Chapter TWO

At an age younger than most had expected, Madara had taken his place as the head of the Uchiha clan. The previous head, his father, had died in battle and neither Madara nor Izuna had been willing to been willing to make a wish that reversed the laws of life.

By then, they had come to know that Sakura's wishes came with a price.

The miracles that occurred within the clan had been led back to Sakura and Madara had been forced to keep her within the compound for her safety. During a war as harsh as the one they were currently fighting, anyone would do anything for a miracle.

The losses brought by the war was more than anyone had expected it to be. In what seemed like a blink of an eye, Madara had lost three of his brothers and a countless number of his clansmen.

He often found himself thinking of the times he had spent with Hashirama as a child, dreaming of peace and time beyond the war.

And one day, when a Senju messenger came under a truce, he had ordered his clansmen to invite him in.

The war had taken a toll on both clans and though wary, both sides were willing to try and work their way towards a peace treaty.

Madara and Hashirama had agreed to meet at noon the coming full moon to discuss details. They were to each bring a handful of their clansmen, but no weapons were permitted.

Many of the clan members had disagreed to this, not trusting the Senju to keep their word.

In the end, Madara had managed to convince them by stating that he would bring Sakura along. Sakura's power was limitless and her presence alone seemed to reassure the clan. While reluctant, Madara knew he had to take his clansmen into consideration.

The treaty talk was an important event, but Madara knew that Sakura was the one looking forward to it the most. The Uchiha head didn't like the idea of Sakura's first outing to be on such an important day but was reassured by the fact that it might be safer when there were members from two of the most renowned clans keeping a look out.

Sakura understood the importance of the coming meeting and she understood that she was being brought along, albeit reluctantly, as a safety measure.

However, not even that could dampen her happiness; it was her first time outside in ages!

The moment she stepped out of the house dubbed her room, Madara and Izuna on either side of her, Sakura was greeted with the sight of a countless number of Uchiha shinobi standing on either side of the path leading towards the gates, bowing.

Sakura breathed in deeply, knowing that the air wasn't any different, but it felt as though it was anyways.

Her body still wasn't used moving around a lot and she wondered how far she could travel before she became tired. Madara had put this into consideration, and that was probably why they were leaving hours before the allocated time.

Being early was okay, but being late was unacceptable.

By the time they step out of the compound, Sakura felt like her body was slowly waking up. Though her stamina levels were nowhere near what it had been before, when she ran around gathering medical herbs, but her body was automatically falling into a pattern.

She knew her both her brothers were concerned but she would not let any of this dampen her first outing in years.

As expected, they arrived at the allocated grounds early.

Sakura instantly asked if she could explore, and with some help from Izuna, Madara finally relented.

"Be back before the meeting starts. Do not wander too far. There will be shinobi from both the Uchiha and the Senju around, but there may be other dangers lurking." Madara warned.

"And if something like a Senju does jump you and attack you, scream then wish it into a squirrel, or something." Izuna added.

Madara frowned at his brother, and the younger raised his hands in surrender. Sighing, Madara turned back to Sakura. "Do you understand?" He asked.

Sakura nodded happily and held out her hand.

Madara's stern expression melted away into a faint, gentle smile and he hooked his pinky with hers.

Beside them, Izuna sighed dramatically and shook his head in mock disappointment. "How about me, Kura-chan?"

Sakura offered him her pinky too, and he shook it.

Madara grunted. "At least the 'scream' part is reasonable." He admitted. "Accept a wish, Sakura."

"You could just give an order, Madara-nii-sama."

Madara grunted softly. "I will never order Sakura to do something, not if I can help it."

"Fair enough." Inner chuckled softly. "I guess I'll ask for three strands of hair from three different Uchiha." She said. "The previous wish doesn't cost much."

Madara was quick to do Inner's bidding.

"And your wish?"

"Keep Sakura safe." Madara had some to know that this wish business all came down to wording. How he worded a wish could bring major changes to how things were executed.

Sakura made a 'poof' gesture with her hands, and her chakra signature vanished completely.

Izuna scowled a little, probably remembering the time he had seen a few of his older cousins using chakra detection in a game of hide and seek against a few of the younger Uchiha, only to find out that something he had said prior to the game had triggered a wish on Sakura's part. Izuna had spent the whole day searching for Sakura, and was very upset when she revealed that she had been tailing him the whole time after she had hidden her chakra signature.

In his defense, he was still a young kid.

"Precautions will be taken, of course." Inner laughed. "You have nothing to worry about."

And just like that, Inner went back to being dormant and Sakura smiled happily. "I will be back shortly." She said, before she darted off into the trees.

Unlike his brother, Senju Tobirama wasn't a hundred percent sure about this treaty with the Uchiha.

He too, wanted the war to end, but his brother wasn't always known for thinking ahead. That was his job.

He had been scouting ahead to make sure that the Uchiha had upheld their side of the deal. He hadn't sensed anyone extra, but it was better to be safe than sorry. He felt his brother's chakra signature begin to move and sighed.

What part of 'Wait until I return' did he not understand?

He noted that his brother had entered the meeting clearing and decided to head back, when something flashed at the corner of his vision. It was a young girl, looking around sixteen, with bright pink hair, crouched in the shadow of a tree.

Tobirama instantly recognized that stance.

He had been fighting the users of the same stance for the past few years.

And thanks to his sensory abilities, it was close to impossible for anyone to sneak around without him nothing anyways, and that gave him another reason to be wary, because he had not sensed the girl's chakra.

Even now, with her standing only a few feet away from him, he couldn't sensed her. Had he not been staring at her, he probably wouldn't have noticed her.

Sakura decided that the feeling of grass and dirt was wonderful under her bare feet. She was sure that Madara wouldn't appreciate her tracking mud into the compound, but at the moment, she didn't care.

Sakura twirled around a little, her eyes landing on a patch of wildflowers growing at the root of a tree. She darted over and crouched down, eye wide and glowing.

'The meeting will start soon.' Her Inner said. 'We should head back.'

Sakura nodded, albeit slightly disappointedly, and got to her feet.

She began walking slowly towards the location her Inner was pointing out to her.

'You think we can surprise them?' Sakura asked.

She sensed her Inner shrug. 'Maybe. We can try.'

Sakura lowered herself into a crouch, remembering all the lessons on sneaking around.

She had only taken a few steps when her Inner gave a sharp jerk. 'Someone's coming-'

Suddenly, she felt a slight change in the air flow, and whipped around. She caught a flash of white, before something large and heavy barreled into her. She felt something snatch her wrists and spin her around and she landed heavily on her stomach, her arms twisted painfully behind her.

Her small cry of pain was muffled by a mouthful of grass. Sakura could feel someone's breath hit the back of her neck.

"Who are you?" A deep voice growled out.

Sakura didn't reply. She began struggling, careful not to dislocate her shoulder. Memories of training during her younger days slowly came back to her. However, her attacker didn't seem to be a nobody. He must have sensed the slight tense of her muscles, for his grip tightened.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The voice became even deeper, and Sakura sensed the threat behind his tone.

She let out a pained, fearful whimper and softly called out to her Inner.

Tobirama didn't loosen his grasp even when the girl stopped struggling. He could tell that she wasn't some civilian, for he could tell that she had a built up tolerance against pain.

Also, though too late, she had sensed him just before he had caught her.

He pulled out a kunai and swiftly brought it down, and buried it in the ground next to the girl's face. A small cut appeared on her cheek, not too deep, but enough to draw a little blood. The possibility that she could be a danger to his brother and head of clan allowed him to push away anything he might have felt when the girl whimpered in pain.

"Who are you?" He repeated a third time. "Are you with the Uchiha?"

Suddenly, the girl went limp and Tobirama tensed, knowing that this was a well used tactic to make the opponent relax and catch them off guard.

"Can you not see you are hurting her?"

Tobirama tensed at the unexpectedly mocking voice, so unlike the girl's soft appearance.

"Let go of me."

The words were so quiet, barely a whisper, but Tobirama heard it clearly. One second, he had the girl pinned to the ground, and in the next, he was being flung backwards. He crashed into a tree with enough force to leave a crater, and he slid to the floor, where he sat for a few seconds, shocked.

He noticed the girl scramble to her feet and dart off into the trees.

A split second later, he realized the direction which she was heading towards. He had no idea what had happened, but he shook his head and forced himself to his feet.

So, here's chapter two!

It was slightly rushed, so please ignore any errors, unless it's so bad you can't tell what we're trying to say...

The Shika x Sakura fic is now up! If you haven't yet, please check it out!

The Beauty of Life:

Having been born at a Jashin temple, Sakura had been exposed the the Jashinist ways since she was young. A few days after her ritual of choosing and obtaining Immortality, her temple is attacked, where she is the only survivor and is taken in by Konoha. There, Sakura struggles to fit in and understand the value of life and the beauty in living, instead of simply surviving.

Darque: Right now, I'm supposed to be revising for my mock exams. It started on Monday and it's going to last for two weeks.

Raven: I see...'supposed to be'. How much have you revised?

Darque: Not much.

Raven: Not much?

Darque:...Fine...Not at all.

Raven: That's better.

Darque: Really?

Raven: Not in that way! Like...I knew you weren't revising, so...yeah...

Darque: If you knew, why did you ask?

Raven: I was just hoping...

Darque: When I said I did, you didn't believe me?

Raven: I guess it's just a habit...don't worry, I don't expect much.

Darque: That makes me feel sad and glad at the same time.

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