The battlefield was eerily silent for a moment as Izuna dropped from the gigantic tree. Harumi screamed just as Kagami and Naori both flashed to catch the fallen shinobi. "You, you monster! I'm going to kill you!" she shouted as a branch shot from her spot atop of the tree towards Daisuke. Bones immediately flew at her from all directions but her eyes remained trained on the figure below who was looking at her expectantly. With increased speed which she didn't know she possessed, she ran down the branch towards the Kaguya. Several trees popped up from the sides deflecting the bones as she ran him.


Kagami caught Izuna and body-flickered away from the battlefield to a high place. "Naori," he said worriedly as he looked at the older female beside him. The bone was almost as thick as his wrist and came out from his back. His attire was stained and blood flowed freely from the wound. His lips had already turned blue and his face was pale. "He's not going to make it," the younger boy said, tears welling up in his eyes. Naori placed a hand on his forehead. "He has a fever," she said as she went closer to the wound and sniffed. "The bone was poisoned," she said, her voice panicky. "What are we going to do?" Kagami said as he wiped as his eyes. She clenched the sword in her hand. She regretted not taking classes to become a medic.

A woman dropped down beside them. "What's his condition?" she asked as she tore open his battle kimono and tossed it to the side. The two Uchiha stared at her incredulously. The woman had pink hair and green eyes, physical traits known for most Harunos. Her face didn't have a single scar or cut, apart from her tattered attire. "Be quick soldier!" she barked and they snapped to attention. "The bone pierced his stomach and was poisoned judging by the smell. He has a fever and severe blood loss," Naori spoke quickly. "Good. I need you two to help me if you want to save his life. What are your names?" she asked as she placed her hands over the wound, medical chakra coming to life.

"I'm Naori Uchiha and this is Kagami Uchiha," the purple-haired girl said as she pointed to Kagami who nodded beside her. "I'm Sakura Haruno," she spoke as she furrowed her brows. "Sakura Haruno? You must be Harumi's mom then," Kagami said. She nodded. "I know now doesn't seem like the right time but were you aware of Harumi's abilities?" Naori asked. "Let's save that conversation for another time. I need clean water, lots of it. And four bowels, one for me to wash my hands, two with water and an empty one," she commanded, not taking her eyes off Izuna.

The purple-haired girl took out a scroll, unsealing four empty ceramic bowls. With the work of a quick fire and ice jutsu, three bowels were filled to the brim with water. "Good, now I need you to hold him down as I remove the poison, it's not going to be easy," she said after she finished washing her hands. The two cousins gave each other determined looks. Naori held Izuna's shoulders whilst Kagami held his legs. Sakura activated her Strength of a Hundred Healings Jutsu, black lines forming around her face. "I'm going to start now," she told them.


Harumi crashed into a bone shield but broke through it anyways. There was a searing hot pain on her forehead but she ignored it. She turned her right arm to a wooden spike, aiming for his torso. The older nin grabbed the spike, intent on tossing her away however the spike had turned into a vine, coiling around his hand like a snake. Daisuke screamed in pain as acid dripped from the small pods on the vine, eating away at his flesh. "Die you bitch!" he shouted as sharp bones erupted along his hand. Harumi retracted her hand, biting down the jarring pain of having her flesh pierced but that didn't matter. He had to die for what he did. He had to die!

Turning more of her body parts into vines, she coiled herself around the shinobi who continued to create more bones which pierced her. However, the vines multiplied in size and thickness until the bones could no longer pierce her. Daisuke struggled to get out of the thick maze of limbs which had surrounded him until he no longer had access to the outside world. Harumi's face formed on the vine in front of him. "I told you that I could easily kill you," she spoke coldly. "Pft! You think a newbie like you can beat a hardened ninja like me, try again," he scoffed through bloodied teeth. Harumi sighed boredly. "If it weren't for the fact that you're crazy, I would have found you really attractive, as is with most clan heads," she said.

"Your kekkei genkai is bone manipulation. So I wonder what you can manipulate if I remove those bones?" she said, as if speaking to a toddler. Her face disappeared and for the first time in years, Daisuke felt a pinprick of fear. The vines began to close in around him, squeezing the life out of his lungs. "I can't die like this," he ground out but the vines were overcoming him. Then he heard his bones starting to crack. His bones never cracked. A Kaguya's bones never cracked! The acid from earlier started dripping from the vines, surrounding him like a drizzle. It began to eat away at his flesh, peeling his skin and melting his bones.

The onlookers could only grimace as ear-splitting screams and cracking sounds were heard from the vines which had wrapped itself around the Kaguya clan leader. Some other vines were whirling vigorously in the air, like tentacles trying to contain the dying man. Some members of the Kaguya clan tried to send more bones however they were caught by the vines and sent back to them with blinding speed. The putrid smell of decomposing flesh filled the battlefield and the lesser shinobi vomited. The screams died and so did the vines begin to shrink until it was just Harumi remaining, blood dropping down her body.

She looked at the shinobi surrounding, both holding different expressions of fear and wonder. She took a step forward and the ninjas near her took a few steps back. Holding her hands in a tiger seal, there was a loud proof and long drawn creak of wood. In front of them, stood a structure which almost a kilometer high. The head had tree faces, one of Naori and the other of Kagami. Her face was in the middle and looked down at the shinobi. The figure had the form of the standard shinobi attire however there was a bow and severals arrows strapped to its back. The figure opened its mouth to speak and steam came out of it. "If there's anyone who thinks can defeat me, I'm open to battle," it spoke in a ground-shaking voice as it crouched low into a fighting position.

"Members of the Hyuga and Kaguya clan, retreat!" Mamura shouted, the leader of the Hyuga.

There was a deafening silence until one by one, the shinobi began flashing away from the battlefield. "Members of the Inuzuka clan, retreat!" Denji, the leader of the Inuzuka clan shouted as well. "Members of the Senju and Uchiha, retreat!" Both Madara and Hashirama shouted. Soon enough, the battlefield was a swarming mass of fleeing ninja. As if to further hurry them, the wooden figure raised its leg and struck it down on the ground, creating tremors and cracks. This intensified the pace of the running shinobi. In a matter of ten minutes, only Madara, Hashirama and other selected members of the Senju and Uchiha clans remained behind.

There was a loud poof and the wooden figure disappeared however an unconscious Harumi was falling to the ground. Tobirama body-flickered to catch her before she hit the ground. Her clothes were bloodied and tattered beyond recognition. She was shivering uncontrollably and he noticed her gray hair had grown even longer and thicker. She smelled of blood, gore, acid and decaying flesh. He flashed back to where his brother and the blasted Uchiha were standing.

"You never told me that you had another Mokuton user!" was the first thing Madara said. "Firstly, we're not entitled to tell you our clan's secrets. Secondly, we only discovered it just now that our cinnamon roll is a Mokuton user, and a very deadly one at that," Hashirama replied. "I thought I knew what a Mokuton user was capable of but this is a whole new level," the Uchiha sighed. "I'm pretty sure Sakura didn't know it too otherwise she would have told me ages ago," the brunette spoke. "Where is she anyways?" Tobirama asked. "She's healing Izuna. The runaway Uchiha and the Uzumaki are with her," Madara replied. "If Izuna's with Sakura then he's in safe hands. She's the best medic I've ever known," Hashirama said cheekily.


The battle had neither sides winning but there were great casualties. Izuna had survived but was in a medically-induced coma. Harumi had gone into a chakra-induced coma. Hashirama had sent emissaries to invite the clan leaders of the Hyuga, Kaguya and Inuzuka clans. They met at a neutral place in Spring County which had been constructed by Hashirama five days after the battle. Sakura and her teammates were present at the meeting as well. She noted that all of the clan leaders were barely past their late twenties.

Hashirama was the first to speak. "I thank you honorable leaders for complying with my request to discuss and find a way forward after our recent battle," he began. "As we are all aware, all sides have suffered great casualties and there are some who are suffering injuries of the battle. However, there is a way forward. It is all common knowledge that we're tired of war, tired of all the blood and fights. Children are sent to war at young ages, those that remain behind are left as orphans. Therefore, I'm proposing an alliance between our clans, to put the past behind us as we look forward to a brighter future," he spoke. He looked around to see if there was anyone who wanted to speak. Finding none, he continued.

"Talks had already begun before the battle between the Uchiha, Senju and Harunos. I had already talked to the Uzumaki who are willing to join us in founding a new village, a new life for us and future generations," he finished. Sakura took this as her cue to speak. "We're not asking for you to accept immediately but we are asking you to consider. If strong clans like us were to have an alliance then all the minor clans will follow suit," she said looking around. "As an act of goodwill, on behalf of the Haruno clan, I'm offering to heal all of your injured shinobi," she told them.

Denji was the first to speak. "And how will you do that?" he asked with narrowed brown eyes. His dark hair was rather short and slicked back, with the familiar triangular red markings on either side of his cheeks. He was dressed in the standard shinobi attire with silver armor and black garments. "How do we know it's not another one of your plots to completely annihilate our clans?" Mamura added for good measure. His resemblance to Neji was appalling except with even harder features. "After eliminating our leader in the previous battle, my people are wary around that Mokuton user, who claimed to be your daughter. I don't know how they would take having the mother of their clan head killer healing them," Toneri spoke, the current leader of the Kaguya. His soft features which were almost feminine stood out in the room just like Sakura and Haruna''s pink hair.

"I understand your reasoning and I do admit to being Harumi's mother. For the sake of your clans, only I will go as well as my two companions Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. Please take it as an opportunity to prove that whilst we might be from different clans but that doesn't stop us from having friendly relations."


I hope you enjoy! Please read and review, beta's by Yours Truly.

Tozoonana

AfricanFire