Chapter 20: Control

Tobirama paused briefly when he felt the explosion of Nine-Tails chakra and then cursed and increased his speed. He had to get to them now. There was no time left to lose. If Mito had lost control, it meant something terrible had happened - to her, to someone else. He dreaded to think of what it was. He was so close. He could feel the strain in Sakura's chakra, and in a split-decision, went to her first. He felt his chest jolt when he saw her laying on her side, twitching on the forest floor, holding herself tightly. He flickered to her side.

"Sakura, I'm here," he said.

He looked up through the trees to see Mito moving forwards, radiating anger.

"Tobi," she grunted through clenched teeth.

"What happened?"

"Kumo," she said. "Lightning. I can't - I can't get it out."

Tobirama understood. He pressed a hand over her the wound in her shoulder and pushed his chakra into her body, she groaned in pain as he changed his chakra form into earth to disable the lightning. She gasped as her twitches stopped and thanked him.

"We have to get her back," Sakura said, jumping to her feet.

Her face was still pained, but he could feel her sending chakra through her body, healing herself. His focus was becoming blurred by the negative energy surrounding Mito in front of them.

"We can't let her lose control any more than this. If she forms a Nine-Tails cloak, she might kill us all by accident."

"That won't happen," Tobirama said.

Sakura put a hand over her shoulder and healed the stab wound.

"You're not in good shape."

She sent him a glare.

"We need to get Matsuri and Asami away," she said to him. "That man, he completely masks his chakra. I don't know how he's still standing after that punch, but he's strong."

Tobirama noticed the man for the first, backing away from Mito. He frowned in concern, realising he didn't feel any chakra at all, which was not a good sign.

"They're after Mito."

"I figured." He gripped Sakura's arm. "Are you ready?"

She gave a short determined nod. Tobirama took out a couple of marked kunai and within a second, had carried them across the field, behind Mito and the man, and right beside Matsuri and Asami. The female shinobi spun on her heel and Sakura attacked her, while Tobirama grabbed Matsuri and Asami, flooded them both with chakra to break the genjutsu and then transported them back to the trees. They both blinked and looked at him in shock and disorientation.

"Tobirama?" Matsuri peered at him.

He could smell sake all over her.

"Lord Tobirama," Asami breathed, fear in her eyes. "What happened?"

"You were captured by Kumo shinobi after Mito," Tobirama explained.

Asami and Matsuri both gasped. There was a sudden rumble in the ground, and Tobirama turned to see Sakura smashing the female into the ground with a punch and Mito ferociously attacking the man, who was barely keeping up with her. Tobirama had never seen her so violent before. Her

"Mito! Sakura!" Asami cried.

"Stay here," Tobirama said to Matsuri and Asami. "Madara, Yuri and Takuma are on their way."

Matsuri nodded and was gripped by Asami, who was trembling in fear. Tobirama passed Matsuri a kunai and she accepted it without hesitation, her fingers gripping the hilt, in a familiar manner. He knew she would defend Asami with her life, despite her having retired from the shinobi lifestyle. As far as Tobirama was aware, Madara considered her a skilled shinobi, and even retired, a shinobi never forgot. Confident that Matsuri would take care of Asami, Tobirama disappeared back to Sakura's side. They shared a look.

"Throw him at me," Sakura said to him, and Tobirama knew what to do.

He threw his kunai out at the ground near the feet of the Kumo shinobi, and was there in a split second. The kumo shinobi was stuck between Mito, who severely and savagely injured him and continued to attack him, and now Tobirama. Tobirama gripped the kumo shinobi from behind and with as much strength as he could muster, threw him backward towards Sakura, who was running at them. He wasn't as strong as Sakura, but he had enough natural strength to throw him far enough that Tobirama wasn't worried about him anymore. As soon as his hands were empty, he came face to face with an enraged Mito, who, before his eyes, had a slowly transforming face. He watched in morbid fascination. Her eyes were red with a black slit and two whisker-like marks appeared on her cheeks, her teeth were slowly growing points as she bared them at her. With a more animalistic than human motion, Mito attacked him, and Tobirama managed to take a firm hold of both her wrists.

"Mito! Stop, Mito." He demanded, staring into her eyes.

She growled at him and he saw her fingernails were lengthening into claws. She pulled her feet up and lifted them to his chest and violently kicked off, forcing herself out of his grip and landing on all fours on the ground.

"Mito!" Sakura cried out to her, Sakura ran over to them.

Mito's head turned sharply to give her attention to Sakura.

"Mito it's okay, it's over. It's over!"

Mito stared at the two of them, but Tobirama could see there was something missing of herself in her eyes. It was like she didn't recognise them. There was a bubbling of orange chakra coming from her skin.

"Mito, you're strong. You can take back control!" Sakura pleaded.

Tobirama felt some fear and doubt creep into him. Sakura elbowed him and gave him a desperate look.

"Mito, the fight is over," he said gruffly.

Sakura let out a strangled grunt of frustration and took a few steps forward to Mito. Tobirama tried to stop her, but she shrugged him off.

"Mito."

Her voice was quiet and there was a tentative, shaky smile on her face.

"Look at me," she said. "I'm not hurt. I'm okay."

Mito's eyes flashed and doubt crossed her face, she growled defensively, the orange bubbling chakra seeming to fight between spreading and being reabsorbed.

"Asami and Matsuri are safe."

Sakura continued to talk in a soothing voice, but she stopped walking to Mito, and Tobirama heard the strain in her voice and the sudden tenseness in her stance.

"It's over. You don't need to fight anymore. You need to hear me, Mito. You need to take back control."

Mito's eyes squeezed shut, and her body seemed to shake, as she struggled with something internally. Tobirama watched in some amazement as Mito's transformation slowly faded. The tense set of her muscles relaxed, her fingers straightened and her nails retracted. Her tension in her mouth and face eased, and she looked at the two of them, on her hands and knees, suddenly wash with exhaustion, her eyes turned from her red back to her usual dark.

"Sakura?" Mito breathed. "Tobirama?"

"Mito."

Sakura's voice was filled with relief. Mito then collapsed and Tobirama rushed forward to her side, turning her over in his arms to check that she was okay. He was relieved to find she was breathing and just unconscious.

"Mito! Sakura!"

Tobirama looked up when he heard Matsuri yell out for her, and saw Matsuri and Asami running across the field to Mito and Sakura, who, he realised with a start, had collapsed to her knees. He carefully laid Mito down and turned back to Sakura.

"Tobi, there are two other shinobi in the forest," Sakura said, looking at him with a strained face. "Mito bound one of them. The other one has a broken back. They should be good for interrogation."

He nodded.

"Are you all right?" He asked Sakura.

"Don't worry about me," she said, unconvincingly. "I'm fine."

Matsuri and Asami reached them and fell at their knees beside Mito, and Sakura moved closer to Mito to check on her. Tobirama stood and clenched his jaw at the sight of them. If he didn't show up, he was sure Sakura would have figured out a way to fix herself, but he wondered how late it would've been. If Mito had fully lost control, he questioned she could have stopped her in the state she was in. Not only would Sakura and the Kumo shinobi be in danger, but Matsuri and Asami would have been in peril also, and when Mito came out of it… he walked off into the forest, refusing to think about what might have happened because that would only confirm the fears of the villages about Mito, and there was no way that anyone was going to learn the truth about what had almost happened moments ago.

Sakura sat exhausted beside Mito. The lightning jutsu had damaged her chakra pathways more than she'd expected, and she knew that if she used too much chakra now, it was going to take a long time to recover with the possibility of permanent damage. They had moved from the field to under the cliff face, and Sakura leaned her head back against the wall of rock breathing deeply and slowly. Tobirama's earth chakra had only dulled whatever jutsu the lightning was, but she could still feel it working inside her, her muscles and bones were suffering from thousands of little pinpricks that made her ache. She needed a medic. She bit the inside of her cheek. She couldn't have Tobirama take her back to Konoha until back-up arrived, there was no way he could leave Mito, Matsuri, and Asami alone with the possibility of another attack. She could only hope they had a medic with them.

Asami poked a stick at the fire, and Sakura looked over at her with some concern. Matsuri had told her that the genjutsu was the hell-viewing technique. Her inebriation had made her incapable of getting a grip on her chakra to break it. As an Uchiha, Matsuri was ashamed. But they were both worried about Asami, who hadn't spoken about what she saw. Tobirama had recovered the two shinobi her and Mito had disabled in the forest. The one Mito had bound was still sleeping, and she saw that the seals that covered his body weren't chakra-ink as she'd originally thought, it was blood. The one whose back she had broken was softly moaning in pain until Tobirama had had enough and knocked him out.

The two dead shinobi were still where they lay, but Tobirama had searched and stripped the bodies - a dangerous task for a shinobi, but necessary - he'd found nothing to indicate they were working on orders from the Raikage. They would have to wait until the other two were interrogated to find out answers. According to the treaty between Konoha and Kumo this was cause for war, and that made Sakura nervous. Tobirama was keeping watch, but no one was sleeping.

It took another hour before the Pursuit Unit arrived, and Matsuri leaped to her feet and ran across the field into Yuri's arms, who had broken formation the second he'd seen her. They embraced in the way that two people who loved each other did, uncaring of what anyone else thought. Asami stayed seated, hugging her knees by the fire, and Sakura was too exhausted and pained to do more than tilt her head back to regular positioning and watch as Tobirama informed Madara of what happened.

Madara hadn't arrived with a medic, to her disappointment. But he had come with Yuri and Takuma, who leaned down beside his sister, and Asami turned and cried into his shoulder. Sakura looked away from him and looked down at Mito, who was still unconscious. They both needed to get back to the village as soon as possible. Madara broke away from Tobirama and walked over to Sakura before he crouched down in front of her and she gave him a weak smile he didn't return. She saw his jaw clench and his eyes harden.

"You don't look so good," he said with a frown.

"Thanks," she tried to joke.

He gave her a long look.

"Sakura."

"We need to get back to the hospital," she whispered, wincing in pain and finally lowering her guard.

"Tobirama."

Madara didn't look away from her. Tobirama stood above her.

"Can you take her back to the hospital now?"

"Mito needs it too. She needs Hashirama," Sakura said looking up at Tobirama seriously. "She needs him."

Sakura felt a small surge of electricity close to a chakra coil and she diverted it into a stomach muscle, and gasped in pain, clutching her stomach.

"Why aren't you healing yourself?" Madara asked with concern.

"She was hit with a lightning jutsu. I tried to nullify it as much as I could, but it's still affecting her," Tobirama explained.

"My chakra," Sakura gasped.

Madara's Sharingan spun red.

"You need a medic, now," Madara said in a firm tone, his eyes narrowed on her. "I'll get Mito back safe. Tobirama, take her now before she ends up with permanent damage."

Sakura gave the unconscious Mito one last look before she was pulled to her feet by Tobirama and slung over his back. She tried not to cringe in pain as she was jostled. She blew hard at the fluffy collar, getting it out of her eyes and face.

"Don't spit on it," Tobirama warned her.

"Shut up," Sakura murmured tiredly, settling her cheek on the comfortable collar.

She peeked over at Madara.

"Don't be jealous," she laughed lightly at him.

He gave her a shake of his head but saw a small lilt of his lips, and that was the last thing she saw before Tobirama used his Flying Thunder God Technique. She vaguely felt the pull and sudden stops of approximately three locations before she was back at the village. Hashirama was pacing nervously at the gate, and his head snapped up when he saw them.

"What happened?" Hashirama demanded.

"Hokage's ears only," Tobirama responded.

Sakura took that to mean it was top secret. They walked to the hospital.

"You need to send a medical team to the mountain inn. There are seriously injured shinobi there," Sakura said to Hashirama.

"And you?" He asked with concern.

"I'll be fine," Sakura replied. "Mito - "

"Not here," Tobirama cut her off harshly.

Hashirama's eyes flashed.

"Everyone is alive. I'll organise the medics at the hospital," Tobirama said to his brother. "Give me names, Sakura."

Sakura sighed tiredly.

"Meet me at my office," Hashirama said and then he vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Shadow clone," Tobirama muttered.

"Send Hikari and Shouta to the mountain," she said to Tobirama. "They can handle it."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yes. Don't tell them I'm here, they'll just worry," Sakura replied.

She was feeling distant, and everything was fading.

"Tobi, tell Madoka to prepare a room for Mito, and bring Hashirama."

She felt liked her voice seemed to stumble out instead of speak and her vision went dark.

"Sakura? Sakura?"

Sakura's eyes closed and she passed out.

In the basement of an unmarked building not far from Hokage Tower, two Kumo shinobi sat in separate interrogation rooms. One was bound by a kinjutsu fuinjutsu seal that Mito had used on him He slept for the third day in a row, bound to her will and command, and would never wake again until she ordered him to or broke the seal. It was a type of fuinjutsu that Hashirama hadn't heard of being used in generations. He had no idea that it was still taught, let alone that Mito was trained in its use. It was unsettling, to say the least. He had never imagined she would or could use a jutsu like it, it seemed so apart from her personality and as soon Hashirama had learned from Tobirama the vague details he knew of what had happened, a deep worry settled in him.

They were waiting for Mito to arrive. Tobirama had brought word that she'd been released from the hospital an hour ago after he'd worked with her to check over her seal work, and told them that Sakura was still unconscious. As far as the village knew, both Mito and Sakura had been in the hospital due to an illness they'd contracted on their trip away. All details of the tense situation was being kept quiet at the highest security levels until both Sakura and Mito were awake, and the Kumo shinobi were interrogated. From Asami and Matsuri, what they'd learned wasn't much. All of the friends had been drinking, with Matsuri having consumed the most alcohol. They were walking and talking together to sober up, and then neither of them know what happened except that they both vaguely remember a shadowed figure appeared in front of them before they were placed under a genjutsu.

Haru Sarutobi, Tora Yamanaka and Tsubaki Shiranui had all been questioned over what had gone wrong. It was only Tobirama's tesitmony that one of the Kumo shinobi had been able to completely mask his chakra to the point that even he couldn't sense it, that Hashirama's anger had lessened. Haru had heard Tsubaki fall from the tree she'd been keeping watch in, seen her on the ground, but before he could move, he'd felt something hit his head. Tora had been concerned when Tsubaki didn't return to change shifts and had gone out to find the other two severely injured. He'd heard laughter down the road, then looked up to see two shinobi take Asami and Matsuri, but was stabbed before he could do anything. Not knowing what else to do, he made his way to find Lady Mito and Lady Sakura.

Hashirama did not want to go to war. So early in the formation of the village, just as the world was changing, it would be devestating. They had had word that both the Lands of Wind and Stone were both in the process of forming their own hidden villages. Hashirama's goal was to unite the world, but it seemed that there were forces that were working agains him. If Konoha discovered the shinobi were working under orders from their Raikage, war would be their only option. However, they had all recognised the two shinobi they currently had in interrogation as two of the three they'd captured and given back weeks earlier. Something they all agreed was odd.

Madara had wanted to incinerate the other two dead shinobi where they lay, but to Hashirama's relief, Takuma has convinced him to bring them back to Konoha in seals. Just in case. Depending on their findings, destroying their existence could be the best option. Hashirama was torn between the man inside him and the position he held. As Hokage, he needed to think about the wellbeing of the village. But as a husband, he wanted nothing more than to crush the ones who had targeted his wife. There were choices Hashirama was finding himself making that we more difficult and complicated than he'd envisioned.

The shinobi with the broken back, presumably an injury given to him by Sakura, had offered little intel. He'd fallen into a fever from his injuries, and the access to his mind was affected by his condition. Inorou described it as trying to catch and hold a thought made of wet gelatine material, something extremely difficult to do with accuracy. Shouta Uchiha had been selected by Madoka and Madara as the medic who'd keep the man alive, but not to heal his broken bones. As cruel as it was, it was the bargaining chip they were offering for information: to walk again, or the alternative, which was as bad as death for a shinobi.

With this assignment, Shouta had been made aware of the darker and more difficult aspects of the shinobi lifestyle, but Hashirama understood Madara's recommendation when he noticed that Shouta had a similar air around him that Tobirama sometimes had. He was efficient, observant and seemed to understand and accept the situation without letting it cross over into his work or opinions of those around him. The progress of Sakura's students under her tutelage had been remarkable, Hashirama had to admit. They both carried themselves as if they'd been medics for years when it had only been around half a year. Tobirama clicked his tongue in impatience.

"I'm leaving now," he said.

Hashirama nodded.

"Figure out what the problem at the border is and fix it," he said.

Tobirama nodded, his eyes flashed angrily and he left. Hashirama knew he just felt helpless and inactive sitting around an office instead of being in the field, especially now.

"I'd almost pity the border patrol if it wasn't for how poor a job they were doing," Shikaru murmured.

Hashirama agreed. Many times he'd been on the receiving end of Tobirama's wrath, he knew how painful it was. He was equally angered at how the Land of Fire continued to be invaded by foreign shinobi. It looked terrible for them all.

"Any word about Sakura?" Hashirama asked after a moment.

He saw Shikaru shake his head slightly, and then the man looked at Madara and remained silent.

"No," Madara replied shortly.

He hadn't seen Shikaru's response.

"The foreign jutsu has been cleared of her body. Her students have healed her other injuries. They said it's just chakra exhaustion now."

Hashirama let out a small sigh.

"So she'll wake up when she wakes up."

Sakura seemed to be in the habit of giving her all to everything she did, an admirable trait. Yet, it didn't erase the worry she caused in all of them for her recurrent life-threatening injuries. The door behind them opened and Mito came in followed by Inorou. Mito didn't smile. She just acknowledged them all with a nod of greeting. Hashirama's heart clenched at the sight of her, although not in the usual way it did. Mito's usual air of elegance, confidence, and refinement was replaced with that of a tired and drawn woman.

"How are you?" Hashirama asked her.

"Good enough," she replied.

She glanced around the room, her eyes lingered on the shinobi she'd bound and Hashirama saw her bite the inside of her cheek.

"I expect you want to speak to me before them?" She inquired, turning her attention back to them, not quite meeting his eyes.

"Yes," Shikaru answered her. "We need everything you know."

Mito glanced at Inorou.

"Are you going to try and get inside my head?"

"With your permission," Inorou replied. "A mind-walk is simply used to examine information in your subconscious that perhaps your conscious mind missed."

"I don't give you permission," Mito said firmly, surprising them.

"Mito, why?" Hashirama asked her with a frown.

"I won't leave out any details, and I'm certain that you'll be able to find out everything you need from Sakura," she replied, looking at Inorou. "But I am not the only inhabitant of this body, and I don't trust that you will be safe inside my head."

The air in the room seemed to shift and everyone's attention turned from Mito to Hashirama, who stood conflicted on what to say or do.

"The seals are secure," Hashirama said. "So what makes you afraid?"

Mito caught his eyes for a moment before she looked at Inorou.

"I do not think anyone else should come into contact with the Nine-Tailed Fox, nor do I want anyone to access the energies of what happened that night."

Hashirama looked at Madara, who was frowning, and he clenched his jaw, feeling the same concern. Inorou looked thoughtful.

"You and Sakura witnessed the same things?"

Mito nodded.

"We were separated only for a moment when we were engaged in a battle against these two."

She motioned to the two Kumo shinobi. Inorou looked over at Hashirama in question, and slowly, Hashirama nodded.

"Very well."

"Thank you," Mito said quietly.

Inorou led her into an empty room off to the side and Hashirama followed them - only to be stopped by Inorou, who closed the door on Mito.

"Excuse me, Lord Hokage, I think it would be best for you to remain outside," he said.

Hashirama looked at him in confusion.

"She's your wife," Madara said. Hashirama looked at him. "You can't be the Hokage in a room with her."

"We are capable of separating our work and private life," Hashirama retorted.

"Perhaps at any other time," Inorou said. "But Lady Mito is not - forgive me, but respectfully, she is not herself. I don't think she'll be comfortable with you in the room right now."

Hashirama clenched his jaw.

"Make the report thorough," he said after a moment.

Inorou nodded.

"Of course."

He closed the door on Hashirama's face and Hashirama took a long, deep breath.

"She'll be fine," Madara said after a moment.

Hashirama nodded. He believed in his wife, but he still had to admit that part of him wasn't sure she would be.

Sakura felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Lady Sakura?"

Her face scrunched up tiredly and she squeezed her eyes tightly together before blinking them open, squinting away from the sudden onset of light.

"Shouta?" She murmured.

He nodded, taking back his hand and standing tall.

"How long have I been out?" She asked, sitting up and taking a deep breath.

"Three days," he replied. "Lady Mito left the hospital not long ago."

Sakura swallowed and closed her eyes, remembering everything that had happened. She nodded.

"Okay," she replied.

"Lady Sakura, I've been assigned to care for one of the prisoners," Shouta said quietly. "And to tell you that you're required to head to interrogation as soon as you wake."

Sakura looked at him in surprise.

"This is the highest-level secrecy. Lady Mito does not seem well," Shouta continued. "Lord Hokage is worried. She's currently being questioned by Lord Inorou about what happened but refused the mind-walk."

Sakura bit her lip, knowing exactly why she would refuse it. She was sure that Hashirama was worried. Mito was a new jinichuuriki, the first since the Sage of Six Paths possibly, and no one knew how to handle it, especially not Mito. Sakura was no expert, but she had some idea of what Naruto went through and needed and did. She needed to see how Mito was, especially since she'd lost control. She threw back the sheets and Shouta handed her a pile of clothes.

"Hikari brought them," he said. "I'll be waiting outside."

Sakura nodded and took the clothes.

"Thank you."

She quickly changed into her usual everyday outfit: her qiapo and black leggings. She would have to remember to thank Hikari for being sensible in her choice. She brushed her hair out with her fingers and then smiled again when she saw her headband, brush, tie, face cloth and glass of water on the small table by her bed. She was out the door with her hair tied in a high ponytail and a fresh face within three minutes.

Shouta directed her to the building where the interrogations were taking place. She almost smiled. It was in almost the exact same place it always had been. He led her downstairs. She saw the few shinobi who were working in the upper levels watch them go. It was always like that in interrogation, everyone observed everything, and Sakura always felt like she was being watched. They walked down a dimly lit corridor and opened a door on the right that opened into a large room with several other doors along the walls and two windowed rooms where the Kumo shinobi were being kept. Hashirama, Madara, and Shikaru were sitting at a small square table in the center of the room, and they all looked up when she came in. She met Madara's eyes and saw that he was assessing her. She gave him a little smile to try and show him she felt fine, just a little tired. He didn't stand to greet her, but he gave her the slightest nod of his head.

"Nice to see you up and about," Shikaru said warmly.

She glanced at the shinobi through the windowed walls.

"I wish it were under better circumstances."

"Please excuse us, Shouta," Hashirama said.

Sakura looked over at Shouta, who bowed his head respectfully and then left, closing the door behind them.

"Where's Mito?" Sakura asked him.

"With Inorou," Hashirama replied, motioning to the closed door behind him.

"How was she?" Sakura asked, taking the spare seat.

"She seemed tired," Shikaru supplied when Hashirama didn't answer.

"Did you see her when she woke up?" Sakura asked Hashirama with a frown.

"I wasn't there," he answered. "She came right here."

Sakura stilled.

"So how was she when she came here?" Sakura asked again, more slowly.

"She didn't want to look Hashirama in the eye," Madara said.

Sakura looked at Hashirama and after a moment shook her head.

"I know that this is new for you and you don't know what it really means for someone to be a jinchuuriki," she said. "But are you telling me that the first thing that your wife heard when she woke up was that she had to come to interrogation?"

Hashirama nodded.

"She didn't hear that the man she loves, her husband, was worried about her, that he loves her, that his opinion of her hasn't changed? She wasn't given any comfort or support of any kind, except orders?"

There was a silence in the room.

"Surely," Sakura said with narrowed eyes, "surely you've heard what the villagers have been saying, and you've been able to see through the front she'd put up and see it's not easy for her?"

Shikaru and Madara were both looking to Hashirama, who was beginning to look very lost at Sakura's words.

Sakura clenched her jaw and ran her fingers through her ponytail in frustration. She took a deep breath.

"You need to be a husband to her right now, and not a Hokage. The Nine-Tails chakra is dark and filled with negativity and malice and preys on weakness," Sakura said growing angry at him. "Don't you understand that? If she feels alone, it's going to be harder on her. She needs you, above everyone else."

After a few seconds of silence, Hashirama lowered his head and leaned on the table.

"I don't know what to say," he said quietly.

If he were anyone else, Sakura would've lost her temper. But she knew that he loved Mito with his entire being, and she could see the genuine confusion, worry, and uncertainty in his face. Instead of snapping at him to get a grip, Sakura gave him a little smile and leaned over and took his hand.

"Just be there for her," she said.

"That's all?" He asked with hesitation.

She nodded.

"My best friend was like Mito," she said.

She saw the interest in his eyes and felt Madara and Shikaru's attention.

"I don't know that much about what it's like to be the host of a tailed beast, but I've seen the struggle first-hand. She's not a monster, and she never will be."

"I never thought she was," Hashirama said with a little smile. "Courageous and compassionate, but never a monster. I'm worried about her."

"Then tell her that." Sakura sat back after a moment and let out a tired sigh. "I'm younger than you guys. Why do I have to be the voice of reasons?" She muttered.

Shikaru chuckled.

"The unfortunate burden of being a woman," he replied.

Sakura let out a small laugh that wasn't impressed. She glanced at the door behind Hashirama and bit her lip. She didn't remember learning anything about jinchuuriki at the academy, so she didn't know about any of the previous jinchuuriki losing control in the past. A lot of what Naruto knew about being the host of the Nine-Tails came from Kakashi and Jiraiya. Sakura didn't know that much, only what she'd been there to hear about. No one had ever mentioned Mito losing control, and everyone always said how powerful she was. Sakura could only guess that it was because she was still in the first months of being a jinchuuriki, and still trying to understand it, that maybe she'd been overwhelmed and lost control. Thinking about everything leading up to it, Sakura was sure that the confusion, the rumours, and whispers about her, and the worry and anger about the kidnapping, as well as the panic when Sakura was hurt, all contributed to the Nine-Tails being able to leak out. After all, Mito had been struggling earlier in the day, and Sakura had a feeling she might have contributed to the Nine-Tails emergence.

"Something on your mind?" Shikaru asked her.

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts.

"Um. Maybe," she said.

"Tell us," Hashirama said. "Everything and anything you can tell us will be helpful."

Sakura thought for a moment.

"Mito was having some trouble with the Nine-Tails because of me," she said. "I don't know exactly why, but I have a theory that maybe it's because I said something I shouldn't have before she sealed him."

"Kurama," Madara said suddenly. "You called it Kurama."

"Kurama?" Shikaru questioned.

Sakura blinked in surprise, not realising that Madara had overheard her say that.

"How did you know that?"

"Sharingan," he said. "I read your lips."

"Ah," Sakura said. "I just - That's his name," she said.

"The Nine-Tails has a name?" Hashirama asked with shock.

Sakura nodded.

"All the tailed-beasts do. They're not everything you think they are," she said, causing the three of them to frown and give her doubtful looks. "But I don't know them. I just know that the Nine-Tails is Kurama because Naruto was his jinchuuriki."

Hashirama and Madara glanced at each other. They both knew Naruto was Hashirama's reincarnate, and Sakura wondered what they thought of her revelation that he was also a jinchuuriki.

"Who's Naruto?" Shikaru asked.

"He was my best friend," Sakura replied and Shikaru nodded without asking more questions. "Mito said that the Nine-Tails wants to talk to me and was restless when I was close."

"Then you are probably right," Madara said. "But how can it speak to you?" He asked with a frown.

Sakura gave a little shrug.

"I'm not sure. I know that he could speak through Naruto at one point, but Naruto was different, and I don't think that will be possible now."

"How so?" Hashirama asked.

Sakura looked at him apologetically.

"There are some things I should speak to Mito about before anyone else."

"Then tell us about what happened that night," Madara said.

"We arrived in the late afternoon and decided to go straight to the springs to bathe after we were settled in our rooms. We didn't notice anyone following us, but we weren't paying that much attention because we knew we had a guard. We had dinner, and then we were drinking." Sakura shrugged. "We were just relaxing. Matsuri and Asami went for a walk because Matsuri had a little too much sake."

"So you and Mito were alone?" Shikaru asked.

"Yes."

"We didn't know anything was wrong until Tora dropped from the trees."

"What happened then?"

"Mito used her sensory abilities while I healed Tora and asked him what happened."

"What did he say?"

"That they were late changing shifts and he went to check on them, found his teammates down, caught sight of Asami and Matsuri being taken but was attacked before he could do anything. Then he came right to us," Sakura explained.

"So Mito was sensing the direction they went, and you healed Tora?" Madara asked.

"Yes. I healed Tora, he contacted Hashirama and we informed him what happened. Then Tora took me to the other two, I stabilised them, and then Mito and I went in pursuit of Matsuri and Asami." Sakura paused to take a breath. "We were confused about what happened, it didn't make sense. About two miles out, we figured that it was a trap for either Mito, myself or both of us."

"And you decided to keep going?"

"Of course, we did," Sakura said. "They had Asami and Matsuri. We had to, at the very least, locate them."

"That wasn't your intention," Madara said. "You were always going to fight to get them back."

Sakura looked at him.

"And you wouldn't?"

He didn't respond.

"Continue," Hashirama said, rubbing his temple tiredly.

"We went more cautiously from that point, but we sent off a trap and had to fight the two lookouts, which were fairly easy fights for both of us. Mito did that." Sakura indicated to the sleeping Kumo shinobi in the blood binding. "Then she disabled the tags buried in the field and we decided to openly engage the other two shinobi. They were too far away and it was too open to try anything else without risking Matsuri and Asami."

"What can you tell us about the shinobi?"

"It seemed disorganised," she said after a moment. "There was no indication of anyone else there. The male was a lightning type. He was fast. We tried to split up, with Mito facing him and me against the female, who we assumed was the genjutsu user."

"You don't think they were there for Mito?"

Sakura shook her head.

"They were definitely there for Mito, but I don't think they were there on orders. It was just so, it seemed off." She frowned. "The lightning user knew that Mito had the Nine-Tails, he said he was there when it happened. His chakra - he masked, it was like he disappeared."

"Then he could have been watching the battle with the Nine-Tails and we never would have known," Shikaru said.

Hashirama let out a sigh and rubbed his temples some more.

"How did you get injured, and how did she lose control?" He asked after a moment.

"He threatened to kill Asami and Matsuri unless she surrendered," Sakura replied quietly. "She was already at a point where her emotions were beginning to overwhelm her. I pulled her back to calm her down in the forest, but the Kumo shinobi came quickly and stabbed me through the shoulder as I punched him and hit me with the lightning jutsu."

"And then Tobirama showed up," Shikaru said.

Sakura nodded. The door behind Hashirama opened, and Mito walked out. Her eyes landed on Sakura and they widened. Sakura stood and walked over to her, embracing her in a hug.

"Are you all right?" Sakura whispered.

She could feel Mito trembling. Mito turned her face into Sakura's neck.

"Sakura, I need… help," she breathed. "Please. I need you to just talk to it."

Sakura felt how hard she was squeezing her and nodded. She felt her heart rate increase in worry and fear.

"Okay," she said.

Mito let her go, dropped her head slightly and Sakura saw her entire demeanour change until Mito's shoulders were back in a tall posture, she stood straight and lifted her head and smiled. Sakura's worry for her grew. What was going on inside Mito's head?

Madara looked over the reports of Mito's account of the events, compared with Sakura's. They were the same, with only personal thoughts differing, which was to be expected. Inorou was still in interrogation with the Kumo shinobi. Neither Sakura or Mito believed the shinobi were acting on orders from the Raikage, which did little to assuage Madara's rage at the entire event. There was a knock at his door, and he called out to whoever it was to enter. The door opened and he saw Sakura. She gave him a tentative smile and closed the door behind her.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she said.

He shook his head and placed the documents in a neat pile on his desk.

"Not at all," he said. "I was just reading over the reports of yours and Mito's accounts."

Sakura bit her lip in the way she did when she was anxious or unsure and gave a little nod. He stood and walked around his desk, sitting back on the edge of it and held out a hand to her. Sakura looked down at it with a twisted smile on her lips and reached out to take it with her own hand. He pulled her in close until she was pressed against him and his arm was around her waist. He pressed his lips to her forehead.

"I was worried about you," he murmured.

He felt her arms wrap around his ribs and hold him tightly. She breathed in deeply and settled close to him, and he almost smiled knowing she was being comforted so simply.

"Are you sure you're all right?" He asked her, running his fingers through her ponytail.

She pulled back and smiled at him.

"I feel better now," she teased lightly.

He smirked a little, but it fell when her smile dropped and he saw the tension in her face.

"You're worried about something," he said, brushing a thumb over her cheek and liking the way she blushed slightly.

Sakura pulled away from him, holding herself instead of him. He kept his face clear of the threatening frown he felt. She was looking at the wall.

"I'm going to talk to the Nine-Tails tomorrow," she said after a moment.

Madara stared at her, unsure of what to say. When she'd said that the Nine-Tails had wanted to talk to her, his immediate reaction was a definitive no. It was dangerous. Now, seeing her the way she was, it was clear she was nervous.

"Are you afraid?" He asked quietly.

She nodded.

"I'm worried about Mito," she said. "I didn't know anything about how she dealt with the Nine-Tails, and I hope it's just because she's adjusting to it, but I'm worried."

"Is it different from your friend?" He asked her.

She looked at him and nodded.

"Naruto had the Nine-Tails sealed in him the day he was born," she told him, much to his shock. "So as he grew as a shinobi, his relationship with the Nine-Tails changed. But Mito's an adult. Maybe it's different. I don't know."

Sometimes Madara thought that Sakura didn't realise that a lot of the things she said were quite shocking and interesting. Each new thing he learned about her past made him want to ask question after question. For her worries, Madara wasn't sure what to say.

"Mito is going to be fine," he settled on telling her. "She has people around her like you said she needed."

"I know," Sakura sighed. "But, still, she's my friend, and I worry."

"So, what's a conversation with the Nine-Tails going to be like?" Madara wondered.

Sakura bit her lip and shrugged.

"Probably not fun."

Madara chuckled.

"No," he said. "Probably not fun."