A/N: Happy New Year all! Sorry for the wait, I've been thinking a lot about the plot of this story lately and as per usual writer's block happens at the end of every chapter -.-, Please review and let me know what you're thinking! All the best for the year to come! xx
Chapter 21: Safe
The morning carries the smell of flowers and grass, waking Kazue like a gentle caress. Her eyes snap open and her fingertips search the sheets on the bed beside her, finding nothing but fabric there. The door sways, slightly ajar. She manages to shrug on some clothing and jog out to catch up with Madara on his morning walk around the Uchiha compound.
"Good morning." She kisses his cheek, prickly with stubble
"Morning, love." He smiles back in slight surprise and laces her arm in his, they wander about the courtyard and come to stop by the gazebo in its centre. The sunlight glimmers across the marble floor and the breeze whistles through the wooden beams. "I always imagine our children scaling the walls of that gazebo someday." He chuckles, "much like their spider-monkey mother." Kazue pauses their stroll and waits for him to raise a brow in question.
"Madara... don't you think we're ready?" she frowns
"Ready?" he asks
"To have children."
"Children?" his eyes pop slightly, "I shouldn't have said-"
"Maybe I don't know what I'm saying... but I feel I'm ready for this." She frowns at his expression, "Are you?"
"I already know you'll be the mother of my children, Kazue."
"And I know I want you to be the father of mine, Madara."
"I just don't want you in more danger than you're already in."
"I don't think there's always a perfect time for things. I just know you can protect me and our children." She replies confidently
"You have too much faith in me. I suppose there's always going to be danger out there." He chuckles and pulls her into his embrace
"I trust you wholeheartedly. So, does everyone here."
"Kazu, a baby is a whole new mission altogether."
"A mission?!" her tone cautions him
"Gomen, gomen. Rather a lifelong commitment I'd be honoured to make."
"Like our marriage. You already have some experience." She winks
"Oh really? Imagine a person more stubborn than you and I combined." He sighs
"A force of nature, no doubt." She states as they start laughing.
Izuna and Haruo appear at the veranda as Madara and Kazue start walking inside. They both raise two thumbs up at the couple which confuses them slightly before Kanako greets them.
"Ohayo, Madara-sama, Kazue-san." She smiles
"Ohayo, Kanako. What's with the two of them?" Kazue whispers
"They approve. I do too." She blushes, Madara leaves them and heads to his office after he cuffs Izuna lightly on the cheek with a grin.
"Approve?"
"Of your and Madara-sama's having a child, we would be delighted!"
Kazue cringes at how fast the news had travelled in the compound. Haruo expresses his enthusiasm at the thought of a new cousin joining the family, while Izuna begs them to be named the god-father of their child. Upon seeking Mito and Hashirama's council, they had both received their blessings and their agreement that no time could be completely without risk.
Tobirama savours the feel of Aida's small body against his as the sun rises, filling the room with warmth and light. It feels as if his mind and body are lighter than usual, a sense of serenity in his heart. Aida stirs slightly only to turn toward him and nuzzle into his chest, his lips press onto her soft brown locks.
"I want to marry you, Ai." he murmurs as his fingers trace designs across her bare shoulder
"In time." She stares into his eyes
"Marry me now?"
"I'm not ready for us to get married so quickly." She sighs and sits up lethargically
"I guess it makes sense that you'd say that... would an engagement be out of the question as well?" He tries, patting her bottom as she gets up from the bed
"You're eager to make sure I don't run off again, aren't you?" she chuckles and stretches
"Was it that obvious?" he laughs sheepishly and rises from the sheets.
Mito greets Aida and Tobirama as they saunter into the dining hall, Aida blushes while Tobirama grins a good morning. As per usual, Hashirama is perched at the head of the table with a large scroll and a cup of tea in his hand. Hashirama welcomes Aida to the table and offers her tea, while Tobirama grabs bread and fruit and sits by her side, his comforting arm around her tense shoulders makes her exhale the breath she'd been holding. Contentment washes through Mito momentarily overwhelming the doubts in her mind. Her sister was considering becoming a mother, her son-in-law had finally opened his eyes and her husband was by her side drinking the same tea she would make him every morning without complaint. Aside from the worries around them, she wanted to live in this moment. Hashirama calls to ask her to join them, her name on his lips catches her attention and draws her to his side with the others.
Madara finds Kazue signing papers for Uzushigakure when he returns from his council. Her small face lights up at the sight of him, excited but weary. The warm evening seems to call to him and the thought of being in a room after the council makes Madara shudder. There had been no suspicious activity by the rogues, no sign of any civil unrest and his clan hadn't offered any areas for improvement. Sometimes no news definitely was good news, though Madara can't help feeling stressed at the idea that something unpleasant was in the works. In addition, both he and Kazue desired a child soon and it would be best to have Hashirama and Mito, daresay even Tobirama around for extra protection. He holds out a hand to Kazue before his doubts get the better of him.
"Will you walk with me?" He asks
"Of course." She takes his arm, as he leads them through a new path in the greenery surrounding the compound. She loses track of the twists and turns until he finally speaks.
"I used to come here when I was younger… to think." He says, leading them into a luscious meadow in the forest clearing. As much as Kazue wants to explore it, her attention turns to the furrow in his black brows.
"Is something weighing on your mind?"
"I wonder if there'll ever be a time when there aren't so many worries or doubts in my mind."
"Talk to me, Madara. If not anything else, you don't have to bottle it up and endure alone." She pulls his chin to face her
"Izuna and I had been discussing moving to Konoha earlier this year... I didn't take him seriously before but I feel it would be safest for our child there as well." He measures
"The decision seems straightforward but you don't seem convinced."
"I just don't know if the villagers there will accept my presence in Konoha. I don't take it personally. The Uchiha and Senju have had a long history afterall."
"That is in the past and they are well aware of how important you were in winning the peace they have now. Maybe if you interact with them more, show them you're human…"
"I don't understand why they should think of me as anything else?" Madara scoffs
"Because you're so strong. If you show them that your strength is there to protect them, that you care for their wellbeing…I'm sure they would accept you as their leader."
"It's not something done overnight." He grumbles
"No. But neither was Konoha. Look at it now." Kazue nods, Madara looks at her with slight intrigue
"You remind me of Hashirama." Madara laughs once, "I wanted to ask you what you think I should do?"
"I don't know if I'm as qualified as your advisors to give advice..." she winks as he rolls his eyes, "But I do know, that we're stronger together than we are divided." She beams a smile back at him. Madara seems pleased with the answer.
The sunset washes through the meadow, giving the various coloured flowers an orange hew. The light covers Madara's skin with a glow that Kazue can't look away from. In all the time they'd spent together she'd have thought she'd be used to how beautiful he is, though no amount of time appeared to let her become accustomed to it. Madara lays down his shawl, fluffy and large, onto the bare meadow floor before they settle onto it and observe the moon become more and more luminescent in the sun's absence. Madara wraps his arms around Kazue and rests his head on her belly as she runs her fingers through his long hair.
"If only every moment could be like this." She chuckles
"Before you, I never realised how much I needed this." He murmurs, "Someone I belong to, other than the clan and my brother... someone that's my home."
Kazue doesn't reply over the tears building in her eyes and the thickening of her throat. Everyone imagines him to be a god, above the limits of human emotion or feeling. No one had reached out to him, aside from Izuna and Hashirama... Madara didn't show any attachment or weakness to anyone. Who would ever have considered that Madara only needed love? She pulls him up to face her, their eyes locking in intensity and deep emotion. For a moment, Kazue sees a falter in the usual certainty in his assuring eyes. It was as if she was the one holding him together rather than the other way around as it always had been. Her lips meet his slowly, once, twice and then again. He lies back as she straddles him, her soft lips greedy against his mouth. She pulls back to slip her shirt off, the moonlight illuminates her bare chest and stomach. Madara's eyes roam the delicate shadows on her body, created by her small breasts and the muscles in her toned abdomen. She brings his hands to her breasts as her hips start to move against his. He finds his hips moving in synchronisation with her moments later, Kazue's head tilts back in pleasure and her crimson locks flow behind her to brush onto his legs. Madara yanks his shirt away and sits up, his bare chest against her breasts and her legs wrapped around his torso. His kisses trail from her forehead to her neck, he stops to nibble her ear before she pulls his mouth back to hers. The gentle friction of their bare skin in contact makes them inhale laboured breaths under the cool sky. The look of shy desperation in his lover's eyes permits Madara to pull her kimono up her legs, her hands tug at the waistband of his slacks before he obliges and loosens the drawstring on his hips. Catching her off-guard he lets the tip of his hardness press into her, reflexively her nails dig into his back. He grins in amusement when she scowls, he lays her onto her back. When his kisses trail down her stomach she almost groans in frustration.
"I want you now and I'm ready so you don't need to-" she mumbles
"But I want to." His breath is hot against her inner thigh before his tongue flickers against her sex, "Have patience, Kazu."
He enjoys the delicate sounds of Kazue taking his pleasure, her moans ring like a glass chime in the summer breeze, a symphony that only he was permitted to hear. The pressure of his tongue against her increases. Her small fingers sift through his hair in urgency which arouses him further although Madara stiffens for a moment when he realises it.
Something is glowing around him.
He raises his eyes to witness blue flames radiating from Kazue's naked body in an almost silent hum. Madara pauses for a moment, confused as to why her fire doesn't seem to burn him as before. Kazue seems startled at this as well though she looks back into his eyes as if to tell him that whatever was happening was something good. Every sensation between them feels electric... almost magnified. Kazue pushes him onto his back and straddles him again, her hand guiding his rigid shaft where he wanted it to be. The flames around her seem to glow brighter as he eases inside her. In his lust, he thrusts into her again hard and fast a second time which elicits a gasp from Kazue. She looks down at him and starts to move, gyrating her hips against his and letting his arousal feel every dimension inside her. When he sits up with her in his lap he notices how relaxed she is in his arms.
"Kazue, you're wetter than usual." He suckles her breast
"You're more impatient than usual." She kisses his forehead
"If you could feel what I do when I'm inside you, you'd understand why." He lays her onto her back.
"Madara." She murmurs
"Mm?" he waits
"Let's try tonight." She blushes slightly though her resolve is clear, for the most part Madara's is too. He raises a brow as if to give her a chance to reconsider but she blinks in confidence. His thrusts grow deeper and stronger as the restlessness in him rises. He can feel his wife's nails across his muscled back in desperation as her legs wrap tightly around him. Kazue's blue aura seems to engulf him in a sea of warmth, their bodies inseparable.
"Kazue?" he pants, feeling his climax coming on
"I love you." she moans, her own climax shaking through her.
Each of Madara's muscles tightens until his release finishes. Kazue's breath hitches as warmth spreads through the deepest part of her, Madara pulses inside her as her orgasm shakes through her body. The blue glow around them dims gradually until they're both left breathless and spent, holding each other tightly. Lying on their sides to face each other, Madara stares into Kazue's eyes as she stares into his, their foreheads press together as their hands intertwine.
The majority of the group sit by the lakeside, the warmth of fire heating their cold and tired bodies. Others observe the glimmer of the moon's reflection across the still water, the sight almost had a hypnotic quality. No one can predict what the creature's next move will be, they knew it involved waiting and manipulating. Nor can they comprehend how it had managed, in such a short time, to gain control of their rogue forces through fear. It sits across a large branch over the lake, around a hundred metres from the camp. Its beady eyes stare into the sky with no nameable human expression, though somehow it exudes an emotion close to determined ambition. One thing was certain, the monster had no loyalty or trustworthiness and it would only be a matter of time before they too fell prey to its greed for destruction. They had banded together to fight the Senju, though now they face a greater enemy in their own camp.
Kazue flutters through the doors to Mito's office, the warm atmosphere of Konoha having rubbed off on her. It had been a month since she'd seen her sister, Madara had insisted on accompanying Kazue but she had convinced him not to neglect the clan's affairs for such a short trip. Mito's heart lightens when she feels her sister's presence enter the room although she finds herself saying words she hadn't anticipated saying.
"You look beautiful, Kazue-chan" Mito remarks in pride and slight surprise at the sight of her sister.
"You look almost impressed at that." Kazue winks and walks toward her
"No, it's just that-" she stops and is at Kazue's side in seconds
"Mito-ne-san?"
"What has changed in you?" Mito frowns
"What?"
"Your chakra..." Mito's frown disappears when her hand reaches her sister's stomach, "It's still yours but it's... changed." Mito and Kazue stare at each other blankly before it clicks in their minds. "Kazue! Sit down! I'll call for the doctors." Mito all but leaps from the room in jittery excitement. Her period was supposed to have come last week... she hadn't taken much notice because abdominal cramps and sore breasts would signal the start of her period every month like clockwork, those symptoms hadn't shown so she hadn't thought to expect it. Kazue shakily sits down in an armchair, realisation seeping into her and evoking anxiousness and joyful hope simultaneously.
Hashirama saunters into the room and offers an enthusiastic albeit belated greeting to his precious sister-in-law. Kazue's cautious hand on her own belly and a smiling Mito rushing in with a medic confirms the thought that crosses the ninja's mind and he can't help the smile that grows on his lips.
Madara hears rapid footsteps tapping across the wooden patios of the courtyard as his meeting concludes. He recognises the sounds as Kazue's and worry builds in him, in a split second he's at the door, though it's already been opened and his wife stands in front of him.
"Kazue? Are you alrig-" he reaches out to her but she takes his hand and leads him to the gazebo in the middle of the courtyard without a word. They stand inside for several moments, Kazue appears to be composing herself, her breathing is rapid and her heartbeat throbs quickly through her veins. Just as Madara opens his mouth, Kazue's lips press gently onto his cheek leaving him bewildered.
"Madara, I'm pregnant." She looks into his dark eyes with confidence. Madara's expression remains frozen as she explains her trip to the medics in Konoha and Mito and Hashirama's congratulations. "M-Madara?" she begins.
The Uchiha leader jolts for a moment before a frown grows on his brow, he struggles to coordinate his breathing and stumbles slightly backward. Kazue manages to steady him and sit him down onto the gazebo bench. Dread washes through her, what if he didn't want a child now? Was he upset? Madara's elbows rest on his knees as he buries his face in his hands. The doubts in her mind disappear when Kazue notices his back shaking subtly. Her hands move to pull away his when she realises he's crying. Suddenly, he straightens up and beams a gorgeous smile at her, the look in his eyes shines brighter than any fire she'd ever seen. Madara's strong arms pull her tightly into his chest.
"Thank you, Kazue." He whispers against her neck. Before she can react with relief he stands up with her in his arms, walking effortlessly back out into the courtyard, where most of the clan had assembled in concern. He opens his mouth and yells with the strong breath in his lungs, "My wife is going to make me a father!" The clan begins to cheer as Madara turns with Kazue in his arms, eventually setting her down so he can kiss her.