Author's Note: Hello everyone! I am super sorry for the long wait! Two months is such a long time to wait! I'm sorry! I've been busy with work, life and other stories! I haven't forgotten about this story! Thanks to everyone who is still watching this one closely! I appreciate it! Mistra Rose! I am super sorry! I was wracking my brain on how to fit that part we talked about into the story here, but I realized that I couldn't here, but still might be able to somewhere else! Don't worry! I haven't forgotten! Now then, I'm tired, it's late, and I'm heading to bed! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Warnings: Nothing much, maybe language and OOCness.
Word Count: 6,018
The next few hours were especially stressful for Madara. It was extremely hard for him to sit there and watch Izuna writhe in pain on the floor in the middle of his room, sweating profusely as his body is forced to heal itself. Sakura knew the damage was bad but underestimated just how hard it would be for Izuna to battle through it. His entire body started to tremble almost immediately after she began to guide his chakra through his system, forcing it to heal the pathways. His forehead and entire upper half of his body broke out into a sweat soon afterward.
Madara somehow managed to stay sitting in the corner, watching his brother with his hands curled into fists on his thighs with this unreadable look on his face with a tightness around his mouth that betrayed his worry. Sakura could understand his anxiousness to a degree. She was an only child but if she had three younger siblings, two of which were taken away too soon because of war and the last is sitting on a thin line yoyoing with life and death, being tugged one way or the other for however long he's been hurt... Sakura can understand where that would fray someone's nerves.
But thankfully, Madara doesn't move and stays calm for the most part. Hashirama snuck into the room at some point and sat at Madara's side. Their shoulders brushed every time Izuna whimpered in pain or shutter. With Hashirama there, Sakura knew that Madara would be okay. Hashirama was a calming element to the fiery black haired Uchiha Patriarch.
With both of their clan leaders in the room, Aya and Salma were performing perfectly, showing off their skills. They were good, both were very talented medical ninja, Sakura was very proud of them, and they wanted their clan leaders to see how much their hard work was paying off. Sakura sits on Izuna's left while Aya and Salma sat on his right, Madara and Hashirama sat in the corner over Salma's left shoulder.
"Sakura-sensei," Salma says softly, raising her eyes to Sakura, her hand pressing lightly against Izuna's forehead, "Izuna-sama is running a fever..."
Madara twitches.
"He's okay," Sakura says. "His body is just working harder than it has in a long time." Salma nods slowly. Sakura looks over at Aya, whose glowing green hands hover over Izuna's stomach. "Aya, let's see if you've been practicing your herbology. Make me something that can bring down Izuna-sama's fever."
Aya nods, jumping right to that. Sakura turns back to Izuna and watches him closely, keeping her eyes on him. Once Aya was done, Sakura leans over Izuna and lightly shakes his shoulder. He doesn't respond right away, so she shakes him a little bit harder and his eyes open slightly, eyes rolling around in his head.
"Izuna-sama," Sakura says softly, leaning over him. "Izuna-sama, can you speak to me? Are you awake?" Izuna mumbles something incoherently. "I'm going to give you some medicine so we need to sit you up alright. Swallow it for me, alright?"
Izuna mumbles something, nodding his head slowly before his eyes seal shut again. Salma helps Sakura sit Izuna up so that Aya can feed him the medicine. He chokes on the first little bit, having it dribble down the side of his mouth, but it wakes him up enough for him to drink the rest of the concoction. Once it's all gone, Sakura and Salma lower him back onto the covers and clean him up. Salma picks up the bowl of water they've been using to dab up his sweat and stands.
"I'm going to go and get some fresh water, Sakura-sensei."
Sakura smiles up at her. "Good, thanks Salma."
The brown haired Senju woman blushes and nods, walking over to the door, sliding it open, stepping out, before closing it again behind her. Aya scoots closer to Izuna's head and looks up at Sakura with wide black eyes.
"Sakura-sensei..?"
Sakura looks up at her. "Yes, Aya?"
"Will this really fix him? I mean, I know you said it wouldn't fix his eyes, but I mean, I'm watching it happen and I... I just can't believe it's that simple." Her black eyes are huge.
Sakura smiles thinly at her. "It's easy for us, we aren't really doing anything. But trust me, this isn't feeling very good to him. Or easy." Sakura's eyes lower to the sweating younger brother of the Uchiha clan leader. Sakura smiles faintly before looking back up at Aya. "But he's strong. I wouldn't have told him he could do this if I didn't think that he could. He's almost done."
Aya looks relieved. "Really? And then he'll be okay?"
Sakura nods. "So long as he keeps up the good work he's been doing thus far, then I'm sure he'll be fine."
The door opens and Salma steps back in with a bowl of fresh water. She closes the door behind herself with her foot somehow managing to balance the water in her hands without tripping and falling. She walks over to the trio and lowers to the floor next to Izuna. She lays the bowl down and grabs the rag she had discarded earlier and places it into the water before wringing it out and dabbing his forehead lightly.
As Sakura predicted, Izuna was able to make it through the procedure. He was shaking and sweating like crazy, so it took longer than anticipated to finally stabilize him enough to where he can be left alone before Sakura took a moment to talk to the girls, congratulate them on their good jobs and tell them how the next few days are going to go before she sent them home to rest.
"So, he's going to be okay..?" Madara asks softly after the girls were gone. Tobirama slips into the room quietly, lowering himself onto his legs next to Hashirama. He must have seen the girl's leave and figured he could be in on this too now.
Sakura runs her glowing green hand over his body for a few moments, seeing that his network was moving smoothly, there wasn't any snags. She looks up and smiles at the two clan leaders. "He'll be okay. Rehabilitation will be a little difficult, but it's nothing he can't handle. Thankfully, it's as simply as meditating to build up his chakra again, some was lost since he hasn't used it in a while, and just move the chakra around in his system. Once he move his chakra around with ease like he used to, then he can start doing simple things like leaf twirling and then tree walking, water walking all the way up to his advance jutsu."
Hashirama is shaking his head. "Is it really that simple?"
Sakura nods. "Yes sir. It's just a matter of not letting him jump the gun. So long as he can do it with ease, he can move. If there is even a slight difficulty, then he's just not ready yet. I wish I could stay and oversee it, but I just don't have that luxury. You know your little brother, Madara-sama, trust your instincts."
Madara nods, looking down at Izuna like he's the worlds most beautiful creature. It's like everything else has fallen away to Madara. It's easy to see that Izuna is single-handedly the most important person in the Uchiha Patriarch's life. They heal each other.
"Thank you," Madara says softly, staring down at Izuna. "Thank you so much, Sakura. I can never repay you for what you've done."
"Sure you can," Sakura says, smiling at the Uchiha clan leader. His black eyes flicker up to her. "You can do that by continuing to believe in the will of fire. By staying by Hashirama-sama's side. Ever since we talked, I've been thinking about how best to help Izuna deal with his curse - whether you want to believe it or not - and have just now come to the conclusion. At least, what I can do."
"And that is?" Madara asks.
"By staying positive." It was such a simple thing to say. Hashirama and Madara appear confused by it and Tobirama's head tilts to the side slightly. But Sakura just smiles more. "It's called the curse of hatred. So, if you stay positive, and keep the atmosphere around him positive, maybe that will help him overcome it. I've heard that Uchiha have overcome the curse before, but I can imagine that it is pretty hard to do. Alone, at least."
Sakura takes a moment to glance down at Izuna again. She pulls the covers that had settled around his waist higher up. Even though he was sweating profusely before, now that it's drying, his body is cooling down. The last thing he needs is to get sick this soon after healing.
"I was told, a long time ago, that Uchiha couldn't love," Sakura says, looking back up at Madara. The man looks insulted. Sakura quickly continues on, lest the meaning of words be lost on the Uchiha Patriarch, "I thought it was preposterous. Everyone can love! It was such a strange thing for someone to have said. But the only Uchiha I knew, was Sasuke. Sasuke was full of so much hate and anger, I began to wonder, after so long of being ignored and treated like a burden, if maybe that was true."
Sakura lets out a little laugh that lacked any mirth. She shakes her head, looking down at the wooden floor for a moment as if lost in thought.
"Sakura-chan?" Hashirama calls out to her, eyebrows pulled together slightly.
Sakura raises her eyes back to the three men. "I guess at some point I selfishly wondered if something was wrong with Sasuke because I didn't want the problem to be with me. That I really was annoying and a burden, even unloveable. But I was okay with it, so long as it was Sasuke. My mother wanted me to be with Sasuke so badly, I think that I misconstrued what love should have been. I had a crush on him when we were kids because that was what all the other girls had on him and it was what my mother wanted. But at some point, I think I did start to love him, but..." Sakura let out a little sigh. "Sasuke could never be mine."
There is a moment where Sakura closes her eyes, before continuing, "I couldn't be what Sasuke needed to start healing. He was being devoured by his own hatred and I just wasn't what he needed. Sasuke was being consumed by his hatred and the only person who could free him was..." Sakura's lips curl upward as her eyes lift to Madara, "was his brother."
The anger on Madara's face melts off. "His brother..."
Sakura nods. "The point of this story wasn't to make it seem like the Uchiha are heartless or loveless, but in fact the opposite. You wouldn't know that until I get to the point, I suppose. I think I understand Sasuke a little bit more now that we've finally put some real distance between us. I spent so much of my life following at his heels, then at a distance and then he was so far away I could barely see him over the horizon. Now that I'm here, with you guys, with people who need me, not because of who I am friends with or teammates with, or trained by, but for me, I think that I've finally begun to understand why Sasuke didn't need me. Not like the way I wanted him. And it's just that.
"Sasuke needed someone who would love him unconditionally. Someone who would take the good with the bad and still think that there was no way that he wasn't worth saving. I just... couldn't be that person to Sasuke, but Naruto could. Not for a single second, no matter what Sasuke did, Naruto never gave up on him. Never stopped believing that Sasuke couldn't be saved. Naruto loved Sasuke in the only way that the Curse of Hatred couldn't fend off. Unconditionally. Completely and purely, unconditionally.
"That's why I bring this up now," Sakura says, looking between the three men, "I believe that this is what the Will of Fire is all about. Naruto and Sasuke aren't blood brothers, but they couldn't be closer. The same thing I saw in Sasuke and Naruto, is the same thing I see in you two, Hashirama-sama and Madara-sama." Sakura smiles at the two friends.
Hashirama and Madara glances at one another, with raised eyebrows. Hashirama smiles at Madara stares back at him blandly for a moment, before he smiles back a bit.
"Sasuke had that in Naruto, Madara-sama has that in Hashirama-sama, now it's time for that to be transferred to Izuna-sama," Sakura says. "It's what saved Sasuke, what could save Madara-sama, should he ever need it, and Izuna-sama right now. And besides, who doesn't like the idea of having someone in their corner unconditionally?" Sakura laughs, pushing to her feet. "I know Izuna-sama will be fine with a big brother like you, Madara-sama, in his corner. I think everything will be okay."
"Thank you for that," Hashirama says. "I think I understand what you are trying to say."
Sakura laughs, "Good, I'm glad it didn't get lost somewhere in between the part where I felt a little sorry for myself and the actual conclusion to the story." Sakura rolls her ankles around a bit, letting them crack and relieve the pressure there. "My point is, I don't think you need to change. I think so long as you stay positive and make it clear that you want this to work, I think it really will. And with that, I've said my peace. Gentlemen, this is where I leave you. I need to head on home and start packing."
"Wait, so soon?" Hashirama asks, jumping to his feet. He pauses a moment, looking down at Izuna, before gesturing toward the door. He follows Sakura outside, Tobirama and Madara right behind him. "I mean, when are you leaving?"
"Two days," Sakura says, crossing her arms over her arms. "Shikamaru is finally up and about, and is looking for supplies outside of the village with Akamaru. He knew I'd be out all day so he's taking the time to get his bearings and get some supplies. That's just how he is. I've got time if you guys need to talk to me about something."
"It's nothing important," Hashirama says slowly, glancing over his shoulder at the two other founders. He turns to look back over at Sakura. "I guess I just wanted to thank you for everything that you've done for us. You've given us a lot of good insight and have helped us out a lot more than I would have expected from a stranger. So, thank you, Sakura-chan, from the bottom of my heart. I believe I speak for all of us when I say this, your help is indispensable."
Sakura smiles up at him, then bows low at the waist. "Thank you all as well. I think I've grown a lot these last few months just because of you. You've all helped me better understand myself, my world as a shinobi, my friends and even my own nindo. So, thank you all as well." Sakura straightens up and looks up at the smiling face of Hashirama, the slowly nodding face of Madara, soft as a feather, and Tobirama, who's face is averted away. "I'm going to miss you guys," Sakura admits, her voice catching slightly in her throat.
"Oh, Sakura-chan," Hashirama steps forward and wraps his arms around her shoulders, pulling her close for a hug, "you are too sweet! We are going to miss you too! And this isn't goodbye. You are always welcome here. Our village will forever be a home to you!"
Sakura feels tears prick at her eyes as she hugs the tall brown haired man back. "You have no idea how much that means to me," Sakura says, squeezing her arms tightly. "Thank you."
Sakura pulls back and quickly wipes her tears away, smiling up at Hashirama.
"You're right," Hashirama says, laying two heavy hands onto Sakura's shoulders. "I don't know what the future has in store for us, but just know that we will be okay. We will find a way to preserver. We will be strong, Sakura-chan, I promise you that. Our home will be fine. And so will we."
Sakura nods, looking over at Madara and Tobirama, who was now looking down at her again. "I believe it," Sakura says. "I think you guys will be great. I think this village will definitely thrive."
Sakura is folding up the last of her poor collection of clothes and storing them in a scroll when a knock at her front door pulled her attention away. Sakura immediately wondered if it was Shikamaru. She told him he could come right in when he returned but she wondered if he would disregard what she said since technically for the next forty-eight-ish hours, this was still her home.
Sakura exits her room and walks over to the front door, opening it up. "Shikamaru, I told you that you could just come righ-oh! Tobirama-sama?" Sakura blinks in surprise, opening the door all the way. "Sorry about that, I thought you were Shikamaru. What can I do for you?"
Tobirama, dressed down to a simple short blue yukata and pants with a haori over it, tips his head slightly in greeting. "I apologize for coming without any notice. Is now a bad time?"
Sakura shakes her head. "Not at all," she says as she steps aside. "Come on in."
Tobirama tips his head again, stepping inside, muttering, "pardon the intrusion," as he walks past her, easily slipping off his shoes.
"Would you like some tea?" Sakura asks, following him over to the table.
"Ah," Tobirama says, sitting down neatly. "I'm imposing on you. There is no need."
Sakura waves his words away. "No, it's fine. Besides, it's less that we will have to carry on our trip. It'll just be a few minutes." Tobirama nods his head, allowing her to do as she wished. Sakura quickly makes the tea, stopping only to ask if herbal tea was okay with Tobirama, which it was, so once she's done with that, she hands Tobirama his cup and sits down across from him at the table.
They take a moment to sip their tea, looking around the room for a moment at anything other than each other. Sakura's living room/kitchen is pretty bare at this point - not like it was filled to the brim with stuff to begin with, but it was more empty than the last time he was here - and it really makes it feel like Sakura's time here is limited. She's packing up her meager belongings and she'll be out of their lives as quickly and unexpectedly as she entered them.
"Is there something that I can help you with, Tobirama-sama?" Sakura asks after a pregnant silence filled only with her looking around her bare kitchen/living room, and then watching the future Second Hokage doing the same. Her words draw his intense red eyes back to her.
"First off," Tobirama says, laying the cup down on the table and off to the side a bit, "I would like to apologize for showing up at your home so late at night uninvited and unsuspecting."
Sakura waves her hand around, dismissing his words. She didn't really mind. She knew it was against social norms for this time and had to wonder why Tobirama was the one that was doing this. He seemed to be one of the most stringent rule keepers that she's ever seen, for him to be the one to break them, it made this entire thing very odd to Sakura.
A single man showing up at a single woman's home unannounced at such an hour like this - while it's technically not that late, it's starting to get late and back in this time, that is late - could be seen as something inappropriate. Could... could this be the beginning of such rumors about the Second Hokage being a player? Could he be the type of man that would go to woman's homes late and night? Sakura never suspected that he would be like that, and even now it sounds strange to her, but he is here now. In her home. Alone. And it's getting dark out. And he is a healthy, grown man.
A scary, unknown part of Sakura, wondered if Tobirama knew how this looked and came anyway. That he figured Sakura would understand what him being here would mean and that they would... they would...
Sakura's entire face is lit up in embarrassment, she quickly grabs her cup and brings it to her face, hoping that it'll hide the furious blush appearing on her face.
This entire thing is crazy! He's the current heir to a prominent clan - the Senju - while Hashirama currently has no children, and he's a legendary warrior who probably has to beat women off with the Raijin to have a moment to breath. There is no way he would be interested in someone like Sakura. Especially considering the fact that not only did he think that she was a boy at one point, but he also thought she was a twelve year old girl at another. Obviously she wasn't someone that he saw as mature or womanly. Why the hell is she getting all embarrassed?
Get your head out of the gutter, girl!
"It's okay," Sakura says, now depressed by her own thoughts.
Tobirama doesn't appear to notice the shift in her demeanor, and if he does he doesn't bring attention to it. "I know that you are going to be leaving in a few days and I know that you're probably busy packing, but I figured I'd best get this out the way now so that neither of us have to worry about it later."
Sakura blinks in surprise, pulling herself from her depression to lay her cup down on the table in front of her. "Get what out of the way?"
"The seal I crafted for you. I told you during the festival that I would give it to you at the end of it, but we were... sidetracked after that and it skipped my mind, until today actually." Tobirama crosses his legs in front of him and looks at Sakura with large red eyes, illuminated by the many candles Sakura has lit around the house. The light dances off his handsome face, showing off his strong nose and chin, casting dark shadows on his pale skin and hair.
Sakura tilts her head. "Oh, wow, I completely forgot about the seal in all the excitement. I'm glad you remembered. I would have felt bad for having made you make that for me and then never getting it."
"You're wrong," Tobirama says, shaking his head. Sakura's jaw snaps shut, wondering what he could mean by that. "You're wrong, Sakura. You didn't make me do anything. I made that seal for you because it was interesting to me," he says flatly, staring at her. Sakura blinks in surprise, wondering why he had to say it like that. It wasn't like she was trying to insinuate anything by her words. He didn't have to be mean about it.
"I..." Tobirama hesitates, probably seeing the hurt flicker across Sakura's face. He looks away, down at the candle next to him. "I didn't mean it like that. I didn't do this because you made me. I... I wanted to do it. I wanted to do it because the subject interests me and it was a chance to try something I hadn't thought of doing. And... And it was because you asked me. You could have asked Hashirama, but you asked me. Once you learned that both of us could have helped you, you... you still chose me."
Sakura blinks a few times in confusion. She didn't see what was such the big deal about it. Tobirama was already helping her, sure, she forgot about Hashirama being skilled in it as well, but she was already getting help from someone she knew would be able to really help her. Why would she then go behind his back to ask Hashirama for help if she was already getting it from Tobirama?
A thought occurred to her. "Tobirama-sama," Sakura asks softly, "has someone done that to you before? Asked you about something, only to go and ask Hashirama-sama to help instead?"
At first, Tobirama said nothing, but the way his eyes locked onto her, Sakura knew that it was true. And probably more than just once. Probably a lot more. It seemed like there was very little Hashirama couldn't magically do. It must be hard living in the shadow of a prodigal older brother, especially one as likable as Hashirama.
"Well, I knew you could do it," Sakura says, smiling kindly at the white haired man. "If anyone could give me a top notch seal to help me out, I knew you were perfect for the job. Going to Hashirama-sama didn't even cross my mind. I'm sorry that people have done that to you."
Could this attribute to the reason why Tobirama created so many legendary jutsu that he then just hid away in the scroll of sealing? Not only to prove to himself that he's talented, but to prove it to future generations?
Sakura didn't know, but had to wonder.
"Thank you," Tobirama says, red eyes flickering down for a moment before landing level on her face. Any sign of the tender moment they shared is gone from his face. "Now, would you like me to place the seals before it gets too late?"
Sakura nods, holding her right hand out for him to take. His large hands are easily able to wrap around her small wrist as he pours chakra into the back of her wrist, using his chakra to basically lay the blueprint into her skin, when he pulls his right hand off of the top of her wrist, she can see the blue three circle seal with the dot in the center burned into her skin.
Sakura looks at it in amazement as she offers her other hand to him. Tobirama does the same for the other wrist. Once he's done with that, Sakura grabs one of the candles so that Tobirama can see and moves over to his side of the table and shyly offers him her right leg.
There is a slight pause. Sakura was wearing her regular shinobi attire and for a moment, the pink haired medic wondered if maybe she should grab a blanket or something to cover her legs, less this entire thing suddenly make him uncomfortable, but he takes her leg before she can decide, first delicately, like she was somehow very fragile.
His strong, callused fingers ran across the smooth, but strong muscles on her calf before landing on her ankle, cupping it in his hands. His eyes were lowered to his hands and her ankle, thankfully, not noticing her blush. Sakura's been touched by men plenty of times, but there is just something different about this. Something different about this unbelievably powerful man, touching her as if she was a snowflake. Capable of disappearing in a moments notice with just the heat of his body.
Which was hot. Like, really hot. Sakura didn't think that it was that cold out, but her skin felt like ice under his hot hands. Was his hands that hot throughout this entire thing? Why hadn't she noticed earlier?
Once the seal was done on that leg, he moved to the other one, this time, when he picked up her foot and encompassed her ankle with his hands, her skin tingled, creating gooseflesh up and down her leg. At first, Sakura thanked her lucky stars that he didn't notice, but then it seemed like he did, because he lifted her foot a bit higher to see it in the dim light before red eyes flew to her face. Sakura blushes deeply and looks away, embarrassed by her body's natural reaction.
Thankfully, Tobirama doesn't say anything or keep his eyes on her. He just looks back down at her foot and continued to push his chakra into her ankle until the seal was formed on the skin.
Once he was done with that one, Sakura thankfully was able to turn away from him and tilt her head down, pulling her hair over her shoulders so that he would have access to the back of her neck. Her face was beat red, but thankfully hidden from his intense gaze, as he scoots closer. The heat of his body is at her breath and Sakura realized that she wasn't breathing when his fingers touch the back of her neck, softly.
It is one of the most compromising positions that a shinobi can be in. She is very vulnerable like this. He could easily stab her in the back, choke her out or even break her neck in this position, least of all knock her out by having a perfect view of the pressure point located on the neck. It was a sign of great trust that he must have recognized, because once his fingers land on her skin, they stay, not for a moment leaving her to wonder where they are.
His left hand settles on the crook between her neck and shoulder, pushing her shirt collar down a bit. He uses the thumb on his other hand to push some stubborn strands of her hair out of the way so that he has clean access to the back of her neck. Sakura brings her chin to her chest, giving him a bit more room before his palm lands there and the chakra swims around the top of her vertebrae.
Once he's done, his chakra pulls back but his hands remain.
After a moment, Sakura lifts her chin a bit and turns it to the side, trying to see the man behind her but is unable. "Tobirama-sama?"
"I'm sorry about what I said about your village," Tobirama says suddenly.
Sakura's eyebrows pull together in confusion. "I know, you already apologized."
"I know," Tobirama sighs, probably finding confidence in the fact that she couldn't see him. "I know I did, it just... didn't feel as sincere as I hoped that it would. I'd been meaning to apologize again but never found the proper time. Now you're leaving and my chances are slipping away. I just wanted to explain it while I still have the chance."
"Okay..." Sakura says slowly. "I'm listening."
"I told you that I said those things because I was embarrassed at being caught in a compromising position. While true, that wasn't the entire reason. I..." he hesitates. Sakura wonders if he's going to back out of his confession.
"You don't have to explain," Sakura says slowly, "I understand. You don't have to do this."
"No," Tobirama says stubbornly, "I must. I am no coward." Sakura didn't say he was, but she'll just let him talk if he wants to. "I..." he sighs. "I let you get away with a lot."
His words shock her. What the hell did he mean by that?
"Excuse me?" She says, voice flat.
"No, it's not you," Tobirama amends slowly. "It's me. There is much about you, your past, your actions, that I wouldn't just let fly like I have. I would have analyzed you much more thoroughly then I have before letting you a thousand meters from my family. I wouldn't have let you move an inch from that meeting room before I knew every little detail of your life down to the very last conversation you had with someone from your village. I would have been much more thorough then I was. I had every intent to, but Hashirama was letting you do what you wanted, giving you the benefit of the doubt."
A sigh. "I was able to watch you, and you began helping our people, as you promised. I was weary of you, but you didn't falter once. You stayed true to your word, you showed us things about ourselves, our worlds, things about my own mother that I never thought about. You... wormed your way into our lives past the protective armor I thought I erected around it. A part of that was my stupid brother's fault, but I still let it happen.
"When we saw into your memory and things just didn't seem to add up, I remembered that I should have been more strict, that I should have learned everything about you. I should have been more careful. It was like in that moment, everything that we didn't know - that I didn't know - slapped me in the face. It was a painful reminder of how lax I was. I guess I was just so mad at myself I took it out on you. It's not your fault that I was so lax, and it's not just you I had trouble trusting, it's everyone. It's just how I am, how I'm wired. So, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it." Then there was silence. Sakura had to wonder if the Second Hokage ever spoke that much before in a single sitting before.
For a moment, Sakura wanted to open up a discussion, ask him why she was somehow different to him. Ask if he could explain it in a way that she could understand, but then she realized why he didn't tell her face to face. This isn't something that he would have done easily. This had to be really embarrassing for him, to both apologize and admit that he might be a bit neurotic when it comes to family - not that that's wrong. He's just being protective - but he did, because he thought enough of her to bare with the embarrassment.
So instead of asking the questions that burned in her gut, Sakura stands up slowly, letting her hair slip back over her shoulders before turning around and bending at the waist until she was eye level with the future Second Hokage, laying a hand onto his soft white hair. She smiles softly, hoping the forgiveness shined in her eyes as she stared at him, his cheeks red in embarrassment.
Instead of verbally accepting his apology, she says, "Thank you for the seal, Tobirama-sama. I appreciate it." His narrow red eyes widen slightly before softening, lowering to the wood floor.
"You are welcome, Sakura. Anytime."
