Yep, yep, I should be updating my ongoing stories, but here I am posting a new one. In my defense this is one of my oldest planned stories, that I intended to write a lot sooner, but for some reason didn't.
Now this will obviously be a time travel story, except I wanted to do it differently. I'm tired of all the time travel stories where Sakura goes to the past, to the point of being annoyed, possibly because if I want some MadaSaku that's the usual plot to it. I'm just disappointed that no one has done it the other way around. It's an untapped pool of ideas, so I decided to take the initiative and write something.
Anyway, I also wanted to mention that the song Forward Thinking by Marcus Warner was some of the inspiration for this. It's a beautiful song and I highly recommend to give it a try.
The birds were chirping which would have been a pleasant sound any other day, now it sounded like an annoying chorus of screeches. The wind was warm but strong, occasionally blowing his hair in his face more so than it already was or worse – in his mouth. The forest around Konoha was a serene place, yet today he was hard pressed to find it as such.
Needless to say Madara Uchiha was irritated. It didn't happen often, but whenever Tobirama Senju weeded himself into things he should stay out of, it pushed him over the edge.
Tobirama talked Hashirama out of bringing him along for a meeting with a potential investor for the hospital they were planning to build (Hashirama's wood release could create only so much). Not to mention that the Hyuuga were potentially planning to join their slowly blooming village as well. As usual he was supposed to meet with the Hyuuga elder along with Hashirama and discuss the details, but somehow the little weed Tobirama (most probably Tobirama, since no one else could influence Hashirama so much) changed Hashirama's mind and prohibited him from joining.
Okay, fine. He saw no reason to do so, but he will get back at the little eye sore later.
Instead of staying around the Tower and anxiously waiting for the results (He had other things to take care of as well, but he knew well enough that attending to them in a pissy mood won't solve the problems), he had decided to take a stroll outside the village to cool off. It wasn't working very well. His mind kept circling back to the conversation he had with Hashirama and the satisfied glint in Tobirama's eye at the news.
He and Hashirama had been working on building a proper village for a year now and never before had he been denied access to a meeting or any other discussion that involved village policies. After all he held as much power as Hashirama in the village. They were yet to declare who would be Hokage – the title they had decided to give the leader of the village. It grated him that Tobirama always got in the way and kept questioning the Uchiha till to this day. He had taken Hashirama's advice and tried to set aside their past, but it felt like the little weed strived on bringing it back up any chance he got and poke him in the face with it.
Madara stopped for a moment and cast a quick glance behind him, having felt a sudden spike of chakra. Despite their village being a safe place, the outside world was still full of dangerous shinobi and with him being a leader of a powerful clan, many were out for his head. In his haste out of the village he had foregone his battle armour and weapons. It shouldn't pose any problems in his capability of taking out a threat if there was one, though.
The chakra spike disappeared as soon as it came. Nothing of significance happened after that. He picked back up his pace and left it alone, unless the unknown shinobi foolishly decided to attack him.
The little distraction didn't stop his spiralling thoughts, though and he questioned his importance in the village and what would have Izuna said if he had seen what had happened to him. And with thoughts of Izuna coming to his mind his mood took a full nose dive.
Another sudden spike of chakra halted his thoughts.
The impact came from nowhere, sending him falling to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
Grunting he gathered his bearings. Shameful to admit, but he was shocked, something had managed to catch him off guard. The cause for his fall was just a few meters behind him, laying on the ground in a person shaped lump.
Another six chakra signatures were heading his way. Those also had appeared out of nowhere. He wasn't losing his touch, was he? Even when suppressing chakra people were detectable if you were a good enough sensor.
Shaking off the dirt from his clothes, he got back on his feet and waited for the shinobi behind the chakra signatures appear. Something was off here, he just couldn't quite make out what.
Six shinobi reared their heads through the leaves, jumping to the ground. A couple of them halted in their movements as soon as they noticed him, one even shivered. Though, a lanky man with odd armour on his body and a hitai-ate with a scratch across it, stepped forward, obviously the leader.
"Give us the girl! We have no business with you." He pointed a gloved hand towards the person shaped lump.
Madara spared a quick glance behind him to conclude that indeed the lump was a girl with pink hair. For such a small girl she had caused quite the impact, he was sure to have bruises from it.
One of the shinobi moved to stand next to the lanky man. He pulled on the leaders sleeve, lip trembling in fear. "Yuu, we should leave this alone. You don't want to mess-"
Yuu snapped his hand away from the smaller lackeys grasp with a growl. "I don't care. She has a large bounty on her head and I need the money. For all we know this might be a genjutsu."
Others agreed with the smaller lackey, voicing their concerns to the chagrin of the leader.
Madara curiously observed the odd situation. The men appeared to know him or at least cower at the strength of his chakra signature, which he hadn't bothered to hide, and the shinobi were wearing cheap looking armour. This shouldn't even pose a challenge to him, yet he was itching to do something other than standing around.
"Are we going to fight or what?" The sound of his voice ceased the arguing between the six men.
All of them at once turned their attention back to him, hesitating.
Madara suppressed a sigh. Obviously this was going to be more of a hassle than anything enjoyable.
Yuu dismissed everything his comrades told him and scowled. "I don't care who you are, you're supposed to be dead anyway. For all I know you could just be a distraction set up by the girl." He pulled out a short katana from a sheath and positioned it forward. With a battle cry he charged.
Xxx
Sakura's vision swam when she came to. Had she finally collapsed of chakra depletion? Though that wouldn't explain why she felt like she had collided with a tree. Maybe one of the missing-nin caught her with some weapon making her stumble and hit a tree? She didn't know. She didn't even know if the missing-nin were still on her trail.
Her plan had been to run close enough to the wall of the village, alert some of the guards and hopefully chase the bounty hunters away. It was embarrassing to admit, but with her chakra as low as it was she had no chance in taking out four fully adept shinobi without killing herself in the process.
Her medical mission in Kusa had taken a lot out of her. She had wanted to get back home as soon as possible, mind preoccupied with the unfinished projects she had started. The attack on her had been an ambush that she was not prepared to deal with at all, thus leaving her running like a headless chicken with the last wisps of her strength.
Among the wind and far off chirping birds she heard voices and possible sounds of a rustle. Were those the missing-nin fighting?
She raised herself in a sitting position and rubbed her eyes. Her vision was blurry, she could barely make out five figures in the distance, moving around. Vaguely she could recognize four of the moving figures as the missing-nin that had been pursuing her. The fifth figure was moving around too swiftly for her muddled senses to see it properly.
Her surroundings were familiar, though. She still was in the forest, not too far from the wall of Konoha.
Sakura assessed her injuries, concluding that all she had were some bruises from her crash with what she guessed was a tree.
A crash from the brawling shinobi caught her attention. They had moved closer to her position, enough so that she could make out that one of them had long raven hair and dark clothing. The long haired one had something in his hand, something that was sharp enough to slit a throat of one of the attacking shinobi.
Sakura crawled closer to a tree. Her mind was foggy and her muscles screamed for rest. Latching onto the bark, she used it to help her stand up. A thump nearby had her and turning her head towards the sound. The mystery nin had downed her pursuers, the last being hit at the back of the head with a kunai while running.
She blinked, trying to clear her vision. What was even going on?
The long haired shinobi was coming her way, his features gradually becoming clearer.
Her breath hitched. This couldn't be possible. There's just no way. She won't ever forget that face, but it just was not possible. This wasn't fucking possible. Yet she froze, dread running all through her body.
Uchiha Madara.
It was him, looking as alive as any other human being. A bloody kunai was in his hand, a kunai that had struck all of the men on the ground dead. She was next, wasn't she?
No! This can't be real, she won't accept it. It has to be a genjutsu! Sakura formed a seal and shouted Kai two times.
Nothing happened.
Sakura whimpered.
Madara stopped in front of her, expression blank.
Righting herself against the tree, she summoned what little chakra she had left. If she was going to die, she's going to die fighting. She'll be damned if she didn't try her hardest against this bastard.
She waited for an attack, nerves and body tense.
"This isn't a genjutsu, kunoichi."
She flinched at his voice. It was just as chilling as it had been on the battlefield. She avoided looking at his face from the fear of the Sharingan. His presence only brought back up bad memories. People dying. Screams. Maniacal laughter. A shiver ran down her spine.
She must be dreaming. This couldn't be possible. Uchiha Madara had died on the last day of the war. She saw it with her own eyes. He had accepted defeat and death. He had no reason to come back.
"Where did you get that?"
Sakura winced and snapped her head up at his harsh, demanding tone. She had no clue what he was talking about. She turned her sight away from his pointed glare, realizing her mistake. Her confidence was wavering, fear winning out.
"Your hitai-ate, where did you get it?" he clarified, coming closer.
Her eyes drew to the kunai in his hand. Licking her chapped lips, she exhaled. Out of all the things she expected from him this was the last. She dug her nails deeper in the rough bark of the tree. Is she hallucinating? This made no sense. There had been cases where shinobi had seen distorted images while dry on chakra, though she hadn't heard of a case so vivid as hers.
She righted herself. "Every Konoha shinobi gets one." Her voice came out in a gravelly rasp, throat dry from her run.
The air was thick with tension. His gaze was smouldering. Sakura swallowed thickly, keeping her eyes locked on to the forest behind him. The lumps of bodies laying bleeding on the forest ground caught her attention. He had killed all of them. Why had he done that? Why isn't he killing her?
"I know all of the clans that reside within Konoha and none of them have pink hair. None of them are also in possession of a Konoha hitai-ate, which hasn't been put out in distribution yet."
Sakura didn't know how to answer his accusations. When he raised the kunai, killing intent rolling off him in waves, she spluttered the first thing that came to mind. "Don't you remember me?" He paused and Sakura took that as her chance to confuse him further with her mindless babbling. "I mean, you probably don't, since I was just a part of the mass of people below you, Sasuke-kun and Naruto took the front line. Although, I'm kind of confused at your goal here, questioning things you already know. Is that a new tac-"
"Shut up!"
She flinched, sealing her mouth shut. She kept her eyes pinned on his gloved hand and the blood that was drying on the kunai.
Madara was quiet for a while.
The silence was eating her up, unnerving her further. She caved and angled her head up. The killing intent was still there, though he wasn't as expressionless any more. He was looking somewhere past her, unmoving.
She inhaled sharply. He was looking towards Konoha. She had no idea what his reasons for coming back were and what he was planning, however she wasn't going to allow for him to execute those plans easily. Konoha and the rest of the shinobi world had already suffered enough.
Releasing the tree with a huff she stood in his line of sight, face set in determination. She was quivering from exhaustion and fear, but that wasn't going to stop her from protecting her loved ones. If there was something she could do to stop this monster then she will do it.
His dark gaze connected with hers.
Sakura bit down the lump that formed in her throat. She wanted to feel confident, she wanted to take him down by herself, though she knew that she couldn't. She was too exhausted to fight him. Not that fighting him would have helped, he was way too powerful for her to match him.
Madara disregarded her, sidestepping he dazedly walked towards Konoha.
Sakura panicked and ran after him, nearly tripping on a tree branch on the way. She wasn't thinking when she latched onto his wrist, stopping him in his tracks. He set his sights on her again. Sakura recoiled, letting go.
"What is going on?"
Confused she looked up at him. It wasn't visible at first, but Madara was just as perplexed as her. She licked her dry lips and tried to swallow the taste of dirt from her mouth. "Care to explain?"
He tilted his head, looking down on her.
Sakura fought back the urge to shrink away.
He ignored her and continued walking towards the village wall.
"Crap!" She ran after him, tripping and almost face planting on the ground. Her muscles screamed in protest at the sudden movement.
He didn't seem to be very talkative, but she didn't need to hear anything to know that him going to the village was bad news.
He was moving too fast for her to catch up to him. For a moment she even lost him among the leaves. When the top of the village wall came into her sight she saw him again, standing in the trees. She didn't know why he stopped, though she wasn't going to question it.
She hoped that any guards wouldn't come this way. The Uchiha didn't seem to be overly hostile, confused more like it, so she didn't want to set any alarms until she had this figured out. Something wasn't right, he was acting differently and hadn't attacked her.
She latched onto him just as he moved forward, forming a hand seal. For a second everything flashed before her eyes, colours and sounds almost mixing into one. Next thing she knew she was stumbling into Madara on the other side of the wall.
Once he stepped aside, she gracelessly fell on the ground. He scoffed.
Sakura groaned, trying to gather her bearings and balance. The taste of dirt was back in her mouth, grains of sand scraped against her teeth. She spit out the sand from her mouth and stood up on wobbly legs. Rubbing her eyes clean from dirt, she concluded that she indeed was on the other side of the wall, in an alley way between apartment buildings. The luck of that.
"I'll repeat my question. What's going on? Everything is different."
Her head snapped up, surprised that Madara had waited around for her to clean herself up. At least he wasn't making a ruckus or running off to god knows where.
"Could you be more specific?" She had no idea what he was referring to. Everything looked the same. Shouldn't he know what's going on? He showed up here out of the blue...and he's looking at her like she's the invader here.
"Why are you so adamant about me entering my village...well, what used to be my village?" He cast an uncertain glance around the dark alleyway and out towards the street. Surprisingly enough no one had noticed anything.
Sakura spluttered. "Are you serious? Your village? You abandoned Konoha, you attacked it, you started the fourth war and you're asking me why I don't want you here! Obviously I don't want you anywhere near the village. Do you even know how many people have suffered because of you? How many children still have nightmares from the war? How people are still trying to settle back into normalcy after the war? Of course you don't because all you ever did is care for yourself and your stupid ideas." She panted, voice raw and ran a hand down her face, frustrated.
"You're speaking as if you know me, accusing me of things that have never happened."
She raised her head at his incredulous tone and glared. "Are you daft or are you pretending?"
He raised the kunai in his hand and took a sharp step towards her, face set in stone.
Sakura continued, "You're Uchiha Madara, one of the founders of Konoha and also the first missing nin from Konoha, initiator of the fourth shinobi world war and an asshole with a god complex. Should I go on?"
He didn't lower the kunai and for a moment it looked like he was going to attack her. He ran his eyes over their surroundings, focusing more on the few bypassing people in the distance that still had some business to do this late evening.
Sakura could only wait, anger running through her veins. There's so much more she wanted to yell at him, so much more she wanted to do. Just fuck everything and lay out her anger for what he has done to the world.
"We seem to be in possession of very different information."
When he finally spoke it broke her out of her fuming. "What?"
He set his sights back to her, jaw set, the kunai by his side. "I can't ignore what's in front of me. You possessing information and items that are yet not available, the different look of the village and people….could only mean that...this is a different time…"
"What?" she repeated her question only this time louder and a lot more incredulously. That was a serious leap in logic there. "A different time?" She blinked a few times, taking in his visage. Well, he was wearing shinobi clothes that were part of the Uchiha garb quite a while ago, but that didn't really mean anything if it was him. In the fourth war he was wearing old armour as well. "Do you mean to insinuate time travel?"
"Possibly. I'm certainly not aware who you are and what's your status in the village while you seem to know more about me than I do, and I know for a fact that this isn't a genjutsu."
Her fight left her, arms unceremoniously falling to her sides. Was it really true? Was this Madara really from the past? She couldn't tell. He was different from how she remembered him, even his chakra signature was different, but did it mean anything?
Two chakra signatures were nearing their location, cutting off her thought process. ANBU guards. Fuck. What should she do? Her breaths laboured. Fuckfuckfuck… She should tell Kakashi about this, but she can't leave Madara unattended. The possibility of someone seeing him and causing a panic in the village was something she wanted to avoid. She didn't believe him with the whole time travel thing either.
Sakura shook her hands in front of her, trying to get herself rid of the anxiety, ignoring Madara's odd stare in turn. "Okay, I believe you, but you're going have to trust me."
"Why?"
The ANBU guards were closing in. She didn't rule out the possibility that they could feel their chakra signatures, something neither of them were hiding. She could just thank whatever gods there were that Madara's signature was different from how it was during the fourth war.
"I'll explain later, but for now can you do a henge?"
He tilted his head, judging her with his stare.
"Please? I promise that it'll be only for a short time."
Madara sighed, closing his eyes. He tucked away his kunai in a weapons pouch. The handsigns he went through were quick, she barely managed to catch the two additional genjutsu he used atop the henge.
Sakura couldn't shake off the bizarreness of this. Her helping Uchiha Madara and him actually listening to her? She never though that a day like that would come. Heck, just twenty minutes ago she believed him to be dead and done for. This must be some kind of insane hallucination that her tired mind conjured. It just has to be.
With a puff of smoke the man in front of her looked nothing like Madara. She spared a short glance towards his changed appearance, focusing more on the approaching guards. Without thinking, she latched on to his wrist. "C'mon. We need to get out of here before they see us."
Madara yanked his hand back, making her release her hold and nearly fall on the ground. "Watch what you do, kunoichi. I may cooperate with you for now, but that might change in the foreseeable future." He spared her a dry glare and took the lead.
Right. She she's not in possession of her monstrous strength due to her exhaustion. Silly of her to think that the mighty Uchiha Madara would follow her anyway.
Sakura cursed and followed him out on the street, trying not to drag her feet. She should have known better than to think that this would go as smoothly as she'd imagined it.
She caught up to his fast pace with a huff. The few people around them paid no mind to her and Madara, too involved in their own activities. Sakura didn't ask where he was going, observing his movements for now. Gradually the buildings were becoming more and more familiar. She knew this path. She nearly tripped. The Hokage Tower – Madara was going straight for it.
Chewing on her lip, she wrung her hands. This was good. If he was going straight for Kakashi then she won't have to try and figure out a way how to tell about this problem if the problem strolled right into his office. Right? Unless the problem decided to create other problems, then she was fucked, Konoha was fucked. Her head reeled from all of the possibilities.
After five minutes he stopped, just two blocks away from the Tower. She followed his line of sight. He was eyeballing the Hokage Mountain.
Sakura gripped the edges of her dress, observing the Uchiha. If he was from the past, which was starting to look like it was true, then he didn't know who had acquired the title of Hokage. She didn't know from how far back he was, but guessing from his look it might be before the first Hokage was announced. She half expected some kind of attack, a lash out from how tense he was.
He suddenly turned around and walked back from where they came.
Baffled she stared at his retreating back. Snapping out of it, she ran to catch up before she lost him in the crowd. With his different appearance she'd lose him fast, although the long blonde hair he'd donned with the henge was kind of eye catching.
"Where are you going?" she dared to ask when he was within hearing range.
Blazing blue eyes met hers. "Back to the forest."
"Why?"
He didn't deign that with an answer.
Sakura huffed. Her feet were sore and it took everything in her willpower to not drag them or simply fall on the ground. She was not going back to the forest, absolutely not, it was dark and cold. Yet, she was not going to let him go alone. Undecided Sakura hesitated. Who knows what might happen to the time line with the scrap of information he got. Things could change just from him being here, everything falling down in a butterfly effect.
Her head hurt thinking about it. She pushed those thoughts aside.
What should she do with Madara? Her first instinct was to take him to the Hokage, but he had changed the course and she didn't think she'll be able to handle any more of the Uchiha's indecisiveness.
Sighing and rubbing her eyes, she ran after him. Sakura grabbed onto his sleeve, panting. "Can we just stop for a moment?"
He glared, yanking his sleeve out of her clammy grasp. "Then stop following me, I don't need a keeper," he growled, eyeing her dishevelled state with distaste.
She stood straighter, green eyes hardening in a glare of her own. "If you think that I'm going to leave you unattended then you're sourly mistaken. I'm trying to do my best to avoid an uproar in the village, it's seriously the last thing anyone needs here and...I'm trying to...help you..." She shuddered, the notion of helping him unsettling her. "Believe me I don't want anything to do with you either, but for the sake of the village I'm ready to sacrifice whatever it takes and if it involves getting a pesky Uchiha away from the public eye then so be it." She balled her hands and refused to avoid his gaze even when it flashed red for a moment.
"I don't require your help and I have no intention of staying here any longer either." He levelled her with an impassive stare.
She refused to back down. There must be something she can do, something to make out of this whole thing.
She has made a lot of mistakes in the past, mistakes she wishes she could fix, things she wishes she could change. Everyday she fights to try and make herself be relevant, to be on the par with her teammates, to be less useless in a fight. Everyday she has to deal with her self-esteem issues, she has to deal with the fact that she once again was left back, left alone, hoping for something while others get to experience love at its fullest. At times it was painful just to be around her friends, their happiness reminding her that hers had chosen to leave her hanging.
She was afraid to meddle with time and time travel, but the root of all of the problems for the past two decades was in front of her, for the time being untainted by the evils his own future self had committed. It might blow in her face, but she was willing to try and go this route if it meant that she can protect the village, protect her loved ones.
Mind set she stepped forward, trying to be intimidating even when she wanted to run away from his scorching glare. It seemed like he was a breaths away from flipping her off and doing things his way. "Do you want to make a deal?"
His expression didn't change. "No."
Not letting the answer affect her, she raised her head higher. "By now I'm sure you realize that you're in a compromising position….and that this might not be a problem you can solve alone….I'm not kidding when I say that I'm probably the only person in this village insane enough to help you. Any other shinobi would want you killed on the spot…." Her words lingered in the air with a sense of finality. Her palms were sweaty and even though she was shivering she didn't let her eyes waver from his. She had to thank Tsunade for teaching her to stand up for herself.
Madara broke their eye contact, turning his body halfway away from her. "Being at the end of others animosity isn't anything new to me. Though I can't deny that you're right."
Sakura smiled, tension leaving her body.
He peeked through his bangs. "But I'm curious, if I'm such a maleficent being during your time, why should you help me? Shouldn't you do just as you said and try to off me like any other shinobi in the village?"
She grit her teeth. This wasn't information she was willing to share with him, it was too personal, too intimate. Swallowing, she gave him half of the truth. "Because I want to avoid others knowing about you. There still are many shinobi, civilians and children in the village who have the war fresh on their minds. As someone who works in the Mental Health Ward I know first hand how much they suffer, how many scars they have. By seeing you, hearing about you being back it might offset all of the progress made during their healing, not to mention cause an uproar in the village that undoubtedly would spread like wildfire and reach the other villages in no time. Besides, I know that I could never win you in a fight," she added the last bit as an afterthought.
He was quiet. Crossing his arms, he gazed at the ground.
The silence unnerved her. It had gotten dark enough that the street lights were the only illumination. Said lights were painting his features in sharp angles, the shadows giving him a villainous look. The nearly barren street and the slight wind gave the atmosphere an eerie feel. It was like the world was trying to say to her that this was a bad idea...
"So that's your deal then – you help me go back while I stay on the down low…."
Sceptically she tilted her head. "Do you agree to those terms?"
Madara sighed and dropped his arms. "I do not wish to fight you nor is my intention to bring harm to the village, so essentially yes."
Sakura blinked, releasing a short breath. She had been expecting more of a fight, knowing how he acted, knowing what he did. Apparently this Madara was different from the Madara she knew during the war. Well, nobody was born evil. Madara before he went insane could be reasoned with and that was a relief.
They shook on it afterwards. When he intended to leave for the forest again Sakura had to explain to him that during night time security around the village increases – more ANBU guards patrolling the streets and clearance to be able to leave or enter the village. It was a miracle that they got in without a guard catching them on itself. She honestly had no idea what jutsu Madara had used to practically phase through the wall.
Ever since the war missing-nins and random attacks on villages became more common. She didn't know the reason behind the uproar, why had the war brought out more chaos. The fear of another organization similar to Akatsuki arising kept everyone on the edge. Even with the allegiance between the major villages some relationships were strained and the missing-nin attacks weren't helping to improve those relations. Two years later the after effects of the war hadn't diminished completely. She had hoped for a brighter future after all of the blood, gore and constant fighting. It had been a naive thought.
In the end she had to settle for letting him stay in her apartment. Obviously neither of them liked the idea, but it was the best she got. She didn't have the strength to argue with him anyway. She was at her wits end. As soon as she'd entered her bedroom she'd barely managed to remove her sandals before she'd fallen on her bed, asleep as soon as her head had hit the pillow.
Xxx
The kunoichi had left him alone in her living quarters. She had grumbled something under her breath that he hadn't been able to make out and disappeared behind a door. She didn't come out, so he could only guess that she had passed out from her exhaustion. It was surprising that she had lasted as long as she did.
Seeing the two familiar faces carved in the mountain along with four other unknown faces had been unsettling. He had wanted to go back to the forest to inspect the place where he'd first detected the sudden change with chakra, but the kunoichi was right – there was little to no chance for him to find anything in the forest and he was too much of an outsider to navigate the future operatively.
It disturbed him to find out that in this future he was their version of the boogeyman. He was aware that he was no saint. Even during his time many in the village regarded him and by extension his clan as monsters. Although lately all of the animosity had befallen to him.
He was too distressed to get any rest that night, choosing to inspect the kunoichi's place and all of the futuristic appliances in it instead. All of it was so bizarre and the not knowing of what some of the things were made him wary of them, yet he was curious.
Madara inspected something that appeared to look like a tea pot in her kitchen, face twisted in confusion. He gave up trying to figure out what it was, finding it useless. He sat at her table.
He'd seen a couple of book shelves in her living room and had found a couple of interesting titles. That could be a possible way to spend his time, except he was in no particular mood to read.
Surveying the village through the window, he rested his chin in his palm. It was like being in a different reality, things looked the same yet off in so many ways. He had no idea how far in the future he'd ended up in. Judging from the six Hokage faces on the mountain and that he couldn't sense a single Uchiha in the village and maybe sense a single Senju, he'd say that it was pretty far. Could be way over a hundred years.
This place made him restless, he could barely sit still for five minutes. He hated being oblivious, hated being useless. He was at the mercy of the damn pink haired kunoichi and that was a position he never had wanted to experience. He wasn't a fan of mercy, it was an obstacle towards something greater.
Getting up from the chair he trekked back to her living room where he'd seen a couple of tools on her table. Those were familiar to him and reminded him of home. He had foregone most of his own weapons, only keeping pouches with kunai and shuriken.
He had to keep his mind off things for a while, unless he wanted to get a stroke from all of the stress. Sharpening some of his kunai with her sharpening stones might help. Actually, he doubted that, but he needed to do something.
As he was pulling out his kunai piece of paper fell out. He hadn't stuck anything like that in there. Curiously he straightened out the paper. A small amount of moon light streamed in through the window. It was enough light to see, yet he couldn't make out the kanji at all. He activated his Sharingan in hopes to find something familiar. The image was clearer and he had definitely seen something like this before.
Madara laid back in the cushioned seats. It had to be a clue of some sorts. It was too convenient to be a random piece of paper. He lifted the paper back up to his face. The kanji, there were subtle differences in a couple of the characters. Could that mean that it was from a different country? He wasn't that well versed in other languages, so he couldn't tell.
The reason behind the tag was more concerning. It could have been a tool for a jutsu, a jutsu that might have been used on him.
Gritting his teeth and accidentally crumpling the paper in his hand, he shot up from his seat. Mind whirring through all kinds of possibilities, he paced from the living room to the kitchen and then back, mindlessly repeating the action again and again. What could this mean? Why was it in his weapons pouch? What kind of a jutsu correlated to the paper tag? Was this an attack planned by someone?
Madara halted, unfurling the tag. Was this the reason why he was in the future?
I originally didn't intend for this to be so serious sounding, but it just sort of happened. Besides I wanted to showcase that after a war nothing ever is sunny and problems just don't go away when the baddie is beaten. I'm not sure when I'll update this, since I just write what I feel the most motivated to write. I'll probably finish that ShiSaku one-shot first that I've been working on for over half a year before I decide on what I want to do next. I'm really just posting this to see how this will fare, how well will people accept this idea.
Anyway, thank you for reading.