DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO (SADLY)
"What are you waiting for?" The Hyuuga leader shouted at Madara and Hashirama "Kill me! Kill us!" his men looked at him worried.
"SHUT UP" Madara spat "We don't want to kill you" he crossed his arms. "How could you do this? How could you possible think to kill our children? Death will only be a gift for you" he said while his Sharingan started to spin "and I can show you worse than death" by now his Mangekyo was activated. Sakura was worried because she thought the Uchiha was being a slave of their curse of hatred, but something in her gut told her to wait.
"You have pretty little eyes like mine" the prisoner mocked "So what?"
"I don't think you'll call my eyes pretty when you come back from the Tsukuyomi" Madara said in a low dangerous voice. The white eyed man gulped hard and that made him smirk. "So you know what I am talking about. The three days of torture genjutsu, most people are not the same after being in caught in it, if they survive I mean"
"W-What do you want?" The Hyuuga asked scared. His fellow shinobi were beaten and some of them trembling. This time the Uchiha looked at Hashirama, who took a step forward in this man direction. His expression was severe and hurt.
"We want you to stop attacking us" The Senju said serious. "We want peace." Many of the presents including the prisoners, gasped. "Uchiha and Senju have been enemies for Kami knows how long, and we finally could find peace. Our goals were the same, to survive and keep our Clan alive, but in the meantime we lost our north. Now that we regained it we want to protect it, and we will. You don't mess with our Village, because we'll protect it with our lives."
"T-then why don't you kill us?" the prisoner asked confused and disgusted. "You don't know for sure if we'll stop attacking you even if we said so." The Senju sighed, next to him Madara was with his Mangekyo still on and Sakura was next to him al dirty because of the earth she had cracked. Tobirama was standing next to Izuna, watching the man menacely.
"We don't want war" Hashirama said simply. "We don't need it. We want to make this Village to grow, to be a place where fellow shinobi and civilians can cohabitate working together in peace. We never thought it would be possible for us to reach this dream" he pointed at Madara and himself "But fortunately we were given a chance by Kami" he looked at Sakura and the almost fainting Hikari further away. "And so, we're going to give you a chance"
The people were paying attention at the Senju's words, they were surprised by his statement, but the majority of whispers were of confusion or doubt.
"A chance?" the Hyuuga asked.
"You leave now and think of a possible truce and alliance" the future Hokage said. "But…"
"What?" the other asked immediately.
"If you ever attack our children again, we will kill you mercilessly" Hashirama said with a murderous look, his senjutusu activating slightly. Madara backed up him by taking a step next to him emanating some purple Susanoo like chakra, and Sakura cracked her knuckles loudly. "Of course that applies to the rest of the Village too"
"Hinoishi-sama" one of the Hyuuga clansmen whispered to his leader. "Please, think about this. They are giving us a chance" the other men also whispered their approval. The man seemed worried and something else Hashirama couldn't name yet. 'Maybe he feels dishonor' the Senju thought. The quiet conversation took some minutes more.
"ENOUGH!" Hinoishi said "You know that I can't accept that, we can't be your allies, nor join you"
"I'm not saying that you have to" Hashirama said "If you want that it's fine for us, but if you chose not to, we just want you to keep of our territory. You really can choose in this moment. Leave in peace to think if you want to join our cause, or not and you just keep distance from us. Or attack us and die" He smiled his cheerful well known smile, and it was completely creepy, Sakura thought. She heard the Hyuuga gulped again.
"You also need to know that Sakura-san here and Hikari-san are honored members of this village, and if you also ever plan to harm them, Konohagure will protect them with full force" he kept smiling and even though it was touching, he made the pinkette remember of Sai and his ability to say dreadful things while grinning. There was a silence full of expectation that seemed to last forever, and then the man spoke.
"Okay" Hinoishi said "We accept your offer and we will leave your Village peacefully." Madara smirked "But we won't ally to you. We'll just honor this sort of truce and we won't attack this Village or any of its Villagers."
"That's fine for me" the Senju said "Guys what do you think?" he looked behind us to his friends and brother, and also to their people.
"Okay" Madara said relaxing his guard but Mangekyo still on.
"I Agree" Tobirama said, Izuna copied him and Sakura nodded. The rest of the people talked between each other not sure of what to do. Some of the parents that were hugging their children looked worried.
"I think it's a good Idea" Kido San said from the middle of the crowd "We don't want any more wars, or blood spilled" He looked at his fellow Uchiha with vehemence. Some of them started to nod in approval. Finally they started to agree verbally.
"What Kido-san is saying is right people" Wata Senju spoke. "Let's protect what we have by not behaving like we did before" she looked at her people. They did the same as the Uchiha. Pleased, Hashirama looked at the Hyuuga again.
"Okay, we will escort you outside the Village" he said.
"Hashirama," Madara interrupted "First we need to ask them a few things, is it possible?" he asked his friend. The man nodded. "Tobirama," the Uchiha now called the albino "Would you like to interrogate these men?" The mentioned looked at him surprised; he had been thinking how they could have done something that big without them even noticing. He nodded and walked towards the group of prisoners.
Meanwhile the Uchiha and Senju sensor patrol arrived; they had not found more shinobi nearby. Madara and Hashirama walked back with Sakura to speak with their Clans.
Izuna backed up the Albino with twenty men, but giving him space to act. They didn't want to ruin what Hashirama and Madara had achieved. Tobirama proceeded to ask him how they had entered and taken the kids from their homes. The man told him that thy had entered through a dead spot on the perimeter and one of the non Hyuuga shinobi had crossed it some days before and he passed as a civilian. He learnt that there was going to be a reunion that day and the figured out the kids would be alone. Taking them from their beds was easy because they had come across the civilian girl and with her as hostage they compelled they orders without opposing any resistance.
"Sakura-san, I think is better that you go check on Hikari-san now" Madara suggested her "We've got it covered"
"Hai" the pinkette said while nodding "There's no one else hurt, right?"
"No one seems to need attention" Hashirama said looking around.
"I'll go with Hikari-chan then" Sakura said and jumped landing flawlessly near her friend.
Takato had cleaned her face the best he could and Toka had checked that she didn't have any important wound.
"Nee Hikari-chan, can you hear me?" Sakura said quietly pressing Hikari's shoulder.
"Sa-Sakura" the Takishima whispered.
"You've overdone yourself this time lady" the pinkette scolded her while scanning her body in more depth than Toka; It was not that she didn't trust her, but Sakura could identify things others couldn't. "Your limbs are chakra-less, and your eye's chakra coils are burnt. How many fingers do you see?" she put two fingers in front of her eyes.
"T-Two" Hikari said with great effort, her eyes were closing. "I'm tired"
"Then your corneas are okay, that's good" Sakura smiled. "I'm going to start healing your eyes, you can relax now, the danger has passed" she said as she started glowing green over her eyes. The Takishima's breathing evened and she fell unconscious.
"Oh Kami, Is she okay?" Toka asked worried.
"Yes" the pinkette explained "she's passed out of chakra depletion, your help worked fine to maintain her until I could check on her. You did well Toka!" The Senju blushed a little for the praise. "But we need to take her to the hospital so I can perform a proper chakra transfusion and she can rest" She stood up and walked to Madara and Hashirama again.
"I must take Hikari-chan to the Hospital" She explained "She's passed out"
"I can take her with Hirashin right now" Tobirama said coming from the interrogation "I have all the information we need" he added looking at his brother and Madara.
"Go then Tobi" Hashirama answered "We'll escort these men with Izuna". The albino nodded and walked back with Sakura to where the Takishima was. He kneeled and took her in his arms. Takato looked at him surprised with his action.
"I'll get her to the Hospital faster" Tobirama felt the need to explain his actions, but he didn't know why. The Uchiha nodded at him and the Senju added "I'll see you there" then, he shunshined with Hikari. Sakura left jumping and running. Toka and Takato looked at Hashirama and Madara and the men nodded too allowing them to go with the pinkette.
"Nee… Nii-san" Izuna said to the Uchiha Patriarch "Shall we escort these men now?"
"Yes, but control your men. We need to not be hostile right now." He answered "We'll go with you"
"Everybody!" The Senju leader said "We're done here, we'll escort these men and you now can return to your homes safely. We're sorry this gathering ended up this way, but there will be plenty of times to celebrate together. Please, rest well" The people were still nervous but understood what he was saying, some of them even bowed greeting them and left. "Now" he said looking at his friend "Let's finish this so we can go and check on Hikari-san" And they made the Hyuuga men to stand up and walked them to the Village's doors.
In the Hospital Ryuuji received Tobirama and Hikari worried, the girl's clothes were drenched in blood but she seemed to not have any visible injuries. He made the albino enter in one of the emergency rooms and they put her over a stretcher.
"What happened" he asked as he checked her vitals. Fortunately she was only unconscious. He started to take her Hakama off. Tobirama blushed a little, because he found it inappropriate but it seemed this boy was already a professional, Sakura was teaching him well and he surely was a fast learner.
"We were attacked by a bunch of Hyuuga men" the Senju explained, and he noticed how Ryuuji grabbed the hakama's fabric tighter as he said so.
"Did… Did someone get hurt?" he asked while trying to concentrate in the task.
"No, only the Hyuuga." That seemed to calm the boy "They had kidnapped all Uchiha and Senju kids, and they grabbed your sister all along but they are all fine. Hikari-san and Sakura-san saved them"
"M-Megumi was there?" He had finished with the Hakama and was placing it over a chair as he grabbed a white clean robe.
"Yes, she seemed to notice when they entered in the village and followed them. So they took her as a hostage" Tobirama said serious.
"WHAT ON KAMI'S NAME WAS SHE THINKING!?" Ryuuji exclaimed loudly, squeezing the robe hard. The Albino looked at him unimpressed. "I-I'm sorry Tobirama-sama. It's just…"
"You were angry and worried about your sister" he stated "that's a good reason to raise your voice. Don't apologize."
"Yes, that's true. It's worse in this case because it was the Hyuuga of all of Clans" the teen said "Oh, I need to change Hikari-San. Could you please wait outside?" The Albino became aware of the situation, nodded and quickly stepped out of the room.
While Tobirama waited outside, he thought about what the boy said about the Hyuuga. He knew they had attacked their village the day the kunoichi had arrived but his reaction was sure about something else related with the clan. Immediately Sakura arrived followed by Takato and Toka.
"Where's Hikari?" Sakura asked as she recovered her air.
"It's Inside" The albino pointed the door behind him "Your apprentice has checked her and he's changing her right now, he asked me to leave"
"Great, thank you very much Tobirama-san" said the pinkette and entered the room leaving the three of them outside.
"The boy is changing her?" Toka said amused.
"I don't see a reason to be amused here Toka" the Senju said "The boy as you said seemed very professional" he defended him.
"Oh, Tobi Chan is fond of the civilian apprentice?" she mocked "You're doing great advances in since we've arrived here"
"Shut up" Tobirama said annoyed. "Ryuuji-san was upset when I mentioned the Hyuuga. Do you two know something about?"
"Hn… No" Takato answered as Toka shook her head. "I've spoke little with him. Maybe you should ask Sakura-san" and the man nodded. They were silent for a while; Tobirama could realize that both his waiting companions were anxious waiting for notice about the Takishima. He couldn't understand how quickly those girls had won the trust and hearts of so many people, and he realized he was not so coldhearted as he had thought because he was worried about the kunoichi on the other room, and he felt sort of proud and at ease having the pinkette with them. Speaking of the devil, she came out of the door with Hikari's Clothes. Takato and Toka looked at her expectant.
"She's doing fine now but she's still asleep, and she will be that way until she replenishes her chakra completely by herself" Sakura explained. "Toka-San I'm sorry to ask, but could you please sent this to clean? The fabric is dark but the blood stain won't come off if we wait" she handled the clothes to her "And knowing Hikari, she will feel bad for ruining the gift Izuna gave her." She smiled.
"Don't worry, I'll go and come back right away" Toka said and took off. Once the three of them were alone Sakura said that they have to take her to a regular room, so she can rest properly. She re-entered the emergency room and soon she walked out moving the Stretcher with Ryuuji's help.
"We'll take her to room 5, I'll tell you when you can visit her" she said as passing. Tobirama and Takato were left alone in an uncomfortable silence. They both were worried about the kunoichi, she was pale, surely because of the blood loss, but despite of that it was awkward between the two of them. The Uchiha had noticed Tobirama's reaction when he cleaned Hikari's face, he knew it was sort of an intimate gesture, but he felt in the need to do so; also the Senju had noticed Takato's subtle reaction when he grabbed the Kunoichi to take her to the Hospital. The albino remembered his brother's words again. This man was interested in her, and he realized that so did he. The question was until what extent.
Takato, on the other hand remembered Izuna's words. If he didn't put himself together, the Senju might become interested in the kunoichi and she… there was no way he could foresee what would her feelings be if that happened. He knew Tobirama was a good man, and thinking of him as a possible rival but in another kind of battlefield had never crossed his mind until now. 'Kami, I really like her. I'm doomed'
"That Majime-san is really a despicable man" the Senju finally said taking the other man out from his musings. "What he said about your mother…" he couldn't finish, if someone spoke that way about his mother he might destroy that person.
"Yeah, he is hateful" Takato said and sighed "He crossed a line this time. It's been a long time since I've been Aniki so angry. Last time it was with our father. I still can't believe what Hikari-san did, and Sakura backed her up. They sure are a team" he smiled.
"Those girls have some nerve" Tobirama smirked "do you think she might get in trouble with your clan?"
"I'm sure she will be in trouble with Majime-san" he joked "But with the clan, no. What she did today made her gain full Uchiha trust and respect. The Susanoo that almost costs her life I mean. Our people will sure forget she slapped and old hateful hag over the lives of their children, how Ironic." He smiled sadly.
"What do you mean?" the albino asked not understanding. Takato looked everywhere but sensed they were completely alone.
"In her time Uchiha hated her" he explained "and now, they might treat her like her own kin."
"That's true" the other shinobi said, and they could not continue talking because finally Madara, Hashirama and Izuna arrived.
"The Hyuuga are far away, and we've reinforced our guards. We have sensors posted across the perimeter" Madara informed his brother and Tobirama.
"We need to start working on the Village's defense right away." The latter answered "The sensors are fine, but we need to make them know and be familiar with the chakra signatures of the villagers so they can notice any foreign suspicious person"
"Tomorrow we'll discuss that on our reunion" Hashirama said "How is Hikari San?"
"And where's Toka? Izuna asked "Is she helping Sakura-san? That's not fair!"
"I'm here silly" the Kunoichi said as she arrived "I took Hikari-san's clothes to be cleaned, Sakura-san told me so. She thought Hikari-san might feel bad for ruining your present" Izuna blushed.
"That Baka" he said "she sure has her priorities messed up"
"She was very grateful with your gift" Sakura said coming from the hallway. "You can now see Hikari-chan. Just for tonight I'm going to let you all enter, because she wouldn't even feel you. But from tomorrow there can only be two people in the room, alright?"
"HAI" Toka and Izuna said in unison mocking her. She smiled at them.
"Come on, follow me" the pinkette turned back and walked to room 5.
Inside the room Hikari only had an IV with fluids and nothing else. She was cleaned, wearing her white robe and covered tightly with a thick blanket, even though it was spring, at night might become a little cold. She was breathing heavy, and her expression was calmed. Ryuuji left the place, to check on his sister. He said he was sure she wanted to come and see her sensei so he would tell her how she was and bring her and his grandfather in the morning. When they were alone, they asked more questions to the pinkette.
"So what really happened to her?" Izuna asked "She lost so much chakra and blood"
"Well, she used half of her chakra to create that Susanoo" Sakura explained "and the other half was required to do the massive Hirashin"
"But Susanoo doesn't take you that much chakra" the youngest Uchiha retorted.
"I remember Hikari-san told me that she could only cast some parts of it" Hashirama intervened "That day you fought in the Village I believe she used the helmet and torso to protect herself from the hit." Everybody looked at him "What? Sometimes I have good memory"
"That's right" Sakura said "Hikari-chan is not used to use a full Susanoo, she doesn't use her Mangekyo much, but when she does, it's just to upgrade her sight, movements reading and to use genjutsu. She sometimes casts parts of Susanoo and is fine, I've even seen her training to cast it complete but using all her chakra. This time she dedicated half of it, so it damaged her eyes with the abuse. And her Uncle's jutsu, with so many children required her almost more than the other half of her chakra."
"Then that light…" Tobirama said.
"It was… Hamura?" Takato completed the question.
"Yes, I'm afraid so" the pinkette answered "She was too close to open her seal and that would be disastrous right now"
"But why can't she use that chakra?" Madara asked confused.
"It's not my right to tell her story" Sakura said "But that chakra has a signature that the 'evil thing' we want to fight might sense. And we are not prepared to confront it. The Village is not prepared to confront it if he comes"
"What is that thing?" the Uchiha kept asking now worried.
"It's… let's say it's an ancient creature born from a deity's ill will" the pinkette told them. "I can't tell you more. But please, keep alert if you ever feel some dark sinister chakra, or if you sense anybody that might have the curse of hatred" Takato and Izuna looked at each other.
"Why?" they asked in unison.
"Because that thing feeds on that" the kunoichi said serious. Everybody became silent. After a while Sakura continued speaking "I suggest all of you go to get some rest. You can come back tomorrow" Takato looked at his otouto and Toka.
"It's our shift," he said "We'll stay to work"
"Hn, okay" the pinkette said "We will continue your training then"
"But Sakura-san!" Hashirama said worried "You should go to rest too!"
"I'll stay here, if she needs me it's better for me to be near" she stated not giving place to debate.
"She wouldn't want you working without resting" Madara said looking at her scornfully.
"If nobody tells her, she won't know that" Sakura winked at him and he rolled his eyes "Come on, I'll sleep here in an empty room, I promise"
"We'll take care of her aniki, don't worry!" Izuna said hugging the kunoichi playfully, and she stared at him. "You need to go back and check on the Clan. To see what is the real effect today brought to everybody"
"Hn." The eldest said not amused, he didn't want Sakura overdoing herself, and also he wanted to stay. He felt in debt with Hikari. "I shall go then" he said abruptly "see you tomorrow" he turned his back and left. Sakura looked at Izuna confused.
"Is he angry about something?" she asked.
"Maybe… who knows?" Izuna said releasing her "Aniki is very reserved"
"He is probably worried about you and Hikari-san" Takato explained. "If he is angry with someone it's with Majime, that's for sure"
"That old bastard!" Hashirama exclaimed gaining surprised faces from the present. "I can swear when I want to" he defended himself. "How could he say Madara should get married with Hikari-san? That was only to upset them both."
"What do you mean?" his brother asked.
"Madara is against settled marriage, and the marriage inside the clan." He explained "just like me, but fortunately our Clan doesn't set marriages anymore, but we still need it to be inside it. That's something we need to fix"
"I still don't see your point" the albino continued, but he noticed how Toka grew interested in what his anija was saying.
"That man doesn't want to marry Hikari-san inside the Uchiha. He used her to upset Madara, and also to upset her" Hashirama said "For them she is a descendant of Uchiha deflectors"
"That's right" Izuna said "And deflectors are bad seen by our clan elders! I won't be surprised if those idiots were the ones that made father kick Hikari´s Great grandfather from the Clan" The Senju nodded.
"He just wanted to embarrassed her in front of everybody" he finished.
"But that doesn't explain what he said about your mother" Sakura intervened "He's lucky Hikari was the one to slap him, because I was infusing chakra on my fist" everybody sweat dropped.
"Uchiha women are very protective of their children" Takato explained "And our mother wasn't the exception. Also, she didn't want us to become assassins like father. He was lost, but even though she knew that, she never gave up hope. She confronted him a lot when we were kids, and she also confronted the council. They hated her" he added lowering his head. "She's the reason Madara nii did not became a monster like father, and they never forgave her".
"I don't remember that" Izuna said feeling down "And I'm just a year younger, why?"
"Sometimes we tend to forget what hurts us as kids" the pinkette said and the Uchiha looked at her "The mind automatically protects us from bad memories. Or maybe it was your mother that made you believe that everything was okay."
"I noticed when we were teens that she was far from the rest of the clan" he said "But I've always thought it was because of her illness"
"It was because of that" his brother said "but also because of the Council. Sora-san and Kido-san where the only ones that took care of her until…"
"I hate Majime" Izuna said looking at the floor feeling deeply sad and angry. He was very surprised when he felt a hand in his shoulder and he became astonished when he looked up and saw it was Tobirama's.
"Our mother was also mistreated by our father" he looked at him serious but sympathetically. "She did everything she could to protect us, to protect Hashirama's Innocence." Izuna's eyes widen and he looked from him to the eldest Senju. "Our council wasn't as bad as yours fortunately, but in the end she only wanted the man whom she loved to love her back. And he never did."
"Why are you so supportive with me?" the Uchiha asked confused.
"Because I don't want you to fall in the curse of hatred" everybody looked at him. The albino felt uncomfortable and he released Izuna's shoulder. "I mean, I'm concerned for the Village" he coughed embarrassed. The Uchiha raised an eyebrow "Okay, You're starting to grow on me. Don't fall into darkness because I don't want to kill you in the future. If I do that, I won't have a rival anymore" Izuna smirked.
"But what about Takato? Isn't he your rival?" he said with a double meaning that only the mentioned could catch "Oh, I forget. He's your friend already!" Tobirama felt even more awkward, and his brother looked at him wary "I'm joking" the youngest Uchiha said laughing "Thank you Tobirama. It means a lot"
"Hn." He said and he realized it sounded Uchiha-like so he continued "Anija we should leave too and come back early in the morning." Hashirama, that was absorted with the exchange his brother had had with the Uchiha Siblings, came back to reality.
"Hai!" He exclaimed "We'll let you be, see you tomorrow Sakura-san" he greeted her "Please get some rest too"
"Hai, hai!" she said waving her hands "Just leave, good night!"
The two Senju were walking to their compound in silence. That was extremely odd for Tobirama's likeness. When they arrived to their home his brother turned back at his bedroom door.
"I like that you're slowly becoming the Tobi I knew when we were kids, you're compassionate and caring" Hashirama smiled at him "You are the best!" the albino face became red as a tomato.
"T-this doesn't mean I'm going to be best friends with them, you know?" he stuttered, he couldn't believe he had stuttered! His anija simply grinned and turned his back to enter his room.
"We'll see…" he whispered as he closed the door behind him. The youngest heard him and got in her room too. He took his robes off and prepared to sleep all flustered. He had never had friends before despite of his siblings and mother, okay also possibly Toka, but she was family. Now… two Uchiha?
The next day came fast for the Night shifters. Sakura had been a terrific teacher, and had them practicing almost all night long, especially Izuna. Hikari was right about him being adept to medic ninjutsu. He actually was the fastest learner she had had. He still had troubles with controlling the Mystic palm, but she was sure that maybe in a month he would master it.
"Oh this is tough!" the Uchiha complained "Simple healing was so much easier!"
"The mystic palm is the top healing technique" Sakura said "It mends tissue faster than basic medic ninjutsu, and not many shinobi can master it"
"How long did it take for you?" Izuna asked as he continued working on his fish.
"Three months" the pinkette explained and he paled. "But you need to remember that I was just thirteen and I had been poorly trained before that. My sensei centered my whole training on taijutsu, medic ninjutsu, chakra control and of course I had to memorize almost every medic bibliography she had."
"That sounds impossible to do for a thirteen year old" he said deadpanning.
"What can I say?" Sakura smirked "I'm pretty stubborn. Anyway, I think your progress will be faster on that area because you're a fully trained shinobi. You just need to focus completely on medic ninjutsu if it's what you want to do with your life. Keep training like always, but it needs most of your time. If you're truly interested on this, I can teach you all I know."
"Can I become your apprentice?" Izuna asked, his expression lightening up "Like Ryuuji?"
"Yes, you can" the Pinkette said smiling "But you need to be extremely serious on your training. I don't want to waste my time"
"You won't" the youngest Uchiha "I really want to do this. I didn't know that at first, but I'm starting to feel that this is where I belong. Saving lives and healing."
Meanwhile, his brother and Toka were watching the whole scene deeply moved. They looked at each other with complicity. Izuna's whole demeanor had change a lot within the last month. He was open, and expressive, Takato thought. He was always like that, but not with outsiders. And he had also seemed to find his calling. He was grateful to Sakura and Hikari for saving them, for letting him recover his younger sibling from the dark path that he was turning to because of his hatred for the Senju. That thought made him remember something.
"Sakura-san?" he called.
"Yes Takato-san?" she asked.
"Can I ask you something?" he enquired "In private…" Izuna looked at his brother not understanding, and then he looked at the Senju. Sakura seemed dubious but compelled anyway 'Maybe it's something related to Hikari, or about his health'.
"Sure, come with me to take a round" she reached for the door. "You two keep practicing. Izuna-san, check on Toka's work and help her if she needs it" she ordered. Both shinobi nodded and the eldest Uchiha followed her. They walked through the Hospital corridors checking for patients and the buildings conditions.
"So" the pinkette asked "What did you want to ask to me?" The Uchiha stopped on his tracks and looked at her.
"I-I…" he started nervous "I wanted to know more about the curse of hatred, I didn't want to speak in front of Izuna or Toka". The kunoichi was confused about this sudden interest.
"What about the Curse?" she asked.
"You said that Uchiha were more adept to it because the Sharingan is linked to our emotions" he explained "Is that so?"
"Yes, that's true" Sakura answered "What is your concern?"
"Some days…" he started "Some days ago I got pretty angry with Izuna, we fought in the roof while he was trying to teach me how to mold healing chakra. I got extremely angry at something he had said and punched him. My Sharingan was on but I didn't use any chakra. He was looking at me and…" he made a pause.
"What?" she was starting to worry
"He hugged me." He simply said "He hugged me and told me that he didn't want me to feel like that anymore. He was worried and after all you have said I'm also starting to worry."
"You had a sibling's fight, nothing more" the pinkette tried to sound more at ease.
"But the headache…" He explained. "Every time I get angry or…" he didn't want to continue, and suddenly blushed. The Kunoichi noticed that.
"Angry or… what?" she enquired "You' can tell me, I promise I won't tell anyone." He swallowed.
"Or I get jealous" Takato said looking at the floor; Sakura wasn't expecting that "every time my head starts to ache, and when the emotions increase it gets worse. I-I'm scared that I might be developing that curse"
"Have you always had this problem?" Sakura asked, deciding not to ask about the jealousy at the moment. "Do you know when it started?"
"Hn." He thought "I think it all started after the day you appeared. I mean, I remembered having a headache when I awoke my dojutsu, and I was pretty angry and hurt at that moment. But this seems different."
"How's so?" She questioned.
"This feels like something inside me that's pulsing in my head" the Uchiha explained.
"Seems like a migraine" the pinkette said "It matches the sensation. How long does it take to go away?"
"Well, most of the time it goes away suddenly" he answered "like when Izuna hugged me"
"Right and, I'm sorry to ask that, but you can trust me I won't tell anybody" she continued "What about the Jealousy?" His eyes widened.
"W-well…" Takato felt trapped, so he took a deep breath and said "Sometimes, when I see Hikari-san talking with Tobirama, or hear her speaking about him I-I…" he felt silly, like a small boy. Sakura nodded comprehending what he meant.
"Why does it go away when you are jealous?" the kunoichi asked serious, she didn't want him to feel worse. He made a pause to think.
"It generally goes away when a happy feeling or sensation comes around" the Uchiha explained "Like when I talked with Megumi about Hikari-san, or…" he cleared his throat "…when she smiles at me." Now it was Sakura's eyes turn to widen. She thought her friend liked this man, but she never thought she was going to hear that he liked her back. She was not used to Uchiha being so open.
"You like her" she said almost in a whisper but he heard her and became red as a tomato, and she noticed so "N-No! I'm sorry, I mean. You like her, you feel something about her. That's why the jealousy, but also why you feel right. It seems to me that it might be related to the curse, but not as much as you think. Tob… I mean someone in our time told us that Uchiha loved more than any other Clan…" she didn't want to say what Edo Tensei-Tobirama had said that to Sasuke Kun. She knew those things because she had read his file, and had been present when Ibiki had read his mind.
"That seem too drastic" Takato said sweat dropping a little.
"I know, but as you've said, it's because of the Sharingan, 'The eye of emotion'." Sakura explained "And negative emotions have a bigger effect on the dojutsu's developing, but also positive emotions calm you down. Her smile, Izuna's hug, they put you at ease." She made a pause to elaborate what she was going to say next.
"I think the curse of hatred starts like that, with the negative emotions." She continued "But that doesn't mean that you have it or are developing it. It's not like all Uchiha's negative emotions necessarily develop the curse. You're human, you're allowed to feel bad; but they might be the door to it if you let them consume you. Any time you feel those emotions; somehow your eyes receive more chakra and give you a migraine. The pain is caused by a nerve inflammation that's in between the eyebrow, the upper part of the nose and the eyeball. We need to check your sight when something like that happens so we can see if it's only a migraine or if there some sort of a "cloud" feeling on your mind"
"Cloud?" The Uchiha asked. She had said a lot, but that sounded odd.
"Yes, it's a way to explain it" The pinkette said "Or maybe a pressure in your forehead behind the center, a filled sensation, a dark feeling."
"I don't think I've ever felt something like that before" he said "But I was at my limit when I fought Izuna, maybe…"
"We don't know for sure that" Sakura calmed him down "Please not over worry. Let me check your eyes and your mind please." The shinobi followed her and he sat where she told him. She put her hands on his head and they started to glow green. "Your eyes' chakra coils seem fine, also the nerve, but it seems it has been swollen not long ago." She made a pause "Your corneas are a bit damaged, that might be from the use of the Sharingan. I'll heal that for you"
"Hikari-san told me to check my eyes with you in one of her letters" Takato explained "I told her that my sight sometimes felt weaker. I'm sorry I didn't ask for that sooner"
"It's okay, it's not that much damage" she said smiling "Though I'm starting to worry about your eldest brother, he might be overusing the Sharingan"
"He won't come to you to ask for a checkup" the Uchiha said smiling at her "maybe you should force him on that"
"Don't worry, I'll tell him that I checked up on you because I detected you had some problems while reading small texts." She said simply not getting his double meaning "Okay, I will check on your brain now. If there's something curse of hatred-related it should appear there like some sort of black spot"
"How do you know that?" he asked her intrigued.
"I'll tell you once I'm finished, okay?" Sakura answered, and proceeded to check his brain with more green chakra. It seemed fine, there weren't any signs of dark chakra at all, but when she wanted to go deeper something repelled her and made her suddenly take her hands off the Uchiha.
"What's going on?" Takato asked worried "Did you find something wrong?"
"N-no, it's fine, don't worry!" she tried to sound relaxed, something big repelled her, but she couldn't figure out what or why. "It's just that I couldn't check deeper in your brain because it seemed something didn't allow me to do so."
"What?" the Uchiha pale "Does it mean…?"
"You're fine, you don't have the curse of hatred, Takato" Sakura took him from his shoulders "Look at me" the man did as she said "Relax. You're fine. Do you want to know why I know that?" He nodded. "Come on, let's go to the roof and I'll tell you"
They went upstairs and the sky was starting to clear, dawn might be near. She went to the railing and he followed her.
"After the war, I attended the last Uchiha heir, Sasuke-kun." Sakura started her tale "He had been consumed by the curse of hatred. I think you know some of the story. He was the one whose life was spared by Itachi-San, his elder brother."
"I remember that…" Takato answered.
"I was, also with Naruto, Sasuke-kun's teammate since academy." She continued "we witnessed his downfall to darkness and couldn't do anything because we were kids. It became worse when he was attacked by a man that inoculated him something called the cursed mark, a sort of natural chemical that increased his power whilst he fell into hatred." She made a pause "He left the Village when we were almost 13, and when we saw him again he was a coldhearted teen, a killer. After the war the curse disappeared. I think that Naruto beating the hell out of him made him see the light. He even apologized to me for all the suffering I felt because of him." She sighed.
"He had a reason to fall like that…" the Uchiha reasoned "I don't know how I would react if my brother did what Itachi-san was forced to do".
"You're right about that. But he was always sort of an asshole" The pinkette added laughing bitterly "I was a silly girl that followed him everywhere, but even with his family alive he was an obnoxious little brat. Hikari-chan always told me so, but I wouldn't listen"
"Were you in love with him?" he asked bluntly. Sakura blushed.
"Well, I did." She smiled softly "I used to love him… above all his hatred, above all his crimes. I wanted to save him, but in the end when he was already fine, I realized that the feeling I had wasn't the same anymore. I love him as I love Naruto; it became more like a fraternal feeling."
"So you're not in love with him anymore…" Takato reasoned "That's good…" he said in lower voice thinking about his aniki.
"Beg your pardon?" she asked confused.
"I mean…" he had to come up with something really fast "I mean it's good for you. Imagine if you had left the person you love in a present you can't come back to. It will be so unjust"
"Oh, that" she said relaxed "Well yes, you're right. It would be heartbreaking. I guess we both were lucky on that, thought Hikari really misses Naruto, and I do too. Also my best friend"
"I know that it's not the same, but you have plenty of friends here" the Uchiha said smiling kindly. "You both do"
"I know" she said "we know that. We're lucky to have you all." She started walking to the roof's door "And don't worry, I won't tell Hikari-chan what you feel." Takato became red and nervous again, he had forgotten he confessed that to Sakura for Kami's sake!
"I-I…" he tried to answer.
"Hey! Hikari-chan is almost like a sister to me" the pinkette said "and you make her smile. What else can I ask for her during these times?" she continued walking and before going downstairs again she turned back and told him "You have an ally on my, I won't say anything. But if you ever make her cry, I'll crush your bones, Uchiha heir or not" she smirked and disappeared through the door.
Takato sighed and smiled, taking what they have spoken. He had confessed to Sakura that he felt something about her friend, and he felt at ease with that but… for some reason he was worried about what have repelled Sakura from his mind.
"Maybe it was my gift?" he said out loud to himself while looking at the now lit up sky as he also went downstairs.
Izuna had been helping Toka all the time the other two had left. She was improving fast with his help, he event dared to think that it was because of him that she understood everything quicker. He caught her looking at him strangely, and he could have sworn he saw her blushing a little. But he was not going to dream with that. He had to focus on his studies.
The Senju kunoichi, on the other hand, was debating herself whether to speak with him about anything, just to have a chat or not. She wanted to know him better but felt silly having this kind of thoughts when he was so concentrated in his task… and she didn't want to disturb him, so she focused too. When Sakura arrived with Takato she was already healing the fish all by herself.
"What took you so long?" Izuna asked the arriving duo.
"Come on, it was just 30 minutes" his brother said.
"You went to check on Hikari-chan without us!" the youngest demanded. Meanwhile Sakura was looking for a piece of paper, and the three of them looked at her curious.
"Here," she said to Takato "Try to read this" The Uchiha remembered what she had said about his sight and grabbed the paper. To his amaze he could read letters that he thought were lines before his treatment.
"WHOA! It says something here!" he said pointing the former 'line'. The pinkette smiled
"You can make an appointment if you ever have trouble with your eyes again" She said "That reminds me, Izuna-san, I need to check your eyes. It seemed Takato-san here had a problem with Sharingan over use. Can you come with me? You two keep practicing." The youngest Uchiha followed her.
"You had sight problems?" Toka asked the other Uchiha.
"Yes, but I didn't know it was that bad…" he said, "I always thought this was a line, but it's text!"
"Really!?" the Senju was pretty surprised "And Sakura chan cured you? This is so awesome!"
"Indeed" he couldn't believe that his questioning would lead to him having a better sight.
"So, you think I have the same problem like my brother?" Izuna asked "Why couldn't you check up on me there?"
"Because it might feel weird and I also wanted to speak with you about some stuff." Sakura said, and the shinobi looked at her concerned.
"Is it about Takato? He is worried about the curse of hatred, isn't he?" he asked. 'KAMI HE'S BRIGHT!' Inner and Sakura thought at unison.
"Um, no" the pinkette said "I was going to ask about Madara-san's sight, but what do you think Takato-san might be worried about that?" That took the Uchiha off guard.
"Hn. Aniki never complains, but if Taka-nii had his eyes bad, it's probably that Madara-nii's sight might be worse"
"Right, I'm going to ask him to let me run a checkup." She said serious "I'll tell him that I've realized that you both have some reading problems. He might compel with that".
"Mm… maybe" Izuna said "And about that curse…" he needed to know more.
"What about that?" It was strange for her to have this chat again with the other Uchiha sibling. 'Kami, they might be very connected' she thought.
"I saw Takato's worried face when you said that the creature you need to catch feeds on that" he said "And I remember feeling nii-san's aura different some days ago when we fought. Did he mention that?"
"No, he did not" Sakura lied. She wasn't going to break doctor-patient confidence. "But if you're worried about that, when I healed his eyes I also could check his brain and it didn't seem to be affected by the curse"
"How can one know that?" Izuna asked.
"Because the curse leaves marks on the owner's brain" the pinkette explained. "Black marks. Also it gives a weird feeling of a cloud or darkness inside your forehead. So relax, your brother is fine"
"Can you check on me too?" he asked. I've nerve felt extremely badly, but I used to hate the Senju with all my heart.
"Okay, I'll check on you!" she said smiling. She proceeded to do the same she did with the other Uchiha, but this time it went smoother. Nothing repelled from his mind.
"So, what do you think?" Izuna asked intrigued "It really felt weird in my eyes"
"You're fine. You're clean of the curse, but you had your corneas more damaged than your brother's" Sakura explained "They are all healed. Open your eyes"
"WOW!" he exclaimed looking at the pinkette close, she was just a meter far from him. "You also have pink lashes! Man I didn't see shit" Sakura burst into laughter and that's how Madara, Tobirama and Hashirama found them. The Uchiha Patriarch felt a new headache coming and he did not know why.
***Author's note***
Oh, Uchiha are so possessive! Hahaha Well I hope you like this Chapter! I'm starting working on the next one. How long will Hikari be out?
Hope you like this and please stay safe. Thanks to Ania980 as always!