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To everyone's surprise, no matter how headstrong and bold and far too eager to fight he was, Danzou ducks down first. Throws himself into the dirt, just like Tobirama-sensei told them to do if something went wrong, hands over his head.
And well, if Danzo (who had insisted he was prepared for anything to go wrong and had all but fist fought Hiruzen to have the honor of taking point) of all people is reacting like that, it sends everyone else into a fit. It's a good thing too, because Kagami barely has any time to open his mouth and find out what's going on before the explosion catches him by surprise.
And then everything gets loud. Torifu starts screaming, and Koharu (who was next to him a second ago) is gone . Danzou was in the dirt, but now he's not, and Homura isn't here, and--
Kagami doesn't scream. He hears a whole bunch of screaming, and somebody barking order that doesn't sound like his teacher, but he doesn't have that urge. He hides , just like sensei said before they left on the mission, because he knows how to follow orders when he's afraid. He ducks back into the trees, but everything gets loud after that. Like those old fireworks they made out of bamboo that would explode in the air after being lit aflame, louder and louder, dust and flames and the earth shook so bad that Kagami fell face first into the ground.
He coughs, head spinning, dust burning his eyes, and tries not to start crying, rubbing at his face. Above him, distant, so distant, but also so loud is the sound of metal scraping against metal, glints of something above him that's so bright, like the sun against a marble. Or maybe a flint. Kagami has a kunai clutched in a sweaty palm, crawling forward, another boom shaking the ground until he felt it give way, and he tumbles wildly out of the way. More screaming, maybe Hiruzen. He doesn't know, but he's afraid.
(Sensei told them about this. He told them about war and enemies and ambush and explosive tags hidden in the earth and blood . But Kagami's never seen that, never even been allowed to touch an explosive tag, not even after he graduated from the Academy.)
His hands tremble, afraid to move now, reminded of all of those stories, of all of those warnings about watching your step. What if there's explosive tags buried hastily in the ground just like in the stories, what if it was Danzou that triggered them when he fell, what if his friends are all gone because the explosions, just puddles of blood like Tobirama-sensei told them about.
( What if- What if- What if- What-if---)
Kagami doesn't move a single muscle, even when the smoke billows in his direction, choking him, even when the ground stops shaking, but the explosions continue above him. Loud and far away. Metal against metal, sparks and sparks like lighting the incense at the festival when they'd burn quick bright and then slow down. He's afraid, really afraid, like when his mother didn't come home from a mission and everyone was whispering killed in action . His heart's beating so hard in his chest that it aches and hurts, and he can't hear anything, and everything feels wrong in his body.
Like there's there's bugs in his arms. His whole body feels jittery and shaky, lile there's a thousand bees squirming and wiggling beneath in his body, burrowing in and sending uncomfortable tingles across his body. He wants to run. His legs are tight, stiff, ready to run run run, fast, just go , but he can't because he's a shinobi and an Uchiha and they don't run, they stay and die loyal as shinobi .
(He doesn't feel much one right now, cowering. But Kagami's so afraid and it's his first real enemy attack and he can't see anybody else or sensei and what if he's the only one still alive--)
Kagami curls in on himself, slow and deliberate even though his body trembles and shakes and tries not to obey. Like he can't even really tell his own body what to do because it just wants to escape without him and go, but he keeps thinking of Sensei's stories and the warnings at the Academy, and he's afraid of the tags under the piles of leaves or dug into the ground for him to accidentally step on, and there's a tree right next to his face that he presses his cheek into to remind him to stay still.
( Always be careful, Sensei had told them with firm, bright red eyes and his usual frown, except that day he looked almost afraid. Kagami would have preferred his very little smile that was barely a twitch of his lips than his afraid frown. I'll be there with you, but one day, I won't be. A mistake will kill you, do you understand? Do you want to die? )
No, no Kagami doesn't want to die. He thinks it might hurt, might be bloody and painful and make him even more afraid right before it happens, and he doesn't want to explode or be stabbed, or worse, it won't hurt and Kagami won't even know he's died. Something snaps beside him. Someone's shouting. Something thumps above him, into the tree, a kunai, too close. Too close to my head, too close, too close -- and the smoke is still thick from the explosions and he can't see anything besides that. Kagami fumbles to keep his own blade in his hand, tucking his thumb under so it'll be easier to throw if he needs to.
A wet sound nearby, like a gurgle. He crawls forward, rocks digging into his knees and branches scratching against his palm and arms until it hurts , but he has to move if he doesn't want to die because that kunai was way too close to his head. What did Sensei always say about moving forward? Never stay in one place? If he can just find one of his teammates, just know he isn't alone and they're all alive, and--
Someone grabs him, pulls him back, and Kagami holds back a cry and a scream. He swings backward, twisting in their hold like Sensei taught him to, jabbing his elbow backwards into their chest, but a hand grabs his arm so tight so he can't move it or adjust his grip on his kunai. Kagami blinks blurry eyes (not from tear, no from the smoke and dust, he's not cryin g), his entire body shaking and he's trying so hard to think, think, what was all those Taijutsu lessons for ?
Blood pounds in his temples. Swish swish . Loud. He needs quiet to think, but he can't hear. He can't hear and now they've got him and he's going to die and he needs--
"--gami. Kagami. You're alright, I'm here. Look at me. Calm down."
He blinks again, stops thrashing and kicking and fighting. Arms are around his waist, not so tight now and hugging around him, and it takes him for too many seconds to realize that he's staring at bright blue armour. The world comes back to him fast, like he's been punched right back into the world again, and he's staring right into his sensei's face.
Red eyes peer back at him, concerned and almost afraid again, why's he afraid , and Tobirama-sensei had blood streaking against his face and across white fur, and on his hands that are around Kagami.
"You're alright. I'm here now. You're going to be safe. You're alright." Sensei tells him, so Kagami believes him. He would always believe him because his teacher was the strongest, most talented shinobi besides the Shodai, and he'd always been the most intelligent so his word is law. He lets himself calm down, shaking limbs going heavy and still.
Tobirama-sensei looks at his hands, stinging and scratched up. Guilt, or something close to it, flashes over his face for a moment before it hardens up. Sensei moves quickly. Like a flash, and suddenly he's being shoved forward, into the bushes, and Hiruzen's there. And Koharu and Danzou and Torifu and--
Everyone's here.
"I need to finish a few things." He tells them, his eyes darting backwards. "Is anyone injured that needs attention now?" He asks urgently, in that tone that means be quick and don't waste my time . And Kagami glances around, and there's blood on Koharu's arm. A cut against Torifu's forehead, and his hands hurt from the rocks, but nobody seems hurt very badly.
Hiruzen shakes his head, taking over as leader, and Kagami shrinks back to go check to make sure that Danzou's okay, because he's shaking, but so is Homura. (His glasses are cracked and he can't see so maybe he's afraid too, Kagami would be afraid if he couldn't see.)
"Danzou's arm is broken, I think, Sensei."
Tobirama-sensei nods jerkily, frowning deeply so there's lines around his mouth. He's giving them all that look again. It's a messy mixture of afraid and angry and blank .
"I'll be back in a moment. Take care of each other." And then he's gone without even a single hand sign, just gone .
And Kagami's still trying to keep his heart in his chest, and Hiruzen's tugging on him, pulling them all close to each other. Danzou's cursing under his breath, nursing his arm close to his chest, and it must be broken because it's angled funny, and Torifu keeps rubbing at the cut on her forehead so much the blood won't stop . Koharu tucks in close, burying herself in a mess of limbs as all the genin pull closer and closer, and Kagami can finally breathe again because nobody's dead. Nobody's blood-stains on the ground or cold and still, or exploded into nothing like in the stories, and Kagami lays his head on Hiruzen's shoulder. Torifu squeezes between him and Danzou, and Homura sort of bunches up in the middle of them all. But it's okay because he's the smallest and he needs the most protection.
Back in a moment takes far longer than any of them really want to be left alone, but then the noise just stop. Nobody flinches because there's no more metal against metal. No more sparks like incense at the festival, no more thuds of kunai, no more anything. The entire forest goes dead silent.
The smoke clears.
Tobirama-sensei comes out of it like a ghost in the stories. Blood smeared against his hands and chest plate and trousers, on his shoes. His fists are clenched at his sides, shaking, and he's got this angry look on his face. He sheaths his blade, coming quickly, and his expression softens into that almost afraid look again as he approaches.
Hiruzen takes a cautious step back. Kagami goes forward, eyes-wide as everything finally hits him. They were attacked, they were attacked and everything was on fire and coming apart around them, and they could've just died and--
"It's alright now." Tobirama-sensei informs them curtly as he crouches down to examine them. His face twists into something strange that Kagami can't explain, and he moves his hand to touch Koharu's face, then Torifu's to swat his hands away from his cut. "They're... gone ."
(Dead, Kagami's mind tells him because Sensei always told them it was best to kill an opponent before they have time to regain their ground and attack you.)
Hiruzen lets out a shuddered breath, shaking his head. "I-- who were they?" He's half-shouting and his eyes are wet.
"It doesn't matter. They weren't after you, they were after me." Tobirama-sensei moves forward, grasping Danzou's arm in gentle hands and examining the bruised flesh. His hands stop when the scarred boy flinches, and he nods slowly, examining it. "I've made many enemies over my lifetime, and I'm sorry you were involved. This isn't how I wished for your first mission outside the village to proceed."
Homura hiccups, "Are they dead? Were they going to kill us?"
Tobirama-sensei's whole face tightens up, angry and afraid crossing it before it softens up into his usual blank. He settles a hand against the boy's head.
"They're dead." He confirms, his red eyes shifting over towards all of them. "And as long as I'm around, I'm going to do my best to keep you all safe. Perhaps they would have killed you, but I didn't let them. You'll do better, after you've had more experience, but for now, you all did the best you could."
He stays crouched down. He grabs onto Danzou, slinging him up onto his hip.
"Come on." He tells them. "We're going home. You all seem afraid, and I think we've had enough excitement for today."
(Tobirama-sensei seems afraid too. His hands are shaking. He can't stop looking at their little injuries.)
Tobirama readjusts his hold on Danzou, motioning at them to come grasp onto him too. It's awkward and wrong somehow because they're all ten and eleven, and they're old enough to handle themselves and did not need to be coddled like this, especially not carried to safety. None of them are hurt that bad, but also Kagami doesn't mind and it's safer to be so close to his teacher.
"There's too many of us for you to carry." Torifu protests weakly, not looking up, which is true. There's six of them, but that didn't stop Tobirama, apparently.
He raises an eyebrow, which they've all joked translates into: don't test me right now. So Danzou tightened his grip on his teacher. Saru flings himself onto his other hip, long legs wrapping around his waist. Torifu hesitantly climbs onto his back. Tobirama shifts, rolls his shoulders, and then lets Koharu on one and Homura on the other.
"Come here, Kagami." Tobirama tells him in his calm, deep, not afraid voice which makes him feel so much better so he does. He runs forward, grasping his teacher by the neck, dangling on the front of him, burying his face in his teacher's chest.
And for all the heart-pounding and the fear and the shaky hands, Kagami can't fight back the little tickle of laughter bubbling inside his chest because they must look so dumb.
Two genin slung over his shoulders, two on his hips, one clinging desperately to his back, and the other on his front with arms around his neck like a set of child-armour.
"We could walk, Sensei." Danzou mutters, embarrased.
Tobirama-sensei hums, carrying them forward. "Humor me." He replies, which would usually mean they were going to have to do laps or a thousand push ups which would actually humor him. "Maybe I feel safer with you all by my side."
Nobody says anything after that, not the whole way back the village.