9.
"What are you staring at?" asked Madara, growing annoyed with Yuna who was sitting right across him, drawing a frown from her. It had already been a week since the attack and there still wasn't an answer to it all. No solution and the situation was agitating. The clan was growing anxious and so was Madara, despite his perfect efforts to cover it up. It was enough to fool everyone else, but Yuna was around him when he was resting.
She was always there when his guard was down, when he was too fatigued to force anything. Everything Madara did, all of his actions were carefully calculated, and weighting the pros and the cons and it didn't pay off to cover up his worry.
The autopsies revealed only a little. It appeared that their food was drugged before their deaths. The clansmen were running through the case again and again, but food poisoning was too common to trace back to any specific clan.
The pressure and demand for answers was taking a toll on Madara. Yuna expected him to be raging, pouring it all out on the only person who is helpless to retaliate, yet the week was tranquil. Madara did still glare at her, they argued once, but he never raised his hand against her.
Madara was growing impatient. Yuna was still stubbornly staring, lips closed tightly, refusing to answer.
"Is there anything you want me to do for you?" he asked, rephrasing the question this time. Yuna snapped out of her small trance, quickly making something up to avoid his irritation. Asking Madara 'Why won't you beat me anymore?' didn't sound very...appealing.
"Is there a way I could see the scrolls concerning the Sharingan? As your wife it would be uncomfortable for me around others if I don't know about your bloodline or history."
Her request was simple, not exactly polite and Yuna managed to choose the worst possible time for this. Madara's delicate eyebrow rose, eyes clouded with suspicion. Why did she want to find out about the Sharingan just now when enemies had appeared? It was a silly thought, but not implausible.
Well, Yuna personally wouldn't be responsible but...maybe conspiracy? The again, Mamoru would've reported any strange behaviour to him straight away. It couldn't be his wife.
For a moment Yuna was quite sure that he was going to refuse. Madara's eyes closed nonchalantly for a moment before he picked up his cup from the table and took a sip.
"Go ahead. Ask Mamoru to take you to the library that concerns the clan." Yuna's eyebrow rose and her head tilted to the side.
Madara's actions were beyond confusing. She could barely follow his trail of thoughts on normal days but...
Her food had remained untouched; she had been lacking an appetite for a while now. Somewhere in the back of her mind a voice told Yuna that she will come to regret this decision, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to lift the bits of rice into her mouth.
"Has Madara noticed that he is extremely out of character lately?" asked Yuna with the innocent look she knew Madara despised. If he was displeased, the man didn't let it show.
His eyes were looking away from her, away from the world. Without a warning Madara got up and walked over to Yuna. He leaned down and briefly pressed his lips against hers, drawing a surprised gasp from her, before he left wordlessly.
Yuna's hand slammed against the table as a blush was already covering her cheeks.
"Don't walk out on me like that!" She shouted after him, "You could at least pretend that we're adults," but the voice of reason was ignored.
Yuna's eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms on her chest for a moment before she snapped up from the ground and went back inside. Since reading books wasn't much of a flamboyant activity she tied her hair to a low bun and walked out of the room. As expected Mamoru was guarding outside the door, face blank as always.
"Would you lead me to the library that concerns the clan?" she asked softly. Yuna noticed something in his eyes change, but it was only for a brief second. It was the same spark of suspicion that Madara had, and he reached the same conclusion that the clan head. Without a word, silence seemed to be a common trait amongst the Uchihas, Mamoru walked ahead with Yuna following him.
As a mistress, meaning concubine, not many duties were pushed to her, leaving her with countless of hours to explore the mansion and learn the infrastructure. As Madara's wife, there wasn't much that was actually prohibited.
That didn't change the fact that the Uchiha compound was so big it was beyond reasonable and their interior decorator had a tendency to be lazy. While everything looked beautiful, tasteful and polished, it also looked the same and the halls repeated themselves. It was a smart tactical movement for foreign intruders not familiar with the layout.
She had memorized the way to Madara's office, bathrooms and a few other locations. The first location she didn't use though, Yuna merely learned the way to avoid the destination. It wasn't exactly her purpose of life to be glued to Madara's hip, but somehow the compound that was too big, was too small for the two because they bumped into each other, or he came to visit her every now and then.
The visits were always brief and their purpose was unknown. Madara's face was decorated with a small smirk on his lips whenever he pranced into Yuna's general direction. It was cryptic - both mocking and kind of sneaky at the same time.
Mamoru stopped in front of a room with a grand set double doors, decorated with the Uchiha crest, painted all over them. Yuna didn't wait for him to say anything and walked forward confidently, placing both hands on the doors and pushed them open.
Yuna wasn't surprised to find a room filled with scrolls. The place was clean like expected, impeccably organised with no scroll out of place, but nothing could hide the lovely scent of old parchment that smacked her right in the face. She closed the doors softly behind her.
The room didn't have any windows, but the lamps were lit, giving it a warm glow. She looked around with a small smile on her lips, feeling right at home. Libraries were something close to her heart – knowledge and art all in one.
Yuna jumped when an Uchiha man appeared from behind a shelf. The genetic traits of pale skin and dark hair was apparent in him, but the man's skin looked more transparent from his lack of exposure to the sun. He was short, just a bit shorter than Yuna. He bowed with a small smile on his lips.
"My lady, what brings you here?" He asked politely. Yuna smiled back; at the same time wondering was he actually respecting her or just wanted to look good, but she didn't dwell over it long.
"I'm looking for scrolls about the Sharingan and its history," she said carefully, keeping her eyes steadily focused on the man's face to decipher any hidden reactions. There was surprise on his face and he didn't even try to hide it. Yuna let a small laugh escape her lips and waved her hands.
"Madara knows that I'm looking into the clan's history. He advised me to come here," She said, in a weak attempt to ease the tension and suspicions of the man. He merely smiled and shook his head, still not having introduced himself.
"My apologizes, it is not my business to inquire about Yuna-sama's decisions." The man said with a soft tone. He disappeared between the shelves again. Yuna heard him move around for a while before he came back with a number of scrolls, ancient and seemingly brittle from wear.
"Please follow me my lady. There is a place for you to find solitude and quiet in the back." He beckoned. Yuna nodded and followed him. The light of the candle gave her skin a golden glint, sun-kissed even.
She took a deep breath in before letting it all out once again. Mamoru was going to be so bored standing there beside the door.
"When is anybody going to give me some answers?" Madara yelled and slammed his fist on the table. It made the men behind the various tables jump and attempt to hide their fidgeting. The only one who didn't even flinch was Izuna who was smiling sweetly. When the room fell silent Izuna sighed once more and turned to the group of men.
"I think that we're done here for today. Continue following any leads that may turn up and if anyone notices anything that could help us please report it to me or Madara, no need to hesitate." Izuna said with his friendly voice, knowing very well that those men would be too nervous to approach Madara directly. Perhaps the ambitious ones might…Not that this wasn't a waste of resources. It was unlikely that they could find anything if even Izuna's own little minions couldn't dig up anything reliable.
The men in the room scrambled up before bowing and leaving quickly. They could tell that the happy days of Madara's tranquillity were over. The ominous, weighty aura of the void that Madara omitted was enough to make anyone, with the exception of Izuna, a little unsure.
The youngest brother waited for the last of the men to be out of reach before speaking up. Madara hadn't moved from his position – his fist was still in the little cavity that he made.
"Judging from your bad temper you have an idea who might be responsible." Izuna stated with a relaxed tone. Madara's eyes flashed to him before he turned away without responding him. Izuna sighed and leaned back in his chair, annoyed by the long meeting. It was causing back problems!
"That isn't the only thing that is bothering you," he continued the monologue, waiting for Madara to snap and spill the beans. Against all odds his bad tempered brother remained motionless.
"Could it be that you're developing a liking towards Yuna?" Izuna asked with a hint of amusement in his voice. It was a dangerous game he was playing and even Madara could feel that his little brother was tense, ready to leap at any sign of an assault. Kin or not – Madara's mood, along with the extra pressure was enough to make even Izuna feel on edge.
"Well you have turned a little soft lately..." said Izuna jokingly, but that was the last straw for Madara.
It only took a flick of the man's wrist to take the table and slam it against the wall, leaving only splinters and debris. Izuna sighed, imagining the anxiety Madara's actions were causing the clansmen.
"I was joking you know, but could it be that she's slowly growing on to you. There's nothing to be ashamed about that since you are going to be together until one of you dies."
He paused for a moment.
"Though you probably destroyed whatever chance you had before you married." Izuna continued. He knew that Madara wasn't going to hate him for laying out the facts.
"She has already noticed that I'm being softer to her, but she isn't growing on to me. I simply calmed down."
Izuna snorted. It was just a single snort before he burst into laughter, earning several glares from Madara, but that didn't stop him. It only turned him on more.
"Can't you hear what you're saying? You're claiming that you are not angry anymore on some random person. You're always pissed off because of some random person. That is called denial my dear Madara that you're in right now. It's obvious that you're softer to her because you're beginning to like her, slowly but surely."
The large grin plastered on Izuna's face was silly enough to draw a snort from Madara, who figured it best to drop the subject entirely.
"You probably know which clan I'm suspecting. It's a very slim possibility but...it's still there. Even though they have no reason to...but everyone gets greedy at some point."
His words were nearly a mumble; Madara's train of thought didn't really form a coherent sentence.
The decision to drop Madara's love life and focus on the matter at hand drew a disappointed frown from Izuna.
"Yes, they are a very unlikely candidate...I could send some of my spies if you wish...maybe break in to get some info, but it is going to take time if we want to be delicate and not let this get out. I don't want to risk an all-out war, nor do I wish to lose my agents...Though the war is inevitable…"
Izuna got up and so did Madara, their meeting concluded. They heard steps hurrying towards the meeting room, probably someone to clean up the mess Madara created.
"Go, send your spies, the very best, but if it goes sour then this is on your neck," Madara warned him.
Izuna put on his usual smile and tilted his head to the side. When his eyes opened there was a glint in them. It was mischievous, dangerous and at the same time agitated and anxious. Izuna didn't say a word and simply turned around and left. Madara didn't even want to know what was that fox plotting, but it was probably going to be unpleasant for everyone.
When he was out of the door Madara heard him talk to the maid.
"He's in a nasty mood by the way." Izuna warned the poor woman playfully. Madara just snorted and crossed his hands on his chest.
I am not warming up, he stated firmly, reassuring himself.
Yuna has spent the entire day, reading and studying different scrolls. So immersed in reading that she hadn't reacted to anything the entire time. It perked her curiosity when she heard the library keeper welcome someone else.
"Yes, my lady is right at the back Madara-sama," she heard the keeper's muffled words, her stomach dropping at the sound of Madara's steps coming towards her general direction, and it didn't take him long to reach her. His eyes were unreadable, but they didn't look angry, allowing his wife to take a breath of relief.
"Have you found out enough?" He asked her shortly. Yuna smiled softly and nodded.
"There is still much for me to learn. The Uchiha clan has a long and colourful history." Madara felt the urge to roll his eyes. Of course the Uchiha has a long history they are the biggest and most badass clan in the entire world. Besides all of those titles they are also an old clan, even though Madara was the first real leader that united the clan into one, and the youngest.
He lifted Yuna up, gripping her shoulders softly, she didn't protest but there was certain awareness in her eyes.
"Go get dressed up. We're going out tonight." Madara stated. It was just a momentary idea that he thought of shortly before arriving that the library. Yuna looked at him with her eyebrow raised.
"What, we're doing dating now so you could show off your wife or something?"
Madara smirked softly, glad that she picked up the message.
"Exactly, now go and become pretty."
Edited, first of 2015! Happy new years everyone.