Mi Ho pov:

"And check mate." "Aww man! I lost again!" I whined and threw my hands up in defeat. I looked at Izuna suspiciously as he chuckled. "Or maybe you cheated." I said with a pout and he shook his head. "No. I don't need to cheat in a game of shogi." I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest. "Then that means I just suck at shogi." I said depressed at my not so good playing skills.

"On the contrary, you're actually a good player." Izuna said as he began to clear off the pawns from the board. I helped too and watched him unhappily. "Really? Then how come I keep losing?" "That's because you have to spend more time thinking before your next move." He advised. I rolled my eyes as I put some of the shogi pawns into the box. "I do take time....the only reason why one game of ours took almost two hours is because I was taking so long to think before I played my moves."

"True, but you just think of the next best move. You have to try to analyse and predict your opponents move after you have placed down your chip. Its the same way you face your enemies when you're at war." I thought for a minute and nodded. "Yeah....sounds right. Heh, I'm actually pretty good at these kind of stuff and I'm surprised I didn't think about it." I shrugged and folded the board in half and placed it aside.

"You're good at these things? I'm sure you are." I looked up as Madara entered the room while chuckling. He was messing with me again. He sat down near the window and I stuck by tongue out at him.

After the incident, I had been given my own room. Madara had tried to be more compromising so I was given the personal space that I had wanted. He had also given me privacy after I had promised and convinced him that I wouldn't try to escape from the Uchihas. So the guards who usually kept an eye on me stayed outside my room and I had some personal time to practice my dances and do my regular workouts as well. Besides that, I was allowed to work at the infirmary instead if doing other chores.

I enjoyed helping out in the infirmary and Madara and Izuna had seen the positive change in me because of the work I did. They were satisfied that I didn't complain about anything anymore and we got along rather well. Madara and Izuna visited me often and Izuna had taught me shogi. It was very similar to chess so I had caught on quickly. But he was still a much better player than me and I always lost.

Madara and I usually had very simple and general conversations. Well, we usually never had conversations actually, except for when he gave me sarcastic compliments just like earlier. But our conversations were mostly light humor which I have to say, I enjoyed having with him. He would sometimes watch me specifically when I played against Izuna....which was weird. Other times when it was only the two of us in the room, we would sit silently wrapped in our own little bubbles. I would be reading a book or listening to music while watching the garden and Madara would be watching the garden with me or he would be going through scrolls or paperwork.

In all, we had become comfortable being in each other's presence. Perhaps a but too comfortable actually, since now I enjoyed his company.

Madara was strange in some ways. I had never taken the time to get to know him, but now that we spent time together often, I could see that he was a very sharp person in terms of intelligence and skill. He was amazing when he spoke about battle strategies during meetings, and he had the aura of authority and that ring of dominance in his voice when he spoke. He sometimes allowed me to attend meetings if they weren't secretive in any way. And I have to say, I was impressed.

Besides learning more and more about his personality, there was one thing that I had noticed about him. Even though I didn't want to admit it, he was drop dead gorgeous. He was tall, with broad shoulders, a well toned body but not too buff, and his facial features were perfectly carved out. His eyes were very attractive to say the least, his eyes being charcoal black. His jaw was well defined and he had high cheekbones as well.

His hair reached till his waist and it looked smooth and silky. I guess you could call him a 'hunk' in modern terms; you know, the kind of guy and girl would dream to date in my world....and as I had observed, in this world too. And what seemed to worry me was that I seemed to be aware of that more often now.

"Say Madara?" I said and he looked up at me. "When will this war end? I mean, I can tell its been going on for quite a long time, right? When do you supposed things will settle down?" He watched me passively for a moment before turning away and looking out the window again. He was leaning against the wall with one arm resting on his folded knee. "Who knows....all I can say is that we wont back down or bow to anyone. We will fight until we win." He said. I just watched him. He looked lost in thought right now. In fact, he seemed to space out a lot lately. More that what I remember when I just got here. I guess the war was getting worse and he had a lot of things to worry about. Although, these guys were really strong and they almost never lost even a single ninja....well, except for amateur fighters or teenagers.

I got up and walked to where he was sitting. I sat down cross legged in front of him and just stared at him. When he got tired of having me stare at him, he sighed and looked my way. "Stop staring, girl. Its annoying." He said and I snorted. Yes, very un-lady like, I know. I reached out my hand and poked the center of his forehead with my index finger. "You're always so lost in thought and you're frowning. You shouldn't do that. It will give you wrinkles." I scolded and he sighed again. "Be quiet, girl."

This time, I took a hold of his hair and pulled it. He glared at me as I ended up pulling him forward. "I have a really nice name.....its Mi Ho. Why cant you use it? Don't keep calling me girl....it makes me feel like you dislike me." I pouted and his eyes darted to my lips. It was momentary, but I was sure he looked at my lips and then back into my eyes. He slapped my hand away and leaned back again. "Jung Mi Ho huh? I still think your name is strange." He scoffed, looking,out of the window again.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "It looks like you'll never change." I muttered and stood up. "Well, if you two would mind getting your lazy butts out of my room, I'm going to sleep now. Its almost midnight." "I refuse." Was Madara's curt reply. I put a hand on my hip and glared. I took a hold of his arm and began to pull in an attempt to get him off the floor. He didn't move and he watched me with a smirk. I pulled harder but it didn't seem to work. "C'mon!! I cant be this weak!" I whined.

But what I didn't expect was him giving my arm a quick and super hard pull in return. I lost balance and fell forward right into his chest. I landed with my face pushed into his chest and I got a very strong scent of cologne. Well, I don't think its cologne since I doubt they had any sort of cologne or perfume here....it was probably just his scent, but damn, it was drugging! A shiver went through me and I was sure that the hair on the back of my neck were standing straight and frozen right now.

And since Madara had pulled me forward, when I collided into him, his arm had somehow come to rest on my lower back. My cheeks flamed at my position, but I threw it to the back of my head. I pushed against his chest with my hands and moved off him, falling onto my rear a foot away in front of him. I gave him a hard look even though my heart was pounding a mile a minute. "What was that for?!" I whined rubbing my aching nose to hide the blush and he chuckled. He stood up and I stood up as well while dusting my kimono. "That was for my entertainment." He chuckled again and Izuna watched him skeptically.

Izuna didn't say anything and they both left the room without another word. After the door was closed, I sank to the ground. The blush that I had held in surfaced and my heart pounded again. Jeez! I cant believe he did that! Even though he said it was for his entertainment, it made me feel quite embarrassed....especially since the kiss that he had forced on my came rushing into my head. I just couldn't get it out of my head and my lips tingled again just because I remembered it.

I hit the top of my head several times. What was wrong with me? Why was I thinking about his kiss now? And the heavy scent he had....I shivered again and goosebumps erupted on my body. It was just so....I don't even know what word to used to describe how intense it was.

Okay, I just turned weird. I had to cool my head and get my mind straight. I got off the floor and decided to take a cool shower before I went to bed.

Madara pov:

Damn these feelings again. This was the same way I had felt when I had seen her second dance. My blood boiled and I felt like I wanted to grab her head and kiss her as hard as I could.

It was a surprise that we somehow got along so well. We could be in the same room,without me getting so annoyed that I wanted to kill her. It was much different than before and unfortunately, I liked spending time with her. We didn't have to talk or anything. Just knowing that she was within my sight gave me some sort of satisfaction. In fact, I had gone to the extent of doing my clan paperwork in her room as she did something on her own.

One could say that it was a way to make sure she wasn't trying anything funny. But from the way I felt it, it was something different.

She even enjoyed playing shogi with Izuna. She seemed to have conversations easily with him and sometimes I felt...jealous for not being able to have a conversation with her. The only words we exchanged was when I made fun of her about something she said or did. And occasionally, she would ask questions about the war and the clan. But that's it.

She had also begun to work in the infirmary and seeing her so casually touching all my men as she treated them made me angry. I didn't like the way she fed them their food, helped them sit up on the bed, helped them walk or do any sorts of things.

I first, I couldn't understand why I felt this way. I got so angry at her for every small thing that she did. But after thinking it through, I realized that I saw her as a woman. Just the way I was supposed to have seen Aimi because of the wedding, I saw Mio in that place. I hated that I desired her. I kept my distance, not wanting to get personal and clan matters mixed up. I didn't need a woman to slow me down and burden ne with responsibilities that I didn't want to take.

But Mio was different, wasn't she? She had two abilities that any clan would die to have. Having her in the clan was advantageous and at the same time, a pain for me.

But I couldn't control my desire. I couldn't control myself from watching her or listening to her even though I pretended to be ignoring her. I was so aware of her presence no matter where I was in the compound. Her chakra was unique and I could always pinpoint her location and even though I never showed it, it was there at the back of my mind all through the day.

I sighed irritably as I walked to her room. It was 4:00 in the morning and I hadn't been able to get much sleep. Besides having her as a distraction on my mind, that fool Hashirama was trying to get me into a peace treaty. He was still so stuck up with the stupid dream that we had talked about when we were younger and everytime we met on the battlefield he tried to convince me to stop the war. Not just that, but he knew that Mio was in the Uchiha compound and he kept trying to tell me that we could use her power to truly bring peace in the world....after all, we wished to protect our brothers.

I opened the door of Mio's room and stepped in. She was asleep on her side, breathing deeply. Her chakra was calm and as I entered, the door squeaked. She scrunched up her face and turned so that she was lying on her back now. She didn't wake up and I narrowed my eyes at her sleeping form.

I walked to where she was and crouched next to her. I reached out and touched a few strands of her hair. I couldn't resist and I pulled her off the ground with an arm around her shoulders. She didn't wake and I just kissed her. I closed my eyes and parted her lips with my tongue. I slithered my tongue into her mouth and rubbed it against hers. I couldn't stop a groan from leaving my mouth as I felt intoxicated by her taste. She tasted sweet and I brought her flush against my chest as I continued to kiss her.

She gave a groan as well and shifted in my arms. I pulled away with a lick on her sips and she had a look of discomfort on her face. But after a few seconds, it cleared off and her expression became calm again.

I cursed under my breath. I hated the way she disturbed my self-control so easily and unconsciously. I hated the way she pouted and drove me crazy with the desire to just devour her tempting and soft pink lips.

I placed her down on the bed and stood up. I watched her with a glare. Stupid female....I always knew that females pulled us down. And now because of her, I was losing my focus. I cursed under my breath again as she sighed and I felt like kissing her again. "Tch!" I walked to the window and jumped out to the garden. I looked back into the room at Mio and she slowly blinked her eyes open. She frowned and rubbed her eyes as she sat up. She held the back of her neck and moved her head from side to side.

She coughed as she looked around the room, still frowning. "I-sang hae....[strange....]" She mumbled in her language and sighed. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. "Ah, chua....[ah, cold]" She said and came close to the window. She shut it and now all I could sense was her chakra. I scoffed and walked away from her room. This was pathetic....I was behaving so unlike myself.

I looked at the sky, a growl escaping my mouth and I jumped back to my room.

>>Timeskip

Mi Ho pov:

I sighed as I sat alone in my room just looking out my window. It had been two weeks since I properly saw Madara or Izuna. The war had gotten a lot worse and most of the time they were out fighting against the Senjus. There was even a time when they didn't return for two nights straight because they were fighting.

More people got injured nowadays and even though I helped predicting the danger, some could not be avoided. Others ended up returning to the compound in critical condition.

Besides news of the war and my usual chores of helping them with my ability to predict danger, the infirmary job had become more hectic. There were so many patients that flowed in with injuries that I was finding it difficult to find time for dance practice and exercise. I was pretty much living in the infirmary now. Its not that I didn't want to do the job. I wanted to help and I didn't have the heart to leave the patients when they were suffering so much. So I had to sacrifice some of my personal time to help.

I hadn't seen Aimi all this time either. She probably still worked in the kitchen and she was being kept away from me to make sure I wasn't harmed again. Besides that, I haven't been able to sleep too well lately. I don't know why, but sometimes I end up feeling suffocated. It doesn't happen often; its happened about three times. But I feel a pressure on my face and like something is preventing me from breathing normally. I wake up after that but I don't find anything out of the ordinary. Its like I've been hallucinating about the feeling and I cant finds reasons as to why its been happening.

Not that I can do anything about it....but maybe I'm getting stressed. That's why my sleep has been disturbed lately. So its been taking time for me to fall asleep too.

"Mio dono, we have more patients." A girl knocked on my room door. I sighed and got up. I opened the door, nodded to the girl and followed her to the infirmary. Just as she had said, there were about ten more people who had been brought in. I walked into the store room and got out bandages and some antiseptic salves. I usually cleaned up their wounds before the healer had a check up on them so I headed to the first patient.

But even before I could open the antiseptic bottle, someone came running into the room. "Trouble!! Big trouble!!" He was panting and his clothes had stains of blood. "Healer sama! Hurry! Izuna sama has been injured!!" He called out frantically and my eyes went wide. "What?! How? When?" I asked but he didn't answer my question. The healer came running out and looked at me. "You're the next best at understanding wounds and giving temporary first aid. Stay here and have a look at the injured. I will be back once I check on Izuna sama."

I couldn't find any words to say and I just nodded in a slight daze. The healer ran out with the man who had just given us the information and and I was left to take care of the new patients. I was distracted though. I had become good friends with Izuna and I was worried about him too. I was hoping that the healer would return soon so I could go and visit Izuna. I couldn't leave the injured and I was eager to see how Izuna was....man talk about situations....

After almost two agonizing hours, the healer returned. The minute I saw him, I rushed to him. "How is he? Is he alright?" I asked but the healer ignored me and walked past me. I blinked, confused and surprised by his actions. I swallowed thickly and bit my lip. I looked at the healer as he walked into his room and shut the door. Well, since he was back, I could go to see Izuna right? I took the chance and left the infirmary and waked to where Izuna and Madara usually stayed.

I reached Izuna's room and I took a breath before knocking the door hesitantly. I didn't get any response so I opened the door slowly and stepped in. I saw Izuna lying on a mattress, his chest wrapped in bandages and soaked red with his blood. He was breathing heavily and I felt queasy at the site. Madara was sitting next to him, his hair covering half his face and his fists clenched tightly on his knees. He was so stiff and I felt a little nervous.

But I closed the door behind me and walked to him. I sat down on my knees next to him silently and waited. Neither of is said anything and my chest constricted seeing the pained look on Izuna's face. He was sweating and breathing heavily....the wound seemed pretty serious.

After a few minutes, I couldn't take the silence anymore. It was just too thick and made me feel suffocated. So mustering all the courage I could, I finally spoke. "H-how is he?" My voice came out barely above a whisper and even though I didn't want to, I stuttered. I glanced sideways at Madara but he hadn't moved an inch. "Madara....?" I said again softly and his knuckles turned white as he tightened his fists even more than before.

"Get out." He didn't yell, but his voice was low and commanding. "Madara, I...." "I said GET OUT!!" I flinched as he snarled and the silence was shattered. He sounded so angry, that for a minute, I literally drowned in terror. My heart was beating a mile a minute and the color from my face drained out. But I took a deep breath and composed myself. I swallowed thickly and took a few deep breaths to calm my racing heart.