House Cleaning Blues

by Constance-Lirit

Lenore (OC) x Madara - In a vain attempt to get Madara to clean Lenore invites her father-in-law to be over, hoping to scare Madara into picking up his act. An important guest also comes to the estate and leaves the Uchiha family a little gift that keeps Lenore on her toes all week.Will everything work out in the end?

1. Chapter 1

Stood outside the living room one early morning Lenore and her fiancé, Madara, were greeting his father who had come to visit.
"Madara, you don't look well, how do you feel, son?" Madara's father enquired, whilst Lenore just made a small irked noise.
"Oh, I'm alright." Madara replied, a little worn down but still going strong.
"And how are you, Lenore?" Tajima then asked, glancing at Lenore.
"Oh, I-" she went to speak, being cut off mid-sentence.
"Madara, you take care of yourself." he stated, running after his son when he went to do something apparently his father deemed 'irresponsible.'
"It's nice of you to ask, I really feel terrible." Lenore continued, not that anyone was listening.
"I wouldn't like it if you were sick, Madara." his father added, doting on his beloved eldest son.
"Oh don't worry about me, I wont pull through, how are you?" the Uchiha went on to ask, pretty much having a full blown conversation with herself at this point. "Rotten? That's good." she then stated, finally gaining her father-in-laws attention once more.
"What?" he asked with an air of confusion, turning his head to gaze at her.

Realising what had been going on behind his back whilst he was busy fussing over Madara he turned properly to face Lenore.
"Oh, wasn't I properly concerned about your health, Lenore?" he asked, his eyebrow raising. "It's just that you never look sick." he explained. "You look like a horse to me." he then complimented her, Lenore's eyelids narrowing.
"That saying usually goes 'as strong as a horse'." she corrected him, not at all pleased.
"Uh, eh.. Let's go into the other room." Madara slowly uttered, trying to break up the intense glower being shared between both his father and fiancée. "You didn't tell me father was coming over, Lenore." Madara stated, glancing awkwardly towards the slightly shorter Uchiha.
"Well, I wanted to surprise you." she replied, smiling sweetly.
"Oh, well, I'm going to go get something from the other room, I'll be right in." he informed them, scuttling off down the corridor.

Heading into the living room first Lenore turned to gaze at her father-in-law.
"Come in Father." she called, seeing that he was still lingering in the hallway.
"Well," he spoke, coming in to stop dead in his tracks out of sheer surprise.
"Well what?" Lenore shot back, giving him a questioning gaze.
"The condition of this room." he continued, unsure of how to really comprehend the state of it. "Lenore, when you had this fight you didn't hurt Madara did you?" he asked, finally taking his gaze off of the bombsite to look at her frowning features.
"I don't know what you're talking about." she then answered, relaxing her expression to come across as naive. "This is just a nice, comfortable living room." she uttered, examining the mess.
"Comfortable? Only a pig would be comfortable in this room." Tajima informed her.
"Well, I can't argue with that right from the old sow himself." Lenore quietly replied just out of earshot, her eyes settling at the corners of her eyelids to look off to the side.

Frowning at the state of the room Tajima finally sighed.
"Well, I wont say a thing." he uttered, gaining her attention.
"Oh, go ahead." she stated, trying to coax it out of him.
"No, no; I'm no longer a father, I'm a father-in-law, and I'm not one to step out of line." he refused lightly.
"Oh go ahead, why stop now?" Lenore asked, shrugging.
"Lenore, when you finally prevailed to become engaged to Madara I-" Tajima went to say, being cut off by her this time.
"Now just a minute, I prevailed to become engaged to Madara?" she asked, making sure she was hearing this correctly.
"That's what I said." he answered simply. "And when that happened I said to myself 'Tajima, no matter what goes on in Madara's life you are not to open your mouth'." he stated firmly, causing her to raise an eyebrow sceptically.
"Is that what you said to yourself?" she asked.
"Yes." he replied.
"Must have been hard of hearing." she surmised, rolling her eyes out of shot.
"At any rate, I am not going to say anything." Tajima firmly stated, causing Lenore minor disappointment. For once he was not going to criticise her when she actively wanted it.

Pouting a little the pair of them stood there as Madara entered the room to greet them once again.
"Well, Father, I'm glad you came over tonight." he uttered, trying to smile at his father. "What's new?" he then enquired, hoping to make some friendly conversation.
"This is the most disgraceful looking room I have ever seen!" Tajima protested, stopping Madara in his tracks. "That's what's new." he uttered a little calmer than before, causing Lenore to laugh and gain his attention sharply. "What's so funny, Lenore?" he enquired.
"I've been battling Madara for days about the condition of this room, this is the way he wants it." she giggled evilly, while her fiancé went a little pale in turn.
"This is the way he wants it?" Tajima enquired.
"Yes." Lenore purred, hoping to get the response she was searching for this time.
"Oh." he simply uttered, giving the room a questionable stare. "Well, if Madara likes it this way." he uttered stiffly.
"I'm dead." Lenore instantly stated, flattening her features.

Thankful his father had not blown a short fuse Madara attempted to defend himself.
"I just think a house should look lived in." he explained, much to his father's agreement.
"Well I agree, son." he uttered, beginning to give a sickly smile.
"Pardon me while I go outside and shoot myself." Lenore huffed, even more displeased than before.
"I don't understand you, Lenore. Don't Madara's wishes mean anything to you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "After all, a man is always his castle." he explained.
"Well he ought to pick up his draw bridge once in a while." Lenore simply replied.
"Oh you're just being over sensitive, Lenore." Madara reasoned.
"Oh fine, I give up. Apparently blood is thicker than dust, go on, wade around all you like." Lenore sighed, clearly at a loss.
"I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be right back." Tajima spoke, heading out into the hallway.
"Lenore, how do you always manage to get my father so upset?" Madara asked, turning to give his fiancée a displeased stare.
"Oh, I don't know, I'm just lucky I guess." she replied, shrugging gently.
"He really likes you, Lenore, you just don't give him a chance." the ebony haired Uchiha then stated, much to Lenore's disagreement.

Entering the room once more Tajima almost looked a little ecstatic.
"You wont believe what I just heard from one of the delivery servants." he squawked. "An important out of town friend is coming to our village this afternoon." he informed them.
"No." Madara uttered, absolutely astonished.
"Yes." his father agreed, grinning. "Will you come and meet him at the front of the village, Madara?" Tajima asked, much to her son's agreement. About to leave Tajima then turned around and looked upon Lenore, who in turn gave him an expectant look. What did he want now? "Lenore… Since company is coming don't you think you should tidy up a bit?" their father suggested, much to Lenore's displeasure.
"Oh heavens no, our living room wouldn't looked lived in." the young woman disagreed coyly.
"Ah, yes dear…" the elder Uchiha uncomfortably agreed. "I had said Madara was right, but this is different. You understand, don't you?" he asked, trying to play to her good side.
"Oh brother do I understand, but Madara wouldn't be happy." she shrugged, sarcastically thinking of his happiness.
"Well, now that I look at it Lenore, it is sort of a mess." her fiancé uttered, her eyebrow hitching. Examining him for a moment Lenore pondered what to do with him, throw him out a window or use him as a mop.
"Oh alright, run along you two I'll fix the room." Lenore uttered, finally defeated.
"Excellent, come along Madara." Tajima beckoned, whisking himself and his son from the room.

Some time later Lenore was disturbed as she tried to gut the bedroom while Madara was not around to pinch her bum every time she bent over, the ever grating voice of her father-in-law drifting towards her ears.
"Lenore, may I see you a moment." Tajima beckoned, searching for the woman in question.
"What is it, Father?" she asked, drawing herself through into the next room.
"It's about dinner tonight, I want to run over a few things with you." he explained, having her sit down beside him.
"Such as?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.
"Well this dinner is very important and I want to be sure you will conduct yourself properly." he uttered, trying not to strike a nerve too soon. "Now, when Katashi arrives one of the servants will take his coat and I will introduce you to him. I want you to politely bow to him." he carefully stated, as if she would not understand him if he spoke too quickly.
"Well I'm glad you told me that, I was thinking of biting him on the leg." Lenore responded sarcastically, causing the older Uchiha to frown. "Oh relax," she uttered, standing up. "I'll be fine. I'm not that bad." she tutted, going back to cleaning.

Back in the bedroom the young woman had been trying to make the bed when there was a sudden sharp pain located on her right buttocks.
"Oh!" she gasped, standing up straight with her eyes wide. "Madara!" she protested sheepishly, turning to glower at the young man who was grinning wolfishly. "Madara Uchiha, what have I told you about pinching my bum?!" the young woman scolded him, turning to face him so he could not have another go.
"Hi sweety." he spoke in a teasing manner, creeping closer to wrap his arms around her waist. "How's my beautiful fiancée right now?" he cooed, holding her shoulders.
"What do you want?" she asked plainly, giving him a flat look.
"Aw, can't I come see my favourite fiancée whenever I like?" he asked, causing her eyelids to narrow.
"No." she stated, watching him roll his eyes and let her go.
"Father wanted me to convince you to behave in front of our guest." he explained, clearly defeated.
"Why does everyone think I'm going to act up? I can be polite and elegant when I want to be." she frowned, going back to making the bed.

Turning to look at one of their servants Madara nodded when they motioned for him to follow, apparently their guest was here and waiting in the dining room in his father's section of the house.
"Come on, Lenore, it's dinner time." he spoke, drawing her from the room. Heading across the house and entering Tajima's domain Lenore entered the dining room, his head bowing with Madara's to greet their newest company politely.
"Katashi, this is Lenore, Madara's fiancée." her father-in-law spoke, introducing her to a man she could not help but stop and stare at.
He was neither old nor fat, in fact she could quite possible dare herself to say he was just as attractive as Madara, if not more so. He had platinum blond hair which draped down his head in waves and gorgeous blue eyes that made her wish there was a jewel similar to them that she could wear.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." she spoke politely, while he examined her with his drink lowering away from his lips before he could take a sip.
"Well…" he spoke, beginning to show her a toothy grin which in turn caused Lenore's soft features to sharpen. Oh great, another Madara.

Bowing again she sat down at the knee high dining table between Izuna and Madara, with Tajima and Katashi on the other side, and picked up her chopsticks. Slowly she ate, trying not to be anything else but a shadow between the two Uchiha nobles. Their guest however would not leave her alone, and for whatever reason every topic of discussion seemed to be brought down upon her.
"So, I heard you are quite interested in politics." Katashi stated, examining Lenore as she stopped with her chopsticks still clasped between her lips.
"They're important." she answered, having taken her chopsticks out of her mouth.
"What do you think of the war between the Fire Country and the Mist?" he enquired, while she examined him for a moment and detected the key signs of a trap.
"You do what you have to do." she replied in a neutral and roundabout fashion, while her father-in-law let out a sigh of relief.

Raising his eyebrow the blond smirked, oh how he liked a challenge.
"I find it interested that you speak at the table." he stated, rather surprised to see one of her flat ebony locks ping up into a curled point. Slowly she flattened it back out and tried to stay calm, her expression remaining delicate. "Madara's quite lenient with you, that must be a breath of fresh air considering how important tradition is." he continued.
"Tradition is something that evolves." she answered, going back to eating. Lenore was not quite sure what he was aiming to do but she was not about to play into his game.
"She's too good for me." Katashi surmised, beginning to grin whilst Tajima just sighed softly.

After dinner Lenore was glad to have escaped, her fan flicking wildly as she pulled her kimono open slightly, it was way too hot tonight to be in three layers like this. Sighing she shut her eyes and began to relax, though she stiffened when a servant went running by in a frantic panic, when three more did the same thing, while running in different directions, Lenore finally got up and sighed. It was probably best that she found out what was going on.
Looking for Tajima when she could not find anyone else Lenore paused upon entering the room and finding him with two little boys she did not quite recognise. Tajima seemed to groan at that point and stare at the two little boys before speaking.
"Madara, take Izuna and go play in the garden." their father requested, the young boy hesitating for a moment before he nodded and got up.

Glaring at Lenore he seemed to scoff at her and leave, carrying Izuna on the way out since he could not move on his own.
"What's going on?" Lenore asked, giving Tajima a confused stare.
"Katashi thought it would be funny to leave us a parting gift. He's turned Izuna and Madara into children!" the man fumed once the two boys were out of earshot.
"Well, turn them back." Lenore suggested.
"I can't, Katashi took off into the hills before they opened the scroll. I've no idea how to fix it." Tajima groaned, rubbing his forehead as he spoke.
"Oh, well I'm sure it'll wear off before morning." she attempted to reassure him.
"I hope so." he sighed. "Just play along until it does, Lenore. They have no recollection of being adults, I don't want to have to try explain to a baby and a seven-year-old that they are actually sixteen and twenty." he grumbled, to which she nodded in agreement.

That next day at breakfast Lenore sat there eating quietly, a pair of black eyes boring into her from the other side of the table.
"Madara, it's rude to stare." Tajima told him off, but the child continued to burn holes into the woman.
"Who is she?" he asked loudly, while Lenore continued to feed Izuna.
"Lenore is your fiancée." Tajima replied, to which he made a disgruntled noise.
"Ew, why would I want to marry her?" he asked, while Lenore twitched her eyebrow slightly.
"I don't know son, I sometimes wonder that too." Tajima murmured, only making Lenore even more annoyed.
"Hey, pass me the milk." Madara then ordered, frowning at her indignantly as she continued to serve his little brother.

Tajima laughed at that point, he certainly would enjoy this side of Madara at least.
"You're a big boy, you can get your own milk." Lenore answered, feeding Izuna the last of his breakfast before making sure she had wiped pretty much all of it back off of his face when it came oozing back out of his mouth.
"Such a messy eater." she tutted, putting the dishes back onto the table.
"Hey, feed me now!" Madara ordered, watching her stand up.
"You can feed yourself." she informed him, allowing a servant to take Izuna's dishes away.
"You're supposed to do whatever I say, I'm the master of this house." Madara informed her, though she just nodded and gave him a vague 'mhm.'
"Father, this servant is being unruly." the young boy protested, hoping his father would do something about it.
"You're on your own." Tajima answered, not about to waste energy getting Lenore to do anything she would not want to do.

Finishing her breakfast Lenore went for a walk around the estate, a soft sigh parting her lips as to how quiet it was. It almost seemed a little too good to be true that she could wander around without the fear of Madara popping out of nowhere to be a pervert, however she soon found out that she had something far worse to be concerned about. Apparently Madara had been a mischief maker as a child and had setup traps for her, the first one she came across being a tripwire which threw flour all over her.
"What the hell?" she yelped, holding her arms out at either side of herself in shock.
Nearby Madara could be heard laughing, causing her to turn and glare at him bitterly.
"Hah, I got you!" he cheered, causing her to frown.
"Come here!" she shouted, running after him.

Gasping the young boy turned on his heel and ran, though, to his astonishment, she was far faster than she appeared.
"Father!" the boy squealed, being grabbed by the brutish woman who was even stronger than she was fast. "Father, help! The Gorilla is bully me!" he cried, only making Lenore even angrier.
"Gorilla?!" she barked, glaring at the child as he continued to squirm. By the time Tajima had answered his call the young boy had been tied to a tree in the garden with an apple stuffed into his mouth, his eyebrows twitching erratically as he continued to try escape.
"Son, what happened?" the older man asked, examining the various drawings on his face that had crudely been put there with ink as he took the apple from his mouth.
"That ogre did this to me!" the child protested, pouting firmly.

Chuckling Tajima untied his son and let him go, by 'ogre' he had assumed Madara had been talking about Lenore.
"I'm going to get her back!" the young boy snapped, rampaging off to find the woman in question.
"At least he's terrorising her and not the servants this time." the ebony haired man surmised, watching his son vanish back into the house. Finding Lenore asleep on a set of cushions the child began to smirk deviously, now was his chance to seek revenge. Creeping closer Madara began to draw a moustache on her upper lip, his head turning to look at Izuna for a moment when he realised he was being cradled against Lenore's side.
Picking up his baby brother the young boy allowed Izuna to scrub the black pen all over Lenore's face, whilst Madara gritted his teeth together and tried not to let the heavy laughter that was making his eyes pop in and out escape him. Snorting a bit Lenore grumbled, whilst Madara pulled his little brother away and put him back in Lenore's arms.
"You take the blame for this one, I'll make it up to you." he whispered, smirking at his little brother's naive stare.

Running off to hide Madara lay in wait for her to wake up, a smirk plastered upon his face as he did so. Once she had finally awoke Lenore mumbled and sat up slowly, her ebony eyes lolling down to look at Izuna who was still swinging the pen about aimlessly.
"Izuna, where did you get that pen, you could of gotten ink poisoning." Lenore gasped, taking it from him before he took it upon himself to suck on the pen just to reinforce her fears.
"Lenore, girl, what happened to you?" Ami asked, having come to see if the rumours were true for herself.
"What?" she asked, being handed a mirror.
"Izuna must of done it." her blonde friend surmised, waving at the little boy who only stared at her like a less than intelligent goldfish.
"No, I think Madara's the culprit." Lenore replied, glancing at the boy in question from the corner of her eye as he gasped and ran off.

Thankfully the ink came off after a few washes, allowing the pair to be able to walk around in public while Izuna was asleep in his room.
"Madara's more trouble than usual, Ami. He threw flour all over me this morning, and then he drew all over my face this afternoon." Lenore huffed, whilst her friend merely giggled.
"You can't win with him, can you?" she asked, watching Lenore shake her head slowly.
"Gorilla!" she heard the boy in question shout, causing her to turn and look. Seconds later she had been blinded by a clump of soft mud being thrown at her face. "I heard mud facials are great for your skin. Maybe you'll go from repulsive to butt ugly!" he cackled, running away again while Ami just gasped in shock.
"Are you alright?" she asked, while Lenore slowly wiped the mud from her face.
"I'm fine." Lenore grumbled, that was the second kimono she had gone through today because of him.

Come dinner time the young woman was glaring bitterly at Madara as he simply continued to eat his dinner as if he had been an angel all day.
"Lenore, you'll only age faster if you crinkle your face like that." Tajima spoke, only making her more grunt.
"At this rate I'll have white hair too." she mumbled, finishing her dinner.
"You'd suit white hair, since you're old, Gorilla." the ebony haired child informed her, pouting when he found she was too busy tending to his baby brother to notice.
"You're so cute, are those new booties?" she asked, playing with the baby's feet.
"Hey, Gorilla, oi!" Madara called, only to have his words fall on deaf ears. Feeling his face burning up the child grumbled and stuffed another dumpling into his mouth, his father raising an eyebrow to this curiously.
"So cute." she cooed, having a few servants join in to play with his nose as Madara only got more surly.

Sometime during the evening Lenore had come through to check on Izuna, who would probably be tired by now and ready for bed, however what she came upon was far more shocking.
"Madara!" she screamed, grabbing either side of her head as she stared at the two of them.
"Who's cuter now?" he asked, opening and shutting a pair of scissors as Izuna peered up at her with a smile. Straight after Madara had found himself in a corner facing the wall, a scowl etched across his face as he grumbled about how unfair she was being. Having informed Tajima to how Izuna was now bald neither of them were happy, the pair of them staring at the back of Madara's head with their arms crossed.
"Do you think shaving him bald would be a good punishment?" Lenore asked, raising her eyebrow.
"Do you really think Madara would be pleased with that?" Tajima asked, glancing at her.
"Who was saying anything about taking Madara's opinion into consideration?" she laughed, imagining Madara with a shiny head and her screaming 'too bright.'

Deciding he had spent long enough on the naughty stool Tajima dragged Madara to bed, while Lenore sighed and went to bed, it had been a long day. In the morning the young boy had come into the dining room to find Lenore hard at work knitting.
"Knit one, pearl two, oh darn.. Dropped a stitch." she sighed, fiddling away at making something.
"What are you doing?" Madara asked sceptically.
"Making Izuna a hat." she answered plainly, knotting off the end and then slipping it over his nogging. "There you go, that'll stop you from catching a cold." she mumbled, whilst he just smile happily at Madara, not at all bothered by the fact that his older brother had lopped off all of his hair.

Grumbling the young boy nibbled on his breakfast, his eyes occasionally rolling up to look at Lenore before flicking back down towards his bowl. Now Lenore was not stupid, she knew he was looking at her, when you're ten you don't really have a concept for the art of stealthily looking at someone.
"Hey, Gorilla?" Madara asked, trying to gain her attention. "Gorilla!" he called a little louder than before, but she continued to ignore him. There was no way in hell that she was going to acknowledge him when he was not going to refer to her by her real name.
"Lenore." Tajima called, having entered the room.
"Yes?" she responded, turning to look at him curiously. To her amusement Madara was now scowling bitterly at her, he really did not like being ignored, did he?

Allowing a servant to care for Izuna now the young woman went for a walk, this time she would be ready for whatever prank the little brat Madara had up his sleeve. Coming around a corner the young woman stopped and jogged backwards, her head peering around the corner to examine the boy in question who was setting up a trap. As soon as it was ready he then hid, his little ebony eyes peeping out before sparking into life upon seeing Lenore, the apple of his eye, coming his way. Smugly Lenore strutted along the path, her body stopping mere inches away from his trap, holding her fan up by her lips the young woman peered up at the bucket and then down at the area where Madara was hiding.
Taking it down the young woman waited quietly, while the boy, who was confused as to why she had not screamed in a pissed off manner yet, came out of hiding to stop instantaneously and look up at her. Dumping the orange juice all over him the boy squealed and threw his hands into the air, his whining voice calling for his father as he ran off covered in the juice that had originally been meant for her.