Note: Put two in one here! Hope you like it and Happy New Year!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.


Chapter 32

They finally found the cavern and the Hyuga scanned the inside of it.

"She is in there. There are so many people." He paused. "She killed one of captor and is walking towards a room full of them." The Hyuga frowned.

"What is it?" Hashirama grabbed the man's shoulder.

"She is already heavily wounded and there is something wrong with her chakra… I can't explain what it is…"

Tobirama gave a look to Hashirama and Madara. They understood. No captor could survive. The Hyuga stayed behind, guarding the outside of the cavern in case more of them would come closer. The five other men entered, and surprise was stamped on Madara's face when he saw eight of his clansmen standing there with some other shinobis. When they saw him, they all looked scared. Madara was angry and his sharingan flashed red with the spinning wheels of his mangekyou. Clansmen or not, they would die today. No one would threaten the village, and no one would ever dare to touch Sakura again. Without looking at the three men beside him, Madara nodded his chin towards the other part of the cave.

"I'll take care of them; you go get her." Hashirama, Tobirama and Hayato continued down the tunnel, but the Yamanaka stayed beside Madara. Sending the man a questioning glance, the Yamanaka smiled.

"I'll help you." Grateful, Madara nodded.


Tobirama was going through the hallway at a fast pace, hearing the peculiar sound of a fight. He could hear masculine grunts and when he heard her pained scream, he felt his heart turn cold. Tobirama clenched his jaw when her yelp and a crash in the room reached his ears. Running faster, he left Hashirama and the young Uchiha behind him.

"Brother wait-" Hashirama's voice was lost on the young Senju who could only focus on Sakura.

Arriving to the corner of a wall, he investigated the room, hidden in the shadows, and when he caught a glimpse of her, his rage knew no limits. Her soft pink hair was now caked in blood. Her perfect abdomen, her collarbone and her legs marred with freshly bleeding cuts. Seeing how drenched in the red liquid she was, he had to wonder how she could still be on her feet. She was there, facing six men with her two kunais firmly held in her hands. When one of the man made a move, she attacked.

Seeing her fight would never get old. It was always impressive. She had caused so much carnage around her. Looking passed her, he could see so many dead bodies and blood splatters on the walls. Even heavily wounded, she started moving with grace, slashing abdomen, throats and whatever she could touch with her kunai. She was fierce and her eyes held no fear, only determination.

Out of the six men that were previously standing, only three remained and two of them were already heavily injured. Trying to attack one of them, her arm twitched, and she cursed. The man who was not wounded gripped her hair and immobilized her with the help of his friend who grabbed her arms and twisted her wrists. Her kunais fell with a loud clang on the rock, but she was still standing proud and determined, trashing against their grips.

The third man was juggling with his weapon and gave her a hungry look.

"We could have some fun with the little flower before we kill her? No one would mind." The two other men agreeing started laughing. Sakura tried to get out of their grasp but could not. She heard her bindings getting ripped and the feeling of cold air on her bare skin.

Tobirama had watched her fight and when the men uncovered her, he could not stand still anymore. His fingers were twitching on his katana. Seeing Hashirama and Hayato getting closer, Tobirama attacked. Throwing his marked kunai near the men holding her, he appeared in front of them, katana already stabbing the first man and kunai slitting the throat of the other one. Throwing another marked kunai, he did the same thing with the last one, slashing his throat with a perfect wrist rotation. Sakura, that no one was holding anymore, tumbled forward and Tobirama was there to catch her before she touched the ground. She struggled against him thinking she was still being attacked but then, opening her eyes, she saw crimson and white and smelled the scent of safety. Her body relaxed and he had to admit that he had never been this happy to see someone in his entire life. Looking up at his brother, Tobirama motion to him.

"Give me your shirt." Without a word, Hashirama took off his armor and threw his shirt to his brother and proceeded to dress back. Gently, Tobirama helped her slide in his brother's shirt. He held her close, not wanting to let her go. Not now that he had found her. Wincing, she cupped his cheek and looked into his eyes.

"I hoped you'd come." All the regret and other unspoken emotions in his eyes broke her heart but the way he leaned in her touch, kissing the palm of her hand, made her understand his relief. No matter what happened the past weeks, their connection was still there, somewhere.

Madara and the Yamanaka walked in, taking in the sight of all the bodies and blood. Madara's eyes landed on Sakura and he relaxed. He sent an amused look to Hashirama who wore his armor on his bare torso but was cut short when Sakura hissed. Suddenly, the seal on her neck burned brightly. A light could be seen coming from it and Tobirama moved her hair out of the way, questioning. The seal was glowing. What was that? He knew her body quite well and this had not been there before. This is when Sakura understood.

It is time, Sakura. Kakashi's voice rang in her head.

Reaching into Tobirama's pouch that was near her, she grabbed one of his marked kunai and with her index, took some blood dripping from her shoulder wound. Smearing her blood to create a fuinjutsu that he had never seen on his kunai, she threw it at Hayato who caught it, wondering why she attacked him.

Quickly looking up at Tobirama with apologetic eyes, she pushed him away and when their bodies did not touch anymore, did the handsign of his signature jutsu to reappear in front of the young Uchiha. Ripping off the kunai from his hands, she pushed him behind her, using a bit of chakra enhanced force that sent him tumbling into Madara's broad chest. At the same moment, the blade of a kunai pierced her abdomen. Blood trickle from her mouth and she looked at the man in front of her, the kunai she had borrowed and applied the seal on deeply embedded in her captor's heart. The man looked at Hayato who stood, wide eyes behind Sakura.

"You betrayed us, brat!"

Hayato clenched his fists and yelled at the older man. "You betrayed the village. I could not let you hurt Sakura-sama. Not after she saved me that day!"

"Hayato you-" Sakura smirked and with a quick handsign, she looked the man in the eyes, cutting his rant.

"Release!" The blood on the kunai sizzled and created smoke. Everyone in the room looked when the body of the Uchiha wobbled from a black substance to normal man's form and settled for a weird in between. Hashirama watched, horrified. What the hell was that?

Sakura understood now. This whole thing had been for her to get rid of this creature. Of black Zetsu. Without him, many thing would not happen, like Madara becoming crazy, like this stupid war that she had to go through... Come to think of it, her presence and Madara's attachment to her probably made Zetsu find another host to hold onto… Someone who hated the alliance.

Madara could see the kunai in her and the weird exchange between the two. Hayato stood there, knowing that this kunai had been meant for him. But she saved him. Again. And he was grateful for that. Smiling through her blood, Sakura chuckle.

"You. Your plan failed. This village will continue to prosper, and I will make damn sure of it." It was the turn of the creature to chuckle weakly. When he talked, blood leaked out of his mouth at an alarming rate.

"Are you sure of that? It looks to me like we will both die soon…" His eyes flickered down to the kunai in her stomach and back to her face. Unstable on his feet, he fell on the ground, breathing hard and still laughing until Madara reacted and finished the man, throwing a kunai that landed perfectly between the man's eyes with a thud. Sakura clutched her stomach still standing.

The burning sensation on this wound was unbearable. A grunt escaped her. Trying to activate her seal, her eyes widened when nothing happened. She tried again, and the familiar lines never appeared. This was bad... Sakura tried to send some chakra to heal some of her wounds, but the transportation took what she had left. Under the strain, her knees buckled. This could not be happening. She took in a breath and coughed.

Tobirama waited, knowing that she would probably activate the seal on her forehead but when she just dropped to her knees, fear flared within him and, he ran to her. Kneeling in front of her, he grabbed her shoulders, trying to meet her eyes. She slumped forward and her face rested in the crook of his neck. He could feel the abnormal warmth of her skin and her shallow breaths on his collarbone.

"Poison… Ama…" Her voice was barely above a whisper. No, that couldn't be. She was Sakura. Nothing could injure her, she always found a way… She coughed and blood splattered on his neck. No. He could not lose her. Not like that. Not after everything. Not when he had finally found her again. Her body went limp and the white-haired man froze. Panicking, Tobirama looked at his brother with wide eyes, his normally expressionless face betraying his horror.

"Hashirama! We need to get her to the village NOW!" Hashirama understood the urgency and he grabbed his best friend's shoulders.

"You go with him, Madara. I will stay here with them and make sure that the threat is eliminated."

Madara nodded and helped Tobirama to place Sakura comfortably in his arms for the way back home. Madara never saw the man run this fast. He thought that when Hashirama had been injured Tobirama had been running at his maximum speed, but it was far from the truth. He even had a bit of trouble to follow the man, but Sakura's blood trickling down Tobirama's arm was enough of a motivation for him to keep up.

Tobirama knew they did not have a lot of time left. He was running at an inhuman pace and accelerated every time he looked down. Her pale face becoming even paler, her body limp. He could feel the warmth of her blood on his hands and holding her closer to him, he prayed to whatever god would listen to be able to make it on time. There were so many things he needed to tell her…


Ama had left her wedding reception when the event happened and she was now in the hospital, in case she was needed since Sakura was not there. People burst into the hospital doors and she could hear Tobirama's voice asking for her.

Running to the front desk, Ama's eyes widened. Madara was on the Senju's heels. Tobirama was covered in blood and when Ama saw him, she thought he was the one injured. Seeing the panicked faces of the two most stoic men in the village she looked at what, or more whom, Tobirama was carrying and she froze. This was bad. In a fraction of a second, they were on their way to an operation room. Tobirama's breathless voice rang over her shoulder.

"She said something about a poison…"

Ama nodded sent a diagnostic chakra strand in the young medic's body. She then looked back at Tobirama.

"This is bad. There are two poisons… The first one is quite simple… The second one is the worst. It looks like the one you brought back a few months ago…"

Tobirama stilled and his heart dropped. "There is no antidote… She was working on an antidote, but-" Realizing what was happening, Tobirama let out a shaky breath. "… it isn't completed yet."

Ama nodded and looked at him seriously.

"I know. I will remove what I can, and we will have to work on an antidote and fast."

Tobirama felt like hollow inside. How could they finish an antidote in a few days when she had spent weeks working on it with no results as of yet? Ama's voice brought him back to reality.

"I will need you and Madara to hold her still during this procedure." Both men nodded and Ama exhaled. Tobirama remembered all too well how harsh this procedure could be. "Let's begin we don't have much time left."

Tobirama laid Sakura down on the table carefully raising the shirt for Ama to have access to the wounds. When she saw the damages, Ama gasped and closed her eyes tightly. Now was not the moment to waste time. Opening back her eyes, she went into her medic mode and started the procedure like Sakura showed her.

People around her prepared the water in a few second and then Ama hovered her hands over the bowl, controlling her chakra. Getting the water to Sakura's body, she pushed the mixture in, using her chakra as a magnet, gather as much poison as she could, remove and repeat. The first time she did it, Sakura's body jerked up and she almost lost her focus. This technique was hard. It was impressive to her when she remembered how Sakura could use it without ever losing control over her chakra! Wiping sweat from her forehead, Ama prepared for the second round.

Tobirama who was holding Sakura's shoulders had to enhance his strength with some chakra despite his exhaustion to facilitate Ama's work. The second time Sakura's eyes snapped open and she let out a painful scream, her back arching on the table. Her eyes found his and seeing her in pain made his heart shudder in agony. At this moment, he couldn't control the tears that formed and fell from his eyes. Tobirama released some of the pressure from her shoulders, hating to know that she was in pain. He would take it all for her if it meant that she was not the one in this situation. Madara's low voice was heard.

"Tobirama, we have to do this. For her. Hold her down. Now."

The young Senju looked up and saw the Uchiha's watery eyes. Nodding, he held her to the table harder and took a deep breath. She was going to be fine. She would live. Nodding in Ama's direction, the young lady brought a third bubble of mixture and pushed it in Sakura's body. Her body went limp and Ama's eyes widened.

"Kaiya!" Ama's scream was powerful and the Uchiha apprentice ran into the room as fast as she could. "Her heart. I need to continue with the poison removal. You need to bring her back." Hearing that, Tobirama wanted to die. It felt like a never-ending nightmare. He had realized how much she meant to him too late. Grazing his thumb against her neck, he could not find her pulse. Her body was so pale, her lips were discolored…

Not wasting a second, Kaiya started to work on reanimating Sakura. Sending the first jolt of chakra to her heart, nothing happened. She followed the procedure, did the compressions and nothing. Tobirama dropped his forehead on Sakura's. You can't do that to me. You can't die. Please.

With the second jolt of chakra, Tobirama's legs almost gave out when he felt a faint pulse was thrumming against his thumb. This sign of life was the most amazing thing he could have felt. Nothing was won yet since they had much to do, but it was a start. Looking at Madara, he could see that the man was as pale as he was. The painful situation had activated his sharingan. His unshed tears looked like diamonds surrounding the ruby orbs. Tobirama understood the extent of the man's connection with Sakura at this moment… She is family.

While Ama worked on the rest of the extraction, Kaiya continued to heal the cuts and stab wounds on Sakura's abdomen and upper body. She also discovered the torn muscle in her shoulder which took her a while to knit back. Stealing a quick glance in Madara's direction and seeing the man's hand shaking slightly, she grabbed it and squeezed gently.

"She will be fine, our Sakura-sama is a fighter." Realized the familiarity of her gesture towards the head of her clan, Kaiya blushed and brought her hand back to the healing she was doing.

During that moment, Tobirama had a fleeting thought. Sakura would be happy to see both clans united under one common goal… She had worked so hard for this peace after all.

The smell of the poison was floating in the room and Tobirama could confirm, it was the one he thought it was.


It took hours and two medics, but when the surgery was over and Sakura was out of immediate danger, Tobirama sighed. Seeing her so powerless in a hospital bed was a sight he wanted to erase from his memory. Grabbing a chair, he installed it next to her and slumped on it, forehead on the bed next to her. Like she was the most fragile thing in the world, he grabbed her hand, straightening up, and brought it to his lips. Clenching his jaw, he exhaled and got on his feet. He was exhausted, but there was still so much to do…

"You will be ok. I promise." Letting go of her hand, he stood and left the room. He stopped in her new office and grabbed her keys to the lab. He had an antidote to make.


When Hashirama had been done at the cavern and the threat had been dealt with he interrogated the young Hayato on the way back to the village. The young Uchiha told him that it had only been a few Uchiha that had planned this and that no one else was involved. He also apologized profusely for knowing and not reporting anything. Hashirama had then grabbed his shoulder and thanked him for his honesty. When they arrived to the village, everybody was on high alert. Hashirama went to the hospital and was relieved to see Sakura still alive. He knew that the next few days would be hard for everyone and that they would have to inform the village and the other clans leaders of the situation. He could only hope for things to go smoothly, even thought he knew it would probably be a trying time.


A few days later found Hashirama in his office, surrounded by Madara, Izuna, Mito, and the heads of the Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi and Hyuga clans. Sitting in his chair and facing everyone else, he let out a sigh. Now was the time to deal with the situation. He started to recount what Hayato had told him and once done, looked at the Yamanaka who confirmed the story since he had been there with them when the young Uchiha had talked about what happened. Meeting the eyes of each clan leaders, Hashirama placed his hands on the desk.

"That being said, I think that we can all agree that Madara and Izuna were not personally involved-"

A huff sounded from the back and the Hyuga head took a step forward, stern expression on his face, glaring at Madara.

"As leader of the clan, Madara should have been aware of it. This, the fact that it happened to begin with, is unacceptable." The Hyuga stared at Madara and raised an eyebrow. "Who knows? Maybe this young man was instructed to lie so we would think nothing of the Uchiha leader's involvement."

At that, the Yamanaka took a step forward to defend the Uchiha. The leader had killed some of his own clansmen who had betrayed him when they rescued Sakura. For the Yamanaka, this clearly showed that the man was not aware and that he was valuing peace over lying clansmen... Hashirama rose to his feet and stopped the blond man before he could talk and gave the Hyuga a serious look.

"We are building a village; things happen to slip through my hands too. If you are so worried about Madara's involvement in this, we can ask Yamanaka-san to interrogate the remainder of the Uchiha clan to see if there are any more traitors. Madara?" The Uchiha took a step forward in the pearl eyed man's direction and being a few feet from him tilted his head.

"I agree with this. Yamanaka-san can even start with me. I have nothing to hide."

Feeling the tension in the room dangerously rising between the two men, Mito looked around and cleared her throat. "Where is Tobirama?"

Izuna raised his head and met her eyes.

"He is working on an antidote for Sakura. Though out of danger for now, she might not recover without it."

Wide eyes, Mito looked at her husband, worried. "He should rest, he has been working on this for almost three days!" At that, Madara huffed a laugh and shook his head, removing his focus from the pearl eyed man.

"You go and tell that to him when the woman he loves is not out of danger yet and still unconscious."

Pausing, Mito hummed. Madara had a good point. No one would be able to drag him out of the lab without a fight.

The conversation about the Uchihas involvement closed with Madara agreeing to have his clansmen and himself interrogated by the Yamanaka and setting the day to do it.


Tobirama was still sitting on the chair and reading through Sakura's notes, redoing experiments, adjusting quantities, adding plants and powders… Nothing seemed to work. His eyes and body were painful with the lack of sleep and proper food. Sighing, he put down the brush he had been using. He was so close yet so far to get it right that-

"I've been sent to tell you that you need a break." Madara's voice was low and exhausted. Tobirama took back his brush and tried another formula. "I assume I cannot change your mind? You will stay until you find something?"

At that, Tobirama stopped what he had been doing and answered without facing Madara.

"I won't stop until I know she is safe and awake." He stopped talking, like he was choosingwhat he would say next and for lack of better words, faced Madara. "You were right." Avoiding Madara's gaze, Tobirama gripped his hair tightly. "I was almost too late. She could have-" Not able to say it out loud, crimson met onyx and he did not have to continue for Madara to know what the silence meant.

"I know." Then handing some food to the young Senju, Madara grabbed his shoulder. "Let me know if you need anything else."


Tobirama worked another half-day until only one of the ingredients remained unknown. Walking to his brother's office, he realized that he looked like a mess. Still in the clothes he had been wearing under his armor a few days prior, stained with her blood… and stinky.

Transporting to his bedroom, Tobirama took off his clothes and slipped in a warm bath, rapidly rubbing off her dried blood from his body like it burned him. Once clean, he put on his black pants and a blue shirt and grabbing the documents about the poison, finally made it to his brother's office.

Opening the door, he was faced with his brother, Madara, the Yamanaka and the Nara head. They all looked at him hopeful glint in their eyes.

"I did not find the antidote yet. There is one ingredient missing and I have never heard of anything with those properties." Angry, he threw his research on the desk and ran a hand in his hair ragingly.

The Nara took the pile of papers and read through

"This is a thorough research; did you do all this by yourself? The procedures are so well explained and detailed… Impressive."

"She- Sakura did most of the work, I just picked up the rest of the research…" His voice was low and tired, and the Nara eyed him for a second before to bring his attention back to the document. The Nara froze and raised an eyebrow. Tobirama stopped pacing and sent him a questioning glance.

"What is it?"

"I think my clan does grow a plant with the same properties as the one missing in your research…"

Tobirama's heart almost leapt out of his chest. Hope made his whole body warm. He did not dare to hope but could not help the fluttering of his heart at the idea that they would get the antidote right. The Nara walked past him rapidly.

"Come, I will help you."


The two men worked with the plant, trying different quantities and finally, after a few hours, the antidote finally worked. It was barely put in the syringe when Tobirama ran it to Ama. After almost four days without sleep, he would stay beside her until she woke up. He had to make sure that she was alright and that the worked he put into this life-saving mixture was worth it.

Ama injected the antidote and now the only thing they had to do was wait. Slumping in the chair next to the bed, Tobirama hoped they had made it on time.


Sakura was in a weird place. It was dark and she could barely see in front of her. Bright orange flames surprised her and when she looked up she could not believe what she saw. The nine tails was staring back at her with something like a grin on his face. His deep voice startled her.

"Naruto was right. You were the right one for this task." Sakura stood there, frozen. He had talked to her. This animal had talked to her. She gulped and met his eyes.

"Nine tails?" His deep laugh rumbled through her body.

"Call me Kurama."

Nodding, she lost her words and laughed. How crazy was it? She was talking to the nine tails. The same one that had been in Naruto. After a few minutes, her hilarity calmed down.

"Well done, Sakura."

Looking at the fox, she thought about the past weeks.

"So I really did it?" The fox grinned again and nodded his large head. Sakura frowned. She had so many things to ask. "How did the seal work? I mean, how did it kill him?"

"The seal was made to bind the two bodies together to avoid this monster to escape again and crawl away. Once fused with it, if the host died, Zetsu died as well."

Sakura nodded. That explained why it had been such an important part of everything… So simple, yet hard to achieve. But it did not explain the voice in her head that asked her to save a person… Putting a hand on her hips she stared at the tall animal.

"When I was sent to the past, I heard a voice in my dreams. It said: save the one who dies in the past of your future." Looking up, she tilted her head, curious. "Who was the voice?"

"It was me." Well that. She did not expect it at all. Seeing her surprised face, he continued. "When Naruto placed the seal on you, a part of me was there too."

Sakura stayed silent for a moment, taking in the information. So a small part of Kurama had been there? In the seal? But why did she have to save Izuna?

"I did save Izuna, so I assume that I did well in that regard…" The fox grinned at her, a small huff escaping his mouth.

"Izuna was a bonus. Hayato was the one you had to save. He was essential for your recovery." So before to even stop the war, she had saved the person who needed to be saved? How did he know what she had to do? The fact that she would be kidnapped.

"So you knew already how things would happen?" The fox sat back on his haunches and shrugged.

"I did not know, but I did have a good idea that some people would resent you for stopping a war and that you would need all the help necessary later."

Sakura nodded. So he had a vague idea on how everything was supposed to happen. Maybe-

"Can you tell if I am bound stay here now? Was the seal only one way?"

He paused before to answer, like he was picking his words carefully.

"Actually, the seal is still there… How can I explain this." The fox tilted his head. "You see, the seal will fade since the mission you were sent here to do was accomplished. When it totally fades away, you will get back to the future."

The words struck Sakura more than she would have liked. She would go home. Why wasn't she happy about it. A few questions ran through her mind. She had to ask.

"How long do I have here? And what if I don't want to go back?" The fox raised an eyebrow and took a moment to contemplate the question.

"Naruto and I had little time to prepare this and the seal is a bit unstable. You maybe have a few weeks, a few months… Maybe a year. There are quite a lot of variables that we haven't had time to figure out, because… war. Unfortunately, you cannot stay."

Nodding, Sakura looked down. This was disappointing. The fox laid in front of her, his eyes leveled to hers and his smirk exposed his canines.

"You are quite an impressive young woman, Sakura Haruno."

Then, she was back in an aching body. Her limbs were still painful, but she knew she was alive. Her eyes opened.