Rebirth [MADASAKU FIC]

Fault

Searching for hours yielded no results and soon enough the sun had begun to set. Sakura has finally gotten to the edge of the forest and regretfully started her way towards the Uchiha village in hopes that she would run into Madara or that he'd get the same idea to come home as well.

When she arrived, she sat in a tree on the outskirts of the village. Madara was likely still searching. They had agreed to split the area in half. Madara would cover the north side of the forest and Sakura would cover the south. If Izuna has left the forest then it was obvious that he was trying to get somewhere far far away and they weren't likely to find him.

Sakura has even searched around the outskirts of the Senju village and extended her reach to cover the whole settlement, just to make sure he hadn't been captured.

Izuna was gone.

Sakura had been watching the stars in deep thought and by now the moon was high in the sky, worrying Sakura a little. Before she could act upon her worries she felt Madara's presence enter her field, heading back to the village.

She met him at his house, carefully making sure there was no one near enough to spot her and climbed through his window while he went through the front door and greeted his mother with the bad news.

Without saying anything they both sat on his bed and stared at the wall. Even without being in his head, Sakura could sense Madara's whirling emotions.

In the many months—nearly a year—that she had known Madara she had never seen him cry. Sure, he'd get teary from time to time. But when he turned towards her she was unrightfully surprised as a tear trickled down his face.

He buried his face into her shoulder, clutching the fabric of her dress and his shoulder began to shake. She could only stroke his hair as his quiet sobs and hitched breathing filled the room.

Soon enough Madara's sobs began to cease. "It's all my fault." His words were interrupted by soft hiccups.

"What?" Sakura tsked, shifting her body to pull him in closer. "Why would you even think that? Of course it isn't."

"He's gone. He's either dead or he ran far far away. I should've protected him. You warned me. You warned me not to ignore him–not to cut him out. But I did anyway."

"It's not your fault," Sakura repeated firmly, wanting to say more but unable to find the right words. So instead she just sat with him for hours, cradling him until far after he fell asleep and disappearing back into the depths of his consciousness. 

Sorry for the short chapter, but I wanted to leave it like that. I'll get started on the next one soon (: