The house was silent for days, burdened with heavy atmosphere both from inside and out. The humid heat finally brought heavy summer showers, so Mego had to settle for sitting by her window, looking outside. She waited to see if Madara was going to appear in the distance anytime soon, as he was supposed to return from the village that day.

She sighed, frowning at the rain. It had barely been a week since they buried Tajima, and he already had to depart to help with some finishing works over there. Could they really not give him some time to mourn? On top of the sadness that followed the loss of his father, Mego saw the contempt people of the clan look at him with at the funeral. Her mother reminded her that Madara was to take over the leadership of the Uchihas, and that the recent scandals made people unhappy with him.

She searched for a way to make him feel better, but didn't even know how to approach him. She had no useful advice to offer, and the only consolation she had would be the fact she trusted him absolutely – which, once she thought about it, mattered little. Her opinions were irrelevant to begin with, and for some cruel reason, became even more so after she was widowed.

As it's been about half an hour that she waited, Mego decided to retreat to her bedroom. Madara obviously wasn't coming yet. Having dismissed Toya for the day so the girl could visit her family, Mego gathered some paper and ink, and busied herself with drawing; mostly people, couples, scenes. She wasn't much of an artist, but had a head full of ideas from all the stories she read and apparently an endless amount of free time on her hands. For the past few weeks she had sent a few to the person who sells her love novels. She thought some writer might have use of her scribbling.

The thought of recognizing her own drawing template in a scroll actually filled her with excitement, and she happily noted she even felt slightly bit useful, which she hadn't in a very long time. Her hand lifted the brush from the paper so it wouldn't get stained, when she heard a knock on her door.

"Yes?" She turned around in her chair as a servant peeked inside.

"My lady, you said to let you know when lord Madara arrives."

"Oh." Mego smiled, placing her brush on a tray, and got up. "Please serve us lunch and tea in the dining room."

Hurriedly, she made way for the main entrance, meeting Madara just as he was taking his shoes off. His travelling attire was muddy and damp, his wild hair so wet it fell completely straight with the long, dark locks sticking to his skin. She bit back her words as she was about to address him in her usual way, as brother in law, and cleared her throat. She had to wonder if she'd ever be able to get rid of that.

"Madara." She called softly, as he looked up at her.

"Hey." He responded tiredly, standing up. He attempted a small smile as he passed her by, but it was very obviously stiff. "Draw me a bath." He spoke to the servant on his way further down the hall. Mego followed, rushing a little to keep up.

"Come have lunch when you're done—" Madara stopped walking abruptly, causing her to bump into his back, immediately feeling the dampness from his clothes spreading over her dress. He glanced at her over his shoulder.

"You go ahead and eat. I'd rather rest for a while."

"I can wait, or bring it to your bedroom instead of—"

"Mego." He turned around to face her. She was almost about to interrupt him, but was rendered quiet when she felt his palm gently cup her cheek. "I know you mean well, but I need to be alone."

"Oh…" She sighed. Of course he did. It hasn't been long since her own grief was just as fresh as his, and she also did her best to avoid any company whatsoever, even his. "Sure." She nodded. "Get plenty of rest, and if you need me… Well, I'm not going anywhere." She offered a small smile, which soon wavered since this time around he failed to bring his lips to curve into one. Blinking, he retreated his hand, turned around and walked away.

Left alone again, Mego realized her appetite had disappeared too. She went to get her tea, and retreated back into her bedroom.

….

"Is it this one?" Sumi questioned for the third time around as she and Tobirama made their way between the newly finished houses in the village. He had to chuckle.

"No, it's not that one either." He gestured at the houses. "This is still the Uchiha side. We thought the clans should have their own separate space inside the village." He had decided to ask her to come along this one time since she had been curious about their new home for a while now. There wasn't much to see yet, actually. Rubble and building material was scattered here and there, and aside from the wooden gates and houses, there really wasn't anything else. In rush to construct the living space as soon as possible, aesthetic wasn't among their priorities.

"Oh… Do you know where Mego will live?"

"Right here, with Madara." He pointed to one of the houses.

"Right… They are getting married." She mumbled out, clearly not too keen on the idea. She had read Mego's letter three times over and even had him read it once, to make sure she understood well. That crazy bastard truly was going to marry his own sister in law. Even now, Tobirama shook his head in annoyance.

"These are new foundations." Sumi pointed her chin towards the new projects on their left. "I thought the houses were all ready for us to move in?"

"Ours are. These are for the Hyuuga." He faced her, noting her confusion. "They have asked to join us."

"That's great! Did any other clans ask?"

"There is some talk of the Uzumaki wanting to join, but nothing is certain yet." He answered, frowning. "Madara won't approve. He's against Hyuuga moving in, in the first place."

He had told Hashirama that would happen sooner or later, but had little will to enjoy his 'told you so' moment. They both knew what an emotional man Madara was. Spilling the news about wanting to join up with more clans days after he had buried his father was madness. Yet, they couldn't have kept it a secret from him, nor could they stall the Hyuuga and the Uzumaki and let them wait for an answer.

"What? Why?!"

"He holds that our two clans have yet to get used to living together. That it's too great a risk to bring others into this."

"Hm… That makes sense." Sumi sighed.

"It does, but we need allies if we want this to last. Our enemies are very powerful, we can't resist them alone."

"W-Who are they?" He could feel the worry in her voice.

"Politicians, rulers." He shrugged. "They earn their wealth and power by having us mindlessly kill each other. Our peace makes no one happy."

"Right. I read a bit about that."

"I can teach you more if you want. You ought to know such things, as an ambassador between our clans." He smiled lightly at her eager nodding. "And here we are." He added, stopping in front of the house.

"It's bigger than the others!"

"We are a big family. And Hashirama is the official leader of the village, after all." Sumi took his offered hand as they made their way over some rubble left on the stairs. It took a few minutes of them passing through the house and him pointing to the empty rooms and explaining what they're going to be. "This will be our room." He opened the door and waited for her to go in first.

"Oh, we have a seat by the window." She smiled, going over to look outside. "And view of the woods." She glanced at him briefly. "It's beautiful."

"I knew you'd like it." He wondered if she noticed the lack of such seat in the other rooms. Hashirama wasn't pleased with extra material he wasted to have it made, and he had to argue with Yuna for days over the room because she wanted one with the view too.

"And this door leads where? Bathroom?"

Tobirama tried containing his annoyed expression at the change of topic, clearing his throat.

"No, it's a… a nursery." Looking away, he tried avoiding her surprised expression. "Father thinks we'll need it before long, and building it in later would make a mess…" Displeased, he had to note her smile wasn't present anymore either.

"The other day, Yuna asked me if we would have a baby soon." She sighed. "What are we going to tell the others if they keep asking? My handmaiden said it's a gossip among servants that I'm barren." Suddenly, she looked up at him, frowning. "When I learn their names I want them kicked out."

"Of course." He nodded. "I'm sorry you have to endure that. I wish I could tell them myself what—"

"They wouldn't understand. I barely understand." She turned away from him, pretending to still be interested in the view. The dismissive, judgmental undertone to her words stung, especially since she commonly refrained from bringing the matter up. Now, he got an unpleasant reminder that she was probably unhappy with him.

"Look, it's not just the clan thing. I'm not ready to be a parent just yet, Sumi. A few months ago such an idea never even occurred to me, and then from once I find myself with a wife, expected to—"

"And you think I am? I'm not eager to give birth yet either, if anyone cares!" She faced him, gesturing. "And still, I don't wince every time you come near me, like you do. I'm an Uchiha, I'm not diseased."

"What are you saying?! I'm only not prepared to father an Uchiha child, I have no other issue with you." Without thinking, he went over, grabbing her hand and having her look up at him.

"That's not what you show me."

It took him a moment to gather his thoughts, nearly having the urge to whine about the unfairness of her words. He was trying! He most definitely was doing his best to be good to her.

"Are you saying I'm not kind to you?"

"You're kind, Tobirama; formally… Most of the time." She shrugged her shoulders, releasing her hand from his grip. "You confuse me. Right when I get used to you being distant, you go ahead and do something like this…" Her arm limply pointed at the custom window frame. "What do you even want from me?"

"What do I want from you?" He whispered her question.

"Yes." She slowly went over and sat down by her window. "What do you want?" Her voice was now reduced to a tired whisper too. "I just want to know how I should behave. As your wife, or only as an ambassador."

"I…" He wanted her as his wife, definitely. Despite his inexperience with such things, he knew he wanted her in all ways. However, just the thought of saying something like that out loud made him unbelievably uncomfortable. He cleared his throat. "What do you want?" He asked instead.

Sumi sighed. Tobirama never took his eyes off her as she patted the free space beside her on the bench. He joined her, staring up at her, slightly confused as she suddenly stood up. The confusion soon turned to borderline panic, as he felt short of breath when she sat on his lap, her dark gaze studied him from much closer than he was used to. Tensing, he looked away. He heard her lips produce an irritated sound.

"See. That's exactly what I'm talking about." She started getting up. "You could have simply told me to stay away—" Her words were lost to a surprised gasp when she found herself tugged back into her place on his knee.

She landed even closer to him than before, he realized, since their noses were almost touching. His gaze roamed her face, from her expecting eyes, her nose, to her parted pink lips. His heartbeat echoed loudly in his ears. He had decided to kiss her. She seemed to want it, and he… He yearned for it.

Trouble was – he had never kissed anyone before. He raised his hand, letting his fingers gently brush some of her hair away from her forehead. He wasn't sure if he'd embarrass himself, but here they were. And so he simply let his lips touch hers, let them lean against hers.

Somehow, even without his control, they moved. They took Sumi's lips in and released them, followed by – he could swear – the sweetest sound he had ever heard.

She let her fingers pleasantly tangle into his hair, her other hand spread warmth on a particular spot on his shoulder where it rested. If he thought he was doing a good job with his first kiss, Sumi proved him wrong as soon as she took over. Her hot lips moved skillfully over and between his, and she released an unbelievable, low, throaty sound into his mouth, making him feel as if he was going to melt away. He jumped a bit when her tongue suddenly made contact with his, and she giggled against him, never breaking the kiss.

As their exchange went on, he realized he had forgotten to do anything with his hands. Slowly, he laid his palms on her thighs, letting them travel upwards until they fell into the curve of her waist. He felt his face burn when his hand accidentally made contact with the underside of her breast. Sumi broke the kiss, and he was about to apologize, explain he didn't mean to touch there already, but she didn't get up. Instead, her lips returned to his, but only for a moment. They began travelling lower. Down his jaw, and to his neck, stopping right at the spot he didn't even know could be that sensitive.

"Ah…" He sighed, realizing he had gotten way too excited once he felt the pleasant tightness inside his pants. "We should stop—Ah!" An unmanly sound left his lips when she bit his neck, numbing the slight pain immediately as she sucked on that very spot. "Stop." He whispered gently, leaning his head back against the glass. He wanted nothing more than to continue, but someone could see them at any moment. Maybe someone had already seen them. He glanced over his shoulder, wondering if anyone looked at them through the window.

Turning back, he was met with the dark lidded eyes and pink cheeks of his wife. Inexplicably, he felt his lips stretch into an earnest smile. His fingers squeezed their spot on her waist.

"I hope this cleared your doubts." He said, allowing one of his hands to go up and cup her cheek. "I want you. I merely lack experience and… Well, I can't express such things very well."

He followed her hand as it landed on his chest, drawing seductive little circles on it.

"I understand." She smiled back. A few long moments later, they got up, and Tobirama suggested she wait in the carriage while he gets something done in the village. He had to return to his responsibilities as much as he wished they could spend the rest of the day right where they were.

Walking with her to help her get inside the carriage, he found himself unintentionally seizing up the thing, thinking how it provided a pretty good cover from outside. Glancing over at Sumi, he saw her smirk knowingly like she knew exactly what he thought.

He cleared his throat to snap out of it, trying to collect his usual composure, not wanting the coachman to notice his silly excitement.

"I shouldn't take long." He said formally, then closed the carriage and made way over to a group of workers. He needed to learn exactly what else had to be done on the finished houses and how much time it should take. Alas, his mind wasn't in it.

How was he supposed to think of anything other than her, now?