#multisakura

It was sudden. Really sudden. Sakura couldn’t have imagined that one night she would go to bed, stressed over hospital duties and failed missions only to wake up in the distant past. Like, distant distant past. Like Warring States past. Like Senju versus Uchiha past. Like—yeah, you get the picture.

Konoha was on the verge of being founded. The Senju and Uchiha were at peace. Hashirama and Madara were the best of friends and she was caught in the middle of everything. Because really, how could they possibly ignore a temperamental pink haired woman who randomly appeared in the forest one brisk sunny morning.

They couldn’t and they definitely didn’t.

“What a strange hair color…” Hashirama first discovered her followed by his nosy tag along of a brother who warned him against aligning himself with a wary woman of questionable character. An assumption that earned him a soft glare from her and a dismissive wave from his brother.

One thing led to another and before Sakura could properly protest, she’d been ushered into the folds of the Senju compound and shown around the area like she was some kind of refugee in need of coddling.

…well, that isn’t totally untrue—.

Then Madara entered the picture, as pleasant as she’d never seen him, and Sakura turned white as a sheet. Hashirama laughingly attested it to the fact that Madara just has a face that even a mother has a hard time tolerating only to deflate once Madara roasted him with flames hotter than a katon. And Sakura promptly found the color returning to her face a lot sooner than she expected.

Because despite being far from home, this still felt like home.

Then Izuna met her gaze and it seemed like hell was trying to break loose because what exactly was this guy’s issue with her. Was she public enemy number one to little brother’s everywhere? It seemed like both Tobirama and Izuna had it out for her merely for existing. It didn’t matter what either of their siblings said, she simply couldn’t be trusted.

Especially after he got cross with her one day and she threw a punch which he made the mistake of catching. And they certainly didn’t get to know each other as she spent the next hour or so mending the broken bones in his hand. An arrangement he only agreed to after he was threatened with the prospect of never being about to perform jutsus the same ever again.

She’d never seen a grown man hold a pout so strongly for so long. Naruto was a close second.

As fate would have it, the younger brother duo was about the only real issue she had. Well, aside from the obvious elephant of being trapped in the past with no real way of getting back home. Even still, life wasn’t so bad. Being present for the union of the two clans, the birth of Konoha and the literal construction of the village was kind of…refreshing, in a way.

Even more so since that pesky black Zetsu had been taken care of upon her arrival. Really, she had nothing to worry about!

Except for the plethora of young, single, thirsty bachelor’s all vying for her attention like she was a piece of choice meat up for auction. Sure, she’d been hit on a couple of times back home, but it was never this intense. It was like Rock Lee times a hundred.

“The women here marry quite young. It’s rare to find one who either isn’t already married or promised in marriage.” Hashirama explained it quite simply one day after inviting himself into her home one day. Well…not one day. He comes over like almost every other day. At first his reasoning was surrounded by escaping his duties. Then he claimed to be running from Tobirama. Then Madara. Then he explained her home just had a certain appeal to it.

She’s not really sure where the lie is but it’s there somewhere.

“I see…” It made sense to marry young. After all, the life expectancy of a shinobi in this era wasn’t very long. If you wanted your clan to have and maintain longevity, your sons almost always had to be married off to any available female from a non-rival clan. But that did not mean she was up for grabs in any way shape or form!

“You want to rid yourself of the vermin? It’s simple,” Madara also frequented her home, much to Hashirama’s initial chagrin. This was his safe haven! He didn’t want to share!

“Find yourself a mate.”

“A what?!” Sakura was quick to object with hands that slammed on the table, causing splinters to fly up and cracks to form upon the top surface. Great. Another piece of furniture she has to replace.

“It’s not his worst idea.” Tobirama would soon chime in from his spot by her kitchen window. Out of everyone, he was of course the most adamant about not participating in these daily hang outs.

“Or you could just allow them an opportunity to get to know you. They’ll come to their senses eventually.” On the contrary, Izuna loved showing up. He took many offered opportunities to make her life as hellish as possible. Though not without suffering the occasional blow to the head from a fed up Madara who really just wanted to have a place where he could spend time and relax without stressing over things.

It was rare that ever happened.

“Or! You could merely pretend to have a mate!”

“Pretend?” She wasn't really sure what Hashirama meant by pretend but the idea seemed far better than actually dating someone who could very well end up being one of her friend’s great-grandfather’s.

Wait a minute—.

“From your reluctance to entertain any of these men, it’s obvious you have no interest in them. Pretending gives you the luxury of being alone while also ridding yourself of unwanted attention.”

Genius. Utterly. Genius. Well, sort of.

“…who the hell are you?” Madara was quick to question Hashirama because unlike most of his schemes, this actually made sense. So, obviously the long-haired bozo had to be some kind of impostor!

“It is one of his better ideas.” Even Tobirama was a bit surprised, chiming in just loud of enough for Sakura to hear amidst the argument currently taking place between the two best friends.

“Hn. But who would do such a thing? That is, pretend to be her mate? Sounds like a fool’s errand.”

“One nice thing, Izuna. Just say one nice thing about me.”

“You’d need to have redeeming qualities to start with, Sakur—Ouch! Nii-san!”

“I’d say her most redeeming quality is the ability to completely shatter your hand from the inside.” She could practically hear the smirk on Tobirama’s lips.

“Che!”

“Was that a compliment…?” Sakura ventured a bit closer Hashirama, whispering her question to which the first replied with a comical shrug.

“I never know with him.” Questions that need answers.

“Back to the matter at hand.” And Sakura had to turn her attention back to Madara because he was kind of surprising her with how much interest he’d developed in the current topic. Could it be…? Was he…?

“I believe there is only one suitable candidate to take on the role of Sakura’s pretend mate.” He said it so clearly, with such conviction, that Sakura feared what his answer would be.

“And who is that?”

“Myself, of course.”

“EH?!”