Konoha's Cherry Blossom

Chapter 11

"-ther? Brother!"

Hiashi jolted up, his eyes traveling towards the voice that called out to him, soon landing on his twin brother shaking his shoulder roughly in an attempt to get his attention. The man was so lost in thought he hadn't even noticed his presence until a moment ago. Though, one couldn't blame him given the current circumstances.

It was shameful that all this happened under the Hyuuga's charge. His daughter kidnapped right under their noses, whilst they, the clan gifted with a doujutsu capable of detecting beings from miles away, are deceived so easily by an foreign nin. It would've made his blood boil had he not been overcome by fear and worry for not only his daughter, but the small girl that had prevented the kumo shinobi from succeeding. When he had gone to check on her he noticed tears had streamed down her face, her skin becoming worryingly pale and waxen and her body too weak to stand, all alarming flags of chakra depletion. There was no question as to what had caused it, for he was the sole being to bear witness to it.

Hiashi never thought in all his years he would see a natural born mokuton user again, the only other person capable of doing so being the Shodai Hokage nearly a century ago. He quickly made do with the evidence, destroying the surprisingly sturdy vines that had encased the unconscious shinobi and getting ahold of his daughter. He's sure that if he had left the man a few more moments in the asphyxiating enclosure the vines had created, his life would have been long gone. It would have been the optimal solution considering the severity of the crime, but to have a young and innocent girl bear the burden of taking someone's life at such a tender age would be too cruel for even him, especially when she saved his kin, the sole heir to the Hyuuga.

Taking a deep breath in and exhaling, Hiashi composed himself as he turned to his brother. "Have the Senju arrived?"

Hizashi nodded grimly, "Not yet. They are currently being escorted here as we speak." He gives a slight bow of his head as he turns to exit the room, briefly glancing back at the small unconscious form on the bed before finally leaving.

Within a few minutes, a familiar couple barged into the room wearing distressed looks on their faces. Takashi looked more composed than his wife, though one could easily tell he was keeping his sanity for Sayuri's sake, whom started to wring her hands together as her eyes darted around the room before landing on a small mop of pink hair.

"Sakura!" Without a moment to spare, both Sayuri and Takashi found themselves at their daughters' side, the former kneeling down as she held the girl's delicate hand in her own. The girl had perspiration lining her forehead, her hands clamped together at her middle, but thankfully both her breathing and heart rate were relatively stable. Pressing her forehead against Sakura's, the woman moves to the side and performs the mystical palm technique, quelling any sort of agitation in herself as she works.

After a few beats of silence, Takashi interrupts. "...How is she?"

Letting her hands drop to her side, Sayuri finally lets out a long sigh, her husband quickly coming to her side as she drops onto a nearby chair. "Her chakra has been almost completely depleted. I don't think even Kakashi-kun has ever gone this far." The pinkette lets out a shallow breath, glancing back up to the young girl as she grabs her hand once again, sending a steady flow of healing chakra.

"Hiashi..." Takashi calls, causing the man to look up, not entirely ready to meet the man's eyes, "...what happened?"

The man looked down to the floor once more before finally raising his gaze to the two parents. There was no use in stalling. "An assassin. We have yet to wholly reveal his identity, but from what he was wearing, we've deduced that he's a Kumo nin. He snuck into the compound unbeknownst to us in an attempt to kidnap Hinata- most likely to get ahold of the Byakugan, but... was thwarted by your daughter when she awakened her bloodline..."

Both Takashi and Sayuri remained silent, the air around them tense as they stared at the young girl. Hiashi watched as a million emotions passed through their eyes -worry, fear, shock, woe-, their appearance seemingly aged by centuries despite only seconds passing.

Sayuri opened her mouth to say something, yet nothing came out, her face contorting into something agonizing. "She- No..." She let out a stifling cry which soon turned into a laugh, much to the others confusion. The two other occupants looked at the pinkette with confusion, taken aback from the sudden laugh that cut through the room's suffocating silence, quickly escalating into loud guffaws as she lifted her head up.

"Ha.. Well, it is no surprise that what caused Sakura to awaken the mokuton was her fervent desire to save her friend..."

A soft smile etched her features as she shot a fond look towards her daughter, her husband joining in after a few brief moments of befuddlement.

"I suppose so, yes..." He smiled gently at his two girls, brushing away the few pink strands of hair that were covered with sweat on Sakura's forehead. The auburn haired man stayed like that as if in a trance, afraid that this moment would be robbed as soon as he took his eyes off them. His concern was warranted though, knowing that his daughter would thrusted headfirst into the various perils the shinobi world holds the moment the village deems her ready and fit for combat now with her newly discovered kekkei genkai.

As much as Takashi loves his village, especially with its long history it shares with his clan, even he can't deny it's been in the wrong more times than they'd like to admit. Of course he knows that during warfare some things are inevitable and as such, drastic measures must be made in order to win, but he believes there should be some sort of moral consciousness when making those decisions. Especially when it comes to putting children, prodigious or not, onto the battlefield. He knows that Sarutobi and the rest of the council would have some sort of fondness towards Sakura considering she's their sensei's great-granddaughter, so even they wouldn't be as cruel enough to send her out for a mission at such a tender age -or so he hopes.

He'll have to pull some strings for Sakura's ability to be kept under wraps, but over all he believes with the Senju stressing the matter, she won't face enemy nins until she becomes a genin. Takashi paused as he straightened up, his mind running amuck as he outlined possible scenarios. Sooner or later he'll have to contact Tenzō, though...

"Ehem," Takashi coughed loudly, willing himself to stop his inner monologue as he stepped forward. He still has time to think about whoever becomes Sakura's instructor, right now though, there are more pressing matters at hand. "Hiashi. I would appreciate it if we keep this to ourselves for now. The last thing we need to do is to cause a commotion with how the situation is already in Konoha. I will personally vouch for the Hyuuga if any unprecedented accusations come forth from the Kumo envoy, you have my word."

Hiashi nodded, unable to fully express his gratitude towards the Senju head. "Of course. And thank you, Takashi. Our clan will forever be indebted to you and the Senju."

The auburn haired man shook his head at that, a small smile resting on his lips as he huffed. "No, no, it should be me who's indebted to you. Hadn't you come in time, who knows what could've happened.."

They stayed silent at that, Sayuri quietly grabbing her husband's hand on her own.

Had Hiashi not intervened, his daughter would've been one step closer to realizing what the shinobi world encompasses through a completely different lens.

And not even the Sage of Six paths could've stopped whatever came next had that happened.

(Hiiii! I hope you all liked this chapter, though it is so short  ('。＿。｀)

I'll have to start working on the next chapter soon, but I wanted to thank you all for voting! I really appreciate it!

Anyways~ gtg. It's almost midnight and I'm paranoid my parents will catch me.💗💗💗)