A/N: Don't hate me please! I've been really sick and haven't been able to look at a computer without getting bad headaches. I'm sorry I left you all hanging for so long. With that said enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: I can only wish the awesome characters of Naruto were mine

Chapter 2

Emotional Rollercoasters

Izuna ran over to where the beautiful little girl was currently laughing hysterically at Madara. Madara was too stunned to do anything other than touch his nose and blush. Looks like Izuna won this round. He could hardly believe it! No one had ever treated Madara like that despite his young age and yet this random princess acted as though it was everyday behavior. Did she not know that they were Uchiha? That had to be it. Izuna concluded. He decided they should introduce themselves, but unfortunately he had trouble finding his voice in the midst of her angelic laughter. Finally, after minutes that seemed like hours, his voice returned.

"Hello I'm Izuna Uchiha and this is my brother Madara. D-do you mind if we ask your name?" Izuna inquired shyly. He couldn't help it though! She was even prettier up close! This was more difficult than he had anticipated, especially now that Madara was glaring him down. Meanwhile Sakura was having issues of her own.

"My name is Sakura Haruno." Sakura replied as her laughter instantly died at Madara's name. Holy crap, I just bit the most powerful Uchiha in history. Not to mention that Naruto failed to say anything about becoming a 6 year old! Oh, Naruto, I hope whatever I do here makes you smarter in the future. I'm going to miss you. Sakura mentally concluded as bereaved tears rolled down her face. She had just realized she would never be able to see her friends or family again. If she stayed here and did her job right they wouldn't even know her in what was now the future.

The Uchiha boys were truly concerned for the young girl who unknowingly stole both their hearts. Why did she cry? Had something terrible happened to her?

Sakura immediately focused on the task at hand to get her mind off her grief. Whatever happened she needed to see this mission through to the end, for everyone's sake. The first thing she did was create a cover story. She didn't need to fake any grief as she threw herself into Izuna's arms crying for the rookie nine, team Gai, her family, the sensei's, and even Sai despite the insults he never really meant. Then she let her sobs do the talking.

"My f-f-family is g-gone! M-m-my friends are d-d-dead! I'm alone!" She cried to no one in particular.

Izuna couldn't speak. All he could do was to wrap his arms around her and rub her back in an attempt to soothe her. He had not been expecting to hear that from her, especially not after seeing her laugh in such a carefree way. He knew that both he and Madara had immediately assumed that she knew nothing of hardship. Yet here she was, no older than him, and she had lost everything. Would he or Madara ever be so strong as to laugh after losing everything and remain as innocent as this girl was? He doubted it.

Madara's thoughts were along the same line as Izuna's. He couldn't believe the laughing angel was hiding such deep hurt. He was jealous that she had sought Izuna rather than him for comfort, but for the first time, someone else's needs came first. Madara reached out to tenderly stroke her hair. When she looked at him he noticed the shock on her face and gave her "the look." A secret that no one else knew about Madara was that puppies had nothing on his eyes. Yes that's right. Though he would never admit it Madara could be more adorable than any puppy.

Maybe I'll hide that little fact with a mask or something. Madara mused only to have the angelic girl now known as Sakura tackle him in a bear hug. Then again, if she likes it I suppose it wouldn't hurt to show her the look every now and then.

"That was so cute! Can you do it again please?" Sakura pleaded. She couldn't help that she had a weakness for adorable things. Could this really be the Madara Uchiha?

"Listen Sakura-chan, my brother and I want to help you, so we'll take you to the Uchiha base and we'll see if you can stay with us for awhile until we can find out if anyone from your clan is okay with taking you in. If all else fails I'll see about getting permission for you to stay with us." Madara said it as if it were no big deal but Izuna knew the Uchiha's would not take kindly to an outsider. Madara had something up his sleeve, but for once Izuna refused to lose to his big brother. He took her hand in both of his and smiled the sweetest smile an Uchiha could ever manage.

"That's right Sakura-chan! Since Madara and I are the heirs to the Uchiha clan they can't say no to both of us! We'll take care of you!" As soon as the words were out of Izuna's mouth he blushed crimson. He felt like he was proposing to her or something. When Sakura hugged him this time his blush got darker. In that moment Izuna was willing to say or do anything if it just meant she would stay with him.

Madara was a combination of shocked and ticked. Since when did Izuna so blatantly go against him? He'd have to put a stop to it. Yet somehow Madara wasn't thinking of ways to stop it. He was thinking how nice it would be if things could just stay like this. He had never been happier than he was with his brother and this cherry blossom. It was true that he hardly knew anything about her, but frankly that didn't matter to him a bit. It felt right for her to be with them so he would find a way to keep her close and safe in these dangerous times. Sakura's crying face popped into his mind and tore his heart all to pieces. Seeing her so upset over the loss of her family and friends had put things in perspective.

Madara had recently read about something called the Mangekyou. If he killed his best friend he could obtain great power, but for the first time he considered what the cost would be. He looked over at the girl who saved him from making a huge mistake and at the little brother he loved to tease. He would protect these two no matter what happened even at the expense of his clan. Sakura had no idea that her mission was already a success.