4 Responsibility !

The cycle of hatred.

Sakura was experiencing this cycle first hand. She now understood why the Shinobi world had been ruled by it since the world was a world. She put herself in the shoes of all those people who had killed in the name of hate for revenge. She could even imagine that entire cities or civilizations could be decimated for the simple reason of wanting to make amends for a wrong they had suffered.

The young woman knew, however, that hatred was a dangerous emotion when left unchecked. Not only did it give a certain power to the one who felt it, but it could also cause the one who let it guide him to commit the unthinkable, before paying the consequences.

Sakura had seen Sasuke plunge into the cycle of hatred, blinded by it to the point where he had evaded the truth. He had allowed his thoughts to crystallize and focus only on the certainties he had been willing to consider.

In a way, hadn't she too just given in to the cycle of hatred by exterminating that abject scum Zetsu ? But Sakura was too wrapped up in her own emotions to realize this truth. Indeed, she was fighting her own hatred inside. It was growing so much that it could be seen in the features of her face, the tensing of her limbs and the fury in her eyes.

She wondered if quenching her thirst for revenge would be so serious ? Could reducing this monster to nothing be considered as perpetuating the cycle of hatred ? Or, on the contrary, undoing it ? After all, he would only get what he deserved for leading to the loss of everyone she loved. But despite all her rage, one thought still managed to make her see reason. * I'm better than him. *

After all, if she killed the person responsible for all her suffering, wouldn't she be lowering herself to his level ? And this idea did not please the young woman at all, even if it was only to calm her ego.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she saw the person responsible for her hatred suffer a slight coughing fit. He was drowning in his own blood and if nothing was done he would die. This was the signal for Sakura to break out of her trance and prove that she was different from this man.

She knelt down in front of him before concentrating chakra in her fingertips to form a scalpel, as the Uchiha looked on in concern. With precision she cut away some of the straps from his half-destroyed armor. Once the straps were cut, she quickly ripped off the top of his armor and threw it away. Madara let out a groan of pain at the action.

Sakura grabbed the linen top at the base of his neck before cutting through the blood soaked garment, revealing the bruised trunk of the brunet. Numerous cuts were visible, all of which were benign at the moment. But by his jerky breathing and the hard shrug of his chest, Sakura knew that one of the lungs was probably punctured or at least damaged.

— "W... Who... are... you?" Madara asked with great difficulty.

He had many questions in his head as he watched this person above him. Her actions seemed to show that she wanted to help him. But why ? After all, he had seen the rage and hatred in her eyes ! So why did she want to help him ?

The pink-haired woman placed her bag on the ground and began to look for something inside, finally pulling out a stainless steel rod and a cannula. She placed the object on Madara's bloody torso before placing the rod on the front of his neck, at the level of the trachea. She aimed between the second and fourth cartilage rings, well below the vocal cords.

— "Save your breath !" Sakura said with authority as her face showed great concentration.

Madara had never seen such gestures in his life. Medicine was not something that was common in those days. As a result, many small wounds were easily fatal. Nevertheless, perhaps it was the loss of blood or the fact that he had nothing left to lose that made him act obediently. He took a breath as best he could and blocked it. He felt a slight pain in his neck before he felt something being inserted into him.

— "Keep your head up, release your breath in three, two, one..."

As she counted down, Sakura completely blocked the entrance to the second lung and a simple press of her fingers to the right of the cannula was enough. Sakura had just performed a tracheotomy, allowing Madara to breathe artificially with his left lung while the right one was in stasis, gorged with blood.

The doctor then took a canteen out of her bag and hastily opened it to pour a large dose onto the victim's chest. Unfortunately, the rain was not sufficient to see the wound properly. Once the wound was clear, her expert eye, due to her knowledge and preparation, saw in a second which part of the heart had been hit in the fight.

— "Shit !" Sakura swore before straddling Madara.

Leaning forward, her body acted as a barrier to the rain so that the water would not undermine her work. She concentrated her chakra in her index finger and it began to glow a green colour. She placed it at specific points around the location of Madara's heart. Each press of her finger caused the dark-haired man to grimace.

— "Don't look," she intimated harshly.

Normally this kind of surgery was done with a sleeping patient, and that's why she advised looking away, because not everyone could handle such a sight. Sakura placed her hand flat again to perform her Chakura no Mesu technique, creating a chakra scalpel once more. Positioning her hand so that it was perpendicular to Madara's torso, she made an eight centimeter long opening at the heart.

Despite the woman's instructions, Madara was watching what she was trying to do : save his life. He had never seen anything like it, it was done with such confidence, such precision that he was sure this was not the first time she had done this. Strangely enough, he no longer felt any pain in his chest, as if she had cut off the information to his nerves. Where did this woman come from to do this kind of thing and, more importantly, who taught her ?

— "I'm going to have to stop your heart for now !" Sakura announced as she saw all the blood escaping from the organ. She was extremely surprised to see the man still alive with such a wound. Only his willpower seemed to keep him going, or maybe it was his pride.

Upon hearing this announcement, Madara looked up at the young woman's face right above him. She had pink hair, it was the first time in his life he had seen hair that colour. And her eyes were green, turning slightly turquoise. Her face was soft and pleasant to look at, and the determination in it reminded him of his late mother.

He felt the discharge of chakra through his body, a sign that his heart had just been stopped. In this state, Madara knew very well that he would die in a few seconds. So he took advantage of the soft green glow from the stranger's hands to look at her.

The seconds passed and slowly his visibility diminished. He wanted to cry with rage at not being able to achieve what he had so longed for : peace.

He saw life flash before his eyes before he was brought back to reality by another pulse of chakra in his body. It was so strong that his body arched and a grunt of pain came from his mouth. His thoughts returned as quickly as they had disappeared and in that moment he knew that he had been dead for a few moments.

— "Blink if you're back."

When she saw the Uchiha blink, she felt a great wave of satisfaction wash over her that she had just succeeded. While still straddling him, Sakura leaned forward to see if there was any damage to his skull. She meticulously lifted his head with one hand while feeling his skull with the other for any injuries. Seeing none, she put his head back down gently so as not to hurt him and disturb the cannula in his neck.

Pulling the hair out of the Uchiha's right eye, she could see that it was closed and that a large amount of blood was coming out of it.

— "Open up !" Sakura ordered.

The patient complied and a completely white eye was revealed. His retina was completely altered : he would never be able to see again. The technique he had used had doomed his Sharingan.

— "W...why...help...you... me ?"

— "Speak as little as possible... Close your eyes.

Sakura was in a hurry as she placed her hand on the damaged eye. The soft green glow emanating from her hand soothed the Uchiha. She was able to ease his pain, and Madara, who had never seen Iryo Ninjutsu in his life, thought it was a Kekkei Genkai.

Sakura straightened up and began to make a series of signs with her hands.

— "Fûinjutsu : Teitai," Sakura said before placing her hand on the site of the damaged lung. A couple of seals inscribed themselves on Madara's chest, stopping any further blood flow into the lung. Once this was done Sakura got back on her two legs, satisfied with her work.

— "Okay, can you move your body parts ? If you can't, blink twice."

Sakura saw the dark-haired man's right arm move, but that was all the movement Madara could muster and as she looked at her patient's eyes, she saw that he blinked twice.

— "Shit ! The sword must have done some damage to the vertebrae," Sakura observed to herself.

She realized that Madara was paralyzed and that only his right arm and head were still valid. The Uchiha on the other hand had completely different thoughts. How did she know that a sword had pierced him ? Had it been there from the beginning of his fight ? Was she that good at seeing that such and such a wound was made by such and such a weapon ? Or was it something else"?

— "Well... I'll have to carry you."

Madara didn't think this day could get any worse. He had just failed in his goal of peace, lost his fight with his rival, died for a few seconds, owed his life to a woman, and now he was being carried like a bride. And besides, how was this woman herself able to carry him with such ease ?

— "Let yourself sink into unconsciousness, it will be better when you wake up."

Now that she said it, Madara felt a great fatigue come over him, probably related to the loss of blood.

In any case, Madara had never lowered himself to the level of a woman. They were only useful for bearing children and serving as a bargaining chip between clans. He was a man forged for war, for killing. A man who had always been guided by his pride and his will alone. He had never burdened himself with a woman except for the pleasure of the flesh to satisfy his needs. But Madara never thought that one day he would meet someone like this stranger. And at that moment when he was most vulnerable, he spoke a word he never thought he would say... let alone to a woman.

- Tha...Thank...

Then the dark-haired man sank into unconsciousness as his last strength left him.

Sakura walked the route back to her house deep in thought. Had she just done the right thing ? Was this really what the Rikudô Sennin wanted her to do ? She turned her gaze slightly to Madara's face as she jumped from branch to branch. As he slept, his facial features had relaxed, revealing a graceful and delicate face that looked innocent. Despite this, Sakura saw this man as a mass murderer and nothing more.

Her parents had told her that no one was born a murderer, but that one learned to be one. Human beings managed to survive because they were able to adapt and evolve. So the immediate question was : could Uchiha Madara change ?

It was with this last thought that Sakura finally arrived at her home. She hurried inside and made her way to the main room. It was a spacious room, a coffee table was set in the centre with cushions around it. In the back were numerous bookcases and cupboards as well as a desk full of scrolls. Not liking futons because of their hardness and uncomfortableness, she had beds installed in her house. A large bed was on the left side of the room with a view of the outside.

She settled her patient on it, ignoring the water and blood that stained the floor and the sheets. Quickly throwing her belongings on the floor, she rushed to light a number of candles in order to see more clearly.

Her first task was to remove the rest of Madara's armor. She cut what was left of the straps attaching the armor to his body. Then it was his clothes' turn : she tore off his linen tunic before removing his sandals and trousers, leaving him in only his underwear.

Many would have enjoyed the sight of the man, but Sakura had always been impeccable at her job. No one managed to disturb her, not even Sasuke when she'd had to nurse him back from the Fourth Great Shinobi War.

— "No other visible wounds on his legs..."

As she carefully inspected Madara's body her eyes fell on something that made her frown. His left arm looked... lifeless. She then began to channel chakra after placing her hands on his arm. It took her a good minute to figure out what the problem was : his Tenketsu. Probably a Jutsu attack or a technique that was too greedy.

His Tenketsu as well as his chakra system were destroyed, damaging his blood flow. And if she didn't do something, he might lose the use of his arm.

She quickly ran to her desk and grabbed her inkwell and a fine brush.

Over the next hour Sakura drew numerous seals all over Madara's left arm. These had the function of simulating a chakra network allowing blood to circulate until she could fix the internal problem.

— "Well... now for the tricky part," Sakura encouraged herself before fetching a large container and filling it with water.

She returned to Madara's bedside and placed the large bowl on the bedside table. Repeating the same process as at the Valley of the End, she used pressure points with her index finger to anesthetize the area to be operated on.

This awakening was brutal for Madara who asked himself many questions because of the pain he felt. What had happened to him ? Where was he ? Why did it hurt so much ? Then it all came back to him at once... his attack, his defeat, his death, this woman saving his life. His eye turned to her and the scene he saw shocked him, or rather impressed him.

She seemed to be operating on him once more. Her right hand was on a large wound in his lung which glowed green. Her left hand was in the air, a large water bubble attached to it, while a trickle of water and blood connected the bubble to his lung. She seemed unaware that she was awake, so he decided not to say anything for fear of making her lose her concentration.

The minutes passed and Sakura didn't move an inch. The blood from the lung was getting thinner and thinner before it was finally drained. She finally lowered her arm, not without a sigh of relief as she released the bubble of blood into the bowl. She then gently placed her hands on the rest of Madara's superficial wounds, closing them quickly, and that's when she sensed another problem.

— "What the..."

There, in his stomach, was a foreign source of chakra that didn't belong to Sakura, let alone Madara. Making him vomit was out of the question because of the cannula at his throat that allowed him to breathe. So she applied pressure points again which drew a slight grunt from Madara. Sakura looked up at the man and saw that he was awake.

— "Sorry... try to go back to sleep."

Sakura once again used the Chakura no Mesu technique to cut open his stomach. There was blood everywhere from the old bleeding and it was in the middle of it all that Sakura spotted the foreign body. A small lump of flesh that Sakura quickly removed and put into a small container.

Sweat was beginning to show on her face from the repeated use of her chakra for almost three hours now. Madara's body was now stabilized and out of danger. The only injury she hadn't touched yet was the one in his vertebrae that seemed to be paralyzing him, but it was going to need some rest.

Of the many things Sakura brought back from the future, she was glad she had brought medical supplies. A look of total confusion settled over Madara's face as he watched his rescuer stick a needle into his arm that was attached to a strange tube. It was attached to a translucent water bag, which was itself on a metal stand.

— "Sleep," Sakura said before placing her hand on the Uchiha's temple and he felt a tremendous amount of fatigue come over him at her touch. Sakura's chakra forced him to fall asleep, but not without one last thought. * Who is she ? *

Sakura then collapsed into a seat beside Madara, exhausted. She was very proud of her work and allowed herself to close her eyes for a few moments, a few minutes, or even the whole night due to exhaustion.

Day 1

The rain had stopped during the night and the sun's rays were able to land on Madara's face. The warmth gently penetrated his body and when the rays reached his still-valid eye, he slowly awoke. His eyes darted around, he didn't recognize the place and his mysterious rescuer wasn't there. He spotted his belongings lying in a corner, blood still on them. Everything was there, his armor, his clothes, and even his Gunbai was leaning against the wall.

He felt... strange.

He tried to look at his body, but forgot that there was still something in his throat. A grunt of pain came from his mouth and at that moment he heard footsteps coming from a hallway. The stranger entered the room wearing a pale pink tunic and white trousers. She had tied her pink hair in a bun to keep her face clear.

Seeing this woman, Madara frowned at a detail he hadn't noticed the day before : since when did women wear anything other than dresses or kimonos ?

— "Ah, you're awake," she said in a neutral voice as she approached him. "Don't try to speak, I'll remove the cannula from your throat first and reopen your lungs."

Sakura didn't wait for him to be ready before she removed the plastic object and closed the small wound with her green chakra.

— "When I tell you, take a deep breath. Three, two, one..."

At the end of her countdown, Sakura unblocked his first lung so that he could breathe through his mouth again. He was coughing hard because he hadn't breathed normally for a whole night. Moreover, the dried blood in his throat did nothing to calm the irritation he felt after the young woman's action on his lung.

— "Here... drink in small sips."

Sakura gently brought a cup of water to his lips. He swallowed small sips and even though it tasted metallic because of his blood, it felt good.

— "Do you feel any pain or discomfort when you swallow ?"

— "N... No... Who are you ?" Madara asked in a small voice as he continued to drink slowly.

— "Prepare yourself... you're going to be in pain. I'm going to open the access to your second lung because this one has been severely damaged. Three, two, one, exhale..."

Madara felt no pain as he felt the pressure of the fingers on his throat, but that was before the young woman continued :

— "Now breathe in..."

And then Madara knew what she meant by pain. His lung was completely empty and had just filled with air again.

— "There... slowly, take small breaths, then go slowly with larger ones," Sakura guided in a calm voice as Madara began to get annoyed at not getting any answers.

— "Who are you ?" he repeated more uncompromisingly. The intonation left no doubt that he demanded to know who she was. But he didn't give her time to answer as he immediately ordered, "Answer me woman !"

At that moment Madara activated his Sharigan and the mere sight made Sakura see red. Her gaze shifted from neutral and professional to that of a skilled ninja. She was after all a woman who had been through the war and she would not be intimidated by a Dôjutsu.

— "No Sharingan ! You just came out of chakra exhaustion !"

Sakura's tone was harsh as her emotions raced through her head. She had just saved him and he was already trying to use his Sharingan on her. Seconds passed and Madara didn't deactivate his Dôjutsu.

— "You won't be the first Uchiha to die by my hand, so I advise you to deactivate your Sharingan."

— "Your name !" Madara demanded in a deep voice.

Inwardly he was slightly impressed with this woman's temperament. She didn't have an ounce of fear and that characteristic glint in her eye : a war veteran. Who was she to be so confident in front of him ?

— "Haruno Sakura... now deactivate your Sharingan before I do it for you !"

With a name finally on her face, Madara deactivated his Dôjutsu, but did not look away. It wasn't tomorrow that the great Uchiha Madara was going to bow down to a common woman, no matter how powerful she was.

Sakura leaned towards him and stared into his left eye for a few moments. Her face was scrunched up, as if she was looking for an anomaly.

— "Look to the right... look to the left... don't use your Sharingan again until I tell you to."

Then she pulled the brown hair from the other side of his face before continuing :

— "Open your eye and keep it open."

She gently placed her hand on it before a soft chakra flowed out to heal the inside of the eyeball. For now, she could do nothing for the eye itself.

— "Aren't you going to ask me my name ?"

— "I already know who you are... Madara."

This greatly disturbed the Uchiha who had no idea where this woman came from. He knew all of the greatest ninjas of the Elemental Nations and someone of her ilk would have been the talk of the town. Someone who could break through a cliff, someone who could master chakra at such a high level.

— "How do you know me ?"

— "Who doesn't know Uchiha Madara ?" Sakura retorted as she withdrew her hand and gave further instructions. "You can close it again, it might itch, but don't touch it."

When her eye inspection was complete, Sakura walked over to her desk and grabbed an inkwell with a fine brush.

— "What are you doing ?" the man questioned, intrigued by the objects she held in her hand.

— "Seals to keep you alive and help you heal."

Sakura was drawing seals on his bladder, followed by his intestines. Each stroke turned blue before returning to its original colour. It took her about ten minutes to draw everything, then she inspected her work. When she saw no mistakes she turned her gaze to Madara's face.

— "With these two seals, you won't have to go to the bathroom anymore. As long as you are paralyzed or until you are a little more independent, I will leave them on."

— "Where did you come from ?" asked Madara, who had never been so curious about anyone. She exuded mystery and that bothered him to no end. At the end of that question, he saw great pain in the depths of her eyes.

— "From a place that no longer exists..."

Sakura was plagued by many memories of seeing the person responsible for her departure. As she remembered it all, tears were coming to the corners of her eyes. She decided to stand up before she looked weak in front of this man. She didn't think it would be so hard to be in his presence. After all, even if he was her enemy, he was the last person who was also in her time. She wanted to cry so badly, but couldn't afford to, so she left the room before it was too late.

A hint of regret. That was what Madara had felt as he watched this strong woman break from the inside out. Then he looked down at his own body, he had many bandages on his torso, where he had undergone operations. His left arm was covered with seals that seemed to glisten in a very small way, hardly visible to the naked eye. Seeing all this he wondered how competent this woman was ? How many people in the world were capable of having chakra control like hers ? Who was capable of having superhuman strength that even he, the great Madara Uchiha would not be able to match ? Was she affiliated with the Uzumaki clan to use Fûinjutsu with such ease ? And her eyes... she was a woman who had seen war.

— "I assume you're hungry," Sakura said as she returned with a tray in her hands. It consisted of two bowls, a glass of water and a pair of chopsticks. The sadness had disappeared from her eyes and was replaced by neutrality.

— "Yes."

The dark-haired man could feel the sweet smell filling his nostrils, and he realised that he was horribly hungry. He hadn't eaten since the night before and his body was craving something to replace the loss of blood and chakra.

Sakura placed the tray on the bedside table before sitting down in a chair near the bed.

— "Unfortunately, the stomach surgery means that you won't be able to eat your fill for a while," Sakura explained as she picked up the bowl of soup.

She grabbed the spoon and filled it before blowing gently on it. She held the spoon up to Madara's lips and he didn't know whether to be insulted, open his mouth or tell her off for what she was doing.

— "I know you don't like being dependent on someone Uchiha-san, but you have to eat and you're in no condition to feed yourself."

Reluctantly, Madara opened his mouth and enjoyed the taste of the hot soup in his mouth. His gaze never left Sakura for a moment as she fed him. He was extremely ashamed of this situation but his attention was diverted when she spoke again.

— "This soup contains all the ingredients necessary to boost blood production. For today I can only give you one bowl because of the recent surgery."

When she finished, Sakura put the empty bowl down before grabbing the second bowl of rice and the pair of chopsticks.

— "Why do you hate me ?"

If Sakura was surprised by this question she didn't show it. She adjusted the chopsticks in her fingers before handing Madara a portion of rice.

— "Chew until the rice is mush in your mouth... And what makes you say I hate you ?" Sakura asked innocently.

The man took the time to chew his mouthful long and hard as the woman had advised before swallowing and speaking.

— "You may be able to hide your emotions, but your eyes don't fool me."

— "Let's just say that I don't hold most of your clan in my heart."

— "Why ?" asked Madara in return, very surprised.

Another bite was brought to his lips, and this one was also chewed for a long time.

— "Every Uchiha I've ever met has tried to kill me, to subdue me, to hurt me..."

Sakura had to admit that even the love of her life had done nothing but hurt her. He had played with her feelings, broken them and thrown them away. If it wasn't for the intervention of her sensei and Naruto, she would have died by his hand.

— "I never hurt you."

— "Not yet..."

Madara may have been a very good observer of emotions, but Sakura had the future as an advantage, allowing her to come out with half-truths. For after all, Madara hadn't hurt her yet... at least not yet. She set the empty bowl down on the tray before grabbing the glass of water and bringing it to the patient's mouth.

— "Drink slowly."

— "Why are you doing all this ?"

— "What do you mean ?" Sakura asked confused.

— "Why did you save my life ? Why are you helping me get better ? If you hate my clan so much, then why are you bothering to save its leader"?

— "I took the Hippocratic oath."

— "The real reason..."

The real reason ? Sakura wondered as well, had she done the right thing by saving his life ?

— "I wonder why myself," Sakura whispered more to herself than to Madara. She placed her hand on the dark-haired man's temple before saying, "sleep now, you need plenty of rest."

And as she said this, Madara sank back into unconsciousness.

— "Will I be able to change him ?"