Chapter 16: A Ninja's Fate
Early January, Konoha Year 45. The village's commercial district had come alive again with New Year celebrations. Even the theater, usually half-empty, was drawing real crowds. Along Tea Street, newly opened shops were doing brisk business, and people settled in with their cups to gaze at the Hokage Rock carved into the mountainside.
While the rest of the village celebrated, a handful of figures in black stood for a long time before the Memorial Stone near the training grounds, not far from the noise they had left behind.
"Life and death hold no meaning in themselves," Orochimaru said quietly, his gaze resting on Hatake Sakumo's name in the stone. His voice was low and rough, and it drew a frown from Jiraiya beside him. "If death has any meaning at all, it exists only in the moments when it can be put to use. Sakumo has freed himself from a ninja's fate. He no longer has to fight like a beast."
"There you go again, redefining everything on your own terms." Jiraiya pushed back instinctively. "This world will change."
"Jiraiya." Orochimaru didn't look at him. "You're still as naive as ever. The so-called Child of Prophecy won't solve a thing."
He let a beat pass, then continued in the same unhurried tone, unbothered by anyone's reaction.
"In my view, if life has any meaning at all, it can only be found in eternity. Osamu, perhaps you can understand me. From the very first time we met, I saw in you a hunger for life."
Tsunade turned and shot Orochimaru a sharp look. Since the end of the Second Shinobi World War, this particular teammate had changed a great deal, and lately he had taken on a quality she could only describe as unhinged.
"Eternity?" she said flatly. "The Sage of Six Paths faded away. Even a ninja like my grandfather ultimately faced death. Orochimaru, you still love your pointless fantasies."
The three Sannin exchanged words, and as usual, none of them moved the others even slightly. Tsunade had no patience left for the topic, and she shifted to something more concrete.
"I don't like the Root's covert evaluations of ninja. The rumor about Sakumo, the one that spread despite the gag order, they were behind it from the start. Ninja who've lived through war aren't always as strong as people assume. Konoha's ninja aren't tools."
The Root ran regular evaluations of every shinobi in the village: loyalty, life direction, mission tendencies, all of it carefully documented. Their scrutiny of the Uchiha clan was particularly thorough.
Furukawa Osamu had stayed quiet through the exchange. He waited until Tsunade fell silent, then spoke.
"It might be a form of war trauma," he said. "Takagi-jonin made the same choice after the mission that took my parents. He was back in the village less than a month before he took his own life. Part of it was his injuries ending his career, but mostly he broke down after watching people he'd known for years die in front of him. The hospital has seen cases like his." He paused. "I respect Sakumo-sensei's choice. But life shouldn't end like that."
"Someone will change all of this," Jiraiya said, his voice coming out louder than intended. "That's the Great Toad Sage's prophecy. War will end. People will come to understand each other..."
"Why," Orochimaru said, and there was something quietly scornful in the way he looked at Jiraiya, "after everything you've been through, are you still this naive? Hiruzen-sensei will have to respond sooner or later. Once the Five Great Nations start grinding against each other, war will break out again."
He began to turn away. Then, almost as an afterthought, he glanced back at Osamu.
"There's a proposal circulating among the higher-ups, having young prodigies enter this year's joint Chunin Exams to demonstrate the village's strength. Osamu, make sure you're ready. Tsunade's teaching is too lenient. I expect you to take down every opponent you face."
"Orochimaru." Tsunade's voice went sharp. "Don't go giving him orders."
She watched his retreating back with her expression closing over. Danzo's people, almost certainly. They had already evaluated Osamu's abilities and found them worth displaying.
These gatherings had been ending badly for months now, and Jiraiya had long since made his peace with that. He scratched the back of his head and offered what context he could.
"While you were in the Land of Hot Springs picking up herbs, Tsunade, Danzo and the others brought it up. At the time, nobody in the jonin corps had actually nominated Osamu for the joint exams. The two advisors sided with Danzo, and the Third didn't object in the end. It shouldn't be all that dangerous..."
Tsunade had already drawn breath to respond. Osamu spoke first, his tone easy.
"For the Chunin Exams, I'm enough on my own. Guy doesn't have enough experience yet. He needs a few more years to develop."
"I'll pass that along to the higher-ups myself!" Jiraiya said, with his most responsible expression. He glanced sideways at Tsunade's fist slowly closing and immediately stepped back, then turned and walked away at a brisk pace, still talking over his shoulder. "I'll keep an eye on Kakashi. Don't worry about a thing. The Great Toad Sage's newest book cures absolutely everything."
"..."
That left two of them at the Memorial Stone. Tsunade let out a long, slow breath. She was still irritated, at her sensei, at the higher-ups, at everyone who kept making decisions without her.
"It's fine, sensei," Osamu said. "Being a student of one of the Sannin, plenty of people must be curious what I can do. At most I'll be facing opponents who are a few years older. Ninja don't compete on age. It's not really..." He stopped. "Ow."
Tsunade lowered her hand from his forehead, crossed her arms, and looked at him squarely.
"My original plan was to have you promoted to chunin after you turned ten," she said. "No exam required. My recommendation alone would have been enough." Her voice was steady and direct. "If a war breaks out, I want you serving the village as a medical ninja. You know the three great principles. Jiraiya and Orochimaru both gave me their word they'd look after you."
Osamu was grateful. He was also aware, in a way he kept entirely to himself, that he needed to Gather in real combat if he was ever going to unlock the deeper secrets of certain bloodline abilities.
"Death means losing everything," he said. "That's not what I'm after. With the techniques you've taught me, sensei, death won't come looking for me anytime soon."
Tsunade gave him a long look. "Don't play the tough guy in front of me, kid. There's a new place on Tea Street that makes chestnut yokan. Shizune loves it. Come help me pick some up."
* * *
By mid-January, Might Guy was struggling to make sense of what had happened to Kakashi.
The village had sealed news of Hatake Sakumo's death. Every ninja who knew the truth kept quiet. Come March, the White Fang of Konoha would be given an official farewell and honored as a hero.
Four straight hours of full-speed sprint training had left Guy dripping with sweat. Kakashi, equally exhausted, stood in front of the practice posts and continued swinging his short blade in silence.
No more cutting remarks. No more shrugs. In the past two weeks, Kakashi had said fewer than ten words. He moved through the motions like a puppet with the strings pulled just tight enough to keep him standing.
Guy crouched on a tree branch above, his brow creased, and lowered his voice.
"Osamu. What happened?"
Osamu was quiet for a moment. Then he turned his head.
"Give Kakashi a little more time," he said. "He'll come back."