Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Part 1 Introduction

     Cassie woke up with a groan. She was always waking up too damn early since she moved back home. How could moving from one state to another have that much of an impact? She lay there for a moment. Her kids were grown and at forty-three she was experiencing a renaissance. She had not written since she was a teen. Due to life, then motherhood. She never found the time to enjoy her writing like she used to. She would spend hours working, the words just flowing out of her. She compared it to automatic writing. She could start and then hours later find multiple chapters in her hand, having no idea what she had written. She would then have to go back and read it. It amazed her. And now suddenly, she was experiencing it again and loving every minute of it. That and anime. She had always had an interest in it. But she was also very particular about which ones. When she watched an anime and it affected her on a deep emotional level, then she loved it. That would translate into her fanfiction the best. Her introduction to online fanfiction had excited her. She enjoyed reading the works of fellow fans. Before long she took the plunge and began writing her own stories. She was scared to death. Writing online meant instant success or failure. There was no sending in submissions to publishers in the traditional way. The agonizing wait, the rejection. Either people liked her work or they didn't. When some of her works began to appear on the ranking system, it was exciting. But then she realized there was also competition. Her rankings would fall and she would have to dig deeper to create better stories. It was frustrating, but a challenge to be accepted.

     She groaned again, rubbing her eyes. "Get off your lazy ass." She tells herself. "Alexa, play Dance/Pop radio." She says aloud. "Playing Dance/Pop radio on Pandora." Alexa replies. Cassie smiled then and got out of bed. Music was always necessary to get her moving. She went into the kitchen and made herself a cup of coffee. She would need to check her rankings again and work on more stories. She walked back to her room taking a sip of coffee. She sat her coffee down and picked up her laptop. She logged in to the web and checked her rankings. "Son of a Bitch." She growled. She had dropped from #120 to #484. Suddenly she heard a loud crash. She jumped almost dropping her laptop. Her heart pounding she set it down and got up slowly. Where had the sound come from? She walked back through the kitchen and grabbed her marble rolling pin off the counter. Just in case. As she got closer to the laundry room and the back door, she heard a groan. She tiptoed to her back door and opened it just a crack. And dropped her rolling pin, barely missing her foot. She heard it hit the floor and roll. There was a naked man laying on her back patio. What was left of it, the wood splintered around the body. She blushed as the first thing her eyes were drawn to was his ass. "Fuck." She shook her head. Next was his long black hair. She gasped. "No." She stepped outside then. As she walked around to get a look at his face. A hand grabbed her ankle. She screamed. He looked up at her, with onyx eyes. Cassie fell on her ass his hand still holding her ankle. After a moment he lost consciousness and his grip on her relaxed. She jumped to her feet. "Madara Uchiha," she breathed. She couldn't leave him outside, not like that. She ran in the house in a panic. There was no way she could even attempt to lift him, least of all carry him into the house. She grabbed her cell phone. Her son answered. "Hey mom, what's up?" "I need you to come over, right now." She tells him. He could hear the excitement in her voice. "I'll be right there." Cassie went back outside to check on her unexpected guest. Luckily it was late spring so it was warm outside. Cassie heard a knock on her door. She opened it and put a finger to her lips before having her son follow her out the back door. When he saw who lay there, he was speechless. "We need to get him inside." Aaron helped her roll him over on his back. "Geez mom," He blushed. Can we get a blanket or something." Cassie rolled her eyes. "I'll take the south end. You grab his arms. You have to be the one to walk backwards anyway." Aaron sighed and grabbed Madara under the arms. Cassie grabbed his legs. He was still heavy. "Where to?" He asked her as they made there way into the kitchen. "My room, where else." Aaron glared at her. "Seriously, mom?" Cassie blushed and shrugged. They got him onto her bed and Aaron threw a blanket on him. "Thank you." Cassie tells him. Aaron stood there with his arms crossed. "What?" Cassie asked. "I'm not leaving you alone with him." Cassie sighed. "Fine." They both went into the kitchen and fixed themselves another cup of coffee. Aaron was quiet for a moment. "Mom, how is it even possible that he's here. He's dangerous." Cassie sipped her coffee, thinking. In all her stories, when her characters experienced being in different dimensions, there were always rules. "I don't think so." "Seriously, mom. It's Madara Uchiha." She sighed again. "Aaron, he's not going to have any of his abilities here." "How can you be so sure?" "Do we have chakra?" Well technically they did, but not in the way Madara was used to. "Mom, he's a murderer no matter what dimension he's in." He wasn't wrong, but something told her that it wasn't the case. "We know ninjutsu is real." She thought out loud. She had trained in ninjutsu as a teenager for a few months and loved it. "Exactly my point. That's dangerous enough." "I don't know." Aaron groaned. "Mom, I know what you're thinking. Would you get your mind out of the gutter." Cassie slapped him playfully. This was not one of her stories. There were real life implications here. "Let's just see what happens. Everything happens for a reason." Aaron sighed again. "Fine, I'm going to go and bring back a few things." Cassie looked at him knowing her son. "Leave the AK at home." "Don't go in there until I come back." He retorted and hurried out the door. Cassie held her cup in her hand enjoying the warmth of it. When she heard a voice, "Where am I?" She felt the cup fall, but it never hit the floor. She turned and Madara was holding it. She covered her eyes and he handed her the cup. It  occurred her she had understood what he had said. She held out her hand. Madara looked at her for a moment before taking it. She led him back into the bedroom as best she could with her eyes closed. Madara had to guide her some to keep her from hitting the door frame in her hurry to get him there. Much to his amusement. Cassie let go of his hand when he was beside the bed. "Sit," She ordered him. His eyes flashed for a moment. Did she just order him? Cassie turned her back to him then and pulled a robe out of her closet. It was fuzzy and purple, not manly at all. She unzipped it. "Put it on, please." Madara took it from her looking at it incredulously but did as she asked. When she was sure he had covered himself, she turned around and opened her eyes. And blushed, he hadn't zipped the housecoat. She pulled the sides of the housecoat over his nakedness and grabbed his hand so he could hold it, while she zipped him up. Madara watched her intently. When she had finished dressing him she looked up again. He was a lot shorter than she thought he would be. Only five foot ten inches. Madara was clearly uncomfortable in the softness of her robe. "I'm sorry," She says then. As she smirked at his expression. Then she thought for a minute. "Are you hungry?" Madara nodded. Cassie had no idea at first what he would possibly eat. She had a rice cooker. That was a start. She had Madara sit down as she started the rice. He continued to watch her. This world was certainly different than what he was used to. "You never answered my question." Madara said then. Cassie jumped again. He watched her. Why did she react in such a way? "I'm not even sure how to explain it to you." With the rice cooking, Cassie sat down across from Madara, wringing her hands nervously. He reached out then and lightly touched her hand hoping she didn't jump again. She was scared to death. "I have no intention of hurting you, woman." He said sternly. Cassie closed her eyes. My name is Cassie." She informed him. He nodded. "Cassie." "I'm Madara Uchiha of the Uchiha Clan." "I know who you are." Cassie tells him quietly. Madara jumped to his feet then as Aaron walked in the front door. Madara instinctively reached for his sword when he realized he didn't have it. "Calm down, Madara. please. This is my son, Aaron." Aaron stood there tense. Madara was surprised then when Aaron bowed deeply and responded, "It's an honor the meet you, Lord Madara." Cassie glared at him. He shrugged. "Sorry, too much anime." He responded.  When the rice cooker beeped, Madara looked around for the source. Cassie nodded to Aaron. After a moment, he placed a large bowl of rice in front of him. After digging in a drawer, he managed to find a pair of chopsticks from one of the deliveries they had recently. Madara recognized the rice, the smell of it made his stomach growl. He took a bite and made a face. Aaron sighed and grabbed the soy sauce out of the refrigerator. Madara looked at the bottle curiously. Aaron looked at him and opened the bottle shaking soy sauce onto the rice for him. He waited while he tried the rice again. He nodded. "Better." "I'm sorry, I don't have anything more to serve with it, but we weren't exactly expecting you." Cassie tells him quietly. "Your hospitality is most appreciated woman." He looked at her sheepishly. "Cassie," He added. Cassie smiled. "Madara," She began, "You are obviously not in your dimension." "I realized that when I first woke here." Madara stated sternly. "Had I been able to activate my Sharingan, you would have been dead." Cassie glared at him.  "You really do have a God complex." She hissed. Aaron shook his head. "I'd be careful Lord Madara, my mother is not to be underestimated." "Enough with the Lord Madara, Aaron Scott. He's not LORD Madara here. Only Madara." "Yes, maam." "You dare to strip me of my title so callously?" He snaps at her. Aaron rolled his eyes. Cassie picked up his bowl of rice and dumped it in the trash. He sat there then. A look of genuine surprise. "Madara, the first lesson you need to learn in this dimension, Never bite the hand that feeds you." Cassie had returned to her room. The nerve of that man. Why should she be so surprised? He was still Madara.