Author's Note: Yall... I know you hate me and that there is literally no one left out there. But I wrote this entire chapter in less than a day - I know, it's going to show - and for some ungodly reason, this is what happened. I... didn't intend for this to happen. I don't know how anyone who might still be out there is going to take this chapter. Honestly, I'm nervous. This wasn't what I intended but it wrote itself and this is what happened. Thank you all so much for your support thus far, and I really do apologize for the long wait! I am now working two jobs and only have one day off a week so finishing this in two sittings suprised me. Reading all your comments pushed me forward. Thank you so much for your support! I hope that you continue to enjoy!

Sakura felt this emotion swell in her chest so strongly, the tears began to trickle down her cheeks. She's happy for them, she really was. They were her friends and she loved them. She wished all the love and happiness in the world to her friends, especially now knowing that they aren't confined by the future that she thought that she knew. The one that she came from.

They have the chance to live beyond that. They can be whatever they want. Do whatever they want. They aren't bound by what she thought she knew. Sakura feels liberated by that even though it has nothing to do with her.

Sakura tries to control her feelings, knowing that a good doctor shouldn't be getting too emotionally attached to her patients like this, but they are her friends. Which she also shouldn't be treating realistically, but someone with Sakura's prestige and skills can't not help the people that need someone of her caliber. That, and honestly, Sakura's friends get hurt a lot so they really need her to not follow through with that usually stringent rule.

Still, she does try to show as much professionalism as she can and she tends to hold herself together relatively well, but this time is pretty hard. Maybe it's because of the rough last couple of months - years - that they've all had, that she is having a harder time composing herself, or just the sheer force the tears of joy slide down Izuna's face and onto his clenched fists in his lap as he tries to control his shuttering breaths as this physical weight actually lifts from his shoulders is released right before her very eyes is affecting her so.

Madara manages to keep himself composed, but the relief and happiness is splashed across his face in plain view for anyone to see as he stares at the face of his baby brother, crying tears of joy for the first time in maybe ever. Sakura can't imagine what it's like to lose one's sight - or any of her senses if she's being honest - but she's sympathetic to how horrible it must have been. For both of them. It's not easy to lose something so integral to your life and it's got to be impossible to watch someone who you love more than anything to wither away right before your very eyes. Sakura... can't imagine the pain that comes with that.

Izuna's joy and relief almost seems like it hurts him. Like he wanted this so bad that every ounce of his being was placed in this moment and yet he was so ready for it to have failed that the fact that it didn't somehow hurts even more than if it had. The joy broke him, in a way.

"Thank you. Thank you so much," Izuna repeats over and over again to the floor, shaking with his eyes squeezed shut, tightly, as if afraid to open them again to learn that it was all a dream and he was now completely blind. "I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say. Thank you. Thank you."

Sakura scoots over to the younger Uchiha brother, placing her hands over his and pressing her forehead into his own. His dark eyes fly open at the action as Sakura closes her own to stem a bit of her own tears as she shushes him softly and in what she hopes is a soothing manner. She unfurls his hands from his lap to hold them in her own, keeping her eyes closed as he starts to settle down a bit.

"You don't have to say anything," Sakura says softly, feeling a small smile cross her lips. She was so happy for him. She wants nothing but wonderful things for both of them. Despite not having done a whole lot, she feels pleasantly tired, like she spent the whole day training her body to the extreme under Lady Tsunade. "Your brother is the hero here. Those are his eyes that allow you to see now. So, take them with love, treat them with love, live with them in love, and when you die, one day, hopefully many, many, many years from now, return them with love."

There is a moment of silence before Izuna asks, with gentle mirth, "To Madara? Do you think he'd want them back?"

Sakura barks out a laugh, pulling her face back to grin at him, relieved at the heavy atmosphere being lifted a bit and a mirthful half-smirk gracing the younger Uchiha brother's lips, his grip on her hands tightening a bit. "I don't know about that one," Sakura admits. "You would have to talk to him about it, but I would make sure your own eyes are part of that deal."

Izuna's smirk widens a bit into a grin as he blinks away his tears a bit. "I don't want those broken things. They never did me any good. He can keep them for all I care."

Sakura laughs, half amused, half sad for him by that statement. "Don't say that," Sakura says softly, staring into Izuna's dark eyes - Madara's former eyes - and for the first time since meeting him, they really are focused on her, taking in every inch of her face, really studying her, like he will lose his sight again any moment and he was committing her face to memory.

"You're beautiful," Izuna says suddenly.

Sakura blinks in surprise, giving him a little laugh, flushing. "Aww, thanks. Man, you old timey guys sure are nice to a girl like me. Tobirama said the same thing."

Izuna smiles then, soft and gentle. "That doesn't surprise me. That's how he described you to me when I asked."

Sakura blinks again, her embarrassed smile fading a bit from her lips. "What? Wh-When?"

Izuna shrugs his shoulders a bit, not yet letting go of her hands. "I don't know. A few weeks back, maybe. I can make out a bit better features when I'm really close to someone, but you were mostly a pink blob to me and most of the people I interact with, I knew what they looked like before I lost my sight. But not you, obviously. So, I asked. So, I could picture your face when I talk to you. It made me feel better. Feel more normal."

Sakura offers a little, embarrassed laugh, feeling blood rush to her cheeks. "And he said I was beautiful? I'm sure that helped you visualize me."

Izuna huffs. "If that was all he said, sure. You would be my version of beautiful, but you are as he described. Hair the color of a cherry blossom petal, like your namesake, with eyes like emerald-colored diamonds. Strong, beautiful, bright. Soft features, a gentle smile that never really leaves your face, and a gentleness and lovingness that just seems to touch every one of your features. In our line of work, in our lives, we rarely get to see someone who's beautiful outsides match their insides."

Sakura blushes, looking away and finding Hashirama smiling softly back at her, making her flush more and turn her eyes to the floor. This wasn't how this conversation should have gone. And she completely forgot that Hashirama and Madara were in the room with her and Izuna, as they've been in their own little world.

"You are complimenting me way too much," Sakura mumbles.

"You saved my life," Izuna says, squeezing her hands to draw her eyes back up to his own. "Twice now, at least. I will compliment you as much as I can. I don't think there is enough breath in my body to say all the things that you should hear. Thank you, Sakura. You gave me back my life. Again."

Sakura shakes her head. "No, I fixed your chakra system and helped you switch your eyes with your brother's. You saved your own life. I just helped give you the instruments to do it. But I wasn't the only one. Madara, Hashirama, Tobirama, Aya, Salma, your clansmen, even Ino, and Shizune, all played a part in it."

"Yes," Izuna says easily, staring straight into Sakura's eyes. "But you made all of it possible. And no one can ever convince me that I'm not here right now because of you, so I suggest you save your breath."

Sakura looks away again, still embarrassed, her face stiff from having cried. She's sure she looks like an absolute mess. "Well, thanks, I guess. Or, you're welcome. Whatever."

Izuna offers a little smile, twisting his head a bit to look into her eyes a bit. "Tobirama was right, you know?"

Sakura glances back up at him through her lashes. "Yeah?"

Izuna nods, squeezing her hands one last time before letting them go. "Yeah. You should be nicer to yourself. It hurts otherwise."

Sakura opens her mouth to ask what he meant by that. Sakura was plenty nice to herself. Maybe nicer than she deserved. She didn't understand what they could have been talking about to make them think that, but decided that it didn't matter. So long as Izuna was okay - which he was, seeing as he finally fully gathered himself, wiping away the residual tears left on his chin and clearing his throat - that was all that mattered. She'll just chalk the rest of this up to friends talking about other friends. Thankfully positively, this time.

Neither Madara nor Hashirama said anything throughout the entire exchange, but she did catch them sending looks at one another every once and a while. Sakura pushed on, putting the conversation with Izuna onto the back burner so that she could focus on their health. She checked their sight, making them read off from one of the many books the brothers had gathered for their precious leisurely time, and even tested their far sight a bit before seeing how their Sharingan's faired. True to Sakura's understanding, both brothers had the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, one with Madara's Mangekyo predominant - which she saw flashes of in her mind's eye from the war - and Izuna's that was just a reverse of Madara's with his own Mangekyo design predominant over Madara's.

Both brothers were happy with the return of their perfect vision - as use of the Mangekyo was stealing Madara's sight as his use of its powers were sealing the light of his eyes away more and more - and with the newfound possibilities of the Eternal Mangekyo. Something to explore later, and the idea, six months ago, would have left a twinge of fear in the pit of Sakura's stomach, yet now, she's completely happy for her friends. The fear of Madara becoming like the person of her future - err, the person that her future wanted him to seem like - has faded almost completely from her. Now all she can see is how someone tried really hard to sabotage his character. And how crazy good they were at it.

After swearing both brothers with the threat of bodily harm - sort of - to keep their use of the new Sharingan's limited for the next few days while their bodies reajust wasn't an easy ask, seeing as their excitement, but they agreed and Sakura and Hashirama left for the night. It was late, bitterly cold and Sakura immediately wished that they accepted Madara's offer of letting them stay for the night. Frost is forming all across the grass as the lower temperature turns her breath to fog around her mouth as Hashirama and her walk down the road in silence toward Sakura's temporary home.

Even with everyone working as hard as they can, there is still so many people without proper cover from the cold and Sakura feels horrible for having somewhere warm to rest her head for the night. Yamato and Hashirama were killing themselves trying to create structures to hold enough heat to keep as many people warm as possible with the limited amount of time they have before the freezing temperature drops well below zero and frostbite becomes a real worry. And unfortunately, more and more people show up each day and they just can't keep up with the flow of people.

Sakura presses her hands together, rubbing them together, happy to have Tobirama's heavy haori to wrap around herself tightly. It's thick and heavy on her shoulders and while she knows she promised to return it, she really doesn't want to.

Sakura glances over at Hashirama to see him staring at her, specifically the haori she's twisting around in her fingers. Sheepishly, she says, "I should probably give this back, shouldn't I?"

Hashirama blinks slowly. "Did Tobi ask for it back?"

"Not yet," Sakura admits.

Hashirama shrugs. "Keep it then. He's got plenty. Besides, you're cold. He's not missing it."

"He doesn't seem to mind me wearing it despite it having your family's crest on the back," Sakura says slowly, hoping that wouldn't suddenly remind Hashirama of the importance of the haori being worn by someone outside of the family and have him ask for it back. She could kick herself.

Instead of changing his mind, Hashirama offers a sideways grin in her direction. "I'm sure he doesn't mind. And you shouldn't either, Sakura. He already cleared it with me. I don't mind it. Clothes are meant to be worn and he's only one person, he can only wear so much. Someone should get use out of it. Besides, Tobi doesn't get cold very easily."

"Really?" Sakura asks, perplexed. "I'm not Tobirama-sama's level of water style but our nature tends to get colder a lot easier. I would have figured he'd be cold a lot easier than even I would considering how great his control over water is."

Hashirama grins, proudly. "Normally, I would agree with you. But to perform one of his most prominent jutsu, he freezes the cells in his body all at once and then unfreezes them so in his practice of that ability, he's basically taught himself to be more resistant to cold. He's able to better regulate his body temperature, unlike most other water-style users. Speaking of, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine," Sakura says, pulling the haori closer, interested in Hashirama's explanation. "Tobirama-sama's haori is warm."

Hashirama smiles more. "Good, he'll be happy to hear."

They walk in silence for a few minutes, drawing closer to Sakura's temporary home. Curiously, cautiously, Sakura glances over at Hashirama, wanting to ask him, needing to ask him, but not sure how to do it. Hashirama is so much like Naruto that he's so easy to talk to, but at the same time, it's not Hashirama that she should be asking her question. But she feels like if the answer isn't what she thinks it'd be, then she would be a big fool. Not that Tobirama would be harsh in his judgement of her question - err, maybe - but Hashirama might be a bit more understanding of why she's confused.

Ugh, she just doesn't know! Why him? Why Tobirama of all people and not... well, anyone else in the entire village? This is insane! Why is she even entertaining this stupid idea? It's been nagging her for a while, yet one conversation with Izuna reaffirmed that Tobirama really did mean to call her beautiful "inside and outside" apparently, and it wasn't something he said spur of the moment. But does this mean what she hopes that it means? Does she hope that it means what she... hopes it means? Should she want this? Should she even offer it a single thought more?

Right now? Where people are freezing around her, hurt and confused and alone? Some friends are missing, some are dead - like her parents - and her village is currently straining under the pressure of its population explosion that doesn't stop. Pop, pop, pop. They start to recover a bit, and it happens again. More and more people show up every day and they literally can't keep up.

"Now isn't the best time to be focusing on anything other than our people," Sakura mumbles to herself under her breath, chastising.

"I disagree," Hashirama says softly, stuffing his hands into his sleeves to protect them from the cold. Sakura glances over at him, surprised. She hadn't realized she spoke out loud. "I think now is the only time we have. If war has taught me anything, it's to take nothing for granted. Anyone and anything can be gone tomorrow. Leave nothing half done and leave nothing unsaid." He turns pretty brown eyes down to her. "Yes, as people in power, it's our duty to do what we can for them, even the ultimate sacrifice if asked for it, but our unhappiness or missed opportunities now won't shield them from cold nights, or put food in their bellies. We all have the right to live. We all have to face the Shinigami at the end of our lives and we deserve to live those lives. You aren't selfish for taking some time to focus on yourself. No one will blame you, and no one should blame you."

"Maybe..." Sakura says, looking down at her feet, her toes starting to redden to the cold.

Hashirama sighs, looking up at the starry sky, dark eyes finding the sliver of the moon peaking between the thick clouds. It's going to rain soon. Great. "I seem to surround myself with people who are so duty-bound that they forget that they need things too. I might be a bit guilty of it too, maybe," he smiles coyly at the droll look Sakura sends his way, not pulling his dark eyes from the moon, "but I had to spend hours talking Madara, Izuna, and Tobirama off many ledges when it comes to their own needs. Madara wanted to help Izuna see again but that would mean taking it easy for a few days. Izuna wanted to see again but that would mean Madara would have to focus on just him for a time. Tobirama spends most nights working until the early morning on plans and developing new procedures for the clan and the village, then when he tries to sleep, his anxiety acts up and he goes to patrol to clear his mind. His only cathartic release from daily stress is when he's training or working on new jutsu, but he's too proud to show me any of those until he's perfected them so he can't even express joy in his work."

Sakura is quiet for a long moment, absorbing this information. She had heard all about some of the amazing high ranked ninjutsu that Tobirama of her time had created for her village so it was fascinating to see that he was working on more - perhaps things he already made for them - or expanding upon what he's learned from his other self through the jutsu that Kakashi shared with him. Tobirama created most of them, he has the right to see his own work. At least, that was the last that Sakura had heard about it.

But it's nice to know that no matter how rare it is, he's still finding time to do what he enjoys. But it does make her sad to know that he's so stressed. He doesn't wear it like Hashirama does. Tobirama looks so composed all the time, so stoic, that it's easy to forget that his anxiety is probably a million times worse than even Sakura's. And apparently, he's not sleeping well from the sounds of it.

Her heart clenches at the thought that he was crying out for help and she didn't even realize. "Why didn't he say anything? I could help him sleep. I have all sorts of medical knowledge for good medication or even jutsu that could put him into a peaceful sleep without compromising his ability to wake up. I can help him. I just didn't know. He never said anything," Sakura says, eyebrows pulling together.

Hashirama smiles faintly, lowering his eyes to look over at Sakura from the corner of her eye. "You know why he didn't say anything, right?"

Sakura chews on her lower lip for a moment, contemplatively before stopping in her tracks to look at Hashirama. "Because he's scared?"

The gentlest look crosses Hashirama's face as he nods. "Yeah. He's scared. Of everything. People don't see it because he hides it so well. But he's been afraid ever since our brothers died. Everything scares him. People terrify him. Some betray him. Most hurt him. Almost all leave him. It's just me. I'm the only one left. Sure, we have our clan and Tobirama loves them in his own way. But I'm the only one left. The thought of losing me paralyzes him so he tries to safe-guard me in any way he can. Keep strangers at arm's length, treat allies indifferently, and even say cruel, hurtful things to the ones he loves."

Sakura thinks about when they went into her mind. The things that he said, his embarrassment and how he covered it with cruelty. She thinks about when he was putting her seal on her neck, how he was telling her about how she essentially wormed her way into his life and he reacted defensively. How he was sorry. How he didn't know how to put into words what he was trying to say. Why he couldn't answer her question. Why he couldn't answer: Why?

And like that, it clicked.

His haori. His gentleness when they just sat around talking. His happiness at being recognized. How lenient he is with her. Calling her beautiful, not once, but twice. How they were intellectual equals in so many ways. He never spoke to her like she was an idiot for not understanding what he was talking about and was even willing to explain deeper. How he wasn't afraid to ask about her interests and expand upon his own understanding of things he didn't know. Hashirama's and Izuna's playful jabbing at what she figured was her own expense as maybe they saw her crushing on the Senju heir before she even allowed herself to put that thought into words but now she realized, they were at Tobirama's.

Why he would use the excuse of being drunk to tell her the answer to her question. He's scared.

"You're cruel with how gentle a death grip you've got on him," Hashirama says kindly, despite his words. Sakura turns wide green eyes to the Senju patriarch, realizing that he knows what's racing through her head. She stares into his dark eyes, trying to find a hint of anger or displeasure, but the corners of those dark eyes crinkle with his smile as he tilts his head a bit. The same gentle expression that he always has, kindness shining in those dark eyes.

Sakura's lips part slightly and she hears herself ask, "Where is he?"

Hashirama's eyes stay on her own for a beat longer before turning to look around, reaching out with his senses and in that moment, a harsh breeze ruffled the trees around them, creating a loud, whirling din that pulls just as much at their hair and loose clothes as it does of the falling leaves and the near barren branches of the trees encircling the village.

Sakura supposed she could sense him out herself, but she can barely feel anything beyond the acute awareness of the roaring in her ears and the pounding of her heart. What is she doing? What is she going to him for? This is so sudden, so uncalled for. She should stop and think. She should take some time to herself and not just jump into her first instinct. She should just stop. What if she's wrong? What if she's misunderstanding?

What if she isn't?

"The lake," Hashirama says and Sakura's hand is in his, squeezing his warm hand tightly, for him or herself, she has no idea, before she's pulling away and heading in that direction.

Her tiredness from early is overridden by the pounding in her chest as she pushes her feet as fast as she can toward the Senju heir, already feeling herself starting to talk herself out of this. She should just go home. She should really take some time to think through everything. What if she isn't misunderstanding Tobirama's attraction to her now but that changes? She nearly killed herself for Sasuke, multiple times, and that was without him offering her an ounce of affection in return. If Tobirama offered this love-starved fool anything more than a passing fancy, what was she going to do? Is she even emotionally ready to deal with the implications of any of this? It sounds like he might be just as emotionally stunted as she is. How can that not blow up in their faces?

Assuming what she hopes is actually right.

Before Sakura can fully talk herself out of it, she reaches the lake out in the forest where Tobirama told her about his mom after she bawled like a baby for her own parents. Thanks, brain, for bringing up that great memory.

Tobirama is walking across the lake in a loose kimono, swinging around his legendary sword the Raijin in his hand, a displeased look on his face as the blade fades back into its hilt as he makes his way to the side of the lake that Sakura was on, shaking sweat and water from his hair from moving around on the lake's surface. Tobirama puts the blade into the sleeve of his kimono, turning his pretty red eyes to Sakura, curiously.

"Saku-" He starts, no doubt surprised to see her there so late, but she cuts him off.

"The operation was successful," Sakura blurts out, surprising both of them. Tobirama blinks a few times slowly.

"Ah. Switching Madara and Izuna's eyes around?"

Sakura nods, wondering what the hell she was doing. She loved Izuna and Madara, but they weren't who, or what, she wanted to talk about. But she hears herself say, "Yeah. They both activated the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. And they both seem to be seeing perfectly fine."

"Ah," Tobirama says, stepping up in front of her. "I see. You don't have to report to me, Sakura, Hashirama will tell me all about it when I go home."

"You feel better knowing," Sakura blabs.

Tobirama blinks slowly, not really able to argue that. He does very much rather be in the know of the goings on of the village. "Yes, that's true," he admits. "Then, thank you for informing me."

Sakura nods, feeling like an idiot. Then Sakura's talking. She talks about nothing at all. She talks about the day leading up to the operation, the operation itself, even things that have nothing to do with it. Nothing that has any relevance as to why she was even there. And the more she spoke of idle nonsense, the more anxious she got. She reaches up and pulls at the edges of her hair around her chin, trying to use the feeling to distract herself from the incessant babble coming from her lips while her short-circuiting brain just tries to catch up with whatever it was it wanted to say and what was actually coming out of her mouth.

Tobirama's eyes watch the motion of her hand pulling at her hair, and listens to her babbling in silence, trying to absorb the insane amount of useless information being thrown at him in such a short amount of time. She hardly spared a moment to breath, bouncing from one half thought to another. She feels herself wrap the white-haired man's haori around herself, using it like an actual shield from this horrible one-way conversation when Tobirama finally, gratefully, interrupts her roller-coaster of one-sided dialogue with a question.

"Are you cold, Sakura?" He asks, not seeming to mind her incoherent talking his ear off the last few minutes. "Should we go inside?" He's already moved to use his body to block the wind passing over the lake toward them as much as he can while she was just talking to herself and at him.

Sakura takes the momentary distraction to warn her mouth to shut up for a second so that she can both breathe, and think. She sucks in a deep breath, clenching the haori tightly before forcing her eyes to his and says, "I think I'm scared. No, I am. I'm terrified."

Tobirama's eyes widen a fraction before narrowing dangerously, scanning around them for a danger that she might have somehow sensed that he didn't. Which is practically impossible now that he knows how her people cloak their chakra from him the first time. Now that Sakura heard from Hashirama that Tobirama is scared of something happening more than anything, her friends sneaking up on them like that was probably one of the scariest moments of his life, especially learning that all of her people know how to do that to a degree.

"Is there someone out there?" Tobirama asks, eyes scanning the dark forest.

"No," Sakura says. "Well, maybe, I don't know. But that's not what I'm scared about. I'm scared about you. About me. About us."

Tobirama's eyes continue to scan the forest for a moment longer, processing her words before they compute and he turns pretty red eyes to her in confusion, mind now visibly whirling about what he did wrong. "Was it the comment about earlier? I apologize if I made you feel uncomfortable. It hadn't been my intention. I will keep my thoughts to myself if that's the case."

Something about him not disregarding what he said eases the frantic part of Sakura's brain a bit more, clearing up her thoughts somewhat. "No, you didn't make me uncomfortable," Sakura says, finally letting herself speak at human level speeds. "I've just been feeling... I've always been... oh Kami, I don't know what to say. How do I just talk?" Sakura grumbles, rubbing at her forehead.

Perplexed, Tobirama tilts his head. "I don't understand," he admits. "Just take a moment and breathe. I'll wait."

Sakura's shoulders slump in relief. His permission to take a moment to collect herself is a blessing, but it also gives him time to look around the forest mistrustfully. Now he's got himself paranoid that someone's watching them because of her. Good going, Sakura, you literally freaked him out.

She has to push down all of her worries. They don't have to do anything. Just talk. They are both rational adults, and if she misunderstood something that it's better to just clear it all up now. Here, in a forest, by a pretty, sparkling lake, in the near freezing temperature, while it's pitch black out. While both of them are now completely strung out on their own thoughts. Yeah, now is the best place and time for this. Definitely.

"Do you..." Sakura starts, pulling Tobirama's eyes and focus back to her.

When she doesn't immediately continue, Tobirama prompts, "Do I...?"

Sakura shakes her head. No, it's not right. She shouldn't be asking him to justify his feelings. She needs to come clean about her own. They are mature adults. They should be able to have a simple, civil conversation. And they would, if she just to the point.

Kami, this really could have waited until tomorrow. Or any other day, really. It didn't have to be right now, did it?

"No," Sakura says, shaking her head and steeling herself before looking into Tobirama's beautiful red eyes. "I have something to confess to you, and I want to talk like civilized adults."

Suddenly weary, Tobirama nods in agreement. No doubt Sakura's freaking him out. "Very well. What do you wish to discuss?"

"I..." Sakura hesitates again, hating herself. She sucks in a deep breath before just admitting, "I think I'm falling in love with you."