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blooming-water-roses · 10 months

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Stars by the Pocketful

Tobirama Senju x Kagami Uchiha oneshot

Word count: ~10k

Rating: Explicit (contains smut)

Tags: Canon-compliant, Founding-era, Major Character Death, Angst, Hurt-Comfort, Mutual Pining

Synopsis: The story of how Kagami Uchiha and Tobirama Senju fell in love and had a son (Shisui’s future father) together with the help of a new jutsu. This oneshot fills in the blanks of the founding-era and follows canon events.

A/N: this took me like…14 hours. Two days on a road trip, this is all I did in the car literally. This is a masterpiece. Prepare for the best TobiKaga fic you have ever read.

(begins below cut)

Kagami thinks that Tobirama is by far the most talented shinobi on Earth. Even more so than the first Hokage, his brother Hashirama. Tobirama possesses not only incredible taijutsu and ninjutsu prowess, but a mind as sharp as a master-crafted blade. He hears so many great things about him from Hiruzen and Danzo, and even some from Homura, and from what he’s seen of him himself, no one matches Tobirama’s caliber.

He knows that as an Uchiha, he is gifted with natural talent. However, he also is aware that one can always improve and expand no matter what. And the village he was born into is young but it’s home and his heart is sore whenever he thinks about his determination to protect it.

So, he resolves to be trained by Tobirama.

He sees his opening when Hiruzen, Danzo, and Homura start getting sent on missions without Tobirama. He himself is already a Chunin, but he wants to be close to the Hokage’s brother, so he approaches him one day when he finds him at the training ground.

“Master Tobirama,” He greets with a bright smile and bow.

“Kagami, hello,” greets the silver-haired man, taking a drink from his flask. “Early-morning training?”

“Yes. I also came to ask a favor of you, very humbly.”

Tobirama quirks an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Please, sir, I would like to become your disciple. Please train me.”

The older man hums, folding his arms across his chest. “Why? You are already an exceptional shinobi, and on top of that, wield the formidable Sharingan prowess. What would I have to teach you?”

“I possess an unwavering desire to protect Konoha,” He elaborates, “and to do this, I believe that I should master any and everything that I can to help me be powerful enough. You are a great sensory ninja, and you have taijutsu techniques unfamiliar to my own. You also have Water-style I believe I can learn. I also desire to sharpen my mind and become smarter under your guidance.”

Tobirama gives him a thoughtful frown. Kagami flushes slightly under the scrutiny, only relaxing when the older man hums.

“All right, then. I must be honest, Kagami, I am still weary of the Uchiha, but your determination and passion is admirable. I won’t go easy on you. Do you accept?”

Warmth blooms inside of Kagami’s chest as he beams. It even puts a faint smile on Tobirama’s face. “Yes, sir! Thank you! I will work very hard and continue to push myself under your guidance.”

He bows, and Tobirama nods to himself. “Very well. Have you any obligations for the day?”

“No sir, I do not.”

“Then we will begin at once.”

“Yes sir!”

For the next seven years, Kagami and Tobirama become somewhat of a package deal. As the village grows, so do Tobirama’s responsibilities as the Hokage’s right-hand, so Kagami takes on part of his work to lessen his load. When they aren’t doing administrative work, they train together. Tobirama passes all of his sensory, taijutsu, and Water-style techniques to Kagami, who devours the knowledge and makes it his own. Being around Tobirama allows him to see how his mind works, some of his intellect rubbing off on him as well.

The village is flourishing until Hashirama falls ill due to overuse of his mitotic cell regeneration, and when he succumbs to the weakness of his body, their daily routine of train-work-train comes to an abrupt halt.

Tobirama falls into a high-functioning depression wherein he dutifully becomes the second Hokage, per his brother’s dying wish, but operates on auto-pilot. Kagami decides that as his responsible kouhai, now a twenty year-old special Jounin and a member of his personal guard, he will take care of him and function where he can’t.

So, he ends up staying with him in his home. For lack of a better term, he works much like a traditional housewife—he keeps the house clean, cooks, and makes sure Tobirama is taken care of. The man is silent most of the days, only speaking to thank Kagami for making his meal, or for doing the laundry, or for completing paperwork he didn’t get to.

About two months after Hashirama’s passing, Mito has their last son she had been pregnant with before he died, and Tobirama and Kagami go for a visit. The boy looks so much like his father that when they get back home, it all hits Tobirama, who’d been compartmentalizing his feelings, and he has a breakdown.

He cries and cries and cries, lamenting the loss of Hashirama, the hole he left in Konoha, the pressure of having to fill that void and be better, to carry on, and Kagami is there for him.

They sit on his couch as he sobs, Kagami supplying handkerchiefs silently as Tobirama lets it out. It breaks Kagami’s heart to see him like this, but knows that finally releasing his bottled up feelings will be good in the long run. He pats Tobirama’s shoulder and remains by his side the entire night.

The next day, neither mention it, and Kagami makes him breakfast as usual, only Tobirama helps him clean up this time.

After that, he starts to live again. He shares Kagami’s household duties, works harder and late into the night as Hokage, and starts bettering the village as he had been doing before.

A year later, the council of clan leaders begin pressuring Tobirama to marry. There are a few clans that want allyship with the Leaf, and marrying into one of them would do the trick.

So he courts a woman from the Hatake clan. She’s disinterested and aloof, never paying attention whenever Tobirama tries to establish conversation. Kagami witnesses this a few times and feels annoyance prickle at his chest whenever he sees her.

Master Tobirama always has such interesting things to say. If it were me, I’d listen with undivided attention. I’d ask questions. I’d care. Who does she think she is?

One night over dinner, when it’s just the two of them at Tobirama’s house, the Hokage sighs.

“Kagami, be honest with me,” he begins, “What do you think of the Hatake? Should I take her as my wife?”

The Uchiha is surprised. He places his chopsticks down and scratches his head. “Well, Master, I want to hear your thoughts on the matter.”

Tobirama frowns. “The woman has the personality of a boulder.”

Kagami can’t help but snort, and Tobirama finally cracks a smile.

“I was afraid to say it, sir, but I am not fond of her either.”

“No? Why is that?”

Kagami gets a strange nervousness in his stomach, heart rate picking up. He suppresses it. “I just believe you deserve better, Master.”

Tobirama considers him, a glint in his eye that looks akin to amusement.

“I see. I will kindly decline the offer for her hand, then,” Tobirama decides. Instantly, a weight lifts off of his shoulders.

“I support your decision, Master.”

Tobirama smiles. “Call me Tobirama, Kagami. You’ve long surpassed being my student. You and I are equals.”

Pride and bashfulness swell inside of Kagami, and he blushes rosily. “O-oh, thank you…Tobirama.”

The older man nods approvingly, and with that, they continue dinner.

After that, Tobirama courts a woman from the Aburame. She’s even weirder than the Hatake—vague and condescending. If the Hatake was a boulder, she’s a wall of steel.

One morning, while she’s visiting with Tobirama at a tea shop and Kagami is along as an unofficial chaperone, he finds a beetle in his tea.

He jumps and alerts Tobirama, who grimaces and plucks the insect from the cup with his chopsticks.

“They get out of hand sometimes,” the Aburame says in a cool, unbothered tone. “Surely as an Uchiha you wouldn’t let such a simple occurrence take you by surprise.”

Tobirama frowns at her as if he himself had been insulted. “We are in a tea shop away from battle, and you are courting me. He has no reason to look out for attacks from you. Am I to take this as a threat from the Aburame, then?”

She turns her nose up. “No. I was just testing your guard. Do not take it as a slight.”

“Kagami is my most trusted man. Do not undermine my decision to constantly entrust my very livelihood to him—he is very capable and to slight him is to slight me.”

Kagami’s heart squeezes warmly in his ribcage, and his veins feel tingly all over. Her eyebrows furrow.

“Very well. I do not believe this courtship will work out.”

“I agree. However, the Aburame are a very formidable clan and as the Hokage, I am still inclined to make a pact with it to strengthen Konoha as well as share our resources with it. If you are willing, we can still make an allyship agreement.”

“Fine by me.”

And when she leaves, Kagami turns to Tobirama, cheeks dusted pink.

“You didn’t have to do that for me.”

“I did not like the woman. She undermined you, and you’ve defended my honor for years now. I would be a lesser man if I did not return the favor.”

Kagami’s eyes shine. His pulse quickens, and as he gazes upon Tobirama’s face, taking in the moonlight-esque shine of his silver hair, the striking fire-opal embers of his eyes, matching the marks on his face, his strong, majestic bone-structure.

He’s…magnificent.

His blood-pressure drops.

Do I…have feelings for him?

“You are worthy of unwavering defense, Kagami.”

Did my name always sound so good in his voice?

Did his lips always look so soft? Did he always smell this good? Like pine and lavender?

“Kagami?”

He’s snapped from his musings. “O-oh, forgive me. Thank you. I will try hard to continue to be worthy.”

Tobirama gives him a smile, patting his shoulder.

His arm feels hot where the older man was touching.

***

The next and last courtship is Kagami’s breaking point.

A Yamanaka woman. She is absolutely inserted in Tobirama’s business to the point where she suffocates him. Clingy, fast, and overly jealous, Kagami finds himself cursing her internally whenever she’s around.

“Does he have to be around all the time?” She asks Tobirama when they’re in his living room, having evening tea, looking at Kagami with disdain.

“He is my guard, so yes,” replies Tobirama dryly. Kagami can tell from the look on his face that he has a killer migraine. A common occurrence around this insufferable woman.

“But I want to be alone with you, Tobira,” she cooes, touching his bicep and leaning into him. The obvious bedroom eyes she’s giving him has bile rising in Kagami’s throat. Tobira? What an awful nickname.

“We are merely in a courtship, so that is not necessary.”

“But I want to get to know you better,” desire drips from her tone. Kagami feels his eyes burning with the threat of Sharingan activation.

That strong emotional response is enough to confirm that he does indeed have feelings for Tobirama.

Damn it all to hell, he curses internally.

“If you are implying any sort of physical intimacy, I’m afraid that isn’t part of a courtship agreement. Such impropriety is not necessary.”

Impropriety. Sage, if he only knew my improper feelings. He’d strip me of my titles.

She huffs. “You are the most boring man I’ve ever met. Aren’t you all supposed to just want to get in bed with a woman? I’m offering myself to you, how dare you reject me?”

“I believe that intimacy is to be shared only when a deep emotional bond has been forged between both parties. We have no such bond.”

The woman scoffs, standing up. “Well you haven’t given me much to work with! The only one you seem to have let in is this infuriating Uchiha who’s attached to you at the hip! Why don’t you just fuck him?!”

Kagami’s heart jumps in his chest not unlike a Lightning-style attack, Tobirama’s frown deepening.

“Lady Yamanaka, I don’t believe our courtship will work. I regard the Yamanaka to the highest degree, and would like to align amicably regardless of our failed courtship to ensure that your clan will continue to thrive.”

She scowls. “Any further conversations will have to be discussed with my uncle.”

With that, she stands and makes quick work of leaving through the front door, slamming it behind herself.

Tobirama remains still for a moment before letting out a sigh.

“She was the worst one yet.”

Kagami nods in agreement. “How can you tolerate any more of this?”

“I won’t. I’m not cut out for this, not like my brother was. His marriage to Mito was successful in integrating the Uzumaki, but I am not him, and I will find alternative ways to induct the clans to the village.”

The Uchiha’s blood sings hopefully. “You won’t marry?”

“No. I am devoted to the village,” Tobirama states, “Besides, until you find a partner, I have you by my side. That is more than enough.”

Oh, Sage, what is he saying? Despite being in a sitting position currently, Kagami’s knees feel weak.

“I don’t plan on marrying any time soon. I’m content with this as well.”

He surprises himself with how level he sounds.

Tobirama smiles with a chuckle. “Then we’ll remain companions and that will suffice.”

Companions. The two of us.

Kagami grins and nods, insides completely melting.

Great Sage, I am doomed to love this man.

The next few months are spent with the two companions growing even closer. The Yamanaka incident somehow made them bond even more, and Tobirama has loosened up considerably around Kagami.

The Uchiha notices it when he is hard at work assigning missions on paper one morning when Tobirama pokes his arm with the end of his brush.

Kagami raises his head. “Yes?”

Tobirama grins, teeth and all. It grips Kagami by the heart tightly.

“Just felt like it.”

I could die contently right now looking at his happy face.

He just laughs and pokes the older man back with his own brush.

Tobirama’s smile grows, and merciful Sage, it’s crooked, the left side higher than the right, it’s beautiful.

“I’ve never seen you smile like that,” is what he says, and then immediately regrets it. Why would I point that out? Tobirama will be self-conscious, I’m an idiot—

“Huh,” muses the Hokage, shrugging. “I am at ease around you, Kagami. I suppose it’s quite easy to smile around you.”

Kagami feels close to death in the most blissful way possible. He could choke on the influx of endorphins that flood his system.

“I feel the same.”

It feels sort of like a quarter of a confession.

He doesn’t dare push it. He knows they can’t be together. Two men in a relationship would never be accepted, especially not in the Uchiha. He can’t afford to let himself daydream about an impossible illusion.

***

It’s during the trip home from the Five-Kage Summit that they are ambushed by Hidden Waterfall ninja.

Immediately they are recognized as the same village that tried to kill Hashirama, and though prowess is outmatched in the Leaf’s favor, the Waterfall outnumber them, and protecting Tobirama from an attack, Kagami is wounded deeply in the chest.

“Kagami!”

He falls to the ground and Tobirama catches him before he can hit it, cradling him on his knees.

The Uchiha coughs forcefully, blood filling his mouth. He can’t breathe.

“Kagami,” Tobirama’s voice is full of remorse, grave and desperate. “Your lung, i-it’s…”

“Forget…me…” Kagami manages, pain so great he’s almost numb. “P-protect…them…”

Tobirama looks up, watching Hiruzen use his summons to fill in for his absence in the fight. Koharu detonates three paper bombs, taking out groups of the enemy. No one is near them.

“They’re fine,” Tobirama shakes his head, looking back down at Kagami. He’s deathly pale, his crimson life force contrasting morbidly with his skin. “Oh, Kagami, I’m so sorry.”

“My job…i-is to pro-protect you,” Kagami rasps, “I’m honored to…to die fulfilling…m-my duty.”

Tobirama’s throat tightens up and he’s shocked when a droplet hits Kagami’s reddened cheek.

He’s crying.

Once he realizes, the floodgates open and he starts sobbing.

“Kagami, don’t, don’t do this to me,” He begs, “Please, you…you’re all I have.”

Kagami reaches up weakly, soft hand finding Tobirama’s face. There’s so much he wants to say, and yet he feels dizzy, far away, like he’s being pulled somewhere very distant.

“Tobirama,” is all he says instead, gently and tenderly, and he manages a sincere smile, one he musters all of his love and affection into in the hopes that the man understands what he can’t tell him. He’s a dead man—it doesn’t matter anymore.

“Kagami,” Tobirama sobs, covering his hand with his own. The Uchiha’s big, black eyes hold his, and he watches the light fade from them. “No, nonono, no, Kagami please!”

The hand in his goes limp, and those eyes hollow out like cool glass.

He’s gone.

Tobirama feels the panic set in from the back of his head, like a pin prick. It causes his vision to short-out, entire body going numb, and he suddenly has no idea where he is or what is going on.

“Master Tobirama!”

“Kagami, he’s—” he chokes. He can’t. He doesn’t know what he was trying to do but whatever it is that he was doing he simply just cannot anymore.

“Master!”

He blacks out.

***

When he comes to, he’s leaning against a tree, sitting down. Hiruzen is force-feeding him water.

He blinks rapidly, consciousness seeping back. He coughs, sputtering as he rejects the water.

“Master!” Hiruzen exclaims, pulling the flask away and patting Tobirama’s back. “Are you all right?”

It all comes rushing back. The ambush. The battle. Kagami jumping in front of him to block the attack, getting stabbed in the chest, falling, dying—

“What of Kagami?” He asks urgently, looking around. Danzo and Homura stand watch, and on the tree next to him leans Kagami, unconscious but cleaned up to the point where there’s only faint remnants of blood on his face. Above him is Koharu, working hard with the Mystical Palm technique she learned from Hashirama to heal his wound.

Tobirama lurches up, crawling over to Kagami despite Hirzuen protesting to take it easy.

“How is he? Is he breathing?” Asks the Senju.

“He’s weak but he’s stable,” she answers, “I’m trying to heal him to the point where we can return for proper treatment—Lady Mito will need to see him. His lung was punctured through and he has two fractured ribs. I had to forcefully expel the blood from his lungs, throat, and mouth so he wouldn’t suffocate.”

Tobirama’s eyes become glossy once more. “So he’s…he’s alive, then?”

“Yes, Master, he is alive. I will save him, and we will return home as a complete unit.”

Tobirama doesn’t remember a time when he felt this happy.

Kagami is alive.

He will continue by Tobirama’s side.

Tobirama will get to experience his smile, his laughter, his jokes, his warmth again. Kagami has not been taken from him, thank the great Sage.

The green glow from Koharu’s palms dissipates, and she sits back, wiping her brow.

“All right. He’s stable enough to take home.”

Tobirama gets to his feet instantly, remembering himself now that a dire situation as been avoided. “Thank you, Koharu. Well done to the rest of you as well. I trust the enemy is dealt with?”

“Yes sir,” Homura answers. “I’ve sealed one in a scroll for questioning.”

“Excellent. How far from Konoha are we?”

“Half a day’s journey?”

I should get Kagami back immediately.

“We return at once. I will use my Flying Raijin to get Kagami to treatment. I trust you all can return home safely.”

“Yes sir, you can count on us.”

Tobirama gingerly scoops Kagami in his arms, leaning his cheek against his chest. He’s light, and still warm. His chakra signature is still very present—he’s fighting to stay. His heart beats harder.

“Hiruzen, take the lead home.”

“Yes, sir.”

They move out, and as they all take off before Tobirama, he gives into his instinct and leans down, pressing a kiss to the Uchiha’s forehead.

“I won’t let you leave me, Kagami.”

He flickers out of the clearing immediately.

***

Kagami is out of immediate danger within a few hours under Mito’s care.

As soon as the Uchiha is left alone in his room, Tobirama enters and pulls up a chair at his bedside, letting his eyes roam upon his frame.

His shirt had been cut off, stitches applied to his skin and covered with a heavy layer of bandages. They wrap around his chest and shoulder, and he sleeps deeply, having been put under strong sedatives.

He looks so frail and gentle, and Tobirama reaches out, taking his hand in his. Much smaller in his large, calloused palm.

He feels sparks when they touch and it’s enough to break his final wall down—he drops the act with himself.

I’m in love with him, Tobirama finally admits. His shoulders slump and he sighs deeply, letting his reverent eyes stay brushing over Kagami’s frame.

He doesn’t know when it began. Maybe when Kagami let him cry and comforted him without being overbearing, maybe one of the times he made him dinner, maybe when they agreed to be companions—somehow, the young Uchiha managed to steal his rigid heart completely.

He can’t imagine his life without Kagami. He cannot even bring himself to entertain the thought. To take him is to take his very reason to breathe.

Tobirama had almost lost him for good today, and if there’s one thing he’s learned about loss, it’s that it’s better to have no regrets when facing it.

He knows things will be hard. They’re both men. They’re from historically opposing clans. He’s fourteen years Kagami’s senior, and he was his mentor for years. By all accounts, to begin a relationship with Kagami is to defy common sense and logic.

But he almost lost Kagami today without even trying.

Tobirama won’t allow that to happen again.

So, a few hours after his team had arrived and been sent home to rest, Tobirama himself not having moved from Kagami’s side, the Uchiha wakes up.

And Tobirama confesses.

“Kagami,” he murmurs, reaching out to touch his face. “How do you feel?”

“Alive,” croaks the Uchiha beneath his breathing tube. “Sore and tired. Are you all right?”

Tobirama chuckles fondly, unbelievably enamored with the man before him.

How easy it feels now that he understands just how far he’s fallen for the Uchiha.

“You were on the brink of the Pure Lands and you ask me if I’m all right?”

“I protect you. That’s my top concern.”

Just raw honesty. Tobirama’s heart is soaring.

“I am only all right because you are,” the Hokage tells him. “Kagami, I realized when I almost lost you today how important you are to me. I know it isn’t right, and it isn’t smart, but I’ve fallen for you. And I needed to tell you that before it’s too late, like it could have been today.”

The Uchiha’s eyes widen. “W-what? You…you feel the same way I do?”

Tobirama squeezes his hand. “Kagami, I am in love with you.”

A deep rosy flush colors Kagami’s cheeks, and he takes a shaky breath. “Tobirama, I…yes, I, I am in love with you.”

The dam bursts, a deluge of emotions swarming the two of them.

Tobirama stands and leans over Kagami in the next instance, wasting no time and claiming his lips for the very first time.

The relief that washes over Kagami is stronger than any medicine.

***

Kagami is discharged from the hospital two days later with an order for bed rest for the next week. Tobirama sets him up in his own bedroom, insisting his bed is comfier.

The first night they sleep beside each other, they have a long talk.

“This isn’t going to be easy,” Tobirama says softly, their chests to the ceiling side-by-side. “Our clans don’t get along, and we are both men. We cannot have an official courtship.”

“I understand,” Kagami replies, “It won’t be much different from how we are now. Outside of this house, we are the same as we’ve always been. Inside, however, we can show affection. We can touch, we can kiss, we can…well, whatever else we may get up to.”

Tobirama turns to him and flashes him an amused smile. “Are you already thinking along those lines?”

“Sorry,” Kagami flushes, “We don’t ever have to if you don’t want.”

The Hokage moves a hand to cover Kagami’s, lacing their fingers together. Their eyes meet.

“Did I not say that intimacy is to be shared between two people with a deep emotional bond?”

The Uchiha feels his heart beat faster. “You did say that.”

“And did we not profess our love for each other the other day?”

“We did.”

Tobirama grins, turning on his side to face Kagami. He uses his free hand to run the tips of his fingers up the inside of his arm, then down again as sensually as possible. It makes the Uchiha’s heart flutter.

“Then intimacy is definitely in our future.”

Kagami takes a slow breath, attempting to reel himself back in.

“You haven’t done much to me, but I can already tell you have far more experience than I.”

Tobirama hums. “Not sure about far more, I’m not exactly promiscuous. I’m sure we’re about even.”

The Uchiha looks down. “I’ve never been intimate before.”

There’s a slight surprise for Tobirama. “Not at all?”

“At all.”

He blinks. “Hmm. I suppose you were always by my side. It makes sense. No matter, I’ve had three lovers in total.”

Kagami raises his brows. “Three?”

“Yes. The first was once when I was seventeen, I wanted to experiment. She was a woman, and I hadn’t really thought it was special. I never saw her again. Then, the second was a man from the Hagoromo clan. We saw each other a few times, and through him I learned my preferences laid with men. My most previous was before Konoha became a village—he was Izuna.”

Kagami’s eyes widen. “Uchiha? Madara’s brother?”

“Yes. We were enemies yet sought each other out to blow off steam a few times. It was complicated.”

“You killed him, didn’t you?”

Tobirama frowns, remorse painting his features. “Yes. It was adrenaline. I have regrets about that day.”

“Did you…love him?” Kagami’s voice is gentle, without judgment.

“I’m not sure. I don’t think so. Maybe it was akin to love, but I did hurt him in the end. I would never do that to you. Never even think of it—I’d take my own life instead,” Tobirama tells him firmly. He moves closer to him, cupping his face. He holds his eyes with his own, fiery pools of auburn staring into obsidian. “One thing that is certain, is that I indisputably love you, Kagami.”

For the millionth time that day, the Uchiha’s face blooms a pretty red. “I love you too, Tobi.”

The nickname just slips out of his mouth, and it makes his cheeks hotter.

“Oh, Sage,” breathes the Senju, his thumb moving to pad over Kagami’s lower lip. His eyes flit to it. “Call me that again.”

The way he says it makes Kagami feel needed, wanted, desired. A surge of confidence hits him.

“My Tobi.”

The Hokage doesn’t hesitate a second longer to press their lips together, slipping his tongue inside of Kagami’s pliant mouth, initiating a desire-ridden make out session that lasts until Kagami needs air.

Whilst the younger man is taking in careful breaths, Tobirama rubs their noses together tenderly in a butterfly kiss, looking into his eyes.

“My dear Uchiha,” He murmurs sweetly, as if addressing a precious gem by name. Kagami’s eyelids flutter closed, reveling in the affection. “My Kagami.”

The man in question wraps his arms around Tobirama’s neck, playing with the silver hair on his nape.

As he feels Tobirama stamp a gentle kiss to his jaw, he knows with certainty that he’s absolutely gone.

***

Kagami is healed up a month later, and only then one night after a spar does Tobirama finally feel that he’s ready for intimacy.

They start off slow, laying on his bed beneath the covers in their night clothes. It isn’t long before their pace increases, urgency fortified, and all articles of clothing are shed and tossed to the floor in between ravenous kisses.

Kagami ends up underneath Tobirama, his legs spread as the Senju pleasures him using his mouth.

As Tobirama had expected, Kagami turns out to be rather vocal in bed. He can’t stop moaning, mewling high in his throat at every stroke of Tobirama’s tongue over a sensitive vein, gasping with each suck, eyes shut tight as he’s completely beside himself.

While he’s sucking him off, Tobirama uses a lubricant produced by one of his self-derived jutsus to open the Uchiha up, prodding his finger inside of Kagami’s tight walls until he can fit in two, and then three.

He pushes against his prostate at the same time he suckles on his tip, causing the younger man to cry out.

“Tobirama!”

He feels the twitch in Kagami’s thighs and pulls away to coat his own throbbing cock with the lubricant, lining up with the younger’s entrance.

“Are you ready?” He asks, and Kagami, half delirious already, flushed, hair messy on the pillow nods.

“Yes, please…”

Just like that, Tobirama sheathes himself inside of Kagami, forever solidifying the two of them as lovers.

“Oh!” Kagami gasps, spreading his legs wider. Tobirama is big, and he can feel all of the details of his intimacy inside of him. It makes his heart pound.

“Kagami,” breathes Tobirama, suddenly in his own very specific version of the Pure Lands on Earth, and the Uchiha never wants to forget the way his name left his lover’s mouth right then.

Luckily, he doesn’t have to. Because it turns out, contrary to his expectations, Tobirama is even more vocal than he is.

But he doesn’t make indiscriminate noises.

The only thing that tumbles from his lips is Kagami’s name, in wanton abandon, a tone Kagami has never heard before but makes his core sing with heat.

“Kagami,” Tobirama groans as he picks up the pace, their skin slapping loudly, echoing around the bedroom. Kagami bites his lip, nails digging into his lover’s biceps as he allows him inside repeatedly, feeling loved to his very core.

“Kagami,” Tobirama hisses as the Uchiha clenches around him when he hits his prostate with the tip of his cock, biting his own lip, eyebrows drawing up. Again, “K-Kagami, love.”

“Ah,” is Kagami’s incoherent response, “Tobi, Master…”

Tobirama’s soul short-circuits.

Hormones rush through his body. Carnal desire takes over, and for once, he lets control go. Their hips meet in harsh smacks, the bed rocking considerably.

“Kagami,” he moans in worship, as if delivered from the evil of the world, from all pain, cleansed of sin, “Kagami…”

“Tobirama!” Exclaims Kagami. “Ah! Ah!”

The Hokage grabs Kagami’s hand and kisses his knuckles fervently, fucking into him faster, chasing their highs as the coils wind tighter and tighter.

“Love you,” insists Tobirama, in prayer, “Kagami, love you.”

“Love you,” replies Kagami in his state of delirium, hardly able to believe the amount of pleasure Tobirama is giving him right now.

His middle and ring fingers somehow end up inside of the Senju’s mouth and Tobirama greedily sucks, tongue laving over the small digits. Kagami’s eyes roll to the back of his head and that does it, cum spilling all over his stomach untouched, Tobirama’s name on his lips in rapture.

Tobirama’s hips stutter and he fills the Uchiha up with his release, marking him on the inside, showering his face with kisses. He wants to devour his beautiful lover whole. He licks up the droplets of sweat from his neck, sucks marks into his collarbones, and ravishes the air from his lungs.

He is obsessed in the best way possible.

It’s from that moment on that he and Kagami can barely keep their hands off of each other behind closed doors.

Within the next year, the two live their lives as blissful secret lovers.

Kagami takes on his first team of Genin comprised of a Senju, an Uchiha, and a Yūhi. The Senju boy is hot-blooded much like Hashirama, the Uchiha girl stubborn yet very caring, and the Yūhi girl, whom is the best friend of the Uchiha, is quiet and polite. He trains them in sensory skills first and foremost, helping the Uchiha and Yūhi in their genjutsu prowess while the Senju spars in taijutsu with him.

They all form a very close bond as a team, and whenever Tobirama has time, he watches their training with fond eyes.

He notices the softness in Kagami’s gaze whenever one of the children calls him ‘sensei’, watches him pat them on the heads tenderly after each session, observes his Uchiha lover getting them treats and spoiling them rotten.

It clicks for him when the two of them visit Hiruzen and his new wife, Biwako at their home after they welcome their first child.

The baby boy is nestled comfortably in Kagami’s arms, and it’s then and there, Tobirama taking in the sight of his lover fawning over the baby, that he understands just how good of a parent he would be.

In fact, as Biwako helps Kagami feed the baby with a bottle, he realizes Kagami should be a parent.

Biology would constitute that the two of them cannot both conceive the same child, but Tobirama is a master of inventing powerful jutsu, Kagami is his beloved, and he vows to himself to figure out a way to make it happen.

He pours over scrolls from every clan he can get ahold of that has medical prowess. The Nara, the Uzumaki, the Senju, the Uchiha, the Yamanaka even for herbs—he devotes all of his free time to the creation of this new jutsu.

Kagami is not new to how Tobirama gets when he is working on a new jutsu, so he thinks nothing of his hermit-like behavior. He simply keeps him up later into the night if he feels particularly needy.

After three months, Tobirama’s jutsu is created. He names it the Henkei Seal, as it’s a formula that when cast, seals the desired anatomy inside of the receiver until released. For the particular modification, it requires both the receiver and castor’s blood to summon the new parts. A prick on a finger of each person will do. At its core, it is a combination of summoning, medical, transformation, and sealing jutsu.

He writes it all down in a scroll and presents it to Kagami over dinner.

The Uchiha reads it over carefully, having not been told the details beforehand. Once he finishes, he rolls the paper up and sets it down wordlessly, unnerving Tobirama.

Did I read him wrong? Does he think it’s a bad idea? Maybe it’s dangerous and I overlooked—

“Tobi,” Kagami begins in a soft voice, reaching across to cover his hands with his. He wears a tender smile. “You derived an entirely new, very complex jutsu as your way of telling me that you want a baby?”

The Senju feels his cheeks flush, a rare occurrence. He nods, squeezing his lover’s hands.

Kagami grins brightly. “Oh, dear, yes, I love the idea! So one of us will have a womb sealed inside of us, yes? Can it be me? I want to mother your child!”

He glows with excitement. Tobirama is melting.

“Yes, my love, absolutely. I will father your child.”

The Uchiha clasps his own hands together and stands up, darting around the table and grabbing his lover’s wrist, dragging him to his feet.

“Come on, let’s start right away!”

Tobirama blinks in surprise, almost tripping over his feet to keep up with the overzealous Uchiha.

“R-right now? We haven’t even cleared the table!”

“Clean later, put a baby in me now!”

It shuts Tobirama right up.

The lovers wind up tangled in the sheets of their bed, devoid of clothing, Kagami shuddering in pleasure as Tobirama strokes him with one hand, writing the formula on his womb with the other.

The Senju expertly writes the necessary seal, forming a ‘T’ shape over Kagami’s abdomen where a womb is to go. In the center is a circle of his skin, and he takes Kagami’s left hand, kissing his palm after petting his brush and ink aside on the nightstand.

“I will need your blood now, love,” he says, “May I?”

Kagami nods, completely relaxed and trusting. “Do it, Tobi.”

The Senju presses a peck to the pad of Kagami’s thumb before biting down with his canine, drawing blood. The Uchiha just breathes out a little more forcefully, letting his lover dot the liquid into the center of the circle.

He then takes his free hand against the younger’s and a green glow emanates from it, healing Kagami’s cut with ease.

“When did you learn medical ninjutsu?” Asks Kagami, surprised.

“After I almost lost you,” replies Tobirama. “So that I may tend to you right away if anything goes wrong in the future.”

The Uchiha’s heart seizes up warmly. “Sage, Tobi, I really love you.”

The Senju smiles. “I feel the same for you.”

He then bites his own thumb, placing his own droplet in the circle with Kagami’s.

Kagami grabs his hand and suckles his finger into his mouth, cleaning away the extra blood.

“All right, my love, I will complete the jutsu now. It will feel very warm for a moment, ticklish even, while the womb binds to your cells.”

The Uchiha nods, letting his finger go.

“Do as you will, Tobi. You know I trust you.”

Tobirama focuses his chakra, forming signs and pressing his palms to Kagami’s abdomen, and concentrating deeply.

“Henkei Seal.”

His hands glow green, activating the seal. Kagami draws in a slow breath, heat coming from his lower belly. He then feels it grow, a strange bubbling sensation beneath his flesh, little muscle tugs and tiny pinches as his lover casts the seal.

Kagami smiles at Tobirama as he works, feeling the area cooling as the jutsu completes.

Tobirama releases his hands and looks upon Kagami’s abdomen, looking slightly fuller than before, the mark intact on his skin sans the blood they had used.

“There,” he says, “it’s cast. You have a womb now, Kagami.”

The Uchiha beams. “My lover is the smartest man alive.”

Tobirama just leans over him, kissing his lips passionately.

It isn’t long before, to their discovery, Kagami is producing his own lubricant, and it makes the following intercourse smoother and more intense for the Uchiha.

“I-it’s like I can feel every ridge of you,” Kagami pants, “Everywhere you’re touching—mmh—feels so good, Tobi…”

Tobirama dutifully fucks him harder, wanting Kagami to feel as amazing as possible.

When the Uchiha starts quivering around his member, Tobirama loses composure and starts moaning his name excessively, grabbing Kagami’s thighs, pushing them back, and driving in deeper. Like this, he prods at the beginning of his new womb, and it drives Kagami crazy.

The Uchiha reaches orgasm first, throbbing around Tobirama, who instantly releases his seed into his wet heat, more aroused than he thinks he’s ever been.

They end up going two more rounds, and the dinner they abandoned is cleared up the next morning.

Three months of constant coupling is what it takes to get Kagami pregnant. They christen every space in the house, even the Hokage’s office once late at night.

Kagami shows symptoms and after a visit to Mito, who is the first person they trust with the information of their plan, he is confirmed to be with child.

Tobirama instantly feels the need to keep Kagami far away from any potential threat.

He gives Kagami administrative work only, helping to cook meals, making sure he’s comfortable as he can be.

When Kagami starts to show, they make the decision to reveal their truth to their clans.

The Uchiha and Senju elders are upset, but Mito as Hashirama’s widow is able to soften the blow considerably. She argues that their main opposition for their relationship stems from the usual infertility of a male and male pair, and since that obstacle has been overcome and their coupling is fruitful, there is no reason to oppose it.

The younger generation is supportive of it. They praise the pregnancy, for in their minds it’s proof of the strong alliance between the Uchiha and Senju, and even claim that the child born from the blood of such formidable families will have exceptional prowess.

As such, the baby is accepted, and the news of their relationship spreads throughout the village quickly. Soon, everyone knows that Tobirama Senju, the second Hokage, is having a child with Kagami Uchiha, one of the strongest members of the clan alive.

Of course, it will put a target on Kagami’s back. So Tobirama triples security, and creates a faction higher than Jounin specializing in black ops and espionage designated the ANBU. He assigns his most talented ANBU to guard Kagami with their lives, having him watched twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Of course, he doesn’t leave Kagami’s side often since the Uchiha is his assistant, but Tobirama is thorough and never takes chances.

The clan elders insist that a formal marriage takes place between Tobirama and Kagami, and for once, Tobirama agrees. He would love nothing more than to marry the love of his life.

So, they hold a ceremony when Kagami is just under three months along. The Uchiha is easily the most beautiful person Tobirama has ever seen in his life as they join together as official spouses, and he is made the happiest man alive.

When Kagami is five months pregnant, the first attack to start the Shinobi World War is waged by Kumo trying to forcefully take resources from Konoha.

To protect Konoha, Tobirama sets out with his platoon to fight, leaving Kagami in Konoha alone.

He is gone for two months on the front lines, and when that first battle is won, returns home to a seven months pregnant Kagami. Their embrace lasts all night long.

“I never want to be separated from you again,” Kagami tells him after they’ve made love in attempt to make up for lost time. “If I lose you I lose my world.”

Tobirama cups his husband’s face, slightly fuller and glowing with the pregnancy.

“I am sorry to be the cause of your strife,” Tobirama murmurs gently. He admires the beauty of the Uchiha. “But my love, I am not your entire world. I share that honor with our precious child. So if anything ever happens to me, you must live for them.”

Kagami frowns deeply, his eyes filling with tears. He doesn’t remember ever being this emotional but he’s been away from battle for so long now and the hormones are making him sensitive. He can’t bear the thought of Tobirama dying. It’s unthinkable.

Seeing that his words have caused Kagami’s upset, Tobirama changes the subject.

“I won’t speak of it. I’m here now, I’m home and safe with you. Do not fret, my beloved.”

He places his hand on Kagami’s bulging belly, leaning forward to give him a butterfly kiss.

“I am here. I will not leave again without you. How is that?”

The Uchiha finally relents and nods, touching Tobirama’s face.

“We’re inseparable. Like magnets. You move, I move. Do you hear me?”

“I hear you, Kagami.”

His husband kisses him deeply then, ending the conversation.

Kagami goes into labor two months later. There are smaller conflicts going on while the war rages, but Tobirama is present and they welcome their son into the world, the baby born with Kagami’s dark, unruly hair and Tobirama’s sharp, vermillion eyes.

Joyous tears in his eyes, Kagami cradles their new baby in his arms as Tobirama undoes the jutsu on his belly. They name their son Kiseki, as he is their miracle undoubtedly, and the Second Hokage is filled with pride.

The following day, Kagami and Tobirama get visitors. Hiruzen and Biwako visit first, followed by Danzo, Homura, Koharu, and the member that has filled in for Kagami’s absence, Torifu. Once all of the visiting is over, he is allowed to return home with Tobirama and Kiseki.

Luckily, the war is far from Konoha and it is leaning in their favor, so the first four months of Kiseki’s life are full of happiness.

Tobirama gets to live a dream he never knew he would have; to father the child of the love of his life and raise that baby together everyday, waking early, feeding Kiseki, changing diapers, washing clothes, making sure Kagami gets his rest and taking night duty when their child wakes up hungry.

Kagami sings to Kiseki when it’s nap or bedtime, much to Tobirama’s enchantment. He sits beside his husband and leans on his shoulder, watching their baby sleep, beyond overjoyed that Kiseki inherited Kagami’s beautiful, droopy eye shape.

The dream unfortunately descends when they recieve word that the Kinkaku and Ginkaku unit of the Cloud is planning an assault on Konoha to kill the Hokage, having already torn through the Leaf army that had been defending the village. Tobirama’s team elected to retreat to get the information to him as soon as possible and regroup.

Having heard of their fearsome abilities, Tobirama resolves to fight once more on the front lines in order to protect the village and people he loves.

Telling Kagami this entraps Tobirama in simmering anguish.

His husband stares at him from beside his desk at the Hokage’s office, Kiseki napping in the bassinet they’d placed in the room so that they’d never be separated.

Anxiety and a deep dread crawls up his throat, eyes burning as his Sharingan threaten to activate. He knows exactly what this means.

The beautiful moments they’ve been sharing with their new son are about to come to an end—maybe only temporarily, or if things go awry…forever.

“Tobirama,” his voice is grave and the Second Hokage laments hearing its contours in anything but happiness.

He wants to tell him to stay, but that isn’t an option. Tobirama is the Hokage, and it’s his duty to protect the village. Everyone else has already been fighting, even Hiruzen, who has a son and another on the way with Biwako. They are both shinobi, and that must come first, even before personal affairs. They understood this when they began as ninja. Falling in love was not part of the plan, and they have no choice but to work around it.

Even still, his heart stings as he looks at the man he loves, his husband and father of his child. He doesn’t want him to go to war—their previous separation almost finished him. They can’t be apart.

“I’m going with you,” Kagami states, “I won’t allow you to separate from me.”

Tobirama’s face is grim. “You are to stay here.”

The Uchiha’s eyes widen. “What? No, Tobirama, I won’t. We fight together.”

“I need you away from conflict, safe with Kiseki.”

Kagami grits his teeth. “I can protect you, Tobi.”

Tobirama stands up abruptly, slamming his palms down on his desk.

“By doing what, jumping in front of me again and getting yourself killed? What good will that do anyone?! You are staying here and that is final.”

At the bang and his raised voice, Kiseki wakes and begins to cry. Kagami glares at his husband.

“I wish I’d known that having your child would cause you to lose all faith in my capabilities as a shinobi,” Kagami states icily, his eyes now red with his ocular prowess. “I am one of the most talented Uchiha there is, and yet you reduce me to a meak childrearing housewife.”

Tobirama scowls. “This has nothing to do with your abilities, I know you are exceptional, but don’t you have any idea what I went through when I had to watch you almost die? Hell on Earth, Kagami. I will not allow you to be hurt again!”

“It’s the same for me, Tobi! I-if you died, I,” Kagami cuts himself off, words catching in his throat. He can’t fathom it. He won’t. And he knows he’s being mostly irrational, but he and Tobirama are a team. They fight together.

Kiseki continues to cry, as if sensing his parents in distress.

The Uchiha moves to their son, picking him up out of the bassinet and starting to comfort him, ignoring the tears running down his cheeks. Tobirama watches them for a moment, his anger starting to fade, replaced by a deep distress.

Of course he doesn’t want to leave his family. He doesn’t want to make Kagami cry, but having him out of harm’s way will make him feel much better.

“When you came back before Kiseki’s birth,” Kagami begins in a resigned voice, grabbing his attention. The baby is now settled again in his arms, and the Sharingan has dissipated. “You told me that you wouldn’t leave without me again. We’re like magnets. You can try all you want to separate us, but if you move, I will move as well.”

Tobirama’s heart constricts. He did say that. They poured their hearts out to each other that night.

He realizes now that he’s been selfish. Leaving Kagami here will calm his own heart, but will torment Kagami’s. He can’t do that to him.

Standing up and making his way over to his husband, he wraps his arms around Kagami’s waist and draws him in, their son gently sandwiched between them.

“You’re right,” he concedes softly. “I’m sorry. I always have the final say except for when it comes to you, and as the mother of my child, that’s the way it should be. I don’t want to exert control over you, and I trust you implicitly, so Kagami, come with me if that is what is truly in your best interest.”

The Uchiha smiles gratefully at his husband. “Thank you, Tobi. Together we will fight and return. We are stronger as a team.”

Due to the urgency of the matter, they resolve to move out the next morning with Tobirama’s escort team.

That night, Kagami lays in bed in just his night pants, Kiseki nestled on his bare chest. Tobirama lays beside him, an arm tracing invisible patterns over his bare skin, bare except for his own sleep trousers.

Kiseki fusses to get more comfortable, and Kagami helps him adjust, the baby turning to face Tobirama. He opens his eyes and looks up at his father, who smiles tenderly.

He then looks up at Kagami, who has activated his Sharingan.

“I want to remember this,” Kagami explains softly, “Every last detail—my sweet little son, and my gorgeous, alluring husband, here with me.”

Tobirama’s mouth turns up at the corners. “Alluring?”

Kagami chuckles fondly, reaching out with his free hand and placing it on Tobirama’s muscular pec.

“You know I find you to be immensely attractive, Tobi. We wouldn’t have made this little one if I didn’t.”

The Senju grins, leaning in and nuzzling a butterfly kiss into Kagami’s nose, who reciprocates instinctively. His heart flutters—somehow this simple gesture is even more intimate than the lustful make out sessions they engage in.

“My love for you is boundless, my dear Kagami. There is no one I respect and cherish more than you,” he strokes over their son’s cheek gingerly with his knuckle. “And this precious boy is living proof of just that.”

Kagami stamps a kiss on Tobirama’s nose, which to his delight, has been passed down to their son.

“My feelings for you are the exact same,” Kagami replies. “This moment right now is my greatest dream, come true.”

Tobirama smiles. “Then I have done well.”

The rest of the night is spent quietly and peacefully.

***

Saying goodbye to Kiseki is the hardest thing that Tobirama has done since losing Hashirama.

The Second Hokage cradles his infant son in his arms for as long as he can, bestowing upon him his special butterfly kiss reserved for the ones he loves most. Kiseki giggles gleefully, touching his father’s face with his tiny hands.

Identical fire opals meet, and Tobirama’s heart feels like it’s filled with rocks.

“I am eternally, unconditionally proud of you, my son,” He murmurs, “Take great care of your mother, for he is precious to me as you are.”

He kisses the baby’s forehead before handing him off to Mito, who looks upon he and Kagami worriedly.

“Please, be careful,” she says, “Return safely.”

“Thank you for caring for our son while we are away,” Tobirama replies. “And for everything.”

She nods, and with that, he and Kagami take their leave to join the rest of the escort team.

***

They’d gotten separated.

Explosions rain down on them in the forest, discombobulating their formation.

Kagami uses his Sharingan to navigate himself and Torifu to their emergency rendezvous point, and soon they are joined by Danzo and Hiruzen.

“You’re alive!” Exclaims Hiruzen.

“Yeah, by some miracle,” is Torifu’s response.

He can feel Tobirama’s chakra signature up ahead, but worrisome is the number of enemy signatures he can sense closing in on them. They are greatly outnumbered. His heart begins to sink in anxiety.

“There are way too many of them. What now, Hiruzen?” The Sarutobi was always the quickest thinker besides Tobirama. Maybe he can come up with something and get them all out of there alive.

“All right then. Let’s go meet up with the Second Hokage,” comes his friend’s response.

Kagami swallows hard. He knows what that means—he’s at a loss. He’s deferring to Tobirama.

Not good at all.

When they approach the meeting point, he is relieved to see not only his husband, but Koharu and Homura as well. Everyone is all right.

Tobirama sees him and allows himself to relax the slightest bit—Kagami is safe. Good.

“Everyone, gather around,” Tobirama orders. “We have no time to waste.”

They all surround him, kneeling and focusing their chakra to keep their presence muted.

Kagami watches Tobirama close his eyes, placing two fingers against the grass to read the enemy’s signatures and pinpoint their locations. He tries his best to calm down—all is not lost yet. There has to be a way out of this. Tobirama can think of something, can’t he?

“We’ve been surrounded,” He relays, “There are…twenty enemies. From their tracking abilities, I’d say they’re Cloud ninja. The highly skilled Kinkaku unit.”

So it is as Kagami feared. Not a mere outer platoon from Kinkaku and Ginkaku’s forces, but the very unit that poses the highest threat.

Everyone here is powerful but against two ninja with Nine Tails’ chakra, and their special unit, they don’t stand a chance. Plus, much of their chakra is spent already.

Sage. They are completely outmatched.

“We’re only seven, including you, Lord Second. We’re outnumbered,” Homura states. Dread begins to fill Kagami’s core.

“Homura, stop being such a coward!” Comes Koharu’s fiery response. “All right, the enemy has not yet pinpointed our exact location. So we should wait and ambush them, then break through to escape.”

Escape to where? The village? Being chased by a specialized tracking unit with tailed beast chakra, hell-bent on attacking the Leaf?

It would be leading them right to their objective. It would result in the destruction of Konoha, where everyone they hold dear lives.

Where Kiseki, innocent and defenseless, waits.

That isn’t feasible.

Kagami gets a sick feeling in his stomach that gives him hot goosebumps, nausea prickling at his throat. He knows what has to happen.

He just hopes that Tobirama will forgive him.

“No, that’s not gonna work,” He speaks up. “The only way it would is if one of us draws their attention and misdirects them.”

Away from the Leaf, away from Kiseki.

“They’ll act as a lure,” Torifu catches on. His face is grim. “It means certain death…so who?”

Tobirama is the Second Hokage. He must live on.

Kagami is just an Uchiha, a shinobi willing to die for the greater good. Their son will have Tobirama to grow up with, so he’ll be in great hands.

He will sacrifice his life for his two beloveds.

He meets his husband’s eyes, the Senju already knowing exactly what he’s thinking. Tobirama gives him a sharp, warning, vehemently opposing glare.

Don’t you dare speak a word, his eyes say, freezing Kagami in his spot.

“I’ll go do it.”

Kagami’s eyes flit to Hiruzen, who has an intense, unbreakable determination in his eyes.

He’s prepared to die.

But what about Biwako and their children? Hiruzen has so much promise, he could even surpass Tobi.

It can’t be him.

I need to speak up!

“Sarutobi!”

“Hiruzen, you sure?”

The damned fool smiles.

“Heh, don’t worry about me. I don’t mean to brag, but I know I have the best chance out of all of you to pull this off. I’m not gonna die.”

Kagami can hear Biwako right now.

Hiruzen, you idiot, you know you’ll die! Stop acting like a hero!

Beside him, Danzo leans forward and grits his teeth, looking disconcerted.

Hiruzen places a hand on his shoulder. “You look after the others, Danzo, okay? I trust—”

“Shut up! I was going to volunteer, you know!” Danzo bats his hand away. “Don’t try to steal the limelight. I’ll be the lure, not you!”

Hiruzen’s face falls into genuine confusion. “Danzo, I…”

Kagami sees Tobirama’s jaw set, his back straightening. He looks like that when he’s reached a decision.

Oh no.

“My father and grandfather died in battle as a shinobi. Self-sacrifice is a shinobi’s duty!” Danzo prattles on. Kagami can feel his world shifting, Tobirama’s eyes meeting his again. His husband’s gaze is resolute, firm, and apologetic.

Kagami shakes his head. No, don’t do it, Tobirama.

You can’t.

Tobirama’s eyebrows draw in as if to say you know there isn’t another way.

I’m sorry, my love.

He wishes the ground would buckle and swallow him up whole.

Tobirama is right. They’re backed into a corner and it’s the only way. It’s what makes sense.

Fate is not on their side.

“I will go out and play the lure, of course,” Tobirama finally voices, and Kagami thinks that his stab to the lung was far less painful.

My husband is choosing to die today.

This time tomorrow he will be nothing but memories and legacies.

“You’re the ones who will carry the Will of Fire, who will defend our village in the future,” he continues.

They are all young, they will be needed. There’s no telling what will befall the Leaf in the years to come.

Damn him for being right. Curse this fate. Curse this world.

“But you can’t! I mean, you’re the Hokage! There is no greater shinobi in our village!” Danzo doesn’t understand Tobirama’s line of thinking. If only it was that simple.

“Danzo, you are always vying with Saru over one thing or another,” Tobirama’s face is stern. Kagami recalls conversations they had about his friends, who always seemed to be in some sort of competition with one another. Tobirama has always worried about Danzo’s intentions and whether or not they aligned perfectly with the ideologies of the Leaf. “But what’s necessary here is for you to work together as comrades. Don’t make this a personal fight.”

Kagami swallows the lump in his throat. Even now, Tobirama is taking the time to attempt to steer Danzo back onto the right course.

“The fact is, you took too long to reach a decision. First you must take a hard look at yourself and come to understand who you are objectively. Or else, at this rate, you’ll place all your comrades in danger.”

Tobirama has always wanted to say these words to Danzo, but hoped he’d realize on his own. Kagami now sees that he’s taking this chance to make it known before…

“In any case, Danzo and Saru, you need not be so eager at your young age.”

Kagami’s heart stings. Tobirama has always placed the welfare of children and young ones at the forefront of his priorities, having grown up around so much early death, and having lost two brothers entirely too young.

He’s full of integrity and it makes Kagami love him irrevocably.

“Your day will come eventually, and until it does, you should endeavor to stay alive,” he continues, voice becoming soft. He cares so deeply for all of them, Kagami hears it in each syllable.

Tobirama stands up, and Kagami feels tears start stinging at his eyes.

“Saru,” he addresses. “Love and treasure the village, and protect all those who believe in you. And nurture those ninja to whom you can entrust the next generation. Starting tomorrow, you’re Hokage.”

Kagami puts a hand on his knee to steady himself.

He’s named his successor. Kagami knows he could never do it himself, he’s more suited to the assistant role, and he has Kiseki which he knows Tobirama needs him to be available for. Hiruzen is the best choice.

“Saru, take care of the Leaf!” It’s a command, an entrustment, and a conclusion.

Tobirama’s reign ends here.

“Yes, sir!”

Kagami can barely think straight.

“They’re closing in,” Tobirama snaps him out of his stupor. His throat is closing, bile is rising, he wants to wither away before he has to live through this.

“Tobirama,” He says, standing up and grabbing his husband’s hand. The rest of the team turn and walk to the edge of the treeline to give them space. Hiruzen gazes upon them forlornly before turning away—he knows truly what this will do to their family. He feels their pain.

“My love,” Tobirama murmurs, cupping Kagami’s eyes and gazing into his glowing crimson eyes. “I cannot tell you how sorry I am that it has come to this.”

Kagami sniffles, sobs threatening to break through. He does his best to hold them back.

“I know there’s no choice,” He manages weakly. “I know why you’re doing this. It doesn’t make it a-any less un-unbearable…”

He breaks off and starts to cry freely.

“I know you will take care of Kiseki, and the village,” Tobirama says, brushing his hair away from his face. Kagami furiously blinks the tears away to see him better, clinging to his finite presence. “I have lived a very fulfilling life, and the best part of that is having had the honor of being your husband, and father of your child.”

Kagami trembles uncontrollably. His eyes feel hot. His head pounds, he feels dizzy and defeated, angry, crushed, undermined by fate.

“Thank you for blessing my life with your love,” Tobirama tells him gently, cupping his face. “You have made me the happiest man to have lived. May we meet again in a kinder time, where we can grow old and die together.”

“Tobi,” Kagami croaks miserably, surging forward and kissing his husband for the last time. He begs every cell in his body to commit the Tobirama to memory, his taste, his smell, his touch, sight, and voice. A splitting pain sears through the front of his head, and he pulls back, thick tears spilling over his cheeks as he grunts in agony.

Tobirama’s palms hold his face. “Oh, Kagami…”

Kagami looks up at him, eyes throbbing painfully. Six equally-distanced points stare into the Senju’s eyes, pattern not unlike a lotus, and immediately Tobirama understands what they are.

“Mangekyō,” he breathes, brushing the crimson liquid from Kagami’s tear-ducts. “I’m sorry, my love.”

“Lord Second, I’m sorry, but you must leave!” Calls Koharu.

“Yes, I know,” Tobirama nods, leaning down to give his last butterfly kiss to Kagami, rubbing their noses together. “I love you. Always.”

Kagami can’t speak. The words won’t come out.

Thank you for loving me. For taking care of me. For making the impossible possible, for giving me a son, for becoming my husband. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I love you.

He falls to his knees instead, and Tobirama squeezes his eyes shut, gritting his teeth before he flickers away.

“Tobi,” Kagami rasps, clutching his chest. He feels his husband’s presence appear far north, and soon the Kinkaku unit moves to follow.

No one remains chasing after them. Tobirama has saved them successfully.

He feels Hiruzen’s hands on his shoulders.

“Kagami,” his voice is full of patient empathy. He just lost his sensei, after all. Everyone here is hurting. Everyone in the village will hurt.

Kagami touches his ring, pressing it to his lips to stifle his sobs.

He feels for Tobirama’s signature, feeling it flare. He’s fighting.

“We must use this opening to escape,” Hiruzen tells him remorsefully. “We can’t linger.”

Tobirama’s chakra swells, and swells, and—

It cuts out.

He can no longer feel his husband’s life force.

He’s gone.

He doubles over, starting to hyperventilate. His stomach flips.

Tobirama’s smile flashes in his mind, a vision of his husband kissing their baby’s forehead.

Never again.

Kiseki will grow up without ever knowing his father.

The Kinkaku unit retreats further north, away from the Land of Fire. Their objective to assassinate the Second Hokage is a success.

Kagami vomits.

***

Before he moves out with his unit to fight on the frontlines in the Hidden Rain, Kagami cradles his infant grandson in his arms.

Shisui looks just like Kiseki when he was a baby, save for the big, onyx Uchiha eyes that gleam up at him, belonging to the boy’s mother.

He looks just like you, my love, is what a fifty-seven year old Tobirama would say if he were present. Now forty-three, Kagami has long outlived his late husband, but misses him every single day.

He’s done his part to raise their precious Kiseki into a fine man and shinobi. The boy grew up inheriting his parents’ fierce Will of Fire, his father’s sensory abilities and mother’s Sharingan prowess. He has a bit of a serious personality like his father, yet is still more light-hearted than his best friend, Fugaku, who Kagami swears reminds him of Tobirama, full of duty and responsibility. No doubt, that young man will become the next clan head.

“Be careful,” Kiseki frowns worriedly, the expression entirely Tobirama’s. “I love you, mother.”

Kagami touches his son’s face. “I love you too, my son. You are the pride and joy of your father and I. Instill our Will of Fire into this sweet child.”

He hands baby Shisui back to his son, who nods dutifully.

“Yes, sir.”

With that, Kagami leaves Konoha.

In the midst of battle, to tide the victory over to their side, Kagami sacrifices himself and takes the enemy unit down with him.

When he wakes, he feels no more pain, no heaviness, and no mortal coil slowly perishing around himself as he had been subconsciously aware of his entire life. He is safe and completely secure.

“Kagami.”

That voice.

Kagami turns around, eyes landing upon the sorely missed frame of his beautiful husband.

“Tobirama.”

“I’ve waited patiently for you to join me,” the Senju smiles brightly, closing the distance and holding his waist. “You’ve done so well. I’ve watched over you right alongside Hashirama, and our brothers, Itama and Kawarama. Come, I will introduce you to them.”

The Pure Lands. Utmost serenity and love surrounds them.

Kagami has returned home.

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