DISCLAIMER I DONT OWN NARUTO

It had been a nice day at the academy, villagers were eager to learn and shinobi to improve. Sakura was coming back to the Hospital to check on the staff before grabbing dinner when she saw a falcon across the sky going to the Hokage tower. It was Izuna's.

She immediately changed her course of direction and started to walk faster. It had been a few days since his last letter, and all he said was that they had left the toad dimension to go to continue to the Nara Camp.

"Hope Hikari did good. She hasn't written to me, I guess they are busy" she thought. She didn't feel bad though, she knew her friend. If there was something important she wouldn't write about it, she would tell her once she's back home.

The pinkette reached the building in no time and when she was aiming to door knob, the door suddenly opened showing a hurried Madara; he didn't hit her fully because she had good reflexes due to doors at the Hospital when strollers entered in full speed.

"OH! I'm sorry!" the Uchiha said completely surprised to see her "Please tell me I did not hit you" he started to examine her from head to top grabbing the arm that sounded that had hit the door. On his other hand he had a letter.

"I'm Fine Madara-san!" Sakura said a bit flustered, he never let go of her arm. He looked so cute and guilty. "I'm used to this, happens at the Hospital every time"

"Are you really fine?" he still had his hand around her wrist and was looking at it curious.

"Oh, yes!" she said "You have no idea the hits I used to receive from my master, this is just a tiny stroke" she added releasing her hand gently from his grasp. That's when he realized he had been holding her for some time.

"Hn, I'm sorry…" the shinobi started.

"Please, stop apologizing" She interrupted him and smiled at him gently "You seemed to be in a rush, don't you need to be somewhere?" she changed subject

"Well, I was, but now you're here" he stated, a bit uncomfortable with the whole situation. He had hit her, held her and over apologized… he felt he had made a fool of himself. Last days he had not spoken much with her due to the Academy and though awkwardness was gone it still felt odd.

"I was going to go find you at the Hospital" he smiled, tossing aside all his thoughts. It was all going on in his head.

"Hn… are you okay?" the kunoichi asked, she was very sensitive.

"W-why you ask?" he asked taken aback.

"You seem a bit off" Sakura said taking a step forward looking at him worried "I tell you I'm fine, and I hope you believe me." She smiled "It takes more than a door to take me down" she added bending up her arm and grabbing her bicep.

He felt nervous with her so close. "What the hell is going on with me" but he knew. That moment, when he said 'It's too early' he had awoken something. 'I like her, and it's early to like her. It's early to think about what the elders would say, and about a wife…" of course he wasn't thinking of marrying her, not now actually. But that issue was pressuring him. He needed to talk to Takato in private. He couldn't confide in Hashirama that would embarrass him. He wanted to repeat another dinner; he needed to spend some more time with her. She made him feel so at ease, whenever there wasn't an awkward moment like this of course.

"I know" he finally said sighing "I am a bit off you're right…" he saw her changing her smile for a frown while putting her arm down "But don't worry I'm handling it!" he assured her this time "Clan Issues, I need to talk to Takato"

"Is there something I can help you with?" the pinkette asked concerned. 'Does this have something to do about what he said the other day at the park?' she thought. She didn't want to be the reason from some elders nagging, "Did the elders tell you something about the other night?" there. She went straight to the point. No more dodging the matter.

That straight forwarded mention of the 'issue' left him dumbfounded. She still recalled it, maybe it had meant something to her, he thought.

"Oh, no" Madara answered automatically, and he regained his cool "I mean, nobody saw us, but I've been thinking about it…"

"You did?" she couldn't help a small blush to crawl on her cheeks. And he noticed that, he melted inside.

"Yes, I did…" he couldn't stop looking at her eyes. And he suddenly remembered the letter he had on his hand. He cleared his throat "I mean, we should do whatever we want to do, dinner, lunch, spar, train. Elders don't matter" he saw her opening her eyes widely. "So, next time I won't interrupt a nice evening thinking about what others would think. They're going to think poorly anyway" he smirked at that and felt a bit calmer.

"R-right!" She stuttered a little, she was happy to hear that, even though it was not a love confession, and it clearly was not a proof that they had matching feelings… sort of; it meant that he wanted to spend time with her, and he was thinking of a next time. It was the best thing she could hear from him…

"I would not want you to think I am changing the subject, but this letter is also addressed to you" the Uchiha lift his hand finally showing her the paper. She blinked and grabbed it

"Oh!" she exclaimed after reading it "Must get everything prepared. We need Tobirama to guard the gates so he can use Hirashin to the Hospital and notify us."

"I'm on my way to talk to him to the Academy" Madara said "You get yourself ready; we'll resume our conversation later. Don't forget we need to keep training that Water Jutsu of yours" he smirked at her.

"Y-yeah!" Sakura said taken aback scratching the back of her head. He was interested in spending time with her; she should have plenty of time to explore her and his feelings. He waved and left leaving her alone full of hope.

"Time to work!" she said punching her fist, and she turned and started jumping over the roofs towards the Hospital.

Tobirama and Takato had just finished with their respective groups. Both Megumi and Ichigo were there. The kids were their star students, always cheering on others, motivating them, eager to help showing techniques, and always smiling with a child's innocence.

"You hungry?" Takato asked the albino. It was still early for dinner, but they haven't eaten since breakfast, they were two workaholic people.

"Hn." He grunted while adjusting his keiko gi. He didn't use his armor around the Village anymore, but he still had it ready to put on if needed. "You bet; these children extract every ounce of chakra from your body"

"I still cannot adapt to funny Tobirama" the Uchiha teased as he went to his bag and reached for a big bento box. He opened and offered him some onigiri. The Senju snorted while looking away, but still grabbed a rice ball.

"Have you heard from Hikari-san?" he directly asked the brunette while sitting down next to him, making him choke with a small rice grain.

"N-no I haven't" he excused himself while coughing "Sakura-san doesn't seem to know either" He added, it had surprised him that he asked that specially to him.

"I assumed you exchanged letters with her" he explained like he had read his mind "Hope they are all doing fine"

"Hn" the Uchiha resumed eating "we don't write each other anymore." He remembered something they spoke long time ago "It would be silly now that we can see each other in person"

"Right" the albino agreed, and then added as an afterthought "You seemed worried when you learnt they were going to be out for a month"

"I was not worried, but surprised, that's all" Takato said a bit defensive.

"I was kind of worried though" Tobirama admitted "Even if she's strong enough, this world isn't like hers. But I trust her abilities. Also she is with your obnoxious brother and Toka"

"Yes… HEY!" he reacted "Don't talk about Izuna like that. I thought you were friends"

"Maybe" the Senju just answered. He was reaching out to Takato because he was indeed worried, and also he had the need to tease him, like a rival. He couldn't understand why though.

"You care about Hikari-san" The Uchiha stated. He needed to confront this with him, he did not have rights over her, but he sort of needed to stand grounds with his new friend. Even thought Tobirama was an expert covering his emotions and keep them out of his face, he could notice a small flinch when he heard his statement.

There was a small pause that led to an uncomfortable silence.

"Yes." The Senju simply answered, and he did not say more.

"Guess she makes herself likeable to people, so does Sakura-san" his strategy backfired, he wasn't expecting for him to answer that and saying no more, so he sort of entered the pinkette as a topic.

"They are good, strong and smart people" Tobirama said "I'm glad they ended up being allies"

"Right!" Takato toasted with his bottle of water, he was copied by a sort of clueless Tobirama, his social skills were improving, but he was still long to become spontaneous like his friend.

"Your brother is coming" he commented. The Uchiha looked to the side and saw Madara running towards them.

Back in the Nara forest, Izuna, Hikari and Toka tended the wounded people of the Clan. It had been tough but after witnessing how they treated their leader, the elders ended up accepting their help.

"You know…" Hikari said while helping Toka stich a small injure on a man's eyebrow. "I am glad you suggested this change of route, if we did what was planned, we might have arrived too late"

They had changed their plans because the Senju realized that the Nara's camp was nearer than the Merchant Village, so it occurred to her to pass over there first to check the territory and then settle at the Village. It had been a good call for their leader's sake without knowing.

"Yeah, you're right...aaannd Done!" the Kunoichi answered while finishing the stiches "You're done, just clean it with soap and clean water from time to time. It must not get dirty or it might get infected"

"Thank you Senju-sama" the man bowed at her and motioned towards his family.

"You're welcome" she said as the man left "Okay, I believe that was the last one" she said looking around her. Izuna was at the camp's entrance patrolling with his sharingan on. Hikari would join him soon so he could rest.

"Yeah, no more injured" the Takishima replied and looked to the sky, it was getting darker and the first afternoon stars had started to appear. "I think we should arrange where we will rest. I don't think it would be good to leave if they are not here yet." She spoke about Yuko and her father. Even though the clansmen accepted them, it didn't mean they did not feel aware of them.

"Maybe Izuna has talked with someone, we should go ask him" Toka suggested while cleaning her hands.

"Yeah, that would do. I need to take over the shift anyway" She said.

Both kunoichi arrived at the entrance and saw a very concentrated Izuna, patrolling with two more Nara young shinobi.

"Hey Izuna!" Hikari greeted "How is it going?" she asked

"It's fine, it doesn't seem there's any threat" the Uchiha said "But it's not like I have a Byakugan to see through things." He shrugged "Is everyone clear?"

"Who are you speaking to?" Toka replied putting one hand on her hip, that make him laugh.

"I'm sorry, I was too caught in duty" he said in a more Izuna way.

"You need to rest" the Senju said a bit less playfully. She was concerned about him, he had helped the leader and a bunch of other people, and also stood for hours patrolling. "You need to replenish your chakra" He was about to protest but the Takishima intervened.

"Don't you dare say no to Toka" she took one step forward. "I am going to take your shift now and you go get some sleep." When she saw him opening his mouth to complain she added "Have you settled un some housing arrangements?"

"Oh" the Uchiha exclaimed blinking "I haven't… but why me?" the kunoichi got closer to him.

"Because you are the man in our team, and…" She whispered as she looked towards the guards to make sure they were not listening "this is a very chauvinistic clan; you saw how they treated Yuko-San. Even though she said they would treat us better… you know" Toka supressed a smile.

"Yeah… I get it" Izuna said "I'll leave you to your shift then, and I'll go to talk with their elders. Come with me?" he asked Toka who looked at Hikari a little concerned.

"You also need to rest, I'll be fine" the Takishima assured her and she nodded.

The duo left Hikari with the young guards, who were kind enough to ask her if she had eaten, and gave her some fruit when she answered she didn't.

Shitoshi Nara gave the group a small tent and some food. Toka and Izuna stayed inside the tent with some blankets for each other. After they ate, they arranged themselves on both sides of the tent, facing each other from not too far. They kept staring at each other's eyes. At first it was awkward, but it became more and more confortable until they fell asleep, knowing that that was going to be the most peaceful and intimate moment between them and also, if Uchiha's Clan Laws didn't change, they could not aspire for more.

It was early in the morning and Sakura had everything prepared at the Hospital. She was curious about how they were going to arrive that soon. It seemed the trio had spent days walking until they found the camp.

Back at the Village's entrance Tobirama and Hashirama were wating for Yuko and her father and were completely surprised that suddenly a big toad and two deer carrying people appeared before them in a puff of smoke.

"I Assume you are waiting for us" the giant toad spoke.

"Oh... Mm Yes!" Hashirama answered taken aback. It was the first time he had seen a toad like that.

"Okay I leave you be; you know your way back Deer-Sama" Bunta turned to speak to the ninja animal

"I do, thank you for your assistance, Gamabunta-Sama, give my regards to your master" It answered solemnly polite. The toad nodded, turned to look back at the Senju siblings, grunted and disappeared in another puff of smoke.

"Good morning, I am Yuko Nara" the kunoichi said to the shinobi as she got off from the doe, they nodded slightly. She then looked at the animal and bowed in gratitude and the Senju were surprised to see that it bowed back to her and took a few steps back. It seemed it was waiting for its companion who had a very sick man on its back.

"Welcome Nara-sama" Hashirama answered kindly. "G-good morning, Deer-Sama and Doe-sama" he bowed awkwardly.

The Deer eyed him with suspicion, but for Yuko's surprise, it acknowledged the Hokage as it moved its head in a greeting sign.

"Enough courtesy, I think we had an emergency here" Tobirama stepped forward and walked towards the Deer, who defied him with his eyes. It seemed he was debating if the albino was worth of something, and that made the kunoichi feel odd. She had never seen the ninja animal so defensive. After some seconds that seemed an eternity, the deer kneeled down never leaving Tobirama's eyes, but allowing him to take Shindo's body from him.

"Careful human" its voice resounded in the forest and made the birds fly away from the trees nearby. For the first time, the Senju was taken aback by a beast authority. The Nara heiress walked towards the animal and helped Tobirama untangled her father from it. The shinobi carried the man's body and greeted the deer with a small nod before turning back to enter the village.

"T-thank you very much Deer-sama" Yuko said to the animal after eyeing Tobirama. She was feeling odd with its exchange with this two Konoha shinobi and was nervous because the white-haired one was taking her father away.

"He will be fine" the beast said "Trust your instincts, we shall see each other soon" it looked to his Doe companion and then vanished in another puff of smoke.

Yuko felt a bit dumfounded but it didn't last much because he ran to catch Tobirama who was already inside the village.

"Where are you taking my father?" she asked him, but seeing he continued walking without answering back, she ran faster "HEY! ANSWER ME WHERE ARE Y-YOU…" she couldn't finish her question because he grabbed him by the shoulder just in time, she heard him say 'Hirashin' and the three of them disappeared together.

"As always, they forget about me" Hashirama sighed as he shook his head and sunshined towards the hospital.

The albino and the two Nara appeared at the Hospital's door where Sakura was already waiting with a stretcher. He quickly put the man in it as he could hear a confused and slightly scared Yuko

"The F-Fuck was that!" she screamed. She looked all the scene, the shinobi leaving her father, the pink-haired woman tending to him doing the same thing the Uchiha did to him at their camp. 'How the heck did we appear here…' she thought, but couldn't think much because she saw the white-haired man coming towards her.

"DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN" The Senju spoke to her extremely serious, his voice higher than always. It surprised Sakura to see him angry with a stranger. "YOU COULD HAVE KILLED US THREE"

"W-what…" She was really taken aback "What j-just happened…" Yuko couldn't understand, she shook her head and her personality ignited… "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? I WAS ASKING YOU WHERE WERE YOU TAKING MY FATHER AND YOU DIDN'T ANSWER…"

"IF I HADN'T FELT YOU COMING IN THAT INSTANT, I COULD HAVE USED A DIFFERENT AMOUNT OF CHAKRA AND THE JUTSU WOULD HAVE GONE BADLY" he was still angry, and he didn't exactly know why. It was obvious she wouldn't know about Hirashin but it didn't cross his mind until the pinkette pointed it out.

"WHAT JUTSU…." Yuko started

"Tobirama-san, calm down" Sakura intervened with authority but in a kind way. The Nara looked at her "She doesn't know what you are talking about, she is just worried about her father" The albino took a deep breath and 'hmped' in a very Uchiha way 'he's spending too much time with the brothers' the kunoichi fought a smile. "You must be Yuko Nara" the pinkette addressed to the kunoichi "I am Sakura Haruno and I am going to treat your father" she smiled at her. The Nara was still heavy breathing because of her exchange with Tobirama, she also calmed down and looked at her feeling a bit ashamed

"H-hello…" she said lowering her head a little "Your friends spoke highly of you; I hope you can save my father" saying that out loud touched a fibre in her. All the strength she had left her for a moment and she felt like crying. But she couldn't show weakness in front of these people, they were still no allies, this could be a trap, it was to much and too good to be true. She gulped hard. The albino noticed her inner fight.

"Rest assured she will" he said in a calmer way and it surprised to her because his whole demeanour changed. He was looking at her with serious intensity, but he didn't seem like a threat, he seemed like, in a weird way, he was empathising with her. She blinked as she looked at him, and for a moment she felt all anguish gone. His gaze was too strong to handle, but then, her instincts told her that this man… 'He is felling something too… maybe he was in a situation like this before" she thought.

"Thank you" Yuko answered while nodding. Sakura watched the whole exchange with attention. 'Interesting' she thought.

"Shall we go inside?" She said "I need to take the poison out ASAP. Izuna did a great job but his still in danger, we must hurry" the pinkette added serious. They didn't need to speak anymore, Tobirama opened the door for Sakura and her helpers – who had been standing there all the time and awkwardly witnessing everything- to enter with the stretcher.

"After you" he said to Yuko while still holding the door. She blinked again puzzled and went through. As she was passing Tobirama whispered to her.

"Never lower your eyes for no one" he said in a low baritone voice that gave shivers down at the back of her head "Not even friends or foes". She turned back to look at him after she had crossed the gate and stood for a moment holding his gaze, he was still with his hand over the door and the lights were back lighting him. He was serious, he was telling her to never back down, to stand tall and proud. His gaze was intense, and that made her heart skip a beat.

Author's note

I'm Back baby! Short chapter, not gonna promise anything. I want to speed up things, buuuut I need time. Maybe there will be a short time skip soon, but I give you a hint, the story goes through almost a year of our main characters' lives.

More MadaxSaku coming, TakatoxHikarixTobirama will have to wait for a little and maybe the triangle will become a square? LMAO

I started writing this in February and re read it before finishing, the last TokaxIzuna scene remembered me HP and the Deathly Hallows RonxHermione scene in Grimmauld Place, but they could at least hold hands.

Take care!