Chapter 17

For the remainder of the day, Madara caught himself staring guiltily at Sakura, only to avert his gaze in hopes she didn't notice. It was almost certain that she did, though. None of the terrible things he'd done in his lifetime made him hate himself more than this.

The man was stuck between regretting allowing the pink-haired woman to talk him into staying, feeling guilty that he ever got involved with her, and cursing himself for immediately refusing to imagine it. Even now, after all his character growth, Madara Uchiha was primarily a selfish man.

'Her future is ruined, and it's all my fault. I should've immediately disappeared after what happened on Christmas Eve,' he internally chastised himself as he worked on creating fake ID documents for the poor woman.

Sakura was trying with all her might not to show how upset she was, but he knew her well enough by now to see right through the facade. There was no hiding the way her fingers trembled or how her gorgeous green eyes struggled to focus on anything for an extended period of time without glazing over.

Not only was she a wanted woman, but they'd even have to leave Konoha within the next twenty-four hours because her family and friends knew her address.

While continuing to work, Madara attempted to devise several action plans. It was too late to go back and change things, so the only option was to deal with the situation head-on.

Plan A was the course of action they were currently following: to board a plane with false identities to Otogakure, where the Uchiha man had a trusted ally waiting to receive them at a safe house. They'd hide out for as long as needed for things to calm down with the police. All the while, Sakura will try to get information from Sasuke about why her identity was known.

The rest depended on what the younger Uchiha had to say.

Plan B wasn't complete yet, but so far consisted of finding some way to infiltrate the police force in Konoha. The ally he had in Otogakure may be able to help with that, but since it was substantially riskier, Madara would rather try sticking to Plan A.

Plan C was the last resort, ultimately to make it so Sakura Haruno no longer existed, at least on paper. The pink-haired woman would permanently change her identity. It was extreme, so it would only be used if no other choices existed.

Hopefully, the police didn't have much and only suspected she had information about the murders.

Maybe one or more of Danzo's outside allies was aware of who she was that wasn't at the mansion that night, and they were trying to smoke her out by setting officers on her trail. Madara's teeth gritted, his brow furrowing stressfully. If that was the case, he'd ensure they suffered thoroughly before he allowed their death. If they'd only messed with him, he'd make it quick, but they put their sights on the one person they shouldn't have.

Inwardly, the highly trained and experienced assassin was tempted to dawn a bittersweet grin. Madara Uchiha, the ghost of Danzo and murderer of dozens, was a glorified bodyguard for a cute little woman with pink hair.

'And I'm perfectly happy with that,' he mused, glancing at the girl in question, which ever so slightly softened his tension.

Sakura was speaking with Ino on a disposable phone that Madara had picked up, explaining the situation so the blonde woman would know to keep Sai out of public view, just in case. Though she whispered so softly that the man couldn't quite understand what she said, the unsteady waver in her voice was impossible to miss.

Madara hadn't verbally apologized because the moment he tried, the pinkette cut him off with a firm glare, a silent threat not to dare take the blame for their current situation.

'Even at hectic times like this, she's stubborn as hell.'

It wasn't the time. Madara knew that, but he couldn't help himself. Seeing the way Sakura immediately began packing both of their suitcases without him having to say anything, a resolute frown on her plump lips, made his pulse soar. She wasn't unfazed by any means but clutched to her composure for dear life.

The woman was unbelievably strong for someone who'd never experienced tragedies like he had, and the Uchiha man fell more head over heels with each moment that passed.

Becoming as close as they had in such a short amount of time threatened to plant the seed of doubt, but Madara trusted Sakura's judgment regarding the matters of a relationship. So long as she said things weren't going awry, he would continue treating her like they'd been lovers for years.

"I'm going to go, um…. Yeah," Sakura suddenly spoke at a normal volume. Her phone call had ended without him noticing. The Uchiha man looked to see she had a towel over her shoulder and a hair-bleaching kit in her hand. With a furrowed brow, an apology met his tongue for the millionth time today, but he choked it back and nodded when she hardened her gaze.

'If only it wasn't so unique, then she wouldn't have to do this.'

Pink wasn't a common trait for people to have. Public authorities would undoubtedly be on the lookout for women with that color.

Rather than wear a wig and risk it falling off or a misplaced strand, the color of cherry blossoms, slipping out, Sakura was the one to suggest going blonde. If she chose a darker color, it'd be evident within a couple of weeks when her roots began to grow that it was dyed. With blonde, the pastel pink should blend in for at least slightly longer.

Madara's cell phone vibrated with a text, and he snatched it up to see a message from his ally in Otogakure, 'No word about her yet. What time will you arrive?'

Though they were acquaintances and he trusted the man, Madara had no knowledge of his ally's connections within Otogakure. So, when he said there wasn't word of Sakura, he wasn't sure if he meant on the streets, within law enforcement, or both.

'He's saved my ass more than once, so I know I can trust him.'

The Uchiha man responded with their ETA before setting the phone down and returning to his previous task; a glance spared at the hallway leading to the bathroom where the sound of water could be heard.

'I don't care if she doesn't blame me. I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to her.'

~

'Don't cry. Don't do it because then you won't be able to calm yourself down enough to face Madara again.'

Sakura hissed as the concoction in her hair and brows burnt her skin. She'd always had sensitivity to harsh products like alcohol and strong dyes.

Glancing at her tense appearance in the bathroom mirror, she wondered if she should ask the Uchiha man to buy some colored contact lenses, too, but it was probably too late for that since he was already preparing legal documentation for her new, fake identity: Kusuri Saigo, wife of Buki Saigo, which was Madara's phony name.

Should they be intercepted by anyone or anything, their backstory was already planned out. Though she didn't look it and wasn't, Kusuri recently became pregnant, which was why she wasn't working. Buki was a traveling lawyer taking an extended vacation to visit family in Otogakure and deliver the news of Kusuri's pregnancy.

The soon-not-to-be-pink-haired woman stepped back and lifted her sweater to look at her slim figure. To distract herself from her inner panic, she tried to picture what it'd look like if she were expecting. Surely it'd be odd since her frame was so small, but tinier women had definitely conceived in the past, so if children were ever in Sakura's future, she was sure everything would be fine.

'Wait! What the hell am I thinking about at a time like this?'

A pretty blush warmed her cheeks as she released her shirt and frowned. Even if this all blew over, and she was able to come out of hiding and return home, it was unlikely she'd ever have kids if she and Madara stayed together. When she imagined that conversation, it never went well in her head.

'Why would it? He hasn't told me much about his childhood, but it was undoubtedly traumatic. That, plus his profession, makes it delusional to expect a normal family life.'

The most significant part of her had no regrets about leaning into her love for Madara, but a teeny-tiny piece of her inner being wished she'd have thought about that type of thing before coming to a decision.

Sakura wasn't even sure she wanted kids but didn't want the choice to be taken away without her input.

No self-respecting woman would.

The timer on her phone went off, signaling that it was time to rinse the bleach from her hair.

Ten minutes later, the woman stood straight, previously having been bent over while rubbing her hair dry with a towel, and stared wide-eyed at her reflection. 'It…. It doesn't really look like me anymore,' she tried and failed not to pout.

All her life, the woman wondered what it'd be like not to be born with such an attention-grabbing hair color. Now that she knew what she looked like with something else, she could whole-heartedly say she preferred pink.

It wasn't that the lighter tone looked terrible on her because it didn't. In fact, it fit her appearance so well that it'd likely fool strangers into believing it to be natural. What Sakura didn't like was that she looked like Ino's younger, ganglier sister.

'If only that pig could see me now. She'd get a real kick out of this. It's too risky to send a photo, though.'

After blowdrying her hair, she took a deep, calming breath before entering the hall. She went into the bedroom and changed into a comfortable outfit to travel in before joining Madara in the living room.

If things weren't so serious, it was apparent the man would've said something flirty, especially since he initially thought she was a natural blonde. Instead, he quickly masked the brief surprised expression, ran his fingers through her hair to push it out of her face and ensure she didn't miss any pink, and then nodded toward the door to signal it was time to leave.

It was the middle of the night, almost one in the morning when the pair arrived at the airport. Though both were feeling incredibly serious, Madara appeared unable to hold back a slight grin when he grabbed the woman's hand and slid a ring onto the fourth finger, and Sakura couldn't stop the bashful smile that appeared as she watched him put one on his own.

The Haruno woman expected it to be harder to lie to all the employees at the airport, but surprisingly felt like a natural and handled playing her part with ease. Once on the plane, Madara insisted on sitting between her and the aisle as though someone would approach and attack her, so Sakura was seated next to the window.

She handled pretending to be a completely different person better than she did her nerves about flying for the first time. Though she'd spent the last twenty-four hours trying to convince her boyfriend she wasn't terrified of what was happening, it appeared this was where a line had to be drawn.

After the pilot announced to the sparsely populated flight that it was time to put on seatbelts so the plane could begin moving, Sakura scooted closer to Madara and whispered shakily, "Can I please hold your hand?"

Dark eyes fell onto her only to visibly warm as he took in her trembling frame. He intertwined their fingers, attractively tilting his head, "We'll be alright."

When it became evident that simply offering words of comfort wasn't enough to ease her overactive mind, he held back a chuckle, "Squeeze as hard as you'd like."

Sakura didn't need to be told twice and held on more tightly when the plane began moving on the lengthy strip, preparing to leave the ground. A few minutes could pass before she uncharacteristically whimpered, turning to bury her face against his shoulder, her other hand grasping his arm.

Madara chuckled, reaching with his free hand to ruffle her hair, "You're very cute right now." Tearfully, she peeked up with narrowed green eyes, not appreciating being teased in such a vulnerable state.

The fingers in her hair disappeared. He cupped her jaw, guiding her to sit straighter, and they kissed briefly. When he pulled away, Sakura's heart fluttered at the undeniable adoring expression he held. The warmth in her chest only heightened when he whispered, "I'll treat you to barbecue when we arrive, so please bear with it a little longer."