Soulmates {MadaSaku and OCxOC}

Chapter 22: "Learning"

DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN NARUTO

After the embarrassing rice ball moment, Madara was calmer. He had eaten in silence and in deep thinking, using the 'being ashamed' façade as an alibi. He had already spent six hours working with Sakura and, though they were not alone of course, he had had the time to follow her with his eyes every time no one was looking. That feeling he had when she elbowed him in the ribs had left him thinking, it was similar to what he felt the first time he touch her hand accidentally after the battle.

He knew there had been times that he had had contact with her and didn't feel that electricity, like when he comforted the pinkette after her battle with Hikari by touching her shoulder. That didn't fit with his sibling's theory that he had a Crush on her. 'Crush...' he thought. 'Is that what this is?... No, this seems different.' he had had a small crush on a girl when he was fifteen, but sadly she died during a battle with the Hagoromo Clan. It wasn't a meaningful crush, but it counted as his first romance-related broken heart. Because his heart had been already broken by his siblings loses long before that. After a while of thinking of a possible answer, he realized that when he acted normal around the kunoichi, there was this natural feeling like the one between people that know each other for a long time. That's why in those moments he felt confident and didn't act awkward. The moments he felt odd where the ones when he was caught off guard.

Madara watched Sakura talking with Ryuuji and he discovered a brand new side of her. She seemed like a fish inside a river, full of life and experience. This was her home, where she felt safe and could feel useful. This was the real Sakura, and he liked her.

'Like her? Do I like her?' and with that thought his heart skipped a beat.

'YOU DO, WHY THE HESITATION?' a voice inside him asked. He opened his eyes slightly wider. 'YOU LIKE HER, STOP QUESTIONING EVERYTHING AND LIVE'. What was that? But then again, who was he lying to? He knew that was his consciousness, like he knew he liked her. He wasn't in love though, he couldn't be.

'But how to act around her now?' he asked to himself in his mind.

'JUST BY BEING YOURSELF. YOU'RE THE GREAT MADARA UCHIHA, THE MIGHTY WARRIOR, AND YOU ARE SCARED TO BE AROUND A GIRL YOU LIKE? PLEASE!' the voice shouted inside him 'YOU WILL SCARE HER AWAY. THINK OF IT AS A BATTLE WHERE EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE SCARED YOU FIGHT BECAUSE THERE IS ALWAYS A MORE IMPORTANT MEANING TO IT, PEOPLE TO SAVE OR AVENGE. THIS IS ANOTHER BATTLE; YOU HAVE TO SUCK UP YOUR FEARS AND INTERACT WITH HER.' His eyes widened completely by now, and Hashirama brought him back to reality.

"Are you okay, Madara?" the Senju asked to his friend. "I'm sorry I laughed at you because of the rice ball". The Uchiha realized he had been off and shook his head.

"I'm fine, I just dozed off a little" he tried to sound ashamed as he invented an excuse.

"But your eyes went wide open..." Hashirama was concerned "Maybe Sakura-san can run a check up on you"

"It's not necessary, I said I'm fine" he answered bored.

"What's going on?" Sakura said coming next to them. Madara became a bit nervous, but he remembered what the voice in his head just said. 'Man, I'm hearing voices in my head, of course I'm not fine!'.

"Nothing" he answered calmed, this was a battle. "I dozed off a little and this idiot wants to bother you by running a check up on me. He thinks I'm ill or something" 'Good, putting Hashirama as a scapegoat relaxes me'

Sakura looked at him carefully, like checking for something that might be symptom but in plain eye she didn't see anything.

"Well you don't seem ill" She concluded "But this makes me realize that I must run a check up on all of you shortly." Both men deadpanned.