A longer chapter! (Only a bit longer though, but this is long for me since I normally keep it around the 1000 words :))

Madara's POV.

''So how long are you gone?'' Asami asked.

I looked at Keiji, who shrugged, before looking back at Asami. ''About a week.'' I answered. ''Maybe longer.''

Asami took another sip from her soup. ''And you leave tomorrow?''

I nodded, and Asami let out a small sigh. After I gave her back her ring, I brought her with me to my house and let her stay for supper. It was becoming normal to have Asami around in the Uchiha compound. She was here pretty often to help me with my paperwork, or help Keiji cleaning the house. Even if we told her it wasn't necessary, she insisted, and Asami was stubborn, so she did what she wanted no matter what we told her. I didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing.

After we finished, Keiji took the cutlery and the plates to the kitchen, while I went to my room to pack some of my stuff I would need tomorrow, well aware that Asami was following me.

''Madara?''

I opened the door to my room. ''What?''

When I heard no response, I looked over my shoulder and saw Asami standing in the door opening, looking at the ground. Sighing, I turned around. ''Asami?''

The redhead visibly tensed a bit up, looking quite disquieting. I already had a presentiment, but decided to listen to what she had to say anyway.

''It's about what Tobirama-san said.'' Asami said slowly, her voice rather soft. She sounded hesitant, like she wasn't really sure if she should have brought this topic up. She shouldn't have.

I clenched my jaw and turned around, making my way to my desk. ''I thought you said it wasn't important what he said.'' I grunted bluntly. This was really becoming annoying. Was she worrying about this again? At first I was only irritated, but now I was slowly growing very shirty. There was a limit to my patience.

''It may not be important to you,'' Asami admitted. ''But to me..'' she trailed off. ''He said that you-''

I let out a shuddered sigh and clinched my fists. ''If you don't like it, you should leave.'' I interrupted her. I knew it came out harsh and maybe a bit rude, but I had enough if this. If she was constantly worrying about what others thought about me, she should stay away from me. She should have expected this, and if this bothered her this much, she should just leave.

''Huh?'' Asami breathed.

I turned around to face her, a glare clearly visible on my face. ''I said, if you don't like it, you should leave. '' I repeated irritably. ''Is it that hard to understand?''

Asami bit her lip, looking quite insulted. I knew I was hard on her right now, but I wanted to make this clear. ''What do you mean with 'leave'?'' Asami asked quietly.

''Leave me, ending us.''

Asami looked at me, her eyes widening. ''But I don't wan-''

''Then shut up!'' I hissed.

Asami's mouth closed, and I saw her swallowing thickly ,not knowing what to say next, but that was fine. Her eyes looked a bit watery, and she blinked hard, trying to keep her tears from falling.

I sat down on my bed and exhaled loudly, closing my eyes, trying to calm down a bit. The probability that Asami would leave after my outburst with high. Of course she would be sad and upset now, but to my surprise, when I raised my head, Asami was still there. And even though she could be stubborn and now and then even insolent sometimes, she didn't have the guts to look at me now.

''Stop worrying about that.'' I spoke up. ''Its unnecessarily vexatious.''

Asami looked like she wanted to say something, her lips parting for a few seconds before closing. After she anxiously took a quick glance at me, she decided to say something after all. ''But-''

That was it.

I stood up, and crossed the room in a couple of strides, reaching Asami. Looking down at her intimidating, a simple glare made her close her mouth, and she instinctively took a step back, increasing the space between us, which I already quickly lessened. This continued until her back hit the wall after a short amount of time. Knowing she would try to get past me, I slammed my hand against the wall next to her head, and Asami's eyes widened slightly and she let out a gasp.

''But?'' I scoffed. ''There is no but. You knew people didn't think positively of me, and yet you stayed. You knew people would talk about me behind my back, and I told you to ignore it, but you didn't. You knew people would talk to you about me, trying to get you to think the same about me as they do.'' I continued. Asami tried to get past me on the other side, but I grabbed her shoulder and pushed her against the wall, cornering her, preventing her from leaving. ''If my problems are bothering you, you should stay away from me. Then you have nothing to worry about anymore and I don't have to be continuously reminded of my problems.''

Asami shook her head and held onto my attire. ''Madara.. stop.''

I tightened my grip on her shoulder, and Asami whimpered slightly. ''Well?'' I asked. ''I'll let you choose. What do you want to do?''

Asami's POV.

He was being so oblivious and the tone he was speaking was rather harsh. I knew he didn't like talking about certain things, but how could I not be worried? I didn't want people to hate him for something what he hasn't done, or to hate him for being rude and cruel, which he is not. I've seen that myself, with my own eyes. But if Madara kept acting so annoyed, he'd just let people see the person they thought the was.

And letting me choose? Didn't he care about what my decision would be? It wouldn't mean anything to him if I left? This made me wonder what Madara actually thought of me. Was I just a hindrance, an annoyance, or did he care about me?

''Well?''

I averted my gaze and bit my lip, trying to prevent my tears from rolling down my cheeks, but this time, I wasn't able to stop them. This was so emotionally frustrating, and I didn't know what to do. I wanted to tell him so much. About what I thought about all this, but I was afraid of his reaction.

''Look at me.''

I averted my gaze even further and heard Madara grunt as he squeezed my shoulder painfully. ''Look at me!''

I turned my head and looked into his eyes, seeing frustration, annoyance, and slight rage.

I gasped when I felt his gloved fingers on my jaw, not expecting that, and I grabbed his wrist.

''Asami.'' Madara breathed. ''Are you afraid of me? I can see anxiety on you face.''

His voice wasn't so loud and harsh anymore, but it still sounded a bit strained.

''I'm not afraid of you.'' I whispered softly, sincerely.

Madara closed his eyes and sighed. ''Just stop worrying. It's annoying.''

I smiled through my tears, and when Madara opened his eyes again, a frown appeared on his features. I reached out to his cheek, and Madara's eyes narrowed, but he let me anyway. ''I love you, Madara.'' I confessed, and I pressed my fingertip on his forehead, between his eyebrows. ''Isn't it only natural for me to worry about you and to look out for you?''

Madara's gaze softened and I smiled. I wanted him to be aware of what was happening around him. He didn't pay attention to it, and that was why I tried to talk to him about it several times, but he obviously didn't want to. I never expected him to get this angry though.

And about what Tobirama said.. Madara was indeed slowly changing. Maybe it was because I didn't want to accept Tobirama's words, but I didn't listen to him at first, but I had to face reality. Something would definitely happen if something wasn't done soon.

Madara's POV.

''I love you, Madara.'' Asami whispered honestly. ''Isn't it only natural for me to worry about you and to look out for you?''

I loosened up and removed my hand from her shoulder. Asami could still smile after our little fight. I would have thought she would leave angrily, but this only showed how loyal she was to me, and I was satisfied with it.

My hand went from her jaw to her chin, and I let my thumb brush over her plump lips before I tiled her head and bent down. Asami didn't show any signs of refusal or denial, so I knew she wasn't bothered by the fact that my lips were pressed onto hers. I thought that she maybe wouldn't want this after what happened not very long ago, but Asami softly kissed back.

The kiss didn't last long, but it didn't have to. When we parted, Asami stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around my neck, embracing me.

Even though I wasn't the cuddly type, and I only returned her previous hugs with a single arm, I put both my arms around her waist this time.