Mi Ho pov:

"That hurts, woman!" Madara roared as I treated a huge gash on his back. I didn't flinch like Hashirama who was getting his injuries treated by Tobirama.

"Well, I wouldn't hurt as much if you stay still!" I retorted. Friendly spar with Hashirama, he says. Then why on earth are he and Hashirama sitting here blood oozing out of their bodies with them flinching every time Tobirama and I applied anti septic salve? Ugh....men and their words. They say something and it always means something else!

"M-madara, you should be happy your wife is helping you....I don't have that luxury." Hashirama tried to help, but it only made Madara's frown deepen. I chuckled shaking my head. Typical response if you ask me.

It had been five months since the wedding happened. Things have improved drastically since then with Madara and the village. Madara hadn't spoken even once to me about his plan to bring peace to the world and all the Uchihas including him started to get more social in the village. The newer clans that moved in didn't hesitate to talk to them or ask them for help and all of them were just as nice in return.

In one way, I'm really glad that I had to go through all that in the future and the past of this world. It gave me the chance of creating a present that didn't involve any scheming evil plans and hopefully the future wouldn't end up with the Infinite Tsukiyomi plan that the Madara in the future had come to execute.

Besides that, the two of us got along really well. We did occasionally bicker, which was fun and a moment to laugh about when we remembered some time later. If we didn't bicker, it wouldn't be Mio and Madara, now would it? But when it came to times when we were alone, we enjoyed each other's company, silence, and occasional random talks.

Madara was exceptionally possessive of me which I have to say, I found quite pleased about. It was a little annoying when he acted that way even if I just spoke to any other guy in friendly terms. I cant blame him for over reacting in the case of Tobirama though. Nonetheless, I totally love being the only one he looks at.

He's also really passionate during the night. Well, I'm not talking just about that, but also the way he holds me to his chest while we sleep. Occasionally, he lets me hold him just like the way I had done so on the day of our wedding. Either way, we're always stuck and wrapped together under she sheets when we sleep. And that's the only time I get to see his hidden mildly gentle and caring side. Well, anyone would be surprised if I said Madara is caring, but its only towards me.

He has his own way of being nice and showing that he doesn't want anything to happen to me. There was this one instance I had cut my hand when I was chopping tomatoes for lunch. It was entirely my fault actually because I was holding the tomato in my hand and cutting down towards my palm. It wasn't the first time I was cutting something like this but accidents happen right?

When Madara saw my blood dripping hand, he had dragged me halfway across the Uchiha compound and wrapped my hand with so much bandage that the end of my hand looked like a mini soccer ball. I swear, he's so good at fighting, he's so powerful and yet he doesn't know how to treat a simple wound. He refused to let me take it off and redo it myself and so the whole of that day and night I was stuck with the big roll of bandages on my hand.

Yup....he had a way of being annoyingly protective too.

"Okay, all done." I finished putting the pin that would hold the bandages around his torso. I kissed his shoulder from behind, making him stiffen and walked away to put the stuff back in the first aid box. I was someone who liked to express love openly. Madara wasn't like that but because I wouldn't stop doing it, he had to accept it. Well, he didn't accept it, but I agreed to do so only around very close people. Hashirama, Tobirama and two or three others of the Uchiha clan were the exception.

Tobirama was done helping Hashirama too. Hissing at the obvious pain, both of them managed to put on their shirts.

"Ah, Madara, Mio....today is the annual Rice Festival that we celebrate. Since its the first Rice Festival since Konoha was founded, its going to be a very grand celebration! We'll have stalls and games in the central plaza and fireworks at the end of the day. Mito and Hachiro will be coming too....so don't miss out on the celebration, okay?" [a/n: Hashirama's kid's name isn't mentioned so I just came up with Hachiro ^^']

My face lit up with a smile at what Hashirama said. "A festival?! Wow! I've never been to a real festival before! We have to go, Madara!" I latched onto his arm still grinning. "Tch! We're not going! Its annoying to be around so many people." "Sweetheart, what have I told you about socializing?" I gave him a hard look and he clenched his jaw in reaction to the nickname I called him by. Hashirama sweatdropped and Tobirama was watching us awkwardly.

Finally, Madara scoffed and looked away. "Whatever...." I grinned at my victory and looked back at the others. "Okay then! We'll come to the festival." "That's great! See you later then!"

>>Timeskip

Gosh, it took me forever to yet again drag Madara's rear out of the Uchiha compound and to the festival. He refused to leave, he refused to wear clothes appropriate for the festival, and he didn't want to budge!

I somehow managed to get him to wear a haori and hakamas which he wore rather loosely exposing his chest. At that moment, I was like 'to hell with everything!' and I had kissed him. I ran my hand on his abs absolutely loving the feeling of those contours and if it wasn't for self control, we wouldn't have been able to come to the festival at all.

I wore a kimono as a part of festival and celebration customs and from the way Madara had almost gawked at me, I was able to tell that he thought I looked good in it.

When we had reached the central plaza of Konoha, we were given special honorary greetings. We were served sake and since Madara was one of the founders of the village, he lit the commemoratory fire to symbolize another successful harvest of crops.

After the festival was inaugurated, I had gone to see Hachiro, playing with him and making funny noises and I played with his tiny hands. Madara pretty much dragged me away from the baby and we walked though the stalls lined up throughout the plaza.

"Waaaah!! Mani issonne! [there's a lot!]" I commented as we walked though. Madara was grumpy when we first started the tour but after buying some food and feeding half of it to him, he started to get into a good mood. He agreed to play a few of the games and well, he was obviously really good no matter what so we earned some free prizes.

"Goldfish!! Madara! I want to try catching one! They say having goldfish at home is good luck." I crouched down and Madara paid the person at the stall. He gave me one of those flimsy paper nets and I tried my luck at catching a goldfish. It wasn't easy and the paper tore quickly. I took another chance but that ended with the paper tearing again. I forced Madara to pay a third time and I decided I would wait for a bit until the fish had calmed down and wouldn't run away when I tried to catch it.

I waited for a few minutes and blinked when the fish suddenly stopped swimming. They were like....frozen. Confused, I looked up at the owner of the stall. He in turn, was looking at Madara with a sweatdrop. I looked at Madara as well to find him glaring at the fish with his sharingan. I twitched and used the paper net to hit his leg.

He broke his gaze from the fish and looked at me annoyed. "Madara! Stop using tsukiyomi on the poor fish! Honestly, what did they ever do to you?" I scolded and he scoffed. "You said you wanted one! I was helping! Show some gratitude, will you?" I chuckled. He had the weirdest ways of showing his affection.

Finally after two more tries I was able to catch one of the fish. The man at the stall put it in a plastic bag and we headed off to see the rest of the festival. It really was a beautiful way to celebrate the harvesting season.

There was just about half an hour left for the fireworks to start. "Hey Madara! Can we...." I was about to ask him if we could try the dart game again. They had released a new set of prizes and one of the dolls had caught my eye. I paused when I saw him watching me with his usual stoic face. But that's not the reason why I stopped talking. He was sweating.....he had his arms crossed over his chest and he was breathing raggedly. Despite looking okay on the outside, his jaw was clenched and so were his fists.

I walked closer to him and placed a hand on his arms. "Are you alright?" "I'm fine." His reply was curt, annoyed; as if hiding something he thought I wouldn't figure out myself. I smiled slightly. "It's hurting and you're tired, aren't you?" He twitched when I said that and I let him go. "Lets go back. I'm sorry I didn't realize how you were feeling until now."

"I said I'm fine. Besides, you wanted to watch the fireworks. So stop talking, Mio." He said annoyed. I chuckled slightly and he lowered his arms to his side as I reached up to his haori. I pulled it to cover his chest a little and then I placed my hands on his chest looking up at him. "To me, you are more important than some silly fireworks. We can always watch fireworks some other day. For now, lets go home, okay?"

His eyes went wide for a brief moment before he just looked away slightly embarrassed. I took a hold of his hand and picked up my goldfish with the other. We began to walk through the crowd back to the Uchiha compound. When we did reach, I heard Madara give a deep sigh. He didn't say a word and just went and sat down on the bed, leaning against the headboard with his eyes shut tightly. He had a hand on his chest and sweat was rolling down his temple.

If he just told me that he was tired, I would have listened. I still cant believe he tried to act tough in front of me even after all this time.

I filled a glass bowl with some water and put the goldfish in it. Then, I sat down on the bed next to him and touched his forehead. He was a little warm and he opened his eyes to look at me. "You don't have to hide what you're feeling in front of me, you know? Its very easy for me to tell what you're feeling with one glance." "Stop nagging Mio." He groaned, turning his head to the side. I just smiled and climbed over his legs so I was sitting with my legs on either side of his body. I rested my arms on his shoulder playing with his hair. His arms found their way to my waist and he watched me in those charcoal eyes.

"You know, I had a surprise for you. I was planning to tell you when we were watching the fireworks, but here is fine too." "Surprise? What surprise?" I reached out to one of his hands and placed it on my stomach gently. He frowned, glancing at his hand and then to my face. "What are you doing?"

I rolled my eyes at his question. "Will you use your brain for once and not have me spell it out? I've placed your hand on my stomach....so...?" I coaxed. He thought deeply for a moment and then stiffened with wide eyes. "You're....pregnant?" I grinned this time and nodded. "I'm so glad you actually figured it out!" I teased but he still looked shocked, yet to get over the sudden news.

I was pushed back on the bed with Madara hovering above me. He reached out to my kimono, opening the front with no hesitance to look at my stomach. He placed his hand on the bare skin watching in surprise but it made me shiver slightly. His hand was warm and his touch gentle. His hair fell over his shoulders and I ran my fingers through it, occasionally caressing his arms as well. he looked kind of adorable, the way he was concentrating on my stomach.

After staring at my stomach for the longest of time, he met my gaze again. "How long?" i smiled again and placed one hand on his bandaged chest. "Hmmm....seven weeks. That's what the doctor said this morning." "That's why you were late when I was sparring with Hashirama." It was more of a statement to himself but somehow I didn't like the way he was watching me. I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"You are happy about this, aren't you?" I asked a little wary. He watched me silently and then smirked. "It looks like we'll get to watch fireworks soon....as a celebration for the next Uchiha clan heir." I chuckled relieved to see that he was happy about this. He came down and kissed me to which I responded immediately closing my eyes and cupping his face gently. He gasped though, pulling away and clutching his chest. He sat back against the headboard and I fixed my kimono as I sat up as well.

Rolling my eyes, I sat next to him with my head against his shoulder. "You and your sparring....next time you guys fight this roughly, you're really going to get a piece of me." I scolded and Madara chuckled wrapping an arm around my waist pulling me closer to him. "We'll see about that."

I chuckled and cuddled close to him, hearing the fireworks go off outside. Yeah, this was definitely a celebration. Madara was here with me, Konoha was safe and the world had a bright future. My decision was right and I was never going to let go of Madara.

Now with our little bundle on the way, there was no chance for trouble at all, was there?

THE END! :D

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