So this chapter was originally much longer but it was taking me too long to write, so I cut it in half in order to update and finish the rest later. It is currently unbeta'ed.

No warnings for this chapter.

If Sakura were honest, she had contemplated trying to dodge Retsuma in the mornings before school, the way she had tried to escape Tatema. But, she figured that Retsuma would be just as capable as Tatema at finding her. Sakura waited nervously for him instead, wondering if Tatema's threat was enough to keep Retsuma from laying another genjutsu on her again, if he really had just been in a bad mood and not prone to tricking people.

She glanced out of the curtains again. This time, Retsuma was at the end of the walk to the road. He looked just as pretty as he had before. His hair was still in a low ponytail and drawn over his shoulder. It served to soften the sharp line of his jaw. He was in another floral printed yukata with wood sandals. He didn't look anything like a shinobi at all, or even dangerous, really. Sakura narrowed her eyes. Maybe that was the point.

Sakura slipped out the front door and cautiously approached Retsuma. He turned and smiled at her, face as pleasant as Tatema's ever was. There was the family resemblance that she had been looking for. Both pleasant looking and both just as dangerous in some inexplicable fashion. Sakura waited for that light, airy sensation of Retsuma's genjutsu to come over her again. When it didn't, she stepped closer.

"I'm ready to go now," she said.

Retsuma tucked his hands into his sleeves and turned away. His gait was a smooth glide and his sandals made no noise on the ground. Sakura stared with jealousy. He was prettier than Ino and even more graceful.

"Are you coming?"

Sakura shook herself out of her thoughts. "Yes!" She dashed forward to catch up to him. Standing next to him was even worse for her self esteem than just watching him. It wasn't fair how effortless he made everything seem. He wasn't even wearing make up.

They walked together in silence for awhile. When she wasn't looking at Retsuma, she was able to drag her mind away from him. The problem was she wanted to know about her temporary keeper. Every time she so much as glanced at him, she was struck again by his beauty.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. "How do you look like that?" she asked in frustration.

Retsuma didn't even pause as he glanced down at her. The sun glinted off his light brown hair until it was the color of honey. His eyes seemed soft at first glance, but Sakura knew there was a sharpness to Retsuma that lay under the surface. The yukata emphasized that he didn't seem armed in any fashion, and turned his broad shoulders into a frame that seemed slight and willowy. Fragile. If Sakura passed him on the street, she would never guess that he was a shinobi.

"Like what?"

Sakura flushed. There was no way he didn't know what she was talking about, which means he was going to make her say it again. "So pretty," she grumbled. She kicked a stray stone out of her path. Was it better or worse to have a cousin prettier than even Ino?

Retsuma surprised her by laughing. It was light and airy. It made Sakura want to write some ridiculous poetry about it. It also made her want to punch him in the face a bit. He was so perfect, it just wasn't fair!

"The feelings I invoke in other people are through a genjutsu," Retsuma said.

Sakura stopped along the path, dread and panic sliding down her spine. Tatema had broken the genjutsu on her last time, but he wasn't here, which meant that Retsuma could cast any genjutsu he liked on Sakura.

She swallowed. "Tate-Tatema said you weren't allowed to cast genjutsu on me. He said he would tell your mom." Sakura cringed. It seemed silly to threaten a grown man with his mother of all people, but it seemed to work yesterday. But Sakura knew she didn't like it when people did it to her and she doubted Retsuma would be amused.

And yet, against all expectations, Retsuma didn't become annoyed.

"Yes, in the way of youngest siblings everywhere, Tatema does know how to get his way, usually by tattling to mom. But I'm not using a genjutsu on you. The genjutsu has been laid on myself," Retsuma explained.

"What?" Sakura gaped at him. Who would put a genjutsu on themselves?

"Keep walking or you'll be late to class," Retsuma said. He resumed his glide down the street and Sakura had to scramble after him.

"There are different ways to categorize genjutsu, and one of them is if the genjutsu directly affects the target or if it is an environmental genjutsu. The one I used on you yesterday was direct. Likely you've learned from the Academy already that genjutsu works by manipulating someone else's chakra flow. In an environmental genjutsu, the jutsu is layered on the environment or an object within it. It then passively affects people who are within range. Usually this is to direct them elsewhere or keep them walking in circles," he told her.

Sakura thought about his explanation. "So...you have a passive genjusu on you to make you pretty?" Was he really not pretty at all? Was his face a fake? Sakura squinted at him suspiciously.

"Not quite. The genjutsu I am using amplifies feelings people feel when they see me, to the point of distraction. It also directs their attention towards me instead of away, until all they can think about is me."

"That sounds silly. Why would you want everyone to know where you are in a fight?" Sakura asked.

Retsuma smiled his not nice smile. "To keep their attention off my teammates while they are eliminating the enemy." He paused. "The distraction element also prevents people from thinking more logically, unless they have a stronger will power. For some, they become jealous. Others are charmed by my aesthetics. And there are others who...well, you're six, at the moment, aren't you? Your parents will explain what adults do behind closed doors when you're older."

Retsuma flicked his hand, and suddenly, the gloom that had fallen over Sakura when faced with just how pretty Retsuma was disappeared. She blinked in confusion. Retsuma was still pretty. His hair was still the color of honey, his eyes were still a crystalline gray color, and his walk was still better classified as a glide. But he was no longer unnaturally pretty. Her thoughts weren't consumed with how inferior she was in his presence, and she could recognize that they had nearly arrived at the Academy while she had been thinking about how pretty Retsuma was. Sakura swallowed again. That had to be a deadly technique in battle.

"I'm surprised you noticed something was strange. Your aptitude for genjutsu is higher than I thought, but then, I wasn't in a charitable mood yesterday." Retsuma tilted his head in an avian fashion. "I won't be using genjutsu on you again, little cousin, unless it is in a spar. It is not my intention to hurt you or scare you. We are kin." Retsuma reached out and patted her on the head.

She blinked owlishly at him before her thoughts kicked in. If he hadn't wanted to scare her, maybe he shouldn't have used genjutsu on her. And she wasn't stupid. Tatema told her Retsuma was both a genjutsu and a poison specialist. He could stay true to his word and not cast an illusion on her, but he never said anything about not poisoning her. She absolutely would not trust Retsuma.

The rest of the walk went on in silence. Sakura was no longer consumed by Retsuma's appearance and instead could look forward to her day at the Academy. If there was one thing that being made to join the Senju clan had done for her, it was improve her physical scores. Sakura had always scored perfectly on every theoretical exam, but practicals were different. She had been weak and slower than the rest of her classmates until now. Now she was average and if she continued this rate of improvement, would be above average even.

But that didn't compare to having two friends, Ino and Hinata. Sakura bounced slightly as she walked. She wondered if she could convince them both to have a sleepover with her. Ino and Sakura had done it before, but Sakura had a feeling that Hinata's father was stricter than Inoichi. And this time, Sakura thought gleefully, they could have it at her house. Sakura and her parents had been forced to leave their little house in the civilian district behind, so she might as well get some use out of the big house the Senju had made them move into.

Satisfied with her plan, Sakura gripped her school bag tighter. She would be at school soon, and once she was there, she could set everything up with Ino and Hinata. She couldn't wait.

Sakura may have hated her training with Tenjouma, but that wasn't the case when it came to taijutsu training with Enchuuma. That wasn't to say that Enchuuma didn't push her hard; Sakura's taijutsu barely passed muster at the Academy, to say nothing of what the Senju wanted out of her. But Enchuuma never made Sakura feel stupid for her failings. Instead he encouraged her successes and was unfailingly patient and jovial. It certainly helped that he was also a man that genuinely enjoyed taijutsu not just as a tool in a shinobi's arsenal but for its own sake. It made it hard for Sakura to decide if she liked him better or Tatema. They were probably the only Senju that she liked.

It was for that reason that Sakura looked forward to training with Enchuuma. Taijutsu was an excellent way for her to vent all of the emotion she was suppressing in order to stop the Mokuton from going out of control. There was no emotion in taijutsu nor chakra use that would accidentally disturb her latent bloodline ability. There was only Sakura's fists and her burning to desire to land just a single hit on Enchuuma.

He dumped her in the dirt again.

Sakura wheezed into the ground. She knew logically that he had to be pulling his punches; she had seen him break trees after all. But it certainly didn't feel like he was holding back. She pushed herself upright but stayed sitting on the ground.

Enchuuma smiled. "Is it time for a water break?" He didn't wait for her to respond, but instead retrieved their water bottles from a few yards away. Sakura drank from hers gratefully.

"How are you so strong?" Sakura asked when she was finished. "Is there a special technique or something?"

"Training and experience is the key to all shinobi arts, but none more so than taijutsu. With genjutsu and ninjutsu, you can learn more jutsu, more techniques. But in taijutsu, all you will ever need is your body," Enchuuma said. "However, in more advanced taijutsu users, chakra is used to augment the body's physical abilities."

Sakura contemplated what little she knew of Enchuuma's abilities so far. If all it took was a little chakra, then the next logical step was for some kind of insane strength technique.

"So...you could probably do something like destroy the whole Hokage Tower then, right?"

The Senju elder chortled. He sat down across from Sakura, prepared for a long conversation.

"That is the obvious conclusion, isn't it? You aren't the first to think so. Yes, it is true that all shinobi to some degree or another boost their physical abilities with chakra. The only limit is your body's tolerance and your creativity. Your body's senses, it's resiliency, its strength, speed...all of these can be increased through yang chakra. Many taijutsu users concluded that even monstrous physical strength was possible, and what an idea! It could change the tide of war if people could end their enemies with a single blow." He smiled at her again, his expression turning sly. "But there is only one shinobi ever known to have done it. Can you think of why?"

Sakura frowned. The teachers at the Academy had stressed the importance of monitoring internal chakra activity, as it could be an indicator of several things about oneself. The most important, they had said, was making sure chakra levels did not dip too low, or else chakra exhaustion would set in. It was why they were cautioned never to practice the leaf exercise without a shinobi adult.

"Chakra exhaustion?"

"A good guess, but no," Enchuuma said. "The reason why such extremes of physical strength are not possible is because of the recoil. The energy in such a blow would destroy your limbs."

She leaned forward, invested in this explanation. "But you said that there was someone who figured out how to do it. How?"

"The theory is simple enough. I thought of it myself when I was a youth. The trick is to create two layers of chakra. The first, outer layer is for impact. It needs to be precisely released to cause maximum effect. The second layer is to cushion the user from the sheer force they generate and prevent their bones from disintegrating. At a more advanced level, this technique can be used not just at point of impact, but throughout the user's entire body to increase their overall strength. Not only could they destroy an entire building, but they could lift one as well. Of course, by maintaining two layers of chakra to protect the body, it means the concentration of chakra in the coils is higher, which increases the rate at which you approach chakra network burnout or chakra exhaustion," Enchuuma finished.

"So…" Sakura started. "So a person would need both absolute chakra control and large reserves to make this their primary fighting style."

"Exactly." Enchuuma smiled again. His pride in her prompted Sakura to smile back.

"There have been plenty of shinobi with the reserves for this technique, but it is rare to find someone with the necessary control. I myself lacked it, and so I am unable to destroy the Hokage Tower." He winked at Sakura.

"Who was the person who did it before?" Sakura asked.

At this, Enchuuma seemed to freeze. "Ah. Yes, of course you would want to know." His smile became sad. "It was our own Senju Tsunade."

"Tsunade?" Sakura prompted. No one in the Senju clan talked about her, for all that she was a famous figure in the Second War. All Sakura knew was what Tenjouma had told her. An heir who had run away from the clan. Sakura wondered how she did it.

"Yes. Tsunade was a genius. She didn't have Hashirama-sama's Mokuton or even Tobirama-sama's mastery over Suiton, but she did inherit their drive and ferocity. In many ways she was the best of both of them...and perhaps the worst. As a child, she worked out the theory for the strength technique, and with her precise control, was able to use it in battle before she was a teenager. Total mastery of it was not long in coming for her after that," Enchuuma said. "She was a hero, the pride of the Senju. And then she left."

Sakura nibbled on her lip. The history books never mentioned Tsunade after the Second War, only that the medical jutsu she invented were fully implemented during the Third War, giving them an advantage over the other shinobi nations. And Tenjouma had never explained why she left either. If everyone thought she was so great, why leave?

Her thoughts must've shown on her face, for Enchuuma continued. "War takes someone from everyone, and Tsunade lost more than most. She felt too deeply, a trait from her late grandfather. I believe she was unable to stay in a place that only reminded her of what she had lost."

"So she left," Sakura finished. That was different from the defiant rebellion that she had been picturing. Sakura imagined that Tsunade had been stifled by the expectations of the Senju clan just as Sakura was, but instead, there was a possibility that Tsunade was just like them. But, Sakura supposed, leaving was still leaving. It was more than what Sakura was doing.

"Indeed she did. I hope she will return someday, but the clan needs practicality, not hope. Before, it looked like our next heir was going to be Chikama after Tenjouma. But now we have you." Enchuuma ruffled Sakura's hair as he stood.

"Now, I think that's enough rest for right now. Let's get back to training."

Sakura made a face at his words. He laughed at her expression.

"Don't make that face Sakura," he said. "You've improved by leaps and bounds since we first started. You still have a ways to go, but when it comes to taijutsu, you're a natural. Come on now, up you get."

Her heart lifted. "Yes, Enchuuma-ojiisama!"

Sakura was beginning to wonder when Tatema would return. It had already been a week. Retsuma wasn't bad, she supposed, but she was just getting used to Tatema when she got stuck with his older brother. Retsuma was like Tatema in that he didn't push her to speak unless she felt like it. Unlike Tatema, Retsuma gave off an air of poise and grace even without his genjutsu, which made Sakura feel like she had dribbled all over her shirt like she was four. Hardly the kind of person who made her want to chatter about her school day and her friends.

But the fact was, there was no one else she could ask about the Senju besides Retsuma, at least until Tatema came back. Tenjouma would either brush aside Sakura's questions, or tell her all about the glory and strength of the clan. Sakura didn't care about that. She didn't care about how strong the Shodai was. Everyone already knew he was the God of Shinobi, that's why he had been the Shodai.

She wanted to know about Senju Hashirama the person, and how he managed the Mokuton. While the strange elder, Danzou, had encouraged her to look up to the Nidaime, Sakura still felt a strange kinship with the Shodai. She was his descendant, wasn't she? Both of them had a powerful ability that no one else in their lifetime had. The Shodai had had to master it all alone. Maybe Sakura could draw guidance from the Shodai's experience. Which meant she didn't need glory stories. She needed the truth.

Sakura peeked up at Retsuma from the corner of her eye. Could she stand to wait for Tatema to come back home…?

"What is it?" Retsuma asked. Sakura startled, then flushed. He wasn't supposed to realize that she had been staring.

"I just…" she trailed off in a mumble. Where to even start? Sakura didn't know how to say the feelings that bubbled in her chest. She wanted to know about the Shodai and yet she didn't. She wanted help with the Mokuton and she wanted to pretend it didn't exist.

"How does anyone know I'm really like the Shodai-sama?" A person was more than just their jutsu abilities, surely. Sakura was more than just her shinobi training.

"You are whatever the clan wants you to be," Retsuma said simply. "And if you are not, the clan will make you what they want you to be."

'But what if that's not what I want?' Sakura wanted to ask. There was no use; she already knew that her complaints would be ignored, just as they had been so far.

Instead, she said, "Did the Senju really want Shodai-sama to create peace with the Uchiha?"

"Hashirama-sama was very wise, and saw that if things continued the way they were, it would mean doom for the clan. For our betterment, he reached out in peace towards the Uchiha," Retsuma replied.

"But is that what the clan wanted?" Sakura pressed.

He hesitated. "I don't know what the internal politics of the clan were during that time. However, given Hashirama-sama's power, and the support of Tobirama-sama, it is unlikely he was opposed."

In other words, the Shodai and Nidaime were too powerful for anyone to say no to. That was how they accomplished what they desired. And Tsunade had too, Sakura recalled. It was her power that let her leave the clan with no consequences and remain unfound. So if Sakura gained enough power, then she could also defy the clan.

"What was Hashirama-sama like?" Sakura asked Retsuma.

"Well, he was very wise, as I said. He was the pinnacle of shinobi. His strength was nigh unmatchable, and he used it to lead the Senju to many victories, and eventually to peace," he said. "But I'm afraid if you want to know more, you would need to ask Tenjouma-ojiisama. Shodai-sama was far before my time, but Tenjouma-ojiisama knew him."

That didn't really tell Sakura anything about what the man was actually like. But Retsuma's reason was fair enough, she guessed. The Shodai had lived a very long time ago, after all.

"How did he learn about his Mokuton? How did he master it?" she continued, warming up to this topic.

Retsuma looked amused by Sakura's curiosity. "I don't know how he found out he had it, precisely. There are some journals of his that have survived that perhaps you'll be allowed to read. But I do know that it was due to his genius that he was able to master the Mokuton so effectively. In his prime, he could grow entire forests with barely a thought. The village infrastructure was almost entirely his doing."

"He left journals?"

"Yes, he and Nidaime-sama both left journals behind, among other things. But the journals are considered clan secrets; you probably won't be allowed to read them until you're older, and when you are, it'll only be in a safe, secure location," Retsuma explained.

The idea of journals sounded promising to Sakura. Those would be words straight from the Shodai and Nidaime, with no room for other people's interpretations. And, if anyone had a right to them, Sakura did.

"Is there anything else you can tell me?" she pressed. Maybe she wouldn't have to wait for these journals, if Retsuma would just tell her.

"Like what?"

"Like...like, a mistake Shodai-sama made, or something. Tenjouma-sama told me Tsunade left the village," Sakura clarified.

Retsuma paused in his stride. Sakura might not have noticed if it weren't for how gracefully and smoothly he normally glided across the ground. Sakura looked up at him, but from her vantage point so much closer to the ground, she could really only see his jaw and the curve of his cheek.

"Retsuma?" she prodded.

He smiled blandly at her. "A mistake? He never made one."

Sakura stared at him dubiously. "Never ever? Are you sure? Because Mama told me that everyone makes mistakes sometime."

"Sakura-chan, he was the God of Shinobi. Of course he didn't make mistakes, or no one would call him that. He was too strong and too wise," Retsuma shook his head, as if Sakura was silly for thinking such a thing. She scowled at Retsuma. It was a perfectly reasonable thing to ask!

"Not even a little mistake?" Surely he had to have. Maybe he forgot someone's birthday, or called an important person by the wrong name.

"I said he didn't," Retsuma said sharply. Sakura recoiled from the edge in his voice. She was used to Tenjouma being curt with her, but not the other Senju. They did things she didn't like but they never sounded mean. Not like this.

"Okay," Sakura mumbled. She had only wanted to know more. Mama said it was never bad to ask questions. Even the Academy instructors encouraged it! An inquisitive, curious shinobi made for excellent intelligence gathering.

Retsuma sighed. "I'm not angry at you. It's just that it's silly to think of Hashirama-sama making a mistake, no? He did many things, all of them great."

Sakura nodded along while a kernel of resentment grew in her chest. The Shodai had made a mistake, she knew it. And Retsuma didn't want to talk about it. Sakura would prove the Shodai was no god, but a human, just like her. She would rub that knowledge in the Senju clan's face, and then she would leave, just like Tsunade. No one could stop her if she was strong enough.

After all, no one had been able to stop Hashirama from making the village.

Sakura came home from the Academy one day to hear her mother and father arguing with Tenjouma. Her heart thudded in her chest. Some unspeakable fear gripped her as she hovered in the entrance of the house. She crept closer to hear the argument. Her parents hadn't seemed so unhappy about moving across the village. It didn't make sense that they would be having an argument with Tenjouma now, instead of at the start of this whole mess.

"-you have inserted yourself into nearly every part of our daughter's life! She is more than just a shinobi, she is just a little girl, and she deserves to see her family!" her mother shouted.

"She is a little girl now but she is destined to be the head of this clan. She is already behind her peers; she needs to become the best shinobi as possible and to become an effective leader. There is no time for her to spend gallivanting with civilian children that can offer her no future advantages," Tenjouma replied. His tone was annoyed, making Sakura wonder just how long they had been at this. It took a lot for Tenjouma to start to lose his calm.

"Has it ever occurred to you that this is too much pressure to put on a child? She's supposed to be enjoying herself and playing with friends, not spending every afternoon training so hard that she comes home exhausted!" A chair scraped along the floor.

Tenjouma's voice sounded like Ino's when she thought someone was being remarkably stupid. "Generations of Senju have endured the same training. Harsher, even, during the days of the clan wars. Sakura need not to train as hard as that; she won't be seeing combat until she is twelve at the earliest, later if I can prolong the length of time she does D-ranks. But we have already lost six years of time that she could be learning about the clan and her duties. We cannot afford to lose anymore."

"And what, exactly, is so important that she needs to do, that she has to miss seeing her cousins?"

"She will be meeting with the Uchiha. They have extended a formal invitation to treat with us, in order to meet the Senju heir," Tenjouma replied.

"What? You want her to miss her family to meet a shinobi clan that lives here in the village that she could meet with any time?" Mebuki's voice was at a level of outrage that Sakura had never heard before from her, or even thought she was capable of. Her mother had always been more quick tempered than her easy going father, but Mebuki also calmed down quickly and forgave easily. Sakura cringed just at hearing her voice. Her eyes stung with tears. If only, Sakura thought, she had never awakened the Mokuton.

"These sorts of meetings are more important than you could know," Tenjouma said with censure. "In place of open warfare, we have politics. Meeting with each other and establishing alliances within the village is how we pass policies and create village infrastructures. The Uchiha remain one of the most prominent clans in the village, and the Shodai's and Nidaime's names mean less and less every year. The Uchiha are our greatest rivals, yes, but they could also be our greatest ally within the village. I will not snub them by refusing them the chance to be the first to formally meet Sakura."

"So we're just supposed to tell our family that Sakura can't meet them because of politics?" Mebuki asked snidely.

"Yes."

"How dare you!"

"Tenjouma-san, it is unreasonable for Sakura to cut off contact with her extended family just because she is a part of a shinobi clan now," Kizashi started. Sakura pressed herself a little closer to hear her father's quieter voice. "And I also find myself curious where you expect us to be while you take our daughter off to visit strangers."

"If it pleases you, you are free to go on this excursion. I will make sure someone is available to accompany you. But Sakura will be with myself. If it is her safety you fear for, that is unnecessary. The Uchiha are an onerous, prideful lot, but they're Konoha shinobi; they're hardly a threat to her," Tenjouma said.

"That's not my point at all," Kizashi replied patiently. "I have no doubt that you will keep Sakura safe. My point is that Sakura has a right to see the rest of her family, especially during one of our most important family gatherings, and that you shouldn't be making decisions about her future without input from us."

Sakura shrank back as Tenjouma responded, and then her mother started snapping in anger once more. Tenjouma didn't want her to see her family anymore. She clenched her fists. Every summer Sakura traveled with her parents to outside of the village to a town nearby to celebrate its founding. Family legend had it that Mebuki's ancestor had helped to found the town, and so her family from all across Fire Country came together to celebrate. Her mother's family had no political power, nor did the small town, but it was a grand party nonetheless. This would be the first time Sakura had never gone.

She knew Tenjouma barely tolerated her parents. She knew he wanted her to forget anything about being a civilian. Tears pricked at her eyes. She just hadn't realized how far he was willing to go. Sakura couldn't imagine never seeing the rest of her family again. By the sound of the argument though, she had no choice. Ino's dad had said Tenjouma could take Sakura with no consequence. The Hokage had agreed. Retsuma told her that Tenjouma would mold her into whatever the clan needed.

Sakura slipped away upstairs. She was going to find a way to get away from the Senju if it was the last thing she did.