Main world.
Summer, Konoha Year 18.
At the mouth of an alley outside the Senju Clan Compound, Konoha.
Sunlight scorched the flagstone road. Heat rose from the ground, warping the distant scenery into blurred outlines. The cicadas shrieked deafeningly, as though all of Konoha trembled beneath their cries.
Kagami Uchiha stood in the shade at the alley's mouth, wearing a dark blue clan outfit washed pale, its cuffs and collar visibly worn. A ninja blade hung at his waist, its scabbard's lacquer peeling away in patches to expose the dull wood beneath. His face was pale, his eyes sunken, with heavy dark circles beneath them-the marks of prolonged malnutrition and lack of sleep.
He had been standing outside the Senju Clan Compound for fifteen minutes.
Tobirama Senju's order had been simple: "Kagami, go give Sakura Haruno a warning." No explanation, no background, no context. Just an order. Kagami had not asked why. He was a Root ninja, Tobirama Senju's student, an Uchiha of Konoha. He did not need to know why. He only needed to carry it out.
Yet now, standing outside the Senju Clan Compound, an indescribable unease rose within him.
Sakura Haruno. Toyotomi Yinglang's concubine. That woman from another world. That woman whose strength was said to be unfathomable.
"She's only a woman."
He muttered under his breath, trying to convince himself.
"Only a concubine."
He took a deep breath and stepped into the Senju Clan Compound.
Beneath the eaves, Senju Clan Compound.
Sakura Haruno sat beneath the eaves, holding a cup of cold tea, her gaze resting on an old tree in the courtyard. Little Tsunade had gone to the Hokage Building for lessons. She was here alone, waiting. She knew Tobirama Senju would send someone. She simply had not expected Kagami Uchiha.
"You're Sakura Haruno?"
A