He found her in the library the next day surrounded by mounds of scrolls, each one more massive and dustier than the last. She had escaped the masses of questions, opinions and concerns of both Senju and Uchiha alike yesterday with skills of evasion that rivaled his own. He had found her, like she was now, in the library.
Madara had come home with them long enough to call a clan meeting, introduce Sakura as his intended bride, inform them that an Uchiha and Senju alliance was being discussed and that they were going to form their own village where the Senju and the uchiha could live together in peace for the current and all the future generations to come.
Madara with Sakura's help touched briefly on her part in the alliance, her knowledge of the future and what the alliance would mean for the future war, her war. Yagami took over the question and answer part of the meeting with Madara's help while Sakura slipped out the back of the room and went to the library to look up what she could on the god tree.
The information Sarutobi had given them was invaluable, she had already found evidence in other texts of a fabled mystical tree somewhere in the desert. The largest problem she faced was which bread trail to follow. There were three different tales, in three different parts of the desert. Sakura wondered if it would be best for her to leave now and visit Reto in Suna, not waste anymore time, or keep digging in hopes of finding more information that might help narrow her search down a bit. Sakura couldn't shake the feeling in her gut that told her, all her answers were in Suna.
"Izuna Kun, I think I need to go to Suna. From what Sarutobi Sama found it just makes sense, that they would have more information on the god tree, if it is in Reto's desert. Culturally speaking, here it is a myth, but there, it might just be another part of history." She told him when he sat down next to her at the table she had been reading at.
"Besides, Reto Sama said he wanted to form an alliance with our village, well now is a good time, when it's being established right?" Sakura was looking at a map of Suna, she hadn't even looked up at him yet.
"Do you trust him? His future relations might be trustworthy, but surely you can't base current trust off of your relationship with his future relations." Izuna said as he picked up one of the scrolls she had set aside.
"Trust?" She said absentmindedly, " Oh no, I don't trust him, not really, and as for his future reletives, well...let's just say one is an insane Poisons and Puppetmaster who turned himself into a puppet, the hardest and most difficult enemy I had ever the unfortunate opportunity to face and kill, and his other relation, Gaara the Kazekage in my time well...he was the one tail jinchiriki and used to mass murder whole villages on his uncontrolable rampages." She paused.
"He eventually gained better control over Shukaku and stopped killing people, he tried to kill me once, it was terrible." She laughed.
Izuna stared at her, "You were friends with these people?"
"Uh, well Gaara, yes, but not Sasori, no, in the end I think I had gained his respect though, and that is no little thing to do." She said putting down the map she had been looking at.
"He was a genius. I'd never fought anything like him, before, or after, there is simply no one who can compare to him." She said honestly.
"He made himself into a puppet?" Izuna asked shocked.
"Yes, he was...the loneliest man I had ever met." She said softly, her eyes lost in her memories.
"He and Gaara were a lot alike in some ways, the real difference was Naruto, he never gave up on Gaara, he made him...want to live, not to just feel alive. Through killing." Sakura smiled.
"Naruto, your other team mate, the nine tailed jinchuuriki?" Izuna asked.
"Yes." Sakura smiled again thinking of her friend, then her eyes fell...she picked the map back up, her smile fading.
Izuna watched her, he could tell she missed all of her friends a great deal. Everything she was doing, was for them, her friends, and for them, his brother and him, their clan.
"You have led a remarkable life Sakura Chan, and you're still so young." Izuna marveled.
Sakura looked up at him, "I suppose I have." She said quietly.
"Do you really think the answers you need are in Suna Sakura?" Izuna asked her.
"Yes." She set the map down and picked up her pen and notebook, scribbled something down and picked the map back up.
"If the Kazekage is serious about an alliance, we might as well send an envoy then." Izuna sighed.
Sakura looked up at him. "Do you think it's too soon? The Uchiha and the Senju alliance hasn't even been signed yet, Madara and Hashirama are still working out the details."
"The alliance has been written for years, they are just letting the elders feel like they have a say in it." Izuna smiled at her.
"Madara won't want you going alone." He said.
"I can take care of myself." She frowned.
"It isn't that, not really. You'll be targeted now Sakura, everyone knows of your affiliation to the Senju and us, and if they don't, they will soon. When word starts to spread the Clan head of the great uchiha clan is courting, it will spread like wildfire across the nations, effectively putting a target on your back." Izuna told her.
Sakura pursed her lips in thought, "Then Suna is only the beginning."
Izuna stood, "Let's get something to eat, you haven't had lunch yet and dinner isn't that far off. Madara will likely be home soon and will want to see you."
Sakura nodded, stretching in her seat. She yawned as she stood, cracking her back and running her fingers through her hair. "Let's go."
She was sitting on the couch in the sitting room of the main house when he returned from the Senju compound.
"Sakura." Madara greeted her, removing his gloves and setting them on the end table beside the couch before sitting down beside her.
Sakura set down the scroll she had been reading and smiled at him, he looked tired.
"How is everything going Madara?" She asked him as the servants set out tea and rice biscuits for them.
"Everyone has an opinion but no one knows how to get what they want done." He almost sighed in frustration.
Sakura poured their tea and handed him a plate of cakes. "It will come together." She reassured him.
"I'm proof of that." She smiled picking up her scroll once more.
"Yes, I suppose you are." Madara looked at her, sipping his tea.
"What about you, have you found anything?" He asked looking at the mess of scrolls, books and hand written notes surrounding her on the table, floor and couch.
"Well, I found a few ancient maps that might come in handy, there is a lot of folklore surrounding the god tree, it's hard to know what stemmed from the reality of the tree and what people made up to make it sound more impressive." She tapped her finger on the scroll.
"I think...I need to go to Suna." She said hesitantly, not sure how he would take the news.
She had never been courted before, and didn't know the rules. For good reason, Madara was old fashioned and tended to pick and choose which traditions to follow. It seemed that once he had decided to court her, and she hadn't out right refused him, they were in an instant relationship. 'Just add water', she thought and smiled. A picture of her yellow headed knuckle headed teammate flashed in her head and she laughed.
Madara smiled at her. "Suna." He said and frowned. "I'm not surprised."
Sakura was encouraged by his tone, he wasn't deathly opposed to it, so she pushed on,"Reto expressed his desire to form an alliance with our village once it was formed, well it is being formed now, we could go as an envoy, of peace and hash out an alliance with Sand."
Madara nodded. "Hn."
"If you find a decent lead on your god tree, you will need to follow it. You'll need a team to go with you, as an envoy of peace but also as a god tree hunting unit. Let me think who would be best to send with you. A Senju or maybe two ought to go with you as well, since this is a joint venture." He was thinking out loud.
Sakura nodded and smiled, pleased with how things were working out. She didn't remember how the village had formed the first time, how Hashirama and Madara had first formed their alliance, the text books only said, they both agreed that the fighting needed to stop, that one realized they could never kill the other, and the other realized they would never beat their opponent for whatever other reason. The details, the emotion behind the gesture was lost to time, but this time, she had been a part of it, she had helped.
"I could send Lady Katsuyu to Hashirama, so he can start thinking of who he would like to send, if you like." Sakura offered.
"Lady Katsuyu, the slug summons?" Madara asked her.
"Yes."
"Hn."
Sakura bit her thumb and slapped it to the floor, the slug popped up frm the wood in a puff of smoke.
"Yes my Lady?" Lady Katsuyu greeted Sakura.
"Lady Katsuyu, would you please tell Hashirama Sama I will be traveling to Suna for my mission to find and destroy the god tree. We will also be using this opportunity to talk about an alliance with Konoha and Sand and require his choice of nin to accompany me." Sakura turned to Madara.
"What do you think about a four man team?" She asked him.
He nodded.
"I will not count as a member, so we will need two Senju of his choice, Madara will send two Uchiha." Sakura finished.
"I will go immediately Lady Sakura." Lady Katsuyu popped out of existence.
"An unusual summons." Madara smiled at Sakura.
"Her slime has healing properties and she can send out multiples of herself to heal nin while they are in combat. I used her almost constantly...during the war." Sakura said.
"The war. Tell me more about it, if you can, now that we know who you are, can you tell me more about this war, why it started?" Madara asked looking at her intently.
She shifted in her seat, she didn't want to tell him...that he was the cause of their war. He wasn't the same person to her now, he wasn't the same person period. Sakura wasn't sure what had changed, what event was supposed to have happened or would happen in the future to turn him into the monster he would become in her time, but she was sure, it hadn't happened yet. She hoped she would still be here to stop it from happening at all.
'What if it happened after she left', she thought, what if her leaving was what triggered it. In less than twenty four hours they were already closer than the twenty four hours before and their feelings for one another seemed to only grow the more they were around one another. The social awkwardness, the tension, was no longer there. There was awareness, but it was a comforting sort of awareness, it was assurance.
"I'm not sure I can tell you yet." She said slowly. "Not because I don't trust you, but because you are directly involved with it. Let the future play out a little more, let me find the god tree, and then, we will talk again." She locked eyes with him, how would he react?
He nodded. "You knew me didn't you, you knew me in your time, your reaction, when we first met...I have played it over in my head many times since then." He smiled.
"You not only recognized me when I had never met you before, but you acted like you knew me on a more personal level." Madara said, taking her hand in his.
"Was I...I won't ask anymore, but I want to know, was I terrible?" He watched her.
A shudder ran over her body, she opened her mouth but no words came out, how could she describe his future self to him...
"Ah, I see." Was all he said and she closed her mouth.
They sat there in silence for a time, he in his thoughts, her in her own.
"When did you wish to leave for Suna?" He asked.
She smiled, "As soon as possible."
He smiled and shook his head, "I should have known."
Lady Katsuyu reappeared and let them know Hashirama would have his choices in the next few days and asked if Madara and Sakura would join him and his brother for dinner tomorrow night.
Madara looked to Sakura who nodded.
"Please tell Hashirama we would be delighted." Madara incline his head to Lady Katsuyu.
The slug observed Mdara for a moment. Madara sat still and observed the slug back.
"Keep him in line this time around Lady Sakura, you have Tsunade's strength, I know you can do it." Lady Katsuyu popped out in a puff of smoke.
"Keep me in line?" Madara scoffed at the slugs former spot on the ground as if she were still there and he had more to say to it. "What did the slimy worm mean by that?"
"Let's just say...no one will ever forget the name Madara Uchiha." Sakura laughed lightly not at all put off by his scowl.
"I should hope not." He huffed again and she laughed out loud at him.
Later that evening he would wonder what her words really meant, but for now he smiled, happy that she was happy and he basked in her laughter enjoying their time together.
"Konoha, you called the village Konoha, is that what we will name it?" He asked her.
"You name it that." Sakura said, rising to her feet.
"I do?" He smiled, smugly.
"Yes, you hated all the names Hashirama and his brother came up with, so you said you would name it. Hashirama surrounds the village with dense massive forests, so you named it Konoha." She stretched and yawned.
"Konoha." Madara rolled the name around in his head. "I like it."
"Well it was your idea." She teased him.
Madara reached up and grabbed her hand pulling her onto his lap.
"What are you doing?" She asked looking up at him in surprise.
"Kissing you." He covered her mouth with his before she should protest, his hands holding her just above her hips as she straddled him.
"Am I interrupting?" An amused voice spoke from the doorway to the sitting room.
"You are." Madara said, pulling Sakura closer to him and glaring at his brother.
Sakura blushed and pulled away, stepping off of Madara's lap, starting to gather he scrolls up and avoiding Izuna's eye.
"Did you need something?" Madara gave his brother a dirty look and tried to shoo him away with a hand behind the couch.
Izuna smirked and walked into the room much to Madara's irritation.
"I want to accompany Sakura on her mission to find the god tree." Izuna sat down on the couch where Sakura had been.
"I need you here. I would like for you to go, it would make me feel better knowing she had you with her, but we are starting a whole new village, from scratch. I will need you here Izuna, for the clan. I was thinking of sending Kagami with her, I trust him and his skill to keep her safe. He is a charismatic man, it would be good for our alliance with Sand to have a man such as him represent us when we can't be there ourselves." Madara said.
"Will you send another, or only Kagami?" Izuna asked, picking up a rice cake from the tray.
"One more, two uchiha and two Senju will be going with her. I was thinking of Setsuna, he is strong and will be an asset in destroying the god tree. His skills will complement Sakura's." Madara told his little brother.
izuna nodded. "I think you're right. Those are the best ment o send with her. Perhaps they ought to spar, before they leave, to get to know one another's fighting styles. It is dangerous to learn on the battlefield."
"I agree. When Hashi gets back to me with his choices, we will have them participate in a friendly group spar. To acquaint themselves." Madara said.
Sakura had been listening and watching the brothers. Izuna was still tense but he was trying. Change was happening and he knew he couldn't stop it. She smiled at him, he cared so much for his brother and their clan, but hatred runs deep. She needed to find that cursed tree and fast.
Sakura had realized that it didn't matter for her timeline when she found and destroyed the god tree, it mattered for this one. The sooner she ended the curse of hatred, the better. She had felt it's evil before, in Sasuke, she could feel it now, in Izuna. Was it fate...was it coincidence that both men who shared physical characteristics also shared the capacity for such hatred? She didn't know, but she knew she would find a way to break it, for all of the people she cared about.
She frowned. When had she become so attached to these people. When had she started to think of them as hers? Sakura berated herself for her silly sentimentality, she always did this, she always cared too much and then ended up getting hurt. She looked at Madara, he and Izuna were discussing what supplies she would need, she watched his mouth moving, his eyes. When had she become so fond of the man?
Her eyes drifted to Izuna. His easy smile, the way he shoved his hands in his pockets, so like Sasuke, yet, not. He smiled at his brother, there, that was the difference. She realized she was a part of this...a large part, she didn't recall the moment when her worlds had combined. The words of the nameless Senju from the meeting came back to her, she is the bridge between our clans, then and now, time and space...indeed. She groaned. She hadn't asked for this responsibility.
Madara and Izuna stopped to look at the pink haired woman.
"Are you alright Sakura?" Izuna asked kindly.
"Yes, it's just...I feel like the weight of two words is on my shoulders." She laughed.
Madara nodded." Then it is a good thing you aren't alone."
A simple statement, with an impressive meaning.
"It is." Sakura's heart lightened.
They left for Suna a week later...
