Naruto 1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey there. So I know that i should honestly update at least one of my other stories but i have this terrible writers block and i have an idea for a new story so i figured why not upload another one while i cease my writer's block. I think i might try my hand at a dark fic because they just entertain me so much but im also a hopeless romantic so it's probably gonna end up as a romance... somewhat. xD im such a weird dorko. anyways. enjoy :)

Just a little bit of important info: Madara was always alive because he's a cunning bastard and somehow found a way to "become immortal". He's not Tobi which i'm sure everyone knows by now. And... yeah. if there's anything more you should know i'll be sure to add it in.

btw, there will be lemons and yes i do wing my chapters so that's a heads up.

Disclaimer: i do not own naruto from here on out.

* * *

Chapter 1

Sakura felt herself jerking back and forth in a harsh but rhythmic beat. Without opening her eyes, she could already tell that she was in a cart full of packed people. She was on her knees, head down, wrists shackled with heavy iron. The cart smelled like urine, death, and hopelessness. She smiled.

The plan had worked.

Any minute now, she would arrive at the gates of Konoha. The guards would do a routine check and make sure that this was the cart full of women that the Hokage had ordered.

Sakura cringed. Not so much at the fact that she was scared the plan would fail, but that the man who called himself Hokage dared to carry that title. _Pathetic._

So after the routine check, she'd be within the gates of Konoha and she'd be carted into the palace. The palace that was erected as soon as Konoha was taken over. _A reminder of our downfall._ she thought bitterly. _At least the Hokage Residence wasn't taken down._ She paused. _Yet._ she added as an afterthought. Shaking her head, she decided to keep going over the plan in her head, seeing as all these depressing thoughts were getting her nowhere.

Now once in the palace, she would be on her own. From everyone's reports, no one knew what happened to the women that went into the palace. There were definitely rumors that swirled around the village. The worst one being that _he_ sired children from the women and once they have given birth, then they would be immediately executed.

An involuntary shiver worked its way up her spine.

It would be up to Sakura then, to find a weakness in the Hokage. A chink in his armor. Possible plans about what to do with The Fire; those loyal ninjas left of Konoha. An inside spy. It would be her job to gather as much information she could and report to Naruto, the leader of The Fire. Then she'd get the hell out and escape with her life.

She opened her eyes as she felt a change in speed. They were slowing down.

The weeping seemed to increase as they neared the looming gates of Konoha.

Her heart thundered loud as she remembered Naruto's parting words.

_The tent was big and stuffy with heat and it was obvious on the sweating, panting ninjas within. Everyone was pounding their fists in outrage and disbelief as Sakura stayed standing, determined to be the one who took this particular mission. The mission to infiltrate the palace._

_"Her hair will give her away!" one ninja said._

_"Not to mention her eyes." another said._

_"And her temper." someone growled._

_Sakura ground her jaw as Naruto's face was tense with stress. He raised a hand to silence everyone and the tent quieted. He turned his blue eyes to her, almost pleading her to back down but she refused. "I've heard what you have had to say." he said to the council. "Now let's hear what she has to say."_

_She stared at each person for a moment, fierce determination in her eyes. "I am the only kunoichi fit for this mission." she growled. "I'm not so stupid as to sneak in with my natural appearance so I'll transform into a modest," she looked at one person. "Weak," her eyes looked at the next person. "And plain little village girl." she stared at Naruto. "You know better than anyone that with my skills, I have a more better chance of success than the others."_

_Everyone took a moment to let that sink in. It made sense. Aside from her obvious and out of the world physical traits and her temper, she had perfect chakra control so transforming and maintaining the image of a plain village girl wouldn't be hard for her. She was a girl and was clever enough to get herself out of a situation, although not as adeptly as Shikamaru. She had her charms and exceptional healing capabilities._

_And if push came to shove... she wouldn't hesitate to die for her mission._

_No one could really argue with her and so the meeting adjourned with the decision that she would be the kunoichi to infiltrate Konoha._

_And so she would leave the next day._

_That night, Naruto had come to visit her and gave her memorable parting words._

And those words were ringing through her head this second, repeatedly chasing in circles around her head.

_No matter what, come back alive._

Even if it meant abandoning her mission, if it meant the slightest suspicion on her, if it meant cutting off an arm or a leg, then she was to come back alive at all costs.

She took a peak out of a hole in the wall and her heart dropped as it always did at seeing the lands of Konoha. The trees had been razed to the ground. No green in sight, no landmark, nothing familiar from before the attack.

She dug her nails into her thigh as the cart jolted to a halt.

Sakura felt a breeze as an ANBU made its way around the cart, checking above, below, and inside. She sat back on her heels and hugged her knees, dipping her face as he scanned the girls around her. She forced herself to relax as his gaze landed on her. "All clear." his muffled voice said.

"Well, that's for the cart." another voice said. "Tell them to get out so you can perform your jutsu."

The ANBU grunted in response and opened the back of the cart. "Out." he ordered.

The women all shuffled forward in terror. Some of them stumbled as they made their way out due to the lack of use of their legs.

Sakura made her way out with the rest of them and stood at the end of the shaky line. "I'm going to perform a jutsu." The ANBU in front explained monotonously. "This will do a full body scan to let us know that all of you are indeed virgins and you are and have not been hurt or ill before. This will also make a mark on you, somewhat like a tattoo that will brand you as the Hokage's."

He slowly went down the line and when it got to Sakura, she was fighting her instinct to lash out at him, to kill him on the spot. His hands made its way to her temples and she could feel something flowing into her, poking and probing to find any flaws. When it was satisfied that there were no blemishes, it snaked to her left shoulderblade and she could feel a mark forming on her skin although it wasn't painful.

"All clear!" he called out and he nodded for everyone to get back into the cart.

Sakura was the last to go in and as the door shut behind her, she felt a sense of dread. Looking around, she saw a girl examine her ankle. There was a dark mark on it and although the lighting was dim and it was dusk, her blood froze and she grew tense. She would recognize that mark anywhere.

The mark of the Uchiha Clan.

Her fingers itched to scratch her shoulderblade off but she refrained, instead deciding to watch her progression through the Konoha streets that were once so familiar but seemed now to be a stranger.

All too soon, Sakura was shaded by the looming figure of the palace, built into the Hokage Rock. The cart went up the ramp at a slow pace but to Sakura it seemed unnecessarily fast. They passed the official gates to the palace and entered a smaller but still grand gate. She assumed this was the servants entrance and as they passed through the gate, she couldn't help but feel a small pit of dread and doubt cloud a small corner of her mind.

_This was it._ she thought as she exited the wooden cart. Her head leaned far back to take in the whole palace and she suppressed a sigh.

_Home sweet home._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sakura and the girls were hurriedly rushed through the palace doors and down meandering halls, turning this corner then twisting around another. The palace seemed to be bigger than it appeared.

After some time of rushing about, they finally came to a pavilion. Sakura was taken aback for a moment by its sheer and seemingly ethereal beauty.

Directly before them stood a fountain of marble surrounded by a circle of a variety of different flowers, each scent complimenting the other and none looking out of place. The cobblestone branched out into many different paths beneath shimmering lights.

Many of the girls sighed in awe and amazement as each one was whisked down a different path by a different guide. Sakura was greeted by a nervous young boy who couldn't have been more than the age of 12. He introduced himself as Kei and gave her a boyish smile that vaguely reminded her of Naruto.

They went around the fountain and down a path to her right at a hurried pace. "The Hokage doesn't like to be kept waiting." he explained to her when she asked. "You are all to be cleaned and properly dressed and presented to him by midnight."

She grimaced at this and tamped down her anger. She felt like a cow, branded and about to be fussed over. They came to large double doors that opened upon arrival and she was whisked into a beautifully furnished bedroom ironically color-schemed pink cherry blossoms. Kei gave her a quick smile and explained that he would be taking his leave now and that maids and handservants were going to be grooming her.

He bowed and made his leave while a many servants, all women, came in, ordering her to strip so that she would be able to take her bath. The water was already hot and ready, the size of the bathroom nearly freezing her in shock.

With a little nudging and encouragement, she dipped into the steaming water while the women scrubbed every inch of her body then lathering her in pleasant lavender lotion.

Sakura was then patted down and dried, once again rushed back into the bedroom to get dressed, barely giving her time to breath. She was quickly dressed in a flurry of blue and had her hair up, face patted with makeup just before Kei burst in with a paper lantern. "We have to go. It's nearly midnight." he addressed the servants harshly.

Sakura was about to follow Kei out the door when a flash of beauty passed the mirror and she had to stop to see who it was. Her brown hair was braided intricately to the side with a hair ornament tinkling as she moved her head from side to side. Her makeup made her brown eyes seem big and bright and her lips were pink and plump to her surprise, but her kimono... it was breathtaking. A dark blue skirted the edges of her kimono and as it moved up, it turned into a lighter blue until it became a near white around her collar. Koi seemed to swim around vibrantly in the pond on her body. It was simple yet beautiful.

"Miss, we really must be going." he said urgently and Sakura took another moment to admire herself then tore herself from the mirror, following Kei through the maze of the palace once again.

She couldn't help but feel a tinge of sadness. The blue was used to complement her brown hair and eyes but this illusion was not who Sakura really was. She was a ninja and ninjas had no time for such fancy.

They made their way to another door, this one also opening upon their arrival.

She stopped abruptly, hesitating. Soon, the _Hokage_ would be walking through this very same door to assess the new arrival of women. With a slight push from Kei, she stumbled through ungraciously and the door closed behind her. Every girl was lined up in the middle of the room, beautiful and to the point of perfection.

Sakura took a calming breath and walked meekly to the end of the line, head bowed as it should be when in the presence of the Hokage. This was dictated by him personally.

And there she waited as did the other girls, many of them fidgeting and the others gripping their hands tight with worry and anxiety.

They didn't have long to wait because as soon as midnight struck, the doors opened and in flowed the devil himself, followed by two ANBU members.

The women quieted immediately, atmosphere dominated by the threatening and dangerous presence of _him_.

He strode purposely to the first girl in line, his armor clinking and his boots clicking.

There was silence for a moment and his baritone voice resonated throughout the room, raising the tension. "What's your name."

There was a pause then a crack of flesh upon flesh while a girl yelped her name in pain. "Akiko!"

Sakura grit her teeth and chanced a look at the girl who was on the floor, hand to her face. He bent and caressed her cheek almost gently but Akiko flinched away from him.

He stood back up, a glint of amusement in his eyes and went to the next girl, asking the same question. This time she didn't hesitate to answer, not wanting to end up on the floor like the girl beside her.

"Yuri." she said timidly. He nodded and moved down the line.

Sakura counted ten girls total including herself and by the time he was six girls down, her hands had been getting sweaty and her heart beat so hard and loud that she was scared he would've been able to hear her.

"What's your name?" he was on the seventh girl.

To Sakura's surprise, this girl said her name in a seductive voice, "Ha-na-e."

Sakura felt a spike of irritation. _Is she stupid or something? Why would she say it like that... to him?!_

She saw him nod, a slightly imperceptible smirk gracing his features. "I look forward to... knowing you further."

Sakura wanted to gag as he came to the eighth girl and for a moment forgot how much closer he was getting to her.

"What's your name?" he asked deeply.

The girl answered a quiet, "Fumiko."

"And what sickness do you have, Fumiko-chan?" he asked in concern but Sakura knew better.

The girl known as Fumiko looked up, her face stilled in surprise and he smiled but it seemed off on his face. "How did you..."

"How did I know?" he laughed. "Oh, my dear, your chakra is diminishing as we speak. Slowly but surely so I'm guessing... a terminal illness?"

Fumiko tensed. "They say there's no cure." she whispered quietly.

He had a thoughtful expression on his face. "Kill her."

Fumiko stayed stunned as did Sakura but she was snapped out of her shock by Fumiko's useless attempts at releasing herself from the ANBU's tight grasp.

Sakura could feel her rage boiling dangerously and before she knew it, she stepped forward and shouted, "Stop!"

The ANBU stopped and looked at her, Fumiko stopped and looked at her, the eight other girls stopped and looked at her and least of all, _he_ stopped and looked at her.

_Him_. The guy who took over Konoha, brutally murdered thousands of innocent people and strong, loyal shinobi. The guy who should've been dead but had found a way to live throughout the centuries because of unknown reasons. The guy who was staring at her with cold and calculating eyes, a bit of surprise in it and Sakura was aware of her heart beating harder like it was going to burst out of her chest.

Uchiha Madara, the murderer of Konoha.

For a moment, all was quiet and although rage and disbelief fueled Sakura to lift her head and stare him straight in the eye with false bravery, she also felt fear. Fear for herself and fear for the mission.

Madara raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I should be asking that." she snapped. "She is innocent and you're going to kill her? Why? Because she's terminally ill?"

"Yes." his reply was flat and monotonous and she suppressed a shiver. "Damaged goods." he nodded in her direction. "She will die eventually so she is useless to me."

Sakura stared at him in horror. How could someone be so cruel and heartless? "And you call yourself a Hokage. A Hokage is supposed to protect his people and-"

"What's your name?"

Sakura is speechless for a moment. She refused to give him her real name, sure that he would recognize it. "Kaori." she said after a pause.

"And do I know you, Kaori-chan?" he asked as if they had been long-lost friends.

"N-no."

He frowned at that. "Then do you know Fumiko?" he asked.

"No but-"

"Then I don't see why you would defend her." he walked closer to her at a leisurely pace. "You speak as if you know me. You speak out for a girl you don't even know, risking my wrath. Why?"

Sakura backed away as he stepped forward, every person in the room watching with wide eyes. Her anger was starting to dwindle and she backed into a wall, tense but lifting her chin in defiance. This was a dangerous game she was playing but it was in her nature to defend someone so helpless. How would she live with herself if she stood by on the sidelines while watching someone being dragged off to her death?

"It's something you would never know? Something you would never feel." she glared.

Madara smirked in amusement as he backed her into the wall, curiosity piqued. He bent from the waist, hands behind his back as he came face to face with her, noses almost touching. "And... what is this 'something' that I seem to be lacking?"

"Compassion."

Madara's face tensed and Sakura winced, waiting for a slap to the face but it never came. She opened one eye and she saw him looking down at her from his full height. He seemed to be contemplating something and she waited, holding her breath. They all did.

"How about I strike you a deal." he smiled, but it lacked the warmth that it should've held. Sakura stayed silent. "I'll let Fumiko here live. In return, since I seem to have no... compassion," he said that word as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. "Then you can show me."

Sakura looked toward Fumiko who looked scared out of her wits and immediately took the offer. _I can show him all I want but he would never know the meaning of being compassionate._

Madara chuckled and left the room, gesturing for the two ANBU that came in with him to leave the poor girl and exit.

Sakura slumped to the ground, shaky and exhausted. Her nerves were frayed and she definitely needed some rest.

_I called attention to myself, made a deal with my enemy, and did the exact opposite of what I said I was gonna do. So much for weak and insignificant._

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice someone directly in front of her until a hand appeared in her line of vision. Confused, she looked up to see Fumiko, shy and gratefulness clearly shown in her eyes. Sakura took the hand and was pulled up.

"Thank you." Fumiko smiled and reintroduced herself.

Sakura smiled and introduced herself with her new name, Kaori.

New name, new look, and a new life... _For now._ Sakura thought.

* * *

A/N: Ohhhhh kay so this chapter was really long but you know I wanted to get through this chapter cuz it was on my mind the whole day so i hope you guys liked it :)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Kei greeted Sakura outside of the room and guided her to her own bedroom. Sakura stumbled her way back into her room with Fumiko following close behind. Kei backed away, leaving the two girls to their own devices.

Sakura caught Fumiko glancing curiously in her direction and turned toward her with a weary smile. "So you're Fumiko-san... right?"

She nodded shyly. "And you're Kaori-san."

There was a moment of silence, both not knowing what to say to fill the awkward tension that had befallen them. Then a question struck Sakura and she abruptly turned toward Fumiko. "You say you have a terminal illness." Fumiko nodded sadly while Sakura continued on. "At the gates to Konoha, when we were in that cart, the ANBU performed that jutsu on us that would tell him whether or not you'd be sick. Why couldn't he detect it? It's either the jutsu has flaws or you must've done something to disguise it."

"You're very sharp and observant Kaori-san." She stayed quiet for a moment before continuing. "You know how the women for the Hokage are chosen right?"

Sakura nods in response.

"Well, they can either be taken against their will, go because they want to, or sold..." Fumiko gave a bitter smile. "I was one of the very few girls who were sold."

Sakura instinctively puts her arm around her shoulders as Fumiko wipes away stray tears. "My family needed the money, they were on the verge of starvation. So because I was going to die anyways, they saw that I should at least have some use and bring in money." She sighed and Sakura offered her a handkerchief which Fumiko took with thanks. "Our family had heard of the jutsu that scanned the women before they were brought in so they sought out a medi-ninja who would be able to at least disguise my illness... and that's how I came to be here." she gave out a painful laugh. "It seems it worked. So here I am." and at that she trailed off and looked Sakura in the eye. "Excuse me, Kaori-san."

Sakura gave an absentminded 'hm'?

"I'm not saying that I'm not grateful, but why did you stand up for me?" she fiddled with her fingers, seeming genuinely confused. Sakura took in the girl's appearance. Thin, seemingly fragile, carried a sort of grace with her caramel brown hair done in a simple updo. Her hazel eyes capturing the light in all its beauty. She found herself pushing down a pang of jealousy and instead focused on answering a question, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"I... knew it was wrong." she started off carefully after a moment of thinking. "_Madara,_" she bit out. "Doesn't deserve the title of Hokage. He goes against everything Konoha stood for..." A wistful look took place on her face and Fumiko studied her curiously. "Although the ninjas had to be ruthless, no emotion showing, risking their lives and the lives of their friends and family just for a silly mission... it also stood for hope. The hope that our future generations would keep the Will of Fire going. The hope that whatever we did, the blood that was shed, the innocent lives that were lost would well be worth it because we believed... we hoped that it would all lead us to the thing we were striving for in the first place. Peace."

Fumiko nodded as if it made sense, a little stunned to see the brown haired girl a little worked up. "You say 'we'... so I'm assuming that you're from Konoha. Is that so Kaori-san?"

Sakura inwardly cursed herself for that little slip-up. Not seeing any choice but to agree she nodded but said nothing else.

The girls talked well into the night, talking about little things like home and friends and family, their likes and dislikes, until Kei finally peeked his head in and said it was time for Fumiko to go and Sakura to get into her night kimono.

Both girls groaned simultaneously and burst into fits of laughter after pointing at each other like they had suddenly found their long-lost twin.

Fumiko finally went to leave and they each said a quick good bye, giving each other well-meaning hugs.

Sakura decided to take a long nice soak in the bath, explicitly ordering Kei and the others to not enter the bath at all. Her chakra was wavering and at any moment, the image would flicker.

As she entered the bathroom, she breathed in the calming steam. Slowly stripping her clothes from her body one layer at a time, she waded into the bath.

Just as Sakura was about to undo the transformation jutsu, she stilled. There was someone here. She could feel it, watching her every movement and yet she couldn't make out even a single chakra signature aside from the people waiting on her outside.

She didn't know what to do. This person was definitely a ninja, a high ranking one at that if the chakra signature couldn't be detected by her. Her chakra reserves were low, nearly drained and it was draining yet by the second as she tried to hold onto this illusion. She also would risk her cover if she were to give a sign that she knew she was being watched. She dipped low beneath the water until just her head remained above.

Sighing as if relaxed, she leaned her head back onto the edge of the bath and forced herself to loosen up. She was also aware that she was naked and tried desperately to push the growing blush down. She kept her eyes open and alert, searching for even the slightest thing that would give up the whereabouts of this intruding person.

Sakura could feel the dizziness start to take over but she refused to relinquish her hold on the jutsu. The eyes were still on her, intent and never wavering. _Not yet._ she prayed. _I have to hold out for a little more. I can't release the jutsu. Not yet_.

She started humming, going under the water to wash her hair out when she felt a stir in the air. Instinctively, she shot up, her hair splashing water everywhere.

Everywhere that is except the person standing before her.

Who Sakura could only stare at, dumbfounded. "Uchiha Madara." she grit out.

"Uchiha Madara-sama." he corrected her.

Sakura inclined her head but said nothing more, just then realizing that she was naked, in a bath, with her sworn enemy right in front of her, fully clothed (armor and everything). Gasping, she went to grab at the folded towel behind her but she was too slow. Madara had taken a step forward, moving his body up to hers while at the same time taking both of her wrists in one hand, his other hand effectively caging her in.

Sakura immediately took to taijutsu but she found that she wouldn't have been able to get out of this somewhat embrace even if she tried, unless she had chakra. Instead she took to glaring at him. "Not only do I find the Hokage heartless and cold, I see that he's rude too."

She knew that she should really keep her temper under control or it could end in her death but she found she couldn't bring herself to do it. She just wanted to slap his arrogant smirk off his amused face. Seeing how she couldn't do that because of a certain someone, she opted to verbally abusing him instead.

Madara chuckled deeply. "You're not what you claim to be. I've read your report." his eyes went from her eyes to her lips to her neck and back up to her eyes again. "An orphan girl, someone who is in desperate need of a home at the moment." His free hand went to her brown locks and he picked up a few strands delicately. "Brown hair..." his hand then caressed her face. "Brown eyes..." his fingers then drop back into its former position. "Nothing too extraordinary except those eyes... They seem familiar."

Sakura furrowed her brows, genuinely confused at this. "You can be certain that we've never had the _pleasure_ of meeting face-to-face." she said. It was true. She had only seen him in pictures and he most likely would've seen her from the Bingo book.

Madara studied her, completely ignoring the tightening in his pants. Sakura obviously didn't know that her hair stuck to her skin, outlining her shoulders and turning his attention toward the nape of her neck.

And that's when it happened.

Sakura's image flickered and Madara's eyes sharpened further into high alert. He felt her still completely and he knew that no amount of questioning would make her answer him. He couldn't very well torture her because he did not know much about her yet.

Instead, he let her go and disappeared much to Sakura's relief and confusion. This time, Madara carefully masked his confusion into that of a cold, careless expression. He was sure that despite the dim lights and the steam that fogged up his vision, he had witnessed a glimpse of fiery, green, emerald eyes and flowing, pink hair.

* * *

A/N: Hello everybodyyy! I wanted to get this up for christmas as a gift from me to you ^-^ and I know this chapter was kinda short but bear with me guys hehe. anyways! i also kinda popped that last bit in there not really knowing that it was gonna happen until like last minute xD sooooo yeah.

I was also like wondering if anybody wanted me to do a chapter from Madara's point of view or if u wanted it to be a kind of mystery where you guys figure out what he's thinking by the little clues that he drops.

hope you liked this chapter and that i didn't disappoint. I'm so happy with the reviews i got haha.

xoxo: you were my first reviewer for this and it just motivated me to do the second chapter! haha thank youu

KissKissCast: i know what you mean haha. I'm the one writing this fic and _im_excited. lol it's so ridiculous i was like bouncing in my seat and my mom kept snapping at me to sit still and i was like "But mooooooom i'm so excittted thooooo" xD she just rolled her eyes at me

Guest: Thank you to you too! you were actually the one that reminded me it was christmas coming up soon ._. Yeah... i forgot about christmas

Gamingit: Thank you thank you thank you soooo much. like you have no idea how much that means to me it like makes me tear up (; haha. i'll definitely try my best because your review was really inspiring.

Chris Rode: haha I hope this chapter lived up to your expectations :)

lol. Thanks everyone. MERRY CHRISTMAS!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Sakura woke up in her bed, groggy. She had been tossing and turning all night after the encounter with Madara. When he left, she couldn't keep up the image any longer and despite the danger and risk, she had no choice but to release the jutsu or die.

Sakura rubbed her temple, feeling a sort of migraine coming on. She went over things to do in her head while at her stay in the palace and review what has happened so far.

Surprisingly, she made a new friend. Sakura smiled at that. _Although I'm not sure I could trust her fully, this was a pleasant unexpected surprise._

Called attention to herself. She cringed. _My temper definitely limited my movements. _She glared, angry at herself for not having a firm grip on her emotions. But then again, who could blame her? Any ninja could break with the destruction of Konoha and the stress and hopes of many counting on you to help reclaim it.

She sighed, her efforts in keeping back that migraine futile. _What to do today?_ she thought to herself. Her first goal should be to access the information on the security... and report to Naruto, yeah that too.

With that in mind, she stretched and squealed. She did the transformation jutsu and got out of bed, ready to face whatever this new Konoha had to throw at her.

* * *

It's been 9 months and Sakura had only gathered little information regarding anything at all. As much as she hated to admit it, Madara was a smart ninja, making it hard to deceive, bribe, or even sneak around without having to get caught.

She growled in frustration and Fumiko raised an eyebrow at her. It was noon and they were both by the fountain, reveling in each others company. Over the months they had become near inseparable. "Something wrong?" Fumiko asked.

Sakura shook her head, both to answer her question and to shake off the feeling of frustration and anger. "Nothing. Just some things in life never go your way is all."

Fumiko laughed, nodding. "Yeah, I know."

They both reached into the bowl between them and bit into a slice of apple. Thankfully, Madara seemed to have shown no further interest in her after that one night in the bathtub and she's grown to be very careful in her chakra spending. The one thing that Sakura hated was that she couldn't train or keep in shape and she desperately missed sparring with someone.

A wistful look stole Sakura's face as she remembered the days before Konoha was invaded. It was fresh air instead of the constant lingering smell of blood and death. It was laughter and not the groans of pain elicited from the people. It was hope and not the dank, dirty smell of hopelessness. The warmth and trust of another was tangible in the air between friends and family. It wasn't sour and questionable. There was order. There was peace. Not this chaos that Madara had brought. Not the-

"Kaori?" Fumiko shook her shoulder lightly and Sakura turned with a dazed look on her face.

"Hm?"

"Are you okay?" she asked with concern.

Sakura nodded, clearing the memories from her mind. "Yeah." she smiled. "Just remembering."

Fumiko gave a small, sad smile and got up. She gave a small cough which started to turn into violent heaves that wracked her small, fragile frame. Sakura, alarmed, dropped down to the floor beside her and put a comforting hand on her back, immediately going into medic mode. "Fumiko? Fumiko! Are you okay? Is it your sickness?"

Fumiko could only shake her head before another coughing fit shook her body and Sakura, not one to just give up and call for help, ordered her to lie on her back. Fumiko complied as best she could and Sakura felt a pang of hurt as she saw her mouth and hand covered in dark blood. "You'll be alright." she murmured as she opened Fumiko's kimono. She shed her outer kimono as well, seeing it would only get in the way. "I'm going to heal you." she gave a reassuring smile, not remembering or not caring what the consequences were.

Kei came then with some of the other girls and servants and they crowded around her to see what was wrong. Kei gasped and immediately called for someone to get help. Sakura immediately called out no in a loud, clear voice which startled near everyone half to death. Sakura's confidence was now in full strength and her motherly instinct refused for anyone to come near her. It was also her medic side that ordered everyone to move back and give them both some room.

Fumiko shook her head with a sad smile and held on to Sakura's hand. "No." she struggled to get out, which rewarded her with another painful round of coughs. When the coughs subsided, Fumiko tried again. "It's... useless." she whispered, suppressing another bout. "No... cure."

Sakura shook her head no. "There's a couple things you don't know about me Fumiko and I regret not doing this for you earlier." she sighed and put her hand on her forehead, calling chakra to her hand and putting her to sleep. Everyone around her gasped in either shock, surprise, or fear as they watched a sort of green light surround Sakura's hand.

"Kei," she called out, a serious tone urging him to step forward. "Get a couple cloths soaked with hot water and wipe her mouth and hands. She's covered in blood." he nodded and went to carry out her order but he was stopped. "And you are not to tell anyone of this, understand?" He nodded quickly and went on his way again.

She took in a deep breath and placed both hands, now glowing with chakra on her stomach. Closing her eyes, she searched and probed with her own chakra to find out what the illness was. During all their time together, Fumiko never told Sakura what exactly she was dying of and Sakura never probed any further. It took precious minutes to find what it was but she had to suppress a wave of panic to take over her.

Fumiko seemed to have contracted a rare disease that had strange patterns of attacking the internal organs. It was so rare in fact, that only a handful of medics knew of it. There was never really a name for it and Sakura grit her teeth. No wonder there was no cure for this. The disease seemed to feed on her tissues but it would leave it alone for it to heal and it would attack it again at different intervals. _The body would not be able to keep up with this healing schedule and will eventually be tricked into eating itself_. she concluded.

Sakura didn't know what to do. As she applied more chakra into Fumiko's system, she knew it would only heal the damaged organs, not exterminate the virus. She had very little time to save her life and Sakura was starting to get more antsy as Fumiko became paler and paler while her heartbeat became slower and slower.

Sakura shook her head. She _refused_ to give up. Biting her lip and concentrating on her chakra, she furrowed her brows in confusion and half-hope. _Tsunade-sensei always told me to look to the basics for the answer to a complex problem..._ she thought hard on her beginning lessons. _Chakra takes precise control. Too much chakra can kill. Too little chakra can kill. Never panic. Healing chakra can't exterminate diseases but they can defend against it._ she opened her eyes. _Defend against it... defend against it. _Sakura looked at her hands in thought. _If I wrap her major organs in my healing chakra, then it will both heal the damage and protect against the virus... but it will only last for so long..._She sighed. She didn't exactly have a choice. It would only prolong Fumiko's death but it would be enough time for her to find a way to cure her.

With that in mind, she coaxed her chakra to mingle with Fumikos and wrap itself in a loving embrace around her heart, her brain, her lungs and anything else that was vital to human survival. It took much longer than she anticipated and by the time she was finished, the sun was going down. Slumping down in exhaustion, she told Kei, who had been wiping Fumiko down, to get a cup of water for Fumiko because this ordeal would've been taxing on her body and she would be thirsty from the ordeal.

She closed her eyes and when she opened it again, no one had moved, just staring at her in shock. "Is something wrong?" she snapped at them.

"K-Kaori-san?" Kei asked hesitantly. "Are you Kaori-san?"

"Who else would I be?" she asked and ran her fingers through her hair, noting that it felt strangely different. When a few strands fell in front of her face, she gaped. _Pink hair._ She grabbed a handful and put it in front of her face to examine. _My pink hair_.

She looked around at everyone and immediately did the hand signals for a jutsu. _Everyone has to forget this._ She thought to herself as she summoned what little chakra she had left and pushed it into the jutsu. She had barely enough to perform the jutsu and she didn't know how that would affect its efficiency and so all she had to do was hope.

She fell on her side as everyone blinked and looked down at the two young girls, side by side. Sakura was barely holding up the image, every now and then flickering but nobody noticed as they panicked and put them each in their own rooms.

As soon as Sakura was alone, the jutsu diminished and all she could do was fall asleep as a feeling of unease slide through her.

* * *

Madara stilled as he stopped his thrusting. Hanae had groaned in frustration at him as she wriggled beneath him, close to her climax. Madara pulled out and scanned the room, knowing that the very clumsy burst of chakra was not from this room. It had been faint but for a ninja of his status, it screamed like a beacon. Ignoring the girl's pawing, he got dressed, pinpointing from which room it had come from. _The harem_.

Madara stayed standing in the middle of the room, trying to concentrate, trying to match this familiar chakra to its owner but no one came to mind. Hanae stood in his line of vision, trying to coax him back into bed. He stared at her, his eyes emotionless although on the inside he was ticked with irritation. Both at the anomaly as well as the voluptuous girl in front of him.

Hanae tiptoed and blew into his ear, all the while reaching up to undress him. "Come back to bed, _Hokage-sama_."

Madara gripped her wrist in a painful hold and she yelped in pain and surprise. He slapped her and she fell to the floor, shock clear on her face.

"Don't touch me." his voice said, monotonous. "You're nothing but a whore." _Who's not even worth my breath_. he added as an afterthought.

He stalked out, leaving a sexually frustrated and crying Hanae inside. Once out, his two most trusted ANBU jumped to his side. "We're going to the harem. I need to investigate something."

* * *

A/N: kay that last part was just an afterthought that I kinda decided to put in. It's like one of those things that are kinda vital to the story haha. I'm not sure how you guys would like it but this chapter was for you guys. It was actually supposed to be up yesterday but things happened and /: yep :) thank you for the reviews x) they never fail to make me smile.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Sakura woke up with a start, feeling slightly disoriented. Someone was shaking her... "Kaori! Wake up! Kaori?!"

"Hm?" she asked dumbly, swatting the hands away. "5 more minutes" she pleaded irritably. With all the chakra she spent, she needed the rest right now.

The shaking grew more intense. "No, Kaori! Wake up. The Hokage is coming."

At this, Sakura shot out of bed, nearly taking Fumiko down to the floor with her. "Where?!" she cried, alert. Her eyes searched the familiar room and landed on Fumiko, whose eyes were wide with shock.

"...Ka-ori...?" Her eyes looked Sakura over from head to toe with question in her eyes. "That's you... right?"

Sakura furrowed her brows in confusion, turning to look in the mirror and gasping at her reflection. It had been a while since she last saw her own _real_ reflection. Her hair had grown longer from her previously short hair now grown down to the middle of her back. Her green eyes seemed more startled than she was used to but the same sharpness was still there.

Cursing, she bit her lip reaching into the deepest reserves of her chakra and summoned it to do the transformation jutsu but hissed in pain, collapsing to the floor. Fumiko rushed right over, putting a supporting arm around her shoulders. "Kaori?! Are you okay?"

Sakura could only manage a shake of her head. "Can't transform." she bit through her teeth.

Fumiko didn't know what to say at that. "Wh-what?"

Sakura bit her lip as the pain subsided. "I'll explain everything later. Just help me onto the bed." she concentrated on her breathing. _Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.__  
_

Fumiko nodded hesitantly and helped Sakura onto the bed. She noticed that Fumiko was dressed up like a doll and recalled the words that she threw at her while trying to get her to wake up. Widening her eyes in alarm, she gripped Fumiko's arms, causing the poor girl to jump. "Fumiko, listen to me carefully. Right now, Madara is coming and at the very least it will take him 3 minutes to get to the harem... My name is Sakura and I'm a ninja who is currently on a classified infiltration mission. I used the transformation jutsu to look like a meek village girl with brown hair and brown eyes with nothing special to note." She gestured to herself. "And as you can see this is actually my real persona." She looked toward the time. _2 minutes_. "I know you have a lot of questions but if you're still the girl I helped all those months ago, if you're still my friend, my sister, then please help me. He can't know what I look like. He can't know my true identity. He can't know that I'm a ninja so-"

Fumiko raised a hand with an understanding look on her face. "Kao-" she stopped herself then smiled. "Sakura. When I came here, sold by my own blood, I expected my life to be over. I expected for nobody to be there for me and I felt that I should just save everybody the trouble and kill myself. I was going to die anyways and I felt I was only taking up space." She took a hold of Sakura's hands in both of hers, tears fresh in her eyes. "Sakura, I don't care that you are a ninja and that you look completely different. You are still the same person who saved my life that very night we were carted off to the Hokage. Your heart is warm and kind and strong. You became my sister even when we had no relations to each other at all. Of course I will help you however I can."

Sakura bit her lip to keep from crying and both of the girl hugged each other. She looked at the clock. _1 minute_. Sniffling, she leaned back with a serious expression on her face. "Right now, I can't do the transformation jutsu so I can't go out there looking like this. How long have I been sleeping?"

Fumiko took on a thoughtful expression. "When my servants woke me up, they said it had only been at the least 5 minutes."

Groaning, Sakura rubbed her temples. _I need to calm down. Panicking will only do more harm than good..._ "For now, go out and tell Kei to keep everyone out. You should also be ready to greet the Hokage. I'll stay here and I'll work something out."

Fumiko nodded in worry and hurried out the door. Sakura swung her legs over the bed and hopped off, stepping in front of the full-length mirror and taking in her appearance. Her outer kimono must have been taken to the washroom when she was healing Fumiko so she was only left with the undergarments. Quickly stripping until there was a thin layer of clothing, she went toward her wardrobe and chose the first kimono she saw hanging. It had the colors of sunrise and sunset merging together with brilliant colors of red orange and yellow in varying different shades. Different birds flew around shadowed trees and Sakura could not help but admire its craftsmanship.

She heard the booming of the doors opening. Sakura quickly dressed herself, doing this in barely a minute when it took her servants 30. She forgoed the hair and makeup, not having enough time. She heard a commotion happening outside and rushed to get into bed, putting the blanket over her head and hoping beyond hope that the intelligent Uchiha would keep away from her room.

* * *

Madara burst through the harem doors, immediately analyzing everything around. Each girl was lined around the fountain, heads down minus Hanae. Ignoring the girls, he walked around, scrutinizing everything, looking for something but not knowing what to look for.

Becoming increasingly irritated, he stalked around the girls, barely paying them attention until he felt something off. Stopping abruptly, he closed his eyes, trying to specify what exactly was different. Which subtle change had happened. Looking towards the girl to his right, he tried to recall her name. "Girl... Your name is... Fumiko, right?"

The girl kept her head down, trying to keep a calm composure but Madara spotted her weight shifting from foot to foot and the imperceptible squeeze of her hand. Her tense posture could've been used as a model for a rock and he recalled that there was something wrong with her. Digging through his memories, he remembered that she was supposed to have an illness. Some kind of disease.

As she nodded her head, he turned to face her fully. "Shouldn't you be dead by now? And if not dead then dying?" He walked up to her slowly until he stopped just in front of her, lifting her chin to meet his coal-dark eyes. "And your chakra... it's neither _in_creasing or _de_creasing nor is it _flowing_. Why is that?" he asked. Fumiko froze up at his cold, dark gaze. Madara loomed over her and she whimpered. "I don't like repeating myself."

"I-I'm I-I-I went. I'm- I- I d-don't. I-"

Tired of her stammering, he wrenched his hand back in disgust and frustration though he cleverly hid it. Seeing that there was nothing more to find out, he made to walk out when he stopped again. Something struck him as odd as he turned to count the girls. _2-4-6-8... then Hanae makes 9..._ "Someone's missing." he murmured to himself. Thinking hard, he could not put a face to the tenth girl that was missing. _She must've been unimportant then._ He frowned. _Yet, this inferior girl dares to stay in her room while her Hokage is in the harem?_ "Hawk, who are we missing?" he addressed the ANBU to his right, nodding toward the group of girls in front of him.

Hawk subtly tilted his head in thought and after a long pause, he shook his head. "I... am not sure, Hokage-sama."

Gritting his teeth, he turned to his left, asking the same question of Ko. He gave the same answer and Madara couldn't help but feel that he was missing a very important puzzle piece to a puzzle that he didn't even know yet.

"There are eight of you here and the ninth girl's whereabouts are known to me. Which girl is missing?" he called out in an authoritative voice.

The eight girls remaining turned to each other, confused and shrugging. Then one girl exclaimed a sound of recognition. "I know her! I don't remember what her name is. I think it's... Ka-..." she turned to the girl to her left. "You know that girl with brown hair and brown eyes and never talks to anyone except Fumiko!"

"Kaori!" another girl exclaimed. Everyone looked around, whispering questions on where she could be.

Madara shifted his attention to the girl that called the missing girl's name. "Where is she?"_  
_

Immediately casting her eyes down from his emotionless eyes, she answered. "I'm not really sure. She could be in her room...?" she trailed off, unsure.

Madara felt a spike of irritation. _This Kaori shows me blatant disobedience... _"Hawk, Ko. Stay here while I teach a woman her manners." he commanded, in a flat tone. "You, boy." he pointed to a boy who was off to the side, head bowed. "Show me the way to Kaori's room."

The boy looked confused and scared. "I-I'm sorry, H-Hokage-sama. I d-don't know who th-that is."

"Does nobody know who this girl is?!" he growled, this time a bare trace of anger could be heard in his tone and his face was set in a scowl. After a moment, a servant boy lifted his head, keeping his eyes downcast. "Hokage-sama. I am Kaori-san's servant and guide, Kei. I can lead you to her room but I have been told she is feeling a little under-the-weather."

Madara stared him down. "Lead me to her room. A servant boy should do as he is told."

The jittery boy nodded fast and mumbled out apologies as he rushed toward the rooms of the seemingly non-existent girl. Madara felt his suspicions rising as he got closer and closer to the looming doors ahead, not knowing that beyond that door, stood a pink-haired kunoichi, calmly waiting for his arrival.

* * *

A/N: Oh no! WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN?! Will Madara find out about Sakura's real identity? :O GASP?! ... sorry i'm so weird T_T hahaha i read all the reviews and they made me so happy that i decided to do another chapter despite how tired i was :) juuuuust for you guys ^-^ I kinda feel that this chapter reallly sucked but i appreciate it when you guys tell me otherwise cuz it lets me know that there r ppl who actually like this story and i should just continue it right? haha So idk if you guys want Madara to find out Sakura's ninja identity yet in the next chapter or not /: one of my biggest problems cuz idk if he should find out now or later. soo yeah thx for reading :)

hope you enjoyed this.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Sakura lay still in bed, fidgeting, thinking. She then sat up and stood, pacing the room. For once in her life, she wished have had been born with a normal colored hair like black or brown. Not pink for crying out loud.

When Madara had entered the harem, Sakura knew almost instantaneously. It was kind of hard not to when his enormous chakra overwhelmed everything else with bitterness. It almost left a sour taste in her mouth.

"What to do? What to do..." She muttered to herself. Looking down at her kimono, she didn't understand why on earth she had decided to don one. It wasn't like she would be in his presence and even if she was, he would not match that brown haired girl for this complete stranger. Huffing in irritation, she undressed once more, throwing it onto the bed and walked into the bath, not knowing why but following her gut feeling. It had always gotten her out of trouble before and she wasn't about to go doubting it now.

Taking one step at a time, she walked all the way to the back, finding a pile of clothes neatly folded in a corner. Crouching down, she took a set and unraveled it, finding with confusion that it was a set of a handmaidens clothes. She recalled that they were here in case of an emergency of any kind. Counting this as an emergency, she donned them quickly, finding that they fit her snugly.

Feeling his presence drawing near her room, she cursed. Her hair! Rushing out of the bathroom, she checked the mirror, doing a simple braid that most servants wore, not knowing what else to do about the color of her hair.

As soon as the doors opened, Sakura bowed, keeping her face down. She could feel eyes on her and she forced herself into a calm and relaxed state, acting as if she belonged there simply doing her job.

"Go," she heard him say and after some shuffling of feet, the door closed with a thud.

* * *

Madara looked down at the girl before him. The thing he found most peculiar was her hair. Perhaps not the strangest thing he'd seen all his life but it was somewhere up there. "Who are you?"

The girl kept her head down, answering, "Ran."

"Do you know where your mistress is?" he asked, staring down at her. She shook her head no. After a pregnant pause, he said, "Are you a new servant?"

She nodded, "Hokage-sama, I have to get back to my duties and clean the room or the Lady will get angry..." she trailed off.

Madara rose an eyebrow. "Carry on..." She shuffled back toward the bed, smoothing out the outfit that seemed to have been thrown on the bed in a hurry and hanging it back in the wardrobe. He sat on a nearby chair and scrutinized her. "Have we met before?"

The girl he now knew as Ran paused as if thinking it over. "I don't believe so. Although I've heard of you."

He quirked an eyebrow. "Is that so? And what do people say about me?"

Ran didn't seemed at a loss for words. "Do you want the truth or what you want to hear?"

Madara place an elbow on the arm rest and leaned his head on his fist, forming a lazy grin. "Do you think that I'm too big of a coward to hear the truth?"

Ran looked up, forgetting her goal to keep her eyes away from his line of vision.

Madara stilled, barely registering her words. He leaned forward, interrupting her. "Are you sure we haven't met before? I am fairly certain at the very least I've seen you before. Or perhaps a relative?"

Ran stilled and gave him a cheery smile. "It would've been hard to forget a girl with pink hair." she pointed out.

He nodded at that, conceding and yet he could've sworn, no, he definitely _knew _that he had crossed paths with her, despite the very obvious fact that her physical traits would've left an impression on any mind. It wasn't so much that he recognized her, but that he recognized something familiar about her. It was in her eyes. They were strong, intelligent, and confident, both proud and unwavering and he knew that she would be a hard one to break if he tried.

Those kinds of eyes were very rare and it almost made his blood boil in excitement. He wanted to break those eyes, but he needed to know where he'd seen her first. Perhaps then all of this confusion would sort itself out.

Remembering his original reason as to why he'd come in the first place, he asked her where Kaori was or if she'd seen her. Shaking her head no, Ran excused herself to the bath, explaining that she still had to clean it before the Lady came back. Nodding his dismissal, he watched as she quietly bowed back out of the room.

Tilting his head to the side, he vaguely recalled a memory of those same eyes except they weren't a striking emerald color but a cocoa brown. Her hair was not a shimmery coral but a chocolate mess of tangles, wet with steam and sticking to the top half of her body. _Ohhh..._ he recalled, a slight smirk donning his features. _That_ girl.

Seeing that there was nothing more for him to do, he exited, immediately greeted by his right hand men. "Ko," he called, his voice deep. Ko stood at attention, his mask seeming to express the awareness of the man behind it. "Watch the servant girl. Find out everything about her and report everything she does to me. Understood?"

He nodded his affirmative and Madara turned to Hawk. "You are to watch Kaori... Same goes." he turned back to look at the doors. "I find it strange that she seemed to have been near non-existent before today, associating with no one other than the dying girl who..." he chuckled. "... who seemed to have made a miraculous recovery." Hawk nodded his confirmation as well and Madara dismissed them. _It would seem I should pay a visit to a sick little girl_. he thought maliciously as he stalked calmly toward another bedroom chamber, intent on getting some answers.

* * *

Sakura released the breath she hadn't known she had been holding, collapsing on the floor and leaning against the wall for support. She wasn't stupid. Madara would most likely have her watched. _I wasted too much chakra. I need to rest_. She thought wearily as she forced herself up and limped to the bed. It would've been strange for a servant to sleep in the bed of her master but at the moment, Sakura couldn't care less, thinking that if she were to get caught, then her excuse would be that she was a newbie at this. She would take care of this new problem later but for now, she would rest.

_I still need to write that report to Naruto..._ was her last thought before she fell into oblivion.

* * *

Fumiko hummed a soft lullaby as she got ready to leave for Sakura's bedchamber. _I hope she's alright._ She thought as she opened the doors, about to head out when her path seemed to have been blocked by a body. Looking up, Fumiko realized with terror that this particular body was the Hokage himself.

Scrambling to get her wits about her, she backed up, inviting him in, head bowed and showing the proper respect. "W-what brings you here, Hokage-sama?"

He stayed standing, looking down at her with a brow raised. "Going somewhere, Fumiko-san?"

She shook her head no and he gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him. "You're going to lie? Could you be any more stupid?" he asked coolly. "Now we'll try this again. I told you once before that I do not like to repeat myself but for you I'll ask again. Going somewhere, Fu-mi-ko-san?"

Fumiko's eyes widened in absolute fear as she stammered out a no.

Madara stared into her eyes for a moment, impressed that she hadn't broken just by the stare alone. Many people would've been bawling by now but he had to admit, this girl was stronger than she looked. Although he should know already, never judge a book by its cover. Looks can be deceiving and not knowing this important rule will get you killed in the shinobi world.

But she would break. He knew because she was already broken, just trying to piece together her scrambled life and emotions. "Do you know why I don't use my Sharingan on you already to get the answers I need?" There was no answer and he continued on, walking around her room and taking note of the thin layer of dust that coated a couple of places. "Because I could just as easily get those same answers using simple... _interogation_ method. If I could do that then there would just be no need to waste my chakra on something simple like you." he turned his eyes on her. "After all," he dragged his forefinger across a particularly dusty surface and blew on it. "they say the thrill of the hunt is in the chase, don't you agree?" he finished, smiling as if a joke had been shared between them, but it only looked cold and cruel on his face, the calculating look never once leaving his expression.

He noted that Fumiko's breath had quickened in short gasps, beads of sweat appearing on her sun-kissed face. She swallowed nervously and her eyes seemed to wander everywhere but him.

"Are you going to tell me what I need to know? For example, what happened to that illness of yours?"

Fumiko's eyes hardened slightly through all the panic in her eyes. The Uchiha walked up to her, looking for any hint of yielding. "Very well," he spoke flatly then walked right past her through the door.

As she slumped down into the chair behind her in relief, she heard him mutter words that had ice flowing through her veins.

"Make this fun for me."

* * *

A/N: kay so firstly I wanted to ask about whether or not you guys would want a love triangle ish kind of thing because i know i like it when that happens and i know a lot of people who happen to just LOVE love triangles so i might just put one in there but as to who i'm still not sure yet. Either another uchiha like sasuke or itachi or something like that or it could be an OC but i don't really like putting in more oc's than i have to so an the chance of an oc being the third guy is kinda low. Idk what else but if you guys want to give your opinions i'd like to hear them.

Then there's also the reviews xD

I agree with some of my reviewers. It's a little too early for Madara to find out who Sakura is yet and there won't be much of an exciting plot until he finds out so until then hang in there guys T_T another thing is something that 'arke-x' said about longer chapters. I was also thinking of making longer chapters too so possibly next chapter or the chapter after that it'll start getting noticeably longer soooo yeahhh haha :) and i love all of your reviews. They make me laugh and actually physically put like this weird creeper smile on my face and my sisters just look at me like 'Oh god the weirdo' xD hahaha thank you you all are amazing x)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

She knew she was being watched. Sakura's ninja skills may have dulled a bit over the time due to lack of training but she was as alert as ever. From what she gathered as she walked down the hall to the laundry room, dropping off 'Kaori-san's' clothes, he was a ninja of high rank, most likely ANBU. He was very careful but he didn't do anything. Just followed her around so it was most likely that he was just watching her.

_Oh great,_ she thought as she dumped the basket full of clothes in a pile. _I just made it harder to sneak around... and it will be too much harder to change between Kaori and Ran._

As she walked back, she thought over her options. _Letting them find out is definitely not an option. Sneaking in between Kaori and Ran, he's bound to find out. Perhaps a clone..._ _It would take a lot of concentration but I might just pull it off._

"Hm?" Sakura abruptly stopped, taking in her surroundings. It was completely different and strange. "I must've taken a wrong turn.." she muttered, desperately trying to remember from which direction she was coming from.

"You look lost. Need some help?" someone joked behind her and Sakura let out a startled screech, instinctively hitting the person right behind her. Sakura gasped when she saw it was Kei, crouching down to help him up.

"Oh my god Kei, I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" He grunted, giving her a slightly pained smile.

"Yeah, yeah." he waved her off although he sounded a little breathless. "I don't recall we've ever met. How do you know my name?" he asked after brushing her hand off for the millionth time.

Sakura paused, forgetting that she was now a fellow servant who was new. She felt the ANBU's keen eyes on her as she scrambled for a reply. "Uhm...I-I'm new. and my mistress... I was assigned to Kaori-san and she talks about you a lot. Well, not a lot but enough to know she's fond of you."

Kei blushed. "The Lady talks about me?"

Sakura had to keep from laughing out loud as she nodded. "Do you know where I am?" she asked apologetically.

Kei nodded in response, gesturing toward a hallway which upon entering, she found would lead to the harem within only a couple turns. Deciding to part ways, she made her way toward her room while Kei went off to do servants chores.

As she closed the door to her room, she became aware of another presence in the room, recognizing it to be that infuriating ANBU.

"Sakura."

She jumped at the sound of her name, finding the owner of the voice immediately. _ANBU. _"Excuse me?" she feigned ignorance. "Who are you? What are you doing in my Lady's chamber?"

The man looked towards her, his mask looking like that of a frightened, gullible fox. "Sakura... don't play stupid with me. The only reason why Madara hasn't found out who you are is because he's never seen you face to face and he never takes the care to study the bingo book. It's his arrogance that's preventing him from recognizing you."

Sakura immediately went on alert, discreetly brushing her fingers against a kunai she always kept hidden under a fold near her right thigh. "Who are you?" she eyed him suspiciously. With no way of knowing his abilities or power, it would be hard to assess on how big of a chance she had at success if they were to engage in a fight.

His posture suggested a sort of relaxed state but she knew better. Every shinobi should know that their guard should never be down. "You're in no position to ask questions."

"I know you." Sakura said and it was true. His voice sounded strangely familiar but she just couldn't put her finger on it.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "I'd say that statement is inaccurate. You don't know me but you know _of_ me."

"You know, riddles were never my best suite." she ground out and without warning, threw her kunai at him, the knife aimed for the strap that held the mask in place.

He caught it easily, twirling it around his fingers before throwing it right back at her. Sakura moved her head to the side, a couple strands of loose hair taking the hit, before the kunai thudded loudly behind her. "Who are you?" she repeated.

The ANBU paused, seeming to contemplate whether or not he should reveal his identity. "I'm not the enemy." he cryptically decided on before disappearing.

Sakura stared at the spot that the man had just been, new questions swirling around in her head. First off, who was this person? Was he an ally? He said he wasn't the enemy but was he trustworthy? Her identity has already been found out although she had to say that was partly her fault. Pink hair? Emerald eyes? It wouldn't have been that hard to pick her out. And yet, he seemed familiar, albeit not much but she was sure she had met him at least once before.

She sighed, growling out her frustration and turned to yank her kunai out. For now, she didn't feel the ANBU's presence but that didn't mean he wasn't there. _Well, he already knows my identity. If he truly isn't an enemy then he wouldn't tell anyone I'm here._ And with that thought, she transformed back into Kaori, making another clone to play as 'Ran'.

* * *

Madara sat back in his chair, paperwork loaded on his desk. He sighed, rubbing his temple. _Konoha has certainly become troublesome since the time it was founded._ "What do you want, Hawk?"_  
_

Hawk appeared in front of him, kneeling down, head bowed. "I've found Kaori-san. She just emerged from her room... with that pink-haired servant."

Madara took notice of Hawk's discomfort. "Do you know her?"

"The servant?... Yes." he replied but did not elaborate.

He looked down at Hawk, trying to figure out what connection he might have with the pinkette. "You have Kaori's report?"

Hawk nodded at this and placed the folder on the desk. Madara picked it up and went through it, lazily, already knowing most of the stuff that's in here. _Name is Natsu Kaori. Age 18... Very young... Female. Daughter of Natsu Koshi and Natsu Himiko. No siblings. Nothing significant in her background... nothing worth noting._ He sighed, just about to close the folder when something caught his eye. _Deceased for three years._ "Hawk." he beckoned him over. "Tell me, why it says she's been deceased for three years?"

Hawk leaned over his shoulder, scanning the profile. "...It must be the wrong file..." he trailed off but he seemed unsure.

Madara looked it over. Natsu Kaori. Around the age of 18. Orphan. The picture was of a chocolate haired girl with brown eyes but it lacked the spark he saw when they had met face to face. "I'm going to the harem. Stay here and... do my paperwork for me." he looked at the big stack in disdain. "So much formalities. he muttered before stalking out, file in hand.

Hawk looked up toward a corner and stared hard at it. "You realize Madara already knew you were here?"

For a moment, nothing happened. Then the air stirred and Ko appeared, leaning casually against the wall. "You've seen her?"

Hawk assessed his partner, saying nothing for a moment then replying with a curt nod. Ko looked back, an eyebrow raised. "It's been awhile since you two have last seen each other."

Hawk went around the desk and sat on the chair, continuing the paperwork that Madara had ordered him to finish.

"Will you say hi to her?"

Hawk slammed the desk, his eyes closed. "I'd rather have nothing to do with her." he said and continued shuffling papers, stamping and signing, stamping and signing.

Ko observed the tense muscles in his partners posture and decided to leave it alone, instead watching the sun set in a blur of red, orange, and yellow.

* * *

Sakura had been sleeping when she felt the overbearing weight of the Hokage's chakra. Immediately sitting up, she sought the man who she'd been trying to avoid her entire stay here and found him, sitting back on a couch, watching her.

She shivered, eyes widening and hand sneaking under her pillow for a kunai. "What are you doing here... Hokage-sama?"

He said nothing, just watching her.

"How long have you been watching me sleep?"

Silence. It nerved her that his coal black eyes had been staring at her while she had been vulnerable. _I suppose this was what they meant when they told me to sleep with one eye open._

Standing up, he hummed, bringing out a file she hadn't seen at first. "Kaori..."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Do you know what this is I'm holding in my hand?" he asked as he stepped closer.

She eyed it warily. "No."

"It's your file." he threw it onto her bed and Sakura picked it up, looking through the contents. "Tell me, _Kaori-chan_, why does it say you have been _dead_ for _three_ years when you are very much alive before me?" He sat on the bed and held her hands as if they were dear friends but his hands had a tighter grip than they should, meaning that he wasn't asking for an answer. He was demanding one.

She was at a loss for words. There was no way she could talk her way out of this one. "Kei." she called out. "Kei!"

Madara laughed out loud, swiftly pinning her under him. "There is no use, young one. I dismissed them all as I came in." His eyes roamed down toward her body and Sakura was then aware of how little she had on. She mentally cursed herself for her preference of lighter clothes. Ever since becoming a kunoichi, unless she had a full battle gear on, she slept light with a kunai close by just in case. She was too distracted in mentally scolding herself to notice his finger trailing down her face.

"So if we were to engage in more... pleasurable activities," he chuckled at her frightened expression as his lips grazed her cheek. "Then nobody would hear us... unless you're a screamer."

Sakura felt the rush of adrenaline that she hadn't gotten for nearly a year and struggled but it was useless under his weight and strength. The way he pinned her was both wrists in one hand behind her and it was a smart Sakura had to admit. This prevented her from struggling to much or risk dislocating both her shoulders.

"Now tell me, who are you really?"

Sakura tried to knee him in his manhood and she knew it was a low move for a shinobi but as long as it got him off of her, she felt she it could be an exception. Not that it helped. Madara twisted out of her reach, putting both of his knees between hers and slowly spreading them.

"This is starting to get boring, Kaori-san... or is that even your name?"

Sakura lifted her chin. "I don't know what you're talking about. My name is Natsu Kaori." _False__. _"I'm 18." _True. _"I'm an orphan with no other relations in this world." _True. "_And I have no reason to defy you or go against you." _False._

Madara looked into her eyes and Sakura forced herself to meet them head on, not willing to lose this fight for dominance.

"Hokage-sama."

"What?" Madara asked, irritated at the newcomer but not looking away from the fiery chocolate eyes. _The girl in the picture had eyes full of hope... this girl has eyes full of fire. They may look the same but they are not. _he concluded.

"You are needed in the Hokage Residence. There's been an emergency meeting called by the clan heads."

Sakura rose an eyebrow. "Sounds like you're needed, _Hokage_-sama."

His jaw ticked for a moment before lifting himself off of her and releasing her. Sakura rubbed her wrists, mumbling her disapproval. She heard Madara snatch the file from the bed and walk out of the room, pausing just long enough to give her a few parting words. "Mark my words, _Kaori-san_ this isn't over yet."

She shuddered and looked toward the person who unintentionally saved her but upon seeing Ko, studying her, she wasn't so sure it was unintentional after all.

"Who. Are. You?" she demanded fiercely. "Who are you to meddle in my affairs and save me from my problems. I can handle myself." she hissed. "The least you could do is show me your face." Sakura crossed her arms defiantly.

Ko stood still for a moment before replying. "Who said I was saving you?" Turning his back to her, he then proceeded to follow Madara out the door to the meeting she assumed.

She sighed, not surprised that he didn't comply with her request, instead tossing and turning the entire night plagued with questions.

* * *

A/N: WHOOO it's the end of this chapter FINALLY ._. it took me literally the whole day to finish this xD but it's okay. for this chapter i was really going on a whim here and i didn't really like this chapter... i felt it was kinda... bland ._. but it's okay. hope you guys liked this new update! please review. i really love hearing what you guys think and i like inputting some suggestions that i see. i guess you could say that this story also depends on how the reviewers like it :)


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The sun wasn't the only thing to rise and greet her in the morning.

"Fumiko!" Sakura exclaimed and squeezed the fragile girl tightly.

"H-Hi..." she awkwardly patted her on the back since that was the only thing she could do at the moment. When Sakura finally decided to let her go, they looked each other over.

"So..." she trailed off, brown meeting hazel. "I'm guessing you have some questions..."

Fumiko gave a hesitant smile. "Well... what did you do to me?"

Sakura hummed, giving thought as to how she could explain this in simple terms. "Okay," she turned toward her and patted the seat beside her as the girls cozy-d up. "Your body contracted a viral infection. It's purpose is to cannibalize your body by tricking it into thinking that your own body is a harm to you. It's very, very rare and possibly only one every couple generations can get it."

"Wait." Fumiko interrupted, a hand held up. "You said it's viral, meaning it can get into the bloodstream of others through fluids right? Then shouldn't it be... not as rare?"

Sakura widened her eyes, mildly impressed. "Very good, Fumiko. But it's very hard to understand this particular disease even for the most talented doctor or medic ninja. From what we understand, this disease is very particular and if it doesn't like its host, it will only whither away and die, flushing itself out of the patient's body systems."

Fumiko nodded in understanding and gestured for Sakura to explain on.

"So using my chakra," she summoned some glowing green to her hands as an example, "I surrounded your major organs and tissues. It'll only delay your... death for a little while but it'll give me enough time to figure out how to flush this out of your system."

Fumiko smiled sadly. "Is it okay if I call you Sakura?" Sakura nodded her consent as Fumiko shook her head, giving a shaky laugh. "Thank you so much Sakura. You gave me more life when the most a doctor could do was shake his head in confusion. I'm so grateful for you and you will never understand what it means to have you in my life. Perhaps being sold was the best thing that might've happened in my life." the girl chuckled at the irony.

"Speaking of, do you know our purpose here?" Sakura asked.

Fumiko shrugged. "I know that the Hokage uses some of the girls for... um" she blushed. "To... satisfy. His lust." she bit her lip. "I over heard the girls talking about the... stuff." she smiled shyly. "But other than that, there really wasn't a lot he called on us for. He only... called for me once.. to ask about you... but I didn't say anything!" she bit her lip, obviously a little traumatized.

Sakura nodded slowly. Sighing, she decided to think about that at a later time and stretched her limbs, relaxing into the bed until she felt a familiar chakra signature. Tensing, she narrowed her eyes. "Hey... uh Fumiko. I'll catch up with you later." she gave a reassuring smile and ushered the confused yet obedient female out.

Getting up from the bed, she paced around, trying to pinpoint the exact location of the troublesome ANBU. "Ko. If you are an ally then you won't watch my every move."

"I said I wasn't your enemy." The voice said blandly and Sakura whipped around to see the ANBU across the room, scrutinizing a cherry blossom flower on the wall.

"I- What does that mean?" she said, exasperated.

Ko turned his head toward her, just staring. "How's Naruto doing?"

Sakura eyed him warily. "I don't know you. What makes you think I'd tell you?"

He sighed as if he were dealing with a child. "Really, Sakura. I'm on orders to watch your every move and report back to Madara-sama. Don't you think you'd be in a cell somewhere and not in the luxurious confines of the harem?"

Sakura rose an eyebrow. "You think that I'm _that_ stupid as to talk to you about Naruto when I don't even know what you look like?"

Ko smiled although Sakura couldn't see it. "Needed to know if you were still sharp. You have to be on your toes if you want to get anymore information than what you have now."

"Hey I-"

"And especially since you're sneaking around when Madara has a keen eye on you."

"That wasn't my fau-"

"And when you healed Fumiko somewhat. You know, that was very reckless for a shinobi."

"Are you finished?" Sakura huffed, crossing her arms.

"No." Ko replied but he didn't say anymore, which caused Sakura's temper to flare.

"Well, by all means, please finish as I am very busy today."

Ko just chuckled and disappeared, leaving a very put off Sakura to call Kei and the handmaidens in to dress her.

* * *

Sakura's hands flew through the books on the shelf and she spent her whole day observing and listening keenly on where the key information about Konoha was stored.

Soon, night fell and as she was about to give up for the millionth time, her ears caught something. Sakura had been heading for the door out of the library when she heard two voices talking urgently.

"...The Fire."

"So, what does he want me to do with security?"

"To keep it as it is... although he said he would review it and adjust it accordingly if need be..." A pause and some ruffling of some papers. "This is the new ANBU that are guarding. The rebels also did some damage so some medic nins have been called but there were too much rebels and we nearly got overwhelmed so this one is also the new schedule."

"... What do you want me to do with these? Knowing the Hokage, he most likely made it known to everyone about this."

"Just put it with the others."

"... and do you want me to throw out the old ones?"

"No. Keep it just in case."

Sakura could hear them moving further away as she strained her ears. _I have to follow them. He'll probably lead me to the scrolls._ She thought, excited that she was finally getting somewhere after so long.

She followed them from a far distance, not wanting to take any chances in case one of them were a sensory ninja or had heightened senses, more so than the average shinobi.

Many times, she almost tripped and her kimono was slightly ripped and she cursed it, wishing desperately that she could dress into standard shinobi attire.

The two ANBU eventually split and she followed the one whom she could see with the scrolls. Soon, they came upon the Konoha walls and she stilled, masking herself as she watched him stop at a particular spot by the wall. He bowed his head and clapped his hands together softly and he stayed like that, as if concentrating. She felt him gather his chakra at one point in the wall.

She watched in fascination as he took a step forward and entered the wall, seeming to disappear into it. She waited and waited until the ANBU stepped out as he did before and went on his way.

Sakura examined the are closely, noting it's place and exactly where the ANBU stood and stepped into the wall, deciding to experiment with it later as it was getting very late.

Nodding in satisfaction after making sure she had every detail memorized, she turned... only to bump into a solid chest.

"Going somewhere?"

Sakura stilled, immediately recognizing the baritone voice of the Hokage. "Late-night walk. I used to do it all the time back at home." she answered, trying to calm her racing heart to no avail.

Madara examined her closely, snaking his arm around her waist and the other holding both of her wrists behind her. "With those clothes? It almost looks as if you were in a rush to get somewhere, fast."

Sakura didn't miss a beat. "I've always been clumsy." She laughed but it sounded nervous and high pitched. She wanted to wince. She was a shinobi for crying out loud and she'd been in worse situations than this and yet her heart was beating like crazy and she was positive he could feel it against his chest... _No armor._ She briefly wondered why and how he'd caught her and Ko came to mind.

"I see..." he leaned down, his face an inch away from hers and he smiled just before his foot sweeped her legs out from under her and she landed on her back and pinning her beneath him. This stunned her which caused the image of Kaori to flicker and Madara narrowed his eyes.

His finger finger trailed down her face, down her neck, along her collarbone and outlining the curve of her breast until he got to her solar plexus. "Do you know what's here?" he asked in amusement as he watched her eyes widen a small fraction and he felt her heart beat even more erratically and yet her breathing was normal beneath him.

Feigning ignorance, she answered a curt 'no'.

Smirking, he pressed his finger into her flesh, since the fabric there ripped to reveal skin and he clamped his hand over her mouth as she screamed in agony. The image flicker once more and he laughed out loud in triumph.

"This is where your main source of chakra is." he explained. "And if I were to press it just so and leak a precise amount of my chakra into yours... it can become a very painful experience." He did it once more and her back arched, her screams muffled as she struggled to block out the foreign invader in her body but this took immense concentration which was directed into keeping the flickering image up.

"Or it could be a pleasurable experience too." he changed the flow of chakra and he heard her breath hitch.

Sakura bit her lip as a massive wave of intense pleasure rolled through her, emanating from her core and she was starting to breath really heavy to keep in a low moan.

Madara stopped, feeling himself harden but having the decency to wait. "Who are you really?"

Sakura shook her head, keeping her mouth shut.

"Well, this will be fun..." he smirked but was interrupted by someone.

"Hokage-sama."

Madara grit his teeth and suppressed a sigh of frustration. "I'm busy Ko. What could be so important?"

"There are reports that the leader of The Fire has been seen around Konoha's borders." he said urgently.

Madara sighed. "Naruto... Of all times..." he grit his teeth and got up. "Ko, take her to my room. Chain her, drug her, knock her out I don't care just keep her in there." He turned his gaze to her eyes which were still that light shade of brown. "I'll deal with you later." he growled and sped off into the direction of the Hokage Residence."

Ko kneeled down next to Sakura and put her arm over his shoulders. "I told you to be careful." he hissed.

"You didn't say that." she snapped back wearily, still trying to get her bearings before they both headed off to the palace.

"It was implied." he held his breath and let it out tiredly. "I can't do anything now that he knows you are a ninja. I can keep the bingo books from his line of sight and he doesn't know that you're part of The Fire so all you have to do is convince him you were doing some sort of recon mission as a part of your test from a village or something to convince him that you are _not_ Haruno Sakura."

Sakura looked up at him, trying to decipher this stranger. "Why can't you just let me leave? Say I beat the crap out of you and you can fake some wounds." she winced as they took a particularly large leap, straining her abdomen.

Ko barked out a humorless laugh. "You couldn't beat me even if you tried. Madara-sama knows this."

"You say you're not an enemy but you're also not an ally. Why do you call him Madara-_sama_? You sound very loyal to him." she accused.

He went silent for a bit as they neared the gates of the palace. Sakura thought he was never going to answer when he spoke in a soft voice so that Sakura had to strain to hear him. "He's my relative. It's my duty."

Sakura stilled against him. "_Who ar-_"

"Hush." Ko placed a finger on her lips as they stopped outside of the palace gates. "Not yet Sakura... Not yet." he walked her through the palace gates and down the halls to Madara's room.

As they neared the daunting, inevitable double doors approaching just ahead, Sakura's steps became even more heavier and reluctant until she refused to budge another step.

Ko grunted and he turned to face her. "I'm sorry Sakura."

She glared at him. "For what?"

"For this." And she felt a sudden pain blossom from her temple and she could feel herself falling into his arms, darkness already eagerly clouding her mind. "Remember, don't let him break you Sakura." were the last words she heard before she lost herself in dreamless oblivion.

* * *

A/N: HEY THEEERRE :D i know it's a little late but i got chapter 8 upload :) finally right? hahaha. so i was reading the reviews and they just make me laugh and warm my heart xD the past two days have been a little crazy for me so i haven't had a lot of time to write this but i finished toniiight! yay me. haha i hoped you liked this update. This didn't really feel okay to me but i have a feeling you guys would love it and yell at me for saying how crazy i am to think this chapter was anything less than amazing... unless i'm flattering myself xD lol

Sooo u guys got a hint about Ko's identity! :) who do you guys think it is? lemme know and review :D they make me happy and are my motivation to get off my lazy ass and start writing xD


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The first thing that Sakura felt was an enormous pounding in her head, particularly coming from her left temple. "Ughhnn..." Burying deeper into the bed, she breathed in the familiar smell of... _Pine?_ Sakura took in a deeper breath, trying to find the familiar smell of lavender that always coated her room. Now that she thought about it, the bed felt bigger and more... different. Sakura reluctantly opened her eyes, finding a room completely different that her own. _Where...?_

To her right was a whole wall covered in books and scrolls while to her left was a wardrobe, built into the wall. Beside that, was a door slightly open and in it she could recognize that it was probably the bathing room. Toward the front of the room, there was a small, round table to the side, close to the door with a couple chairs and directly across from her was the door. She noticed right away that this room wasn't meant to be decorative. Just simple and concise. It was obvious it belonged to a man, if the monochromatic colors were anything to judge from.

She sighed, her eyes roaming around the unfamiliar setting until it landed on something in particular. The Uchiha Crest.

Sakura froze, memories flooding her mind as she remembered Ko taking her to the palace on account of Madara's orders. So then that meant she was in... "Dammit!"

In her panic to get out of the bed, she fell off with her limbs entangled in the blankets with a loud thud. Her head now screamed at her to stay still as her vision was getting slightly blurry but she trudged on, determined to get out of this room. _His _room.

As she closed her hand on the doorknob, it opened to reveal a surprised Hokage on the other side of the door. "Going somewhere?" he asked, reminding her of the interrogation that had happened not too long ago.

She gave a strained smile. "Late-night walk. Used to do it all the time back at home."

He raised a brow, stepping forward which forced her to take a step back. He closed the door behind him and turned his attention to her. "You should just drop the act. I'm not stupid or I wouldn't have this position as Hokage."

"Then I wish you were stupid so we could go back to how it was before." Sakura spat.

Madara took on a look of mild surprise. "We? ... You're from Konoha?"

Sakura clamped her mouth shut with an audible click, wanting to hit herself for making such a slip-up.

He chuckled then, lazily strolling to her as she stepped away from him until her knees hit the edge of the bed and she fell back with an 'oomph'. He stayed standing, going through all of the kunoichi's he knew of in his head. "You know, it would greatly help me to identify you if you released that jutsu of yours."

Sakura stayed silent.

"Or a name could work."

"Kaori."

Madara laughed harshly. "I'm being nice right now for your sake. I rarely show that kind of mercy to others."

Sakura snorted, "What would you know about mercy? You don't even know anything about compassion."

He landed on top of her in a quick motion, his eyes steeled cold as he looked into her eyes. "I know more than you think."

She gave back a glare of her own. "Well, you did well to show the world."

"You're just a child. What would _you_ know of compassion then? What do you _think_ compassion is?" he asked coldly.

Sakura raised her chin, resisting the urge to look away. "I don't think. I know." He saw her eyes slightly as she thought about the days before Konoha became such a desolate place. "Compassion... is kindness, love, and warmth. It's beautiful and..." her eyes cleared and she pinned him with an accusing look. "Something that a cold, unfeeling, heartless bastard like you would never know."

Madara put on a thoughtful expression, nodding slowly. "Interesting way of putting it." he climbed off of her, offering her his hand but she brushed it aside, standing up herself.

"Well, this was a lovely chat." she headed towards the door but an arm blocked her way._  
_

Madara looked down at her as she looked up at him. "Who said you could go?" In a swift move, he wrapped the arm that was blocking her around his neck and pulled her into his body, his other arm encircling her in his iron grip. He bent his head by her ear and whispered softly, "I will find out who you are." Sakura struggled fervently and he shook her slightly. "Let's make a bet on it, shall we?"

Sakura stopped struggling and turned her head to face him, their lips a breadth away. "What do I get if I win?"

His cold eyes bore into her owns and for a short moment wished that her brown eyes were the bright green ones that he'd briefly seen flash before him. "One wish. One wish that, if it's in my power to grant, will be yours no questions asked."

She blinked, obviously startled. "Anything?"

Madara nodded solemnly. "Anything."

She stared into his coal, black eyes, wanting to brush the few loose strands of hair away from it. "So if I asked you to kill yourself?"

He grimaced but replaced it with an arrogant grin. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

Sakura looked away. "... and if you win?"

Madara chuckled breathily into her ear and she felt it brush her cheek. "Complete. Submission."

She stilled, weighing the risks in her mind. She'd be crazy to go along with this. Were she to lose, she would be dominated. Someone as strong and as prideful as her, completely taken over mind, body and soul... but then... he's offering that one wish if she just pulls through. How much information could she learn in just a day about the enemy?

_No matter what, come back alive..._

Sakura bit her lip. "Deal." _I'm sorry, Naruto. But if I just pull through this, pull through whatever he has to throw at me, if I just keep my identity a secret, who I am... then I win. Konoha wins... _"We win..." she murmured, unaware that Madara had perked up at hearing this.

He decided not to say anything, instead smiling at this new game he'd found to keep him entertained.

"Seven days." she said suddenly as he let her go. "I'll give you seven days to figure out my identity."

Madara barked out a harsh laugh. He laughed so hard that Sakura thought he would literally die. The thought almost had her laughing. His tombstone would read: _Uchiha Madara, Cause of Death: Laughing, Will be missed by none_.

"Oh, dearie," he gasped, breaking her out of her reverie. "I'll only need three. You think you'd last seven days... How cute." he shook his head, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

Sakura's temper started rising. "I could last a month of your torture. I just thought I'd be _nice_ and give you a fair chance."

He observed her from the corner of his eye, her brown hair had come down from its updo and now curtained her shoulders in an elegant way. Her face was set in a scowl as he had to literally keep himself from laughing. _Better not to offend her. The real fun starts soon although..._ he smirked. _I've never met someone so headstrong before. Even the strong ones would struggle to even look me in the eye and yet this one... _ He saw her try to mentally calm herself down and made a note. _So it's her temper that keeps her strong..._

"Well, I doubt you'd even last three days. _I'm_ trying to be nice here and give you a fair chance."

She snorted at that. "You? Be nice?" she shook her head at the ridiculousness of the idea. "Three days then." _Three days and I will have something at least worth noting to report back... _"Do all you want." Madara saw her eyes go wistful before it cleared to a determined expression. "Now you know I'm a shinobi. And all shinobi's know not to make a promise and trust their word. So we'll have to do a jutsu."

"Smart." he commented sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well I'm not stupid either." she muttered under her breath but he caught it, wisely choosing not to comment on it.

Sakura walked up to him as he took a seat at the table. "So? What is this jutsu?"

She didn't get a chance to answer as he pulled her down comfortably into his lap. "Why do you always make these advances when it's clear you're not sexually interested in me?" she snapped back, irritated.

Madara chuckled, smoothing his hand up her back, her ruined kimono ripping where he lightly tugge on it. "Now why do you think I'm not sexually interested in you?"

She coughed loudly, not expecting him to answer her question with a question. "The... jutsu." she cleared her throat, ignoring the small laugh he let out. "This jutsu is another way to make a pact but it's more binding. This requires the participants to mingle their blood and their chakras. Strangely, the jutsu somehow knows the agreement that the people already made amongst themselves." She shrugged. "That's it."

He nodded slowly. "And if, say one were to break the agreement?"

"You die." she said simply.

"And if one were to die before the agreement is fulfilled?" he questioned.

Sakura hummed. "Then it would immediately have to be fulfilled by the deceased's closest relative."

Madara sighed as if he had merely been asked to answer a boring list of questions. "Let's get this over with."

"Do you have-" Sakura began but was cut off when her hand, which had been hanging limp at her side was now in Madara's palm, blood beading from the clean cut. "-a knife..."

Madara shrugged, slicing his palm as well and intertwined her hand with his.

Sakura glared at him for pulling a knife on her without warning but saw no point in arguing about it. "Now, just send out a continuous flow of chakra towards our palms as I do the same."

Madara activated his sharingan and did as he was told. Sakura stared at him with a brow raised. "Can't have you killing me now can we? I don't trust you."

She stared back. "I don't trust you either."

Madara turned his eyes to where their palms met and sent out a steady stream of chakra as she instructed. He saw her do the same and observed how fixed her stream was. _Her chakra control... is flawless. _He stared at her face which was fixed into a mask of concentration.

Sakura felt his eyes on her and she chanced a glance towards him. "Do you find something interesting?"

He didn't answer and instead focused on the tingling sense that came from their palms which swelled into a pain that stabbed all over his hand. It felt like someone was slowly stabbing his nerves in his hand then reviving them and repeating the process. His thumb twitched.

Sakura smiled cheerfully. "Oh I forgot to tell you this would be painful."

Madara studied her carefully. There were no beads of sweat nor any strained muscles or tension in her. She wasn't in pain. "Oh it isn't painful." he assured although it was starting to grate on his nerves. Literally. "How are _you_ taking the pain?"

She shrugged. It was easy. Since she was a medic-nin, she layered a protective film of healing chakra just under her skin so it wouldn't have that noticeably green glow around her hand like usual while simultaneously protecting her hand from feeling like it was being shredded and shredded again.

Soon, it was over. The pain abruptly died and Sakura hurriedly tried to take her hand out of his but his grip tightened and he abruptly stood, twisting her around so her front was on the table. In a flash, he cut her clothes down the back and it fell open. Sakura was startled out of her shock and she started struggling. Ignoring her protests, he splayed his hand on her skin, noting how soft it was and trailed his fingers delicately up her spine. His thumb brushed the black Uchiha crest tattooed on her left shoulderblade. He had to admit, he liked seeing his mark on her, liked seeing that she was in a way _owned_ by him.

He brushed it again and this time Sakura shivered, her dissents dying on her tongue. He then dug all five of his fingers around the crest and pushed chakra that was not his own within the bleeding crests.

Sakura tried to scream but it was so painful that she could only gape in agony, her eyes closed shut. Tears gathered in her eyes as he let up his hand, reluctantly letting her stand as he stepped away.

She stood shakily on her feet, refusing to stagger or drop. "Wh- What did you do to me?" she asked breathlessly, holding the shredded kimono to her front.

Madara shed his armor and it clunked to the ground. He sat upon his bed and stared at her, a slight smug look of satisfaction crossing his features. "Oh, since I'm going to be finding out your identity, we can't have you lying to me or doing some sort of transformation jutsu to deter me."

Sakura could feel her grip on the transformation jutsu loosening even though she was desperately holding on.

"So I summoned the chakra of the tailed beasts to restrain the transformation jutsu." He said as he watched the meek image of the village girl merge into that of a confident kunoichi. Her brown hair slowly darkened into red then a brighter color until it reached a beautiful pastel pink that was rich with color. Her brown eyes turned near black to a forest green as it lightened slightly to a unique shade. Her lean frame filled out better as it exuded the assertive air she always carried around her.

For the first time since meeting her, he took a good look at the ninja who was looking at her pink hair as if it were a stranger. "It also lets me know when you're lying so it's kind of futile to do so." he added in as his eyes roamed her body.

Sakura, becoming self-conscious, glared at him. "This is completely uncalled for."

"What's your name?" he asked, ignoring her remark.

"... Haruno Sakura." she said, deciding that a name won't hurt. Besides, it was common courtesy to introduce oneself... even though being a ninja kicks common courtesy out the door, she still had some manners.

He smirked. "Fitting... Well, what are you doing here? Back in Konoha?"

She lifted her chin in defiance and in her eyes he saw she refused to answer. Sakura bit her lip to keep from retorting something insulting and turned on her heel, determined to head out the door and back in her room despite the lack of clothing.

"Sakura..." he drawled, liking the way it rolled off his tongue.

She turned her head, an indication that she was listening.

"The door is locked. For the next three days, you're sleeping here."

She turned on him, shocked. "You can't do that!"

Madara rolled his eyes as he appeared beside her, pushing her roughly onto the bed. "Who do you think I am?" he rolled his eyes.

Sakura glared at him as hard as she could, hoping that with just that much hatred, it would be sufficient enough for him to drop dead but sadly it was not to be.

He crawled into bed and she stayed far away from him as the bed would allow, ignoring the small smile that tugged on his lips.

* * *

A/N: haiii... i know the ending was kinda crappy but i was in a little bit of a rush sooooooo T_T SORRYY! haha ^_^ so this chapter was a little longer than usual but hey i don't think you guys are complaining right xD i've read your guys' reviews on who you think Ko is haha and some of you guys made me wanna be creative with it but i realized that the situation and stuff wouldn't really work because of how i wrote it.

lol and this is completely random but this morning i was laying down in bed and i thought of a **_perfect_ **ending to this story. it's like amazing... xD kay till next time


	10. Chapter 10

Pre-A/N: haiii. haha i know i usually put my A/N's after the chapter but i just needed to answer a couple of reviews. I saw that there was some confusion about the little bet between Sakura and Madara and as I said i was in a kind of rush T_T i apologize profusely! haha so lemme kinda clear it up :) So. Haruno Sakura made a deal with Madara saying that if he couldn't find out her identity in three days, then she would have any wish of her choosing. She also gave her name and I'm betting other than the two reviewers who pointed this out to me, many of you are wondering if she technically already gave out her identity.

What I've always thought and one of the ideals that I hold highly is that a name doesn't really define who you are. It's more of your personality. What you do, what you like, who you like, your morals, your conscience and how true you keep to your heart and I kind of incorporated this ideal into this story of mine. He's not exactly trying to find out _who_ she is, it's more like he's trying to find out who _she_ is if that makes any sense. T_T idk! that's the best i can explain it. sorryy! i'll do better in this chapter ! i guess this is what happens when you wing your chapters T_T

oh and to answer your question 'leo', i'm assuming he's never known her before. i think ._.

'guest' : Ko told her to keep her identity secret but he didn't think Madara would insert a sort of lie detector in her...

Oh i feel as if chapter 9 _was_ rushed but maybe if I have time I'll edit it into a more suitable chapter. :)

* * *

Chapter 10

Sakura woke up, a stream of light shining in her face and she groaned in irritation, rolling to her left.

"Get up." a cold voice said, breaking through the haze of sleepiness and making her aware, aware of the pine smell that seemed to coat the room and the cool voice that made her do just that in alarm and panic.

Now wide awake, the pinkette hastily readied into a battle stance, looking at the source of the voice lounging lazily on the chair with his arms crossed. His eyes stared at her almost amused. "Is that how you always wake up?"

Sakura looked him over, muttering under her breath, "Only when I'm woken by you." She sighed, looking back toward the man with irritation. "Why did you wake me?"

He threw her a sack of clothes and she caught it deftly. "Today, we're going to spar."

Sakura unraveled the neatly folded clothes, finding a simple fishnet shirt, a sleeveless vest with small, empty pockets and some trousers, a bundle of sharp kunai's and shurikens stacked together beside it. "Weapons?" she asked, surprised.

"I don't want you to hold back on my account." he shrugged.

"I don't plan on it." she replied, calculating just how well she could fight against him due to the lack of training on her part.

His eyes looked at her with disinterest, growing a little impatient at her as she continuously stared and analyzed the supplies. "Hurry up and change. I don't have all day."

It was then that she noticed that she didn't feel the slight draft across her chest that she was supposed to due to the state of her kimono. Instead, she felt cloth, rubbing against her skin in a comfortable way, almost natural. It didn't feel damaged like it should've and she looked down, shocked to find a dark haori covering herself, it's length dropping to just above her knees. "Wh- How...?" she turned her eyes to his to find an arrogantly apathetic Hokage smiling almost to taunt her.

"Before you release your temper, just know that _I_ wasn't the one to redress you, my servants were... although they could've used a little more than just a haori." he added as an afterthought.

Sakura, blushing a crimson red, glaring at him. "I don't believe you." she hissed.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Believe what you will, just change. The sun is making its way across the sky and I highly doubt it will wait for us."

Sakura hugged the clothes to her chest, waiting and shuffling. "Aren't you going to get out?"

Madara couldn't help the scoff that burst out of his mouth. "Why should I do that?"

She scoffed back. "Why did you let your servants dress me if you didn't want to do so yourself?"

He raised a brow. "Because you were sleeping. I don't enjoy preying on sleeping women."

Sakura gave him a disbelieving look. "Is there a difference?"

Madara pointed to the bathroom, annoyance crossing his features and Sakura congratulated herself at having irritated him twice that morning. "Maybe I'll tell you _after_ you're dressed to spar. Just use the bathing room and hurry up."

As much as it would've enjoyed Sakura to hinder him however much she could've, she felt much more thrilled at having a chance to train the muscles she hadn't used for a long time. Without giving him any sort of acknowledgment whatsoever, she went into the bathroom, finding the tub unnecessarily big like hers. Changing swiftly, she could feel her excitement bubbling within her as she exited.

He looked her over and nodded, gesturing her to follow him. They walked out into the hallway, twisting this way and turning that until they came upon a door. The door opened and Sakura caught a glimpse of green.

She made a quick assessment of her surroundings as they stepped out. "Training grounds?" she asked, slightly confused. "What happened to the ones that I-" she caught herself, quietly reminiscing the days that team 7 had first formed, their first meeting with Kakashi-sensei and the test that determined whether or not they would pass as a genin.

"That you...?" he asked without looking back at her. They walked forward to the middle of the circular meadow.

"... nothing." she looked around her. Trees surrounded all sides, making a neat circle of grass that they now stood in. There were no covers and the meadow was big.

Madara paused and she stopped as well, keeping a well distance as he turned to face her. "Would you like me to hold back?" he smirked, already knowing the answer. To him, she was easy to read and one of the very few things he noted about her was her swelling pride.

"No." she snapped and stood still, both of them seemingly frozen in a picture as a brief summer breeze blew through the trees, making a slight rustling sound.

Madara crossed his arms, closing his eyes as if relaxed, enjoying nature, completely disregarding Sakura and blatantly calling her weak. Someone not strong enough to take on an Uchiha of his status.

Sakura didn't take the bait, for once controlling that temper of hers that always got her into trouble. "I thought you said you didn't have all day."

Madara lazily opened one eye. "I don't."

She studied him, looking for a tell, something that would give away that he was _just_ about to attack. "Aren't you going to attack?"

"Aren't you?"

"Why do _I_ have to initiate this?"

"Because I said so." he said simply.

"And if I don't?" she huffed.

He didn't answer for a moment, opening both his eyes and staring at her passively. "Well, now we can't have that now can we?" he seemingly disappeared, appearing behind her to his a spot on her back but she pushed herself forward, at the same time turning with three kunais flying his direction.

Madara turned them aside easily with the back of his hand. Sakura landed in a crouch. "Your move."

His face showed a hint of amusement and he slowly walked toward her, almost as if he were taking a stroll in the park. "How about we brush up on your taijutsu first?" and without warning he was in front of her, grabbing her wrist, twisting her around and slamming her on her front with her arm behind her. "Mm." he sighed with mock disappointment. "Not much of a challenge."

Sakura growled and kicked out, landing a light kick on his abdomen and he let her go not because he was forced to but because he felt the want to play a bit more.

Sakura shook out her wrist, his bruising grip wearing off. She knew he was playing with her and this just fueled her. She was widely renowned for her healing but even so, her taijutsu was at a very exceptional level.

She jumped toward him, fist at the ready with chakra infused in them. Madara leaned back and as Sakura fell, she used that momentum to swipe a leg underneath him. He stepped back. She punched, kicked, jabbed, and still yet Madara always seemed to be just out of reach. This frustrated her to no end and she punched the earth beneath her, creating a massive size crater which Madara leaped away from.

He observed all of this without a reaction. He didn't even need to use his sharingan and Sakura made this her goal.

She panted. Sakura had been in worse shape than she'd originally thought. It had barely been a couple hours past and the person across her who had the nerve to look _bored_ didn't even bat an eyelid.

Madara smirked, knowing full well it would only infuriate her more. "Oh, Sakura. That's it?" he feigned a small frown. "I expected more of a fight but..." he turned his back on her, walking away. "I guess you're not worth my time after all."

He felt her before she hit him in the gut but he had no time to block or dodge as her fury had pushed her to become faster than he had gathered.

Sakura huffed in satisfaction when he saw him knock a few trees down but that small triumph was short-lived when he walked out, dusting off dirt from his armor.

"Well, I'm surprised that you even landed a blow on me." he remarked when she was close enough to hear. "Your temper controls you. Your taijutsu is of a higher skill than I've seen most with. Could you be ANBU?" he raised a brow.

Sakura didn't know how to go about this question. She knew she couldn't lie although it was possible he was bluffing. "Yes." she firmly replied even though she had never held the high rank of ANBU before. Immediately, she could feel a difference within her body as a sort of chilling sensation ran through her, spreading from a spot on her left shoulderblade.

Madara raised a brow. "Are you sure about that?"

Sakura felt everything grow cold. Suddenly the world seemed darker, more malicious. Every sound seemed to be threatening and yet she stayed frozen in that one spot as something similar to ice ran through her veins. She shook her head in answer to his question, wanting to dispel this feeling of hopelessness, of darkness, of loneliness and the faint twinge of sadness but it was covered up in the depths of everything else.

There was something else too. Something she never wanted to feel ever again.

Anger.

But this anger wasn't something that humans simply felt when something never went their way or if fate decided to wrong them somehow or even if that bout of frustration just wanted to make itself known.

This anger was years and years of hatred. Chaotic and out of control.

Madara watched as a shadow of alarm crossed her features and she shook her head again. He immediately saw the change in her posture, in her face when she decided to outright lie to him. He felt it too. Like a sort of brief adrenaline rush, harmless really but for her though, the harsh effects of lying would stay until she had told the truth and as she shook her head no, he saw the panic leave, replaced by a bout of anger.

"What. Was. _That_?" she asked, fuming.

Madara looked straight at her, his mask of indifference still in place. "I told you last night. I put the tailed beasts chakra within you so it would both prevent you from doing the transformation jutsu and lying to me."

"No!" she snapped and unconsciously wrapped a hand around herself. "That... feeling." she shuddered slightly. "That..." she waved her hand around weakly.

"Hate?" he supplied and she nodded her head, glaring at him.

"What did you do to me?"

He walked to her with ease as she stumbled back. Her fluid graces as a ninja had completely left her when she felt the overwhelming wave of hatred. She landed on the ground, looking up at him, fully expecting him to laugh at her, mock her, to look at her with cold eyes possibly kill her right then and there. At the very least she expected him to give her a full explanation but what he did was the very last thing she would've thought him to do.

Uchiha Madara, the coldest, cruelest murderer who didn't hesitate to murder a child, the man who sought power so much that he stole the eyes of his own brother just for that purpose... swept down and embraced her.

He stayed beside her, wrapping his arms around her small form and pulled her into him, resting her head in the crook of his elbow. They both seemed aware that although they were in this awkward angle, their bodies melded together perfectly, like two puzzle pieces coming together.

His lips rested near her forehead and Sakura stilled, speechless. She did not know what to do nor what to say. What did he hope to gain out of this? What did he hope to accomplish?

"You see," he started as if he were educating a young child. "Last night, I had inserted the tailed beasts chakra, mixed with a handful of my own within your body to detect a lie were you ever to give me one." he paused to make sure she was listening before going on. "What you felt wasn't your feelings at all really, it was the feelings of the tailed beasts... I'm surprised you can even move." he remarked.

_The feelings... of the tailed beasts? So... was this what Naruto had to endure... his whole life?_ she wondered and her heart broke at the thought. _Naruto had to face that... within himself his whole life? From the day he was born... he had this shoved onto his shoulders..._ And she wanted to cry for her friend. The cheery, strong, person whom she had grown to love as if he were her own brother had this burden that could never be released unless through death. No one could understand and no one could hope to. No one would be able to share the burden. Not unless you felt the pain and hatred yourself and for once she really understood the phrase that only a fellow jinchuuriki would understand the pain of another.

She could feel him smiling and his lips brushed her forehead, giving her a light peck as he swept her up in his arms in a bridal style, into the palace and within the confines of his room.

He laid her down gently on the bed. He could see her fire, bright and alive as before except... it was tainted... tainted with the act of knowing... tainted with the burden of this enlightenment and yet he could also see in her eyes that her fire had only grown stronger from this impurity, roaring and flaring to life as if determined. Determined to move past this, to use this as an opportunity to get stronger, to use it as a stepping stone for her foundation. For the foundation on which her fire lay on, it supported her and this made him seeth within.

He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Hatred." Sakura looked toward him, in his cold, unfeeling eyes. "Pain..." Sakura lifted her chin in defiance. "That feeling was only _borrowed_. That pain was not _yours_." he shook his head. "You don't know pain." he whispered and for a moment, for a sliver of a second, she saw. She could see his anguish fill his eyes. The despair... the regret... and this made him look so young, so vulnerable that it made Sakura want to comfort him, in any way that she could. Her eyes blinked again, just to make sure it was there but she was only met with those emotionless eyes and Sakura wanted to scoff to herself. Of course she'd imagined that. The great Uchiha Madara wouldn't show those kinds of emotions. He'd die first.

Madara moved toward the door but paused. "You'll never know." he murmured and left.

Sakura stared up at the ceiling. It had only been half a day and yet she was exhausted. _I will stay strong._ She chanted in her head. _I will not break_. She closed her eyes.

_I will win._

* * *

A/N: OMG I AM SO SORRYYY! this took me a couple days longer than necessary because of the simple fact that I DELETED HALF MY STORY because i forgot to save! T_T i was so angry and irritated because it was so perfect! i just needed a couple more lines and i would've been finished but noooo my computer had to be dumb and choose that exact moment to crash T_T.

seriously thought the original ending was amazing because of the wording T_T i feel its loss deep in my heart xD but yeahhhh it's up right? i made the wording as close as i could but idk! T_T another chapter just fail xD lol

once again i'm sorry for that misunderstanding in that last chapter. Hope my note above cleared it up and i hope you loved this chapter. :)

until next time


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Madara felt like killing someone as he stalked down the hall, not knowing where he was heading to in the first place. He had never been this stirred up before the pinkette had decidedly waltzed into his palace but for what reason remained unknown. Since young, he had known to keep himself stoic. Only a mask on his face that never betrayed what he felt. Until now.

Madara gnashed his teeth lightly, restraining himself to a certain degree where he could think rationally. He had two and a half days. Two and a half days to figure her out, to break her and make her cave in. From what he garnered about her, he knew much.

Her name: Haruno Sakura

Age: 18

She is extremely well-trained in medic nin-jutsu, her taijutsu is very exceptional even amongst the most-skilled shinobi. Because her chakra control is so precise, she must be either skilled in casting a genjutsu or piercing through one.

But aside from that, he felt he had too much more information to force from her, possibly too much for three days even and his jaw ticked at having to admit that.

"Ko." he called quietly and felt the wind stir behind him. "I'm going out of the village."

Ko looked up from his kneeling position. "A mission?"

Madara paused. "To see him."

There was a brief silence as Ko nodded his head slowly. "I see..." he trailed off.

"You and Hawk, be Hokage in my stead while I'm gone. I'm also taking Sakura with me." he started to walk off down the hall.

"Madara-sama... to see _him_?" Ko asked, the bewilderment evident in his voice. "Even _I__'ve_ never gone nor any Uchiha. She's just a stranger and she doesn't kno-"

"Do I need to repeat myself twice?" he asked emotionlessly, an eyebrow raised in question, his eyes daring him to say more.

Ko held his tongue, bowing his head once more.

Madara looked at his second-in-command, the person he trusted as much as he _could_ trust anyone at all. He gave him a considering look. "Suffice it to say that I have no choice in the matter." he turned back and walked out of sight.

Ko kneeled there for a little while longer. _Why would he want to see him all of a sudden? ...And to bring Sakura along_.

He shook his head in confusion and walked back to Madara's room where he knew she was still sleeping soundly. _Oh Sakura, what have you done now?_

* * *

Sakura was a fairly light sleeper, so imagine her surprise when Ko had shaken her awake in a not-so-gently fashion.

"Sakura!" he hissed and she slapped his arm away, already awake.

"What?!" she snapped back, sitting up. Ko scooted her to the side as he sat lightly on the edge of the bed.

"What have you been doing with Madara-sama? How does he know your name is Sakura? What did I tell you about keeping him _away_?" he paused and she heard him take a breath.

"What are you doing here?" she sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"Answer my questions." he ground out.

Sakura glared at him. "What's it to you?" she bit out. "Why do you want me to be as far away from Madara as possible when you've only brought me closer to him? I can't lie to him you know that? And do you know what happens when I do?" she involuntarily shivered. "I don't understand." she laughed bitterly. "At one moment he seems... civil but on the other hand his true nature is shown and he's cold and uncaring. He has no heart." she spat. "I have you who is a friend or an enemy I'm not even sure and I only have three... no two days to keep him away from my mi-" she clamped her mouth shut, stealing a glance at Ko. He wasn't supposed to know she was on a mission and in the spur of her distress, she had nearly blurted out her purpose for being here in the first place. She ground her teeth. She supposed it was her fault in the first place for volunteering to go. Perhaps, she had blindly gone through with something she was completely unprepared for in the first place.

Ko watched her emotions flit across her face. He felt a twinge of pity for her and he didn't know what to do to comfort her. His field of expertise ranged widely from genjutsu, taijutsu, ninjutsu, tracking, sensing, assasinating, he could pleasure a girl for the sake of a mission and even if it weren't for the sake of a mission he could do the same just fine. And yet when it came to this girl, on the verge of tears because of her confusion at everything, he was clueless.

Sakura took in a deep breath and let it out, calming herself and as she was about to ask what he was doing here, again, she felt a pair of arms encircle her. For a moment, she was reminded of Madara, panicking at how fast he had appeared and out of nowhere to but this hug was different. It held warmth, not possessiveness. It held comfort, not hidden malice and it was a little awkward as if he had never done a hug before.

Ko felt shock go through his system. A hug? That was the grand idea his hands had decided to do? He could feel her tense and he was about to pull back when he felt her relaxing, the awkwardness that his joints held finally melted away and he unconsciously drew her into a tighter hug, the scent of lavender reaching his nose with a little mix of something else. Her natural scent he realized and he buried his nose into her hair to make out what exactly this scent was.

"Having fun, Ko?" came a cool voice behind him. Sakura made to move away but Ko momentarily tightened his grip before letting her go.

"Hawk." he said, standing. "What are you doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing with _her_?" he asked and Sakura was slightly taken aback by the venom in his voice.

Ko ignored him, instead turning to Sakura. "Madara-sama's going to the land of waves. You are to accompany him." he promptly told her and disappeared, leaving her alone with Hawk to stare at her.

Sakura studied him. "Why am I going to the land of waves?" she asked but Hawk didn't answer her. Sakura slid out of bed, biting her lip.

"You don't recognize me?" Sakura whipped around, finding him directly in front of her.

"Wh- what?" Sakura took a step back but he leaned forward, eventually shaking his head.

He seemingly disappeared as well, leaving Sakura to wonder about all the questions circling her mind.

* * *

A/N: Hey everybody. That chapter was suuuuper short i know T_T but at the moment i don't exactly have much time lol. I got to skip my first period and spend it at home to write this and i feel the ending was rushed too T_T oh im so horrible.

on the other hand school had started and i'm getting swamped with homework and classwork already /: so i won't be updating as fast as before possibly a week in between each update buuuut :) forgive meeeeeee D; T_T perhaps i'll make the ending a little better if i have the time or if i can't work it to my advantage in the next chapter. i hope you like it!

until next time


	12. Chapter 12

Pre-A/N: soooo i got a few questions from evil mastermind no.1 xD the answer to most of your questions is you'll eventually find out. I read a lot of books so a lot of the times it really irritates me to read something that I feel is rushed and doesn't have the proper scenes and settings to bring things together (improper flow is kinda my pet peeve xD even though i rush some of my chapters and stories T_T) and as for your question about 'him', it's not that ko is scared of 'him' per sayyy... it's that he's surprised Madara is taking Sakura to see 'him' O.o i think that's the correct way to put it even though i can understand how you would think that he's scared but one of my very very VERY big major flaw is i'm lazy T_T i'm working on trying not to be and i've made a little progress but /: haha i hope that cleared it up for you

* * *

Chapter 12

Sakura looked over the scroll before rolling it back up. It only held one sentence: _Three days._

She was more than certain that Naruto would understand what it means. He may have been a bit of a blockhead but he was smart.

To any other person who did not know the purpose of Sakura's mission, three days could mean anything, but to those within the camp, it would mean 'More information within three days. Just wait.'

Now in reality, she had two days to finish this deal and she felt, more or less, that she had the upperhand because, really, how much information could Madara have gotten on her other than her name? And if she won... _when_ she won... it would take more than simple minutes to store the information that she'd have her hands on.

Sakura sighed. She knew not to underestimate him. As a shinobi, you shouldn't underestimate anyone but she had been growing antsy as dusk drew near, the time to start their trek to the Land of Waves.

He could already have figured her out and she'd be clueless like a sitting duck.

Shaking her head of those thoughts, she summoned the toad that Naruto had given her for the duration of the mission.

_10 months..._ she sighed wistfully. She wondered how everyone was doing back at home. This mission certainly took longer than everyone thought.

The toad and Sakura exchanged pleasant greetings and when all was said and done, it disappeared to pass along the message.

She leaned back into the wooden chair, rubbing her temples. It was time to meet the Uchiha at the gates and if she didn't and stayed like she had wanted to in the first place, Madara himself would come and drag her by the hair, out the door and to the Land of Waves without so much as a blink. She would know. He'd promised her with the utmost sincerity in his eyes.

Sakura glared at nothing in particular, prolonging the inevitable until she knew that it was no use putting it off no longer. Sighing, she geared up into standard shinobi attire and dashed out of the palace towards the impatient Uchiha.

* * *

Madara could feel Sakura's reluctance at having to be seen, departing with him at the gates of Konoha. It would only be them two for the voyage (after all, two very powerful shinobi? Who would dare challenge?)

They both looked to each other and Madara started across, knowing the instant that Sakura had decided to follow behind.

They flew across high among the treetops in silence as the sky grew darker and darker, the night coming alive with the harmonious chirping of different insects. The night air blew gentle breezes across their cheeks and the sky became dotted with many stars.

"Why the rush?" Sakura questioned as she struggled to catch up to his increasing speed.

Madara merely gave a small turn of his head, eyeing her without missing a beat before jumping faster. Sakura glowered and sulked but increased her speed.

They went on like this for a while in silence. Sakura had a lot of questions she wanted to ask him. Where was their exact location among the Land of Waves? What was their purpose for venturing there so suddenly? Why did he want to bring her along and why would he bring her along only?

Sakura had been so lost in thought that she hadn't noticed Madara stop in front of her.

"We sho-" he managed to get out before something hard hit him full speed and he barely caught himself upon the ground. Madara landed on his feet with dificuly, grunting from the sudden pain blossoming from his left side. He ignored it, assuming it would go away later, looking across the area to Sakura who was clutching her shoulder with a pained expression. A glow surrounded her hand and he watched as her expression changed from the taut lines into a smooth almost serene like expression.

_So she _is_ a medic-nin._

Sakura honestly had no clue she had been going so fast and she had apparently hit him so hard that her shoulder got dislocated. Her immediate reaction was to heal it and once all done, she looked across at Madara, expecting him to be furious but instead finding a somewhat bemused look on his face.

"What's so amusing?" she glared.

He gestured to her general area. "Medic-nin?" He grinned as her jaw dropped, forgetting that she wasn't supposed to let him see that. Sakura cleared her throat and stood up, dusting herself off.

"Sorry." she murmured. Not that he deserved it. He completely had that hit coming to him, intentional or not but she had common courtesy. She was _nice_.

Madara stood up, shrugging but she saw a sort of tenseness within him that he hadn't been carrying before. "As I was saying before I was so rudely hit in the back,"

"Hey that was an acci-"

"We should camp here for the rest of the night." he said, cutting her off.

Sakura snorted. "What rest of the night? Dawn is coming soon."

Madara shrugged. "I simply thought you might want to rest for a couple hours before we traveled the rest of the way to the port... but of course if you want to keep going that's fine by me..." he trailed off edging toward the port which was only half a day's travel away at full speed.

Sakura bit her lip, reluctantly plopping down to the grassy area against a tree. She had to admit that the demanding pace in which they had set had been exhausting both mentally and physically.

Sakura sighed. When she had first entered Konoha for her mission, she had noted that there were scarcely any green trees in sight like there used to be and when she had exited with Madara just a while back, she vaguely recalled that the greenery around her had been like before. Sakura came to the conclusion that they must've taken a different route than the one she had used to enter Konoha.

She looked up toward the moon. It was waxing, only half of its beauty shown to the world.

Sakura then looked toward Madara who had decided to sit down against a tree as well. His eyes were closed and she could see a sheen of sweat glinting off his face.

_Odd,_ she thought as she studied him. _He didn't seem to have much trouble going as fast as he did. And his face is different as is his posture. Tense._ Sakura bit her lip. She wasn't worried about him... actually that was a lie. As a doctor, of course she worried about him. Tsunade had made sure to drill that part into her.

Sakura focused on how he was breathing, it was even but looked to be slightly forced. She couldn't have hit him _that_ hard, could she?

"Am I so handsome that you couldn't keep your eyes off of me for the past few minutes that we've been here?" he asked without opening his eyes. His voice had no tremble, it didn't even sound strained.

Perhaps she was worrying for nothing then? People sweated and maybe he'd pushed himself so hard that he's in this state.

_And besides_, she thought to herself. _It'd be a good thing... _Sakura drooped her head. _But the deal... I need information and if he is hurt which I sincerely doubt, then it'd be my fault._ She sighed in contemplation. _I've killed people before... this one wouldn't be any different. _Sakura lifted her head, peeking through the curtain of hair that shielded her face at the stoic man across from her.

For the millionth time, she gave in to the good-natured side of her that pushed her to be generous and heal. Of course it was against her better judgement, she told herself... for the millionth time.

Sakura stood up, swiftly walking over to him and she bent down. Madara lazily opened an eye to see what on earth this girl was up to.

After giving him a meaningful look, he raised a brow. "Yes?"

"You're hurt." she said matter-of-factly.

Madara stared at her, an amused smile playing on his face. "What makes you say that?"

Sakura huffed and crossed her arms, settling herself into a more comfortable position. "You hide your pain well, but not well enough to deceive one of the best medic-nins in the country." she announced proudly before giving him a stern look. She gestured to the space between them. "Lie down so I can examine you."

Madara just closed his eyes, silently refusing.

Sakura leaned forward on her knees to force him down if she had to but he grabbed her wrists, both in one hand. Sakura sighed in irritation. "I'm only doing my job as a medic-nin. Trust me, I don't want to heal you either."

Madara scoffed. "Then just-" he was cut off for the second time within the hour as a wave of pain radiated from his left side, harsher than before and he was forced to let go of her.

When Madara had been talking, busy trying to lecture her into backing down, Sakura had been recalling on which side she had barreled into him just moments before. Sakura then swung her right leg and connected at the spot where she was sure she had hit and she was shocked to find him let go of her. His face tightened in pain which only showed with the slight furrow of his brows. He didn't move his hands at all from its position and his eyes seemed to sway in and out of focus before closing his eyes. His stopped his breath, stunned before focusing on breathing regularly.

Sakura took this opportunity to lean forward, straddling his knees as both of her hands had come to rest on the spot where she hit. She summoned healing chakra to her hands and she felt him slowly relax, albeit reluctantly, but relaxing either way. She gave him a stern look. "One of your ribs fractured and a piece splintered off, hitting your heart. You would've only lasted the week due to internal bleeding."

Madara was barely listening. He closed his eyes and focused on the familiar feeling. The cooling and gentle pressure at his side had him leaning his head back. He could feel her chakra taking the small fragment of a bone and stitching his body back together again. Madara sighed quietly. He felt more... relaxed. When was the last time he had felt like this? _When..._

Sakura's forehead beaded in small droplets of sweat as she concentrated hard on healing her captor and she was almost finished too when a hand touched her cheek. She had been so startled that she nearly stopped and slapped the hand away but she noticed something different about the way the hand caressed her. It was gentle, almost loving and Sakura looked to Madara's face, his eyes were still closed and he looked to be younger as he seemed to take on a wistful expression.

Sakura's flow was faltering now. There was something wrong with him. Maybe she did something wrong? Madara... never had that face on. His touch never held love or happiness or the gentleness his hand touched her cheek with.

Sakura felt his knees bend up and she yelped in surprise as she slid down, now straddling his hips. His right hand was still on her cheek and Sakura looked down at him.

"Mito..." he muttered under his breath. So quiet, so loving that Sakura jerked in surprise.

Madara opened his eyes, looking up. He expected to see black eyes that resembled his, full of determination and calm. He expected to see two red buns on the side of her head and a diamond in the middle of her forehead.

But it wasn't.

The woman in front of him had green eyes, sparkling with curiosity and life. Pink hair flowed down her back and tickled his knees. Her forehead was slightly larger than average with no familiar diamond on her forehead but he didn't release her. His left hand snaked its way around her waist and his right hand slid a few inches back to lightly push her head down.

Sakura didn't know what she was doing as she let her head slowly inch downward. As her lips came to meet his. She should've pushed him away, possibly kick him in the side again or offer some sort of protest but... for some odd reason, Sakura let him lift his head up to meet her as his lips came upon her lips.

* * *

A/N: HOOOOLY SHEEEEIT! i did not know i'd write this ._. i had no clue this was going to happen! like omg. like holy man i'm like freaking out. like i really like this chapter! i think this is one of my best! ._. oooooomgeeeeeee. i'm like laughing my ass off and people are just looking at me like i'm a freaking weirdo xD which i am just so you guys now btw xD lol

i hope you guys liked it! please review. If you guys don't know, a writer's fuel are the reviews... if they compliment and stuff... you know constructive criticism... if it's bad and mean it just kinda brings down the person's ego but those kinds of reviews i usually take as a compliment xD... yes i'm weird... T_T i think we covered that lol. :) love you guys thank you!

until next time


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Madara suddenly pushed her.

Hard.

So hard, in fact that she flew into a tree on the other side of the small clearing. What had he been thinking? _Why_ did he kiss her? Just because she distinctly reminded him of a past life. Of memories forgotten, buried deep within.

And Mito? She was nothing like Mito. He frowned. If she had been nothing like Mito, then just why...

"Are you insane?" he heard someone hiss and he looked up, carefully constructing his mask into place.

"Whatever do you mean, dear?" he asked innocently.

"Sakura." she spat. "My name is Sakura."

He merely smiled.

"You kissed me!" she blurted out, throwing her hands in the air as if that could clear this confusion up. She could see the vague disorientation within his eyes. "Y-You- You kissed me!" she exclaimed once more, seeming so shocked that it was the only statement she could say.

Madara shrugged, looking toward the horizon. The sun was starting to brighten the skies and he knew they should leave now if not soon.

"Why?!" the pinkette asked, fuming. She was really starting to annoy him now.

"We should go. If we leave now then we can get to the port before noon. The voyage to the Land of Waves will then take about another day or so..."

Sakura glared at him. She hated being ignored, especially by someone as arrogant as him. "You didn't answer my question."

He finally turned to her. "It's none of your concern. Now come."

Sakura crossed her arms. "No."

Madara's eyebrow quirked. "...No?"

"Not until you give me a satisfying answer."

He almost wanted to laugh. "You do know I could bring you with me without much struggle at all, don't you? Now why don't you make it easier for both you and I by cooperating will you?"

Sakura looked at him, her eyes showing the hard glint in her eyes. She obviously had no intention of yielding. Madara's jaw ticked with irritation.

"Why?" she repeated. "Why did you kiss me?"

"Why didn't you stop me?"

"_I'm_ asking the questions here."

"And I'm answering your question with my own." He glided up to her, a hand grasping her chin. "Tell me, Sakura. If you are so opposed to the idea of kissing me, then why didn't you stop me?"

Sakura stared up at his coal black eyes. She couldn't help but admit they were beautiful in its own sense. It was full of depth, near endless. It held so much, she knew, that she couldn't hope to unveil everything it kept hidden. "... I don't know." she answered at last, both of them knowing it was true.

Madara looked down at her, into her eyes for a moment longer before releasing her. "Let's go." he commanded, leaping up into the trees. Sakura followed this time and nothing more was said between them as they sped through the greenery.

* * *

The boat swayed back and forth along the gentle waves. The two ninjas adjusted easily even as their vision started clouding with the mist that always seemed to blanket the country.

"Today's the third day..." Sakura couldn't help the triumphant yet wary grin that made its way on her lips.

Madara put on a pleasant smile. "Yes. I realize that..." he trailed off, a thoughtful expression on his face. "It seems in a few hours I have to grant you that one wish no?"

Sakura nodded affirmatively.

"Unless..."

She then stilled, looking up at him suspiciously. "Unless what?"

His grin was still on his face. "Unless we up the stakes."

"So you're saying you still want a chance at winning even if I'm clearly going to take the prize?" Her look of disbelief was great. "Do you take me for someone stupid, Madara? Why on earth would I give up this chance. What would I get from it? That one wish is more than enough for me and it would seem the only person who would benefit from this is you." she shook her head. "Absolutely not."

He nodded slowly. "I thought you might say that. But then I thought you might like to know that there _is_ in fact something else that you might like. I'd say it'd be too big of an opportunity to pass up." he winked.

Sakura smirked. "Is the great Uchiha Madara getting so desperate a-"

"I wouldn't say desperate." he interrupted, his eyes flashing in a way that clearly told her 'Don't finish that sentence or you'll find yourself at the bottom of the ocean.' "I'm a busy man Sakura and it seems that even I can't uncover a big secret within the allotted time of three days."

"No."

He glanced down at her. She was fully facing him, her face set. He stared her down but she did not yield.

This was one staring contest she refused to give up. Another deal? How dare he have the _nerve_ to even ask that of her. It was ridiculous. Even if he had something special to offer. Even if she was tormentingly curious, she knew she had to turn it down for the sake of the mission. A shinobi always knew, don't risk something great for a slim chance of something greater.

"Well," he broke the silence. "I'll tell you the offer anyway." he paused as if trying to think of the correct words that would entice the stubborn shinobi in front of him. "We'll still have the original deal but the time will be within a month... on the anniversary of Konohagakure's rebirth." he smiled.

Sakura almost choked, anger bubbling within, thinking that he had brought it up on purpose then realized he had no idea she was from Konoha itself. Forcing a smile, she laughed it off but it sounded unbelieving even to her. The shock of being reminded of her beloved Konoha's death shaking her train of thought. "I didn't say I agreed."

"Yes, yes let me finish." Madara had caught her discomfort at the mention of Konoha. He'd seen something flash within her eyes but it disappeared too fast for him to take note of what it was. He stored this little information for later scrutiny. "What you'd get would be the same wish without restriction but," he paused. He had to admit that he was reluctant to put this in the deal. If she did win (and that was only no-chance, impossible if) then she could be a very big problem in the future. "What you'd get would be the same wish without restriction," he repeated. "But you would also be offered information to a very guarded secret of the Uchiha's."

Sakura scoffed. "Many already know most everything about the Uchiha's. What we don't know is most likely nothing of consequence."

He raised a brow. "Then I suppose this 'nothing-of-consequence' secret couldn't have possibly kept me alive for hundreds of years." he shrugged.

Sakura's heart skipped a beat and her eyes widened. Her mouth opened and closed then opened once again only to snap shut. There was a few moments of silence before Sakura could finally find the words to talk. "What do you want in return?" she sucked in a deep breath. "If... hypothetically..." she cleared her throat. "If hypothetically... I were to accept, what would you want in return...?"

Madara grinned chillingly. "If hypothetically you were to accept," his black eyes locked on her green one's. "I'll think on it."

"Huh?" Sakura blinked dumbly.

"There is nothing I want from you _for now_. But I'm not willing to _not_ heighten your risk in this little deal of ours. So I'll think on it." he explained.

Without warning, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer, her body snug against his despite his rough armor. His free hand reached for a kunai and sliced her unsuspecting hand. He then turned the sharp edge of the kunai on his own palm and pressed it into his skin. Before she could withdraw her hand or struggle, he dropped the weapon with a clunk and intertwined their fingers, palm against palm. He smirked down at her, her emerald eyes transmitting just how furious and shocked she was. The thickening mist did nothing to dull the brightness in her eyes. "So do I take it as a yes?" he asked as his chakra entered the wound in her palm. All that was left to seal their new little pact would for her to reciprocate this.

A moment of indecision and doubt took place in her mind. What if he _did_ manage to find out who she was? It sent a chill through her thinking of how Madara could know about her, about her mission, her purpose in life, her _self_...

But...

The secret to the bane of her most hated enemy's existence. The secret that brought down Konoha. The very secret that could bring _him_ down and the hope that Konoha could be restored. It nearly brought her to tears.

Sakura steeled herself and sent her chakra out, giving her silent answer. A victorious gleam shined in Madara's eyes and Sakura took to staring straight ahead at his neck.

He leaned down so his lips brushed the shell of her ear, the extreme prickling sensation spreading all over his hand strongly as if the jutsu sensed the changes in the original agreement. "Oh don't be like that, Sakura." She couldn't help the mild shudder that his breath caused. "Don't you think we'll have so much fun?"

Before Sakura could spit out a scathing retort, someone cleared his throat. Madara sighed, the last of the needle-like feeling fading away.

"We're almost there. We'll be in the harbor bout a minute or so."

Sakura pulled away, a light dust of red coating her cheeks. The mist had lightened somewhat to a bearable degree. She only nodded in polite gratitude while Madara chuckled at the captain who was eyeing the two knowingly.

"There's nothing between us." Sakura blurted, feeling the need to defend her dignity and clear the misunderstanding.

Madara sidled up to her, an arm wrapped around her waist once more in an intimate manner. "What are you talking about, dear?" he teased lightly. "I think everyone should share in our joy at being newlyweds."

"Wh-"

"Ahhh." the captain smiled widely. "So fate brought you two together. You would make a beautiful child together.".

Sakura blanched. "No you have it wron-"

"Oh," Madara chuckled, pressing his lips to her temple. "We haven't even consummated our marriage yet." he turned toward the captain and lowered his voice almost conspiratorially but keeping his voice loud enough for her to hear. "We're planning on doing it soon though and hopefully we'll have a healthy baby boy. Or girl." he beamed. "I just hope she looks like my love here."

Sakura shook her head trying to get out of his grip. It didn't help matters when the light dusting of her cheek turned to a deep shade of red. "Captain! We-"

"Don't worry." he chuckled as he turned his back on the two. "I'm sure the heavens will bless you two with one of each." Then he proceeded to walk away.

Sakura fumed, tempted to throw him one of her major chakra punches but she knew the damage to the ship would be irreversible. Instead, she opted to shove him aside and dropped down onto the water. She heard him drop behind her and they made their way to the shores of a little island.

"What was _that_ about?" she bit out.

"Well," he smirked. "The main reason was so we could have a cover. As tempting as it is, I'd much rather not have everyone trembling in fear upon hearing of my arrival. Your embarrassment was merely an added bonus."

"So a cover." she said resentfully. "You could've said we were siblings."

Madara pinned her with a look that obviously questioned her intelligence. "In case you haven't noticed, we don't look a thing alike."

"Step-siblings! Anything else! I don't care! Did we really have to be a newlywed couple?"

Madara couldn't help the frown that was barely there. "Would it be so bad to be bound to me? To be the mother of the Uchiha heir?"

"You have to ask? Of course it would!" she stomped toward the island and Madara rolled his eyes. Her mood swings and temper was predictable yet annoying in a weirdly amusing way.

He exhaled long and low as he followed behind her. His eyes grazed the landscape, a sort of wistful feeling taking place in his heavy heart.

_I'm back._

* * *

A/N: Soooooooo :D that's done old chaps! I love this chapter. even though i didn't know how to break it off at the end so i felt that i could've done better but oh well it's still awesome i think in my opinion ^_^ thank you! everybody! especially my reviewers. Like DiizGiirlJess or Madara's Armour or Taraneh Rose or like my most recent ones like Leo or Executiion or... yeah i think you get my point xD ^0^ love you ppl.

until next time


End file.
