Loneliness !

Day 36

— "Do you really think he'll accept ?" Sakura asked.

The two shinobi were currently seated at the central table of the room for lunch.

It had been two days since they sent their message and they were anxiously awaiting the response of the Daimyô of Ta No Kuni. If his answer was positive, their plan would advance more quickly. If the Daimyô refused... they would probably have to kill him.

— "In a way, he has no choice," Madara said. "It's actually in his best interest to say yes. It would be very bad form to refuse a request from the Uchiha clan, especially its leader," the dark-haired man explained, taking a piece of fish with his chopsticks.

The current Daimyô would be very unwise to forget that if the elemental nations existed and especially that if he held this position it was in large part thanks to the Uchiha clan. To refuse would be like signing his death warrant.

— "We're going to find out soon anyway," Madara added, his gaze focused on the outside. In the distance, a dark spot was approaching before gradually taking shape : a raptor. It was Madara's summons, and with a few beats of its wings, it landed on the table. The bird bowed to its master.

— "Uchiha-sama," the animal greeted respectfully.

— "Report," the dark-haired man ordered in a leader's voice. It was an intonation Sakura had hardly ever heard. Through his voice, one could feel his strength, his determination... he was born to lead, a true leader.

— "The Daimyô of Ta No Kuni responded within minutes of reading your message, Uchiha-sama," the golden eagle explained, straightening up. "He took a few minutes to think things over before making a decision. He dismissed everyone in the room except for his bodyguards and wrote his response himself."

The Uchiha was satisfied with these first words. The Daimyô was taking his letter seriously so that he would take the trouble to write it himself. This was something quite rare among country leaders.

— "What did he do with the message he sent ?"

— "Burned in a brazier, Uchiha-sama," the bird quickly replied, not glancing at Sakura.

— "Perfect," Madara exclaimed before opening the scroll case and pulling out its contents. Nice scroll : the Daimyô took it very seriously.

To Uchiha-dono,

The world is constantly changing, and with it its share of events. The Muromachi era is now over, and with it that of the Shinobi Gods. Those who allowed by their presence to establish a certain stability are no more and as you say so well, the beginnings of war are at our doors.

However, you can imagine that I only aspire to the prosperity of my country and to peace. I suspect that with your proposal comes its share of war and bloodshed. But after all, he who desires peace, prepares for war.

Nevertheless, I would be suicidal to refuse your proposal. And I cannot ignore who you are. My country exists because you have established the elemental nations. I dare to hope that your death was part of your plans to disappear and act more easily in the shadows.

I, Daimyô Hashuba Shôta of Ta No Kuni accept your proposal Uchiha-dono, in the hope and expectation that I am doing the right thing.

I await your directives.

— "That's fine," Madara said, placing the scroll on the table. They now had free rein to run the country of Ta No Kuni. "I'll let you go hunting my friend and get some rest. In three hours I will entrust you with another courier and you can return home after delivering it."

— "Hai, Uchiha-sama," the animal bowed before flying off into the valley to hunt for food.

— "We need resources now," Sakura said more to herself than to the dark-haired man at her side.

— "Hai, and we need to do this quietly," Madara confirmed, as Sakura headed for her desk. She pulled out a scroll once more and prepared to write another missive to the Daimyô.

— "I am listening, Uchiha-san."

Daimyô-dono,

Like any country, a flourishing economy is the basis of everything. Don't worry about that, I have an endless supply of money to support several wars in a row. However, having the means without having the resources is useless.

I need you to create huge reserves. I don't care how you do it, but you need to collect as much money as possible to last for years. Make requests in various countries for food. (Grain, wheat, rice and anything that can be stored for a long time.) Also, if you have a person with knowledge of Fûinjutsu, seal vegetables, fruits, meat.

Check with your advisors, but find various excuses for the different countries. Bad harvest, parasite, population boom, it's up to you, but be as discreet as possible.

You also need to gather a lot of raw materials. Start the project to expand your capital, make new houses, new shops. What for? You will understand in the future. Order a lot of wood from Hi No Kuni, stone from Tsuchi No Kuni, iron from Kaminari No Kuni, exploit every wealth of each country and this at the lowest possible price.

You have to make important reserves for the future and it doesn't matter what you do, but you have to be discreet and clever. If you can do this without suspicion for at least six months, then we will win.

As soon as I'm available I'll come to you with some money to fill your treasury, so use your money.

— "Don't use wax and bring me a kunai and an unused feather," Madara said.

— "What are you going to do ?" Sakura asked as she approached her patient at the center table. She conjured a kunai from one of her many seals in a puff of smoke, then handed it to the dark-haired man. The latter placed the scroll in front of him before grasping the weapon. He made a small cut on his thumb, then dipped the top of his ring to impregnate it. He then affixed the seal of the Uchiha clan with his blood on the scroll. He then took the virgin feather and placed it on his cut so that the tip was covered with his blood. He signed it thus : Uchiha Madara.

— "I have just made a deed of blood, proving that I am committed to providing what I said in the letter," the dark-haired man explained to the young woman's silent question. He began to suck his thumb to stop the bleeding. "He'll feel more serene this way, I'll let you do your Haruno-san Fûinjutsu again."

— "Hai, but first show me your thumb so I can fix this," Sakura demanded as she grabbed the Uchiha's arm

— "I've done my part, now I'd like to know what you plan to do once the war starts. How will you proceed Haruno-san ?" Madara asked, his thumb now unscarred.

— "The big countries won't go to war with each other at home..."

— "What do you mean ?"

— "The small countries will suffer the consequences. Many alliances are made between large countries and smaller countries that are merely vassals. But it will be on their lands that the battles will be fought. So I intend to go to those countries and evacuate as many people as possible... after the battles," Sakura explained, her own sentence hurting her.

— "Why not before ?" The dark-haired man wondered.

— "Because unfortunately I need them to be desperate to offer them our help, a home, food and a new family," Sakura said in a determined voice.

Day 50

— "Okay, I want you to try to stand up on your own two legs," Sakura announced to the dark-haired man who was currently sitting on the edge of his bed. The young woman was at his side, ready to support him if he failed.

Madara had expected another ritual from the young woman to heal his back and prepare his legs, but it seemed that while she was healing his nerve endings, she had also healed his legs. It was with great surprise and satisfaction that Madara complied. He placed his right hand on the edge of the bed and thus began the task of standing on both legs.

He felt pain in his lower body from the effort and could feel the trembling in his lower limbs.

— "Stop !" Sakura ordered as she saw that Madara was having difficulty. She then stood in front of him and offered :

— "Put your right hand in mine and use me for support."

Madara still had his pride, but in order to regain the use of his body, he managed to put it aside. He placed his hand in her hand and couldn't help but find it soft. Normally, a ninja's hands were calloused and worn from the hard work of training. Yet hers were soft and gentle. He had already caught a glimpse of her softness through her care when she touched him, but today was different.

So he used the strength of his arm to pull himself up and Sakura didn't flinch an inch despite the weight of her patient. Madara slowly rose to his feet and ended up on both legs after about twenty seconds of effort. His limbs were shaking, unused to being pushed around.

— "Sit back down," Sakura ordered after a moment. "It looks like there's almost no damage," she confirmed with satisfaction.

She had managed to accomplish something extremely dangerous and complicated. Many times she could have killed her patient without meaning to, but she wasn't just anyone, she was Sakura Haruno.

Once Madara was settled back on the bed, Sakura knelt down and brought her chakra covered hands to the dark-haired man's lower limbs. While applying her healing chakra, she made Madara's legs flex and extend.

— "No discomfort ?"

— "No," replied the man whose gaze was on the woman in charge of his care.

— "Good, try to bend your right leg as much as possible by yourself without using chakra," Sakura asked as she placed the leg on the ground. Madara did the exercise and managed to bend it very slightly, his muscles still too weak to raise it any higher. "Is it the same feeling as when we did the abdominal exercises ?" She asked, trying to get a feel for her patient.

— "No, I feel that my leg responds to my orders, I just... not the strength," admitted Madara who tried to bend a little more his member, in vain.

— "Extend your leg now, but don't stretch it out," Sakura continued before the brunette did so with much more ease. "Okay, extension is easier than flexion," she noted then. "Now rotate your leg outwards, then inwards slowly."

— "I felt a small shock go through my knee to my back," Madara confided as he swung his leg outwards. Sakura quickly put her hands on the knee before using her Iryô Ninjutsu.

— "Continue with this spinning motion while I look for the problem," Sakura said.

Madara rotated his limb inward once more, then outward and the small shock was felt.

— "There ! There it goes again," Madara pointed, tensing up.

— "Stay in that position, if it gets too painful, stop," Sakura pointed out, seeing what the problem was.

— "What's causing this ?" The Uchiha asked, over the past few days he had finished Sakura Haruno's first book. Thanks to her he had become a little more interested in the human body.

— "One of the side effects of what Hashirama did to you, it affected your sciatic nerve. The pain you felt was due to a mechanical problem in the lumbar mobile segment, whether it was in the joints, ligaments or your muscles. They are responsible for pain radiating from the spine to behind your knees."

Sakura had explained all this before standing up to inspect the man's back.

— "Continue to hold the position and tell me to stop when I've reached the peak of pain in your back," she explained again, placing two of her fingers on his lower back and slowly moving up his spine.

— "Here," Madara exclaimed once she had reached the dorsal vertebrae D12.

— "Breathe in," the young woman announced, placing two of her fingers perpendicularly before injecting a large amount of chakra once more.

— "Ahh !" Madara yelled, despite the fact that this wasn't the first time he'd experienced this type of pain, it still hurt like hell when she did this. He could once again feel the pain wash over him and spread through his entire body. It was less unbearable than the first time, but it still hurt like hell.

— "Take small breaths," Sakura whispered in his ear as she massaged his back.

Since Madara had agreed to help her, Sakura had changed her attitude a bit. She had put aside her vision of the Madara of her timeline to focus on the man in front of her. A man with a completely different vision, one who hadn't had time to think about the Eye of the Moon plan and who wasn't influenced by Black Zetsu.

If you take away this knowledge of a potential monster, Madara was a very interesting person. He was certainly a macho man who she would love to rip his balls off, but he now seemed to consider her an equal. Probably due to seeing all her skills and healing him.

In almost two months, Sakura had discovered a person who was curious, invested, proud and with honour. She could see a softer, more fragile side from time to time, which he was quick to hide so that no one would see that side.

— "Are you feeling better ?" Sakura asked softly, still massaging the vertebra.

— "Hai," Madara answered weakly.

— "Repeat the movement with your left leg and tell me if the sensation is still there."

The dark-haired man tried to do as she asked and found that he no longer felt the discomfort and pain. He was slightly out of breath from all the treatments. The young woman waited for him to recover before kneeling down in front of him. She explained to him that they would proceed in the same way with the right leg. The Uchiha was a little apprehensive but strangely enough it was easier on that side. Why was tha t? He had no idea, but he managed to get that leg a little higher than the other. He didn't hesitate to question the pink-haired woman who continued to monitor the movements of the right limb while giving instructions to the dark-haired man.

— "I suppose you're right-handed, aren't you ?"

The man nodded his head in agreement.

— "You involuntarily put more muscle into your right arm and your right leg. Since it was more muscular than the left, it's easier to use it now," Sakura replied professionally.

— "I don't feel any pain when I rotate," Madara anticipated, already rotating after extending her.

— "Perfect !" Sakura enthused before looking at Madara with a slightly sadistic smile. "From now on, every day we'll do rehabilitation exercises for your legs. But first, let's get back to your abdominal exercises."

She helped the dark-haired man to lie comfortably on the floor and then placed her hands on his knees.

— "Come on, give me a set of five and hold your core on the sixth pull up," Sakura commanded as she stared into the brunette's eyes.

Madara complied and did his exercise to slowly build up his muscles without damaging his back. He had been feeling his upper body obey him properly for the past few days, except for his left arm. The pain from his scars had completely disappeared and only the sensation of effort was present.

— "Hold on for another ten seconds..."

This had become their new morning routine. The treatment of his organs was done more quickly, but the physical exercises were now longer.

Day 52

Today was a very ordinary day in the world of Madara and Sakura. They had completed their medical ritual, as well as the rehabilitation exercises. They had eaten in silence while enjoying the music from the gramophone.

However, the rehabilitation was exhausting for Madara and he fell asleep quickly that night. He no longer needed to be put to sleep with chakra, except when his doctor deemed it necessary.

So it was two hours later that Sakura decided to go to bed. She blew out the candles in the main room, but not without checking the protections at each entrance. She was after all a ninja in a dangerous time, with the future of the world in her hands, so she had to be on her guard at all times.

She walked to her room and carefully placed her candle on the bedside table. Sakura removed all of her clothes and put them in the laundry basket. She then put on a pair of pink silk panties and a black t-shirt that she usually used for sleeping.

Seeing the pile of laundry she had gathered, Sakura realized that she would have to do some laundry tomorrow morning at the river.

The young woman's room was quite modest, she had two pieces of furniture in which her clothes were stored, a bed in the centre with a bedside table and a wardrobe built into the wall.

On her bedside table were two photo frames that were important to her. One was of her parents smiling. The second was a picture of Team Seven after Kakashi became Rokudaime Hokage. She knew it was dangerous to have that kind of picture visible, but Madara couldn't move by himself yet. But she knew that very soon, she would have to hide those two photographs.

As she sat on her bed, Sakura stared at the floor, thinking about how much she'd accomplished in almost three months. Her house had been built, she'd bonded with a village and made a friend. She had eliminated Black Zetsu and made the choice to save Madara to guide him to bring peace.

Many would call her a fool and a traitor for helping such a character. But they were not like her. She had listened to the words of the Rikudô Sennin, she had decided to see the world in its true light to understand why the world was rotten. The worst part of all this was not the fact that there was misery... it was seeing people close their eyes to it, hoping that it would disappear on its own.

With all this time at her disposal, Sakura had taken the time to analyze Madara's view of her timeline. And unfortunately, she could understand why he had wanted to plunge the world into a Genjutsu. Because the world was stupid, greedy, selfish and this one never learned. It repeated the same mistakes over and over again. So, putting it into an illusion was a solution... but not the right one.

Sakura understood this vision, but couldn't accept it, the world would have no free will and this peace would be the same as in her time : false.

Luckily, the moment Sakura saved Madara, she prevented Zetsu from guiding him to this famous Moon Eye plan. For the time being, the Madara in the other room had not had sixty years to think of this plan. Today, Uchiha Madara's peace was achievable and Sakura had every intention of helping him while improving this vision.

With their plan in motion, Sakura wondered if the people she had known and loved would exist in the future ? Sure, they wouldn't recognize her at all, but would they exist ? Because what the two protagonists wanted to do would change the face of the world as it was.

Sakura turned to her bedside table and grabbed the frame containing the picture of her parents.

— "Tou-chan... Kaa-chan..."

Sakura suddenly had tears falling on the frame. She had become strong, but it was still hard for her to think that her parents no longer existed and probably never would. In any case, even if they appeared in the new future to come, they would not recognise her as a child because their temporality will have been completely changed. None of those she had known would ever be part of her life again.

She lay down on the bed, still holding the picture in front of her, and then suddenly she broke down. She began to cry as softly as possible, thinking about her past, about the people she loved. She tried to stop the flow of pain that was coming over her once again, but to no avail.

Madara was gently awakened by muffled noises. Was he dreaming ? It took him a few seconds to regain his senses and remember where he was. It was night, the room was lightly lit by the glow of the moon... He remembered, he was recovering.

But what disturbed him was that muffled sound he heard once again. He concentrated chakra as quietly as possible in his ears to increase the hearing. Thanks to this, he could distinguish perfectly the slightest suspicious noise and especially if someone was hiding in the house. But instead of an enemy, he perceived that it was someone in pain. He immediately understood who the feeling belonged to : Sakura.

Why was she crying ? Was it because of him ? Was it because of her past ? Or was it her own demons that were haunting her ? Although she hadn't told him anything about her history, the little he had managed to get out of her in all those weeks at her side, he had deduced that she had suffered and lost everything.

Madara had always considered women to be useless, weak and uninteresting. That crying was not suitable for a man, that being merciful never brought anything good. But that was all before. For almost two months now, Madara had begun to change, to think differently. All his life he had only seen women who didn't deserve his attention and it was refreshing for Madara to meet a woman like Sakura.

She was sweet, kind, beautiful, but at the same time deadly dangerous, and it was largely because of her that Madara changed. She was the second woman he didn't consider weak and she was the only woman in the world he saw as his equal. He was looking forward to the chance to fight in a friendly match, or to see her on the battlefield.

She was also a woman who had taught him that reaching out could do so much. The proof was that it had saved his life. Besides, there was one thing Madara hated, people picking on the people he loved. And Sakura was starting to fall into that category of people. So it hurt to hear her cry and his body acted in spite of itself. He pushed back the blanket with his able-bodied arm and slowly straightened up to find himself sitting on the edge of the bed. He didn't know what he could do to stop her crying, but he was going to do something... anything.

The hardest part was ahead of him, he put both feet on the floor and tried to balance himself on his legs. They shook with the effort and after a few seconds Madara managed to stand. He managed to take one step... two steps, but finally lost his balance because his legs were not yet ready for such an effort.

He collapsed to the ground with a loud thud and a groan of pain. He still managed to break his fall with his right arm. Barely a second after his fall, Madara heard someone running through the house.

The next moment he could see the door to the room open with a bang as Sakura entered. She was back in warrior mode thinking of an intruder. She was dressed in a black t-shirt and simple underwear. Her green eyes glowed slightly in the darkness, evidence that chakra was flowing into her eyes to see better in the night. She held a kunai in each hand ready to fight. Madara thanked the darkness, as a blush settled on his face at such a sight.

— "Uchiha-san !" Sakura exclaimed as she saw Madara on the ground.

She glanced around the room quickly, looking for an enemy. When she found none, she realized that Madara had probably fallen out of bed. She dropped her weapons and ran to him to pick him up.

She crouched down and picked him up and laid him on the bed. As soon as she heard the sound of the fall, she had rushed in, ready to fight for her home and her patient. She didn't care what she was wearing at the time or what tears were still on her cheeks. Nothing was more important than protecting Madara. That's why she was completely unaware of the embarrassment of the man seeing her so scantily clad for the first time. She quickly lit a candle on the bedside table and worried about why the Uchiha was on the floor.

— "Did you have a nightmare ?" Sakura asked as she looked at the dark-haired man's body for any injuries.

— "No... I'm sorry," Madara apologized.

This surprised Sakura who didn't understand why he was presenting them to her. This was the second time he had apologized to her, the first time was because a member of his clan had tried to kill her.

— "Why "? Sakura asked uncertainly.

Madara finally turned his face to the young woman. She still had tears on her cheeks and her green eyes were slightly reddened. He couldn't bear to see such a thing.

He gently raised his right arm to place his hand on Sakura's cheek. He gently wiped away the tears that were still there. Sakura was far too shocked by the gesture to make any movement.

— "I don't like to see you cry," Madara announced in a deep voice before wiping the second cheek. "It doesn't suit you."

Sakura didn't know what to make of the man in front of her. He was being delicate with her and seemed concerned about her condition. Who knew Madara had a heart in his chest. Plus, he had just made another reference to her being pretty.

The young woman couldn't hide the blush that was building up in her cheeks, so she gently grabbed Madara's hand as he wiped them clean to stop him from doing so.

— "Sorry," she said before wiping away the rest of her tears herself without letting go of the Uchiha's hand. "I didn't mean to wake you up, is that why you fell ?"

— "Your past ?" Madara asked, ignoring Sakura's comment. He saw her lower her eyes as if ashamed.

— "Hai," she replied in a small, emotional voice.

— "Do you want to talk about it ?" Madara offered with an unfamiliar concern.

— "I miss the people I love," Sakura confided softly, squeezing the dark-haired man's hand a little tighter.

— "Do you have family somewhere ?" Madara asked softly and only received a no from Sakura with her head. She looked like she was ready to snap again, so Madara burst his chakra into his hand and around him.

Chakra could be used for what the ninja called, killing intent, but the opposite could also be done. When a chakra was powerful enough, it could envelop someone with its feelings. So Madara gave off a feeling of understanding, protection, security, warmth and comfort.

— "The people we love will always be with us," Madara explained wisely and in a voice that was meant to be comforting before pointing to Sakura's heart with their linked hands. "Don't mourn them, live your life to make them proud of you."

Sakura never thought chakra could be used in this way and she felt a little better. She could feel Madara's power through her chakra and slowly her painful thoughts diminished. But she couldn't help but wonder why Madara was doing this ? Why was he taking the time to comfort a woman ? Why couldn't he be the man she had known ? It would be so much easier to hate him than to let this new feeling come over her.

— "Arigato..."