"You're new." Says a ten-year-old Tobirama rudely.
"H-hai." Says Sakura from behind Mito with a sense of Déjà vu. For some reason, her mind showed her Mito's red hair fading into a platinum blond. Shaking her head to clear it, she focused on the situation at hand. It's been a couple of months since she started living with the Uzumaki, and her crippling shyness still can't seem to let her step out from behind Mito.
"Hey! Tobi! Don't harass Sakura-chan, you meanie-head!" Yells Mito defensively, with her hands on her hips, glaring with all her might at the albino kid.
"What are you going to do about it, tomato-wanna-be?" Asks Tobirama in that tone that only big brothers can manage when they're being jerks.
"I'm not afraid of you!" Says Mito as she charges at him. And she's not, afraid of him. She's ready to fight him and bring him down, too! The only problem is, he's older than her. Which means his limbs are longer than hers. So when he places his hand on her forehead and extends his arm out, she is left wildly swinging at air.
Sakura couldn't contain her giggle at the comical sight, but the tiny sound seemed to get lost in the whirlwind of their screaming, insult-throwing match. She stiffens when she feels a hand on her head. Looking up she sees Hashirama, Tobirama's brother, wearing a huge, sunny smile. "Welcome to the family, Sakura-chan! I'm your new nii-san!"
Sakura decides she likes him.
Hashirama leads to a route that allows them to get back to where they split off from the others without scaling up the cliff. During that time Sakura had her head ducked into Itachi's ear and whispering to him softly. The boy would nod, shake his head or whisper back to her, without taking his head off her shoulder. They looked so cuddly and comfortable and he felt just a little jealous of the amount of … breast Itachi is so close to but doesn't know the significance of. The image in front of him was too pure compared to his thoughts and if Madara didn't know any better, he'd say that they were mother and son.
But he did. He knew better. He knew that Itachi never acts this way; cuddling and being clingy. What happened while he was away? That question was eating him alive, and even though he had a lot of questions about the pink haired adopted Uzumaki, he was more concerned with Itachi's suicide attempt.
He was shaken out of his thoughts by the sound of his brother's voice. "Well, what do you know? Sakura, you look good holding an Uchiha child! Do you want some of your own? Want me to help?" Says Izuna lewdly while placing his open palm on her still exposed back.
Madara wanted to facepalm. What the hell is wrong with this guy?!
Sakura tensed up in anger at the lecherous comment. There was a child amongst them and they were surrounded by women! How disrespectful is this guy?! Before she could retaliate, Tobirama appeared behind the Uchiha with the fires of hell rising behind him, and slammed his fist on top of Izuna's head.
"Ow, you bastard! What was that for?!" Yowled Izuna. Tobirama just turned around and started walking towards the village as if nothing had happened. Izuna was glaring at his back so he didn't notice as Mito came up behind him and smacked him on the head with her fan as she passed him on her way to Sakura.
Taking one look at Hashirama and Madara's faces, Izuna decided that it was in his best interest to keep his mouth shut while Mito zipped up Sakura's shirt. He had no qualms glaring at a giggling Itachi though.
Sakura didn't like the younger Uchiha. He was the most un-Uchiha like Uchiha she's ever met. Not wanting to cause a scene, and feeling that Izuna got what he deserved, what with two bumps on his head, she glared at him in warning, then turned back to Itachi. After all, the kid was telling her something that demanded her attention more than any of Izuna's childish antics.
At the beginning of their trip, both clan heads decided that it would be best if somebody guarded the group from the back, and another from the front, while the rest stayed in the middle, just in case an attack occurred. Madara decided to let Hashirama walk with his new bride, while Tobirama said that Izuna was too much of a brat to be of any use. So, and under Izuna's extreme indignation, Madara and Tobirama took turns guarding the front and the back of the group. And since Tobirama went ahead after punching the younger Uchiha, Madara took that as his cue to guard the back.
Guarding the back granted him the opportunity to observe the people he was traveling with. He could see the maids gossiping. He could see when Hashirama would 'discretely' grab his wife's behind. He could see when she not-so-discretely smacks his arm with her fan. Which are things that you would consider normal, everyday things. But the longer Madara observed, the more he started to notice things that aren't supposed to be normal.
Like for instance, the maids. They are from the Uzumaki clan, sent by Mito's father to serve his daughter. And even though Madara knows that the Uzumaki aren't strict or unjust towards those who are not from the main family, there seems to be a rift between Mito and her maids. Then again, Mito actually spoke to the maids on several occasions. But Sakura hasn't, not even once. Actually, she was trying to stay away from them as much as she could, walking at the back of the group, just a few steps in front of him and to his right, so close to the edge of the forest she could disappear into it any minute. He could see the maids giving her the worst portions of food, mouthing off bad comments to the pink-haired beauty. His brows furrowed trying to think of a reason why they would do such a thing.
He knows that Sakura was found in the woods when she was younger and that she wasn't actually an Uzumaki by blood. He knows that she is moving to Konoha because she wants to stay with Mito. Considering that the redhead was the one who found Sakura, it was understandable that the pinkette would feel the most comfortable staying with her rescuer. But why would the maids treat Sakura badly? Has she done something that angered them? But Madara found that hard to believe. From what he has seen so far, that woman was a bleeding heart. Too nice to do anything that would hurt anybody's feelings. She had to be if she was willing to throw herself over a cliff and break her bones, or worse, die for a kid she barely knew. So then, why?
He was shaken out of his thoughts when he heard the woman he was thinking about laugh. "So it's your mother's birthday today, is it? What does she like?" She asked the child smiling up at her with slightly puffy eyes.
"She has a garden and spends a lot of time in it." Replied Itachi softly.
Madara blinked in confusion when he noticed that they were closer to him than before. Had Sakura slowed down? Looking at the rest of their group, he noticed that they, too, were closer than before. He must have picked up his pace to where he could walk close enough to them that he could hear them without realizing it. He frowned. He should be more aware of his surroundings. What if somebody had ambushed them when he was distracted?
He glanced at Sakura and saw that she was crouched at the side of the road, Itachi still in her lap, with her right hand on the ground. He cocked his head as he stood near them and watched what she was doing. As she started to raise her hand from the ground, he could see a green plant raise up after it. His eyes widened in shock. He hadn't known that anybody other than Hashirama could grow plants!
Sakura didn't let the plant grow too much, just till the point that it was up to Madara's shin. Then she swept her palm over the greenery, fingertips barely touching the branches of the small bush she created. Every place her fingers touched, a red rose bloomed. Madara was mesmerized, he hadn't realized that he'd turned on his Sharingan until he heard Itachi suck his breath in sharply in a gasp, looking between Madara and the rosebush, saying, "They look like your eyes uncle Madara!"
Rosebushes were not that common in fire country, what with the hot temperature and humidity, they wouldn't grow enough to enter the stable phase. That's why Madara didn't blame Itachi for his comment, but he was still a little embarrassed at being caught with his sharingan on. Either way, it was worth it when Sakura looked up at him from the ground and then look away with a blush on her cheeks. She busied herself with digging up around the roots and putting the plant in a plastic bag that would make it easier to carry. But Madara had seen her blush, and now he couldn't take his eyes off of her.
Even if he was preoccupied with the blushing pink mystery, he could still feel that a kick was being aimed at his head, and shot his hand out to catch the offending leg.
Sakura looked at the boy in front of her. He was curled up into a ball out in the cold with the saddest look she'd ever seen on his face. She tilted her head to the side cutely, not really understanding what was going on. The Senju brothers left a week ago and according to Mito, weren't supposed to be back until at least a few months. So why was Hashirama back so early? And why was the sunniest person she knows looking so utterly sad? Where was Tobirama?
"Hashi-nii?" Sakura called out softly.
Hashirama's head whipped around to look at her, obviously startled. "Y-yes, Sakura-chan?"
Sakura walked closer to him and crouched down next to him, being careful not to ruin the kimono she was wearing or get any mud on her white socks or her geta. "Why are you sad, Hashi-nii?"
Hashirama gave her a sad smile and said, "Because I'm special. I'm so special that father deemed it important that I hide here and train rather than be there and protect Tobirama on the battlefield."
"How are you special?" Asked Sakura with a confused frown. Being special was supposed to be good, not bad.
Her brother figure raised his hand and a few seconds later, a green light appeared surrounding his hand. One look at that glowing green light, and something jostled in Sakura's mind, smearing the almost blank canvas with memories of a lost time. A fish, flopping happily on a scroll. A room full of books that she knows by heart. A couch, with a blond woman smiling proudly at her. Happiness. Clutching the life of someone and making sure it stays in their body because she knows that she can do it.
Sakura lifts her hand, mirroring her self-appointed brother, and lets out a soft green glow from her palm. Her glow is brighter than her brothers warm almost-olive-but-not-quite green. In that moment they both know that they are more similar than they first thought, than anybody had ever thought. And Hashirama vowed to make sure that his little sister was strong enough to stay alive in this war-torn world. He already lost two siblings, he won't lose more.
Sakura was caught off guard by Itachi's comment. She knew that Madara was watching her, but she had no idea that he was looking at her with his sharingan on, so when she looked up and saw him looking at her with intensity in those red eyes of his, her body reacted on its own. Never mind the blush on her face, other parts of her body reacted in a way that they have no business reacting when there was a child in her arms. So she focused on digging up the bush while maintaining her balance with a laughing Itachi in her lap. She was so focused on her self-appointed task, that she didn't feel the assailant's chakra until it was too late.
She put Itachi, who now had the rosebush in his arms, behind her and took a defensive stance in front of him. She straightened out of her stance when she saw a black-haired kid, a little older than Itachi-chan, with the Uchiha fan on his back, dangling from the leg that Madara has in his grasp. The child was swinging wildly at Madara, while the older Uchiha just had a bored look on his face, like hanging a seven-year-old kid from his shin, at arms-length was a daily occurrence to him. And by the shouting coming from the kid, it looked like it was.
"Run Itachi! Take the beautiful lady and run! Save her from this behenoth!" Yelled the kid.
"The word is behemoth, Kagami." Said Madara in a bored tone, while giving her a side glance when she started to giggle behind her hand.
"Behemoth! I knew that you traitor!" Yelled a red-faced Kagami. Sakura, noticing this holds him so Madara can release him. She rearranges him in her arms till she has her arms looped under his armpits and around his chest, with his back to her front so he could face Madara. Holding him is harder than holding Itachi since the latter is considerably … tinier than Kagami.
As soon as he is facing Madara, Kagami points a finger at him and yells, "You left us here! You didn't take us with you!" Cocking her head at Madara when she realized that the kid was no longer playing and was genuinely upset now, she waited for an explanation as she felt Itachi place down his mother's birthday gift and cling to her leg.
She could see the guilt painted on Madara's face.
Madara sighed as he looked into Sakura's emerald eyes, "They wanted to come along. I promised that I'd try my best to bring them but their parents refused." He could see the understanding in her eyes as she hefted Kagami higher in her arms and placed her chin on his head.
"See, Kagami-chan, he tried. It's not his fault." She said kindly to the upset child in her arms. Much to Madara's horror, the kid started to tear up and it looked like he was about to wail loudly. Honestly, if this kid wasn't as un-Uchiha as Izuna …
Thankfully it appeared that Sakura knew her way around kids. She immediately set him on the ground and turned him to face her now crouching form. Itachi, who came closer to stand near his cousin, started to tear up right along with him. Before they could start crying Sakura asked, "Kagami-chan what's wrong?!"
Kagami had enough control to hold back his tears to get a few sentences out, "A-a lot has happened since he left us. We don't know how to handle it or even understand most of it! We really needed him!"
He could only watch helplessly as Sakura hugged both kids and hushed them. By now he was crouched in front of them, angry and wanting to know just what the hell happened while he was away?!
Sakura looked him in the eye while speaking seriously to Kagami, who had his head buried on one side of her neck while Itachi occupied the other, "Listen, Kagami-chan, Itachi-chan told me what happened. I'll be telling Madara-san when we reach the village. There is nothing you should worry about, okay?"
Madara watched as she rubbed their backs and ruffled their hair, kissing their temples while speaking to the children. He was fascinated that they had calmed down when she did so. When she was sure they wouldn't start crying, Sakura stood, picked up the small rosebush from its place on the ground and handed it to Itachi. "Why don't we get going? I bet the group already reached the village. We don't want to worry them." She said with a gentle smile and a tilt of her head. Both boys nodded and, with a huge smile on Kagami's face and a small, tentative one on Itachi's, they started walking ahead of the two adults while talking about the plant in Itachi's arms, all worries seemingly forgotten. He would have fallen for it if their shoulders weren't so tense.
Sakura and Madara followed them, walking side by side. Sakura gave him a sidelong glance while adjusting the strap of her bag, the set of her jaw belying the seriousness of the matter at hand when she spoke, "Madara-san, I know that the village most likely has some celebration ready for Hashirama-nii and Mito, however, after that I need to speak with you. This can't wait, and we need to speak in a place that will guaranty that our conversation stays private."
Madara stiffened. It looks like whatever has these two children worried is bigger than he initially thought. He glanced at her and said, "You can come by to my house after everything settles down. I won't be attending the full ceremony, as I have a lot of work to catch up to. My house has multiple secrecy seals lining the walls that could be activated if need be. We should be safe there."
He barely had enough time to give her directions to his house before she was swept away by an already tipsy Mito, five minutes into their trek through the village.
Sakura stretched as high as she can as she walked to Madara's house. Her shoulder was killing her from all the dragging she was put through. Mito dragging her to celebrate. Hashirama dragging her to take pictures. Tobirama dragging her away from Izuna, then again away from Hashirama who wanted to have a drinking contest. She finally managed to slip away after Tobirama shoved the newly wedded couple into the Senju main house four hours after they arrived to the village.
Man, who knew that the Uchiha could drink so much?! She managed to run into Uchiha Mikoto, who thanked her for the rosebush. Apparently, Itachi had given his mother a detailed description of her. Not that she would be hard to find with her pink hair. The woman was nice enough, and Sakura could hardly believe that she knew of what Itachi had told her earlier that day. But Itachi was adamant that his mother knew and also played a huge role in it.
Sakura sighed as she reached the house Madara described to her. It was in the middle of the Uchiha compound and slightly larger than the others around it, showcasing the head of clan status. She anxiously knocked on the surprisingly modern door, as she felt several eyes on her back. It was slightly late, and she knew how this would be perceived in the eyes of the clan, but she really needed to talk to him as soon as possible. All thoughts left her head when she heard Madara yell from inside the house, "Leave, you shameless woman!"
She had no idea what she did to deserve this. And as she slowly started backing away from the door, hurt evident on her face, because she knows that the neighboring houses heard him and it won't take long for the rest of Konoha to know about this. Her life here is already ruined when she hasn't even been here for a full day!
She stopped in her tracks when the door opened and a mussed up Madara, wearing a house yukata, opened the door and dragged a scantily clad woman behind him and threw her out. She landed on her behind outside his house. Her face was caked with makeup and her demeanor screamed 'prostitute'. Such a shameless woman indeed thought Sakura. But Sakura didn't think that of her because of her profession because only God knows what forced her into it. No, Sakura thought the woman was shameless because she was actively rubbing her legs together and moaning while moving to her knees and trying to get closer to the Uchiha clan head.
"Please, Madara-sama. Let me show you how much I love you!" Said the woman in a voice so thick with lust, even the deaf could hear it.
Sakura felt herself blush when the woman tried to reach for the tie on Madara's clothing. She turned her head, embarrassed. She didn't know why exactly she was embarrassed as she didn't do anything, but she still felt her blush darken all the same. Her head snapped back up in their direction when she heard a sharp slap that echoed around the compound. By now people were coming out of their houses to see what was going on and were looking with disgust at the girl. Sakura didn't know whether to join them or feel pity for her.
She heard murmurs of this being Madara's maid and not an actual prostitute. Now she understood Madara's anger, well more than the obvious. He had trusted this woman to be in his house, cook his food and she turns around and does this.
"Men!" Barked Madara, "Escort this … woman outside the compound." It was obvious to all that Madara was fuming, restraining himself from calling her anything else. And it was obvious to Sakura that the clan were scrambling to obey him, afraid of what he might do in his angered state. As two buff looking men grabbed the woman by her arms and hauled her away, Madara looked at her from the corner of his eye, and she gave him an awkward smile. He tilted his head fractionally in her direction and turned to the rest of the clan, dismissing them with a look and asking one of them to stay. Sakura somehow got the impression that this man didn't like Madara. The rest of the clan turned to leave but still lingered to hear the conversation being held.
How nosey. Thought Sakura with a tilted head.
"I have promised Sakura-san some time with the kids, Fugaku. They seem to like each other after having met earlier." Madara said in a calmer tone to the man, "Do you mind gathering the boys and sending them here? It is rather late, so I would prefer if they could spend the night." And even though it was worded as a polite request, it was clear that Fugaku had no choice.
"Of course, my Lord." Replied the man. He said it in a perfectly polite tone, but it lacked sincerity, which drove further the thought that this man despised Madara, but the latter didn't seem to care. Instead, he turned to her and motioned with his head to the still open door, and said, "Please, excuse this mess. Would you please join me for a cup of tea?"
As Sakura nodded with a small smile, she couldn't help but marvel at how well Madara handles situations. He knows that his clan is a nosey and sexist clan, so he took advantage of that by throwing them a cover story of her wanting to see the kids, and they would believe such a thing because they think that childbearing is all that a woman is good for. That her motherly instincts will require her to seek out children wherever she goes.
And even though such thoughts would normally anger her, she couldn't help but admire the man walking in front of her. How … keen. And a little manipulative. Sakura thought as she gazed at his back in thought.
Madara sighed as he waited for the kettle to boil. Why did this have to happen? He still has trouble processing what happened. He had watched Sakura get swept away by her best friend after they arrived to the village, then he had mingled around enough to show enough face and prove his presence, then he headed home to relax and get a head start on the massive piles of paperwork him and Tobirama had agreed to handle until Hashirama wasn't classified as a groom anymore, which knowing the guy wouldn't be for a while.
When he arrived he had asked the maid to draw him a bath and have his tea ready when he was done washing. He then sat on his porch to enjoy the tea. He lived in the house with Izuna, but knowing his brother, he will most likely not be back tonight. He was thinking about his brother and his womanizing habits when he noticed with a large amount of alarm that he felt unnaturally drowsy. He immediately dispelled the genjutsu being placed on him. Turning abruptly to look behind him, he found what vaguely resembled his maid in horrifyingly scarce clothing, holding a genjutsu seal in her hands. She had a shocked look on her face, which shouldn't have been there in all honesty. His clan made the genjutsu stored in those seals. It shouldn't be too much trouble for any of them to dispel the illusion.
Madara sighed again as he remembered the audacity of that woman. Even after being caught in the act she had still tried to seduce him, getting too close to his face and too handsy for his liking. He had gone out to toss her like the trash he thought she was, only to be shocked to find Sakura there. He vaguely remembered hearing a knock on his door but was too angry to remember properly.
He lifted the kettle when it began to screech, and set about making the tea. He wouldn't be looking for a new maid anytime soon. Prominent clans usually picked up war orphans or abandoned children and gave them a place to live, protection and food to eat. The boys usually grew to become shinobi and fight alongside them in the war while the women either marry into the clan or become housemaids. Almost all maids were from outside the clan, with the odd orphaned Uchiha drawn into the mix.
As Madara set a cup of tea in front of Sakura and activated the privacy seals, he noticed that she was hiding behind her hair and wouldn't look at him. He sat in front of her on a seating cushion, the low coffee table between them, and stared at her, willing her to look at him. Neither touched their teacups and he was growing annoyed.
He finally caught her peeking at him from beneath her lashes but she turned away hastily. Madara furrowed his brows as he saw her shoulders shaking. Was she … laughing?
It looked like she sensed his annoyance because she finally looked at his face, while struggling to hold back her giggles, as she said, "I apologize Madara-san, it's just-" She cut herself off as she let out a small giggle. At his increasingly-annoyed look, she stood up, reaching into her pocket as she made her way around the coffee table, only to kneel to his left with a handkerchief in hand and asked, "May I?"
He was mesmerized by her closeness, it took him a second longer than necessary to nod. She reached forward with the white material and gently wiped his left cheek. Pulling back to show him, he noticed a bright red substance staining the once clean cloth. Well, that explained a lot. He let out a soft snort and she followed with a giggle while reaching forward distractedly to clean his face properly. God only knows how hard lipstick is to remove.
He looked up when he felt her aura shift to include a more solemn edge. She softly murmured to him as she moved to gently rub at other spots on his face and neck, "Madara-san," Gods she was so close he could feel her breath fan his face and he had this unexplainable urge to melt into her presence, "A part of your clan are not happy with your decision to pursue peace with the Senju."
That had Madara on full alert, no longer indulging in his desire to transform into a puddle while she was distracted, and all but ready to fight whoever will stand in the way of all they've worked for so far, "Explain." He demanded of the woman in front of him.
She lowered her hands into her lap and fiddled with her handkerchief as she spoke, "Itachi-chan told me that his father and some of the elders gather at Fugaku-san's house to discuss ways of undoing the treaty. He didn't go into any details because I am still a stranger to him, and the kid is too smart to trust me a hundred percent. I still think he had a moment of weakness when he did tell me what he did."
She was speaking in soft tones, obviously heartbroken by what she was going to say next, and Madara had to lean in so he could hear her properly, "He thought that if he killed himself, his father would be too busy with grief and would postpone whatever he wanted to do. He said that Kagami would know to come and tell you what's going on and you'd handle it. He thought that it was the only way to delay their plans. Madara-san, whatever they have planned, it's going to happen soon."
Madara looked into the eyes of the woman in front of him. She looked devastated by what was going on, but there was a fire in her eyes that drew him in. A fire that says I will fight tooth and nail to prevent this peace from crashing. And he never felt so much respect and admiration for a woman before. He couldn't tear his eyes away from hers even if he wanted to. They gazed deeply into each other's eyes, neither realizing how close their faces are to each other, as they made a silent promise to each other to never allow anybody to destroy the tentative peace between the Uchiha and Senju.
"Are you going to kiss the pretty lady, uncle Madara?" Asked a young innocent voice a few steps away from the other side of the coffee table.
Both jumped in their places and turned to look at the door while trying to put as much space between them as possible without panicking and making things awkward.
"Hello, Kagami-chan." Said Sakura to the child, as she tried to politely ignore his question.
"Hey, Sakura!" They both heard, but not from the child in front of them, the voice came from the open door behind him. He rather enjoyed the confused look on Sakura's face when she heard a childish voice but didn't see the child's lips move. He smirked when Kagami popped up behind the first child and Sakura's eyes went round with shock.
"Twins?" She asked as she turned her too big eyes to him. He nodded and said, "The first one's name is Shisui, you've already met Kagami." He explained softly.
They both turned to look at the twins, only to find them standing in a row, with Itachi in the middle, all three carrying backpacks and observing the adults with heads tilted slightly to the left. Some people found it uncanny how the three of them acted similarly, especially since Itachi isn't directly related to the twins, but he found it- "Adorable" He heard the woman beside him mumble, unknowingly completing his thoughts.
She stood up and headed in their direction, kneeling in front of them and pinching the twins' cheeks, "So, which one is which?" She said playfully. Madara let out a slight smile as he pocketed the white cloth Sakura left behind. He will have to get more information out of Itachi, but for now, let the kids have a little fun. After all, no matter how intelligent they are, they remain kids.
Madara watched Sakura interact with the kids and knew what was going on, but he couldn't be bothered to stop it. And as their untouched tea cups became cold, Madara started to wonder why he would give up on fighting it before it even started.