Madara X 2
Chapter 4
~In the Land of the Leaves~
Tobi went over to his rival's carrying some flowers. The elder and stronger Uchiha may have hated him and commanded that he leave the night before, and Mari may have said the same thing, but she was still his wife. No divorce papers had been filed and she was just really, really hurt. It served her right for running off with another man, but Tobi could over look that. Women needed copious amounts of attention and he had failed to give her enough, apparently, and hopefully she would be open to him trying to make amends. He stopped at the door, however, and pulled off the note that was on it.
'Check and mate, loser. -Madara'
Tobi crushed the note in his hand before knocking on the door to find it slowly open to him. He slipped inside. The house held furniture and looked like the residents were merely out at the moment, but when Tobi came upon the bedroom he found the closet empty. And his wife's wedding ring on a night stand next to the bed. He picked it up and stared at it, lowering the flowers. She really was gone, and one thing was certain. Madara had not played fair in the slightest. "What a fucking cheap move!" Tobi snarled and threw the flowers down, "Moving away in the middle of the night! That honorless bastard!" Tobi growled and vowed, "I'll show him."
~In the Land of the Rain~
Mari patiently waited outside the building, standing within the walls of the Uchiha compound with an umbrella as she quietly watched over the duffel bag that was brought with her. Madara and the cat he had gotten for her had gone inside to check out what parts of their new temporary home were inhabitable. She looked up at watched the rain fall down on the new residence and this new place. The buildings were as tall as the sky and there were pipes and cords everywhere. The rain was beautiful though and she smiled up at the dark sky, shivering as a chill came over her.
The feeling of being watched seeped in again and she uneasily glanced around with a small frown, alone in the front yard. She could defend herself. She could…right? Mari closed her eyes and tried to remember if she knew how to fight, but a wave of vertigo came over instead and she stopped. Just as she did so, the vertigo quickly retreated and the feeling of being watched grew ever more clear before there was a splash behind her and she turned.
Two figures in black hooded cloaks with red clouds lined with white, stood in the courtyard with her now, just within the compound's now-open gates. One was shorter than the other but their aura was still very strange to her and Mari spoke up, "Good afternoon." She greeted politely and smiled at them, "Can I help you-?" Mari voiced before there was a blur and the leopard was between her and the figures, crouched and growling in their direction, "Setsuga…" She voiced before there was a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to see Madara. "Oh…" She voiced softly and he glanced down at her,
"House. Now." He said firmly and Mari bowed to the figures before taking the duffel bag and retreated into the house, setting it down before giving him the umbrella and went back inside. She shut the door behind her but watched from a window. "Why are you two here?"
"We're the welcoming committee." The taller one voiced, "Didn't know a guy your age could get such a cute girl." Madara narrowed his eyes at the pair as the taller one continued, "Women aren't welcome."
"You will welcome her." Madara said matter-of-factually, "She happens to be my wife." The figures shifted, "And you're unnerving her. Leave at once." The shorter one spoke up this time,
"Bring her with you when you come to the base. It's not good to leave a woman alone at home." With that, they turned and left. Madara waited until they were gone before going over and shutting the doors, locking them with the thick sliding lock on the inside of the doors before going to the house, holding the umbrella over the cat and glanced up as they got to the front door. Mari stood there with two towels in her hands. She put one on the cat and went up to Madara as he stepped under the porch roof, drenched from the rain. He stared at her, his eyes heavily half-lidded as he did so, but she smiled up at him warmly,
"You look like a wet cat." She said with a little laugh and he chuckled, "Come on, let's get you cleaned up. You too, Setsuga." The two followed after her, "This house is really spacious."
"Mhm." Madara complied and they followed her into the house, the ninja cat nuzzled her leg and dried itself off in the doorway while Madara got special drying treatment from Mari herself. His hair fluffed up when she was done and she laughed before he embarrassingly brushed it down. "Mari, I need to talk to you." He said and She smiled up at him, "Mari, I don't want you to leave these grounds unless I'm with you." He told her and she stared up at him with concern, "Things are a lot different here than in the Leaf, and I don't want you getting into any bad situations…It'll be hard with this place needing some work but it'll have to be this way for a while. Not even with Setsuga. Just me. Is that clear?" Mari nodded slowly, "We'll go and get more provisions and stuff when the rain lets up."
"Ok." Mari said, turning to walk down the hall and yelped as she fell through some floorboards. Madara grabbed her before she could hurt herself and set her on her feet, investigating the floor boards. "I'm sorry, I thought the house was safe-" She apologized as Madara ran a gloved hand across the floor and pulled up a large razor. "Is that...a razor blade?"
"Yes. It looks like it was probably put into the wood, but because of it, the wood was cut at the last good part holding it in. Thus, making it collapse because the rest of the wood was bad." Madara said, standing up, "I guess this house is going to need a lot more work done than I thought. I'm sorry Mari, I brought you out of the frying pan and into the fire." Mari smiled at him,
"It's not your fault, Madara, you didn't know." She said, Madara crossing the gap and helping Mari over into the rest of the hallway, Setsuga following suit by jumping over the gap. Madara looked her over and helped her into the bedroom.
"So, um, were those your friends?" Mari asked as Madara opened the sliding doors to their bedroom wide- and the both of them pulled away from the smell of rot. Hold in the roof had let in water which had made moss and some dead animals were in the house. Madara quickly covered Mari's mouth and nose as he did his own, ushering her out of the house.
"We'll be sleeping in a hotel tonight." He said, grabbing the duffel bag and Mari grabbed the umbrella, the two leaving the compound. "I know them." He answered her earlier question when they got to an Inn after they got to their room. "Let me be firm and clear- I do not want you to hang around them, understand?" He said and Mari nodded, "They aren't people I want you around." Mari sat on the bed as he sighed, "I didn't mean to bring you to a rancid house, Mari, honestly." Mari moved behind the Uchiha and started to give him a shoulder massage as he took off his armor. He smiled and relaxed as she rubbed his shoulders. "I'll call some people in the morning, look around- try and see what the problem is." Mari nodded and he added, "And try to find some place other than a hotel to sleep in."
After a couple hours of talking, the two eventually fell asleep. Mari was tucked into the bed's sheets and Madara slept atop them to her right. He woke up at the sense of someone being close to the room and got up. He went to stand by the window and looked down, another black-cloaked figure from before down in the alley. They were staring up- and wore the same cloud-marked clothes as before. Madara closed the curtains and looked back at Mari as she continued to sleep.
Within a few minutes, he was in the alleyway, under an umbrella, walking over to the figure that patiently awaited him.
"Heard about the Uchiha Compound incident. What a pity that you and the missus have nowhere to go." The figure said calmly and Madara glared at them, "Well, you could bring her back, but I hear there's mold in that room. Your timing couldn't have been worse in my opinion-" The figure said before giving the Uchiha a sympathetic smile, "You really shouldn't have come."
"I suppose it was you you went out of your way to make it inhabitable?" Madara asked coolly and they frowned, "That's just rude."
"It was necessary. I sent an escort and you gave them the cold shoulder." The figure answered, pausing and pointing to the window, "Oh, your- your wife doesn't know about that- does she?" Madara was silent as they pulled their hand away, "Look, Madara, I have benefits to offer you now- if not for you, then for her. I have a spare room. Albeit a bit dusty, but it's livable. The wife will have a dry place to stay, and it's small enough to give it that 'newlywed' feel. I'll even get you some help on rebuilding and fixing up your house." Madara looked at the window of the room they had rented, thinking of Mari inside sleeping while he was out here dealing with this scum. "The commute will be less of a trouble. I just want a part in your plans, that's all." Madara looked at the figure, "Oh, I know that look. Don't like my offer in the least, hm? Three months." Madara scoffed,
"You can't rebuild a whole Clan Complex in three months." Madara said, "I don't trust your people to keep to themselves around my wife." The figure smiled,
"You're right, Madara, it takes a lot longer, but that's my special price. So- what will it be?" The figure asked and Madara looked at the window once more, thinking about it, before he looked at the figure.
In a few minutes, the figure was on their way as Madara laid next to Mari, pulling her to lay against his chest as he laid in bed. There was too much to think about for him to sleep. Just too much.
~Next Morning~
"You found another place?" Mari asked, drying her hair off from her morning shower, fully clothed, as Madara was in the bathroom brushing his teeth. "And people to fix the old house? I'm sorry I slept in so long, I would have tried to help." She told him sadly as he spit the toothpaste down the drain and rinsed out his mouth. "I'll fold all the clothes when you're dressed." Madara came out in a towel, brushing his hair, not having said much about where they were going. He took a deep breath though.
"Mari, I need to clarify with you about where we're going...I only gave you the minimal." Madara told her and sat on the bed next to her. "Do you recall those two people in black I told you never to associate with?" He asked and Mari thought about it before nodding, "They want some information from me- trivial things, but I don't like them in the least. However, they're the ones we'll be staying with and the very people who will be making the repairs to the Compound. (after they sabotaged it, mind you)." Madara told her and she blinked,
"Oh..." Mari said softly, smiling at him, "Thank you for your honesty, but- if we have to live with them, shouldn't we get wedding bands?" Madara pulled away and pulled a little black box from his pocket before he got up and lowered himself to one knee in front of her.
"I got your ring made already, I only need to engrave mine." Madara informed her and opened the box to reveal a gold ring with three heart-shaped diamonds. There was a large one in the middle and two small ones on the side. "I had it engraved on the inside to say 'Madara Uchiha' and mine will have 'Mari Uchiha'." He told her and took the ring from the box, Mari just staring at it in awe as he took her left hand, " 'With this ring, I do wed, until we both are promptly dead.' " He recited and she looked at him curiously as he slid the ring on her wedding finger, "It's something I saw in a book once."
"...So...We're just supposed to 'live with the enemy'?" Mari asked and Madara got up, grabbing the duffle bag.
"Yep. But as long as you stick to the rules, you'll be fine. No going out without me, don't talk to anyone unless its a must. And if you need anything, call me." Madara told her and she nodded, "I mean absolutely no one." Mari nodded as Madara led her out of the room.
