A/N: Because I was bored.

"You're going down…!"

Uchiha Madara was a proud man; a man with honor. Even if he were to be reborn, he would be climbing up the food chain and remain there on his throne until his death. So when a person told him that, a woman no less, with so much confidence and certainty, there were bound to be death, and he wasn't planning to die today.

Though Madara hadn't known that Uzumaki Naruto, the woman (who was terrible at talking smack during battles), wasn't talking to him who was standing before her in the middle of the open forest, instead she was talking to Black Zetsu who clung to Madara like a shadow.

So when Madara made the first move to attack instead of Black Zetsu who Madara didn't seem to have noticed, Naruto was taken by surprise, but luckily, her shinobi training came in handy and she dodged his incoming fist.

"Fast," the Uchiha clan heir thought as his gaze followed the woman who had jumped into the air not even using minimum amount of chakra to give her a boost.

Then, the next thing he knew, the strange blonde woman had a sphere of chakra that had been whizzing in circular motion which came down onto to him in mere seconds. He barely escaped the attack. Now, looking at the ground in which the attack landed on, his eyes widened a fraction, his poker-face intact, at the vicinity of the crater that the sphere of chakra created.

"If she hits me with that, I'm as good as dead." He admired the technique that was unseen or unheard of before, he wondered what she had called that technique.

He concluded that her power would match even him after mere minutes of their fight, and that gave him the excitement to continue their battle. For the first time since his last battle with his rival, Senju Hashirama, Madara smirked without the usual arrogance, nor the attitude he displayed to those beneath him.

Meanwhile, Naruto had been feeling the same thing as Madara: excitement. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as the fight went on. Blow by blow, punch by punch, kick by kick. She hadn't had this much fun since her last fight with Sasuke at training ground seven.

Still, she came to the past for a reason, or, well… she came to the past by accident - Naruto just made a reason to be in the past since she and Kurama had tried everything from reverse summoning to trying to use the gift that the Sage of Six Paths have given her during the Fourth Great Shinobi War.

It was fun and games for the duration of their battle. The landscape that once used to be full of lush grass, plants, and trees, were destroyed, only the craters and wrecked trunks of trees showed, but the two didn't realize that they had demolished acres of land for their fight. Madara even had to summon his gunbai to keep his strengths on the same level as Naruto's.

However, just then, at the midst of the epic armed conflict, Kurama reminded Naruto. "Naruto, this isn't the time to have fun! Did you forget what you were going to do to Black Zetsu?!" From the loud roar, Naruto flinched, then scratched her ears, and finally sighed.

"Fine, fine, Kurama. Geez, don't get your panties in a knot," she said to the giant grumbling fox who had looked like he'd woken up from his beauty sleep, though there was no way she'd tell him that. Kurama replied, before she ditched her mindscape, with his middle finger out and of course with some curse words.

Closing in, they brawled with their choice of weapons. Even if they met briefly with their blades, the impact were deadly and fierce.

At their final meeting at the interval, Naruto pierced the air that barely penetrated Madara's neck, but what did penetrate through was through the black substance that formed when the blade touched. This black substance was the physical manifestation of Kaguya, an enemy. "H-How…?"

Madara didn't hear of the sound that Black Zetsu made as the black substance slumped, but Madara was nonetheless confused because of the sheer fact that Naruto had come at him with such killer intent at the start.

Just as Black Zetsu disappeared, Madara and Naruto both landed onto the ground. No longer sensing her killer intent, Madara raised a brow at the woman and stopped his own killer intent as well. There was a weird feeling in him that desired to keep the woman alive.

"I win," Naruto said to him as her kunai was touching his neck. She used that as an excuse to not explain about her sudden disappearance of killer intent.

"You're not... going to kill me?" Although technically, it had been Naruto to start their little battle, it had been Madara who gave her the reason to alter her daily routine in the past by finding her. Whatever the reason was, Madara was glad to have met a worthy opponent; a strong woman who could actually fight her own battles.

"Why would I?" Now that Black Zetsu was gone, Naruto didn't have a reason to kill. "I should've accidentally teleported myself to the past a long time ago."

Madara gripped her wrist suddenly, not allowing Naruto to escape. He wanted to know her. There were so many things he wanted to ask her. But first, "what's your name, onna?" Looking at her eyes, which were colored strangely: light blue, he felt like he was being hypnotized from just the color alone.

"Onna?" An eyebrow quirked.

Naruto wondered if she should tell him her name; her identity. She wondered if telling Uchiha Madara her name would erase her future self from the world, but then again, she was here now, it hadn't really mattered to her. Add to the fact that shinobis were trained to detect any lie and how to deceive easily. Naruto, however, didn't have any training like that if she could recall, after all, she did ignore Iruka-sensei's boring lectures. Oh, and also, the fact that she just alternated the result of the future by defeating Black Zetsu.

"Naruto," she finally answered.

"Naruto," he echoed not a moment later. Madara thought the name to be strange, however it somehow suited her. "My name is Madara." Naruto nodded as a response, though very awkwardly, because she already knew his name. He practically will make history- twice.

They stayed like that for a while, her wrist grasped by his strong grip. His hand was rough and calloused unlike hers because of Kurama. Kurama cured anything, even the smallest of paper cuts. So when her hands got rough from training, he would smooth it out like cookie dough.

Finally, Naruto pulled out her hand from his own, which Madara hadn't even noticed because his whole being had been studying her; trying to figure her out. She cleared her throat, her knuckles covering her lips, "uhh… that was fun. I, uh, gotta head home now… I have to go tend to my garden."

Gardening had been the most of her life these days, being stuck in the past with nothing much to do, and it had been her hobby in her other life so she didn't complain- much. Fighting Madara had been the highlight of the few months she'd been here.

"Perhaps I can help." Madara wanted know Naruto.

"Was Madara even a green-thumb?" She wanted to ask, but instead, she asked him, "don't you have things to do?"

Clan meetings, training with Izuna, assisting his father's paper work, arguing with his father, pretending to meditate to get away from the small group of fan boys that are actually his lieutenant and captain of the Uchiha force... Madara's to-do list didn't cross his mind. "No," his lips drew a thin line.

As if the thin line of his lips looked more like a frown, Naruto really wanted to turn his frown upside down. So, being the 'number one unpredictable ninja,' Naruto tip toed up,— she hadn't known he was this tall, he was practically towering over her easily— pinched the ends of his lips and pushed up. Naruto then let out a laugh. She found him adorable when forced on a smile with one quirked eyebrow. It surprised Madara when he allowed her to, and even more, he heard his own heart beat at a rapid pace at his ear drums.

The clan heir wrapped his long sinewy fingers around her own hands, his expression grim. "Are you mocking me, onna?"

Now, Naruto's expression matched his grimace. She twisted her wrist halfway, allowing her hands to grips his and twist his own painfully, except it wasn't painful at all. Strength wise, Madara was stronger. "I have a name, you know. It's Naruto. Na-ru-to. - You wouldn't want me to call you okoto when I know your name, would you?" Then, she let go of him.

"Hn," came his reply. He wondered why the woman was frustrated with him calling her woman. Though, strangely, he repeated his question with the call of her name. "Are you mocking me, Naruto-san?" He hadn't called any woman by their names; never had bothered asking for their names, nor remembering them if he had. Of course, that excluded his late mother and some of the female servers of the clan head family.

Half of Naruto's face, literally, twitched by his response. It was like conversing with Sasuke(-teme). But they weren't the same, she realized. Madara was gentle in his words and behavior despite having the same Uchiha stoicism. However, in battling the two Uchiha, Naruto found that they were both similar from the way they both enjoyed the face of a great fight.

"I'm not mocking you, Madara." Adding a suffix would sound weird to her tongue, but this only made the Uchiha's brow arch. It was strange to him too, having a person, who was beneath him in status, not add a proper suffix to his name. "I just think people should smile more. — Like this," she gave a toothy grin. An idiotic grin.

In a way, her grins looked like a naive and innocent expression, ignorant of cruelty of the world. However, her eyes gave away something more; that she had experienced hardship, the harsh realities a shinobi had to deal with until their unavoidable death. It looked as if she knew that side of the void more than him, an Uchiha who fought tooth and nail to protect himself, his family, and his clan. This woman amazed him, and he wasn't sure he was ready to say goodbye to her.

"Anyway," Naruto begun again, "as I've said, I've gotta go," looking at the reddening sky that matched the ombre of her kimono that had been dirtied from top to bottom and cut in various places from their previous brawl, "it's getting late."

As Naruto was about to leave the area, his voice stopped her. "Will I see you again?"

She didn't want to be that kind of person but... "if fate brings us together, sure." With that, Naruto disappeared into the woods, the direction toward the mountains. Her bright chakra flare followed her, and he watched as it simmered into the trees.

His home was the opposite way.

Madara never felt this light, as if he wasn't wearing his heavy armor; as if all of his troubles, his worries, and stress had all disappeared from his broad shoulders. He could probably fly, in a literal sense. He realized that it was all because of Naruto.

Ever since returning to his clan, he had begun to think about her; her vibrant colors, her facial expressions, her unpredictable behaviors, the warmth of her voice, the spurs of her randomness.

His brother, Uchiha Izuna, realized this; that Madara was... content. Although Madara hadn't filled his 'happy' gauge, he had changed- in a good way. He was no longer angry, he hadn't yelled since his return from his week long mission, and he had been staring at space every often as if he was reminiscing about a happy memory. Izuna was sure that their father, as well as the other shinobi and civilians, had noticed too; of Madara's certain change in his atmosphere or aura.

It was strange, but Izuna was happy for his older brother. He wanted to know who had been the one to lift up his brother's spirits, perhaps a woman?

Certainly not a man since he had seen Madara a few months ago bringing a daughter of a merchant to his bed chamber at the middle of the night. Certainly not a child, or children, because Madara hated toddlers and teenagers, they were all bratty and spoiled and knew nothing of the real world. Certainly not his younger brother, for Madara was an introvert. And certainly not Otou-sama, who did nothing but drill in training and hatred for him.

Izuna wanted to meet her, and thank her from the bottom of his heart. Thanks to this mysterious woman, the clan villagers acknowledged him more as the heir of the clan, and not as a mere ruthless protector without any emotion to show. He also conversed with the villagers, instead of responding with a stoic "hn" or a nonchalant "mm."

Though, all of the pleasantries stopped when his older brother had gotten out of a clan meeting just yesterday. Madara only went because their father expected him to in preparation for his future duty as the successor to clan head.

Izuna thought about confronting Madara. Perhaps their regular friendly battle would do justice for his worries, specifically for the bags under his grave eyes. So, today had been the day that Madara accepted Izuna's request of the said battle.

Though, unlike any other (friendly) fights, this one was different. It wasn't friendly at all, and Izuna regretted bringing it up. Although Izuna was an excellent shinobi with years of experience, he couldn't hope to defeat his older brother who had even surpassed their father.

Izuna gritted his teeth and clenched his jaws as he blocked Madara's kenjutsu attack, hoping that his older brother would calm down a bit so that he could come out of the battle in one piece, or at least alive.

He was trying to block and dodge all of Madara's furious attacks and when he couldn't take it anymore, he yelled, "Aniki! C-Could we call this a tie?!" But the second Izuna was left open, Madara had vanished, then Izuna gasped when Madara had appeared right in front of him. His older brother wouldn't kill him, would he?

No, he wouldn't, because the next thing Izuna knew, he was on the ground panting as Madara's blunt kunai, was at his throat that had drawn a speck of blood. They both stood up, his brother hadn't even offered a hand. Madara drew his kunai and put it away, his other free hand rubbing his tired eyes as he groaned, or rather growled in frustration.

"Aniki, is there something wrong?"

"No. Nothing's wrong." Yes, there was something wrong, but Madara's pride kept himself from revealing the truth. He shook his head, "nothing's wrong," he repeated again. Madara begun to wipe the sweat by using the ends of his shirt as a towel, his armor left inside the clan head family mansion, then he took it off and draped it over one shoulder. It was Summer in the Land of Fire, so the Uchiha brothers were both drenched in sweat.

One thing that was noticeable of Madara was that he had the habit— when he had been young and Izuna had been younger— of repeating the same thing when lying. Izuna had thought that Madara was able to ditch the habit, but now, the habit was back again.

"Aniki, you can tell me, I'll keep my mouth shut. - You know I can keep a secret." Izuna almost let the cute puppy eyes set onto his face. Almost being the key word.

Madara refrained rolling his eyes. Izuna was determined to know what was really going on in Madara's personal life, and Madara wasn't determined to tell his younger brother the truth. — Oh, how he wished to see Naruto again. Perhaps eating a bowl of ramen would summon her to him. Pfft, if that was even possible.— Instead, he said, "I want ramen."

Izuna was taken aback. He sweat-dropped, almost fell face first at Madara's response. "E-Eh…?" Was that the problem? Had that been the thing that had been causing his Aniki to be all glum and gloom? It didn't involve a woman? (Izuna was so sure the problem had to do with a woman). If so, "then… I'll treat you to a bowl, Aniki."

Without a reply back, nor a "hn" from the stoic older Uchiha, Izuna trailed after the older, wanting to confirm if his craving for ramen had truly been the problem.

The Uchiha clan village had one noodle shop. Worn down and scruffy, but they did serve good chicken udon. His older brother would always order that, but that had changed to miso ramen with lots and lots of naruto and none of menma when he returned a few weeks ago. Izuna had to agree that naruto tasted way better than menma.

Along the way to the small run down restaurant, the two Uchiha brothers were greeted by villagers. They rarely greeted Madara a few weeks ago, except from the two fan boys, but after returning from his long term mission and changing his attitude one-eighty degrees (everyone thought Madara to be an imposter, but the chakra had been the same so that proved him innocent), the villagers loved him, he even increased the members of the fan club which now had more females in it.

With his shirt hanging over his shoulder from their previous battle, Madara had his arms crossed, which defined his hard earned biceps, and his abs— oh man— was just a piece of art. Izuna noticed a couple of girls with heart filled eyes faint from the sight. However, it didn't seem that Madara was interested in any of them, his eyes were only focused on the ramen shop before them.

In front of Madara, placed on the traditional low table inside a private room of the ramen shop, was a bowl of ramen with so many narutos Izuna had lost count. The owner, who was also the cook, had remembered that the clan head's eldest son loved naruto when Madara had started ordering ramen instead of his regular, udon.

Madara took in the smell and savored it. The smell was similar to Naruto, but it was still different. He wanted to smell her again; to touch her again; to see her again. Even without her beside his side, she had been the light to the void in his heart. And -

"Aniki, if you're not gonna to eat, I'm gonna take—"

Madara's shadowed eyes glowed dangerously as they widened. The chopstick was wielded as a weapon as Madara quickly stopped the incoming "attack" from his younger brother. How dare he try to steal his naruto. He sent a sharp glare Izuna's way, causing Izuna to freeze and sweat bullets. Izuna knew not to anger his brother, so he ended up pouting.

"I-Itadakimasu," Izuna said, his palms now covered in cold sweat. By this point, he couldn't even hold his chopsticks right. But that didn't bother Madara.

"Itadakimasu," Madara said, before taking a bite of naruto. It was good. The taste was delicious. If only she had been there with him to enjoy bowls of ramen together… But… that wasn't the only problem that meddled with his mind. "Izuna," he called to his brother.

"Yes?" Was his older brother going to admit what was troubling his mind since yesterday?

Madara sighed. "It's nothing."

Madara couldn't sleep that night; he was wide awake. He had been contemplating and calculating possible outcomes to his strategies. All of this was creating more stress, and it was eating away at him. He had to see her. He had to meet her again. If he didn't, he would surely regret it later on and he would be bound to go crazy if he didn't talk to her again.

The plan was simple. Escape the compound, find the woman, ignore his pride for once, tell her those three words, kiss her and kiss her hard, propose to her, bring her to the clan leaders, tell them all to screw themselves, drag Izuna with them, make an epic exit out of the clan, and live in the mountains where no one would bother them. Oh, and make love to her like there's no tomorrow.

"No, no… that wouldn't work." It was hard when he was named the clan heir even before his birth. The responsibilities were endless and they weighed on his shoulders like bricks. He wouldn't leave the clan for his own selfish reasons, and he wouldn't drag his beloved brother into this mess or any mess if he could help it.

But he was yearning for her. Within twenty-three years of his life, he had yet to find a woman quite like her. It was like finding an exit from the dark hole he's been in throughout his lifetime. She was the missing piece in his heart.

Naruto really affected him. Even without her beside him, his love for her only grew from a seed to a beautiful flower.

Since their meeting, there were aches that felt as if a thin needle was pushing through his heart in various areas whenever he was reminded of her face or her voice or her touch. That was the first stage. The second stage started when he realized that he might never meet her again, there were only ramen with lots of thin slices of naruto to fill his emptiness, the pain turned to the various needles stabbing his heart continuously. It did hurt, despite the fact that Madara could take a broken limb any day.

And finally, the third stage happened at the clan meeting.

He sighed. The clan meeting. Arranged marriage. At the age of six, Madara was given a warning that a bride would be married off to him whether he liked it or not. — At the time, he was too young to grasp hold of the knowledge that his future self would want someone else; with whom he'd actually fall in love with. The six year old Madara would scoff at that.

But his twenty-three year old self wanted Naruto so bad. And the pain that brought with it was endless, it felt as if his limbs were severed over and over again. The emptiness didn't fill itself even with all the naruto in his ramen bowls. He had thought that a battle with his brother would distract him, but that hadn't worked.

Madara had done everything to protect his clan, he did everything that his father had told him to do, he had fought so many battles and killed so many Senju, never asking anything in return. Now, for once in his life, Madara would be selfish and ignore his father's order of marrying someone he didn't love.

The creaking of the wood floorboard squeaked when Madara finally jolted up from his futon. He ignored taking his armor with him, the thought didn't dawn on him until he was out of the village, but he didn't go back to retrieve his protection. His top priority was his mission that he secretly called 'Operation: Bring My Future-Wife To The Clan To Marry Her.'

Within less than half an hour of travelling to the area in which destruction was clear from the epic battle that had been between himself and his 'future wife.' He continued on, leaping from tree to tree and using chakra to give him the boost he so desperately needed, following Naruto's chakra that was beginning to flare up in his eyes and his gut.

Unfortunately, her chakra had not been the only one he had been sensing.

"Senju Tobirama…" He muttered under his breath, strange that he hadn't growled the cursed white haired man's name like he would do every single time.

"Madara," the said man snarled, which didn't sound like it from how low his voice was. "What are you doing here in the Senju clan's territory…" Tobirama raised an eyebrow as his eyes travelled down at what Madara was wearing, "… in your pajamas?"

Madara widened his eyes but immediately refrained his surprise. He hadn't known that he had entered the Senju clan's territory, because he was so focused on his mission. Naruto had driven him mad; reckless.

However, the last part of what Tobirama had said to him made his eyes wide again. He stuttered, for the first time in his life, "I—" He cleared his throat, sounding as if something was caught in his throat, "It's not your business, Senju," he lamely finished.

Tobirama's eyebrow rose in amusement. Perhaps patrolling the ground was a good idea— he had found entertainment in his nemesis. "It is my business if your feet had set on the ground of my clan," there wasn't any menace in his voice.

"Fuck," Naruto grumbled with a sigh. Kurama didn't even ask her what the problem was, he was busy sleeping in her pastel of a mindscape. "I forgot the towels…!" She then entered the mindscape, "why didn't you tell me, Kurama!"

Kurama irked. Two reasons why: first, because Naruto interrupted his beauty sleep, and two, because Naruto— just Naruto. "Go away, brat! I'm trying to sleep! — Who even told you to take a bath at midnight?! Huh?!"

It had been because all the bath houses were filled, and she had just stumbled upon a natural hot springs in the middle of the forest. She couldn't let a chance like this get away. She grumbled away, disappearing from her mindscape.

She sighed again. She only had her kimono with her which she didn't want it wet since it was her only spare clothing. Naruto looked into the woods, "there wouldn't be anyone prowling in the middle of the night… right?" But then, she'd gotten an idea! Forming a seal, she muttered, "henge," a different set of kimono appearing before her. Though it was an illusion to fool everyone's eyes, it provided her with coverage.

Naruto skipped her way back to the village in which she stayed in with glee, thankfully the clan didn't have a doujutsu that would detect that she was actually naked and that the clothing were only a technique.

"Hey, isn't that Tobirama?" Naruto asked herself as she saw the white hair below her tree.

Her eyes widened when she saw that Tobirama was fighting someone, someone who she couldn't quite pinpoint with how dark it was. When she saw that Tobirama was evenly matched with this stranger, her hand formed her signature technique, Rasengan, and jumped down.

In the heap of the battle, she appeared. Naruto. With an attack. A powerful attack that blew the both of them away.

Madara widened his eyes. Not exactly at the attack that created a small crater at the earth, but because she was… "Why are you naked...?"

"Holy mother of shit! Madara! Did- You saw?! Oh my Kami, you saw...!" Naruto frantically covered her henge clothes with her real clothes, not caring if they got wet at this point, and behind her Tobirama was wondering what was going on, but then he realized the situation. Naruto, the woman who was sought out by all the men in his clan and some women, was naked, only a henge outfit covering her. The honorable Senju's nostrils dripped blood from the imagination of the woman bare.

"... No," Madara lied as he quickly deactivated his sharingan, but his voice wavered even if it was a little bit.

Naruto heard the waver loud and clear, even Kurama who was sleeping inside her had heard that vulnerability. Tobirama had never seen Uchiha Madara be this weak and vulnerable, he wished he had something to remember this night by (in the modern sense, he wished to have video taped this moment).

Naruto gasped, and Madara flinched. "You saw it! — I'm so embarressed now… What the hell am I going to do...?"

There was a time when Naruto had been a "pervert," transforming her clones into handsome naked male version of herself, but she certainly left out herself being naked for a distraction. Had Kaguya been a male, she would've made her clones into her naked self to save the world.

She continued, "it's all my fault, I should've remembered to bring a towel…" she sniffed, then murmured, "maybe Kurama's right, maybe I am an idiot...!"

"Kurama?" Madara and Tobirama found themselves echoing the foreign name. Madara sent a glare to Tobirama, telling him to screw off, but Tobirama only replied with a "hmpf."

Naruto stopped when curiosity filled her. With her brows arched, she asked Madara, "what are you doing here? … And are you wearing a pajama?" Naruto wasn't too familiar with tradition but from staying in the past for well over three months now, she could easily tell if one was wearing a pajama or not. "I never knew Madara could be the sleep-walking type…"

They were never going to forget this day, Madara realized. "Naruto," he stepped closer, but was stopped when Tobirama raised his blade. "I want to talk to you privately."

"You can talk inside our clan," Tobirama responded instead of the blonde.

"No," Madara's eyes were still on Naruto's round eyes, "we can talk in my clan." His hand gripped onto hers, but Tobirama had none of that because he himself gripped onto her other hand. Madara's eyes narrowed on his enemy whom he was so close to killing now. It was thanks to his childhood friend/rival, that Tobirama was still alive and living. "Let her decide for herself," he finally said after a full intense minute was gone.

"Naruto is my guest," then he corrected, as if he hadn't made the slip up, "she is the guest of the Senju clan. She'll come back with me. After I've killed you." Tobirama pulled on her, but Madara pulled her back.

"I'll kill you before you could even lift a finger."

"You'll regret uttering those words, Uchiha."

Naruto was getting dizzy from the ongoing mini war that the two men had let on. It didn't help that the two men were too tall and so she had to crane her neck. To rid of the dizziness, Naruto snapped at them, "I've had enough!" She pulled her hands away from them both. "You both act like— like— worse than children!" She huffed, her anger steaming off. "I'm going back home. This— whatever this is, between you two," she waved her index finger around to indicate the Uchiha and Senju, "I don't want any part of it."

Okay, so he had failed on 'Operation: Bring My Future Wife To My Clan To Marry Her' mission, but there was another chance. Probably.

"Damn it!" He thought. Uchiha Madara never failed a mission in his life before. "What had gone wrong?" Then, he answered his own question, "Senju Tobirama."

Izuna studied his brother. More than he had done a few days ago. Madara was… nervous…? Izuna didn't know if he could call his brother's behavior that. Was it nervousness? Well, it sure looked like it from the way Madara had cleared his throat for the fifth time this morning, then seethed venom the next second. Izuna wanted to ask what was wrong, the same question he wanted to ask a few days ago.

They were at the ramen shop again. Three days in a row. It seemed that Madara had permanently switched his favorite food to chicken ramen in shoyu broth (with lots of naruto). Now, Izuna didn't think it was a woman who had changed his brother so much over the past couple of weeks. He was ninety-nine percent sure that it was all due to that little white haired creep, Senju Tobirama, from Madara's random spur of words, which mostly were grouches of Senju Tobirama's name.

That little… Tobirama will surely pay for making his brother like this.

Izuna had fire in the pupils of his dark eyes, he then abruptly stood up. Madara raised an eyebrow at his brother but he didn't question his motives; he didn't care less about anyone at this point, because he was now planning his second attempt of his previous mission. Izuna can go hunt a duck with a sponge, for Madara didn't give two shits.

Madara didn't even hear his younger brother declaring to him, "Aniki, I'll go kill this bastard of a Senju for you!"

So, the younger Uchiha arrived in front of their father's study room. It was a small private office. He entered once he was given the "come in" from his father.

Izuna sat down on the cushion opposite to his father, a low small table separated the two. Izuna got right to business, "Otou-sama, please allow me to go kill Senju Tobirama."

Despite the request being so random at such a time where facade of an peace agreement between the rivaling clans, Uchiha Tajima didn't lose his face. "No," he answered sternly.

"B-But, Otou-sama…!" Izuna couldn't possibly tell his father that Tobirama had been the one to cause his brother to change drastically over the weeks. It was a Uchiha-brother sworn secrecy, though Madara didn't know about it.

"I know how much the Senju clan had caused you much pain, physically and mentally, but Izuna, I can't allow you to go," then he added, "alone." He allowed a small smirk. Izuna brightened. "I'll assign a team for you, Izuna. This time, you'll be the captain. Make me proud."

And that was how Izuna and his team consisting of: Kado, Butsu, and Sari had all landed themselves in this mess. His team was utterly defeated easily and Izuna was the last one standing. They hadn't even come close to the Senju compound.

This was supposed to be a stealth mission. He was sure that his team had concealed their chakra; he was sure that his team had been the most discreet team of the Uchiha clan. So how had this blonde woman found them?

Izuna had been huffing, clutching onto his side, and glancing over at his unconscious team. She was strong, too strong. It was like fighting his brother, but she was stronger in ninjutsu, faster and more flexible in her taijutsu, and really easy on the eye — okay, that was beside the point, but— he knew that this would be the end. At least the last sight he would see would be a gorgeous pair of legs.

"I said stop looking at my legs, you closet pervert!" Again, Naruto whacked the Uchiha's face, or more like bitch slapped him.

Yes, he was a goner.

Madara snapped out of his thoughts when he sensed her, no… four of her. He, at first, thought it a mistake, but once the four of the same chakra flares grew bigger and bigger, he ran out of the ramen shop without paying. - The owner didn't complain, because he knew Madara-sama would be back for more ramen.

He hurried from tree to tree. He would meet her halfway, right at the borderline of the Uchiha clan territory.

Four of the same Naruto. It was so familiar to him, four naruto left inside his empty bowl of ramen… that... was a stupid comparison, but Madara didn't care about what the narrator had to say. He saw them, her… and then his brother... and his nose bleed, oh, and her bare legs.

He blocked her punch easily. "Don't stare at my legs! — It's just one day that I decide to wear pants,"

— Not just any pants, it went up to her thighs and they were like second skin to her, "what are these contraptions?!" He wanted to know desperately.—

"— and everyone decide it's their business to stare, and some of them even told me that I can't wear them…!" She blew a raspberry, which parted her short bangs in half. "Here," Naruto handed the teenager on her back to Madara, then cracked her spine. Then, the rest of her clones dumped the three others at Madara's feet. "They better pay me back for ruining my garden."

Naruto was ready to leave after dispersing her clones, if it weren't for the hand that refrained her from going. Not minding the unconscious bodies that lay carelessly on the ground, Madara asked her with a trait so unlike him, "do you like ramen?"

Her whole chakra flared due to excitement, she turned around and Madara noticed how gorgeous and how adorable her every expressions were. Naruto's blue eyes sparkled every color of the spectrum, glee filled every bone in her body, her pearly whites showed and practically blinded Madara's eyes. "Yes!"

Madara nodded, trying to hide an incoming smile with his knuckles. However, Naruto didn't know that he was smiling, not because he was trying to hide it, but because his smile was just a tug at both ends of his thin lips upward. "When was the last time I smiled like this?" Madara wondered too innocently.

Izuna widened his eyes at the scene, Madara and Naruto didn't even notice him wake up. "K-Kami-sama… I-I've just saw Aniki… smiling…! I-It wasn't a smirk either! It was both ends of his lips! I saw it! I truly saw it! … Neh, wouldn't this be considered a good omen?" Izuna clenched his fist with joy, "yes! I'm sure good things will come to the clan! Thank you Onii-sama!" It wouldn't be surprising if Izuna started crying.

"I'll treat you to ramen then," Madara said to Naruto, his smile didn't disappear and Izuna thought it a miracle.

Naruto hadn't had her daily dose of ramen since she had been teleported here, into the past, she blamed it on Kakashi and Sasuke(-teme). So when those soothing words traveled from Madara's lips to her ear, passing the ear drum, and into the brain, tears helplessly dripped down her eyes. She wiped them with her sleeve and she sniffed. "Kami-sama, thank you so much for bringing down such an angel…!" The angel was Madara, and it would do her good if she didn't tell him that.

From Madara's point of view, he truly have fallen in love with the woman before him. Just by the puppy-dog eyes, Madara's heart had been pierced with a cupid's arrow, and he was officially a goner.

It was a five minute walk to the ramen shop. Along the way, Naruto was given some stares from the villagers, from both genders. Madara immediately noticed, he glared at any male species that even spared a glance at his future wife, though he didn't notice the females' jealous glares, neither did their victim and it just ticked them off even more.

"I haven't seen a ramen shop for months!" She screamed in joy as she hugged the owner of the noodle restaurant for simply existing— Madara sent a glare at the owner and the old man quickly pulled out from the embrace.

Then, when she hugged Madara for being an angel sent from up above, he froze not knowing what to do. "Sh-Should I hug her back…? It's the normal thing to do, right?" Madara closed his eyes and slowly, he begun to wrap his arm around her waist, but just when his hands were about to touch her back, she pulled away.

"Miso ramen with pork slices, please!" Madara internally cried.

Madara didn't regret taking her to eat ramen, even if she had had fifteen servings. In fact, he was proud to have fallen in love with a woman who could hold her own. It simply amazed him that Naruto hadn't shown any sign of bloating after eating the fifteen bowls of ramen.

"Neh, neh," Naruto snapped him out of his thoughts, "just a question, why did the old man give you so much," she giggled, "of me?"

"Ah," he looked down at his bowl, he then glanced up at Naruto, "I…" He avoided her hypnotizing eyes, but the nervousness didn't fade and he was now dizzy with tiny birds flying above his head. "I…" He turned into a broken robot.

"I guess you really love naruto, huh."

Then, dizziness still intact, Madara snapped out of his thoughts. Madara didn't know how to respond. Half of him wanted to tell her: Yes, he did love her, but the other half of him didn't want to, and Madara wasn't sure why that was. He touched his chest, internally demanding his heart to calm down, but it didn't listen. Madara never had a battle with his own heart before. But the loud thumping of his heart was really annoying.

"Is there something wrong, Madara?"

That only made the thumping and the speeding of his heart worse. Madara wondered if this was what it felt like to have a heart attack. No, probably not. He knew that heart attacks hurt painfully, and it happened to elders — and he was sure he wasn't old, he was barely twenty-four—, but this 'heart attack' didn't hurt, in fact it felt… good, but at the same time, he couldn't breath right. Madara didn't know how to explain this feeling.

"Madara…?" Oh no. Not good. His face, no, his whole body's temperature rose tremendously. Naruto's face was just an inch away from his- which was what he thought, but in reality, she was at the same distance that she had been for the past twenty minutes. "Wasn't she busy finishing her fifteenth bowl of ramen?" He asked himself. "Yoo-hoo," Naruto sang as she waved her hand in front of his face. "Earth to Madara…! —"

"Act now, Madara, or you'll regret it," a voice, who he thought was Kami (but it was actually himself), had said to him.

Madara heard her squeak a gasp when his hand swerved to her neck ever so gently. The roughness of his hand was felt by her, but she sat still with eyes wide in uncertainty, which Madara saw as a sign. When she hadn't moved away from his grasp, he took it as the sign of the gods.

Now, her face was really an inch away from his when his face was nearing hers. His eyes begun to close and Naruto didn't even think when his lips met hers for the first time. Naruto hadn't rejected his touch, so he continued, his lips found her bottom lip that was more plump than the top.

But the loud sound of bell chiming from the entrance brought the two of them back to reality. They both remembered that they were inside a restaurant. And Naruto realized what she had done; what Madara had done. "Wait, did I just…?"

"Yes, yes you did," Kurama answered for her, amused.

Naruto widened her eyes and covered her lips with her hands, her right still holding the wooden chopsticks. "Holy shit," her eyes still glued on Madara's lips, then her eyes traveled up to his eyes.

Madara contemplated if he had done something wrong. "Did she not like the kiss? … Was it her first kiss?" The second question made him a bit more happier. Then, he realized that out of those beautiful rosy lips came a vulgar curse words, he had to quirk an eyebrow at that. But that hadn't changed his perspective of this wonderful woman sat in front of him. Actually, he found her even more attractive.

"Holy fucking shit. You just kissed me," she said. Before Madara could respond, she added with a gasp, "I kissed you back…!" Naruto felt it, and she clearly heard the ba-dump, ba-dump. Naruto stood up from her cushion with panic. Madara followed suit. They were now exiting the restaurant, as Madara quickly paid the owner of the cost. "Why the hell is my heart beating so fast?"

Then, Naruto remembered what Sakura and Ino had been gossiping about. Boys, first loves, confessions, rejections, and how to tell if you've fallen in love with someone.

"Here's how to tell if you've fallen in love, Naruto," she remembered Ino's words loud and clear even though she hadn't bothered to listen during the sleepover, "so you better listen closely because it'll happen to you before you know it. - Number one," Ino held out her index finger, "they'll always be on your mind; when you wake up, when you shower, when you eat ramen, when you brush your teeth, when you tuck yourself into bed."

Naruto gasped. When she had gone back to her home after the battle with Madara, his face had appeared in her mind and she thought about him ever since.

"Your heart will beat like crazy, and I mean crazy! I remember this one hot dude with -"

"Let me guess, Sasuke-kun?"

"Shut up, Forehead!" Ino yelled.

Sakura ignored her childhood friend and went on to tell Naruto, "the third thing is that you'll heat up. Like, you'll be steaming, like, there's gonna be steam coming off from the top of your head. And then, the final thing on the list is... you wouldn't be able to meet his eyes."

Naruto confirmed that her heart was beating fast, her hand placed on her chest as she kept walking. She could literally hear the loud thumps at her ear drum and she couldn't stop it.

She then gazed up at Madara who was walking beside her, he was apologizing to her but she had blocked him out, too occupied with her own thoughts. As soon as her eyes met his, she turned away to avoid the eye contact, then she immediately felt her whole body heating up.

"Oh, Kami… I've really fallen in love with him…" But she had to confirm this feeling.

She stopped in the middle of the road without warning. Due to his shinobi habit, he stopped too before he could collide into her. Madara watched her turn around with a serious look, everyone who had nothing to do watched the two with curiosity. Then all of a sudden, his lips met with hers again, but this time, she had initiated the contact. It took him by surprised, as it did to the villagers, but he soon relaxed, his fingers caressing her waist which crawled to her lower back which pulled her closer.

The kiss the second time around was more passionate, more intimate, and more everything. The kiss was with a little more certainty. Naruto felt her knees buckling, it felt numb, but the hand at her back kept her from crumbling to the ground. She felt a bit more brave seeming as her own pair of hands made their way up to his neck and wrapping her arms around it.

They both breathed in during the kiss, never wanting to break apart. They were in their own world, they hadn't even noticed that all eyes were on them, even the children lost their interest in chasing after butterflies, some had even dropped something to the ground in pure shock.

Finally, they parted, gazing in each others eyes. "Naruto," Madara whispered her name. Now, Naruto saw it, his smile. "Be my wife."

Naruto's eyes steadily widened, and she pulled away, but his strength didn't allow her to break free from his embrace, "wh-what?!" She expected, "be my girlfriend," but w-wifu?! "No way!"

Madara's eyes dangerously narrowed, "why not?" But then, Madara really thought about it, "is it because of my betrothed? I'll tell Otou-sama that—"

"Betrothed?!" Naruto was now purely shocked, her mouth agape. "I've fallen in love with a dinosaur who was engaged to someone?! Fuck!" She was so close to bitch slapping him back to his mother's womb. "You two-timing… donkey!" Naruto was never good at coming up with clever names, except bushy-brows and bushier-brows-sensei, those were really good.

Everyone who had surrounded the two, including Madara's brother and father who were both as shell shocked as him, had gasped at the name. "Donkey…?" Everyone took a step back, knowing that the great Uchiha Madara didn't take 'no' for an answer. But… he didn't. "Naruto, listen to me." His grip on her tightened, not wanting to lose her.

Naruto huffed, crossing her arms between their bodies. "I'm listening."

"I have loved you ever since our battle, even more so as time went on without you." Naruto's heart was caught in her throat. "My betrothed was decided by the clan elders, I had no part in it," he growled, "I wouldn't marry anyone else but you." He bewildered Naruto as she asked herself, "how could he say something so cheesy so… not cheesy?" Madara continued, his lips an arrogant smirk, but inside, he was a complete nervous wreck, "it doesn't seem like you dislike me either from the kiss."

Naruto pursed her lips together into a fine line. She could feel the unfamiliar heat rise within her again. "But… this is going way too fast for me." Even though she said that, she was so ready to marry the (hot-damn) Uchiha, add to the fact that she wanted a family of her own and raise so many children.

"Madara!" Tajima interrupted, walking toward them as he pushed and pulled civilians and shinobi that blocked the scene. "You can't break off the engagement! The Hagoromo clan will not tolerate this!"

"Otou-sama, I don't care for your opinion, or the Hagoromo clan's, in this aspect of my life. I will only care for my own and Naruto's opinion, whether you like it or not," Madara replied with the same level of stern for his father.

Tajima then narrowed his eyes, "… then prove to me that this woman is worth the trouble of breaking the engagement."

The villagers almost booed at those words. They all, even Madara's jealous fan club, have cheered the two lovers on in their hearts within the five minutes of the scandalous.

The housewives all gathered with dango sticks, gossiping with other housewives about the drama before their eyes. The men each had their serious face on, looking as if they thought the drama was just a waste of time, but in truth, they had been listening intently and cheering Madara-sama on.

"Naruto is a strong woman. Perhaps stronger than I."

The housewives were tearing up, "I wish my husband was like that," someone murmured. And some other said, "I wish Madara-sama was my husband."

Tajima's eyes narrowed further more into slits. "Prove it," he said to his eldest son. He wanted to know if this woman was an ideal match for his eldest son. And also… because Tajima wanted this drama to go on. There weren't many entertainment in the clan village after all.

"Naruto, I'll go easy on you," he joked.

The said woman grinned at his words, "I should be the one saying that."

There was a short distance between Madara and Naruto. Tajima didn't think that his eldest son would need his gunbai, but when he'd seen the clashing of their weapons, the thought faded.

Chakra at the soles of their feet, Naruto clashed with Madara, occasionally throwing their own infamous jutsu at each other.

Looking at the two battling, Tajima couldn't help but be proud of his son though he didn't show through his facade. He approved of the woman for her skills and talents in the shinobi field. Her ninjutsu and taijutsu were on par with Madara. Though her strength wasn't equal to Madara's, her flexibility and speed made up for them. And although she didn't show any sign of genjutsu at her arsenal, she showed great tactics and strategies in the face of battle.

Almost everyone of the shinobi villagers had to activate their sharingan to follow Madara and Naruto's movements.

The battle had been going for a while for a few minutes. It was time to step up their game.

Naruto smirked as her hands drew a familiar seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" She yelled as beside her, three clones appeared.

Madara smirked too, his eyes now flaring red. They both ran at each other at full speed. While he was distracted by the three clones that fought him head on, she had jumped down with the Rasengan at hand, in which he had blocked just in time with his gunbai, causing the impact to blow the two away.

They quickly repositioned themselves. Madara, once again, charged for Naruto while his hands performed seals for the Uchiha clan's infamous jutsu. He jumped and executed the attack of the giant flaming ball at Naruto, but that Naruto had been a clone that disappeared in a huff of smoke, and the real one appeared from up above Madara with a Rasengan at hand.

She had the perfect opportunity to puncture him with the attack but she didn't, or couldn't. Instead, she tripped on her own feet in mid air (only Naruto could that ever be a thing), which resulted in her stumbling toward him and the two fell back with Madara's protective arms around Naruto.

Naruto gazed up from his chest armor to his eyes. Now that she was just inches away from him, she could see him smile. And at that moment, it was official that Madara had stolen her heart.

Eplilogue

"Sou," Madara called out to his second youngest, Uchiha Sousuke, and the said boy looked up at his father, "don't play with your food."

"I'm not playing with my food," he denied. Sousuke was turning three tomorrow so he thought himself the king right now. Naruto was the one to spoil their kids, especially on their birthdays.

"Yes, you are," Takeo, the oldest, said. He had been sitted to Madara's right side, Takeo would be his father's right hand man in the future. A true genius, Takeo was. He had finished his training with ease and perfection at age ten, then he'd become a shinobi at age twelve, climbing up the ranks day by day. He was fifteen years old, and a brooding teenager.

Sousuke bickered on, "no, I'm not." Takeo didn't reply after that, he had finished his dinner and stood up to clean after himself. Sousuke blew a raspberry, blowing away his long blonde bangs, "when's Kaa-chan coming, Otou-san?"

Madara looked at the clock. His arms cradled his youngest, Uchiha Natsumi, and feeding her the bottle. "She should be back soon enough. — Eat your vegetables, Sou."

The young boy blenched at the beans on his plate, again he poked them around with his chopsticks. "Kaa-chan wouldn't force me to eat them if I don't like them…" He muttered, but nonetheless, he gulped five beans in one go.

Sousuke was so much alike with his mother. The only thing that he had inherited from his father was the eyes and his pale skin tone. Takeo, however, was the exact replica of Madara, with his sharp charisma and his prodigy. Then, there was Kai of thirteen years old, who took on Madara too, though he didn't like talking very much. Natsumi was the only daughter, and she was the one who inherited Naruto's bright blue eyes and Madara's charcoal hair.

The sound of the door sliding open made Madara look up from his beautiful daughter who had gone to sleep in his arms. It was Naruto and Kai. Sousuke was the first to greet them, then Takeo who had sluggishly moved from the couch.

"How did you do, Kai?" Madara asked his son when he neared the two.

"I passed." Kai showed his father his Konoha leaf headband.

Madara smirked, ruffled Kai's hair which he automatically smoothed out, then pecked his wife's whiskered cheek to which the kids blenched.

"Guess what your Kaa-chan picked up from the grocery store?" Naruto held up a brown paper bag. She didn't give them time to respond because she answered her own question as she pulled out something from the bag: a stick of naruto, "— me! — I'll make us ramen!"

"But, Kaa-chan, we just ate…" Takeo said.

"Tch," Naruto sighed, then looked down at Kai, "I suppose I'll make ramen for only the two of us then."

"And me," Madara said. "I'm still hungry."

* Not Really Important Note From le author *

Warning: The following is a series of random, and I do mean random as fuck, babbles from the author, just like the above one-shot.

Uh... I had time today so I edited the story, except for the epilogue since my back's killing me and since I'm super hungry.

Like all my other stories, I write just for the fun of it, for my own entertainment and not for others. But... I hope you enjoyed my random imagination.

And, uh... there were snippets of references (kind of like Easter eggs) in some parts of the story. If you found them, well, kudos for you, buddy.

Just a FYI, for this story, I might plan out a full story and upload it IF I feel like doing so. In the meantime, I'll upload some other stuff.

Peace out, loser.