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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's affiliates.

This fiction will contain dark, adult themes. If that makes you uncomfortable do not continue reading.

M

NSFW

You Are My Fate

Present, pt 10

Konohana Sakuya-Hime

Bisu Casino
Kyoto, Japan

"Sakura-chan! Come here and give me some luck!" Shisui called her over.

There was laughter all around, and the eccentric cousin pulled on her hand to keep her close, face intent on the cards in front of him.

The collective group of men waited as the dealer lifted the cards — a five, and a ten, everyone held their breath, hoping for a dealer bust. When a jack rolled over on the table — Shisui and the rest of the table jumped up, collectively howling as the dealer bust. Winning their hands and having bet five hundred thousand yen on that hand, Shisui was ecstatic. He pulled her into a tight hug and spun the pinkette around, "this is the lucky flower, everybody! — I could kiss you right now!"

All the faces within the lounge were flushed from alcohol — it was casino night for Madara and his men, and he invited Sakura to come.

As it turned out, this was a celebration for their most recent haul. They moved the bricks and artillery from the ports and deposited them into the safehouses, and by the end of the week they would be selling to their local and foreign buyers deep in Japan. Madara told her this on the way here in the car, and it would be the first time he openly said anything to her about their underlying...Job.

It still didn't sit well with her, but he was being brutally honest and wanted her to understand.

What she didn't expect for tonight was to be roped from person to person, dignified as a lucky flower and handed drinks. She wasn't much of a drinker, but this was one of the first nights where she found herself laughing and barred from the stress of this clan.

Madara shot at glare at his cousin, "kiss her and you'll be kissing my shoe — now hand her over," he joked from the craps table.

She floated from the blackjack to craps as Madara juggled the dice in his palm, "babe, blow on these for luck."

Sakura looked him in the eye and blew into his hand, eliciting a sharp glint of pleasure from the clan leader. He smirked down at her and tossed the dice, she watched as they landed on a six — drawing forth a shout from the men betting on the table as they all won.

He pulled her into a sweeping hug and kissed her, "that's my girl."

Two drinks in and she could already feel the heat rise to her head. The mood was airy and light, and she found that she thoroughly enjoyed spending time with their large family. Sasuke didn't bring her anywhere near his family aside from Itachi whenever he was back in town.

Madara kept her close, showering her in attention when she wasn't speaking with the other men and women and gambling herself.

He kissed her on the forehead, throwing the dice and landing on another six, the dark heads of black cheered once more.

Most good things didn't last long for her, and Sakura should have known better when she felt an uncomfortable and stiff air enter the large room.

Madara turned his attention past her, issuing a few of the other heads at the craps table to turn and look to see Sasuke entering. His eyes slightly narrowed, but the room resumed, too consumed by their games to partake in their heated triangle.

Sasuke spotted her, and Sakura stayed rooted by Madara.

Their eyes met.

Please don't come this way.

She begged for this confrontation to be delayed for another time, but he headed straight towards her — hands stuffed in his pockets.

Damn.

Noticing her distress, Madara took a protective stance behind Sakura, hand on the small of her back, "do you want me to tell him to leave?" he asked low in her ear, glaring at his cousin.

She sighed inwardly to herself when Sasuke got closer, "no, I need to talk to him eventually," she muttered under her breath.

Madara eased, but kept his attention on his cousin as he neared.

"Sakura," Sasuke greeted stoically — though she could tell he was itching to speak, which was a rarity in itself.

"Sasuke."

He was slightly taken back by her formality, and the two cousins shared a knowing look — Sasuke silently asked permission for his older cousin to back off — and reluctantly Madara turned his attention back to the waiting table.

"Can I speak with you?" he asked her, dropping his guard.

Sakura could break through the tension with her fist, and it occurred to her that she still hadn't read the card he left for her when she was in the hospital, "…sure."

He couldn't look her in the eye, and she inwardly dreaded where this conversation would go.

Before he led her away, Madara spun her to him and kissed her, making sure to linger and flicker his gaze towards Sasuke threateningly— marking her and reminding his younger cousin not to do anything stupid.

Sakura pulled away, face flush and embarrassed. She missed the virile threat Madara exuded — and maybe it was the alcohol messing with her head, but she felt extremely lightheaded.

He managed to pull her out of the casino area and onto a balcony bar. It hung over downtown Kyoto with string lights calmly twinkling around the railing and seating area. There were only a few people up here aside from the bartender and hired guitarist gently strumming his guitar.

It was…Romantic.

In the corner away from possible prying ears, Sasuke faced her.

He stayed quiet, and she got irritated by his usual silence, "what?" she said sharply.

"Did you get my card?" he asked.

She raised a brow, "you asked me out here to talk about your card?"

Sasuke sighed, she could see the wheels turning in his head — she could feel the frustration with himself and his inability to express him through words. "I wrote a letter…It was inside the card."

"Well I didn't read it," she said blandly, defiantly crossing her arms over her chest, "…if this is all you're going to talk about—" she turned to leave.

"Wait!" he moved to grab her arm, but retracted — afraid she might get mad at him for touching her.

Sakura stopped, wondering why she was giving him her time at all.

"Don't…Go, please," his voice quivered, getting her attention.

She turned to face her ex-fiance, and all of a sudden her empty finger that used to be home to her engagement ring felt too light.

"I…You know I'm not good at this," Sasuke admitted, "but I can't do this. I miss you, Sakura."

The way he rolled over the syllables of her name gave her goosebumps, he always said it so tenderly it made her heart ache, "well I don't miss you."

"—You had years to miss me and didn't, you didn't miss me all the nights you ditched me to party with your clan — but you miss me now that I'm not there," she scorned him, "typical."

He fumbled over his words, and the pained expression on his face contorted into guilt, "I'm sorry….I'm sorry for everything. You didn't deserve the way I treated you."

Sakura felt her anger spark like a revved engine, "I didn't! I didn't deserve the bruises you left on me, I didn't deserve to cry wondering why we were drifting apart — but look at you, you're doing great now, so it looks like you got everything you wanted."

"No, I need you! I haven't slept in months, I think about you…All the time," his throat dried, and she could see the internal battle to get his words out, "I love you."

Her heart stopped.

It thumped unsteadily in her chest as her stomach jumped to her throat, he had only ever said 'I love you' twice before, on the night he proposed, and the first time after she spent a month bringing him from the long depression after his parents passed.

Those words were heavy to Sasuke.

"Don't do that!" Sakura snapped, "you can't do that!"

"Please," his voice shook and he reached forward to grab her hand. Sakura clenched her jaw, angry and hurt all wrapped into one. The alcohol got to her and she wrenched her gaze away from him.

"Sorry isn't good enough," she pulled her hand away from the boy she loved for most of her life.

Sasuke had this coming. He deserved this, and this would be his punishment.

The broken man that stood in front of her seemed so different than the confident one that was driven by the proceedings of Madara's orders only a few months ago. It pained her to see him like this, but she had to think of herself.

"You love him, don't you?"

The question threw her, "excuse me?"

"You love Madara."

Sakura swallowed, "I—no!" Her cheeks warmed at the thought, "it's none of your business!"

"I can see it. Itachi told me you can tell when a woman loves you, and the way you look at him is how you looked at me."

She sunk into herself, unable to fight against what he said.

"Everyone gives him a pass," Sasuke shook his head sardonically, a wry smile graining his lips, "you fell in love with someone that's worse than me."

She bristled, "he wouldn't hit me, Sasuke!" she bit under her breath, barely holding onto her anger, "he has been nothing but be good to me!"

Sasuke took a step forward, "he wanted you from the beginning! You're a prize to him, something he won over. You've seen what he's done. You know who he really is. How can you stand there and forgive his behavior but not mine?"

This was the most Sasuke had ever opened up, and it was pissing her off that he chose to do this now, "I'm done with this conversation."

She whipped and stomped away from him, anger and adrenaline coursing through her.

He followed after her, and she wound her way to the casino floor — purposely ignoring him calling after her. She hated him, hated him!

Losing him in the winding floor, she headed straight for Madara.

When she reached him, he turned to see the familiarly angry Sakura "are you alright?" he roamed his eyes over her to make sure she was ok.

Before anyone could figure out the situation, there was an unsettling silence as a new group entered the casino.

At their head, Tobirama Senju stood tall with several other well suited men.

The room went silent.

Madara shifted beside her, and most of his men stood up to keep an eye on the familiar face.

Dressed in a white suit, Sakura looked between Madara and Tobirama — recognizing him from the day he followed her and his impromptu visit at the hospital. Almost instantly, he started heading for Madara, and part of her wondered what was going on to cause the disruption in the night.

Like a pariah, most of the Uchiha followed Tobirama as he made his way towards Madara.

Madara took a protective step in front of her.

"Tobi!" Madara greeted callously, his fake charm drenching his words, "what brings you to Bisu?"

The two men stood at the same height, and Sasuke appeared beside her — making sure to keep her in range in case anything happened.

What the hell is this?

Slowly sobering up, it didn't take much to figure out there was bad blood between these two men, and it reminded her about Tobirama's warning about her lover.

"Madara," Tobirama said cordially before looking at the pink gem sandwiched between the two Uchiha men.

"Haruno-san, pleasure seeing you here." Tobirama nodded his head towards her, emphasizing her last name to make it clear she didn't belong to this clan — causing bothMadara and Sasuke to stop and give her a blatantly confused glance.

Sakura could feel the heat of the room at her back, "uh…Hello, Detective," she squeaked — feeling the thwarting look from the entirety of the Uchiha.

"I take it you're having a nice time?" he gave her a soft, minimal smile — but it was enough to make Madara bristle unhappily at her side.

"Yeah, it's nice. What brings you here?" she baited back, wondering why the hell it felt like she was talking to the enemy here.

Sure, they were part of a criminal organization — but they didn't have anything to hide here, right? Or so she hoped.

"Decided to try my luck tonight," he drawled, gold watch glimmering on his thick wrist, "but it seems I'm already lucky by seeing you."

Sakura blanched.

Hard.

Mouth left agape at his bold flirting, Sakura blushed and looked away — wondering what the hell was happening.

Madara clucked his teeth and moved in front of her, "what do you want, Senju?"

Tobirama shrugged his shoulders, "nothing that concerns you, Madara. My brother always enjoyed gambling — and seeing as it's the anniversary of his death, I thought I may come and play in his honor tonight."

A bold silence ensued.

"It seems we shared the same sentiment," Madara smoothly pointed out, "I think Hashirama gave me some of his dumb luck."

If the chips on his side of the craps table were any indication — Tobirama narrowed his eyes, "luck he didn't have the night he passed."

Her lover's face fell, "this again?"

The white haired male backed off, "you're right. Let's enjoy my brother's memory in familiar company — as long as this beauty stands by us."

Sakura wanted to slink away, feeling like a roasted piece of meat as the tall personalities dwarfed her physically and emotionally.

"By me," Madara corrected.

And thus Sakura stood to the left of Madara as him and Tobirama gambled together.

There was a strong point of contention she didn't understand, and even more so — there was something stabbed in their past that could be seen in their interaction with each other. Shisui, Sasuke, and Itachi all stood close, waiting for something to happen — but the men Tobirama showed up with were clearly other men in law enforcement.

It gave her a weird sense of safety knowing that for once, guns wouldn't be involved.

Under their breath, Tobirama and Madara spoke.

"What do you want, Tobi?" Madara coined familiarly. There could only be one reason why Tobirama would get near him, and always a man of looking ahead — he should have expected this visit.

"There's a sharp increase in gun activity in this region — the shooting and bombing downtown stink of Uchiha, so I thought I would come and ask," Tobirama explained, but already knew the truth of it.

Madara smirked as he tossed the dice, "and why would I know anything about that?"

"Because you have a hand in everything in this city — and you and I both know what your clan does."

Without a tell, Madara kept his eyes trained on the table and vibrant chips, "do you? Have you gotten any further in your revolutionary plot to expose us? It wouldn't make sense for you to be here if you were."

"I'm further than you think," Tobirama jested, earning him a pointed look from the Uchiha.

"No, I don't know anything," he answered with finality, wanting this discussion to be over — when he tossed the dice, they shot and landed on a seven — earning Madara an explicit sigh and round of curses from the table as everyone lost their bet.

It was Tobirama's turn, and with a smirk he grabbed the dice before shaking them in his palm, "I'll tell you this — I would tie up any loose ends you have, Uchiha," he threatened. Tobirama reached past Madara to Sakura who was awkwardly minding her own business so she could blow on the dice.

"For luck?" Tobirama winked at her.

This felt reminiscent of the night of the gala when she first met Madara, and she peered curiously up at the clan leader who was clenching his jaw so tight she thought he might crack his teeth.

Hesitantly, she blew on the dice.

The entire table quieted and made their bets.

Tobirama purposely flicked his eyes to the bracelet on her wrist, and then roamed back up to her face. Sakura blinked, trying to figure out why his energy felt so familiar. The Senju purposely kept his gaze trained on her when he tossed the dice, breaking away to look only when he landed on the seven, spinning the game in their favor.

Unlikely odds for a first roll — and the table won.

There was no celebratory victory, but it made Madara look like a fool.

Tobirama collected his chips, "have a good night — Uchiha, Sakura." He dipped his head and left, his friends following at his back.

The room slowly resumed it's jovial nature, but only after Madara left wit her hand in his own — nearly breaking the door after them when they left to be alone.

'What the hell just happened?' Sakura wondered idly.

On the way home Madara didn't question her about knowing the detective, he simply held her hand and looked out the window with a pained expression on his face. When they got to their building, he hugged her from behind and asked her to spend the night. Happy to oblige, she half expected him to ravage her — but instead he held her against him, silently running his fingers over her skin.

For the first time, she witnessed him being sad and it tore her apart.

All he said to her before they fell asleep in eachother's arms was, "stay with me."

Not wanting to break their mood, Sakura nodded her head against his chest, "of course."

She didn't ask him about it or press him for answers — and he fell asleep cuddling beside her.

There was more to this that needed to be dug up.

xox

Madara's Apartment

Sakura had the morning off and got up at her usual time — right before the sun crept over the mountains.

So she decided to be productive with her time.

By the time nine in the morning rolled around, she had two cups of coffee and organized his dishes. He was an immaculate man and well organized, but her peculiars for organizing his kitchen were enough to drive her crazy.

She made a simple breakfast and had it ready all before ten, and crept back into his room to see that yep — he was still asleep.

Sakura pouted, for being one of the most successful and busy men in this city, he sure could sleep a lot.

Getting bored of waiting for him, Sakura smiled to herself and decided to play with him to wake him up. Creeping over to the bed, she crawled on and snuck her way to sit by his head. Leaning over — she bit her lip to stop herself from making any noise.

Grabbing the tips of her hair, she tickled the tip of his nose.

Madara's face scrunched up and he batted away her hair.

Giggling devilishly to herself, she did it again.

He groaned and batted again, making the absolute cutest face she had ever seen on a man before.

Doing it again, this time he shifted and turned onto his shoulder and pulled the sheets over his head like a small child.

She was laughing silently, clutching at her side to stop her fit of giggles.

The almighty Madara wasn't a morning person — and even more so, dead asleep he was so easy to tease!

With the sheet defending his face from her ticklish hair, the cover rose and revealed his magnificent butt to her.

Sakura was determined to wake him up.

An evil idea came to mind, and she wiggled herself closer to his butt.

With a sinister grin, Sakura carefully watched him to make sure he was still asleep — and the steady rise and fall of his chest propelled her to ghost her hand over his bottom.

Counting down from three, she pinched his left buttcheek.

Hard.

The sting woke him up with a jolt and reached for his ass — jumping out of bed, "what the fu—!"

He half launched her off the bed with his momentum, and Sakura flew off the edge, landing on her back hysterically laughing.

Madara's face was beet red as he cupped his wound — bleary eyed with his hair sticking out in every which direction, forced to listen to Sakura's laughter.

"Oh my god!" she clutched her sides, tears slid out of her eyes as he stood over her — she couldn't breathe, it was too funny! "You should see your— ah, face right now!" she broke in-btween laughter pointing at him, rolling on the floor.

He wasn't impressed.

His ass was sore, and he was woken up on one of the few mornings he allotted himself to sleep in.

"It isn't funny!" he griped, pouting.

She couldn't take it anymore, this was the funniest thing ever.

Deciding to extract revenge, Madara plunged to the floor and sat over her — "you think you're slick, don't you?" he teased, tickling her sides.

Sakura fought against him, "no, no!" she laughed, trying to bat his hands away.

He was merciless and held her arms over her head to tickle her armpits.

She lost it.

He tickled her until she was crying from laughing and red in the face, "ok! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Madara let her go and she couldn't stop laughing. Seeing her like this, it made him laugh — loud and hard at the absurdity of their situation. He felt too young for his age, the odd pains and crickets he normally woke up to seemed fine as they laughed on his floor, him naked and Sakura giggling like mad beneath him.

When they calmed down, Sakura wiped the tears from her eyes as she tried to gain her breath.

Madara moved himself off of her and sat against his bed, scratching his forehead and shaking his head, "you're ridiculous."

Still in a silly mood, Sakura rolled onto her stomach and posed cutely for him, "you love it," she teased — bright smile lighting up her face.

With the sun shining down on her and making her eyes sparkle with a face flush from laughing — she looked like a literal ball of sunshine.

"I love you," he said.

Sakura paused, wondering if she heard him correctly. She turned to sit up and got stuck, words caught in her throat.

But he didn't take it back, and he held her gaze intently.

He wasn't a man to say these words freely, and he had only ever said them to one another woman before — but it felt so natural because Sakura made him happy and he truly fell for this woman in front of him.

Sakura didn't know what to say.

"Y..You do?" she whispered in disbelief.

Madara finally broke their gaze, looking away — wondering why he admitted that so soon. He smiled wryly, realizing the heaviness of his feelings, "I do. Though I suppose it's a bit too soon, right?"

'You fell in love with someone that's worse than me.'

Her ex's words felt heavy in her heart, but staring at this multifaceted man confused her.

She could see the disappointment and vulnerability in his face, and it hurt her to see him like this. Could she say she loved him? Sakura wasn't a liar, he did make her heart flutter every time she saw him — and each day they hung around each other it felt like they had been together for an entire lifetime already.

It felt so impeccably natural to be with him — the constant years of vying for Sasuke's attention and living off the bare minimum of his affection compared to the mountain of attention and time Madara doted on her seemed like two different planes.

Sakura crawled over to him so she could straddle his lap.

In the last two days she was beginning to see a softer side of the harsh clan leader and business man that she never thought he could possibly have. "No, it's not."

He couldn't look her in the eye.

She grabbed either side of his face and made him look up at her, "—I'm yours, Madara. You have all of me." Throwing back the words he said to her at the top of the cliff made his eyes widen in recognition. She didn't have to tell him what it meant for him to understand.

Unspoken words were shared between the two opposites, because although she couldn't say she loved him now — he was quickly consuming her heart.

Sakura kissed him and slowly shifted her hips atop his stirring member.

Madara rolled them over and pushed aside her shorts — spreading and entering her under the morning light.

It was soft and sweet. Her body arched as he used her, he suckled on her breast and swirled his tongue around her nipple, the mesh of their unguarded hearts brought their bodies together in a clash of towel-ringed emotion. He spread her in front of his large-paned windows, causing her to moan his name. She loved being filled by him. He loved how she responded to his nimble touches.

Light gasps of promises of forever escaped their lips when they came together.

When they were done, Madara hauled her back onto his bed — they decided to forgo their responsibilities in favor of pleasuring one another until Shisui knocked on the door, expertly interrupting them.

Madara opened the door with a sharp look on his face, and if any opening the door with a half-thrown on robe and hickeys on his collarbone were any indication, Shisui realized his mistake, "did I interrupt something?"

Madara shut the door on him.

xox

Mid-City Kyoto

"Why would someone have a business here?" Sakura grumbled as she tried to find the hidden shop. The doctor had been searching for the last thirty minutes for an antique shop that the librarian directed her to that had someone who might be able to translate the journal.

Who knew this would be such a difficult task for a stolen book.

When she finally entered the dingy shop that looked like it belonged to a hoarder — Sakura crept inside and looked around. Old Japanese military trinkets and war artifacts were carefully displayed, but they were accompanied by a disarray of…Junk.

She didn't know where to look at the different religious books or the weapons or the papers that littered the small shop. Subconsciously she pressed the journal closer to her chest. The place looked empty and dusty — making her wonder if there was anybody around, "uhm…Is anyone here?"

Silence.

Walking up to the desk, Sakura peered around — until she noticed a small figurine of a faceless woman. It was sculpted of clay, and for reasons beyond her, Sakura felt inclined to run her fingers over the fine texture.

"DON'T touch that!" a harsh voice sounded from the backroom.

The male rushed towards the desk and slapped her hand away, "—fuck! Didn't you read the signs?!"

Sakura yelped and retracted, "sorry!" she apologized and bowed, noting that yes — there were clear signs everywhere telling customers not to touch anything.

The male heaved a sigh and pushed up his glasses, "what do you want?" he grumbled.

She didn't know whether to be scared or confused by this man. He was young — in his early thirties at most, and he had the prettiest jade colored eyes accompanied by slick back grey hair. Fumbling over her words, she tried to explain the journal, "oh, right! Well…I uh — found this journal and I can't decipher the text…I was told that you're knowledgeable in the old language of the Kyoto region?"

The man gave her an incredulous look, "who told you that?"

His attitude was starting to annoy her, "…Himiko-san at the library on fourth?"

He tuffed and got a look at the journal's cover, "that old bat sends everyone here because she doesn't know a fucking thing. Let me see it."

Sakura frowned, wondering if she should just leave but at this point she was desperate and put the journal on the desk.

The man flipped the page and paused, roaming his eyes over the text in awe, "this…Where the fuck did you find this?"

His whole demeanor changed and he started to flip through the pages, "this is gengo…! I started learning about this in school, but it's from a sub region thought to be entirely extinct!" he was getting hyper now, "holy fuck!"

He flipped through another page and Sakura grabbed it from him — forgetting where the hidden message was, "so can you help me?"

He nodded his head vigorously and ran to the back room, arriving seconds later with a large, dusty textbook.

He started to search through it and found a small section, showing it to Sakura — she started to read off the paragraph, "gengo*…A formerly forgotten language and subtext in the outer Kyoto regions that affected a subdivision of clans during the warring states era. Texts and examples are uncommon due to translation error and lack of documentation and heavy influence of the speculated Great War."

Sakura's voice faltered at the end, "great war…?" she murmured, having the distinct feeling of hearing about this before.

"Speculated," he reminded her.

"How is a war speculated?"

"Rumored," he said, as if it were the easiest thing to comprehend.

"What are you talking about?" she quipped, getting more annoyed with him.

He sighed, "did you pay attention in your history courses at all? Fuck! Ever heard of that gravesite with the hundreds of bones that nobody knows anything about? Apparently it happened during the warring states because of a war there isn't record of. Some shit between clans but no one can verify it."

"That doesn't make any sense. They can look at bone fragment — weaponry. Anything — if they call it a great war there must be a reason for it," she tried to rationalize.

"No shit, dumbass."

"Excuse me?" she snapped, "if you're going to be an asshole than I don't need your help!"

Before she could leave, he scrambled to get her to stop, afraid the odd pinkette and the journal might step out of his shop, "wait!"

Sakura paused, glaring at him, "what?"

The male ran a hand through his thick silver hair, "alright — I'm sorry. Let me introduce myself, I'm Hidan — I don't see people in here very often, so sometimes I get a little annoyed."

He extended his hand and she hesitantly shook it, deciding to forgive him for the sake of getting this journal translated, "Haruno Sakura."

xox

Feudal Japan
Uchiha Stronghold

"What the fuck is that thing?" Hidan peered over Sakura's shoulder curiously as she grabbed a feather quill and some ink.

"It's a journal! One of the villagers gave it to me this morning. Hatake-san made it himself, isn't it pretty?"

"Soo pretty," he rolled his eyes sarcastically and sat back down, frowning and looking to the west.

"—When will Madara be back?" he asked her.

Sakura pursed her lips, "tomorrow," she eventually answered, starting to write on the empty page.

"So I assume you forgave the bear?" he tuffed, wondering where her valor to kill him went. The man couldn't have been that smooth. Or maybe he was.

"He's not a bear. He has his faults, but we've come to a mutual…Understanding."

Hidan choked on his laughter, "right. An understanding in his bed! I could hear you from the lower wing, never took you as a screamer."

Sakura blushed scarlet and whipped around to face him, "you heard that?"

"The deaf heard you, Princess."

She refused to face him, realizing that she must have broke her hold on her power…Halfway through their time the night before. Anxiety ate at her stomach, Madara was heading west to speak with an advisor of the Senju in an attempt to reach an agreement. Part of her was still worried he would try and kill the remaining Senju, but for now all armies were stalled in the west until Madara could speak with Hashirama-sama.

Her talk with him and their time together was working as planned, and bloodshed could be avoided.

When he returned, she was going to be completely transparent and tell him about her lineage. He must have an idea by now, but he didn't pressure her to tell him anything.

So she wanted to start documenting everything about her days. If there were ever a time where she blacked out again — she wanted to remember.

Ignoring Hidan's teasing, Sakura began writing in the journal.

xox

Tobirama's Apartment

This was really too easy.

Tobirama shuffled through the thick stacks of paper until he found the manila colored folder labeled 'Madara Uchiha.'

Working for both the law and Yakuza could be stressful, but it was times like this that made it worth it. The bullet shells Itama finagled from his office as a sample matched the same types of guns that were being distributed throughout the city. They also matched the shells from the inter faction Yakuza bombing.

He gnawed on the edge of his pen, trying to piece together the Uchiha's dealings in both situations.

Obviously someone was selling the guns to local buyers and the Yakuza were picking them up like gutter rats. Tobirama had a sneaking suspicion that the Uchiha really didn't have anything to do with the bombing, but the hit on their hideout was on purpose.

After going through hours of footage, he was able to see which alley Sakura disappeared through when everything happened. He was positive that Madara and his men came to her rescue, but the deserted alley behind the main street didn't have any cameras — all he needed was proof the Uchiha had the guns at all.

It seemed like each day there was a new incident involving a shooting.

He was running out of time.

And fighting three fires as on person was exhausting. One being the case of the Uchiha and their evident guilt in supplying this city with drugs and weapons, the other dealing with the Yakuza's hit and handling his faction, and unveiling the truth about his brother's death.

Sighing inwardly, Tobirama wondered if his plan worked.

If Madara started questioning Sakura's viability with knowing him, then slowly cracks would begin to surface. She was a caged animal, or so he thought. She seemed perfectly content with her place among the Uchiha at the casino, and any opportunity of tearing them apart would be a lot more difficult than he first assumed.

His phone rang, breaking up his scattered thoughts — and perhaps the only person to call him chimed in happily, "Tobi! The prints came in, want to meet me at the station or your place?"

"My place."

For the first time in years, he felt like he took another step forward in solving the case of his Hashirama's death.

xox

Sakura's Apartment
Downtown Kyoto

Exhausted and unable to keep her eyes open, Sakura hung onto the edges of consciousness trying to stay awake.

After several long hours of tedious translating the broken and worn text, they were only able to get through the first page. Hidan offered to keep going, but she decided that was enough for now. The journal came off as more of a story than it did a diary, which stumped her previous assumption of it being simply factual.

Tt started off with a young girl's village being ravaged by a group of rogues that tore her apart from her father. The fires blazed through her village and the men died trying to protect their home while the women and children were stolen and brought into the slave trade. Most of them died there, but the young girl managed to stay alive.

It was used in a first person narrative which made it nearly impossible to decipher who this journal may have belonged to…But Sakura had an odd feeling as her eyes combed over the words.

It felt…Familiar.

Every word that Hidan broke down (which was unendurable based on the old paper and faded text meant that he had to piece each letter back together based on a loose pattern if they could even guess the symbol correctly) so she would sit by him and read him back other variables for the text from another artifact he had and a book that briefly went over the language.

Each word was a process, and she almost pulled out her hair with how slow and meticulous he was about it.

It reminded her of the odd dreams she was having that suddenly stopped.

Could it be that girl that looked like her with the long hair?

No, that was insane.

Sakura rubbed her eyes, feeling her eyes burn from exhaustion. She had work in the morning and needed to get to sleep, Sasuke left her a message asking to talk again — but she was too tired to deal with him for now.

Without realizing it, she fell asleep.

xox

Senju Estate
Feudal Japan

The world danced in a cloak of black and blue light.

Sakura tried to blink them away but found the stars shimmered brighter. Her body was light, she couldn't feel her limbs — but it didn't terrify her.

The muted sound of muffled voices caught her attention, and she spun in the inky blackness to turn in that direction, but couldn't see anything.

Much too suddenly, the air was sucked from her lungs and she gasped for air. Clawing at her throat, she wordlessly choked in the darkness as the beautiful lights faded, leaving her in complete darkness.

Was she dying?

And all too suddenly a bright light snatched her and threw her into a room with two men and a woman.

In the corner, a redheaded woman with traditional buns in her hair kept her face serious — beside her a man with long, chocolate brown hair looked down on a map — and lastly another man that looked like —-

Sakura paused, noticing it was the detective.

"Detective?" she croaked out, her throat still dry.

All heads in the room paused, looks of confusion on their face, "did you hear that?" Tobirama looked around.

Mito looked straight at her, "it came from that direction."

The man with long brown hair waved them off, "you guys are overreacting, it was probably one of the maids."

Sakura looked down at herself, she was still wearing her shorts and summery tank top — could they see her? She poked her own stomach and the density planted her in reality — what was going on?

To test if it was a dream, she pinched her arm, "ow!" she hissed.

All heads turned in her direction again.

"Someone is there," Tobirama bolted upright and walked right past her and to the door. When he flung it open, no one was there.

Sakura shrunk and pressed herself against the wall.

"Ignore it, brother," Hashirama chastised, "and explain to me again how you don't remember?"

The graceful woman frowned, "you were in love with one another. How is it that you don't remember Sakura-chan?"

Tobirama glared at them, "and how is it that you two aren't understanding? I don't know that name. I woke up along the main path with coins in my pocket, my sword, and a mare!"

Sakura's heart jumped in her throat, —are they talking about me?

His deep, baritone voice sounded exactly like the detective's, but it couldn't be him.

Both Hashirama and Mito gave each other a sympathetic look, wondering how badly they must have tortured him for him not to remember, "…she went after you, I can safely assume she bartered for your freedom in exchange for her own," his brother explained.

Tobirama huffed, crossing his arms defiantly over his chest, "what a horrid trade for the Uchiha. A mere girl for me?"

Mito glared at him, "don't disrespect Kazuya-san's daughter like that! Sakura is a lovely girl."

"That mere girl was the key to half of the other Uzumaki. She and the Hyuga are the reason we lost Itama and are losing this war!"

What the hell are they talking about?!

Tobirama was getting more disinterested by the second, anger building in his chest at the mention of his brother, "which is why we are killing that whole fucking house! Madara pretends to broker a preliminary truce, but I know his real intention. He wants us dead as much as we want them dead!"

Sakura wanted to say something, but couldn't afford to.

This had to be a dream. He looked just like the detective, a couple of minor differences — like this man had red stripes tattooed on his face whereas the detective was clean faced. Maybe the stress of the clan and Sasuke was getting to her. Maybe it was her guilt and her subconscious was going wild.

It had to be.

The vehemence and anger stemming from his brother made Hashirama glance down at the map, gripping the edges of the table, "…I don't want to know what happened to you over there, brother…But I must say that Sakura made you a much nicer man."

The younger Senju shook his head before leaving, "I don't know who you're talking about! Nor do I care to know! You need to focus on our safety, Hashirama! Or do you plan to lose to Madara?"

He slammed the door shut behind him, leaving Sakura quaking.

It's just a dream. It's just a dream.

In an instant, she was pulled from that room and into the darkness again.

Already expecting the air to be taken from her, she held her breath.

Except this time it didn't happen and she found herself thrust into a large wooden area.

The sound of clashing metal surrounded her, and she followed the source — halfway stumbling and dizzy from the quickness of it all.

"Gotcha!" a feminine voice sounded.

Sakura peaked around a tree, barely able to catch her breath when she spotted the woman similar to her fighting against a man eerily akin to the translator she met earlier that day. This woman was from her dreams, except her hair was much, much shorter than last time and she was wearing a hakama tied together by an obi, it looked rather funny — but she made it work.

Leaning against the tree, she felt the source of a strong power coming from…Her. It buzzed around her like a bright light, engulfing the encompassing area in warm energy.

The shorter haired woman stopped, sensing her.

Hidan failed to notice anything and swiped Sakura's feet from beneath her, pinning her to the ground with his scythe to her neck, "you need to pay attention at all times. This is how you get yourself fucking killed."

The past Sakura huffed, bitter in her loss but feeling utterly alive with the thrill of training again, "can you get off? I thought I saw something."

He shuffled off of her, returning his scythe over his shoulder, "whatever. I have to go make a sacrifice anyway, I'll be back in a few days."

This caught her attention, and she lifted herself up, "don't touch any of the villagers, anywhere."

He ignored her, "whatever, Sakura-hime — I'll find some menacing rapist if it'll make you sleep at night."

Sakura sizzled at the taunt of her title, and he rubbed the top of her hair with his hand affectionately before leaving, he wasn't a man of goodbyes — and she preferred it this way.

Now then.

Present Sakura stepped from beyond the tree, being called by the bright energy that whipped wildly around the woman who looked terrifyingly similar to herself.

The two women faced each other for the first time outside of Midnights Run, in the bright light of the past world their similarities were far more than their discrepancies. "Who are you?" the princess guarded herself, unsure of who this girl with her odd clothing could possibly be.

"M-me?" Sakura stuttered, realizing that she was being talked to, "you can see me?"

"Of course I can!" the princess gripped her knife tightly, "now tell me who you are!"

The two strong headed women glared at one another, "no! You tell me! You're in my dream!"

"Dream?" past Sakura asked dubiously, "you're in the eastern lands, a mile away from the Uchiha stronghold — you're in my land, so tell me who you are now!"

Sakura stopped, suddenly aware of the warm air and crisp wind on her skin — the birds were alive in the flurry of spring. She started to panic, "this isn't a dream," she realized, touching her forehead as it suddenly started to burn.

The princess walked forward, pausing time.

It was becoming easier each time she did it, and she recognized this girl from the ethereal zone — maybe this was her reincarnation? Her power felt even greater in the presence of this odd girl, and she stood in front of her future self. They shared the same face aside from minor differences, but their eyes were entirely similar.

"Your name is Sakura, isn't it?"

Sakura watched as the world stopped in awe, barely able to react from the sheer power this woman exuded, "…it is. Sakura Haruno. I…I'm from Kyoto Japan."

The two women looked each other in the eye.

One with the body of that of a fighter and survivor.

The other with the softer curves and comfort of the future.

"Wh-where am I?"

Past Sakura couldn't understand this…But they needed to figure this out, "come with me."

The trek was deathly silent.

Sakura had so many questions, and the world was still on their way home. For brief flashes it would all resume, and each time it stopped her forehead would burn. After an hour of this, she finally grabbed the woman's shoulder with a frown, demanding answers,"where are we going?"

Past Sakura looked down at the Uchiha's castle from their spot on the hill, determined to get them to her quarters unseen, "…home."

When they entered the grand building — faces were frozen in time. The large, decorated halls were rich in luxury. Textiles of red and black amassed the structure, and Sakura found herself lost in the transient nature of this world.

This wasn't possible.

She passed soulless eyes, and the inner doctor within her wondered if they were ok, "…are they alright?"

Past Sakura looked over her shoulder, "don't worry about them. They're safe."

When they reached her quarters, the world resumed outside.

"I suppose I should introduce myself to my future incarnation," past Sakura pressed her hand to her stomach, wondering how and why her reincarnation suddenly dropped into her world. Could it be because of her growing power? Was there a reason fate bound them together now? At this point, so many things had sufficed to shock and thwart her undestanding of reality that this didn't surprise her.

"—My name is Sakura Uzumaki, daughter of Kazuya and Azule Uzumaki. I am betrothed to Madara Uchiha, and we are in the west dominion of Japan. As you saw, this is the Uchiha's castle."

Her future self lost all color in her face, and for a moment she was afraid she might pass out.

"Wh-what?!"

"Keep your voice down!" Sakura snapped, "if they hear us people will get suspicious."

Present Sakura fell down onto the bed, her head light — "h-how is this possible? I was just asleep and then I was here!"

"I"m not sure," the princess answered, disappearing into her extension to get the girl some water. Upon her return, she handed her delicate self the glass, "drink that so you don't faint."

An odd, awkward silence daunted them.

"…Ifyou're Sakura, and I'm Sakura — how is this going to work?"

Past Sakura thought about it and pursed her lips, "…that's a good question. I suppose to keep things less confusing, you may refer to me as Sakuya." She pinned it from her father's name.

"Right," Sakura answered, rubbing her temple from her building migraine.

"I suppose you should know what's happening?" Sakuya felt inclined to explain, but the poor girl looked like she couldn't handle all the information Azule threw at ther — but she had to wonder how this girl made it back here. Before that, she needed answers, "do you remember what happened to you before you got here?"

"Should I?" she quipped back, staring revernely at this pixie-like woman. It was odd, really. They were the same person, but so different in disposition, "I was in another room with some people...And before that I felt like I was floating..." Like an odd dream that felt so vivint and real while you're asleep, but the moment you wake up it becomes a hazy mess that you have to figure out.

"Floating?" Sakuya wondered.

A loud knock resonated over the room.

"Sakura-hime! We need to fit you for your wedding gown!" Mira's voice echoed from beyond the large oak door, and the princess panicked.

"One moment!" she pointed to the bathe — but Mira walked in already.

Both females froze, looking similarly guilty — and the young handmaiden stopped, the extravagant gown held preciously in her arms. Mira quickly bowed, oblivious to the other woman in the room, "sorry for barging in, but you said to bring this to you at once, and I couldn't wait any longer!"

Straightening herself, Mira shuffled to the bed, passing through Sakura and lying down the uchikake*.

For a brief moment, both past and future held their breath at the beauty of the gown.

The crisp, white multi-layered dress was made of a fine silk that shimmered and reflected off the light. Hand-sewn, gold flower designs were stitched into the expensive material on the edges of the billowed sleeves. Each layer was bordered in the bright red of the Uchiha clan, Mira raised it to show her the back. On the back, lit aflame the Uchiwa symbol was prominently stitched in red and outlined in black, the long material tumbled to the floor — temporarily making Sakuya forget she had another person in the room.

What both women failed to realize was that they felt eachother's wonderment.

"It's...Beautiful," Sakuya murmured softly, reaching out but retracting her hand — she had never seen something so beautiful before. Nothing in her closet came close to the extravagance of this kimono, not even the fine kimono's that Madara gifted her when she was a concubine. He must have spent a fortune on this piece, and part of her felt guilty for touching it with her calloused fingers.

"Isn't it?" Mira beamed, proud of the workmanship of the clan's seamstress.

Sakura crept forward and touched the gown, tilting her head as she felt the luxurios material in between gentle fingers.

So she could touch things, but apparently not be seen by anybody but her…Predeccessor.

This was only confusing her further.

"Sakura-hime!" a distant, but booming voice called out to them.

Both women whipped in the direction of the voice, "Sakura!"

Mira quickly set the gown down as Inari burst into the room, "you need to come, now!"

"What is it!?" Sakuya was still dressed in her odd sparring outfit, but the general didn't notice.

"Madara-sama has been injured! We've brought him back, but he requested you!"

The Princess forewent her foreign visitor and bolted through the doors.

Sakura could feel the panic her counterpart felt. It was the same dread that she felt during the night of the bombing — it was the same as when she witnessed Sasuke shoot the Yakuza members.

Trailing after her, she remembered the very clear words of the journal.

You love Madara.

You always have.

A loud, sharp buzzing echoed in her ears. Wincing and doubling over, the pain radiated through her skull. It rattled her until she fell to the floor, unable to catch up to her past self. The last thing she saw before the world went black was a large, bulky male being dragged into the room.

xox

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!"

The sensation of someone waking her and shaking her shoulders jolted her awake.

Bleary eyed and unsure of where she was, the dim lighting of her apartment blinded her. Blinking back her daze, Shisui grabbed her arm, "you need to wake up! Madara-sama needs your help!"

What?

"Wh-where is he?" she sat up and was led through her apartment until they wound through to his apartment.

Shisui led her through the familiar walls of her boyfriend's apartment when she saw him in the kitchen with a makeshift tie around his arm, gritting his teeth as Izuna made it tighter to stop his bleeding, "hurry, come here!" Izuna ushered her.

Sakura ran over, there was so much blood — but from a quick eye she could see he clearly got shot in the arm and it might have hit an artery.

Adrenaline kicked her awake and she rushed to him.

"What happened!" she demanded, kneeling before him to quickly assess his wound.

"We were driving to Mirago when someone tried to get a hit on us!" Shisui quickly explained, "those fucks managed to get through the window — before we could get out they shot him!"

Each clan member was frantic. Shisui was intently watching her, Izuna looked ready to kill someone, and Sasuke was arguing over the phone in the living room. Itachi looked out the window, jaw clenched.

This was their rida, whether or not they agreed with his decisions and person — they were still family, and their bonds were closer than most other families.

"I need medical tools or a kit! I don't have anything here to get the bullet out," Sakura explained — she could have fed off their energy, but her years of practice and training in the surgery room made her oddly serious.

"In the spare bedroom!" Madara ground his teeth together and pointed.

Shisui bolted.

He gripped her free hand as she worked around his wound, before she could wash her hands to sterilize herself — he looked away, half-ashamed.

"I'm sorry to do this to you," he apologized against the pain, "if I went to the hospital there would be questions."

Sakura pursed her lips and nodded.

Too focused on saving him, when Shisui returned with the kit — she gave herself to her work. When she was in the operating room, there was nothing but her, the patient, and her tools. Her mind went to a place that focused on the safety of her patients and the improvement of their lives. She blocked out the chaos in the room and quickly made work of his wound - impressing all the men watching her.

An hour later Madara was stitched and bandaged.

The doctor washed her hands again as Madara and his men were calling everyone in their power to figure out who tried to kill them.

Madara looked at her and offered the simplest of smiles — reassuring her that he was ok.

Sakura heaved a sigh of relief. The wound wasn't bad or hard to fix, but she hated seeing him in pain — validating her feelings for the powerful man. He must have caught on to her stress that she finally allowed herself to feel, and after the many thanks and grateful compliments from his cousins, Sakura tried to make sense of her world.

And the world beyond this one.

What would she do without Madara?

It ate at her stomach to realize that Sasuke was right - she did love Madara Uchiha.

xox

"We missed him, Boss — I'm sorry," a raspy voice said over the phone.

Tobirama checked local hospital records to see if Madara was admitted yet but came up short. He ordered the hit on him after gearing his car with a tracking device when he met them at the casino. The male gnawed on his inner cheek before he slammed his fist on the table, cracking the wood, "fuck!"

Itama came back that morning with the fingerprints on the gun that killed Hashirama matched Madara's prints Tobirama stole off the dice the other night from the craps table.

It was a tense, sombering revelation for the brothers because they truly believed the justice system was on their side in his brother's case. They trusted Madara growing up. Hashirama and their brother were inseparable for so many years, and Madara became a permanent fixture in their home when he wanted to get away from his clan.

So not only did the court's lie in Madara's favor and brush his brother's death under the table (assumably they were bought out) — Madara lied about killing his brother.

Fucking Uchiha.

Tobirama saw it coming, his suspicions for years were confirmed today — and in his silent rage he ordered the hit. He used his growing position in the Yakuza to kill the man that was already their target.

Itama worried for his sanity, the information they had been working towards for years was now proven — but how do you fight against a system rigged and ran by the Uchiha when you're only one man playing both sides?

You don't.

But he wasn't afraid.

He didn't care if he started a war — the as long as Madara's body was on the floor by the end of it, half the city could burn.

Author's Note:
Gengo: The name I'm using for the lost language of the past that's written in the journal.
Uchikake: A traditional Japanese wedding kimono.
Konohana Sakuya-hime: In Japanese mythology, she is the blossom princess and symbol of delicate earthly life.

I really wanted to incorporate aspects of this legend into this story, and felt that since past!Sakura and future!Sakura finally met, it would get quite confusing. So I decided to name past!Sakura - Sakuya based off of this legend when the past and future are together.

Seriously thank you everyone that has waited for this update. I hope it's good, and there's really no excuse for an update taking this long. Thank you for everyone that has stuck by this story, and thank you for such thoughtful reviews and well wishes, I really really appreciate all of you!

Don't forget to review/follow/fav if you enjoy this story - you have no idea how much motivation it gives me!
Thank you!