The seven-soon-to-be-eight-year old glanced at her best friend who stood a good distance away from her. His expression was uncharacteristically down as he watched the grave being filled up with gravel. This was her first time seeing him like this. Kawarama had died at the hands of the Uchiha, he had been the same age as her. And it hit him like a cold shower on a snowy day. Her hands itched to wrap themselves around his but the presence of Butsuma had her having second thoughts on her actions. She was also hurting inside, having cherished the boy with the x-shaped scar on his face as a close friend but yet again, Butsuma made her tears dry with his dominating and terrifying presence. Her little episode with the unexpected increase in chakra levels had Butsuma watching her like a hawk.

She had been interrogated on her origin as soon as she woke up, alongside Matsuri but their answers never gave them anything solid. Just that her parents had died when she was just a year old and she had lived with Matsuri for the past three years of her life before their small town had been invaded and destroyed into nothingness. Apart from that, there was nothing special about them. They did come from a nameless clan after all. With that, Hashirama had warned her to be cautious around the Senju patriarch as he did not want the to lose her and end their friendship. Despite the fact that Butsuma hoped that she has a hidden kekkei genkai, it was an open secret that the elder Senju despised the pinkette due to the fact that she was "...weak, useless and very, very annoying." Butsuma always emphasized on how he did not want his sons, who were royalty, to mix with Sakura, who was non-royalty.

"If she cannot defend herself against enemies, then what good will she do to us? You cannot befriend her. It is belittling to see our future clan leader hang around such a lowlife."

"But how can she defend herself when she's so young?! She's just a kid!"

"That's her own fault. Look at Kawarama, they're basically the same age but he's a worthy ninja. She should learn how to protect herself from enemies."

"...you mean, enemies the likes of you?"

"Hashirama!"

Soon after that, she had placed under the survey of the female Uzumaki whom they had captured from one of their Uchiha raids. It seemed as though she had also been captured by the Uchiha before the Senju took her for themselves. Hashirama had told her that the Senju and Uzumaki were allies, then why were they holding her prisoner here? She had always wanted to ask Hashirama but she felt afraid to do so. If the brunette didn't speak about it then there was no way in hell she was going to start doing so. Nothing special, just an increase in chakra reserves, the Uzumaki had told them. The reason why, no one knew.

And now, as she watched Kawarama get buried while Itama bawled his eyes out, fear gripped at her neck. She didn't know whether she was scared of Butsuma or death but all she knew was that she was scared. To top it off, Hashirama was sad which further plummeted her already down mood. She terribly needed comfort. She had been distracted for long enough until she had heard a slap resounding in the air. It was then that she noticed Butsuma's raised hand and Hashirama's red cheek. "Hashirama!" she exclaimed concernedly but her voice was unheard as the father and son threw words at each other. She moved forward to stand with the Mokuton user but Tobirama stopped her with a shake of his head. "I'll handle this," he spoke.

She saw Butsuma raise his hand to slap Hashirama again and she closed her eyes in fear. When she heard no resounding slap, she opened her eyes to see the white haired ninja standing in front of his elder brother, arms splayed outward in defense for him. She breathed out a sigh of relief as Tobirama reasoned with his father, ultimately ending the argument. Hashirama clenched his hands at his side before taking off in a sprint. She made no move to follow him, deciding he needed to cool down. She made her way towards Itama and held his hand. It was more to comfort herself than any of them, she thought as her tears finally made her way down her cheeks.


Madara noticed that Hashirama was very, very quiet which was far from the jovial boy he knew him to be. "Did something happen?" the Uchiha asked. The brunette was quiet for a while before he replied. "My younger brothers passed away. I'm only left with one," he said in a quiet tone. "Hn. We were five, now we're only two," the dark haired boy replied. The two stayed quiet until it was broken by Hashirama's muffled sobs. Madara stayed silent as the Mokuton user cried his feelings out. He threw a stone and it bounced on the river's surface thrice before it sank.

"You're a real crybaby, you know," Madara commented as he rolled his eyes, noticing how the brunette had started smiling. "Like you're one to talk. You also cried when your brothers died," the Senju joked as he wiped his tears. "Yeah. I did," Madara replied in a serious tone. Hashirama stood up. "Let's end this war and create a new village where children won't have to go to war and people live peacefully," he spoke with hard determination. The Uchiha nodded. "I agree," Madara replied as he stood. They shook hands.


"Cmon Sakura-chan, don't be so gloomy!" the blonde said cheekily as he drapped his hand over her shoulders. "I'm not gloomy you baka!" she seethed with exaggerated anger as she batted his hand away. In truth, she was devasted. Naruto was going to leave on a month long mission with the toads. She was going to miss him badly. Rumours of an uprising war made her heart clench with fear. The Akatsuki had sent an ultimatum to the Leaf asking that they turn over the Nine Tails Jinchuriki or else they were going to attack the village. An immediate meeting had been called comprising of the elders, Shizune, Shikamaru, the Hokage and herself. They were to devise a plan on how they would react to this.

Everyone had agreed that they could not turn Naruto over, the elders moreso because he was an asset to the village and the rest of them because he was deeply cherished. They came up with a war strategy in case the Akatsuki attacked meanwhile they sent Naruto on a mission so he could train with the toads and control the Kyuubi better, Yamato and Gai were to accompany him. It was bad enough that they had lost Kakashi but at least they had some information on the Akatsuki leader. With Pein out of the way, they could at least take a breath of relief but they had little information on Madara's abilities or his plan with the Tailed Beasts.

And now as she bad her best friend farewell, she could only hope for the best for him while they continued to implement their plan in place. It was too bad that Madara attacked the village two days after Naruto left.


The lingering sadness and despair following yesterday's nightmare was still fresh in her mind.

Hashirama had warned her to never go near this side of the forest but curiosity had gotten the best of her. She had abruptly stood up and made a beeline towards the forest with a basket in her hands, completely determined to gather a bunch of herbs she had no idea about. She was dressed in her usual attire which consisted of a white jinbei topped off with a red haori decorated with white leaves. Most females her age were dressed in the usual yukatas or kimonos but she did not want that, something about increasing mobility. Her hair was long, reaching past her waist. She had a white cloth tied over her forehead. The Mokuton user had gone off to one of his daily expeditions. No one knew where he went, which made it all the better as no one was there to stop her. Tobirama couldn't care less about her, she guessed.

It had been months since the death of Itama, leaving only two of the Senju brothers. Upon hearing about the death of Itama, she broken down in a fit of tears that had amazed everyone there. Even Hashirama was shocked. Well, she had had a terrible nightmare the night before so it all sort of came out. She was pretty sure the nightmare had to do with the death of a loved one.

She had also turned eight during that time. Kawarama would have turned eight three months before her.

She arrived at the river, not seeing anyone around. With determination blazing, she made her way to the river and crouched beside an ordinary looking bush with a bunch of sunflowers poking out. 'Arnica Montana. For anti-inflammatory purposes, reduces pain,' her mind supplied. She methodically began plucking the flowers off the bush, making sure that she did not crush them with her fingers which were slightly trembling with excitement. Her mind was solely focused with her activity and she forgot about everything else, relishing the feeling of accomplishment as she began to plan which herbs she would look for next. She was only halfway through her basket before she felt a pair of strong hands grip her collar and haul her upwards.

She gasped as she unceremoniously dropped her basket. Shefound herself staring into an angry pair of dark eyes. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" he all but growled. Her mouth remained shut with fear. He had a mop of spiky dark hair which made him more intimidating than he already was. "Answer me, you scum," he sneeredas he gripped her collar tighter. "I-...uh...arck!" she found herself no longer able to breathe. Her fingers clawed at his hands but this caused him to worsen his death grip. 'Am I going to die?' she thought as her vision began to swim. She was going to join Kawarama and Itama soon. At least, they weren't to be lonely anymore on the other side. They needed a female figure in their lives after all.

Sakura was sure that she was going to die before a kunai whizzed between her and the boy, narrowly missing her neck and nicking at the boy's hands. She was dropped immediately on the ground and she landed in a messy heap. She began coughing and wheezing as she took in lungefuls of precious, precious oxygen.

"Step away from the girl."

She turned her head in the direction of Hashirama's voice. The dark-haired boy was already looking at him and the two were having a glaring contest. Tension filled the atmosphere as their killing intent became heavy for her to handle. She coughed, making slight choking sounds. At that, Hashirama rushed over to her. "Are you okay?" he asked concernedly as he grabbed her hands. Sakura continued to cough, exaggerating a little. "I'm okay," she forced out. The brunette immediately stood up and dragged the dark-haired boy out of hearing distance. She waited for several moments, rearranging her flowers as she waited for her best friend to arrive.

Five minutes later, the two boys returned with their noses flaring but somewhat under control. "Sakura-chan, this is Madara. He's my friend," the Senju introduced with a forced smile. Madara snorted in return before looking at Sakura dead in the eye. "Nice to meet you. I'm actually this idiot's best friend," he said with an eye roll. "But Madara, I told you not to say that," Hashirama whined as Sakura glared at the ravenette. She stood up and stomped over to Madara in what Hashirama dubbed as her scary mode. She stopped in front of him, leaving a few inches between the two of them.

Using the large height advantage, Madara stared down at her with his arms crossed. Sakura stood on her toes and really looked at him. Anticipation thickened the air as Hashirama feared Sakura's reaction whilst Madara was curious to see what the maggot would to him. After what seemed like an eternity of silence between the trio, she finally spoke, her voice deathly serious.

"You're cute."

The two boys stared at her baffled by her statement. Her full smile broke out on her face as she wrapped her arms around the boy's middle. "Let's be friends!" she squealed as she pressed into him. "Eh?! Get off me you freak!" Madara shouted, his face beet red as he literally jumped away from. "Madara-kun, come back here!" she said as she ran after him. The two chased each other around the river with Madara running away from the pinkette's hugs all the while shouting "Let's be friends!" Hashirama stared at his two best friends warmly, happy that they were getting along. He ignored the jealousy which nagged at the back of his mind, telling him that she had never smiled at him like that.


And there it is! Done with this chapter. Sorry for the late update, I've been really lazy these days plus I had too many stories running in my mind as of late. Not to mention the exams, took a toll on me but all that is over. And guess what, I passed! Hurray for me!

As for those who are sad over the death of Itama and Kawaram, yep I liked them too but I really didn't include them staying alive in this story. They had to die so yeah, sorry.

Read and review.

Tozoonana

AfricanFire