AN: I am sorry that I disappeared for so long. I was away from home due to work most of the last two years and had no way to continue writing this story. The rest of the time was me just getting used to being a normal human again.

Sorry about any grammatical errors. Rushed this one out a bit. Also, please overlook my shoddy logic and disregard for science for the rest of this story lol!

Warnings: Terrible logic, I guess?

It was raining again, beating a solemn tattoo upon the roof and bringing forth an earthy smell from the land. Tobirama did not mind the downpour, but he suspected Hashirama's and his guests; opinions were not of the same mind. They rather looked like drowned rats with their long red hair clinging to their faces as they took off their sopping wet outer garments upon entering the Senju Clan's reception hall. Carefully, they hung them up to dry next to his and Hashrama's wet armour before turning to the brothers. Once again, they greeted them in a more formal manner than when they had hurriedly met outside. Hashirama waved the formality away and invaded their personal space, giving them a much warmer and familiar welcoming than usual to guests. The two clans were quite close after all.

The Uzumaki Clan members had arrived in the wee hours of the morning. The sun had not yet risen. Tobirama, having sensed them coming long before, had been waiting for their arrival with Hashirama by the main entrance to the clan compound, leaving Sakura still slumbering in her lodgings. They had received his request for assistance much more quickly than expected and had made haste to answer in person. A week earlier to be exact.

Hashirama jovially poured out some tea for everyone while they all seated themselves around a long rectangular table. Tobirama placed his cold hands around the steaming cup given to him, warming his fingers, and regarded the men seated before him. Easily identifiable as Uzumaki with their red hair and clan symbols stitched onto their clothing, they looked unscathed by any enemies. Only a little fatigued and irritated by the rain.

Hashirama took his place beside him and asked politely,

"Did you have any difficulties on your journey here?" As in, did they run into any Uchiha?

The eldest of the two with hair streaked with grey, identified as Ryo, shook his head in the negative,

"No, it was surprisingly quiet. However, I did sense some unusual activity nearby their borders. I would be careful."

Tobirama perked up a little at the news. Perhaps the Uchicha were planning another attack. He would have to scan for them more often. He had been too preoccupied playing jailor to Sakura to be as watchful as he normally was. He would remedy that as soon as possible.

Speaking of Sakura: the woman had been surprisingly well behaved. He had been expecting some attempt of escape or subterfuge, but she seemed genuine in her statement of meaning well. In consequence, he had allowed her more freedoms of movement without him or a stand-in constantly hovering over her shoulder. According to Hashirama, he had to have let go of some of his paranoia eventually. While he figured that there was no such thing as being too careful, he supposed he could relent a bit on this situation. He had been a bit slack on his other duties as a result of his paranoia with Sakura.

Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how one looked at it, conversations between the two of them were few and far between. At best, they were stilted. At worst, it ended in a long stretch of silence while Sakura tried to think of something to say. He did not make it easy for her. However, that was not entirely intentional on his part; it was not in his nature to make idle conversation. Small talk did not come easily to him unlike his brother. Besides, there was little point in making friends with her. She was his pseudo prisoner at this point and would likely not be around the clan compound for much longer once the Uzumaki solved the mystery of the seal and how to send her back to wherever she came from. Still, he appreciated her effort. Few bothered to try and befriend him after the first few attempts, viewing him as the cold younger brother of their beloved leader.

Hashirama continued to make small talk with their visitors for the duration it took for him to finish his tea. Tobirama listened quietly only contributing when directly spoken to until Ryo turned to regard him with a remarkably serious look.

"Have you made sure no one has been tampering with the seal you mentioned in your letter?"

He nodded, "It is untouched except by nature."

He had checked the area again the day before on one of his nightly patrols around the outskirts of the clan compound. Any chakra signature had all but faded away and the burn marks had started to disappear with new grass growth, but they were still quite visible. Tobirama reached within his clothing and produced a damp scroll. The scroll had not been entirely protected from the rain underneath his armour, unfortunately. He tossed it into the open hands of Ryo. The elder Uzumaki opened it carefully and placed it flat onto the table. It was his sketch of the seal, which he had completed not long after his initial investigation though it had taken him the better part of a day. The other three looked at it curiously for not even his brother had seen it before now. Ryo tapped the centre of the seal with his index finger. He confirmed Tobirama's suspicions.

"This is no ordinary seal, if this drawing of yours is accurate. It's similar in function to a summoning seal, but see this bit here?" he tapped another part of the writing, "This is not correct for a generic summoning. It's almost as if it was tailored to a certain individual to send them somewhere else instead of summoning something to them and this bit," he motioned to the illegible smear that Tobirama had been unable to make out, but still dutifully drew, "would have contained the parameters of the seal. It's a shame that it's smudged."

Ryo withdrew his hand and allowed his partner to examine it a little more closely. All of them were frowning, deep in thought. The other Uzumaki, Aki, leaned forward and cast Tobirama a curious glance,

"You never mentioned in your letter if you found anything by this seal, but something should have come through it. Did you find someone?"

There a pause where he looked to his brother before replying, "Yes, we found an unconscious woman named Sakura. She's currently in our care until we can solve this mystery as she could or would not provide any answers."

A shadow passed over his brother's face, but he did not offer to divulge some information from his secret conversation with Sakura back in her jail cell all those weeks ago. The expression was too brief for the others to catch, but Tobirama knew his brother well. Aki slowly nodded in acceptance and requested,

"Would you take us to see the seal now? Perhaps, if you will permit, we can meet this Sakura afterwards."

Hashirama lifted an eyebrow and asked askance with a worried frown, "Would it not better to wait until the rain ceases?"

Ryo shook his head in the negative.

"No, we should like to see it now. If this is as unusual as you say, Lords Senju, then the quicker we can get to it, the quicker we can solve the mystery. The longer we stay our investigation, the chances of identifying the chakra decreases."

Tobirama would be surprised if they could find any chakra residue that he and his brother could not pick up on, but refrained from commenting. With that said, everyone once again stood and prepared to head out into the downpour, leaving the scroll open upon the table. When they exited the hall, Hashirama led the way to the seal, unusually sombre. The two Uzumaki walked behind chatting quietly to themselves while Tobirama kept a polite distance away at the back of the group. He sent his chakra out, searching for any threats and finding none. An Uchiha this close would have surprised him, but there were always other natural threats out and about even in weather such as this. At least the sun was starting to crest the horizon, lighting up the dark clouds enough to see the muddy ground.

When they arrived and relieved the soaking wet sentry for a short break, the Uzumaki set to work quickly. As the two Senju moved off to the side to give them room, they knelt down by the edge of the seal, ignoring the mud, and carefully touched the outer ring before moving toward the centre. They hmm-ed and haw-ed amongst themselves, slowly tracing the lines with practiced hands, committing the feel and look to memory. Tobirama had not been so different when he had gone to investigate, but he did not have the skill these two did. He wondered what they would discover. The Uzumaki had not sent novices to them, but practiced seal users. Hashirama tracked their movements with equally curious eyes. His usual energy seemed to be coming back to him as he seemed about ready to burst with questions, but he was doing his best to remain quiet to allow the others to concentrate. He practically radiated curious energy.

Suddenly, Ryo called out, "Lord Tobirama, would you please come here for a moment?"

Uncrossing his arms, Tobirama carefully made his way over to them, wondering why they needed him. The younger Uzumaki looked up at him from his kneeling position, blinking rain out of his eyes, and motioned Tobirama to kneel next to them. They asked him to feel out with his chakra and tell them what he felt. As he placed his hand onto the burnt grass and sent his chakra out, the horrible familiarity came rushing back. He could sense no foreign chakra, could feel nothing unusual, but… there was a sense of feeling behind the seal. There was no real way to explain it. It was almost as if he could feel the intent behind the seal, but it was just out of reach of comprehension.

He did not try to explain that to them, only the sense of familiarity. When he looked up from the ground, he noticed they were not looking at the seal, but examining the traces of his chakra with unreadable looks. Did they think he had something to do with this? Eventually they tore their gaze away, stood up, and looked towards Hashirama.

"When you came across this, did you feel any chakra left behind?"

His brother practically bounced over in haste to come closer. He stood up as well and scrutinised the Uzumaki, turning over their possible motives in his mind. Why ask him to come over and not his brother? Hashirama might not be as adept in seals or chakra sensing, but he was more than capable of sending his chakra out on a small scale such as this. Everyone usually has a motive behind their choices and he doubted he was just a random choice judging by the way they were still watching him out of the corner of their eyes. Hashirama stopped before them and took note of the quizzical looks being shot at Tobirama.

"No, I could not feel anything other than Sakura's chakra when I arrived. Even that was faint." He looked at Tobirama, "My brother is much better at sensing chakra than I am and he felt nothing either."

The elder Uzumaki hummed in response. He motioned that they could leave the seal while stating that he would like to revisit once the weather was better. The sentry had arrived again a few minutes earlier, looking decidedly happier than before. They retraced their steps out of the area and headed back to the Reception Hall. They would wait to dry off a bit before visiting Sakura. The walk was quiet with everyone lost to their own thoughts. Tobirama was on edge the whole way back with suspicions that the Uzumaki were going to try and accuse him of starting this whole mess. When they arrived and had once more seated themselves around the table, Aki leveled an even stare at Tobirama.

"We have our suspicions as to the origins of the seal and it's purpose, but not only is part of it illegible like your drawing indicated, but part of it is missing. Did either of you notice a seal on Sakura?"

They shook their heads in the negative. Ryo looked briefly disappointed and murmured, "Perhaps there is one hidden on her."

Silence reigned as the Uzumaki failed to elaborate on their suspicions. Hashirama was not a man that usually kept secrets. A bad trait for a shinobi, but one that helped him build small alliances with neighboring clans, which prevented them from being overwhelmed by multiple clans trying to claim Senju land. This trait meant that he did not like it when others kept things from him and his annoyance poked its head out. He was still polite, but you could hear the underlying irritation in his voice as he spoke,

"Suspicions?"

Both Uzumaki glanced towards Hashirama, acknowledging his question before staring Tobirama down again. Unfortunately for them, he was not a man that was easily intimidated and he stared right back. Eventually, they sighed as one before Ryo spoke up,

"The seal is one of a kind, one time use with a very specific goal and very strict conditions. It is one that would take years to design and an intimate knowledge of their intended target. To know what exactly it was used for and for what purpose would require another examination as well as finding the missing piece. We saw aspects of Uzumaki sealing techniques, but it appears to be an original design. There was almost no chakra left behind, invisible to all but the most knowledgeable of us seal users." He paused, "This is why I would like to question Sakura. She might have a better idea of who sent her here as they would have had to start the seal on her. The initial part of the seal, the target identification sequence, is missing from the grass. There is not denying that this seal had only one target and can not be used for anyone else."

Tobirama narrowed his eyes, sensing more to this explanation than what was being told to him.

"And? What of the chakra signature?"

Ryo hesitated, "It was too faint to get an exact identification on, assuming we could recognise the clan chakra, but, if I was to hazard a guess, Lord Tobirama, I would think it was you who had designed the seal if it weren't for the absurdity of the idea."

Tobirama's eyes widened with shock before anger started to swell up from deep within himself. Usually, unlike now, he was slow to anger, but, once he was, it was explosive in its intensity. Very few things could stop him once he was set on a war path. It was obvious that they had suspected him from the moment he sent his chakra out, but it was another thing to be openly accused out loud. He started to protest, but was waved down by Hashirama who then placed a restraining hand on his arm. Hashirama was one of those few things that could stop him in his tracks. His brother looked thoughtful,

"And what makes you suspect that?"

Aki answered this time, "The seal felt familiar to him. The leftover chakra was not picked up by Lord Tobirama, who by all accounts is an excellent sensor type, because it was a tiny amount of his chakra." Hashirama nodded, absorbing the information as Aki continued, "However, this does not make sense. You, Lord Hashirama, know your brother best. You would have known if he had left the compound to capture this Sakura. You would have known if they had recognised each other from outside of this incident. Hiding the crafting of this seal would have taken years of dedication. Time in which neither of you have with your war with the Uchiha. So that begs the question, who really created this seal? It's doubtful that Sakura will know who it was, but she may have an idea."

Hashirama still looked pensive as he slowly released his brother. Tobirama clenched his teeth together in frustration as he discreetly unclenched his fists from under the table. His anger had simmered down to just beneath the surface with his accepting of the Uzumaki's explanation. His brother would not allow this information to affect his trust in him and, really, it was only his brother's opinion of him which mattered. The rest be damned. Slowly, he growled out,

"Well then perhaps we should go see Sakura now?"

The rain had lightened up to a light drizzle when they finally set off towards her place. He knocked on the front door out of respect and opened it right after, allowing the others to enter and remove their wet outerwear first. The place had not changed much since he and Sakura had moved in. Why bother when they were not likely to stay for very long? He found Sakura sitting in the dining area, sipping at her tea. She stood up hastily when she noticed his presence. She was dressed in a more traditional kimono as they had no other clothes to spare her. Kunuichi were rare in his clan as most were considered too valuable to send off to war by their families. Hence, female clothes more suited to the shinobi ways were rare.

"Lord Senju!" She smiled, "Welcome back!"

He nodded back in greeting as her smile faded. She had noticed the others behind him. Hashirama pushed his way to the front.

"Hello, Sakura! We've brought some guests to help you find a way home."

Her green eyes lit up as her smile returned. The two Uzumaki stepped forward and introduced themselves and Tobirama suddenly found himself being the odd one out as they all took a seat by the table. Unfortunately, there were only four chairs. He settled on leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed. No pleasantries were exchanged this time. Instead, Ryo launched straight to to the point with their discoveries about the seal, leaving out their suspicion of him. For that, he was grateful. As they conversed, he regarded Sakura. Her curiosity in the seal was genuine. He wondered why anyone would send her here? They must have thought her to be important to spend that amount of effort to craft such a complicated seal for her, but he could not think of anyone in the clan that would be willing to commit so much of their time for it.

Aki leaned forward as he brought up one of the burning questions in everyone's minds.

"Did you happen to notice anything unusual about yourself? Any new markings?"

The woman frowned, trying to recall if she had noticed anything. Eventually, she shook her head in the negative, "No, none that I could see."

Collectively, they all sighed. Where was this missing piece of the seal if it was not on her? Suddenly, the pinkette's eyes lit up and she turned towards Tobirama.

"I never checked my back though. Perhaps it is there?" She was looking at him imploringly, almost looking like she wanted him to go check. He looked away aghast at the impropriety of it, imagined on his part or otherwise. Kunoichi or not, he was not about to have her partially undress for him to check. She was not some random target he was sent to seduce and gather intel from, which he rarely did anymore once his brother became the leader. He was too important to risk being discovered and too easily identified if his henge ever failed. He did not mind; he was terrible at the art of seduction. Most clan women were too wary of a stranger to fall for the trap anyways.

Unfortunately, Hashirama had no such compunction and waved him and Sakura away with a "she wants you to look." He caught the underlying look Hashirama sent his way, essentially saying that he was not sure why Sakura wanted him to do it either. Once they were out of the dining area, away from other prying eyes, Sakura looked up at him for a moment before mumbling almost too quietly for him to hear, "I know you won't try anything,"

He confirmed her assumption as she slowly turned around and shifted the kimono to loosen the collar enough that he could push the fabric away from her without actually touching her. Indeed, at the base of her neck between her shoulder blades, there was a mark no larger than the palm of his hand. The mark reminded him a clock.

"There is a seal between your shoulder blades."

She started at the sound of his voice, pulling away and retightening her kimono. She muttered a soft curse as he led them back to the others, confirming to them the seal's existence. Ryo eyes narrowed,

"Then we will have to take a look ourselves."

At Sakura's uncomfortable look, they added in that she could have Tobirama observe if it made her more comfortable and it would not be right now. Sakura immediately relaxed and once again sat down at the table. Idly, Tobirama wondered how he had ended up in this position. As far as he knew, he had done nothing to warrant this. Immediately, Ryo launched into his second question.

"Do you have any idea of who would want to send you here?"

Sakura blinked at the them, confused.

"Someone purposefully sent me here, I understand that, but I cannot think of why or who might have wanted me here." She hesitated. Tobirama noticed that her eyes drifted to him and his brother, lingering. Hashirama noticed as well and seemed to take that as some sort of sign. The wood-style user declared with determination,

"Tobi, please inform the elders that I will be late to the meeting. Take your time doing so," he gave him a stern look, brooking no arguments and turned to the Uzumaki, "and, perhaps, you should settle into your guests' quarters for a break. My brother will show you the way."

The three of them that were not so subtly sent away shot each other a look of confusion, but nonetheless left the house, not willing to argue with the clan head. Tobirama, while showing their guests their quarters, could not help, but wonder if they were sent away because of what Sakura had told Hashirama before and if that related to his brother's dark look. He scowled to himself. One way of another, he would learn of what had passed between them.

It seemed to be information of great relevance to current events and he did not like being left in the dark.