peripheries
the rest of her
"She's back," he announced without preamble.
Hashirama's face fell as he looked up from the shogi-board sitting patiently on the low table between them.
"Far?" was all he asked.
Tobirama shook his head.
"No. Just up the cliff."
"I had hoped she would stay away," Hashirama murmured into the palm of his hand. "How long has it been?"
"About three years," Tobirama answered after he thought for a moment. "I was beginning to doubt she would show up again."
"Three years," Hashirama murmured. "And all this time you've been working on that silly seal…"
Tobirama narrowed his eyes.
"Why are you so against her all of a sudden? You were happy to call her my friend last time she appeared."
Before he even got an answer, he shook his head.
"You know, forget about it. I'd better get to her before the patrols do."
His brother crossed his arms and said nothing.
Tobirama rose from his seat, but turned back around once he was in the doorframe.
"But I'd like to talk to you about this later."
Hashirama only shook his head.
He hurried through the compound to his quarters, swiped a frayed and well-worn scroll from one of the shelves in his room, ran out into the inner yard and up the side of the cliff. Hashirama's face, uncharacteristically solemn, gazed out from the stone as he climbed past and vaulted over the ledge. He landed in a crouch next to Sakura, who was stretched out on her back and staring up at the night-sky.
"I figured it out," he declared.
Slowly, she turned her head and looked at him.
"I would have told you sooner," he added, "but you never showed."
A warm breeze curled around them, brushed gently through the trees far below. In the distance he could hear the cicadas.
"…Figured out what?" Sakura asked quietly.
"How to tie you down to one point in time," he explained, scooted closer when she propped herself up onto one elbow. "How to stop the leaping."
He launched into his explanation, produced the battered scroll from his pouch. Her eyes lit up with interest and as he unrolled the paper to show her his sketch of the sealing array he'd come up with, she rose to her knees next to him, shoulder brushing his as she bent forward to inspect the design.
"This will serve as your tether," he said and watched her brush her fingers across the inky lines. "If corrupted in any way, it will fail. It's all so simple."
She turned to look at him, face curious, and his stomach gave a little flop.
"You need a focal point, something to tie you down and keep you from bouncing," he explained.
He cupped her cheek, ignored the confusion on her face.
"I will be your anchor," he promised. "I won't let you slip away again."
She was so close that, even in the dark, he thought he could make out the colour of her eyes.
"Are you sure?" she asked quietly, tilted her head. "I wouldn't ask this of you."
But before he could answer she vanished.
He felt like tearing out his hair.
Paced the along the ridge in frustration, then gathered up the scroll and stuffed it in his pocket, leapt down the cliff, hurried towards the compound back to where Hashirama was still sitting over the shogi pieces, a pensive frown on his face.
"That was quick," he said.
"Hashirama," Tobirama pressed. "We need to talk."
His brother wrinkled his nose.
"If this is about Sakura, then I'd rather not…"
"It is about her," Tobirama interrupted, stepped into the room fully.
"You were about to tell me why you are against her all of a sudden."
Hashirama shook his head.
"I'm not against her, Tobi… I'm … I'm against the idea of her."
"The idea?"
"Yes. When did she last show, three years ago? You weren't even sure if she'd come back. And yet you spent so much of your time on designing this seal. It's like she's always in your head. It just – it's as if you're chasing a ghost. And you …"
He trailed off, sighed.
"She's a distraction… Ah… Now I guess I know how you felt about me chasing after Madara."
"Yes, that sounds about right," Tobirama replied frigidly. "Because he's just as flighty as Sakura. But contrary to her, he was doing it on purpose, because he never cared for you. He left the village, just as I told you he would. Didn't even look back."
He scowled.
"And you forget just how much I learned."
"Ah, Tobi, but that's the problem," Hashirama interrupted. "You spend all your time studying. You developed the Hiraishin because of her – you once told me it was Sakura who gave you the idea for it. You learned fujinjutsu. You read up on time jutsu. All you ever do is work and read, work and read. And over it all, you forget how to live."
Tobirama narrowed his eyes.
"And if I do, that is on you."
Hashirama opened his mouth to protest, but he continued harshly, "It was you who foisted the idea of a village on the clan. I don't think you ever realised how much work it was going to be, how much work it was going to take to keep this dream of yours alive. My entire existence I have sweated and laboured in order to help you realise your visions of peace. I have devoted my life to Konoha. So if, during the time I am not working, I choose to read so I can better chase down a phantom friendship, then that is a decision I am well within my rights to make. You're familiar with this, you hunted after Madara long enough. So don't you dare lecture me on how I am wasting my time on this woman."
His brother opened his mouth, floundered, snapped it shut again with an audible click.
Tobirama crossed his arms.
"I'll take my team and run up the north-western border tomorrow. The area needs to be patrolled anyway, and it'll be good training for them, so there's no reason why I shouldn't be the one to go. We should be back within a week."
With that he left, and slammed the screen so hard behind him he though he heard the frame crack.
"Taichou, there's someone to our right."
Tobirama glanced up the moment Hiruzen mentioned it, the moment he felt Sakura flash into existence.
"Keep moving. I'll catch up."
Addressing the rest of his squad, he tossed a marked kunai to the ground, nodded at his companions.
"Koharu, Homura. Proceed according to protocol. The border is secure still, so you shouldn't run into any trouble. I won't be long."
With those words he split from his team, veered off to the north and into the forest even as they continued east towards Grass.
It didn't take him long at all to catch up with Sakura, even though she was running, hurtling through the forest as if her life depended on it. In the same way her chakra signature felt muted, fluctuating strongly with every step she took, her form appeared sheer, see-through. Tobirama was reminded of his last-ever visit to the compound. That day, she had seemed similarly translucent. Similarly scared.
In one fluent movement, he tossed a kunai, and even as it cut through the air and whistled past Sakura he channelled his chakra, surrendered to the pull.
He materialised mid-air, so close she all but barrelled into his chest. He swept her up and, before the knife he threw even connected with a solid surface, already they had gone.
Outside the dimly lit forest, in the bright sunshine that reflected off the kunai he dropped earlier, she seemed even more thinned-out. He could see the nodding planes of grass behind her, through her. She reared back to strike, eyes wide in her face.
Quick as lightning he ducked beneath her swing, pulled up her shirt, slammed his palm against her flat stomach.
Beneath his fingers, black lines bloomed and spread like stains of ink, and because he knew he was short on time, because she was already withdrawing, he pushed forth more chakra, overpowered the seal, hoped it would be enough.
The connection tore just as her punch brushed the skin on his neck.
She was gone, and he was left alone, staring at his hands, frowning.
He collected his kunai and followed after his team.
"Is everything alright, sensei?" Koharu asked as soon as he caught up to them.
He nodded. "Everything is fine. Nobody I haven't seen before."
"There's a woman crying," Koharu pointed out a mere second after Tobirama had caught onto Sakura's chakra.
It winked into existence suddenly, a couple hundred paced behind them.
They backtracked and, from the cover of the forest, observed her shaking form.
"I think I remember that signature," Hiruzen said quietly, brows furrowed. "Last year, when we travelled to Grass in the spring."
"You're right," Homura murmured, one hand on the hilt of his tanto. "I remember it, as well."
"You went after her, taichou, didn't you?"
He tilted his head. "You're right, Koharu. I did."
Glancing at Homura, he added, "She is no threat to us."
"Who is she?" Hiruzen asked in a low voice. "She appeared out of nowhere."
Tobirama sighed, shook his head.
"An unfortunate wanderer," he said. "I know her well. Hiruzen, I want you to lead the team back to Konoha. I'll be going ahead."
"Do you think this wise, taichou? We're on the brink of an attack," Homura protested, albeit quietly.
"We've not run into any signs of hostile activity in this area. We should be safe for the moment," he replied and, glancing at the crying woman, added, "I imagine she'll need food and proper care. Watch yourselves on the way. It's not far now."
Sakura didn't react when he approached. Tobirama could feel the watchful gazes of his team, knew they were ready to jump at the slightest sign of danger.
He bent down and laid his hands on her shoulder.
Jerking, Sakura looked up, and with a sob threw herself into his arms. Over the top of her mussed and tousled hair, he nodded at Hiruzen, then flashed back to Konoha, aiming for the seal he'd put into his study.
Sakura was still crying, though now scrubbing at her wet face furiously with one hand. The other was grasping at his sleeve, so hard he thought he heard the fabric strain.
The blue haori she was wearing had slipped, revealing a dark bruise just above her clavicle.
He couldn't help but touch it reverently with the tip of one finger. This one, he remembered.
Sakura hiccuped, sniffled, and with a shaky sigh dropped her forehead against his chest, loped her arms around him. She took a breath as if to say something just when the door flew open with a crash and Hashirama barged in, red armour backlit by the lanterns in the corridor. She crowded closer.
"Tobirama is everything alright? I heard crying –"
He froze, paled.
Sakura turned her head and stiffened in Tobirama's arms.
"You," his brother stammered, pointed at her. "I remember you. I – I killed you."
"Brother," Tobirama warned quietly, pulled Sakura behind him. "Now is not the time."
"Don't worry," she muttered in a thick voice, took a shaking breath. She looked up at him, gave a feeble smile. "I d-don't die so e-easily."
And then she was gone, leaving the two brothers to stare at each other.
"Just like –," Hashirama began, dragged a hand across his face. He sank against the doorframe, closed his eyes. He looked sick.
Then the ground shook, and both of them glanced up at the same time.
"Sooner than anticipated," Hashirama said. He looked at his brother, gestured for him to follow. They paced down the hallway, stepped out onto the open space in front of the compound which was already teeming with soldiers.
"Iwagakure have decided to make their move," Hashirama bellowed. "We have been expecting them, and we're prepared. Today, we will be victorious, for today we fight as one."
He hesitated, then stood up straighter, raised his chin.
"If something should happen to me, I name my brother, Tobirama Senju, as the Second Hokage, to guide you to the best of his abilities."
He met the stunned faces of his village with a smile. A second explosion rocked the earth.
"He will do an exceptional job."
Everybody turned to stare at Tobirama.
He stared right back.
"The border seems secure enough. No recent sightings of Iwa-gakure's forces. The Kusa troops we interacted with also appeared forthright enough, and considering the fact that they are in danger of being crushed if we clash, it would be in their best interest to stay as neutral as possible."
Tobirama nodded.
"Very good, Hiruzen. Koharu, what did the sweep turn up?"
Stepping around the gnarled trunk of a fir, the kunoichi in question shook some snow off her cloak.
"Perimeter secure, no signs of any individual nearby." She glanced at Tobirama. "Though you already knew that, hokage-sama."
He smiled at her.
"Just making sure your skills haven't grown rusty."
"How could they, at a time like this," she murmured and hunkered down next to the merrily crackling campfire the same moment Tobirama straightened minutely.
"Speaking of rusty –" Hiruzen began, but Tobirama waved him off.
"No, I sense her." He glanced at his team. "Wait here. I'll be back soon."
"Taichou, don't you think it's time to explain?" Homura began, clearly frustrated, but Tobirama had already ducked out of their temporary shelter and taken off into the night.
The wind whipped across his bare face, rendering the snowflakes into icy projectiles. Before him stretched a wide and open plane, barren beneath its white cover. Somewhere to the east, he could make out Sakura's chakra signature.
Casting his senses wide, he broke into a run, cutting across the landscape and into the semi-dark. Between the perpetual darkness of the stormy sky and the uniform white of the snow-covered grass, it never felt as if he were gaining ground. And then he could see her, a tiny splotch of black and pink, limping across the plane.
He called her name, sped up with worry when she didn't react. As he drew closer, the wind carried the sound of chattering teeth. She was staring at the ground, swaying from one side to the other as she made her way forward one dragging step at a time, and only stopped once she was directly in front of him, close enough for him to touch. Slowly, she looked up and met his gaze.
"Of all the places," Tobirama murmured as he took in her blue lips and ruddy red cheeks.
He was ready when her eyes slid shut and she collapsed, lifted her into his arms easily where she flinched away from the chill of his armour.
"Don't worry, I'm here," he murmured, tucked her more securely against his chest. Then he turned around and hurried back the way he came, jostling her forcefully whenever he felt her relax in his hold.
"You can't sleep," he ordered every time. "I need you to stay awake for a little bit longer."
They reached the camp after a short while, where they were met with the guarded expressions of his team.
"She's no threat," he told them curtly as he set Sakura down near the fire, rummaged through his pack for a blanket, wrapped it around her shoulders.
Koharu only narrowed her eyes and pulled her cloak more firmly around her, while Hiruzen glanced between Sakura and Tobirama with a speculative air. It was Homura who protested openly.
"Who is this? Your unfortunate wanderer?"
Tobirama shot him a warning glance, but the young man pressed on regardless.
"Why does she keep popping up out of nowhere? Isn't she dangerous? You ought to tell us, sensei."
Tobirama, who had already drawn breath to snap at him, released it in a quiet sigh.
"She's a piece knocked lose," he explained. "Always bouncing through the years."
He felt very old as he recalled the exact words Sakura had used to describe her situation to him what not felt like an eternity ago.
"But from what time and for how long – that I can't tell you."
"So why do you always go after her?" Homura asked.
Koharu shot him a glance, murmured, "Mitokado," but he ignored her.
Looking down at Sakura's shivering form, Tobirama took a moment before he answered.
"She's human," he said. "Isn't that alone reason enough to care?"
He added nothing after that, instead set about heating some water for tea, while his team watched on in stony silence.
Sakura sneezed, and he glanced at her. She seemed alert now, gaze darting from Hiruzen, to Homura, Koharu, and lastly him.
"We just returned from the border," Tobirama told her, handed her a small cup of lukewarm tea. She took it with stiff fingers. "We were planning on waiting out the storm."
"Thank you," she murmured, cupped her hands around the ceramic and then seemed content to just hold it like that.
"We were securing the perimeter around the Tenchi Bridge," he added, and ignored the way his team stiffened tangibly. He pressed on. "Seen as you were heading in that direction, you wouldn't happen to know anything about it?"
Sakura glanced at him, then his team mates. She licked her lips and took a tiny sip of her tea, but flinched back and pulled a face almost immediately. She rotated the cup once between her palm, blew on it, then took a second, smaller sip.
"Not really," she then said. "I'm just trying to get to Grass. Anything beyond that is anyone's guess."
She held his gaze until he turned away to prod at the dwindling fire with a stick. Across the flames, he met Homura's eyes, who raised an eyebrow, then turned his face aside.
They sat in silence for a while.
"We wait until the storm lets up, and then we move," Tobirama said eventually. Turning back to Sakura, he added, "You said you wanted to get into Grass, but are you really equipped for such a journey? If you so wish, we will take you back to Konoha with us."
Across the camp, Koharu made a sound of protest, but she snapped her mouth shut at his warning glance.
"Think about it," he pressed Sakura. "You'll be able to rest."
Glancing between him and his team, she seemed to mull over his words. Then she pulled the blankets more securely around herself and nodded.
"Okay," she said quietly. "I'll come with you."
"Try to get some rest until then. I will wake you when we move out."
He was about to return to tending the fire when she murmured, "You looked different last time I saw you. More…" She considered him for a moment. "Approachable."
Tobirama tilted his head, looked her over for a moment. Except her face everything was covered by the blanket, but he knew she was wearing the black suit. Her hair, pulled up into a high ponytail that was slowly starting to come undone, seemed no longer or shorter than the last time they had met. A few dishevelled bangs clung wetly to the sides of her face.
"I'm not quite sure when that was," he replied, and couldn't help the little smile when her face lit up. "But I'm sure I probably was anything but."
Sakura giggled and sipped her tea.
"Oh, you were a brat alright," she laughed quietly. "But a curious one." She smiled at him. "Very cute."
Propping his elbows up on his knees, Tobirama stared into the flames. "It must have been a while then."
She never answered, and also never slept until the storm let up enough for them to begin the trek home. None of his teammates said anything when he lifted the pink-haired woman onto his back, hooked his arms beneath her knees. Still swaddled in her blanket, Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck the best she could.
"Thank you, you know," she half-murmured, half-yawned against his cheek. Her breath was warm, and he shivered when it curled against his frigid skin. "For taking such good care of me…"
And then she was out like a light, and never once stirred as he sped across the plane, followed by his team.
With the wind at their back the trek was fairly quick, if uneventful. Sakura slept through most of it, only stirring once when they stopped for a short rest at a farmstead. She smiled at him sleepily and curled tighter into her blanket, then fell back asleep. Carefully, he brushed her bangs away from her face, trailed the tip of his finger across the purple rhombus on her forehead. It looked and felt the same as Mito's.
The last leg of the way, he carried her on his arms until they hit the North Road. They turned south, fell into a faster pace, ate up the ground.
When the weight in his arms vanished all of a sudden, Tobirama almost did a nose dive and only just managed to turn his tumble into a forward flip. Around his, his team stopped abruptly, looking at him with wide eyes.
"… I apologise," Homura said quietly. "I see now what you mean. To be tossed around like that…"
"Poor girl," Koharu agreed.
Tobirama only frowned at his hands, then shook his head and whipped his team all the way back to Konoha.
When she appeared years later, in the middle of his office, she smelled of ashes and dust and she appeared forlorn. Slowly, he pushed aside the ledger he'd been poring over.
"Hello," he said, and looked at her across the room. "How are you?"
Sakura only blinked, then gazed past him at the window. For a moment, she considered the village beyond, then let out a breath.
"Tired," she admitted, and tugged at the frayed sleeve of her black shirt.
Tobirama rose from his chair and stepped around his desk.
"Come," he said quietly as he approached her, slipped an arm around her shoulders, pulled her close. "Rest a while."
He half-smiled when she tucked herself beneath his chin, pressed her cheek against his chest, curled her fingers into his tunic gently.
For a while, he was content to hold her, but then he recalled the time.
Against the top of her head he murmured, "Would you care for some food?"
She huddled more closely into his embrace, shook her head minutely.
"I don't want to keep you," she breathed.
He chuckled.
"You show up once in a blue moon. I think I can spare a few hours."
He stepped back, met her gaze.
"Why are you so nice to me?" She murmured even as her fingers trailed down his arms. "You don't owe me anything."
Tobirama hesitated, considered. Running a hand through his hair, he blew out a sigh, then reached for her hand. She didn't flinch back but gazed at him steadily. Tired, but trusting.
"Come on," he said, "let's find you something to eat."
He glanced down at her bare feet, which were black with soot and lightly bleeding in places.
"A pair of shoes first, maybe."
She smiled at that.
"Where is everyone?" She asked as he led her out of the office and through the tower, down the corridors and stairs, and it struck him how she not once seemed nervous or confused. Instead, she regarded her surroundings with shimmering eyes and quivering lips, trailed her fingers across the wood paneling. A conundrum, she was.
"Things are… complicated," Tobirama sighed. "A lot of our forces are running rounds, securing the perimeter and surrounding lands. Others are out gathering resources."
"Are you stocking up?"
"By all rights we should be… yes."
She never replied, but her grasp on his fingers tightened.
Outside, a squad of chunin crossed their path, and Tobirama stopped one of them and ordered him to find a pair of shoes for Sakura. Later, when they were sitting in the mess hall, a plate of steaming food between them, the chunin reappeared with a pair of geta, made of simple wood with bright red straps. As she pushed her feet into them, Tobirama was reminded of how often he had seen her wear shoes exactly like this. The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth.
"What happened to my boots?" Sakura asked, and clacked her new sandals against the ground.
He couldn't help but smile at the question and ducked his head a bit.
"Well," he said, "since I threw the first one into the river, it didn't make much sense for me to hold onto the second."
Sakura gasped.
"How could you?" She asked, pressed a hand against her chest. "Do you have any idea what those boots have been through?"
"I can imagine," he replied quietly, and watched as the humour slipped off her face. "If you're done eating," he said after a while, "I can show you the bath house."
That day in the evening, they found themselves climbing the stairs leading up the hokage mountain.
"It's good to see you up here," Sakura said, looking up at the stone heads of both him and his brother.
He pulled a face. He hated the monument.
They crested the top of the cliff, sat down near the ledge. Far below, Konoha was wrapped in shadow. Sakura dangled her feet.
"I almost want to stop. Running, that is," she said. "It seems fate that I ended up back here, does it not? And for some reason I am always drawn back to you."
From the corner of his eye, he could see her looking at him.
"What would it be like, I wonder? To just sit down and wait to see how it all plays out," she mused quietly.
He frowned, turned to face her.
"You can't," he said. "You won't. Not for a while."
Sakura sighed.
"But I want to," she replied as she leaned back on her arms. "I'm tired."
She vanished before he could reply.
Again, she appeared in the middle of his office. The only reason his guards didn't immediately skewer her was that she was standing still.
"It's all right," he calmed them. "She is an old friend of mine. You can leave us."
The masked shinobi shuffled around her, sent her suspicious glances, but obeyed easily.
Sakura gazed at him across the desk.
"Age suits you," she said, and glanced around the room.
Her eyes once more seemed drawn to the large window behind his desk and she stepped up to the pane. He rose to join her.
"This office does as well," she added after a moment, this time with a smile.
She took his hand and laced their fingers together.
"Are you happy to see me?"
"Very much so," he said quietly, turned his head a bit to look at her. "Even though – I'm never sure which you I'm going to get."
Sakura frowned and tugged at his arm a bit. "What do you mean?"
Tobirama hesitated. "I mean –"
He slid his free arm around her, pulled her close. Her eyes were wide with surprise at first, but then she crowded closer, rose on her tiptoes. Her lips brushed against his and she gave a little gasp.
"You mean this?" she asked, leaned back to look at him. He never moved at first, searching her face.
"Yes," he murmured.
Then he gathered her close and she fisted her hands into his shirt and let him kiss her, and Tobirama revelled in the way she tried to pull him as close as she possibly could.
"You promised me I could stay," she murmured against his lips, scraped her nails across his neck. He shivered. "Please. I want to."
He looked down at her, curled his fingers into her black shirt.
"You are one of my greatest failings, Sakura," he murmured, and didn't protest when she pulled him in for another kiss to hide the way her face fell.
She was crying now.
"I wish you'd stay," he murmured, but his words fell into an empty room.
Sakura had already vanished, winked out of existence, like a snuffed candle. Dragging the heels of his palms across his face, Tobirama sighed and called back his guards.
"That woman is called Sakura," he told them, glancing from one serious face to the next. "Like myself, she has mastered the Hiraishin, and uses it to appraise me of Kumogakure's troop movements."
"So she's a spy," the captain of the guard, an Inuzuka named Hebi, surmised.
Tobirama merely inclined his head, then bent back over the scrolls scattered across his desk.
"If ever she shows up like that again, bring her to me."
"Yes, hokage-sama."
That night when Tobirama he slid open the screen to his rooms, there was a flare of chakra and then he was met with a bundle of blue cloth and pink hair as Sakura propelled herself into his arms, and she was sobbing and clutching at his shirt and crying, crying, crying –
"I don't want to die, I don't want to! I thought I could but – please – I want this all to be over. Please, Tobirama –"
And then she was gone in the time it took him to blink.
He ground his teeth in frustration.
Hours later he was roused from sleep because he realised he wasn't alone, and in the split-second it took him to snap to attention he recognised her signature. She was sobbing, stumbling, and before Tobirama could even move to try and steady her she had already tripped, fallen heavily on his chest, dug her elbow into his stomach.
Well, he was awake now.
"Sakura," he groaned, dragged one hand over his tired face. In the darkness of his room, he couldn't see her, only hear her ragged breathing and perpetual sobs.
"Tobirama?" she sniffled, and he sighed.
She threw herself into his arms in a flurry of loose hair and soft cloth, and no matter where he placed his fingers it would seem he was always met with bare skin. Underneath the palms of his hand, he recognised the weave of his own haori.
"Please hold me ," Sakura whispered frantically, "Don't let me go again. Please don't let me."
He pulled her close then, fixed her tunic best as he could in the dark, tucked her head under his chin. Gradually, her sobs grew more and more quiet. He could feel her tears against his chest.
"Sakura," he murmured into her hair, rubbing soothing circles across her back. She smelt of ashes and cinder and dust. "What happened? Tell me. I think it is about time."
Against his chin, he could feel her shake her head.
"What's your story?" he pressed, brushed his lips over her forehead.
"Please keep me close. Tobirama, please," she whispered, tightened her arms around him. "I can't stand this, I'll break – it's eating me up. My head is splitting. I just want this all to end."
She cupped his face with her hands, pulled him close.
"Please."
Her thumbs ran lightly across his cheekbones, up his temples as she slid her fingers into his hair. He reached up to trace her face and his fingers came away wet. His other hand curled into the fabric covering her stomach. Beneath, he could make out the faint pulse of the seal, skewed and painful like the rest of her.
"Tobirama," she breathed against his lips.
"Make it stop."
word count: 5,414
A/N: Hello, happy people!
This is peripheriesall done. A super episodic and confusing short-story, I know there are a lot of questions to be answered. This is why I will upload a follow-up story, detailing the same events but from Sakura's perspective. Following along center piece will help clear up a lot of the mystery, especially if you decide to come back and reread peripheries afterwards.
As always, thank you for your reviews, thanks for sticking with this story, and thanks for reading!
Lots of love,
planless