. Was upset. Whatever it was, it scared Takane. The boy— the child he was trying to kill a few minutes ago— started poking and prodding not-quite-Akishi. He sliced bit by bit off of the body, which soon regenerated. Akishi did not move.
“Failure,” Tobirama muttered. “Kai.”
And not-quite-Akishi was gone. Akishi’s corpse lay there— still in the circle— but Otsuro’s body was gone.
Tobirama crouched down and placed what looked to be a preservation seal on Deto’s body. The boy quickly sealed the body into a storage scroll, dragging Hisasato’s corpse with into the circle next to Akishi’s. He moved Akishi out of the way, then turned to drag Takane.
“Stop,” Takane pleaded. “Please.”
Tobirama said nothing, dragging him to where Otsuro once was.
“Why?” Takane cried, frantically stalling for time. “Why would a child be so despicable?”
The Senju boy turned to him, wearing a neutral expression yet tears gathered in dull red eyes. Tobirama started going through the motions of his jutsu.
The last seal formed with shaking hands, Tobirama looked the Uchiha child-killer in the eyes. “For Kawarama.”
And the world went black.
…
His clone had dispelled a while ago, having safely delivered the little Hyūga child. The child had thanked him profusely and declared that one day he would find the “pretty Senju boy” to "become his student." The elation his shadow clone felt pulled the albino out of the dullness he’d pulled himself into. Tobirama found himself in front of his brother’s grave, scroll with an Uchiha’s corpse inside ready to go. Ready to bring back Kawarama. He put the scroll away, reflecting.
The happiness and warmth Tobirama's clone had brought back had merged with the original's dying-down adrenaline, making him feel icky and disgusting. But he had to think rationally. The little Hyūga child— Hyūga Hamito, he’d found out— was safe. And the Uchiha were dead. That was all that mattered. He was not supposed to mourn. He felt emotionless. Numb like the tool he was supposed to be. Designed to be.
But numbness got exhausting, and “Butsuma’s spare son” was at the end of his rope.
Tobirama put his heads in his hands, slumping against his brother’s grave. His knees dug into nettle and swamp lilies. The corpse in his back pocket felt heavy, an added weight to the burden of the world. His heart cried and ached at the realization that Itama was supposed to go on this mission. The fact that had he not accepted in the stead of the aspiring healer, Tobirama would have lost his only alive little brother. No one would call him Aniki anymore. It would have just been him and Hashirama. Alone. Another death weighing heavy on their hearts and minds. He could revive his youngest brother right here, right now. But Tobirama couldn’t desecrate his littlest brother’s grave.
He didn’t have the heart to do it.