Part 7
Snowflakes drifted softly past the open door as Sakura wrung out a warm cloth and wiped Lee's forehead. It was bright outside, far too bright for their circumstances. She would have preferred a heavy rain to the current masked chill. Lee stirred underneath her as she set the cloth down. Three days had now come and gone since the ninja had tried to take his life. Part of her almost wished that there had been more of them lying in wait at the compound just so she could end theirs.
"Saku-?" Lee moaned from beneath her hands.
Sakura exhaled. The head wound hidden underneath his bandages had been ghastly. "I'm here, Lee. I'm right here."
His hand came up and felt around, coming to rest on her knee. "'S kinda cold…" he muttered, licking his dry lips.
"I know. The main house was burned. We're in the apothecary shed right now. I have to leave the door open because the iori won't vent."
A jar of clean drinking water had been set aside earlier in the day. Sakura picked up the small ladle that sat next to it and opened the jar. She lifted the water ladle and held Lee's head gently to help him drink.
A maid walked up to the small porch outside of the building. "Sakura-sama, our lords have returned from the front." She bowed her head and waited quietly.
"Sit with him please," Sakura whispered, careful not to wake Lee, who had already fallen back to sleep.
"As you command, Sakura-sama."
The snow began to fall in earnest as Sakura made the ten minute climb towards the Senju battlements. The scarf she had hastily wrapped around her head did precious little against the growing cold.
In the distance, weary Senju and Uchiha warriors alike plodded into the guarded stronghold. Three figures stood at the top of the stone wall, presiding over their troops as they filed into the courtyards. Tobirama turned and caught sight of Sakura. He pressed his index finger and thumb against the bridge of his nose before heading towards the stairs.
They turned as the men began to murmur at the sight of a woman entering into their ranks. The Uchiha Lord crossed his hands over his red armor and looked down in disdain. Hashirama continued to talk to him, though his full attention was now on the last Haruno as she made her way towards the fortress boundary.
Sakura breathed a sigh of relief when Tobirama walked outside of the tower gate. He was whole, alive, and uninjured; walking with ease before he stopped in front of her with a frown on his face. Disregarding rank and tradition, Sakura threw her arms around him and inhaled sharply. He was home. They both were. There wouldn't be two more scarred cherry trees in the orchard. Everything was going to be okay.
Setting his hands on her shoulders, he pulled her off of him. "What happened here? Our troops informed us that there was an attack."
"Don't deny me this moment, Tobi...I really… it's just…"
"Do not cry in front of our troops," he whispered harshly, helping her hide her face from the curious onlookers. "Morale has been low since word of the attack spread. Do not cry. School your expression."
A deep breath in, and the building tears cleared from her throat on the next exhale. She focused on relaxing her face and closed her eyes. Listening to Tobirama's steady breathing; his armor had a slight chink to it when he exhaled. Minute but present, something only heard by the two people he allowed to stand this close to him.
Tobirama put a guiding hand on her elbow and led her into the guard tower. Sakura spoke in hushed, clipped tones as they walked through the stone walls.
"We originally believed that ninja attacked us. However, it came to light after the Uzumaki interrogated a survivor that it was the Shimura clan. They have been training young children and partnering with Orochimaru…" She shuddered slightly. Shisui had been warning her for some time about Orochimaru's experiments. His cousin was very well acquainted with the man's atrocities. "Lee and I took out as many as we could. They took out our sentries in the ambush… They were trying to find you...and Hashirama."
There was a sharp exhale on her left that Tobirama quickly gained control over. His stronghold had not only been breached, but his female cousin's life had been threatened due to his impulsivity. Leaving and joining Hashirama on the front had not been in the plan, but his instincts made him distrustful of the treaty and the Uchiha, and he wanted to be at his brother's back far more than he wanted to stay behind and ensure the security of their home. It was fortunate indeed that their Uzumaki allies had been nearby.
Orochimaru was well-known for experimenting on those with soulmarks. It was also known that the last Haruno was the carrier of such. The news had only gotten out due to their lack of arranged nuptials at the treaty signing. Therefore, it was highly possible, with the Shimura's alliance to Orochimaru, that the raiding party's secondary intention was to steal his cousin from his dead arms. His hand tightened on her elbow, and she gasped before he came to himself and relaxed.
Madara propped a fist beneath his chin as he scrutinized the small woman walking towards him with Tobirama. There was no doubt in his mind that she was the one-Shisui Uchiha's soulmate. What was surprising to him was that she was not currently prostrate with grief. He had heard it was quite painful when one's soulmate passed. For Shisui was almost certainly dead by now. If not by the Terumi and Kaguya warriors, then by the Akatsuki assassin. Her sleeve slipped up slightly, exposing her wrist as she took the crook of Tobirama's arm. Her soulmark was as vibrant as ever, an exact replica of which lay on his nephew's own wrist.
Not that it mattered. His nephew never laid claim to the woman despite being in close proximity to her numerous times. As soon as her two male cousins and guardians were out of the picture, he would have the rights to the Haruno and Senju lands. All he had to do was be patient.
Later that day, Madara found Sakura in the apothecary shed, tending to her wounded clansman. He slipped up to the door, muting his footsteps in the fresh snow, and watched them for some time before stepping on a nearby stick.
The woman jerked her head up and stared at him, her hand on her heart. Her sleeves were tied back, and he could clearly see the vibrant soulmark on her wrist. Apparently, his nephew was harder to kill than a cockroach.
"Haruno-san," he said, with a small incline of his head.
"Uchiha-sama," she said cautiously.
Madara crossed his arms over his chest and regarded her for a moment. Sakura set down the bandages in her hand and turned her full attention towards him.
"You are twenty-one, are you not?"
"I am…"
"My nephew, Shisui, carries that same soulmark. Ironic, then, that he has not claimed you even after a year of knowing you."
Sakura's mouth moved soundlessly. Her cousins and Shisui had warned her several times that this was the last man on the planet that should know they were bound.
"Regardless, my source tells me that you had initiated paperwork to be released from the 'Right of Soulmarks.' As the Senju have yet to deliver a hostage or a suitable bride, I will be demanding your hand instead. Then the Haruno lands will fall under my purview. You will find that legally, there is nothing that you can do. This is simply a courtesy from your future spouse."
Sakura quickly stood up and yelled in outrage, "You can't do that! Shisui will be back any day!"
Madara smirked at her before turning his back and walking away. There was no reason to expend effort swatting a mere fly. It was, however, quite entertaining to agitate them and remind them of their impotence.
Several minutes passed as Sakura stood in the doorway fuming. Lee groaned from the pallet on the floor, and she dropped to her knees beside him. "Sakura, you need to stop him," Lee mumbled.
"You were awake?"
"Yes. Stop him. A man like that… can't be in control of the Haruno lands… stop him…" Lee's grip on her hand loosened as he quickly fell asleep. Pulling the blankets over Lee's chest, she grabbed her skirts and quickly ran towards her cousin's hastily erected tent on the far side of the compound. Halfway there, she felt her lungs burning in her chest. She stopped and put her hands on her knees. The cold air froze in her chest, and her heart felt like it was being torn apart. This was from more than a mere sprint.
'No…' she thought, turning her forearm over. It tingled as the edges of her soulmark began to fade. "NO!"
Tobirama looked at his balled fists before quickly standing up. There had been several times he had warned the Uchiha's third general to claim Sakura quickly, even if just on paper. Of course, the young man had been foolish and refused to do so—a young man who was noticeably absent from the living Uchiha that had returned from the battlefield. Now they were faced with Madara demanding her hand to stand as collateral for the Senju-Uchiha alliance; an offer that they could hardly refuse.
"NO!" A woman's shrill scream rang through the falling snow. Tobirama ran out of his tent towards the sound. He stopped short at the sight of Sakura on soaked knees staring at her soulmark with tearful eyes. Quickly pulling her to her feet, he held her tightly in his arms, a shield against the world.
It all made sense now; Madara's proposal and his insistence on following the Rite of Soulmarks to the letter. A simple thing, quick and easy to accomplish—he would claim the Haruno lands by sentencing his own nephew to death.
The sound of horses' hooves beat at the gate, and an Uchiha was frantically waving on the other side as the harried guards pushed it open.
"Bring me the Haruno!" the man barked, galloping into the courtyard. His hood flew backward as a gust of wind whipped the snow from the ground. Izuna stared hard at the woman in Tobirama's arms before he pulled alongside them. "Heal him!"
"...I can't. He's gone…" Sakura attempted to show him the fading soulmark on her forearm when he seized her bare wrist.
"I didn't ask if you could. I gave you a command, woman. Now. Heal. Him!"
Tobirama tore her away and put himself between her and the Uchiha general.
"I had to restart his heart on the way over here. Heal him. My clan can't afford to lose him." Izuna dismounted and put his hands underneath Shisui's arms, dragging him towards the medic tent that had been set up earlier.
Sakura looked up sharply at him as he settled Shisui on a dirty, yet empty cot. "You were successful?"
"Yes!"
Her hands moved swiftly as she grabbed a knife from Tobirama's side and cut Shisui's shirt down the middle. The filthy bandages that Izuna had hastily wrapped split open. A putrid smell rose in the air, and the weaker men gagged while Tobirama and Izuna discreetly covered their noses. Quickly exhaling, Sakura wasted no time in grabbing the jug of boiled water on the side of the cot. She dumped its contents into the open wound and turned Shisui onto his side. The medics in the tent brought several more containers of sterilized water, and they worked tirelessly to clean out the open gash on Shisui's abdomen.
Someone outside of the tent vomited, their retching turned several onlookers green. Shisui moaned loudly when she wiped the edges of the wound with a cloth soaked in purified alcohol. Sakura's hand caressed the side of his face, hoping for any other motion, the flutter of an eyelid, the quirk of a lip, but it remained disappointingly still.
"Just a little bit longer, Shisui," she said under her breath. A Senju medic rolled down the dirtied bedding from underneath his body while Sakura sanitized a curved needle with the flame of a candle. Silk thread was surreptitiously placed on the side table as well as a basket of fresh bandages. Packets of herbs had been laid out, each with their own use: powdered rosewood for pain, resins and peony roots to aid his body in clotting. Neatly tied stitches ran across his skin that would likely form a jagged and painful scar later-if he survived at all.
A medic wiped an alcohol-soaked pad across the fresh stitches before propping up his torso. They held a poultice against the wound. Sakura wrapped a layer of cloth across the section and tied it into place. As his wound seeped and bled, the potions would be activated and spread through the fabric. The last remaining supply of Haruno bandages would be conserved solely for the Uchiha general's aid.
Sakura lifted a basin of water over a bowl and washed her hands with harsh lye soap. She didn't stop until they were raw and on the edge of pain. "Please live...you, out of anybody...please live. We've just started our lives together," she whispered, looking across the row of cots towards Shisui's unconscious form. Drying her hands, she exited the tent and coughed slightly when the frozen air entered her lungs. At least with Lee, there had been hope.
Izuna and Madara were waiting outside the tent when she left. The younger brother had his arms crossed over his chest, and he frowned when he looked at her and Madara walked away.
"Will he live?" Izuna gruffed as he kicked at the piling snow.
Sakura sighed in response and quickly swallowed her own grief before responding.
He didn't give her the opportunity to speak, breaking his menacing gaze and the piercing silence of the evening, "I see. Good day, Haruno-san." He nodded at her and quickly walked away towards the holding cells.
A tear slipped down her cheek and froze to her jaw before she walked into the medic tent. Shisui wasn't the only wounded man that had been brought back. With any luck, she could drown her own pain in work, and later she would check on Lee again.
Night had started to fall on the Senju fortress. The gray tents shuddered in the wind, and the growing snow slid down the sturdy canvas. It was a long walk to the holding cell. Long enough for Izuna to decide how to interrogate this captured Shimura. The Uzumaki had initially interrogated him, but no one on the planet could compare to the highly skilled Uchiha interrogators.
It hadn't taken long at all for the man to spill his guts to Izuna. Pain wasn't the only method that a skilled interrogator could rely on. The lone enemy rolled over quickly enough for a hot meal and a warm fire after several days of cold and mealy rice.
"How did you know that the fortress was unguarded?" Izuna asked patiently.
Between bites of fish, the man replied, "Insider information. You're lucky, I was serving Danzo-sama breakfast when the Akatsuki messenger arrived."
"The Akatsuki? That is interesting," he said pleasantly. "Would you care for another cup of sake?"
"Yes, please, Uchiha-sama." The Shimura soldier guarded the warm cup close to his chest.
"What did the message relay?" Izuna reclined back against the thick stone wall and rested his arm on a raised knee.
The enemy chewed thoughtfully for a moment. "There were at least three sheets of parchment listing various traits of the highest Senju officers. Oh, and there was a hit for one named Shisui, specifically. The instructions were to end him if the Akatsuki assassin proved unsuccessful."
Izuna carefully kept his face in a neutral mask. "I see. Which Senju?"
"One of the generals has a brother, I guess. He'd follow him to the ends of the earth, that kind of thing. What was the name…" He tapped his chin for a moment before snapping his fingers. "Tobirama, that's the one! And there was mention of a Sakura Senju, she's a soulmark holder. Our ally, Orochimaru is fond of those types for his… experiments…" He shuddered.
"Interesting. Is there any more you can tell me?"
"Well, knowing Danzo-sama, he probably had a lookout to find the opportune moment for invasion. The plan was to break in, steal what we could, kill who we could, and with luck find Orochimaru's prize."
Rubbing his chin with his index finger, Izuna nodded and stood up from the floor. There was no need to speak to this man any longer and Izuna was not in the habit of leaving a loose end. With the amount of poison in the sake, he would be dead within the hour. Itachi's plea was finally making sense. Madara had denied his desperate request to join the front line at Shisui's side, ostensibly because of his lung condition. The man was also an invaluable spymaster for the Uchiha clan. Itachi would have known that Madara had sent Shisui right into the arms of the Akatsuki.
'A village in the mountains,' how could Izuna have been so blind? His own brother had sent their nephew on a mission carrying his own death warrant. Not only that, he had brokered an alliance with the Shimura and a terrorist organization! It wasn't possible. His brother had not become that callous over the years.
Hours had passed before the door to the guest house almost bounced off its track when Izuna angrily slid it open. He carelessly dropped his shoes outside and stomped over towards Madara.
"What did you do?" Izuna seethed through clenched teeth.
Madara raised an eyebrow and took a sip of his tea. "You are going to have to be more specific, otouto."
Izuna swiped the saucer off the table. It flew across the room, shattering and embedding itself into the tatami mats. "Did you do it? Did you order Shisui's death? Your own god damn nephew?"
"A minor inconvenience, to be sure. Need I remind you that the Haruno lands are among the most profitable in the entire country."
"And the Shimura clan? You…" Izuna's voice strained, "You brokered an alliance with the likes of them? They've kidnapped Uchiha children before. Toddlers and babies, Madara! Danzo brought them to Orochimaru for his experiments! You know this and you still…" Izuna fell quiet as his brother's face remained unmoved.
"Necessary sacrifices. Perhaps someday, you'll understand."
"No, nii-san. I will never understand. I will never understand why you put a hit on our nephew, never understand why you allied yourself with the Shimura clan and the Akatsuki…"
Madara chuckled lightly. "You owe me a new teacup. You've always been so prone to emotional outbursts."
Izuna pulled back abruptly. "Who are you anymore? Madara? The people in the clan come before anything. Before power, before money, before any of it… You were the one who taught me that."
All of the absurd joviality on Madara's face disappeared in an instant. His features hardened and he lowered his tone. "The boy who taught you that thirty years ago was a fool. Power is the only thing that truly matters in this life."
There was nothing that Izuna could say as he watched his entire worldview shatter around him. The door slid quietly behind him as he walked away from his last remaining brother.
AN: Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment. The pre/sequel, 'Sins of the Heart' is now live! Read below for a brief excerpt. It will have about 5 parts when it's finished.
Okay...maybe one more part and an epilogue… she says… knowing full well that she is most likely lying.
Beta'ed by: cherryberry12 and Moonlady9 thank you both so much for all of your help and everything that you do!
Deleted Scene:
"You're not allowed to die on me, Shisui! I. Told. You. That." Every word was punctuated with Izuna's folded fists pushing against Shisui's sternum. "You and your whore are going to live long-" Izuna paused and pressed his fingers against Shisui's pulse. Nothing. He resumed his efforts to restart Shisui's heart. Shisui's ribs strained under his effort and a loud crack resounded. "And miserable lives. Having boring sex. And ugly children." He stopped and checked again. The moment before he moved his fingers he felt Shisui's heart beat on its own. Izuna opened his fist and dropped it into the ground. He swiftly exhaled before loading Shisui back onto the horse and galloping towards the Senju compound.
The pre/sequel 'Sins of the Heart' is now live! Itachi and Karin's story. I hope you all enjoy.
Preview of Sins of the Heart
The cobblestones echoed underneath his feet as Itachi ran swiftly through an old stone fortress. A small blade rested on his hip, concealed in the moonlight with black paint and easily accessible. His breath fell in short pants and his chest tightened in exertion. The reason that he was no longer an active warrior by Madara's side was coming to haunt him. He stopped and jumped into a nearby corner, listening for any sound of pursuit. The night stilled in anticipation and his breathing came out in inaudible gusts.
A chink of armor sounded not twenty feet from where he hid and his fingers turned white as he clutched the hilt of his knife. The back of his shirt was drenched in sweat and cooled rapidly as he pressed against the stone wall. In all likelihood, another life would soon be ended by his hands. Another sin to atone for in another life, perhaps.
A wooden door opened at the far end of the walkway. Before the woman could even get a glimpse of him, Itachi poised the knife at her neck and backed into the door she came from. He kept a hand around her mouth and slowly turned, keeping his back against the wooden door. She raised her hands up in surrender and shook slightly as they moved together.
In the dim light of the empty room, Itachi was able to make out the red hair, the backwards obi and the disheveled kimono. There was no doubt in his mind that he had come across a prostitute. What remained to be seen, however, was how involved she was in Orochimaru's operation. There was a reason that Itachi kept himself far away from brothels, unlike his cousin. Women made exceptional spies. Far too many samurai had let down their guard in the presence of a woman and paid the ultimate price.
"I'm going to release you. If you scream, I will slit your throat with no hesitation. Nod if you understand," he whispered hoarsely. She nodded.
True to his word, he released her and with a slight stumble, she turned around and looked at him. His entire outfit blended with the night sky and the shadows that lurked around the dank castle. Paint concealed his face and a loose lock of hair escaped from the dark cloth wrapped around his head.
