Hiruzen Sarutobi, What Have You Been Protecting?

Morning light seeped through the trees, and the mist had yet to clear when the four of them set out for Konoha. A night's rest had brought color back to the three children's faces and given them a little of a ninja's composure.

When Konoha's familiar green gate came into view, their taut nerves finally eased. But before they reached the entrance, they sensed something was wrong.

There were more than twice as many guards at the gate as usual, and every face looked grim.

Inside, an invisible cloud seemed to hang over the whole village. The air felt stifling. Merchants and villagers alike hurried along with troubled faces, keeping even their breathing quiet, as if afraid to disturb something.

"What happened?" Jiraiya stopped a red-eyed ninja who was hurrying past. "What's going on in the village? Why does everyone look like that?"

The ninja froze. He looked at the children, his lips trembling as he struggled to speak. At last, he lowered his voice. "It's the Second Hokage... Word came from the Hokage Office this morning. Lord Hokage suddenly started coughing up blood while handling village affairs. The Medical Corps went in a while ago, but now..."

"What?!" Jiraiya's pupils contracted, and he drew a sharp breath.

Orochimaru's head snapped up. For once, shock and concern flickered through his usually unruffled eyes.

The moment Tsunade heard that her grandfather had coughed up blood, she went deathly pale.

"Granduncle!"

Her cry was almost a scream. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she stumbled before racing toward the Hokage Building as fast as her small legs could carry her.

"Tsunade!" Jiraiya shouted, hurrying after her.

Orochimaru followed, though he could not help glancing at Kagami Uchiha.

Kagami remained where he was. He watched Tsunade's stumbling figure, his expression dark and conflicted.

Tobirama Senju was going to die after all...

The morning breeze carried a biting chill.

"...Let's go." Kagami finally started walking, his low voice weighted with something he could not put into words.

By the time Kagami and Orochimaru reached the Hokage Building, the corridors and stairways were packed.

Anbu, Chunin, Jonin, medical ninja, even staff from the logistics division had come. Yet no one spoke. Grief and dread marked every face.

The two pushed through the crowd to the office door. Before they could draw close, a heartbroken cry pierced the walls.

"Granduncle!" It was a raw cry, full of helpless despair.

Perhaps the one suffering most was not any of Konoha's villagers or ninja, but that ten-year-old girl.

Tsunade's bright face came to Kagami's mind, and his heart sank. Death was part of life, but the people dearest to her kept leaving while she was still so young.

Her grandfather, Hashirama Senju, had doted on her from the day she was born. Then he died when she was six. She had been too young to understand parting; she only knew she never saw him again.

Now she was ten, old enough to begin understanding the world, and her granduncle was...

In the original story, her younger brother Nawaki and her lover Dan Katō would both die before her eyes. It was no wonder she would later tell Naruto that being Hokage was worthless.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, what have you been protecting?

There were countless tragedies like hers in Konoha. Kakashi Hatake, Shisui Uchiha... Where had the suffering of those who loved the village begun?

Heh. Perhaps Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't to blame. Perhaps Danzo wasn't either. Blame this rotten Shinobi World. A wretched world like this deserved to be purged completely!

A voice broke into Kagami's thoughts.

"Kagami, our teacher is awake. He's asking for you."

"The rest of you, please leave. Lord Hokage is awake, but he needs rest and cannot receive anyone else right now."

The break-room door opened a crack, and Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped out to address the crowd with a grave expression.

They could only file away. Before long, the vast corridor held only Hiruzen and Kagami.

"Hiruzen, how is Lord Hokage?" Kagami asked, his face tense.

"Not good. Our teacher may... Ah. Go in, Kagami. He's waiting for you," Hiruzen said quietly.

Kagami pushed open the heavy office door. A bitter medicinal smell, thick enough to choke him, rushed out.

No lights were on. In the dim office, only a few faint rays of morning sun slipped through the window.

Kagami softened his steps, crossed the outer room, and entered the break room beyond.

Tobirama Senju lay on the broad bed before him.

The Second Hokage, once renowned as the fastest ninja in the Shinobi World, a man who had always acted with decisive speed, now lay weakly sunk into the soft bedding.

His silver-white hair had lost its luster and lay scattered across the pillow. His cheeks were hollow, his face bloodless. His eyes were shut tight, and his breathing was so faint it was barely audible, as though he might vanish at any moment.

Tsunade clung to the edge of the bed. Curled into a small ball, she gripped Tobirama's cold hand where it hung over the side and pressed her cheek against it. She had cried until she had no strength left. Even the trembling of her shoulders had slowed, leaving only broken sobs caught in her throat.

"...Kagami, you're here."

A woman's hoarse, exhausted voice came from a dim corner.

Kagami looked toward it. Mito Uzumaki sat quietly on the other side of the bed. The First Hokage's wife, a princess of the Uzumaki Clan, seemed to have aged ten years. Her usually loving eyes were bloodshot as she stared numbly at Tobirama. When Kagami entered, she turned to him.

"You're finally back. Tobirama has been waiting a long time."

Behind Mito stood Hiruzen Sarutobi, Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and Torifu Akimichi in a silent row.

Even Shimura Danzō had come, despite his missing arm. He stood rigidly, staring at Tobirama in disbelief. He could not believe that the teacher he had always thought so dependable and strong could...

These were Konoha's finest, the students Tobirama had taken the greatest pride in, yet all stood with lowered heads and grave faces. No one spoke or dared breathe too loudly. Only Tsunade's heartbreaking sobs echoed through the still room.

Kagami stood in the doorway, watching. His heart felt gripped by an invisible hand, aching with sorrow.

As Kagami sighed inwardly, the breathing on the bed, so faint it had almost stopped, stirred.

Tobirama's pale eyelids fluttered. With immense effort, he opened them a sliver. His red eyes, once keen as a hawk's and always calm and clear, were now clouded and dull.

His cracked lips moved. His voice was so faint a breeze might have scattered it. "...Kagami. Are you back?"

Kagami's heart jolted, and his eyes grew hot. He crossed to the bed in a few quick strides, knelt on one knee, and leaned close.

"Lord Hokage, I'm back. I'm here." He held Tobirama's cold, thin hand tightly, his voice low and firm.

At the warmth of Kagami's hand, a faint light gathered in Tobirama's unfocused eyes. He turned them toward Kagami with difficulty.

"Kagami..."

Tobirama's chest heaved, his throat working painfully. He stared at Kagami as though trying to carve his face into his memory.

"I may... be nearing the end."

Those few words seemed to drain him. His breathing rasped like a broken bellows. He had to close his eyes and rest for several seconds before opening them again.

"I brought you into the Shadow Guard because I could see you were different from the others." He paused every few words, struggling for air. "You love the village. You stand by your comrades. You truly possess the Will of Fire."

Another long, painful bout of breathing followed. He turned his head slightly, seeming to fight the pain deep in his body. At last, he forced out the next broken words, barely above a whisper.

"The Uchiha aren't born villains. They love more deeply than anyone."

His breath caught on the word "love." A weary heaviness passed through his eyes. He gasped for air, his gaze drifting, yet stubbornly continued, one word at a time.

"But when they lose that love, it becomes boundless hatred. Extreme trauma changes the Chakra in their brains, affects their retinas, and awakens the Sharingan. That makes them profoundly unstable."

The explanation consumed what little Chakra Tobirama had left. He sank into the pillow, his chest barely rising.

"Everyone knows I'm wary of the Uchiha. Much of that comes from Madara," he murmured, his voice no louder than a breeze. "Of course, he died long ago."

Tobirama drew a deep breath and seemed to pour all his remaining strength into one last, sighing thought.

"Perhaps it's time I changed, too."

Kagami remained on one knee, holding the frail hand tightly. He neither moved nor spoke. He only bowed his head and pressed his forehead against the back of Tobirama's hand.

Tobirama did not press him for an answer. Slowly, he turned his stiff neck toward the other side of the bed.

"Sister-in-law..."

His voice was a thread that might snap at any moment. Mito immediately leaned in to listen.

"I need you... to gather the heads of the major ninja clans..." Tobirama's chest heaved, each breath accompanied by a harsh rasp deep in his lungs. "And the Jonin... who hold important positions in the village... Have them come here... at once."

He struggled to lift his thin hand and gripped Mito's sleeve. His knuckles turned sickly white with the effort.

"There's something... I must tell them..."

With that, his last strength seemed to leave him, and he sank deep into the pillow. His red eyes, once so stern and searching, held only exhaustion now. Still, he stared stubbornly at Mito, waiting for her answer.

Mito looked into his bloodshot, unyielding eyes, and her own filled with tears.

As his sister-in-law, she knew him too well. At the end of his life, he had no personal affairs to settle. Instead, he wanted to summon those people. She could already guess what he intended to do.

Grief surged through her, but she bit her lip and forced back her tears. This was no time to falter. Tobirama was planning for Konoha even as he died, and she had to help him see it through.

"All right. I'll go now." Mito took a deep breath. Her voice trembled, but her resolve was firm.

She straightened and gave an order to the Anbu waiting outside. The authority of the First Hokage's wife returned to her voice.

"By order of the Hokage, summon the heads of every major ninja clan and all Jonin holding important positions. They are to report to the Hokage Office immediately, without fail!"

"Yes!" The Anbu obeyed without hesitation and vanished through the doorway in a blur.

As the Anbu's footsteps faded, Mito sat beside the bed again and gently covered Tobirama's cold hand with hers. "Rest for a while, Tobirama. They'll be here soon."

Anbu Ninja moved like ghosts through Konoha's streets, delivering urgent summons to the major ninja clans as quickly as possible.

Within half an hour, the once-spacious corridors and courtyard outside the Hokage Office were crowded again. The clan heads and their senior members had all arrived. Even elders who rarely appeared in public had come to the Hokage Building, leaning on their canes with grave expressions.

The Hyuga Clan arrived first. Tokuma Hyuga stood at the front, his face ashen and his mouth set. The Hyuga Jonin behind him looked equally solemn.

Next came the heads of the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans, walking side by side. Shikata Nara's brow was furrowed with worry. The Akimichi and Yamanaka clan heads followed close beside him. None of them spoke; together, they formed a united front.

Even the Ninja Dogs brought by the Inuzuka Clan seemed to sense the suffocating grief. Usually lively, they now tucked their tails and let out low, uneasy whines.

The Aburame Clan's ninja stood silently in a corner. Even their Kikaichū had stopped stirring, as if the insects, too, were mourning the Hokage.

At the far edge of the crowd stood the Uchiha Clan.

Uchiha Rei wore a uniform bearing the clan's fan crest. He stood at the front of his clansmen, his expression stern. His gaze passed over the crowd to the closed door of the Hokage Office, his feelings impossible to read. The Uchiha behind him were unusually quiet, though something more complicated seemed to lie beneath their silence.

More than a hundred of Konoha's strongest had gathered in the Hokage Building, yet not one raised their voice.

Only the occasional cold wind outside disturbed the stillness, rustling a few fallen leaves.

Everyone waited.

They waited for that door to open, and for the Second Hokage, always rational and decisive, to give them his final charge.