Calculus

26. (Tobirama)

It happened during the coronation.

The coronations were always a vulnerable time, seeing many important people from the country were gathered beneath the same roof. All were there to see Izuna, whom they'd grown to respect, become king.

He looked incredible. He stood up, not seated in his throne on the podium but standing beneath it as a sign to the people of his country that he considered himself equal to them. He wore a big, black cape of fake fur, underneath of which he wore extravagant trousers and a tunic, both black with complex embroideries of all colours. His crown was black with rare gemstones that caught the light and shone in the colours of the rainbow. I stood next to him, free of armour as was correct for the occasion, my sword at my left side, having given up not staring at him long ago. Luckily, everyone else in the room were spellbound by his charisma, too, so they didn't notice my hungry eyes. Or at least, that's what I tried to tell myself.

He swore his oath, and the bishop pronounced him king to the loud cheers of the crowd. I felt such an immense pride then that I thought I might burst. It struck me sometimes how little time we'd truly spent together compared to the time we had ahead of us, and a surge of happiness like nothing I'd ever experienced before washed over my flesh and bones.

I am going to love you for an eternity, I thought.

That was where we were when the guard came running into the room.

"Were under attack!" he screamed. "The east is attacking us! They're hundreds!"

A confused whirl spread through the room, but I didn't partake. I immediately reacted. I have sworn to protect him to the best of my abilities. I ran out to get to the stables. There was no time for donning my armour, nor to saddle my horse. I would just bridle him, jump up and go to war.

Soon, other guards, in armour, followed to grab their horses.

"Aren't you going to stay by the crown prince's side?" Alberto asked when he caught up to me in the stables.

"He's not crown prince anymore", I said, not able to hide my worry. I wanted to stay by his side so bad it hurt, but I knew I would protect him better if I went out to battle. "He's the king. My duty is to lead the army."

I jumped up on my big, brown horse, my oriental one not yet having been trained for battle, and cantered out of the stables. I rode to the great meadow behind the castle, where hundreds upon hundreds of enemy soldiers were cantering towards us.

Shit, this is bad, I thought. It would take at least one hour to gather the true army of the king, as all of the members did not live in court. What we had to do before then was to try and cut their numbers as well as we could. I asked my horse to stop, analysed quickly, estimating we were outnumbered by roughly five to one.

"Defensive approach!" I roared. "Do not let them close to the castle!"

The enemy army came closer, their leader in the front. I squinted my eyes.

No way...

It was my old mentor.

The personal guard of Madara, the former crown prince who had killed him.

He smirked when he was close enough to see me.

"Charge!!" I roared to the army that had gathered behind me, seeing the enemy army wouldn't stop.

I immediately clashed swords with my old mentor.

"Leave the Snowmonster be!" he shouted. "He's mine!!"

It frustrated me, seeing he thought this was a game while to me, it was about my lover's life. But at least I didn't have to worry about being charged at from behind. We clashed swords, over and over, equally strong now, seemingly equally skilled which satisfied me no-end. I needed to get him away from the castle, I knew, as this man knew its secrets, including its every weakness. I led him away to the high cliff where me and Izuna had made our promise not to leave this world without telling the other all those years ago, and continued to clash swords on our horses, alone.