The Flames Within

Chapter 26

After their shared guard shift ended, Shisui’s chakra vanished from Sakura’s senses. She strained herself, searching for his signature but despite her best effort, she failed to locate him. ‘He’ll be fine, you’re over reacting.’ Sakura told herself and began to head towards the clearing she so often trained at. It was late afternoon, the academy having just let out for the day and Naruto was now under the watchful eyes of a team that Sakura didn’t know.

Sasuke and Itachi were busy, spending brother bonding time together while the other members of Team 7 were all locked deep within the Senju compound training their asses off under Naori’s watchful eyes. Hawk and Bat were perfectly fine having Sakura on the ANBU team and running drills with her as a team but she wasn’t nearly strong enough to spar with either ANBU, which left her with nothing to do but train on her own.

Walking up to one of the many trees that filled the clearing, Sakura put her hand on the bark and began to extend her chakra sense outward. Slowly, she began to feel the chakra within the tree, moving up from the roots, through the trunk and out towards the leaves. A secondary flow pulled inwards, coming from the leaves and radiating downwards, gathering within the core of the tree. It was amazing how much information chakra carried and Sakura could literally feel the tree’s life under her fingertips, sunlight being used to create sugars and power the tree’s metabolism while nutrients and water were drawn in by the roots.

‘If I want to make a tree grow, I have to use earth chakra to feed it, water to keep it hydrated and medical chakra to push it to grow.’ Sakura knew she was missing a step. Senju Hashirama could create trees from nothing, breathing new life into existence and every medical textbook in existence warned her not to use her own life force for jutsu, unless she wanted to die.

‘There is chakra in the trees, in the earth and air.’ Inner murmured what Sakura already knew that but hadn’t hit upon it. There was chakra everywhere and while she didn’t know how to use it, she knew it was possible. Natural chakra powered seals and those who could wield it were called sages, the most famous of which were the toad sages, Jiraiya and the late Yondaime. Anko was training to be a sage and now it looked like Sakura would have to join her.

‘You only need natural chakra to create new life.’ Inner whispered and Sakura took in a deep breath and let her chakra flow outwards into the tree. Splitting it into three separate types of chakra was nearly impossible. In fact, it was considered outright impossible without a kekkei genkai but Sakura had perfect chakra control and Inner backing her up.

Gathering earth chakra in her left hand, she did the same with water in her right and closed her eyes. She could feel her chakra pathways glowing in her mind’s eye. If she opened her eyes right now and used her sharingan, she’d be able to see the lines running under her skin, carrying chakra to each hand. Slowly, Sakura mixed healing chakra in her core and then guided it up, towards her hands through separate pathways then the routes her earth and water were taking.

Sakura opened her eyes and saw dim green light begin to pool over her palms as her healing chakra began to radiate outwards and she pressed her hand to the tree. Briefly, she remembered the moment she’d first been pulled into the past. Chakra had swelled around her and nature had reacted. She knew that sensation, somewhere in the back of her mind she remembered it clearly even if she couldn’t quite recall it now.

‘Grow!’ Sakura thought and breathed out as she lowered her hands down to the dirt beneath the tree and let her chakra radiate outwards. She could feel the trees and grass around her, her own chakra mixing and pouring out but nothing happened. Closing her eyes, Sakura felt a brief pang of disappointment but by now she was used to failures in training. Trial and error, repetition, all jutsu took time even with someone teaching her and at the moment she was trying to recreate a lost kekkei genkai, or one that was lost in the modern day.

When Sakura felt her chakra dip just below half, she stopped practicing and shifted to scythe drills. She rarely used the weapon in Konoha these days and with the war in the past being relatively quiet, up until the whole Chinoike situation, it had been a while since she’d wielded it in anything other then a spar. The blade was high quality steel and the wooden half was also solid and well kept, though the weapon as a whole was rather plain.

‘I should do something with it.’ Sakura thought twirling the scythe around her body in a defensive move that would cover her from any side while threatening anyone trying to grapple or punch her. ‘Taijutsu is suicide against a good weapon user.’ She added, silently wondering why weapons had fallen so far out of favor. Sure standards had clearly dropped since Madara’s time. ANBU still used weapons though, in fact kenjutsu was a required skill even for seduction specialists but that wasn’t true for the regular ranks. Most chunin and jounin fought primarily with taijutsu and whatever other skill they specialized in, usually some powerful but situation dependent clan jutsu.

‘We could try developing fuinjutsu for our weapons and armor.’ Inner suggested and Sakura considered the option. Inner was active today, a sign of just how stressed Sakura was but she let Inner eat the fear that realization caused.

‘We could, but would it interfere with Izumi’s idea of chakra concentration?’ Sakura didn’t own a chakra conductive katana in the present, but the chakra conductive wakizashi Itachi bought her might as well have been a two handed sword considering how small she was.

‘Only way to find out is to experiment. Fuinjutsu is rare and we don’t have anyone to teach us these things. The Uzumaki are still waiting and watching in the past and they don’t exist in the present.’ Inner’s thoughts reminded Sakura of how much she couldn’t accomplish. Even though she knew the future, she was one person and the past was set, her efforts guaranteed to bring about the future she knew of even if she did nothing or threw her soul into changing things.

Sakura took a deep breath in and started pulling out her armor. She was on edge, something in the back of her mind screaming danger at her even if she couldn’t sense it. Inner was equally frustrated, silent in the back of their mind, gnawing away at her anxiety and fear but unable to devour all of it before it flooded Sakura’s thoughts and turned them dark.

It didn’t take long for Sakura to have herself fully equipped for war. She was dressed for heavy combat, her wakizashi threaded through her belt, her pouches full of senbon rather then shuriken since she could hold far more of the lethal needles and her scythe was slung across her back. Somehow, Sakura was terrified it wouldn’t be enough. She was in the center of Konohagakure but something was just wrong, the air tasted like death and her ears strained, trying to find the telltale sounds of violence hidden by the hustle and bustle of the village.

‘What’s going on?’ Sakura wondered, suppressing her chakra and taking up a position hidden within the branches of the training ground. She knew Shisui promised to arrive later in the day, that she was wasting time waiting her by herself but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was dreadfully wrong. ‘I need to get Itachi.’ Sakura wasn’t sure why, but she had to find someone she trusted and needed to do so immediately.

Before she could double guess her actions, Sakura tore off towards the Uchiha compound, racing along the familiar banks of the Naka river and landing within the Uchiha ghetto on silent feet. The place was a village unto itself, separated from the Akasen by the forest that she and her Uchiha friends often used as a training ground. Uchiha moved about, none noticing her immediately thanks to her suppressed chakra and Sakura quickly threw her cloak on to hide her armor, mostly to avoid suspicion and odd glances since she was prepared for war.

‘We’re still getting attention.’ Inner noted dryly as they raced towards Itachi’s chakra signature. She could feel Sasuke with him, the two brothers spending the afternoon together playing and Sakura was loath to interrupted them but she needed to talk to someone. She trusted Itachi, not as much as Shisui but he cared about her and perhaps more importantly he knew about whatever had Shisui so antsy.

Sakura arrived on the training ground in time to watch Itachi finish one of his special kunai ricochet tricks. It was useful for deploying wires in combat, creating a mess of unpredictable steel lines that could severe muscle and carry lightning or fire to anyone unfortunate enough to become entangled within them. Her presence was noted instantly as Itachi’s eyes snapped to her, blazing crimson and Sakura dropped down to the ground, not bothering to silence her fall.

“Itachi, what’s going on.” Sakura demanded and saw the moment he locked his emotions down and his face went cold. She was so far beyond caring about being polite right now that she didn’t take the hint and walked forward. She had never thrown a tantrum, not since the Haruno literally beat the childishness out of her but she couldn’t contain her emotions right now. “Itachi my brother is doing something dangerous and I can’t find him. I can’t sense him. I can smell death on the wind and I know something’s up and I can’t just sit around ignorant.”

“Sakura, Shisui will be fine, he’s a jounin. You should calm down.” Itachi ordered, motioning for Sasuke to step back. He wasn’t a sensor, not like Sakura was but he could see her chakra bubbling and burning within her, so much like an Uchiha but all water and earth rather then fire. He had never seen anything like it before and a small part of the thirteen year old wondered if Izumi would look similarly unusual when in the grips of the curse of hatred.

“I can’t, I’ve been trying but he’s, something’s wrong! He told me to meet him at the end of the day, made me promise to wait for him. It’s like he’s giving himself something to come home to, as if he’s taking on a suicide mission without his team!” Sakura finally pinned down the source of her anxiety. Shisui expected to die tonight. Whatever he was doing, he didn’t think he’d survive it and had chosen her as his motivation. Normally that would be an honor, she was his most important person, family was everything to the Uchiha and he saw her as his own blood, even closer then Itachi. Sakura’s chest began to rise and fall rapidly, her heart pounding against her chest painfully and she began to pace back and fourth, unable to stand still.

“Sakura would you mind helping me drop Sasuke off with Izumi for the evening?” Itachi questioned and Sakura forced herself to nod. She wouldn’t drag Sasuke into whatever was going on and if Itachi felt he’d be safest with Izumi, she could understand. She wasn’t going to put Itachi in her position, not when he was clearly taking her seriously.

“Aniki? What’s going on? What’s wrong with Shisui?” Sasuke’s voice was worried and he glanced at Sakura before focusing on his older brother. Itachi shook his head and poked Sasuke’s forehead before letting the younger boy climb onto his back.

“Come on.” Itachi said and the two took off, making the trip in record time. Sasuke was quickly registered as a guest and dropped off with a surprised Izumi who only managed to get in a hello before Itachi and Sakura were racing back across the village. “You can’t sense him?”

“No, his chakra vanished late in the afternoon. We were on Naruto patrol.” Sakura answered and Itachi came to a sudden stop. His eyes slid to the Hokage tower, his lips pulling down into a frown. Sakura caught the expression, the acquisition written plainly all over the boy’s face but said nothing. If the Hokage was involved, she wouldn’t be surprised. The man didn’t do anything to silence those blaming the Uchiha for the kyuubi attack which was as good as encouraging it.

“Kuchiyose no jutsu,” Itachi said softly and slammed his hand into the ground, a burst of crows erupting from the cloud of smoke that followed. The birds took to the sky, scattering across Konohagakure with one remaining on Itachi’s shoulder. “They’ll find him, are you sure something’s wrong?”

“Yes, I can’t, I need to find him Itachi. Something bad is going on.” Sakura could feel Madara’s chakra burning within her. She wasn’t sure if her panic was the nature of Uchiha chakra to sense when her loved ones were in danger, if it was her chakra sense picking up on something she couldn’t place or if she was just having an anxiety attack but she needed to see Shisui alive and well with every fiber of her being.

Minutes crawled by as the two waited before finally the crow on Itachi’s shoulder let out a caw. Itachi grimaced and took off without a word. Sakura followed hot on his heels, the two moving quickly towards the forest to the North of the Uchiha district. There the Naka river carved itself a deep valley and was fed by several waterfalls that came crashing down from the mountains situated behind the village.

The smell of blood greeted Sakura, her chakra filling her body and enhancing all of her senses to the extreme. Her fox contract sharpened her nose as well, allowing her to tell that several people had been injured in the area and she quickly followed the trail of injuries back towards the village. Itachi’s crow let out an indignant squawk and he grabbed her, several shuriken slamming into the tree she’d been on.

“This area is off limits.” A dull emotionless voice droned and Sakura spotted a blank masked soldier in an ANBU uniform. She could feel the ANBU tattoo on his arm and she quickly spread her senses out for other ANBU even as she cycled her chakra into a shunshin and shot forward, hand closing around the hilt of her wakizashi and drawing it in one smooth slash.

“Why are you attacking a Konoha shinobi?” Sakura hissed, her blade sparking as it was barely deflected by a kuni. The masked shinobi didn’t answer her and lashed out with a kick that she blocked, the force sending her sailing backwards due to her lightweight frame.

“She has a point, why did you attack one of Konoha’s chunin?” Itachi asked and the masked shinobi looked between them, his chakra disturbingly blank. There were no elements or texture to it, just an empty void that absolutely terrified Sakura. It was wrong, like the soul was dead or at least banished so far from the fake ANBU’s mind that he wasn’t even aware he had one.

“You crossed into an area currently under investigation. By order of the Elder council this area is off limits. Leave or be eliminated for high treason.” The ANBU droned and Sakura felt a hand on her shoulder even as she prepared to attack again. She growled, the deep rumble of a tiger reverberating in her throat and chest, but she didn’t resist as Itachi pulled her away into a shunshin.

“Did you smell Shisui?” Itachi asked and Sakura didn’t bother questioning him on how he knew she had an enhanced sense of smell. Perhaps he incorrectly assumed tigers had good noses, they didn’t but foxes did. Regardless she shook her head no because while she’d smelled quite a bit of blood none of it had been Shisui’s and all of the scents were impossible to identify thanks to the scent distorters all of the shinobi involved at been wearing, making it impossible to pin their natural scents down.

“What are we going to do?” Sakura asked as the sun dipped below the horizon. Itachi looked back towards the Uchiha compound and grimaced, he clearly knew something but whatever it was he wasn’t sharing.

“We go and wait for him, where he told you. Hopefully if he needs help he’ll show up and ask for it.” Itachi’s tone made it obvious he doubted that would happen. They both knew Shisui well enough to realize he’d die before dragging them into danger. He was a fool like that, self sacrificing and earnest to a fault.

The two quickly made their way back to the meeting point. The clearing was tense now and Sakura could hear the constant rumble of the rapids nearby. Minutes crawled by at a painfully slow rate, the sky darkening slowly as twilight faded away into night. Sakura could feel a cold sweat beginning to break out over her body and pulled her cloak off, no longer concerned that someone might stumble across them and grow concerned over her warplate.

A distant pulse of familiar chakra drew both Sakura and Itachi’s attention north, towards Naka falls. They exchanged glances and Sakura pulled out her ANBU mask, situating it over her face to hide her sharingan which immediately blazed to life. At her side, Itachi let his eyes bleed red and ran ahead at full speed, the gap between them slowly growing with every leap and tree. Finally Sakura touched down on the rocky gravel of a cliff overlooking the Naka falls.

‘The perimeter was removed.’ Sakura noted dryly, the lack of suspicious ANBU not the relief it should have been as she focused on the familiar back in front of her.

Shisui stood facing the falls, his curly hair moving slightly in the stiff wind kicked up by the rushing water. The smell of blood clung to his clothes, much of it still fresh and Sakura knew he was wounded even if she couldn’t tell where. Slowly, Sakura began to walk forward, the crunch of gravel underfoot announcing her presence as her chakra unfurled.

“Sakura, Itachi,” Shisui’s voice was hoarse, as if he’d been screaming and his body was tense. Absently, Sakura noticed his tanto was missing, and blood coated his left hand, proof he’d been in battle. Shisui’s chakra began to gather, burning and building in power until it shone like a dying star. “This morning I was given a mission by the hokage.”

Sakura felt it, the moment Shisui’s chakra radiated outwards, a ripple disrupting the very fabric of the world itself. Her sharingan spun wildly, drinking in the jutsu and informing her that it wasn’t elemental release or even a simple genjutsu. A perfect blend of yin and yang chakra was bleeding from Shisui, creating a bubble around them, separating them from the rest of reality.

“Shisui!” Itachi snapped and Shisui turned slowly, his injuries finally coming into view. Blood ran down his face, his right eye was gone and his left was bleeding sluggishly, its form a four pointed pinwheel and the sclera so inflamed and bloodshot they looked pink.

“Mangekyo,” Sakura whispered, Itachi’s attention zeroing in on her like a laser. It wasn’t impossible for her to know that, the ANBU archives contained records of it as did several bingo book entries but it wasn’t common knowledge either.

“Yeah, a story for another time, not that they’ll be another.” Shisui laughed, the sound broken as he took a step forward. “Sakura, I’m sorry.” Shisui’s eye closed and his shoulders began to tremble. “This morning I was ordered to stop a civil war in Konoha. The Uchiha clan are tired of the abuse they’ve been facing and the Hokage doesn’t want to negotiate.”

“Shisui be quiet!” Itachi hissed and Shisui’s eye slid open, his mangekyo glowing softly as it continued to bleed chakra into the world. Itachi’s chakra boiled, panic filling it as he took a step forward. “You can’t tell her, you’ll get killed! Your seal!”

“It’s too late.” Shisui replied softly and shook his head. “I was ordered to use kotoamatsukami on the Uchiha clan during tonight’s gathering, a genjutsu that overwrites the mind without the target even knowing it. It’s the power that lives within my mangekyo.” Sakura’s chakra erupted from her, burning and seething with all the force of the Uchiha’s curse of hatred. Her limbs were on fire and her mind screamed for blood at the thought of such an order. “It was a setup.”

“Shisui-” Itachi was begging at this point but Shisui silenced him with a single, sad look.

“I was intercepted, I can’t say who, but someone in Konoha wants the Uchiha to rebel or at least wants an excuse to eliminate them.” Shisui’s words were like gasoline to the fire burning in Sakura’s mind. Sakura didn’t think it was possible to be so angry that her elemental nature changed but it almost felt achievable right now. “My eye was ripped out and used against me. I was ordered to rip out my other eye and present it to an organization that I cannot name and then die.”

“I can disrupt the genjutsu, I’m a medic I can-” Sakura took several steps forward then stopped as a kunai sank into the dirt just ahead of her toes. Shisui shook his head no as Itachi moved forward.

“Sakura, I’m going to give you a gift alright? I’m sorry but at least I’ll protect your light.” Shisui said softly and Sakura felt her eyes burn briefly before a cooling sensation brought even more tears to her eyes. A moment later Shisui’s mangekyo burnt out, fading first to onyx then going white. He ripped it out and as he did so he stuck out his tongue, an ugly black seal marring the pink flesh. “Do not trust anyone with this seal.” Shisui said then handed his eye to Itachi.

“Shisui!” Sakura realized what was going to happen next and jumped forward right as Shisui sent himself over the edge of the cliff. Wind ripped through her hair as she fell, Shisui falling ahead of her. She felt what was left of his chakra gather just below the base of his neck and brilliant blue flames erupted from the point as he was consumed entirely by them, not even ash remaining as she slammed into the river below.

Sakura couldn’t move and pain filled her whole body from the force of the impact. Slowly, she began to sink down into the churning depths of the Naka, her body cooling rapidly as the chill mountain water raged around her. ‘He’s gone,’ she thought, unable to bring herself to move as her mind felt numb with pain. She could feel the flames within her, burning so hot she couldn’t even compare it to when her sharingan had first activated. It should have been enough for her to develop the mangekyo, not that Sakura was thinking that at the moment but she lacked the chakra to initiate the transformation so instead her body and soul locked down, burning away as she drowned.

Strong hands gripped her shoulders and Sakura felt herself get pushed into a strong chest as she was pulled upwards. Water gave way to air and she gasped as her mask finally allowed her to breath, the seals on it preventing her from getting a lungful of liquid after her crash. Crimson sharingan with three pointed pinwheels met Sakura’s eyes and she felt the last dregs of strength beginning to leave her as black spots filled her vision.

“He’s gone,” Sakura rasped, hugging Itachi and shaking with the sheer force of her loss. Itachi clung to her just as tightly, the two of them crying silently as the current carried them downstream, eventually beaching them on the sandy shoreline in the south of the village. Sakura pressed her masked face into Itachi’s chest, unable to keep herself awake any longer as they lay there, neither able to move after what had just happened. After several painful seconds Sakura slipped into unconsciousness, leaving Itachi alone with his grief.

***

Madara knew something was wrong the moment he opened his eyes. He pulled himself out of his bedroll right as Sakura faded into view. She was wearing her armor, just like he’d last seen her but there was a tiger’s mask over her face and her hair was white with black streaks through it. He couldn’t feel a henge, even though she was taller then she should have been. Perhaps more worryingly her chakra was burning her alive, the curse of the Uchiha swallowing her whole.

“What happened?” Tajima appeared without a sound and he quickly waved his hands in front of Sakura’s mask, checking for a reaction. When he received none, he let out a tired sigh. “Hold her down.”

“Right,” Madara moved slowly, obviously, so Sakura could see him coming and gently took hold of her wrists. The moment his fingers closed around her, Tajima put his hand on her head and Madara felt him using Ninshu.

“She has two minds, an Outer mind, that’s the Sakura we know, and an Inner mind that protects the Outer from her own emotions.” Tajima explained and Madara watched as Sakura’s raging chakra dimmed briefly before burning even brighter. It was obvious something had gone terribly wrong wherever she had been. “Her Inner mind is helping her, but she’s too young.”

“Is there anything I can do?” Madara asked, voice shaking as he watched Sakura’s motionless body. Despite her physical stillness, her chakra was a storm of grief and trauma. It would have been easier if she was screaming and howling, storming around the tent and making a show of things. This utter stillness was terrifying, like her brain had been burned away by the flames of her emotions and she couldn’t even react to them anymore.

“Talk to her, let her feel your chakra.” Tajima suggested, slowly pulling Sakura back to reality. Madara took a deep breath and pushed his chakra towards the seal on his left hand. He felt a brief block, like a gate that tried to divert his chakra into his hand rather then the seal but Madara persevered and suddenly he felt himself shift, the world around him going black.

“Madara?” A voice that Madara would recognize anywhere came from the void and Madara spun, eyes falling on a black and white outline of Sakura. Inner was written across her forehead and she had a pair of fox ears atop her head with a matching tail that was currently curled around her waist, her arms hugging it to her chest for comfort. Aside from her kitsune traits, she otherwise was identical to Sakura. Tears of liquid white ran down her face and Madara took a step forwards, wondering once more if Sakura truly was human or if this was her real form. “Thank the kami, I can’t do this.”

“What happened?” Madara asked, closing the distance between them and coming to a stop right in front of Inner Sakura. The girl sniffled and leaned forward, her head pressing down on his shoulder. Awkwardly, Madara raised his arms, his right coming to rest atop her head while his left wrapped around her shoulders in a gentle hug.

“My brother died, he was killed with his own sharingan.” Sakura whispered and Madara tensed because all of the Uchiha should be part of the clan. There weren’t branches in other lands, at least none that he knew of. The fact that Sakura knew one was concerning to say the least. Then again, wherever she came from wasn’t Hi no Kuni so perhaps it was simply some lost fragment of the clan. “I couldn’t save him. I tried, he burned himself away, I couldn’t save him.”

Madara didn’t say anything. There was nothing that he could say. Telling her it would be alright was a lie because it would never be alright. Even now, years later the wound Kagami’s death left still ached bitterly. The pain wasn’t fresh, it was dulled by time but that didn’t mean it had healed. Slowly Inner’s tears began to taper off and she wiped away the last of them with her hands.

“Thank you Madara,” Inner Sakura whispered and tilted her head slightly so her hair was pressed up against his neck. “I’m going to go wake up Outer now. Tell chichiue that I’m grateful for both of you.” Inner’s voice was immediately followed by the sensation of rising through the air rapidly and Madara found himself once more in the tent, leaning over Sakura.

“Son, are you alright?” Tajima’s voice pulled Madara’s attention fully back to reality and he saw his father looking somewhat worried. “You blacked out.”

“I went into Sakura’s mind I think. I saw Inner, she’s a kitsune.” Madara said the word and remembered what Sakura had informed him about her summons. It fit, in a way. Kitsune were tricksters and yet were often benevolent, especially to children and those grieving from loss. Madara had been both when Sakura appeared in his life and her laughter often sounded like a fox’s chitters.

“She’s human,” Tajima gave Madara a look that said this particular line of conversation was over. Tajima knew what Sakura was, he’d seen her full mind when she was four years old and untrained, incapable of hiding secrets. If Tajima wanted Madara to ignore the evidence in front of his eyes, well he knew enough folklore not to dig. Foxes often fled when discovered and he desperately did not want to lose Sakura.

The door to the tent was forced open right as Sakura started to stir. One of the Uchiha that had come with them to the North handed Tajima a scroll and he quickly read it before dismissing the man. Madara felt his father’s chakra lighten somewhat, even as he returned to crouching next to Sakura.

“Madara? Chichiue?” Sakura’s voice was hoarse, as if she’d been screaming and tears began to run down her cheeks.

“It’s alright now, everything’s alright.” Tajima stroked Sakura’s hair, comforting the girl as she trembled violently. It was a lie, one they all recognized but even so Madara could tell the words helped. Sakura relaxed visibly, her breathing slowly coming under control. “The Chinoike are willing to negotiate.”

“So maybe we don’t have to fight?” Sakura managed and Tajima nodded, because there was a chance things could work out peacefully now. “Good, I’m glad…” Sakura trailed off and sniffled, clearing her nose and wiping her face clean of tears. She took several deep breaths and Madara suspected that Inner was devouring her sadness and grief, allowing her to function far faster then a normal mind could manage. “Can I come to the meeting?”

“Only if you behave yourself. The moment your chakra starts to burn you’re going back to camp.” Tajima’s words caught Madara off guard. Sakura was clearly shaken and yet she was going to be allowed to join the diplomatic team. “You’re coming as well Madara, they expressed interest in meeting you both.” That clarified things for Madara and he gave a slight nod, hurrying to prepare himself for a possible battle.

It only took an hour for the Uchiha to muster, their armor hidden under warm cloaks and weapons sharpened and oiled. The rest of the camp didn’t bother following the team as they left, after all this wasn’t a united army but rather several independent armies operating out of the same fortress. The Kaminari clans were more used to fighting one another then they were anyone else and it showed in how they basically ignored each other as they skirmished with their common enemy.

Moving through no man’s land between the two forces, Madara couldn’t keep his eyes off Sakura. Her mask was gone, hidden away in one of her pouches and her hair was its usual pink rather then white and tiger striped but the entire experience had shaken him. Seeing her Inner reminded him there was so much he still didn’t know about her and while he trusted her implicitly, he couldn’t help his curiosity. Still, he wouldn’t pry, his curiosity wasn’t worth losing her and for now he could live with not knowing everything about her.

Finally, the group arrived at the meeting ground, a rocky valley somewhat hidden by the twists and turns of the mountain passes. An old growth forest spread through the area, pine trees rising high into the sky overhead and several chakras waiting for them. Madara recognized the girl they had rescued among their number, her bow slack but an arrow notched and ready. She met his eyes and gave a slight nod as a man with wild spiky blond hair and long bangs that framed his face dropped down to the ground in front of the Uchiha.

“Uchiha,” the man was beautiful, easily one of the most stunning people Madara had ever seen and as an Uchiha that truly was saying something.

“Chinoike,” Tajima replied, taking the lead. The man nodded, silently confirming that he was the clan head.

“I’ll make this simple, we do not want to leave but family comes before territory.” The man said simply and Madara could feel a vast chakra gather around him. The burning tang of ozone was suddenly all around them and Madara could almost hear the storm of the Chinoike’s chakra as it churned within him. This man was dangerous, a being worthy of legend and for a brief moment Madara could see a dragon behind him, its scaled coils rising into the sky overhead as it peered down on the warriors of his clan, judging their worth.

“You have no chance of victory. This is the majority of your clan’s fighting force and we alone outnumber you.” Tajima replied and then bristled as the Chinoike’s eyes slid to Sakura. Madara prepared himself for battle, his hand closing around the hilt of his scythe even as Tajima’s came to rest on the grip of his tachi. “I would prefer a peaceful solution to this conflict.”

“As would we all,” the Chinoike leader sighed and looked around, his eyes almost mournful as they moved over the Uchiha. “Your clan is different then I remember it. Kinder, there is hope among you.” Madara felt the man’s eyes settle on him and for the first time he felt something truly ancient within the normal world. This man was no summons and yet his eyes and chakra were old, older then anything he had ever encountered in the waking world. “I wonder if this means that our curses will all finally come to an end.”

“The Chinoike are cursed?” Tajima asked, earning a wry smile so full of pain Madara felt a pang of sympathy flash through him.

“The Chinoike are no more cursed then the Uchiha, though originally both were blessings. A conversation for another time though, you claim to be stronger then us, capable of killing us and driving us from these lands. I would have you prove it with a show match. Me against you, my heir against yours, we settle this as leaders.” The Chinoike motioned between himself and the girl Madara had watched Sakura rescue. Tsukiko, if he remembered correctly and she soon dropped down next to her father, the family resemblance obvious at a glance. Beside Madara, Sakura took in a sharp breath and he saw recognition in her eyes, even if she didn’t share a word of what she’d noticed.

“Very well, we fight without killing though. This is to avoid bloodshed if possible.” Tajima was clearly conflicted by this particular outcome. The Uchiha’s clan head had clearly been expecting negotiations, an exchange of goods, perhaps a marriage offer, not a pair of fights with no demands if the Uchiha lost. It was unusual, but Madara and Sakura had saved the Chinoike heiress's life so perhaps this was a way of paying that debt.

“Hello again.” Tsukiko grinned at Madara and waved at Sakura. “Which one of you two am I fighting?”

“Madara,” Tajima ordered and Madara nodded, stepping forward and pulling his scythe off his back. Tsukiko smirked and her eyes changed, tears of blood running down her cheeks and her sclera taking on a crimson glow. Her indigo irises went a red so dark they looked black and her pupils became a narrow bar of burning violet. “May the best shinobi win.”

Madara gave a nod and launched himself forward even as Tsukiko drew her bow and leapt backwards. Her arrow rocketed towards him, the shaft bending around his scythe as he tried to intercept it. In the frozen world of the sharingan, he just barely managed to shift himself so the steel missile slammed into his breastplate, the tip scrapping off the paint as it was deflected away.

Tsukiko was fast for her height but she was smaller then Madara so he managed to close the gap between her even as she fired off a second arrow which narrowly missed the gap in armor between his forearm and bicep, the tip dulling itself on his gauntlet. Swinging his scythe, Madara brought the haft down on the girl and then yanked forward, the blade slamming into her back. Instead of a scream and the sensation of bone against steel, he felt like he’d just struck flexible steel armor as Tsukiko was launched towards him.

Not hesitating despite the oddness, Madara delivered a powerful blow to the girl’s face, calling upon Sakura’s chakra and threading it through his body even as he released a burst of chakra to increase the force of the blow. Tsukiko’s cheek felt like punching lead and her skin didn’t even bruise despite the force of the blow. Pulling his scythe in to trap her, Madara rained down several more punches before she slammed an elbow into his armpit, one of the few places his armor didn’t cover.

The two children staggered apart and Madara briefly got a glimpse of Tsukiko’s back. The skin was split, just barely but that was it, an angry line of red that was barely bleeding was all she had to show for getting caught in the back by his scythe. Her fingers came together in a seal and Madara recognized the beginnings of water chakra within her. He immediately began to counter it, his eyes allowing him to match her seal for seal until they simultaneously unleashed water bullets at each other.

Madara wasn’t done there however and charged in after his bullet, bursting through the shower of water the simultaneously cast jutsu created and whipping his scythe around like a war hammer, using the side opposite the blade to knock Tsukiko sideways. The girl stumbled, the blow catching her in the ribs and the distinctive crack of bone breaking echoing through the otherwise peaceful clearing. Tsukiko hissed viciously before backing off, hands raised and her father along with Tajima landing between the two children, ending the match.

“It would seem your heir is stronger then mine, for now.” The Chinoike clan head didn’t sound angry, his chakra was peaceful, perhaps a bit sad but utterly lacking anger or violence. Madara met the man’s eyes as he motioned for his daughter to leave and she gave him a shaky nod, her face twisted up in frustration and childish anger. She shot Madara a snippy look but nodded to him all the same.

“Good match.” She offered and then walked away, doing her best to pretend she wasn’t about to keel over. Madara was impressed, the girl was small, her chakra reserves were perhaps half of his and her control was nowhere near what Sakura’s was and yet she’d still fought well.

“Chinoike Shingetsu,” Shingetsu introduced himself as he took up a spot opposite Tajima. The two men observed each other briefly, both gathering their chakra for the inevitable showdown. Madara fell in next to Sakura, the two watching from one of the many trees as their sharingan took in every detail of the fight and committed it to memory.

Shingetsu was Tajima’s equal in strength and jutsu. His blood acted like armor, the tiny capillaries in his skin flexible steel wires that prevented any blade from truly harming him and blocked most weaker jutsu. His eyes allowed him control over any iron without chakra in it, including steel. Shuriken whizzed through the air at his beck and call, cutting their way towards Tajima who skillfully evaded the iron stars before answering with a phoenix flower. Dozens of tiny fireballs chased after Shingetsu, forcing him to call up a wall of water to defend himself.

The moment the Chinoike stilled, Madara felt his father’s chakra spike and a susanoo blazed into existence, its fist crashing through Shingetsu’s defense and pinning him to the ground. The two clan leaders remained motionless for several long seconds, as if contemplating taking this fight further.

“Very well,” Shingetsu’s words broke the tension that had been building between the two clans. “We’ll leave but you are helping us Uchiha.” Tajima let his susanoo fade, the chakra construct vanishing into thin air as he released the chakra holding it together.

“Alright, we can discuss the details now or later if you wish.” Tajima replied, earning a nod from Shingetsu.

“I see no point in waiting.” Shingetsu answered, eyes returning to their usual indigo hue.

“It’s not over yet,” Sakura whispered before Madara could let out a relived sigh. Her chakra was on edge and her eyes still sharingan bright. “It’s not over by a long shot.”

“I know, but hopefully we can pull this off.” Madra felt odd being the voice of optimism, usually that was Sakura’s job. She was still uneven, her chakra randomly spiking with worry and loss but she hadn’t once begun to burn since arriving in the clearing and for that Madara was silently grateful. He likely had Inner Sakura to thank for that, whatever she was. He would thank her once there were less ears around and no foreign shinobi to overhear them.

“We’ll make it work.” Sakura promised, sounding just a tad desperate, as if she didn’t believe her own words. Madara gave her a look but didn’t say anything else, unsure of how to comfort her as she tried to hold the broken pieces of herself together. She’d heal, in time and he’d be there for her. It was frustrating he couldn’t do more for her, made his chest ache and heart squeeze painfully tight but he wouldn’t let his own feelings of inadequacy drive him away from her when she needed him most. No, he would be there for her, no matter what the future brought their way.