"Ah, Madara! I didn't know you were back from your diplomatic mission," said Hashirama, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly as he felt his friend's chakra flaring. "I assume you came back early for Izuna," he tried to converse but Madara just glared at him, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Sakura was standing beside him and sighed. Walking forward, she bowed and smiled. Hashirama smiled back and nodded his head. He can take a guess as to why Madara was in a bad mood, judging from the way Sakura's face still held a slight flush to it and her lips still a bit swollen from what he can deduce was due to them kissing. His gaze moved to Madara's, an amused expression on his face.
"I apologize for calling you in on your day off Sakura, but your expertise is needed. I got a letter from the Daimyo that his daughter is ill and requested for you personally to go and tend to her," he said, passing the scroll over to her. Sakura nodded, accepting the scroll.
"Hn. Understood, I will leave immediately," she said.
"Who's her escort?" chimed in Madara who was now standing beside her. Sakura huffed, glaring at Madara.
"I do not need an escort, Hokage-sama" she said in clipped tones, annoyed that he would even suggest such a thing for such a simple mission. But he ignored her, walking towards his desk and sitting down. Her eyebrows twitched in annoyance. Clearly they were both feeling agitated from having been interrupted, but it still grated her nerves at the way he's acting out.
"Madara, Sakura is a capable kunoichi. You've seen her spar. Besides, it's only a two day travel. This wouldn't be the first time she's had to travel to heal someone," Hashirama reasoned with Madara.
"It doesn't matter. Word travels fast, and if people find out that the best medic of Konoha is traveling on her own, they will do everything they can to get a hold of her. She's very valuable and too important for us to take that risk," he countered. Sakura blinked, not expecting that reply from him at all. She wasn't sure if he was speaking on behalf of Konoha, or if it had a different meaning, but hearing that Madara felt she was important melted some of the anger out of her. Hashirama pressed his lips together, thinking over his words.
"Fine, you make a good argument my friend," Hashirama sighed in defeat.
30 minutes later, Sakura walked out of the Konoha gates with one Senju escort and one Uchiha escort.
—-
"You couldn't wait one hour to send that shinobi to Sakura's house," Madara growled at his friend. Hashirama chuckled.
"Ah, I see, you were interrupted. Trust me, I know the feeling, so I do apologize for that. But, in my defense, I didn't think you would be there in the first place," he smiled at his friend. Putting some scrolls away, he asked Madara about his mission.
"We are to never let the Shimura clan set foot in Konoha. That is final," Madara said firmly, looking directly into Hashirama's wide eyes.
"Wha- Hold on Madara, let's not get too hasty here. We should still give them a chance,"
"Sakura asked me personally not to let them in." Hashirama froze.
"Sakura? She did?" Madara nodded. Hashirama frowned
"Did she say why?" he asked.
Madara shook his head, also frowning and looking down at the desk. "You should've seen her face, Hashi. She was seething with so much hatred at the mere mention of the Shimura clan name. I have a feeling they have something to do with her past that we know little about. Do you think they attacked her and her family?" Madara thought out loud.
Hashirama took in a deep breath, letting it out in a loud exhale. "I don't know, but if Sakura feels strongly about them, I'll reconsider their request. You know I can't just deny them without a proper reason, but for Sakura's sake, I will do my best," he said. Madara nodded.
—-
It took longer than expected to finish the mission. Sakura stayed for a week, wanting to make sure that the Daimyo's daughter was in good health by the time she made her way back home. At the time she was away on this mission, Hashirama found enough reason to respectfully reject the Shimura clan from being a part of Konoha. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief after reading that part in the letter that Madara had sent her. She bit her lips, trying to contain her smile. The boys had each sent her letters, letting her know that she was missed in their own way.
In the week that she was away, she had a lot of time to herself to think about her feelings for the four males. She has no doubt that she's on the verge of falling in love with them, if she wasn't already. Sakura was aware of the complications that come with loving four men, and she groaned out in frustration. She plans to have a little girl talk with her friends when she gets back from the mission. She has no doubt that they wouldn't judge her and will help her navigate through her feelings. She and her escorts were about a few hours away from Konoha when she felt the ambush before it started. It seemed her escorts did so as well by the way they braced themselves for attack.
"You've caused us a lot of trouble young lady," said one of the shinobi that came out of the shadows. Her Uchiha escort snarled at the incomer.
"Hagoromo," he hissed, his kunai drawn and sharingan activated. "What do you want,"
"Well, for starters, I want you two dead. It's disgusting to see an Uchiha and Senju working together," he spat in their direction. The Senju tensed, moving his body in front of Sakura protectively while the Uchiha did the same. Sakura bared her teeth. She heard of the Hagoromo clan who were allied with the Uchiha clan when the war was still raging. They caused a few shinobi to end up in her E.R the last few weeks for attacking them while they were out on missions. She could feel they were surrounded, cursing for not being able to detect them until that moment.
"The Hagoromo likes to play dirty, and they probably did something to hide their chakra until the last minute," said the Uchiha escort, answering the question in her head.
"Daichi, when you see an opening, send word to Hokage-sama," she said softly, her fists clenching, ready for a fight. The Uchiha nodded, also getting into a fighting stance. The shinobi in front of them laughed.
"You're a lot prettier than I imagined," he smiled a sickly smile that made Sakura's skin crawl. "No wonder Shimura paid good money for you," he chuckled lowly, his eyes gleaming in excitement. The three Konoha nin gasped.
"Shimura paid you to capture me?" she asked.
"It was quite a shock for us as well. The Shimura clan are known to keep to themselves, but you must've done something to anger them. No matter, we get the money and we get to have you for ourselves until we have to give you up," he said, licking his lips.
"As if we'd let you," the Senju escort growled. The Hagoromo shinobi laughed then raised his arms up into a T as the rest of the ambush attacked.
—-
The four of them just finished a meeting that required their attendance. Walking inside the main office of the Hokage tower, Tobirama and Izuna set down the stack of papers they were carrying, while Hashirama and Madara sat down on their chairs, groaning.
"Maaaan, I miss Sakura," Izuna whined as he walked beside his brother, looking out the window.
"She should be back soon," Madara said.
"I didn't realize I would miss her this much," whined Hashirama. Tobirama rolled his eyes, yet he couldn't help but agree. He did miss Sakura more than he thought he would. He had written her a letter about the status of the hospital, and she had sent one back thanking him for looking out for the hospital while she was away. The four of them had openly discussed the inclinations of sharing one woman with two different clans. Surprisingly, it was a civil conversation, although he gloated a little when he found out that he had a moment with Sakura before the Uchiha brothers did. He couldn't help it, he was competitive by nature and old habits die hard in wanting to always be one step ahead of the Uchiha.
Just then, a rapid knocking on the window shook him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Madara and Izuna frowning at the summon, letting it inside. Tobirama did not like the way they looked at each other, jaws clenching.
"What is it?" he demanded.
"He is Daichi Uchiha's summon. He was one of Sakura's escorts," answered Izuna.
"There's been an ambush!" screamed the summon, causing the four males to tense. Madara brought his fist down on the table, snarling.
"I knew it. How far, and how many" he growled, killing intent spilling out of him.
"A couple hours east. It's three against roughly 15 shinobi of the Hagoromo clan. They claimed to have been hired by the Shimura clan," answered the summon.
Madara was the first out of the window, followed by Izuna and the summon. Tobirama cursed as he too began to follow, but stopped shortly to see Hashirama summon a wood clone before they nodded and ran off to Sakura's direction.
Tobirama let his sensor abilities out, stretching it to its limits as they ran as fast as they possibly could. He was protecting the rear, and he could practically see the chakra seeping out of the Uchiha's and the killing intent surrounding them. Hashirama too was very tense. He's seen Hashirama prepare for battles a handful of times and he's always been level-headed and calm, but the way he carried himself now felt different. He seemed almost desperate, as if the thought of Sakura not making it out alive scared him. Tobirama gritted his teeth and pushed off the tree harder, his nostrils flaring. He has to believe that Sakura would be alright. Ryu Senju was an exceptional fighter and knew that the Uchiha was just as skilled. He also knew Sakura could hold out on her own. But the Hagoromo clan were known for their trickery and he hoped to Kami that Sakura would not fall for them. Just hold on until we get there Sakura, he thought to himself.
Just then he felt their chakras. "Up ahead! She's fighting against four of them," Tobirama bellowed. He could feel her chakra was dangerously low. When they arrived, it was to Sakura punching a shinobi so hard that they heard his bones crack and was sent flying backwards.
"Sakura!" they all yelled, causing her to turn her head around. She was covered in black lines that snaked around her skin. The look of relief washed over her face before they widened. It was like watching in slow motion. He saw the shinobi that was on the ground behind her thrust his sword up towards her abdomen, using the momentary distraction to make his move.
"NOOOO," he heard the others scream, or was he also screaming? He did not know, but with a fierce battle cry, the four of them moved.
Sakura coughed out blood and fell to her knees. Izuna and Hashirama were there in an instant. "Leave one alive for interrogation!" Hashirama bellowed when Madara was about to make the killing blow to the last surviving shinobi. He growled and put him under a genjutsu, tossing the body aside before he ran towards them. Tobirama stood frozen in place.
"Hashirama, can you heal her?" Madara asked. Hashirama creased his brows, his hands already glowing green around her abdomen. He closed his eyes, gritting his teeth as he shook his head. Izuna made a noise of disbelief as they all stared at Sakura who was breathing heavily, blood pooling around her.
"Boys," she croaked, wincing in pain. "Can one of you pull this sword out,"
They all looked at each other unsurely before back down to Sakura. "Are you sure?" Hashirama asked. Sakura nodded. Taking a deep breath, he firmly grasped the handle of the sword and pulled it out cleanly in one go. Izuna's hands automatically tried to cover the wound, biting his lips as he watched more blood pour out of her. Just then all of their eyes widened as they watched the wound begin to close. Soon after it closed, the black lines surrounding her skin began to recede. Sakura sighed a breath of relief, and her eyes met Tobirama's red ones. He must've been wearing some sort of expression on his face as her own softened and she smiled at him.
"I'm okay, just lost too much…blood," she gasped, swaying forward and losing consciousness. Izuna caught her, his eyes softening as he pushed a lock of hair out of her face.
"Tobirama, take Sakura to the hospital. You'll get there faster," he said, looking up at him. He nodded, forcing his legs to move and taking Sakura into his arms. He looked down at her and he couldn't help but place his forehead against hers and let out a shuddering breath. He turned back to look towards the others who were watching and nodded as he ran towards the direction of Konoha.
"M-madara-sama!" They turned towards the voice to see the two escorts dragging themselves over and holding each other up, the Senju breathing hard and covering a wound on his chest. Hashirama immediately went to his side to begin healing him as they both fell to their knees.
"Sakura-sama," he swallowed, wincing.
"Daichi, tell us what happened," demanded Izuna. The Uchiha escort nodded, and bowed low to the ground in front of Madara.
"Madara-sama, please forgive me. I was assigned to protect Sakura-sama and yet I failed. I deserve whatever punishment you deem is fit for my incompetence,"
Madara sighed. "It is not I who you should be apologizing to," he said calmly. The bowing Uchiha visibly flinched.
"Daichi, please, tell us what happened. Why were they after Sakura?" Izuna asked once again.
"Shimura hired the Hagoromo to capture her," answered the Senju. "They didn't say why, but it seems they paid them a generous amount for her capture"
"We were not able to detect them until we were surrounded," added the Uchiha.
"They separated us but Sakura-sama was able to hold them off on her own. She even managed to heal me long enough while Daichi-san covered for us," Senju recalled in awe.
"We heard you all scream. Please tell us, is Sakura-sama….?" the Senju asked softly, eyes pleading and hopeful.
"She'll be fine. Tobirama brought her to the hospital, she is expected to make it," confirmed Hashirama. Both escorts sighed in relief, their shoulders sagging. "Thank goodness," whispered the Uchiha. Madara narrowed his eyes but said nothing. He then walked over towards the unconscious enemy shinobi, roughly grabbing him by the collar and driving a knee into his abdomen, causing the shinobi to wake up in a coughing fit.
"Why did the Shimura send you. What do they want with Sakura?" he demanded, shaking the shinobi. He sneered, showing bloody teeth and spitting to the side as he mocked Madara.
"What other reason would they need? You all basically rejected the clan into your village, and they do not take lightly to rejection. Word from the street is, the pink-haired whore has you all wrapped around her pretty little fingers. She has a hefty bounty on her head, and a lot of people want to get their hands on her, figuratively and literally," he laughed maniacally.
Madara wasted no time in putting the shinobi under genjutsu with his Mangekyou sharingan, then slashing his throat with a kunai. Roughly, he tossed the body aside as it hit a tree and fell to the ground.
"Sakura is to never set foot outside of Konoha from now on," he growled.
"Now, now Madara, that's a bit extreme. And knowing Sakura, she would not appreciate you making that decision for her," Hashirama tried to reason.
"Did you not hear what he said! She has a bounty on her head because of us! We owe it to her to make sure that she is safe and protected, and we can only do that if she stays in the village!" he yelled, standing directly in front of Hashirama now.
Hashirama's face hardened and gritted his teeth. "Of course I heard! Don't think that I also would like nothing more than to keep Sakura safe, but you're going about this all wrong!" he yelled back. The two escorts watched the two clan heads yell at each other, not wanting to interrupt as their chakra's flared wildly.
Izuna placed his hands on both their shoulders. "Stop it, both of you. If Sakura was here right now she'd have punched you both across the field for talking about her like that. Right now, let's focus on the fact that Sakura is alive. We will deal with the Shimura clan and Hagoromo clan later. I don't know about you, but I'd much rather be by her side at this moment just in case she wakes up," he said firmly.
Madara and Hashirama glared at each other but nodded in agreement. "Let's go, to Sakura,"