4. He stood facing her, arms crossed over his chest…

He faced her wilth feline grace and dignity, arms crossed over his chest, looking serious with a slight upward curve of one corner of his mouth. He was in full battle armour, his happuri glistening in the sunlight, the hem of his dark momohiki pants was wrapped in white bindings up to his ankles, black simple sandals underneath.

His posture was relaxed while he waited for her first move. Was he amused by the idea of fighting a woman? She narrowed her eyes at him. He was a man of his time. He had no experience with kunoichi. During their walk towards the training grounds, she found herself intimidated by the idea of fighting the Nidaime Hokage. But if he was underestimating her, she could use that to her advantage. If she kept on acting like a feeble woman, afraid of pain and violence, she might have a chance. But how would a whiny girl fight? She hoped that she would be convincing.

When he made no move to start first, she charged him with moderate speed, diverging at the last minute, trying to kick his head from the side. He countered her with one move of his hand without even flinching. It was the starting signal for an intense taijutsu session. He was incredibly fast, moving like lightning around her. And already she had trouble keeping up.

Moving like this felt incredibly good though. This feeling! This was her life! With every punch and kick she gained something of her identity and purpose back. These past days of insecurity, endless questions and no answers, pain and sadness. With each kick she felt it drain away, and with each kick she became more like Haruno Sakura, a Konoha shinobi, member of Team Seven and the apprentice of Senju Tsunade, the Goidame Hokage.

Her muscles were warming up, adrenaline kicked in, the movements started to feel effortlessly and smooth. He moved graceful, like water around her. She felt herself in awe of his speed and lethal grace. Whenever he came really close, she smelled him, a male musky smell and a hinge of sweat. His eyes were flashing red, following her body, acting and reacting.

And then, when they tested the waters enough, they both got serious.

She suddenly ducked underneath his arms giving his upper body a chakra infused shove upwards and then she let herself fall backwards while simultaneously managing to kick the side of his face with an upward movement of her leg, causing a dull thudding sound against his happuri.

"Is that the reason you wear that old fashioned thing Senju-sama?" She laughed. He was pissed off, he obviously had not expected her to lay a hit on him, and she cheered inside.

And Tobirama was pissed off. It was a long time ago that he felt any emotion in a fight, but this fight was coming close to that. He tried to stay emotionally devoid in a battle, it served him better than rage. Processing his surroundings and opponent objectively made him efficient and strategically superior.

He didn't expect much of this fight if he was honest, he never encountered a female kunoichi before and was convinced that women were not cut out for it. The women of his clan were quick to cry or scare. But Sakura did neither. To his surprise, she took all his punches without even flinching. Her movements were certain and she did not let her fear of pain slow her down. Her movements were graceful, she moved like water, her body strong and agile. After a while her movements became more and more determined, her face serious, and he noticed that she enjoyed it. The more heated the fight became, the more relaxed she was. Gone was the insecure traumatized girl, he was fighting an adult shinobi that would not back down, no matter who she was up against. And he found himself letting go of his reluctance and restraint.

She was far better than he expected. She was an inventive fighter, reacting to actuality and finding ways to cope with it. He was impressed, and a small voice in the back of his head told him that she was merely warming up. When she managed to kick his face, he realised that he needed to get serious. He was underestimating her abilities as a kunoichi. She had told him that her teammates were the ones that remained last men standing in this great war, she was the apprentice of the Goidame Hokage, Hashirama's granddaughter. He needed to get serious or she would beat him.

Their kicks and punches became serious, there was a real force behind them, an eagerness to hit the opponent. And then he felt it. She was gathering chakra in her fist. She did a quick series of attacks, forcing him backwards. He evaded her easily, throwing a kunai that hitted target, but she exploded in a flurry of cherry blossoms. A Clone? Shimatta! How does she know my technique!

Shocked, he jumped backwards, but she came from behind him, her fist charged with chakra. If it wasn't for his Hiraishin, she would have had a clean hit. He transported himself to the other side of the training ground, to a spot that he marked earlier. He looked at her and witnessed the impact of her fist. And what he suspected, came true; the ground shook as if it were an earthquake, he had trouble to keep standing straight. Through the dust he saw an immense crater develop, where he was standing just seconds ago. The blood drained from his face. He would have been obliterated. What an insane strength!

Quickly gathering his wits, he made hand seals to use a water jutsu on her when he saw her explode near the crater leaving only cherry blossoms. Then a cry from above: "Don't underestimate me!" He cursed. Was that attack a decoy? Did she plot this out from the beginning? Does she know I marked this spot? She knows of my techniques and knows I will be shocked by the impact of her chakra enhanced strength. She anticipates my distraction by it. That little devil! She came down on him with her leg extended, kicking him in the chest burying him in the ground, causing another large crater. He was looking up at her amazed while a sharp pain invaded his chest, he tried not to flinch while she looked down on him, smirking.

Her smile faded when a large wave of water erupted from the ground, engulfing her completely and carrying her over the training grounds, dumping her unceremoniously in the river that streamed past it. She spluttered, disorientated, trying to get her feet on something solid. A hand took her wrist and yanked her out of the water.

It was Tobirama, standing on the water surface. She stood up on the water surface facing him. He was panting, sweating and covered in dirt. She was wet all over, blood and water trickling from several gashes. They stared at each other and then Sakura grinned: "You look like you were beat into the ground!" She chuckled at his raised eyebrow, and then she just couldn't stop anymore. She clutched her belly and laughed until tears streamed down her face. Tobirama looked irritated at first, but after a while he started grinning as well.

When their laughter faded away, he looked serious again. "Sakura-san, I underestimated you. Please forgive me. I did not take you seriously because you are a woman."

"I understand. I overestimated you to be honest, you weren't that hard to beat!" And after insulting him like this she spurted off, laughing, leaving the stern man standing at the waterside, his ego dented, being just almost defeated by a girl.

After a few moments he caught up with her and they walked together towards the house to get cleaned up. The guards looked puzzled, they looked like they had been training together, but for Tobirama to look like that, it must have meant that he met an equal. The girl walking next to him however did not look the part.

Hashirama shared this impression. He had been watching the training grounds from the shadows, just as curious as Tobirama to test her skills. He was very impressed. The village they would found, trained excellent shinobi it seemed. Sakura's strength was something that he never saw before. She must have absolute chakra control to be able to lay a punch like that. And on top of that she produced Kage Bunshin like it was second nature. Tobirama's new technique must have been taught in her time at this Ninja Academy she told them about.

Tobirama had told him she was a medic ninja. The chakra control that was needed to perform healing was something he was familiar with, but he never dreamt of using this control in such a way in a battle. She was interesting…. and she had a special bond with his brother. That was even more impressive, to get more out of Tobirama than the occasional grunt was a miracle on its own. What happened in the three days they were together in enemy territory?

Back in his quarters she started to feel her injuries burn. Looking at her sparring partner, she realised that he must feel the same, being kicked to a pulp.

"Sit down, I will heal your injuries."

"Hnn" He sat down.

She took off his armour and shirt with businesslike movements revealing a pale muscular chest and back. His skin was like velvet to the touch and when she started to heal his wounds, he soon relaxed under her hands, relishing the warm chakra flow. After repairing several cracked ribs, she continued by healing his muscle tissue. How he managed to walk all the way back to the compound without even flinching was beyond her. It must have been a real blow to his ego that she kicked his ass for him to stay this stoic all the way to his quarters.

When he was healed, she started on herself and then took off to the bathhouse. The blood was already caked on her skin in hard crusts when she let herself sink into the warm water. It was only after all the dirt was gone and she got dressed that she noticed her empty stomach. Back in his quarters she noticed to her delight that lunch was served.

"Sakura-san…" he was barely audible due to a mouthful of rice. He swallowed and asked: "The Kage Bunshin Technique. How did you learn it?"

"At the Ninja Academy", she suddenly realized that the inventor of this technique was wolfing down his lunch across from her. "Ahhh, sumimasen! I forgot! How odd that must be…."

"Indeed, very odd." He looked at her. "It makes me feel cautious of my actions right now, since the impact is severe through time. But I also know that being cautious is not necessarily the course to take. I must remain myself, even though I have this knowledge."

She nodded.

"But Sakura-san, the thought of training our women is an interesting one. The Uchiha and Senju never trained women, it would make the power balance tip if we had double the amount of shinobi because we train our women."

"Yeah, it would, but it could have consequences."

"Hnnnn, that is indeed the matter that we need to discuss with my brother. It is tricky business. Tell me, how did the Academy treat the different sexes?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, what is the approach to training the women and how are the different types of missions being dispatched?"

It dawned on her that she really was in a different era. Equality between the sexes was an alien concept to Tobirama and even though he started to respect her as a shinobi other viewpoints were harder to change.

"There is no difference in approach. After reaching genin state, the boys and girls are divided among three man teams, always with mixed sexes. The missions are dispatched among the team on the basis of quality and experience of the team."

He stopped eating. "Really?"

"Yes, really. We are equals in every sense of the word. Even the bringing up of small children is divided among the parents by taking separate missions in turn."

"Really?" he frowned: "I have a lot to learn it seems. But it clarifies your not so ladylike behaviour I suppose…"

The anger hit her within the blink of an eye. "You….."

Then she saw the twinkling in his eyes and eventually a small smirk.

"You! Baka!" And then she couldn't help but smile. He smiled broadly now. Then he stood up and bowed before her.

"Sakura-san, you are an excellent shinobi and a beautiful woman and you have earned my respect. Never doubt it."

She blushed. Again! And she tried to wipe the smirk from her face unsuccessfully.

He noticed her red cheeks and decided to not comment on it. "Let's go to my brother and make a plan then shall we?"

They worked all afternoon and all through the evening. The sliding doors towards Hashirama's private garden were open, crickets chirping away. In the distance she faintly noticed an owl hooting. The crisp evening air kept their minds alert and fresh. A servant brought a simple dinner and they ate while working out different scenarios to prevent the Fourth Shinobi War.

After dinner they started drinking the best sake Sakura ever had and she noticed her mood lighten until she was giggly. Such a strange situation, she was working and drinking with two legendary Hokage's and they were treating her as an equal it seemed. She smiled. They were so different from the image that was nursed at the Academy! They were constantly bickering and fighting. Hashirama laughing sheepishly when his brother told him plainly that he was silly, stupid or said something embarrassing.

Tobirama seemed the more grown-up of the two. He was a realist, blessed with a healthy dose of suspicion, always seeing the downside of scenarios. Hashirama was a dreamer, believing in the positive side of people and the world. His scenario's always had a happy ending, the possibility that he would not be able to see things through to the happy end he envisioned, simply did not exist in his mind. This was the quality that made him such an exceptional shinobi, he saw possibilities where no one, not even his brother, could see them. It seemed logical that Hashirama founded the city by making the impossible possible and Tobirama, being the realist, would make their combined dream work practically. It seemed that it was predestined almost, although she didn't believe in the concept.

She wondered why Tobirama, the younger one, grew up to be the adult of the two. What happened in their childhood? She decided she would ask him if they ever finished the dilemma's they worked on now.

In the course of the evening the discussions narrowed down on one key event, the death of Uchiha Izuna. This was the trigger that made Madara into the man she faced on the battlefield of the Fourth Shinobi War, the death of his beloved younger brother. And then there was the fact that Madara took Izuna's eyes which gained him the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.

They started working out several scenarios in which Izuna survived by fighting someone other than Tobirama on the battlefield. The outcome would bring suffering on the Senju side, which they wanted to prevent desperately, there was no Senju shinobi at that moment that was skilled enough to defeat Uchiha Izuna without killing him. Their conversations kept on looping and they could not find a good solution for it. Until Hashirama looked pensive at Sakura. Immediately Tobirama understood something that Sakura missed and he said firmly: "No brother. I am against it!"

"Silence Tobirama. This is not your decision!" he turned to Sakura. "Sakura-san, there is one shinobi that is powerful enough to defeat Uchiha Izuna and keep him alive."

Sakura frowned: "There is?" Hashirama fell silent, just staring at her. It dawned on her slowly.

"Ahhhh, Shodaime-sama, no, I am not that powerful!"

"Yes, you are, Sakura-san. I monitored your fight with Tobirama and I am impressed by your skills. Also, you being a woman would be an excellent weapon in this case. You will have the benefit of surprise. He will underestimate you."

Tobirama tried to speak, but Hashirama put his hand up and he fell silent, clearly annoyed and frustrated. Sakura thought about it in all earnesty. And she had to admit that Hashirama was right. She did have the advantage. Also she had some techniques up her sleeve that were unknown in this era. She would probably be able to punch him non-active, or heal him when she went too far.

"This has to be your choice, Sakura-san. You are not a member of the Senju clan. But you are loyal to Konoha, even though it does not exist yet. You own me as the future Hokage or the people in this time nothing. It is your right to refuse if you want to, I will not hold it against you."

She did not need time to think. The realisation that she was the only suitable person for the job was immediate. She looked him straight in the eye and said: "Shodaime-sama, I have offered my services to the Senju-clan and Tobirama-san has accepted them. I will do anything in my power to prevent the Fourth Shinobi War, even if it will cost me my life. I will accept this mission."

Hashirama smiled: "Thank you Sakura-san. I will accept your service as a member of the Senju clan."

Tobirama stood up abruptly, his face contorted in angre, fists balled with white knuckles, his muscles taut. "This meeting is over." he spat and he exited the room quickly. Leaving an apologetic Hashirama and stunned Sakura behind.

His gentle chocolate brown eyes found her. "Forgive my brother Sakura-san, his temper sometimes gets the better of him, but he means well. The way he behaves is given in by a great concern and love for his people. To let another bleed for a mission that he feels is his, is almost unacceptable for him."

"Will he give in?"

He sighed: "I am not sure. He is very good in keeping his emotions away, hiding behind rationality. But Sakura-san, he is different when he is with you. He seems more open and relaxed. I do not know what your bond is, but there is no denying that he made a place for you in his heart. I have never seen him let anyone this close to him but myself." She blushed.

"Take care of my brother Sakura-san. If anyone can make him see the benefits of your decision it is you. I trust you with this mission, but I also want to trust you with my brother's heart. Please take care of it reverently."

She felt her cheeks burning. Her own suspicions were voiced by Hashirama and her own feelings burned in her as if his words struck fire to them. Her attraction to Tobirama ignited in full force and she felt her heart beating in her chest. She bid Hashirama goodnight and promised to take care of his brother if he let her and then she found her way to their shared room.

There was no light in the room. The air was cold, the doors to the garden open. He was sitting on the engawa in a meditative position. He didn't greet her.

She softly closed the sliding doors behind her and walked towards him. She smelled the crisp air, while sitting next to him. He didn't acknowledge her. He was staring in the darkness like a stubborn child. "Can you tell me why you are upset?"

He spat: "I am not upset!"

She rolled her eyes. Unbelievable! He was having a tantrum. She sighed: "Fine. Angry then."

"I am not angry."

"Yes you are!"

"Not!"

"You baka! You are sitting here after you ran away being angry and now you refuse to talk to me? You owe me an explanation Senju-sama", she felt her blood boiling: "I do not need shit from you after making this decision. I don't care if you don't like it, it is my choice. I have seen this war, and I know you have seen more war, but this war is not between two clans. This war was started to annihilate humanity, the end of the world. I-will-do ANYTHING to prevent it. And I know I can do this. There is nobody else. And you know it too."

She was cursing at him, complaining about his childish tantrum and turned to walk away. But he suddenly gripped her wrist, keeping her sitting next to him. He turned his head towards her while holding it, eyes gleaming in the moonlight. "You are right, I am angry. But not for reasons that you think."

"No? Well I don't care what the reasons are, since you refuse to let me in on them, you baka!" she fumed, eyes burning.

"Dammit! I am angry because I know you can do it! I am angry because I apparently am not capable of solving my problems on my own. Now you have to risk your safety because of my screwup! I feel like seeing my little brothers going into battle all over again! Sakura… It doesn't feel right to let you do this alone, without me to at least protect your back. I know that you are powerful and experienced, but…"

"But?"

"But … I feel protective of you…" He fell silent, obviously embarrassed.

She stared at him, mouth open, blinking. He turned his head away from her, trying to hide himself from her reaction. She did the only thing she could think of and that would make sense, she took his shoulder, turned him facing her and gave him a hug.

"Thank you for caring." Then she released him. "But why would you think that I would go into battle without you to protect my back? We can fight together, as long as we keep Uchiha Izuna alive ne?" She smirked, her face inches away from his: "You don't wanna miss all the fun right?" He looked surprised and then his face went blank again, his anger not yet subsided. "I guess you are right."

When they lay down on his fuuton, and she lay her head on his shoulder, his scent and body warmth lulled her into sleep quickly. She faintly noticed his fingers, pushing strands of hair out of her face, but before she could wonder about it, she was taken by the big black darkness.

Halfway the night, the war caught up with her again. She was seeing Neji fall again, she felt herself pulling at her hair, wailing, beating the very earth his blood sucked up. Then she woke up in Tobirama's arms, panting, soaking wet from cold sweat. He murmured soothing words in her ear, stroking her back, holding her, never letting her go. He knew her pain, he knew it intimately. She needed to remember again and again until she could look at the memories without flinching without pain. And while her body was ridden with pain, guilt and sorrow, he held her.