Mi Ho pov:

Its been a week since I was contacted by the Akatsuki. After the midnight tea party at their hideout, everything had come back to normal. So normal that I was starting to wonder if I actually met them.

Ryoshi helped me get a job in the village. I was really bored of sitting in the house with nothing to do besides my timely workouts. There was no music, no dancing, nothing. I was living in his house and it was kind of rude of me to freeload off his earnings. I should be helping out too. So I used the reason of me being bored to get myself a job here.

Unfortunately for me, the job wasn't as interesting as I had hoped. I was hired at a local restaurant as a waitress. The restaurant was usually busy though. It was just between Iwa and a few other smaller villages that were afflicted to it. Shinobi constantly passed though here and since the place I worked in was the only restaurant in the village, we had constant floating customers.

Just as I had thought, I was able to get some information about the Akatsuki. Apparently they are a criminal organization collecting the tailed beasts for power. They have attacked several villages including Konoha for this reason alone. I also heard that they are starting a war to get their hands on the last two tailed beasts - just the way Obito had told me. Many of the people who talked about the war even said that they were really afraid because they would have to fight Madara.

I was pretty good at multi tasking. So as I served the customers, I would eavesdrop on all their conversations to get an idea on what was really going on in this world.

But the part about Madara was what really got me surprised. I had managed to start a few small conversations with the customers who came to the restaurant and I asked them about what Madara had done all these years. Well, they did say that he died when Hashirama fought with him for the last time but I was somehow sure that it wasn't true.

They told me that Madara deserted Konoha just a few months after it was formed; which I knew since he told me that before sending me to the future. Apparently, he even attacked Konoha several times, trying to destroy it. He was the strongest shinobi to have lived besides Hashirama; Hashirama was the only one strong enough to end their battles in a draw every time. Madara got control of the nine tailed beast and that was the last time people heard about him.

I don't understand. Madara wanted to protect Izuna but Izuna died. It was Madara's and Hashirama's dream to build a village together to protect people important to them. I know Izuna was the one Madara wanted to protect and after he died, Madara pretty much lost his mind. He became so violent and uneasy and insecure....it really hurt me to see the usual confident Madara so distraught.

But that was no reason for him to attack his own village! His clan still lived there, at least until the massacre had happened. Jeez!! Why was he always so rash? Why couldn't he just take two minutes to think things through before he acted on it? No matter what reason he had, be it Izuna or the anger he felt for the way his clan was distanced, the way he was doing things wasn't right!

I sighed as I ran my fingers through my wet hair in front of the mirror. Today was my day off from work and oppa and eonni were going to visit. Of course, Jin Hae was going to be with them and I was excited to see him and play with him again.

But my mind was flooding with unnecessary thoughts today. I was particularly upset about hearing one thing that many people spoke about. The fact that Madara had killed his own brother to become stronger. To take his eyes to achieve the eternal mangekyou sharingan. But that wasn't true! They didn't know how much he went through when Izuna died. They didn't know how violent and how distrustful of everyone around him he became! Only I knew.....even though he was probably doing the wrong thing here, I didn't like it that people were saying such things about him. It was wrong to judge people without knowing about them completely.

I sighed again. I've been thinking about this too much lately. It's too stressful.

"Nooooonnnaaaaaaaa!!!!" I chuckled coming out of my thoughts when I heard Jin Hae calling me from outside. I shook my head with a smile, pushing all my hair behind me and getting up to head to the living room. I guess I had to just hold off thinking about these things for now. After all, there was nothing I could do about it until Madara actually turned up in front of me.

Lets see what to do when that happens, shall we?

Madara pov:

Finally....finally I have been revived. The world and its foolish inhabitants least expecting me turning up here. Well, they knew I would be fighting the war; Obito had explained their resistance to handing over the last two bijuu for my plans to become complete. So fighting these weaklings was the only think left to do. I was though roughly looking forward to crushing their hope to the ground, seeing the destroyed battlefield, the thick stench of blood hanging heavily in the air, the fear in the eyes of the survivors....what exciting memories!

But most of all, Mi Ho. I would see her soon; in fact I wanted to see her right now. I was foolish to have become so possessive of her, but she was mine and I wasn't going to let anyone touch my property no matter what. I had come to trust her, the only person in the world who had seen the pathetic weak side that I hated showing. Its not that I showed it in front of her intentionally, but it felt so natural to hold her in my arms and let that silly embrace actually comfort me.

When Izuna died, when I slaughtered the Uzumaki, when I regrettably signed the peace treaty with Hashirama; she was there. She never judged me or my decisions. She was bold, speaking and yelling at me as if she were on the same level as me. Despite her short temper and bravery that was rather annoying at times, the words she spoke were honest. Let it be her anger, her sadness, her happiness; they were all true expressions of how she felt. She wasn't fake like any other person, hiding true feelings from the outside.

In fact, it was as if she couldn't hide her true feelings. And that's what made me trust her.

If my old man were to see me like this, he would probably explode in anger. But I couldn't deny feeling some sort of reassurance with Mio. Her anger and lecturing was amusing and I chuckled remembering some of the unfortunate events that took place more than a hundred years ago. Now when I think of them, they seem so laughable.

"Obito, I'm going to go see Mio and scout the villages to get an idea of their military force. Let all other preparations go as we discussed." I told him as I walked to the entrance of the hideout. "As you wish, Madara sama."

I was a little annoyed with my current form. I had been resurrected with the Edo Tensei technique and my body wasn't like a normal living person. Skin dry and cracked, movement and chakra uncomfortably restricted; I had to wait for some more time until I used Obito's life force as a replacement for this decaying body. I still had use for him and I could use his body once he fulfils his role in this war.

Right now I was jumping through the trees, heading to the village where Mio was staying. It wasn't too far off and I reached there in a few minutes. I made sure no one saw me and I got a good look at the village from a nearby cliff. I could clearly sense Mio in one of the houses but I frowned and narrowed my eyes when I sensed four other people with her. One seemed like a child, two were quite weak, the last was an average shinobi, I suppose. Well, average for this time anyway. Shinobi in my time were much better than the ones now. These people were actually insults to shinobi.

I wanted to see who she was with. It annoyed me,to no end when I saw two men, one woman ans a child in the house she was living in. All if them were laughing loudly about something. I narrowed my eyes particularly at Mio who was lying on het back, wearing a t shirt and shorts and laughing with her eyes closed. Tears were escaping her eyes because of her laughter and she opened her eyes with a wide smile as the child fell on her stomach.

She gave a very unladylike grunt at the sudden weight on her stomach but she didn't yell at the child like I expected her to. Instead, she sat up holding the child to herself as she composed herself. "Jin Hea ya! Noona yeppuji? [is big sister pretty?]" She asked him making me narrow my eyes at the language I still couldn't understand even with my sharingan.

"Ohh! Noona nomu nomu nomu yeppuda!! [yes! Big sis is very very very pretty!!]" The child yelled back spreading his arms wide. "Aigoo gwippda!! Poppo jo!! [oh my so cute!! Gimme a kiss!!]" Mio spoke again, puckering her lips. I narrowed my eyes more as the child kissed her lips with a slight smack. It was an innocent kiss but I still didn't like it that Mio was acting this way with someone other than me. I felt pathetic....I was feeling this way because of a mere child. I was just too possessive of what was mine.

I crossed my arms and leaned sideways against the tree trunk as I continued to watch them. "Then what happened, Mio san?" The one with black and blue hair and green eyes asked. Mio chuckled again as she put down the child and folded her legs. "Man! That guy wouldn't stop stalking us....it started to get pretty serious after that actually. We went out for a recording and when we returned to the hotel, the whole place was ransacked. We started receiving threat mail from some unknown person too and all of us started getting really uneasy."

"I got so pissed off about it that I left. I didn't tell anyone and I took the first train to the next city. I switched off my communication device and when I returned, eonni and oppa exploded at me." She was smiling sheepishly now. "Hmm, you still haven't apologized properly to us you know?" The other woman said crossing her arms with a playful glare at Mio.

"Ah....right...." Mio chuckled awkwardly but then perked up. "Ah! I know what to do." She stood up and I moved to get a better view of what she was going to do. She cleared her throat and clapped her hands together. She began singing something that sounded quite strange and she danced for it as well.

Sorry sorry sorry sorry

Neaga neaga neaga monjo

Neaga neaga neaga pajyeo

Pajyeo pajyeo boryeo baby

Shawty shawty shawty shawty

Nuni busyeo busyeo busyeo

Sumi makyeo makyeo makyeo

Neaga michyeo michyeo baby

I could understand only the word sorry and after a few steps, she stopped while laughing as the woman threw a pillow at her. She caught it, chuckling as she sat down as well. "Yah! Go sing that to your boyfriend!! What are you singing it to us as an apology for? Pabo ya....[dummy....]" The woman scolded. Sing the song to her boyfriend? So she had completely forgotten and ignored the fact that she belonged to me? Who was this man she called her so called boyfriend? I would kill him right on front of her eyes, showing her who she was supposed to listen to....not that she would do so obediently. After all, she always found ways to disobey me in every single thing.

"Eonni ya!! I don't have one!!" Mio whined. I was satisfied that she said she didn't have anyone. I was also very surprised. This was the first time I had seen this side of her. Laughing so much, making a fuss like a child....I was almost sure she could never be normal like this or like anyone else. It was irritating that she wasn't calm and respectful like this when she was with me though.

But I suppose her head strong attitude was the main reason why I had come to trust her. She could be gentle when she wanted to....like when she comforted me when Izuna died and when she treated my wounds. I smirked as I shook my head.

I guess I should come back during the night time. I didn't want to cause a ruckus here....its not worth the trouble. Mio was still talking and I turned around and jumped away to the other villages I wanted to scout. I teleported to make things quicker and I sent Zetsu to Obito with a message to make Mio come halfway to the hideout at midnight. I would meet her then.

I was looking forward to crushing her against myself.

Mi Ho pov:

"It was nice that you guys came over.....I wish we were actually staying together." I told oppa as we stood near the door. He patted my head with an apologetic smile. "I wish we could too....but Iwa us strict and rather suspicious. The only reason they let me come to this village is because I am responsible for taking weapons and other goods from here back to Iwa. And of course, they know about Ryoshi too so they allow Yin Sae and Jin Hae to come along."

I rolled my eyes. Iwa was such a pain! Ugh....oh forget it. What else can you expect if a bunch of buttheads lead a village anyway?

I shook my head with a smile. "Well, you should head back. Its already dark." I said and they nodded. "Take care, sleep well." "Bye bye noona!!" I ruffled Jin Hae's head and waved as they began to leave. Ryoshi and I headed back inside as well. I excused myself and decided to go to sleep early because I was tired.

When I made it to my room, I was surprised to find the window open. I hadn't opened it before I left. Besides, there was a sheet of paper on my bed side table. I guess the Akatsuki had finally decided to contact me. I wasn't too happy about that but I shut my door and walked to the table. I opened the piece of paper and read it's contents.

Mi Ho san,

Please come to the large persimmon tree between the village and the Akatsuki hideout. Madara wishes to see you.

My eyes went wide. Madara? So he was revived already? I guess in terms of the actual time that had passed, it wasn't that soon, but well, it was a little sudden for me. After all, I had met the Akatsuki just a week ago and the war wasn't supposed to start for another two months!

But a sudden bolt of electricity hit me and my heart thudded. I was going to see Madara again. Madara in his youth, possibly just the way I remember him or maybe even better. Oh man....why was I suddenly feeling nervous like this? I was nervous and excited and jittery....I had just one and a half hours to see him and I couldn't wait!

Besides wanting to punch him and bombard him with all the questions and insults I had, I wanted to hold him and take in his drugging scent again. I wanted to feel his intoxicating kiss too.

I bit my lip as I folded the paper neatly again. No....I cant keep the paper. If Ryoshi found it, he would obviously get suspicious. In fact, he would probably realize that I was contacted by the Akatsuki and I was meeting them. Thinking so, I quickly tore the sheet to pieces. I threw it onto the dustbin and walked to the window.

"Madara...." Saying his name after so long felt somewhat different. In fact, the whole situation now made me get a bad feeling that Madara was different. His name now sounded so.....dominating. Not just dominating but because of all the information about him I had heard, his name had some sort of deep intimidation. Some sort of darkness and danger. It made even me shiver in slight discomfort.

In one way, because if my suppressed feelings for him, I really wanted to see him. I wanted to yell and bicker with him the way we used to.....in another way, I was.....nervous.

I sighed. I just had to go meet him anyway. I couldn't run away; knowing him, he would just come to the village, throw me over his shoulder painfully and kidnap me if I didn't turn up. Besides, how bad could it be? It is the Madara I knew after all. I'm sure everything would be totally normal when I stood in front of him.

Well Madara, lets see what you have to say to me when you see me.

~~~~~~~~