Beautiful Imperfections - An Uchiha Madara Love Story

Chapter 5 - The Uchiha Compound

Akina pov:

I stirred from my sleep upon hearing some noise in the house. It sounded like a door being opened roughly and heavy footsteps rushing throughout the house.

I opened my eyes and blinked several times. For a moment, I thought I had been dreaming but I heard the footsteps again. I reached to the side to see if Hiro was next to me but I felt only the mattress. I sat up trying to hear Hiro's footsteps in case he had woken up to use the bathroom or get some water but I was a little curious as to why the footsteps I had heard sounded so heavy. Surely Hiro wouldn't be jumping around in the middle of the night, would he?

I couldn't hear his footsteps even after trying to hear them for several moments. I decided to try and sense his chakra instead to know where he was. However, I jumped slightly startled even before I could concentrate on sensing Hiro's chakra when I heard another loud thud coming from outside the room I was sleeping in.

"Hiro? What happened? Are you alright?" I called out.

I jolted, absolutely startled, when I heard Hiro scream out instead of answer me. He sounded really frightened and his scream was followed by shuffling and more heavy footsteps. I realized that someone was in our house, someone besides Hiro and I, and a wave of anxiousness washed over me.

I stood up quickly with the intent to find Hiro and make sure he was alright. Still being slightly sleepy and unbalanced because I was woken up with a start, I stumbled on my feet. I fell backwards but thankfully, my back met with the wall behind me and I didn't fall down and get seriously hurt. I pushed off the wall immediately and regained balance.

"Hiro! Hiro, where are you?! What's going on?" I called out anxiously while waking to where I had heard him scream.

"No! Let me go! Onee chan! Help me!!" He screamed again making my heart do a summersault in fright.

I took another step forward and tripped over the mattress because I was walking hastily and not feeling the walls like I usually did. I fell forward, expecting to meet the floor painfully but I was caught by someone. An arm was wrapped around my middle, hauling me up and as a reflex, I took a hold of their arms for support. From the sort of buff feel of the person's arms, I realized that it was a full grown man who had caught me. Not just a full grown man but possibly even a shinobi. Tensing, I pushed away from him violently.

"Who are you? What are you doing in our house? What have you done to Hiro?!" I asked, trying to sound stern and demanding.

But the shake in my voice was a dead giveaway that I was afraid. I hadn't even heard these people come into the house and I didn't know how many of them had come. I was really worried about Hiro at the moment – I had heard him scream twice and I didn't know where he was or what had happened to him! If the people who had broken into the house had hurt him, I wouldn't know what to do!

It was just as Hashirama sama had said – strong people with an unknown intention had come here and I couldn't protect myself or Hiro! Why weren't the Senju shinobi meant for our protection here yet?!

"We apologize for startling you." I tensed when the man spoke.

I frowned slightly as I recognized the voice. I also sort of recognized the chakra signature.

"T-Tatsuo san?" I asked carefully.

"Yes, it is me. The boy is fine so don't worry."

"Where is Hiro? What did you do to him? And why are you here in the middle of the night?!" I asked uneasily.

Hiro had said he had found Tatsuo san and Ren san scary. I had assumed that Hiro was just afraid of their stern looks and possibly hefty builds. But seeing how Tatsuo san had come here uninvited with several others in the middle of night like thieves and had caused Hiro to call out for help, I think I understood why Hiro really found them scary. They weren't regular people and I don't think they were here for treatment this time.