Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters do not belong to me, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto

-Chapter Ten-

I'm Sorry

By the time the unknown man entered her room, Sakura was already dispirited. She was sitting in her own blood all alone while the maids stood by watching her. She felt like she was on display and she hated it. Their stares were embarrassing, but all she could do was stay still and wait for her master to arrive.

The thought of moving at all made her fearful. When she'd gotten out of bed she'd felt that strange wetness. Moving would just make her bleed out quicker from whatever wound she had. Her normal feistiness was gone. All she wanted was her mama.

Then that man had come in. She didn't put up a fight, not wanting to move more than she needed to. His mention of the elders of the clan didn't even connect. She was in her own world, not taking noticing of anything.

Not the grip on her arm or the maids filing out of the room in haste, hurrying to get out of this strange man's way. It seemed they knew him from somewhere. Feared him by the looks of things. None of them came to her aid.

Then Toka suddenly appeared in the door-frame. Her normal stern experience was even worse today, disgruntled at having been summoned. Then her dark eyes zoomed in on the man and his hold on Sakura. The room's pressure intensified as the female Senju walked forward, forcing the man back. Her brows creased. "Let. Her. Go."

"I cannot do that." The suffocating pressure in the room, which the twelve year old now registered as killing intent, spiked severely. Her body felt heavy with the weight of it.

"Then I'll make you." Her katana slung across her back was drawn in an instance. The man threw Sakura away from him and met Toka's katana with his tanto. He attempted to get in her range, but she succeeded in keeping the distance between them. With blinding speed, over and over, their weapons clashed. It appeared to be an even match as they dodged and twisted around her room.

Only when they jumped back from each other yet again did he see the woman's free hand come up and make a hand sign. He actually felt his vision warp, black bands wisping at the edges of his vision. The use of genjutsu use didn't surprise him, but its weakness did.

He knew of Toka Senju and her accomplishments in the art. Highly improbably that he was able to throw her genjutsu off with a simple kai release, but that is what happened. His vision cleared, no longer hazy and the unusual blackness gone.

He barely caught the fist the aimed to punch him in the jaw. The woman had taken advantage of the small time lapse in his judgement. Once again they went at each other with their weapons. It seemed to go on forever and while his stamina was dropping she only looked to be getting faster.

In the end he didn't notice what was going on until he felt a sharp pain in his side while Toka was across the room from him, not attacking. Once more his vision warped and there was Toka, staring up at him while holding the katana that was stabbed through his side.

Their fight…it had only been a genjutsu. It had to have been when he'd thought he had released her jutsu. It must have had several layers to it. He'd thrown off the weakest only to encounter the next, more realistic layer.

The sudden need to be on the defensive when her genjutsu-self went to punch him had kept him from noticing. He should have expected nothing less from a female warrior. Beautiful, but deadly. He would be sure to give her no more openings. He was still fit to fight.

Taking one big gulp of air to refill his lungs, he stepped backwards quickly, pulling himself off of her katana. She hadn't been expecting him to do that. In seconds he was within her range and he swung his tanto down towards her head. Toka dodged backwards, creating space between them.

As Sakura watched them fight, she felt a rage unlike any other she'd felt before build up. Rage at her own inadequacy. This man felt he could walk into her personal territory and take her without a fight. Relying on Toka for everything was not an option for her. She was sick of being useless, sitting back and watching things play out in front of her.

Pissed as all hell she snuck up behind the man while the two shinobi fought. He was far too concerned with keeping out of Toka's ideal range, when he wasn't attempting to get passed it, to pay attention to her location.

It was just as the woman backed off again for a moment, having spotted her, that her brothers suddenly arrived at the opened door. They came just in time to see Sakura lunge at the man from behind. She was on him in seconds.

Immediately, she went for his eyes, planning to scratch them out. He was forced to drop his weapon and try to protect his optic nerve, closing his eyelids to stop easy access. With one hand fighting to get to his eyes, her other was in his hair pulling on it. She yanked so hard that she ripped a section of it from his scalp. It was surely bleeding.

Teeth bared, she dove towards his neck, biting precariously close to his carotid artery. Her teeth broke skin and if she'd gone slightly to the left and a little deeper she could have killed him. When she jerked her mouth away, she ripped skin.

Her brothers were still at the door, frozen at the sight of her vicious attack. Hashirama realized then and there that if his sister's training with Toka was successful, Sakura would be a terrifying force. The ability to sneak up on shinobi was nearly nonexistent. Spies and scouting teams often lost their life due to this very fact. His sister was amazing…and about to kill someone.

The man was unable to shake the girl off. She was stubbornly clinging to him as she left his eyes to head down towards his weapons pouch. She was fishing for a kunai to stab him with when hands started to pry her from the stranger.

Without thinking, she tightened her grip on the kunai she'd gotten hold of and swung her arm backwards. She felt it connect and stab into the body of the person behind her. There was a grunt, but besides that, no reaction. The hands under her armpits were still there and successfully removing her from her prey.

She was kicking and screaming, willing to kill to get back to the man who'd tried to kidnap her. At least until she was forcibly turned around and witnessed her brother bleeding before her very eyes. She'd stabbed her own brother, right in the shoulder.

Guilt hit her hard. She'd been so singularly focused that she hadn't realized it was Hashirama. There was no excuse, she'd wounded him. The kunai was even still sticking out of his shoulder, amplifying her culpability.

Tears sprang to her eyes as she evaluated the injury. Tobirama came up to them to check it out along with her. Then he raised his hand and wrenched the kunai out. Hashirama let out a high pitched screech and cried out, "Tobi!"

Their brother smirked, tossed the kunai back to Sakura and turned to face the man who caused all this trouble. The kidnapper's back straightened at the observation he was receiving. Circling him, the white haired man glared. "I recognize you. I trained you." The teenager grabbed the back of the man's bleeding scalp. "Now, why are you in my sister's room?"

Showing no fear at the clear threat, he didn't even try to escape from Tobirama. Though slightly older than him, the boy was still his superior. His commanding officer while he'd been in training. He'd show him no disrespect. "Sir, my job was to bring her to the elders. They wanted to see her now that she is marriageable. Sorry, but there is nothing you can do."

This disclosure shook the room. Toka was the first to react to the news. She sheathed her katana and walked over to Sakura. Taking the girl a few steps away from her brothers, she moved her arms away from her yukata. It fell open, revealing to her that the man spoke the truth. Toka's expression was empathetic.

For a moment she paused, and then tied the yukata back up. Kneeling down in front of the other woman, she took her hands into her own. The fear was obvious in her face. She tried to comfort her. "Sakura, there is nothing wrong with you. This is very natural for a woman."

She patted down the pink strands that were sticking up from her student's sleep and wiped at her blood covered mouth. "For now go with the maids to take your bath. Afterwards I'lll be there to explain all of this to you."

Little hands held tighter to her own. "So I'm not dying?" Hashirama let out a nervous giggle and Tobirama shifted his weight, red-faced.

Toka smiled at her. "No, you aren't. You're just becoming a grown up. I'll explain everything later." Then she gave the pink haired woman a push in the direction of the maids. "Now go take your bath." Nodding slowly, she followed after the herd of maids that had formed.

After Sakura was gone, Toka slowly stood up, sighing deeply. The two siblings took two swift steps back, but the other man didn't know better. Before he could blink the Senju warrior had dashed forward and punched him in the gut. The hit was so hard he threw up a little on the floor, eyes bugged out.

She then grabbed him back the neck, pulling his head back so she could stare down at his hunched form. "The elders were going to sell her off to the highest bidder, weren't they? Keep her confined so she could never see her brothers again." She smacked him across the face. "You sicken me." A kick connected with his shin, knocking him down to his knees.

"You're right. Maybe her brothers can't do anything. But I can." She brought her face closer to his. "Without being exiled either." She threw the man away from her.

Hashirama started to speak worriedly, "Toka, are you going to-"

She cut him off with a wave of her hand and a discreet glance in Tobi's direction. It took a few extra seconds for her to muster a grin, but she succeeded. "I'm going to blackmail them." With that, she left them in the room, leaving with a heavy heart.

Tobirama watched her go, peeking sideways at Hashirama only to see him with his head down with clenched fists. There were very few things that could anger his brother, but he seemed upset now. "What is she going to do?"

Finally, after a beat of silence the brunet raised his head and looked into red eyes sadly. "Bargain with her tragedy." The mood was heavy and that was never something he liked much. Forcing a grin, he spoke to the man who was steadily getting to his feet. "Toka tends to be overshadowed by us, but she is just as legendary. What a fool you are to think you could pick a fight with her and win."

A few minutes later, Toka was outside the elders meeting room, trying to calm her breathing. This was going to be hard. She didn't want to recall or even talk about what had happened to her. Yet if it could save Sakura similar pain, she'd do it.

With that in mind, she pushed open the door and stormed the room. The elders jumped in their seats, not having expected her. They'd always had a distinct dislike of her. She knew too much and was unpredictable in her wildness. She was a liability and she was going to use that to her advantage today.

Slamming the door shut behind her, she marched right to their table and glared at them. "So she's 'marriageable' now. I wonder what age I would have become marriageable." Their tension level shot up, nervous that she was bringing up the past. She'd never done it before. This was new behavior, dangerous behavior.

Finally one of the old men spoke up, "What are you playing at?"

She leaned in with a smirk on her face. "Making you my bitch." The man jerked back, looking at her in revulsion. "Oh, you don't like my manner of speaking? Because I'm not a man? Well, you made me this way!" Her nails dug into the table. "And I'll tell everyone."

That alarmed them all. Especially as she turned towards the door. "Wa-wait!" She paused for a moment. "What do you want?"

Nearly undetectable, her shoulders sagged and she muttered under her breath. "There's my bitch." Turning around, she stared them down. "Give me Sakura."

Now it was their turned to be outraged. "You know we can't do that!" She knew from just looking at their faces that they weren't going to just give the girl up. Her eyes narrowed, deciding she would try to get as much control as she could.

Sakura was just finishing her bath, considering getting out of the water, when there was a knock on the door. If it was those handmaidens again, she was going to beat them with a stick. Toka welcomed herself into the room before she could even ask who it was. "Toka!" She sunk just a little bit more into the water, embarrassed to let the other woman see her in a state of undress.

Her master noticed this right away. "You'll have to get over that if you want to be a shinobi in any manner of speaking." Pink eyebrows raised. "Men without pride will purposely rip a female shinobi's clothing. They think if they can expose her that she'll try to cover up and give them an opening." She didn't mention what happened to the women when such a method succeeded.

"…can you explain what's happening to me now?" The older woman nodded and pulled up a plastic seat next to her. From there she explained what a woman's menstruation was and what it would mean for her. Her little student didn't seem to like any of it.

"Get married?! I can't do that." She thought back to Madara's proposal or at least a declaration of his intent to propose. Honestly, she'd been excited before the Senju reality had crashed down on her. Remembering his quest for peace made it better, but now she was realizing something she hadn't considered before.

She didn't want to get married. At least not right now. There were things she wanted to do. Training under Toka being just one of many. Yeah there were girls her age getting married in the Senju. Some had already lost their husbands to war, others even had a child or two.

There was no way she was ready for that. Not children. Except her body was telling her it was ready. Telling the elders they could do what they wanted with her. She felt nauseous at the possibility. "Toka, you said I could become a shinobi if I trained hard enough. It was all lies!"

Her master grabbed her shoulders before she could think to do anything stupid. "I didn't lie! And you will become a shinobi. I made a deal with the elders." The girl turned to her with cheeks flushed from the heat of the water. "We got a stay of execution."

"A stay of execution?" There was no comprehension in her words.

"It means they won't marry you off just yet. They said I could train you for a few years while you take etiquette lessons." Sakura made an ugly face at that. "The trend lately is to have older brides anyway."

"This is only delaying it! I'll still have to marry some guy I don't even know and move away from my brothers."

Toka shook her head, finally letting go of pale thin shoulders. "No. All you have to do is become more of an asset on the battlefield than as a wife. They'll leave you to your own devices after that." At least she hoped. The elders could be vindictive and she could only hold them off for so long. "Also…you'll have a guard until that time comes."

After that time passed slowly for Sakura. Days dragged on without anything but training to occupy her. Her guard, supposed kidnapper, watched her every move. He kept better track of her than either Hashi or Tobi ever had when she was a child. Eyes were constantly on her and he never let her out of his sight.

Except at night when it was too dark to travel to see Madara. Even if she wanted to there were different man guarding her door during that time with a female escort with them. Without a window her only method of escape had been the door.

Still she was trying to coming up with a plan that would let her see the man she loved. Just once would be enough. She'd left him behind that last day in such a bad mood and without saying anything about his willingness to marry her.

With some time to think about it she'd decided she wanted to tell him who she was. If he desired peace as he said he did, her lineage wouldn't matter. He didn't hate Senju and it was such a relief to know that. She'd been in such an odd swirl of mood swings that day, it hadn't even occurred to her to tell him. Now she didn't have the chance.

It was as she was milling around the compound, planning methods of escape that something changed. A two day period free of training had opened up for her when Toka had been ordered to the frontlines to take part in a battle that was going to take place.

She'd been gone for a little over thirty-six hours when there was a commotion at the gates. With her guard trailing behind her, she went to investigate. She would wish she hadn't for the rest of her life. The sight that met her horrified her. There wasn't even much of a chance to observe before she was leaning over and heaving.

Wounded troops were being carried into the compound. Some were already dead. Still more disfigured by burns on their bodies. There were many that wouldn't last the night. And in the midst of it all were Hashirama and Tobirama, carrying a limp Toka. That is what made her vomit.

Her friend's midsection was covered in blood, and it was still dripping from her, staining the ground. She could see things inside her body that should never be visible. Somehow she'd been eviscerated. Toka was dead, had to be.

Her guard was holding onto her, keeping her standing, when someone rushed forward and threw a clean cloth over the female Senju's stomach. "That will keep infection out." Hashirama started to call for extra healers as he set his trusted advisor down. He began to heal her then with his dark green chakra.

Well known for having amazing healing properties, her brother's chakra was probably the only thing that could save Toka. He seemed distracted though, upset by something more than the wounded woman before him. That wasn't doing her any good.

It was right then that something overcame Sakura. A strength buried deep. Her knees stopped shaking and she no longer needed the support of her guard. Mindlessly, she moved forward, heading straight for Hashirama. No one gave a second thought to her presence, too busy treating the injured or watching over them. This gave her the opportunity she needed to slap her brother hard a single time.

No one besides her guard even noticed. Her oldest sibling was shocked to say the least but his chakra never stopped healing. She took his hands by the top, navigating them to a spot that she knew was better. Then she used the tiniest amount of chakra to link their hands together. Like that she was able to send little pulses out to his nerves for him to replicate in Toka.

Hashirama may have amazing healing chakra but he'd never learned how to properly use it. Her master needed a more delicate hand for such a precise healing, her own would have to do. There was no reason she should know where the chakra needed to be directed, but she did. Later. She'd think about all of the 'hows' later. Right now Toka needed her.

It took three hours. During the second they'd been able to move her into a secure clean room. That was also when Sakura had to quit. The small amount of chakra she had access to dwindled down to nearly nothing, until all that was left was what kept her most basic bodily needs alive. It was almost like starvation.

Luckily by that time her brother had figured out what needed to go where. He might not be an expert, but he would do. After the third hour, it was finally done. He'd healed her as much as he could. There would be a massive scar and she'd be bedridden for weeks, but she would live.

Only when Hashirama started to go help others did she let herself ask the question that burned on her tongue. "What happened out there?" Toka wasn't weak. For her to have been wounded like this…someone even more powerful than her had to have done it. That would mean they would have been on Hashirama's level. An opponent he should have been facing, not Toka.

The brunet was at a loss for words as he looked out over the wounded. "This much is normal, but…" Unconsciously his eyes went to rest on Toka again. "She just- I only…it was Madara." He dropped himself next to his friend and held her hand, lowering his head to her. "I'm so sorry Toka. So sorry."

For anyone interested I have a tumblr under the same name that will have sneak peeks and announcements.