Chapter FIVE

The pace Hashirama and Madara had set wasn't too challenging, and it was nowhere near what Madara had threatened them with.

Sakura and Izuna traveled at the back with Tobirama, half because the younger brothers had been assigned to rear guard, and half so that they could snicker about Madara without being heard.

Tobirama kept shooting them looks but he didn't say anything and Izuna didn't retaliate either.

However, Sakura could also feel the well concealed tension between the two and couldn't help glancing between the two once in awhile.

They took breaks once in awhile and managed to keep a rapid pace throughout. Soon, they began to catch glimpse of a rocky structure from between the trees.

Finally, Hashirama stopped them on a rocky cliff and pointed at the stretch of land down below. "Friends, I present to you...uh..." Hashirama scrunched up his face. "You know? Whatever. There. What do you think?"

Sakura let out a giggle and Tobirama looked down at her. Sakura froze and slowly glanced up, eyes widening. Izuna noticed immediately and he placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder, eyes narrowed and flashing.

Tobirama said something too quiet to catch and Sakura leaned in a little, ignoring Izuna's hiss.

"I'm sorry?" She said.

"He practiced...last night." Tobirama said, just a little louder. "Alot. And he still messed up."

Sakura blinked and she smiled. "Oh!" She grin widened and she turned to Izuna. "That's so like you, Nii-sama!"
Izuna instantly began stuttering. "Kura-chan! How could you-" He cut himself off when Sakura whipped around to look at the ledge Hashirama had gestured towards.

Now curious and annoyance forgotten, Izuna quickly followed when Sakura began to slowly walk towards where the two clan heads were waiting.

"Wow." She gasped.

'I approve.' Her Inner murmured.

"Natural defense." Madara noted. "This cliff would protect us well."

"Is that the first thing you can say?" Hashirama grumbled. "It's-"

"It's so...big." Sakura said, eyes wide.

"It is." Hashirama grinned. Turning to the girl. "Big enough for all of us." He nudged Madara. "See? Sakura-chan seemed to know what we're talking about."

"We are here to observe the livability of this location." Madara said.

"We are talking about the habitability." Tobirama said at the same time.

Sakura saw the crestfallen look on Hashirama's face. The Senju head turned and reached towards her. "Sakura-chan. The grouches are bullying me." She gasped when Hashirama scooped her up into his arms and twirled her around.

Madara narrowed his eyes and Izuna let out an indignant "Hey!".

Sakura, however, was kind of enjoying the ringing in her head. "Faster." She said. She sensed rather than saw Madara and Izuna stiffen and realized her mistake a split second later. Sakura let out a gasp as they sped up and she instinctively gripped Hashirama's hair. Suddenly, her mind went cloudy and different images trying to pull her attention. She felt words force it's way out of her mouth before she could stop them. "That's one."

Hashirama did not pause, nor did he slow down, but he glanced up at her in confusion. "Huh?"

Sakura shook her head slowly. "Nothing." She took a deep breath. "Put me down, please."

Hashirama complied.

"Two." Sakura gasped and she darted over to Madara's waiting arms and buried her face into his clothes. "Sorry." She whispered.

"Sakura-chan?" Hashirama called, confused.

"You scared her with your long hair." Izuna said. He ruffled Sakura's hair.

Hashirama looked scandalized but before he could press, Madara spoke up. "She is fine. Just a little tired."

Izuna took his words as an order and scooped Sakura up into his arms. "C'mon, Kura-chan. Let's go look at our maybe-home."

The Senju-Uchiha team continued down the cliff.. They checked around for water sources and animals that may have made their homes nearby. They checked the fertility of the land and how safe the cliff was.

They were all finally satisfied as the sun had just begun setting. The team settled by a close by river to rest. Hashirama ran off after exclaiming that he would see how they could draw the water from here to their new village. Tobirama ran off after him, leaving Madara in charge by default. Sakura instantly darted off to 'explore' and Uchiha Mitsuba hastily ran after her.

Izuna watched his cousin vanish after his sister and turned to Madara. "That was two." He said quietly. "What do we do? Separating them will only buy us so much time. We can't reset the requests unless Hashirama dies."

Madara quickly shushed his brother and sighed. "Hashirama does not know about Sakura." He said. "Perhaps we should just let Sakura finish asking for the requests."

"Then what?" Izuna asked. "What if he says something like 'Oh, I want to fly' and Sakura accepts it as a wish?" At Madara's stare, Izuna shrugged. "What? Hashirama seems like the type to say things like that."

Madara sighed, unable to think of a comeback. "We're never held back the requests from her." He said. "We do not know if there are drawbacks." He paused. "We will have to let Sakura make the requests."

"And what if Hashirama's wish is as outrageous as wanting to fly?" Izuna asked.

In the distance, Madara caught sight of Hashirama hurrying back, his usual bright smile on his face.

"We'll simply have to divert his attention away from flying." He replied. He got to his feet and began walking back towards the rest of the group, who were getting ready to head out again.

"Are we just going to hide it forever?" Izuna asked quietly.

Madara paused in his steps and glanced over his shoulder at his younger. "We will simply do what is best for Sakura."

WE DEEPLY APOLOGIZE FOR THE HORRENDOUSLY LATE UPDATE.

Darque: This chapter, just like the one from 'The First time to See the World', has been sitting, half written, for a while as well.

Raven: Don't worry, because we will finish our stories. They might just take some time, especially now since Darque is caught up with playing Aura and League and all those other things she does in her not spare time.

Darque: What 'not spare time'? Of course I have spare time! That's why I play!

Raven: Well, you do take time off school work to make time for games.

Darque: I can afford to do so. It's spare.

Raven: No, not really.

Darque: It's fine, as long as I don't fail.

Raven: And can you say for sure that you wont fail?

Darque:...Probably.

Raven: Sigh.

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