A/N: Hello peeps! Long time no see! As you can see by the lack of updates thus far, 2017 has not been…gentle to me. Lots of things have happened to me. A lot of them are great things. A lot of them are not so great. Regardless, the result is that I'm probably in the busiest phase of my life. I am happy and in good health though I am also under a lot of pressure and has a lot of things on my mind. This year, I hit 29 years old. Believe me when I tell you it's been a milestone for me. So many things happened to me this year. A lot of laughters. A lot of tears too.

I won't bore you with the details but, in the foreseeable future, I'm not sure if I will have much if any time to devote to my fanfiction. I love the stories I write and my imagination has never once stopped churning out new ideas. But the task of writing them down, giving them solid shapes, and refining them is something that is beyond me right now. So, with much regret, I will have to tell you that all of my stories will henceforth be put on indefinite hiatus until a time when I have the mental and physical space to return.

That said however, I have been writing snippets of future parts of the stories. Some of them are short moments that will act as plot hooks. Some of them are entire turning points or character focus in strategic parts of the stories. I have been posting them on tumblr. Recently, I received a letter from a fan asking me why I don't post these snippets on ffnet where more readers will be able to enjoy them and not just the very small number of people who follow me on my tumblr account. Well, I used to not do that because I did not want to spoil the stories and also the snippets aren't meant to be 100% unchangable. They hold the essence of that part of the stories but until the moment when they are connected to the main storylines, they remain in a semi-draft stage and those reasons are why I don't post them on ffnet.

However, because of this indefinite hiatus, those reasons no longer hold true and I shall now start to post the quite significant number of snippets I have written for the stories.

I hope you enjoy them and will tell me what you think or feel about them, whether they surprise you, and whether you feel that any parts could be improved upon.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

FtGoG AU: Kagami's Route and Character Study

...So I have already received a bunch of questions from people regarding Kagami Uchiha and his place in the 5 romance routes for FtGoG AU Kagome. Kagami-kun is surprisingly popular eh. Hmm, I guess Uchiha in general are popular with fans. It's not just Itachi and Sasuke. Ah ha, I guess ladies of all ages and nationalities tend to like the tall, dark, and mysterious bad boy type no? Ahahahaha... I'm kidding. Anyhow, I should try to answer your questions to the best of my ability. So...

1/ Why Kagami?

I understand why you may be thinking this. Kagami Uchiha? Such an obscure character. When I mentioned his name to my beta, she had to go search him in the Naruto wikia. She just couldn't remember who he and his deal were. He appeared maybe 2-3 times in the manga without saying so much as a word, and was name-dropped by Tobirama, Danzo, and Sarutobi for being a powerful Uchiha that... for some reason was not afflicted with the same 'curse of hatred' that plagued his clan. Also, he's listed as Shisui's ancestor and was supposedly much stronger than Shisui, a character praised by Danzo for his combat prowess and potentials being among the strongest of the Uchiha clan.

Seems like a whole lot of name dropping and backside buttering for such a minor character right? It almost feels like he's a snowflake character. You know, the kind created by authors to make a point before being thrown away once said point was made. In his case, that point is the rhetoric of Uchihas being cursed with hatred and it's only once in a while that rare individuals like Kagami could raise above their blood and blah blah blah. Well, at this point, there's no sense in beating around the bush. Kagami Uchiha is a snowflake character, a throwaway character created by Kishimoto to push a narrative agenda of painting the Uchiha a certain way. His entire point in the narrative of Naruto the series is just to stress on the curse of the Uchiha and how Tobirama might have been justified in his passive aggressive crusade to alienate the Uchiha from the rest of Konoha (you are kind of a dick here, Tobirama. No lie. I can kinda understand your reasoning but still, what a dick move).

So then, why did I choose him? Why him? Why not anyone else?

Well, the simplest way I can explain my choice is that... I am fascinated by Kagami Uchiha. Me? Fascinated by a snowflake throwaway character of all things? Well, it's more likely to happen than you think (insert internet ad meme here regarding scorpions and what not in unimaginable places). But anyhow, the case is that while Kagami is a snowflake character, sometimes, authors can create characters with great potential without meaning to. Take Sarah Kerrigan from Starcraft for example. Originally slated to be the token female teammate of a high testosterone series, good writing and a compelling story made her the fan and dev's favorite. Kagami is a very similar case of potentials that could be, at least to me.

You must think this very strange. Kagami appeared for like two minutes in the canon manga, unvoiced! Just how much potentials can be glimpsed through those two minutes? Well, if you pay attention to the nuance of his situation and the background culture of Naruto verse itself as well as possess extensive knowledge on South Asian history and folklore, those two minutes reveal more than you think.

Certainly on the surface, Kagami Uchiha's appearance is nothing out of the ordinary. A throw-away character, looks pretty enough, has some good words thrown in for him by Tobirama and Danzo of all people, then exits stage left the moment his purpose was over. To the normal readers, he is yet another forgettable face in the myriad of Naruto verse side characters. But to me, his very concept screams contradiction. And as always, characters with contradictory points in their concept or backstory usually have more going on than what is immediately visible. I felt the same way about Fourth Kazekage Rasa, that his appearances in canon Naruto verse were full of little contradictions that implied that a whole lot more was going on under the surface, and see what I did to the man's characterization in the main FtGoG storyline?

Anyhow, back to Kagami. Remember what Tobirama said about him the first time Kagami was name-dropped into the story?

That he was an Uchiha whose sense of loyalty to the village was so great that he never fell victim to the Uchiha curse of hatred.

To me as an Asian, this is… such an ironic statement that it borders on being laughable. Such great loyalty that he never fell victim to the curse of hatred, such great loyalty that the skeptic and every paranoid Tobirama counts him among the rare Uchiha who can be trusted if not the only one, such great loyalty that he numbers among Tobirama's pupils and personal body guards. When you think about it, what this sentence actually means is that Kagami Uchiha betrayed his family in favor for a new master, Tobirama and the Senju clan.

The first two words that popped up in my head when I read this statement from Tobirama regarding Kagami was that Kagami Uchiha was a blood traitor and a blue-eyed idealist.

Why do I think so?

Well, it's a matter of different cultural values. Collectivism is a big thing in Asia, especially in the old days. Correction, collectivism is a massive thing in Asia, especially in the old days. We are not like the West in ideals of individualism has greater sway. Family, community, clans, the nation. These are the denominations of our society, not the individual person themselves. In this kind of culture, loyalty towards your own blood, your own family, your own clan, is the foundational unit of our society. Children were taught from birth that blood counted above everything else. Family stood above everything else, above the law, above good and evil, above community and the state, above even one's own deity some would say. There are tales of completely normal folks flouting the wills of gods for the sake of their families after all, and they are hailed as heroes for it. Similarly, there are stories of people who endure all sorts of suffering and humiliation for the sake of their family, sometimes out of absolutely petty reasons in the view of us modern people. For example, stories of maidens selling themselves into sex slavery to pay off the debts of their fathers or brothers were quite popular during certain period. I kid you not. They too, are hailed as examples of fidelity. Loyalty towards other social institutions, such as political factions or one's own country, is founded on this nucleus unit of loyalty towards one's own blood.

This belief was so strong that during certain periods in South Asian history, the use of surnames was banned for most of the populace for fear of loyalty towards one's own family superseding loyalty towards the crown. Why? Because surnames allow people to build up 'blood relation', to far larger units than their immediate family. To have a surname means having something far more important and precious than one's own life. To have a surname means to have a dynasty, to have a line of succession, to have meaning that goes past one's own life, to have kin that go past one's immediate family, to live on past one's own death through one's descendants. For much of South Asia history, from antiquity to medieval age even to pre-modernity, the right to have a surname is seen as a great prestige, one usually owned only by certain castes of people such as the noble caste—the warrior caste, clergy caste, and select craftsmen families whose skills were so great that they were awarded a surname by the crown. This is the case in China, in Japan, in Korea, in Cambodia, and in many many more South Asian countries.

Indeed, this collectivism / blood loyalty value was so strong back in antiquity and pre-modernity eras that it can be said to be a type of widespread generational self-inflicted brainwashing. This value can easily override everything else if it is properly nurtured and reinforced.

Now, apply the knowledge that I just gave you the the Naruto-verse where the same value system applies. An argument can be made that the value of blood loyalty is even greater than real life analogue of the same era because of the existence of Kekkei Genkai and other clan-related abilities. A child born and raised in Naruto verse especially during the Clan War era would have been drilled on the value of clan loyalty since before he or she could comprehend the concept of family and bloodline. The idea of betraying one's family or even just not having the proper amount of dedication to one's family would have been a heinous thing for those folks. Kagami… would have been one of those children. Itachi and Shisui, Kagami's own mirror images and one of them his own descendant, would have been among those too.

Think of the tragedy of the Uchiha massacre. The reason why it is such a tragedy because it was his own flesh and blood Itachi was slaughtering, for the sake of the village. The revolt of the Uchiha was founded on loyalty of blood, and Itachi, in choosing the village, struck back against that very ideal itself. Think of that final moment when he came before his parents. Fugaku and Mikoto faced their death with calmness and sorrow. Why did they not protest, did you ever think? If the Itachi Shinden books are to be believed, then Fugaku himself possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, and Mikoto herself was a jounin Kunoichi before she retired to be a mother. Had they fought back with all their might, against an already distraught Itachi, do you think the Uchiha massacre would have played out as it did in canon? Fugaku and Mikoto must have known this too, and yet they did not. Why did they do nothing as their beloved son struck them down? Why did they accept death so easily? It is precisely because of blood loyalty. Because they are Itachi's mother and father. To raise their own hands against Itachi would have been to raise their own hands against the bond of blood. Even when Itachi chose the village, even when Itachi abandoned them, it does not change the fact that their love for him goes beyond everything else, beyond their own lives, beyond their own clan, beyond good and evil.

The sorrow of parents, to fight for one's child only for that child to choose another path. Fugaku and Mikoto died as parents, having accepted Itachi's choice despite the sorrow it caused. The replay of the Uchiha massacre is a dramatic point even for Western fans, but for Asian readers, it has an extra dimension and poignancy to it because it plays on such an intrinsic part of our value system.

Now, knowing all this, ask yourself this question. What does it take to overturn this belief system? What does it take to get a child raised amidst this culture to actually hold something else beyond his own family? What does it take to get that child to turn his back on his family, on his mother and father, on his siblings? What does it take to get that child to betray his own family?

Because let's face it. Stripping away the self-righteousness and the greater good rhetorics, that's what Tobirama's statement about Kagami holding great loyalty to his village amounts to. Holding more loyalty to the village than his own family is already an act of betrayal. A conflict of interests is inherent in that statement. The interest of the village would not always align with the interest of the clan, and there would come one day when he must choose a side and abandon the other. And indeed, Shisui and Itachi, Kagami's spiritual successors, did have to make such a choice. The village or the family. Blood or ideal. One gave up his own life. The other gave up his own family.

When I think about this, about the child Kagami being born to his family during time of wars and chaos and grew up in the newborn village Konoha, I could understand why he could turn on his family like that. This is where the word 'blue-eyed idealist' I mentioned came into play. There exists only one thing that can subvert the value of blood tie so deeply entrenched. That of idealism.

In order to turn back that kind of mental conditioning, Kagami Uchiha must have been a consummate idealist. He must have given himself wholly and completely to an ideal higher even than flesh and blood. And what is that ideal you think? Why… the so-called greater good.

It's not hard to imagine why. It's not even hard to put myself in Kagami's shoes. Having been born into a family of Shinobi and in an era of strife, his early life must have been one that was constantly surrounded by death and sorrow. Pain was a fact of life, and so too was loss. And yet, anyone with a modicum of intelligence and independent thinking would have immediately questioned.

Why?

And here came the fallacy of Naruto-verse ninja way. They lacked an agenda of their own. Their violence lacked a meaning to it. Ninja during clan war era were effectively mercenaries (and ninja during modern canon timeline are still kinda mercenaries but much less so). They spilled their own blood to fight battles that had nothing to do with them. They died defending lands and crowns not their own. While in the beginning, this made sense as a way to earn a living and provide for their own. Over time, violence begot yet more violence, and soon, fights that had nothing to do with them gave birth to destructive blood feuds between clans. Soon, what was once just a job became senseless killing over hatred born out of petty reasons. And not only did the mothers and fathers partake in this glut of violence, they shipped their very own children to the same hell out of unthinking adherence to tradition and group thinking.

A foolish way of life. A senseless way of life. A life that had no meaning, no cause, no reason for all the pain and loss. The moment that a young Kagami realized this… it must have been heart breaking. Even more so when you compounded on the curse of the Uchiha clan, what it meant for Kagami, what it meant for all the Uchiha of that time.

But then, along came Hashirama, his village hidden in the leaves, his place where the children of shinobi could have a childhood, his dream of friendship between all shinobi one day. In other words, a meaning for all the pains endured.

It does not surprise me at all that Kagami chose Konoha over his own clan, despite knowing of the risk of being ostracized by his own family over his choice (the way Itachi was). Ultimately, this is the crux as to why Kagami Uchiha was able to overcome generations of mental conditioning and clan loyalty. He chose Konoha, chose Tobirama, not because he thought it was the right thing to do (because in the end, they are all killers and among killers, talking about the right thing is like whores talking about the virtue of chastity) but because he sought a meaning to his life, because he sought a meaning to his pains.

This is the crux of Kagami Uchiha's character. Blood traitor, blue-eyed idealist, and ultimately one who sought a greater meaning, a greater cause, a reason for all the pains endured, something to make the world right again.

2/ Yao Li - A real life analogue to Kagami, Itachi, and Shisui Uchiha:

I will tell you a story about another blue-eyed idealist blood traitor. A real one this time. Not a make-believe character from a manga series. Like Kagami, Yao Li lived during a time of strife, a period called the Chunqiu period of ancient China (722 - 481 BC). This was before the unification under Qin Shi Huang's rule. The land of the time was fractured into countless kingdoms waging incessant wars against each other's. Among these countries, five great states reigned during the first half of the Chunqiu period. The state of Qi, the state of Song, the state of Jin, the state of Qin, and the state of Chu. The latter half of this period, however, was dominated by a country named Wu, a barbaric country according to records of those days. Yao Li was a soldier under the reign of king Helu of Wu. Now, this king Helu himself ascended to the throne by killing and usurping power from his own cousin king Liao. Once he became king, he sought to discreetly root out the children of Liao from places of power.

Despite his best effort, one of them evaded his agents: prince Qingji, eldest son of Liao, a renowned warrior prince famous for his bravery and skill in battle. Qingji was such a popular figure that despite Helu's power as king, he could not even exert an ounce of authority over Qingji. Worse, Qingji even had the temerity to admonish Helu on various royal edicts, calling his rein flawed and his actions poised to bring ruin to Wu. For years, Qingji was a thorn in Helu's side, one he could do nothing about. And yet if he did nothing about Qingji, Helu knew that it was only a matter of time until his stolen throne would be taken from him by the increasingly popular and talented warrior prince Qingji. With care, he hatched a plot to assassinate Qingji with the help of his minister. In order to carry out this plot, a talented soldier with absolute loyalty was required. Yao Li was this soldier.

Summoning Yao Li to his residence in the middle of the night, the cunning Helu asked for the lowly soldier opinion.

"This plan calls for you to inflict pain and humiliation upon yourself, to clad yourself in the guise of one who bears thoughts of vengeance towards I, your king, and with that disguise offer yourself as a soldier to Qingji. You are talented. Qingji will make use of you in his bid to dethrone me. Only when you are trusted by him can you bring his life to a close. Tell me, how will you achieve this feat?"

Yao Li answered. "I shall kill my wife and children and cut off my own hand. I shall then present myself as one who has been wronged by you to Qingji and convince him that I want nothing but your death. I will work until I become his trusted soldier, and then, when I finally have this trust, I shall end his life with a single strike."

"You would sacrifice your own wife and children for my sake?" asked Helu.

"If Qingji is not brought down, the country will be ripped in half by civil war. For the good of the nation, he must die. My love for my family is great. But it must not be greater than my love for my country," so said the young soldier.

And so they carried out this plan to the letter. Helu created a disguise for Yao Li as a soldier who angered him and had him and his family sentenced to death. Then he faked a prison break for Yao Li, ordering his soldiers to chase after Yao Li until the other passed into the territory of Qingji.

As planned, Yao Li brought himself before Qingji as a soldier who wanted revenge on Helu. At first, Qingji was suspicious of this young soldier who previously worked for Helu but upon finding out about Yao Li's slain wife and children and his cut off arm, his suspicion ceased. The pain and humiliation that Yao Li supposedly suffered at the hand of Helu was so great that even the crafty Qingji could not imagine it was all a subterfuge. And so Yao Li became one of Qingji's soldiers. For years, he worked diligently, proving himself talented and dedicated. Before long, Yao Li found himself among Qingji's trusted subordinates. The time of opportunity came when Qingji finally gathered his army and headed back to his home nation on a fleet. Yao Li arranged things so that he was Qingji's closest and only bodyguard on his warship. Choosing a moment when Qingji's guard was down, Yao Li struck, piercing through Qingji's chest with a spear. The timing was too good. It was a fatal wound. Qingji didn't even have a moment to suspect betrayal.

Being a wizened warrior prince, Qingji didn't immediately die. Instead, he yelled out in pain and rage, stood up and with one hand hauled Yao Li off his feet and dunked the other into the river three times before throwing him back onboard.

Laughing uproariously even as death approached, Qingji said. "Are there still such foolishly brave warriors under his heaven? You would kill your own wife and children and suffer untold humiliation just for a chance at my throat? Such devotion to the cause. You are a true warrior."

Turning to his soldiers who had gathered around the two, Qingji ordered with his last breath. "Do not kill him. One warrior already dies this day. You must not allow a second one to die too. Let him go back to Helu. Let him profess his loyalty to his master. Let him receive coins for his suffering." With that last laugh, Qingji finally died.

The surviving Yao Li, instead of feeling triumph at having completed his mission at last, instead tasted ash in his mouth. All of a sudden he was filled with shame and self-loathing. Years he had spent under Qingji to gain the other's trust. It meant years seeing the warrior prince for who he was. An honorable warrior, dignified to his very last moment. Qingji was nothing at all like the villain Helu painted him to be. And he had just killed that warrior.

Unable to face his own self-loathing, Yao Li threw himself into the river in an attempt at suicide. But he was pulled up out of the water by Qingji's soldiers.

"The prince decreed that you must not die. So live, dog of Helu, live and return to your master for your prize," said the soldiers unto Yao Li. "We will not stop you."

Yao Li replied. "I did not wish for even my own life, nor the life of my wife and children. What do coins and glory matter to me?" Then he wrested a sword from a soldier and with it, cut off his own remaining arm and legs and slit his own throat. So died Yao Li, the most infamous, most heinous and also most pitiable assassin of the Chunqiu period. The country Yao Li sacrificed everything for, the ancient state of Wu, collapsed a couple decades after his death. It was razed to the ground and assimilated into the rival state of Yue. His master Helu, did not even recognize Yao Li's sacrifice. He was no more than a footnote in historical records, his only infamy being his monstrous act of killing his own wife and children and assassinating Qingji. He was survived by no one. The rare relatives that did survive his death and the collapse of Wu changed their names to avoid the infamy and disappeared into the annals of history.

Now take a moment to think about that story. It's true history. All real people and real tragedy. When I first read the full story of Itachi, Shisui, and Kagami, I couldn't help but feel like these guys were based on the real life Yao Li. Kishimoto has the habit of referencing little bits and pieces of real world history and persona in his story. Some of them are easier to spot than others. In this case, the parallels are undeniable if you have the historical knowledge to spot it. Five great nations vying for control against each other in the background. And the men at the center of the tragedies, all of them blood traitors, kinslayers, wide-eyed idealist assassins who eventually died young, died by their own hands (with the exception of Kagami who we do not have confirmation for), and died as pawns to men of greater ambitions and cunning than themselves (Helu, Tobirama, Danzo, Sarutobi).

And you know what the cincher is? By historical records, the ancient state of Wu held deep ties with the state of Wo / Wa (ancient Japan, the writing of the name differs by records. In Japanese records, they are Wa. In Chinese, they are Wo). By Wo / Wa historical records, its people claimed to be descended from Taibo, the founding king of Wu, and when Wu collapsed, Wo / Wa received an influx of refugees fleeing Yue's retribution by ways of the sea. Many of those refugees would go on to become prominent personage among the court of Wo / Wa.

3/ Kagami's route:

By this point, how do you feel about Kagami's route? Do you still feel like he's a weird choice? Do you still feel like he's an obscure character with little to nothing to offer to the narrative?

As for me, I can only say I feel super excited! I know for a fact that I can do a lot with this character regardless of the fact that he barely made an appearance in the manga. As said above, I think Kagami can offer a lot to the narrative. He has all the marks for readymade drama right there. He's basically Yao Li (idealistic assassins) to Kagome's Qingji (charismatic political and thought leader with ideals so strong that their existence becomes a threat to the status quo rulers). To add to that, because he is an Uchiha, a storyline featuring him will have an automatic in for exploring the Uchiha clan and their curse of hatred.

That's another point of canon that was never resolved. What the hell is the Uchiha curse of hatred? It was first brought up by Tobirama as a way to excuse the whole drama with the Uchiha clan being all emotional nuts who need to be either controlled or put down for their own sakes (Sasuke with his avenger thing, Obito and his obsession over Rin, Madara and… well… just Madara). It has some serious proofs going for it too, what with Madara's 'evil chakra' according to the Kyuubi, and all the Uchiha who went nuts over broken hearts. And then at the end of the series, it was just… dropped. Nobody even mentioned it anymore. Like nobody, not even to affirm or deny it. And I'm left here thinking: the fuck? So in the end is there or is there not a curse of hatred on the Uchiha? Was Tobirama justified in his bias against the Uchiha or was he just a jackass with a hate boner (who somehow, despite his sensor abilities and his deep research capabilities, never attempted to find a way to cure that so called curse of hatred even when his village stood to gain so much if a cure could be created)? If he was right, then what the hell is going to happen to Sasuke and Sarada and whatever future Uchiha there are going to be? If not, then… what the fuck? Why? Was it just because Tobirama was jealous of his brother's hard-on for Madara? Was that it?

Anyhow, I want to get to the bottoms of that. I think that's a topic precious few writers have touched upon. The fate of the Uchiha. The role their linage plays in it. What is in store for them? Will they have a future? Naruto fan writers typically tend to be distracted by all the 'cool kung fu fighting', usually to the detriment of the more nuanced, more cerebral elements of storytelling. Well, I shan't complain. Instead, I shall do something about it. I shall explore that topic and Kagami is my in for that.

As mentioned before, Kagami's route is tied directly with the Uchiha clan research sub-plot, a storyline in which Kagome studies the genetic traits of the Uchiha and the nature of their 'chakra sickness' in an attempt to find a solution. To facilitate her research, a number of Uchiha members are sent over to Gems on a long term basis. Among these Uchiha is Kagami, who is on his own mission to monitor Kagome and to foster trust with her on order of Tobirama. Kagami is specifically chosen because of his age (teenager so as to make Kagome more susceptible to his youthful appearance. It's easier to lower your guard to someone who you think are still a kid than a full on adult soldier of a foreign state), and his loyalty towards Konoha and Tobirama.

This is Kagami when his mission starts and he first meets Kagome.

: / i . pinimg 564x / 60 / e4 / c1 / 60e4c124d61d08021caf3804b71ac3a7 - - tutorials - sketch . jpg

Yep, still a teenager. Around Naruto's age at the end of Shippuden. Kagome is in her early to mid-20s.

Oh yeah, as a side note, this is Kagami when Kagome takes over as princess ruler of Gems at the beginning of the story.

: / i . imgur ao8nD5Y . jpg

Shotacon bait. There I said it. Clarification. It's not going to be a Shotacon romance even though Kagami is distinctly younger. Their relationship transpires over 4-5 years so at the end of the story, Kagami and Kag are full adults in their 20s. I read Lolita and I like it, but I'm not writing anything like that. Ok? Ok.

Aside from the Uchiha clan elements, this route will explore themes of loyalty and idealism, of betrayal and abandonment, of taint and purity. The things that distinguish this route from the other routes are… hmm… a sense of childishness, of innocence to their interactions. They meet when Kagami is still a teenager after all, and despite how he's already a trained killer at that time, he's still a teenager in other aspects of life. There are shades of the abandoned child archetype in both Kagami and Kagome's characters so that's something that they will probably draw out in each other. Hence, the sense of unfettered innocence in their interactions. When it develops, Kagami's feeling for Kagome is defined by its purity, its lack of agenda. All the other LIs are heads of states or leaders on their own rights. They are political creatures by default. Even when their feelings are genuine, they always come burdened with political ramifications and all sorts of considerations. The same is not true for Kagami whose feelings are simple and unburdened. He loves. Pure and simple. He needs nor wants nothing more than to be loved back. This is the one refreshing thing about him especially compared to all the other routes.

Kagami's route is marked by eight milestone events: the betrayal, the ostracism, the plea, the sacrifice, the resurrection, night of the lovers, the link, and the unexpected prince.

The first one is as it says in the title. A betrayal, ala Yao Li and Qingji, only with more heartbreaking consequences. Kagami receives order from Tobirama to activate his intended mission to capture Kagome with the aid of shinobi from other nations. Needless to say, he falters at the very last moment and fails, killing one of Kagome's close aides during the act, and thus kickstarting the first world war between Gems and the great Five. For this, he is ostracized the same way Kakashi's father was. This event marks the beginning of his crush deepening under the pressure of guilt, doubt, and self-loathing into… well… love. A self-loathing, despairing, hopeless kind of love… but love nonetheless. Yeah, it's not fun to be Kagami Uchiha. I did mention that this route is for those who want to see the ones they love suffer didn't I?

The ostracism happens right after the climax of arc 3 and the start of arc 4 when Madara reveals himself the mastermind behind the world war and attempts to enact his moon's eye plan. As a result, the Uchiha clan become international pariahs, and are shunned even by their own fellow Konohans.

The plea is a milestone in which Kagami attempts to reach Kagome in order to make a case for his plan. It goes… about as well as you think it does, which is to say not at all. At that point, he's referred to as the snake by Kagome's aides and is prevented from ever getting close to her. It gets so bad that Kagami, at one point, goes down on his knees and gouges out his own eyes to prove his sincerity and in the hope of being allowed to talk to Kagome. For an Uchiha to be reduced to that, it shows the kind of position the Uchiha clan find themselves in—a world where their Madara is reviled by nearly everyone and is actively trying to bring about the end of the world. I will leave it to your imagination as to whether that bears fruit or not.

The sacrifice and the resurrection…. Exactly what it says on the tin. During the chaos of battle he takes a blow for Kagome from Madara and dies. Madara features rather prominently in this path as well because a path about the Uchiha for sure cannot escape his shadow. There are lots of opposite and mirror images elements in this part. Also, lots of development in the fate of the Uchiha clan.

Night of the lovers. Surprised snu snu happens. Totally surprised. From first base to home run (Yay! Shoot confetti guns!) in the blink of an eye. He gets lucky. For a while he thinks he's dreaming or the victim of some cruel genjutsu pranks. It's totes real. Enjoy it when you can Kagami-kun. Your happiness shall be hard earned. In this part, we actually get to see more on Kagome's side. Kagami's route is a bit one-sided up until this point since up until this point, Kagami's feelings are… unrequited. It takes until this point for Kagome to even look at him as a man (poor kid). Lots of elements of loneliness on Kagome's part. We get to explore Kagome persona in a route where she is much more isolated emotionally speaking than the other routes. This is when we see her as more grounded and more human than the near deity figure that she is in Kagami's eyes (he has it bad). It's basically a grounding moment for their relationship. Idol worship works up to a point but for a long term relationship, we need some real talk. After snu snu of course.

The link… is plot twist. Sort of.

The unexpected prince… hmm it's basically the ending of the romance route. Baby and wedding and big happy (for the good end route that is).

Completing Kagami's route will open up the 'a new future for the Uchiha' sub-ending in which the Uchiha clan splits. Half of the clan stay with Konoha while the other half move to Gems. The first prince of Gems being an Uchiha by blood effectively elevates the status of the clan to actual nobility instead of just pseudo ninja nobility. This sub-ending is only possible through Kagami's route.

Man. I'm pretty stoked for this route too. I have done a good job with all the routes, I think, in that I feel excited no matter which it is. All of them have something unique to offer. All of them have a flare of their own. This is the only route in which we are going to have a prince Shisui though. Not that it matters that much anymore once Kagome abdicates the throne and attempts to steer Gems into becoming a democratic republic but still… prince Shisui!