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Chapter 5: Waking Up, Throwing Down

Song of the Chapter:
Right Here – Staind
Reason: It started with a meeting and ended in conflict; a relationship forbidden but all the more desired.

Akemi woke up in Madara's arms and felt, for once in decades, safe. She barely shifted her body weight when she felt his arms tighten around her. She twisted to look at him as she planted a gentle kiss on his jaw bone. He blearily opened one eye and smirked. "I could get used to waking up like this, but I would prefer fewer clothes."

Akemi whacked him on the shoulder softly and he reluctantly released her. "Morning Madara-kun." His face softened as she sat at the end of the bed and poked her shoulder. He crawled across the bed and rubbed her shoulders. "Mmm…"

"Come on; you are being tested today as well as officially introduced." She scowled and stood up, cracking her knuckles.

"Being tested, I have to fight against someone?" Madara nodded and she narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"They do not just want anyone here. You have to prove yourself but I am unsure of who Pein picked you to skirmish against." She raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"What about you eh Madara-kun?" He laughed but shook his head.

"They will not use a subordinate to test a subordinate and besides," he gave her the trademark Uchiha smirk, "I would win." She raised an eyebrow as she leaned towards him to whisper in his ear while he was occupied with the fact her chest was quite snug against his body.

"I think I have the advantage nonetheless," she whispered in a sensual tone that sent pleasant shivers down Madara's spine. She had her hand against his chest and could hear his heart pound in anticipation.

Madara swallowed thickly as he attempted to gather his wits about him. "We have to go now so there are no suspicions." Akemi smirked as she walked towards the dresser and pulled out some clothes. She motioned for him to turn around and with much grumble he did. "Not like I have not seen it before." This time, something slightly heavier and alarm clock shaped soared towards his head.

Flashback

Akemi had sunk into the water sighing as the heat from the hot spring began to relax her tension. Dealing with a certain Madara Uchiha always worked every single nerve in existence but all in all… she supposed the sensation was not bad. She closed her eyes and heard a content moan on the other side of the screen.

Madara had the toughest day ever trying to convince Akemi Uchiha about mandatory training for all Uchihas and although she agreed, he felt like he had been through hell and back. He heard splashing from the other side of the screen and cursed the hot springs for being public to all Uchihas but he was glad that at least no one else was allowed. He really needed to get a private hot springs but however dealing with the Peace Committee was proving a greater issue. He heard a peaceful hum and being bored, decided to investigate despite the fact that the sound was on the other side of the screen from the women's section of the bath.

He decided to use his ninja skills and peered over the screen. Right then and there the head of the Uchiha clan had to hold back one of the biggest nosebleeds ever. The very bane of his existence was in front of him but at the moment, Madara did not hate her. He wanted her immediately; needed her. Sure he had seen bigger busts on other women but that creamy smooth skin was just calling out to him. The way her long black hair clung to her body made him feel woozy as his blood swiftly rushed south. He halfway wondered if she knew he was there and was teasing him when she began to stand up and Madara's eyes widened exponentially but before he saw anything, he had a nosebleed and fainted.

Akemi heard the loud thunk at the other side of the screen and smirked as her clothed shadow clone jumped down from the tree. "Well… Madara-sama's behavior will definitely be a little different the next meeting." Before the original could ask, the shadow clone dissipated and Akemi's memories became filled instantly. Her mind became swarmed with the image of the rather exposed and aroused Madara Uchiha. Every muscle, every ripple of flesh became ingrained in her head and she swooned when her normally relaxed and clear thoughts descended into the gutter.

She fell against the screen in her thoughtless state and the screen crashed down with a loud boom waking Madara up. He immediately stood up and when he noticed a naked Akemi on the bathing screen, he had a light pink tint. However the first towel he found, he wrapped around the exposed female. Her face was a deep red as she murmured thanks. He blinked lazily and smirked at her. "This reminds me of that exercise they tell people to do when their nervous about imagining people in their underwear. We took that a little further so we should be getting along perfectly." Akemi's deep blush made Madara smile as he noted her eyes watching him place a towel around his waist. "Like what you see?"

She scowled and turned away but Madara's sharp eyes could tell her blush deepened and even started to cover her neck. "Shut up." She stood up and carefully wrapped the towel around her as she headed towards where her clothes were. She stopped and turned back at the man and tried to hide the blush that threatened to erupt all over. "Thanks Madara-sama."

He laughed as he looked at her bewildered expression. "So formal after such an experience Akemi-chan?" He leaned close so his lips brushed her ear, a sensation that sent pleasant shivers down her spine. "You look beautiful flushed like that; adds color to your pale skin." He pulled away and began to walk away but was stopped by a giggle. He turned to look at her with wonder. No way… She just laughed actually in my presence. The subordinates were not lying when they said her laugh was magical.

"Well… no one tells me much of anything with my brother chasing everyone off." She maintained a small smile and did not seem to notice she was coming closer to him. "You on the other hand know how everyone feels about you." She walked away with her clothes as she shouted over her shoulder. "Remember Madara-kun, we have a meeting tomorrow."

He groaned and rubbed his temples as a certain problem persisted. Our meetings will never the same again.

The next day…

Madara had difficulty sleeping due to the wonderful, but oh so wrong dream he had. The woman in his dreams was not complacent like the ones he might have preferred to dominate in the past but she held her own. She had no problem telling him that he could not or should not do something. A toss of black hair over the shoulder later and Akemi scowled. "Madara-sama," she waved her hand in front of the dazed Uchiha's face. "Are you listening to me?"

His eyes abruptly snapped back to reality and he stopped breathing for a second seeing how close the woman was to him. She tilted her head at his confused expression and Madara let go of any intellectual thought at that moment. He took a hold of her wrists and pinned her to a nearby tree. She squeaked in confusion until he pressed his lips against hers. He barely registered anything outside of the smaller body against his and the fact that her arms were embracing him and she was even kissing him back. He pulled away and smirked at her appearance as if she was out of breath. "I… things are different now."

She smiled as she pulled out the scroll for their meeting's agenda. "Of course they are Madara-kun but we still have these negotiations. This… just smoothes out the animosity does it not?" He rolled his eyes as they sat contently on the grass, examining the now unraveled scroll.

End Flashback

Everyone was perplexed when they saw Minori dragging out an unconscious Tobi out of their shared bedroom by his leg. Deidara laughed at the sight. "Did you knock him out? I remember taking him on a mission and he tried to hug me while sleeping, un." She smirked as Tobi stirred.

"Kicked him out when he crossed his half of the bed." Tobi sat up and stretched. She gave a smirk knowing that behind the mask, Madara was glowering at her. Pein just watched the display in silent awe at the fact that Tobi was not bouncing everywhere. He cleared his throat and looked at Minori.

"You will now be tested to see if you are worthy of being associated with Akatsuki." She smirked at looked at her nails.

"I assume I am good enough if I was sought out and forced in." Hidan laughed at her audacity while some of the members disapproved of her already present insubordination. Behind his mask, Madara had a tense smile.

"Itachi will test you. Follow me." Minori shot a glance at the younger Uchiha and beamed.

"This will be fun." Itachi raised a raven brow as he looked at her.

"Fun?" She laughed as they stopped at a glade outside and the other members took a set and began to relax.

"Surely you know what fun is… I would even accept a dictionary type word-for-word answer." Some of the others chuckled despite the glare they were all receiving. Pein looked at Minori and Itachi before nodding. She merely stood content as if watching the youth before her was enough to win.

Itachi glared at her. "Why are you not attacking? You are the one who needs to prove your worth here." Minori shrugged and stared disdainfully back.

"I could give a shit to be honest Itachi. I am not here for your benefit." Itachi blinked before starting a flurry of hand signs. Minori smiled in the face of a giant fireball and merely focused some chakra to her feet before she jumped. She started to run up the surface of the fireball to Itachi's bewilderment.

"How?" She smirked before jumping off and attempting to downward kick him with her leg aflame. He activated his Sharingan now, fully alert to any future movements she would do, as he dodged the flaming limb.

"Nothing to be concerned about." She tried to roundhouse kick him, but he caught her leg. Smirking, she placed more weight on the limb and pivoted to make her other leg come from above to attempt to strike. Again, Itachi blocked the kick and she smirked making hand signs while his arms were preoccupied blocking her legs.

"Katon: Zukokku no jutsu! (Fire style: Head Mincing Pain)." Itachi's eyes widened and he used his Karasu Bushin no Jutsu (Crow Clone Jutsu) to escape the powerful flame." Kakuzu smirked seeing the familiar technique.

Hidan scratched his head with his scythe and looked at his partner. "Hey shithead, isn't that one of the techniques those masks of yours use?" Everyone turned to Kakuzu who nodded.

"Amazing… she is capable of more than I gave her credit for." Tobi glared at Kakuzu behind his mask however.

"Tobi thinks that Minori-chan is strong and pretty!" How the hell does she know that technique unless…

Flashback

Akemi coughed looking at the scene. The shinobi in front of them was rather bothersome and it annoyed her. Being hunted down due to her last name was not a joy ride either but if anything; her current companion was not thrilled either. "He destroyed one of my hearts… so I am taking his."

She nodded as she watched the threads take off after the ANBU who thought chasing after Kakuzu for failing to kill the first Hokage was the task of the day. When this particular ANBU realized that the woman with Kakuzu was none other than Akemi Uchiha, he thought he would come back a hero. "I wish there was a cleaner method than that. Honestly, that is just sick." Kakuzu smirked as she rolled her eyes.

He placed his mask back where it belonged and sighed as the heart now beat happily within his own chest. "Don't complain; you got to copy that fire technique." She shrugged and looked at Kakuzu with sadness in her eyes.

"I do not think I can do this ninja stuff anymore; too many painful memories reside with that career." Kakuzu placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"What are you going to do now?" She raised an eyebrow and looked at him as if it was the most obvious thing. She rolled her eyes as she took off her headband and placed it within her robes.

"I do not know… I was thinking about the probably of becoming a cook…" Kakuzu laughed heartily and she furrowed her brows. "What in the seven hells is so funny?"

"Your cooking sucks ass… honestly you better be committed to this through the decades otherwise no sane human being will eat your food." She rolled her eyes and looked at him. "I have to report this… failure to my village. This will not go over well."

"I will start in the Wind Country and learn how to cook there. So I can travel with you on the way a little bit." he nodded and she bit her lip. "Why does everyone we care about have to die Kakuzu-kun?"

He raised an eyebrow questioningly. "I believe your clan is alive." She shrugged and for once, her eyes appeared to freeze.

"Their will to fight on has died. They are submissive now and… Madara-kun is gone now." Kakuzu paused to drink out of his canteen when he looked back at the young woman.

"I thought you were all for peace but now… You have become quite the little warmonger." She growled and shoved his shoulder.

"I wanted peace but not at the expense of the Uchiha pride and…"

End Flashback

Just as Minori dodged another fireball, Itachi sent another after her. "So damn predictable you know that Uchiha?" He glared at her and closed his eyes. Reopening them, the other members flinched seeing the Mangekyo.

Kisame stroked his chin thoughtfully evaluating the scene. "For Itachi-san to use his Mangekyo… on a little girl who claims she is not a kunoichi."

Minori's head whipped around and she shouted at Kisame. "I am not little girl!"

He snickered as Sasori noted something else. "She performs all her techniques flawlessly and also notice how her eyes dart around; almost as if she had the Sharingan." Nobody noticed Tobi tense up as he watched her fight. The last time he saw her fight…

Flashback

A month after the hot springs incident and so far, no one suspected anything different about their relationship thankfully. However, Madara became more paranoid security wise when it came to the woman in his arms. "Are you certain you were not followed?"

Akemi rolled her eyes as she looked into the dark gaze of Madara. "Yes yes… Those idiots know not to follow me and besides," she motioned to the space around them. There was a magnificent waterfall to the side of the cliff and the walls were quite steep. "Our meetings have become more isolated and secretive now."

Madara looked at her and decided she would not do anything stupid. He kissed her softly on the cheek before she pulled out the scroll and they began business. They were wrapping up their meeting when both of them tensed. "Akemi-sama…"

She looked at him carefully. For him to be polite means… She tossed shuriken where she felt a slight surge of chakra and heard a grunt indicating the projectiles have met their mark. She sighed seeing Waterfall ninja and noticed Madara had a katana out. "Who are you?"

"The leaders of the two different sides of the Uchiha clan have a relationship… interesting." Akemi reached into her kimono and gripped a kunai tightly. The ninja in front of her smirked. "Ah… even the woman knows how to fight."

Her eyes narrowed and she blinked allowed the Sharingan to claim her eyes. The ninjas in front of her backed up. One of the thugs turned to his boss, "I thought those peaceful Uchihas did not have Sharingan." He stopped talking as an elbow hit his gut and sent his flying. Akemi blinked apathetically at the shinobi and directed a question to Madara.

"What are you waiting for? They cannot be allowed to live with this knowledge." Madara nodded but inside he was perplexed. He knew she had the Sharingan but he knew that she hated holding weapons let alone killing others. Was he starting to influence her? She walked calmly to the ninja she had struck earlier and her grip tightened on her kunai.

End Flashback

Zetsu sniffed the air and smirked. "Blood… Blood has been spilt." The others shuddered but past all the smoke kicked up by the wind, they could not see the battlefield. Deidara used an explosion to force the dust away and they looked at the battlefield. Itachi's eyes were bleeding while Minori had hers closed.

"Tossing sand in my eyes was a dirty trick." She laughed and flashed a wide grin at the other Akatsuki members.

"Well… those eyes of yours changed and I knew I had to do something about it." Madara smirked behind Tobi's mask at her ingenuity.

Pein glanced at her and blinked in disdain. "To do that without bringing out significant jutsu makes us doubt Itachi's abilities."

Minori shook her head. "Itachi's abilities are just fine; mine are simply better." Pein raised an eyebrow as she walked over to Itachi and helped clean the blood off of his eyes. "Shut up and accept this help. Your kekkei genkai already puts strain on your eyes."

"What do you know about the Sharingan?" She smiled softly and dabbed at his eyes in an almost loving way that she knew Madara would be displeased about.

"I know enough about the Sharingan to counter it."