Summary: sakura just wants to eat in peace, unfortunately the founders won't let her
shut up & dance
Sakura sighed, rotating her shoulders. It had been a long, long day.
"Sakura!" a voice called.
And it was about to get a lot longer.
Sakura turned, casting Hashirama an irritated look. "Yes?" she inquired.
"Let's grab some dinner, I'm sure you're starving," he stated, tucking her hand in the crook of his elbow as he led her away.
It'd been two years since Sasuke's genjutsu had somehow thrown her back to the past. Two years of catching herself calling out to Ino whenever she saw odd plants and looking for Sai when there was a beautiful sunset. Two years of dealing with nosey annoyances.
Like Hashirama.
Her stomach growled on cue, but Sakura refused to feel embarrassed. She'd just completed a double shift and hadn't eaten since the night before.
Hashirama laughed. "Let's go see what the Akimichi have prepared tonight, shall we?"
Sakura shrugged in acquiesce and the duo left the makeshift hospital. Despite her exhaustion, she felt proud of the progress she'd made with the Konoha hospital. As the only competent medic in Konoha, Sakura was in charge of every aspect of the hospital, from creating the medicine to training the staff. They were improving in leaps and bounds and the citizens of Konoha remained in awe of her.
Hashirama glanced at her out of the corner of his eye a couple of times. Sakura smirked. Subtly was not Hashirama's strong suit.
"Yes?" she inquired sweetly, eyebrow raised.
He flushed, not an uncommon sight when around Sakura. She always managed to unbalance him. Ever since she showed up at the gates, covered in blood and demanding to speak with Tsunade, she continued to surprise him. "Are you ready for the upcoming celebration?"
Sakura grinned. "It'll be nice to celebrate the founding of this village. Have we decided on a name yet?"
Hashirama grinned. "Madara's come up with a great name. He'll reveal it at the ceremony."
Sakura hummed noncommittedly. Perhaps the most intriguing thing about this universe was Uchiha Madara. Her first encounter with him had been beyond humiliating. She'd broken through the gates of Konoha, looking rougher than ever, caught sight of Madara, and decked him across the face, screaming something about Tsunade. In her defense, Sakura had been functioning with both blood and sleep deprivation.
Uchiha Madara had also been their main enemy in the Fourth Great Shinobi War.
In any case, apologies were made and Sakura found that this world's Madara was an incredibly thoughtful individual. He hid it behind his stoicism and intimidating aura but he was a sweetheart to the core. She'd found dango on her makeshift desk in the hospital on days when she was running double or triple shifts. Madara was the only one who knew about her favorite sweet. It made her wonder if Sasuke had cast her into an alternate universe completely, instead of just the past.
"Sakura?" Hashirama asked anxiously.
Sakura started. "Sorry, I was drifting. What were you saying?"
His flush spread to his neck as Sakura watched in fascination. "I was wondering if you'd join me at—"
"Sakura," a voice greeted, interrupting Hashirama.
Sakura turned, breaking her grip on Hashirama. "Tobirama," she greeted warily. Sakura liked the philosophical conversations and debates they sometimes had but Hashirama and Tobirama together tended to be…interesting. "How are you?"
His red eyes warmed minutely. "I am well, thank you for asking. Are you going to dinner?"
Sakura nodded, valiantly ignoring the glares the brothers were trading.
Hashirama smiled tightly. "Why don't you join us Tobirama? We'd love to have you there."
Tobirama smiled slightly in return. "I would be honored."
Sakura shook her head slightly as they started down the street again, smiling at civilians and ninja alike who greeted her. Tobirama and Hashirama flanked her. Thankfully, it wasn't an uncommon sight for the men to traverse the village with her or the rumor mill would have imploded. For some reason, the villagers considered Sakura a central figure to the village and her interactions with the major clan leaders seemed a part of that.
They approached the patchwork building that housed the most phenomenal cooks in all of Konoha. It was bustling with activity as was the norm. Sakura greeted the familiar patrons and any former patients that she recognized as Tobirama and Hashirama commandeered a table for them in the corner.
"The usual Sakura?" Kimiko asked, brown eyes twinkling with good humor. Sakura had been on good terms with the Akimichi ever since she'd healed the clan leader's daughter of pneumonia.
"Of course, thank you. If I could get three orders?" she asked.
"Make that four."
Sakura turned, barely resisting the urge to groan when she caught sight of Madara smirking down at her.
"Coming right up," Kimiko said, bustling back into the kitchen, a sly grin on her face.
Sakura should have expected it, honestly. They always found a way to corner her every day. Sometimes it was Tobirama volunteering to teach her a specialized jutsu. Other times, it was Hashirama "stumbling" upon her while she was out training. Madara approached her sometimes asking for her medical opinion on the Sharingan. Generally each of them managed to coerce her into a spar once or twice a week. The really crazy ones were when the four of them sparred together.
They had to travel a distance from the village to prevent long-term destruction.
Sakura made her way back to the table, Madara at her side, feeling that doom looming over her.
This wouldn't end well.
Tobirama and Hashirama stopped glaring at each other to stare daggers at Madara who merely smirked triumphantly as he took a seat near Sakura.
"So, as I was saying earlier Sakura…" Hashirama began.
"You know, Sakura I wanted to ask…" Tobirama said at the same time.
Madara interrupted, "Sakura, would you do me the honor…"
The men all broke off, glaring at one another. Sakura, beyond confused and exhausted at this point, smiled when Kimiko approached.
"Here's your soup," she said, watching Sakura sympathetically. "I brought you two bowls because I can see you're famished." Kimiko winked. "On the house."
"Thanks so much!" Sakura replied, digging into the first bowl with enthusiasm.
The others began to eat as well, discussing politics and paperwork as Sakura slowly began to feel more like a human being. They'd been having some problems with other villages, ones that had been established for a longer period of time. A lot of shinobi were coming into the hospital after being ambushed. Madara was pushing for a show of strength while Hashirama was hoping for peace overtures among the villages. Tobirama wanted to hold off and study the other villages some more before making a decision.
Sakura ignored their chatter and focused on her food, thanking the gods above that they were distracted from whatever was making them competitive earlier.
"S-Sakura?" came the tentative call.
Sakura turned, smiling when she saw Itama, Hashirama and Tobirama's youngest brother. She'd healed him as a gesture of good faith following her impromptu attack on Madara. It had been the start of the founders' intrigue with her. Itama was a sweet and gentle kid, probably five or six years younger than she was. She enjoyed talking to him. He was the only sane Senju in her opinion.
"Yes, Itama?" she asked politely.
"W-would you…could I escort you to the celebration of the village's founding?" he asked, looking up at her shyly through his eyelashes.
Sakura smiled gently. "Of course, Itama!" she enthused. "I would love to join you!"
Sakura frowned, realizing that the conversation at the table had petered off. She turned, recognizing the dark looks on the founders' faces. She groaned.
It was going to be a long night.
Hey guys, this was just a fun writing exercise I did this night to prove to myself that I don't have to write overly complicated AUs. So, yeah. That's about it. I really like stories of Sakura in the founders' time so I might write more. We'll see! If you have any prompts or the like for stories with Sakura in the founders' time, shoot me a message. Thanks!
-jay