Chapter 1 – The Invitation

"Your majesty," the small man bowed to the figure who had just entered the room. "What brings you here?"

"I have heard news about progress on the search." an authoritative voice of spoke to the librarian. There was a pause as he expected the small man to confirm what he had heard. The man only stood in awe in the presence of the king. Uchiha Madara himself had never come in person to check on the progress of the search. Growing impatient, he spoke again. "Well?"

"We've had so much trouble trying to find a Senju who had little ties to their clan-"

"Do not repeat what I know." Madara cut in. He was not a man of much talk, and would rather skip right to the point.

"But the effort seems to be worthwhile. We have found a descendant of Hashirama himself." the librarian proudly announced to the king, as he presented more details in a scroll. He raised his eyebrows, pleased in hearing the news. After taking the scroll from the old librarian's hands, he had began to make his way back to the throne, more than satisfied. The Uchiha and Senju have been enemies since the time the elders. What was little known was that if the powers of the Senju and Uchiha were combined, the bloodline would be of great power. The problem was, was that the Senju clan had long dissipated and gone into hiding among various villages as soon as the Uchiha Clan began their reign. To ensure that the Uchiha Clan's rule would continue, he needed a Senju. So, he had sent his scribes and librarians to search for a descendant of the Senju who had little to no connection to their clan. To find someone who could be traced back to his own rival in didn't seem like a possibility until now.

The king stared at the unrolled parchment in his hands. The notes scrawled upon it had been written in the kind of script that future scribes would practice.

Haruno Sakura, daughter of civilians Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno. Aged eighteen, medical ninja of the Spring Village.

Madara smiled to himself. The Village of Spring was a village slightly smaller than the leaf, and loyal to the land of Fire. It would be rather easy to convince her to leave her village to marry the prince of the land of Fire. However, convincing the prince to do so would be another story.

"Katon! Gokakkyu no jutsu!" Sasuke shouted as he sent a massive fireball towards his brother, who he had been sparring with. As the ball of flames impacted him, a flock of crows had merged to form Itachi behind the prince. Both brothers sensing a presence, they had stopped sparring and waited for their mother to approach the charred training grounds by their palace. They rarely had opportunities to spar together, as Itachi was always busy shadowing the king, as he was meant to take his place when- or if he stepped down. Which lead to Sasuke to mind to his own things, which wasn't much. He often had free time in his hands, and spent that time training or sparring with his friends.

"Your father wishes to speak to you, Sasuke." Mikoto spoke as she stood in front of her sons. Both of their eyebrows slightly rose upon hearing the name. It was a rare occurrence for him to wish to speak to his youngest. Glancing back at his brother while he walked, Sasuke followed his mother.

He kneeled down on one knee the way his mother had taught him to, with his elbow to his knee. He sat before his father who was in a throne smaller than madara Madara's, which was empty.

"As you understand, there has been some talk of some groups that are forming against the Uchiha rule." His father began. Sasuke kept his eyes on the ground in front of him. "Of course, the royal police are keeping an eye on such activities. However, the king feels that it is necessary to bring some more power to the throne." More power? Countless questions and possibilities ran through his head while his father continued to speak. Wasn't Itachi the prodigy that would become king? Why wasn't he speaking to him?

"... And so, when Madara returns, you are to marry the girl into the throne not only to regain the country's trust, but to produce an heir unlike any other." His eyes snapped up towards his father's expressionless face.

"Father..." Sasuke began. He had no idea what to think- or feel right now. He was a prince, but the freedom to choose whoever he wanted to marry- which was no one, was taken away from him in that very moment.

"Are you not loyal to your clan, Sasuke?" His father challenged him. He knew that with that, his son could not object to the plan. "For generations, even your brother, the Uchiha have married hand picked brides." Sasuke clenched his fists as his father mentioned the obviously favoured son. It wasn't unheard of for the future heir to the throne to become part of an arranged marriage, but the remaining siblings often had little to no concern regarding that subject."You are becoming of age within a month, and your bride has been selected. That is final." his father dictated.

"Is that all?" the prince grit through his teeth. At the moment his father nodded at him in dismissal, Sasuke had flickered out of the room, barely able to contain his anger.

"Are you going to cut your hair again? This is the longest I've seen it since we were twelve." the glamorous blonde asked her best friend, whose pink hair had grown to her shoulders.

"Most likely. It tends to get in the way during missions." Sakura answered while working on a flower arrangement with her best friend, Ino. It was something they did in between missions. Although the Spring was a smaller village than the leaf, they still took many requests for missions.

"The sun is setting," she said, finishing her side of the bouquet that they were arranging . "We should close early... Boy, it's been a looong day." She stretched over dramatically. Indeed, it was. With Ino's mother out of town for the week, the Yamanaka flower shop has been behind on the preparation of their orders.

Standing up to admire their work, Sakura nodded in agreement. Although it wasn't unlike her to stay with Ino and miss dinner with her parents while working at the flower shop, they didn't like it as much because they enjoyed spending time with her.

"Tell you what, forehead. I'll lock up now, and you can go home before your parents get really naggy." her best friend offered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, no problem." She knew that Ino was just trying to make Sakura to home before her parents hounded her down and nagged her for keeping her too long. It was hard to find time between missions, hospital work, and the flower shop to have dinner with her parents. But tonight, she would only be about an hour late.

"Alright, see ya, pig!" Sakura called as she left her best friend to wipe down the counter. She waved to the shopkeepers that were beginning to close up, and smiled at the familiar faces she walked by them. Working at the hospital on weekends had given her plenty of opportunities to meet other people but had also given her little time to herself. What she was really looking forward to when she got home was to read a few scrolls or get some extra sleep. But when she stepped into her house, it was awfully quiet. She found her mother sitting and staring at the kitchen table, with a cup of tea in her hands. Cold.

"Mom? Is everything okay?" she asked hesitantly. Her mother snapped up from her empty stare, and greeted her daughter with a warm and gentle smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Where's dad?"

"Your father is in the gardens, Sakura. With a visitor." her mother told her.

"Okay..." she nodded. It bothered her to see her mother like this. Usually she is strong, stern, and bold. Never has she ever been caught off guard or in a daze. She hoped to find an answer along with her father. As she stepped into the garden, the visitor standing with her father turned around. It was none other than the king of the land of fire: Uchiha Madara.

"Your Majesty!" she exclaimed as she bowed.

"Sakura, is it? Stand up and let me have a look at you." she heard him speak. This was the first time she had heard him do so. The king visited occasionally during spring festivals, but usually sent others in place of him. Standing up straight, she watched as the king nodded to himself.

"Kizashi, you have raised a daughter whose beauty that lives up to her name!" he approved. "Now, Sakura... I have a proposal for you."

"Yes, your majesty?"

"As you are aware, the Senju clan have long dispersed and gone into hiding ever since the Uchiha have come into rule." the king began. "After months of searching, we have traced you, Sakura, to be a descendant of Hashirama Senju."

"No, that can't be right..." she denied. "My parents and grandparents are civilians, they've never had any power like a Senju."

"Aa. But you are aware that your mother was adopted, correct?" he added. It was then when she realized that although the possibility was extremely slim, it made sense. Just because her mother had been raised as a civilian didn't mean she didn't have any power. She did find it odd that even coming from parents that weren't ninja, her chakra control was definitely above average- better than those who did come from a ninja family. But her skill level could never rival Hashirama's- she couldn't use wood release, and couldn't preform healing jutsu the way the stories had told he could. She was in disbelief. Although there was proof of her lacking of skill on his caliber, she couldn't deny it. Why would the king lie to her?

"Surely, delivering this news wasn't the only reason you came here." she spoke. She was almost afraid- it was as if she had disrespected the king.

"Seeing that you have recently discovered that you are of Senju descent, you most likely haven't held any contempt for the Uchiha." the king began, walking his way around their small family garden. "If a Senju were to marry into the family, this would most likely bring the nation closer, and they would no longer be hiding. The Fire country would then see the unity in this." he explained. Kizashi only kept to his eyes to the floor, his usually joyful eyes brimming with sorrow. "I have a proposal for you, Sakura." she knew what it was going to be. He was going to ask her to join into the family. But wasn't the eldest prince already married? Uchiha Itachi had been married to the daughter of one of the highest ranking ninja two years ago. She had known there was a second prince but it wasn't common for the younger siblings to be arranged in a marriage.

"My second grandchild, Uchiha Sasuke will be of age soon. In one month's time, I would like for you to join the Uchiha family, and give us children of Uchiha and Senju blood." he proposed. She realized that this was for political reasons. The Senju clan did disperse among the many villages, but they still made up a population of at least a third of the nation. She did hear about people in other villages becoming unhappy with the Uchiha rule. If they had realized that a Senju was now in the royal family, they might be satisfied for a while. If things continued to escalate, there would be a possibility of a civil war breaking out, which may even cause the entire country to become vulnerable to attacks from other nations.

"It would be an honour to become part of the royal family, but..." Sakura stammered. She had no idea what the youngest prince looked like, let alone what he was like. She had only seen his father, and his older brother. Being married to a prince she didn't know wasn't something Sakura wanted.

"But what? You would be living in luxury, you would never have to work another day of your life! The life of royalty is what most women your age dream of!" Madara encouraged her. But as she met his famed and feared crimson eyes, she was put into an illusion. Her father wouldn't know what was going on, as he was only a civilian. Only a skilled ninja could detect a genjutsu as advanced as an Uchiha's.

"I suggest that you agree. After all, it would be a shame that the land of fire may have to sever ties with the Spring. All trade, and all protection will be cut off. Your village would probably be left on it's own legs..." He said, as he faded away. Images of the people she knew, struggling to being able to feed themselves. Patients coming to the hospital hoping to get treated, only to get diagnosed with starvation and a prescription for food or medicine they could never afford. Her own friends, being forced into hard labour instead of using the skills they trained themselves with, and becoming kunoichi. Everybody's hopes and dreams taken from them.

Suddenly, the illusion disappeared, and she stood in front of her father and Madara, who were waiting for a response.

She knew what her answer had to be. There was no other way. The king had made it seem like she had a choice, but the reality came in his illusion. She could never be selfish and cause her village such hardship. A lump developed in her throat as she attempted to answer the king. This was no longer her choice. This was her duty.

"It is with honour, your Majesty... That I accept your proposal."

NOTE:

Hi guys. This is my first multichap fanfiction. (Not to mention, I'm still relatively new to writing.) I know that this is rushed and has some mistakes. So basically Sakura is the descendant of an illegitimate (or missing) child Hashirama had fathered. As mentioned, this story is loosely based on The Search, an "Avatar: The Last Airbender" spinoff comic. I don't really know what to say about that, haha. But uh, if you're a fan, go check it out if you haven't. And the whole Senju thing is based on a headcannon I've had for a while. (not that she is directly related to Hashirama, but she has some Senju blood in her.)

I should probably get the whole AU thing settled here too:

The shinobi system is very similar to the way it is in the actual Naruto only difference is that instead of a Hokage, there is a king. Of course, during the battle in the valley of the end, Madara had won, putting the Uchiha into power. He is Sasuke's grandfather, and is about in his early 70's in this fanfiction.

Uhh comment/review for further questions, I guess. Feel free to drop by and ask me things about it on tumblr too. My URL is the same as my username on here.