OK Well it has been a hot minute since I have posted anything on this story, in fact, it has beeeeeen since 1/23/20 and now it is 2/20/21 so over a year.

a lot has happened in my life and I will try to make more posts to this story but I can not promise anything, but to those that are worried that it has been dropped, fear not for there is always hope for those with patience and persistence

Honestly, it is you lovelies that keep coming back to read and especially to those of you that review that keep this FF alive

without further waiting the next chapter

Swift Departing

The surrounding area of the town had been swept, and nothing. There had been little to see and even less reason to think that that tree at Sakura's was random. It was even in her name. The town had been a waste; they barely needed to spend any time there at all.

The few people that spoke to them were terrified, and useless. There was no information they had on the girl other than when she came to the village. One old woman was willing to tell them that she cured her hip problem, but that no one would go to see her even if she was a miracle healer. She was a ninja first in the villagers' eyes and for that reason, most of them stayed away from her.

Madara had grown frustrated with the tedious searching and lack of any substantial information they could gather. He looked to Izuna before shaking his head. His brother nodded understanding what his brother was saying they jumped onto the roof of one of the taller buildings keeping out of sight.

"This is pointless. These civilians know nothing." Madara grumbled

"Well, I'm not surprised. They wouldn't exactly be aware of a chakra-related disturbance unless it was right in front of them."

"And there is nothing you have been able to see that is peculiar with the Sharingan?"

"Nothing since we left Sakura's, that tree that you pointed out to me. There was something different about it. It had a current of something pulsing in it."

"It's connected to that girl somehow."

"It could just be something she uses for healing brother. When she was healing you with her chakra I had never seen anything like it. The wounds just closed as though they were never there and she barely seemed to have tiered herself doing it. Maybe the tree has something to do with that."

"Trees and healing, she is starting to sound more and more like a Senju."

"I've never seen a Senju with green eyes before." Izuna recalled sitting down on the roof.

"So? Doesn't mean that one couldn't they are not known for having set features like us and some of the other clans."

"Why are you so determined to try and make an enemy out of Sakura? She saved your life and asked for nothing in return."

"Well like she said she was doing her job to the village." Madara grumbled out, taking a drink of water from his pouch before offering it to Izuna.

Izuna took the container and had a few swallows before handing it back to Madara. "What she did was beyond just a random healer from a random village doing her duty. She can't be over 10 or 11 and to heal like that is.."

"Strange, Izuna, at the very least it is strange. At the worst it is dangerous." Madara said, putting away the water jug.

"No, there is something else you are not telling me. What else is there, does this have to do with what you saw on the other side of those barriers within the disturbance?"

Madara didn't respond as he looked off in the direction of Sakura's cottage.

"You still haven't told me what you saw over there." Izuna continued. "Was it truly that terrifying? You can tell me. You know that I would tell no one."

"It was… I don't even really know how to describe it. Terrifying could be a way to describe it. I didn't want to leave. It was like the air itself was healing me. The grass was so soft it was almost like moss. And the land was covered by pink cherry trees. All in full bloom and pulsating with the same chakra as Sakura."

Izuna was quiet for a moment and a gust of wind came by gently blowing their hair against their unmoving faces. "So." Izuna said finally, "you think she is from there? It doesn't sound terrible or evil, just-"

"Strange."

"Hn." Izuna hummed looking into the sky, "Was there anyone else in there? She could have been telling the truth or at least partial truth, she doesn't seem to be lying about her family. Why would she work for some random village, if she had family out there?"

"It was empty except for the trees."

"So if she is from there and it was empty maybe she really is out here all alone."

"Or there are more out there like her."

"More 11 year old girls with pink hair that can heal wounds with chakra? Don't you think word would have spread if people like that started popping up?"

"Word hasn't spread about her."

After a moment of silence Izuna let out a sigh, "Well people will start to, and if there are more like her out there word will spread about them too. It is only a matter of time. I don't know what you want me to say here brother."

"I want you to admit that all of this is -"

"Strange, yes I have been listening. Look there are prodigies on the battlefield like you and there are prodigies on and off the battlefield, like me."

"Alright alright get to the point." Madara said not in the mood for Izunas bragging.

Izuna let out a chuckle, "I'm just trying to say that even in our clan we get treated differently for how we are. And it is not always because of who our father is. It is rare to see talent like that, really focused on healing in a world like this."

"You are younger than me brother and it is times like these that I am here to remind you not to be naive. Someone this talented can have talents in other fields. If you can heal you can kill."

"She is 11." Izuna said exacerbated

"She is a kunoichi." Madara said flatly.

There was a finality to Madaras words. The two boys looked off across the town not really looking at anything, just thinking. Izuna could be many things but this naiveness was unusual for him. What made him so susceptible to her. She didn't seem particularly charming or overly nice.

Green eyes flashed through Madaras's mind. Her cream skin making them seem even brighter than they would look on anyone else. There was something about her. Her eyes and her pink hair were all so unusual yet he had to admit they fit her perfectly.

"Let's go back." Madara started, stretching his arms out behind him, "I think we have seen what we need to see, and we should see what other information we can pull from Sakura. She seems to like you well enough maybe she will answer some questions about the disturbance if we ask her directly."

"If you say so brother." Izuna said feeling slightly defeated for some reason.

They hopped from roof to roof until they reached the end of the town hopping down they walked through the gates before hopping back into the trees they made their way back to Sakura's little cabin. They hadn't gotten far along before they noticed what looked like the leftover destruction of a small battle. The two hopped down from the trees and looked around.

There was blood on the ground in one area and some of the trees were broken and wet. Even though the rain had most of the road still wet they could see the leftovers from some sort of water jutsu. One tree looked as though someone had been thrown against it. Then they could make out where several bodies had fallen. Then from the woods it looked as though one or two bodies had been dragged then the others somehow either got up or were somehow moved as well.

After a moment or two of assessing the situation, Izuna looked up at Madara with worried eyes, and bounded forward down the path. Madara was not far behind him heading towards Sakura's cabin. Quickly they made it to the cottage. There appeared to be no damage to the structure or the surrounding area. Though they could since there were a few chakra signatures inside.

Both of the brothers sharingan activated in their eyes. Madara did not use his sharingan often, it was new and still unstable. Ever since the incident with his father and brother and Hashirama and his father he had only used his sharingan a handful of times.

At the entrance to the cottage, he looked towards his brother and held his hand up motioning from three to two to one before opening the door ready for a fight. What faced them was an entirely different scene. Sakura was sitting in a chair by her kitchen table peeling vegetables. Over on the other side of the room were four ninja knocked unconscious on the floor. All of them in various degrees of ruination.

Madara's eyes slowly slowed and went back to normal after taking in the scene. Izuna however lingered on the scene looking back and forth both images were burned into his memory. Sakura looked up, her green eyes fearlessly looking into his sharingan. A bold move for anyone who knew the power their genjutsu held. But she seemed to have no reservations looking into his eyes to calm him down.

"I am happy to see that you two have returned. As you can see I have found some of the 'more activity in the area' that you mentioned. Turned out they were not very pleasant. In fact it turns out they were looking for you two." Sakura said getting up off of her chair. "They were going to use me as bait or a cover or something, but they were rude and weak so here they are. Sleeping on my living room floor."

"I… we… are sorry for the inconvenience?" Izuna said slowly, his eyes returning to their usual black hue.

"No no please don't apologize. I would have expected nothing less for two Uchiha heirs."

Madara's eyes narrowed. "So you know who we are then."

"No need to pretend here. I'm not trying to hide what I know from you. In fact I'm here to help you as you were my patients. They were here for you, but now they are not continuous and under the impression you are already gone. So I suggest you two go on your way and get a head start before I heal these ninjas and have them go on their way."

"So you are letting them go?" Madara asked his cooler demeanor taking in the scene before him

Izuna heard his brothers words in the back of his head "if she can heal she can kill." and a chill went up his spine looking at the bodies on the ground at least two of them seemed to be fairly seasoned ninja yet her calm demeanor signaled no worry or bother at all by the situation before her.

Sakura waved her knife over the area of her home with a shrug, "House of healing." Sakura said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, as she waved the knife around using it to emphasize her points by pointing it at the group of unconscious ninja. "They were here for you two, and I told them that they must have lost your path in the storm last night. It is not yet late afternoon I can give you both until nightfall to get going so that you can have a nice head start. After all I can't just leave random ninja knocked out on my floor forever."

Izuna's eyes slowly turned back to normal. "Well I guess that cuts our stay here off short."

"Yup" Sakura said, jumping down from her chair. "Too bad about that, but nothing to be done." She was feeling a bit lighter hearing the conversation go in the optimum direction, only to let out a slight groan at Madara's next suggestion.

"Well we could just kill them." Madara said flatly

"What did I just say? Are you def or do you just want to get under my skin? House of healing." Sakura turned towards Izuna the knife in her hand suddenly looking a lot more lethal, "Is your brother always like this?"

"They were here to kill us." Izuna said slowly, trying to take some sort of middle ground.

"And they couldn't even get past a little girl, so that shows you what kind of threat they are." Sakura said twirling the knife in her hand.

Or its a testament as to what kind of threat you are, Madara thought to himself. "Did you get any information from them? I doubt they willingly gave up the names of their targets."

"Yeah," Sakura said, "they said that they were getting in touch with the Hyugas. Again another reason for you two to very stealthily get back to your village or compound or wherever Uchihas multiply from."

The two boys stiffened at the mention of the Hyuga clan. Madara turned to grab the rest of their items they had left at her home to get going. Izuna started cataloging what was in his bag.

"Well that certainly lit a fire under the two of you. Next time I will start off with the Hyuga are coming." Sakura said in a slightly dramatic voice.

Madara looked up at the pink haired girl with a glare, what happened to the nervous girl that had been there when he had woken up? That would have been less of a headache to deal with than whatever kind of little girl this was. So much for trying to get the information out of her now. They usually could take on a few Hyuga with the just the two of them, but neither of them could take on a whole team and the Hyuga knew that too.

Sakura shook her head and grabbed a small bag from one of the drawers of her kitchen and began putting a few vegetables in it and some medical herbs. She turned and walked over to Izuna. "Here, take these with you. I'm sure that you will need some extra supplies for the journey home, especially since I doubt that you got anything from the village."

"Thank you." Izua replied, "and thank you for your hospitality since we have been here. We will be sure to repay your kindness the next time we meet."

"Which I hope will be in the far future, since the only reason I would expect to see you here for would be another injury."

"Well you never know." Madara interjected, "Us Uchiha repay our debts, and there are not many out there that would be so open as to help us. So yes one day you will see one or both of us again."

Sakura closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, was Sasuke as stubborn as this one was? Exhaling she waved off the old memories concluding it must be an Uchiha thing. "Right," Sakura said a pleasant but annoyed smile strained onto her features. "Well, in order to do that, you need to get home alive first, I just patched you up and I don't plan on doing it again in the next few hours. So then off you go." she said practically pushing the young boys out the door.

As the boys were out the door Izuna turned back to give a short bow of thanks again to Sakura who was standing by her door watching them go. Her stressed smile easing into a real one at the small gesture of the younger sibling. He really was a cute kid Sakura thought to herself as she saw them jump into the tree line. Turning back into her cottage she couldn't help but feel bad for the kind talented boy.

She closed the door and went back to the table, effortlessly jumping into the chair and commenced pealing the vegetables. After she was done she went to put them into a pot of boiling water and took the rest of the peelings to her yard.

When she got back inside she took a look at the bodies. There were no more life threatening injuries. Some would take a bit of time to heal but she speed up the process a bit for them. Then after she was done with that she commenced cooking until they woke up.

The first of the ninja to wake was the largest. She could see the confusion on his face trying to get his bearings.

"Awake? Good. You should check your gear and as the rest of you wake up you should leave. This village does not really care for ninja interference." Sakura said

The man, still laying on the ground looked up at the tiny girl, and then looked at the rest of his team. They all seemed to be relatively fine, as he got more feeling in his limbs he went to go check on the youngest of their team looking for any injuries.

"Don't worry for the most part everyone is all healed up and ready to leave, that one though might have some trouble with her hand signs for a while since I broke so many of the bones in her hands. But overall your team should be fit for travel."

"Where are we?" the man asked unsure of his location, "How long have we been here?"

"Not too long. Well after I single handedly beat your team. I then brought you back to my cabin to heal you just outside the village. And well that is about it." Sakura said, turning off the soup that she had been making.

As the other members began slowly waking up they all started off groggy but once they got their bearings the air became very tense. As the young one woke up they checked on her to see how she was doing and though she seemed fine Sakura knew that they could tell their companion had said something it was the guilty look in her eyes that betrayed her. Rooky Sakura thought to herself quietly.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Look she's fine and all of you are fine. I didn't do anything funny to you. I just want you out of my house so that I can have some peace and quiet to eat my dinner. The mission is over. You failed. It happens just be happy that this time you didn't face someone that would have killed you for that little stunt you all tried to pull." when she was met with more silence she continued, "Don't you guys have someone you report to or something like that, someone who is waiting for a mission report?"

Almost all of them were glaring at her now except for the youngest one that refused to make eye contact with the small girl. "I could also just kill you." Sakura said, narrowing her eyes at the group as she slowly let her killing intent slip out until she saw a bead of sweat drop down their leader's tense face, and the young ninja was shaking. Then she drew it back in as if it was never there and she put a pleasant smile on her face, "But I would rather not have to dig graves or burn bodies especially ones that I have already put the effort into healing."

Their leader stood and looked at the other two, "Get up." he ordered, and obediently but sorely they did. After checking their bags they checked their gear and weapons to see if in fact, everything was still there.

Ahh so they listen to that one but not the nice little girl, who saved their asses from probably being killed by two Uchiha proteges.

As they filled out of her cottage she looked at the state of them. They looked fairly beaten but she had healed the majority of anything that would prohibit a quick journey to their base. Sakura walked them to the door in a similar manner that she had to the boys. Lining up outside of her home the oldest one turned back towards her, "What is your name?"

"..." Sakura waited for a moment. Why did they want her name? " Sakura." she finally said

"And you currently reside in this town?" he continued to ask

Sakura paused for a moment trying to gauge what he was trying to learn about her. "For now, yes. But to be clear it is just outside of the town. The townspeople here are not too fond of ninja, can't see why that would be. It's almost as if little girls are being attacked on back roads or something." she said sarcastically, "Now is there anything else you have to ask of me before I start getting irritable?" she had already given them plenty more aid than they deserved from her considering they ambushed her.

The ninja, noticing the tight rope he was walking on, bowed, and said a quick "No." before jumping into the trees followed by his team, in which she made note of, a noticeably different direction than the two Uchiha that had left earlier that day. Good. She thought to herself before turning back inside.

OK there we have it

what did you think how is it going so far?

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