The battlefield was chaos—familiar and yet somehow off. The sounds of clashing steel and dying cries echoed in your ears, but everything felt too distant.

You stared at your hands, small and untouched by the years of war. You were young again. Alive. How? You knew you had died. That was certain. The blood, the pain... it all came rushing back. But here you were, breathing in the same cursed world.

Before you could process it further, something warm and firm pulled you close, nearly knocking the breath from your lungs.

"Tobirama," came the voice you knew so well, but it sounded so desperate, so... different.

Hashirama.

He was shaking, his grip on you like a lifeline, his arms wrapping around you with such intensity you almost couldn’t breathe. "You're here. You're alive," he whispered over and over, as if trying to convince himself it was real.

You barely had time to react before he pulled you impossibly closer, his body nearly crushing yours in his desperate embrace. The way his arms encircled you was possessive, protective—like he was trying to fold you into himself so you couldn’t escape. You tried to pull away slightly, your chest tightening from the overwhelming sensation, but his grip only tightened, locking you in.

"I won't lose you again, Tobi," Hashirama muttered, his voice almost frantic, barely above a whisper. "I won't. You're mine. You always were... and now, I’ll never let anyone take you away from me."

Your heart skipped a beat, confusion flooding your senses. What was he talking about?

The words barely left your lips before Hashirama’s hand found the back of your head, pulling your face into his chest, as though he couldn’t stand to see you any longer. He was shaking, his breathing ragged.

“If anyone... anyone tries to take you from me again…” His voice was dark now, a low murmur that sent a chill down your spine. "I swear I’ll end them. I’ll crush them, burn them to ash. No one is ever getting close to you, Tobi. No one. You belong to me."

You couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, trapped in his arms as his words pierced through you, terrifyingly calm, yet full of something almost... unhinged. There was no anger in his voice, just a quiet, intense certainty.

"I’ll rip apart anyone who dares even look at you the wrong way." His voice softened again, as if speaking to a fragile thing he couldn’t bear to let go. "You don’t need to worry about anything, little brother. I’ll handle everything. You just need to stay with me... forever."

The strange warmth that had once been comforting now felt like a cage, suffocating you with each breath you took. You tried to focus, tried to pull away again, but Hashirama only held tighter, like a vine slowly wrapping around you.

"You’re mine," he whispered again, his voice cracking with something far too desperate. "And if I have to burn this entire world to the ground... I will."