Chapter 12.1- One Thousand Hands

SEVEN YEARS BEFORE THE SECOND GREAT SHINOBI WORLD WAR

“Did someone get the name of the truck that hit me?” were the words he seemed to wake up with. Of course they were. He thought himself funnier than he really was. The idiot. The reckless, foolish idiot. She itched at her Chunin vest as she watched everyone else in the room jolt to attention and run towards his bed. They probably thought he was just waking up. She knew he wasn’t. He’d been awake for a minute or more at least. Their time on the same genin team had taught her that he had the habit of waking up and then pretending to be asleep for a minute or so longer. She couldn’t tell you why, for the life of her. But her best guess was that it somewhat related to his inability to be honest about a single thing in his life.

“You’re awake” Izuku said with a breath. Rushing towards the bed. Those already next to the bed, his cousin Tsunade, and Grandmother Mito were more than willing to give the Uchiha boy space to see their little relative.

“Yes I am” He said, leaning upwards on the pillow. He looked so different. A year of being bedridden would do that, she knew. But she still hadn’t been prepared for it. She’d avoided this room for a long time, after all. When he hadn’t woken up in the first three months and the Doctors said they were not sure if he ever would. What a fool. Getting so injured in a fight against a superior opponent.

“But the better question is who are you?” He asked, making the entire room freeze. Amnesia? She wondered for a second before dismissing the thought. He’d clearly remembered to play his usual trick so would it be a surprise if he was choosing to play another one?

“He’s pulling your leg” She spoke out as she saw his cousin lean over to him with her hand glowing green and his grandmother let out a sigh of tiredness. At her words, he burst into laughter.

He turned to her next, “You just had to ruin my fun, didn’t you, Uzume?” He asked her with a look at her. His smile quickly died as he looked at her.

“Baka” His cousin with the oversized chest said and swung her fist into his head. He barely even reacted to the obviously soft blow beyond turning to peer at Izuku and then Toshiro in turn.

“How long have I been out for?” He suddenly asked with a serious look on his face. Well, she wasn’t going to be the one dropping that bomb on him.

“What is the last thing you remember?” His Grandmorther asked instead, dodging the question.

“I asked first” He replied, stubborn as ever.

“Don’t take that tone with me, brat. You’re not too old for me to bend over my knee”

“And how old is that? How long have I been out for?” He asked again. There was an urgency in his tone. Strange. He usually hated urgency. Never in a rush. Always patiently waiting for the next thing to happen- it was another thing she hated about him.

“A year and a few months. No more than that” The voice didn’t come from any of those already in the room. It was the Second Hokage. Somehow, without anyone noticing, he had appeared next to his Grandnephew’s bed and had Shorirama’s hand in his own.

“A year” The boy echoed. His voice distant. He looked so small in that moment. Like he wanted to shrink into the bed and disappear. Something in her ached at that.

“Yes. Now answer your Grandmother’s question, Shorirama”

“I remember fighting the Yonbi Jinchuriki, Roshi. I was losing.”

“So you know what he was then” The Hokage commented, tone reserved.

The old woman by his side was not nearly as restrained. “If you knew, then what in the seven hells made you use the three-body disruption seal against a Jinchuriki of all things? I didn’t even teach you the seal, this boy” She was not screaming, but her anger was heard nonetheless. She had that habit that her clan elders didn’t. The ability to show your rage without screaming. It was dignified. Uzume decided that she rather liked Mito Uzumaki in that moment. She was named after her, after all.

“Oh. So that’s what I did”

“Of course it’s what you did, now..”

“Mito” The Hokage cut her off.

“Let us just thanks the gods that Shorirama has been returned to us. The matter with the Yonbi is in the past” He said.

“You know it isn’t. Iwa is…”

“Mito” This time his tone was cold. Colder than the freezing waters he’d commanded to crush a tailed beast of all things to death. She’d been there, but still hadn’t been able to conceptualise all that she had seen. So much water. So much power. So much Chakra. And this was the lesser brother. Far from his prime even. What kind of monster had Hashirama been? And they said the Uchiha and Senju were equals. Laughable. Her father was a powerful jounin, there was no doubt about that. But there was no way he’d have won a fight like that.

“That is a matter for another day. I just want to be happy with my nephew today. Can we do that?” He asked her. He looked so tired. She instantly felt awkward. Like this was a moment she was intruding on.

The feeling intensified when the Uzumaki woman let out a half-sob and practically tackled Shorirama in a hug before dragging the Hokage into it.

“Okay, kids. That’s enough Senju-time for today” Tsunade spoke, beginning to usher them out. Only the woman’s formidable strength made Uzume listen to the request. She hated being addressed as a child. She’d won the first and only ever chunin exams. She was a Chunin, for gods’ sake.

“So what do we do now?” Toshiro asked when they all began looking at each other after the door was shut behind them.

“Want to spar?” She turned to Izuku.

“Sure”

A/N; Minor timeskip. Yes, Shorirama was in a coma for over a year. Tailed beast chakra is poisonous. Roshi was essentially cooking him from within for minutes. There had to be consequences. So I weighed up having a few months of active recovery time where he could do little and less or a straight up coma-skip. I chose the latter. I don’t feel skilled enough to write an arc like that and maintain interest. I’ve never actually seen any arcs like that done well before so that’s also a factor.