In Another Life

Untitled Part 7

I do not own Naruto.

Tajima watched his son carefully, the teen was pacing a hole in their dining room floor for whatever reason. His glance drifted over to Neji who was just as stressed. He had watched all of these boys grow into fine young men, but it seemed they still needed some coaching when it came to them talking about their feelings and things of the sort. He glanced over to see Izuna staring at Neji once more. He wasn't sure what had been going on between the two but they had become closer over the years. Perhaps he saw some of his cousin in his youngest son and wanted nothing more than to protect him.

His eyebrow twitched as the pacing stopped, then resumed a little bit faster. "Hey! Sit the hell down and tell me what has you in a bind." He snapped, that last nerve getting ruffled for the last time. Madara looked over at him and sheepishly sat down. Neji chuckled and sat down as well. "So what's going on that has you wearing holes in my floor?" he asked and they looked from him to the floor and then back. Madara pursed his lips and began tapping his fingers on the table. His eyebrow twitched at this, but before he could react a wooden spoon came flying from the kitchen and nailed Madara between the eyes.

Tajima withheld a snort at this as he watched Madara yelp and began holding his forehead. "Dammit!" Madara snarled and yet again Madara received a hit, although this time it was from Tajima himself. The panic set in the moment he felt Aurora's flaring chakra from the other room. "Are you trying to get us all killed?!" he hissed at his eldest who scowled up at him from beneath his hair. A shiver ran up his spine as the intimidating presence of the matriarch filled the room. Tajima turned to look at her, that fear returning tenfold. He looked back to where the group of teens had begun backing out of the room slowly.

Yet again, Izuna took off in a run and got nailed with the same spoon Madara did. Tajima took this chance to make a break for the front door, as Aurora had been picking her youngest off the floor. Her heated glare landed back on the group of men once more and she released Izuna and he hit the floor with a thump as she rushed for them. "You're all idiots!" she snarled as they made their break for it. Madara ripped the front door basically off its hinges to get out of the house but he had stopped in the doorway for some reason. "Madara move!" he yelped as Aurora closed in on him and Neji. Madara didn't move though and they ended up ramming into his back.

Madara was stronger than he gave him credit for honestly, because instead of toppling him over, they had only made him skid forward a little. He flinched, expecting the hit he was going to get but it never came. He cracked one eye open and looked behind him, to his now diffused wife. Then he looked in front of him to see that Madara's grip had never once left the door frame. He looked around him to see a familiar set of white eyes and he couldn't help the small smile that crossed his lips. If he hadn't been so adept at just listening, he never would have heard the small whisper Madara released.

"Hinata..."

The group made space between one another and Madara finally released the door frame. A small blush coated the young Hyuuga woman's cheeks and he watched as Madara gripped her in a tight hug. Aurora made her way to the front and pulled Madara off of the girl gently. Madara frowned at his mother, but they could all tell she wasn't going to do anything against the young woman. Tajima watched as his wife embraced the young woman, the ripple of chakra that had happened when Madara hugged her wasn't there. Madara could have perhaps been correct when he said that she was bound to him.

"She's so beautiful!" Aurora sobbed as she turned back to the group. The blush darkened on Hinata's face and Madara only smirked. He opened his mouth to make some sort of smart comment, but his mother knocked him over the head and he crouched and held his head once more. Thinking about it, he figured that was why Madara always hit Hashirama. It was their own brand of love, he supposed. Tajima looked over and saw that Hinata was looking behind her, as if waiting for someone.