I am so glad that the last chapter was so well received! I really didn't stop writing for the whole day basically. The point where she meets Itachi in the chakra-plane is just over four months since she's woken up from the coma. I think it's a good time for her to be able to have some closure. I always planned for this to happen, her going back to the temple at some point and ending things with the Otsutsuki brothers and Itachi.

Ah, and Kakashi and Obito. There is going to be a story for them. It's 'Willing Sacrifices' and the third instalment of Sacrifices Universe. The Prologue is already uploaded, but I am definitely going to rewrite it when I start to work on that story more, since I just reread it and was like….. no no no, must fix it. The 'third' person in that story is Rin. She was already dead, so that's why they didn't say her explicitly, since she wasn't in the war and wasn't affected like Obito and Kakashi.

I'm basically updating almost daily huh? This is so much fun and doing wonders for my writing, so I will keep trying to update asap!

Look forward to some Tobirama x Sakura's students fun.. Tobirama x Sakura confrontation when she gets back.. The 'bad feeling' that Hashirama has.. Shikata training with Sakura and her students… There's some fun things happening !

Tbh, I'm really feeling the main story. So maybe I won't post many extras after all. But, remember that you can also request some extras if you want as well! I'll do my best to answer requests, but I'm pretty much writing everything I want in the regular storyline anyways. Sorry if this is disappointing but well, at least i'm writing the story haha.

enjoy!

Alex xx

Chapter 10: Absence

Lord Tobirama stood with arms crossed and a surly expression on his face in the middle of the training field and Hikari immediately gripped Shouta's arm.

"I don't want to do this," she whispered, frantically.

Shouta shrugged her off.

"It's training. Lord Hokage gave us orders, and the Nara kid is coming today too. Do you want to make Lady Sakura look bad by not showing up?"

Hikari gritted her teeth. She definitely didn't want that. Lady Sakura was teaching her how to be a great medic and a great shinobi. She regularly trained with Lord Tobirama, so Hikari could do it too.

"When did you become such a big fan of Lady Sakura?" Hikari asked Shouta, changing the topic. "I thought you didn't care either way."

Shouta shot her an irritated look.

"You're just a kid. You wouldn't understand," he muttered.

Hikari glared at him.

"You're such a.. ugh! I am not a kid!"

Shouta ignored her and kept walking towards Lord Tobirama. Hikari stared at his back and her fists shook in anger. He was so annoying! She ran after him and within moments, they stood before Lord Tobirama. Hikari immediately felt her cheeks heat up. He was so intimidating but so handsome. His hair was so cool, and his face was so strong, his red marks made his angular features stand out even more. Hikari just didn't know how to function around him. She was scared and also flustered and everything in between. Lord Tobirama looked down at them, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

"Where's the Nara?" He asked gruffly.

Shouta shrugged. Hikari noticed the looked Lord Tobirama was giving Shouta. She narrowed her eyes slightly. He seemed to be judging him, looking down on him. Hikari pursed her lips, recognising that look from many of the men in her clan as one they gave to those they considered lesser. Tobirama's eyes flickered up and Hikari turned to see what he was looking at. The Nara kid was coming. He had his hands in his pockets, his hair was tied up in a spiked pony-tail, he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else.

"You're late," Lord Tobirama said with disapproval.

"I wasn't going to come," the Nara shrugged. "The deal was training with Sakura, not you."

Hikari stared at the Nara with shock. He was being so impolite to Lord Tobirama, and he wasn't using Lady Sakura's title. Either he was brave or stupid.

"She's away," Tobirama replied shortly.

The Nara smirked.

"I wonder whose fault that is," he said, staring knowingly at Tobirama.

Hikari swallowed. The two were giving each other hard looks like they knew something that she and Shouta didn't. She glanced at Shouta, who was watching the exchange with interest. Hikari stepped forward, wanting to break the tension.

"Hi, I'm Hikari Shimura," she said, holding out her hand to the Nara.

He blinked, breaking his contact with Lord Tobirama and stared at her. Hikari kept her smile in place, but the more seconds ticked by, the more she wanted to move away from this rude kid. Eventually, he took her hand.

"Shikata Nara," he replied.

"This is Shouta Uchiha," Hikari introduced Shouta, knowing he wouldn't do it himself.

"So your the heir to the Nara?" Shouta asked.

Shikata shrugged disinterestedly. Hikari immediately understood why he was impolite. He was basically the same social rank as Lord Tobirama, except that he was just a kid and it was totally unacceptable to act like that to someone who was your superior.

"While Sakura's absent, I'm here to train you," Tobirama interrupted them. They all turned to him. "I don't know what Sakura's been training you in - " Hikari went to tell him, but he kept talking " - and I don't care. The three of you are going to spar. I'll assess you."

"But that's - "

Shouta put a hand on Hikari's shoulder and gave her a silencing look. She swallowed her words. Lord Tobirama stared at them a moment.

"Start when you're ready," he said.

Hikari gave a short, determined nod. Shouta stepped back and Shikata let out a drawn-out sigh.

"So early for this," he muttered.

Lord Tobirama stepped back a few paces and the three of them faced off.

Hikari knew Shouta; he was restricted but he'd push himself. She could beat him with her speed, quick attacks, darting in and out. But she didn't know anything about the Nara, only that they had some kind of special clan jutsu. At a surface glance, Hikari thought he looked bored, but it was a rouse. There was a calculating look in his eyes as he observed the two of them. She made a choice: take out Shouta first.

Hikari moved quick, flinging shuriken in the direction of Shikata to distract him while she attacked Shouta. Shouta jumped away from Hikari, who attacked him with a series of jabs and punches. He blocked her and she dodged his counterattacks. In her peripheral, she saw Shikata just standing there, watching. She rolled away from one of Shouta's attacks and removed more shuriken from her pouch, mid-roll and flung them at Shikata. He dodged them easily with a sidestep and she grit her teeth in irritation. He wasn't even trying to participate.

Hikari ducked from the blow Shouta, but he connected her shoulder, she stumbled slightly, and before she could regain her balance, he gripped her arm and flung her away, throwing her across the field. She rolled across the grass and bounded back up to her feet, gritting her teeth. She was not going to lose. She saw Shouta advancing on Shikata. She ran towards them when she suddenly saw Shouta leap into the air and she was frozen. Shikata gave her a lazy, smug smirk.

"You should pay more attention to your surroundings," he said. "Shadow Possession Jutsu, complete."

Hikari looked down at her feet and saw the shadow had immobilised her. She grunted in frustration. She couldn't move.

"Shimura."

Lord Tobirama called her to him. Shikata released the jutsu and Hikari stood there a moment in disappointment, knowing she was out of the fight now. She'd lost. She felt annoyed with herself. Shikata was right, she needed to pay more attention. She walked over to Lord Tobirama, pouting slightly, with clenched fists. She stood stiffly beside him and then froze when she felt his big hand on her head.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," he said to her in a voice gentler than she ever imagined he could give. "You fight with heart. Be better next time."

His hand lifted off her head and Hikari felt like her entire face lit up with fire, all the way to the tips of her ears. Lord Tobirama...complimented her. She swallowed. She would be better next time, that was for certain. She turned to watch Shouta and Shikata square off against each other. Shouta's Sharingan was activated, and he was leaping and jumping to avoid the shadow chasing him.

"The Nara clan's secret technique is their shadow jutsu," Lord Tobirama said unexpectedly. "It's a useful mid range jutsu, but there are many weaknesses to relying on clan jutsu. That's why his father sent him to train in taijutsu with Sakura."

Hikari looked at Lord Tobirama in surprise. He was actually talking to her, like a normal person.

"Sakura's skill as a medic-nin is unrivaled, but her true power lies in her chakra control. Her monstrous strength comes from this. Her fighting style is confrontational and head-on. Yours is not."

Hikari blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"You won't be able to imitate Sakura's style of fighting," Lord Tobirama said. Hikari felt her heart drop. "That raw strength isn't going to be one of your abilities."

"But, Lady Sakura - "

"Is not you. Has she mentioned anything about teaching you her techniques?"

Hikari frowned.

"No."

"What has she had you working on?"

"Speed, agility, dodging," Hikari replied automatically. "She says that a medic-nin's greatest ability, besides their jutsu, has to be dodging attacks. We can't get hurt, or our allies will suffer."

"She's right," he nodded. "Your strength isn't in physical attacks, it's in your speed. We'll work on it. After all," he gave a smirk. "I am the fastest shinobi in the world."

Shouta suddenly cried out. Hikari's eyes snapped to him.

"Shouta!" She cried, running to his side.

"I'm fine," he said, wincing in pain. "I just twisted my ankle."

Hikari's hands hovered over his ankle and she concentrated her medical jutsu on the area.

"It's the time gap," Lord Tobirama said, appearing beside them.

Shouta glanced up at him and then back at Hikari and gave a short nod.

"Time-gap?" Shikata asked, ambling towards them, hands stuffed in his pockets again.

"When the Sharingan is activated there is often a gap between the physical and mental, what the user can see and what they can do," Lord Tobirama explained.

Hikari grit her teeth, concentrating on trying to soothe the ankle, but also listen. The Sharingan was really interesting and the Uchiha were secretive. Anything she could learn could be really useful for the future.

"My body is too slow," Shouta muttered with annoyance.

Hikari finished the healing.

"You should be able to walk on it, but we should see someone more experienced to check."

Shouta nodded and gave a small smile of thanks and Hikari smiled back.

"That's enough for today," Lord Tobirama said to them. "Get him to the hospital. I have work to do. Don't be late tomorrow."

He disappeared.

"Troublesome," Shikata muttered.

Hikari stared at the place Lord Tobirama disappeared from. Instead of fear and fluster, she was feeling excitement and anticipation. Lord Tobirama's words rang in her ears, and the feeling of his hand on her head lingered. She grinned. She had the chance to train with Lord Tobirama, and there was no way she wasn't going to make the most of it.

Hashirama opened the door to his home to find his wife standing in the hall, hands on her hips, her lips pursed and a look of annoyance on her face. His mind immediately raced through everything he had said and done, trying to pick what had upset Mito so much.

"Hello, my lovely wife," he said tentatively.

"We need to talk," she said.

"About what?" Hashirama asked, incredibly nervously.

"Sakura."

Hashirama let out a half-relieved sigh.

"She'll be out of the village for another few weeks," he said.

Mito narrowed her eyes.

"That's not what I want to talk about," she said. "What did she mean about an Uchiha revolt? I'd never even heard of her before I met her two years ago, so how did she suddenly become so important to both the Senju and the Uchiha? What is going on?"

Hashirama looked at his wife, whose eyes were a mix of desperation, pleading, and irritation. As Hokage, there were many things he had responsibility for and Sakura's secrets were one of them. With rumblings of disturbances in the neighbouring nations, if any rumour of word got out about the truth of Sakura's origins, it would paint a target on her back that would never fade and which would also endanger the village.

He wanted to tell Mito, he hated keeping things from her, but the more people that knew, the more people who were in danger. However, considering the conversation he'd shared with Shikaru Nara a few weeks ago, it seemed that Sakura was beginning to open up to more people. When she returned to the village, he was seriously considering throwing her into a dungeon, if only to reiterate to her the dangers of her very existence. Madara's messages to him had not divulged any information about what she was actually doing and he was frustrated by his lack of knowledge.

"I believe she means to speak to you about it at some point," Hashirama said, walking further into their home. "So I'll explain everything I know about Sakura Haruno."

Mito's face relaxed slightly. They sat on the couch together as he talked, explaining how he and Madara and Tobi first met Sakura and Itachi, and all the events that followed their arrival. At the conclusion of his tale, when they discovered Sakura laying over Itachi's dead body after the Nine-Tails retreat, Mito looked shocked and pale.

"There are things that I don't know, of course," Hashirama said in a quiet voice. "But when the time comes, allow her to tell you herself."

Mito gave a slow nod, still absorbing the information.

"I can understand now why she seems nervous around me," she said slowly.

Then, suddenly he saw a light in her eyes. She leaned over and gripped his arm, and he was a little baffled by her excitement.

"Hashirama, do you think this means that perhaps one of us, or our children was her master? To teach her this seal?"

She pointed to the purple diamond on her forehead. Hashirama stared at her, blinking a few times, his own excitement rising.

"I think Tobirama mentioned she implied it once," he said, feeling a little giddy, his smiling getting wide. "Or at least a Senju."

Mito smiled and sat back with folded arms and a satisfied look on her face.

"I'm quite looking forward to when she returns home," she said.

Hashirama gave a strained laugh.

"Yes. I suppose I am too," he said. His eyes glinted. "I'm looking forward to all the official duties I'm going to make her do as punishment for leaving without permission."

Mito laughed lightly.

"She did ask me to help her be a proper lady." Her eyes sparkled with amusement. "Maybe I can help."

Sakura stood in the entrance way of the Uchiha family house. Slowly, she made her way further inside, twisting through corridors and halls she didn't remember being there before, following the sounds of laughter and chatter in the home. She rounded a corner and was suddenly confronted with a room full of people.

Naruto and Sasuke sat side by side, bickering and arguing like normal, but there was a spark of amusement in Sasuke's eyes and the hint of a smile on Naruto's irritated face. Mikoto and Fugaku sat beside each other, Mikoto whispered behind her hand and they shared a smile, watching over their youngest son and his best friend. Shisui came into the room from the balcony outside and jumped on his little cousin and Naruto, laughing at their reactions, which were to tackle him. Itachi was watching the entire scene with a soft smile as he walked into the room behind Shisui, but didn't come inside further than the doorway.

Sakura felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked to see that Kakashi had arrived with Yamato and Sai, the latter two joined the party while Kakashi hung back with her.

"It's nice, isn't it?" He asked.

Sakura nodded.

"It's like a dream," she replied wistfully.

Kakashi chuckled beside her.

"It is a dream, but that doesn't mean it's not nice."

Naruto exploded over some joke Sai made, and Sasuke pouted in that childish way he did sometimes, and Yamato tried to calm them all down, while Shisui was encouraging Sai, serving only to confuse him. Sakura and Itachi caught eyes from across the room and they smiled at one another.

"Are you going in?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura shook her head.

"No."

Kakashi hummed.

"Seems like you've decided something," he said.

"Seems that way," she replied.

They stood together for a moment, watching over the people they loved.

"I hear you're going to be a kid again," Sakura said, looking up at him.

He gave her a crinkle-eyed smile.

"Apparently."

"I hope it's happier," Sakura said. "I hope you can live without regret this time."

Kakashi put his arm around her shoulder and they stood together. Kakashi and Sakura on one side of the room, Itachi on the other, a family between them, and Sakura smiled.

Sakura opened her eyes, blinking slowly as she woke. She heard the faint trickle of water from the waterfall from the temple ground into the abyss below, but there was no other sound to be heard. It was the second night they'd stayed at the temple, and Sakura knew they should leave and return to Konoha. She wiped her eyes tiredly and turned on her bedroll. Madara was still sleeping across from her. He seemed younger when he slept. His face was relaxed, his mouth opened slightly, and a very light snore came from him. She had to admit, he was just a little cute when he was asleep.

She quietly slipped the blanket off, folded it, and then stood. She linked her fingers, and reached her hands up to the sky and leaned side to side, stretching out her body. She glanced back at Madara, who still slept, gave a faint smile in his direction and then walked over to the temple. There was no need to be bothered about the weather, and there was only a single, uncomfortable bed inside the temple, so they'd slept out on the grass.

Once Sakura was within, she looked around. It was just the same as she remembered. She saw the patch of wall Itachi threw the table at, and marks from the repairs to the made to it. All those memories she had from this place, they seemed like they happened such a lifetime ago. She felt a pang of sad nostalgia. A flash of white in her peripheral caught her attention. She saw a scroll on the table, walked over and picked it up.

Her heart clenched painfully as she read the first line.

Sakura and Dango,

I lived a long life, and I have many regrets. For years I've tried to keep the secrets of the Sage of Six Paths and halt the misery that is Zetsu. But it seems that I've failed, and now, in a strange twist of fate and time, you must make up for my mistakes.

One day, I know you'll return here, so I've left this for you. I made the preparations for you to meet the others in the chakra plane, but surely I'll be dead by the time you come, so this will be the last time. Should I fail, I know you will succeed. Strength, wisdom, love. You both carry it inside you, and a fierce determination that has made me feel young again. I'm setting out to try and help you, I hope to see you again before the end.

You know as well as I that there are some secrets that should be kept secret. At the entrance to the cave is a destruction seal. Activate it, and allow this place to become part of those secrets again.

Thank you for giving this old man some laughter and joy, and for making my life feel worthwhile again.

Live long and don't forget to laugh.

Tenji

Sakura read the scroll through twice, then rolled and held it tightly to her chest. Tenji. She felt a wash of sadness remembering how he'd been injured when she'd finally seen him again, and how he'd died for them. She wished she could've gotten to know him better, that they'd been able to share more stories and talk and laugh again. She placed the scroll gently down, back on the table where she found it. Sakura had a feeling many things were now finding a place to rest in peace and calmness, now that she had come here and faced the parts of her she had been shying away from. There was a part of her that had been confused and swirling with undefinable emotion when she woke up, she noticed those feelings had settled.

She closed her eyes and remembered Itachi's face, his words to her and a single tear spilled from her eye and rolled down her cheek. She wiped it quickly away and with one last glance around the sparse and dimly lit temple, she turned and walked back outside, heading towards the little river to wash her face. She was really looking forward to when she could have a real bath, totally submerged in water, instead of wiping herself down. It was the worst part of traveling. She looked back at Madara and smiled with some disbelief when she saw that he was still sleeping.

With an almost fond shrug, Sakura decided to make them both some breakfast. When she was done, walked over and kneeled beside Madara, and put her hand on his arm lightly, shaking him a little bit to wake him. She was surprised he had slept so deeply.

"Madara," she whispered his name quietly. "Wake up."

He frowned and moaned sleepily. Sakura giggled a little.

"Come and eat something," she murmured a little louder, shaking him a little harder.

He blinked and looked at her tiredly.

"Sakura?" He groaned.

She smiled, nodded and repeated that the food was ready and waiting before she left him to wake up. She went to sit on the steps of the balcony and ate while she watched Madara slowly wake. After a few more tired minutes, Madara finally joined her. They ate quietly together. Sakura was content to eat in silence until both of them had woken up completely. It was so peaceful, even though they were underground and couldn't see the sky. She let out a sad sigh.

"We should go back today," she said with a small grimace.

Madara looked at her with some surprise.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

She nodded.

"What I needed has been resolved," she replied, shrugging one shoulder. "There's nothing left for me here now."

"Hn." Madara finished off his food. "We'll pack and leave then. I'll send a message to Hashirama when we're outside."

Sakura looked at him questioningly.

"You haven't asked me what happened yesterday," she observed. "Aren't you curious?"

He glanced at her and then away.

"Of course, but this is something that is clearly personal to you. I wouldn't want to intrude on it."

Sakura narrowed her eyes playfully.

"Don't you think if it was that personal I'd have made sure you never found me?"

Madara raised an eyebrow and gave her a look.

"Are you suggesting you could've gotten away from me?"

"If I tried hard," Sakura replied with a sly smile.

He scoffed.

"You overestimate yourself."

"Oh!" Sakura pretended to be offended. "You underestimate me."

Madara smirked.

"You don't have the skill to hide from me, Sakura."

Sakura laughed, knowing he was probably right. If Madara was determined, she doubted anyone could hide from him, no matter who they were.

"This place is maybe the only place in the world that had the ability to connect the physical realm with a chakra realm," Sakura said after a moment, her smile slowly fading. Madara looked at her interestedly. "When Itachi and I came here, we met the two people who had taken us from our time and they explained what they wanted from us. After I fought with Tobirama, I had a dream and it reminded me of this place."

She let out a sigh.

"I had a vague idea that maybe, maybe, somehow Asura and Indra could bring Itachi back."

She chuckled, and noticed he looked away, she felt a small pang of guilt but ignored it.

"So I came here, I had to know. Tenji had prepared the chakra plane for me before he left. He knew we'd come back one day."

"Did you meet them again?" Madara asked quietly.

Sakura nodded.

"Yes. I already knew I guess, what they'd say. But it was okay because I saw him there."

Madara turned to look at her again. Sakura felt herself cry lightly and she smiled although tears ran down her cheeks.

"I feel like some great weight has been lifted from me," she said.

"Then you are lucky," Madara murmured. "To be able to say good-bye."

Sakura felt a pain in her chest. Nervously, she looked at him and moved closer.

"Will you tell me what happened?" She asked quietly.

She didn't look at him, feeling that if he felt like he was being watched, he wouldn't speak. He was quiet for a long time, but Sakura wasn't in any rush.

"I felt helpless."

His voice was low and filled with emotion.

"My chakra was kept at the point just before passing out, and I couldn't move or do anything."

From the corner of her eye, she saw his fists clench.

"That…Zetsu. I can remember him laughing. He had both of us, and Izuna - his eyes - " Madara looked away. "In the end, Izuna told me to be strong."

They fell into a sad but companionable silence. Sakura had an urge to hug him, at least to just show her empathy and sympathy. But she stayed where she was, letting her presence provide those feelings instead. After some time they quietly packed and set out back to Konoha. Sakura activated the seal Tenji wrote to her about, and the last Ninshu temple disappeared in a rumble of stone and rock inside the mountain.

Since Lady Sakura was away, Hikari had taken over the treatment for Shouta. Of course, Hikari wasn't anywhere near the level that Lady Sakura was, but she had improved leaps and bounds in her medical ninjutsu and had been studying in all her spare time, enough that her mother was worried she would wear out her eyes with all her reading. Hikari was upset that Lady Sakura had run off without a word, and frustrated that no one would tell her why, but Shouta seemed more upset than she was and she couldn't work out why.

Hikari and Shouta were in an unused examination room. Shouta sat on the bed, shirtless as Hikari prepared herself for his treatment. Shouta's scars were terrible. She didn't know how he had survived them at all. Since he had grown, the scarred skin had stretched and torn in many places, and Lady Sakura had been working to repair the skin using a combination of salves, oils and chakra therapy.

Shouta had refused to allow Hikari to treat him at first, but she'd eventually worn him down, using the same technique she had seen Lady Sakura use on the other medics to get them to do things they didn't want to - a hard stare and the promise she wouldn't stop asking.

She carried the oil to the bed and stood beside Shouta. He laid on his stomach and flinched under her touch when her oiled hands massaged the skin of his back. She felt awkward, unsure of what to talk about.

"Do you think Lord Madara found her?" She asked him after another few moments of quiet.

"Almost certainly," Shouta replied.

"Why do you think she left like that?" Hikari asked.

Shouta was quiet.

"Lady Matsuri told me it's probably something to do with the lover she lost."

Hikari paused her massage for a moment before continuing.

"I wonder how it feels to love someone that much," she mused.

"I never want to find out," Shouta mumbled.

Hikari stopped massaging.

"Why?" She asked surprised. "You don't want to fall in love or have a family?"

Shouta let out a humourless laugh.

"Who would want someone like me, like this?"

Hikari grit her teeth angrily.

"You shouldn't say those kinds of things about yourself. This is why you're so gloomy."

She restarted her massage, moving down his arms, a little harder than before.

"You're so ignorant," he muttered.

Hikari glared at the back of his head.

"In any case, I didn't mean that I don't want a family. I just don't want to fall in love."

"That doesn't make any sense," Hikari muttered.

"It would if you saw Lord Madara look at Lady Sakura."

Hikari paused.

"He loves her?" She asked.

Shouta laughed.

"You didn't know? Everyone knows."

Hikari screwed up her nose.

"I've been preoccupied learning how to be a medic," she replied dryly. "Maybe it's just the Uchiha who know."

"Maybe."

"And what does that mean? How does he look at her? I'm starting the chakra part of it now," she said. "I don't think I've ever seen them together."

"I saw them once, out for dinner together," Shouta replied.

Hikari's hands glowed green and she closed her eyes to concentrate on the flow of it. Too much and she'd damage the skin further, too little and it would have no effect whatsoever.

"And?"

Hikari couldn't help but be interested, plus she'd never heard Shouta talk so much at once. He sighed.

"And Lord Madara looked liked at Lady Sakura like she was the only person in the world."

"What's so bad about feeling that?" Hikari asked quietly.

"Losing it."

At that moment, Hikari understood that the two and a half years between them was wider than she realised. The air in the room became heavy and she stopped her jutsu.

"Well," she said after a moment. "I'll make you a promise, then."

Shouta turned onto his back, and Hikari put the oil on her hands again.

"What?" Shouta asked her with a frown.

"If you ever fall in love and lose it, I'll still be your friend. You'll never lose me," she smiled.

Shouta looked at her for a minute.

"So we're friends now, are we?"

Hikari's face burned. She brought her hands down hard on his arm to begin the massage.

"No," she pouted.

She glanced at Shouta's face and saw a little smile on his lips. She fought back the smile that was on her own lips.

"When you lie you face goes red," Shouta said with a hint of amusement.

"Stop embarrassing me," Hikari mumbled. "I'm trying to help you."

Shouta laughed quietly. Hikari continued the treatment for a while longer, and they were quiet. Shouta suddenly reached up and took a stay strand of her hair in his fingers. Hikari froze.

"Thank you," he said.

He stood and replaced his shirt, and left Hikari frozen in the examination room. Extremely confused. And weirdly happy.

Hashirama opened his office window at the sound of a beak knocking insistently against it. Madara's hawk hopped in through it. Hashirama undid the string attaching the small scroll and thanked the summons, who disappeared with a squawk and a puff of smoke. He unrolled it.

5 days.

Hashirama's forehead hit his desk. Why was his best friend so uninformative? Why, why, why, why.

Tobirama was loathed to admit he'd actually grown quite fond of Sakura's students. Hikari was a cheerful girl that obviously adored Sakura and thought she was the most amazing shinobi in the entire world. She was motivated and listened and studied well. She was a very capable young shinobi. In another year or two, if she kept progressing, Tobirama questioned if she'd prove quick enough to pick up some of his techniques.

Shikata Nara, although Sakura hadn't actually gotten around to training him, proved himself a genius from the first day of training. But he needed to be pushed and Tobirama was more than willing to provide the push. Dropping comments about how Sakura would be disappointed to find he hadn't been working hard in her absence gave him two satisfactory responses: a blush in the kids' cheeks, and a pick-up in his work ethic.

Tobirama would have a lot of things to apologise to Sakura for when she returned, which would the following day, according to Hashirama, and one of them was his assessment of Shouta Uchiha. Whatever treatment plan she'd put him on was working, and Hikari Shimura seemed capable of continuing it. Shouta seemed to sense that Tobirama hadn't approved of him, and had almost completely ignored Tobirama the entire six weeks they'd been training, but he'd shown marked improvement and Tobirama was not above acknowledging that he'd been wrong.

When he arrived at the training ground, the three were stretching for training. He looked at them all.

"Sakura's coming back tomorrow."

The reaction immediate. Hikari's entire body snapped to attention, her eyes lit up and her entire body instantly became excited, visibly trembling. Shouta looked torn between happy and angry. Shikata was doing his best to seem disinterested and failing.

"Really? How do you know? Did she send a message?"

Hikari bounded over to him and asked, her eyes wide and eager.

"Madara sent one four days ago," Tobirama answered.

At Madara's name, both Shouta and Shikata looked annoyed. Tobirama could have laughed but he kept his face clear of emotion.

"Four days ago!" Hikari exclaimed. "And you're just telling us now!?" She looked horrified. "Shouta! We have to go."

She ran and grabbed his arm, and dragged him away.

"Where are you going?" Tobirama called.

"The hospital!" Hikari called back. "We have to make sure everything is prepared for Lady Sakura's arrival!"

Tobirama and Shikata watched the two of them run off.

"Troublesome," Shikata muttered.

"Indeed," Tobirama agreed.

Sakura and Madara stood in a familiar place. They stood under the tree by the Naka River, where they met while Sakura healed Izuna s before the Uchiha-Senju alliance, before Konoha. They reminisced about the first days of Sakura and Itachi's arrival.

"I almost killed you that day," Madara said to her.

Sakura smiled, looking sideways at him.

"I know."

"Something in your face stopped me," he told her, his voice gruff. "I don't know what it was exactly."

Sakura shrugged.

"You just knew that I was there to help." She pursed her lips. "You weren't very nice to me though."

Madara smirked.

"You weren't very nice to me either."

Sakura dropped her bag onto the ground at the trunk of the tree.

"Well, I'm in no rush to face the wrath of an angry Hokage," she said, stretching her arms above her head.

She eyed the water, her eyes glinted with its reflection and an idea.

"I'm going swimming."

She sat down quickly and took off her shoes. Madara remained standing beside her, seeming to hesitate uncharacteristically. Sakura did her best to seem utterly confident, but she was a little anxious. As she undid the bandages strapped at her thigh and removed her elbow pads, she questioned exactly how undressed she was going to get.

It had been more than two weeks traveling with Madara after she'd finally felt some closure with Itachi. She felt more at peace with his death every day, and she was both grateful and saddened by it. During that time, there had been an invisible line drawn between herself and Madara. He kept her at a distance, and she kept him at one as well, but they were more relaxed with each other, and Sakura didn't feel so afraid. At times, she still felt like there was some wall of fear she couldn't yet breach.

She stood and Madara still hadn't moved. She turned slightly away from him and took a quick, shallow breath. She didn't want to get her clothes wet, so she made a quick decision. She pulled off her headband and slipped her skirt off, leaving her in just her undershorts, and then she pulled off her qiapo and walked to the water in only her chest bindings, which she prayed would hold. Sakura didn't look back at that point. She didn't want to see his face or show that her own was burning red. She was still a young woman, after all, sometimes she just wanted to be one, no matter what was or wasn't considered appropriate for the time or in front of a man. She submerged herself in the water, letting the coolness of it wash some of the heat from her body.

It was just what she needed. The water was clean and refreshing. She sighed happily, floating like she was sitting, her hands wading the water and her head and shoulders out of the water. She heard splashing behind her and turned to see Madara enter the river. His hair was tied up and back into a ponytail. He was shirtless and his pants rode low on his hips. Sakura blinked and swallowed. He waded the water over to her, in the middle of the river, where it was too deep for her to stand, but she guessed he still could.

"It's nice," she said.

"It's cold," he replied.

She grinned.

"You must be old if the water affects you that much."

"You tease too much," Madara responded.

"Don't be such a baby," Sakura laughed. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. "Just enjoy the banter."

Her hair floated up in the water around her.

"I do," Madara murmured.

Their hands brushed against one another in the water. Sakura opened her eyes to see Madara staring at her.

"Do I have something on my face?" She asked eyebrow raised.

She knew she didn't, but she felt too awkward and didn't know what else to say. Madara pretended to think about it.

"Do you?"

She pouted.

"If you want to be like that, then take this!"

She sent a splash at him and then swam away a little. Madara blinked and wiped away the water from his face. Sakura bit her lip, smiling widely and wondering at what his reaction was going to be. He looked at her, and for a moment she thought he was angry, but then she saw a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.

"I hope you understand what you've done, Sakura," he said to her. "This means war."

Sakura's grin widened. The next few minutes became a bout of splashing and laughter and actual, real fun that had Sakura feeling like there was nothing else important in the world, just for a little while. After a particularly big splash from her, which she may or may not have used chakra to create, Madara attacked her properly, and she laughed and squealed a little as she struggled to get out of his grip, but he was too strong when she wasn't using chakra. She stopped struggling after a second.

"I give up," she sighed, laughing.

She heard his deep laughter as well. He let her go, but they were floating close together, chest to chest and face to face. In the water beneath them, their legs kicking between each other and the laughter died, and the smiles faded. They stared at one another, and Sakura felt her pulse pick up. She felt his hand reach her arm under the water, and she shivered at his touch. The atmosphere between them became very quiet and intimate.

"You know how I feel about you," Madara said quietly, his voice barely audible.

Sakura swallowed and nodded. She did know, but her throat was thick and she couldn't speak. Her mind felt like it was spinning out of control in confusion. But he wasn't looking at her demandingly or commandingly, instead, his eyes were incredibly intense yet gentle. His hand moved down her arm to her hand. He linked his fingers through hers and brought her hand up and out of the water and kissed it lightly.

"Sakura, I'll be here, when you're ready," he murmured, looking directly into her eyes.

Sakura felt frozen by his gaze and touch and words. She couldn't respond even if she wanted to, part of her just couldn't find a way to say something, anything. He let go of her hand, finally breaking eye contact, and swam away from her. She watched, almost in a trance, as he exited the river. The water dripped off his body, and his pants clung tightly to him, and she burned as she saw the entire shape of his behind in them. Sakura floated in place for a while, before she too exited the water and redressed herself.

Madara never said another word about what happened in the water as they laid out in the sun, drying off a little before they finally headed back to Konoha.