Unexpected || MadaSaku ||

It All Falls Apart [Part I]

|| Sakura ||

After speaking with Hashirama, he summoned an emergency debriefing with his commanding officers. I fortunately was able to remain with them since I was considerably their informant in this situation. You could tell the tension of the room as soon as you walked through the entrance of the tent, the weight of ten thousand men's lives rested on their shoulders. Their eyes fixated on the map of the territory and points pinned to where the enemy was expected to strike, while most of them balled their hands into balls of whitening fists. Knowing the Uchiha, it would be a bloody battle till the bitter end. They seemed to realize that too.

Hashirama, patiently waited for me to finish speaking. He tapped his fingers as he sat at the edge if his seat. All eyes were fixated on the now thought provoked man that had just promised peace with the Uchiha less than a month ago. They all had doubts about his plan to achieve compromise with the clan that they saw as nothing more than hate filled and revenge ridden men. Hashirama sighed deeply, rising from his seat. You could feel how anxious everyone felt. Was it due to the Uchiha fast approaching or that they feared failure? I knew the Uchiha would fail, but is the future set in stone or had my presence changed it? Would Tobirama survive long enough to become the second hokage? These questions raced though my head like scurrying rabbits. I couldn't reveal those thoughts to them—any of them for that matter. I was even reluctant to tell Mito that day in the bath house.

"Be calm, Sakura. And the rest of you for that matter. Nothing good ever comes from an anxious mind," Hashirama cleared his throat. But despite his words I knew how anxious he was himself. It showed in his shaking voice that made an effort to ease the minds of his commanding officers, his generals, me. I didn't know how much time we had until Madara's army attacked. None of them did. Time was ticking away as we sat at the wooden table. Hashirama gritted his teeth, finally able to push himself to give the orders, "Send our men north east, that's most likely where they'll be posted. I want a small team dispatched to retrieve Tobirama. Though I'm sure my brother managed well...See to it that he returns here and joins us on the battle field later. We'll be needing him."

His group of commanding officers bowed in compliance. I could have sworn I saw their hands shaking at their sides as they walked out the tent. I approached Hashirama, curious as to what my role would be in pursing Madara. Maybe I could help him in some way. We'd been close, hadn't we? But would all that time together be enough to stop him from a war that was written by the hands of fate? Or could it be rewritten? My hands clasped tightly together, swallowing my fears, "And what would you like me to do?"

"Stay out of the way. Tend to the wounded. We'll be needing your medical abilities to help those severely injured in battle."

"Y-You can't be serious?" I stuttered, taken aback by the unfaltered tone.

"I am. Stay with Mito. She'll be doing the same here with the rest of them."

"I can go! Let me speak to Madara, let him see me and talk him out of this! I'm of best use to you on that battle field anyways. I can heal your men instantly with my 100 healings seal—"

His rough raspy tone echoed around the tent, his hand raised in front of him. "No and that's the end of it. Go find Mito and get the medical stations set up." He walked out, leaving me with nothing but my own pleas lingering in the air. I eyed that map that sat atop the table, trying to see where Hashirama guessed Madara might go. There—the Valley of the End. A battle that wouldn't happen until a few years after Hashirama would be decided as the first Hokage of the Hidden Lead Village. Everything was changing, all because of me.

I huffed off, completely frustrated by the lack of reasoning. I had half a mind to go back to yell at him but it was no use.

~~~