~~~~~Chapter eighteen~~~~~

Sometimes, the twins doubted what their mom told them. They would often question whether or not their father was as good as their mother had told them or was he the sinister villain he was often portrayed as. It was a natural thing to think since they had never met him before. They've only heard of him.

Mao had made the mistake of asking her mother about it once, and she instantly regretted it once she saw the sad smile on Nao's face.

Masato gave her a glare. "You shouldn't have said that!"

"Sorry!"

Nao sighed. "Well, it's only natural that you would ask me that. Don't worry. I won't get mad at you."

"That's not the point..."

Telling their story, she stared at nowhere in particular with a cold look, as if remembering something she didn't want to remember, a memory she wasn't much fond of.

"Coldhearted and ruthless. That's how we needed to act back then in order to survive. It was an era far more frightening than this one, more violent and chaotic. He had a good side though. They all did," she said, a small smile forming as if remembering something good.

~~

She remembered when Madara had asked her what she thought he would look like when it was not yet revealed that he was the one she was going to marry, when she didn't know that they had already met.

She hesitated for a bit to tell him the truth.

She couldn't tell him that she actually had the thought that he could be a freaking old pedophile with a super long tongue, big gross lips, super mega bushy eyebrows, and a billion pimples.

"Well, they told me that you were handsome and strong, but I had my doubts." She technically didn't lie. "I was wrong to doubt them though, since they were right," she said with a smile.

"Well," he said, "to be honest, I had initially thought that you would be a spoiled brat under the protection of your parents, and it would turn out to be merely a political and loveless marriage. I'm glad I was wrong."

An amused look crossed her face that time. 'I'm relieved to know that his imagination was not as bad as mine,' she thought.

~~

"What did you like about dad though, mom?" Mao asked.

Nao slightly blushed when her daughter asked her that. "A lot of things," she said. "His looks and strength are already a big plus to his personality. I love a lot of things about him, and I love the moments we shared together. The late night walks and welcoming him from missions, dinner together, and even his clingy attitude in the morning. I missed those times and sometimes wished that I was with him, but I don't regret my decision."

Masato had already walked away from the conversation, not really wanting to hear about his mom's love story when it was all cheesy and romanticized despite being a playboy himself. Meanwhile, Mao smiled at her mom's stories, being a hopeless romantic despite her mature demeanor.

Nao looked at Mao with an amused expression. "How about you? Do you like someone?"

"No, I don't!"

Masato scoffed. "Are you sure? You seem to be getting along well with Kyou," he teased.

"Who the hell is getting along well with your best friend?!"

Her mature personality seemed to disappear whenever Masato's partner-in-crime was mentioned. He was also their teammate when they were genin.

"What? You're like best friends!"

"We're not! We're not! We're not!" Mao denied profusely.

It was obvious that she hated their teammate to an extent, even going so far as to say that she abhorred him because of one incident.

That was when, coincidentally, Kyou rang the doorbell. Wanting to get out of her brother's teasing, Mao went to the door to open it, only to come face-to-face with her alleged best friend.

She facepalmed and slammed the door shut.

"What did I do wrong this time?!" Kyou shouted from the other side.

—•—•—•—•—

A/N

Masato totally ships them. XD