Madara stood in front of his open closet, conflicted.
A towel hung from his hips as droplets of water slid down his chest from the ends of his still damp hair. The woodsy scent of his recently applied cologne still lingered at the edges of his perception, soon to be lost to him but hopefully not to her.
He felt ridiculous. He was picking out a shirt and a pair of pants, not searching for the best set of shock absorbers for one of his bikes.
Madara rubbed his freshly shaven jaw as he stared into his closet, considering the clothes within.
The majority of his closet was dominated by long sleeve shirts in varying shades of black, gray, and blue. A number of t-shirts hung next to the long sleeves, some band shirts from his younger days, some plain and in a variety of colors, some graphic tees from the club or other organizations. A few sleeveless tops from his bodybuilding days remained, only taken out during the heart of summer when he still felt partial to wearing a shirt beneath his cut. A handful of hoodies, some decorated with the emblems from Konoha University, the MC, or his gym, and a few jackets of varying kinds took up the rest of the space in his closet.
The Uchiha flipped through the shirts, sighing deeply.
An entire closet filled with decades worth of clothing and he had no fucking idea what to wear. This was ludicrous… If his brothers saw him now, they would laugh in his face.
He hadn't taken anyone out in years. They were just going to get sushi, not going to a fancy dinner, but it was also a step up from getting smashed at the bar or the clubhouse. He wasn't so far out of the loop to think that his suit would be appropriate but he wanted to be especially appealing to his little hellcat for their first actual date.
Madara made a noise of exasperation before pulling out his softest long sleeve shirt and tossing it onto his bed. He turned to paw through his dresser, digging through the drawers until he came up with his nicest pair of jeans and a pair of plain socks, both of his finds joining the shirt on his bed.
He tugged the towel off of his waist, using the opposite side to dry the ends of his wet hair. He tossed the towel into the hamper in his closet before pulling on his clothes. Once his jeans were secured around his hips by his belt, he clipped his holster and pistol to the back of his waistband. Finally, he slipped his cut onto his shoulders and pulled his damp hair out from beneath the leather cut.
He picked up his phone from the bed and checked the time before tucking it into the inner pocket of his cut.
Making his way into his living room, he grabbed his wallet and keys from a bowl on the island in his kitchen. He slipped his wallet into the pocket of his cut opposite his phone but paused, staring at the set of keys in his hand. He dropped the keys back into the bowl and picked up another set.
Decidedly ignoring the fluttering sensation in his chest, the Uchiha tugged his boots onto his feet and walked into his garage.
Sakura groaned in exasperation as she scrubbed her hands against her face. She huffed out a sigh into her palms before dropping her hands back down to her sides, revealing the piles of outfits on her bed that didn't pass her test.
She struggled not just with finding the proper outfit but with the thoughts tumbling around in her head.
She may have decided that she wanted to see the Uchiha MC president again, to explore the possibility of a committed relationship with him, but she still struggled with her perception of him. The things that Sasuke had told her about a week previous still haunted her thoughts and dogged her memories and fantasies of Madara.
Sakura knew that Madara was a three dimensional person, that he wasn't just some roguish biker or a mindless murderer but an individual with numerous traits and titles. She fought against the biker stereotype ingrained in her mind and tried to envision him as he truly was, or at least how he had been to her.
No matter what she did, however, she felt a deep sense of inner conflict over one title that he held in particular: killer.
She had mentally grappled with this fact for the entirety of the week they had been apart. What he did, what he was, had been easy to ignore when she had been high on his presence. The bliss she had felt in his embrace, and the euphoria that washed over her when their bodies were joined, had conveniently tucked away any concerns she had had about the handgun always tucked into the back of his jeans.
Even though they had texted back and forth fairly often, both of them were far too busy with their personal obligations to chat consistently. This, coupled with the fact she hadn't seen him physically in the past week, forced her to confront the thoughts she had pushed away to be dealt with at another time. Forced her to correlate the different pieces of Madara into one cohesive being in her mind.
Sakura had always know what the MC did, what they were, to a certain degree. She knew that they were outlaws and that there were a set of traits and activities that directly related to this lifestyle. She had realized this long ago when a young Sasuke had first told her and Naruto about his family.
She knew that the Uchiha MC took part in illegal activities as part of their lifestyle: selling contraband (Sasuke had given her a sickened look when she had asked if they sold drugs, something that told her the club was at least above that level), doing mercenary work, and activities of the like. She knew that they also used drastic and often bloody means to protect their family and their honor as well.
But knowing in a vague sense and knowing in a direct sense were two very different things. Knowing Madara was an outlaw was one thing but knowing he had killed a Senju on the freeway by knocking them off of their bike was something entirely different.
Even more than that though, Sakura grappled with her mental image of her best friend Sasuke. While she was excited to pursue these budding feelings with Madara, despite her inner conflict, she didn't have a particularly intense emotional connection with him. They could part ways and, while she would be incredibly disappointed, she would survive.
Sasuke, however, was as important to her as the air in her lungs or the blood in her veins.
Sasuke and Naruto were her brothers, the people she loved most in this world. She wasn't even as close to her own overbearing parents as she was with her boys. She had grown up with them - fought with them, cried with them, bled with them - and they were the closest people to her heart. To live without them would be the same as dying.
And to learn that her mental image of Sasuke was incorrect, incomplete, left her with an intense sense of dissonance.
But while Sakura added this new fact, that he had killed a person, to her Sasuke mental schema, she was able to more easily accept Madara's lifestyle. If Sasuke was part of the MC and took part in all of the illicit activities that they involved themselves in, and if he was still the same Sasuke that she knew and loved with all of her heart, then perhaps she could accept what Madara was.
She certainly would never approve but she knew better than to leap onto her high horse when she had no idea the lives they lived. The soldiers she sometimes worked with at the hospital had killed people during battle, some of her patients had been forced to kill people to defend themselves, and it sounded as if there was a very real war between the Uchiha MC and the Senju MC.
And Sakura wasn't exactly a saint either. She had gotten into numerous fights over the course of her life and had nearly killed a man once...
Correlating all of these aspects of Madara had been a mental struggle all week and had interfered with her work at the hospital and her studies in medical school. While she still remained firm in her decision to explore this relationship, she hoped that tonight would allow her to see who he truly was again and put her concerns to rest. She needed to be on an even emotional keel for the sake of her patients and the sake of her studies.
Shaking herself mentally, she slipped on the dress she held in her hands and gazed at her reflection in the mirror hanging over the back of her bedroom door. She grumbled to herself when she realized it was the same damn dress she had worn when her and Madara had first met.
Sakura ripped it off, intending on throwing the garment away. She could never wear the thing in public again with the russet brown blood stains on it from the Senju she had attacked. Her hand paused over the trash bin in her bedroom, her grip still tight around the balled up dress.
She unballed the dress, folding it into a sloppy square and tucking it into the depths of her closet. She would save it. For posterity's sake… She could still remember when Ino had given it to her as a birthday present after all. Not for… other reasons or anything.
Picking up her phone from where it sat on her nightstand, plugged in and charging (you're welcome, Sasuke), she checked the time. Groaning aloud, her gaze returned to the piles of garments, some still on their hangers, lying across her bed.
Sakura selected one of the outfits she had tried on earlier that she had thought looked good enough but that hadn't really jumped out at her as being perfect. She made quick work of shoving the rest of the clothes either back into her closet, back into her dresser, or into her hamper before making her way to her bathroom.
After all, if she didn't hurry up and get dressed and do her makeup, she wouldn't be ready by the time Madara showed up.
Hooking her phone up to the bluetooth speaker in her bathroom, she played some music to help ignore the butterflies gathering in her stomach.
Madara knocked on the door to her apartment and waited patiently on the other side. He resisted the urge to tap his foot or fold his arms, refusing to show any outward signs of the nervousness that he certainly wasn't feeling in that moment.
When Sakura opened the door, any concerns that he certainly hadn't had at that moment were immediately washed away. He was taken away by her beauty once again. His memory did little justice to the true allure of his hellcat.
His gaze drug from her head to her toes before flicking back up to her smiling face.
A pale green, long sleeve top that looked so soft he wanted to touch her clung to her lithe body. The shirt was just cut high enough to reveal a delectable strip of creamy skin at her belly. A necklace with a purple, diamond shaped pendant hung around her neck. She wore a pair of black jeans so form fitting that they might as well have been painted on and a pair of tawny leather boots were strapped to her feet.
Her candy colored hair was artfully wrapped up in a bun, her bangs brushed back to reveal her light makeup and the smile stretched across her soft lips.
"Hi," she greeted sweetly, snapping him out of his ruminations.
"Hello, Sakura. You look stunning, as always," he complimented with a roguish smirk, leaning against the door frame and towards her.
"Careful now, we might not make it to dinner with that attitude," Sakura teased with a widening smile, unconsciously leaning closer to him as well.
"Hmm, can't have that quite yet... Are you ready?" Madara chuckled in response, resisting the urge to reach out and pull her into his arms. To see if she felt as soft and warm as she looked.
"Ah, yes, I just need my purse," she replied, unaware of his inner struggle, as she turned and walked back into her apartment.
As she grabbed her purse from the dark wooden coffee table in her living room, he leaned in to sneak a peek of her home.
Sakura's living room was decorated simply, a umber colored sectional taking up the majority of the room. A flat screen tv was perched on top of a crowded entertainment center littered with various electronics and DVD cases. A cedar coffee table was perched next to the couch and was covered in remotes and a variety of books whose covers he couldn't make out from this distance, even with his contacts in.
A few jackets and umbrellas hung on a peg board next to the front door and a line of shoes were haphazardly dumped on the floor beneath it. His eyes flicked over a handful of paintings and pictures hanging up on the walls, recognizing a couple as being prints from a variety of famous painters.
The Uchiha was only able to sneak a brief peek of her kitchen, only absorbing the small, three seat dining room table that she had tucked into the corner, before she walked back up to him, purse slung over her shoulder.
Sakura smiled up at him as she locked the doorknob to her apartment from the inside without even looking.
"If you're good, you'll see more tonight," Sakura purred, brushing her hand down his arm sensually as she passed by him.
He resisted the urge to shiver, the feeling of her hands against his skin once again after a week of being separated from him feeling like a warm blanket on a frigid night. She pulled the door shut as she went, smoothly sneaking around him and making her way towards the stone staircase leading to the ground floor. He turned on his heel and caught up to her in two strides, leaning down to place his lips next to her ear.
"I'll be sure to be on my best behavior," he hummed against her ear as his hand settled onto her waist.
"I'll believe it when I see it," she giggled as his fingers stroked the incredibly soft fabric of her shirt.
Madara's fingertips teased the small strip of skin revealed at her waist as they walked down the stairs and towards the road. She leaned against him as they walked, happily tucking herself against his side. He quit his teasing, his grip strengthening at he held her against him happily.
Her warm body pressed against his felt intoxicating. He couldn't come up with a single thing to say to tease her back, far too distracted by the pleasant sensation of her returning to his embrace.
"Where's your bike parked?" Sakura questioned as they made their way to the street, her eyes flicking across the row of unfamiliar vehicles parked along the curb.
"I didn't bring it," he explained simply, fishing his keys out of the pocket of his cut.
The Uchiha clicked unlock on the dongle attached to his key ring, the headlights on a nearby truck blinking twice as the alarm deactivated.
"Oh, I would have worn something prettier if I didn't have to worry about the wind…" she commented, "I was surprised to find out you even owned a truck to be honest."
"While my bike is my primary mode of transportation, it isn't always the most appropriate vehicle," he stated as he removed his arm from around Sakura's waist so he could approach the passenger door to his truck, "And you could make a burlap sack sexy, Sakura."
"Flatterer," she laughed with a smile.
Madara opened the passenger door for her, drawing an expression of surprise from the young woman. She blinked once before hopping in, brushing her hand across his arm once again with a warm smile as she did.
Once she was settled inside, he closed the door carefully. He made his way to the driver's door and hopped in, jamming his key into the ignition and starting the truck. As he slipped on his seatbelt, Creedence Clearwater Revival started playing through his MP3 player plugged into his stereo.
"Oh, is this Walk On the Water?" Sakura questioned from next to him, setting her purse on the floor of the truck.
"You know this band?" he asked curiously, somehow surprised that Sakura had recognized the artist playing through the speakers.
"Well, yeah. My dad used to play this album all the time," she explained before tacking on, "My favorite is I Put a Spell On You."
"Oh, good, I was worried there for a moment. I believe you traumatized me when you said you didn't like omelets," Madara teased as he threw the truck into drive and pulled out onto the road.
"I just don't like omelets that much!" she whined, "Sasuke scarred me for life when he made some that had raw tomatoes in them."
Madara snorted out a laugh as he turned onto the main road, making his way towards the restaurant. "Okay, perhaps I can forgive you then… I was worried you wouldn't enjoy the finer things in life. Like sushi or Suzie Q."
"Weeeell…" she drew out with a meaningful pause.
As he came to a stop at the stop light, he turned to give her a pointed look, "If you say you don't like Suzie Q, I will bite you."
"That doesn't sound like much of a punishment to me…" Sakura purred as she smiled sensually.
Madara's heart sped up in his chest, excitement immediately tingling the edges of his nerves. Gazing at her biting the edge of her lower lip, and the lascivious look in her emerald eyes, brought him back to all the time they had spent together in the throws of passion. All the time they had spent wrapped up in each other's bodies and taking their pleasure together.
"I'm trying to take you out to dinner. Don't tempt me into pulling this truck over and ravishing you now, little hellcat," he growled, nearly missing the red light turning green in his distraction.
"After dinner then?"
He smirked. "After dinner."
"Promise?" She hummed, scooting closer to him. Her hand slid across the middle seat separating them to rest on his thigh.
A rush of pleasure shot up his spine.
"Promise," he replied sincerely, already plotting out the ways he would ravish her that night.
But for now…
Madara's free hand separated from the steering wheel to capture Sakura's hand on his thigh. He slowly laced their fingers together, holding her hand for the first time since they had met.
While it was such a simple gesture, the action tugged at his heartstrings. A wave of satisfaction washed over him from far more than just the promise of more sex later that night.
Madara gazed at Sakura sitting across the table from him, watching as she plucked a sushi roll from her plate with her chopsticks and popped it into her mouth, as he chewed his own bite. He was excited to finally have his favorite food, inarizushi, once again, but he was far more excited to finally talk to his little hellcat and find out more about her.
"I've been dying to ask… How did you learn how to fight?" he asked before taking another bite of the deep fried treat in his hand.
Her gaze flicked up to him and she swallowed before she replied, "The short answer is that both me, Sasuke, and Naruto joined an MMA gym after a… traumatizing event we went through together."
The elder Uchiha's eyebrows furrowed at her explanation. He had never heard any mention of his young nephew going through a traumatizing event as a child. What had happened?
"A traumatizing event?" he parroted.
"It's kind of a long story… and not really dinner conversation, honestly..." she replied uncertainly, toying with a sushi roll with her chopsticks.
"I'd like to hear," he insisted.
"Really?" Sakura asked incredulously.
"Truly. You're going to have to try quite hard to scare me away," he assured with a quirk of his lip, taking another bite and finishing off the first inarizushi from his plate.
"Ah, well…" Sakura cleared her throat as she gathered her thoughts. "When Naruto, Sasuke, and I were younger, only in middle school, we were attacked by these three teens from Oto on our walk home from school. Two guys and a girl. Naruto and Sasuke tried to protect me but they both got knocked out when they ganged up on them. I had tried to stay to protect them but… I wasn't very strong and kind of got my ass kicked, honestly."
Madara flared with rage but refused to allow his anger to show outwardly. What kind of savages would take on a untrained little girl three to one? And why had he never heard about this from his nephew? Was this yet another thing that Sasuke had kept secret from him?
He took a measured sip from his tea as Sakura continued.
"This chick was, uh… dragging me around by my hair…" Sakura cleared her throat to discreetly stabilize her voice. "...when one of our friends, Lee, showed up to try to help. It was good he did because while he was getting beaten up, I was able to grab this knife clipped to her pocket. I was kind of freaking out at that point - I had never been in a fight before - so I tried to cut my own hair to escape. Teared out, more like... It didn't cut like it does in the movies. I think I cut her hand more than my own hair, honestly…"
She nervously cleared her throat once again, fiddling with her chopsticks as she spoke. Even though it had been years, it was obvious that this event was deeply significant to her. And Madara could see why. Her first fight had ended up with her two best friends getting knocked unconscious and her getting tossed around and it had taken the intervention from a passerby and her slicing her own hair off to regain an equal playing field.
The Uchiha listened carefully as she continued, committing every word to memory, as he took a bite from his next inarizushi. He could hardly find it in him to enjoy his treat with the tale she was telling and the anger burning in his gut.
"Sasuke woke up at the sound of this chick screaming and he tackled the guy who was beating up Lee to the ground and just started laying into him. I've never seen him like that before or since… With Lee there and Sasuke awake again, and with me swinging around a knife, we scared the three and they ran off."
"What happened after?" Madara asked, forcibly reigning in his rage not just at these past savages but at the fact that this event had been kept a secret from him. Yet another thing that he was unworthy of knowing, based entirely off of their fear of what he might do.
He was no monster but it appeared everyone around him disagreed with this thought. Except for his little hellion, apparently...
"We went to the hospital. Naruto was still unconscious and Sasuke had a broken nose. Lee and I weren't doing that well either. We had to carry Naruto though since he wouldn't wake up… Turns out he had gotten a concussion. Naruto was admitted for the night - oh his mom was pissed - and Sasuke and I refused to leave his side," she paused for a moment as a small smile spread across her lips, "And I'll never forget this, but a blonde doctor let us stay the night. She took one look at us and kind of shook her head but she let us stay."
His interest perked at the mention of a blonde doctor. He suspected that he knew who Sakura was referring to but kept quiet.
"Her and this black haired nurse that was there actually inspired me to get into healthcare… but anyways, Naruto woke up that next morning. We snuck away right after and walked to the nearby MMA gym and signed up. And, twelve years later, we're still going strong."
She shrugged as she popped another piece of sushi into her mouth.
"I'm impressed by your determination. You stuck around to protect your friends when you could have ran away. That's very brave, especially for someone with no training. And the fact you all decided to learn to fight to defend yourselves, and each other, was admirable," he praised honestly.
Sakura smiled a half smile as he took another bite out of his meal.
"You're sweet. It was funnier than anything else though, I think... We probably looked like three little serial killers, all bruised and wearing day old clothes covered in dirt and dried up blood." She shook her head, huffing out a self deprecating laugh. "Naruto's eye was swollen shut and he still had his hospital ID wristband on. Sasuke's nose was three times its size even though it had just gotten set. And then me, a wicked bruise on my cheek and my butchered haircut. I never let my hair grow out after that..."
"I imagine the instructors there knew what had happened and knew you three weren't up to anything bad. They just wanted to help, I'm sure."
She chuckled and shook her head. "I imagine that's what Kakashi-sensei might say if any of us could actually get him to talk about his feelings."
Madara blinked in surprise as he heard a name that he hadn't heard in many years. "Kakashi? Kakashi Hatake?"
"Yeah, you know him?" she asked curiously as she grabbed another piece of sushi with her chopsticks and popped it into her mouth.
Madara did indeed know Kakashi. The reason that him and Obito had stopped training at that MMA gym. The man who had once been Obito's best friend but who had abandoned him after Rin's death. The man who had nearly allowed Obito to beat him to death after a confrontation at the gym.
The wild haired Uchiha was surprised to hear Sakura bring up Kakashi's name and was especially shocked to hear the honorific of sensei attached to it. Who would have thought that man would become a teacher of all things…
It was almost nearly as shocking as discovering the silver haired man was one of Sakura's neighbors, something Madara had thoroughly researched after recognizing the younger male outside of Sakura's apartment all those weeks ago.
"In a way," he evaded smoothly before continuing, "Konoha MMA, correct? I used to train there. I taught classes for a while before I switched to another gym."
"Taught?" She parroted through her mouthful, eyebrows furrowed as she finished her bite, "What belt are you?"
He smirked. His ranking was one of his most prized accomplishments after all. An achievement that he had spent the last quarter century, her entire lifetime, working towards. "I'm an eighth degree black belt."
"No fucking way!" Sakura blurted out immediately before blushing and stammering, "Er, I mean, uh, wow, that's really impressive."
The Uchiha laughed. "And what rank are you?"
"I just got my first degree black belt this year…" she muttered, taking a dejected sip from her tea.
"You're ahead of Sasuke. He's still a brown belt, if memory serves." He tossed the rest of his second inarizushi into his mouth.
A cocky smirk spread across her lips, nearly hidden by her cup. "Heh, I'm ahead of both of them. Naruto had just gotten his brown belt when I got my black. They'll be getting their black belts this year though, I'm certain of it."
"Hmm, no wonder why you were so dangerous at the bar. Did they begin teaching some furniture-based class during my absence?" he teased, drawing a laugh from Sakura.
"No, that's a style all my own," she chuckled as she set down her cup and scooped up her chopsticks once again, "But how come I never saw you while I was working out there?"
"Probably because I left that gym about…" Madara thought for a moment. "Fifteen years ago."
"Oh, yeah, that's probably it then. Why did you leave anyways?" she asked as she plucked another sushi roll from her plate and popped it into her mouth.
"A conflict of interest between a family member and a student there. The club had just started their own gym anyways, the Red Dragon MMA downtown, and I was needed to lead the project for a while. I was an instructor there for some time before I retired. I still go there to spar on occasion," he detailed as he plucked his final rice ball off of the plate in front of him.
Sakura leaned forward with a mischievous smile and purred, "Should I start calling you sensei now?"
A thrill ran down his spine and arousal settled in his stomach at her words. The little hellion, teasing him in such a way in such a public place. If they didn't have an audience, he'd show her just what 'sensei' could do.
Madara smirked at her wolfishly, leaning forward so he could breath, "Only if you'd like me to show you some… holds we'll both enjoy."
"Hmm, I'll keep that in mind then," she hummed as she sat back in her booth.
Gods, he was going to pin her down and sink his teeth into her neck tonight. To show her just a fraction of the power in his form and use it to bring her to the height of bliss.
For now, he settled for taking a bite from his final inarizushi.
They were briefly interrupted by the waiter stopping by to refill their cups of tea. Both him and Sakura thanked the young man briefly before their attention returned to one another.
She was the first to speak, curiosity coloring her tone as she caught her final piece of sushi in her chopsticks, "What do you do for work anyways? You know I work as a nurse at Konoha Regional."
"I'm a freelance mechanical engineer. I started my career slaving over small repairs and supplemented my income with my martial arts teaching. I wanted to teach history for a while but settled on furthering my mechanical engineering when I started pulling in good money working government contracts," Madara replied, quickly summarizing his profession as she finished her final bite.
"So if my dishwasher breaks again, I can con you into coming over and helping me fix it?" she teased with a catty smile, setting her chopsticks across her plate.
"I've fixed enough dishwashers to last several lifetimes. You'd really have to sweeten the deal to entice me to fix another one," he chuckled. He could live the rest of his life without fixing another damned dishwasher.
"What if I asked really nice… Madara-sensei?" Beneath the table, Sakura sensually slid the tip of her foot up his calf until it teased the inside of his knee.
"Little minx…" he growled as he grabbed her ankle from beneath the table, dragging an eep and laughter from Sakura.
The Uchiha loosened his hold on her leg but refused to allow her to escape. Instead, he pulled her foot up onto the booth next to him. He slowly ran his large palm up and down her calf, enjoying touching her again after having to release her hand earlier to make their way into the restaurant.
"You said you wanted to be a history teacher?" she asked as she smiled sweetly, brushing the tip of her boot along his side affectionately.
He continued to slowly run his hand along her calf, teasing the back of her thigh with his fingertips. "I did. I've always been fascinated with history, war specifically. I first went to college to pursue a degree in history because I wanted to teach classes at the university. I realized the futility of my dream when I began to run into numerous conflicts with other Senju at the college, specifically ones who shared classes with me."
"Oh wow, I never thought of that," Sakura replied, a sympathetic expression on her face, "That must have been tough."
"It presented a unique set of problems. It was because of my… conflicts specifically that both clubs passed a law that stated we could no longer wear our cuts to the universities. Neither us nor the Senju wanted to deal with our entire family being banned from an institute of higher education. It doesn't reflect well on the clubs and it would have been unfair to the family members who weren't in the club but who were pursuing degrees."
Not to mention his father, the president of the MC at the time, would have beat him with a damned crowbar if Madara's brawls with the various Senju on campus had gotten their entire family banned from the universities. After the clubs had passed the laws banning members from wearing their cuts on campus, it had been easier to ignore each other.
While the Uchihas and the Senjus both had a variety of defining characteristics that were fairly easy to pick out in a crowd (not to mention most rode their bikes to class; the two families had parked their bikes on total opposite sides of the universities to avoid temptation), it was easier to ignore one another if they didn't have to stare at each other's cuts, symbols which instigated instant bloodshed if seen anywhere else in the city.
"Makes sense." Sakura nodded.
"The conflicts made me realize I couldn't become a teacher, unfortunately. With my ties to the club, especially now, I am too biased," Madara explained, frowning when he noticed the concerned expression on her face, "It wasn't too big of a hit since I had just started working for the club's newly opened mechanics shop though. I discovered that I enjoyed working with machines. I finished my Master's in History and began to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering."
He took another bite from his inarizushi, chewing thoughtfully.
"I'm sorry to hear you put in all that work and had to give up your dream because of the club…" she apologized, a sympathetic frown pulling at her lips.
"It wasn't too terrible. I enjoy my work. And I've helped write a few books on history so my degree isn't completely useless," he assured with a smile, pinching her thigh and pulling a giggle from his date, "Don't worry yourself. I'm quite happy with what I do."
"I'm glad to hear that." Sakura smiled brightly.
"My first degree also has allowed me to become the undefeated history jeopardy champion," the Uchiha joked as he popped the rest of his fried rice ball into his mouth.
She laughed aloud. "We'd be undefeatable together then. I love trivia games."
Before Madara could reply, they were politely interrupted by the waiter from before making his appearance once again.
"Would you two like seconds?" the young man asked with a cordial smile as he gathered up their used plates.
"No thank you. But could I get a plate of anmitsu, please?" Sakura asked courteously.
"Of course. And you, sir?"
"Just more tea, thank you."
"Okay, I'll return shortly," the waiter stated briefly before turning and leaving.
Madara's gaze returned to Sakura sitting across from him, both of their attention undivided as they had no food to distract them.
"How do you like working as a nurse?" he questioned, resting his forearm across the table and leaning towards her. His free hand flattened against his calf, briefly ceasing his exploration.
"I love it," she immediately replied vehemently, a wide smile spreading across her lips, "I love that I'm capable of helping people when they're at their most vulnerable. I can help them feel safe when they're scared, I can take away their pain when they're hurting, and I can give people hope where there is none. Just like how that nurse was with me and Sasuke and Naruto when we were kids. Nothing I've ever done has been more rewarding."
He was enamored by her passion for helping people in need. A part of him was still shocked that a woman as powerful and indomitable as her was soft enough to care for others but knew that her work in the emergency room must require a special kind of strength.
"What made you want to go into medical school?"
"I want to be able to do more. I want to save lives in the operating room, to piece people back together rather than just taking care of them. I would be a nurse in the OR so I could be closer to my goal but I feel like I'm helping more in the ER."
He was silent for a long moment, just gazing at the woman who had so easily captured his affection and who continued to captivate him with every word she spoke.
Sakura truly was a one of a kind woman.
"Your compassion clashes wonderfully with your strength. The fact you can use your hands to hurt and to heal is… incredibly attractive," Madara purred, sliding his palm up her calf once again and drawing a sweet blush from her.
Before she could speak, the waiter from before dropped by once again with a fresh pot of tea and a plate of anmitsu. He placed the dessert in front of Sakura, who thanked him, before he carefully refilled their cups of tea. He nodded to them both briefly before making a quick exit.
Sakura cleared her throat shyly. "So you're Fugaku's brother, right? What was it like growing up with him as an older brother?"
As Madara replied, she plucked one of the jelly squares from her plate of sweets and popped it into her mouth. "He didn't come to be my brother until I was about ten years old, actually. When his parents… passed away, my parents adopted him."
"Oh. I had no idea…" she mumbled with a frown.
"But, to answer your question, he was a justifiably jaded and miserable bastard but my younger brothers and I latched onto him quite quickly," he laughed, "I consider him to by my brother, even though it is chosen rather than by blood."
"How are you related by blood?" She nudged her plate towards Madara, silently offering to share her dessert with him.
He plucked his unused chopsticks from the table, snapping them in half and rubbing them together to grind off any splinters. "He is my cousin. His mother was my father's sister."
"So that would make Sasuke your… what is it…" she thought for a moment, "First cousin once removed?"
"Yes, although nephew rolls off the tongue a bit easier," Madara chuckled as he scooped up one of the shiratama from the plate with his chopsticks and popped the bite sized dango into his mouth.
"And you said brothers? I've only heard of Izuna and Fugaku. How many siblings do you have? And are your other brothers not a part of the club or something?" Sakura plucked a shiratama from the plate with her chopsticks as well, placing it in her mouth.
Her question made him take pause for a moment. He knew that she didn't know and knew that she was in no way being rude. However, having to explain that nearly all of his closest family members, his parents and his brothers, were dead always stung.
It had been decades since he had last seen any of them alive but the pain from their loss remained like a splinter he couldn't dig out. A dull but nagging pain that could make him go mad if he focused on it for too long.
Trying to explain his familial situation as gently as he could, not wanting to show his upset or upset Sakura, Madara detailed, "Ah, there were six of us, including Fugaku... Him, Izuna, and myself are the only ones still a part of this world."
Sakura's face dropped. "Oh, I'm so sorry! That was so insensitive of me to ask!"
"It's fine, you didn't know," he replied, quickly changing the subject before she could latch onto her embarrassment and before he could think on his dead family members too much, "How many siblings do you have?"
He snagged a cube of sweet jelly from her plate, popping it into his mouth.
"I, uh…" Sakura brushed a few stray hairs from her bangs back into her bun, obviously embarrassed from the previous topic. "I'm an only child actually. Although I consider Sasuke and Naruto to be my brothers."
She nervously scooped up a sweet jelly cube from the tray.
"I can hardly imagine not having any siblings, considering I grew up with so many…" The Uchiha commented, the corner of his lip quirking up as he remembered his rowdy childhood with his five energetic brothers, "And I apologize for you having to deal with my nephew as a teeanger during his moody years."
Sakura smiled, huffing out a laugh. "He wasn't so bad. Normally Naruto and I would just kind of beat up on him a little bit and he'd talk to us eventually."
He laughed aloud, amused by the image of his baby nephew being dog piled by a five and a half foot, pink haired girl and a dorky blond. "So that's where that confrontational attitude comes from. He certainly has the most sass out of anyone who's prospected for the club."
He plucked the final shiratama from her plate with his chopsticks.
"What's it like, being in an MC? Why did you want to join?" she continued curiously as she plucked a fresh strawberry with a kuromitsu drizzle from the plate. She swiped the strawberry across the dark colored syrup, gathering more onto the sweet berry, before popping it into her mouth.
"We're all Uchihas, of course, but being in the club makes everyone closer. Despites most of us being some kind of cousin or another, we're all brothers and sisters in the club. We can all count on each other for anything. That's what appealed to me about the MC. Also, my father was the president before I was elected. I wanted to make him proud by following in his footsteps."
Madara had never felt more accepted, more happy, than when he was in the club. They had always been there for him. When he was a gangly, pissy teenager furious at the world. When he had found out that the friend he had made, the best friend he had even had, had been a damned Senju in an altercation that nearly got him, Izuna, and his father killed. When both his mother and father had been murdered by the Senju. When nearly all of his youngest brothers had been killed off over the course of a year.
He had always been able to turn to the MC for help, even during his darkest times when all he had wanted was bloodshed. They took care of him and his family and he showed his love and appreciation by taking care of them. A fact that would one day land him as president of the club.
"Is being the president heir based?" Sakura questioned with an incredulous expression as she plucked the final cube of jelly off of their shared plate with her chopsticks and popped it into her mouth.
He laughed, snagging the final piece of strawberry from the plate. "No, not at all. We're a direct democracy, thank you very much. Although I was able to hand pick all of my officers when I was chosen."
"What's it like being president?" she asked as she pushed their finished plate towards the edge of the table. They both placed their used chopsticks across the plate.
"Very busy. I hardly have any time to myself anymore, honestly. If I'm not working or sleeping, I'm with the club," he answered honestly.
Despite the fact that the club took up nearly all of his time, he was happy being the president. He felt as if he was making a difference with his family, even making a difference for their city.
"I feel bad, stealing your small amount of free time away..."
"I'm more than happy to spend it with you, my little hellcat." He hummed happily, sliding his hand across the table so he could grasp her hand.
As he ran his thumb across her knuckles, she blushed, a sweet smile spreading across her lips. Her fingers tightened around his, her toes nudging his side affectionately.
Their waiter's voice suddenly interrupted the moment they were having. "Excuse me, sir, ma'am?"
They turned to face the waiter as he informed apologetically, "I'm very sorry but we're closing now."
"Closing?" both her and Madara parroted.
The Uchiha finally snapped out of the trance he had been under all night, emerging from the private bubble that they had been suspended in. He was shocked to see that it was pitch black outside, only three vehicles, one being his own, parked in the parking lot. There were no other patrons in the restaurant, tables cleaned and chairs flipped up to rest on their seats along the edges of the tables. An elderly man was sweeping and cleaning up as the young waiter spoke to them.
His eyes flicked to the clock on the wall and he was able to make out that it was nearly 10pm.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I had no idea it was getting so late," Sakura apologized immediately, turning to drag her purse into her lap.
Using her distraction as an opportunity, Madara slyly slipped the waiter his credit card. He signed the number twenty to the young man before pointing to him, indicating that his tip would be twenty dollars. The young man nodded in understanding, quickly hiding the card in his palm.
"It's fine. We felt kinda bad interrupting you two. I'll be back in a minute," he stated, quickly making his exit once again.
"Oh my gods, I can't believe we've been here so long," she commented as she dug through her bag and pulled out her wallet.
"Time certainly does fly," he replied as she set her wallet on top of her purse, patiently waiting for the waiter to return.
The ebony haired man smiled at her, finding it cute that she intended to either pay for her portion of the meal or for the entirety of the meal. While he would never patronize his little hellcat, he wasn't about to let her get away with letting her pay for anything on their first actual date.
When the waiter returned, he handed Madara a receipt and returned his credit card. "Have a nice night. Please come again!"
As the young man took off, the Uchiha tucked his card and receipt into his wallet.
"You didn't," Sakura gasped as she gaped at him, still holding her wallet in her hand.
"Oh, I did," he replied with a grin as he tucked his wallet back into the pocket of his cut.
"When? You little sneak!" she demanded as she jammed her wallet back into her purse.
"It's a secret." He winked as he stood with a grin. "Ready?"
She glared up at him cutely as she hooked her purse over her shoulder and stood. Even though she was miffed at him stealing the bill, she easily returned to his side when he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
Sakura felt intoxicated by Madara's presence.
Her high was only amplified by the almost otherworldly feel of her environment. The street lights briefly lit up the darkened cab of Madara's truck as they drove by. Soft rock music played on a low volume, the tune making a calming background noise. The cab of his truck was warm, the heater on low and pointed at their feet to keep away the chill of the night air. The scent of leather from his cut and the smell of his cologne, the one that made him smell like a bonfire, fogged her senses.
She just wanted to bury herself in all of it but, more than anything, she wanted to bury herself in his arms.
Sakura tried to hide how high she felt and how aroused she was in that moment. She desperately wanted to slide across the bench seat of his truck and press her body against his. She narrowly resisted the urge to suggest that they find a dark spot to pull over so she could crawl into his lap. She had wanted to learn more about him after all but she didn't want to have her wish at the expense of the incredible sex they had.
Just the thought of kissing him once again had her heart pounding in her chest and, with their date winding down, her excitement only magnified.
As they continued their conversation from the restaurant, she tried to come up with a plan for getting him back up to her apartment.
"What do you do in your free time? What are some of your hobbies?" Madara asked, his baritone voice drawing her further into the trance she had been in all night.
"When I'm not studying or working, I'm usually sleeping. Heh, kidding, kidding. Mostly… But when I have the time, I like working out and sparring at the gym with my boys. I read a lot and I enjoy learning new things, outside of medicine," Sakura listed before turning to gaze at his profile, "What about you?"
"Very similar to you, actually. Working out and fighting whichever of my family members are up to the challenge. Usually my brother or Obito."
Sakura blinked in surprise at that. While she knew the one armed man could defend himself (she had spotted him with a buck knife of all things during that brawl) but she was surprised to hear that he not only fought MMA but that he could challenge Madara.
Madara continued. "I spend a good amount of time working on my bike. I have a fondness for documentaries... I enjoy learning new skills whenever I get the chance."
"Like maybe learning how to cook sunny side up eggs?" she teased with a smile.
He chuckled, the sound like a live wire to her heart. "If you teach me your furniture fighting techniques, hellcat."
Gods Sakura loved it when he called her Hellcat. His little nickname for her wreaked havoc on her heart and made her want to rub her thighs together.
Madara pulled up into a spot outside of her apartment complex, parking along the curb. Before he could even throw his truck in park, she was gathering up her purse.
She wasn't going to stand for just a goodnight kiss and a promise to see her again soon.
As he flipped gears, she unbuckled her seatbelt as casually as she could manage. She popped open the passenger door and hopped out of the truck. When she turned to face him, her hand on the door, she took in his bewildered expression.
"Well, are you coming or not?" she asked with a flirty smile.
The Uchiha responded with that wolfish grin that made her core ache as he immediately shut off his truck. She shut the door, slowly making her way towards her apartment. As she walked, she preemptively fished out the key to her door.
He caught up to her in just a few strides, immediately snaking his arm around her waist and pulling her against his side with a confidence that nearly made her moan already.
"Was I good?" he purred against her ear, his warm breath and his deep voice sending a shiver of arousal down her spine.
"I'll show you when we get inside," she hummed in response.
Sakura was unable to hold back the soft moan when Madara nipped her earlobe. When he chuckled at her reaction, goosebumps rose on her forearms. She felt his fingertips explore the strip of skin revealed by her high cut top. He teased her by dipping his fingertips into the waistband of her jeans, stroking the sensitive skin where he knew her only tattoo was hidden.
The trip across the complex and up the stone stairs to her apartment felt like a thousand miles. While his fingertips teased the sensitive skin of her belly, she kept her keys gripped in her hand, intending on remembering which key opened her door.
When they finally arrived at her door, his fingers were toying with the hem of her panties beneath her jeans. Her breathing was coming in short bursts as her heart pounded in her chest. She needed to hurry and get this door open before she lost her senses and demanded he fuck her against her front door.
When Sakura slid her key into the lock of her door, Madara gripped her hips in both of his broad hands and pulled her against his chest. She gasped when she felt his hardness pressed against her rear.
She forgot about the lock, instead focusing on him as she arched her body against his chest. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her neck, drawing a breathy sigh of satisfaction from her. She immediately tilted her head, allowing him better access to the tender skin of her neck.
After all, the bruises he had left on her last time had faded and she wanted more.
As the Uchiha pressed surprisingly gentle kisses to the side of her neck, his hands slid across her hips and down to the waistband of her jeans. The sound of him undoing the button to her jeans finally snapped her out of her daze long enough for her to finally turn the key and unlock the door.
When Sakura turned the doorknob and threw open the door, she flipped around in his arms. Her hands slid up his chest, brushing over the patches on his leather cut, as she wrapped her arms around his neck. When she dragged him down into a searing kiss, his arms wrapped around her lower back, pulling her against his broad chest and forcing her onto the tips of her toes.
There was nothing slow or teasing about this kiss, their union immediately escalating until teeth and tongues clashed. Her heart flew in her chest, a constant thrill of pleasure coursing through her veins. She felt like she was spinning and she wanted more.
Sakura slid her hands back down his chest to grab at the zippered edges of his cut. When she pulled him inside, he obediently followed her beckoning, not breaking their kiss even though he had to lean down to keep it. He closed the door behind him with his foot, locking the door immediately out of the question since it would take away precious time they desperately needed to get beneath each other's clothes.
Sakura's frazzled mind struggled with the mental map she had of the home she had lived in for the past five years. Earlier, she would have preferred that she got Madara to her bed, but his earlier teasing had vanished that thought from her mind. At that moment, all she wanted was a flat surface. And if she couldn't even find her couch in her intoxicated state, she would fuck this man on the damn floor if she had to.
She barely registered when the backs of her legs touched the edge of her couch. The only thing her pleasure drunk mind could produce besides how much she wanted to feel him inside of her was that she had found a flat surface.
She slowly sat back on the cushions, pulling him down with her by the edges of his cut. He smoothly followed her, pushing even further until she was pressed flat against the sectional. The feeling of his weight settling between her parted thighs made her mewl against his mouth, a noise he rewarded with a bite to her bottom lip.
Madara held himself above her, his large form dominating hers as his wild mane of hair pooled at one side of her head. She pressed her hands flat against his chest, sliding her palms up to his shoulders before slipping down to his hips, mapping every ridge of muscle beneath his clothes. She distantly marvelled at how his incredibly soft shirt complimented the hard planes of muscle of his chest.
She skipped passed the hem of his shirt entirely, slipping her hands between their bodies so she could reach his belt. As she rapidly unbuckled his belt, he sensually ran his tongue across hers, encouraging her. She quickly unwound his belt and unbuttoned his pants before dragging his zipper down.
Sakura had never been more grateful for the fact he didn't wear underwear than she was in that moment when his member eagerly bounced out of his parted jeans. When she wrapped her hand around his silky, rock hard length, he breathed out a sigh of pleasure against her lips.
When she gripped him, tightly circling her fingers around the base of his member before pulling up to close around the head, he shivered. She could feel how his focus wavered, his kiss slowing as she pumped him, and reminded him of her with a nip to his lower lip.
Madara growled low in his chest, roughly pressing their lips together once, before he pulled back, nearly sitting up. His hands slid down from their spots on either side of her to the front of her jeans. He finished unzipping her jeans in one rapid motion before hooking his fingers around the waistband of her pants and her panties.
He dragged them both down her legs, forcing her to release his member, until they were pooled at the edge of her boots. Neither one of them bothered with the then arduous task of unlacing her boots to get her pants and panties all the way off of her legs. Instead, he hooked both of her legs over one of his shoulders.
One of Madara's muscled arms wrapped around Sakura's thighs, holding her to him, as her arms sprawled out to support her. She gasped at the sudden feeling of the head of his length against her sopping folds. She moaned aloud when he pressed the the head of his cock against her clit, thrusting his member between her thighs and teasing her most sensitive spot with the underside of his hardened length.
Overwhelmed by the feeling of finally being touched where she so desperately had needed to be touched, one of her hands slid down her still clothed chest to the space between her thighs. She grasped the tip of his member, peeking through the tight space between her thighs and against her core. Her lover groaned deep in his throat as she stroked him a few times before he retreated from between her thighs.
Sakura's free hand desperately grasped at his forearm as she felt him press the head of his dick against her soaking wet opening. She had no concerns, knowing that she was easily wet enough to take him.
When Madara slowly slipped into her, a broken groan fell from her lips. He slowly thrusted deeper and deeper until he was fully seated within her, him releasing a broken breath of pleasure. She dragged a breath of air into her lungs as the hand not desperately gripping his forearm scrambled for some foothold in the chaos of the pleasure she was thrown into.
He pressed his cheek against the side of her calf, his other arm tightly wrapping around her thighs, as he nearly removed himself from her and thrust back inside of her to his hilt.
"Gods, please-ah!" she cried out inarticulately, unable to produce the words needed to express how desperately she needed him to fuck her in that moment.
Sakura's fingernails dug into his still clothed forearms as her free hand flew behind her to gain some traction against the cushions of her couch. She vaguely heard her lover mutter an obscenity under his breath before she was overwhelmed by the feeling of him setting a pace, roughly burying himself in her sopping passage.
She threw her head back, her bun tugging at her hair awkwardly in a way she couldn't care less about in that moment. She tilted her head to the side, openly releasing the cries of ecstasy that she could no longer contain. As Madara filled her over and over, she marvelled at how perfectly his cock fit within her. His length was absolutely perfect for her, large enough to stretch her to the point of bliss but not so large as to hurt her.
She felt as if she could nearly orgasm with just the feeling of him pounding into her.
Madara leaned over her, pressing her farther into the cushions of her couch. She gasped at the feeling of the angle of his thrusts changing, the head of his dick reaching even deeper within her. Her free hand pressed back on the pillows of her couch, trying to push their bodies closer together so he could thrust into her harder.
When one of his hands slid across her thighs towards her center and when one of his thumbs settled against her clit, hidden between the apex of her thighs, her moans hiked up an octave. His thumb traced rapid but sloppy circles against her pleasure point but she couldn't care less in that moment, the pressure and touch being all she needed to throw her over the edge.
Sakura's pleasure mad gasps and moans filled the air of her otherwise silent apartment, her unable to hold back the sounds of her bliss. She had waited an entire week for this, had overcome her mental hurdles for this, and it had been entirely worth it. She would have been ashamed at the sounds she was making but his skilled body and her uncontainable arousal dragged them out of her lungs.
"I-I'm already-!" she cried out, every breath fueling a cry of pleasure.
"Sakura…" Madara growled as he adjusted his knees on the couch and grasped her thighs harder so he could increase his pace once again.
He pounded into her relentlessly, his thumb still circling her clit and the only sound filling her apartment being her cries of pleasure and the sound of skin against skin.
Sakura desperately pushed back against the cushions as she came hard, her entire body quaking under the force of her orgasm. She cried out, nearly sounding like she was in pain, as her dripping feminine passage clenched around his penetrating length. The feeling of her walls tightening around his unyielding cock sent even more jolts of pleasure up her spine.
She heard him growl in pleasure as he continued to fill her ceaselessly with his hard member, dragging out her pleasure even farther. His pace circling her clit didn't slow either, further fueling her mind bending orgasm.
Sakura felt his arm tighten around her thighs almost painfully and felt as his member unbelievably hardened even further within her. Madara's pace faltered before he buried his cock within her as deeply and roughly as he could. When he came, Sakura swore she could feel him dumping his ejaculate against her innermost wall. She gasped in pleasure as his rock hard length twitched within her, his thumb's pace around her clit slowing to a more leisurely pace.
Her lover continued to draw out the last vestiges of her orgasm, twitches of pleasure still overcoming her as he rocked against her, releasing the last of his seed into her soaking passage. His teasing of her clit finally ceased, his hand sliding up a short ways until his palm pressed against her lower stomach.
As they both caught their breath, the Uchiha's length still pressed deeply into her folds, he pressed sweet, delirious kisses to the sides of her calf. His hand continued to linger on her belly.
When he finally slipped his slowly softening member out of her, Sakura gasped.
Still panting, she finally gathered her mental faculties together enough to joke, "I almost thought we could have made it to my bed."
He chuckled as he slid her thighs down his shoulder. He eased her feet to the floor before he sunk to his knees before her.
"I'm not complaining," he hummed in satisfaction as he easily untied the knot in the laces of her boots and loosened the laces.
Madara tugged her boots off of her feet and tossed them behind him. He took the liberty of tugging her jeans off of her limp legs but left her with her panties. He tugged them halfway up her legs until she grabbed onto them and pulled them up the rest of the way, just quick enough to catch the cum that was dripping out of her before it stained her couch.
He slid up the couch to lie down next to her, pulling her into his arms. Sakura sighed blissfully, rolling over to press herself against him and toss her leg over his hips. She pressed her face into his chest, taking in his scent as she continued to try to catch her breath.
"Do you want to stay the night?" she asked as her one free arm wrapped around his middle, her other pressed uselessly between them.
Sakura intended to clear up any misunderstanding then and there so he didn't feel the conflict she had in his home that morning a week ago.
"I would love to," Madara replied immediately, his breath warming the top of her head.
Her smile was immediate as she pulled back just enough to lean up and press a kiss to his jawline. He tilted his head down to press their lips together sweetly.
The lovers stoked each other's arousal once again as their kiss slowly escalated from sweet into something more passionate.
That morning, Sakura woke up in her own bed to the familiar sensation of a pair of arms wrapped around her middle.
This time, however, she didn't retreat from Madara's embrace. Instead, she sunk back into his warm, welcoming arms and sighed in absolute contentment. At least until her desire urged her to turn around in his embrace and pepper his chest with kisses to stir him.
A/N: Inarizushi is actually Madara's favorite food, according to the Naruto databook. Anmitsu is also one of Sakura's favorite foods and one of her hobbies is trivia games, also from the databooks.
Also, a ninth degree black belt (grandmaster) is the highest degree that you can achieve (at least in taekwondo [generally], the martial arts style I chose to highlight since MMA is mixed martial arts). Most gyms come up with their own ranking system ranging from a white belt (beginner) to black belt (expert) with a number of degrees awarded to black belts to display their furthered training.
I put Madara, Hashirama, and a variety of other characters (all kage level in canon) in this AU at eighth or seventh degree black belts. If I were to put anyone at grandmaster level, it would probably be Indra and Ashura. If they make their way into this fic, that is... The few other characters that I would say practice martial arts in this universe, I would put at lower rankings.