#abidingterrapin

“‘Cause people are greedy, disingenuous bastards, and they don’t care about anything other than their bottom line?” 

C’mon, old man. Today’s not the day for your sage wisdom. She’s itchy for a game. Mahjong, maybe? Hell, they could even play checkers. 

“But seriously, I don’t want to know the ‘why’ behind everything anymore. The answer always sucks. Can’t I just -- I don’t know -- not be constantly reminded that we’re all a bunch of terrible assholes? Just for today?”

“Can’t wait…” Kagami mumbles.

Training team formations with Torifu and Danzou is murder. Five days into it, the repetition of drills and attack sequences, from sunup to sundown performing the same actions over and over again until they can act without thinking, has grown beyond tedious. Unfortunately, it is their sensei’s philosophy that they must practice for as long as it takes until the motions become second nature.

Today, Kagami had briefly hesitated before a Suiton jutsu, prolonging their punishment -- because he chooses to call it as what it is -- for another two days.

Headcanon questions

🍕: What’s your muse’s favourite food?

Four children hide behind a corner, backs pressed against the wall behind them while doing their best to keep their heavy breaths silent. They had been running for two miles already without pause.

Sadashi stands next to Kagami, who is the last one on the row. She had just gotten a new metal bracelet for her birthday that shines like polished silver. He takes it from her without previous warning. She tries to protest, but when they are forbidden to make any noise for fear of getting caught there is only so much that she can do.

Kagami uses the polished surface to sneak a glance at what lies beyond the corner. It is not the best mirror, but with some heavy squinting he determines that the coast is clear.

He returns the bracelet and signals the others that it is safe to reenter the Uchiha camp.

Kagami breaks away from the group at the first intersection. He gives them an energetic wave goodbye then makes his way down a side street. Reaching the last house on the block, he climbs onto the porch and takes off his shoes. The window on this side of the house is usually left open until everyone is inside and this time is no different. It slides open without a hitch.

Kagami’s bedroom is empty as expected. He moves on to the living room.

“I’m home!” he calls. Three heads turn in his direction.

Tsurugi, standing by the front door with half one arm already into a thick woolen coat, is the first to respond.

“Kami! For fuck’s sake! Where the hell have you been? You’ve been gone since morning and no one knew where to find you! We’ve been worried sick! I was on my way out to look for you!”

Kagami’s mother and sister kneel close to the open fireplace in the middle of the room. Minami has her arms around their mother, whose eyes shine so bright with relief at his appearance that Kagami cannot bear to look. He focuses on his older brother instead.

“I’m fine. Michio wanted to go to Nioza and there wasn’t time to come here and tell you guys because old one-eye Atsuya was just about to finish his patrol. We had to go right away.”

Tsurugi, at eleven years-old the man of the house, takes it upon himself to chastise his younger brother.

“Nioza? That’s miles away! You went out of the camp alone with Michio? What were you thinking, Kami? Don’t ever do that again! Do you have any idea what you put us through, not knowing if you were okay or not? You made mum cry!”

Kagami dares to take another look at their mother. Her eyes do look a little red, making him feel like the worst person in the world.

“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again…”

“It’s all right, Kagami,” their mother says. “All that matters is that you’re safe.”

She reaches out a hand for him, which he gladly takes and cups around his cheek.

“Why Nioza, anyway?” asks Tsurugi.

That reminds Kagami that he had come into the room feeling excited for a reason.

“Right! This new bakery opened up there and Michio said that the owner was a total moron that gave away free stuff if you told him that you couldn’t pay. Michio said that he’d done it before, so this time me and a bunch of others went along.”

He pulls a bag from inside his light kimono. It is a little smushed from all the running but the food inside should not be any less tasty for it.

“I thought that I could get us something to eat, since you said that there wasn’t enough for dinner tonight. Here, catch!” he says, pulling out one anpan bun from the bag and throwing it to Tsurugi. “This one’s for you, mum, and here’s one for Minami and— wait, where’s Tama?”

He turns around but finds no sign of his three year-old brother. Minami gets up and takes the two buns from his hands.

“Asleep with dad. We got him out of the room because of the state that mum was in. Nice going, Kagamimi.”

“Ow!” She just pinched his ear, but immediately made it better by following it with a kiss.

“I’ll go and take this to him. You stay with mum.”

Kagami nods and takes his sister’s place.

“I’m really sorry, mum. I didn’t think you’d be so upset.”

She smooths his hair and brushes the stray curls sticking to his sweaty forehead behind an ear.

“It’s all right, Kagami. I forgive you.”

“Just don’t do anything stupid like that again, you hear?” his disgruntled older brother adds in between bites.

Kagami nods and promises it.

Stupid or not, though, that night no one goes to sleep hungry, feeling like their stomach is eating itself out. That counts as a success in Kagami’s book.

*

Eleven-year-old Kagami gives the boy standing before him a quick once over. Torifu Akimichi, he had introduced himself as. He looks all right.

Kagami bows, then extends a paper bag to the boy.

The funeral had ended hours ago. It had been a simple affair that had nonetheless assembled a moderate crowd with Torifu at its sad epicenter. Kagami had spent the afternoon watching as Amai’s family and friends approached his friend. Throughout it all, the Akimichi had accepted the offered condolences, appropriately polite but not cold, keeping his emotions tightly in check under a reserved front.

Now that the other guests have left, only Kagami remains. It makes the Uchiha feel like something of an intruder on his friend’s privacy, but it had not felt right to leave him alone. One of the reasons was perhaps his shame at being unable to avoid thinking of how glad he was to not be in his friend’s place. After bearing witness to this outburst, the feeling is only compounded even more.

All that he can do is come up behind Torifu and rest a hand on his shoulder.

Torifu was awake, waiting for him. That was something Kagami had not expected when he had left their tent earlier that night.

“Twice is hardly ‘making it a habit’,” he whispers. “Go back to sleep. The war isn't going to fight itself in the morning.”

The warning, obviously, applied to himself as much as it did Torifu, but that was something that he chose to ignore.

The week before, the Bon Festival had taken place and all the nations had agreed to a brief period of truce so they could pay their respects to the dead. Kagami and his team had taken advantage of the time to get out of the muddy outpost that had been their home for weeks and visit a neighbouring civilian town.

seems to be a common theme with a lot of the characters (that people actually bother to remember) from the warring states era stuff. like you said, kagami gets rendered to be highly inaccurate, tobirama is just sass and fluff, hashirama is all smiles and flowers, etc, it's a shame.