DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO
"I'm so jealous" The Senju said, Sakura looked at him surprised "Night shift is more fun, it's so unfair"
"Oh, Kami! You really start being annoying early anija" Tobirama said.
"Don't be jealous" the pinkette joked, "I was healing Izuna's sight and just now he realizes I have pink lashes. His reaction was fun!"
"You have pink lashes?" the Senju asked as he got closer "Whoa! I've never noticed that"
"Really?" she asked "I must check your sight too then" she smiled. "Good Morning by the way!" she mocked. "Tobirama-san, Madara-san, good morning!" she bowed.
"Good morning" both Senju answered.
"Hn." That's all Madara said. Sakura's expression fell a little with his lack of enthusiasm.
"How is Hikari-san?" The albino asked.
"She's doing fine" the pinkette told them, trying to forget the feeling she had with Madara's greeting. "She's still asleep though, it's a matter of time that she wakes up. You can go and see her in her room" she showed them the corridor. "Izuna-san, could you tell your brother and Toka to come?"
"Hai" the mentioned said, not looking at her but looking at his brother, who had a weird expression on his face. As he left, Sakura reached for the Uchiha Patriarch's arm who was walking towards the hall.
"Madara-san" she called and he flinched at her touch. She quickly took her arm back, none of them realized Tobirama suspiciously started to walk slowly …"Is everything okay?" she asked worried.
"Yes" he grunted.
"Can I talk to you for a moment?" she said trying her best to smile, but she felt blue with his behavior.
"I would like to check on Hikari-san first, if that's not a problem" he said serious.
"Um, oh." The Pinkette said "Okay." She lowered her head. The Uchiha felt a pang on his chest with her expression, as he was turning to the corridor he said "We can talk after that"
"H-Hai" Sakura said.
Meanwhile Izuna, Takato and Toka appeared at the entrance, where the pinkette was, a little gloomy.
"What's going on with you?" Takato asked.
"I think your brother might be mad at me or something" She said.
"That's not possible" both Uchiha said in unison, making the pinkette's cheeks match her hair.
"They are right" Toka said "Madara seems to be fond of you, he would never be mad. Maybe he had a rough night with those shitty elders"
"Oh! That's right!" Izuna said "I also felt he was strange today, it might have been that. Don't worry I'll talk to him" he said and left to Hikari's room.
At the same time Ryuuji arrived with his grandfather and Megumi. They greeted everybody, and Sakura told them to wait here so she could make the visitors to leave the room so the little girl could see her sensei.
Inside Hikari's room, two Senju and one Uchiha were standing near her bed, but not invading.
"We should open the curtains for her" Hashirama said a bit anxious as he motioned to the window "Some natural light might suit her" Tobirama grunted, but he thought his brother was right, and he looked at Madara, that remained silent.
"What's going on with you?" the albino asked concerned. The Uchiha looked at him surprised of his behavior.
"I just had a rough night" he said.
"Did the elders give you a hard time?" the Senju asked. Hashirama had left the window and also looked at his friend worried. Madara sighed.
"Hn. No," he said "Only Majime, but all the council and maybe the Clan is against him after what he said about mother and how he behaved whit our guests"
"So everything is fine!" his best friend exclaimed with joy.
"So it seems" the Uchiha said waving his shoulders. Tobirama raised one eyebrow.
"It seems not" he said looking at him serious "It's okay, you don't need to tell us, but you better treat Sakura-san better. Without her and Hikari-san the children would be dead" the Uchiha's eyes widened. "Yes, I've heard how you spoke to her." He added knowingly. His counterpart made a pause.
"I feel…" Madara's headache improved, but it was not because of the Senju. It was because something else. Everything that happened yesterday had messed up with his head. "Never mind."
The albino looked at him with attention, and finally nodded, he didn't want to meddle with his private affairs. He was sure he will solve whatever was going through his mind, but he was going to pay attention. The same preoccupation he had with Izuna the day before overcame him. 'Damn these Uchiha growing on me'.
"Aniki…?" Izuna said as he entered in the room "Can I talk to you?" he asked when his brother looked at him.
"Tell me" he said serious. The youngest had a bad feeling about that.
"It's something personal" he said, he looked at Tobirama and Hashirama apologetically and they nodded showing him that it was fine "would you come with me?"
"Hn." Madara said.
"Oh come on Madara!" Hashirama complained "You're really harsh this morning! We have a lot to do! Go speak with your brother and brighten up, would you?"
"Okay, Okay." The man grunted "Stop pestering me" he looked at Izuna and followed him through the door, but didn't see Sakura coming and she bumped across him. His whole attitude changed when he saw her caressing her forehead with her eyes closed in pain. "I'm sorry" he said grabbing her hands to take them from her forehead, he needed to see if he hadn't hurt her. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"Ah… yes" she said as she opened her eyes to look at him. His headache waved a little looking at her green eyes. "I'm sorry, It was my fault I-I" she looked at her hands that were still grabbed by him, her cheeks slightly pink.
"It's okay" he said, and realizing that let her go. "It's my fault" he added embarrassed and followed a very amused Izuna.
The pinkette turned to look at them walking away, feeling confused. He seemed different now. 'Maybe he felt bad because he thought he had hurt me'. She shook her head and entered the room, where she found Tobirama scolding Hashirama for being shouting next to a convalescent person. He stopped when he heard her laughing.
"Gentlemen, please could you wait outside?" she said smiling; those two made her feel better "Megumi and Ryuutaro San want to visit Hikari-chan."
"What are we doing in the roof?" Madara asked his brother.
"This seems to be the best place to speak in the whole Village" Izuna answered to himself ironically. The elder looked at him plainly. "Would you tell me what is going on?
"I had a tough night" he didn't want to explain himself, because he didn't even know how or what he felt.
"Did something happen with the elders?" his brother insisted. The eldest sighed.
"They were angry for Hikari-san's 'insolence'" he finally said giving his back to him.
"How could they…" Izuna made a pause because he realized his brother started to walk to the railing and bent over it. He heard him sigh again.
"But they were even angrier with Majime, so she's safe for now." Madara had his eyes closed, enjoying the breeze.
"Why didn't you start with that?" the youngest asked "So? Tell me what happened."
"They said that it was impolite for our honored guest to slap him" the Leader explained "and then a discussion started about Majime san being out of line, and that she had reacted to protect the Uchiha honor… some old people's silly things. Eventually, they moved to the way she acted towards the hostage situation, and asked me about her state. I told her she was near chakra depletion and that she wasn't waking up. The council started to murmur more and Sora-san made a point"
"What did she said?" he needed to know. His aniki was delivering information in parts.
"She actually asked to everybody if they cared more about an outsider slapping an elder, than the disrespectful act that man had with the heir family. " he answered "And of course that that outsider happened to save all Uchiha and Senju children, so she also questioned people's priorities"
"I believe they realized she really had a point there." Izuna stated.
"Well, it was a long meeting." The eldest said "But it was a good one. Hikari-san won't be questioned about anything, and Majime has been suspended from his charge for a month." His brother's face lit up, but then his expression fell.
"He's going to be a pain in the ass now" he said
"When wasn't he one?" Madara said smirking. "We' managed worse"
"Yes that's right!" Izuna's face brightened again.
"HN" he agreed, his mood falling again.
"Did something else happen?" His otouto approached him slowly with a curious look.
"Sakura san was also pardoned" the patriarch added "some of Majime's minions stated that she was about to punch him too and that she made that small earthquake happen."
"Man they can't let them be" he passed a hand through his hair with exasperation.
"And they also said that despite the hateful way Majime displayed, he was right on something" the somber look his aniki worried Izuna deeply.
"What is that?" he asked
"Uchiha law says I have to marry soon" Madara stated.
"WHAT?" His younger brother screamed.
"Yes, apparently if I'm not married at 25 our family might lose their position as heirs." He said waving his arms annoyed.
"Don't tell me they agreed you should marry Hikari-san?" Izuna asked startled.
"No, after that scene she's out of discussion" Madara smirked.
"Then it's settled!" Izuna exclaimed and his brother looked at him not understanding. "You should ask Sakura-san to marry you"
"WHAT!?" now it was the eldest who became astonished, and also red of embarrassed.
"Yes! She is a great candidate" his otouto said clapping his hands in a very Hashirama-way.
"I won't do that" he managed to say upset.
"Why, don't you like her?" the youngest asked blinking in confusion.
"T-that has nothing to do…" Madara felt a vein of his forehead was about to pop, put his index between his eyebrows to release the pain.
"Come on aniki, I could see that you liked her even before mi sight was cured." Izuna carefully mocked. He didn't want to upset it more, but it was his job as the most forward sibling.
"AGH!" the Clan leader exclaimed infuriated grabbing his head. That made his brother took a step back from him.
"Aniki! W-what's…?" he tried to asked but he was interrupted.
"You make fun of me!" Madara exclaimed moving from side to side exasperated "You keep saying that 'I like her'" he said the last part with a saccharine voice, "but then, there you go being so open and also flirting with her."
"I'm not flirting!" Izuna screamed outraged "I'm not even interested in her"
"Then why do you act like that?" his brother demanded "You were so close to her, looking at her eyelashes for kami's sake! So inappropriate…" his headache was worsening, and his aura was darkening.
"I really didn't see shit!" Izuna defended himself "She had also healed Takato today. I even told her to check if we had the curse of hatred too."
"The curse!?" the patriarch exclaimed "What the hell has it to do with anything!?
"I speak for myself, but I sure Takato was afraid like me, because we had hated the Senju for so long…" Izuna explained "Fortunately, we don't have anything. We're fine. But our corneas were very damaged because of the Sharingan's overuse."
"You were having sight problems?" Madara asked concerned, his sudden outburst slowly fading now. It was a lot of information to take, but he felt better when he heard his siblings didn't have that curse, though he didn't know how Sakura San could check that. "Why didn't you tell me?
"We didn't know, we thought we were seeing fine." The youngest dismissed "And Sakura-san is also worried about you and your eyes too." That statement took the Clan leader aback. 'Was that what she wanted to talk about? She was worried about me and I mistreated her because I was Jealous?' 'HA, FINALY YOU ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE JEALOUS. TAKE A BREAK MAN!' his inner voice interrupted his thoughts. He shook his head and looked at his little brother back.
"I thought you liked her and that you…" Madara tried to say, he actually didn't know what to say, or what to feel. Nothing he had felt made sense now.
"I do like her" Izuna interrupted and hurried to continue because he saw his brother's face. "Like a friend, almost like a sister. It's the same with Hikari-chan." He made a pause and thought out loud "I would never see them other way, because I already…" he stopped talking abruptly before he spilled the beans, but his aniki had listened anyway and that reaction seemed to change his demeanor completely.
"What?" he asked worried "You already what?" his otouto sighed.
"Well, you won't like this." he said. He was going speak about his feelings with him, even if it felt awkward. He needed to know. "I already like someone, and she's not any of those two"
"I don't get it…" the eldest said "when...? Who..?"
"It's Toka, Toka Senju." He answered "and I mean I like her in a romantic way"
"You and Toka?" Madara repeated astonished "are you… Are you in love with her?" The Leader didn't have any problem with her; actually he was fond of the Senju Kunoichi. She was smart, a great warrior and seemed similar to his brother in a matter of humor. But this… was indeed troublesome for his otouto.
"I have feelings for her, they're not 'love' per sé yet" the youngest said and exhaled "But I think I'm falling".
"Does she…?" the Uchiha Patriarch couldn't believe he was having this talk with his sibling. It was a serious talk and it felt like for the first time he was seeing him as a grown up. He had matured, maybe even more than him especially in what feelings meant.
"I don't know" Izuna simply answered "I'd like to think she does. But it doesn't matter anyway"
"I-I" his brother couldn't find the right words to say so he kept silent.
"Don't say anything" the youngest added "but the next time you ever feel jealous, remember this chat"
"I was going to say that I will help you." Madara finally said "I can't know for sure if she feels the same. But I will free you from the stupid in-breeding tradition. I won't allow a ridiculous Clan law to prevent you to be happy. Let me…"
"You too Aniki" His otouto interrupted him, and he looked at him serious.
"I'm not in the same position as you are" The eldest answered "As the Clan leader law says I have to marry an Uchiha woman."
"Then fight about that too" he said grabbing his hands in desperation. He didn't want to see his aniki suffering.
"I'm the leader and I can fight for exceptions for others. But I cannot do that with me. Also in what feelings are concerned…" he tried to escape from his brother's statement. He was not in love with her.
"You also like Sakura-san" Izuna countered
"I don't…" Madara tried to cut his brother's delusion but he was as stubborn as he was.
"Oh come on Aniki, you can't still be in denial" the youngest exploded "you may not have feelings for her yet, but you're slowly falling for her too." He tried to calm down "It's the same with Takato… It is really like Kido-san said days ago: we're all in that path. Sooner or later it doesn't matter when, we're doomed."
"Takato?" the Clan Leader asked taking advance of the change of subject –not that Izuna haven't noticed that- "Hikari-san?" he also asked and his otouto nodded. "I've always teased him since day one, but he never told me…"
"That's because we're not seeing each other much" his brother explained "But some days ago we had a fight and he confessed that to me"
"You fought?" Madara asked surprised, he was missing a lot with his siblings. Maybe it was because of that they were afraid of the curse "About what?"
"Nothing much" Izuna waved his hand dismissing the subject "just middle brother-youngest brother stuff" he smirked. "You should talk to him. You always were more confidants with him than with me in some aspects. I think he is the one that makes us open up, like the glue that sticks us together" Madara raised an eyebrow and his brother added "It even think it's kind of wrong to have this conversation without him" the patriarch also smirked.
"I will talk to him. I can ask for permission to leave my shift early. It's not like I'm essential." He added joking "He must be pretty worried about Hikari-san"
"He is. He tried to pretend not to, but he couldn't focus all night long." The youngest sighed "Also… "he added in a whisper, Madara had to get close to him to hear "I think, Tobirama might be interested in her too, so that might be worrying him more."
"No kidding!?" he exclaimed completely shocked "you're not serious"
"Yes I am" Izuna said crossing his arms "Just pay attention and you'll get the signs."
"Tobirama!?" the Leader thought out loud" that's supper odd." He smirked and shook his head. "Well" the Clan Leader said looking at the sky "we must go, my shift is starting and you need some rest"
"Okay" his brother compelled "but please, apologize to Sakura-san" Madara sighed.
"I will." He promised.
"And don't overthink your feelings." His otouto said wisely "It's not written in stone that nobody can develop feelings for another person in a matter of months"
"It's been only one month" Madara fell for that.
"And that's my point" Izuna rose his hands, resting his case.
"Come on, you brat" The Eldest grabbed him by his neck and ruffled his hair "Let's go back, your lady might be worried"
"Shut up" he said blushing.
It felt really good to have opened with him even though he would never accept he felt something for the pinkette, at least not at the moment. Now Takato was left. The more he spoke this way with his siblings, the better he felt. Like if he had a power that made him invincible.
Megumi and his grandfather stayed almost like half an hour inside the Takishima's room. When they left, Izuna and Toka entered to greet her goodbye. Even though she was asleep Sakura told them that she might listen.
Takato entered next, fortunately alone. Somehow Madara started to speak with both Senju, as Sakura accompanied him. She finally stayed outside after motioning him to enter and winking at him. When he was next to her bed he grabbed a chair.
"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner" he spoke to her "I didn't know how to act. I tried to put my mind at ease." He felt silly, like talking to the void.
"I'm sorry you're in this state, you were just awesome! I really hope you wake up soon." Takato continued "I-I…" he couldn't say what he thought; It seemed too much for him. He got up and added "please, be safe" he said caressing her right cheek. "I'll come by later. I promise." He turned his back and left not realizing her hand moving as she unconsciously reacted at his words.
Outside the room Tobirama was waiting. He tried not to feel jealous; he was free to greet the brunette if he wanted to.
"I need to talk to you" the Senju said serious.
"Yes?" Takato asked worried he might say something about Hikari and he might not be able to handle that.
"I'm going to train Megumi these days, she already knows me." Tobirama stated. The Uchiha kept listening with attention thought he didn't know where he was going to.
"That's awesome" he answered when he realize the man was waiting for a response.
"But, I will need help because Ichigo is also training with her now, as a sparring mate of her own age." The albino continued and asked "Would you mind helping me with him?" Takato blinked, this was not what he was expecting to hear. He quickly processed what was being asked for.
"Sure!" he said "I'd be honored to help" Tobirama nodded.
"You might need some rest. We'll start training at noon then." He said
"I'm fine" Takato dismissed him waving his hands.
"No you're not. You need rest" the Senju said with authority not leaving place for discussion "I'll see you at noon at the Village's gates." he turned his back and left. He never entered the Takishima's room again. That left Takato startled.
"Are you alright?" Madara asked his brother when he saw him walking down the hall.
"I think so," he was still surprised "Tobirama just asked me to help him training Megumi and Ichigo while Hikari-san is unwell."
"Today?" his brother asked, and he nodded "But you need to rest"
"I know." Takato said raising his eyebrows "And That Senju seems to know that too. He changed the Training hour to noon so I can sleep some hours." The eldest was amazed.
"That's too considerate for him" he said. The middle Uchiha shrugged.
"Last night he told Izuna he's growing on him" he answered "Maybe he's really opening a little."
"I feel that too… he seemed worried about me earlier" Madara said and considered his little brother's words on the roof. "Well, go to sleep then" he said waving his hands to kick him out. "I'll found you later. I would like to talk to you; we don't see each other much these days"
"I could use some big brother's time" Takato smiled, and his aniki hugged him over the neck.
"Go to sleep, don't make me force you" he said and pushed him away ruffling his hair.
"Okay!" the youngest said fixing his hair "I'll leave. Just let me be"
After finishing the morning rounds Sakura sat Ryuuji to practice molding chakra and put Hashirama as his mentor. She gave him the chakra scrolls for the fish in order to help him expel chakra. The Senju also practiced because if Ryuuji couldn't achieve something in minutes, he will heal the fish. The pinkette took the opportunity to speak with Madara.
"Madara-san?" she asked timidly, he seemed doing better than earlier that day, but he wasn't speaking to much to her. He looked up from his fish. He had just healed it. "Can I speak with you for a moment?" The Uchiha nodded silently and put his fish inside the water again. "Boys, we'll be back in a minute" the mentioned nodded and kept working and when the duo left they exchanged knowing looks and laughed.
"Before you say something, I want to apologize for my behavior this morning" Madara said serious once they closed the door behind them. He was looking to the floor, so Sakura could realize he felt ashamed. "I had a rough night, though it's the third time I've said it this morning and I'm starting to feel it like a lame excuse"
"Don't say that!" the pinkette said "I'm glad you had a though night though" The Uchiha looked at her confused "That means you're not mad at me" she smiled childishly and winked.
"H-How… Why?" Madara almost screamed, he noticed that so he lowered his voice "Why would I be mad at you? How could that be possible?" she was taken aback with that.
"I-I don't know!" the kunoichi said hushing " You also were kind of rude last night when you left, and I understand that the situation was stressful, but you felt so different when you gave my gift."
"I…" He started, he remembered the exchange, and he had told her she was beautiful. It felt so embarrassing now. He fought back the heat that rose up his face. "There's a lot going on in my mind right now" he paused "Can we go somewhere else to talk?"
"Do you want to go to the roof?" the pinkette offered.
"What's with that place!?" he enquired "Izuna took me there today and said it was the best place to talk" she started to laugh.
"I guess that's because it's isolated from the people at the Hospital." She said smiling. "Hey, come on, follow me" and she motioned down the hall, passing the patients room. "You built this place as a future laboratory" she said as they entered. "I believe we'll start working here next month"
"Really?" he said marveled.
"Yes, Izuna-san seems to be extremely adept for medic ninjutsu, so I think he could help us" Sakura explained and he found himself to be pleased and proud of his otouto. "Hikari-chan had told me so, and I could witness it tonight. I've even offered him to be my apprentice with Ryuuji"
"You're kidding!" The Uchiha's face lit up. All jealousy he might have felt when he saw his otouto with her had disappeared for good. "Izuna is going to be a dedicated medic nin?"
"I hope that's not a problem for you. He looks like he has found his nindo" she said.
"How can that be a problem?" Madara asked naturally "He is a good warrior, but knowing that he wants to heal and save people instead of killing them… you don't know the weight it takes out from me." The pinkette was surprised with his statement.
"Were you worried about Izuna?" She asked curious.
"Well, yes" he confessed "I always found his hatred for Senju so similar to father's. And when you started to talk about the curse, I remembered the way he acted towards Hikari-san in the beginning. And now he is so fond of you both." He stopped to evaluate if he was going to say what he thought next and decided to do so "I acted weirdly towards you today because I felt his behavior was maybe a bit inadequate, Izuna I mean. Yesterday he hugged you; today he was too close to your face in public. He's been kind of a flirt since he was a teen and I didn't want him messing around with you. I thought wrong and I'm sorry" his cheeks were slightly pink, but hers matched her hair now.
"Oh Kami, what did you think of?" Sakura said utterly embarrassed "That me and Izuna… "
"No! Wait!" he moved his hands in front of him to make her stop in her tracks. "I thought he was being improper to you. I never thought you…" he felt more self-conscious now he had said it "It's not that I have a say in your life, I'm not controlling you or anything… I just" he was a mess 'SHUT UP NOW, YOU'RE MAKING IT WORSE. LOOK AT HER FACE, SHE'S LIKE A TOMATO!'
"Okay, okay, let's not get weird." She took a deep breath and calmed down "He was never inappropriate with me or Hikari-chan, you need to know that. Also, none of us is interested in pursuing any other relationship rather than friendship with him"
"You don't need to say…" Madara said embarrassed.
"I must. I feel I would be betraying your trust if I ever go behind your back" she was pinker than ever but she still said everything very composed. "You have been so kind with us. With me. I don't want to let you down". For a moment he was out of words. He wasn't expected that answer, and for what it looked, she wasn't expecting to say that either because she cleared her voice.
"Um, I wanted to check on your eyes." The pinkette said before the talk became more uncomfortable "Both your siblings had their sight deteriorated. I'm worried for you." The man ignored the warm feeling in his chest.
"Y-yes" he was glad she had changed the subject, it was so awkward. She had sort of admitted that he was important to her. "Izuna told me that, and also that you checked them for the curse of hatred." She was stunned to hear that his sibling had told him everything.
"I'm glad you're so sincere between yourselves" she smiled.
"What do you need me to do?" he asked quickly, before falling in another embarrassing moment. She became aware of her work.
"Just sit here and close your eyes" Sakura asked him. He immediately obeyed. The realization hit her hard when she understood with that simple gesture that that man in front of her, Uchiha Madara, fully trusted her. He sat to offer her his most precious possession, his dojutsu, to be checked. She remembered the first time she taught him medic ninjutsu, and how apprehensive he was to close his eyes. It had been what, only a week? Their relationship grew up pretty quick. Her hands started to glow green and inner appeared just when she was starting to check on him. "CHA RELATIONSHIP!? WOOHOO WE'RE BETTER EVERYDAY" 'Shut up, I need to concentrate right now. GO AWAY!" She shouted her consciousness.
"Okay, this might feel weird" she felt his chakra coils, they were in fairly good shape, she recovered them completely though. "Hn, Your corneas are very damaged, this will take some time. Please be patient."
"This doesn't feel weird at all" Madara said with his eyes still closed "It actually feels nice, comforting" It was easier to speak to her while not looking.
"Well, you'd be the first patient to say that to me." Sakura said and thanked Kami that he was with her eyes closed. Her head looked like she was going to boil in any moment. "You've used the Mangekyo Sharingan too much, but this is better than I thought"
"They are very damaged and it's better than what you thought? He asked "What did you think of? Blindness?" he joked.
"Hn." She got to say.
"Wow." Madara said when realization hit him. He had never really thought that his dojutsu could be so bad "So how is it that I don't realize I have bad sight?"
"The eye is a complex organ full of tiny muscles" The pinkette explained while working "When your sight is having troubles it works harder to adjust and help you focus. But the harder they work the quicker you lose your sight. And also the cornea tends to burn with Sharingan overuse, mainly with the Mangekyo"
"But I need my eyes" the Uchiha said "How can I use them safely?"
"There's actually nothing I can do about it now" Sakura said "I would recommend you to come and see me anytime you feel you've overdone it. Once you've advanced in Healing ninjutsu, I can teach you to detect damage, so you can 'damage control' yourself."
"That would be good. Thank you." The man answered politely.
"I could study the Sharingan if you want to" she said "now that I have someone to compare with Hikari-can I think I can check what Takishima did that healed the blindness problem. I could never check a non-eternal Mangekyo Sharingan before"
"You've checked another Sharingan that was not Hikari-san's?" Madara asked intrigued "I've thought the clan…"
"Well, that's true." The pinkette answered. "But you have to remember that Sasuke-kun was still alive. I got to check on his eyes in prison after the war"
"Prison?" the Uchiha asked opening his eyes. She scolded him and immediately closed them again.
"Never mind, it's not important anymore" she thought out loud "Yesterday I told your brother, Takato I mean, about Sasuke-kun. I knew the curse of hatred by firsthand because he had it."
"But the man had lost his entire clan" he tried to defend him "I think that was a logical response". He saw her shaking her head.
"The curse appeared later, when we were in our pre-teen years." Sakura explained "He left the Village at the age of 13 to train to kill his brother. We saw each other back when we were 16, and he wasn't the same obnoxious but cool boy he was. He was cold… and later he became a killer. I-I…" she stopped infusing chakra in Madara's eyes, so he felt safe to be opening them at that moment. He thought she might be crying of something, but no. Her eyes were shiny, but she was fighting the feeling.
"You don't need to tell me if it hurts you" he said looking at her from his chair. The lights were dimmed so he couldn't really see any results with his sight, maybe she hadn't finished yet.
"I still hurts…" the pinkette said "That's what troubles me more. I'm over him, I've forgave him. But when I remember some situations... He was completely another person."
"He was your childhood friend" the Uchiha stated, but somehow he thought he might have been something more. He was afraid of that idea, and he knew she was not going to lie to him.
"I used to love him" Sakura confessed and Madara swallowed hard "Not just a silly crush like we've mentioned when we met in the Merchant Village. I loved him, and I made Naruto promise to me that he'll bring him back. That baka almost dies because of that promise, so I thought I could save him by… killing him"
"You tried to kill the boy you loved?" the Uchiha asked surprised. He couldn't believe that this woman that dedicated her life to save people wanted to kill someone.
"I know you must think I'm a monster" she said, this time a tear rolled down her cheek. "But he was… He had killed in cold blood someone that had his teammate as hostage, by piercing through her stomach. He was insane. He had already killed his brother and had learnt that Konoha forced him to do so, so he wanted to destroy the Village." She made a pause "I've said too much"
"Hey" Madara stood up from his chair and approached to her "You're not a monster" he wiped the tear rolling in her cheek with his sleeve. "I can't imagine how… how dangerous and sick he was to make you wanted to kill him. I think you just didn't want him to become a monster, but he was already one. You also were a loyal shinobi of your Village." She was surprised to feel all this talking so natural. He had cleaned a tear from her cheek and her heart didn't skip a beat, but it was content, and that put her at ease.
"Well, he almost killed me there." She made a point "If it wasn't for Naruto and Kakashi-sensei He would have succeeded. Oh! that makes me remember, Kakashi-sensei also had a Sharingan in one of his eyes." The shinobi was surprised with her sudden change of topic "When he was a kid he had an Uchiha teammate. During a battle sensei lost an eye, and later the Uchiha Boy got fatally injured and lost one eye too, so before dying he gave him his good one to him as a gift."
"Really?" the patriarch was curious about that. "How did the Clan take it? How did it work?"
"Oh, they were mad! But he was one of the most powerful ninjas and also The Hokage's –Hikari's Uncle- favorite apprentice, so they did nothing. As for its use, he had that eye covered most of the time. If he used the Sharingan too much it would consume all his chakra" she explained "He was Called Sharingan-no-Kakashi because of that, The Copy Nin"
"So those were the two Sharingan you could study." He deducted "He seemed a formidable man, but wasn't him that teacher that underestimated you?"
"Yes, but after I trained so hard, he really respected me more. He had always cared and loved me as a father, but like some parents do, they tend not to pay attention to their children." She laughed bitterly.
"Sakura-san, your family…" Madara dared to ask "Did you… did you leave your family in your time?" She sighed.
"No" she said "My parents died during the last war, defending a group of civilians until help came"
"I'm sorry" the Uchiha said lowering his head.
"Don't be" she interrupted looking at him without any sadness. "They died honorably as heroes" he was mesmerized by the pride accompanying those words. "It's been two years now. I'm at peace with them, I know they were proud of me, and they loved me and raised me to be the person I am now." She made a pause and tried to find his eyes that were lingering over a table "Hey! Cheer up! They have flaws of course, they used to spoil me a lot as a kid, that's why I was so annoying" She heard Madara snort.
"That's the word you hate." He remembered "He called you that way"
"That's another quite extensive story" the pinkette said smiling "Maybe in the future I will tell you more, but you'll have to buy me a coffee, because it will take long" 'CHAAA YOU DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME, ALREADY PLANNING A DATE!' inner said in her mind 'Shut up'.
"Noted!" Madara answered not realizing the implications of what she had said – not that she had done it on purpose, it had been an impulse. "But, continuing with what you were saying, you said that after the war you checked on that Sasuke"
"That's right" the pinkette said "I told your brother about treating him before war, but please don't say anything about the prison. Hikari-chan might kill me."
"I won't say anything, trust me" he was extremely curious to know what she was going to say. "Please?"
"Okay, sit and close your eyes again, I've haven't finished." She raised her eyebrows and smiled. The Uchiha compelled and she continued the treatment.
"Basically, even though Sasuke-kun had won over the curse, he was still a criminal enemy of all shinobi nations" she reasoned "So he was imprisoned, and he had chakra suppressors and stuff. I was assigned as his doctor because we've been teammates for too long and also because I had healed his lost arm"
"He lost an arm?" Madara asked surprised.
"Another story, another coffee" Sakura said, they both laughed. "Anyway, I could check on his eyes, but he had transplanted his brother's so they were perfectly fine, that's why I don't have actual practical knowledge about the Sharingan's adverse effects, just what he told me and I could witness."
"Okay, so if you check on someone's non transplanted Sharingan Eye's and compare it with Hikari-san's you might find a cure?" He asked hopeful.
"It's a possibility" the pinkette considered "You already gave me an Uchiha medicine book, but given the fact we have lots of Uchiha in this time, I think it's proper to study your dojutsu to help you."
"Thanks" he simply whispered. He was overwhelmed with information, but also extremely pleased with her caring.
"Done!" she said "Your corneas are like new! Do you want me to check for the curse? I only need to scan your brain, and you only must remain with your eyes closed"
"Hn. Okay" he was worried what she may find. He suddenly felt her chakra drowning his mind. It felt odd but still was pleasant. 'Maybe I'm a masochist. I hope she cannot read my mind' fortunately, his consciousness stayed calmed. He heard the kunoichi hum and mumble something.
"Done" she said more serious than he liked.
"Is it that bad?" he joked. Even though she was serious she did smile softly.
"Well, you don't' have the curse developed, yet" she said the las part with delicacy.
"Yet?" If there were lighter she could have seen him losing all his colors. She put her hands over his shoulders to calm him down.
"Hey, relax." Sakura said in a soothing voice "Do you trust me?" he nodded "Then listen to me. You seem to have a tendency to form some dark chakra masses in your brain, but you don't have any right now, that's why I can say you don't have the curse"
"But you said yet" Madara was worried.
"The curse starts slowly until it consumes the person. You're years away from that" she assured him "You have some trails of that chakra segregation, but somehow it's like your brain also fights against it, and it seems to be wining every time."
"My brain fights it?" he wasn't following but the idea gave him hope.
"Yes…" she answered and then added "Have you been experiencing headaches whenever you felt bad?"
"Not always" The Uchiha answered "some specific times actually".
"Well I recommend you to analyze when they appear" Sakura said "Also, do you remember if they go easily or why?" He remembered that every time he spoke to her the sense of content made him feel good, also the joy he felt with his siblings, every time he realized they were still around him. He nodded "Those headaches are caused by the Sharingan and deep emotions. Somehow when you have negative emotions like rage, angst or jealousy, something triggers with "the eye of emotion" and may or may not segregate dark chakra in your brain more easily than regular people" he looked at her surprised.
"Regular people?" the Patriarch asked.
"Oh yes," she assured "This is not an Uchiha thing only, mister." Her expression made him relax a little. "And the good thing is that even though negative emotions trigger it, positive emotions control it. That's what's happening to you. I believe any time you feel fine your brains heals completely. Of course this doesn't mean any time you have a "negative emotion" or a headache you're developing the curse per sé. You're also a human."
"I don't know why but I still feel pretty worried" Madara stated "What if I fall into darkness and that creature you've talked about finds me…" The pinkette felt a void inside her. That was what might have happened to the Madara of her time. The realization hit her. She had an opportunity here.
"He won't find you, because you won't fall into darkness" Sakura said reaching again for one of his shoulders "I won't let you. None of us will" she smiled. "Also you know about the curse now, knowledge is power". They became silent. She gave the Uchiha time to process what she had said.
"How?" he simply asked.
"You know how not to fall" she explained "don't let your mind wander into negative thoughts. We can work on some strategies and mental weapons to work with. I have been with that curse face to face lots of times during the war and trust me, you are not going to end like them, and you're not going to fall because you have light in you. You have love. The love for your siblings and this Village. You have a strong friendship with Hashirama and you have us and everybody that is entering in your life now. Even if you ever fall into despair, just the thought of that it will put your mind at ease, and you'll be fighting"
"I-I…" he said startled, he was afraid indeed but yet he felt confidence. "Thank you"
"You understand you don't have the curse, and your brain is fine, Don't you?" Sakura asked knowingly. "What I've seen is just a bit of evidence that you've have darkness, but nothing more. You are fine"
"Yes, I understand that" the Uchiha agreed this was difficult for him "Somehow I feel sad and happy, what a paradox."
"Yeah, I know what you mean" She smiled releasing his shoulder. "But trust me, you're good. Whenever you're ready I can give you some tips for you to work with your mind."
"That would be great, yes!" he tried to cheer up a little. Sakura walked to the door, so he stood up.
"Madara-san" the pinkette called from the door, he looked at him and noticed that now in the dimmed he could trace all her face features perfectly. "If that bastard of Sasuke could win to that thing being in the lowest someone can be, you will stand your fight unscratched. I know what I'm saying, you're way a better man than he could ever dream to be." She smiled and abruptly turned her back so she could make her big exit. Actually she was red of embarrassment and she didn't want him to notice 'CHA YOU DID ONE HELL OF A CONFESSION MISSY!' Inner exclaimed in joy 'Come on, I had to say that. It was pretty embarrassing though, but it might give encourage his faith' Sakura argued 'DON'T LIE TO US, WE KNOW YOU REALLY FEEL THAT WAY. HE HAD STEPPED OVER EVERY TINY LITTLE REMINDER OF YOUR LOVE FOR SASUKE' the voice had spot a nail 'Oh, I need Hikari Chan to wake up, I need to talk to her!' Sakura lamented.
Fortunately for Sakura, Madara was frozen in his place, that statement had been too much for him. She said he was better than the man she used to love. He wasn't sure of the extents of the implications of that declaration, but one thing was sure: He had hope.
The shift continued smoothly, Sakura came back and told Ryuuji and Hashirama that Madara was adjusting to a procedure she had done in his eyes. The Senju seemed worried but when his friend entered he run to him and filled him with questions. The Uchiha was amazed of sharpness of his sight now. He could see everything in detail.
"You're getting old" he said to Hashirama
"What?" the long haired man asked confused.
"You have lots of wrinkles in your eyes" Madara mocked impassive.
"Oh Shut Up!" his friend exclaimed annoyed "You're not getting any younger either!" The Uchiha dismissed him and walked to Sakura. 'Kami, may be he's going to say something about my last line… What to do?' She noticed he stopped his tracks and when she dared to see he was checking her eyes.
"You do have pink lashes" he said amused "And also eye bags, you must rest now".
"What?" the pinkette asked, that took her off guard.
"Yes, you've promised me you'd sleep" the Uchiha looked at her with a frown. "I don't think you've done it during the night watch."
"I-I…" Sakura sweat dropped. He had caught her.
"Please, get some rest" he asked, his eyes showed worry. "There's another bed in Hikari-san's room, you won't be disturbed there. We'll be fine with Ryuuji and Hashirama. We have the civilian doctors and nurses. If we need you we'll wake you up."
"That's true Sensei. We got everything covered." Ryuuji said in a very mature way. That boy was growing up quickly. The pinkette was trapped, and the Hashirama moved.
"Come on!" he said grabbing her by her shoulders and taking her to the door. "Go to sleep, we'll be checking in half an hour if you're sleeping, and if not, we will be very disappointed with you"
"We will also blow the whistle with Hikari-san" said the Uchiha with a devious look. The girl rolled her eyes.
"Fine, I'll go" she said defeated and left to get some rest. Her three students were grinning because they know they have won with their teamwork.
At noon Takato met Tobirama and the kids for training at the Village's gates.
"Taa-kun!" Ichigo exclaimed "You'll be training with us too!"
"Ohaio Takato-san" Megumi greeted shyly "Did you rest well?" He looked at the Albino who smirked. She was a very cute little girl.
"Hello everybody! Yes, I will be joining your training these days" the Uchiha said looking at the boy "I did rest well Megumi-chan, thank you for your concern, is very nice of you" the girl blushed, he was charming like a prince.
"Okay" Tobirama said "The training is simple, we run and climb the mount without using chakra, there we meditate for a while and then train chakra and taijutsu. After a while we climb down and finish running across the whole village's perimeter"
"That's awesome!" Takato said.
"We generally stop our training at 2pm, so Hikari-san can have some hours of rest." The albino said "Maybe today we can train for only two hours so you can get more rest, and then tomorrow we start at 8.30 the proper training. What do you think?"
"I will be fine, we can train longer" the Uchiha answered, he didn't want to be a nuisance.
"But if you go to work at 6pm you won't have time to rest for tomorrow then" Ichigo reasoned "You rest some hours today and then you have two hours tomorrow before training" Both adults were surprised by his statement.
"You're very bright kid" Tobirama said. Megumi giggled, and Takato sighed.
"Very well then, we'll train until 2pm." Takato accepted "What do we do now? Shall we only run through the perimeter?"
"We can do that in an hour" the Senju commented. That surprised Takato, the kids were learning fast.
"Wow, that's awesome!" he said "If it's okay with you we can run until we reach the Uchiha Forest and train taijutsu there for an hour, and then resume the running." He proposed. The albino nodded.
"Come on, let's go!" He started running and the other three followed him.
Two more days passed. Sakura stayed at the hospital everyday but she slept some hours in the morning shift and some hours at night. Madara, Ryuuji and Hashirama had formed a great team those days. The two shinobi had helped him and he could accomplish to mold healing chakra and repair a small tiny part of tissue. He fainted after he did that. But that was an incredible starter for him, because it meant he only have to improve his stamina and increase Chakra levels.
Tobirama and Takato had worked fine with the kids, Megumi unlike her brother, couldn't expel chakra. But she was indeed forging good chakra levels inside her. The albino had told the Uchiha that Hikari thought it was a matter of time that she could start molding chakra.
The night shift was getting better each day. Izuna trained really hard, and he started to go earlier to the shifts so he could learn more, and also to take care of Hikari. They had started to take turns to stay with her. Her chakra levels were fine but she wasn't waking, she might at any moment though, that's why they didn't want for her to wake up alone.
The third day, it was almost 6am the youngest Uchiha took over his Takato's turn and entered the Takishima's room. It had been a quiet night.
"She hasn't showed any different signs" Takato said while leaving looking at her. He seemed down.
"Aniki" Izuna grabbed his shoulder "Cheer Up! I'm sure she'll wake up soon. You know she is healthy. She will be fine soon and you will be able to talk to her anytime." His brother sighed.
"I really hope so" he smiled at his brother. "I feel so helpless. None of us could do anything."
"It was her jutsu; she was the only one that could teleport there" the youngest said "In a way she made a plan with Sakura, who realized what they were going to do. Maybe aniki can help her to train Susanoo so she doesn't burn that much chakra."
"That would be great" Takato said "We could use of some training too. We're rusty." Izuna laughed.
"You are rusty!" he pushed him out of the bedroom, "now leave"
"Okay, okay!" his brother said "I'll be around a bit more in case you need me." The youngest didn't answer; he waved his hands to make him leave.
Once he was alone, he sat in a chair next to Hikari's bed. He grabbed a book Sakura gave him and continued reading where he had left the day before. After a while the Takishima started to move on her bed, Izuna started to worry when she started to cry and mumble. He got up from his chair and called her name, but she didn't react. He cleaned her face, her temperature was fine. She might be having a bad dream or something. He was taken aback when she unexpectedly opened her eyes and incorporated on her bed.
"SHISUI!" she screamed.
**** AUTHOR'S NOTE****
This took me more than I thought, hope you like it! More MadaSaku! I love writing them Thanks to Ania980 and Blu3b3rryt3a.