Disclaimer I DO NOT own Naruto (Sadly)
As Sakura proceeded to heal her fish, she explained the procedure to her 'students'.
"Once the wound is inflicted, the quickest you attend the injury the best healing rate you have." The pinkette said "But given the fact that most of the times you can't do that, because of the proximity to the patient, a battle or because the patient arrives plenty of hours later, you need to check all the first aid procedures first. Check coloring, heart rate, breathing, state of consciousness. Then you run a check-up – I will teach you that once you can perform medic ninjutsu – and once you establish the priorities you start healing the worst injury."
Ryuuji took notes, Hashirama too. Madara was memorizing everything with his Sharingan. Sakura was right, he could figure out the signs and hand movement, he could also see how the tissue mended, but he couldn't just reproduce the jutsu because he didn't know how to mold that chakra yet. He wondered about if once he learns it, he might be able to copy more intricate techniques.
"If the wound is fresh, you start with the deepest layer of tissue tore apart." Sakura explained as green glowed inside the fish's deep cut. It quickly healed. "This technique is called 'Mystical Palm Technique' and it basically accelerates the patient's body natural healing abilities. Use your healing chakra in a delicate way. Concentrate to fix the wound. If you use too much chakra you can disrupt the body's circulation and put the patient into a coma, as Hashirama-san's healing chakra."
The teenager kept writing everything his sensei said. It was going to be really hard path.
"If there is a hemorrhage," she continued "fix that first. If it doesn't stop, as it happened to Ichigo, run another scan and look for not so noticeable internal hemorrhages. You do as you can with the means you have and wait for a prepared doctor to help you. I won't be teaching you how to operate, just the basics to help you and others on battle".
The men looked disappointed; she also noticed Ryuuji's expression fell a little.
"Ryuuji-kun, I will teach you though" the pinkette smiled "Only if you're interested. I will need more people able to perform surgery when I am not able to."
"Of course I want to learn that!" the teenager answered eagerly.
"Okay, then keep working with your chakra. Meanwhile I'll teach you how to operate without it, just pure civilian medicine" the kunoichi promised.
"Wow!" Ryuuji exclaimed "I can also operate like that?"
"Haha Of course, silly boy!" Sakura replied "You need to learn that way first so then you can do it with chakra. I use Chakra Scalpels, but that is because it's a technique I've mastered. But If I'm running low on chakra, or I need to save it, I do things manually in the civilian way." She touched her Bicep with a tough and proud expression. The boy was smiling enthusiast.
"Anyway, this is how you heal a wound." She continued "When you can figure out this, I'll teach you how to revive a Fish"
"Ohhh Can you show us now?" Hashirama asked. She looked at him a bit tired she thought it was too much information to process. She looked at Madara whose eyes betrayed him, he had the curiosity of a kid. She sighed.
"Okay, but I need to asphyxiate the fish." She explained as she took a living fish and gently stopped his breathing. Her students were astonished. She was not going to let the poor thing to cruelly die outside the water. "Usually, the way to resuscitate a creature that has been asphyxiated is to stimulate the heart or the brain with chakra." She took a new scroll and placed the animal on it. She put her palms over it and concentrated. After a minute the fish regained function and she threw it again into the water.
The three disciples were speechless; the pinkette had done everything quickly and efficiently.
"As I've said" Sakura added "When you use the Mystique Palm you need a fine-tuned method, wich requires pretty accurate and delicate chakra control. If you don't have that, the poor thing will collapse completely and you won't have a chance to save it". As she realized the men were stunned with the action, she added "Perfect chakra control. Now, Start practice!" She clapped her hands and pulled them out of their trance. They immediately got to work.
Once Megumi finished her meditation, Hikari proved some taijutsu movements with the little girl. Tobirama looked at them impressed; the petite apprentice had a strong will to fight and had good moves. Also he could feel her chakra grew more noticeable after the training and meditation.
"Okay!" Hikari said stopping the training "It's time to go Megu-chan"
"Ohhh Sensei!" she moaned "Please let's train a little more"
"I would love to, but I have work at the hospital" the Kunoichi replied "anyway, you need to rest; tomorrow we're going to do the same thing. Also we still need to climb off this rock" she smirked; the little girl lost all color on her face.
The Albino smirked; it felt nice to know that a Civilian little girl was training hard to become a Kunoichi. He couldn't wait to start with the academy idea. He got up and prepared to leave but he heard Megumi talking to him.
"T-Tobirama-san" she called "would you be here tomorrow too?" she had a cute blush all over her face. Hikari raised an eyebrow, and then looked at the Senju who seemed clueless
"I don't want to interfere on your training, Megumi-san" he courteously answered.
"But you won't!" she looked at her sensei for help "He won't, right?" The Takishima snorted.
"If he stays put, nice and quiet he won't" she joked, the girl pouted and Tobirama deadpanned her. "Just kidding, of course he can stay if he wants to. He can even participate" the albino's expression suddenly changed.
"Beg your pardon?" he asked
"I mean, if you want to you can also train with Megumi" she explained and the deadpanning expression appeared again "Oh come on, think of it as research for your Idea."
"Idea?" the little girl asked confused.
"He is thinking of creating a place where kids like you can learn to be Shinobi if they want to" Hikari explained to her apprentice.
"WOAH Really?" Megumi looked at the man with admiration "I will get to go to study there too?"
Tobirama wasn't sure what to answer; he would have to think thigs right and maybe speak with both kunoichi for advice. 'Advice' he thought 'It feels weird for me to ask for advice".
"Yes you will do so" he said "but it's going to take a while, so you need to keep practicing."
"Sure I will" she smiled.
"Then, let's climb off this rock, and finish our perimeter" Hikari said and her little student nodded enthusiastically. "Man, I'm going to be so tired tomorrow, I didn't think this through" she added as an afterthought while they started to walk.
"How long is your shift?" the albino asked walking next to her left. Megumi was following to her right.
"Twelve hours" she sighed defeated, her head low. "But if I don't do this, Sakura might work all day long without resting."
"What about your rest?" he asked.
"It will be restored once I can sleep more. Tomorrow's training will last less, because we know the road now" she explained. "So I think I might get some hours to sleep before going to the Hospital".
"Well, I guess you can pull that out" he said with a plain expression looking forward.
"Um… Thanks?" the Kunoichi said mockingly.
"Hn." He said.
"Oh Kami, you sound like an Uchiha!" she jcked.
"Don't you ever say that again" the look he gave to her was terrifying, and Hikari didn't try to follow the joke, she even paled a little. That look and that feeling were familiar to her. Tobirama noticed that and started laugh wholeheartedly. His laughter got worse when he saw the kunoichi's angry expression.
"You were joking?" She exclaimed outraged, Megumi was laughing too even though she knew her sensei was mad, she found the scene very funny.
"Your face was priceless" the albino said "You were pretty scared"
"You should look on a mirror" Hikari crossed her arms in front of her "Psycho…" she added under her breath. He raised an eyebrow but still kept his smirk. "Anyway, we need to run Megu Chan. Say goodbye to Tobirama-san" The little girl seemed down because of her sensei's sudden change of mood and the Senju knew this was his fault.
"I'm sorry I scared you" he said more serious to the Kunoichi taking a step towards her.
"You didn't scare me, don't give so much credit yourself" she said looking to the side, a bit offended.
"Then why were you pale?" he teased but being careful, he didn't want to worsen things more. This was a whole new side of the Nidaime for her, 'so he can also be annoying 'she thought and then sighed.
"You brought back a bad memory, that's all." She said. His attitude had remembered to her of the psycho Tobi, the one who started the war, with his bipolar attitude before Naruto brought him back to the light. 'Oh the Irony, Tobi… Tobirama…' she kept thinking"Don't mind me" she continued "I'm sorry I overreacted. You were just joking, but your joke seemed too real for me, that's all"
The man looked at her with a calculating look. What had they lived in the future? What happened to their legacy?
"It was not my intention to bring any bad memory back to you" he stated in his old Tobirama way.
"You didn't know, and you don't know." Hikari retorted, he understood she was talking about the future "Don't be sorry for something you didn't do on purpose." He looked a bit down and that surprised her a little. She felt sorry for him. "Do you want to finish with us the perimeter of the Village?" she forced herself to smile so the mood can be lighten up, fortunately she ended up smiling for real when she saw his demeanor change when Megumi begged for him to do so. That had done the trick.
"Okay, let's get down from here" The albino said and led the way to climb off the mount.
They kept running until they finished the perimeter, then he accompanied them to the Hospital. But first Hikari did a quick stop on her home to gather some clothes because she said she would freshen up once she arrived to work. It was little time, only minutes he had to wait with Megumi outside the Kunoichi's home, but he felt it took more time because the little girl didn't stop staring at him, and that made him feel awkward.
"Are those red marks real?" she finally asked a bit shy pointing to her face showing him that she was speaking about his red lines. He was surprised to hear her ask that.
"Hn… No" he said "actually they are marks I made myself"
"Cool!" she said "But why?"
"I…" he started, nobody had never asked him that, but it was a seal he had done to his skin to protect it from the sun. He was suddenly interrupted by the Kunoichi
"Sorry I made you wait! Let's go!" she said and they resumed walking. Megumi like any other child forgot about her question.
Izuna and Takato were approaching to the Hospital; they had been all morning sparring with each other perfecting their kenjutsu. They had stopped by the Uchiha compound and to arrange themselves and arrived at the building early.
Toka was also an early bird, if you could say that during afternoon. She was standing next to the entrance doors waiting. Izuna thought she was waiting for them, but said nothing. He wasn't going to accept the fact he liked the Senju Kunoichi. It could not happen, it was not meant to be. So instead of allowing himself to dream of her being interested in him, he acted mean around her and made fun of her.
"So, doesn't anybody want you at home that you're here so early?" the youngest Uchiha said. Toka smirked at him and he failed to catch the way her eyes brightened up when she saw him because he was looking at his brother looking for a sidekick. But Takato didn't miss it. 'Interesting…' he thought.
"I must say the same about you Uchiha." She answered haughty "You are even escorted by your brother because he wants to make sure you're leaving your home"
"W-what?!" he spat "He is going to learn with us, you know?"
'Oh Kami, this two are really something' the middle brother thought. He was about to say something but sounds of laughter stopped him. Hikari, Tobirama and Megumi were approaching at them, the girls laughing at a slightly annoyed albino, but he could see that behind all that annoyance, he was enjoying himself. A sudden void appeared on the top of his stomach, and he felt his feet cold.
"Oi Izuna-san, Toka-san, Takato-san!" the Takishima greeted waving her hand "You're all early"
"I must leave you then" Tobirama said from her side. "And again I am sorry"
"Oh come on, you didn't have to know what happened" the Kunoichi said looking back at him "don't make me repeat myself, please? You're forgiven." She smiled and her soon to be students were perplex at their exchange. The middle Uchiha started to have a small headache.
"Okay" the albino said serious "see you tomorrow"
"Tobirama –san" Megumi called "then are you going to train with us tomorrow?" she cutely asked.
"I will Megumi-san" he answered. "Thanks for inviting me" he nodded with a small smile to the little girl, and then looked at the rest, serious acknowledge them with a nod. "Good afternoon for you all" and he shunshined from the place. Hikari waved her goodbyes and then looked at the group.
"Well, I'm going to wash up and change" She signaled her and Megumi's clothes "we had a tough training today" she smiled. "Megumi-chan, can you stay here with them as you wait for your brother?" The little girl looked at everybody not sure.
"Come on, you know them all" the kunoichi said "I know Izuna-san can be a bit intimidating, but he is fine"
"HEY" the mentioned exclaimed. Hikari smiled at him. Toka laughed.
"The first time you met this poor girl you were so gallant" the Senju said knowingly "No wonder why she doubts staying with us, she might think you are insane" That made the 'spicy duo' as Hikari had named them start a fight, the kunoichi, Takato and Megumi sweat dropped.
"Eh… Megu…" Hikari said in a lower voice as she took the poor confused little girl next to the other Uchiha "I'd prefer you stay here with Takato-san, he'll take better care of you" the Uchiha looked at her, his headache dissipating a little. "Is it okay with you?" she asked him.
"Yes, it's okay" he answered kindly. She smiled back at him, Megumi looked at her sensei and then the other man. Her sensei seemed to trust him, and so will she.
"Don't worry sensei, I will be fine" she whispered her. The Takishima nodded at the girl and the Uchiha. The spicy duo never realized she was gone, and stopped arguing when they heard Takato speaking with the kid.
"So, Megumi-san, is it?" He asked, he already knew her name, but he wanted to start a talk. The girl nodded shy "How is your training doing?" She stared at him still wary, he changed the question "Are you having fun with your sensei?" Immediately the girl's face lit up
"Yes! Sensei is amazing" she exclaimed "I'm starting to feel chakra; I want to be like her when I grow up!"
"That's good!" he answered kindly "She is a good person and a fine kunoichi, and I'm sure you'll grow up to be like that too" he added knowingly. Megumi blushed at his coment. It was weird, she met two new people today, Tobirama-san that was serious but she really liked him, and then this man, who was kind and spoke to her like her dad or he brother spoke to her. He even spoke well about sensei… 'that might mean...'
"Do you like sensei?" the girl bluntly asked Takato who blushed and almost chocked with his saliva.
"W-what?" he asked.
"I mean, you seem to like her, you speak nice about her" she explained as it was the most obvious thing in the world. Izuna and Toka were listening carefully and he knew that. How could he answer to this youngling?
"Well, yes I like her" he tried not to sound nervous, but like he was stating a fact, so the little girl didn't get the wrong idea "She has saved a lot of people, and helped creating this village. I am also grateful at her"
"What for?" the girl asked curious, she was starting to speak more casually with him.
"She trusted me" he smiled at the confused kid "During the last Uchiha-Senju Battle, before we started this Village, there were lots of injured people… some of them children." The kid followed his story with attention, and he was pleased "She got really mad at all of us, and called us monsters"
"Even Tobirama-san?" Megumi interrupted. Takato realized this girl was fond of the Senju, and he didn't know why he didn't like it. He preferred not to show it and kept smiling at her.
"Yes, even him" he continued like telling a fantasy story "So I offered to help her"
"You did?" the kid continued asking "What happened?"
"I thought she was right. We really were monsters for allowing little kids like you to go to war" he sighed "I always thought that, so I tried to protect them in battle, but it was hard." Megumi looked at him waiting for him to continue. "She looked at me, like judging if I was someone she could trust with the work and decided to accept my help, so she ordered me to check on the kids. No matter which Clan they were."
"You helped your enemies?" the girl asked in awe.
"Yes, one of them was Ichigo-kun" he smiled at her expression "Remember the one you've met on the inauguration?"
"Oh yes! The one sensei scolded with me" she giggled.
"Yes, that one" Takato pointed. "Together with your Sensei we helped Ichigo-kun until Sakura-san could save him"
"Woaaah" Megumi exclaimed
"So that's why I like her, and also why I know she is a good person." He ended the tale adding "she gave me a second chance"
"You are a good person too Takato-san" the little girl exclaimed wholeheartedly. His smile grew more. "I am sure Sensei knows it and she also likes you because of that. She trusts you" Takato blushed at what she had said, of course she wasn't implying anything, but it was odd to hear her saying that. From the distance Izuna and Toka giggled like children. 'This is going to be a long shift' he thought. Hikari appeared when he was thanking the little girl for her words.
"Why are you thanking her for?" she asked playing curious. She had made no sound so she sort of scared them.
"Yay sensei you are quick!" Megumi praised. The kunoichi was wearing fresh clothing, black pants, shinobi boots, and a plain dark grey elbow-length cotton shirt. Her hair was tied in a bun on the lower back of her head.
"Haha yeah…" the Takishima scratched the back of her head. "I didn't want to be late."
Meanwhile, Sakura and her students were exiting the building.
After a While of practicing, both shinobi had advanced on their chakra control by separating and molding it differently. Ryuuji was starting to feel chakra on his palms ready to be molded.
"Okay, that's all for today" Sakura Said. "Ryuuji, we're going to continue our chakra training outside near the woods." The boy nodded and went to change his clothes.
"Can we join you?" Hashirama asked "We would like to witness your training; we can also help you with the boy if you want to." The pinkette looked at him a bit outraged so he added "I know you don't need help per se, I mean It might be good for him to find some other spar partners, don't you think?" Sakura considered the idea.
"Well, if you put it that way, I would be a good opportunity for him to learn from others fighter's style." She reasoned "You're welcome if you want to come" she smiled. "But don't let this become a habit because I will get tired of you, or you might get tired of seeing me" The pinkette Joked.
"Don't say that!" the Senju whined "We will never get tired of you, Right Madara?" he looked at his friend.
"You never asked me if I wanted to participate of this, nor even asked Ryuuji-san if he wanted audience" the Uchiha growled at the 'shiny idiot' as he liked to call him. He looked at Sakura and added "but he's right anyway. We'll never get tired of you."
The way he said that made Sakura's heart skip a beat. He had looked at her so intently and yet so sweetly that she would have sworn this was not Uchiha Madara. Had his sibling's deaths changed him so much in her reality? Suddenly her chest felt tight.
"Will you get tired of us?" Madara continued, as he realized she had not given any response yet. She came back to reality.
"That depends on how long will you be meddling on our training" the pinkette smirked. He smirked too; he was starting to feel more confident talking with the Pinkette.
'Who would have thought that accepting that I like her would made be myself again' The Uchiha thought while he motioned to his post to clean it, they had made quite a mess with all the ink and water. 'IT'S JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE GREATEST CONSCIOUSNESS, YOU KNOW?' his smirk grew wider, fortunately nobody noticed because Hashirama was helping Sakura to store everything. 'Let me be, I don't need you to bother me all the time. Thank you for your help regarding this issue though.' He answered in his mind 'OKAY, I'LL LET YOU BE, YOU SEEM TO BE FINE AND SURPRISINGLY VERY CENTERED. BUT IF YOU EVER NEED ME, I'M HERE YOU KNOW? I AM YOU HAHAHA.' Madara shook his head suppressing a snort. His consciousness was right, he felt surprisingly centered, but having his childhood dream as a reality, with his beloved siblings and his best friend was indeed a great motivation. Also, he might have found someone… 'Well, let's leave that thought there for now…'
"Ah!" Hashirama exclaimed "Ryuuji-san is good to have you back!" he said to the boy "We're going to join you guys on your evening training, hope you don't mind!"
"Really?" he boy asked surprised. He wasn't shy around them anymore, all those hours sharing with them made him feel more confident. "That's awesome! Will I see you spar?" he asked with enthusiast.
"You want to see us spar?" the Senju asked confused and he nodded "Why don't we spar instead? You and me, what do you think?" Ryuuji opened his eyes wide. Sakura and Madara exchanged worried looks; the shiny idiot might have scared the teen.
"Would you do that? Really?" he was amazed in a childish way, 'I can see the resemblance with Megumi right now' Sakura thought. She noticed her student looked at her "Can I Spar with Hashirama San?" She was surprised by the request.
"Um, sure I don't see why not" the pinkette said "If he behaves and don't overdoes it'll be fine" she added looking at the Senju with a scolding look.
"I will be a good boy!" he answered in a pleading pose. A shiver run through Sakura's spine, she remembered Tobi, the masked Akatsuki. That was his typical phrase. It didn't matter that he later became Obito and after Naruto convinced him he helped them. For her, those were two different people. Madara noticed her subtle change of demeanor.
"Are you fine?" he asked her concerned.
"Y-yes, I'm sorry" she apologized "That phrase brought back a not so good memory"
"That I will be a good boy?" the Senju asked "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"Oh, come on, how could you knew?" she smiled and waved her hands dismissing the situation. "We must leave, they might be waiting us outside" she change the subject. That made Hashirama and Ryuuji follow her, but it didn't appease Madara.
"There you Are" Sakura said to her friends "the shift was fine, no news actually. Only a few civilians to attend with minor wounds due to the construction, and one kid with tummy ache. We even had time to practice the Mystic palm"
"Woah, that's awesome" Hikari said "Don't worry, if something big happens I'll summon you. Here" she gave her a kunai with a seal in it. "If I need you, this would be replaced with a note." They haven't re done their summon contracts yet.
"Good thinking" the pinkette answered, when she could leave the hospital for some days, she would look out for Katsuyu to sign a new contract.
Suddenly three figures appeared on the road. Two were part of the guards on the entrance, an Uchiha and a Senju, and the other one was an old acquaintance… 'Hamura' both girls thought. They had forgotten about him!
"Good afternoon mina –san" they said, then looked at Sakura "Haruno-sensei this man here claims to be related with you" She had to use all her skills to look genuine, so she did a pretty convincible surprised face.
"MATSU!?" She exclaimed and run to hug the newcomer. Hikari followed the farce.
"Matsu-kun!?" the Takishima said also surprised.
"So you know this person?" the guards asked.
"Yes I know him!" the pinkette answered still in high spirits "He's my brother" she said to them and then looked at Hamura/Matsu "I thought you were dead! How did you…"
"I could escape after you both left" he explained, he had worn out his clothes so people wouldn't notice they were from the Uchiha and had also got dirty so it would pass as he had been wandering. "I wandered for days until I could feel your chakra again, but when I arrived to the place, you were already gone. The people in the Merchant Village had moved away. Fortunately I could still track you down, and finally here I am" he smiled broadly with his dirty face. 'Boy, he really is a good actor' the girls thought. The Uchiha and Senju were also surprised by his acting abilities.
"So you are Sakura-san brother?" Hashirama played along "I can see a resemblance now. Nice to meet you, I'm Senju Hashirama, this is Senju Toka, at your service" the mentioned nodded greeting him.
"I'm Uchiha Madara and this are my siblings Takato and Izuna." The Uchiha Leader added, it felt weird but it was necessary. "Welcome to the Village. Please expect to be interrogated by our intelligence authority before being admitted here, just for a precaution you know?" he tried to sound not so harsh "This village is brand new and we have some enemies still around."
"Please to meet you everybody" the Ōtsutsuki under covered said "And don't worry, I really understand all what you have said, it seems fair because you need to protect your home."
"I will take you to my brother Tobirama, he's in charge of intelligence, with this man over here" The Senju leader said pointing at Madara. "But Tobi is the one that does interrogation; I hope you don't mind being asked a few questions". Matsu nodded.
"I don't have any problem at all with all what you are saying." He said "Just knowing the fact that you took care of my sister and her friend makes me be at your service" he bowed. Hashirama motioned him to follow him, and they left to the Hokage tower.
"Thank you very much for your help" Madara said to the guards "You can return to your posts now, Sakura-san you'll be reunited with your brother soon I hope you don't mind" The pinkette had to suppress a smile because of his acting.
The shinobi thanked him, greeted everybody and left to continue their works.
"I didn't know that sensei had a brother" Ryuuji broke the ice. The Koji siblings were the only ones that didn't know who Matsu was.
"You heard me," she explained and sighed "I gave him for dead, I wasn't prepared to speak about him so soon."
"That's why sensei seems sad some days?" he innocently asked. Madara and the others looked at her. She felt her cheeks grew hot. It was not actually embarrassment but a kind of it. She felt silly for being caught by her teen student. 'Shisho was right' she thought 'I wear my heart under my sleeve'.
"That's why" she answered "I miss him badly" she wasn't speaking about Matsu though, and Madara realized that, a knot formed on the pit of his stomach.
"Well you won't anymore!" he exclaimed "so start speaking in the past with that feeling" poor Ryuuji knew what was like to miss someone important. But he didn't know what she was really missing, the pinkette thought. Instead of worrying, she forced herself to smile.
"You're right!" she tried to sound cheery "Well, let's go to continue our training shall we?" she looked at the Uchiha leader "Are you still coming? I believe Hashirama-san will join us later"
"Hn…" Madara nodded being knocked out from his thoughts "Indeed, that idiot will follow us anywhere" he said bored. She genuinely laughed at that, and he felt proud of it.
"Please, go ahead and don't worry" Hikari said "Keep training, You'll be dining with Matsu pretty soon! I'm sure he will be living with us, so we'll have time to catch up"
"Yes, we sure will!" Sakura said "Please summon me if you ever need me"
"Yeah, yeah" the Takishima waved her hands motioning her to leave "would you please just go?" she smirked. The pinkette snorted, turned around shooking her head smiling, and left with Ryuuji and Madara.
"Megu-chan, I thought you were leaving with your brother" Hikari asked to her student. She realized she had barely spoken with her brother while they were talking with Sakura.
"Nii-san told me that he will be continuing his training" the girl answered "So I'll wait here for Grandpa" she smiled. "Can I stay here in the hall?" she pointed inside the building.
"Of Course you can!" the kunoichi said and the five of them entered in the building.
Sakura, Ryuuji and Madara arrived to a big field near the lake, but on the opposite shore from the Uchiha compound. It was a quiet place with a nice pier and the Shinobi assured them they would not be disturbed.
"Ryuuji Kun" the pinkette spoke to him "You know how to meditate. We could use the lake's natural energy, let your feet hang out from that pier and touch the water. Focus on the blue energy you expelled the other time and try to do it again. But always remember this is a process" the boy nodded serious. 'He might be more serious now because of Madara' she thought. "We'll stay close waiting for Hashirama-san so we don't interfere with your training."
"I'll start right away" the teen half bowed at the two of them and walked towards the pier.
"So," Madara said "are we going to stand here until the idiot comes?"
"You're too harsh on him" she scolded the Uchiha "Let's seat there under that tree so I can keep an eye on Ryuuji" she signaled some big roots that were coming out from the soil. "Nee? Prefect place!"
They sat down over the one huge root looking at the lake. It was the first time the two were sort of alone together and in spite of being self-conscious, Madara also felt the silence was comfortable. Both were looking at the teen, and without knowing the two of them were remembering their respective trainings at the same time.
"I can't remember how it all started with me and the chakra" he said in a peaceful low voice. Sakura looked at him and realized he was looking at Ryuuji with attention, and his expression was a mixed one, like a painful content.
"What do you mean?" she asked quietly.
"Actually I don't have many memories of my infancy." He said "Not pleasant ones, I mean" he sighed.
"I was born during peaceful times, but we had just been hit with the Takishima massacre and the Kyuubi attack" the pinkette added "But I wanted to be shinobi" he looked at her. Now she was looking at the teen nostalgic. "We had peace, but I was being bullied a lot, so I wanted to be able to defend myself"
"Bullied?" Madara asked. He didn't know what she meant.
"I was teased because of my forehead's size" she pointed hers "And my hair color" she added "Basically the children always thought that I had an unnatural sized forehead, and unnatural bubblegum hair" now she sighed "What a lame motive to become a shinobi."
"Why do you say that?" he asked not understanding "That's not lame, they were being cruel. There's nothing wrong with wanting to defend yourself." He stated.
"I know, but for some people the desire comes from protecting the loved ones, like Hikari did" Sakura explained "It was a poor motive, and then I became pretty superficial when I became a pre-teen."
"Well, it's not good to be superficial, but as you said, you were a child in peace times" Madara said "You had that opportunity, like many of your friends I assume" She laughed softly
"Yes you're right" she said "I had a friend, Ino, and she helped me to be proud of myself. I used to wear bangs covering my forehead" she moved her hear in a gesture to show the bangs "and she gave me a red ribbon as a present to tie my hair and show my face. She said that all flowers had to bloom someday, and I was just a Sakura blossom." She looked at him and smiled remembering her friend.
"That was very wise and nice of your friend" he one sided smiled. "And I assume she was true, because you don't seem to be bud anymore, you're more like a young Sakura tree"
She opened her eyes wide, was he complimenting her?
"You beat Ino, she always thought of me as a flower but never as a tree" she giggled.
"Why are you laughing?" he tried to sound offended "It's a good thing to be a tree, you are not as ephemeral as a flower, you have steady and strong roots, and you can bloom lots of flowers and fruit" he said looking at the tree behind them, caressing its crust. "For me it's better to be a tree than to be a flower" he simply said. That took her breath away.
"That might be the nicest thing someone has ever told to me" she looked at him surprised. He couldn't help the soft color that crept over his cheeks. And this time there was no interruption, she continued looking at him like she was trying to solve a puzzle, and that made him feel more aware. 'FIGHT MADARA UCHIHA' his inner voice shouted to bring him back to reality. He cleared his voice and regained his more confident self.
"I can't believe that" he said joking "They might have been blind" he added gallantly. Now she was the one that blushed, and that reversed situation made the Uchiha feel better. "I mean, you are a tough kunoichi, you're not a gentle flower, you are strong, still gentle, but strong…" he stopped because he saw her eyes were watery. "What's wrong?" he tried not to sound rude. She wiped the corner of her eye; there was indeed a tear there.
"It's nothing, really" she said "It's just that after a while I stopped being superficial and wanted to be strong. I wanted to be acknowledged because of that"
"And now you can destroy a mountain with your bare hand" he raised an eyebrow.
"Not bare, I need a glove to protect my hand to do that" she said joking.
"Well, yes, of course" he followed.
"I had for years my Nindo wrong." She said now looking again at Ryuuji, the boy was a good distance away from them and couldn't listen anything. "First was to defend myself, then to be acknowledged by my teammates, but finally I realized it was because I wanted to save the people I loved. Like Ryuuji here, like you guys. We all want the same thing" she sighed "It took me sixteen years to get there."
"Then why are you so down?" Madara asked "Your compass worked fine in the end"
"I don't feel proud of my old self" she answered.
"You are your past, but at this moment you are Sakura from this present… Sort of" he smirked, and she giggled "Our past will always haunt us, if we don't make amends with it. Forgive yourself for being shallow, like I have to forgive myself for all the blood my clan and I charged upon myself."
"I think you're being too extreme" Sakura said "But I understand your point".
Hashirama was approaching to them smiling, he was alone. He had left Matus/Hamura with Tobirama and he will be joining them later when they go back to the Hokage tower. Ryuuji had just stopped meditating and was feeling his chakra better by now. He was up and was walking towards them.
"So Ryuuji-sempai…" Hashirama said "Shall we start?" he smirked.
Ryutaro-san had picked Megumi up and congratulated everybody for their hard work. For him that so important shinobi were up to learn how to heal people from his Village was more than he could hope for. When he left, the four ninja started to work.
"Man, he really is a cheery man" Izuna said "It's like a Civilian Hashirama"
"And I never thought there could be anybody worse than him" Toka sweatdropped.
"Well you don't know Naruto" Hikari smiled a bit sadly "He was a shiny idiot too, and like Hashirama-san he did great things"
They were healing minor wounds, doing bandages and learning some uses for herbs to make some ointments. Hikari was checking how they cleaned wounds and bandaged everybody. She passed next to Takato who was tending a woman with an injured child. Some boiling water had fallen on one of his foot and was hurting badly.
She looked how he healed the kid with the little resources they had left, but the Uchiha seemed to know what he was doing.
"Wow, you did manage this quite good" the Takishima said to him, smiling to the little boy and his mother. "What is your name boy?" the little one was still crying in pain even though the wound was correctly treated. "Don't worry, it won't pain anymore" she put her palm over Takako's hands that was finishing the bandage, he stopped working surprised. She released healing chakra and the boy suddenly stopped crying.
"I won't heal you, because it's better for you to heal by yourself, but I made the pain go." The kunoichi said to the boy and then looked at the mother "Do you know what a willow is?"
"Yes, it's a tree" the mother answered.
"Good, you need to get some bark and sap of it, mix it with rosemary and boil it" she explained. "Then you strain it and crush it to make sort of a salve. Use the cool strained water to clean the wound and then put the salve on it" The woman nodded.
"There's a Willow near the lake next to the Uchiha compound. Talk to Uchiha Kido and tell him that Takato sends you" the Uchiha said to the woman.
"That's wonderful" the woman said "Thank you Uchiha-sama"
"Not a problem" Takato said "but please no Sama, just Uchiha-san is fine" the woman nodded and grab her little boy.
"Arigato Hikari-sensei" she greeted the kunoichi while she left. The girl waved her goodbye and then looked at the Uchiha.
"Way to go Takato-san!" she complimented again "did you have training on this? I remember you tended very well of the wounded on that battlefield"
He didn't want to remember that scenery again, but in the end, it was the place where he had met her.
"Yes, Okaa-san used to teach me some minor aids because my siblings always seemed to wound themselves" he joked, "What you did with your palm… that felt pretty weird" he added.
"That's what I am going to teach you now." She clapped her hands and went to find Izuna and Toka. There weren't any more cases that needed more help that the one the civilian nurses couldn't handle so she took her new 'apprentices' to another room, the one Sakura used in the morning.
"Cool!" Toka exclaimed "now the interesting thing starts!" she looked at Izuna who had a concerned look on his face "what's going on?" she asked him. Takato and the Takishima looked at him too. The youngest Uchiha looked at Hikari.
"What were you doing with Tobirama Senju?" he asked serious.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Hi everybody! I've been planning all this fic and I have material to write some more chapters on this complex days. Hope everybody is safe, and a cure will be find soon . Take care and comply with safety rules.
Back to the fic, these chapters are hard to write because they are going to be filled with emotions. Our characters are starting to really know each other, and some things might be blooming.
About the Willow thingy, it's not a real recipe but Willow was the base to our actual aspirin, and Rosemary is known to be antiseptic, so I made up things.
Thank you ania980 for you lovely and great review! To answer some stuff, Zetsu will appear but not so soon, a little more develop needs to be made, and I have lots of character to introduce first. Even though this is a romance fic I plan not to put too much drama on it, I just want to make things feel true, It also won't have smut, I don't have problems reading but sometimes I thing is not actually necessary to the plot growth. I love Tobirama, I love TobiSaku, but MadaSaku is just awesome for me. ItaSaku too, but in this case was sort of ItaHika and well… you'll find out with whom she ends up. Don't worry; the other one will be fine. I look forward to write Mito, there's so little about her, and I have a whole idea of her character.
Please someone help me with the summary, I tried to improve it, but I keep failing LOL
Quick Question How do I call Hamura when I write? Matsu or simply Hamura?
Read you soon, keep safe.
Bella