Old and new beginnings

Sakura didn't really know what to expect from the letter. She suspected it was something serious, albeit not that urgent, given the scroll's method of delivery.

She knew that Kakashi-sensei often used his summons to send messages to Sasuke-kun during his travels or missions. It was safe, as fast as a messenger-nin, and more importantly, personal. Because Sasuke-kun was one of his important people, and also not very sociable. Sensei believed that having a cute dog deliver his messages would do wonders for the boy's loneliness.

He sometimes used them to contact Naruto as well, during his diplomatic missions as part of his Hokage training, although not as frequently. Naruto preferred to use his toads for correspondence, so the only times Sensei even did use his ninken with him were when he knew Naruto had messed something up during a mission and was trying to hide it.

As for Sakura, she couldn't even remember if Kakashi-sensei had ever used his ninken to contact her since the war. She had focused more on hospital work and medical research since then. Alongside Ino, she was busy establishing the first mental health clinic for children, which kept her away from the usual assault missions. She didn’t have a team for them anymore, anyway. Sasuke-kun was on his redemption journey, Naruto was caught up in Hokage training, Kakashi-sensei was the Hokage, Yamato-taichō had taken up the task of guarding the snake, and Sai had surprisingly become responsible for reintegrating former Root agents — and children — into Konoha's forces.

She occasionally went on missions with Team 10 or the girls, but by now, they were mostly just excuses to hang out outside the village. The only other times she even left Konoha were for foreign medical exchanges with the other shinobi villages. And Sakura had the privilege of being one of the few people who outclassed Kakashi Hatake in a particular field : medicine. He never needed to contact her during these missions, because he trusted her to do right by Konoha and the people who needed help.

Also, it went without saying, but… she was his favorite. (Well, she was now.)

So really, seeing Bisuke, tail wagging and a scroll attached to his back, was a surprising sight. Still, she didn’t think much of it at first, ordering the dog to sit and taking the scroll with a scratch behind his ears.

"Is that a ninja dog?"

Sakura looked up at her cousin, lounging on the transat next to hers, watching the dog sniff around their table with the drinks.

Sakura was on vacation with her parents outside the village. They had gone to visit the main house of the Haruno family in the Land of Hot Water, but her cousin had convinced her to go to the Land of Waves for a short girls' trip.

After the incident with Gato, the Land of Waves had struggled for a few years to get its economy going. But things picked up when they began investing in tourism, promoting their beautiful beaches and unique vegetation. After the end of the war, the industry boomed — visitors came in droves to see the Great Naruto Bridge, named after the war hero, and luxury resorts had started popping up along the eastern beaches, including the one where they were staying.

That morning, Sakura had convinced her cousin, Reika, to trek with her up the mountain where Team 7 had buried Zabuza and Haku to pay their respects. Now, they were lounging by the pool in their bikinis when Bisuke had come barreling toward her with a bark and a happy yip.

"Yeah, he's my sensei's summon."

"The Hokage’s?" asked Reika curiously, sitting up to pet Bisuke, who wagged his tail happily at the attention.

"Mmm-hmm," Sakura nodded as she began unfolding the scroll.

The words on the message didn’t really register the first time she read them. They were that unbelievable.

The second time she read it, she started laughing. Not because it was particularly funny, but because she could just imagine Shizune berating Kakashi-sensei for this. Let it be known that the Rokudaime was often bullied by his executive assistant because of his antics. Sending a scroll to prank his student on vacation because he was probably procrastinating on paperwork was classic Kakashi.

The third time she read the letter, her eyes caught the small scribble at the bottom of the scroll — unmistakably Shikamaru’s lazy strokes :
"This is not a prank, which is fucking troublesome for everybody involved. Especially me."

The color drained from her face. Naras don’t joke. Like ever. It takes too much effort.

"Are you okay?" Reika asked, a worried edge to her tone. 

Sakura looked up at her cousin but couldn’t find the words to describe what she had just read.

Seriously… how the fuck is someone supposed to react to this?

Sakura-chan,

I hope this letter finds you well and that you’re having a good time on your vacation. Hot Water, was it? Some of my favorite Icha Icha scenes were written there, did you know?

I don’t really know how to say this, so I think I’ll just say it :
The Senju and Uchiha clans from the Warring States Era appeared out of thin air a few miles from the village border.
Don’t ask me how or why. They’re just here.

I’ll tell you more once you’re back (with a special edition Icha Icha merch for your favorite teacher from the Bamboo Library near the shopping district), but I wanted to let you know in case you heard rumors and started imagining crazy things. Like, say, the founding clans traveling forward in time to appear decades later.

I’ll see you soon.

Your favorite teacher
[Seal: Rokudaime Hokage]
[Print of Pakkun’s paw]

After trying very hard not to freak out externally, Sakura decided she needed to get back to their room to regroup. Reika, concerned, followed close behind with Bisuke in her arms, tail wagging like he had no idea he'd just been the bearer of absolute nonsense.

Once in their suite, Sakura began pacing back and forth, trying to think. Kakashi wasn’t summoning her back, he had just wanted her to know. So technically, she didn’t have to return to the village immediatly.

Which wasn’t so bad, honestly. She wasn’t exactly eager to throw herself into that shit show. She really didn’t envy Sensei right now.
And poor Shikamaru.

Instead, her thoughts drifted to Sasuke-kun, and Shishō. Wondering how they must feel after hearing the news. There was no doubt that if she had received this letter, then they both had too. What must it feel like, to suddenly hear that a whole group of people who share your blood had just appeared out of nowhere… when for so long, you thought you were the only one left?

“Is it really serious?” Reika asked gently, handing her a glass of water. “Maybe I can help, if you tell me what’s wrong.”

Bisuke, blissfully unaware of the existential crisis unfolding around him, was happily drinking water from a bowl near the balcony, with some beef jerky on the side like a true five-star guest.

Sakura sighed. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“Do you need to go back to the village?”

“No, but…” She paused, trying to untangle the knot in her chest. “I don’t think I can stay.”

“Aww.”

Reika pouted. She was a petite woman — all Haruno women were — but where Sakura was athletic and slim, Reika had a willow-curved figure that turned heads wherever she went. Her chin-length wavy brown hair framed her face softly, and her green eyes were as the same shade as Sakura's. 

They hadn’t grown up together — one raised as a shinobi, the other now studying law in college — but they had always been close. During those trying days when Sakura had no friends after her fallout with Ino-pig, she’d always looked forward to the big summer breaks, when she could spend time with her cousins.

“Go then,” Reika said, leaning on her, their elbows intertwining in a kind of side hug. “If you’re in a rush, you can go. I’ll tell Aunt Mebuki and Uncle Kizashi when I get back home tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?” Sakura asked, concerned. Though really, there wasn’t much to worry about. Ferries ran daily between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Waves. From the port, a train would take her into the hillside city south of the Bamboo Village, where their family house was built.

Reika rolled her eyes. “I know I’m not a badass kunoichi who can punch mountains in half, but I can take care of myself. Plus, I’ve done this a hundred times.”

She sighed dramatically, flopping back onto the couch. “Don’t worry. The only danger I’ll be in is from Aunt Mebuki the moment she realizes that the reason you didn’t come back with me is because you didn’t elope with some hot piece of ass.”

Sakura snorted. Loudly. No one could save her from that.

It took her one hour to shower, get dressed, and prepare her bag. After that, she sat down to write a response to Kakashi’s letter, telling him that she wouldn’t be back now, but she might return sooner than originally planned.
She didn’t mention where she was going, not because she was hiding it, but because she knew he probably already expected it.

After sending Bisuke away with more head pats and extra treats, she said goodbye to Reika and went on her way.

At first, she considered checking on Sasuke-kun, but decided against it.
One: it would take too long to locate him.
Two: she knew Naruto was probably already on his way to him.

So instead, she set her sights on the Land of Stone, where she knew Shishō was currently spending her “retreat” losing her family fortune on gambling and sake.
She told herself she was sprinting there because it made sense to stop Tsunade before she wasted what was left of the Senju fortune, what with a whole bunch of newly-appeared relatives who’d probably need it soon.
It definitely wasn’t because she was worried. Definitely not.

The journey from the Land of Waves to the Land of Stone usually took five days for chūnin and jōnin. Four for ANBU, who bypassed some checkpoints.

But Sakura Haruno, ero-sannin and war hero, apprentice of the Godaime Hokage and student of the Rokudaime, bypassed everything. Patrols and frontier guards simply saluted as she breezed by.

At a full sprint, it took her two and a half days to arrive.

She took a break near the Fire Temple the day before, popped a couple of soldier pills, and summoned Katsuyu-sama to relay a message to Tsunade. Surprisingly, the blonde agreed to wait for her once she heard she was coming.

She arrived in Ishi around 8 p.m., heading straight for the Plaza Hotel in the main square after the gate guards who recognized her instantly pointed her in the right direction. They also correctly deduced who she was here to see.

Sakura didn’t stop to check in. She headed directly to the casino behind the great hall.

She could feel the heavy stares as she passed through the lobby and into the casino, too used to them by now to care.

As she entered, the usual chatter dipped to a murmur. All eyes followed her as she made her way through the tables, clearly heading toward the VIP section where a very loud, very angry blonde was currently playing.
And losing.

“Are you fucking kidding me?! That was clearly a red. A RED!! Do I need to spell it out for you?!”

Sakura slid into the seat beside her, dropping her pack with a quiet thump and arranging her coat around her.

“Shishō.”

“Brat,” Tsunade replied without even looking at her, then cursed again as the wheel landed on black.

Sakura got comfortable as the Senju princess placed her next bet. She ordered a drink of her own while the rest of the room gradually resumed its business. She still felt the occasional lingering stare. Some subtle, some less so.

She could feel two men by the bar watching them. Shinobi, most likely. From where, she couldn’t tell nor could she be bothered to find out. For now, she was going to enjoy her drink and make sure Shishō didn’t go too overboard. Again. Which would probably end with a broken table.

They made it back to Tsunade’s suite around midnight, which honestly was pretty reasonable. If Sakura said so herself.

After tucking the Godaime into bed and leaving water and pills on the nightstand for the hangover she was definitely going to have tomorrow, Sakura took a long, hot shower.
She could’ve insisted they talk tonight, but something in the stubborn set of Tsunade’s jaw earlier had made her change her mind. They had time.

It’s not like their unexpected guests were going anywhere, not until their resident Rinnegan user was back in Konoha, at least.

Changing into a matching shirt and shorts set, she grabbed a spare duvet from the other room and got comfortable on the couch in Tsunade's bedroom.

She wasn’t leaving Shishō alone tonight. Even if she wasn’t conscious.

At 10 the next morning, Sakura woke up to the sound of the shower running. Stretching with a yawn, she sat up, leaving the blanket as it was on the sofa. On the side table, the pills were nowhere to be found, and the glass of water was almost empty.

Padding out of the room barefoot, she made her way to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water before calling the restaurant to order room service for breakfast.

Five minutes later, it arrived with that day’s newspaper.

Tsunade emerged from the bedroom not long after, dressed in her usual green yukata with her pigtails freshly done and her lips painted red, not a single smudge in sight.

“How are you feeling?” Sakura asked as she put down the paper and laid her napkin across her lap. Her mentor mirrored the action across from her.

“Like shit.”

“Well,” Sakura hummed softly as she poured the coffee, “at least you lost all night.”

An eyebrow twitched. “How is that supposed to be a good thing?”

Sakura shrugged. “It means there’s no disaster coming our way.”
Tsunade stared at her blankly.
“I mean, yeah, this is insane but it doesn’t have to be a bad thing, right?”

The blonde frowned and downed her bitter coffee in one go. “Doesn’t mean it’s a good thing either.”

Sakura didn’t have an answer for that. So she didn’t try.

“I thought you’d go see that Uchiha brat instead,” Tsunade said flatly. “He’s worse at dealing with emotions than a teaspoon.”

“To be fair, you’re just slightly better,” Sakura replied around a mouthful of toast, ducking just in time to avoid the fork Tsunade threw at her head.

“But anyway,” she continued casually, “I can be worried for both you and Sasuke-kun at the same time. And since Shizune isn’t here, I wanted to come.”

“Cute,” the blonde snorted, just to be petty, probably. Even at her big age. Still, Sakura noticed the slight softening around her eyes as she passed her the eggs, which Tsunade accepted without complaint.

“So—”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” the older woman interrupted, stabbing her eggs with unnecessary violence.

“We’ll have to, though.”

Instead of answering, Tsunade tossed a scroll across the table. Sakura caught it mid-air and unrolled it immediately. The first word alone said more than she expected.

“He called you Tsunade-hime.”

“He called me Tsunade-hime,” Tsunade echoed, downing her second cup of coffee, not even wincing at the bitterness.

“Well… shit.”

The rest of the letter was almost identical to her own, save for the absence of Kakashi’s requests for Icha Icha merchandise and Pakkun’s pawprint.

It had to be noted : Tsunade Senju hated the title “Hime.”

It was a name inherited from her roots, her family, a legacy she never chose, but was forced to carry. For the woman who clawed her way to the top as a sannin, the mother of modern medical ninjutsu, and became a model for Kunoici from every background aroud the world, Hime felt like an insult. A slap in the face to every broken bone, every lost and won battle, and every ounce of blood that she bled for herself.

And yet, it was a title she could never escape.

One of the few small mercies of becoming the Godaime was the shift in title. Yet the village elders, those crusty old council members, still clung to it. Tsunade-hime, granddaughter of the God of Shinobi and founder of Konoha. Heiress of the Senju Clan.

The fact that Kakashi used that title in a letter that wasn’t supposed to say much in case it fell into the wrong hands said a lot. Too much for the woman who has spend half of her life running from that title and the responsibilities attached to it. 

Konoha needed Tsunade to officially take her position as head of the Senju Clan.

The newly arrived Senju couldn’t be left on their own, not if the village’s interests were to be preserved.

And if that was the case with the Senju… it was likely the same would be expected of the Uchiha.

And wasn’t that just a ticking time bomb?

Because for all her faults, Tsunade could be trusted to keep a clan in line. Hell, she ran an entire village. She was the best Hokage in history from a list with the founder of the village in it and a man called The Professor, and no one with a brain would deny that.

But Sasuke?

Sasuke couldn’t even take care of himself.

He didn’t have the mental or emotional capacity to carry that kind of responsibility, not with all the trauma he still hadn’t unpacked. He was a second son, never meant to lead. Then he became the only survivor. The heir of a slaughtered clan, with no training in politics or administration.

And the council? They still didn’t trust him. A missing-nin who once stood at a Kage Summit and vowed to destroy Konoha wasn’t exactly anyone’s idea of stable leadership material. War hero or not.

Sakura exhaled slowly, rubbing her temples.

She really didn’t envy Kakashi-sensei right now.

It took them three days to reach Konoha, although they only left the morning after their “talk” over breakfast. They had found the closest training grounds that wouldn’t risk damaging the nearby city.But clearly it still wasn’t far enough. Within an hour, they could already feel chakra signatures hovering at the edge of the plain, watching them like a spectacle. Two hours in, a team of firefighters showed up to ask about the tremors.

They stayed until mid-afternoon, only heading back to the hotel for a late lunch. After a well-earned nap, Sakura accompanied her mentor back to the casino for the night. The next morning, they left before dawn, after handing out some hefty tips to the staff for all the collateral damage.

At the village gate, they were greeted by Shizune and the chunin who always trailed after her. As Tsunade took Tonton from her, Shizune immediately started fretting and scolding, listing every complaint and call she’d gotten from hotels and casinos over the past month.

The group made their way to the Hokage Tower. As dusk settled in, they decided to travel by rooftop, avoiding the crowds. Not ten minutes later, Tsunade stormed into Kakashi’s office, Shizune’s indignant shout echoing behind her, as if it were her own.

“Ah, you’re here. You too, Sakura-chan,” Kakashi said pleasantly, his eye creased in a smile behind literal towers of paperwork. Shikamaru was perched on the windowsill with his own stack in hand, looking like he hadn’t slept in days.

“Hey, sensei,” Sakura greeted with a little wave, a genuine smile tugging at her lips. It was always good to see one of her boys.

“Naruto and Sasuke arrived yesterday. I thought you’d beat them here.”

“Be happy I even deigned to come back, brat,” Tsunade replied, and wasn’t that just the truth.

“So,” she continued, already heading toward the couch by the wall. She reached underneath and pulled out her secret stash of sake. It said a lot about the situation that Shizune didn’t even comment. Instead, she barked orders at her assistant to bring some files and sealed the door behind him.

“What do we have?”

“Well, as I said in the letter,” Kakashi started, folding his hands over the paperwork, “Konoha now finds itself two clans richer.”

“How many are we talking?” Tsunade asked, already uncorking the sake.

“Exactly 478 Uchiha and 601 Senju,” Shikamaru answered. He looked like he’d aged five years in a week.

“The Senju haven’t had numbers like that since before the Second Shinobi War,” Tsunade noted, her tone unreadable.

“There were around 150 Uchiha before the massacre,” Kakashi added thoughtfully.

Sakura leaned forward, concern tightening in her chest. “How’s Sasuke-kun?”

“He’s been quiet,” the Rokudaime admitted. “But… he hasn’t met them yet.”

That caught them all off guard.

“I offered,” Kakashi continued, “but he insisted on waiting for Tsunade-sama.”

Which was… unusual.

Tsunade had always loved Sakura and Naruto like they were her own, but when it came to Sasuke, she’d never minced words. The fact that Sasuke clearly has a problem with authority doesn’t help things either, they’d never really gotten along. The fact that he wanted to wait for Tsunade to start anything says a lot. 

“Where is he?” Sakura asked.

“He’s been staying at my place. Naruto’s with him right now.”

“You said these clans came from the Warring Clans Period,” Tsunade said, eyes narrowing. “Have you managed to pinpoint when exactly?”

Kakashi and Shikamaru exchanged a glance.

It didn’t go unnoticed.

“…What was that look?”

“Actually,” Shikamaru started, rubbing the bridge of his nose, “it wasn’t that hard to figure out. We’ve dated their origin to exactly four years before the founding of Konoha.”

Silence.

Not a breath. Not a word.

“Four years before the founding of Konoha…” Tsunade echoed slowly. “Butsuma Senju was the acting clan head.”

“And Tajima Uchiha is the head of the Uchiha,” Kakashi said cheerfully, too cheerfully. As if he hadn’t just confirmed they were absolutely neck-deep in shit.