The six-year old Sakura watched as Hashirama trained with his father and brothers. The Senju were using the forest as their training grounds and were really giving it their all. Itama and Kawarama were training in basic katas whilst Tobirama, Butsuma and himself were fighting in kenjutsu. She was hiding in a tree where she was sure Tobirama wouldn't be able to sense her within this range and yet again still be able to see them, though she was sure that he could sense her but wasn't going to weed her out due to respect for his older brother. In as much as she paid attention to every one of them, she focused solely on Hashirama. She enjoyed watching him train and it gave her a sense of belonging and accomplishment, she would silently be cheering for him and he knew it. He was yet to grow out of his bowl style haircut which she teased him nonstop about but he continued to have it nonetheless. Closing her eyes momentarily, she began to try to commit his chakra to memory.
She hadn't used chakra ever since she was born but Hashirama had told that she should at least be able to sense chakra, even if it's a short range, so that she would know familiar and enemy chakra. And to do so would require her to use her own chakra to spread her senses wide. Going through the three handsigns Hashirama had taught her, she activated her chakra. It felt weird using chakra, she felt strangely empowered all of a sudden and she was enjoying it. She sensed Hashirama's chakra first. It was warm and thick like honey but still strong and pulsing. She sensed large reserves coming from within him that she almost fell off the tree in shock and amazement. Next, she sensed for Tobirama. He also had large reserves, though not as large as Hashirama's. It had an icy edge to it and she shivered unconsciously. Then she sensed Butsuma. It was so dark and dominating that she immediately moved to Itama and Kawarama. Their chakras were almost the same, warm and more than an average child should have.
Expanding her senses, she felt for the others in the compound. She felt for Matsuri whose own chakra felt like that of a shinobi, tightly coiled but still large enough to be noticed. It was as Hashirama had explained the chakra signature of a shinobi. But Matsuri never said she was a shinobi and she didn't remember her being one. Well technically, she didn't remember what happened during the early years of her life until she was captured by the Senju. All she knew was that her parents had died soon after her birth. She had bits and pieces of the first four years of her life. She didn't even know her own surname except that her clan symbol was a white circle, maybe Hashirama would help her look into it. Matsuri refused to tell her her parents' names or their surname. She never mentioned her surname. Something about protection and whatnot.
She sensed the servants in the compound, their chakra just enough for them to survive. The ninjas had the same reserved and dangerous chakra. The animals also had chakra with a funny feel to it such that she chuckled. She felt heat start to pool in her stomach but she shook it off, trying to increase her range before seering hot pain shot from her stomach to every part of her body. She wanted to scream but the pain increased tenfold and her voice died in her throat. The pain was in her arms, in her legs, her back, stomach. It finally went to her head, exploding in hot fury before her legs gave out underneath her and she found herself falling. She had blacked out by the time Hashirama caught her before she crashed into the ground.
He had been practicing with his family and put more of his attention on defeating his father and avoiding Tobirama's ruthless attacks. He was about to lung for his father when he felt a large chakra signature suddenly explode like a bomb a good distance from them , as though it had been tightly reserved and then released all at once. It was large enough to match that of his father. It might've been an enemy ninja but when he felt it as Sakura's chakra, he found himself running towards her at an alarming pace. He saw her small figure crouched on top of a very high tree just before she fell off the branch she was on. He jumped up and caught her before she fell to the ground. Laying her limp figure down on the ground, he found that she had already started sweating and her breathing was uneven. He placed his fingers on her forehead, felt for her temperature which was quite high but she was shivering as though she was cold. His mind was running a thousand miles per hour, a hundred or so questions in there. The dominant question in his mind was where did that burst of chakra come from and why was it coming from her? He hoped it wasn't some kekkei genkai she had unlocked. His father would stop at nothing to make her another one of his child soldiers. The thought made his heart clench.
Butsuma and Tobirama arrived on the scene with Itama and Kawarama in tow. "How is she?" the elder Senju asked more out of instinct than genuine concern. "I don't know. She looks like she has a fever," he said calmly, trying not to show how worried he was. If his father discovered that he had gotten too attached to her then he would make sure to separate the two of them at all costs. "Her chakra reserves have expanded greatly but her chakra coils have been burnt beyond repair," Tobirama said as he finished his analysis on her chakra levels. "Could it be that she has unlocked her kekkei genkai?" their father asked with a strange gleem in his eyes. "There's no way that Sakura-nii could ever have a kekkei genkai," six-year old Itama snorted.
"Yeah, she's too weak and her body can't handle that," Kawarama added for good measure. Hashirama resisted glaring at his younger siblings. She wasn't all that weak. She just didn't have the soul of a shinobi. "No, she never mentioned any kekkei genkai and she has no clan so there isn't any possibility that-," "That doesn't reduce of having a kekkei genkai," Butsuma cut the brunette. "Take her to the medics and have her watched over. Then call that Uzumaki we captured on our previous battle. She might have an idea on what's happening to her," his father commanded. 'So that you can use her for your own benefit and send her to death to those useless wars like you did with all those other children and mother as well,' Hashirama growled inwardly. He discreetly sent him a glower before he nodded in agreement.
She ran to the centre of the battle. The village was still in flames and she wondered how the Zetsus were able to cause this much destruction. Perhaps it was because they had the help of the Akatsuki, only four members left who were Madara, Konan, Itachi and Kisame. Sasuke was yet to kill Itachi. She furiously wiped away the tears that cascaded down her cheeks. She had lost her best friend. Ino had died! All because of that Uchiha Madara. Were all Uchihas like this? Always causing her pain? First Itachi who killed Sasuke's entire clan and is responsible for how cold and aloof he turned out, damaging the boy beyond repair. Then Sasuke who broke her tender heart by running away from her and the rest of the village. And lastly Madara who caused the death of her best friend and many other Konoha villagers, civilian and Shinobi alike. He deserved to die for that. She would like to see him bathed in blood, his blood. And tear him apart, burn him into oblivion. She stomp and rage and make the whole world feel her pain.
Why were Uchihas always hurting her? Why was she slowly starting to lose her close ones? She only had a small circle of friends. Ino, now dead, Naruto, Shizune, Lady Tsunade, Kakashi who had been assassinated by Madara and lastly her parents whom she saw get crushed under their falling house. She could do nothing but watch as she held two pillars using her enhanced strength to prevent another family from getting crushed underneath their own house just like her parents across the street. By the time she had saved the family and made her way towards her parents, they were already crushed underneath. She removed their roof to find them unmoving and unbreathing. She didn't get time to move their bodies as a large explosion echoed around her, the blast of it enough to send her careening backwards and crashing into Rika-obaa's barely remaining house. As she turned back to her house, she saw what seemed like a paper bird flying towards her. She jumped away from the area, using the broken houses as leverage. The explosion sounded behind her, completely obliterating everything in its wake. It was very much Konan's move. Wasn't Konan on their side? Why was she fighting alongside Madara? Hadn't Naruto said that Konan would support them and continue Jiraiya's legacy? That she believed in him as the child of prophecy and would side with him no matter what? What was happening?
The last time she saw Sasuke was six years ago, aside from the confrontation when they were 15. She was now a nineteen year old woman fighting for her village and life.
Arriving at the edge of what remained of Konoha's gates, she jumped towards the masked shinobi who was engaged in a battle with Team Gai. She noticed Shizune, Kurenai, Kotetsu and Izumo who were fighting Itachi. They didn't appear to be on the winning side. Madara dodged their attacks, allowing some of them to pass through him due to his signature move. Aiming a chakra laden fist at him as she raced towards him, she felt herself pass through him and her blow connected to the ground, sending debris and chunks of ground flying. Gritting her teeth in frustration, she spun around and charged towards him, her style immediately blending with Team Gai throwing a punch, a kick, jump back, double punch, duck. They had trained together on several occasions such that they became acquainted with each others' style. Moving away from the battle, she watched as Neji and Lee threw a series of taijustu attacks at the enemy ninja whilst TenTen fired a barricade of kunai and shuriken.
She watched as the metal projectiles passed through mask clad ninja and she narrowed her eyes seriously. He had to have a blind spot somewhere. He couldn't keep up that jutsu for a long, even if he had the Sharingan and all. 'It must have a time limit,' she thought. She ran to Neji who had moved way from Madara to prevent TenTen's attack from injuring him. "Neji, I have a plan but first, I have to confirm something," she said to the panting ninja. She was tired herself but exhaustion was long forgotten during a time of war. She quickly explained her plan and he nodded in understanding before he moved to his teammates and relayed the plan to them. They also nodded in agreement. It would require a large amount of consistency and energy but it was worth a shot. She watched from the sidelines as began Team Gai throwing relentless and consistent attacks, without ever stopping.
She silently counted down the seconds. As soon as she discovered his time limit, she would have to make her move. She couldn't wait for another chance. She would be stressing her fellow comrades too much. Team Gai hadn't so much taken a break in their attacks. Neji used his clan's signature moves, Lee opened the Fifth and Sixth Gates and TenTen continued to fire weapons at the enemy, all of three of them at a fast pace. They all passed through him, with some being blocked and countered but they continued nonetheless. From the way the three ninjas were attacking and how restricted his position would be, he would have to use Kamui to move away from them, basing on the intel she had received from Kakashi before he was killed by the masked man. Pakkun had actually been the one to relay the message to them on the ninja's abilities. He had been sent on a mission to study his whereabouts and movements. The silver-haired ninja discovered his identity, managing to remove the mask. But what he saw had Kakashi faltering for a few seconds longer than intended and that moment of hesitation had cost him his life with a three pronged kunai to the heart, the pug had reported.
Quickly discarding the hurtful thoughts, s continued her timing. 'Four minutes down,' she thought. At five minutes, Neji was sending his palms flying at the masked man. Lee was sending a series of kicks at him, TenTen slashing a sword at him whereas she was making sure to avoid injuring her teammates by mistake. At that moment, she saw a dark purple portal begin to open behind the ninja who was trying to move away from the oncoming trio. Go figure! He had reached his limit.
It all happened so quickly. One moment she was hiding behind a pile of debris a hundred metres away from the group, the next she was flying towards the masked ninja with a chakra concentrated fist. The trio had been foretold of the plan and diverged the direction of their attacks at the last second, creating an opening for Sakura. Had her fist connected with Madara's face, she would have drilled a hole into his face, literally. Except it didn't connect as she had oh-so-badly wanted. Instead she saw his head moving briefly to the side, avoiding her attack at the last second courtesy of his Mangekyo Sharingan and his hand making a grab for her neck, choking her and pulling her with him into the portal simultaneously. She swung her fist at him as she fought to breath but all her chakra seemed dissipate into nothing the moment the portal closed. She felt empty, completely and utterly drained of chakra. It was a surprise that she was still alive considering the chakraless state she was, she could be dead.
"Have a safe trip," Madara said, his Mangekyo Sharingan spinning wildly. The last thing she saw was another dark portal being opened and she felt herself being hauled forward before everything went black.
"How long has it been?" eight-year old Tobirama asked as he settled beside his older brother who was seated beside an unconscious Sakura. He was staring at her but his unfocused eyes told the white-haired boy that he wasn't seeing her. She was lying on futon, dressed in a thin green yukata. She had been unmoving for three weeks. During the first few days, she was always sweating and had trouble breathing. It all seemed to stop one day that she became completely still. The only thing that distinguished her from the dead was the faint beating of her heart. "Three weeks," he replied dully. "Hn. She's going to be fine. Don't worry," he assured his brother. But he received silence as a reply. He counted to three before he felt his brother finally snap. "Okay? It's going to be okay?" the brunette repeated with unabated anger as he turned to look incredulously at him. His eyes were flame and his clenched jaw told Tobirama that he was refraining himself. Hashirama closed his eyes momentarily before he opened them again, revealing a tired expression. "I wish it's going to be okay. She's been in this almost vegetative state for two weeks. It scares me. She was always so healthy, bubbly, alive. But now..." he sighed. "I don't have a doubt that she'll wake up. It's simply a matter of when she'll wake up because I don't think I can take it any longer," the ten-year old breathed out unevenly. "You don't have to wait much longer. Look," Tobirama said as he pointed at the girl.
Hashirama turned to find a yawning Sakura who was seated upright. He blinked once. He blinked twice in disbelief. The girl looked at him with sleepy eyes. "Good morning Hashirama," she said with a smile.
Done with this chapter. Hope you enjoy it. Sorry for he late update. Now I've explained a bit on how Sakura got to the past but that's not the whole story, read for more. I had mentioned in the summary that Sakura had jounin level chakra but it never happened in the story. So to all those who were wondering, there it is. Plus there's a timeskip of two years. At the beginning of the story, Hashirama was eight, Tobirama was six and Sakura and Kawarama four, Itama five. Now they're two years older.
Please continue to review. I enjoy reading your thoughts on my story. Thank you to all those who are reading this story and reviewing.
Tozoonana
AfricanFire
