The crowd of unfamiliar faces waited, as Sumi was approaching the place, led by Iekara. She looked to her right to face the old man, and he offered a small smile, seeing how nervous she appeared. Somewhere among all those people, she spotted the wedding arch, and under it, the tall figure with discernible silver hair.

A shaky sigh escaped her, as she wondered how she'll make it through that entire day without embarrassing herself. Her wedding dress was too long, for example. Three people worked on it, for weeks! And they managed to leave it so long it kept getting under her feet. It was supposed to drag on the ground a little, sure, but this was just inconvenient.

As they came closer, she now saw Madara, as well. He stood on the left side of the arch along with the rest of attendees from their clan. He gave her a slow nod of encouragement, after she kept eye contact with him for a few moments. To think she'd feel at ease to see him, of all people; but in these surroundings, any familiar face was more than welcome – since the one she hoped most would be there, couldn't attend.

Knowing that Mego won't be there made her worry less about the ceremony itself, and more about the reception and celebration that comes afterwards. She'll be so bored, with nobody to talk to, and on the other hand, she absolutely can't afford to look it. It must appear as if she's having the time of her life…

Somehow, simultaneously, it seemed she and Iekara had been approaching the arch for too long – and still, she suddenly felt overwhelmed by how quickly they arrived and how close the thing was. A smiling man standing next to her groom caught her attention for a moment; his brother, she recognized. Sumi managed to somewhat smile back at him. He, at least, seemed very welcoming. Her father in law to be, however, had a face colder than Tajima's, she thought.

Finally, Iekara smiled at her one last time before leaving her before the arch, and retreating among the rest of the Uchihas.

Watching him leave, she became paralyzed in her spot, suddenly without anyone to hold on to for support. Grim faces surrounded her from each side, as if they just waited for her to make a mistake. Oh gods. She hated their attention. Why did they all have to look so angry all the time?

Then, she saw a hand, outstretched, inviting her to hold on to it. Looking up, she met face to face with her groom. He was serious, appearing to be absolutely calm. How does he do it? She couldn't help but wonder.

After she finally moved, and placed her hand into his, he guided her over to his side. And it began.

….

Tobirama was freaking out. The ceremony itself went well, nothing out of the ordinary occurred, but he wasn't so worried about that, to begin with. He had to stand there and wait for the bride, then exchange a few formulaic sentences with her, and that was it.

What worried him, was everything that comes after the wedding. He stole a glance at the bride sitting next to him. An Uchiha. Just what had he gotten himself into? If not for his sister, he never would have willingly merged with that cursed clan.

This Sumi, herself, may not be like that – she wasn't even a kunoichi, so there's little harm to be done by her. But her sons… His sons! They would be warriors, possibly would inherit the Sharingan from her side, and then subject everything and everyone around them to those bloody eyes for even an ounce of power.

How was he supposed to father the children who carried such potential for evil? How was he supposed to father any children at all, all of a sudden?! Before this, he hadn't even given any thought to the concept of starting his own family! All he wanted was to peacefully work on his ninjutsu and mind his own business.

He dared to glance at Uchiha Sumi once more, while she was looking ahead of herself, humming to the music. How many of her plans he had destroyed with his silly proposal, he wondered.

"Tobirama!" He snapped out of his gloomy thoughts when his drunken brother appeared between him and Sumi, hugging their shoulders and bringing them both closer to himself. The girl smiled in an attempt to match Hashirama's joy, but ultimately failed. Tobirama could tell she wasn't any more thrilled than he was.

"Brother," Tobirama sighed, "You're drunk."

"Yes, I am! Why aren't you?!" His arm left Tobirama and he hugged Sumi, pressing her to his chest, causing her to laugh, and this time around it seemed genuine. "Look what a beautiful bride you have! Celebrate! Go dance!"

Taking her by her hand, Hashirama had her stand up, and then it was over – the guests were beginning to look their way, and before long, all the attention was directed at their table. Tobirama was obligated to stand up too, and dance with her.

Suppressing another irritated sigh, he concealed his unwillingness to participate, and stood up as well. He took her hand and they went over to the middle of the room, where some of the guests were, joining them in their traditional dance.

Given the type of the dance, and their patriarchal traditions, at no point were the two of them too close to each other, and thanks to his height, Sumi soon gave up on looking up to face him the whole time. Eventually, she settled for looking over his shoulder, probably to spare her neck the strain; at the same time, sparing them both the discomfort of having to stare directly at each other.

He noticed, however, that she struggled to effortlessly move, constantly looking down at the ground between them.

"Is something wrong?" He whispered.

"My dress…" She whispered back, looking up at him with her dark eyes, "I'm afraid I'll trip on it, it's too long."

"Let me hold it." He offered, and they ceased to move for a bit, while he was attempting to take a handful of slippery silky fabric in his hand. But, almost, in the same instant, he froze, when people around them started making noise. They toasted to one another, cheered and laughed loudly, shouting words of encouragement towards him.

He felt his ears burning, able to bet his all they were redder than Sumi's wedding dress, once he recognized the reason they made so much noise was that he had his hand on the girl's thigh. He let go immediately, and Sumi had to settle for dancing with her dress in the way until the song was over. As soon as it was done, they went back to sit down, wishing to hide from all the ogling and suggestive smiles.

….

Madara had spent the entire evening sitting next to Tajima, and half-interestedly listened to conversations he led with other men. Sometimes he'd busy himself with watching people dance, but stood by his choice not to participate – despite Hashirama's extreme insistence. He, along with the rest of Uchiha who attended the wedding, weren't the jolliest bunch; especially in these circumstances that were new to everyone. Although, he had seen an elderly couple join the other guests out there. Good for them.

Not all Senju were taking part in celebration, either. Butsuma, and many of the older men that accompanied him were just as still as the Uchiha were. But the gathering was fairly comfortable, there were no signs of issues arising.

Then, all of a sudden, Madara began to feel a familiar kind of unease; he was being watched. He concentrated on it, trying to cancel out the sound of music and chatter, and let his eyes subtly roam the room. What is it with him and weddings? Why do people always go out of their way to make him uncomfortable in these occasions?!

A strong sense of dread boiled within him, as concerns overwhelmed him in an instant. What if whoever was watching him was planning to attack? If any commotion should break out within the walls of this relatively small, new building, it would be a total bloodbath!

Of course, in every political event, there are rebellions and people who reject change. What if this was the chance they looked for to strike? Well, it was actually the perfect timing, the more he thought about it. The noblest, strongest people from each clan were right there.

His gaze searched for Hashirama, but saw him toasting with someone, a grin from ear to ear plastered on his blushing face. Madara gave up on him immediately; knowing Hashirama, he probably knew what he was doing and wouldn't render himself completely useless, but he was very drunk, and on his merry way to get even more so. So, the next logical option was Butsuma.

Madara straightened in his seat to face the long table on the other side of the room, parallel to their own, hoping the man would soon look his way; then his attention was drawn to Butsuma's left. There sat his daughter, accompanied by another girl; and she immediately looked away, covering her mouth in panic, as she realized he had seen her. The girl sitting by her side giggled and patted her back.

He inhaled deeply, in relief; and almost facepalmed at the sheer stupidity of the situation. Here he was panicking for everyone's life, while it was just two girls looking his way for gods know what stupid childish reason.

"Are you alright?" He heard Tajima ask. He nodded halfheartedly, then took his wine, in hopes it would calm him a bit.

He avoided looking at the general direction of that table, so they don't by any chance mistake it for him giving a flying fu—

"Madara?" He looked behind him, when Hashirama touched his shoulder. "Come, I have to tell you something."

Unwillingly, he stood up and joined the Senju, following him to the nearest corner. Right away, it occurred to him it might be something important, but seeing how Hashirama never stopped smiling, he deemed it safe to assume everything was fine.

"What's happening?"

"My Yuna would like to dance with you." He snickered drunkenly. "She won't stop bothering me with it. Would you ask her to dance?"

"What? No." He frowned. "We already decided there's no need for matrimony between her and me."

"I'm not telling you to get married, am I?" The other gestured excitedly. "She has a crush on you. Come on. Just humor her."

Oh, for gods' sake.

….

Yuna took a big sip of her wine, causing her handmaiden to protest and whisper to her to slow down. Her face was already reddish, and she could feel the heat all over her body. She was just too nervous the whole evening!

Why hasn't anyone told her how handsome Uchiha Madara was?! Her father and eldest brother just cornered her one day and told her about this important treaty with the Uchiha clan, and how they needed her to marry one of them. It sounded like a horrible idea, to be sent off to live among Uchiha, whom she grew up fearing. Brother Hashirama did calm her a bit when he told her what old friends the two of them were, and how Madara is a good, trustworthy man.

Still, she wasn't very happy with the whole arrangement, but it's not like she had any real choice in the matter. Since she failed to show any promise as a kunoichi growing up, this was a way for her to be of use to her clan. She had essentially been prepared for something like this for a long time.

Funny thing was, she could have maybe even met him once; she heard he had been to their house when he returned Tobirama to them. And exactly during that time father decided to send her to stay with her uncle for a few days, surround herself with friends and cousins because she was devastated upon learning her brother had been captured.

Yuna sighed, stealing glances at his table. Is he going to ask me already?

She was growing impatient, and worried. Were the two of them going to be married, in the end? She had no idea. Tobirama was very happy to inform her about the arrangement being canceled, and Hashirama claimed it wasn't yet certain.

At once, she snapped out of her thoughts when a figure stood before their table, blocking her view. Slowly, she looked up. Sure enough, it was him. She gulped down her saliva, suddenly getting the irrational sense she did it too loudly.

Uchiha Madara was definitely intimidating up close; compared to her, he was big, his skin was fair, hair indomitable. Black eyes looked down at her and people around her, almost with… boredom in them. He's beautiful.

"My lady." He spoke slowly, "Would you join me?"

Yuna looked to her right, at her father. Once he gave his approval, she reluctantly smiled at the Uchiha before them.

"Yes, my lord." She got up, trying her best not to look as excited as she in actuality was. Once she came around the table to the side Madara stood on, she accepted his offered hand and they joined the other dancing people.

They moved slowly, as the particular song being played wasn't very upbeat. Madara moved easily to it, but she could tell he wasn't much of a dancer; he knew the steps but didn't care enough to match them to every sound the minstrels played. She, on the other hand, loved to dance and was always praised for her skill, but was currently too nervous to show off her good moves, in fear she'd embarrass herself somehow.

Her breath seemed to hitch in her throat nearly every time they made eye contact, her mouth was going dry the longer it went on.

"M-my lord?" She heard herself speak up at some point, as if she had no control over it.

"Yes?"

"I… Well, I probably shouldn't ask you this, but…" She paused to gather her thoughts as they picked up their pace once a new song, jollier and faster than the previous one, started, "Are we going to be wed?"

He appeared confused for a moment.

"No, not when Tobirama is marrying that Uchiha woman."

"Brother Hashirama said—"

"No. Don't worry about it."

"I'm not!" She stopped dancing abruptly, looking up at him excitedly. Madara gave her a questioning look. "If…" She began more calmly, and continued to dance, not wanting to attract any attention from other people. "If it happens, I'll look forward to it."

She heard the man sigh, and nearly yelped when he used a particular move of their dance to pull her to him. He leaned in closer; his hair tickling her cheek, and his breath her ear. She barely contained herself from shivering.

"Don't." He whispered.

What? She gasped at the rudeness, going to take her hand back and step away from him, but he held it all the same, not letting her budge.

"When the song is done." He simply said.

Reluctantly, she complied and continued to mechanically move for another long minute, until the minstrels hit the final note. He let go of her hand then, bowed politely and walked back to his seat.

Yuna felt the muscles in her jaw twitch while going back to her own table, trying not to display all her anger at the offense she just received. She really didn't need additional questions from her father or anyone. This shall never be mentioned to another soul.

Seriously, how dare he speak to her like that?! No matter what Hashirama says now, she'll never have anything to do with Uchiha Madara again.

What a horrible man. Brother Tobirama was right.