Sacrifice and Surrender

2: Unbalanced

Hashirama was relieved when he finally made it home and could slip into his bed beside his beautiful, tired wife. It was long past the time he should have been home, but he'd spent the afternoon discussing Sakura with Madara, then moving onto matters of the village, and then reading over missives from the Daimyo. He was exhausted.

Mito turned over and smiled at him.

"You're home late," she said, stifling a yawn. "You missed dinner."

"Sorry, my love," Hashirama apologised. "It was a long day," he murmured, drawing her close to him.

Mito laid her head on his chest and he held her to him.

"How was Tsumo today?"

"Good," Mito sighed happily. "He's growing more all the time. He's a strong little boy."

Hashirama smiled happily. Tsumo was their son, born six weeks earlier. Hashirama had been teased at the speed in which Mito had fallen pregnant, less than two months into their marriage apparently, but he didn't care. He was ecstatic to be a father.

"Of course he is," Hashirama said proudly. "He's half-Uzumaki."

Mito breathed out a soft laugh.

"I heard Sakura woke up," she murmured tiredly. "Is she all right?"

Hashirama's mood fell slightly and he gave a soft sigh.

"I don't know," he replied. "I don't think so."

Madara had returned to the office without Matsuri and Kagami an hour after he'd left, stating that Sakura appeared to be trying to put on a brave front but was clearly suffering a great deal. It was to be expected; she'd barely been awake for a day, it was hardly time to even begin to grieve and readjust to the life she was now expected to live in. Hashirama didn't want to push her, but sometime soon he had important things he needed to talk to her about, and he needed Sakura to have some semblance of mental stability. He wondered how he could help her.

"I'm so disappointed in myself. I should've done better with the seals, Tobi came by to tell me about them," Mito muttered unhappily.

Hashirama kissed her forehead and she snuggled closer to him, yawning into his chest. He stroked her long red hair down her shoulders and back.

"I'll wait a while until I visit her, I think."

"Why? You'd be great friends."

Mito gave a little chuckle.

"I'm sure, but there's a lot of things she'll need to process in the next few days and weeks. Meeting new people will just overwhelm her. Plus, I don't think she really wanted to meet me before," Mito said with a frown. "At the festival, she looked like she just wanted to get away from me."

Hashirama felt a twang of guilt in his chest.

"That's not true," he said. "Her situation is just complicated. She might tell you about it one day, and then you'll understand."

Mito huffed. "You could tell me about it."

"Only if I get her permission," he said quietly, closing his eyes. "You have no idea how hard she punches."

*

Tobirama watched from a distance as Sakura struggled to work through the basic stances of taijustu. Even from this distance, he could see that she was breathing hard and forcing herself to keep moving, even though she was clearly exhausted.