Chapter 31: Graduation
It wasn't supposed to be a spectacle, but in the end, there wasn't a choice. The battle between Hikari Shimura and Shouta Uchiha had become a village event. It wasn't a surprise, considering who their teachers were. Everyone wanted to know what the students of Madara Uchiha and Tobirama Senju could do. Not only did Hikari and Shouta have their own reputations to worry about, but they also carried the weight of their teacher's reputations, and that was heavier than either of them realised. The shinobi of Konoha were buzzing with excitement. Such events were rare and interesting. Bets were placed, gossip flew and spread and in the midst of it all, Sakura was more stressed than she'd ever been before. Both Tobirama and Madara had assured her that the battle would be intense, and all she could think about were the injuries the two would sustain.
"Oh, Sakura, you're acting like a fussy mother," Mito teased.
Sakura peeked at her from behind her hands covering her face, a sheepish smile on her face.
"They'll be fine," Mito assured her.
"I know," Sakura sighed, sitting up and resting her hands on her lap. "I'm just worried."
Sakura and Mito were sitting beside the chosen field of battle - the same arena Sakura and Tobirama had fought in two years earlier. The plans for constructing the arena were still being finalised, so a grassy field with Hashirama's wooden benches for spectators and a protective barrier for the crowd was in place instead.
"Hashirama tells me this will be an exciting match," Mito said. "He's observed both of them training and is very pleased with their progress."
"Considering the amount of bruising and fracture's I've had to repair, he'd better be right," Sakura muttered.
Mito laughed lightly.
"They're competitive. They've taken after you."
"I don't know if that's a good thing," Sakura replied wryly. "Both of them will hate that there's such a big crowd watching though."
Sakura looked around them nervously. Shinobi and civilian filled the area. It seemed as if everyone who wasn't on duty or away on a mission had shown up to witness the spectacle.
"Let's hope it will motivate them to push harder than ever before," Mito said.
"Where's Hashirama?" Sakura asked.
"I believe he's giving the two a pep talk of sorts," Mito said shaking her head.
Sakura grimaced and Mito nodded in agreement.
"I can only hope they'll forgive him for whatever nonsense he says. Truly, my husband is wonderful, but he has his moments."
Sakura grinned.
"Oh - here comes Matsuri and Asami," Mito said.
Sakura turned and saw a reluctant looking Asami practically being dragged by Matsuri towards them. Yuri followed on behind with a fond smile on his face.
"Mito, please tell Asami she's welcome to sit here," Matsuri said by way of greeting, shaking her head. "She's acting like these seats are for extraordinary people or something."
Mito laughed.
"Asami, you are our friend. Please, don't feel uncomfortable and sit with us."
Asami's face burned red.
"I'm sorry, it's just - you all have a higher status than I do."
"Oh please," Matsuri rolled her eyes. "You're just looking for an excuse to hide because you got shy when Haru complimented you."
Asami's face went scarlet.
"I'm not!" She denied.
Sakura and Mito smiled at each other.
"Haru Sarutobi?" Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you sit and tell us all about it?" She grinned.
Asami seemed to crumble and gave up, laughing nervously and with giddiness, and sat beside Mito. Matsuri and Yuri took their places beside Sakura.
"I saw Shouta with Madara and Hashirama as we were leaving," Matsuri said to Sakura. "He looked like he was being tortured by Hashirama's enthusiasm."
It wasn't much longer before Hashirama arrived with Madara, Tobirama, Hikari, and Shouta. Both of them paled when they saw the crowd, and Sakura immediately got to her feet. She met them in the middle of the field, ignored the three men with them and quickly gave her students a once-over before reaching out, gripping their wrists and pulling them a short distance away from the others.
"Sakura, what are you - "
"Shut up, Tobi," Sakura called.
Hashirama laughed behind her. She stopped and turned and looked at the two of them. Hikari and Shouta glanced at each other and then away. Shouta, impassively, Hikari, stubbornly. Sakura narrowed her eyes at the two of them.
"Both of you look at me," she said sternly.
They did, and Sakura knew they recognised the look on her face because she saw a flicker of fear in their eyes.
"Who are you?"
Shouta's brow twitched at the question.
"H-hikari Shimura," Hikari said, uncertainly.
"You don't know who you are?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hikari Shimura," she replied, firm and strong.
Sakura looked at Shouta expectantly, who let out a small sigh.
"Shouta Uchiha," he said, his face indifferent but his tone resolved.
"Tobirama is not fighting today, and Madara is not fighting today," Sakura said to them. "Not even I am fighting today. Who is?"
"We are," they answered together.
Sakura nodded in satisfaction.
"So ignore the rest of it, ignore the people, ignore the noise. You're not fighting for their honour, you're fighting for your own. Never let yourself down."
Hikari took a deep breath and straightened her posture.
"Yes, Lady Sakura," she responded clear and strong.
Shouta nodded to her, his eyes fierce. Sakura relaxed her face and smiled.
"Good luck," she said, and then she turned away and walked back to her seat, her body trembling with anxiety and anticipation.
Shouta and Hikari took their positions of the empty field. Around them, the chatter rose and fell as people whispered and shouted and spoke with excitement. The air was tense with eagerness and nervousness. A wood clone of Lord Hokage, Hashirama Senju, stood in the center of them an equal distance from either one. When the close dissipated, the match would begin.
Shouta hid his thumping heart with a mask of calm indifference, looking at Hikari like it was any other day, which served his purpose well. He saw the slight agitation in the twitch her fist. She was always easier to provoke than he was. Across the field, Hikari knew that her well-devised plan against her opponent was working. She knew that Shouta believed his facade of calm would work, but she saw through it. She knew him too well, and she knew he would underestimate her. She purposefully appeared agitated and impatient as they waited for it to begin.
The crowd was torn on who would be victorious. Shouta Uchiha was supposed to have an advantage, as all Uchiha's did, with their dojutsu. But the news had spread of his childhood trauma, and rumours about the condition of his body conflicted with the villagers idea of what an Uchiha was. The Shimura girl was thought of as a wildcard. Barely any training until a year ago. Suddenly she was a medic, and then the student of Tobirama. Was she lucky or a hidden genius? There was an overwhelming need for discovery in the arena.
It was obvious to only a few that both Madara Uchiha and Tobirama Senju were nervous. They were excellent at hiding their true feelings, but those closest to them knew the truth. Sakura saw the slightly more intense than usual hardness in Madara's eyes. His shoulders were tight, and arms folded. His Sharingan had been activated for the entire day, she assumed. Tobirama also stood with his arms folded, a single finger tapping at his bicep. Hashirama had a secret smile when he noticed it, and the slight downturn of his brother's lips. It had been a long while since he'd seen Tobirama so anxious.
Yuri Uchiha, Takuma Senju, Emiko Senju, Natsuo Sarutobi and Mamarou Inuzuka all looked on with intense concentration. The outcome of the battle could have an effect on all of their futures, depending on the winner. Each of them had watched the pair train with their masters and alone, and each had reached their own conclusions of who would be the victor, but none of them had been part of the betting pool.
Hiroko Shimura watched her daughter with her heart in her throat, but a great pride welling in her eyes. No matter the outcome, she knew that Hikari's future as a shinobi would be secured. Yori Shimura sat beside her, with his son, who watched on eagerly to see who would be the victor and the displays of power he could one day hope to perform himself. Yori sat stoically, hoping the girl would win so he could have the victory to hold over the Uchiha's head.
Inoyuki Yamanaka was conflicted. He liked Shouta, and he liked Hikari. But if he was honest, he wanted her to beat him senseless for being the one to steal her heart before Inoyuki even really had a chance. Not that Shouta would ever admit it. It would be Inoyuki's luck that the Uchiha was as self-sacrificing as he was aloof. Shikata Nara sat with his father, Satomi, and Sana. Sana wished for Shouta to win, simply because she knew him better than Hikari, who seemed to dislike her. Satomi didn't really want to be there, and her constant sighing was causing Shikata to grow irate with his cousin. He was very interested in the match and knew that several factors could influence the outcome. He wondered if Hikari would be able to keep calm and if Shouta wouldn't allow his feelings to affect him. If either of them slipped up, the other would claim victory. Lord Hokage felt the rising tensions and decided it was time. His clone announced the start in a loud and booming voice, before melting into the ground.
Hikari moved first. Fighting an Uchiha in a prolonged battle would only end in loss, especially for someone who was unused to combat and had never fought an Uchiha before. She was at a disadvantage; she couldn't look him in the eyes, and it limited her field of view. She needed to limit the use of her chakra for as long as possible. She kept her eyes focused on his chest and ran toward him. She saw his hands move and make the hand signs of a jutsu she knew well from Tobirama's training. She immediately stopped and created an earth wall, just in time to escape the blast fireball that came at her.
Moments after the fire stopped blasting, two things caught her eye in her peripherals. Kunai, one of each side of her, with tags attached to them. She barely had time to widen her eyes in shock before they each exploded. She cursed her slow reaction speed and Shouta's quick thinking. They were smoke bombs. Her eyes stung and she couldn't see. She used the wall as her back and strained to feel where Shouta would come from.
Hikari did what he expected. She didn't react fast enough to get away, thinking the wall would be her safety, and she didn't use her chakra to go underground. She stayed at the earth wall and took out her kunai, and Shouta's Sharingan saw it all and he smirked. Shouta didn't go around the wall after the smoke caught her - he went through the wall right behind her, disrupting its form with an explosive push of his chakra, forcing Hikari to jump away while he attacked her with taijutsu. She wasn't the only one who had improved in speed. He had her on the back-foot within seconds. With the smoke in her eyes, she could no longer see properly, but she fought back with ferocity. His Sharingan captured and predicted all of her moves, cutting off her attacks before they had even begun, and, realising she was losing, Hikari retreated with a faster than average flicker step.
They both panted in the short respite. Hikari blinked rapidly and painfully, gritting her teeth and forcing her eyes to open and work despite the irritation to them. She was stupid and she needed to refocus; holding back was only going to make her lose. Shouta took out his shuriken and flung them at her, spread wide across, so her only option was backward. But instead, once he released them from his hand, she disappeared for a split second in a flicker step and appeared again no more than six feet before him, on her knees, and used her kunai to slice the wires he'd connected to the shuriken, before she rolled, jumped up and rapidly engaged him in taijutsu again.
Shouta was the one on the back-foot this time, taken by surprise that she'd read his wired shuriken attack so well. But while Hikari was focused on her attack, he managed to launch four shuriken unseen by her into the air above them, and with a ferocious kick to her chest, he pushed her back and caught her in his wire trap. He couldn't understand the smug smile on her face, despite her captivity, until his leg fell to the ground without control and he realised his entire leg was now useless. In the moments before, when his foot had connected with her chest, she'd wrapped her hand around his calf for a split second, and using the same technique she'd used against Tobirama in their first spar, effectively turned off his leg. Shouta stumbled, his eyes wide, and knew he had to retreat. He released his hold on the shuriken trap, and covered his escape with a fireball jutsu, that evaporated in a water jutsu he didn't know Hikari could do.
But Hikari didn't relent, although the water jutsu had taken a lot of her energy out of her. She used too much chakra with the last two attacks, and her endurance was waning. With only one working leg, Hikari knew she had her chance. She attacked him, but Shouta was not as easy a target she had suspected. He was amazingly balanced and used all the weapons in his arsenal. Shuriken, kunai, explosive tags and his sword to keep her from getting too close, all in an effort to do one thing. He purposefully let his guard down for a split second, and she took the bait, and he had her. Shouta's eyes spun and formed his Mangekyo Sharingan, the ultimate Uchiha weapon, and Hikari Shimura was trapped in a genjutsu. Frozen, trembling, she stood still, and Shouta sighed and hopped back, victorious.
There was a silence around them, and then applause and cheering. Shouta had won, but at the same time, he knew that he had lost. He looked at Hikari, knowing that she was going to be a far better shinobi than he would ever become, and swallowed. With the Uchiha declared as victors, Madara gave Tobirama a smug smirk, while Tobirama glared. No one had known before the final moments that Shouta had the second-form of his Sharingan. It was extremely rare. Madara and Izuna had awakened it, and Yuri after Izuna's death now possessed it as well. For Shouta Uchiha to also possess it, gave the rest of the clan an enormous shock.
It had taken Shouta three months of training with Madara before he'd revealed it. Madara had been beyond surprised. Shouta had explained that in the two years after his accident, his eyes had been irritated. He thought it was a side-effect of the burning and smoke. One particular day when he was thirteen, he'd become extremely emotional about his afflictions and it had awoken. He hadn't realised it at first, and he'd locked it away since, not thinking he'd even become a shinobi again.
Hashirama stared at Madara in open disbelief, as did Sakura. He offered neither of them an explanation and only stated that the eyes of his clan were not the business of others. Tobirama ignored Madara, in favour of not losing his cool in front of so many people, and flickered to Hikari's side, sending his chakra through her body and releasing her from the genjutsu. She came out of it slowly, blinking and immediately realising that she had lost. Her face clouded over with disappointment.
Sakura reached Shouta before Madara, concerned for his leg. She restored the chakra flow, and realised with some amazement at how precise and controlled Hikari had been, although it had been missed by almost everyone. She looked over at Tobirama, who caught her eye and nodded, communicating with a single look that he knew how impossible that it seemed, considering she was not a Hyuga. When the Hyuga clan finally arrived in the village, Sakura wondered how they'd react to Hikari's surprising talent.
The victory went to Shouta Uchiha, and none who witnessed the match could say he didn't deserve to win. Even one leg down, he showed skill that no one thought he possessed, and many people compared his fighting style to that of Izuna, which made Shouta pleased to hear, though he'd never admit it aloud. But it was Hikari Shimura who became the talk of the village. She was the surprise, with her speed, her fierce fighting, and her incredible display of chakra control. Yuri Uchiha and Takuma Senju looked at one another with knowing smiles, and with their unit, departed the field to wait for the Hokage to call on them.
In the meeting room on the first floor of Hokage Tower, Sakura, Madara, Tobirama, and Hashirama sat at their table facing the members of the Pursuit Unit. Takuma Senju, Emiko Senju, Natsuo Sarutobi, Mamarou Inuzuka, and his hound, and Yuri Uchiha all knelt on one knee before them.
"Rise," Hashirama commanded.
The five of them stood, hands clasped behind their backs, straight and to attention. Hashirama gave a slight sigh but didn't say anything about it, knowing they wouldn't relax even if he commanded them too.
"Takuma," Tobirama said. Takuma looked at him. "Your thoughts on Shouta Uchiha."
Takuma nodded.
"He showed that he has the ability to adapt quickly and improvise. His chakra control is quite good, but it's clear that his skills are average. He has the potential to improve, but his time would likely be better spent elsewhere."
"Considering he has spent less than a year in training, his progress is good," Yuri supplied.
"But?" Tobirama prompted.
Yuri and Takuma exchanged glances. As the leader, Yuri spoke.
"He is not ready to be sent on missions. Considering his age and the amount of work he'd need to do to keep up with the chunin and jonin we have, it would be three years of training before he reached a mental and physical point where he could safely join missions above B-rank."
"You recommend keeping him classed as a medic-nin?" Madara asked.
"Yes, Lord Madara," Takuma replied.
Yuri glanced at Sakura, whose lips were pursed in thought.
"I agree," she said, sensing it was time for her to speak.
"Sakura?" Hashirama questioned.
"Shouta has shown aptitude in medical ninjutsu and a strong interest in horticulture and poison," she said. "His studies will be advanced in those areas. Also," she paused and glanced at Madara. "As with all the medics, his training will be primarily in evasive maneuvers and taijutsu."
"Yuri," Madara said. Yuri looked at him. "Shouta will continue training with the Uchiha. We will talk later."
"Yes, Lord Madara," Yuri nodded.
"So," Hashirama said, his chin resting thoughtfully on his linked hands on the table. "Shouta Uchiha will remain a medic-nin under Sakura and continue his training with his clan. Very good. So, then, on to Hikari Shimura."
"She's exceeded expectations," Madara said.
Sakura snorted lightly, and Madara fought back an eye-roll, while the rest of the room smirked. Even Emiko had something close to a lift in her lips.
"She has," Takuma agreed. "There is a lot of potential to be developed."
"The kid fights hard," Mamorou spoke up for the first time. "She's got some crazy chakra control."
"She only lacks experience," Yuri said. "She's never been in a real fight before."
Sakura shook her head.
"No. She's very inexperienced. Her first taste of battle was when she and Shouta and Shikata followed Mito to the fight against the Nine-Tails."
"It shows," Takuma said. "Her reactions were too slow."
"Clearly her training was lacking in proper motivation," Madara shot at Tobirama, who turned a glower at him.
"Madara," Sakura sighed, shaking her head.
Before Tobirama could retort, Hashirama sat forward in his chair.
"So, Takuma, Yuri. What do you think?"
"She needs a team," Takuma said.
"It's been arranged," Tobirama said.
Everyone looked at him in surprise, except Madara.
"Madara, explain," Tobirama ordered.
Madara's eyes narrowed at his tone, but he didn't respond to Tobirama. Instead, he looked at Yuri.
"Yuri, you're being reassigned."
The surprise on his team's face was evident.
"But, Lord Madara - " Takuma interrupted but stopped when he saw the annoyance on Madara's face.
"You will be called on when needed, but your primary responsibilities have changed," Madara explained.
Yuri nodded, but his brows were drawn together in a frown. Madara looked at Takuma.
"Congratulations, Takuma. You've been promoted."
Takuma, wide-eyed, looked at him and Tobirama with surprise and nodded slowly.
Madara returned his attention to Yuri.
"You're being assigned as a Jonin Team Leader, Team 2."
Yuri's eyes widened slightly.
"With Hikari Shimura?" He questioned.
"Yes," Madara replied. "And Daisuke Hatake. The third spot will be filled with a Hyuga when they deign to arrive," Madara said, with obvious annoyance.
"Thank you," Yuri bowed his head slightly.
Sakura could see he was a little taken aback by what happened, and Takuma and Emiko looked conflicted.
"Ah, I don't envy you at all," Natsuo grinned, breaking the tension with a chuckle. "Taking care of the kiddies isn't going to be easy."
Yuri gave him a wry smile.
"Easier than wrangling you lot," he teased.
"Mamorou, Natsuo, Emiko," Hashirama said, standing. "Meet me in my office in fifteen minutes."
"Yes, Lord Hokage," they responded in unison.
Hashirama's announcement ended the meeting. The Pursuit Unit exited the room, and Hashirama returned to his office to meet with the three he'd summoned. While Madara met with Tobirama, Sakura and Yuri in his office.
"Well," Yuri said, sighing and folding his arms over his chest, leaning against the wall. "That was surprising."
Madara sat heavily on his chair.
"You're suited to the task," he said.
"I know," Yuri replied.
"At least you'll be in the village a little more often now," Sakura smiled. "Matsuri will be happy with that, so will Kagami and Sakiko."
Yuri smiled.
"True. So when will you make the announcements to Shouta and Hikari?"
Sakura grimaced and glanced at Tobirama.
"Tomorrow," he said. "Today you should seek out Daisuke."
"How old is he?" Yuri inquired.
"Twelve," Madara responded. "The Hatake tells me he's something of a prodigy."
"The Hatake produce a lot of prodigies," Sakura said softly. "Well, have we heard from the Hyuga?"
"They've said they'll be here in a month," Tobirama sighed.
Madara looked less than pleased by the information, and Sakura wondered what they were like. They were haughty enough with all their restrictions in her own time. It was probably worse in this era. Sakura and Yuri left together, leaving Tobirama and Madara alone in his office.
"I believe I won," Madara smirked.
"I believe you cheated," Tobirama retorted.
"You underestimated a member of my clan, not for the first time," Madara shot back. "How is that a fault of mine?"
Tobirama scoffed.
"The Mangekyo? Really?"
Madara was silent a moment.
"I was also surprised," he admitted. "I did not know until several months of training."
Tobirama raised an eyebrow at that.
"Indeed?"
Madara sighed.
"The Sharingan is awakened by deep emotion, and there are things that even we are still discovering about it."
Madara gave Tobirama a sharp look.
"Don't even think about asking to study our dojutsu. There's no chance I'd let a Senju know our secrets."
"You'll allow it eventually," Tobirama said with a shrug.
"I wouldn't count on that," Madara replied. "Don't you have work to do?"
Tobirama scoffed again and departed, leaving Madara alone to ponder the viability of Sakura's surprisingly deep knowledge of his clans dojutsu, and combining it with Tobirama's science, reluctantly understanding that further study might be of use in the future.
Hikari and Shouta were called into the Hokage's office the following morning.
"Good morning!" Hashirama greeted them with a bright smile.
"Good morning," Hikari replied with a nervous one.
Shouta merely nodded his head, finding the Hokage a little too overwhelming for a morning meeting.
"First I want to congratulate you both on an entertaining fight," he said. "How do you feel about it?"
"I have a lot to improve," Hikari said, downcast.
"True," Hashirama responded. "But from what Tobirama and Sakura tell me, you have a lot of determination. I will continue to expect great things from you in the future."
"Thank you, Lord Hokage," Hikari blushed and bowed her head.
"And you, Shouta Uchiha?" Hashirama prompted.
Shouta cleared his throat.
"I don't think I would have won the fight if I did not have my Sharingan," he admitted, somewhat reluctantly.
Hashirama looked at him curiously, and Hikari with surprise.
"Really?" She asked.
Shouta glanced at her quickly and then away, and nodded. Hashirama smiled.
"In any case, I was impressed with you both. Well done."
Shouta nodded in acknowledgment, feeling too nervous to do more than mumble a small thanks, and Hikari smiled back at him. Then they were told of their new assignments.
"Shouta, you've been recommended to remain under the tutelage of Lady Sakura at the hospital," Hashirama said. "Your studies will be focused on medicinal plants and poisons, as well as the medic-nin taijutsu and Lord Madara wishes for you to continue training within your clan. Do you accept this?"
"Yes, Lord Hokage," Shouta said.
He was relieved. He'd begun to understand in recent weeks that his spar with Hikari was also a test of sorts, and he'd hoped to remain in the hospital and working in the greenhouses. He'd found a passion there he'd never imagined he'd have. Hikari glanced at Shouta, happy that he seemed happy about what he'd been assigned. She looked nervously back at the Hokage, who was smiling at her, and she swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Hikari."
He sounded serious and her palms started sweating.
"You've been assigned to a team."
"A team?" Hikari asked.
Hashirama nodded.
"Team 2. Your Team Leader is Yuri Uchiha," he explained.
Shouta's eyes widened in surprise and he looked down at Hikari with a little jealousy. Hikari glanced up at him and they caught eyes for a second before they both looked away and back at the Hokage.
"And your teammates are Daisuke Hatake and a member from the Hyuga clan will be assigned when they arrive."
Hikari was surprised and unsure what her reaction to the news should be. She nodded and shifted on her feet.
"Now, Sakura is waiting for the two of you her office," Hashirama told them.
They left the Hokage and walked quietly together towards the hospital.
"Was Lord Madara happy?" Hikari asked him.
"Yes," Shouta replied. "Mostly so he could lord this over Lord Tobirama."
Hikari couldn't help the little smile that came over her.
"I don't understand why they're so competitive," she said.
"Hn," Shouta grunted. "They were enemies and now allies. I expect it's a pride thing."
Hikari sighed.
"I still don't understand."
"Because you're just a kid," Shouta said, smirking.
Hikari puffed her cheeks.
"I am not! And anyway, this kid almost beat you."
Shouta ruffled her hair.
"Yeah, you're pretty good," he said, walking off and leaving a surprised and pleased Hikari behind and staring after him.
Sakura, Madara, and Tobirama combined their skills and abilities to hide the house in the woods with layers of genjutsu and seals. Only a very skilled shinobi would be able to find the house, and even if they did, the seals and traps would activate alerting them to an intruder. Tobirama agreed with Madara, that Sakura's journals were a bad idea.
"If anything happens to threaten the village because of this, I will destroy them myself," he told her seriously. "And I will sanction you."
Sakura understood.
"I won't let anything happen."
Tobirama reluctantly agreed to allow her to keep them but told her she'd have to inform Hashirama. She said she would, and he told her he'd check on the house every so often. She agreed to his surveillance, just happy that he wasn't making her get rid of her journals. She knew that they all understood why she needed them, even if they'd prefer she didn't have them at all.
She kept the journals hidden in a false part of the floor, sealed away with a blood binding seal. Madara also placed an Uchiha seal over them, so that if there was an emergency, he could access them too. Sakura spent one day a week at the house, and on those days, Madara often came with her, but left her to her own devices, using it as a day for him to relax or training privately in the forest. Sometimes he worked on the house itself, making it a more comfortable escape for them both. Sakura liked that they had somewhere to disappear when they needed it and that she still had that connection to Itachi. She'd brought the chest that she'd kept his jacket in at Madara's home to the house, and kept it in the bedroom, taking it out every so often when she felt nostalgic or sad.
Six months after Hikari and Shouta were assigned to their new positions, and two months before the day she and Madara would be married, Sakura came back to the house alone. She wrote the story of her relationship with Madara for Kakashi, explaining what and why things were different. She'd written about it before, but never in that much detail, and she was worried he wouldn't understand how she could marry Madara, after what they'd gone through in the Fourth Shinobi War.
… I hope this is something that you can accept in time, Kakashi. Even I struggled at the beginning, but being here, among these people, these amazing and great people have given me a different outlook on life.
Itachi and I both noticed immediately the difference between the Madara of our present and the Madara in this past. It's remarkable, really, when I think about it. I'm sure it was something like what happened when you were confronted with Obito again when the only version of him you knew was the one from your childhood.
Anyway, we're getting married in two months, and I'm so happy. I hope you can be happy for me as well.
I miss you, Kakashi. I hope you get to have the life you deserve. I'll do everything I can to make that happen.
(I'm getting married! Ahhhh!)
Love,
Sakura Haruno,
Sakura Nara
and soon to be, Sakura Uchiha!
Sakura closed the journal with a soft smile on her face, and laid a hand over it, knowing that despite any misgivings he might have, Kakashi would ultimately understand her. She locked the journal away, and walked back towards the hospital and the village, feeling refreshed and looking forward to a new future.