Even as they finalized the contract with Sora-ku, even as she carefully checked over the medicinal supplies as they gathered their goods, and even as they said their goodbyes and began their trek home, Sakura found herself distracted. A dangerous thing for a shinobi, especially one who had been given an ominous warning by an extraordinarily powerful ninja animal.
She had wondered what Lady Miyabi had meant by her being in danger. She pondered on what kind of peril she would be facing. If it was a single shinobi or an army like her and her squad had faced at Sora-ku. If it would even be some kind of a natural disaster or a tailed beast like the one trapped within Naruto. She wondered if it would be during this trek home, if it would be when they returned home, or if it would be at some point much further in the future.
The lioness' words sat heavily in her heart but the weight of the warning could not touch upon the fear which had consumed her and her thoughts for the past two days.
Even as they set up camp for the night, Katsumi and Katsurou standing guard while Saori cooked them all dinner on a low flame, Sakura could think of nothing but her increasingly hopeless mission to return to her own time.
Now that she finally had a moment to herself as she sat on her bedroll and watched Saori cook, Sakura took out the scroll she had been given in exchange for saving Maneki's life. For a moment, she hesitated, her gaze lingering on the Uzumaki clan crest printed on the casing of the scroll - one that suggested this scroll was indeed stolen from one of Naruto's ancestors.
This scroll was her last hope and the fear if would be another dead end sat like a lead weight in her chest. She struggled to breathe around it and, nervous that someone would notice her rising emotions as they sat peacefully around a dim campfire, she finally removed the scroll from its case.
Letting it unfurl across her lap and leaning towards the warm light of the fire, she rapidly read through its contents. As her eyes skimmed across the page, the weight in her chest only grew heavier and heavier until she finally reached the end of the parchment.
Sakura could appreciate it for it was. It was a powerful technique, both exceptional and unprecedented. It would have undoubtedly been sealed away during her time for fear of misuse.
It was a theory that would be the final piece that she needed to put the finishing touches on the experimental jutsu she had been working on. It was what she needed to complete the lie that she had given Madara to get in with the Uchiha clan; a lie that had eventually become the truth not just out of necessity but because the technique she had devised would be extraordinarily valuable for her healing.
With this stolen Uzumaki scroll, she had the seals she needed to bind a target to a space-time based jutsu. She could finally complete her work and finish the emergency jutsu she had been developing to place her patients into stasis. She would be capable of healing her patients without the fear of them dying as she worked. An extraordinary feat and one that could very well one day save the life of someone she loved.
In that moment, however, all Sakura cared about was that it wasn't what she had been searching for. It wasn't what she wanted. It wasn't what she needed.
It wasn't her way home.
As she sat, blankly staring into the contents of the scroll as the dim firelight played with shadows on its surface, her mind was millions of miles away. Disconnected, she wondered how much she had already changed the past.
She had lied to herself before when she had made her hollow promises to not leave a mark on the timeline. Even more so when she had tried to convince herself that her presence here hadn't made a difference. Looking back on it now, Sakura couldn't deny how much she had affected the past.
She had killed dozens of people and she had healed hundreds more. She had served the Uchiha clan as their healer for over a year, even joining them in their war as a combatant on the battlefield. She had directly saved the lives of a dozen Uchiha and indirectly saved the lives of many more.
She had killed an entire strikeforce of Senju and prevented the massacre of the Nakano family. She had her own medical practice in the merchant city of Kiso where she had treated numerous civilians. She had made a mortal enemy of the Fuma clan by defending clients she had taken while trying to make enough money to eat.
Her first five minutes in the past was spent committing a massacre as she decimated the fighting forces of the Taiyo clan and the Hogosha clan on Samurai Bridge.
Until now, however, she hadn't taken action with the intent of influencing the past. With Sora-ku and The Pride, she had finally decided to change the future.
Because no matter how she looked at it, she was meant to be here.
At first, Sakura felt an extraordinary relief. Her presence in the past was a necessity, it was destiny. Nothing she did here would ruin the future because her being here was part of the future. She could finally live without the constant fear of destroying the life she had come from.
When she wondered if she was not meant to go home at all, when she finally gave an inner voice to the thought she had been hiding from, she was overcome by a wave of loss so powerful it stole the breath from her lungs.
You know what that means, don't you?
Lady Miyabi's question played over and over again in Sakura's mind as heat built behind her eyes. The lioness had asked Sakura if she knew what it meant that she was meant to broker the deal between Sora-ku and the Uchiha.
If she was meant to be in the past, she may never be able to return to her time. She very well may be forced to spend the rest of her life here. She may never be able to see the faces of the people she loved again...
Her parents, Naruto, Ino, Tsunade, Shizune, Kakashi-sensei, Captain Yamato, Sai, Lee… All of her comrades smiling faces flashed across her mind's eye.
She may never be scolded by her mom or hear another one of her dad's awful jokes again. She may never see Naruto's beaming smile or be able to help protect him as he was hunted down by the Akatsuki. She may never hear Ino's teasing or her encouragement. She may never see Tsunade wake up from her coma, if she ever did.
She may never see any of the people she loved again.
It felt as if the ground beneath her had broken away, a sensation similar to falling rushing over her. Her heart jammed itself into her throat, the weight like a vice around her neck as she struggled to breathe. She fought to control tears that were building in her eyes and struggled even harder to control her chakra which writhed within her like a wounded animal.
"-ura? Hey, Sakura?" Izuna voice finally snapped her out of her inner world and drew her gaze upwards. "Are you alright?"
When she met his eyes, his expression was openly worried, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes gentle. When she glanced around, she found that everyone in their group had their eyes on her. Saori's arm was outstretched, handing her a bowl of stew.
"I'm fine," she choked out, her words too fast and her voice too tight, as she took the offered bowl with a brittle smile.
Saori frowned but said nothing.
"Are you worried about what Lady Miyabi said?" he questioned gently, Sakura unable to meet his gaze and unable to take a bite of the meal she set to the side.
"Something like that..." she muttered, grateful when Izuna didn't push her.
If she had to speak even a word more, she wasn't sure if she could hold back her tears.
When Izuna, Sakura, and their team finally returned home following their trip to Sora-ku, Madara could easily admit that he was excited. He was happy to finally have his two most precious people home, his directionless apathy draining away when he felt their chakra signatures appear near the village.
He had felt listless and lonely without them at his side and, while he was grateful for Hitomi's company these past few days, he knew she would be happy to have her afternoons with her children back instead of spending that time drinking on his porch with him.
Stepping out onto the engawa which bordered his and his brother's home, he patiently waited for the appearance of the squadron. As he waited, he had to work to restrain his excited smile, wanting to present a professional front as clan leader for those who had been sent on the mission.
When Madara finally saw Sakura, her pink hair unmistakable even from a distance, his heart leapt in his chest. It was harder to hold back his smile in the moments his chest swelled with warmth although he knew that joy showed in his eyes. As the group drew closer, however, that unhindered happiness dulled.
Something was wrong.
Although Sakura smiled at him, her happiness wasn't reflected in her tired eyes. Izuna nodded to him in greeting and he could see worry in the tension in his jaw. Even the rest of the group carried a hidden weight, their concern carefully concealed but revealed to him in the subtle ways they moved their bodies and the quiet glances they sent their medic.
"Welcome home," Madara greeted, not giving a voice to the worry and instead waiting to hear whatever bad news awaited him behind the privacy of closed doors.
That didn't stop the anxiety from blooming in the place his joy had once occupied.
"Glad to be back," Izuna answered before turning address the rest of his team, "Thank you all for your assistance in the mission to Sora-ku, your help was invaluable. Sakura and I will handle the debrief this time around. You're dismissed."
Katsurou and Katsumi nodded once before disappearing but Saori lingered.
"I would like to be a part of the force to be sent to Sora-ku," she requested, Izuna nodding once, "I believe my abilities as a sensor, my earth based jutsu, and my experience in the city makes me a prime candidate for this mission."
"Of course. We will include you. It will likely be a few days before the squadron is sent out so please spend the interim recovering and packing your things. You'll be there for some time," Izuna explained, Madara raising his eyebrows in surprise.
"Understood. I await your summons," Saori answered curtly before disappearing as well.
"It appears we all have much to talk about," Madara commented as he gestured inside.
"It is good news, I assure you," his brother returned as him and Sakura stepped onto the engawa, pausing to remove their shoes before walking inside.
"Care to tell me about this force we're sending to the Merchant Queen's city first?" Madara pressed as they walked down the hallway and entered into the study he shared with his brother.
Izuna smirked as they all settled onto the cushions circling a low table.
"Queen Usugumo has chosen our side in the war. The Uchiha clan is Sora-ku's sole client," he explained simply, Madara unable to conceal his shock.
"And how exactly did we manage such an alliance?" he questioned, baffled.
Izuna looked to Sakura pointedly, his smile lingering. "Thank Sakura. It's all because of her."
Madara was happy to see both his brother and his closest companion getting along once again, Izuna's tone no longer tainted with his lingering displeasure with Sakura. Although Sakura's expression pinched at Izuna's praise, she no longer held her agitation at his once sour attitude.
Even with his mounting concern for whatever was troubling Sakura, he was overwhelmingly curious as to how she had somehow been able to broker an alliance that him and his clan - and many others - had been attempting to secure for generations.
"Queen Usugumo was the one who offered the deal and it was Lady Miyabi who accepted. I feel like more of a messenger than anything," Sakura answered modestly, looking off to the side in embarrassment.
"What was this deal?"
"In exchange for Princess Maneki signing the contract with the cat summons, Queen Usugumo will now supply only the Uchiha," Sakura explained, attempting to smile although the brief quirk of her lip hardly betrayed any positive emotions.
Madara resisted the urge to frown at good news.
"We agreed to send Queen Usugumo a fighting force to aid in protecting the city and to train soldiers before Maneki is skilled enough to command troops and to summon the cats," Izuna added.
"That's incredible news. Sora-ku isn't any ordinary merchant village. They provide the ninja clans with not only weaponry, supplies, and raw materials but with the most valuable thing of all: information. This alliance will weaken if not completely disarm nearly all of the clans in this region," he marveled, "This will change the course of the war."
He could hardly believe that Sakura accompanying Izuna on his yearly mission to Sora-ku would end with such a miraculous outcome for his family. He was astounded. More than that, he was grateful. Having the merchant city at their back would give them a huge leg up in the war. With so many of the smaller clans unarmed, his family would be in far less danger.
"I'd say you were a blessing if I didn't think it would go to your head," Izuna taunted, giving voice to how grateful they were for Sakura's presence in their lives while tempering the emotional confession with humor.
Normally, she would answer his teasing with a cheeky comment but, instead, she nodded dully. Madara briefly wondered if she was still upset with Izuna and if that was the source of her displeasure but quickly discarded the notion.
This was something different.
"I just hope this will lead to less patients for me. Speaking of..." Sakura spoke before she rose to her feet, "I really need to rest. I'm exhausted from the mission and I want to be fully recovered for my patients tomorrow. If you'll excuse me."
"Of course. Rest well. We'll speak more tomorrow." Madara replied, keeping his concern from his face although it leached into his tone.
Sakura didn't notice.
"Goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow," she said quietly, exiting the room and leaving him and his brother alone in the quiet of their home.
When Madara thought she was far enough away to not hear, he turned to Izuna. "What happened to Sakura? What's wrong?"
"I don't know…" he sighed, wearily resting his chin in his hand as he thought, "There was an invasion against Sora-ku the day we arrived but we were able to fend off the invaders, very much in part to Sakura activating her seal and summoning one of her cats. We were even able to rescue the princess, something which lead to Queen Usugumo offering the alliance."
"Sakura was summoned to the cat's world for the night and, when she returned that morning, she seemed fine. She summoned the leader of the cats to speak with Maneki before she accepted the deal. Afterwards, however…" Izuna paused. "Lady Miyabi gave Sakura a warning."
"A warning?" Madara repeated, his concern growing further.
"She told her that she was in danger. That she needed to be ready for some hidden peril that was waiting to strike."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know. But ever since then, Sakura hasn't been okay. She's been distracted and I thought she was going to cry when we stopped for the night. I'm worried. I haven't seen her like this… well, since her birthday when she was in mourning."
"Do you think Sakura believes that Lady Miyabi was warning her about the person who destroyed her village? The man who thought himself a god?" Madara theorized.
Concern over the attacker that had destroyed Sakura's old village had been a worry in the back of their minds since she began her service to their clan. Sakura had been one of the most powerful ninja they had ever encountered back when they first met and her skills had only grown exponentially since then. Thoughts of this unknown man being capable of decimating a village that was home to others who shared her strength was deeply concerning.
They had never pushed her for information before in order to respect her privacy during her mourning but this man could very well still be a threat. A concern that very well could be the source of Sakura's anxiety as well as her desperate search for information that led to her working with them in the first place.
It was no secret that Sakura was seeking out space time jutsu. When they had first met, she had told him it was to develop a specialized medical jutsu. She proved that she had given the truth but, as time went on, it became apparent there was something else she was searching for as well.
He wondered if it was a jutsu to fight this man. Even more heart wrenching, he wondered if it was a technique to bring back the people she had lost. He wondered if she was trying to change the past.
Madara wondered if Sakura was just trying to go home.
"She might be scared that that man is coming back or that he found her. I can't think of anything else. She only gets like this when she's thinking about her old village." Izuna's expression twisted in sympathy for their friend. "She might be scared she's going to lose everyone again."
"We will have to be vigilant for whatever danger is approaching. We will not allow anything like the destruction of Sakura's village to take place again," Madara declared firmly.
"Agreed," he answered, his gaze hardening with his resolve, "And if the danger is this man, we will show him how far from a god he truly is."
"We'll keep her safe. We'll keep everyone safe."
For weeks, Madara had wanted to go speak with Sakura - to finally spend time with her again like they always did - but he found himself constantly drawn away by various duties as the clan head and as a shinobi.
The past couple of weeks had been extraordinarily successful for his family. Their alliance with Sora-ku made ripples across the world. Smaller clans and even the Senju had abandoned fronts that Madara once thought that they would throw down their lives for. The mission requests and even new alliances accumulated so quickly that he struggled to find time for much else despite the sudden surge of opportunities.
With their family being pulled so many different directions, Madara and Izuna found themselves needed outside of their village more times than they were comfortable. Although they attempted to keep either him or his brother - if not both of them - in the village at any given time, they found that their clan mates were spread so dangerously thin that their presence was often required. Something that always kept them on high alert with whatever danger Lady Miyabi had warned Sakura about still lingering in the shadows.
Sakura herself had been extraordinarily busy with her patients. After all, more clan members on missions meant more coming home injured. More than that, she had begun some sort of training regimen with her panther summon Kuro out in the forest, the kunoichi choosing to train with him far more frequently than she trained with either him or Izuna.
Madara felt like he never got to see her anymore. He missed her.
When he was able to see her in passing, he worried about her. She looked as if she hadn't been sleeping or eating well. Dark circles slowly grew under her eyes and he could see how she was getting thinner each time he saw her, his friend tying her obi tighter and tighter every day.
That night, as he finally laid down to sleep after returning home from a mission of his own, he decided that he would visit Sakura that next day without fail. A promise that was almost immediately challenged when, after he awoke, he was greeted by his brother with an armful of mission requests, then a messenger with a dozen critical updates, and then a squadron of scouts with information regarding intruders on the outskirts of their lands.
When he had finally finished with his duties, the sun had already began its descent in the sky. He had thought he would finally have the opportunity to visit Sakura… until he was intercepted by the clan elders.
Knowing he couldn't refuse their demand for his audience - and also unsure of when he would be able to escape them and visit his companion - he relegated himself to another day of endless work. Endless work made all the more grating by the topic Arisu and Daichi had decided to drone on about: him finding a wife and producing a child.
Daichi had pressured him by saying that by the time his father was his age, him and two of his brothers had already been born. He continued by saying that he was a grown man who should be focusing on starting a family and perpetuating their excellent bloodline - especially with him and his brother both having awakened the Mangekyo.
Arisu added to the one sided conversation by suggesting that he marry Sakura to prevent her from leaving and so that his children would be that much stronger. That her bloodline was extraordinary - almost as spectacular as their own - and that there would be no better mate for him in regards to producing exemplary offspring.
Just the thought of marrying and having children with Sakura made Madara's heart race but he despised how the elders spoke of her like a well bred dog. She was the most incredible person he had ever met, not a preferred source of pedigreed children. While the elders had certainly changed their tune in regards to Sakura since her arrival, it seemed they accomplished little more than changing their perception of her from a sharingan-stealing harlot to an ideal womb.
The conversation - or rather the clan elders endlessly lecturing him about bloodlines and babes - just reminded him of how he just wanted to spend time with Sakura. To sit down and talk like they used to, to enjoy each others' company. She needed him there with her now more than ever. Not as a potential mate or as the leader of the clan but as her friend.
Even more than that, he wanted to get as much time with her now as he could. The last day of her contract with his family slowly grew closer and closer. In the end, she would leave. The thought of her abandoning them to continue on her search left him with a deep sense of loss and heartache. Heartache that only hurt all the more at the thought of being forced into some miserable marriage with some woman he didn't love just for the sake of producing children.
The only woman he could ever imagine himself marrying and having children with wasn't even his and would soon be gone.
By the time Daichi suggested that both him and Izuna could marry Sakura, something that could aid to higher chances that at least one of their children would awaken the Mangekyo, Madara decided that he had had enough. Finally finished humoring this simultaneously infuriating and deeply depressing conversation, he told them that he would keep their suggestions in mind but that his only concerns at the moment were the alliance with Sora-ku and expanding their influence.
After coming as close as he could to physically removing Daichi and Arisu from his house, he immediately made his way to Sakura's home. The conversation had done little more than instill a ball of dread in his chest which sat heavily upon his heart. Instead of thinking of bloodlines and breeding, he thought of time and how he was losing more and more every moment he spent distracted from what mattered.
When he approached her house, he just hoped she was still awake. As he walked towards her engawa, relief spreading through him when he saw her home was still lit, her voice caught his attention.
"Up here!" Sakura called out from above, perking his curiosity as he stepped back and easily leapt onto the roof.
When Madara finally saw her, wrapped up in a blanket as she perched on the rooftop, he felt the ball of dread within him lighten, his anxiety washing away as her eyes met his.
"Long time no see," Sakura greeted with a gentle smile.
She looked genuinely happy and the warmth in her gaze put his heart at ease.
"What are you doing up here?" he asked curiously.
"Stargazing," she hummed, her gaze rising up to the sky, "Join me?"
"Of course," he answered easily, sitting down next to her on the roof.
Madara was able to hide the shiver that threatened to run through him when her arm brushed against his. Her touch always felt like electricity, lighting up his skin even when she touched him in the most innocuous way. Just being in her presence left his chest feeling light, something that was only darkened by his slowly compounding heartache at her eventual departure.
Pushing those thoughts aside, he deigned to simply enjoy the moment he was finally able to spend with her. To try to not focus on his anguish at losing her or his fear of forgetting a single moment with her.
Looking at Sakura from the corner of his eye, he watched as she gazed up at the night sky. She looked so beautiful, so ethereal, bathed in moonlight with a gentle smile pulling at the corners of her lips. Not wanting to forget the sight, he slyly activated his sharingan, memorizing the way she looked as she gazed up at the stars.
He needed to remember every little thing about her for when she was gone.
When she turned to face him, he blinked to hide his sharingan returning to dormancy.
"Ryo for your thoughts?" Madara asked, repeating what she had once said to him.
Sakura smiled as she looked back up at the glittering constellations above.
"I never really appreciated the stars that much until I came out here, to be honest. I never really took the time to slow down and enjoy the world around me. There was always so much to do."
"I would think you would be busier here than ever, considering how many patients you get every day."
She laughed. "You would think. But before my… Before, I nearly lead the hospital with my mentor and her assistant. And then I would take missions with my teammates as a medic. Then with training, studying, time with friends and family... I never got time to myself."
There was a long silence.
"Do you miss it?" Madara asked, immediately berating himself at his thoughtless question.
"Maybe not so much it. I like how peaceful it is out here. Heh, well, in its own way. But…" Sakura's expression dropped before she whispered, "But I miss them so much I can hardly breathe…"
He could hear the sorrow in her voice as easily as he could feel the heat from her at his side. He wanted to comfort her somehow, to try to take away some of the pain she felt from losing so much. He struggled to find the words, any words, to touch upon her loss. While he was no stranger to tragedy or to mourning, he still had his brother, his cousins, his entire clan. Sakura had been completely alone until she had found a place among his family.
He wanted to tell her that he was there for her and that, while she may not have them, she would always have him. No matter how much he tried, however, the right thing to say just wouldn't come.
It took a long moment - and more courage than he had to muster when facing even the most powerful of enemies - for Madara to gather the will to instead loop his arm around her shoulders. He kept his eyes forward, desperately hoping that the heat he could feel in his cheeks wasn't visible, but he could still feel her surprised look.
After a handful of heartbeats, Sakura scooted closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder as she gladly accepted his comfort. He couldn't restrain the shiver of satisfaction as his heart leapt in his chest, a wave of contentment settling over him.
"Cold?" she asked innocently, oblivious to his inner joy.
No. "Perhaps slightly."
"That's surprising, considering you're like a furnace," she teased as she tugged at the edges of the blanket surrounding her.
She tossed it over the both of them and, sidling up even closer to him, she drew the blanket shut around their fronts, enveloping him in the scent of her medicinal herbs and floral soaps.
In a way that felt so natural, Madara wrapped his arm more comfortably around her, silently reveling in the satisfaction he felt being so close to her. The only time they had ever been this close was on her birthday and his memory - even enhanced by his sharingan - was fuzzy from alcohol.
He didn't realize how starved for her touch he was until she was nestled into his side, her warm body pressed against his.
"Hmm…" Sakura hummed as she leaned into him more fully.
His gaze dropped down to her and he wondered if he was imagining the blush on her cheeks.
"What is it?" he asked, grateful his voice remained steady.
"Even your heart beats faster than normal," she commented offhandedly, as if the beating of his soaring heart was normal, before chuckling, "You really are the epitome of fire nature."
"I suppose I'm just unique."
"Unique is just one of many wonderful things you are," she returned with a smile in her voice, his face burning at her compliment.
Madara hummed noncommittally in response, knowing he would be unable to conceal his overwhelming contentment if he was to come up with the words to speak.
When she rested her head against his collarbone, he didn't even bother to resist what he wanted, tilting his head to rest atop of hers. His eyes slid closed as he basked in the moment and in her warmth, finding all of the contentment he wanted with her instead of in the expanse of stars above them.
In that moment, he thought of what Hitomi had told him.
You should reach for it and cherish it while you can. You never know how little time you'll have.
"Sakura…" he finally whispered, lifting his head.
"Yes?" she hummed.
"I wanted to tell you something…" he tried, struggling to find the right words even if he had found the will to say them.
She was confused as she pulled back to look up at him, her big, bright eyes meeting his making his breath catch in his throat.
"No, I need to tell you," he corrected.
"What is it?" she urged softly, her voice gentle and her cheeks flushing.
"I…" he tried before pausing, looking off into the shadows of the plum grove beneath them as doubt encroaching on the hope in his chest.
He felt Sakura's hand settle on top of his in a silent gesture of encouragement. His gaze flicked to their joined hands before looking up to her and, finding nothing but warmth in her expression, he smiled. Turning his hand over so he could hold hers properly, he squeezed her hand.
His anxiety finally washing away, he found the courage he needed to finally tell her.
"Sakura, I lov-"
"Madara! Where are you!?" Izuna's voice cried out nearby, startling them both.
Both his and Sakura's expression pinched in confusion and concern, the pair immediately recognizing the sound of urgency in Izuna's voice, before they turned to seek out his location.
"I'm up here," Madara called out, abandoning his would-be confession as they slipped away from each other.
Izuna leapt onto the rooftop, the elder Uchiha's worry growing at the look in his brother's eyes.
"There's been an attack," he informed immediately.
"What happened?" he questioned.
"It's the Nakano..."
Madara felt as Sakura tensed at his side.
"They're all dead."
A/N: For those who may have forgotten, the Nakano are the family who Sakura protected from the strikeforce of Senju when she first met them and the Uchiha.
The scroll that Sakura was given and that was stolen from the Uzumaki contains a technique that binds a target to a space-time jutsu using seals. This technique is a vital piece to Sakura's future medical jutsu and it originated from Tobirama. Him and Mito had worked on this technique together and, when they were sending information back to Mito's home village, it was stolen and wound up in Queen Usugumo's possession.
Polyamory and marriages with more than two spouses aren't unheard of in this world, especially when it increases the chance of producing ideal children. Sakura was accused early on - on her birthday when the brothers stayed overnight at her home - of sleeping with both of them. This was an insult to her for sleeping with them out of wedlock and an accusation that she was attempting to steal the mangekyo sharingan instead of disapproval of polyamory.
I know there are a lot of readers who are really rooting for this to become a MadaSakuIzu story! Homeward is purely a MadaSaku fic with Sakura and Izuna being close friends. I wanted to write this as being my ultimate MadaSaku romance, the story I really wanted to read so I decided to write it! However, I have been considering different ways to go about writing a seperate MadaSakuIzu fic too since I love the ship. I'm currently trying to decide if I wanted to base it off of this story or with a completely new plot.
Which would you prefer, MadaSakuIzu shippers? Any specific AUs or ideas you'd really want to read? (PS if you're not into polyamory, that's perfectly valid, but I do expect you to be respectful! Also, for the readers who seem to be under the impression I'm making this into a MadaSakuIzu story despite me saying otherwise multiple times... wtf lmao calm down)