The dogs were out, sniffing and searching for the runners. I had my brother beside me, Blade Uchiha in the lead and Ro Uchiha up in the tree branches above us. Ro and Blade were the Uchiha's best tracking ninja and both trained our mutts to follow scents. They were large assets to the Uchiha, but were idiots outside of Shinobi life.

I had to hand it to them though, they were quick. Already we had crossed two names off the list of five. At this rate, we just might make it home before midnight.

"Madara, up ahead. We found Futaku." Ro announced. I readied my weapon. You don't betray the Uchiha; even if we have an idiot leading us...

I paced the floor, I knew I shouldn't be as worried as I was but my burning apprehension was rapidly dissolving my patience. I am married to one of the most feared men in the surrounding warring nations.

I should not doubt him.

My hesitant trust in his skill is disgraceful.

A wife should be certain of her husband.

Although, as I reasoned it in my mind; it wasn't a fear for his safety that concerned me but a selfish fear for my own. I hadn't the slightest sense of panic over Madara's leave, but if he were to never return my assured position with the Uchiha would dissolve as quickly as I could deliver this baby.

I just need to relax. He promised to take care of me, and he will! I lied down on the bed and closed my eyes briefly. For once it was silent, there were no woman screaming across the hall as my brother-in-law "fucked" them without the slightest regard for my peace and quiet and my husband wasn't snoring in my ear as he made me hot and sweaty in his imprisoning embrace. As I once found these things annoying, I now missed them. Having the noise and mayhem was a sign that I was safe, that there were men around me who wouldn't think twice about killing someone for me.

I really take advantage of Madara don't I? I should be grateful that he would go to the depths of Hell to keep me pure and protected. I smiled over the thought, although I have the strangest feeling that this new found appreciation will disappear the second he walks through the door.

I sat up and grabbed blindly in the dark for a candle. Cross legged on the bed and with the stick of wax in hand I closed my eyes. Fire, fire, fire, without much effort the wick ignited and brightened up a small portion of the room. This is getting easier.

The Shinju book that I had been making progress on sat over the top of the end table ready to broaden my psyche further. I didn't know whether my imagination had become infected with some pregnant crazy hormone or if these were real memories. Regardless of the facts, I was bored and in sore need of entertainment. Be it crazy hormones or strange blasts from the past, this book was a sure way to get my mind off my husband.

Don, check.

Dorian, check.

Futaku, check.

Toro, I watched Izuna thrust his Katana through the traitor's heart. I smiled proudly, double check.

All we needed now was Zuzaku Uchiha, and our tracker Ninja were on the hunt for him as we speak. "Come on Izuna, we need to catch up to the dogs." Izuna inflamed the body with a low burning fire ball that he swiftly blew from him mouth. The body gave into the fire that tainted it with destruction. Uchiha's were born into a clan of fire, and through that fire we would leave. We ignited the corpses to destroy our Kekkei-Genkai so the clan's secrets would stay within the clan.

"Alright, we're good to go." Izuna sheathed his sword and ran behind me down the grass path.

Bella's probably freaking out right now. This is the longest- and farthest I've ever been away from her. Fuck, leaving for war is going to drive her nuts… The days were counting down before we were to leave for the battlefield, and as much as I wanted to pretend she was the one who would miss me- in truth, subconsciously I had reversed the situation. I knew, but would never admit how much I was going to miss my wife.

Startled, I seized my slumbering and jolted awake. I was in the middle of a Posy field, every flower was of a different shade of red. They covered the Shinju's garden fully, "I could have sworn there was only grass here before." I looked up in admiration of the God-like tree in its petrified state. I've taken the power of a God, what does that make me?

"Princess, there you are. We've been looking everywhere for you." I turned to see my guards running towards me. Slowly one by one they halted in their set path towards me, "Princess?" I wiped my mouth clean of the red syrup that had dripped from the fruit. It was sticky and smelt of death.

One guard, the tallest of them, stepped out before the others. He knelt down beside me and held out a handkerchief so I could clean myself properly. "Princess Kaguya, your hair has lost its color… and your eyes…. They've turned red."

I knew by eating the Shinju's fruit something about my body would change. "I've eaten the fruit of the Gods."

They looked to me in horror, one by one gasps came from my their mouths. All of them were horrified but the man who had kindly handed me his handkerchief. He smiled, "then you are our Queen."

"Where is he, damnit?" I snapped at my subordinates.

Ro and Blade shuddered at my shouting and looked to the floor in shame, "it looks like he made it to the Senju." Ro announced regretfully. Most the men in the Uchiha had heard of my hot headedness, but few had actually seen it face to face.

"Fuck!" I barked and slammed my fist against the tree trunk. I could hear my knuckles snap under the pressure but I ignored the pain. God damnit, we weren't quick enough. Fucking- fucker!

"It's okay Madara." Izuna attempted to console.

I grabbed my little brother by the collar of his shirt and threw him against the same tree that I had just broke my hand on. His head slammed against the bark, "Don't tell me it's okay. We lost him. God knows what he's fucking telling them now! What if he tells them our HQ location? WHAT IF HE TELLS THEM ABOUT BELLA?"

Izuna rolled his eyes impudently, "we did all we could. This is on Dad's shoulders, he should have acted the second Zuzaku stepped outside the gates; not wait a whole fuck'n day. Bella will be fine, it's not like we'd ever let someone hurt her."

Blade whispered into Ro's ear, "that's his wife isn't it?" Ro shrugged.

"YES SHE'S MY FUCKING WIFE, AND IF ANYTHING FUCKING HAPPENS TO HER IT'LL BE YOUR HEAD!" They looked to the ground in defeat.

I dropped Izuna's collar and stalked back home discontent with our situation. Would Hashirama and the other Senju attempt to kill her? … No Hashirama is too honorable- but I'll take precautions just in case.

I could sense the light penetrating through the curtains, I mumbled sourly and pulled the new cotton sheets over my head.

BAM, The sound of my bedroom door being kicked in forced me to jump six feet off the bed. Does every morning have to start with a heart attack!

I watched the old man walk through the kicked in doorway, he stood tall while he pretended to smoke on a cigar. He threw the imagined cigar across my bedroom. "Drop to the grounds you grunts, incoming paper bomb!" Grandpa dropped to his belly and covered his head as an imaginary bomb went off in whatever delusion he was living in. I quickly pulled the covers of my chest to hide my immodest night gown from the elder.

"Elder Yotaku, you cannot barge into your granddaughter's room like that! It's rude." Jonathan ran in behind the elder and quickly bowed to me apologetically. "I'm so sorry Bell, I couldn't stop him. He thinks he's on a mission from 40 years ago."

Grandpa jumped to his feet swiftly. Wow for a fossil he's fast. "What are you doing man, the enemy is behind you!" Jonathan ducked as grandpa did a few hand signs; oh no that's a fire jutsu! Not in my house, you don't! I repressed his Chakra with my will.

Jonathan's jaw hung void of words as he cautiously stood upright again. Grandpa shook his hands as they remained in the current hand sign, "darn thing's not working! Medic, quick- I'm shooting blanks! This usually only happens with my wife… damn woman's hexed me."

Jonathan took the old man's arm and escorted the delirious soldier out. "Come with me Commander, your Granddaughter needs to change."

The old man narrowed his eyes at me, I pulled the sheets higher uneasily. "May?"

"May baby, don't do that. You'll hurt yourself." A deep young voice echoed from the far back recesses of my mind. Like a drop in the water, ripples of images came forth- all of which were unfocused and covered in static.

I shook my head at the man in confusion. He looked down with somber nostalgia and coughed sickly, "Where's May?"

Jonathan cloaked him with his arm and guided him down stairs, "May's been dead for decades Yutaku."

I closed the door behind them and threw my nightgown across the room. What in the world was that? Why are those two in my house? I grabbed a random garment out of the closet and threw it over my naked form. "May." I closed my eyes and braced myself against the wall. The world around me went cold as I focused solely on the sound of the voices.

Rain had soaked my body and the feeling of a stabbing deep wound to the heart crippled my movement. I opened my eyes for a moment to see the man who had inflicted the mortal wound. Madara? It was my husband thrusting a Kunai threw my slowly beating heart. He wrapped his arm around me and held me against him as his tears mixed with the rain.

"Why?"

The memory faded with the slow and painful death. For several moments while I awaited reality to come back I could feel the other side of life dragging me down. The breathless inferno of Hell and the light call of Heaven pulled at me in a merciless game of tug-of-war. My lungs gasped for air as I woke up from the nightmare and found myself back in the bedroom.

Pulse raised and sweating I stood empty hearted and anesthetized. That wasn't Madara…. That was Yutaku?!

"What about this one?" Izuna flashed me the cover of a book he had just picked up. We had stopped in town so I could fulfill my promise to my wife and bring her home something to read.

I shook my head at the idiot, "Izuna do you really think Bella wants to read a Thesaurus?"

He shrugged indifferently, "I don't know. She uses so many big words all the time I thought she might want a book of them… or something."

"Put it down and go babysit the tracker Ninja, if we return home with them drunk the Elders will know we stopped somewhere." And I don't want to get yelled at any more than I already am.

Izuna grumbled but did as I asked. I looked down at the book in my hand and contemplated whether she was a Fiction or Non-Fiction reader. I would have thought Fiction, but she was reading my myth book. I gave up guessing and bought two books just in case. The cashier greeted me at the register and smiled warmly.

She looked at the books, "Shopping for your wife?" I nodded, Is it that obvious? "She'll love these."

"MADARA, GET OUT HERE!" Izuna ran back inside the bookstore and waved me outside. I threw a few dollars on the table and grabbed my books from the cashiers hand.

I ran behind Izuna who was leading me to the incident. At the edge of the towns borders, closer towards the deep forest, the Blade and Ro were losing a battle against two massive Bengal Tigers. I quickly intervened before the Female could maul my subordinate.

A hasty and crude blow with my sword severed the females head. Sequentially I removed the remaining threat and took down the Male. As Izuna helped up the fallen men I sheathed my sword and wiped as much blood off Bella's books as I could. Fuck she's not going to read these with animal blood all over them.

"Why the fuck are you two out here, how the fuck did this happen?" I snapped at the men.

They stuttered rapidly, "I-I-He-We." I glared at them impatiently. They looked at each other and took a deep breath to calm themselves and collect their stories. "Well we were on our way to the bar, but I sensed Uzumaki Chakra and so did he." Blade nodded in confirmation.

"It was in this direction, and we didn't want to waste time in finding you… so we just-"

"Decided to go off alone?" I could feel my face getting hot as furry burned through my skin. "You should have found Izuna and I first!" What would the Uzumaki be doing here?

Defeated the men bowed their heads, "We're very sorry."

"Ma, Ma, Maaaaaa." In the bushes beside the dead male Tiger, a cub rustled about looking for its parents. Fuuuuuuuucking awesome, now I have to deal with this shit.

I took a deep breath to calm myself and walked over to the cub. I picked up the little white furball by the scruff of its neck and inspected it. "Ma," It mewed out. It's eyes were still closed proving that it was younger than two weeks.

I glowered at the two men who watched me in horror as I dug angrily in my kunai pouch for a knife. "It's just a Kitten!" They shouted.

"Exactly, this is the nice thing to do. It'll starve out here, it can't fend on it's own! I wouldn't have had to do this if you two were smarter and didn't-"

Izuna interrupted, "Don't kill the cat, Madara." He said it as if I were being juvenile about the situation. "Give it to Bella, girls love cats."

Not my wife. Bella hated animals with a passion, she wouldn't even look at my Hawks that I had caged up outside. "That's not a good idea."

"Think of it this way." He took the knife out of my hand and put it back in the pouch. "We're going to war, and Bella's going to be home all alone for who-knows how long cooking your little baby." I grimly pictured the scenario and I didn't like where it was going. "In the past the Senju have invaded our village while we were at war, and what if they do it this time around?" He's got a fucking point, now I'm even more worried about leaving her at home. "Who's more capable of protecting your wife than a vicious tiger that is sired to her?"

"Hm," I nodded agreeably at the idea and looked favorably upon the small cub. You're a lucky Cat. "Alright Izuna you win, but my she's not going to like it."

It was strange but as I watched Grandpa eat the breakfast I had cooked for him I felt a vague nostalgic feeling come over me. The memories I had relived earlier had caused an ache to pull at my heart and an undeniable sense of betrayal to flood my emotions.

"Thank you for understanding, Bella. I know you have the baby on the way and all, this must be overwhelming. How's your blood pressure?" The doctor moved closer and started to examine me.

I swatted his hands away from me, "I'm fine. It's no trouble at all." I leaned in and whispered so the old man couldn't hear. "How much longer do you think he has?"

I looked to the man who was dazed out with a fork in his mouth. He sat there- unmoving- as if he had just passed on during Jonathan and I's short conversation. "A month, maybe two if he fights it. He won't be living here long anyways."

Grandpa snorted, "May bring me some more of this green stuff."

"I'm not-" I paused and took a deep breath. Grandpa watched me in anticipation of what I was about to say. I let the breath out heavily, "never mind." I grabbed his plate and put more peas on it for him and refilled his glass of milk. "Do you need anything else?"

He laughed and smacked me firmly on the buttocks. "Some of that sweet ass, come on baby let's do it right here on the table."

My face burned bright red in embarrassment. "GRANDPA!" I looked to the front door where the deep scolding voice came from. My husband walked into the dining room holding a bag in hand and something tucked inside his battle Kimono. "That's my wife you're talking to old man."

He smiled saucily, "Your wife has a nice ass, I've seen better tits- but that is one sexy ass."

Madara handed me the bag and readjusted whatever he was hiding under his clothes. "Don't tempt me Grandpa, I will put you in your place." He threatened without a second thought. That's no way to talk to your elders.

"Pfft, old man I'd like to see you try. How about we fight for her?" I paled as the two men wagered.

My husband smiled and raised a brow at his grandfather's childishness, "Oh yah, you wanna fight? Come on, bring it." He readied himself in an unperturbed fighting position.

Grandpa on a set course to battle his grandson attempted to stand up but a loud breaking noise sounded from his back and interrupted him. He frowned and sat back down sourly, "You're not worth it; you little shit."

I looked at the two generations of men, Yutaku and Madara looked very similar. If it weren't for age driving their images apart, they could be twins. Madara rolled his eyes at his senior. "Open the bag." He instructed me. I shook myself out of whatever world I had escaped to and took out two books from the bag.

Hope and Faith

1000 Love Letters

I looked up at him and couldn't resist smiling. "You know me so well."

"Course I do, which drives me into our next topic. You're not going to like this, but I found us a little security system." He started to part his Kimono to reveal what he had been hiding. Security System?

"No, NO!" I shouted at him and leaped into the kitchen. He followed with the small cat in his hand. He cornered me with the animal, forcing me to jump up on top of the counter top. I sat down on the granite and went instantly into fetal position.

"Come on, Bella. It's just a kitten. When it grows up he'll be able to protect you."

I shook my head angrily, "he'll kill me! Get it away, get it the fuck away Madara. I'm not kidding don't come any closer."

He laid the kitten in my lap as it mewed and cried with its eyes shut blindly. I seized my breathing and tensed my muscles as a sense of impending death loomed over me. My husband laughed as I sat unmoving with the little thing poking its nose into my stomach. "Ma, Ma!"

He picked it off my lap and I took in a sharp breath, I moved away from him but he followed me with the cat and put it back in my lap. My breathing seized again as the tiger mewed at me. "I think I found your off switch." He laughed and tested his theory a few more times.

"Stop!" I cried. He left the kitten in my lap and backed off a few feet. "I had no choice but to kill his parents. It was either leave him out to die or bring him back with me and train him to guard you and the baby." My heart didn't warm after his speech, all I could feel was vivid sense of peril that hung down over my head. "He can't hurt you, he couldn't if he tried. It's just a baby that's hungry and cold. Try and muster some maternal love for it."

True to his word, the baby tiger was cold and seeking refuge inside of my dress. He pathetically clawed at the fabric to try and get inside to warm up. I frowned at it and looked up to Madara who was gloating in the corner of the kitchen. "They're not pets, they're beasts- cage them up or they will kill us all." I ignored the voices in the back of my head, I was sick of remembering sad things from past lives. My current life was depressing enough.

"Go fetch me an eyedropper and cow's milk." He smiled, "-and stop giving me that look. I hate you right now."

I grabbed a kitchen towel from the drawer and swaddle the little beast in it. "Ma," It purred against my chest.

Stop looking cute, you're a man eater.

A/N: Hope you like the plot-twist!