Naruto (c) Masashi Kishimoto
Note: Ran is Madara and Yuzuki's middle child.
"Oh, wow," Yuzuki beamed when she saw the beautiful blossoming sakura trees around the house. "They are so pretty."
"What's pretty?" Madara asked, coming into the room and soundlessly walking up to his wife. "You?" he purred resting his hands on her hips, pressing his body up against hers. "I already knew that." His deep chuckle vibrated against her back.
"No," she pulled free from him, giving him a slight scowl before turning her attention back to the blossoming trees. "The sakura. They are so beautiful this year," Yuzuki gave a whimsical sigh.
"They're just flowers," Madara gave an indifferent shrug before stooping to shake their nine- and eight-year-old sons awake. "I'm still upset that you named my son after a stupid flower."
"We should have a hanami," Yuzuki tilted her head up to look at the clear blue sky, "it's a nice day for one too." She seemed to ignore the comment about her choice of name for Ran.
"A what?" Madara looked at her, a puzzled expression on his face.
"A hanami?" Yuzuki blinked, "Don't tell me you've never been to a hanami before?"
"No, I haven't been to one of these things before, what is it?" Madara asked, folding his arms over his chest. Katsuro and Ran stirred before sitting up.
"Morning," the boys mumbled, rubbing their eyes sleepily.
"Morning sweetheart," Yuzuki smiled at her sons, before kneeling before them and tucking some hair out of their faces. Madara scowled, not liking that she was ignoring him.
"Katsuro, Ran, go eat breakfast and then go to the training field, start on your warm up routine, I'll meet you out there in a few minutes."
"Okay," the boys yawned before getting up and heading towards their shared room to get dress.
"Must you train them on such a nice day?" Yuzuki watched her eldest son leave. "Hikari has been asking to train as well."
"Hikari's education is your responsibility, I will not train her. Now what is a hanami?" Madara glowered at his wife.
"Just because she has weak lungs and tends to be a bit sickly doesn't mean you have to hate her Madara," Yuzuki replied bitterly. Madara rolled his eyes.
"I never once said I hated her," he squeezed Yuzuki's shoulders, which caused her to look at him with sad eyes. "I love my daughter, more than anything. But I will not teach her skills which will only lead her to get her killed. Now, I'll be more than willing to teach her statecraft and battle planning like I do with Katsuro and Ran, but I will not teach her combat skills."
"She wants to be a kunoichi," Yuzuki muttered.
"If she wants to serve Uchiha, she should focus on court etiquette. I'll have more use for her as a spy within a noble's palace than her on the battlefield," Madara replied. "Now, what is a hanami? You know I don't like repeating myself."
"Fine," Yuzuki looked to the pale pink flowers that covered the trees. "A hanami is a flower viewing party, we always had one every year when I was growing up. It was sort of like a day off. We would prepare a big feast the day before and have a picnic beneath the blooming sakura trees. My brother would sometimes try to woo other noblewomen by inviting them to a yozakura, he failed a lot."
"Hn," Madara looked at the blooming trees, "no wonder I've never heard of it. We don't do frivolous things like that in Uchiha."
"But... you simply must! Please, for me! It's been nine years since I last attended a hanami. I've never asked for one before," she looked at him. "Please, it'll be a nice little break for all of us." She rested her hands on his firm chest and gazed into his black eyes pleadingly. "Please?" she pecked his lips.
Madara scowled. "Hn," he looked away, a slight tint of pink coloring his cheeks. He hated when Yuzuki manipulated him. "Fine," he pressed his forehead against hers, "you can have your hanami, but it'll be day after tomorrow. You have two days to prepare it."
"Thank you!" Yuzuki hugged him before hastily making her way towards the kitchens to inform the cooking staff. Madara shook his head before looking at the doorway, smirking when a black haired head ducked quickly back into the shadows. The powerful Uchiha shinobi walked up to his hiding daughter.
"Gotcha!" Hikari shouted, wrapping her arms around her father's waist. "I snuck upon you!" she grinned, her smile missing her two front teeth on top.
"Yes you did," Madara smiled, scooping her up in his arms.
"I'm gonna be a great kunoichi," Hikari smiled. Madara felt his heart pang with guilt, instead he just chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Can I watch you, Katsuro-nii-san and Ran-nii-san?" she asked.
"Go eat breakfast then," he set her down and gave her a gentle shove in the direction of the dining room before heading to his study. He sighed as he sat down behind his desk and undid a scroll. He casually read the contents of the document before his eyes widened. The noble wanted the Uchiha army present in two days. "The hanami..." Madara muttered, and hated the fact that he was a mercenary for hire. Sighing, he got up and made his way to the kitchens.
"What?" Yuzuki's eyes grew wide as she looked at her husband. "But... the hanami!" Yuzuki protested.
"I know," Madara looked away. "I'm sorry but it can't be helped. We have to leave in two days."
"It's not fair!" Yuzuki bit her lip, tears threatening to spill over but she hastily wiped them away. "It's not fair, that when I try to do something together as a family, the stupid war gets in the way!" Yuzuki glared at her husband.
"Uchiha always called sakura the blood blossom," Madara replied, gazing out at the pastel pink blossoms, "because wars always came shortly after they bloomed. Anyways, I came to ask you if it's possible to have the hanami tomorrow?" Madara looked at her.
"T-tomorrow? But... I don't know if there will be enough time to get the seafood I wanted. Scallops, shrimp, clams, oysters, squid..." Yuzuki muttered.
"It doesn't matter, what would you rather have: fancy seafood or the family together?" Madara asked.
"The family," she looked away.
"Then tomorrow," Madara said.
"Okay," Yuzuki whispered. "Thank you," she looked at Madara. "Oh, and Madara?" the Uchiha tilted his head in puzzlement at his wife. "I'm... not mad at you. I understand that you have to go to war to protect us and the clan, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."
The Uchiha leader gifted her with a meaningful look, "I know," he whispered, before going out to train his son.
Madara woke up the following morning when he felt a small body jab tiny knees into his gut. "OHAYO GOZAIMASU!" Hikari shouted, beaming down at her father. Madara groaned as he gently shoved his daughter off of his stomach.
"Ohayo," he muttered, slowly sitting up to look at the six-year-old girl. "How many times has Daddy told you not to do that?"
"Uhm..." Hikari blinked before holding up her hand, "this many!" she beamed at him. Madara chuckled softly.
"Then you should know that Daddy doesn't like it when you wake him up like that," Madara's voice was soft yet stern. Hikari hung her head, a pout on her lips.
"Sorry Daddy," she muttered.
"Good girl," he ruffled her hair, "now just remember not to wake Daddy up like that again. But, you can wake up your brothers like that."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Okay!" Hikari grinned at him before running off to her brothers' room. Madara chuckled, only to sigh in content when he felt a pair of warm arms wrap around his chest.
"Hmm... you're warm," Yuzuki muttered, kissing his shoulder. Madara chuckled as he half turned around in her embrace. He cupped her cheek, his eyes dark with emotion as he kissed her.
"Heh," he mumbled against her lips, "I like it when you have your hair down like this," he nuzzled her nose gently before getting up and getting dressed. "Today's the hanami right?"
"Yes, I was thinking we have it around noon," Yuzuki lied back down, snuggling into the warm blankets of their futon.
"You need to get up then," Madara chuckled, rubbing her side.
"Hmph," she rolled over.
"I thought you wanted to cook some of the meals?"
"I can let the kunoichi-in-training to that," Yuzuki looked at him with sleepy eyes, "you wore me out last night."
Madara gifted her with a cocky grin, "Glad to know I still got it." He kissed her long and deeply before leaving the room, he could hear Yuzuki's soft chuckle as he left.
"Mama, the sakura are so pretty!" Hikari squealed as Yuzuki laid out the blanket beneath a blooming cherry tree. "They also smell really nice!" The young girl held out her hand and caught a perfect blossom in her palm, deftly she wove it into her hair and looked back at her mother. "Mama, aren't a pretty?"
"Of course you are," Yuzuki smiled at her daughter before setting the picnic basket down in the center. "Now why don't you help me get the food set out before your father and brothers get here, hmm?"
"Oh! I have to show Daddy first," Hikari informed Yuzuki and ran down the slope to where her father and brothers were trudging along, Katsuro and Ran grumbling protests the entire way. "Daddy!" Hikari shouted, running up to her father, the pastel pink blossom standing out against her raven wing colored locks. "The sakura in my hair is pretty right?"
Madara looked at his daughter, noting the blossom in her hair. He gifted her with a warm smile. "Of course sweetheart, you always look lovely," he told her softly.
Hikari blushed cutely at the compliment from her father, before fixing her eyes on her brothers. "Neh, Nii-chan? Do you think I'm pretty?"
"Hn," Katsuro glared at her, "Dad, can we go train?" Ran nodded his head in agreement before he stuck his tongue out at Hikari. The young girl quickly returned the gesture.
"No, today we are going to relax and enjoy the beauty of nature."
"But I want to get better at my jutsu, so I can come with you next time."
"And I need to get better at my jutsu too!" Ran butted in.
"I wanna come too!" Hikari shouted.
"No," Madara headed towards his wife, "to all three of you. Now come, your mother put a lot of work into this. It would be rude to disappoint her."
"Yes, Father!" the three children chimed before following Madara to the spot where their mother had chosen for the hanami.
"It's so nice today," Yuzuki smiled looking up at the blue sky. The wind picked up slightly, scattering sakura petals into the wind and coating the air with their sweet scent. "Don't you think so Madara?"
"Hn," he nodded in agreement before sitting down, resting his back against the dark brown trunk of the blossoming tree. He tilted his head up to give the illusion that he was admiring the pink flowers in the boughs of the tree, but in reality his obsidian eyes were focused on his wife.
He watched her as she rounded up their three children, chiding them into behaving and sitting still long enough for her to remove the food from the basket she had brought with her, sometimes snapping at them when one or the other did something to annoying the other. Madara allowed a lazy smirk to spread across his lips as he allowed his eyes to drift close, enjoying the warmth of the spring sun on his skin. He couldn't help but be proud of his sons, and he couldn't deny the fact that his daughter was the light of his life. "Madara," Yuzuki's voice brought him back to reality.
"Hm?" he looked at her, his head tilted to the side slightly.
"Here, eat," she pressed a bento box into his hands, along with some chopsticks. "Katsuro, mind your manners. Just because we aren't at the table doesn't mean you don't have to have good manners. And Ran no slouching. Sit up straight, a shinobi doesn't have poor posture."
"Yes, Mom," the boys grumbled. Hikari squared her shoulders in an effort to show her brothers up in realm of table manners.
"This is rather good," Madara mumbled, picking up a thin slice of lightly vinegar cucumber. "We should do this every year."
"You mean it?" Yuzuki looked at her husband. Katsuro rolled his eyes and Ran made a face. Hikari shot them both a swift indignant glare.
"Of course I mean it," he gave her a small smile, his eyes speaking volumes. He pulled her close, "plus I have a little surprise for you tonight." He kissed her throat lightly before going back to his meal, smirking when she blushed cutely. Hikari blushed and giggled, while her brothers mimed puking and gagging.
"I wanna marry someone romantic like Daddy!" Hikari declared. Madara choked on his rice.
"It's a little early to be thinking about marriage sweetheart," he said after swallowing. "Besides I thought you wanted to be a kunoichi?"
"Oh," Hikari pouted, unsure of what she wanted to do more. "Can I do both?"
"We'll see dear," Yuzuki gifted her daughter a loving smile.
"I don't want to get married, I don't like girls," Katsuro declared. Madara chuckled softly at his son's brash declaration.
"Same here! I don't want to get married to an icky girl," Ran sneered.
"You may change your mind, one day Katsuro-chan, you too Ran-chan," Yuzuki informed him.
"Nuh-uh! I'm never gonna get married!" Katsuro smirked, "I'm gonna be a great ninja like Dad! I'll be legendary just like him!"
"Me too! I'm gonna be a better ninja that you, though Nii-san!" Ran looked at his brother with a smirk.
"Wanna bet!" Katsuro's eyes flashes with a competetive fire.
"Of course you will," Madara ruffled his sons' hair. "You are my sons after all. It's only natural you'll be great like me."
"Yeah, I'll get my Sharingan and then I'll get the Mangekyou Sharingan! I'll be so strong that not even Senju Hashirama can defeat me! Just like you, Dad!" Katsuro declared.
"No, I'll get my Sharingan and then I'll get the Mangekyou Sharingan! I'll be so strong that not even Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama can defeat me! Just like Dad!" Ran boasted, jabbing his thumb into his chest.
"That's my boys," Madara ruffled their hair, a proud smirk on his face.
"Well, I wanna be strong too!" Hikari shouted, wanting to get praised like her brothers. Ran and Katsuro glanced at her, both making annoyed faces in her direction. She glared back at them, and smirked then they broke eye contact with her.
"You'll be strong," Madara smiled at her, "you already are so much stronger than you were before. Just keep up with your studies and you'll be smarter than your brothers."
"Really!" Hikari's eyes grew wide as a smirk blossomed on her lips, while Katsuro and Ran pouted. "I'm smarter than both of my brothers?"
"Of course you are," Madara smirked. "Didn't you know that girls are always smarter than boys?"
"Hey!" Katsuro and Ran protested while Hikari giggled as her father lifted her into his lap. "I'm smart too," Katsuro grumbled.
"Yeah, I'm not dumb," Ran pouted.
"Of course you two aren't," Madara nodded, "it's just that Hikari is smarter."
"Hn."
"Now, now," Yuzuki giggled, butting into the friendly banter. "Katsuro, Ran, that just means you two need to get smarter."
"Oh," Katsuro blinked, "okay! I'll do that!"
"Tch, I'll be smarter than Katsuro and Hikari combined."
"Nuh-uh! I'll be smarter than you, Dad and Hikari combined!" Katsuro smirked.
"That's my boys," Madara ruffled his sons' hair affectionately. Yuzuki smiled and leaned against Madara, watching as Hikari wormed her way free and began to chase her brothers in a game of tag.
"They're growing up so fast," she whispered.
"I know," he nodded in agreement, pride shining in his eyes as he watched his three children tumble in the bright green grass of spring. "They're the future of this clan," he whispered.
"They miss you when you go to war."
"I'm sure they do," Madara nodded in agreement. "But they know that I have to go, in order to protect them."
"I know, and I know too. But like I told you yesterday, just because I know and accept it as fact doesn't mean I have to like it."
"True," he agreed. "Just like I don't like leaving you here by yourself."
"I'm not by myself," Yuzuki giggled, a teasing glint in her eyes as she looked up at her husband, "I have Kensuke, Takeyuki, and Yuichi with me. They keep my company when you are gone for months a time."
"Woman," Madara's voice was cold and dangerous, his Sharingan threaten to spill into his eyes. "You are mine. No other man is allowed to touch you."
"I know, I know," she looked up and cupped his cheek, "I just like teasing you."
"Hn," he pulled away from her touch not happy, but his frown softened when he felt Yuzuki's lips against his cheek. "We better get back, I have some documents I need to take care of before leaving tomorrow."
"Okay," Yuzuki sighed. "Katsuro! Ran! Hikari! Help me pack up, we're going home," she called to the three children playing in the grass.
"Okay!" they chimed and ran back to help their mother.
Yuzuki sighed as she gathered her sleeping clothes, reading to head to the bath. She glanced out at the clear spring night, with the stars shining brightly and the full moon casting the world in it's silvery light. The wind blew through sakura trees again, scattering their petals into the night air. "Yuzuki," a soft voice called from outside. Curious, the noblewoman walked out to the veranda only to meet the gaze of her husband. A rolled blanket tucked beneath his arm and his other hand out stretched, waiting for her to take it.
"Madara... what's the meaning of this?" Yuzuki asked, her breath caught in her throat.
"I told you I had a surprise for you before I left, now take my hand," he gifted her with a boyish grin, a mischievous glint in his dark eyes.
"Okay," grinning Yuzuki took his hand. He smirked and pulled her into his embrace. The man chuckled and scooped her up bridal style and headed away from the house, following a path by moonlight that only he seemed to know.
They walked for a while, through the nearby bamboo thicket until they came to a small clearing where one lone sakura tree was growing, it's pink blossoms nearly white in the moon's glow. "Oh... wow," Yuzuki's face lit up. "Why didn't you tell me about this spot? We could've had our hanami here!" she chided him.
"Because I had to save this spot," Madara replied cryptically, setting his wife down, her nervously shifted from foot to foot. Madara tossed the blanket onto the ground before he pulled her into his lap as he rested his back against the bark.
Yuzuki wedged herself between his legs and rested her back against his chest. Madara wrapped his arms around her chest to pull her close to him and keep her like that, never wanting to let her go. Yuzuki rested her hands against his, only to shiver slightly when she felt his chap lips against her nape. "Madara?" she asked softly, afraid to brake the stillness around them. Madara simply squeezed her tighter, not trusting himself to speak and share with her all that was in his hair. And Yuzuki knew, that he loved her and that it pained him just as it did her whenever he left. They stayed like that, under the moon and stars, just enjoying each other's presence.
Meh... another MadaYuzu oneshot.
I'm ending it now because I'm not sure how to actually end it without getting super mushy. All in all I hope you enjoy it. ^^
Ran and Katsuro are extremely competetive. Especially when it comes to outdoing the other. Madara finds it amusing since it reminds him of himself and Izuna when they were children.
Sanguinary Toxicity