Chapter 12

Closer

Yuzuki was having that nightmare again. The other night had been just fine but this time it was hitting her full force. She wished that it would all just stop. Soft groans passed her lips and she turned to her side looking for something.

"Mother..." Tears started to spill over once again. This time her tossing and turning woke Madara up all the way. The Uchiha turned onto his side and watched her quietly. Trying to figure out what her dream was all about this time. "Please... Come with me..." Her voice was weak with sleep and starting to crack. Madara hummed faintly as he watched. The moment she woke up he closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. The other night he had stopped her from doing something and this time he wanted to see what that was.

Yuzuki snapped her eye open and sat up fast. Once again the tired girl was covered in sweat and panting softly. The moment Yuzuki realized were she was her body slumped into a relaxed state. She turned her head and looked down at Madara, making sure she hadn't woken him up once again, and had she been in a better state of mind she would have noticed he was only faking it.

'Why won't it stop? I just want the nightmare to go away.' Slowly the tired girl pulled back the blankets and moved so her legs were hanging off the edge. Her blue gray eye scanned the ground the best she could to look for a shirt. It didn't take long for her to find Madara's and tossed it on. It stopped about mid-thigh on her and covered all of what she wanted it to. Slowly she walked over to the window and opened it up just a crack and peeked out side. She relaxed and closed her eyes. She was so tired she could fall asleep standing up. That sadly did happen. Madara was up and standing behind her in his pants. He opened up the window more and watched as she jumped back awake.

"Wh-what?" She turned and looked up at Madara. She then bit her lip and looked outside the window. She was embarrassed by this weakness that came with her nightmares. "I thought you were sleeping," she said softly. Her eye looked up towards the full moon. Madara tilted his head and looked out and around.

"I wanted to see what you were doing." He looked down at her and tilted his head. "Which is what?" he asked. Yuzuki sighed before glancing up at him.

"Checking," she replied quietly. "Making sure I...won't see the same thing again." She was talking cryptic now. Madara turned her around and looked down at her. Yuzuki seemed to sink into herself as she looked up at his face. It demanded the full and real answer as to what she was doing. "I don't like to talk about it." She felt even more like a child as she let her eyes dart around and try to find something else to focus on. Madara thought to himself as he watched her eye look around.

'She's embarrassed about it. Hmm.' A gentle smile painted over his face and he closed the window. He was going to get the answer one way or another. "Yuzuki." The woman looked up and raised a brow at the smile on his face. Something felt really off about it, and she knew a lot about hidden meanings when it came to smiles.

"Y-yes?" she asked softly. She swallowed thickly feeling her nervousness rise up. Soon Madara dropped the smile and crossed his arms. He hated to be hard on her but he really needed to know so it could be fixed and they can go back to sleep.

"Tell me Yuzuki." Yuzuki looked away and started to move so she backed away from the wall.

"It's nothing Madara." He followed her moves each step and started to push her towards the bed. He wanted answers and was willing to do a little rough housing to get them.

"If it was truly nothing you wouldn't be waking up in a cold sweat," he stated. Yuzuki narrowed her eye at him and stopped the moment the back of her legs hit the bed.

"It happens when you have bad dreams. It was nothing, I don't even remember it," she said firmly. 'But you do remember. Because you always have the same dream every time.' The little voice in her head murmured. Yuzuki shook her head and pushed it back. Madara glared at her even more. In a flash he had her pinned beneath him with her arms over her head. Yuzuki let out a soft scream the moment it happened and glared up at him. She started to push up and then went to kick him off. Though he dodged it by making sure he was between her legs and held her there.

"Yuzuki." He growled out her name and watched her closely. "What was it?!" They were starting to get angry at each other. Yuzuki hiding her past and unwilling to tell her lover and Madara trying to get answers. Yuzuki moved her leg around so she was able to hit the back of his thigh. The Uchiha grunted and crippled a bit down towards her. Yuzuki took this moment and flipped them over so that she was now on top of him.

"I'm telling you to drop it Madara!" she growled. "It was nothing." Even though she loved him deeply her nightmare was still holding her back from letting him inside her heart. She was scared that one day she would wake up and this would all be gone. Madara didn't particularly like being kicked and shoved under her but it felt a bit nice. He growled anyway and flipped them once again. Yuzuki was getting on the verge of tears at this point. She clenched her jaw tightly and waited.

"What is it, Yuzuki? Tell me!" His grip on her arms got tighter as he looked down at her. Soon the white haired girl started to lash out to get out from under him. He just let her throw her hissy fit. He watched as she struggled and let out small screams. He was glad they were nowhere near someone. "Just tell me!" he yelled.

"I'm scared!" she yelled back finally. Her body was a tense ball as she laid there. Tears slowly started to fall one by one down her face. "I'm scared…" she whispered. Madara's eyes wavered and slowly he let go of her hands and placed his on the bed below. She looked so broken, so shattered as she covered her eyes with her hands to hide her face.

"Of what?" His voice was soft now. He shifted his weight to his fore arm and started to stroke her hair softly. He hadn't mean to do this to her. Yuzuki started to take short breaths while she held back the feelings that were already on the surface. She didn't want to say it; she was so weak and he knew this moment could make or break her.

"Of losing everything again," she whispered. Madara knew what she was talking about but he could also see that there was something else there. "That everyone will be gone. That it'll happen again." The tears started to pour, unbidden and unwanted but relentless as she released her pent up emotions. Slowly Madara pulled back one of her hands and looked down at her.

"What happened on that day Yuzuki? You can tell me." Slowly her murky blue gray opened as she looked up at him.

"... I was only a little girl back then. A month into my training," she sniffed a little and brushed a few tears away. "My mother let me have a day and told me I could go to the flower fields near our camp grounds." The fear started to form a lump in her throat and she swallowed it back down. Reminding herself it was only a memory. "I was picking some flowers for my mother when I smelled the smoke in the air." Madara faintly pictured a young child like Yuzuki out in a meadow picking flowers and faintly smiled before dropping it. "I was so worried that I dropped the flowers and took off towards home and when I got there," she clenched her teeth again and her body trembled as the memory flashed in her head.

"Let me see it." Yuzuki looked up at him and shivered. "Please." He took hold of her hand and moved them so she was safely tucked in his arms and in his lap. Yuzuki bit her lower lip and chewed on it. As much as she wanted to say no she knew it would be the best way for him to see. To understand.

"Okay... But I'll use my eye not yours," she reached up and removed her eye patch. He raised a blackened brow at her. "I can only reflect the past not see it. There's a lot I can do and can't do. But I'll do this even if I," she let out a breath. "Even if I really don't want to." She turned and gazed up at him. The tomoe started to spin counter-clock wise and Madara was soon pulled into her past. Her memories reflecting in his mind. The feeling was odd and he seemed to clutch on tighter to her. The images picked up where she left off.

"The village was on fire... Bodies everywhere. Friends, family... I called out trying to find my mother and when I did," her breath hitched as the image of her blood soaked mother popped up. Yuzuki's heart clenched tightly from the pain and she shivered. "She was almost gone. I tried to coax her to get up but she didn't move. I felt so...useless. I couldn't do anything. Everyone was dead but me." Tears started to spill once again and her voice went weak. Madara couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had no idea this was what happened. Flashes of what came next popped into her mind. "My mother then saved me one last time before telling me to go find the Senju…" The flash ended and Yuzuki closed her eye. The girl went limp and started to cry harder. Madara pulled her close and kissed her forehead softly. "I was so weak and helpless... I couldn't do anything... And just like that I lost everyone. The slipped through my fingers and to this day I still don't know who did it," she whispered. Her eyes went dull and lifeless as she laid there. Tears still fell down. Madara couldn't stand seeing her like this. To see that one painful memory follow her through her life so far. He grimaced and held her closer.

"It's going to take a lot more than a group of arrogant pricks to take me, let alone your brothers, down Yuzuki." She looked at him and started to whip the tears away.

"I know but... I can't help it. I keep looking out making sure everyone is safe; that it's not happening again. I can't lose this again. I can't." Her voice was so weak it was starting to hurt from her pain. Madara held on tight to her and watched her closely.

"And I won't let it be taken from you. It won't happen again Yuzuki. You are not hat helpless little girl any more. You're a strong woman and can finally hold on to what you have. Now if you would let people all the way in..." he trailed off and watched her. Yuzuki flinched at his words and looked down. It was true. Even though she let people close was still too scared to let them all the way in. She hated that about herself. After everything her brothers did for her and still she didn't even let them see this side of her. "You won't lose everyone again Yuzuki," he said firmly. He leaned down and kissed her cheek softly. He wasn't going to let her close up again. Yuzuki sat up and wiped her face clean of her tears before looking up at him.

"I'm sorry I never told you," she murmured. Madara pulled her into a gentle kiss and rubbed her back soothingly. Yuzuki curled into him, into his warmth and comfort, and took a deep breath before letting it out. Slowly she started to dose off in his arms. She felt so safe and light. In the morning she was going to have to tell her brothers the same thing. It had to be said. Madara slowly tucked the girl back in bed and pulled her in close. It wasn't long till both were sleeping soundly in bed.

The next day Yuzuki had woken up early and went back home. She had pulled both of them into the kitchen telling them she needed to talk to them. At first Tobirama had thought that Madara had tried something till she mentioned it was about that dreaded day in her life. Both were so stunned to hear her talk about it for once. Hashirama didn't know what to say once it was all over. The poor girl was in tears once again but not as bad as the other night. Eventually, both older men walked over and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Yu-chan... Why didn't you say anything before?" Hashirama scolded gently.

"I was just too scared to say anything. But I finally got tired of seeing that nightmare... I want my sleep back; I want my peaceful dreams back. But they wouldn't have come till I told you about this fear," she whispered. Tobirama ruffled a hand in her hair and held on.

"We had no idea..." he said, feeling guilty. Yuzuki sniffled once again.

"I know. I was too scared to say anything. So I just kept it bottled up till last night." She felt so loved as she stood there enjoying the hugs and support. Hashirama hummed faintly before giving her bright smile.

"Come on now. No more crying. I'll make breakfast," he ruffled her hair lovingly. "Go get cleaned up Yu-chan." She nodded her head and smiled softly before heading up stairs. She felt a lot lighter and free as she headed up the stairs. She felt so much better as well. She took a deep breath and let it out. Finally she was able to breathe.

Okay. here a sweet yet sad chapter. I hope you all enjoy. Sorry it took so long!

And now for story news: If you take a look you will noticed I changed the genre Tragedy to Angst! This means that At the end chapter, which will be called Violet Hour, I will end this story and start the next one. :3 Sadly this means that that one will have Tragedy in it's genre list. But still I hope you all continue to read the stories. :3 Also tell me in your reviews if you would like to see more Inner Beast one shots. :)

Once again this had been edited by GoodMorningFlower :)