"You're making everyone uncomfortable. Just give it a try and stay calm for once." Shizu lectured as Madara and herself walked down the hall, about to have dinner with the rest of the household.

It's been a while since she's witnessed his fight with Tajima, and since then she tried her best to keep him from getting into any more conflicts; surprisingly, he would sometimes even listen to her.

Now he seemed to be doing a lot better. There were still times when he just sat in a corner by himself, silent and deep in his own thoughts with that sad and angry expression, but mostly, he was fine.

Still as salty and grouchy as ever.

He often busied himself with training, which meant he spent most of the day on the small equipped terrain, running around and throwing things like a madman.

Few times actually, Shizu accompanied him to just watch since she had nothing to do anyway, but he "banished her" – yes, the jerk literally used that term – because she was apparently disconcertinghim. She was simply attempting to make a small-talk so the time would pass faster, but he had to bitch about it as he did about anything else.

"It's not up to me. It's up to him." Madara talked back grumpily, referring to his father.

"Just keep that mouth of yours shut and let everyone eat in peace." Shizu didn't step back.

Honestly, she was in wonder by how much Madara respected his father. Sure, they argued and bickered, but he never raised his voice at the older man, nor did he ever return any of the man's physical attacks unless they were practicing. It was strange seeing him being submissive in front of anyone. And truth be told, deep inside she enjoyed the sight. Still, it was very uncomfortable being around the two men while they fought.

"Be good." She pointed a finger at him as they reached the door of the dining room.

"I'm not a child!" He barked at her, sliding the door open and pompously walking to his seat. Annoyingly, everyone had their respective spot at the table, so while Madara sat at the top right corner – right next to Tajima, who was at the head – Shizu was put at the second last chair on the left side.

The food was served very soon, so she dived in, hoping to eat as much as she can before the atmosphere gets too uncomfortable.

She got her hopes up at first, as people were casually chatting for whole ten minutes, but as soon as the head of the clan opened his mouth, she knew what's going to happen.

"Say, Madara, do you even plan to avenge your brother?" Tajima spoke, taking a small bite of his food right after. For some reason, he insisted on provoking Madara whenever they happened to be in the same room.

"I do, father." Madara answered, exasperation already sensible in his voice. They all knew where this would lead: Tajima would bring up some Senju folk that Shizu knew nothing of, then Madara would argue how he'd do whatever he had to do, then Tajima would accuse Madara of procrastinating for the sake of some Hashirama dude and so on, and so on.

And it began.

"You wanted to befriend a Senju. This is how he returns the favor. Every single person from that clan is vile."

"Will you let it go?" Madara sighed. "I was a child, and I didn't even know that he was a Senju."

"You knew he's not one of us! Wasn't that enough to stay away from him?"

"That kind of mindset was what brought us this chaos! I was making a change." Madara defended.

"Obviously, you failed! Your brother—"

"Can a person eat one fucking meal in fucking peace in this fucking house?" Shizu mumbled to herself, wearily stabbing the food with her chopsticks.

Well, she thoughtshe had mumbled it to herself, apparently her words were audible. They were veryaudible, since everyone's attention was from once fixed on her. She stopped playing with her food.

Shit.

After a minute or two of awkward silence, the conversation among people at the table went on normally, and Shizu tried her best to sink into her seat as deep as she could and keep low profile while avoiding eye contact with anyone.

After the dinner was over, she quickly excused herself and got lost as fast as possible. No, no. She would just lock herself up in her room and die, for she fucked up beyond comprehension this time.

She whispered curses and cringed to herself while walking to her bedroom, and failed to notice that someone was at her door already.

"I know, I'm sorry. I screwed up." She whined at Madara, assuming he was there to scold her for disrespecting his father like that. Hell, even his own son watched his behavior before Tajima, and she, an outsider, basically made him shut his mouth at his own dining table.

All she got in response was a low chuckle. Followed by another one, which was followed by yet another one before the insolent jerk started laughing.

Shizu stared at him with her most, grave serious expression. "This isn't funny, Madara."

Though, her words had no effect. He continued to laugh like a maniac to the point where he bent down and held his stomach. Honestly, it was a little scary. She had never even seen him smile properly, so this took her by surprise.

"Okay, stop!" She moaned in distress.

It took him a while to completely calm down and finally face her. He used his index finger to wipe a tiny tear from the corner of his right eye. "This was the best." He finally spoke, amusement never leaving his voice.

"What was the best?!" Shizu snapped. "I embarrassed myself and offended your father! How am I supposed to look at him now?"

"Oh yes, you did." She puffed her cheeks in anger as he started laughing again.

"Get out of the way!" She stormed into her room and locked the door.

Madara sat on the wooden porch, facing the training field as he waited for his food to settle before going to train.

Soft steps tapped against the wood as someone was making their way over to him from behind. Without turning around, he recognized it to be Rukia.

The girl placed a saucer with two cups of tea right next to Madara, bowed her head slightly and left. Here we go. He thought to himself. Tajima would come to bother him again. Still, a tiny smirk made its way to his face as he imagined how pissed the older man might be after Shizu's little outbreak.

In only a few minutes, the familiar bat of his father's steps resonated through the house until the man finally reached the porch and took a seat next to Madara.

He was silent.

What do you want now? Get lost. Madara's thoughts whined, but he refrained from voicing them out. As much as he despised his father at times, Tajima was still the most notable man and one of the greatest warriors that he knew.

"She is right. I overdid it." He finally spoke. Madara understood that he was referring to Shizu. He didn't answer.

"You are…" Tajima seemed to have a problem with speaking his mind, which was unlikely for him. "As your father, I naturally want you to excel in every field and make me proud. That is the only reason I'm pushing you."

He paused to take a sip of his tea, but Madara could tell that he only took the opportunity to come up with something else to say.

"You have become a fine man, but you're still naïve. The way you trust the Senju shows just how green you still are."

"I do not trust them. I simply—"

"In any case, Madara," Tajima interrupted him mid-sentence. "I understand that you find me bothersome, but now that we lost Izuna, you are all I have left."

Madara looked the man in the eyes as he listened. Even though his expression remained stoic, a child inside of him was put on roller-coaster of emotions. For finally, after many years, this person felt like his dad again.

"That is all." Tajima added as he stood up. "I'll leave you to train now."

"Father?" Madara called after him as he was already about to enter the house.

"Hm?"

"Care to spar?"