A/N: Inarizushi, Madara's favorite food, is technically a kind of sushi. You fill an Aburaage pouch (a seasoned, deep fried tofu pouch) with sushi rice and a wide variety of other ingredients (an array of vegetables, a kind of shrimp called Sakura ebi, pickled cherry blossoms, and many more different fillings). They are very sweet, although not considered a dessert, and are a common side dish at many restaurants.
While Sakura had spent a fair amount of time at the Uchiha main household, frequently joining Madara and Izuna for dinners and visiting to drop off supplies and requests for her clinic, she had avoided stepping foot in the sprawling home since the incident after her birthday. She was still unaware of many of the intricacies of social etiquette during this time and, as she made her way up to the head household, she was hyper aware of the eyes of a few passing clan members lingering on her.
Even as she knocked on their front door, she felt as if she were breaking some unspoken rule. As she stood at the entrance to Madara and Izuna's home, nervously running her fingers along the edge of the box she held in her hands, her anxiety swelled. Not only was she concerned that she was breaking some unspoken rule yet again but the gifts she had prepared were also a significant source of apprehension.
She worried over whether or not it was socially acceptable for her to have brought the gift dwelling within the box she held and whether or not she was being too forward. More than anything, however, the weight of the present tucked into the obi wrapped around her waist was the heaviest.
Sakura lamented once again over whether or not it was appropriate for her to have brought it. She had once promised herself that she would make as little an impact on this timeline as she could but, as her stay in the past grew to surpass a year, she could no longer lie to herself and say her existence during this time would not have an effect on the future. Even more, as the number of scrolls she had read increased even farther as well, her hopelessness rose with it.
No matter how hard she worked to discover the key to returning to her time, she was no closer than the day she first arrived in the past. No matter how much information she gathered in her increasingly desperate attempt to return home, nothing brought her closer to her goal. No matter how hard she tried to fight the thought - and the mixed feelings of despair and shameful relief - she began to suspect that she would be trapped in the past forever.
Did it even matter if she affected the timeline anymore? Had she already with everything she had done? Would it be better if she tried to change the course of history? Could she do so even if she wanted to or was the course of reality set in stone?
Would she ever see her home - her friends and her family - again? Was she destined to be here? Was she destined to die here?
Sakura's rapidly escalating thoughts, and the quickly rising nausea building within her, were suddenly interrupted by the door leading inside the Uchiha clan head home sliding open. She started in surprise, once again focusing her attention outward and onto Izuna's confused expression.
"I was wondering who could have been knocking at the front door. Most visitors here use the side doors or barge in uninvited," Izuna commented, his friendly demeanor a sharp contrast to her dark thoughts returning to the back of her mind to be ignored once again.
"Sorry. Next time I'll just barge in then. I'd hate to concern you," Sakura tried to joke in response, drawing an amused huff from the Uchiha.
"I'm surprised you didn't, actually. Madara and I seem to let ourselves into your home whenever we come by," he answered, stepping aside so Sakura could enter his home.
"You've both been much better about it since you walked in on me with my patient that one time."
"Don't remind me…" He closed the door behind her as she slipped off her shoes. "Come on back. We're just working on our fishes."
Sakura followed Izuna down one of the sprawling hallways, her eyes lingering on the trophies and paintings which hung along the walls. Memorabilia from various battles and historical events over the years decorated the walls, a vast array of worn weapons and polished armor interspersed with paintings almost always decorated with the Uchiha clan crest.
As her gaze flicked down the few hallways they passed, she thought of how the massiveness of Izuna and Madara's home made for a lonely feeling.
She could easily tell the head household was built to house an abundant family, including even extended relatives such as aunts, uncles, and grandparents. The emptiness of the house only served to remind her that the two Uchiha clan heads were the last of their branch of the clan and were very much alone. That they had lost their siblings, their parents, their grandparents, and perhaps all but one aunt who chose to live on her own with her daughter and two sons.
"So what did you bring me?" Izuna questioned, slowing down so he could attempt to lift the lid on the box in Sakura's hands.
She shooed away his curious hands. "Hey, it's for both you and Madara. Paws off."
"Then half of whatever it is is mine either way, is it not?" he pressed, earning nothing but an unimpressed look from Sakura in response.
The pair entered a large, shared living room that both brothers frequently occupied, the space already familiar to Sakura. The hearth that rested in the center of the room was unlit, the spring day warm enough without the added heat from the flames. The fusuma which lined the wall were open, allowing the pleasant breeze and the sunshine from outside to fill the space. A small grass training ground was visible outside the open doorway, neatly tucked away in the center of the compound and bordered on all sides by the walls of the house.
When her eyes met Madara's, the Uchiha seated on a cushion at the table near the opened fusuma, he was already gazing up at her with a smile on his face. His fish laid before him, set atop a cloth to protect the wood of the tabletop, and Izuna had a similar set up at the opposite end of the table, although with a scroll decorated with a seal beneath his own carp.
"Hello, Sakura. I'm a bit surprised that you've come to us for a visit," Madara greeted, gesturing for her to sit next to him.
"I just wanted to stop by to drop off a couple of presents," Sakura returned as she came forward to kneel down on the cushion next to the elder Uchiha, Izuna lowering himself back into his own seat as well.
"Presents?" Madara parroted in surprise, eyeing the box that she set on the table.
"I wanted to show you both my support and try to help you both along. I remember how hard these parts were - how tough it was to figure out the basics of medical ninjutsu - and I wanted to help," she explained as she pulled a small, tightly bound scroll from her obi.
"The beginning of medical ninjutsu is all about learning how to modulate your chakra correctly. It's about learning how it feels to manipulate tissue with your chakra. That's why my mentor taught me using fish: the first portion of the training can be life threatening for a human patient," she continued, unwinding the cord wrapped around the scroll.
"The seals are useful since they help teach you how healing is supposed to feel - how it's different from elemental jutsus, genjutsu, and even walking on water. It creates a base that you can work off of. After you start trying to manipulate tissues without the seal though… Well, to put it simply, it helps to have a bit more in depth knowledge."
Sakura unrolled the scroll across the table in front of her, revealing rows of neatly written text interspersed with hand drawn figures and diagrams. Madara and Izuna both leaned in, curious, their eyes flicking across her handwritten notes.
"I hadn't expected you to move along so quickly so I hadn't put together the information that will help you along during this part of the training yet," she half lied, not wanting to bring attention to her inner dilemma or the well hidden secret that spawned it, "So, last night, I put together this brief guide."
"I see," Madara spoke, angling the scroll so him and Izuna could better read her notes. Varying degrees of concentration and confusion painted both of their expressions.
"I mostly go over the various kinds of epithelial cells, the basic framework and functionality of a neuron, and the structures of smooth, skeletal, and cardiac muscle cells along with their reactions to direct chakra based manipulation," Sakura summarized simply as she gestured to the various diagrams she had drawn, unaware of both brothers' befuddled gazes snapping up to her face.
"I left out the various cells in the blood and things like hormones, the more specialized neurons in the brain, and sensory transducer cells since I figured that could be saved for later if either of you wanted to pursue this further. I didn't want to overwhelm you both too much in the beginning," she finished, starting when her eyes rose to meet the gazes of the Uchiha and she was met with looks of utter confusion.
"Sakura?" Izuna began softly.
"Uh… yes?"
"I haven't the faintest clue about any of the things you just spoke of."
"I, er… Guess this is unfamiliar material for you both?" she replied, clearing her throat to fight against the heavy sensation of doubt and regret encroaching on the edges of her thoughts, "Well, it's all detailed in the scroll either way. You could benefit from doing a bit of reading yourself, Izuna. It might help you succeed in figuring out how to mend that cut with the seal."
"I'll keep that in mind," Izuna grumbled, glaring down at his fish with more malice than was appropriate for a dead carp.
"My next present is a bit simpler," Sakura added quickly, desperate to change the topic and to shove down the heaviness building in her chest.
Avoiding the gazes of either of the brothers, she shyly pushed forward the box sitting on the table between them. Madara's curious gaze flicked between her and the box before he reached out and pulled the lid off of the gift.
"Is this...?" Madara began, a slow smile spreading across his lips.
"Yes. Although, I don't know how well they came out since I've never made them before..." Sakura answered, an embarrassed flush building on her cheeks.
Smiling widely now, Madara plucked one of the deep fried rice balls out of the box. With more confidence than he usually had with her cooking, he took a bite out of the treat, soon humming in contentment. Sakura nearly sighed aloud in relief at his satisfied reaction. She was worried that she had made it incorrectly and, considering that inarizushi was Madara's favorite food, she had wanted to leave a positive impression.
Izuna reached over the table to pluck one of the treats from the box and take a confident bite, having used his elder brother as a guinea pig for Sakura's cooking. As he chewed, making a pleased noise behind his mouthful, Madara thoughtfully gazed at the half eaten treat in his hand, a smile lingering on his lips.
"Have I ever told you why these are my favorite?" Madara asked, Izuna noticeably pausing in the second bite of his inarizushi.
"No, I don't think so," Sakura replied, glancing at Izuna.
"My mother used to make these for me when I was a boy," Madara explained softly, Sakura's lips parting in surprise.
His… mother?
With a suddenness that felt jarring, Madara's lingering smile appeared to be bittersweet and Izuna's silence felt heavy.
"She was never allowed to be affectionate with us, considering we were being raised to be warriors. But she would show us her love in other ways. Like making us special foods or teaching us skills. How to cook, how to clean, how to tend to children… Inarizushi always reminds me of her," he revealed, taking another bite of the treat in his hands.
Sakura felt deeply moved by the fact Madara had opened up to her and even more so that it was about something so incredibly personal, about someone he obviously loved dearly who had passed away. She felt at odds with herself, unable to come up with words that felt appropriate for the gravity of the situation.
Floundering mentally, she spoke softly, "I'm glad that I was able to make something that reminded you of something happy, of someone you love... She sounds like a wonderful woman."
Madara nodded. "She was..."
"I'm really happy that they turned out edible too, honestly," she muttered as he finished off the last bite of his treat.
He chuckled deeply. "Better than edible. They're delicious. Thank you, Sakura."
Sakura felt her cheeks heat up even with her lingering surprise. She had expected to just drop off the gifts for her friends and to leave and here Madara had opened up to her about his mother, revealing to her a piece of his rarely talked about and sometimes secretive past.
Sakura cleared her throat and, not knowing what else to say, she replied, "You're welcome…"
As he reached to pluck another inarizushi from the box before him and paused, his eyes flicking up to his brother, Sakura gaze returned to Izuna as well. The younger Uchiha sat in the same position as before, a half finished inarizushi loosely held in his hand. His gaze lingered on the table before him but his eyes were unfocused. The only thing that hinted at his distress was the slight downward tug on the normally harmonic Uchiha's lips.
"Izuna?" Sakura broached softly, her expression pinched in concern.
"Hmm?" Izuna muttered, his far off look disappearing as an expression of calculated indifference settled on his face.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," he assured, a smile stretching across his lips but not reaching his eyes.
It was an expression all too familiar to Sakura. One she had seen hundreds of times back in Konoha, back in her time. One of Sai's smiles. Fake.
Izuna finished off the fried rice ball in his hands, forcing down the mouthful, before returning to work on his fish as if nothing had happened. Carefully ignoring the box of treats on the table, and the knowing look from Madara, he continued work on his task.
Sakura frowned deeply, feeling even more conflicted by her visit.
Izuna felt as if his skin was crawling.
No matter what he tried, he could not wrap his mind around how to mend the gash on the side of his fish. He could not understand any of the notes that Sakura had left them a couple of days previous, unable to even begin to fathom the hidden mechanics of these mysterious cells that he could not even see. Her explanations in her notes made no sense to him, her words written as if in another language entirely.
Even though Madara had understood the meaning behind her writing with the same effortlessness that a newborn doe learned to walk, Izuna could not discern either her texts or the second step to their training. When he had even tried to revisit the first lesson in an attempt to build off of old knowledge, he found himself unable to do even that.
With each minute that passed, every single second ticking by being agonizingly vivid, Izuna's frustration grew. As his irritation built, so did a slowly rising feeling of helplessness. His slowly darkening mood was only made all the worse by the reminder of the death of the most important woman in his life. The death of the person he missed every second he drew breath. The death of the person that afforded him his Mangekyo…
His mother.
Izuna found himself unable to focus, his thoughts torn between a crippling sense of mourning and a feeling of uselessness he hadn't felt since he watched his mother die.
He was an Uchiha. He was never supposed to fail. He was always supposed to succeed in anything he put his mind to. The only time he had been forced to accept that he had failed was when he had been unable to save his mother. So thoroughly failing at this damned training only served to remind him once again of that same sensation of hopelessness. With that sensation of hopelessness came a surge of anger.
With every push of chakra from his body into the fish beneath his hands, a nagging itch within him grew. The once ignorable tingle only became worse and worse until his agitation felt as if it would burn through his chest.
When Izuna finally felt as if he was ready to break - as he teetered on the precipice of choosing to flood his fish with fire instead of ineffective chakra - a soft knock echoing through the house shattered his focus. It was only when he ceased his chakra output that he finally noticed the flaking patch of scorched flesh on the side of his fish, his chakra so forceful and unfocused that he had nearly burned a hole through his carp.
Roughly running his hand through his bangs as he tried to clear his thoughts and his rage, he slowly stood from his place at the low table. Taking a few deep breaths as he walked to the front door, he forced an expression of careful neutrality onto his face.
It would not do for anyone to see how emotionally affected he had been. He was one of the clan heads. He helped lead his family alongside his brother. To show that he had succumbed to his emotions so easily would only sow seeds of doubt in those who looked to him for guidance.
Taking one final breath to clear his lingering thoughts, Izuna opened the door and was surprised to find Sakura behind it once again.
"Oh, Sakura," he greeted lamely, his gaze dropping down to the box she held out for him to take, one very similar to the one she had brought a couple of days previous.
"I'm sorry, I can't visit with you today since I have a few patients who needs my attention. But, I wanted to make sure that I brought you this," Sakura explained with a smile, "I made it this morning. This one's all yours, Izuna."
"What is it?" he asked curiously, moving the warm box to one hand so he could lift the lid.
"Sorry, I really can't talk right now. Come by later though if you want," she replied in a rush, already turning to hurry back to her clinic with a farewell wave over her shoulder.
Before Izuna could say a word in return, he was distracted by an achingly familiar scent wafting out of the box. His gaze slowly dropped down to the gift in his hands before he lifted the edge of the lid and peeked inside. When he finally saw the contents within, he couldn't help but smile.
Sakura had made him tonkatsu. His favorite food.
The deep fried pork cutlets appeared to be edible and the familiar scent brought him back to his childhood. To a time before the darkness of the never ending war with the Senju. To a time spent with his mother.
All of the frustration, the anger, and the sorrow that had infested his body not even a minute before washed away as the loving memories of his mother surfaced, even if for just a moment. The itch that threatened to burn it's way through his chest died away, instead replaced with a warmth for the woman he could proudly call his closest friend.
A smile still lingered across his lips as he carefully replaced the lid on the box and returned inside to eat a meal he hadn't had since he was a child.
Sakura truly was something else...
The latest task that Sakura had assigned Madara had been nearly as difficult as the first. The Uchiha hadn't realized how big of a handicap the seals had been until he had been forced to mend the cut on his fish without using it as an aid. The seals had been incredibly helpful while learning to modulate his chakra, like being given a cup to fill a bucket with water from a stream. Now, without the seals, it was like attempting to fill that bucket with his bare hands: sloppy, arduous, and irritating.
Both him and Izuna had poured over the texts that Sakura had gifted them with, the information within as innovative as it was complex. Using her detailed explanations of the variety of cells and their reactions to chakra manipulation, he had gained a deeper understanding of the process of healing. He now understood what he had once done through nothing but sensation and trial and error alone.
It felt as if he had previously been wildly swinging a sword but Sakura's texts had been like giving him a lesson of proper stance and form. What he had once accomplished on instinct he could now easily recreate with understanding.
While he had readily been able to decipher Sakura's writing and apply it to his technique, Izuna had no such luck. He continued to struggle to mend the gash in his fish with no avail and, when he attempted to return to the first step of their training in an attempt to build off of old knowledge, he was unable recreate his progress from before. He could sense Izuna's rapidly rising anger at being unable to succeed - something that had always come to him so easily - and he hoped his brother would find some peace before he lost control of his temper.
Using Sakura's scroll as a guide, it was two weeks until Madara finally mended the gash on his fish without the use of seals. It was a success that filled him with an unbridled sense of accomplishment but also filled his sibling with ever increasing frustration.
After slashing cuts into the side of his fish and mending them once again nearly a dozen times, Madara felt confident enough in his technique to share his success with Sakura. Leaving his agitated brother to his own devices, Madara went to visit with their medic and, when he arrived, he came across her treating a young girl for bruises sustained during training.
Politely waiting for Sakura to finish, he considered the young girl being treated. She couldn't have been older than ten, meaning that it would still be some time before the spindly young woman fought in the war. She was covered in bruises and dirt, her filthy pants torn at the knees and her high collared shirt nearly hiding the scrape on her chin.
She would make a fine warrior one day.
Not even a century ago, however, this young girl wouldn't have even been allowed to train.
In ancient times, when the laws preventing women from taking part in the battles had first been enacted, the reasoning behind them had been logical: The women had been far too valuable to lose in the battles. During the time before interbreeding had been deemed unacceptable and perverse, the loss of a precious Uchiha woman brought their entire family closer to oblivion.
If twenty men left to fight and only five returned, the clan would survive. If twenty women left to fight and only five returned, that could mean the extinction of their bloodline.
Time progressed and, once defects and miscarriages became more commonplace than healthy births, interbreeding was scorned. The clan realized that their survival was dependent on condemning the practice they once considered a necessity. This change in clan policy also meant that women should have been able to choose whether they desired to take part in battle as their deaths were not as monumental as they once were.
Instead, however, the male leader of the clan at the time had felt threatened by this attitude, worried his leadership would be overthrown by a woman, and refused to allow the women of the clan to learn to fight. A great many of the Uchiha men, used to being above the women, had agreed with this sentiment. As the generations of women leading up to the current population had not learned to fight while every man had been trained for battle since birth, the women had been forced into subservience.
Until one of Madara's distant predecessors, Tetsuo Uchiha, had taken over control of the clan and had instigated a revolution.
It had been during a time when the Senju's had been lead by one of the most ruthless and deadly women in history, Shun Senju. She had been a brilliant tactician and had shown no mercy to her enemies. She had cut a bloody swath through the country, very nearly bringing the Uchiha to their knees.
The leader of the Uchiha at the time, Tetsuo, had done away with old laws which had prevented the women in the clan from joining in the battles. He had recognized, with no small amount of shame, that Shun Senju was just as powerful and intelligent as he was and that the women in his own clan had just the same capability for prowess in battle as her and himself.
Tetsuo had listened to the outraged cries of the Uchiha women who mourned the deaths of their fathers, brothers, and sons and who wished to join the war to seek revenge and protect their family. Despite a near revolt from furious men who wished to maintain their dominion over the women, a dominance they would have sacrificed their own lives and the lives of their family to maintain, he had given the women the freedom to fight if they wished. Every woman in the clan – young and old alike - had fervently taken to the challenge, startling the men with how quickly they took to the art of death and the bloodlust they brought to the battlefield.
Little did they know that their sorrows had already afforded them their sharingan.
This army of Uchiha women turned the tides of war, preventing the extinction of their clan, pushing back the Senju, and even leading to the death of the Senju matriarch on the battlefield. Shun had finally fallen to the hands of Ryoko Uchiha who, by proving herself as the strongest member of the clan, would become matriarch of the Uchiha's immediately following the battle.
As the story went, Tetsuo had proudly stepped down, cordially accepting that Ryoko had earned her place as leader, and the women never returned to subservience with their newfound strength.
As Madara watched Sakura, the most powerful kunoichi he had ever met, heal the young Uchiha girl, he wondered if his relative would one day prove herself in battle and take leadership of the clan from him as Ryoko had done to Tetsuo all those years ago.
Mostly, he just hoped the young girl would outlive him.
He certainly would try his damndest to make sure. While Tetsuo had caused an upheaval in the clan which saved them from oblivion and allowed for equality to finally take root, Madara had been a revolutionary himself.
Despite having abandoned his childhood dreams of peace, one aspect of those dreams that he put into action as leader of his family was preventing the deaths of the children in his clan. Instead of children being forced into battle at the age of four, or whenever the armor finally fit, Madara refused to allow an Uchiha to see the battlefield until at least their thirteenth birthday. Children who already knew of war were pulled from the ranks and forced to train instead of fight.
This had resulted in a near insurrection from the rest of the clan who struggled to survive in the never ending battles and who were outraged at the loss of so many fighters. Madara was certain that the only reason he hadn't been usurped immediately was because of his newly awakened mangekyo sharingan and the fear his own clan mates felt at the power he now wielded.
Madara had taken it upon himself to make up for the loss of nearly a quarter of their fighting force, pushing himself far beyond his limits and fully taking advantage of the abilities his newly awakened powers had afforded him. His eyesight had deteriorated so quickly in those first couple of weeks that he had struggled to adjust to the damage for months.
The battles had become much easier when Izuna had awakened his mangekyo as well.
Luckily, Hashirama had taken over leadership of the Senju shortly after Madara had become leader of the Uchiha and had implemented the very same practice change. Neither side sent their children to war any longer.
Despite knowing that he would one day be forced to kill his childhood best friend, Madara was incredibly grateful to Hashirama for at least joining him in removing their young family members from the battlefield. They may never know peace but at least children no longer had to fight to the death. At least they had accomplished that much of their shared dream.
As Madara watched over the two kunoichi sitting in Sakura's clinic, the young Uchiha made eye contact with him.
He blinked at her curiously as a sly smile lit up her face, the smirk on her lips insinuating some secret held within her mind. He quirked an eyebrow at the young kunoichi, earning an outright grin in response. The young girl glanced over at Sakura before looking back to Madara with a knowing look.
Madara's eyebrows came together in exasperation as he huffed in annoyance at the girl. The little brat just giggled, looking away as Sakura finished her healing session by whisking away the scrape on the young girl's chin.
"Alright, all better. You go give those boys hell, you hear me?" Sakura grinned, patting the Uchiha kunoichi on the head.
"I will! Thank you, Sakura-sensei," the young girl replied, rapidly shooting to her feet and heading towards the door Madara lingered in.
She bowed to him before she passed, her respectful gesture a stark contrast to her taunting behavior from before. The dark haired man resisted the childish urge to flick the little brat in the forehead for having the gall to tease him about Sakura of all things.
Instead, he returned her bow cordially, although his was much shallower.
"Show no mercy, little one," he instructed under his breath, low enough to where Sakura wouldn't hear.
She perked up with a grin, which he returned, and a nod before darting passed him and back towards the grounds where the children trained. His smile warmed and he shook his head as he turned his attention back to Sakura.
"Teaching the girls of the clan your ruthlessness I see. I can't say that I don't approve. Although you do realize that will result in more work for you?" Madara greeted, taking a few steps inside.
"So be it. It's important that she stands up for herself and doesn't let anyone push her around," Sakura asserted strongly as she finished cleaning up what little mess she had made with her newest patient.
He knew better than to ever try to push around Sakura. She would happily rip his face off just to sew it back on backwards.
"A good lesson to learn. Uchiha kunoichi are the most powerful in the nation and should be treated as such."
"And don't forget that Uchiha pride to," Sakura teased as she moved from her clinic and headed towards the open fusuma leading outside.
Madara followed closely behind, still lugging his motionless but undamaged fish. "Pride that is well earned."
She shook her head in amusement as she sat down on the edge of her engawa, sighing happily as a cool breeze washed through. Madara took a seat next to her, holding his fish over the edge of the engawa.
"So, I see you brought your fish again. Were you able to heal it without using the seals?" Sakura asked, eyeing the carp.
"I did. Nearly a dozen times," he replied simply, grinning smugly as he turned the creature so she could see how the fish was undamaged.
Her face immediately lit up. "Wow, that's incredible! There's not even any scars left behind! And this took you what, two weeks?"
Madara quietly preened at her compliments, his chest swelling with pride. While Sakura's praise was not something hard won, her kind words still touched a note within him. After growing up as a warrior in his clan and receiving little praise or affection throughout his entire life, the ease in which she bestowed her warmth onto him always left him feeling light headed.
"This is so well done, I'd say it's time that you practiced on a human patient," Sakura decided, nodding to herself.
"Oh, do you have another patient waiti-" he began, his words trailing off when she formed a chakra scalpel in her hands, his self-satisfaction rapidly morphing into apprehension.
Madara's jaw dropped when Sakura slashed the chakra scalpel across her own forearm.
His mind blanked as his fish fell from his hands and dropped off the edge of her engawa, her action so unexpected that it took him a moment to realize that she had just cut herself. It took her pained grimace, and the sight of crimson blood gushing out of her new wound and onto the grass beneath the engawa, for his thoughts to finally catch up.
And for a sudden panic to set into his bones, adrenaline immediately pumping through his veins.
"Good gods, don't fucking do that," Madara commanded even as his hands shot forward to attempt to heal the injury she had given to herself.
His hands glowed green with healing chakra as he set about mending the gash. He felt frantic even as he did so, his heart pounding in his chest. He knew this injury was hardly life threatening but the only other time he had seen her blood was when they had first met. Even though they often sparred together, neither him nor his brother had ever drawn blood from her.
To see the vibrant red fluid freely flowing from her wound made him feel panicked.
"Oh, I think that's the first time I've ever heard you cuss!" Sakura teased, laughing jovially as he worked to mend the cut on her forearm.
"And I believe this is the first time I've seen someone gouge open their own arm!" he berated in response, his concern for her darkening his tone more than he wished.
As if sensing his inner turmoil, her laughter faded and her voice changed to a tone more befitting a debate. "People cut themselves all the time for summoning jutsus. Sometimes there needs to be a small sacrifice to accomplish something greater."
"Biting their thumb to draw a drop of blood is much different from slashing their own arm to test a healing jutsu!"
"Is it?" She quirked an eyebrow. "How else would you learn? We can wait for more severe injuries such as broken bones as long as I'm there to supervise you. But insignificant injuries such as these? A little cut like that is nothing when the payoff is you learning."
Madara huffed instead of responding.
Of course he saw her point. What had concerned him was watching her hurt herself. He couldn't find it in himself to admit that his worry stemmed from his love for her, not her teaching methods.
His eyes drifted down to assess Sakura's nearly mended wound, her blood glistening in the green glow from his healing jutsu. When he noticed how crisp his vision was, how comparatively pristine his eyesight was in comparison to his normal darkened and blurry vision, he realized that he had activated his sharingan. He couldn't even remember when he had done it but suspected it was when she had first cut herself.
When Madara looked back up to her face, her expression was much softer, as if she sensed his inner turmoil. She didn't shy away from his sharingan, instead gazing into his eyes directly and without fear.
"If anything happened, I'm more than capable of healing myself. Don't worry about it," Sakura comforted softly, her low tone making for a suddenly intimate feeling moment.
Forcing himself to calm down, and to remember his promise to himself, his gaze returned to her wound and her arm still cradled in his hands and still dripping blood although it no longer flowed from her self inflicted wound. He could feel the warmth from her skin but could also feel the warmth of her blood coating the palms of his hands.
Madara's lips pressed into a flat line, refusing to admit that his concern for her wasn't based on some perceived lack of skill either. When his lips parted, it wasn't to speak but rather to release a sigh. When he released his lungful of air, he also released the chakra in his eyes, allowing his sharingan to fade back into inactivity.
He changed the subject to hide his concern.
"Perhaps we could use some kind of animal again instead?" he grumbled as he pulled his hands away from her now healed arm, watching as Sakura lifted her arm to inspect his work.
"Unfortunately we can't use fish or any kind of animal anymore. They work pretty well for learning what healing is supposed to feel like and how to begin to manipulate tissues but, after that, not so much. Animals, especially fish, have a much different anatomy and physiology than us humans," she answered, flexing and extending her arm as she tested the healed skin, "If we kept working with fish, you'd just learn how to get really good at healing fish."
Silently sighing, Madara turned his focus back to the grove of plum trees before them in displeasure.
"I'm really impressed with your work. You did such a good job that I don't even have to go over it again. I didn't even need to have to help you modulate your chakra, you did it perfectly on your own," Sakura complimented with a smile, running her thumb through the slowly drying tracks of blood to reveal the flawless skin beneath.
The corner of Madara's lip quirked up in a muted sense of satisfaction although it quickly fell a moment later. He couldn't quite bring himself to feel contented with her praise with her arm still coated in her own fresh blood. When he glanced down at his hands, decorated in her cooling blood, the sense of dread returned.
Even if she was going to leave him one day to pursue bigger and better things once her contract with them ended and even if he could never tell her how he felt because of it… He would do anything in his power to keep her safe.
He never wanted to see her blood again.
Both of the brothers sat on the engawa bordering the grass training yard in the center of their home. The sun was close to setting, the sky brightening with shades of reds and oranges and lighting up the clouds. While the spring air was chilling as the sun retreated for the day, it remained comfortably warm.
As Izuna leaned against the wall of their home, his eyes lingering on the setting sun which was rapidly disappearing behind the roof of their home, Madara worked on healing the cuts and bruises he had received during their spar. Over the course of the past few weeks, as he trained with Sakura and her patients to learn the finer aspects of the beginning of the Mystical Palm Technique, the elder Uchiha had become quite proficient at healing small cuts, bruises, and abrasions; something he took full advantage of to heal even himself following their spars.
Once finished, the green glow of chakra dying down, Madara's eyes drifted across the minor wounds which remained on his younger brother's arms.
"You gave up too quickly. Don't you wish you were capable of healing such wounds on your own?" he teased, quirking an eyebrow at his sibling as he rested his elbow on his knee and his chin in his palm.
"I have no interest in continuing to waste my time struggling to understand an impossible technique. It doesn't make sense, it's all gibberish," Izuna growled, his gaze flicking away from the sunset to level his brother with an aggravated look.
"You could always visit with Sakura, I'm certain she would be more than happy to help you understand it. Her explanation of chakra based manipulation of neurons was especially fascinating."
"I believe she was correct when we first began. Either you understand it or you do not and I'm not so prideful as to be unable to accept what I am and am not capable of."
"That's remarkably humble of you," Madara teased, knowing full well the extent of his brother's pride.
"Tch! I'm exceedingly humble!" he shot back with a glare, his aggravation only revealing how his failure to understand the basics of healing jutsu truly wounded his ego.
Feigning nonchalance, despite his quiet temper, Izuna lied, "Besides, I was only interested in learning this sober up jutsu and in beating you in the competition."
"And who was the winner of that competition?" Madara questioned rhetorically, a smug grin spreading across his lips.
The younger Uchiha sighed deeply in exasperation, pinching the bridge of his nose as his eyes slid shut.
"The point is, if I ever get seriously hurt, I'll just go to Sakura. Or you now, apparently... Speaking of." Izuna held out his arm to his sibling, displaying the lazily bleeding gash he had earned while guarding against an attack, all while refusing to meet his gaze.
Madara huffed out a laugh, taking Izuna's arm in his hands and beginning the mend the cut.
As the green chakra illuminated them both in an ethereal glow, Izuna teased under his breath, "Besides, I'd hate to be the third wheel while you try to impress her. I know you enjoy your alone time."
Madara flushed in embarrassment and agitation, glaring up at his younger brother. With his focus drawn away from his jutsu, his chakra output fluctuated, burning Izuna.
"Ow! Hey!" Izuna complained, jerking his arm back.
"I am not trying to impress her! I'm learning a valuable skill!" Madara asserted, jabbing a finger at him.
Izuna grinned in glee as Madara took the bait, even as he cradled his freshly injured arm. "Uh-huh. That's why you preen like a peacock every time she compliments you."
"I do not preen," he hissed, his eyes narrowing.
"You do. I've seen it. You preen with such intensity that even your hair fluffs up like a bird."
Izuna quickly dodged a swat aimed at the back of his head with a laugh. Madara moved to stand from his place sitting on the engawa, prepared to rekindle the spar they had just finished.
"But seriously…" Izuna started, holding up his hands in surrender to halt to inevitable fight in order to speak honestly.
"I've never seen you so enamored with someone," he began, Madara moving to attack him once again, "Wait, wait, I'm not finished!"
The elder Uchiha returned to his sitting position with a huff, giving his younger brother a look that communicated that whatever Izuna had to say had better be good.
"What I'm saying is that I like her. Her cooking is a hit or a miss most of the time, she yells a lot, and she's terrifying when she's angry, but she's thoughtful... I haven't had anyone make me tonkatsu since mother died… I…" Izuna sighed as Madara's face fell, the energy draining out of the both of them in the face of their sorrow.
"I still miss her..." the younger Uchiha finished, his words nearly inaudible.
Madara's reply was equally as quiet, as if admitting that they still mourned and missed their mother was a weakness to be kept secret. "I miss her as well…"
Silence reigned for a long moment, both brothers staring off into the training yard but focusing on nothing.
It was Izuna who broke the silence. "You know… I think they would approve of her."
Madara's eyebrows shot up in surprise as his gaze flicked back to his sibling.
As Izuna continued, a bittersweet smile grew on his face. "Mother would certainly adore her. She makes us our favorite foods, teaches us things like she used to, takes care of us in ways we never asked… Father would like her as well but not just because she's powerful. She's a master of what she does, she's confident, she doesn't tolerate people trying to put her down… He would probably try to fight her, actually."
Both brothers laughed, knowing that their father certainly would have. Their mirth broke the emotional atmosphere, the air much lighter around them.
"He certainly would have…" Madara agreed with an amused smile.
A much more comfortable silence grew between the brothers for a long moment, their smiles remaining on their faces. For the first time since their parents had died and they had been left with no one but each other, they were able to look back on the memories of their mother and father warmly.
"She's the kind of woman who would make a good wife. A good mother…" Izuna began seriously, pausing for a long moment before finally finishing, "A good matriarch."
Shock welled up in Madara at his younger brother's words. He was stunned to hear Izuna admit that he considered a non-Uchiha to be his equal, something the cocky man had never done before. Madara wanted to fall back on teasing in the tense moment but recognized Izuna's words for what they were: he accepted Sakura as family and had given Madara his blessing.
The elder Uchiha wanted to say a hundred things in response, some of them darkened by the thought Sakura would be abandoning them. That she would never stick around anyways.
She would. She's perfect. Thank you. I'm ecstatic that you accept her. She would make an excellent sister as well as an excellent matriarch. She will never stay. She will not stay for me. She will abandon both of us. She will abandon me. I love her but I will let her find her happiness.
Instead, Madara said nothing at all. He reached over to drop his hand on Izuna's shoulder. Squeezing tightly, he tried to convey everything he wanted to say through touch alone.
Understanding in a way only a sibling could, Izuna smirked at him and nodded. The younger Uchiha patted the hand on his shoulder before they both retreated from the rare affectionate contact.
They were quiet for some time, watching as the setting sun finally disappeared behind the roof of their home.
"But brother?" Izuna started, breaking the calm.
"Hmm?"
He silently held out his still bleeding and now burned arm, drawing laughter from Madara as he began healing the wound once again.
A/N: Tetsuo, the name of the Uchiha patriarch who gave the women the freedom to fight, means "wise man". I named him such because it was his wisdom that allowed him to realize that women and men are equal and that keeping the Uchiha women from the battlefield was not only a hindrance but was wrong. Ryoko, the name I gave to the first Uchiha matriarch, means "a woman who is like a dragon". This is because it was her ferocity (and skill with fire jutsu) that allowed her to kill Shun Senju.
Shun, the name I gave to the Senju matriarch who nearly laid waste to the Uchiha, means "talented". This is because she was an incredibly talented woman whose intelligence and strength nearly lead to victory for the Senju. The reason that the Senju never dealt with this inequality between the men and women is because they do not have a bloodline trait like the Uchiha. Since they don't have a bloodline trait, they were always free to marry and have children with whoever they wanted. Because of this, the women of the clan never had any heightened importance over the men and were always allowed (and expected) to take part in war.
Psst for those who read my author's notes: Hashirama, Tobirama, and Toka make their appearance in the next chapter.