As she got closer, Madara was able to maneuver past Sasuke's defense and struck him in the abdomen with one of the spheres that turned into a spike.
"NOOOOO" screamed Sakura. Madara shoved Sasuke to the side, as if he was a mere bug that he just swatted away. Sakura ran and caught Sasuke, her heart in her throat.
"Sasuke-kun, please hold on. I got you, just hold on" as she gently laid him down and began healing him, the familiar glowing green chakra encasing her hands and placing it on top of his abdomen, where the sphere penetrated. So much blood, she thought, as she fought the tears that were threatening to fall.
Sasuke just looked at her with soft eyes, acceptance to his faith clearly written on them.
"Sakura.." he mustered, although it came out weak and barely above a whisper.
"Shhh, please Sasuke-kun, just hold on for me ok? Keep fighting. I will heal you, ok? Don't worry, you'll be ok" she rambled, her lips trembling, her hands shaking as she tried to heal his gaping wound. Shit shit shit, I don't have enough chakra. She inwardly cursed at herself.
She didn't realize she was crying until Sasuke weakly caught a tear from falling down her cheeks. The touch was barely there, yet she jolted back into focus as if he had just slapped her. She looked into his onyx eyes and cried even harder; the knowing look on his face evident of what's to come.
"Nooo.." her voice breaking, she shut her eyes, trying to calm her emotions, trying but failing to keep her heart from shattering.
"Sa..kura..I'm So..sor…rry" Sasuke was wheezing now, pain obvious on his face. He doesn't have much time left, the only thing keeping him up being his will power to stay alive long enough to say what he needed to say.
"Sasuke-kun…please…" she was bawling now, steady streams of tears falling down her cheeks, her eyes shut. "I love you with all my heart, please, you just came back.." she hiccuped. She opened her eyes when she felt a light poke on her forehead. She looked down at Sasuke, a faint smile on his face.
"A..ri..gatou," were his last words before the light in his eyes dimmed and completely snuffed out forever.
Sakura heard a scream, only to realize that it was coming from her. It happened so slowly, yet only a few minutes passed, really. Time stood still as her heart died along with Sasuke.
"SASUKEEE" she heard Naruto scream in the distance. She vaguely remembered about the fight going on between Naruto and Madara. She looked up, and her eyes widened. The slight distraction from Naruto gave Madara the opening he needed to pierce him with the same spear he used on Sasuke. Time stood still. She watched it all play out in slow motion. She was screaming as she saw Naruto struggle and was also tossed to the side. She tried to get up, to run over to catch his fall but her limbs felt so heavy. Next thing she knew everything was black.
Sakura woke up in a cold sweat, her breathing ragged. She hasn't had that nightmare in a while, and her heart clenched tightly at the memory of her teammates' death. She shuddered, remembering the cold, uncaring look Madara had as he killed them. She closed her eyes again, trying to get her breathing under control. I will not let that happen , she vowed to herself. She has no clue why Madara became the way he is in her future, but the Madara she knows, here in the past, is a different person, and she will do everything in her power to steer him away from that future. They all deserve a better future, she thought.
After she felt that she's calmed down enough, she cursed when she noticed that it was already late in the day. Luckily, she was given today off, courtesy of Hashirama. He probably planned to get that drunk from the start , she mused. Sakura went off to the market to buy some groceries and made her way back home to start cooking her lunch. As her lunch was almost ready, there was a knock on the door. With a frown, she felt for the person's chakra signature and was surprised to find Hashirama's signature outside her door.
"Hashirama! What are you doing here?" she asked after opening the door. He stood there with an apologetic smile on his face and one of his hands rubbing the back of his neck.
"Sakura-chan! I, uh, wanted to apologize to you about last night," he began. Sakura tilted her head and leaned her hips against the door. He continued. "Tobi told me what I did," he trailed off, his head dropping in shame. Sakura giggled, causing him to look back up at her.
"Don't worry about it. How are you feeling today?" she asked him, smiling.
"Good! Well except for a slight headache but it's to be expected, hehehe," he laughed awkwardly. Just then he sniffed the air and his eyes lit up.
"Is that, curry?" he asked her, which she nodded as an answer. "I was actually cooking lunch before you came. It should be about ready, would you like to join me, Hashirama?" she inquired, stepping back to invite him in. His face lit up and walked inside to follow her. Sakura was already setting up the table and motioned for him to sit.
"Itadakimasu!" they both said as they began eating. Hashirama's eyes widened after taking the first bite and stared at Sakura.
"This is delicious!" he exclaimed, taking another huge bite. She smiled and thanked him as she continued eating as well.
Hashirama couldn't help but be constantly in awe of the pink-haired girl in front of him. She was an exceptional healer, an intelligent and calculating woman, and now a great cook. Hashirama frowned, as he thought about how much he still doesn't know about her. Sakura felt his change and asked him what's wrong.
"Sakura-chan, I," he paused, unsure how to word the question to her. "I just realized that I know nothing about where you came from" he began.
Sakura placed her utensils down and looked at her food. Hashirama instantly regretted bringing it up, not wanting to ruin the moment they were having, but she smiled and shook her head.
"Mmnnm, I'm surprised it took you this long to ask," she said with a slight teasing smile, but he could see that it didn't reach her eyes. She took a deep breath and faced him.
"What would you like to know?" she asked.
"How did you become a kunoichi? I always thought civilians disliked shinobi and not coming from a clan, I assume made it difficult to train in the arts," he asked her.
"Hmm, I guess you're right. My village, they trained both civilians and shinobi alike," Hashirama's eyes widened at the information.
"Actually, there was this boy I liked," she said with a soft smile. "I was smitten, and I wanted to get closer to him, but he was in a clan and we barely talked, so I decided to become a kunoichi to get closer to him," she chuckled then. "Not really the best reason to become one," Hashirama stayed quiet, listening to her tell her story.
"My parents were against it at first, since they were civilians, but I'm very stubborn. I convinced them eventually. I was very weak, and I only cared about how I looked and how I would get Sasuke-kun to go on a date with me. He always called me annoying," she said. She inhaled and exhaled, trying to steady her breath.
"He..was in a very dark place and I couldn't save him. I even forced my best friend, Naruto, to promise me to save him. I put such a huge burden on him and I didn't realize it at the time. So I trained and I vowed to get stronger. That's when I met my master. I begged her to train me," Sakura was shaking now and Hashirama fought the urge to touch her and comfort her. "I'm supposed to be one of the best healers," she scoffed at herself, "yet, I still couldn't save them. They still died under my watch," Sakura's voice broke and she closed her eyes, trying to hold back her tears. She startled when she felt Hashirama cup her cheek, wiping away the tears that had fallen from her cheeks.
"I'm sorry I made you relive all that," Hashirama said softly. His hands moved to her shoulders, squeezing it comfortingly. "I understand how it is to lose people you love to war. It is one of the many reasons I wanted to build this village," he told her. Sakura smiled softly at Hashirama, her eyes softening. She placed her hands on top of his.
"I know, you are a good man, Hashirama. This was actually the first time I've ever spoken about this since I got here," she admitted softly. She looked into his eyes, and his breath caught at the emotions swirling in her green eyes. His hand automatically moved to the back of her neck, his thumb gently caressing her jawline. He saw her swallow and her lips parted slightly.
Hashirama felt this sudden need to make her feel better. Without realizing, he had moved closer to her. He noticed that she wasn't making any moves to push him away, causing his heart to beat faster. Slowly, he inched closer, his head slanting, keeping his gaze on hers. He could feel her rapid pulse from where his hands grabbed the back of her neck, and in her eyes, he could see that she wanted it too. His pride and ego shot up at the knowledge, and before his lips could touch hers, his brother decided to show up, causing him to back away from Sakura.
Tobirama narrowed his eyes at his brother who was uncharacteristically fidgeting. He briefly looked at Sakura, who was also avoiding his gaze. His brows furrowed at their behavior.
"Anija, are you avoiding your duties again? Madara has already covered for you for two hours, it is time you pull your weight. What are you doing here?" he asked, arms crossed in front of his chest.
"I came to apologize to Sakura about yesterday and she invited me for lunch. Tobi-kun, I couldn't have possibly declined the offer, she made curry! It's delicious, you should try some!" he exclaimed, holding the plate of curry under Tobirama's nose, causing him to lean back unless he wanted his nose buried in curry.
Sakura giggled and looked up at him. "Would you like some, Tobi-kun?" she asked. Tobirama whipped his head to face her, the nickname catching him off guard. She smiled up at him, amusement shining in her eyes. He cleared his throat and nodded slightly. Sakura got up to make his plate as he sat on the other side of Sakura on the table, glaring at his brother across from him.
"You are going back to work after lunch," he said, to which Hashirama replied with a wave of his hand as he continued to eat his curry.
The three of them ate and talked, mostly about the different clans wanting to move into their village. Sakura would give her input here and there, and both Tobirama and Hashirama would look at her in amazement.
"If you weren't in charge of the hospital, I'd have asked you to be a part of the council," Tobirama commented, to which Hashirama nodded and agreed.
After lunch, Sakura stood up to gather the dishes but was stopped by Tobirama.
"Please, allow us. We did intrude after all," he offered, as he grabbed the plate off her hand and passed it to Hashirama.
"Oh no, I wouldn't want you guys to," but she was cut off and Tobirama walked to where Hashirama was already washing the dishes.
Sakura stood there, watching the two shinobi she's grown-up admiring, washing her dishes. They looked so domesticated and she was speechless. She bit her lips, trying to contain her smile and as they both turned around and saw her, both of their hearts skipping a beat as the sun decided to shine through a crack in her window, casting a glow around her.
Both Hashirama and Tobirama looked at each other then, giving each other knowing looks before they said their goodbyes. Sakura stared at the spot they were just in, her heart still beating fast. For the rest of the day she couldn't get the image of the way they both stared at her, like she was the most beautiful girl they've ever seen.