Beauty and the Beast - An Uchiha Madara Love Story [Edited]

Chapter 14 - Unsettled Feelings

Harumi pov:

I wiped the sweat off my brow, wincing as one of the cuts I had on my face stung, having I put away the last ceramic ware in my stall's display rack. I glanced at the time and it was just about five thirty in the evening. It wasn't too late so I decided to stay in my stall for an hour or two before heading home for the day.

I took a seat on the small stool and leaned back against the wall of the storage room with a tired sigh. The whole morning had been exhausting and I was so glad when Madara had finally left after dropping me off at my shop. It had given me the personal space I was begging to have all day and I was able to arrange all my new ceramics calmly.

Madara had left on a mission, or so he had said before he left, and he had instructed me to keep his vase in the store room so he could pick it up sometime later. I had done as he had instructed and had wrapped it in paper before keeping it in one corner of the storeroom.

I looked up at the soft clouds in the sky with a small smile though it fell as I recalled what had happened with Taro kun and Leo kun and his friends just a few hours ago. With how hostile they had been, I was now concerned about what would happen to me and Grandpa in the future. I mean, the Akatsuki or Madara couldn't be with us twenty four hours of the day to protect us and even though the villagers were sure to know about Madara himself protecting me, there was still a nagging voice in the back of my mind that made me anxious. I was worried that instead of being abused, we would get kicked out of the village and onto the streets with nowhere to go.

With a slow shake of my head, I looked away from the clouds and at the shinobi who passed by my stall. Most of them were taking large supplies of food, clothes and weapons – it was unusual. There were even some shinobi who wore forehead protectors that I had never seen before with the word 'shinobi' engraved on the metal part instead of the symbol of the village they belonged to. I didn't think too much of it though, presuming that they were probably having some sort of training camp or something of that sort.

"Hey, did you hear? We're going to be fighting against the Akatsuki in the war!" I heard someone say as he stood with two other people in the stall besides mine. I looked at them curiously and leaned in just a bit to listen to their conversation.

"Yeah, I heard that too! And this may be a rumor, but I heard we're going to have to fight against Uchiha Madara too!" another guy said and the two standing in front of him noticeably paled.

"Uchiha M-Madara? That's not possible! He died a hundred years ago!" the first guy hollered in a slightly trembling voice.

"It's true Uchiha Madara died at Senju Hashirama's hands a hundred years ago but I definitely did hear that he's going to be one of the many we're going to fight," the second man said with a frown. "And if it really is true, there's no way we can survive against him even if we fight as the Allied Shinobi Force."

"You got that right. He was said to have had ninja abilities equal to a God!" the third mumbled and an air of dread enveloped them.

I swallowed thickly as intense guilt bubbled in the pit of my stomach. I clearly remember reading that Madara was believed to possess the power of a God but I had never seen it before and, frankly enough, I didn't want to either. But I had helped the Akatsuki by reviving the man with those destructive powers and if he was going to kill innocent people in the war that these men were saying would break out soon, it would be because of me.

But...it couldn't be my fault entirely, right? I didn't have any other choice but to revive Madara – it was either listen to the Akatsuki or let them kill me and I didn't want to die. I had revived Madara because I was threatened...but that still wouldn't rid the blame on me completely, would it?