Madara cast his brother a look of annoyance before turning his attention back to the growling pink haired girl at his feet.
"You're going to come back to the compound with us girl." He started but was soon cut off with an amused snort from said girl.
"Like hell I am." She snapped the ropes that he had bound her wrists with and jumped to her feet throwing a punch out all in one fluid motion.
Madara leapt back from the attack.
"You tie ropes like a girl Uchiha!" Sakura taunted from several feet away.
Izuna started to laugh again but stopped and coughed up a bit of blood..
Sakura paused in her taunting of the spiky haired monster and looked at his younger, more polite brother.
"Are you hurt from my entrance to this world?" She asked, not unkindly but forcefully.
"Entrance? Yes, I believe I am." Izuna coughed again as if on cue, turned to the side away from her field of vision and spit out some blood.
Sakura jumped down from her tree and strode over to the slimmer younger Uchiha with a look of concern in her eye.
So surprised was Madara by her sudden change in mood he let her walk past him without a word.
Sakura stopped in front of Izuna, "I can heal you, it was my fault, though not on purpose mind you." She tried to smile in a brief apology for falling out of the sky and injuring him.
"Not at all flower." He flirted with her shamelessly.
Sakura rolled her eyes at the attempted flirting which made Izuna grin at her and Madara roll his own eyes in turn.
Her hand glowed green with healing chakra as she lifted it to Izuna's face and touched him lightly over his eyes. Madara watched in suspicious fascination as the swelling disappeared and the redness faded.
"Your optic nerves are fried and damaged. I can heal those for you too if you like but I'll need more chakra for that, it will take much more than I have right now." She mumbled out as she moved to heal the cut on his chest.
"You can heal the Sharingan?" Madara blurted out, his dignity forgotten momentarily.
"Of course I can. I'm the best fucking medic in the world right now." Sakura said smugly and turned her attention back to Izuna who had his eyes closed and was thoroughly enjoying her attentions to him.
Madara looked at her in surprise at her claim, the only known medic in the world was Senju Hashirama.
"Take a deep breath." Sakura instructed.
Izuna opened his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Exhale slowly." She commanded much to his amusement.
"Good, now let's see." She hummed to herself.
"Everything else looks okay , some minor bruising but it can't be helped, I'm running low on chakra as I said so maybe later." She lowered her hand and smiled at him.
"Thank you Lady Sakura." Izuna bowed slightly to her in respect.
Sakura blushed and smiled making her look more like the young woman she was rather than the hard doctor she tried to portray herself as.
"I have a cut across my ribs." Madara said, stepping forward.
"I'm sure you won't die from it either." She bit back, her face falling back into a hard exterior.
"You healed my brother." Madara protested.
"He isn't a big headed ass." She put her hand on her hip and leaned over a bit glaring at him.
Secretly, Madara thought he had never seen anything more adorable in his life but outwardly he was officially offended.
"I command you to heal my wound." He folded his arms over his chest and glared at her.
Sakura threw her head back and laughed out loud. Izuna stifled a small snicker and looked away when his brother's gaze snapped to him.
"I've never taken commands from an Uchiha, and I'm not going to start now, asshole." She smirked at his drop jaw reaction.
Sakura and Madara stood there glaring at one another until Izuna coughed pointedly.
"If you're done flirting with one another, I'm hungry and would like to go back to the compound. Perhaps you would like to join us Lady Sakura?" Izuna asked her with a small smile on his lips.
Sakura flushed a bright red and was just about to incline her head and accept the offer when Madara openly scoffed.
"I was not flirting with her, if anyone was flirting it was you, and Lady? She isn't a lady, what kind of lady speaks like that and shows such little respect to a clan lord?" Madara was annoyed. Why did she seem to like his little brother so much more than him?
"If being a lady means acting weak, and holding my tongue I'd rather be a peasant, be strong and say whatever I damn well please, but lady or not, I'm not taking shit from you." She all but stuck her tongue out at him.
"You little brat you, little you you…"Madara stuttered.
"Sassy pink haired freak?" Izuna offered, winning him a glare from both Madara and Sakura this time.
Izuna didn't bother waiting, he started off toward the compound assuming they would either follow or they wouldn't.
He snickered to himself as he heard them grumbling and exchanging small insults back and forth all the way back to the compound. Both red in the face with anger and frustration, he waved the guards away and they passed through the compound gates much to the interest of all the Uchiha who stopped in their daily routine to watch the strangely dressed woman speaking harshly to their clan head and his brother who seemed to be ignoring it all.
"Stop snarling at one another like dogs long enough to order, you're attracting attention." Izuna grinned at them as they looked up from their verbal battle to notice they were within the compound and standing before a food stand.
Madara smoothed his clothes down and sat down on the bench effectively taking up too much room so that Sakura had to sit next to Izuna. Izuna didn't mind.
Sakura rifled through her pouch a bit and came up with a bit of money."Do they take this kind of money here?" She held the Konoha money out for their inspection.
"No." Madara said shortly not bothering to look.
"How unusual." Izuna picked up one of the coins in Sakura's hand to look at it more closely.
"Don't worry about payment, I will pay for you as a thank you for healing me. But where are you from, I have never seen coins like this before." Izuna looked at her with renewed fascination.
"I'm a long way from home. I was, we were, my village and many others were fighting a war and...there was the Rabbit goddess, she used a jutsu and I came...I'm not sure how to get back." Sakura bit her lip and looked away from the two brothers.
Madara for the first time since he had met her looked at her with sympathy.
"So you, don't know where any of your friends are? Your family?" He asked her, his voice kind for once.
Sakura turned to him with blank eyes, "No."
"I'm sorry. Family is important." He looked almost embarrassed as he said it and she softened a bit.
"Family is important, and friends, and my village." She looked down at her hands.
She was confused. She had obviously been sent back in time. This Madara was nothing like the one she knew in her time. She had never heard of Izuna before and didn't know what to expect but she liked him, he reminded her of Sasuke a little, but he smiled much more and was nicer...okay so maybe not so much reminder to her in actions but in looks.
So deeply engrossed with her own thoughts the subtle looks and silent conversation of the two brothers went unnoticed until Izuna cleared his throat and said kindly, "Perhaps until you get word from one of your friends or family members, you might consider staying with us? Here at the compound?"
"Here?" She said surprised.
"Only if you like, and only until you can go home." Madara added not wanting his brother to steal all the credit.
"Oh, um, maybe." She said as a young girl came up to the table bowing low to take their orders.
The food was delicious, Sakura had been starving. There had been little food left during the war, the surrounding lands like most others had been ravished and destroyed. The armies had taken what they had needed as they moved like a plague across the lands, the civilians had parted with as much as they could, knowing it was all for the greater good. Even with all the unity, even with the united hope for a brighter future, crops needed time to grow and farmers to work the land. War destroyed, peace replenished.
Sakura bit her lip filled with guilt. Here she was eating white rice wrapped in seaweed, rich mushroom soup and dango when there hadn't been white rice for the troops for months, they had been eating millet, chicken feed for longer than Sakura cared to remember and that on half ration. The rice caught in her throat and she choked.
Izuna pretended not to notice her struggle, but Madara stared at her openly, curiously.
"Tell me about this war of yours." He said,
"It is not my war. We didn't ask for it, nor did we want it." Her voice came out harder than she had meant, but she didn't care. Her war? It was his fucking war! He didn't know that though, the reasonable , the logical side of her brain told her but she ignored it and glared at him.
"Brother." Izuna said carefully.
Madara opened his mouth to say something but looked once more at the girl who had looked away and was scowling at a tree in the distance, and shut his mouth.
"Like I said Sakura chan, you are more than welcome to stay here, at the compound with us, if you like. I understand if you chose to find lodging elsewhere though." Izuna said calmly hoping to take her mind from her dark thoughts.
"If you do choose to leave, we will not stop you, but allow us to provide you with a bit of money? Your money, I am sorry to say will not likely be accepted by many in the land of Fire." Izuna was a kind hearted sort, gentle and he was quickly becoming rather fond of this brash, confusing young woman.
"Thank you Izuna kun." Sakura returned the endearment with a small smile.
"I would greatly appreciate that. I do not wish to impose upon your goodwill, I am flattered and fully aware of the depth of your offer. It pains me but I must refuse the lodging. I need to find out, to see for myself, if I might be able to find my way home." Her words were polite, cultured and refined. She spared a glance at Madara and a small smirk which completely ruined the effect as far as Izuna was concerned but Madara seemed to find it humorous.
"So, you do know how to speak like a Lady, you simply choose, what, not to?" He was baiting her and they both knew it.
"I talk as I see fit, to those around me. If you talk down to me, I'll talk down to you, show me respect, and I will give you nothing less." She said sweetly earning her a laugh from Izuna and a slow smile from Madara.
"Well said love." Madara continued to smile at her.
"If your travels prove to be unsatisfying, please return to the compound, you will be welcome here." Madara said plainly without any snark or hidden meaning.
Sakura gracefully inclined her head to him.
"If I may suggest one thing." He paused and she lifted her head to him in inquiry.
"I think you look lovely but others might not share my opinion, you may wish to purchase a change of clothes for your travels. I mean you no offense, but it will draw less attention to you." Madara added when he saw the glint of defiance building in her eyes.
"Ah, perhaps you're right." She acquiesced.
Izuna motioned to their server.
"Izuna Sama?" The young girl bowed low.
"A change of clothes for the Lady please. Black with white trim, a green sash and...regular shinobi gear, not kunoichi mind you." He paused.
"Sakura, besides your beautifully powerful and dangerous hands, what other weapons are you versed in?" Izuna asked her.
Bewildered Sakura answered him, "Katana"
"One unmarked Katana of good quality. Please be sure that there are no clan symbols on the clothing. Quickly, now go." Izuna dismissed the young girl who fled out into the street.
"What was that?" Sakura asked confused.
"You will need clothes, I am making sure you have them before you leave. A good weapon of good quality will make both my brother and I feel much better while you are gone." Izuna said as if she ought to have known these things.
She mused if she was from this time, perhaps she ought to have.
"It was not necessary, I would have done as you suggested and gotten different clothes." She said without heat or animosity.
"Now you don't have to." Madara sipped his tea and smiled at her serenely.
"Uchihas, so bossy." She laughed.
"Known a few of us I take it?" Izuna asked her playfully.
Sakura's smile faded from her face, "Two, only two and they are...one is gone and the other, I hope I make it back in time to see him alive."
Madara and Izuna shared a look but said nothing.
Their meal had just finished when the young girl returned with Izuna's requested items. Sakura unwrapped the clothes and marveled at their quality and beauty. Izuna smiled into his tea cup at her evident pleasure.
"Go put them on." Madara suggested.
"Please Lady, if you will follow me, there is a room in the back you may use to change." The young girl bowed low to Sakura, as low as she had bowed to Izuna earlier and Sakura flinched.
"Thank you, but please, there is no need to rest on formalitty, please call me Sakura." Sakura smiled in what she thought was a kind way but the girl blanched and cast a wary look to both Madara and Izuna.
"Lady, I couldn't possibly." The young girl stuttered and Sakura rolled her eyes.
She followed the girl to the room indicated and changed.
"She is a bit odd isn't she, the way she speaks, and the way she refuses to be respected." Izuna said after he was sure Sakura couldn't hear them.
"Yes odd, she will not allow a servant to bow to her but to me she speaks venom and fire." Madara glowered.
"Quit pouting Madara, it means she likes you." Izuna teased.
"She hates me." Madara continued to pout.
"I don't think she hates you, but maybe she would like you more if you pulled your head out of your ass when you speak to her, what the hell were you thinking demanding she tell you about the war her people are fighting?" Izuna asked, giving him an exasperated look.
"Quiet, she comes." Madara hissed and picked up his tea cup.
It had been a long time since Sakura had felt so self conscious. Everyone dressed the same aside from the medics during the war, and all the medics dressed the same so what someone wore simply didn't compare to the death and the terror they lived day in and day out.
The fabric was fine and soft against her skin. The young girl had thoughtfully brought her underclothes as well as the short battle kimono and pants. The sandals fit her snugly and had straps for her senbon or kunai, she was more than pleased. It was functional and fit becomingly.
She had tied her pack under her obi of fine silk and her medic pack to the back of her waist. The girl had helped her tie her hair up, slipping the senbon into her hair in an artistic but functional manner. Sakura hoped she would be able to do it herself on her own in her travels.
The unwanted wave of self consciousness grew as she made her way back to their table. Both brothers had turned to watch her approach and he wasn't sure she liked the attention or the admiration she saw in both of their eyes. She only hoped her face wasn't too red.
"You look very nice Sakura chan." Izuna said softly as she sat down beside him on the bench again.
"Indeed." Was all Madara felt he could get out without embarrassing himself.
Green eyes rose to meet his devastatingly handsome coal through her fringe of pink hair and his breath caught in his throat. He cleared it and pointed to her katana.
Sakura picked the sword up from the cleared table and unsheathed it partially.
"It's beautiful, thank you Uchiha san, both of you." She bowed gracefully from her seat and they smiled.
Izuna handed her a black sash to strap her sword onto her back with when she was ready. He also pulled his own purse from his waist and handed it to her, all of it.
"Izuna kun, this is too generous, I must insist, your gifts were enough. I can not accept such generosity." She tried to push the purse back to him but typical of an Uchiha he simply smiled and tied it to her waist himself effectively ending the agreement.
Sakura narrowed her eyes at Madara's smirk and simply inclined her head to Izuna.
She left after lunch with the promise to return if she was unsuccessful.
"Take this." Izuna pressed a gold necklace with the Uchiha clan crest dangling from it. "It will protect you if you run into any Uchiha in your travels, but be careful not to show it to anyone else." He warned her.
"I understand." She barely had an opportunity to look at the necklace as he reached around her and clasped it around her neck.
His eyes lingered on it briefly before he motioned her to tuck it into her shirt so it wouldn't be seen.
"Safe travels Sakura." Izuna smiled at her and stepped back to make room for his brother.
They were at the compound gates, the eyes of many Uchiha on them. Sakura assumed it was on purpose, to show the clan she was an ally. Madara or any Uchiha never did anything without a reason.
"If you need anything, or are in trouble, send word if you are able, we will assist you. We met under...poor circumstances. I hope our assistance makes up for my rudeness." With that he did the unthinkable, he bowed to her, only halfway but for him it was a monumental and significant gesture.
She heard a few gasps behind her but didn't look and neither did Madara.
"Thank you Madara Sama. I am indebted to you. If I can, I will repay your kindness some day." She bowed low to the waist to honor him, like she had pointedly refused to do when they had first met.
"Safe travels Sakura." Madara said and stepped back from her in farwell.
Sakura nodded and walked out of the compound, heading east, to where she had first appeared.
"Do you think we will see her again?" Izuna asked his brother as the small figure disappeared over the rise of the distant hill.
"I hope so." Was all Madara said.
"Me too." Izuna smiled.
"I wanna see her kick your ass again." Izuna smirked and they walked back to the main house arguing like the brothers they were.