Authors Note
This story has been adopted from the wonderful Forever Gypsy.
All characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi.
Chapter
XIV
Wood Foundations
The classroom was packed, and the kids were loud, louder than she had expected future shinobi to act like but considering her she was the child that got beat-up all the time she supposed that her understanding of what a shinobi was supposed to be was flawed to an extreme rate.
The door opened then and a man came into the room- no a boy, he couldn't have been that old, eighteen perhaps and he had a long scar across his face even though he only a chunnin. He had a smile on his face though, and from the posture he had she gathered he was open and kind. The kids quieted down when he whistled at them and he reached up and rubbed at the back of his neck while smiling sheepishly. "I hadn't thought that would actually work".
Another older teacher cleared their throat from the doorway and the young chunnin straightened up and grabbed a clipboard from the desk and stood up straight as he began. "Welcome children to your first day at Konoha's elite Shinobi Acadamy, I am Umino-sensei and I will be your instructor for the remainder of your next four years here at the academy, now before I begin I'd like to take a minute to explain to you all now that you've been given a schedule of what you'll be learning and many of you have probably noticed that you're schedule is may not be like those you sit next to which is perfectly all right. As you all know Konoha excepts and encourages all to become shinobi in the village as that is, we have a few here that come from civilians, those of you who do not have the listed curriculum on your itinerary I wish for all those to follow Funeno-sensei outside where he will begin with the next course. Afterward, all the girls will be asked to meet at Senju park where Suzume-sensei will be following up with Kunoichi training ... Are there any questions before we start?"
Kunoichi training? That seemed rather odd that only the girls were required to take the training. Lifting her hand she watched as Umino-sensei smiled down at her. "Yes? ... Haruno?" She nodded her head. "Did you have a question"? All eyes were on her then and she felt as if the walls were beginning to close in on her and she breathed out carefully, attempting to ignore the stares.
"I wanted to know why is it that only the girls are required to take Kunoichi training? If ever a team of all men were to go on a mission and at the last minute realized that the target of the mission would be more influenced by a female than a man wouldn't the men have to take on that of a woman's role? Or would they wait till a kunoichi was sent?" The other children giggled at her obviously funny question and she fidgeted in her seat at their scrutiny.
Umino-sensei smiled brightly then. "What an excellent question Haruno-san! As of right now, all I can say is that the curriculum is as is it, but when it comes to missions, our Hokage and elders take extreme measures to ensure that every mission is given to the right teams and recon is done to ensure that if our shinobi must face a target head-on they will be thoroughly prepared".
... That wasn't really an answer though. She raised her hand again and he smiled once more. "Yes, Haruno-san?" The kids this time seemed to glare at her. "But what if the information that the team had learned may not be what the target is actually, say for instance it's a man pretending to be a woman the entire time? If the recon team didn't realize this during their research and failed at gathering the attention of their target wouldn't they have then failed the mission and the Hokage would then have to send a team of kunoichi to handle the mission? Wouldn't it be easier and less time-wasting to train the boy's how to act as a woman in the event their information is wrong and even vice-versa for the girls?"
The classroom was quiet and she held herself back from curling into a ball in front of them all and Umino-sensei was not helping by staring at her the way he was. "That is actually a very perceptive thing to note Haruno-san, at the next staff meeting I'll have to bring up your question to the Hokage about your observation because indeed it would be helpful if everyone was taught how to take on the position of the opposite sex to ensure the mission is not aborted due to misinformation".
Funeno-sensei cleared his throat again then and Umino-sensei straightened up. "Alright everyone, if you're not scheduled for this next part please follow Funeno-sensei". Nearly the entire class stood up from their seats and she frowned when she noted that she was only one of three students that were from civilian families.
it was quiet as then and she felt the walls closing in once more as a blonde-haired boy kept staring at her. Umino-sensei smiled once all the kids were gone and sighed. "See I think we'd have more chunnin graduates if the classes were small like this, more time to really get to learn and understand don't you all think?"
There were quite literally crickets making sounds and only the crickets. Umino-sensei frowned. "Tough crowd ... Alright were gonna go around the room and introduce ourselves and then we'll proceed with the lesson I'll start off, My name is Umino Iruka, this is my first year as an instructor and I'm going on two years as a chunnin and I've lived in Konoha all my life as did my parents and grandparents, also my favorite food is ramen ... Haruno-san, if you will".
She wanted to crawl into herself, but instead, she decided to do as the instructor said. "Haruno Sakura" Umino-sense frowned. "Sorry Haruno-san if you could speak up" She nodded her head as she did as instructed. "Haruno Sakura, my mother and I were born in Ka no Kuni and my favorite food is Umeboshi". "Eeh?" She turned to look at the blonde-haired boy again whole stared at her with large blue eyes and a shocked face with a wide-open mouth.
"Where's that?" Umino-sensei sighed as he rubbed his face as he explained. "It's a small border country Uzumaki, now if you will please introduce yourself to the rest". The boy nodded his head eagerly and she relaxed into her seat, happy to not have the attention on her.
"My name's Uzumaki Naruto and I'm gonna be Hokage one day! ... Also my favorite food is Zenzai". Umino-sensei frowned then as he continued on and she didn't even hear the other girl talk about herself as she folded into herself.
The boy was still staring at her and she frowned as she whispered. "What?" The boy shrugged his shoulders. "I was just wondering if your hair really is pink?" She sighed and a throat was cleaned they both looked over at Umino-sensei. "Alright then if that's all, let's begin our lesson, the founding of Konohagakure. Konoha as you all know was the very first shinobi village ever to be built, and the rest of the world took the idea from Senju Hashirama and continued building their own shinobi villages. Senju Hashirama was born and raised during the Warring Era where all clans were fighting amongst one another. During this time he and his younger brother Senju Tobirama had lost countless kinsmen as well as their own younger brothers in fruitless clan battles and ... I'm sorry Haruno-san was there something you wanted to say?"
She put her hand down again and nodded her head. "That's wrong". He frowned. "I'm sorry?", "I said that's wrong, Kar-sensei taught that Konoha was built by two warring clans the Senju and the Uchiha". Umino smiled a fake smile this time, something she saw her mother do a lot when she had to be seen with her father. "You're Kar-sensei is unfortunately wrong". She shook her head. "No, he's not, he's the private tutor of Nami-Ojo, and Emporer-Kuramoichi would never allow his children to be taught the wrong facts ... Why are you lying?"
Umino-sensei sighed then as he leaned against his desk. "Very perceptive Haruno-san. Alright you guys, here's the low down, Konohagakure was in fact built by both the Senju and Uchiha, it was created by Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Madara was the Chief of the Uchiha at this time and after losing the first and last election for Hokage, not long after losing the election Uchiha Madara also was stripped of his title as Chief by the Uchiha Clan. Out of spite, Madara left the village only to return to attack it" He stopped and sighed as he looked down at her again and she looked around herself. Nobody was holding their hand up. "I can already see it on your face Haruno-san was there something you wanted to say?"
She shook her head. "No Umino-sensei" He regarded her carefully. "Are you sure?" "Well I was just wondering this doesn't sound right? Why would someone destroy something they themselves built? It's like making a baby and then killing it ... It doesn't make sense Sensei".
Umino-sensei frowned down at her then. "No it doesn't make any sense at all does it".
There was a creek that came from up above them where Sakura's bedroom was and they all looked up, staring up at the dark wood of the ceiling above them, another creek and he looked over at Hashirama. Knowing that the man was just as concerned as he was, something was very, very wrong, Sakura did something and he couldn't figure it out. Her eyes had looked dimmer last night as if someone had reached into her soul and blew out the last of the embers that kept her going.
Even her touch had been empty and cold, colder than the usual coldness that she seemed to keep, cold as the snow that fell during the deep winter, and her threat was real, he felt it in the very pits of his stomach that she was being serious.
'Uchiha-san' She had called him that, she'd been using his name so easily before and then afterward... It didn't make any sense. She had knocked him unconscious he figured that much, he would have speculated that she'd seduced him once more to get away from him in time to put up the barrier seals around her bedroom.
He had woken up though, pure terror and pain filling his body and shook his mind till he was seeing black and red. Deep pain from the tip of his brain had him falling apart and clambering through his bedroom as he'd realized the binding on them had activated in a different way than what they were supposed to be for.
When one bound themselves to another, it opened a door, a two-way door where both could feel what the other was feeling because of that the binders and bound never lived in the same vicinity to one another in order to close those doors that allowed the bound ones into the minds of the binders. In the case where the binder was in physical threat of death those that were bound to them would feel it as well, no matter the distance.
The scent of blood that had filled his senses, so heavy and thick that he could almost taste it on his tongue, the horribly familiar scent had him scrambling to get to the room across from his own. The barriers had been weakened enough to allow Izuna in who appeared just as startled and in an equal amount of pain as he was as he made his way up the stairs.
"You said she looked physically fine?" He looked back at Tobirama then who had not let his sight off the ceiling above where they sat. "Yes, she looked physically fine". "You scanned the area afterward? Made sure there were no odd chakra signatures lingering around her room or the house?"
He nodded his head "Yes, of course, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, there were no foreign chakra signatures to be found, no tracts to follow, nothing",
"Hmm.." Hashirama crossed his arms then. "She was terrified, I've never felt such terror, such fear in my life, something must have happened". Something indeed. "Has she come out of her room at all, the sun's going to be down within the next hour".
Sakura had been locked in there all day, she hadn't even eaten anything that the servants had sent to her. Perhaps she wasn't underfed because there was no food to eat, but perhaps because she didn't eat in the first place. "We all felt it ... And no she hasn't left her room, not that I've been able to see, we need to get her out, she had done everything in her powers to keep me out of my own home, and then she put up barriers in her room... She was up to something and unless we get her out of the room we won't know what she was doing".
Tobirama sighed as she looked down then. "He's right, that woman was up to something" He stopped as he looked at him once more and lifted a brow at him in question. 'What's the matter with him?' "She healed you". He licked his lips as he realized that he'd done something out of character to give away himself.
He hadn't been using his Sharingan as directed, but still, he would have thought Tobirama would have brushed that off as him being more comfortable around Hashirama and letting his guard down enough to deactivate the Sharingan in their presence. Seems he hadn't accounted for something else.
Tobirama continued. "Did she do it after or before the bindings were activated?" Curious wasn't he? "How did you know?" Tobirama crossed his arms over his chest then as he motioned towards Izuna. "Your skin is immaculate, not a scar, wrinkle, or even a single sign of exhaustion on you, and you're glowing, Izuna looked the same when the two of you came to the Senju lands to propose a peace treaty with us after he'd been grievously wounded ... If Sakura had healed him as you said then my hypothesis for you would have to be the same"
Hashirama dropped his arms then. "Huh, so that's what's so different about you, I knew there was something, I mean you are glowing, I mean really glowing with health ..." Tobirama rolled his eyes at his brother "So was it after or before then?" "Before" "What happened? You explained how you were able to get through the barrier and weaken it, but what happened during the healing session? Did you say something to piss her off? Did she say something?" He shook his head. "The healing session was fine".
Tobirama was insistent though, "Then what happened?" Izuna sighed as he turned to look at him. "You didn't push her did you, Madara?" His brother always said things he didn't need to. "Of course I didn't push her". Izuna glared at him. "And you didn't coerce her into anything?" Of course Izuna would say it out loud. "Why am I being questioned about this?"
Hashirama popped open a bottle of sake then. "Because you were the only one here in the house with her" He took the bottle away then "Give me that! What is with you and taking my things?"
Hashirama groaned. "I need a drink, keeping up with this girl is so very exhausting", Tobirama shook his head as he focused back on him. "Madara, what happened last night? Did you sleep with her? Take her without her consent? Or use your Sharingan to force her consent?" He took in a deep breath as he felt the anger begin to build in him, for anyone to think he would do something so disgusting! "I didn't sleep with her!"
Hashirama reached over and took the sake bottle back then. "Can't you share your memories with us using the Sharingan? Maybe we could figure out what you did wrong?"
Tobirama was quick to explain what he shouldn't have known to Hashirama. "If Sakura had healed him, I doubt his Sharingan should be used anytime soon, Dojutsu's are delicate, and healing them must be a serious thing to do, the aftercare would no doubt be just as serious, especially since the eyes are such a delicate organ of the body, the Sharingan will no doubt cause serious damage if he used it too soon".
"It's rather odd hearing Sakura's voice coming out of your mouth". Tobirama glared as he demanded. "So what happened?" He crossed his arms as he looked down at the sand in the hearth. "I don't know ... She was fine before and then ... When she opened the door she was different".
Hashirama pushed a cup in front of him then. "Different how?" Another creek and they all looked up at the ceiling once more. "Perhaps you should go see for yourself, you'll know then what I'm talking about".
Hashirama sounded surprisingly concerned as he spoke. "Tobi-chan, get Ashina-sama and bring him back here, Izuna-chan get your best physician, perhaps they can help us figure out what's happened". The room was quiet for a moment before he heard Tobirama sigh before standing up from his spot across from him. Izuna stood as well. "Alert us immediately if anything changes, I'll be back in a moment". He nodded his head in acknowledgment as he took a drink of the sake, his cup not even touching the table before Hashirama grabbed it in his hand and poured more sake into his still nearly full cup. "Drink some more, it'll relax you".
Taking another drink from his cup he closed his eyes at the burning sensation that flooded his throat, the sound of the front door closing helping him relax and he attempted once more to put the cup down only for Hashirama to stop him and pour more sake for him. "If you're attempting to get me to sleep with you, I should tell you I'm not easy like you". Hashirama made a weird noise between a laugh and a scoff. "You'd be surprised how easily one can be when I decide to seduce, especially you prudes".
He rolled his eyes, he was anything but a prude, he just never advertised like Hashirama did, going after civilian women and buying up entire brothels for the night, those sort of things always caught the attention of all shinobi clans.
"So what happened?" He shrugged his shoulders as he attempted to place the cup down before Hashirama grabbed his wrist. "Oh no you don't! You're going to get good ol' drunk with me and we're going to figure this out!"
Looking down at the drink he couldn't help but be amused. "How can we figure out anything if we're drunk?" Hashirama sighed deeply as he let go of his wrist then. "You and Tobirama, I swear". He shook his head. "Did you sleep with Sakura?" He shook his head.
"... She gave me my sight back". Hashirama sighed then and he looked up to watch him rub at his forehead. "I was worried about this, I told Tobirama that it would be better if we took her back to The Senju Lands, but he was insistent that she had to stay here and you were incessant, still though in such a short time frame I wouldn't have expected this, then again you Uchiha aren't exactly the normal type ... Are you in love with her?"
He shook his head, love was not something he was capable of feeling, nor was he deserving of. "No, I'm not in love with her", "Have you developed feelings for her? Other than those of wanting to bed her?" He took a drink of his sake then and Hashirama sighed. "Of course you did, she saved Izuna and gave you back your sight, and she's just so fucked up that you would be attracted by how damaged she is". ...' What?' "What's that supposed to mean?"
Hashirama lifted a brow then and shook his head. "For someone with such amazing eyes, you really don't see anything do you?" The Senju crossed his arms. "You've always enjoyed a good puzzle Madara, and the more missing pieces the better the challenge to you ... You Uchiha despite those large poles you have shoved up your asses are soft-hearted at the base of everything. Sakura is a perfect match for you, intelligent to keep up with you and challenge you, and attractive enough to keep you interested and let's face it we both know you've always been a sucker for a cute girl with pretty eyes. Sakura just happens to be that girl this time, and she's just the perfect amount of damaged and innocent that I know you're itching to put back together. You're not a complicated man to understand Madara, it's why I was worried about Sakura staying here with you, it's why I was worried about having her around at all actually, in the event that you did develop feelings and things didn't work out the way you wanted them too... Tobirama though was born without a heart and I was hoping to find a way to convince him to consider a marriage with her ... Tobirama also doesn't want to deal with her at all, stealing his chakra and casting a genjutsu on him had pissed him off so much that he barely wants to be around her. ... Though part of me was interested in seeing how fucked up the two of them were together and see which would come out the victor in that tragedy" Sighing he decided to inject. "You're rambling Hashirama, get to it",
Hashirama smiled sheepishly at him as he scratched under his chin. " ... My point Madara is that you like broken things because you're such a sucker for a sad story and Sakura is just the perfect sad story that I should have fought Tobirama better on this because here we are now, Sakura has locked herself in her bedroom doing whatever she's doing and I'm pretty sure something very, very sinister is going through her mind and your down here moping like a kicked dog".
"... Sakura isn't damaged". Hashirama's brow went higher then. "She has a monster locked away in her brain ... or whatever the fuck that is" "You are the only Senju to have a Kekki Genkai" Hashirama leaned back then clearly not happy with his comeback.
"Madara you've done exactly as I worried you would and caught feelings for this girl and now we have a problem". He rubbed his head then and wondered why Hashirama seemed to be one of the only ones that could cause him to get a headache. "You make it seem as though I'm the problem here".
"Did you sleep with her?" "I already said I didn't" Hashirama only blinked, already knowing how he was. "That doesn't mean you didn't" Telling the truth "I didn't, I should have, could have, this wouldn't have happened if I had that's for damned sure". Hashirama scratched his chin. "Why didn't you?"
"You've seen her body haven't you? She's thin, thinner than I had even realized, I worried I'd hurt her if I even tried to go further". Hashirama put his cup down carefully then. "What do you mean further? What did you do?" There was a glare on the larger man's face and he sighed as he crossed his arms.
"I told you, nothing, nothing happened." Hashirama's glare turned sharper then. "Madara this isn't the sort of girl you fuck around with, despite her outer appearance she's dangerous, and even taking her on as a wife is risky". He sighed, he knew that and he was really getting tired of everyone reminding him of it.
He understood the reasons why Uchiha's never married outside of the clan unless they had to, it wasn't just to so that the Kekki Genkai would stay in the clan, but to protect it as well. Outsiders were dangerous because they could very well be working there as a way to steal Kekki Genkai's, the Sharingan especially. They'd already had enough issues gathering the bodies of their fallen kinsmen what with the vultures circling around just waiting to steal the bodies and eyes of the Uchiha ... And their children. The thoughts only gave him more of a headache.
Though with the sake it wasn't that bad of a headache considering what it could have been.
Sakura had opportunities to steal his or Izuna's eyes, any Uchiha's really if she even ventured for easier prey, but that's not what she wanted, she needed their eyes, needed their power, his power. Sakura needed the Sharingan, the Uchiha clan.
She didn't really though, she had the Kaguya, she had the Uzumaki, the Hyuga, and even the Senju as well ... Hmm ... That's interesting ...
... Was it possible that Sakura was a collector? The Senju were a collecting clan of a sort, they took in clans that would benefit them in ways other than just numbers. Numbers were good, but dangerous as well, too many mouths and if the rations were properly calculated then the Chief and main house could see themselves overthrown very quickly.
Sakura though didn't just have numbers now, she had power, not including her healing abilities and that nifty rapid cellular regenerations she had. She had power from five clans with Kekki Genkai and the Senju and Hagoromo clans were powerhouses in their own rights, especially the Senju, Hashirama himself was capable of decimating nearly all of them on his own. Now that he knew Hashirama had learned Senjutsu, he needed to figure out just what the Senju was capable of and figure a way to catch up to him.
The issue still though was why Sakura was collecting clans, there were things about her he knew and was beginning to figure out on his own. The main issue was that Sakura didn't think like a normal person, perhaps it was her split lifestyle of civilian and shinobi or perhaps because of the tragedy that befell her ... Whatever it was he realized one thing for sure Sakura was making moves as if she were a Daimyo playing that deadly game of politician.
Daimyo's bound shinobi clans to themselves, Daimyo's collected clans and they collected clans for a reason and that was to protect the country and to keep the bloodshed to a minimum by forcing laws onto the Shinobi clans as well as not allowing shinobi to murder without reason ... Not that many clans adhered to that particular rule considering the Senju and Uchiha have been fighting for nearly a millennium if not longer.
If Sakura truly felt the need to have so many powerful clans to protect her then whatever destroyed her village would have to have truly been a monster. If Sakura was so terrified that she was hiding behind the bodies of shinobi like he now believed her to be doing then perhaps they should start wondering exactly how Sakura had survived such a genocide. She herself had admitted that not only was she not specifically special beyond her family lineage and healing abilities, but she had basically told him and Hashirama that she'd been willing to die so others, stronger than her could survive ...
... Did her self-healing actually save her?
"Madara, are you even listening to me?" Looking up at Hashirama he sighed as the other man seemed to realize that indeed he had not been listening at all. Hashirama threw his hands into the air as he started berating him. "I can't believe you! I'm trying to have a serious discussion and your daydreaming! I swear I don't know who's worse your or Tobirama!"
He rolled his eyes as he took another sip of the sake, perhaps one-day Hashirama would learn that he only ever listened to half of what he was saying, really the man just talked way too much.
"Madara!" He acknowledged his old friend. "What?" Hashirama sighed as he rubbed his face. "I swear I don't know why I try sometimes".
The sound of a screen sliding from upstairs had them both stiffening and he looked over at Hashirama then as he took a sip of his sake before placing the cup down. The screen slid shut and he heard her careful footsteps as they made their way down the steep steps of the staircase.
They felt her chakra before they saw her and in the corners that were once completely blind, he saw the small stiffening of Hashirama's body.
This chakra was different than that of which they knew, still innocent in its untouched way that he'd ever only truly felt with Sakura but it was almost stale in its feel as if she were a stagnant bed of water, her chakra also seemed to feel less solid ... less ... alive.
If he hadn't been waiting on her to appear he would have jumped when he saw her long black nails wrap around his cup. Her voice was steady and calm as she spoke and in the corner of his eye, he watched as Hashirama jumped at the sudden realization that she was in the room with them then. "Considering I just healed you Uchiha-san I'd gladly appreciate that you didn't cause damage to your body so soon" The cup was taken from him then and placed down and he looked up, watching as Sakura took a graceful seat across from him and Hashirama.
Those precious gems that were her eyes didn't sparkle with life as they once did and the longer he stared into their depths the less of the girl he was able to find. Desperately he wanted to use his Sharingan but considering that she'd just healed him and she looked physically fine he understood that it wasn't necessary at this moment in time.
"Sakura-chan!" Hashirama spoke cheerfully as he placed up his mask quickly, Sakura turned her attention towards him then and he realized that she was still wearing his sleeping yukata, her long lilac-colored tressed messy and wild seeming to dramatically oppose Sakura's serene attitude, her words collected carefully as she spoke. "Have you had you instructed your physicians to gather in a specific spot?"
Hashirama nodded his head, "Yes they'll all be gathering inside the Uchiha's mausoleum, it'll fit everyone more comfortable than anything on the Senju's land". Sakura nodded her head as she grabbed the teapot from the hook and started to pour herself the tea from the pot.
"And when will you be signing the peace treaty in front of your respective clans?" She took a careful sip. He let Hashirama lead their side of the conversation as he observed her.
Physically she looked as well as she did last night, thin and tired, the dark circles under her eyes even more pronounced than usual. Her chakra though gave way to something far more sinister stirring beneath her facade. The more he focused in on her chakra the more he felt it sparking, flickering like a fire brushing dangerously close to a rice field.
It was a feeling he was very familiar with and he'd only seen it on the battlefield, among those that were marching towards a Shinigami's reality.
... Sakura was alive though, sitting right in front of him, it didn't make any sense why her chakra was acting in such a ...bizarre way. There was also the suspicious fact that there wasn't sight or smell of the golden bracelet that she always wore which could only mean that this was only a clone, the real Sakura would never go without that bracelet, it kept her chakra aligned and with a clone, he noted that she didn't transfer the look of the bracelet. He was positive that now that he had a better understanding of who Sakura was and how she thought...
Or at least he thought he did, they had actually talked last night, like two people something he'd never done with a woman but now he wasn't sure what was going on. This Sakura in front of him was not the Sakura who had been with him last night ... She did something, he could feel it in her chakra. This Sakura was not the Sakura that was with him last night.
The Sakura from last night ... That Sakura was insecure in a lot of different areas. From her intelligence to her looks and her shinobi abilities, and it was rather grating on the nerves. Someone had gone through a lot of trouble of beat Sakura down psychologically and emotionally. He'd seen things like it with women in the clan, many parents and even husbands did whatever they could to keep their daughters from leaving as well as their husbands.
It was hard to believe but listening to her talk herself down was a rather jarring experience as well as eye-opening. Sakura was strong and intelligent yet she didn't even realize it, unless it came to her healing abilities and even being blind he could see how proud and confident she was at her healing abilities, everything and anything else and she demoralized herself.
This Sakura that was sitting in front of him though, this Sakura he couldn't feel or see anything in her, like an empty shell, her chakra was different. "Uchiha-san?"
His eyes met hers and he looked away as she continued on. "Did you catch any of that?" He shook his head. "No, what's happened?" Sakura blinked as if she were a marionette doll of sorts. "I asked if you had spoken with your clan elders yet about our dissolution of our betrothal"
In the corner of his eye, he watched as Hashirama eyed Sakura carefully, going over her with a clinical eye that he'd only ever seen him do in battle. "I have no yet, as you know my eyes are very sensitive at this moment, I was waiting till the sensitivity decreased before I set out on that".
A lilac-colored brow arched then and Sakura blinked once more. "Uchiha-san considering that you're about to sign a peace treaty in front of your elders and kinsmen I see not why you cannot also inform them of other matters, clearly your not an imbecile to understand that, unless of I've been mistaken".
Leaning back he smirked, even with her sudden change of persona, she still had that bite of hers. "I'd rather not give such somber news to my kin on such a joyous occasion, they were after all very happy to know they were to have a matriarch and soon after an heir, this will just break their poor little hearts ... I couldn't do that to them, they're my kin".
She took a gentle sip of her tea then, her nails tapping against the porcelain cup before she placed it back down. "That's a pity, but on the bright side, if they end up dying from this sad news you'll be able to fill their positions with persons that are more qualified for the job".
... Gods he was sick in the head if her morbid sense of humor turned him on ... Even with this being a different Sakura. "Uchiha-san don't forget that we made an agreement and as I've exceeded your expectations on my part I expect you to complete your part". Her words were passionless and cold and her movements stiff. "Now if you will excuse me I have much that needs to be done and unless the two of you need more directions then I must be off".
She went to stand up, only for Hashirama to step in and place his hands on her shoulders. "Hold on there Sakura-chan!" He felt their chakras before he heard the door slid open and he watched as the four of them stepped into the house.
Ashina appeared before the others, something he assumed was out of respect for his position. Sakura looked up at Hashirama then her brow lifted in question as she spoke. "Is there a reason why you need Ashina-sama and Kanaya-san here?"
Well if they were going to bamboozle her, they might as well do it when they were all together, otherwise, it would be impossible she was smarter than Hashirama and stronger than Izuna and more tricky than Tobirama and when it came to him he was just a weak, weak man when he faced off against her and those kissable lips of hers.
Hashirama pushed his weight onto her shoulders then and rubbed them. "You do understand that this is clearly a violation of my personal space don't you Senju-san? If you would please stop touching me now. I will not retaliate against you for it".
He highly doubted she wouldn't ... "Madara" He looked up over at Hashirama who proceeded to look up at the ceiling before shaking his head. 'That's interesting, there's a clone up there ... What is she doing in there ... And why isn't she wearing her bracelet?'
From what he could gather Sakura's bracelet was a repression bracelet of some sort, something she deemed absolutely necessary as he'd seen her fiddle with it at a constant rate.
Was it possible that the change of persona was the result of removing the bracelet? ... The first time she removed it herself she'd been full of hate and malice and darkness oozed from her very pores ... This persona was completely different though from that wild Sakura he'd first met, the Sakura that he'd seen last night as well as warmer, softer not like the woman before him.
Sakura reached up then and grabbed onto Hashirama's hand, and he watched as the other man's eyes widened from the sudden onslaught of pain. Sakura had a surprising strength that she only seemed to show when she knew strength was necessary for her survival and all other tactics had been unsuccessful.
"Senju-san I said stop touching me now". Instead, Hashirama grasped onto her shoulders with more force, there was a slight shift in her eyes before they went hazy. "Sorry Sakura-chan but this'll only hurt for a moment". Hashirama was quick as he moved his hands up and popped her neck harshly to the right and he took a deep breath of relief as he saw her eyes close and her heartbeat come to a slow rhythm.
There was a disperse of chakra upstairs, the barrier on her room was down and the clone should have been as well. Hashirama sighed carefully as he pulled Sakura into him and began examining her. "How odd her chakra is acting strange due you all feel that?"
He nodded his head in agreement, "You noticed as well?" Hashirama nodded his head as he motioned for the others. "Tobirama, the barrier in the bedroom should be down, do a thorough search of it". Tobirama sighed as he turned around, shaking his head as he walked away. "What a waste of my abilities"
Kanaya walked up to the room and lifted Sakura's head up as he examined her. "Her healing abilities won't give us much time to look her over ... hmm" He lifted a brow as he watched Kanaya look down at Sakura's palms. "What is it?"
"Tattoos, she didn't have then yesterday ... and they're sealed with chakra" He stood up then and walked over to where they were examining Sakura. There on her palms were two tattoos the one on her right was a yellow sun and on the left was a white crescent moon, moving his fingers over the white tattoo he felt the small bits of chakra that were interlaced with the henna dye, underneath within the tattoo he could feel a small bundle of chakra, he moved his fingers over the other tattoo and felt another ball of chakra inside of it. It was small enough to not be able to really notice, especially if one wasn't a strong sensor like those in the room with him.
"She's got seals behind her ears as well". He lifted his brow as he looked up at Hashirama who only shrugged, moving Sakura's hair back he ignored the sight of the nearly white roots and indeed saw a small diamond behind her earlobe, this one only contained chakra within the lacings of the seal.
"Sakura-chan's got a myriad of seals on her, some that can't be seen". He looked over at the elderly Uzumaki then. "What do you mean?"
Ashina sighed as he crossed his arms. "The one's on her palms are new but from the last time I looked over her there was one behind each ear, another on the nape of her neck that was similar to the ones on her ears, then she's got the Jinchurriki seal on her forehead as you've all seen. ... There's more though, I can feel them, but I can't see them".
Hashirama crossed his arms then, "How do you know this?" Ashina looked up at the ceiling then. "I may have been the one that undid the binding seal on her chakra ..."
'Well, that's not good ..."What!" Hashirama was not happy with that. Looking over to Kanaya he saw the old man shake his head, as Tobirama calmed his brother before he got too out of hand. "Hashirama, it's already happened, no need to get mad now ... Ashina-sama what of the seals? Do you know what they are?"
"The one's behind her ears and on the nape of her neck are harmless, their repressors of some sort, and the Jinchurriki seal is an Uzumaki seal, but only women use it, it's a failsafe in the event we need to preserve the lives of the men in the royal family ... I had thought maybe Sakura was a bastard of the Uzumaki clan"
He shook his head. "Sakura revealed to me that her mother is a disowned aristocrat and her father was a servant" Ashina's head snapped over to Sakura then. "A servant's child? Are you sure?" He nodded his head. "It would make sense, her chakra is too small for a shinobi's child and much too large for an aristocrat, let alone a common civilian". Ashina looked interested then. "Did she happen to say which Daimyo her mother descended from?"
Another shake of his head. "No, only that she was born in her families stables ... Considering only so many Daimyo's could even afford to have horses and her mother and father were able to get away alive with Sakura as well, it narrows down which Daimyo she could come from, she'd have to come from one of the four larger countries and her mother would have had to have been very high in the hierarchy in order to keep such a scandal quiet. If she's nineteen now, then she was born twenty years ago making me and Hashirama seven when she was born, and I'm sure one of the three of us would have heard at least a whisper about it if it was a woman in a higher position in the Daimyo's court, not to mention ... Sakura's very-well educated, if her father was just a servant then Sakura would have had to learn everything from her mother and a woman that intelligent would have been educated as part of her grooming to take on an extremely high position in the Daimyo's court and would have been already in a high position in order to have been given the permission and access to tutors".
Hashirama rubbed the back of his neck as he lifted Sakura up into his arms. "Why do you know this? And why does any of it matter?" Ashina shook his head. "You don't realize that this is actually important information, it gives a better insight into who Sakura is and how she thinks, not to mention, having an aristocrat is actually a plus for all of us, if the Daimyo were to find out we're planning to build a shinobi village then Sakura even if her mother was disowned could protect us from persecution if her position is high enough and if she comes from the Fire Daimyo's house we may even be able to use her as a bargaining chip if she doesn't we could still use her, as the Daimyo's hate each other and are always trying to one-up each other if we offer the Fire Daimyo another Daimyo's family member it could also keep us out of trouble".
Hashirama didn't look convinced. "That seems like an idea Sakura would no be happy with and besides how do we even know that she's telling the truth about her heritage?"
Ashina shuffled his feet then as he looked down at his feet. "Aristocrats have a very peculiar chakra type, different and much more than a normal common civilian, but less than a shinobi from a generational blood clan ... Their chakra is the reason why they're the only one's capable of binding other's to them without consequence and it's also the reason why they don't allow marriage to commoners or shinobi, they don't want to taint their bloodline or chakra type and risk losing their hold on the shinobi clans ... Sakura's chakra type is strongly similar a bit off, her father being a common civilian would account for Sakura's chakra difference on that front. But the only way to really check is to meet a noblemen's living adult bastard in order to confirm this"
Ashina looked up and over to Sakura then. "We need to get her to her room before she wakes up, I'll have one of my men post up and watch over her". Tobirama and Izuna came down the stairs then both looking annoyed at the situation.
"Did you find anything?" Izuna shook his head. "We checked everywhere, there's in there that hasn't always been there" Tobirama crossed his arms then and leaned against the wall. "There is a small scent of blood, she covered up whatever happened in there". That wasn't surprising at all.
Kanaya sighed then. "I want to take a better look at her body before she wakes up to confirm there's nothing out of the ordinary, and I need to do it in a more private setting".
Izuna was the one that picked up Sakura, he figured that it would have been better that way, the less he touched her the less everyone suspected he had done something untoward, not that he hadn't thought about it, but considering she was so thin, he truly did worry about hurting her. He didn't want that, if he hurt her then he wouldn't be able to have the pleasure of taking her again, something he looked forward to ... Had looked forward to, this Sakura had already decided that if he touched her once more then it wouldn't be a threat coming his way if he decided not to heed her forewarning.
"Madara". He looked back towards Hashirama then who had mimicked his brother's position with his arms crossed and leaning against the wall. "What do you think? Should we confine her to her bedroom?"
Considering Sakura's fascinating ability to break out of seals and bindings he doubted that would work much. Not to mention this new persona of Sakura's they had no idea how she would react to her confinement and what she would do if she broke out of it. "No, let her have free reign of the compound, if she needs to leave outside the compound she'll be escorted with a guard. ... We just need to pick the right one, until then we'll switch out every day and collect data on the changes of her personality". Hashirama looked over to Tobirama then who sighed. "It's going to have to work until we find someone that's capable of handling her and we'll have to seal their chakra to their body so she can't steal it from them".
Hashirama looked down at the floor then. "You think she'll take someone chakra?" Tobirama and himself answered in unison. "Yes". Hashirama sighed. "Anyone else annoyed at how she keeps turning the tables on us? Just once it would be nice to be able to be able to call the shots".
Hashirama looked up at him then as he responded carefully. "Don't you remember? We will be calling the shots when we start building the village". Hashirama groaned. "I don't want to think about that yet, we still have to start have to sign a peace treaty in front of the other clans as well as begin the assimilation process and then we have to still write laws and regulation ... not to mention we need to get our men back in shape all the while making sure Sakura-chan doesn't try to pull any more wayward tricks ... did I mention we have to keep this all from getting to the Daimyo? ... It's just soo much!"
Tobirama sighed then. "You do realize that we're shinobi and we have the ability to get this all up and running within a few months right? The only things we really need to focus on is the Sakura teach the physicians as well as agriculture". Hashirama scratched his neck then.
That was a very interesting tick the Senju had, he didn't remember him ever doing that so much when they were children. Tobirama cleared his voice then. "We should though probably take a trip to Ka no Kuni, their archives hold the largest records of all Daimyo's and their clan members, and the Emporer and his court have no issue's with Shinobi compared to those who live in the capital which will make it easier for us to get in, if Sakura's mother is an aristocrat then we'll be able to find narrow it down from the women that either died in childbirth from rape or died from an accident of some sort".
The Emporer of Ka no Kuni was a very interesting man, he remembered his father having a few dealings with them, and always the Emporer was attempting to marry a daughter from the main family and odd thing considering it would taint their bloodline on both sides as well there was no point in marrying the Emporer. Ka no Kuni was two of the last of all the Empires in the Five Elemental Nations and a little smaller than the Uzumaki's own country. The only reason one would consider marrying into that family was in order to become an aristocrat, but the benefits were small. The smaller the country, the smaller the coffers. ... Not to mention the Emporer was very power-hungry, something he had found out was the reason why the country was so small, countless wars after a near millennium and the rise of Shinobi and the fall of the Samurai was the sole reason why the Five Elemental Nations had become as large as they had, the betted against the Samurai's and used the rising population of Shinobi clans and kekki Genkai's to their advantage. Now there were two Emporers alive and their countries had barely any money left in their coffers.
Hashirama spoke up then, clearly not happy about going to Ka no Kuni. "Isn't that place cursed? ... Can't we send the Hyuga or some other clan?" Tobirama rolled his eyes. "That's just a story". Hashirama rubbed his neck. "I don't know Tobi-chan, why else have all the other old Empires fallen?" Tobirama shook his head. "Because they're Military Generals are idiots".
Hashirama shook his head. "If you remember correctly the story of the three queens, in it there the queen-" Tobirama didn't like it when Hashirama questioned him. "That's a story nurses tell to scare children".
He smirked. "Be that as it may, there are many lessons one can learn from that particular story". Tobirama took a deep breath then and stood straight as Ashina, Kanaya, and Izuna came down the stairs. Izuna's face red as a tomato as he looked down at the floor as Ashina and Kanaya whispered between themselves.
"Well?" Kanaya looked over at him then a calculated look on his face. "She's in perfect conditions from what I can tell" Ashina piped in then. "Excellent condition, despite her being underfed, also I had never imagined that her natural hair-" Kanaya looked horrified as he reprimanded the Daimyo. "That is most inappropriate! We must never speak of that!"
Ashina crossed his arms then as he smirked. "Like none of us haven't seen a woman's body before". His purple eyes moved over to Izuna then and he smiled. "Actually I take that back it seems one of us has yet to".
Perhaps he should have gone with them, he looked over at Izuna then. "They didn't touch her in any way that is outside of a physician's permission did they?"
Izuna shook his head. "No, not at all ... They just made sure to look her over ... thoroughly". ... Thoroughly?
His brain ran through what he had seen of Sakura's loosely clad body and pieced together the possibilities of what she could look like without any clothing. Fair creamy skin, matched with Sakura-colored nipples and lower ... The sound of slapping brought him out of his reverie and he watched as Hashirama rubbed the back of his head as Tobirama shook his head. "Could you remain from any perverse thoughts for the remainder of the day, especially those of Sakura".
Hashirama pouted and he lifted a brow. "I thought you weren't attracted to her?" Hashirama shrugged his shoulders. "She's an attractive woman, and I'm just a man ... A very weak man" He rolled his eyes as he changed the subject. "We need to prepare for next week ... and how we go about introducing Sakura and why she doesn't have her chakra sealed".
Izuna spoke up then. "Didn't the elders all decide that until Sakura's lineage has been traced then we should be calling her our ward". He nodded his head in agreement then as Tobirama spoke up. "That works all well and fine, but it still doesn't help us explain why she doesn't have her chakra sealed".
Hashirama looked back and forth between him and Tobirama as if they had all the answers and he sighed, perhaps they should tell the truth this time. "Because Sakura had saved Izuna I had made the decision to not seal her chakra out of mutual respect for her healing abilities as well as the fact that the Uchiha Clan owed her a life debt. ... The only thing we now need to make sure of is that the other clans agree that Sakura's healing abilities are an absolute necessity to our village and the Daimyo's cannot find out about her".
Tobirama sighed. "We'll need to keep her locked up in the mausoleum teaching the physicians until we can figure out a way to make sure they understand her abilities are absolutely necessary and the others can't find out about the bindings either".
Kanaya's head shot up then. "What bindings?" Hashirama and Tobirama both looked over to him and he shrugged. "We'll fill you in when there's more time".
Kanaya crossed his arms as he glared hard at him then. "I think this is the perfect time to explain what you're talking about". He sighed once more. "I said another time". Kanaya's eyes flashed red with the Sharingan for a moment before he backed down and grumbled to himself. "If that is all then, Madara-sama I will be on my way, I have more important matters that require my apt attention".
The old man was undoubtedly already thinking of ways to drive him insane, he watched as Kanaya moved past the others, his dark robes trailing behind him as he did so. He took in a deep breath, at the very least the old man wasn't about to go blabbing about what he'd heard, that would have been awful and unfortunate, he didn't enjoy killing his own kinsmen. Especially if they were still capable fighters, those were the hardest decisions he had to make to protect the rest of the clan.
He shook his head. "The Uchiha elders already know about her and her abilities, it's up to you and the other clans to figure out what you're going to say to your kinsmen, now if you all will please get out ... Now".
Hashirama straightened up then as he began to ramble on about insignificant things. "But we're not done discussing everything we still need to plan the feast! figure out when and where we should sign the peace treaty in front of everyone ... And we need to figure out where we'll be importing the sake from!".
The urge to activate his Sharingan and use it on Hashirama was strong, very, very strong but he resisted as he continued to glare at Hashirama. "I'm sure you can figure it out all on your very own Hashirama now get out".
Grabbing the larger man by the arm he began dragging the eldest Senju out with the younger one following behind him. Hashirama grabbed onto what once was his door frame, locking himself in place and making it harder to push him out. "Wait what about Sakura-chan don't we need to make a schedule about who's going to take the first watch?"
He looked over to Izuna then. "Take the first watch then we'll switch out in the morning tomorrow after sunset". Izuna sighed as he complained. "But I haven't even had a bath yet ... And I'm hungry". He glared at his younger brother who pouted then before groaning. "Fine".
Turning back towards Hashirama he glared. "Get out". Hashirama pouted, a small exaggerated tear falling down his cheeks then and he sniffled as Tobirama grabbed his collar. "Please don't make me go back there he wants me to do paperwork!"
The two were gone in the blink of an eye, sighing he looked back towards the stairs knowing that if he didn't get up there soon he would indeed end up on the floor where he stood there. He was exhausted, mentally and physically, and just slightly aroused from earlier thoughts of a nude Sakura.
... Thoughts of Sakura nude ... In his bed ... Walking up the stairs he shook his head as he rid himself of the image, couldn't be thinking about her like that anymore. Not unless he really wanted an appendage or two hacked off and he doubted she'd do it nicely.
Ashina looked down at his glass of sake as he watched Madara make his way up the stairs, what a shame that no one wanted to have a glass with him.
He sighed, what a shame ... This sake was heavens no doubt the Uchiha paid to get the highest quality from of sake from Ta no Kuni, he sure couldn't find this good of quality back home ... Shame, shame, shame.
Shisui and Itachi did not look as though that had been part of the plan, she watched as Shisui was looking down at his fingers, continuing to count something she couldn't understand while Itachi looked back at her thoughtfully.
The curly-haired Uchiha grasped at the short dark tufts of hair as he groaned. "Ah! I don't understand that was no in any part of my calculation! Not once would I have anticipated that Kaguya was a real person, I thought she was just some story we were told as children ... Where did I miscalculate!"
Itachi sighed heavily despite the fact that he didn't need to breathe and he looked back at her with a small smile, with the black sclera and the cracks the smile looked positively dark coming from him.
His voice was deep but kind as he spoke softly to her. "Are you doing alright Sakura-san? I would think time travel would have some wear on your body if not your chakra". He seemed genuinely concerned about her. ...Why couldn't Sasuke have turned out like this? Why had he been such an ass, even before the Uchiha Massacre Sasuke had been a pigheaded ass, but he was a happy pigheaded ass.
She shook her head. "Kaguya doesn't have a limit on chakra, so when I came here, I made sure to use hers instead of mine and I locked mine to my body so that I wouldn't lose any during the time-shift, ... But I'm fine for the most part".
His eyes looked her up and down then scanning her and she already knew what he saw, but hearing it didn't help her feel better. "You're thin Sakura-san, much thinner than I've ever remembered you being, are things okay where you are?"
"I'm eating if that's what you're asking, I eat a lot ... I just can't gain weight ... and the more I seem to eat the more weight I lose". "Hmm".
She sighed then and suddenly Shisui spun around towards her speaking quickly. "So you're telling me that Kaguya, the rabbit goddess is sealed inside of you and like you have her chakra and..." She placed up a hand then. "Yes, I have her chakra, only her chakra, but I think I have part of her conscious as well unless of course, her chakra has a conscious of its own, but if you hadn't planned for that how had you planned for us to go back to the past? The Jutsu requires a vast amount of chakra, and only the Bijuu have enough to do it".
Shisui sighed. "Well I had thought maybe if things got bad enough, the Bijuu would have given the last remaining Jinchurriki their chakra, they did in this reality but I guess it didn't happen in your reality ...So my question is why didn't it happen? If you made it to war against Madara then things should have gone similar to ours, the only difference is that I'm dead in your reality and the Uchiha are too".
She looked away from him then. "The Bijuu did give him their chakra, but he nearly used it all up chasing Kaguya through different dimensions... he and Sasuke and the two of us... we tried to keep up with her and it was working, but then she did something, she flipped the script and decided to chase us, tracking us using our chakra signatures, and then suddenly we were getting chased by not just Kaguya but also swarms of Zetsu, there were so many and all of us were low on chakra at this point".
She stopped when she started feeling the rush of emotions hitting her and she took in a deep breath attempting to quarrel. Shisui sighed then. "Every action someone makes changed the reality of the foreseeable future... What happened to your world shouldn't have happened Sakura-san, and I'm truly sorry that it happened, it was never supposed to happen like that, the original plan was that if Madara was the one pulling all the strings, then we needed to fix things because nothing would ever change, and in order to change it, we went as far back as we possibly could and felt that if we changed the outcome of what happened with Madara and the Uchiha, and how the village treated them, how the Senju and other clan members treated them then our realities would disappear. ... The fact that we're all still here right now means that we haven't changed anything and if anything we've made things worse".
...Worse? How were things worse? Other than the fact that she had just died in this reality? "I don't understand?" Shisui sighed and looked over towards Itachi who blinked over at them before he explained. "The Allied Nations are losing the war".
...Oh ... There was a dark aura heading fast for them suddenly and she saw how Shisui seemed to straighten up, "Shit". Itachi nodded his head.
This chakra was dark and heavy, twisted into something she could barely handle, powerful and it called to her like a siren to fisherman, beckoning her with its chaos pulling reeling her in. Hypnotized she took a step in the direction it was coming for.
A warm hand stopped her and she looked down at the pale fingers and the glint of the medal, shaking her out of her stupor. "Haruno-san?" Looking up into Shisui's eyes she nodded her head, attempting to right herself, as she heard Itachi speak up. "If Kaguya is real that means that our entire lineage derives from her. ... Your chakra has been calling for his chakra without even knowing it, that's why he's come".
He? The chakra was suffocating as it dropped on them and Shisui kept her steady, her knees weakening at the dark timbre of his voice. "Now isn't this a pleasant surprise".
Turning around she faced Madara, her knees nearly giving out under her. There he stood, the nightmare a true reality, his once beautiful looks stolen by the Bijuu leaving her to face the grey-skinned man that haunted her memories. He looked over at the three of them, carefully as he spoke.
"Now I had known that whatever came out of that chakra-storm would be an advantage for me, but I hadn't figured this". Figures appeared behind him and she sucked in a deep breath as she took in the five Kage that stood behind him. Madara tilted his head towards the figures at his back as he spoke. "Take the children back to the city".
Shisui stiffened then as they watched the five Kage close in on them and Itachi. "Sakura stays with me". Something was off this time, something about the reincarnated Kage was off, it was as if they were mindless zombies just taking orders.
Frozen to her spot she could only watch as they ripped Shisui from her side. "What are you doing?" Madara looked over to her then. "Don't worry about them, I'm only making sure that my brats return back safe and sound".
Shisui spoke up then. "Don't hurt her". Madara only smirked. "Hurt Sakura? Nothing can hurt her boy, besides she's not yours to worry about".
"It's alright Shisui-san, Madara won't hurt me". Madara eyed her carefully then and she could see the darkness that glowed through the Rinnegan. She looked away then listening as the five Kage and the two Uchiha ran off towards what she assumed was Amegakure.
It was quiet then, the silence ringing loud in her ears as she stared at the ground. Facing her nightmare was never in her cards, running away from it was what she had excelled at. His steps were light, light but so very loud and she took in a breath as she felt his arm brush against hers as he circled her. "At first I had thought I was hallucinating ... Yet here you are". He lifted a piece of her hair rubbing it carefully between two fingers before he lifted it up and took in a deep breath, breathing in the scent of her hair before dropping it back down. "You should be long dead, or at the very least near death, yet you stand before me as if you've just left me". He stopped in front of her then and she felt her heart drop into her stomach as Madara lifted her chin and her eyes met his Rinnegan.
She closed her eyes then and felt Madara's dark chakra shift around them. He was talking again but his gloved hands did not leave her chin. "I suppose my new form isn't as attractive as my younger form ... better?" Opening her eyes she looked up into the dark abyss that was Madara's dark eyes and she nodded her head. Madara pulled away then and she breathed out a heavy breath as she took in the form she was becoming more familiar with.
"Who are you Sakura?" She looked away then as she grabbed onto her arm, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do. "Just Sakura".
Madara began circling her again, grabbing another lock of her hair as he twirled it between his fingers. "Hmm ... Sakura. A very interesting name don't you think? You know I just had a girl named Sakura executed in front of all her comrades and loved ones, interestingly enough this Sakura looked like a dead ringer for you ... a bit younger with more meat, of course, I had even thought that perhaps she was possibly a descendant of yours. Hashirama and Tobirama nearly convinced me to allow you to live on the grounds that she could have very well been your descendant. ... But that got me thinking about the last time I saw you ... and how I distinctly remember telling you that no other man would have you but me, less you're into necrophilia". He grabbed a chunk of her hair then and pulled her back against him, grabbing at her neck harshly and she held in her shock.
"See you're the type of person Sakura that would never allow someone else to get her because of you so I know that the girl I had executed couldn't have been your descendant, you wouldn't risk taking a man and having a family if it meant I'd one day find out about them and go through with my promise. So that leaves me with a very, very dangerous theory about you". She attempted to steady her heartbeat, through their clothing she could feel Madara's heartbeat, his heart beating fast and hard against her and she closed her eyes as she listened to him. "When you bound us you were wearing a coat with very distinctive symbols on them ... The symbols of the Rikudo Sennin, the symbols I've worn since becoming the Jubi's Jinchurriki, and your chakra, the one you repress, it sings for me, calls to me, and writhes beneath my own like a lover". His nose ran up the side of her neck and she stiffened. "I know the story about the princess Sakura, and the only thing that could have the Jubi so riled up could only be his beloved princess ... So tell me how did you do it? How did you become the Jinchurriki to the mother of all?"
It would be best in this situation to lie or run away. "What's happened to you Madara? What's made you become so obsessed with power?" Madara kissed the side of her neck then and she could feel the smirk. "No, no, no It's me who's asking the questions now".
She hadn't had a dire need to use her strength in a long while, but circumstances called for some serious heavy lifting. Grabbing at his arms she pushed chakra into her palms and quickly removed his lock on her neck and threw him over her. Instincts told her to run away but her mind knew he'd only find her and so she did what she was learning was best with dealing with Madara.
Jumping onto his dazed form she lifted him by the collar and kissed him. The pure electricity and fire that rushed into her had her mind-melting and body softening upon his stiff frame. Despite his outward rejection, his lips were harsh against her own and his chakra shifted once more around them. His form relaxed just slightly beneath her own and his arms wrapped around her wrist, locking her against him in a tight embrace. He attempted to pull her away from him then and she grasped onto the lapels of his coat and kissed him harder.
Taking his lower lips beneath her teeth had not been the smartest of ideas and she should have realized this when he let out a very maddening growl before she found herself thrown onto the ground pinned beneath the Uchiha. He stared down at her with those grey Rinnegan eyes and his pale white-grey hair hanging widely all around them and the bone protrusion giving him a more animalistic presence.
Madara frowned down at her then, his large eyes searching for something within her own, his mind trying to gather what he was learning. His voice was deep and the hint of confusion did not go unnoticed by her. "You kiss me as if ..." She leaned up again and smoothed her hand around his jaw. "As if what?" She moved forward once more and smoothed her lips against the other side of his jaw. "As if" She caressed her lips down towards his neck. "Say it Madara". He took in a deep breath, his chest moving against hers like a dance and she smirked. She felt more powerful than she'd ever felt knowing that she could affect this man, this near god in such a way.
"... As if you haven't been away for nearly a century". He lifted a hand then and grabbed a chunk of hair and pulled her away from his person. Forcing her to look him in the eyes. "You're dressed just like the last time I saw you". "Am I?" "And your hair still smells like the lotus flowers that I had traced you to ... And you still look exactly the same". She reached up and grabbed at his hair, the setting sun sliding between their bodies like a hot knife.
Madara's eyes continued to watch her and she breathed carefully. "Say it Madara", he took a deep breath then. "You're a time traveler". She kissed him then, deciding to go against her better judgment. His lips soft and hard against her own and their chakra twining as if they had never been separated before, he moved away from her once more taking a breath and she smiled as she explained to him. "As am I a reality jumper too".
Madara flipped them over once more and she found herself wrapped around him as he sat on the floor this time and he shifted himself back into his human form once more. His gloved hands coming up to her hair once more and moving the wayward chunks of hair from her shoulder to her back, before he looked up at her with those dark eyes of his. "Tell me everything". She frowned down at him then.
"No, you tell me everything". Madara sighed as he leaned forward and rested his head against her chest. "Everything was fine until Izuna died".
No matter what reality she was in not only was she an idiot but Izuna seemed to be the catalyst for Madara's downfall, healing him the first time had been painstaking, if she had to heal the man once more she was going to maim him to the point of death and then heal him and do it all again till he learned his goddamned lesson.
I am so sorry this took so long to post, but some things came up that took me away from my computer, but I shouldn't have any issues, fingers crossed and knock on wood - Anyways I do hope you enjoyed this chapter, thank you so much for the reviews, always love to read the reviews you all leave good, bad I take it and it helps my writing improve.
Also yes I have another story up in a different category, but my priorities lie with 'The Fail-Safe' And as that is said, nothing will come before it, so they will be updated one after the other. Unless of course people just stop reading one of them or both of them because they decided to hate it, in which case plans will change but until and unless that happens!
Thank you once more for your reviews in the last chapter. Love you all.
Utrix , AmaneHikariUchiha, angel897
I'll see you in the next chapter.
Athe-Spirt...