The Fail-Safe

by Athe-spirit

Story Adopted: "In that small amount of time that he'd been here with us he put the puzzle pieces together and devised a a fail-safe, safety-net if you will inside of the girl" A Time-Travel Jutsu was their last resort to save the world. Sakura would need to make sure that changing Madara's life around would change the outcome of the war they had lost in her reality.

16. Chapter XV: Butterfly Wings

Authors Note

This story has been adapted from the wonderful Forever Gypsy.

All characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi.

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Chapter

XV

Butterfly Wings

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He sensed him before he saw him, his larger frames shadow dancing upon the walls of the shabby cave, his chakra strong and potent as it always had been.

How had he found him? Why would he come here? Where was Tobirama? The tanned face and dark eyes were there upon him then as he walked through the threshold, tall and youthful just as he had remembered him. As if time had stopped just for him.

"This is a surprise" Instead of a large grin he was given a small smirk. "Madara ... It's been a while". His voice was still strong, still the very same. Everything was still very the same, everything but him.

His body had already begun to slow down, his muscles not as hard, his body not as strong, the wrinkles were coming in quick and hard, his purpose in life had become only about the Tsuki no Me Keikaku, with that he'd had to slow down and focus on his research, the knowledge he'd have to have in order to make it a reality.

"It's been what a decade?" ... Hashirama gave a small nod and he leaned against the frame of the threshold as he looked around the shabby place that hid what he truly had beneath it. "Very interesting place to call home Madara"... It wasn't home, it was temporary, maybe he'd die there, but he'd come back, he was already tracking down a lineage that would be able to contain his eyes until then.

"What are you doing here? How did you find me?" Hashiramas smirk widened then as he continued to lean against the frame. "I've always known where you've been Madara you're not as mysterious as people like to believe, it also helps that you're a creature of habit, when you first deserted the village you made a habit of circling around this area, causing havoc and such, your body had disappeared when it was supposed to be sent to your clan ... Only It never made it there, Turns out Tobirama got a hold of it and then from there things seemed to disappear altogether, took me a few days but I figured out where you had gone. I had hoped that maybe if I came back a few years later you would have had moved on from here, found a woman maybe even had more little Madara's ".

There was a silence then and he knew Hashirama had been hoping to get something from him then, with the words he used.

"I heard he took Kagami under his wing, rather interesting don't you think? Tobirama had never liked the Uchiha, why on earth would he take my bastard as his disciple?" Hashirama shrugged. "I don't know Madara, maybe it had something to do with the fact that his entire clan turned against him after you had run away, he's a bastard whose mother died at childbirth, whose mother's own clan wants nothing to do with him ... Tobirama felt bad for the kid obviously".

"Tobirama is incapable of feelings, we both know that". Hashirama waved a hand dismissively. "Does it matter at all really? Kagami is at the very top of Konoha's hierarchy, an advisor to the current Hokage".

"He should be the Hokage, Kagami is strong, the strongest of all Uchiha, funny how even though Tobirama took him in, trained him, taught him in the Senju ways, he still couldn't bring himself to name an Uchiha as the Hokage ... No he chose a Sarutobi, not even special at that, I see many more wars coming with this Sarutobi sitting in a chair not made for his lowly self. "

"He's a good man", "He's a child, one whose father had followed Tobirama around like a lost pup ... Of course he was chosen, Tobirama needed to choose someone who would continue what he'd started".

"Madara that's enough, Tobirama only has the best interest of the village". He shook his head, Hashirama was always taking his brother's side despite everything Tobirama did. "No, he only has the best interest of the Senju ... Well whatever's left of you all anyway".

Hashirama sighed as he rubbed his forehead and mumbled. "Perhaps just a woman would've helped". He felt a vein on his forehead that he hadn't remembered ever being there.

"I don't like repeating myself Hashirama".

Hashirama dropped his arms then and looked down at the ground then. "Old friend I need you once more".

Rolling his eyes he huffed out just as dramatically as Hashirama was acting. "Obviously or you would have had Tobirama do it, by the way, he did a horrible copying of my clone Jutsu".

Hashirama looked up at him then, eyebrows pinched together tightly. "You saw that did you?" The Senju brothers were both idiots. "How the rest of the world could believe that Senju Hashirama went up against Uchiha Madara and lived to tell the tale but some nobody from Takigakure could somehow kill him ... I wanted to see it for myself and see... The horrible work by Tobirama just embarrassed me it was truly a horrible adaptation of my own Jutsu, how anyone didn't see it baffles me".

Hashirama was the one to roll his eyes this time. "Madara". He breathed out hard. "Hashirama". Hashirama threw his arms up. "Will you do it?"

"Obviously if I could have it would have been done by now, it would have been done then". Hashirama reached into his pocket then and pulled out a small vile, tossing it over to him.

Catching the small item he looked over at it and looked down at the murky liquid that reminded him of the muddy waters of Kaze. "What is this?"

"According to Tobirama before he died, he sent out Kagami and a few of his own to do an escort mission, they ended up having to detour and use the Daimyo's forest to get back ... The kunoichi on the team was hit with this, it would have killed her had Tobirama not figured out an antidote in time, it nearly ate her chakra up, every ounce of it in her body had gotten attacked by this, had her team not been feeding her chakra in order to keep her awake it would have killed her within minutes of it hitting her".

Rolling the small vile in his palms he looked over the innocuous-looking liquid fascinated.

... Although considering him and Hashirama he doubted this would actually work on either of them. Hashirama already seemed to hear his thoughts though. "It works, it doesn't kill us as fast but it works on us, I tried it already".

Then why was he here if he had already figured out a way? "Tobiramas is dead and Akhiko is dead and Tsuna-chan and Nawaki believe I'm dead and it needs to stay that way". "What about Mito? Surely you'd be letting her live out her dream". Hashirama looked at him once more clearly not amused by his words.

The air in the room seemed to be sucked out then as the silence began to bear down on them. "I need you to do this for me Madara ... I can't do it myself".

It was in those words that he heard it, he was scared, terrified of what would become if he continued on living, scared of dying ... "Mito is aging and I'm not, even you Madara, barely recognizable that I had to take a second look to verify it was truly you ... I cannot continue like this".

This way was too bittersweet with a touch of being anti-climatic ... Hashirama was taking out all the fun of what it would be like to murder him, well to murder anyone actually. ... The hunt.

"Why haven't you killed me?" Hashirama blinked at him. "I'm not the one that wanted to hurt you Madara, you made me do it the first time, I thought maybe you would have changed after what happened, I had hoped that if I ever had a need to track you down that I would have found you living happily out here. I hadn't wanted to see you like this!"

"Any future I could have had died when you chose to listen to Tobirama".

Hashirama shook his head. "Madara", "Rather strange he died without a wife and heir, but then again he's been a bit busy dragging the Uchiha". "Madara Enough!" Hashirama took in a deep heavy breath as he rubbed his forehead. "Why must you push me like this? Why must you act like this? Time after time I've given you the opportunity to better your position" He'd had enough of this.
"And time after time Toburama has ripped each and every opportunity away from me, from the Uchiha, look at what he did to the Hagoromo Clan! They didn't fit into his little box so he had us kill them all!"

Hashirama sighed then rubbed his forehead, "Madara ... shut up". crossing his arms he looked over towards the more youthful man. "You do realize that asking such a thing of me just takes out all the fun in actually killing you ... That's rude Hashirama even for you".

That earned him a chuckle. "Sorry old friend but it seems there are some things I cannot help". He rolled his eyes. "You could have gone to Mito". Hashirama frowned his entire persona going on edge, even after over a decade of marriage the two were still at ends in the marriage. Not that anyone despite him, Hashirama, and Mito knew about the wreckage that was the Senju chief's marriage.

... He wasn't the Senju Chief anymore, no that would be his son- no his grandson ... even then from what he'd heard there was barely even a Senju clan left... Time surely was changing everything around them that was certainly true.

"I'd rather not have my body butchered and fed to pigs at least with you, well I'd be in good hands". This was getting more than annoying. "How long till the poison takes effect?" Hashirama shrugged, a telling that it had taken effect a while ago, he nodded his head, and that was that then. Walking over as quickly as he could he watched as Hashirama tensed considerably. "Madara wait!" He grabbed his head then, Hashirama's eyes wide, his voice low as he spoke before he moved his head harshly to the right, the crack echoing loudly in his eyes as he let go of Hashiramas body and watched him slump.

"I loved you too brother".

Opening his eyes he found himself looking up, pink hair glowing lilac in the moonlight of his room cascading around the two of them as if it were a waterfall. 'Well isn't this unexpected'. The face was Sakura, the voice was Sakura, but those eyes, pupils, the same color as the moon had his entire body on edge and he could only watch in horror as she leaned down, black nails scraping against his heated skin hard enough to draw blood as she smirked down with a slit in where her seal would have been was now opening lazily as if it were an eye.

Red, red, Sharingan red spun wildly back down at him!

He breathed in as he sat up once more, looking around his room to see himself alone, the sun barely peeking through the window screens he took in a deep breath as he reminded himself that he had been dreaming.

A creak caught his attention from the other side of the screen of his bedroom and he got up slowly, wondering if Sakura was up to no good as she had been lately.

Sliding the screen just a hairsbreadth he got sight of Sakura through a crack of her own screen. She stood straight as Emiyo fixed her robes and hair, the servant girl playing around as if Sakura were nothing more than a doll to play with.

The most interesting part of this entire sight was that he was not the only one that was watching the two women. The small body of the white-haired Kaguya looking through the gap.

No matter what he did he knew he would scare the child from his musings and so he slid the screen open wider, letting the sound of wood against wood capture the child. His body snapped straight and he turned around with large green eyes, hiding his hands as he seemed to slowly close Sakura's screen no doubt hoping that neither of the women noticed.

It was quiet in the hall for a long moment as he looked down at the youngest Kaguya boy, he knew from previous experience that the child would be too shy to really approach him, Izuna was more his go-to person when he had to, it was no loss on him but now he wondered if perhaps he should have put in more effort with him. It surprised him immensely though when he finally spoke, it was soft and he could tell it was a lot of effort put in for him, but he was more than impressed that it was him that made the first move. "Mada-chama"

"Kiyoshi" He looked back at the screen where Sakura and Emiyo had been dressing, looking back at the Kaguya. He was too young to be interested sexually in the women, so he doubted the boy was peeping in on them for any ill-intent reasons. Curious child, he'd been rather distant lately, even going so far as refusing to be at the feast after they'd signed the treaty.

As if the child knew what he was thinking he looked up at him with those large green eyes once more before looking away, his words but a small whisper that only the two of them would be able to hear.

"It's not her". He lifted a brow, hoping that the child would understand that he needed to explain what he'd meant. The child shook his head. "She's not ... Sakua-chama".

Well, it seemed that Sakura's ability to play pretend didn't work so well on the child. "If it's not her, then whom is it that I am hosting?" Acting as if the child was crazy would get him nowhere, perhaps the child could give him a better understanding of what had happened.

The boy only looked down at his feet then, shaking his head as if he were talking to himself, his lips moving but no sound coming out. Obviously, the boy was debating with himself what he needed to do.

"Kiyoshi?" He did not want to push, but things needed to be figured out, he needed to find a way to get the woman back. Kiyoshi only continued to look down, but his words, despite the nearly nonexistent voice his words still rang loud in his ears.

"The monster".

---

"No" His neck snapped quickly from the window of the norimono and towards Sakura who continued to read something on a scroll, her pretty pink hair was styled elegantly in twisted knots and curls to show off her high-colored dark blue kimono, the detailed work on the kimono was so intricate that he was considering replacing Emiyo as the personal tailor for the family, her work shining through all of the clothing Sakura had been wearing recently.

Looking over at Izuna he noted the wide eyes of his young brother as he stared in awe at the pink-haired woman sitting across from them.

"What do you mean no? You can't tell me no". Sakura placed her scroll down then and blinked owlishly at him. "Why is it my problem that you decided to take on a sickly girl as a ward? I see no reason why you've involved me in this, have your physicians care for her". She picked up her scroll once more and continued to read it, telling him she was done with this conversation.

He felt a vein begin to beat against his forehead and he knew that it was definitely because of Sakura. "It's your problem because you are my ward". Sakura didn't even deem him worthy to look away from her reading as she corrected him. "Only for the show, allow me to remind you as you've seemed to have forgotten that you are bound to me and as such, I am the one who gets to tell whom what to do".

She was trying to push him, she had to have been. "For show or not for show Sakura, you live in my house on my lands-" "Actually as your bound to me I own it all now".

Izuna piped in then as he decided it was a great time to outwit all of them. "The Uchiha are still bound to the Daimyo that own these lands ... so really he owns it all".

Izuna seemed to shrivel under the stares of both him and Sakura. "Fine, fine, I'll shut up". Looking back over at Sakura he decided to let her in on his plans.

"I want to marry her off to the branch family" Izuna's harsh intake of breath didn't go unnoticed by either him or Sakura. Sakura finally placed her scroll down and looked over at him telling him she was going to listen to him. He knew he needed to say this in a way that she would understand, and in a way that would make her agree to it.

"If you're able to heal her ailments, I want to wed her off to a member of the branch family, a bastard of course, due to the extreme practices of familial inter-relations of the Uzumaki clan as you noted yourself I'd rather her marry someone of my choosing in the branch family as any birth defects a child born from her might still be possible".

Sakura was contemplative. "Birthing defects due to incestation especially ones of such extremes are rather tricky to heal even for me, while I'll be able to heal any physical deformities she may have, it's the unseen ones that would be hard to heal and not on me but her body".

Would that mean the Uzumaki girl wouldn't survive the healing? Sakura seemed to understand what he was thinking. "What was the agreement you made with the Uzumaki for her?"

"Double what the Senju were given ... But our elders want a child from her, if she is not healed enough for a child they will toss her to the brothels". Sakura looked away for a moment and he could see the wheels turning inside her mind.

It was unfortunate to think about but he could only protect Kurva from the elders so much, especially as she was not an Uchiha yet. "She's a princess from the Uzumaki clan does that not make her more valuable even just marrying someone in the Uchiha Clan?"

He didn't want to explain it to her and thankfully Izuna was the one that decided he would do it. "It makes her very valuable as a standalone actually, so much so that the brothels will pay more money, they'll turn a profit out of her within a month or two, possibly even doubling what they paid for her. ... If she survives that long of course".

Sakura seemed to understand then. "And the elders would rather make money than lose it on a non-Uchiha girl that was ill anyways". He could only nod his head in agreement. Sakura took a deep breath in as she looked out her window then. "If I heal her ... I want a guarantee that even if she can't carry a child to term that she will not be tossed out, having an Uzumaki princess as a ward could profit us more sometime later and the elders will have to understand that. If you can't make them understand then remind them that I will leave the Uchiha clan for another clan of my choosing".

And there were plenty of clans that would happily take her now that she'd been put on display during the festivities after the treaty signing.

Izuna decided to speak up once more, nearly mirroring his thoughts, but he spoke with a smirk on his face, testing the waters between the two. "Speaking of marriage, the elders have asked me if the two of you have set a date yet, they are very eager to know when they should be expecting an heir".

Sakura scoffed then. "I'll rip their legs out before I allow them to even consider thinking of such a thing". He couldn't help himself, he should have held his tongue, it seemed it had a mind of its own. "Did you decide to let them keep their arms after all?"

She moved the curtain from the window then and looked out as she responded disinterestedly "No, that'll be saved for last".

She looked over at him. "I understand that tomorrow you'll be meeting with Hyuga Hisoka and the Hyuga elders, why?"

He looked over at Izuna then who was looking over at Sakura carefully, each of them wondering how she would have known about that.

A lock of her flower-colored hair fell out of place then and she moved it carefully from her face and back behind her ear. She huffed then before looking back towards the window.

He knew that she would have figured it wasn't to merge the clans, there wasn't much to gain, especially now that he realized what they had in their coffers if they were having to go to him for help. It would be best, to be honest in this situation and handle her outburst, she'd be angry no doubt with what he had come up with.

"As you said Sakura, the clans with Dojutsu need to stick together". She made a glance at him. "That wasn't an answer Madara". "I know it wasn't, The Hyuga have done the math and if you are correct and we can cut down the number of men we lose in the field, the shinobi clans of Hi no Kuni will double if not triple on a large scale, that means more mouths to feed, more people to support ... Like most shinobi the Uchiha have made money from missions through various aristocrats that have us on retainers as well as mercenary services and bounties. Centuries ago when the Samarai outnumbered the shinobi clans and were decimating shinobi on a large scale, the Uchiha elders of the time feared it was the end of the shinobi they began looking at other means to create funds in the event it was to happen. The Uchiha clan has since been breeding and selling Thoroughbred to the aristocrats and the Daimyo's of Hi no Kuni since then, as well as funding the Daimyo's guards and the Imperial Guards with handcrafted weapons".

"And the Senju make money off healing sessions only ... I'm quite impressed, but this still doesn't tell me why the Hyuga are coming". He smirked at her. "The Hyuga clan takes on a lot of high-risk missions because of their standings within the Daimyo's court ... They make money each time they lose a man on the field ... If they were to survive these missions, the Hyuga would not survive long as they don't have any other source of income. We've come to an understanding that we'll be giving half of our horses over to the Hyuga's to help them".

Sakura's green eyes narrowed as they zeroed in on him. "In exchange for what?" "They're going to help us obtain a storage unit in Sora-Ku as well have the merchants there pass us five percent of their merchandise to add".

Those green eyes told him she knew what he was suggesting. "Five percent you say?" He nodded his head. "The Hyuga understand that right now clans with Genkai Kekki hold the majority of the village, and if somehow the contract you have on us and the Senju were to dissolve, we'd be able to keep the Senju clan from turning on us once they realized what the majority was and who was allied with one another. The munitions are only a fail-safe of course, if things keep as they are they will continue to stay stored and we have even agreed to have them sold if things go the way we want them to".

"No". He knew she would disagree with something. "As I said Sakura the munitions will be sold". She shook her head. "No, keep the munitions in the storage unit, the village will eventually come to need them".

Five percent from each merchant was rather a lot, and if that accumulated over the years, the numbers began to speed across his mind. "You understand that we'll need more storage units if we do this correct?" She nodded her head. "We'll continue to buy storage units if need be, but we can't have anyone outside of the three of us know that the storage unit even exists... it's too risky. Once the Hyuga sign off on the papers, you need to wipe their memories of the agreement".

This was an interesting turn of events. Izuna didn't seem as phased about it though as he pointed out a small issue.

"We still have the issue of the merchants, they're going to find out there's a unit there eventually, they're going to want to know where all that merchandise is going". Sakura seemed to have already figured out the issue.

"Make them think it's part of their rental agreement, I'm sure that it would be easy for an experienced Uchiha to handle all of this. What needs to be done is making sure that they don't know anything belonging to the Uchiha is there, we have them ship it to a certain location, then transport it back to Sora-Ku with the merchant supplies, nobody will think to second guess it".

And she didn't want to marry into the Uchiha Clan, she was an Uchiha even if she didn't want to acknowledge the truth. He straightened up. "If we make it look like a transport, we need to figure out where the drop is going to be and who's going to be dropping it and picking it up".

Sakura looked contemplative for a moment and he turned to Izuna who also looked unsure of how to proceed. The idea was good, but going about it would be very complicated. Sakura looked away for a moment. "The closest clan to Sora-Ku at this moment in time are border clans and we do know that the Namikaze handle nearly all of the exports for the Uzumaki clan it goes to show they must do a good job if the esteemed Uzumaki uses them we can as well, but if we want to keep everything under wraps we can't have any involvement with any of it".

The Namikaze clan would be good to do a pickup from Sora-Ku but it still left as to who would do the roundabout to the city. Izuna was more focused on where the merchandise would be dropped though. "We need to find someone who we can trust to not open their mouths and who gets a shipment of goods regularly".

That would be the complicated part, now that the shinobi clans were coming together to build this village, all of the chiefs and elders would be watching the other clans, watching their imports and exports, everything had to be transparent for the time being to build trust.

There was one person that he knew had shipments come through... "What about Yumi?" Sakura blinked over at him as she contemplated the elderly woman. "Yumi would be a good candidate, she's not connected to any shinobi clan and she does do regular shipments to other places for her teas and herbs all over Hi no Kuni".

Yumi was also a trusted person already, and he was sure if he upped her payment she would not have any issue with them using her home as a drop. "Izuna I want you to go down and speak with Yumi about this". Izuna groaned then. "Can't we just send her a bird?" He shook his head. "No, Sakura is correct nobody can know about this outside the three of us, we can't leave a paper trail of any sort". Izuna huffed then looked over at him with a curious gaze. "If only the three of us are to know about this, what exactly do you want me to speak with Yumi about?"

Sakura spoke up then with another hole in their plan. "We also have an issue with how we're going to transport the weapons back to Sora-Ku".

That was a problem, if the clans were to be transparent, taking on a mission for transport would look odd especially since the Uchiha were hired for more specific jobs where their Dojutsu was put to use. Doing a transport would be very suspicious looking in the eyes of the other clans, especially Tobirama's. He was always watching and suspecting them of doing the worst things imaginable. The Senju would have a field day if they were to find out what they were doing.

... That gave him a very good idea then and he smirked over at Sakura who lifted a brow. "What?" "We'll have the Senju transport the goods back to Sora-Ku, of course, they won't believe she'll be transporting goods, but what better idea to have her play the middle man for a wealthy client, obviously the Uchiha wouldn't buy the weapons, we have our own blacksmiths".

Izuna was just as amused. "It is rather ironic, having them transport the very weapons we may have to use against". Sakura cleared her throat. "Talk to Kita, instead of having Izuna go down and speak with Yumi make it look more grandiose, more believable, Kita has contacts amongst the Daimyo's court, we just need one to go down and speak with Yumi explaining that their previous drop location may have been compromised and that the imperial guard needs a new less suspecting one, that way even Yumi doesn't realize we're apart of it ... After the meeting with Yumi we wipe the memory from the representative and she has an official stamp and letterhead to give to the Senju as proof".

This was becoming exceptionally well put together better than most plans he had ever come up with. He should have found Sakura sooner, she had a very strategic mind and he could have possibly usurped the Senju from power years ago.

Using Kita was an extremely good idea as well, she wasn't part of the Uchiha elders exactly, and because she was a woman she was less suspected to be part of such a cunning plan. Kita was also a very good confidant, she would not give out information to anyone especially the secrets of her clan.

Izuna looked at both of them then. "Is this the plan then?" He looked over at Sakura who still seemed to be calculating something in her mind before she looked up at both of them. "Madara if you believe this is good, then I agree as well, I don't believe we can perfect it any more than we have already".

No, no he doubted they could tweak anymore of the plan, he nodded his head at the other two and looked out the window as he felt the guards stop in their movements, sighing at the sight of the shrine. The door was opened then and a stepping stool was placed down for them. The dark blue kimono felt tight against his skin.

This was possibly the most uncomfortable thing he'd ever done before. "For someone who's been at many weddings in his life you seem rather uncomfortable" He looked over at Sakura noting that she seemed to be teasing him. "Uchiha weddings Sakura, I've attended my own clan weddings, and not even a handful of allied clan weddings, this is different".

A pink brow raised high then. "How is this different again? Are they not your allies now?" Both he and Izuna seemed to have the same thoughts. "It's different".

Sakura rolled her pretty green eyes as she watched them exit, pulling out a fan for herself. "Honestly it really isn't". Extracting themselves he helped out Sakura. "Tell me again why your new ward did not have the pleasure of traveling here with you" What was with her and never wanting to leave her apartments? "Out of respect, I've allowed her to sit amongst her own clan".

"Despite the fact that they just gave you her as if she was nothing more than an object". Izuna walked behind them as they continued up the hill to the shrine. His words seemed to upset Sakura more. "She is an object, she's a woman Sakura, shinobi clans aren't known for treating their women any better than civilian clans".

The guards and servants followed behind them quietly and he watched in between the bodies as another clan walked up the hill in front of them, the white kimonos being the most obvious thing about them. "Seems your new best friends got here before us". Sakura seemed to have seen the same as him. "Hmm". He could almost hear the eye roll from her.

Sakura spoke up once more sounding more than curious then. "Have you seen her? Hashirama's bride" He shook his head, according to Hashirama the replacement bride had not yet been introduced to him either. The Uzumaki woman had kept herself locked away within her clans camp, not seeming one bit interested in wanting to get to know her future husband, nor did she make any sort of initiative to speak with the women of his clan, the Senju allies, or even her own clan's allies. Not that he blamed her much, the Senju weren't much interesting, always so caught up in their flowers and expensive trinkets.

"I hear from Ashina-sama that she is rather beautiful". Izuna scoffed behind him and Sakura looked back at him with a frown before turning her attention back to him, she was fishing for something again. "A beautiful Uzumaki, Kurva is only beautiful because she is tragic to look at, and her youth is attractive and those curls she has are very different considering her lineage, but all Uzumaki look the same, the tomato-colored hair, the weird purple eyes ... They'll get two bonus points for being royal and having light-colored skin besides that they aren't much to look at".

Izuna decided to speak up once more. "Do you know who is beautiful though?" He already knew what his younger brother was going to say and rolled his eyes. Preparing himself to pull his younger brother back from dangerous territory. "The Namikaze Chiefs' younger sister". Both he and Sakura stopped in their walk and turned back to look at Izuna with matching raised brows. He was stunned not expecting to hear him say that. Not once had Izuna attempted to speak with the Namikaze chief or even pull his eyes away from their new aunt-in-law, at least he hadn't seen him look anywhere else, it seemed he was mistaken. Izuna shrugged. "Don't you think?". Sakura scoffed. "She's a child" he needed to remind her. "She's a Cheif sister and of marriageable age". He looked back at Izuna. "Interested?"

Izuna didn't hesitate a second "Very". He nodded his head they both knew the elders would rather them marry into other high-ranked clans or marry an elders daughter or granddaughter, but he was sure that they would be content with the Namikaze, she truly was a beauty, and now knowing that Izuna was attracted to the Namikaze he was relieved, he had been worried about the attention his younger brother had given towards Hachiro's young Kohaku wife. They started walking once more towards the shrine. "I'll have a Kita speak with the matriarch of the clan then".

"She's so young though Izuna" They both reminded her. "She's of age". Sakura grumbled under her breath clearly not satisfied with them, she tried once more to deter them both from the blonde. "Also you did meet her brother right? He's an arrogant ass ... You do realize that if you married her you'd have to deal with him ... Also from what I saw she was very interested in Hashirama".

Sakura seemed to very much dislike the Namikaze girl without even having actually met her and that was very interesting to him. Still, the Namikaze wasn't a bad prospect for Izuna, she was new blood, not connected in any way to their own clan, she was young and beautiful and looked to be very healthy, healthy enough to give healthy children, and considering her coloring he knew that it wouldn't counteract the Uchiha blood. Also, she wasn't his uncle's wife, something Izuna had looked way too eager to be next and he couldn't have that, getting Sakura to shut up and listen was not a simple task. Izuna was quick to defend the girl to their ward. "She's from a border clan, she's interested in any man that comes from a higher ranking clan, she knows the only way she'll even get out of her position is to either marry into a branch clan of a higher clan if she wants higher than even that, she knows she'll only be permitted to become a concubine, her best chance really is to pray a Chief is willing to go against his elders and marry her or hope her children will have better luck than her".

Sakura was still displeased with the idea. "That doesn't change her brother's arrogance". He chuckled, the Namikaze had been rather annoying, from the few dealings he's had with him since it was surprising to find the Namikaze completely docile compared to his loud demeanor from the night of the signing. "He's only like that because you're a woman, had you not been there, his tail would have been tucked away. A man from a lower clan would never disrespect any man from a higher ranking clan, he wants to ally himself not create enemies".

Izuna jumped in, his smile large with teeth as he attempted to mess with Sakura by pulling at her long pink tresses that swayed lightly with every step she took. "That and he's only tugging on your pigtails, I heard the elders the other day, he's very interested in you, so much that he's had representatives talk with many of our elders about you".

Had he now? Sakura scrunched up her nose cutely in a sign of disgust and he didn't hide his smirk from her as he leaned closer to her and spoke. "I don't look as bad as a husband now do I".

Her nose still scrunched she didn't hesitate to take him down with her sharp tongue. "Tobirama makes you look like a better choice too, but it doesn't mean I'm interested any more than I was a few minutes ago".

Izuna's eyes were wide as he looked between him and Sakura clearly blown away by Sakura's admittance and he frowned down at the pink-haired witch. "That's cruel even for you, besides I would make a better husband, I wouldn't bore you to death".

"No, you'd simply just annoy me to death, at least with Tobirama he actually will attempt to kill me and give me some reason to kill him while also giving me a short spree of amusement". The audacity in her words was so very tempting, she had to know that her harsh words turned him on.

He was going to pry and see if he could get her to talk even more brazenly. "I thought after the signing you and Senju heir were on good terms? You looked rather content on his arm that night"

Sakura stopped walking and so did their own people, many of his guards looking back at them curiously and she stared hard at him and Izuna, before starting to walk once more, the guards and the servants following in her wake and catching up to her. "Understand Madara, Senju Tobirama is the last person I'm content with, he spreads hatred like he spreads out his chakra, I do not approve of his beliefs, but I do understand what it means to be civil and put on a happy front in order to show others that clan alliances are an absolute must right now and for the betterment of the future".

Sakura would be the one to be allowed to voice that. "The betterment of the future also needs the Senju and the Uzumaki to marry into each other once again as well?"

Sakura shook her head. "We don't need them to intermarry at all, but we do need the Uzumaki, they are of the bloodline derived from ... We need the Uzumaki, they are masters at Fuinjutsu and currently they're the only shinobi village this side of the sea to exist, the Uzumaki have perfected their laws and ways we can learn much from them".

"They are a monarchy though, if we are to have a shinobi village with clans from all over Hi no Kuni we cannot have a monarchy". Sakura nodded her head in agreement. "No we cannot, I said we can learn from them, it does not mean we need to replicate their entire shinobi structure, if their way works so well, they would not have a need to hire clans outside their own to do transports nor would they have to hire healers from across the world to help them. The Uzumaki are old and the only known shinobi village right now, but it does not mean they have perfected it. We can though, we just need help and they have blueprints we can work from".

"Then why demand the Uzumaki give the Senju another girl if I already was given Kurva as a ward". Sakura looked up at the trees then, before looking at the ground and back forward. "The betterment of the future will require an Uzumaki, their bodies are special".

... What was she talking about now? His little witch seemed to have a suspicious amount of knowledge about clans that weren't her own. She even knew things about the Uchiha that only insiders knew, how she knew so much about the Sharingan, so much to successfully heal the effects of the Mangekyo puzzles and elate him at the same time. Her healing abilities were unparalleled and the fact that she was his, even if for the show still had him thrown. She had chosen the Uchiha clan to live with not the Senju, despite all that people said about his clan and he himself, she still chose to stay with them, with him.

A part of him knew there was an underlining reason, there was always a reason but for the most part, it didn't seem to be part of any sinister motive. No part of him understood very well that she was there for the sole purpose to support him and the Uchiha, for what reason he could still not deduce. The Senju he could understand, Tobirama especially, the younger man had a mind like no other and he had wondered many times before if maybe he should approach the Senju with a marriage proposal in order to use Tobirama's mind to the fullest extent, but his hatred for them was too much to control. He still wondered if maybe marrying Tobirama off to one of their elders' girls was a call that needed to be made ... That mind of his was something, so much so he was surprised Sakura didn't go to the Senju, she could create beautiful things with a mind like Tobirama's. She could steal so much from a mind like Tobirama's.

Then again Sakura's mind was something else, she didn't need to steal anything from Tobirama really, her own mind was capable of so much, she had after all bound the Uchiha and the Senju to herself. She now controlled the most dangerous clans in the Shinobi world. ... Possibly even the world itself.

If a monarchy were to happen with the building of this village, there could only be one ruler, and if they were bound to Sakura that would mean only she could be the one in control ... That excited him, so many people would object to a female ruler, to a female-ruled village. So many people would want to destroy them, destroy her, and all she needed to do was make a single order to them and all would be destroyed in her name.

Sakura wasn't looking for glory nor was she looking to be the ruler of a kingdom, Sakura was doing something infinitely worse, she was building an empire, creating one out of her own vision, and she was pulling all the strings the shinobi world and the clans had created to her own advantage. It was beautiful and dangerous all at the same. She was far worse than Tobirama was, for the worst of reasons, she could destroy men with her eyes alone.

He stopped in his walk as the others did as well, the Senju servant looking over their entourage as they were greeted. "Uchiha-sama, all servants and guards will be posted outside the hall, while you and yours will be shown your seat by another inside, please relinquish all non-biological weapons here and they will be given back after the celebrations".

Tobirama no doubt didn't trust any of the clans to attempt an assassination, tempting as it was, it would not be Hashirama he'd want to kill but the younger brother, and he didn't need a weapon nor his Sharingan to do it. Sighing he handed over his katana and its sheath before looking over at Izuna who only pouted as he undid his own sheath and handed it over.

The Senju servant looked nervous and he moved his eyes over to Sakura before looking back at him before looking down at the ground. "And Sakura-sama as well". He looked over at the woman who lifted a brow and the servant, her green eyes looking down at the weapons that had been collected thus far. "Hashirama-sama specifically has requested that Sakura-sama relinquish any and all weapons before allowing entrance". She sighed as she began to reach beneath her robes and pull out blades and senbons, many small weapons he hadn't even realized she was carrying on herself. He hadn't smelled the oils from the metals and that was surprising.

The servant looked down at the small pile that had been collected from the pink-haired witch, his eyes were wide and astonished. "As I have relinquished all weapons I do require that Tobirama is in no way allowed to look at or touch any of the items I am allowing you to hold onto until I leave the premises, are you in understanding?"

The servant nodded his head. "Yes Sakura-sama, none will be permitted to be anywhere near anyone's weapons, I'll make sure to inform the others that your own is to be kept under special supervision as well". Sakura looked over at the servants that were locking away weapons in the separate chests, with Senju and Uzumaki guards surrounding the pile of chests that were building larger.

"Very good". Sakura relinquished her last weapon after that a small glass vile that he knew was definitely a poison that he couldn't comprehend where she had hidden it.

Izuna grinned down at the servant as Sakura handed over the small vile. "That all Sakura-san?" She looked over her shoulder at him with a frown. "Stop trying to scare the poor boy". Izuna whistled as he took Sakura's elbow and guided her away from the table and over to him. "You already did that". Sakura shook her head.

As he turned his attention away from the two of them as they continued walking towards the reception hall, he stopped as he saw Tobirama pacing back and forth, his entire body visibly wound like a child's toy. He was sure that if it were possible there would even be steam coming out of his head he looked so very angry. He wasn't sure if he wanted to deal with it but on the other hand, he wasn't sure if he shouldn't either.

Sakura took his attention back to her then. "The entire Senju clan seems on edge ... A bit worrisome don't you agree?"

He nodded his head, and she would notice as well. "Perhaps I should find Hashirama, perhaps he knows what's wrong" Sakura looked around and he knew then that she was noticing something. "I think Hashirama is the problem, there's not much that can bother Tobirama, beyond Hashirama's antics".

"And you". She wasn't affected by that comment. "Is he imbedding?" Sakura nodded her head. "Yes and he's not attempting to hide it either". That wasn't a good sign. "Hashirama?" Sakura looked up at him, words not being needed as he figured out everything in that look of hers.

Hashirama was missing. Izuna seemed to have grasped onto the conversation quickly. "What do we do?" There was only one thing to do. "We need to find Hashirama ... Immediately" No doubt the idiot was trying to be a runaway bride, so terrified of getting married to someone that would realize that everything that was Hashirama was nothing more than a perfectly knitted illusion created by the Senju for the sole purpose of making others drop their guards to them.

Something the Uchiha had always despised, while they were masters at illusion they never cared about how people saw them. Which was the very reason they were perceived as the evil beings they were and why hardly any outside clans had ever allied with them. Now he was starting to believe the Senju had been ingenious in their grooming of Hashirama ... They had so many allies, many strong allies that had he gone up against him it would have destroyed the Uchiha clan.

Now though they had Sakura and Sakura was doing everything she could possibly think of to make the Uchiha out to be the better clan which considering what she was working with ... He had to admit that it truly was impressive, many clan Chiefs were more open to talks with him than beforehand. Even his own clan members were approaching him and Izuna more, on the downside the elders were even more insistent because of this.

"Izuna, stay here and make sure that Hachiro doesn't wonder about it". He grabbed Sakura's cold hand in his own and pulled her over to him and gripped her elbow, she lifted a brow. "Let's go speak with Tobirama and make sure we congratulate the Senju and give our good wishes". Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Because that's not suspicious". "You're my ward, I am the Chief of the Uchiha and I am required to give congratulations to the main family on their special day, if I want my ward with me, especially if said ward is of marriageable age and the heir-apparent of the hosting clan is unmarried and I want to push for the two of you to marry, it would be wise for me to make sure I push the two of you together".

"You said I wasn't allowed to marry any other". He looked down at her, noting that she wasn't teasing and only pointing out the facts. "You aren't, but I need to make people think I may be interested, nobody can know that Hashirama is missing and this is a fantastic way".

Sakura looked contemplative. "What if Hashirama decides to truly push for that? You know as much as I do that Tobirama may be his brother's keeper, but it is also Hashirama that controls Tobirama. No woman out there will be able to ever control them but considering I wouldn't allow Tobirama to do whatever he wants Hashirama and his elders may want for us to marry. Then again ... the only reason Tobirama would even consider marrying anyone would be to take the title of Chief".

He stopped walking and looked over at her. "What do you mean?" Sakura sighed. "Tobirama once told me that technically there is no true Chief of the Senju at the moment, the heir-apparent that gives the Senju a legitimate male heir first is the Chief. In my opinion, even the entire Senju clan believes Hashirama must be the Chief, why else would they force the title onto him even if the rules state otherwise?"

That would explain Tobirama's attitude, he had the same chance of taking the title of Chief as Hashirama thanks to their clan's laws, only even the Senju didn't approve of Tobiramas ways, they'd prefer Hashirama who was a drunk gambling idiot over Tobirama who would rather lead them into more clan wars.

... Why would he? ... He looked over at Sakura then. "Why would Tobirama tell you such secrets?" Sakura looked bored over at him. "I believe he had originally wanted to marry me for the sole purpose of grabbing the title of Chief. Had he married before Hashirama he could challenge the claim that the elders were no doubt making about him. If he married before Hashirama and challenged the claim he could have prevented the clan from aligning with the Uchiha, even without a child Tobirma would have still looked like the better choice if he'd married first, he would after all fulfilled his duties as heir-apparent compared to Hashirama who as we know nearly drove his clan into poverty".

Still. ... "Yes but why would he tell you?" Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "Perhaps he was truly interested in marrying me for a moment, the Senju as we all know have no issue marrying outside their clan ... Then again he really would rather see me dead ... It's a dreadfully confusing situation".

Sakura was an idiot and so was Tobirama, the albino Senju couldn't even realize he was attracted to the pretty healer, or he did and he despised the fact that he was capable of feeling human emotions. Sakura being the creature that produced those feelings would be the very creature he'd want to destroy and Sakura didn't seem to understand that.

What was horrible was the fact that if Tobirama wasn't insane and filled with hate and Sakura wasn't his they would make a good match, they looked good together as it was and they were incredibly smart. Brilliant really, If they put their minds together they could do great things ... dangerous things. It made him sick to think about.

Tobirama saw them then and sighed, a roll of his eyes and he straightened himself out, smoothing his fancy clan robes out and standing to his fullest, ensuring that everyone saw the size difference between the three of them. "What do you want?"

"Where did you last see Hashirama?" Tobirama rubbed the back of his neck, a trait he'd only ever seen Hashirama do when he was nervous, that was interesting, Tobirama must have been very out of it if he was allowing these little ticks of his to show.

"Last night ... I made sure to put guards all around the main house just in case he pulled something like this". This didn't surprise him in the least. The Senju needed this marriage, even if Sakura had helped them, it still wouldn't be enough to get the clan in a better position without the whole of the clan realizing they were technically broken. The dowry the Uzumaki woman had would get them back to a normal level for a clan as large as the Senju.

Sakura actually sounded shocked at what Tobirama had done. "You locked him in his house?" Tobirama rolled his eyes. "If you haven't noticed Hashirama is not exactly excited about the prospects of marriage, had I not he would have run". Sakura clucked her tongue. "And despite your best efforts he still ran".

On the other hand, Tobirama and Sakura were both such stubborn people, geniuses, but so very stubborn, they would end up killing each other if they were forced to be together. ... Well Tobirama would try to kill Sakura ... He had a feeling she could kill him without any trouble, even without the binding on them Sakura had proven to be quietly skilled in certain areas.

Tobirama growled back at Sakura. "Obviously". He always thought it was bad when he and Tobirama had to deal with each other, but this was ridiculous, Tobirama's deadly attraction and obvious ignorance towards it was truly grating on his and everyone else's nerves. He didn't want to have to continue to see this. "Sakura and I will find him, it would be better if you stayed and greeted your guest without giving anyone the impression there's something wrong".

Tobirama glared at him. "The Senju will not pay you for this". He smirked at that. "The Senju couldn't afford the Uchiha".

Sakura sighed and he pulled her away from the brooding Senju. Sakura looked bored as she spoke. "There's a brothel on the other side of the mountain". He shook his head. "Hashirama won't be there, he's a runaway groom, not a still partying bachelor ... I think I know where he might be".

"Does it not worry you that Tobirama was forced to lock his adult brother in his home?" Everything about Tobirama bothered him, but when it came to Hashirama, there were certain things that Tobirama had to do that made sense. "Not particularly, honestly the best option would have been to send him to the Uchiha Compound, at least then we'd have been more alert, the Senju are too close, too familiar with each other and their chakra signatures, it's not surprising that he was able to disappear so easily, especially as he has his brother not far away. Sibling chakra signatures are slightly similar to one another, sometimes so similar that they can barely be distinguished from one another".

"Like the Uchiha?" She would notice, Sakura noticed more than others did that was for certain, and she continued to talk about things she noticed that others did not. "I think the Senju are less close in chakra signatures mainly on the fact that unlike the Uchiha they bring in new blood more often than not while the Uchiha marry into their own clan at a constant rate. I'm sure Izuna had such similar chakra to your lost brothers that you could barely tell the difference. Honestly if anything, you and Hashirama share a very interesting feel of chakra, like two sides of a coin, like familial, especially compared to you and Izuna and he and Tobirama do".

She was doing it again, she was fishing for something from him, he wasn't sure if she was fishing for a reaction or information though, but she was hoping to get something out of him. Her look was clear as she looked at him, looked through him. As if she wasn't seeing him but another and that made him curious.

He wasn't going to give her what she wanted though, it didn't seem wise, he wasn't even sure if he knew what she wanted either. "Is it possible that it has something to do with both of our clans descending from the Rikudo Sennin? As you said both the Uchiha and Senju have a common ancestor".

She blinked before looking away. "Maybe". There she went once more playing a game that he didn't even know the rules to or even what the game was. It shook his mind that she would do this to them, to him.

The small conversation came back to him as he watched as she seemed to figure out where they were going and walked in front of him now instead of allowing him to lead her.

A monster, that's what Kiyoshi had said, that what he said he was sure of it, the young boy had been around Sakura more than anyone else and he knew there were things that he must have realized or come to know about the woman that cared for him than any other person. The two older Kaguya children had even admitted that Sakura and Kiyoshi had bonded closer to one another than any of them and that if anyone knew where Sakura would go to hide it would have been Kiyoshi.

A monster, Sakura had used the same word to describe what had destroyed her home, now the boy was using the word to describe the change in Sakura.

... What if Sakura was the thing that destroyed her home? The sudden thought had him stopping and looking down at the ground as he realized what his mind had come up with.

Could it be possible? No! No! Sakura was so desperate to help the Uchiha and Senju, to help him and Hashirama create a world of peace, her destroying it made absolutely no sense.

Then why would Kiyoshi say that? Why use that word? Why say it that way? "Uchiha?" He looked up and saw Sakura watching him, her eyes dull and lackluster, hardly any life in there. The act was dropped, she didn't need to put up the act.

"Sorry what was that you said?" She tilted her head then, a near puppet gesture, and blinked. "I said nothing Uchiha". She continued to watch him before speaking up once more. "Is there something on your mind?"

Her, she was always on his mind, if not the village, if not the Senju, it was always her, always her green eyes haunting him in his sleep, in his waking hours. Now it was driving him insane. Mad, thinking she could even be capable of doing that.

'Help me be human'. "Nothing, I was just wondering how drunk Hashirama might be right now". She continued to watch him like he was some sort of experiment, waiting for him to make some sort of incorrect move. She blinked then. "Either or I'll make sure that he's well enough to go through with the wedding".

She turned around then and seemed to follow an invisible path that would certainly lead her to where Hashirama was hiding, a path that she should not have known about but she did. She always knew she knew everything, the past, their present, their future ... their secrets, their dreams, it was all there in her mind, always, always, always. Just like the witches of stories from his childhood.

He shook his thoughts away, he needed to focus on getting Hashirama to his wedding, the Senju needed the marriage to the Uzumaki, not only to save their clan from falling into poverty but also to keep Tobirama from having full control of the clan. The Uchiha needed to survive, if Tobirama became the Chief of The Senju, things would not work out for the Uchiha or for the village. The Uchiha may not have the best of reputations but it was the best thing to keep many other clans off their backs. It was that bad reputation that would keep other clans from attempting to destroy the village.

He followed Sakura all the way up the mountain, stopping as he saw him there, sitting at the cliff, his long hair flowing in the wind.

Hashirama seemed to all the world to be sunbathing, for the most part, he had always been the creature that seemed to shine bright like the sun in all the darkness of the world. Nobody seemed to understand that despite all appearances Hashirama was not the sun, no he allowed others to feel that way about him because he needed to be reminded himself what he stood for. What he was fighting for. If the world saw, if the world knew that Hashirama was just as dark and beaten down as the rest of the shinobi race, hands just as red as the Uchihas were, there was no doubt that the rest of the world would run into shambles and be thrown back into the darkness and bloodshed from which their forefathers had been born in.

"Make her go away, I don't have the patience right now to deal with her". He looked over to Sakura then, her face a contemplation of whether she was going to obey or demand. Hashirama took in a deep breath and he knew that whatever happened next would be all on Sakura. She seemed to understand as well as she turned around and walked back towards the path from whence they had come.

They both waited till she was gone and waited even longer until they were positive that she was out of hearing range.

"There's something wrong with her, her chakra ... you feel it yes, the unnaturalness of it". He didn't want to get into anything about Sakura, his mind was already crowded with thoughts of her as it was.

"Hashirama your guest will not be happy that you're making them wait like this". Hashirama sighed continuing to look out into the forest. "Hashirama". A sigh from the other man. "I've heard rumors Madara, about this Mito girl. ... They're not good".

Ahh, yes he had heard about her as well, though even if they were true, a deal was a deal. "You understand that you have no choice in this, you have to marry her, the agreement was made".

"Tobirama can marry her, I'm sure they'll be better suited". He rolled his eyes, but it was not a good idea to allow that sort of talk, the Uchiha could not allow something like that to happen. If Tobirama had the clan ... He didn't want to think about it.

"You really think it would be a wise idea to allow Tobirama to have the clan?" Hashirama turned his neck to look at him then, his eyes wide. "How did you?" "He told Sakura about the Senju's tradition of choosing the Chiefs ... It's why he has you marrying into the Uzumaki, their women have only been bearing more women. Personally, I believe that he's hoping to turn the Senju elders against you, especially since you are not a favorite of them what with you skirting all your responsibilities and throwing everything onto your brother's shoulders. Now if you don't give them a male heir ... Your only Chief in name Hashirama, honestly I don't know how the alliance between the Uchiha and Senju will holdup if that happens, and I doubt the other clans will be pleased about it as well. The only thing going for you right now is that Sakura has bound the Senju and Uchiha to herself and even if Tobirama takes your seat, he can't destroy the treaty between our clans ... But he can destroy your alliances with the others".

Hashirama sighed then before looking back towards the forest. "Tobirama is plotting ... Sakura is plotting ... maybe we should have them married, they're nearly perfect for each other".

"Sakura is not plotting, the girls dedicated nearly all of her time to looking over Uchiha ancestry ... It's almost embarrassing that she can now recite my family lineage better than I can".

"All the more reason to worry". "Hashirama", "Madara", A part of him really wanted to slap him over the head with the way he was acting like a child once more.

"You're stalling, either jump off that cliff and let Sakura bring you back or walk away and get to your wedding". Hashirama sighed. "I can't do this Madara". Interesting. "You didn't seem deterred in any way when you thought it was Kurva". "Because there wasn't going to be a wedding to her, Tobirama would have stopped it whether Sakura was there or not, you saw her, she's too ill to barely hold herself up, let alone carry a child ... I would have killed her if I had taken her to my bed. No, for a small moment that I had talked with her I had hope that I wouldn't have to continue on with the charade".

Hashirama didn't want to be the Senju Chief. "If Tobirama wasn't the other option, nobody would be pushing for you to be Chief ... It's unfortunate Hashirama but it must be this way".

"So it must be ... You know I had an interesting dream last night". More stalling, but he supposed it would be alright, he wasn't exactly running away. "I dreamt about you and me ... except you were older everyone had been much older ... except me. I mean I was older ... Just I didn't feel older, I didn't look older".

Why did this sound eerily familiar? "It was terrifying, that world ... was so lonely and so near death". "Sounds positively horrible". Hashirama nodded his head. "What if this healing ability ... what if it's a curse? What if I have to watch everyone I know and love die ... I know as shinobi we're constantly killing and dying but at least there's a silver lining that our time will eventually come as well ... What if there isn't a silver lining for me though?"

"There will be because I'll be the one to kill you if I find that the chasm between us is too great to ignore". Hashirama's body went rigid and he had the chilling realization that Hashirama may have quite literally shared the same dream. Every cell in his body seemed to freeze at that thought. There were a lot of things that he didn't mind sharing, but a dream like that had been too real. He could still remember the smell of that dank cave, the feel of the rock, the bone-chilling coldness. The anxiety and relief of seeing Hashirama alive, the love he felt for him, the hate he felt for him. It was almost as if it had really been a memory.

That was impossible though. "Hashirama before Sakura decides to drag you down the aisle herself. I feel it is relevant to remind you that you nearly destroyed your clan with your whoring about and horrible gambling skills ... You owe it to them to marry this Uzumaki woman, the agreement was that the Uzumaki marry the Chief of the clan not the spare now get up and stop prattling about".

It was a low blow to the man's ego, inside Hashirama's inner circle knows how badly he felt about the fact that he nearly lost the clan to bankruptcy. It was the only thing that would make him move. Indeed it did too as Hashirama stood swiftly turned and stood, a black cloud over his large form as he walked over to him. His eyes were downcast and a large frown was across his face.

"I hear she is a mean woman, a grump, a hag in a young woman's body, I don't know ... Maybe the Uzumaki wish me dead and this is their way to do it". He rolled his eyes. Always the complainer it seemed. "Hashirama I don't think there has been a single person that hasn't crossed the path that hasn't liked you".

"Sakura hates me". Ah ... "Sakura hates everyone". "Especially us?" Hashirama seemed to want to hear what he didn't want to speak about. "Especially us".

"Madara" This was becoming more troublesome than it was worth ... Maybe he should demand payment for this. "Hashirama shut up, let's get you married". "Do you think she'll be nicer than Sakura?" "Anyone will be nicer than Sakura". "Madara?" "Hashirama I don't know any more about marriage than you do".

Hashirama slouched once more a sigh on his lips and rainclouds over his head. "Nobody seems to want to speak about it, the elders all seem to think that it's something that's just supposed to come naturally and that's not how it feels like I don't know anything about her, I don't know anything about marriage".

Yet for some reason he was asking him about it when he'd never married in his life as well, the only thing he knew about marriage was what he'd seen from his parents and the elders and their wives. Thanks, to the thin walls of the house he'd learned from his father what sounds a woman should be making in the bedroom and what sounds a woman should not be making. He understood that you treated your wife better than you did your other women and those you could treat however you wanted so long as there were no visible signs on them. His father told him that there were things in bed he didn't do with his wife and those things were to be taken to one of the other women.

He knew that for as long as he could remember the Matriarch of the Uchiha clan was nothing more than a breeder giving the clan as many heirs to sacrifice for the war until they died in labor and it had been that way for centuries.

He doubted highly that it was any different in the Senju clan, Hashirama had told him long ago that he too had lots of brothers and now it was just the two of them just as he and Izuna were the last of their brood.

"Hashirama, just don't treat her like a whore, she's going to have your children so you need to show her more respect than you show other women".

Hashirama stopped walking then and straightened up. "... That's surprisingly helpful". Yes, he supposed it would. "Also don't treat her like you do Sakura".

The look he was given was palpable, given where the conversation was headed he wasn't too surprised about it. "Whatever do you mean dear friend of mine?"

He rolled his eyes, Hashirama was attempting to distract him by being annoying, of course, though given it was Hashirama ... "You're terrified of her".

Hashirama looked away from him then and up at the sky. "She was a dangerous unbranded witch and then we had gotten her contained". Given how she was looking by the time they were on their way back he could confirm that they definitely had her contained. "While that may have been true I think branding her was killing her, you saw her Hashirama".

Hashirama looked down at his nose. "At the very least she was contained, now look at where we are Madara! She runs the place, we are her slaves, the only difference is now we have not one but two masters that can dictate our lives".

He always knew that the Senju didn't like having his whole world controlled by not only the clan but the Daimyo as well. "If you focused more on the fact that she's completely revolutionized our healthcare systems by teaching our physicians things that are decades maybe even an entire century ahead of us as well as the fact that she's even brought in the Hyuga Clan and has also been spearheading the development of our village, you'd see that she's not as evil as you seem to believe her to be".

The Senju would not hear it though. "To what end Madara? Don't you wonder why she's so adamant? You and I both know better than anyone else that nobody does something for nothing, eventually, we are going to have to pay our dues ... And that time will come sooner rather than later. We had her contained and now she's the one that has caged us".

It was a rather pleasant cage though, for all intent and purposes to the very least. No matter what they did, they would be caged by someone, this one gave them the opportunity to cut down on the bloodshed and give their children a real future, their younger brothers a real future ... It truly could be said to be a pleasant cage indeed.

"The cost of peace and prosperity is what it is Hashirama, you stated that you wanted to stop fighting and now the fighting between our clans and few others has ceased, you stated that you wanted to build a place where all children could be free to live and now this village is coming together. Really Hashirama what more could you want? Sakura may be a woman, a witch, but she's done nothing to show us that there's any reason to actually state that she has nefarious intentions".

Hashirama regarded him for a second and they both held their breaths as they heard the whizzing sound quickly Hashirama caught the arrow that would have a weaker man.

A scroll had been tied to it and quickly Hashirama untied it and handed him the arrow as he read it, looking over the arrow he noted that it was fine craftsmanship, this wasn't a lesser clan that was wanting their attention.

"Madara" He looked over towards Hashirama who held the scroll out for him to read himself. 'Release the Senju and Hashirama and your life shall be spared - Sarutobi Sasuke'.

The realization that this scroll wasn't for them, but merely a courtesy towards them snapped them into action as they both raced towards where Sakura would have taken down the mountain.

Someone had placed a hit on her.

Sakura was found sitting on a rock looking more than a little bored as she had waited for them. "Well that took long enough, are we now ready to get to this wedding business?" Hashirama looked over at him and he knew immediately that their clans were forfeit if Sakura were to find out about the hit on her life.

He'd take care of the scroll soon enough when there was an appropriate time. Hashirama went to grab her and she looked shocked as he threw her over his shoulder. "What are you doing! Put me down this instance!" She glared at him and he could feel her channeling her chakra he grabbed at her wrist quickly.

"Someone's just attempted to kill us, we need to get back and gather the others". Her eyes narrowed at him and she lifted her upper lip much like an animal ready to snarl. "Put me down this instant Senju, I will" Another whizzing sound and he caught the arrow that had been aimed towards her face. These Sarutobi were close and if rumors were told they were nearly as good as a Senju or Uchiha. Whoever had hired them had done enough research to know that.

An array of kunai was aimed at the three of them and they did what they could to avoid Hashirama having to drop Sakura from his hold.

It was almost as if time had slowed as he watched every kunai and arrow follow her body and pin her against a rock. Not a cry came from her and everything came to a stand as he and Hashirama looked at the pink-haired woman her body embedded with blades, her pretty pink hair a mess of curls, and her dress ruined with blood.

He didn't feel any different though, he could still feel the link between him and her that she had forced upon them. She was still alive even when something like this would have killed any other.

He moved then to remove the blades from her body and take her down, if she wasn't dead the moment he began to take the blades out she would surely die from blood loss and he would not see her die pinned upon a rock. For all that she was, she was still a woman.

The moment he pulled out the first one his heart stopped as her body flinched and her head snapped and an anguished scream ripped from her lungs.

"Help me! Help me! Please!" The green eyes that were so dead before were wild and full of life now, life and fear, a fear so deep that it reflected in the soul he looked upon. "Don't waste-" She shook her head as she reached for him and her nails dug painfully into his shoulders as she shook her head. "No! I don't have much time! She sleeps to heal! It didn't work! It backfired! She's in more control than ever before! I gave it to Ōgama Sennin-sama to hide away! You must go to him to find it! She'll kill us all!"

He looked over at Hashirama who looked just as shocked as he did, she wasn't making any sense. "Sakura you're not making any sense". She ripped into his shoulder then with her nails, fully embedding themselves all the way into the muscle to the point he could feel the tips of her fingers. "Kaguya! Go to Gamamaru-sama before it is too late!" "Please Madara, I cannot let their deaths be in vain!"

Her eyes went hazy then, clouded in a ghostly sort of way that he'd only seen with those that were dead on the battlefield and her grip on him was nearly non-existent before they closed. Her voice went low, lower than a whisper and small but he still heard her. "Naruto, Nakama ... love".

"Is she dead?" Looking back over at Hashirama he lifted a brow. "You would feel if she was dead you idiot". "Well I don't know I've never had someone that's I've been bound to die to know what it feels like!" He rolled his eyes. "Well here's a quick lesson for you if she were dead you'd feel her chakra leave your system, you moron! Now shut up! If you haven't noticed they haven't continued their attack, they think they've killed her, we need to get her down now".

Hashirama regarded him once more. "If we take her down she'll bleed to death". He nodded his head in agreement. "I'm not about to let her die like an animal Hashirama, she's still a woman, still a human". Hashirama snorted. "I doubt either is actually true, she's more a demon spawn than anything"

He pulled out the knives quickly and stopped as he took note of where they had embedded the blades in her body. Someone close had to have ordered the hit, someone very close to them, only someone in their group would know about Sakura's healing abilities, unless of course this someone had figured it out or stumbled upon it by accident.

"Madara they hit her Root point". He nodded his head. "I see that". "And her Solar Plexus". He continued to nod his head as he removed his top kimono and draped it across her body picking her up. It worried him that she was so light, he took in a deep breath as he flared his chakra, alerting Izuna.

"Madara". He already knew this was their chance to get rid of her, to let her die. 'Help me!' 'She'll kill us all ... Please Madara'. He shook his head. "Not here". Hashirama nodded his head as they quickly ran towards the shrine.

'Kaguya! ... Naruto, nakama ...love'. Her words reverberated in his mind, he'd never seen her look so ... human. Even when he'd first met her she'd always had a sort of untouchable personality to her, as if she were above humanity and the like.

The gates of the shrine were in his vision and he saw Izuna and Tobirama with the Senju guards at the ready.

Izuna looked paler than he could remember, even when he had been dying in his arms his brother hadn't looked so bad to him. "She's dead!", "Sakura is dead!"

Looking back over at Hashirama he watched as the Senju took charge of everything the moment they got passed the gates to the shrine, having everyone announce that Sakura was dead. The two of them at the least knew that she wasn't. He continued walking they were not safe until they were inside where they could contain the situation better.

"Nii-san". He looked over at Izuna hoping his brother would see the answer in his eyes. The doors opened quickly and he felt the eyes of all the wedding attendees on him. Gasps were heard all around and he continued to follow Hashirama till they were led into a detached room. Carefully he laid down Sakura onto the tatami mats.

He could hear Hashirama and Tobirama arguing in the background, his wedding had been ruined, and Sakura needed to be healed, Sakura needed to die.

Looking down at the pink-haired woman he took in her thin face, thin and pale with bruises beneath her eyes. Her skin was beginning a cold sweat, no doubt her body would go into shock if they didn't heal her soon enough. 'Senju-sama my sister says she can help' 'Sakura-san is the most advanced healer that we've ever come across I doubt your sister could do anything more than the rest of us'.

"Hashirama let her in". He felt Hashirama's eyes on his then. "Madara". "It can't hurt to try". The screen slid open then and he heard the soft steps, the fruity-floral scent of ume flowers seemed to permeate the room and he watched as red bleed into his vision. Then suddenly she was there in front of him.

Namikaze Himawari truly was a beauty, he could see why Hashirama and Izuna were quite fascinated with her, with her golden hair and blue-green eyes it was a wonder how the Namikaze clan had been able to keep her such a secret. "Uchiha-sama, will you allow me to help?" She had a determined look in her young eyes that he was surprised by. Many clan women didn't have that look to them, but here she was.

Carefully he removed the kimono from Sakura's body and the Namikaze girl gasped loudly at the sight of Sakura's body. "Do you still believe that you can fix her Namikaze?" Those blue-green eyes looked back up with him then with a fire burning bright in them. Her voice was low as if she were sharing a secret with her best friend. "Are the rumors true? That she's able to heal herself?" He nodded his head. She looked away from him then and back at Sakura. "Then I can do it".

Kanaya's voice was suddenly in the room then and he turned to look at the elder Uchiha. "Madara-sama, what has happened!" His dark eyes then looked over at the body in his arms and he watched the elder knees buckle slightly at the sight. "Gods have mercy! Is that Sakura-san?" It would be a shock to see her body as it was.

As a shinobi, they'd seen a lot, done a lot, but this, this was too much. blades and arrows had littered Sakura's body, embedding themselves nearly all over and now she was bleeding out profusely.

Her body jerked then and Kanaya was ushered into the room as the Namikaze girl spoke. "We haven't much time Uchiha-sama, I must begin immediately".

Hashirama stepped back into the room then. "Madara" He nodded his head as he stood up and looked over at Kanaya. "Keep her living, she's taught you more than anyone else". Kanaya bowed then. "Of course Madara-sama".

Whether Hashirama and Tobirama wanted to acknowledge it or not, Sakura was one of them. This village was being spearheaded not just by the Uchiha and Senju but by her as well and now... Someone had just attempted assassination on one of them, and neither he nor the Senju would allow something like this to just slip.

Sliding the screen shut behind him he looked over at the three that stood before him. The Senju and Izuna obviously felt the same as he did about this all. Tobirama crossed his arms. "If Sakura was like any other woman this would have killed her, whomever put this hit on her hasn't a clue about Sakura's physiology".

That Namikaze girl seemed to be in the know though ... and she knew exactly what was needed to get Sakura's heading back to normal.

Because civilians didn't practice ninjutsu their chakra's circulatory systems weren't as established as a shinobi's chakra system was. This was the reason why civilians didn't live as long as shinobi, chakra, specifically the chakra from the root point was what helped with the healing. A simple bruise could be healed within half the time compared to civilians.

Sakura though ... Sakura was much like Hashirama, their bodies healed within moments. Not only were their bodies and chakra special from everyone else's but their root chakra was special as well.

It had taken them weeks to realize as they had spent hours cataloging Sakura's extreme personality and chakra shift how her healing worked. Well, Tobirama had figured it out at least, he would know considering he was Hashirama's sibling after all.

"The Namikaze girl knows about Sakura's healing abilities and what she needs to heal. ... There's only one reason she would know". Izuna looked over at him with wide eyes. "You don't think they would go this far do you?" If the Namikaze wanted to get in a better deal within the village, healing Sakura would get them what they'd want if nobody ever found out. He looked over at Hashirama. "The Namikaze are the personal guards to Ashina and the royal family while here on the mainlands, Ashina loved to talk when he's drunk".

Hashirama shook his head. "But Ashina is contracted by Sakura to protect her and there's no doubt that the Uzumaki subcontracted the Namikaze to help with that".

The screen was slid open and Kanaya's face was pale as he looked over at him, his hands and clothes covered in Sakura's blood. "Forgive me Madara-sama we have a serious issue". He didn't want to hear that.

"What is it?" Kanaya looked grim. "The Namikaze girl found something odd". A brow lifted and he was ushered back into the room with the others.

The Namikaze girl's kimono sleeves had been rolled up all far as they could on her thin arms and dragged heavily with the tips darkened by Sakura's blood and she sat above the green-eyed woman with her right hand deep inside Sakura's belly where her womb was, a frown on her pretty face as she seemed to be concentrating.

"What's the problem here?" She pulled out her hand from Sakura's belly then and looked up at them. "It's her chakra connections Uchiha-sama". Her chakra connections?

He looked over towards the others that seemed just as perplexed as he was. The Namikaze girl gestured for one of them to sit down and Hashirama took the opportunity to sit down with the girl. "Let's see what's wrong". Kanaya spoke then. "That's not all Madara-sama, even if this girl can heal Sakura-sans chakra connections she's lost too much blood, the fact that she's survived this long is a wonder in itself. Blood loss like this usually takes its victim within minutes".

Blood loss ... Izuna would have died mainly due to blood loss. Tobirama spoke up and then seemed to have the same thought as he had. "She saved your brother from blood loss somehow".

And Sakura had been the only one according to Izuna, all Sakura had on her person even when they'd gotten ahold of her the first time had been her clothes and her black bag with her supplies.

That could only mean that Izuna had been given blood from Sakura. ...

'Pulling out the arrow from right above his belly button he took in careful breaths. "Nee-san!" He held up a hand then as Sakura aimed a new arrow just above his heart. "That's so you can't use Katon, want to keep insulting my intelligence?" ...' Uncorking the bottle he smelt it, he was positive now that he was bleeding so much that all he smelt was blood, and he sighed as he tossed the bottle back and drank the liquid in one swoop. It was runny, not nearly as thin as water but near close enough and it had an almost metallic taste.

... Blood ... Sakura had given him and Izuna blood ... Her blood. He looked back at Izuna who seemed to have come to the same conclusion as Tobirama it seemed. "Is it possible? Sharing blood?" Ingestion, as he had, was possible obviously, the properties that made up Sakura's blood would force his own body to heal more rapidly than it already had but sharing blood as she had with Izuna ...

Tobirama was already brainstorming his way through. "She must share the same blood as you do, she wouldn't have risked it had she not, if she wanted to save you sharing her blood would have been the safest and most sure option she had, but then she must have known ..."

"What are you talking about?" Tobirama looked at him and Izuna then. "The two of you have the same blood as Sakura, completely different than me and Hashirama, but to know that would have meant that she had gotten a hold of your blood at some point to know this, or she merely chanced it".

Izuna spoke then. "If Sakura shared her blood to save me then I can do the same right?" That was the question. He looked over at Tobirama. "I know for a fact that you've gotten your hands on Uchiha blood, you can tell us better than anyone else. Is it possible?"

Tobirama didn't even have the decency to pretend not to know. "You and Izuna have nearly the same blood, and Sakura and Izuna have exactly the same blood the three of you may be able to share amongst each other, but she's lost a lot of blood, and even between the two of you I doubt that will be enough". They needed more then. He looked over at Izuna. "Get Emiyo she knows where Sakura keeps her supplies, surely there's something that will help us". Izuna nodded his head as he left the room.

Turning his attention back to Hashirama and the Namikaze girl he crouched down and watched Hashirama pull his hand out of Sakura's belly. "What is it?"

"Her chakra connections aren't where they normally are. Sakura's root chakra had been rerouted and so has her heart chakra, Himawari-chan believes these reroutes may affect any sort of healing treatments".

Sakura's chakra connections had been rerouted. "How is that possible?" The Namikaze spoke then. "Only someone extremely skilled could have done it as successfully as it has been done, but it has only been done recently, you can see that they are still healing from when they had been cut from their original points and reattached in different areas".

Done just recently? ... Was it possible? He remembered reading about chakra connections and how they could affect personality especially when they were blocked. It wasn't much on its mere theory than anything but if Sakura had done it to herself it could have explained her sudden personality split.

He looked over at Hashirama who had the same idea. "Can you fix it?" She shook her head. Not myself, maybe someone with more experience could possibly do this but one wrong move and I could damage more than just her chakra connections". He nodded his head. Hashirama breathed out deeply and he looked over at the Senju already knowing he had something to say.

"What is it?" "I can do it!" He looked over at Tobirama then who only nodded his head. "I loathe to admit it but he has taken well to learning Sakura's way of healing, better than most of the healers from what I've seen". That and the fact that Hashirama was a trained shinobi gave him an up compared to the other healers, he could keep a steady hand when it came to killing.

Looking back to Hashirama he stopped himself from questioning the bigger man. There was a look in his eyes that mimicked that of the Namikaze girl, pure determination. Hashirama believed in himself, something he hadn't seen in the man in a very long while. He nodded his head as he looked back at the other Senju.

"Please I need to see her!" At the sound of Emiyo, he slid open the screen to see Izuna attempting to handle Sakura's servant girl. She looked flushed face, her cheeks and eyes puffy and red an obvious sign she had been crying.

She glimpsed into the room just enough to see Sakura's body and covered her mouth as she gasped at what she had caught sight of. "I need you to find Sakura's bag, the black one with her supplies, I'm sure you know where she keeps it in her room".

Immediately Emiyo pushed a sakura-colored silk purse into his grasp. "Sakura-sama requires me to bring it everywhere with us" She sobbed. "I made new bags in order to match her dresses". Of course, she did. He inspected Emiyo's work fascination at how his servant seemed to be so happy working for his ward that she put so much work into making her look as polished as she was.

Upon opening the bag they found that indeed Sakura had all her equipment on her. "Kanaya, you work closely with Sakura, figure out how to get Izuna's blood in her quickly".

Kanaya nodded his head. He looked back at Emily. "Stay here with the Namikaze girl and Sakura, I doubt the Namikaze nor our elders would be pleased to hear that they were left unattended with men in the room". Emiyo nodded her head profusely as she rubbed her kimono sleeves across her face. "Hai Madara-sama"

He looked over at Izuna who already knew what he needed to do. Looking back at Tobirama he steeled himself. This would be the first time he and the Senju would have to work so closely together and without Hashirama and Izuna to be there with them. "We need to speak with the Namikaze". Tobirama nodded his head. "Indeed we do".

---

My spirit has been healed and my hands are back to typing and my mind is back to full gear.

Thank you to all for your support and understanding. It took a bit but I landed on my feet and I only wish for you all to do the same if your in any sort of bad place.

The chapter I named butterfly wings because the light fluttering of butterfly wings may cause unpredictable consequences or, more graphically, can lead to large-scale phenomena like tsunamis and Sakura has been making changes and she's being an elephant stomping around since she came to this timeline and now those consequences have come to her.

And If you guys didn't realize who just made a reappearance well you'll figure it out.

And for those that say that's not how chakra works ... Naruto is a fiction manga, it works outside the realm of what is possible in the real world and only Hashimoto can actually say what can and cannot work in the Naruto verse. Until then anything is possible in fanfiction.

I tried to make Madara thoughts about Sakura's attack in a sort of surgical manner because this is not Sakura to him, just her body so at one end he cares little and at the other this is the person that saved his brother- his blood. Things are cross-wired for him when it comes to Sakura because she acts as if she cares for him and everyone when she's in front of others but is hardly human when there's nobody to see. She's almost not human to him also because of the way that in his eyes she knows things that normal humans wouldn't know about and couldn't know about. We know why but to him it doesn't make sense and she doesn't explain she just moved things how she seems to want.

So I'll see you all in the next chapter!