For this world, I've made the "legal" drinking age eighteen. This doesn't really mean much for ninja during this time since ninja (especially clans) are mostly independent and govern themselves. This was also shown when Sakura, as a kunoichi, was able to buy herself drinks during her stay in one of the merchant villages. Ninja are treated much differently than civilians considering the lives they lead.
Sakura awoke that morning feeling hopeful. While she doubted there would be some extraordinary birthday extravaganza awaiting her, she was happy just to have people she cared about to celebrate her birthday with her. A quiet day spent with her friends, distracting her from her sadness, was all she wanted.
After folding up her futon and storing it in the closet of her tatami room, she dressed herself in her most comfortable komon kimono. She made quick work of getting ready for the day, washing her face and brushing her teeth and hair. She hummed as she twirled a lock of pink hair around her finger, noting how long her hair had gotten. She had yet to cut it since being sent to the past and it now hung far past her shoulders.
Sakura laughed when she realized that the length of her hair would nearly been the same as Madara and Izuna if she continued to let it grow. She grabbed a tie from her supply of toiletries before tying her long hair in a low ponytail which trailed down her back. Brushing her bangs to the side, she pinned them into place, revealing the purple seal on her forehead.
She paused for a moment as she looked at her reflection in her bathroom mirror before smiling softly. Despite having dreaded this day for so long, despite still being trapped in the past... She was excited. She was happy she would be able to spend this day with people she cared about, that she wouldn't be alone.
Sakura left her bathroom with her smile still lingering across her lips as she went to prepare breakfast.
She enjoyed the soothing scent of the grove of flowering plum trees next to her home as she gathered a few bricks of firewood from outside. She left her fusuma open, allowing the fresh spring air to flow through her home as she lit a small fire in her hearth.
As she added water and a scoop of rice to her cooking pot, Sakura had a sudden idea. Grinning to herself, she ran through a string of handsigns before nipping the tip of her thumb and setting her hand on her counter. Concentric circles of kanji erupted from her palm before a small burst of smoke concealed her hand.
The haze was quick to clear away, revealing the dark furred kitten Kurumi, the feline's expression strangely pinched. She paused for a long moment, her face only contorting further, before she sneezed from the smoke. Sakura's smile widened at her unintentionally adorable companion, her hand coming up to hide her grin as Kurumi righted her whiskers with her paw.
"Hey, Sakura!" the summon greeted warmly before her eyes flicked across the room, "Do you need my help with more patients today?"
"No, not today. Today is just a special day and I wanted your company," Sakura answered simply, the small cut on her finger healing without her active focus.
"A special day? What's so special about today?" Kurumi asked as her curious gaze fell upon the pot of uncooked rice.
"Today is my birthday. I turn eighteen today," she explained as she gathered an egg, a bottle of soy sauce, and a jar of salt from her pantry.
"It's your birthday!?" she yelled back, leaping to her feet.
"Yes?" Sakura's eyebrows furrowed as her eyes flicked over to the anxious cat. "Is something wrong?"
"No, I, uh! I mean-! I-I'll be back!" Kurumi declared, stumbling over her words, before diving off the counter and bolting out the open fusuma.
Sakura watched as her summon ran off into the plum grove, confused, before shaking her head and returning to her meal. She secured her pot of rice on the hook hanging above her fireplace, adjusting the chain so the pot hung above the gently burning flames. She sat on one of the cushions surrounding the hearth and hummed a tune as she periodically stirred the pot of rice as it cooked.
Once her rice was finished, she spooned it into her bowl and cracked an egg on top. After adding a pinch of salt and soy sauce, she stirred in the egg, the familiar smell of one of her oldest comfort foods bringing back happy memories. She gathered a bite onto her chopsticks but, before she could bring the first bite of her breakfast to her lips, a muted cry met her ears.
"Wait, wait!" the muffled voice of Kurumi called out as she raced back into Sakura's home, something in her mouth.
Striding up to Sakura with a skip in her step, she plopped down on the cushion next to her. She dropped the dark something that was in her mouth on the floor between them, smiling up at her summoner brightly.
"Happy birthday, Sakura! I know it's not much, but I got this for you! I thought you could add it to your breakfast since they're so tasty," Kurumi explained, beaming up at her.
It was only when Sakura leaned in closer to make out what it was Kurumi had given her that she finally realized that the cat's gift was a dead bird.
"Oh! Kurumi! That... That's so thoughtful of you," she praised, trying to sound excited even though she was less than thrilled about being presented a dead animal. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt her friend's feelings when she had put so much effort into catching her a gift.
"I'm so happy you like it! Go on, add it in! I bet it will taste so good! Birds are so tasty, they're my favorite," Kurumi returned, her gaze lingering on the dead bird for a moment before she shook her head and looked back up at Sakura.
"You know, I'm really so grateful that you went out of your way to get me a present. But, I already have breakfast but you don't have anything. Why don't you eat it for me so we can both have breakfast together?" Sakura tried, desperately hoping that the cat took the bait.
There was no way she was eating that thing on her floor.
"Are you sure? It's your present!" the summon argued weakly, her eyes lingering on the bird once again as if fighting against her want to devour it herself.
"I can tell you want it, Kurumi. It's alright. I want you to eat it."
"But it's your birthday!"
"It is. And what I want for my birthday more than anything is to have breakfast with you," she pushed in one last ditch attempt, forcing a smile.
"Hmm... Okay then!" Kurumi finally agreed, very nearly drawing a sigh of relief from Sakura.
The feline was quick to snatch up the dead bird, maneuvering it so she could sink in her teeth. Sakura stirred her egg rice a few more times, bringing the warmer rice to the surface. She gathered another bite onto her chopsticks and brought it to her mouth, humming in contentment at the familiar and comforting taste.
As she ate her meal with Kurumi, and as she decidedly ignored the sounds of crunching bone, a sense of contentment washed over her.
Today was going to be a good day.
Sakura tended to a handful of patients throughout the morning, them all being a few shinobi from the clan with minor injuries sustained during their missions. After so many months of being their medic and having already tended to most of them by that point, they treated her and Kurumi cordially.
It wasn't until the afternoon that Madara and Izuna finally made their appearance. When Sakura sensed their familiar chakra, she felt a buzz of excitement which she quickly tamped down.
Kurumi, however, had no such qualms about containing her glee and ran off from her seat next to Sakura at her table. She watched as the summon easily leapt up to perch on one of the ranma lining the ceiling, the feline crouching as she waited to deliver a surprise on the brothers.
The two Uchiha let themselves in through her open fusuma, as they often did considering their familiarity, with calls of "sorry to intrude". When they did, the elder smoothly ducked beneath Kurumi's sneak attack, being a sensory type and having noticed her lying in wait. The younger, however, who was not a sensory type, received the brunt of Kurumi's pounce and released an undignified yelp at the sudden attack.
Sakura laughed aloud as she watched Izuna stumble backwards, already feeling much lighter. Her and Madara shared a warm smile as he abandoned his brother to his fate with Kurumi to instead sit down on the cushion at her side.
"Happy birthday, Sakura," Madara greeted, his voice making her chest and cheeks tingle.
"Thank you for coming," she thanked sincerely, "It… really means a lot to me."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," he returned with a smile, drawing a blush to Sakura's cheeks.
Kurumi was the second to enter the living room, sporting a decidedly haughty expression and a skip in her stride. She, without prompting, immediately leapt onto the elder Uchiha's shoulder and made herself at home beneath his wild hair.
"Hi Madara," she greeted after poking her head out from his locks.
"Kurumi. I see your mischievousness hasn't changed," he returned with an amused smirk as he watched Izuna enter the living room, brushing cat hair from his face and picking a hair off of his tongue.
The young Uchiha glared at the mass beneath his brother's hair before tucking his own ponytail underneath the collar of his shirt. His glower only faded so he could greet Sakura, who tried to hide her amused grin behind her hand, with a smile.
"Happy birthday, Sakura," he stated as he sat down on the cushion at Sakura's left side, setting a box wrapped in pink cloth down on the tabletop.
When Sakura stared at the box in confusion, not understanding, he nudged it towards Sakura with a knowing look.
"You... got me a present?" she questioned in surprise.
"It's your birthday so of course I did. We both did," Izuna answered as if it were the simplest thing in the world, "Now go on…"
Chagrined at being given a gift even if it was her birthday, she hesitantly pulled the box towards her. She unwrapped the cloth, revealing a white box which she opened. Her lips parted in surprise as she gazed down at the beautifully tailored kimono within, the dusty pink fabric decorated in an intricate pattern of magenta and pastel pink cherry blossoms. A neatly folded white obi and a decorate black cord were tucked into the box as well and, perched on top, was a decorative obi pin in the shape of a cherry blossom.
"Oh, Izuna... It's gorgeous," she commented with a smile, running her fingertips along the soft cloth, the fabric so smooth it didn't even catch the callouses on her fingertips.
"I asked them to sew in hidden pockets too. I seem to remember you saying that you 'hated these damn useless clothes with nowhere to put anything'," he teased.
"I can't believe you remembered that," Sakura laughed aloud, not sure whether to be embarrassed that he had heard her complaining about her own clothes or impressed that he had remembered.
"What clothes did you wear before that had pockets? I've never seen women's clothing with pockets… Except some work clothes," Izuna questioned, drawing the curiosity of the elder Uchiha as well.
"We wore different clothes back in my village. I changed my wardrobe here after getting a few odd stares," she replied honestly, not seeing the harm in admitting the truth, "I still have one of my old outfits. Maybe one day I'll wear it to show you both."
She smiled at Izuna before leaning over, pulling him into a hug. He seemed surprised by the gesture, unused to such open affection even from a friend, but still wrapped an arm around her shoulder to return the embrace as best he could in their odd position.
"Thank you, Izuna," she thanked, giving him a squeeze before releasing him.
"Think nothing of it," he responded with a smile, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
Instead of producing a box like Izuna had, Madara quietly placed a small storage scroll on the tabletop before her. Sakura eyed it, and then him, curiously before demurely accepting the gift.
She unraveled the scroll, revealing a filled seal, and, pushing a bit of chakra into her fingertip, she released the seal. A puff of smoke was quickly followed by a heavy sounding thump and the sound of the legs of her table creaking under some strain.
After the smoke cleared, Sakura openly gaped at the pristinely smithed, single headed battle axe that her small table struggled to hold. The weapon was nearly as tall as she was and undoubtedly weighed more than her. There were jutsu formulas painstakingly carved along the face of the axe, only visible when it shined in the light, and she wondered what their function was.
Focusing her chakra into her hands, she lifted the weapon and flipped it over, her eyes raking over the jutsu formula and her fingertips testing the sharpness of the curved blade. She could feel that the weapon drew in some of her chakra, an action she knew was somehow related the the jutsu formulas carved into its face.
"Wow…" Sakura breathed, as she inspected the weapon.
"It has been designed to conduct chakra, much the way my gunbai does. It will not break when you swing it, even when using your remarkable strength," Madara explained, simultaneously revealing the secret as the why her punches never obliterated his weapon when they sparred.
She noted that at least he was courteous enough to not call her augmented strength monstrous, something Izuna hadn't seemed to grasp yet.
"It's… formidable," she chuckled in response, her mind already working at how she would incorporate this weapon into her fighting style. She normally didn't utilize weapons, except for the occasional kunai, but a weapon such as this demanded to be used. In her hands, this axe could topple mountains.
She wondered if he knew how much more dangerous their training sessions would be with her swinging this monster around. She also wondered which would break first if they collided: her new axe or his gunbai.
"I told you she would like the axe," Madara bragged happily, leveling his brother with a self satisfied smirk.
"I didn't say she wouldn't," Izuna argued with a wary glance at the weapon the kunoichi was staring at with a far too contemplative expression, "What I said is she's going to kill us with it."
"If I ever really hurt you with it, I could just patch you up," Sakura replied sweetly as she gently sat down her axe, earning a grimace from the younger Uchiha as the legs of the low table creaked threateningly.
"Wow, I thought you two at least has some sense of self preservation," Kurumi commented from Madara's shoulder, her bright eyes focused on the weapon Sakura lovingly ran her fingertips across.
"See!? Even the cat has some common sense!" Izuna shot back, dramatically gesturing to the feline summons.
"I think it's less common sense and more having eyes. I'm just glad I'm not a battle type… Hehe, Kuro is going to be furious with you," the kit taunted, reaching up to paw at Madara's chin.
"I'll deal with him," Sakura insisted, drawing a noncommittal hum from the feline.
Sakura scooted over and, conscious of Kurumi still perched on his shoulders, pulled Madara into a hug as well. He seemed just as surprised by her easy affection as Izuna had been but easily returned the embrace.
"Thank you, Madara," she thanked during their brief embrace, hoping the blush she could feel didn't show.
"Hey, why didn't I get a hug when I gave you that bird?" Kurumi pouted.
"I'm sorry, Kurumi, I should have given you one. If you come out of your nest, I'll give you a big one," Sakura promised, holding out her hands as if to welcome Kurumi into her lap.
"Hmm…" the cat summon hummed in consideration before relaxing against Madara's shoulder once again, "I'd have to get up though. I'll just get it from you later."
The group laughed at Kurumi's laziness, the kit retreating further into Madara's wild mane with a grumble of embarrassment.
"It's here waiting for you when you want it," Sakura assured as her gaze returned to her gifts with a warm smile.
"We have another surprise for you. Considering it's your eighteenth birthday..." Izuna stated mischievously, both the brothers producing two ishobin of sake each.
She laughed aloud at that. "You know I've drank before, right?"
"Yes, but your first legal drink will be with us," the younger Uchiha pointed out as Sakura stood to store away her gifts and fish out some dishes for their wine.
At one point that night, after they had already polished off two of the bottles together and had slipped into a warm, giddy state of intoxication, Izuna had wheedled Sakura into showing them what clothes from her old village looked like. Her, drunk enough to think that was a wonderful idea, had sauntered off into her bedroom to change.
Madara had been overwhelmingly satisfied with her reaction to his gift. While he knew it would take her a couple months to acclimate to using it, the weapon would give her an added advantage which could mean the difference between life and death on the battlefield.
The fact that Sakura now had something she could always remember him by after she had left was… inconsequential.
Giggling drunkenly to herself, Sakura strode out into her living room with more of a lean than normal and stood before them. As they sipped their dishes of sake, their eyes flicked across the plain, high collared cloak she wore, not particularly shocked by her change of clothes. While she was apparently wearing a pair of sandals with a small heel, the outfit didn't appear so much different than what they were used to.
Until she slipped her cloak from her shoulders and revealed the outfit beneath.
Izuna sputtered into his sake, nearly choking on the rice wine immediately. Madara had marginally better luck, barely remembering to right the dish tilted against his lips before sake spilled from the corners of his mouth.
"Well, what do you think? A lot different than out here, huh?" she laughed as she turned in a circle to give them a view of her family's crest printed onto the back of her top, both brothers staring with wide eyes and rapidly reddening cheeks.
Never in his life had Madara seen such an outfit. She wore a form fitting sleeveless top which clung to her petite breasts and the curve of her waist. Skin tight, black shorts that cut off less than halfway down her toned thighs accentuated her strong legs and tight rear. A kind of apron with numerous pockets hung around her hips and elbow guards were wrapped around her arms. She wore gloves that reminded him of his own and a simple pack was perched on her hip. He noticed that what he thought were simple heeled shinobi sandals were actually knee high, further emphasizing the smooth expanse of smooth ivory skin that was her thighs.
"Your parents let you leave the house wearing that?!" Izuna exclaimed, his wide eyes locked onto her legs as a vibrant blush, from more than just from the sake, darkened his cheeks.
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?!" she yelled, her hands forming fists as she glared at him. She was so caught up in her anger that she didn't notice the elder Uchiha's gaze slowly raking over her form from top to bottom.
"You're revealing so much skin! And it's so… form fitting."
The elder Uchiha certainly didn't see the problem with how… form fitting Sakura's outfit was. No wonder she had gotten so many odd stares when she first arrived. She might as well have been wrapped in a towel.
"So what if you can see my thighs and my upper arms?! It's not like my breasts are hanging out!" she hissed back, taking a menacing step forward, the movement drawing Madara's eyes back down to her legs and the muscles in her thighs.
"It's improper!" Izuna argued, neither having seen such a bold outfit before.
"Your attitude is improper! What, have you never seen thighs before?!" she yelled in response, the leather of her gloves creaking as her fists tightened.
"Not displayed so brazenly!"
"Madara!" she yelled, his gaze immediately shooting to her face as he was addressed so suddenly, "What do you think?"
He thought over his words carefully, wanting to prevent her fury from escalating while simultaneously expressing his fondness for the outfit.
"It's… even more obvious we come from different worlds. But you look lovely, Sakura."
"Thank you," she replied, her anger receding, before she shot his younger brother another glare, "See? That's how to not be an asshole."
"I'm not being an asshole, I'm being honest," Izuna argued, "You look so scandalous."
Apparently Madara's words had done little to diffuse the situation in the face of his brother's comment. Sakura's fury returned tenfold. "I bet you jerks rip your shirts off when you train in the summer!"
She did have a point...
"That's different!" Izuna returned.
"You're a misogynistic idiot! I'm getting changed. Lest I taint your mind with perverted images of my shoulders," she hissed, storming off back into her bedroom with a broad, dismissive wave of her hands.
When he heard the fusuma leading into her bedroom slam shut, Madara immediately smacked his brother in the back of the head and hissed, "You're an idiot."
"You're just mad because you wanted to look at her legs more, you perv-" Izuna heatedly whispered back with a glare before being cut off by another, much harder, smack to the back of the head.
They had drank too much. Far too much.
They had finished off all four bottles, the final just between himself and Sakura. Izuna had solidly passed out, his cheek flat against the table, shortly before the fourth bottle had been opened. Kurumi, who had even lapped up a dish of sake after complaining about not being involved, had taken the opportunity to drunkenly crawl into the high collar of his brother's shirt to fall asleep as well.
Madara thought he had a decent tolerance to alcohol, despite not partaking often, but Sakura was another story. He was unsure of how she remained standing, considering her small form, and wondered how often she had drank before that day.
He was amazed when she somehow found it in her to stand and go about lighting a few paper lanterns around the room as the sun finally set. While she walked with a harsh lean to one side and was especially cautious and humorously serious while lighting the lanterns, she was still far better off than his younger brother or even him.
He wasn't confident that he could stand at the moment. The end of the final bottle was finally catching up to him and he hoped that the warm, carefree, dizzy sensation didn't drift into sickness or, even worse, a blackout. He wasn't sure he would be proud of what he would do if he plummeted off the edge and into a blackout and lost his inhibitions.
Madara normally wouldn't have allowed himself to get this far, but Sakura had challenged him and his brother to some drinking game with a complex name that basically entailed who could finish the most dishes of sake quicker. Not one to turn down a challenge and already drunk enough to think that the game was a fantastic idea, he had accepted. They had tied twice, perhaps three times, but he was… fairly certain he had won the tiebreaker. At this point, his memory was getting ill defined and he wasn't completely sure if they had finished the game at all.
Based on the line of mostly empty dishes of sake in front of his brother, one still loosely cradled in his limp hand, he was fairly certain this was where Izuna had met his end.
When the medic returned from lighting the lanterns, basking the room in a dim, warm light, and flopped down onto the floor behind Madara, he instinctively tensed up. He was incredibly sensitive to people being behind him and, even though he trusted her, the sensation of her presence at his back discomforted him.
At least until her fingers began carding through his hair. He nearly purred at the sensation of her fingers running through his locks as a shiver of bliss ran down his spine.
He heard Sakura hum some senseless tune to herself, interspersed with drunken giggles, and felt as she started taking sections of his hair into her hands. He had a sneaking suspicion that she was braiding his hair but, in his intoxicated state and with how amazing her hands in his hair felt, he found no reason to protest. Especially when she occasionally tugged on his locks in her own drunken state, forcing him to swallow the sounds that threatened to spill from his lips.
"You have such nice hair… So long and soft and... no split ends? Do you wanna switch?" she hummed close enough to his ear that he could feel her warm breath, sending another shiver of pleasure down his spine.
Sakura adjusted how she was sitting behind him and accidentally pulled at his hair. He shut his eyes and held his breath to contain the rumbling in his chest that was in danger of forming a growl.
Madara dimly registered her saying an apology but her words were overridden by him seriously considering turning around and dragging her into his lap, consequences be damned. To press her flush against his chest and slant his lips across hers. He prayed that she would tug at his hair again. He had no idea that such a strange thing could feel so good.
His skin was buzzing from her gentle ministrations, his mind was fuzzy from the sake, and the scent of wildflowers that clung to her further muddled his thoughts. He was too far in to restrain his sharingan sparking to life, however, the familiar tug of chakra flaring up behind his eyes.
"Switch?" Madara breathed as he finally opened his eyes and was greeted by her incredibly vivid living room, his sight made crisp by his sharingan.
He wasn't sure how long it had been before he had been able to speak without the words being her name, but apparently it was just short enough to be acceptable for proper conversation.
"Yeah, switch hair. I take your hair and you take mine," Sakura clarified, her hands slowly brushing lower and lower down his back as she did something with his long hair. Each time her fingertips brushed his clothed skin, he could feel goosebumps threatening to form.
Sweet gods, how could she be doing this to him? He was one of the most powerful shinobi in the world. He was capable of feats most could only dream of. He lead a clan consisting of hardened warriors, had fought on blood soaked battlefields for days at a time, and had taken hundreds to their graves with his own two hands. And here he was, nearly arching into her hands like a needy kitten and trying his damnedest to withhold the sounds his body desperately wanted him to make, just because she was touching his hair.
The Uchiha forced out a laugh, the sound coming out more like a pleasured huff.
"I think I would lose a significant amount of my intimidation factor with pink hair," he tried, grateful his tone remained even and he didn't arch into her touch like his body was urging him to.
"You're going to lose some intimidation factor when I sneak flowers into your hair next time you go on a mission," Sakura muttered under her breath. She was close enough to him where he could hear every word.
"What was that?" he asked, a smile in his voice, as she finally finished the braid and he slowly regained control of his muddled mind.
"Oh, nothing, nothing," she sing-songed in response, taking his finished braid in her hands. When she ran her hands down it from the start to the end, gently pulling on it and simultaneously running her knuckles down his spine, he lost himself to his thoughts once again as he nearly let loose a satisfied groan.
His eyes slid shut at her ministrations and he wondered if he was imagining her fingertips wandering away from his new braid and across his back.
"Come on, I could sweeten the deal a bit," Sakura coaxed, his eyes immediately shooting open as he considered her words through the lense of his escalating thoughts.
Madara's mouth fell open to ask what she meant by that but she was quicker to continue, clearing her throat before she did. "Maybe you could sign the summoning contract with the cats, they like you. Having Hyo or Tora at my back generally makes my enemies overlook my hair."
It took a moment for him to collect his thoughts. "Tempting, but no. I like your hair where it is."
"Ah, I'll get you to say yes one of these days," she hummed after a moment, his heart racing along at her unintentionally damning words. As if he could ever say no to her...
Sakura's warm hands suddenly pulled away from where he was nearly certain they were exploring his shoulders.
She tried to stand and immediately wobbled on her feet, slowly and cautiously returning back to the floor. "Oh, wow…"
Sitting back, Sakura pushed herself so her back was resting against the wall of her living room. He followed, scooting across the small distance to sit next to her right side, their shoulders brushing.
"Little too much?" Madara broached, watching her smile unfold in brilliant detail. He didn't even realize his sharingan remained active, absorbing and memorizing every moment.
"Just a bit," she admitted with a nod, leaning against his shoulder. He was unsure it her lean was intentional or not but he still chose to lean into her as well, silently content at the contact.
"What did you do to my hair?" he questioned, feeling the noticeable lump pressed between his back and the wall.
"Oh, nothing," she replied with a giggle, waving her left hand dismissively.
The action caught his eye and he got a good look at her hand with his enhanced eyesight. Without a second thought, he took her hand in his.
He examined the back of Sakura's hand, noting a few fine, silvery scars across her skin and how well kept her fingernails were. He gently flipped her hand over, splaying open her fingers so he could look at her palm. He thought he felt her shiver as he ran the pad of his thumb across the calluses and scars he found there but was unsure if he imagined it or not in his inebriation.
Once done with his investigation, Madara flattened his own palm against Sakura's, chuckling at how much smaller her hand was than his. The tips of her fingertips barely reached the farthest knuckle of his own fingers.
"Your hands are so small…" he muttered with a drunken grin, marveling at how her hands could contain such incredible strength. The power to topple forests and the power to bring the dying back to life in such small, deceptively delicate hands.
"Your hands are just big," Sakura whispered in response.
He hummed noncommittally at that, observing their hands pressed together for a long moment before impulsively tilting his own hand and threading their fingers together. He was almost too caught up in the pleasing sight and sensation of simply holding her hand to not notice her breathing stop.
He turned his head to face her and could feel heat rising to his cheeks as he noticed how close they were, their noses nearly touching. All he could see of her was her half lidded eyes and her dilated pupils, the black heavily encroaching on the stunning viridian of her irises. She stared right back into his lazily spinning sharingan, her own cheeks taking a red hue.
Madara considered how easy it would be to close the few inches between them and kiss her. How easy it would be just to tilt his head and lean forward so he could press his lips to hers. His heartbeat raced at the thought and at how close they both were.
He held his breath for a moment before releasing it to whisper, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine…" Sakura breathed back, not taking her eyes off of his.
He wondered if she could hear his heartbeat as readily as he could feel it pounding in his chest. He wondered if she could sense his thoughts, looking so deeply into his eyes. He wondered if he was imagining the insignificant space between them slowly dwindling…
Madara was the first turn away, to break eye contact, something he had never done even when facing the most deadly of enemies. Even as a boy, fresh to the sword and forced into combat against grown adults, his gaze never wavered. And here it had in the face of her.
The only thing that stopped him from fulfilling the only thing he wanted in that moment was the last sane, sober part of his mind screaming how it could ruin their friendship. How Sakura could rebuff him or, even worse, go along with it in her drunken state only to regret it later. How she was going to leave him one day and that kissing her would result in that much more suffering in the future.
The ebony haired Uchiha settled for wrapping his free arm around her dainty shoulders, effectively breaking the trace they were both under.
"Good…" Madara muttered in response as Sakura demurely sidled up closer to him, pressing herself against his side.
His skin burned when he felt Sakura's free hand, previously pressed between both of their bodies, rest against his thigh. When he felt her head tilt to rest against the crook of his shoulder, he tilted his head to rest on top of hers. He sighed contentedly as he felt how warm she was even through their clothes, his eyes sliding shut.
"Happy birthday, Sakura," Madara muttered into her hair, his heart stubbornly refusing to settle.
Sakura hummed in response rather than speaking, snuggling deeper into his shoulder. He reveled in the feeling of her small, soft body pressed so closely to his. The feeling of her warm breath fanning across his collarbone, the feeling of her hand still wrapped in his, her fingers lightly squeezing his, and the feeling of her hand perched on his thigh, fingertips brushing against a place that had never been touched in anything but combat.
Once his frantic heart finally settled as her warmth settled into what felt like his very bones, he could feel the tugging of sleep. He knew how improper it was for not just the leader of the clan but both of the clan heads to sleep overnight at their unmarried, female medic's house but found he couldn't care. The dim light of her cozy home, the warmth pressed into his side, and the scent of wildflowers easily lured him into the depths of sleep.
The last thing Madara remembered before drifting off into a blissful sleep was the sound of Sakura's soft, steady breathing.
A/N: The kimono that Izuna gave Sakura for her birthday is actually based on some popular art of the main Naruto characters which was created to celebrate the end of the series and the Naruto: The Last Movie. I've included a picture of Sakura in the yukata and the source on my Tumblr (Astroavis).
Ishobin are basically large bottles for sake. Open mouthed carafes are often the container given when you order sake at a restaurant.