Feel !

Day 90

For three months now, Sakura had been at an impasse. Indeed, the young woman was discovering in Madara a totally different person. She saw a powerful, charismatic, influential person who knew what he wanted in life. He was a man who could protect his loved ones, had fragile sides and if you were someone who had earned his respect: he listened to you. And without her realizing it, Sakura was experiencing a different form of love than she had known as a child: learning to love someone.

At the same time, Madara was walking slowly through the garden, the exercises Sakura had imposed on him were paying off. He was now able to walk slowly by himself. However, he still couldn't run or use chakra in his muscles, but he could walk for a good hour if he took regular breaks. It was a blessing for Madara to finally be able to move on his own.

He was currently standing next to a tree on the edge of a cliff, looking off into the distance, a slight smile on his lips.

— "What's happening to me ?" Sakura wondered as she sat at her desk and watched her patient walk outside. For some time now, she found herself enjoying his presence more and more, enjoying feeling his intense gaze on her.

This was something totally new to her. She had never known a man to look at her in this way. Sasuke had only looked at her as a useless person, Naruto had the look of a child, but Madara... he had many ways of looking at her and it disturbed her greatly. He could have that curious, interested, sometimes calculating or intrigued look. Sakura could easily say that she did not leave him indifferent. And that's why Sakura didn't know where she stood anymore. For she had never let a man know the real Sakura. No one had told her she was beautiful in such a subtle way. She found herself enjoying her rare, intimate, awkward moments with him more and more.

— "Sakura-san ?" Madara's deep voice said. This return to reality brought her out of her questioning of her shaken feelings.

— "Hai ?" Sakura asked confused.

— "Are you alright ?" Madara asked worriedly.

— "Yes, why ?"

— "I called you twice and you didn't answer," Madara explained after walking the path from the garden to her doctor's office.

— "Gomen, I was just thinking," she admitted and received only a thin smile in response. The man was more relaxed since his thanks and Sakura understood that even Madara was a human with many faces. A face for the outside world, one that must be above reproach in order to preserve the honor of his clan. A cold and ruthless face to his enemies... and a relaxed and tender look to his loved ones.

— "Would you like to come walk with me ?" Madara asked, looking out. He didn't want to show his discomfort, after all, this was something new for him : he'd never asked a woman to go for a walk with him before, usually he would have imposed his opinion.

— "Gladly," Sakura replied, glad to refresh her mind. "Would you mind if we went to the village ?"

— "I don't mind."

— "Just give me a moment to get my basket and buy some vegetables," she said as she headed for the kitchen.

She returned with a wicker basket on her arm before moving to Madara's side and grabbing his right arm out of habit.

— "How long before I can use chakra do you think ?" The dark-haired man asked as they walked towards the village.

— "That depends Madara-san, this is the first time you're going on such a long walk, if you're not too tired, we can consider running in the next few days."

— "Sakura-san, I'd like to ask you a delicate question..."

— "I'm listening," Sakura replied, never knowing what to expect with the dark-haired man by her side. His questions were always surprising, going from the advanced medical field to the completely mundane.

— "Did a member of my clan...," the dark-haired man began softly before stopping and looking the young woman in the eye. "Is responsible for the loss of your loved ones ?"

It didn't take any verbal response for her to realize that this was indeed the case. Madara had always been good at asking the right questions and this time he had made sure to look her in the eyes. He could read her soul and as soon as he asked the question, her gaze changed. He was sad, angry, cold and at that moment he understood that a member of his clan was responsible for this woman's pain.

He felt anger in his heart without really understanding the reason.

— "Who was it ?" Madara added after a few seconds of Sakura not answering.

— "He's dead," she finally said, lowering her eyes. She was trying to sort out her head and her heart, both of which were at odds.

— "Did you kill him ?" Asked the clan leader who knew from Sakura's words that she had killed Uchiha in the past.

— "His own madness is his undoing," Sakura announced, thinking back to that famous battle, when Madara became the equivalent of the Rikudô Sennin before he was stabbed by Black Zetsu.

— "His name !" The dark-haired man demanded forcefully.

— "Please Madara-san," Sakura pleaded with pain. She didn't want to answer that question at all, it still hurt too much to bring up the subject. It was hard enough to clear her mind for the past few days, so to openly bring up her past with Madara was inconceivable.

— "I understand," the Uchiha finally relented as he saw the pain in the woman's eyes. He wanted so badly to dive into that green ocean, but he decided to resume their walk.

— "Madara-san..."

— "Yes ?"

— "Please be civil. The people of this village are very kind and are not used to seeing people of your ilk," the young woman recommended, knowing that Madara was a very proud person. She got no response from him, but knew in her heart that he wouldn't do anything, or so she hoped.

The village was only twenty yards away, the screams of children playing outside could be heard. A hammer hitting the anvil was also audible and mingled with the ambient hubbub of the village.

A smile came to Sakura's face as she spotted Hitomi, her closest friend from that time. She was heading in her direction when she felt Madara stop. She turned her gaze in his direction and found a serious look on his face, accompanied by a hard face.

— "Madara-san ?" Sakura asked the Uchiha, worried about his attitude.

— "Sakura !" Hitomi's voice shouted.

She quickly turned her head towards her friend and saw her frightened face as she pointed to the road behind them. She turned around and could see a group of men running towards the village in the distance, weapons drawn.

— "Probably bandits," Madara informed him as he heard the sound of footsteps, but more importantly felt their presence, hence his sudden stop. Even though he was supposed to be dead and no one was looking for him, Madara was still a paranoid ninja. He was always on guard, always on the lookout for the slightest noise or suspicious behavior.

— "Get everyone together and hide !" Sakura shouted to the villagers.

— "But Sakura, what about you !?" Hitomi worried for her friend. But all she got in return was a sweet smile from the pink haired young woman.

— "Don't worry about us my friend," Sakura reassured her before slowly walking towards the group of bandits. They would soon be in range and Madara was moving along beside her, unperturbed.

— "No chakra in your legs Madara-san," Sakura warned just before the confrontation.

— "Hai," replied the man who knew he had to save himself. But they seemed to be just civilians, his reflexes alone should be enough to handle this threat.

— "What are they doing ? They're going to get killed !" Panicked one of the villagers as he saw their doctor and that dark-haired man walking towards the invaders.

— "We have to do something !" Said another man with a pitchfork who was stopped short by Hitomi's voice.

— "No ! Trust... trust them," stammered the unsure woman.

There must have been about twenty of them, random people who had to loot small village after small village. The first bandits arrived at Sakura and Madara's level and the carnage began.

The first one to come in contact charged Sakura with his sword pointed forward to skewer her. Thanks to her training, she took a slight step to the side, dodging the blade. She grabbed the weapon's wrist as she passed, and with a simple spinning motion, she cracked the bone at the joint. The bandit immediately dropped his weapon and screamed in pain at the abnormal angle he now had. His screams did not last, however, as he was immediately hit with two green chakra-laden fingers on his neck, rendering him unconscious.

The next one that was hand to hand had targeted Madara who easily dodged the sword pointed at him. The Uchiha grabbed his attacker's weapon with ease, merely spinning around to slice the bandit's head off as he went. He didn't linger on the corpse and continued on his way to the young woman's side.

— "Don't look, darling !" Hitomi ordered, turning her son to face her so he wouldn't see so much brutality. She knew in a second what her friend had meant when she said that Uchiha-sama was a born killer. His presence, his build, his body language, everything about him was dangerous.

What she saw was by no means fair, the two protagonists dodged, parried, before finally crushing every opponent that came their way. A broken arm, a severed limb, a scream of pain before finally losing consciousness or dying. This was the sad reality of the bandits charging Sakura and Madara

— "It's... it's unbelievable...," one of the residents shuddered as he watched the two shinobi annihilate the threat. In just fifteen seconds, a dozen men had just been neutralized or simply killed without warning.

They were two opposites, one neutralizing while the other killing. But both were ruthless in their strikes. Two beings, trained to kill for their country, now defending their home.

— "Go around and capture the women !" Ordered what appeared to be the leader of the bandits. "We'll keep them busy."

Hearing this, Sakura saw red and decided to put an end to this little game. People Sakura loved were not to be attacked. He was ten meters away from her and a simple propulsion of her chakra laden legs allowed him to cover that distance in a second. She appeared in front of him, her gaze cold, announcing that she would show no mercy to this individual.

She struck at his chest and on impact a thud was heard accompanied by the characteristic sound of breaking bones. The man's rib cage exploded into a thousand pieces, puncturing all his internal organs in the process. With such a blow to the chest, the man died instantly before being propelled down the cliff.

She then turned her gaze to Madara, he was surrounded by several bandits that he dodged and parried with his sword with ease. A leg was sliced off in a graceful movement by the Uchiha, a movement that continued towards a throat, taking another life.

Sakura conjured up two kunai in her hands in a puff of smoke at the sight of a bandit running towards the villagers. No mercy for rapists, no mercy for those who preyed on her people.

She threw one of the two kunai. Her shot was accurate and with her legendary strength, the weapon stuck in the captor's back. A groan came from his mouth before he collapsed to the ground. In the meantime, Madara had killed all of his opponents and the last two survivors were running for their lives.

There was no way they were going to leave any witnesses who could talk about what had just happened here. Sakura threw her second kunai at the nearest man who received the weapon in his skull. She prepared to run towards the last brigand, but Madara stopped her.

— "Let..."

Madara repositioned the sword in his hand to throw it like a javelin. He adjusted his body, positioning his legs for the best footing. He couldn't use his left arm for balance, so he activated his Sharingan for a second to aim over a hundred meters away. His eye analyzed his running speed, the strength of the wind, and the trajectory to be given, then he launched.

The gesture was fluid, graceful, controlled : the weapon covered the distance very quickly before piercing the man from side to side.

Sakura didn't waste a moment and crouched down before waving her hand.

— "Doton : Kan'oke no jutsu !" Sakura uttered, before placing both hands on the ground. As soon as the chakra made contact with the ground, it broke apart and reformed into a large pit. This would be the place to put all the corpses. There was no need to make graves for this kind of person.

Once the pit was in place, Sakura took the bodies and piled them in. Madara picked up a new sword and made his way to the few survivors. He felt no remorse or mercy in finishing off the bandits who had been neutralized by Sakura.

— "Please, help me !" Implored one bandit as he crawled towards the stunned villagers. They had just seen two people kill twenty people with such ease. Hearing this voice, Madara walked over to the man with a severed leg.

— "No... Please ! Mer... Arhg...," the man begged before he died, his head pierced by a blade. The gesture was clean and precise but above all ruthless.

Madara lifted his gaze from the body to look at the people before him. They were afraid, and understandably so : they were afraid of being killed too. He stared at them for a few seconds with a heavy, blood-curdling stare. Then after a moment, he bent down and grabbed the corpse's leg and dragged it into the mass grave.

— "Hitomi... wha... who are these people ?" Asked a dark-haired woman beside her.

— "I... I don't know, but I trust Sakura," Hitomi replied as she watched her friend put another body in the hole.

— "How are your legs, Madara-san ?" Sakura inquired with a worried face. She'd seen him fighting several opponents, tipping backwards, bending his legs. He'd put his back and legs to the test, so to speak.

— "Withstandable," Madara replied and began to wave his one good hand in Ninjutsu. "Step aside."

— "Please don't push too hard."

— "Katon : Goukakyuu no jutsu."

Madara wasn't the greatest fire specialist for nothing. Even with little chakra in his Ninjutsu, his techniques became devastating. And nothing could survive the furnace the Uchiha summoned. The temperature produced by the flames was so hot that the villagers had to take a few steps back because the air became so hot. After about twenty seconds, only ashes remained.

— "Doton : Umekomu no jutsu," Sakura said before placing her hands on the ground again. As she did so, the chakra shifted the earth to bury the pit and return the road to the way it was before. The only evidence that there had been a battle was the blood on the ground, but a good rain shower would fix that.

Sakura dusted off her hands before picking up her small wicker basket. She also readjusted her clothes, the only sign that she'd been in a fight before rejoining her patient.

— "Is everything alright ?" Sakura asked once more. It wasn't that she wanted to be annoying, but as a doctor she didn't want him to get hurt for nothing.

— "Hai, thank you," Madara replied with a small smile.

He had just tested his body after three months of recovery. Sure, he hadn't pushed himself to the limit like Sakura had asked, but he was glad to see that he could already fight.

— "Don't move," Sakura whispered before pulling a white handkerchief from one of her pockets. She brought the handkerchief to the dark-haired man's cheek and gently and tenderly wiped away a trace of blood. She made the gesture last, keeping her gaze plunged into the dark-haired man's. Why she was doing this, she had no idea, but Madara did nothing to stop her or interrupt the moment.

The tender moment lasted for a few moments before Sakura realized what she was doing. A small blush appeared on her cheeks before she grabbed Madara's arm and headed towards the village. However, the gesture as well as the embarrassment on Sakura did not go unnoticed by Hitomi who had a wide smile on her lips.

The two ninjas approached the villagers who suddenly all bowed to each other. When someone saved your life in the Sengoku Era, you showed gratitude, but Sakura wasn't used to that.

— "Sakura-sama, Lord-sama !" Said many people.

Madara was named Lord-sama because of his power, but also because of the way he stood. And without knowing a name, this diminutive was ideal.

— "Come on, come on that's not...," Sakura began to say before being interrupted by Madara.

— "It would be an insult to them to deny them what they're doing, Sakura-san," the dark-haired man explained as he got to know the young woman. She didn't want anyone to bow down to her, she just wanted everyone to be equal.

Day 91

Sakura was sitting in the main room peeling vegetables for the evening meal. These had been graciously donated by the villagers for saving them from a horrible death. Sakura wanted to refuse but Madara stopped her.

As her basket filled with vegetables and other offerings, Hitomi had moved closer to her ear to whisper words that made her blush.

— "He's just a patient," she teased.

Sakura shook her head to get the memory out of her head. She hadn't known what to say to her friend and had pretended not to understand. She wasn't ready to face what she was feeling yet. Sure, she enjoyed Madara's company, but to love him was something she couldn't yet imagine. Still, she could see his tender gestures as well as his discreet looks. But she didn't want to accept it, she felt like she was betraying all those she had loved and who had died because of him.

Night had recently fallen and the room was enveloped by soft music from the gramophone. Madara had taken a liking to it and asked, or rather demanded, to have it every night.

So it was under a delicate tune of music that the dark-haired man was sitting on an armchair reading a book recommended by the young woman. Except that he could not concentrate on his reading. He was still thinking about that gesture and that look... he would have liked to activate his Sharingan to immortalize that image in his mind, but Sakura wouldn't have liked that. He set the book down on the table beside him before observing the young woman in silence.

She was humming softly to the rhythm of the song. An innocent look hung on her face as her hands were busy peeling carrots.

— "Sakura-san," called the dark-haired man.

— "Yes ?" Sakura asked without turning to the man concerned.

— "Have you ever had someone in your life ?" Madara asked as if he were talking about the weather.

— "Why such a question please ?" Sakura asked in return.

— "I agree that you're not a conventional woman...," Madara began as Sakura turned her gaze in his direction. She was suddenly interested in the rest of his answer. "But I'm surprised that no man has managed to capture your heart."

— "As you say, I am not like other women. I don't intend to be pushed around, I don't intend to kowtow to men, and that has scared off any suitors," Sakura explained as she resumed her task. "Men don't like it when a woman is more talented than them or stronger than them. They feel weak and I have no intention of pretending to be someone I'm not. I desire a man..."

Sakura paused to think about what she really wanted. Did she really want someone ? Yes, she wished she had someone in her life, someone to love her, someone to accept her and rely on.

— "I desire... a man who will see me as his equal. Who will love me for who I am, who will not see me as a common trophy to be displayed or as a common surrogate ! I want to know love Madara-san, but I want that person to respect me as a human being, that the man I choose will raise me to his level, hand in hand."

Why had Sakura said this ? Why had she opened up so much to this man ? Was it to make him understand that she wasn't just anyone ? Or was it to tell him that if he wanted to try something with her, he should change.

— "You haven't fully answered my question Sakura-san," Madara said in a deep voice.

— "There was someone... I loved someone once, Sakura sighed as she thought back to Sasuke, her childhood sweetheart. She loved remembering that sweet feeling she had towards the Uchiha from her time, but it also brought back painful memories.

— "Why didn't it work ?" Madara asked gently.

— "He stabbed me in the heart with a Ninjutsu technique," Sakura replied resentfully, remembering the feeling of Sasuke's arm in her chest. She placed the peeled carrots in a bowl, then the peelings in the tray.

— "What's his name ?" Madara asked with a harshness in his voice that Sakura had barely heard. He wanted to hurt this person who had dared to hurt her.

— "Uchiha Sasuke... and he's already dead," Sakura answered firmly before standing up and heading for the kitchen.

Madara understood why Sakura hated the Uchiha clan so much. He remembered one of the first things she said to him : *They tried to kill me, subdue me, or harm me.*

However, he had no recollection of an Uchiha named Sasuke, perhaps a renegade or a distant member. After a while Madara heard noises in the kitchen, a sign that Sakura was preparing the meal. He had never asked for any particular dish, as everything Sakura cooked for him was delicious. Besides, he had finally agreed to listen to this woman when it came to his health. The proof was that three months later he was able to fight again.

The record had reached the end of its piece and the room was silent again.

Just as he was about to get up to play the music again, Sakura beat him to it.

— "Sakura-san."

— "Hai ?"

— "Who trained you to fight like that ?" Madara asked.

It was something he had wanted to know for a long time. He had only seen Sakura fight for very brief moments each time, today included. But that fight yesterday afternoon had proven to him that she was trained in the ninja arts, even Ninjutsu.

— "His name was Kakashi," Sakura said with pain and Madara understood that this man was someone close to the young woman. "I miss him very much, it was partly because of him that I became the woman I am... He saw and believed in me."

— "He must have been a powerful person to train a woman of your calibre."

— "Hai, he was a great shinobi," Sakura agreed, putting the record back in its sleeve. "But he was like any other man."

— "What do you mean ?" Madara asked curiously.

— "He was weak in one area."

Madara hated being called weak, even indirectly, and Sakura had just called him weak.

— "And how was he weak, please ?" Madara asked with a slightly harsher tone.

— "To the fairer sex."

— "I'm not weak !" The Uchiha asserted firmly.

Sakura said nothing more and let the music fill the house again. After a few seconds of music, she put her hands in the sign of the ram to throw a Hengen at her.

Sakura had always been a beautiful woman without trying very hard, except that right now Sakura was intent on proving her point. Her traditional outfit was replaced by a white halter dress that stopped just short of her bottom. She wore no trousers at all and showed black stockings that reached her thighs and ended in lace. The same thing accompanied her arms until they covered her biceps. With her back to the Uchiha, he had a direct view of the young woman's form, which was accentuated by the heels.

She turned sensually and approached the Uchiha with a provocative smile. She was wearing light makeup and Madara thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. She was so beautiful, she gave off so much that he was speechless and didn't know what to do.

He didn't react when she was in front of him and climbed on top of him. She placed her buttocks right on his privates, as if she was trying to tease him. She leaned forward to get closer to his ear. One of Sakura's hands rested gently on the dark-haired man's chest while the other tenderly caressed his cheek.

— "Tell me Madara-sama... do you find me to your liking ?" Sakura whispered in a sultry and tempting voice. "Do you think you could help me ?"

— "Hai...," Madara couldn't help but answer with difficulty. He couldn't think straight and only wanted one thing : this woman. In the past he had had the desire for the flesh, but had always managed to keep it under control. But this time he was totally subjugated, it was brutal what he felt inside. He wanted nothing more than to put his lips on hers, to feel her slender body against his, to squeeze her and simply make her his.

Sakura's hand caressed the Uchiha's cheek and moved down to his neck.

— "You see Madara-sama... this is how weak men are... they don't know how to resist the beautiful sex," Sakura whispered sensually in the dark-haired man's ear. "All I would have to do is summon a kunai in my hand and I could easily slit your throat," she said sharply.

Then Sakura moved very slowly away from the dark-haired man, placing a chaste kiss on his cheek. She stood up from her position and walked towards the kitchen, not without moving her hips. When she felt she had played with the man enough, she made her Hengen disappear, resuming her previous attire and leaving Madara completely stunned.

— "This woman will drive me crazy..."