𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐄 | sasuke uchiha

81

"Good morning, my love."

The sun was slow to rise the next morning as Madara woke up, smiling lazily at [Name] as she lay in his arms. As sunlight began to stream into their bedroom, his heart fluttered at the sight of her gazing up at him, albeit with no hint of emotion on her face. Even after all this time, he couldn't help but feel overwhelmingly lucky to be able to call her his wife.

"[Name]?"

A look of surprise crossed Madara's face as [Name] looked away from her husband, closing her eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Madara froze as [Name]'s figure abruptly dispelled in a puff of smoke, immediately sparking warning bells in the Uchiha's mind. Not wasting any time, he scrambled out of bed and reached for a new change of clothes to put on before leaving; however, as he did, a single sheet of paper fluttered down from the sheets he had tossed aside.

Madara snatched the scrap paper up, hoping that it would give any indication of where [Name] had disappeared off to. Only one word was written.

ごめん。

His worry now slowly being replaced with rage, Madara furiously scrunched the apology up and tossed it aside, no longer caring about what he was wearing.

"[NAME]!"

***

"Sasuke!"

The morning following [Name]'s farewell to her old family, Sakura had scooped up Sarada in her arms and frantically ran towards her husband's room, clutching the little girl protectively as she sensed a menacing presence approaching their home. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on; and as much as the Haruno was confused as to why [Name] had suddenly decided to desert the village, she preferred not to direct her questions to the raging Uchiha that was on his way.

Not even needing Sakura's cry of fear to know what was coming, Sasuke opened the door to his room with a stoic look on his face, nodding at his wife.

"I know. Stay here with Sarada."

The Uchiha ushered his wife and daughter into his room before shutting the door behind himself, making his way out to the front door to face the oncoming tempest that was Madara.

As Sasuke calmly walked towards the front door, he stopped in his tracks and braced himself.

"YOU! WHERE IS SHE?!"

Madara came crashing through the front door, his irises blood red as his Sharingan was activated, searching for any trace of [Name] in his nephew's home. The door and the walls on either side of it splintered and ripped apart at Madara's forceful entry as he apprehended Sasuke, face contorted with rage as he made to grab him by the throat.

"WHERE IS SHE?!"

Sasuke eloquently ducked and stepped his way out of the gaping hole Madara had left in his front door, leaping down into his front yard and landing quietly on the grass outside.

"What are you talking about?" scowled Sasuke, standing his ground as his frenzied uncle crashed his way back outside and lunged for the raven once more.

"YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! WHERE IS SHE?!"

"Who's 'she'?" asked Sasuke in annoyance, activating his own Sharingan in response to Madara's. "Your midwife? Sayuri? [Name]?"

"You little sneak!" spat Madara as he continued to swing at his nephew, each attack growing more wild than the last. "What have you done to my wife?!"

"I'm not going to fight you," responded Sasuke coolly, agilely moving from side to side as Madara grew angrier and angrier. "Leave me and my family alone."

"YOU LITTLE-"

Both Uchiha's eyes widened as a new presence made itself known, wedging themselves right between the pair.

"Madara. What is the meaning of this?"

Sasuke suppressed a smirk as Tobirama stood before the Uchiha clan leader with his blade drawn, eyes narrowed as Madara shot him a bitter look.

"This has nothing to do with you, Senju!" spat the incensed Uchiha, shooting Tobirama a threatening look. "Get out of my way!"

"You might have been able to get away with this when it was just your clan, but not here," said Tobirama in a low voice. "As citizens of this village, Sasuke and his family are under our protection. You may not harm them."

"They are members of my clan!"

"Which is a part of Konohagakure, which you so lovingly named yourself. If there are any issues between you and Sasuke, you're going to have to take them to the council like everyone else."

Boiling with rage at Tobirama's interference, Madara stepped back.

"I'll find her!" he glowered. "I'll find her! Just you watch!"

"I still don't know what you're talking about."

"Again. If you have any issues, I suggest you report them to the council," stated Tobirama icily, his gaze never once leaving the livid Uchiha. Unable to think of anything else, Madara shot Sasuke one last glare before deciding to return home to make sure his daughter was still with the midwife.

"... what are you doing here?"

As soon as Madara had completely disappeared from sight, Sasuke turned to the Senju's second in command with an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"I had a feeling something would be amiss today, so I volunteered to be on morning patrol," said Tobirama, sheathing his blade now that the threat had been eliminated.

"You can't let him leave the village. Not yet, anyway."

Grimacing, Tobirama patted Sasuke on the shoulder as he stepped away from him.

"I know. Don't worry, he won't be going anywhere any time soon. I'm a man of my word."

"You only promised Naruto that you would protect my family from him. You never promised to stop him from pursuing [Name]."

"I can't uphold one of those without also upholding the other," sighed the Senju, placing his arms behind his head. "It's not like I mind, anyway. I always told onii-san that he needs to keep an eye on that man. He's been bonkers since the get go. As much as I'd gladly like to see the back of him, he'd probably get up to more mischief without careful surveillance."

"Is that why you've made our clan settle down in the one area, unlike everyone else?"

"More or less. There's no point in me trying to sugar coat it. I don't trust you lot, and I don't think I ever will."

"I don't blame you for that."

Tobirama grinned as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Smart boy. I don't know what that girl's relationship was to you and Naruto, but for that idiot's sake, I'm going to do what he asked of me. As long as you and your family are citizens of Konohagakure, you have my protection. If you ever get in contact with [Name], tell her you're in good hands. Gods know how badly I want Madara to test my patience so I can k- never mind. Peace. We're at peace."

"... right."

"I'll be keeping an eye on Madara, but if you have any concerns, don't hesitate to come to me. Okay?"

"Understood. Thank you again."

"Let's just hope that this grand escape was worth it, and [Name] finds a life better than the one she left behind. Right?"

His heart still raw from [Name]'s departure, Sasuke could only nod as a numb sensation spread all over his body, reaching even his toes and fingertips.

She's gone.