Chapter Text
There are decisions in life made to change you, meant to challenge you, meant to sacrifice your happiness for the welfare of others.
She bitterly mused that such decisions were not made lightly, for it was upon the leaders entrusted with the care of their people to make such decisions. To make alliances, to make enemies, to decide who to trust and who not to. And even if the decision was unsavory, from a personal aspect, it would be done by the leader because this was what leaders did. It was not about her, or her family, and she would never ask any of her clansmen to do this unless she, herself was willing to do it; though she was not enticed at this aspect.
Sitting here, in the open air of the dying summer's warmth, she knew that this was the right decision for her people.
Even if it made her heart ache.
It had been nearly a hundred years of peace and prosperity for the people Hi no Kuni, but that was slowly fracturing. There was a great unrest in the people, a foreboding sense of unease had started taking over the people. Hi no Kuni was uneasy, especially since the mysterious death of the Daimyō, with no heir ascending to the rank many of the Clans were uneasy.
The largest of the Clans were attempting to make peace again, however the unrest was not so easily swayed.
The largest of the Clans in Hi no Kuni were moments from war, which is why her great-grandfather had instructed her grandmother to make a deal to ensure the peace of the land. If war broke out, she and all the other heads of the Clans knew that it would be a bloodbath.
The Hyūga Clan was already moments from withdrawing their support of the truces to go to war, as the Uzumaki were also mounting tensions. None of which looked promising to the lesser Clans of the land.
The prominent Clans; the Hyūga, Sarutobi, Senju, and Uzumaki were of the largest and most powerful in the land, their raw power was unmatched; other than by the extinct Uchiha and Kaguya Clans. The death of the Kaguya Clan had been a foreshadowing of what was to come if peace had not been achievable for all shinobi alike. However, their death, though gruesome and a grim mark in history was nothing to the annihilation the Uchiha had suffered. The extinction of the two great, but bloody thirsty Clans was part of what had ensured the peace the people of Hi no Kuni had experienced these few decades, for the last Uchihas had perished; and with them, their thirst for war and conflict.
The story of Uchiha execution was a cautionary tale to all shinobi to be wary of breaking peace. Her great-great uncle; Senju Tobirama, had exacted his revenge when the Uchiha had slaughtered the Senju Clan under the banners of peace. Though her great-grandfather and her great-great uncle were young teenagers, they had been powerful, and Tobirama’s temper unleashed was enough to slaughter the Uchiha into extinction without hesitation or mercy. Her great-grandfather, on a good day, would speak of the war between the Senju and Uchiha, which would've led to their destruction; he spoke of a tentative peace though which could’ve formed between them. There were rumors though, of Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Izuna surviving her great-great uncle’s wrath, simply because no one could find their bodies in the aftermath of the massacre. Tobirama though insisted they had perished in battle, that he had decimated their savage bodies to the point of no recognition and animals had picked apart the remains so there were none. After the Uchiha Massacre though there had been stability and peace in Hi no Kuni, and that was fracturing slowly at this time.
Now it was time to make another sacrifice for peace though, and one not as bloody or horrible as the extinction of an entire Clan.
It was thrust upon her to do her duty, and do her duty she would.
Standing in the Senju gardens she let the dying warmth of the summer's sun comfort her.
The envoy which had come today was to collect her, to take her to her betrothed's Clan. It was a display of good faith. Both to the people of Hi no Kuni, that their lands would not be torn apart by war, and by the Senju to his family to make do on the promise of a bride. A marriage to cement the alliances, peace would come.
Her great-great uncle did not approve, but then Tobirama had been looking to seek alliances outside of Hi no Kuni to strengthen their shinobi ties. They were people of blood and war, with a Will of Fire, he would proudly point out. And it was in this that they would only need strong alliances.
The problem was, there was but one heir in the House of Senju, she was it.
There were no sons, no nephews, no cousins who could help create the alliances her great-great uncle sought, but rather the only practical alliance to be had between the Senju and Uzumaki. The Uzumaki's rapid escalation to power was both alarming and greatly unsettling to her Clan; as they were the nearest large Clan neighbors in Hi no Kuni. The Hyūga were southwest of the Senju lands, and not a great threat because of their desires to be neutral; no matter the conflict; which had led to the passive views on the massive Clan. The Sarutobi had brokered the peace deal for the Uzumaki and Senju, it was hoped that her union to one of the Uzumaki heirs would settle many of the lesser Clans.
She turned her head slightly when she heard footsteps approaching and felt her grandmother's chakra coming towards her.
Senju Tsunade was a woman who had discovered the fountain of youth genes, despite her age she looked no older than thirty years old. Sakura was envious, for at four and twenty she looked like a child still.
"The envoy will be taking you to the Uzumaki, the wedding is set for the Spring Equinox." Tsunade said softly.
"Yes grandmother," Sakura said.
"You will behave yourself. The alliance between the Uzumaki and Senju must be maintained, and it must happen."
"I know," she admitted.
"We will come for the wedding at the first thaw," Tsunade promised.
"Thank you, grandmother, I will bring us honor," Sakura assured.
"I know you will," Tsunade said sadly. Which had her grandmother cupping her cheek as their brows rested together. "I am so proud of you, Sakura."
"I will not fail," she assured.
"I know," her grandmother smiled softly. "Now go, you must hurry before the first snow seals the mountain passes, and it'll take a week to get there with much rain coming," Tsunade ordered as they walked to the convoy. Sakura nodded at her guard; a man named Sai. He smiled as she walked for the carriage.
The heavy mist clung to the mountains as he guided his horse down the well-trodden paths of the forest. The deer ignored his presence, no doubt alerting their masters to his, but the mutual understanding between the four Clans which resided here on these mountains was deep.
The reports had held nothing new, but still, he rode out to check the outposts, and to have a moment alone in the silence of the misty mountains. The wind rustled through the trees, ruffling his hair and he smelled rain on the air, which would mean early snows. The few birds which remained sang and chirped as they flew through the branches, while the deer continued their easy grazing.
Swinging off his steed he walked through the creek as he deftly navigated the mountain trails.
He had been walking these mountains since he was able to walk, and knew every route upon them and every person who resided here. The village rested through the crevice of the mountain, hiding Nara from all prying eyes, though the deer would alert any to any outsider approaching. Walking through the hidden pass he was greeted by the quaint village, the temple carved into the side of the mountain as lights lit the cobbled path. Though it would not appear it in the ever misty mountains, the village possessed a great deal of sunlight in the height of summer, however, it remained cool even when the mountains were in sweltering heat. Here a true peace was to be found, one which had enamored the recluses of the Uchiha Clan.
Sixteen generations of Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi had resided and lived peacefully here, even prospering. It was unlike anywhere else in the world according to his grandfather and great-uncle. Untouched by the political squabbles of the shinobi, and true practice of the shinobi way and true peace.
He did not know anything different, though his grandfather had spoken of a much different land with a far different temperament down the mountains.
Leading his horse to the smith he made mental notes about what was and was not to be needed for his journey to the other dimension; the Garden as it was called by them. There they would keep eyes on the crops, awaiting the return of the Ōtsutsuki.
"Uchiha-sama!" someone shouted behind him, which had him pausing as he turned slightly to acknowledge the owner of the voice. Nara Shikamaru came into his sight then, meandering towards him at a pace too lazy for even a snail. However, he endured it as he waited. The young man was his age, shorter than him with his hair drawn back in the Nara customary bushy tail, slanted eyes and a tired expression upon his face. Sasuke often thought many Nara were just old men born into young bodies until they were old again, and Nara Shikamaru was no exception though the young man was easily the smartest person that Sasuke had ever encountered.
"Heading back already?"
"Before the first snow," he confirmed.
"How is Madara-sama?" Shikamaru asked.
"He will be here for the winter," Sasuke answered quietly.
Shikamaru said nothing to this as they walked now.
"Any sign of them?"
Sasuke shook his head; for there hadn't been a sighting of the Ōtsutsuki in near two years; not since Shisui had killed one. But even then, the Uchiha were ever present in the other dimension to keep a watch in case.
The last time the Ōtsutsuki had come to their garden had nearly destroyed the Uchiha Clan entirely; the Uchiha being the only Clan to stand up to the Ōtsutsuki threat.
It was a well known fact and story here in the mountains of how Uchiha Izuna had died saving this dimension.
The Uchiha, only two remaining; Madara and Izuna, as children had fled the wrath of the vengeful Senju Tobirama, who sought their heads in retaliation to his Clansmen’s deaths; in a war started many generations back to where no one knew who started what. Madara and Izuna had fled into the mountains, where their eyes had unlocked many unique abilities, not achieved by their lesser clansmen when they had lived, and from there it had seemed to attract the attention of the ethereal Ōtsutsuki Clan. Though how or why remained unknown to the Uchiha.
Her name was Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, and she was said to be very enchanting, her beauty, her mothering ways, she had adopted Madara and Izuna as her own and raised them, until things did not work. But before then, she had lived atop this very mountain with his grandfather and great-uncle, who had lived peaceful lives with her influence. They had acquainted and allied themselves with the mysterious tribe of Clans here; the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi and lived quiet lives. Until the day Kaguya's plans to enslave all of mankind were known, the battle had been bloody, and raged without mercy, no Clan had come to their aid who was not upon this mountain, and many lost their lives.
The greatest sacrifice that day was Uchiha Izuna who's eyes had evolved as they fought Kaguya and battled her back into her dimension just as he released the black fire of Amaterasoo upon her and himself while shutting the portal between their world and hers'.
Now, in his elder years, the Uchiha had forced their grandfather's hand to have him remain in the Nara village for the winters with other members of the family so he did not die of poor health.
"We will prepare the estate," Shikamaru nodded.
"Aa," he nodded.
"There was news of war down the mountain," Shikamaru said. "A Suna tradesman spoke to Ino about the unrest of Hi no Kuni."
Sasuke listened quietly.
"There is no daimyō," Shikamaru continued. "Apparently the Senju have brokered a marriage agreement with the Uzumaki."
"Keep an eye on the passes that they do not wander," Sasuke advised.
"Yes," he nodded.
' Do not interfere with them, let them pass, we are but ghosts to them ,' he remembered his grandfather instructing him one day he saw a convoy using the main pass. No one in these mountains would use those passes, they were too riddled with bandits and disgraced shinobi to be safe, however it was the main road through the mountains of Hi no Kuni, the only pass between the Senju valley and the Uzumaki territories.
"The village also spoke of a group of bandits, the Akatsuki, the Clans have been notified and guard their fields and cattle, but we do not know about up the mountain."
"I will speak to my Clan," Sasuke said. Shikamaru nodded and then walked away from him as he reached the smith to have his horse re-shoe'd and his order of shuriken picked up for his mission.
No one dared wander up the mountains where only ghost, voices and shadows remained to torment the poor souls who should wander into these peaceful lands.