32.
The next day Izuna and Madara returned, side-by-side looking neutral as ever. Even when blind, Izuna still managed to keep his grin on. They came around four in the morning so no one was up besides the guards. Izuna yawned loudly and stretched his fingers.
"I think that I'm going to go and sleep some more, you go and see if the clan has managed to fall into ruin while you were absent." Madara tried not to cringe.
Just the idea of sitting behind the desk for hours doing nothing but signing documents was disturbing. An idea sparked in his mind and instead of going straight to his office Madara decided to take a small detour.
He remained alert the entire time to make sure that no one would see him. Stealthily he made his way through the dark hallways. The candles weren't lit until six in the morning.
He slid the door open quietly and locked it behind him. Madara wasn't surprised that Harue was out; the captain was a strong man and keeping him away from the fields would be a waste of talent.
Yuna's breathing was quiet and slow, but it was rhythmic and even. It gave Madara a feeling of comfort. Yuna's breathing was something he could predict, something he could even control to a certain extent. She wasn't going to change anytime soon.
He was so deep in thought that Madara didn't notice a pair of sleepy eyes looking up to him.
"You can see again."
The corner of Madara's mouth twitched when his train of thoughts was abruptly ended. Yuna sat up carefully, her eyes remaining fixed on Madara. She didn't dare to touch him or talk to him, afraid that it will break the comfortable air around them.
"How can you tell?"
His voice lacked the anger that Yuna was expecting. She leaned closer to him, her fingertips touching his warm cheek.
"You look balanced. Just a week ago you looked as if you were losing control." Yuna pulled her hand back but Madara caught it. His hand was freezing, but Yuna didn't pull away.
"You," he said with a sigh, "are still so foolish."
Madara smiled to her in a way that made Yuna's heart beat faster. It wasn't the feeling of love, but happiness.
"I missed you." She whispered quietly, and slowly Yuna moved closer to him and rested her head on Madara's chest.
His arm wrapped around her shoulders protectively. He didn't want to leave her all alone in the dark room.
Madara wanted to laugh at the irony.
When they were together, it was forced and now suddenly when they are forbidden to be together both parts longed for it.
"Were you ill recently?" Madara asked suddenly. A foreign scent was floating around Yuna and Madara couldn't figure out its origins until now. It was the smell of the ward. Yuna smiled nonchalantly, trying to brush it off.
"It wasn't anything serious, I just had a fever. They let me rest there for a few days and told me to take it easy for a few weeks." Madara planted a warm kiss on her forehead.
"Alright then, you go back to bed, stay warm and eat plenty. It's not good to catch anything weird during the cold months." The smile on her lips didn't budge when Madara gave Yuna one last look before he left her all alone in the darkness once more.
Yuna wished to kiss him with all her heart, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to contain herself, just like an alcoholic can't stop after taking that one drink. Yuna got back under the covers and she fell into a dreamless sleep almost instantly.
"She's like a phantom."
Madara raised his eyes from the papers on his desk with a questioning look. Izuna pranced into his office and closed the door behind him.
"Yuna's like your phantom. She stays in the background and no one really notices her yet she's the person who possesses all the knowledge."
Madara's chair creaked as he leaned back with a smug grin on his lips. Wasting time and walking in circles, Izuna almost specialised in that area. He could talk for hours and not really reveal anything important.
"Izuna, that's called a book, not a phantom." He observed amusedly how his little brother cringed like a small child and huffed.
"You never were an artistic child." Izuna mused and wandered around the office.
He touched a delicate figurine of a tiger, a gift from a lord from the deserts, and made its head fall off with a loud crash. Without even wincing Izuna's fingers found a white flower. Madara sighed and with a dramatic motion signed another document and put it aside.
"Is there a particular reason you came to bother me and destroy my belongings?" Madara asked with that same impatient tone he used on anyone who was around him longer than a minute. People generally bothered him while he was busy, which was all the time, and Izuna was on an entire different level of annoyance.
"It's not like you cared about that stupid tiger anyway."
"It's a matter of principle."
Izuna put the flower he had been touching back into the vase smoothly. Nothing fell, cracked, chipped or dissolved. A record, Madara thought mockingly.
"Yes, Chinatsu will come by soon and you have to talk things straight with her."
Madara's hand stopped for a moment, but the scribbling sound returned soon enough. He slammed yet another document on the continuously growing pile violently and put his pen down.
"Do we have a story set or am I telling her the truth?" He asked without sounding the least bit curious.
Izuna made his way to Madara's desk and leaned on it with a grim expression. He dodged the small paper ball Madara flicked in his direction with a sly smile. That man was probably a devil in disguise.
"You'll tell her the truth, there's no point in lying anyway. Not to her at least but you have to make sure she stays silent." Madara didn't hold his groan back.
"I might as well send a detailed letter to my dearest pen-pal Hashirama." Madara retorted sarcastically. It didn't matter that Izuna could no longer see, he still could visualise in his head what Madara looked like.
He picked up the pen again to finish some more paperwork before he loses the motivation for it.
Nope, it was gone.
"So both of you can have a sleepover, braid each other's hair and talk about gouging out eyes!" Izuna replied with a dreamy voice, hugging himself while making a kissing face.
Madara snapped his pen in half with a grossed grimace.
"If you don't get out of my sight in the next five seconds I can guarantee you that there will be some broken bones involved." He pressed through gritted teeth.
He could curse his little brother to the deepest pits of hell for acting so naturally and making light of this situation.
A tear, a scream, an insult… Any other reaction besides goofing around. To Madara, it felt as if he himself had given up his eyes. The guilt was eating him inside.
Izuna chuckled and waltzed to the door, swinging it open dramatically: "Not yours I hope? I won't take over your paperwork when you break your fingers."
Madara couldn't hear Izuna run away; his little brother was too stealthy for that. He got up to close the office door but Chinatsu beat him to it. She closed the door and locked it behind her, a disapproving frown on her face and her blood red lips curved into a scowl.
All of a sudden signing the endless mountain of papers seemed increasingly appealing. After all, he only had to write his signature.
Since regaining his sight, Madara had to admit that the Senju heiress was a sight for sore eyes.
"Well…well you finally made it home." Chinatsu formed the words slowly, making them sting. Madara sat on the edge of his table and nodded while inwardly cringing.
"I have to apologize but things have been hectic lately. You may ask me anything you want to know and I'll answer it all truthfully."
Madara held his composure like he always did around Chinatsu, even while apologizing. He couldn't smack her around like Yuna because Chinatsu reported straight to the Senju. He didn't even want to do it, ashamed for his behaviour months ago.
A strange silence fell between them along with a staring competition. Chinatsu snorted and shook her head with a small smile.
"You promise?" She asked playfully, not quite buying it.
Madara released the breath that he was holding with relief. She was probably far from being pleased, but it was enough for now.
"How about going out for dinner at seven? It'll be more private and I'm sure you want to get out of here as well."
Chinatsu didn't mask her surprise or her joy. She almost skipped over to Madara and planted a small kiss on his lips.
Unlike Yuna's kiss this seemed too…formal…forced. The sweet alluring scent of Chinatsu's perfume hit Madara like a tsunami. It fit the woman perfectly.
"Wonderful, I'll leave you to work then." Chinatsu walked out there with a smile on her lips and a small girly excitement in her chest, so far so good.
Madara remained seated behind his desk for the rest of the day, trying to catch up with his stupid papers. It gave him a perfect excuse to avoid talking to anyone.
The hours flew by and soon it was evening. Madara finished all of his work by precisely six thirty. He made a mental note to drop all of the signed papers to their owners tomorrow. Madara blew out the candle on his desk and locked his office before heading to his room.
He had almost forgotten that nearly a week had passed since he had slept there.
The compound looked beautiful in the dim light with lit candles and a huge heap of snow. It looked quite romantic in Madara's eyes.
"Girls love this kind of stuff." He muttered to himself.
Since Madara had a bit more than twenty minutes left he decided to inform Izuna about his future absence. He scanned the compound and wasn't surprised to sense Izuna's chakra in his room.
He didn't bother to knock and stepped in. Izuna was on the bed, his head hanging upside-down. Madara's stomach lurched when he saw the white bandage that covered Izuna's, now hollow, eye sockets.
"Oh my Madara, you seem to be alive. Chinatsu felt really angry when she came to your office." Izuna turned on his stomach and his trademark smile appeared.
Madara stepped inside and slid the door close before sitting on the ground, in front of Izuna.
"Well she fell for my magnificent charms and agreed to go out on dinner where she can interrogate all she wants." Madara boasted jokingly.
Before his marriages, he had been very popular among women. It was strange not to bring home a new woman every other night. After meeting Yuna he began to change from that cold person with no respect to someone more…human.
Around Yuna he could feel free because she understood him. She was the second person who could see what Madara wants, the first person being Izuna. The two shared the skill see all his faults and still like him.
"What are you going to do about your women, Madara?" Izuna asked, dropping the smile and turning the warm air chilly in a heartbeat. Madara hated that ability, mainly because it had a much more dramatic effect when Izuna did it.
"What do you mean?" Madara knew damn well what Izuna was talking about.
"This can't go on forever. You will be caught and Yuna will be executed or kicked out." Madara gritted his teeth, holding back the urge to punch a hole in the floor. Izuna seemed to notice that and he chuckled.
"If you're really that angry go and trash a room in the Kunisada residence. Yuna doesn't really mind as long as you don't start looking through anything." Madara rolled his eyes and poked Izuna's forehead.
"Idiot, I'm not going to destroy what belongs to her. About the two-wife thing…There is a possibility to escape that. It can only happen when Chinatsu requests a divorce. It can't be me because the Senju would take offence, but if Chinatsu herself goes to Hashirama and tells his dear brother that she wants to come home it just might work."
"The chances of that happening are non-existent you know that right?"
"It's not impossible; it just needs some time, lots of luck, patience and the right scenario."
"Why did you come here anyway?"
Madara got up smoothly, "To tell you that I'm going out, just in case anyone is looking for me."
He wasn't angry at Izuna, but more like angry at the world. When things didn't go the way Madara liked he got pissed off and then he'd start plotting.
There was no need to think about which woman to choose emotionally, but Madara wasn't a man driven by emotion. Most of his decisions were based on cold logic and that helped him through life. Logic never failed him, but women were anything but logical.
Madara sighed and tried to forget it for the time being because he had a wife to please.
He knocked on his bedroom door before entering so if Chinatsu were naked she could jump somewhere.
Quite the opposite, she was fully dressed, facing the mirror with her back to the door. He stood there, hiding his amazement behind a smug smirk.
Chinatsu looked stunning wearing a red silk dress that hugged her body, topping it off with a fur coat.
Madara saw her smile in the mirror. Her lips were red as usually, it suited the woman.
"You look stunning." He paid her a compliment. A smile adorned her face that clearly showed that she was very well aware of her qualities.
"Thank you sweets. Shall we go?" She said smoothly, offering her hand. Madara noted how long her fingernails had grown. He took it and together they left the compound.
"Where are we dining exactly?" She asked curiously. Madara had thought about it. At first he thought of taking her to the restaurant he once took Yuna because the food was really good there, but that just seemed wrong on several levels so he opted for something different.
"That is a closely guarded secret love," Chinatsu's grip on his hand tightened for a moment, but she relaxed quickly.
"You do seem to harbour a lot of secrets." She noted venomously.
Madara sighed sympathetically, "Unfortunately, yes I do."
Fake sympathy, but that's what he used a lot around women. He had grown tired of deceiving women, but Chinatsu was going to be the last woman he lied to… probably.
Chinatsu was smiling, and it wasn't the politically correct and polite smile she usually wore to mask her true emotions. She visibly relaxed as soon as they left the compound.
It was warm outside, warmer than usual. The streets were strangely quiet and only a few lonely souls were out on that beautiful night under the moon. The snow on which they walked looked blue under the moonlight.
"We're almost there." Madara said, tearing a hole into the silence, when he saw the restaurant ahead. Chinatsu looked like she was completely engulfed her own world. It felt as if she wanted to let go of Madara's hand and go dance in the snow and just run away from everything.
They entered the restaurant and were led to their table. Madara had already arranged everything so that they wouldn't have to order and the food was served when they arrived.
He sat down and picked up his chopsticks. Madara wasn't sure about Chinatsu but he was starving.
"So, what do you wish to know?" He asked before taking a large mouthful of noodles. Chinatsu didn't move for several minutes, trying to choose something to ask.
"Why was Izuna mad at you when you decided to battle?"
"Because I lost my eyesight there and he knew that it would go that way."
She seemed confused.
"You're not blind."
"No, not anymore."
"Why?"
He hoped that she wouldn't ask that. A futile hope.
"Because Izuna gave me his eyes."
That made her stomach lurch. Chinatsu lowered her chopsticks. Suddenly her appetite was gone. She observed how Madara calmly kept eating, completely unfazed by her presence or the topic of conversation.
"Literally?"
Madara's face remained blank.
"Yes, literally he took out his own eyes and gave them to me."
He tried not to sound sarcastic.
"So that's why you were away for so long…"
Madara sighed.
"Yes, both of us needed some time to recover."
It was so quiet in the restaurant. You couldn't hear anything from the kitchen, and even the three other lonely souls dining there were all silent.
"I see. Also there is one last question that I need to ask you before I have to discuss something completely different."
Madara took a large gulp of tea. It was only lukewarm much to his displeasure.
"Do you love me, or do you still love Yuna?"
He thanked the gods that it was only lukewarm. Madara calmly swallowed the tea, his eyes never leaving Chinatsu.
His mind was racing in the speed of lighting to decide how to proceed. He never really gave much thought about his feelings towards Yuna. Madara was not one to admit love.
"I've never loved Yuna. It was more like a mutual understanding and nothing more."
Another lie. One life after another… Almost.
He was not going to confess his love to Yuna or anything, but he was certain that she was the woman he wanted to spend his life with.
So was that love? Or just security?
"I promised to answer truthfully, so please don't feel offended but I don't love you."
Her face was unreadable. Anger?
"Hashirama has plans to create some sort of a…village with the Uchiha and all the clans you two have conquered to seal the peace finally. He wants to start negotiating with the clans next year and finish everything by midsummer. So in January be prepared to visit my dear brother again. He wants to unify us under one rule, an attempt to stop the warring."
He deeply despised surprises like these. There was only two weeks left until New Years, plenty of time to prepare.
"I can't wait to discuss it with Hashirama."
"Also since you don't love me, I want a divorce after his plans are pushed through. There's no point in wasting my youth and beauty on someone who doesn't desire it."
Madara couldn't keep his triumphant smirk hidden...
Man eater.