Chapter 4

Madara was on guard, this woman could not be human. Hashirama was too enchanted to be conscious enough to see he was falling in her trap.

The pinket pulled her arms up and close to her chest, showing a pair of cuffs. Heavy looking iron cuffs attached by a chain to the middle of the small island she las sitting on.

An even bigger red flag in the eyes of the Uchiha, only monsters are chained.

But to the brown-haired man this was different. In his eyes, this woman was a prisoner, a victim that he was ready to save from whom ever or whatever left her here.

The only thing that struck the raven-haired man weird was that she was not showing her imprisonment to seek pity, she was inching away from them and trying to protect herself.

As if they were the monsters.

Narrowing his eyes at her actions, Madara would not be fooled, not like the man next to him was.

Said man was getting closer and climbing on the small island to touch her. The idiot!

The woman stared with wide eyes at the actions made from the tanned man as he crouched near her and smiled.

A smile so bright that made her shoulders unintentionally relax and her fear slipped away as if it never existed. - "What is your name?" – she blinked, surprised by the question.

After a couple of seconds, the men though she may not know their language. But then she spoke. - "I don't remember" - It sounded more as an apology then an answer.

Scrambling for another question, the Senju continued. – "Do you know where you are?" –

She peeked over her shoulder and all around the room. Turning back to the brown-haired man she shook her head in denial. - "Do you know what happened to the Sakura tree?" –

Madara saw recognition in her eyes. – "Sakura." – she stated. – "My name." –

- "Really? Is that why you were a Sakura tree just now?" – the Senju asked in a soft tone, helping the girl relax even more, enough to lower her arms as the cuffs weight seemed too heavy for her.

She just looked more confused now. They could see the wheels turning but no sign of her even understanding the question.

Well… in her defence, becoming a creature out of flesh and bone after being a tree is not your everyday occurrence… or any day for that matter.

The Senju's guard was down and relaxed, causing the pinket to feel more at ease with his presence, but every time her eyes met the onyx gaze, she would inch back a little more. It was only a matter of time before she fell into the cold water.

She couldn't be that clumsy… right?

He watched intently as his companion asked a couple of more questions about her age, family, where she is from, what she was doing here. No answer.

Even when she stumbled to get her words out or just shake her head to answer, Madara could see she was being honest, she had no idea.

No memory.

Not even the best liar he has met can fake such a demeanour, her expression of pure confusion and overwhelmed look made her seem so credible.

If he were 10 years younger, he might have also been in the Senju's same position, completely smitten by the woman in front and wanting to free her. Wanting to remove those unsettling and offensive looking cuffs that did not match with her beauty.

After a few minutes, the Uchiha had enough of this, and the woman seemed to be of no help at all. Their men were out in a dangerous land, and they were wasting precious time.

Taking a firm step forward, the man had no patience left, only the drive of a leader. That scared her, visibly.

With a loud gasp she backed all the way down and started to fall, only to be held by the strong chains, her long and wavy hair reached the surface of the water. Before the Senju had the chance to hold her or help her, Madara stopped him by holding his shoulders back.

A firm hand was all that he needed to let his friend know that it was his turn to talk.

Reaching down to tug at the heavy chains, yanking her back to the centre of the small island with force. With both hands captured the only way to fall was with her knees, but Madara did not expect her to have no strength to hold herself.

He could not believe how easy it was to pull her up, she weights almost nothing. Hashirama caught her by the waist before her face met the floor. In a reflex, the Uchiha dropped the chains, they were hurting her.

She had no power.

Did she ever have any?

That would make it easier for him to gain any information, but not here. He needed to have her in an interrogation room. She knew something and they had a mission to complete. Even if they failed at locating a fairy tale, they must take the evidence and findings.

A ping of pity could be felt in his chest, not something he would show or admit. But what he could not ignore was the weird feeling he had that was growing in his mind, something was wrong.

The pinket was quickly showing signs of tiredness and she looked almost faint, as if she could barely breath. With Hashirama not able to do much but speak to her and check her pulse, the Uchiha took a distance, returning to the other side of the small river.

Just then he knew it, he could feel his energy come back, his chakra was back under his control and his red eyes showed him the truth.

The small land was eating up their life force, it came from those cuffs and connected everything by the chain.

He could clearly see the thin threads of dark energy pulling and feasting from the small girl and his friend, the Senju had plenty that he could not feel the effects as strongly as the pinket.

She was dying.

He was not going to let that happen, weak and powerless, he waited until the woman fainted and had just a couple of seconds left to destroy the connection. As Hashirama fussed over the woman and held her closer… while actually panicking. The Uchiha shook his head in disbelieve. – "Do something Dara!" – he would hear the man actually screaming.

With one definite swing, his powerful sword was launched directly at the weak spot of the chains, effectively destroying them and, with the effectiveness of any weapon created and coated in the best materials and energy to attack and destroy a curse from its core, he could see all the evil energy disappear.

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