Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto


Chapter 30

The day of the wedding, Sakura was running around, helping Mito to gather things and arrange others details for Ama. She barely had time to get home and change before the wedding, so she ran.

In her house, she gathered everything she needed and went to change. Her hand caressed the red fabric and she smiled. They had really gone all out for her to feel at home. Which she did. Her smile dimmed slightly when she thought about the night waiting for her. Maybe if she was lucky she would be able to clear whatever happened with Tobirama the other night... and everything else. Shaking her head, she put on the kimono. She would welcome anything that would happen tonight. She would try to enjoy her time here and make the most of it. Looking in the mirror, she met her eyes, determined.

Sakura's smile was back on her face when she came out of her bathroom with her new kimono. She really felt like this was as close to home as she could ever be considering the circumstances. Looking on the desk, she gently grabbed the pink and emerald necklace that had been given to her on her birthday and after a moment of hesitation, she put it on. If this could help him realize that she was open to talk about the situation, she would wear it. Lie. She loved the necklace and what it represented. Sighing, she grabbed pins and put her hair up in a loose bun, leaving two strands of hair to frame her face. No make up this time.

While working on the finishing touch of her hair, Sakura was startled by a knock on her door. Walking out of her room, she went to it and opened in, knowing she was almost late. Hopefully, this would not be a medical emergency. Not knowing who could be on her front porch at this time, her eyes widened when Madara, wearing a dark kimono with the Uchiha crest embroidered on it was there, staring at her.

"Madara! What a surprise! What are you doing here?" The man tilted his head, taking in the sight of her, and shrugged.

"I told you I would accompany you to the wedding had the situation with Tobirama not been resolved by then, and I intend to keep my word." Sakura's heart warmed up and she gave him a bright smile. What a great friend he was. She had forgotten about his offer with everything that had happened since then. Bringing a hand to her heart, she sent a grateful look to him.

"Thank you… Give me one minute, I need to do a few things and I will be ready shortly." Turning around to go back in the house, she missed the soft smile that Madara gave her, seeing her family's symbol proudly standing on her back. This had been a great decision.

She went inside, tied her obi properly, made sure she looked presentable and came back moment later. Sakura accepted the arm he offered her and together, they walked to the temple, making their way inside, passing many people who were gaping at them. When they walked by Tobirama, Madara could not help the smirk that found his lips when the young Senju's crimson eyes zeroed on the crest on Sakura's back. Maybe, just maybe Hashirama, Mito and he planned the whole thing without telling the man. It was well worth the reaction they had from him. Now he would wonder what clan put their hands on her…


Tobirama was walking up the stairs of the temple when he saw her passing by. Hanging on Madara's arm. His traitorous heart leaped out of his chest when he saw the colors she was wearing and when he saw the clan insignia on her back. He did not even know which clan it was, which was even more troubling since he prided himself into having a great knowledge of them. They had claimed her so fast!

Taking in another glance of her he had to admit that she looked gorgeous. The thing he was not so fond of was the way all the men around looked at her and her backside. He realized at that moment that he was not the only one who could see her and appreciate her beauty. He had lost his claim on her it would seem. Anger flared in his heart and powerful chakra probably leaked out of him, since a large hand landed on his shoulder at that moment. He did not have to look to know that his brother was the one dragging him inside.

"Behave." Was the only words spoken to him with a stern voice. He knew he did not have any rights on her. He was still angry at her but missed her at the same time. How could that be possible? Her absence in his days was painful and it made him totally at a loss.

Taking a seat, he made sure she was in his peripheral vision and glanced at her every few seconds. Those colors were suiting her and flashes of her naked body between his arms appeared in his mind. Repressing a groan, he tried with all his might to push those tempting images away. He would probably never see her naked in his arms again. He had messed up. Bad. But she did too... Didn't she?


The ceremony was beautiful and Sakura was all emotional seeing the look of pure love in Izuna's eyes. His emotions were so intense at one point of the ceremony that his sharingan activated without warning, which made all of the guest's giggle. She could almost remember the same look that had been given to her by the white-haired Senju. A sad smile found her face. Maybe one day it would be her turn. Like he was following her train of thoughts, Madara reached for her hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

The rest of the wedding flowed without incident and the newlywed left the temple, happily married. Everyone followed since they all moved to the Uchiha compound for the reception. As the head of the clan, Madara was the first in line to offer his congratulations to the new couple, bringing his brother in a warm embrace. Sakura took Ama's hands in hers and smiling she giggled.

"Take the week off from the hospital, I can manage until then…" Giving Ama a lopsided grin, Sakura laughed when the Senju woman turned bright red, whispering a "Thank you Sakura-sama." Turning towards Izuna she smiled to him. He grabbed her by the shoulders and crushed her on his chest.

"If it weren't for you, this would not happen, so I thank you." His whisper was thick with emotions and taking a step back, she cleared her throat.

"I am happy I could be a part of this day." Getting back to his normal friendly demeanor, Izuna looked at her outfit.

"You are stunning Sakura, thank you for coming."

Madara offered her his arm and taking it, they let the other guests congratulate the new couple. The rest of the night went by quite fast. Dinner was served and afterwards, the music started. Never leaving the table, Sakura just watched the night fly by with an empty feeling in her chest. If Tobirama had been avoiding her at first, she had been the one to avoid him after his drunken kiss. Looking around the room, she could see that her intervention in the village's creation had made the transition between the clans go smoothly. Senju and Uchiha were talking together, including the new clans that only arrived recently. This was her Konoha. The union of Izuna and Ama would only help to strengthen the bond between the two clans.

Tracing the rim of her sake cup with an absent finger, Sakura smiled, seeing the newlyweds dance, her memories bringing her back to the time she had danced too. Where the music did not exist. Where it had been only him and her. Her eyes roamed around the room before being attracted to a flash of white. Looking in this direction, she caught crimson looking directly at her. Seeing the hint of emotion his eyes held, he probably thought about the same moment they shared, dancing together. Holding his gaze, she portrayed serenity and peace. He, on the other hand, looked like he was battling something within himself. She saw his shoulder tense and his eyes darted behind her as he turned away cutting their silent reminiscing short.

She knew why he moved when a man sat next to her. It was not a surprise for her to see blond hair and blue eyes watching her. The Yamanaka and her had become quite close in the past two weeks. He was a great listener and had amazing insight. He obviously reminded her of Ino, which was quite funny.

"Dance with me." He was short and to the point, and his amused voice did not sit well with her.

"I am not feeling well but thank you for the invitation, Yamanaka-sama." Dancing was the last thing she wanted to do at the moment. Hearing that, the man scoffed and leaned forward.

"Sama? Really? and here I thought we were friends..." Seeing her a fleeting sadness in her eyes, he did not push the teasing. Sighing he touched her forearm gently to catch her attention. "I know that you and Tobirama-sama had some sort of fight." Looking up, she frowned.

"I don't recall mentioning anything like this to you… Also, how is that any of your business?" His whole demeanor changed, and he gave her a gentle smile. There was a familiar mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Far from me to think that you might have any interest in me, you were quite clear about that, but I saw the way he was watching you today." Frowning, she met his eyes, questioning his intention. "Hashirama told us that his brother messed up and that he still needed to apologize to you or something of the sort but he hasn't talk to you yet. Am I correct?"

Sakura tilted her head and remained cautious.

"Hashirama needs to stop spreading my personal life everywhere… But yes. That's a pretty good summary." His smile brightened and when he bent closer to whisper to her ear, a strong chakra flared across the room. A small laugh left the blond man.

"I have a feeling that if I dance with you and give him a reason to intervene, you might be able to get your point across."

That must have been the most surprising thing she heard since she got to the past. Ino's ancestor liked schemes and loved to plan to make things happen. Of course, it was probably a family trait after all. She smiled and shook her head. I love her family… Maybe this plan would hurt more than fix things, but if she did not try, shw would not know! She met his glance with a small frown.

"One dance." His eyes lit up and he winked at her.

"I'll be convincing." She laughed. Oh, if Ino was a reference for this kind of plan, she knew that her ancestor would definitely get the situation he wanted to happen. "You will need to look annoyed for it to work." She huffed a laugh, rolling her eyes.

"Easily achievable." Placing a hand on his heart in mock hurt, he gave her a smile.

"Now, you hurt my feelings, Sakura."

Smirking, he held his hand out for her and she took it. He brought her to the dancefloor and put a hand on her waist, the other in her hand. She placed her hand on his shoulder and nodded. She could not believe what they were about to do… The music started and after the first few steps, he brought his body a little too close to hers. She tried to take a step back without causing a scene and acted like her patience was running thin. This would be a long dance and hopefully, it would work.


Tobirama had not expected her to agree to dance with the Yamanaka. He watched her as she made her way to the dance floor. His eyes narrowing when he saw how the man tried to take advantage of the situation. Seeing his hands on her made him restless and he started fidgeting. Maybe it was because he knew she did not like the blue-eyed man, maybe it was because his fidgeting hands died to hold her body close to his instead of seeing another man do it. When she had looked at him earlier, he knew what she had been thinking about. He had been wrong about one thing that day. His dancing was far from being a reflection of how he treated a woman. He had treated her poorly. Shaking his head he grunted. Right now was not the time to dwell on these things. His gaze focused back on her and the Yamanaka.

Knowing her for long enough, he could see the fake smile on her lips. His shoulder tensed when the man's hand tried to go lower than her waist. She was quick to place it back where it belonged, but the image was engraved in Tobirama's brain and he had to reign on his emotions, otherwise he would break the man's arm.

Madara approached him, since he had noticed how his crimson eyes were glued on the pink haired medic. Of course, Madara was aware that Sakura and the Yamanaka were not involved and were only friends, but he would not share that knowledge. The young Senju grew impatient every passing seconds and this is when the Uchiha leader crossed his arms on his broad chest, clearing his throat to catch Tobirama's attention.

"I know that you are not in good terms with her, but you could at least help her." Seeing the way the young Senju tensed, Madara smirked.

"She is quite capable of doing it herself." That was not the answer he wanted to receive. Madara raised an unimpressed eyebrow in his direction. Maybe he needed a bigger push than he thought.

"You cannot act like a caged animal seeing a piece of steak and think that she did not notice it too. Either you act on whatever this is, or you do something else, but you, looking at her like that, won't make anything better."

What Madara said echoed in his head. He hated to admit it, but the Uchiha was right. He had a few things he needed to talk to her about and now looked like the best moment to do it. Conveniently. Leaving the Uchiha leader behind, Tobirama made his way to her, tapping on the blond man's shoulder.

"I'll take this one." About to tell Tobirama off, the man faced him and realized who he was about to talk to. Gulping, he stepped aside. Passing next to him, Tobirama leaned and whispered threatening.

"I would suggest keeping your hands to yourself if you know what is good for you." Hearing how his voice sounded like a growl, Tobirama cursed inwardly.

The Yamanaka nodded and rapidly left giving Sakura a winning grin over his shoulder when Tobirama was not looking at him anymore. The young medic glanced at the young Senju with an unimpressed look. Positioning his hands on her, he started to move them around the room, keeping a respectable distance between them. Sakura had to repress a shiver, feeling the warmth of his hands through the material of her kimono.

"I didn't need saving." Her voice was hard, and she was looking anywhere but at him. Glancing down, his heart started to beat faster. Her eyes were mesmerizing tonight. She did not wear any make up and her natural beauty was captivating. Remembering his question about the crest on her back and her time travel work, he leaned closer to her and whispered quietly.

"What clan claimed you? I have never seen this symbol." Defiantly, she narrowed her eyes and glared at him.

"Not that it matters to you, but this is my family's crest." Tobirama's eyes widened at her answer. So this was her symbol and colors? His heart, to his displeasure, felt lighter now that he knew that she had not moved on to someone else. But there was still another matter that he needed to discuss with her. Taking a deep breath, he looked around the room.

"Why are you are working on a time-travel seal?" Now, she could feel his gaze on her face and she avoided to look in his direction again.

"To travel through time. And if this weren't the reason, tell me, why would it concern you? You made it quite clear that you did not care about what could happen to me." Her voice was quiet, but he could feel the sharp edge to it. Seeing a flash of pain traveling through her eyes, he wanted to hit his face on the wall. He did hurt her. He knew it had been wrong and was being a coward because he could not apologize. How could he? Sighing, he slowed the pace of their dance.

"Sakura-" His soft voice made her head snap up. "Listen, I care-" Anger replaced the hurt in her eyes and she met his gaze full on for the first time, which almost made him take a step back under the assault of her emotion. The only other time he saw such expression on her face was the moment when she had talked to Hanami in the medical tent a few days after she tumbled into their lives. Never did he expect to be at the receiving end of this look.

"No. You listen. You don't get to tell me that you care when one day we are close, I give myself to you, thing I have never done before and the other day you hate me, telling me you should have let me die…" She took in a steadying breath and continued. "After you heard the whole story, you did not ask me if I had reasons to do what I did. You left me there that day, in front of the training grounds, like I was never a reason to stay to begin with. You just vanished and avoided me until that dinner and then you kissed me out of the bloom without taking my feelings into consideration. Tell me. How do you want me to think that you care, Tobirama? To me, it looks like you only care about yourself and your feelings, other people's be damned." He bent closed to her and his whisper came out harder then he wanted it to, after her accusations.

"You are the one that will leave to go back to your perfect life with everyone else that you left behind without a care about what can happen to us here. Have you ever considered how hard it was to learn the truth after everything? Do not talk to me about caring when you did not care enough about me to be able to trust me with the whole thing! If someone was selfish, it was you Sakura!"

She stopped dancing, her body shuddering under the intense anger she felt at the moment. She was done with all of this. Her anger dissipating, she was left with a numb feeling in her chest. Her shoulder straightened, and she cut him again. Exhausted. She looked exhausted.

"I am tired, Tobirama. Tired of all this. You need to figure out what you want and stop playing with my feelings. I have plenty of things to figure out on my own, I do not deserve this. Not after everything I've been through, everything that I have done." A shaky breath fell from her lips and she looked deep into his eyes with pained but determined emeralds. "Even though I am from somewhere else, I am still me and I meant everything I did or said to you. That's the part you seem to overlook in all your big speeches about trust."

Taking a slow step back, Sakura gave him a glance over her shoulder. Her voice was defeated and hurt when she talked.

"You know what? I trusted you. To be by my side, to understand and not to judge me. You let me down, Tobirama."

Turning her back on him, she stormed out of the dancefloor. Tobirama watched her leave, feeling the weight of her words settling in his chest and he clenched his jaw tightly. He knew it, but was too blind to realize it earlier, to busy to find the perfect rebuttal. She was right. He did let her down when she had needed him the most.


Sakura ran to her house and only stopped when she was behind the door. At some point during her run, tears had fell from her eyes. She had been grateful for the help of the Yamanaka and happy that she had been able to get things out of her chest. To convey to the man she loved that she felt like he had abandoned her. Like she was worthless.

Taking a few steps into the house, she untied her hair and felt a shift in the air. Pausing she listened closely and suddenly someone grabbed her from behind, arm around her waist. She fought, kicking her feet to throw her assailant off balance but only managed to kick the table and the chairs in the process. She heard a few teacups breaks behind her, her palm sliding on one of the pieces, cutting her skin. Gathering chakra in her fist she was able to slip out of the person's grasp and heard a pained groan and the sound of broken bones. Trying to get her again, the intruder grabbed her necklace, and it broke, falling to the floor.

Another assailant grabbed her by the arms, and she felt the sting of a needle on her neck. Soon everything became blurry. She tried to move her limbs, but she fell to the ground, feeling heavy. The glint of silver caught her attention. Her necklace laid there close to her. The last thought before the darkness took her went to Tobirama.