Madara was away, for a couple of days now, and Mego took her time slowly completing her chores along some of his she could do herself. He never let her chop or carry firewood, and although the first was hard, the latter was nothing she couldn't handle.

Even though it was only two of them, these brief periods of loneliness were quite welcome. Their disputes had wavered at last, but it was pleasant to not constantly be observed and looked after.

Her back ached recently, joined by dull discomfort inside her lower belly and painfully sensitive breasts. Her period was coming, and it wasn't in a rush. Change of climate, she easily concluded. She pushed herself to finish planting the carrot seeds she had bought, then hurried indoors to have lunch and rest.

She had planted flowers and trees before, but admittedly never truly took care of them herself. If it was left up to her, half of it would probably have wilted and died. With no house help, servants or even anyone to share the workload, farming had finally gotten its chance to prove to her just what hard work it was.

Before moon had even gotten very high in the sky, she was already in bed, enjoying warmth and softness of the fur beneath her. Nighttime, itself, however, brought forth worries she'd never admit to before Madara. Without chores to occupy her, liveliness of the day to keep her company, at night she became aware of how very alone she was. And suddenly, loneliness wouldn't feel so pleasant anymore.

Every sound turned into an intruder, and the fear she felt made her acknowledge Madara was right. If an intruder indeed came, she had absolutely no semblance of plan – aside from making sure she locks the door and shuts the windows. She had learned tiny bit of taijutsu, but had no delusions about it being useful in any real situation.

Therefore, this particular lonely night, third in a row, turned out to be especially hard to get through. In a seemingly endless loop Mego would fall into a shallow sleep only to wake up from it within minutes, only then to be disappointed that morning hadn't arrived yet. And by the time it had, she was cranky, plagued by headache and feeling of sickness in her gut, tempted to try making herself throw up to feel better.

As she dragged herself from one end of the cottage to the other, lighting fire and cooking breakfast, she tried to at least cheer for the fact Madara would be returning that very day. He'd likely drive her mad for getting sick as soon as he left if he took notice of it, but at the very least she would no longer have to fret.

Sitting down, she slowly ate her food and had some tea, before tidying up the place and hurrying to water the plants before sun became too warm.

….

Mito's skin crawled with desire to get away and hide somewhere, but to no avail, as Tobirama's wife had seemingly decided to stick around for some reason. She was raised to exercise perfect politeness in any situation she might find herself in and this one wasn't any different. Not that she had a reason to be impolite, or even to dislike the Uchiha woman… Not a logical one, at the very least. It wasn't her fault she was arranged to marry Tobirama. She had as much control over that as Mito had in arrangement of her own marriage.

Still, one thing Uchiha Sumi had control over was how she spent her time in the household, and for some inexplicable reason she decided spending it with Mito was a good idea.

"You aren't a kunoichi?" She asked, although she already knew the answer. Having already discussed the weather, there wasn't much else to talk about. Still, the woman wouldn't leave her side, so they continued their leisurely stroll, perhaps even appearing as friends to an ignorant bystander.

"No. I'd been a handmaiden since childhood."

"That sounds exciting." Mito commented, actually meaning what she said.

"Does it?" Uchiha Sumi smiled unsurely.

"I always envied the help on their freedom." Looking over at her companion, she rushed to explain herself, "Not to belittle anyone's labor, it's hard, I know. But once it's finished, you're free to do what you will with your day."

Slowly nodding to her words, the Uchiha seemed to agree.

"Yes, more or less."

The little spur of honest interaction ended as swiftly as it began, and the two were left exposed to strained silence once again, in which their own breaths and footsteps appeared way too audible for comfort. Their sandals scraped across the rocky trail they followed, and the fabric of their dresses rustled in the breeze.

While Mito was attempting to assemble some sort of excuse to retreat to her bedroom, Uchiha Sumi spoke, and they slowed down, until gradually, they both stopped walking.

"I wanted to… Well, actually," She grappled, while her dark eyes displayed all her uncertainty, "Brother in law— Hokage asked me to help you feel at home. I am not sure how, honestly." She smiled, "Feel free to speak to me if you need something."

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind." As their stroll continued, so did she, "How long did it take you to get used to your husband and another clan?"

"A while. The clan accepted me better than I expected. And I am still getting used to Tobirama, and he to me. You know him well."

Yes, Mito did know him well; he wasn't the easiest person to get along with, especially if he had already formed an opinion about something. Given Sumi's clan background, she was certain it wasn't very smooth. Her mind couldn't resist tempting her with thoughts of how wonderfully easy it would have been for her to be Tobirama's wife. A sting of malice got her to consider planting a seed of doubt between them now that she was presented with a chance, but the impeccable upbringing prevailed, and she offered a gentle smile, producing words that made her gut turn with woe:

"He loves you very much, I can tell."

"Thank you." The woman's face beamed with a bright grin that seemed all but unachievable to Mito. "I am sure Hokage will make you very happy."

"So am I…" She agreed with so little vigor Sumi cleared her throat and looked away, seemingly in a rush to drop the subject. It couldn't be helped. She only had so much energy for this role of hers.

She didn't want Hokage to make her happy, she just wished he continued to leave her alone. He was very considerate up until now. Still, sooner or later, he will expect her to give him a child – the fact that made her produce a disturbing thought: I'd rather die. He was the brother of the man she loved! The idea alone made her sick to her stomach.

"Do you enjoy reading?" Sumi's hopeful voice broke her sad chain of thought, and she nodded, forcing another small smile. "Do you like romance?"

"Well… I have read some fables that contained bits of it…"

"I can borrow you some if you'd like to read. Yuna and I have assembled quite a collection." She giggled, and Mito made herself join in.

"I would like that."

Mito concluded she might as well. It has been a while since she'd read anything that wasn't a study or a jutsu. If it would make her day just a tad bit less miserable, at this point, she'd take anything.

…..

It was a couple of hours past noon that Mego spotted the familiar figure approaching from the distance. His magnificent black hair stood out among the endless green landscape all around them like a sore thumb. Smiling at the thought, Mego hurried to get a couple of buckets of water ready for warming, assuming he'd want a hot bath as soon as possible.

By the time they were all set, he came in through the door, intending to put his gunbai away first, but she was quicker. Rushing over, Mego threw herself into his arms, wrapping hers tightly around his neck, drawing out his rare laughter.

"Be careful." Madara warned, trying to pull away, to no avail as she wouldn't let go. She felt stupidly happy for his return, grateful to finally feel absolutely safe. "Have you been well?"

"Yes." Mego replied letting go of him. "And you?"

"Yeah." He nodded, leaving the weapon in its corner, and moving on to remove his armor. "I found something." His voice carried a dose of importance, but she couldn't put her finger on whether he was pleased or not.

"What?"

Mego approached to help him, smiling at his relieved sigh upon being unburdened.

"Have you heard of tailed beasts?" Since her face was surely a mask of pure confusion, Madara went on, "Never mind. They're very powerful creatures, and I've found one. I am not sure what to do with it now."

Mego thought of his words as she went to open the curtain that separated their bath from the rest of the living space. "Why must you do anything with it?" She asked, lifting a bucket to fill the wooden tub.

"Leave that, it's heavy." Madara came to her side, tugging at the bucket that she wouldn't let go.

"I brought it here, it's nothing—"

"Leave it now." He repeated himself softly, taking it from her hands and pouring the water with ease, before going back to their ongoing conversation. "Either I'll take control of the beast or someone else will. It's—You can't even fathom the kind of power it holds!" He gestured excitedly, absently picking another bucket from the ground. "It could be extremely dangerous in wrong hands."

"Well… Where are we going to keep it? How big is it? Madara, I don't want something so vicious near me!"

The look he gave her could almost be interpreted as disappointed, as he chuckled, reaching for the last bucket and readying his bath. Amused smile lingered on his face, as he shook his head in disbelief.

"It's not a pet, Mego. If I'm able to overcome it, I'll have to take it to Hashirama. He'll know how to seal the thing."

"So, we're going back to the village?"

"Only for a brief time, unless," Facing her, he offered a careful look, "you'd prefer to go back for good?"

"Would you?"

"No."

"I'm not separating from you." She raised her hands defensively, causing him to smile.

"Good. I'll wash myself and—" He reached for the curtain, but halted when she crossed her arms, refusing to budge.

"Really?" Mego sighed, feigning insult. "It's been three days. You aren't even going to suggest I join you?"

His confused worry melted away into soft laugh. Turning away, he proceeded to remove his clothes.

"Feel free to do as you like."