Asami sighed when Kouta wouldn't sit still.

He had just come out of the bath. Patience was something he had while he let her dress him, but he was getting annoyingly restive later on when Asami was brushing his hair. It was because Keiji was here, and they both heard him enter the house. Asami thought that Kouta was acting strangely excited, though she didn't complain about that. He was being more lively lately, which was something that Asami had noticed and something she was very glad about.

After putting the hairbrush away, she pressed a kiss to his head before she followed him into the hallway where the stairs were. Weirdly enough, Kouta was careful while going down the stairs. Asami had expected him to rush down since he looked so excited.

"Keiji!" Kouta squealed as he ran into the living room where both Madara and Keiji were occupying a part of the couch.

As usual, Keiji grinned in reply and ruffled his hair once the boy was close enough. "Hello, little guy." He said, the smile never leaving his face. "You sure are happy to see me."

Kouta simply beamed before sitting down between both men.

"Would you like something to drink?" Asami asked politely, already making her way to the kitchen. "Coffee or tea maybe?"

Keiji nodded gratefully. "A coffee would be great."

"Madara, Kouta." Asami called their names in order to get their attention. "Do you want anything?"

While Kouta made it very clear that he'd like to drink a glass of lemonade, Madara didn't look up from the book he was reading as he answered. "Also a coffee."

"Two coffee, one lemonade and a tea." Asami mumbled to herself before disappearing into the kitchen.

Keiji quickly leaped up from the couch, accidentally nudging Madara in the process, and hurried after Asami while speaking countless apologies to the older Uchiha who was glaring at him in annoyance. Whilst Madara had to search for the sentence where he left off somewhere in the middle of the page since he was interrupted by an unexpected poke, Kouta simply chortled at his vexation, finding it pretty funny.

With a sheepish smile, Keiji entered the kitchen, rubbing the back of his neck. ''Can I help?"

Asami chuckled. She already figured that he'd ask that the second she heard him stand up. ''You're the guest here, Keiji-san.'' She murmured, pressing a button that made the old coffee machine sputter to life. ''If anyone needs to help me, it should be Madara, not you.''

Keiji grinned and walked closer until he stood right next to her. Raising his hands, he opened the cabinet above the sink and took out the tea box. ''You know that I don't mind helping you at all.'' He said, placing the box on the counter. 

Asami simply hummed after turning the knob on the gas stove until she heard a slight hiss of gas escaping. Then, she took a match out of its box and rubbed it across the side. A flame sprung up and Asami used it to light the stove. After that, she blew out the small fire and threw the thin piece of wood away. Filling a saucepan with a small amount of water, she placed it on the stove and let out a sigh. This was the only way for her to heat up water and other liquids since there wasn't a kettle in the house. Asami normally didn't mind since she was used to it, but sometimes the lack of everyday products still bothered her.

While Asami had been busy with the stove, Keiji had already turned off the coffee machine and filled a glass with lemonade. His eyes fell on Asami's neck when she turned around to face him. Light bruises covered her skin. Since the spots were already turning pale green and yellow, Keiji could tell that they were already fading. It still shocked him, though.

Unconsciously, he reached out. Asami swallowed as she watched his hand coming closer. She did nothing, even though she didn't feel very comfortable. ''What happened?'' Keiji breathed, his fingers brushing against the bruises. ''Don't tell me Madara-sama di-''

Keiji cried out in both pain and surprise when Madara slapped his hand away from Asami's neck, and the older Uchiha did not seem to care that he used too much force. ''Of course not,  you moron.'' He grunted, even more irritated than before. Asami let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding and she visibly relaxed. Blinking, she brought her own hand to her neck and covered up the ugly spots. ''We had some unwanted visitors...'' She whispered, almost stumbling over her own words. ''But it's fine now. I'm fine.''

Madara raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her from the corners of his eyes. ''You could have died.'' He said, his voice sounding hard and cold. ''And you still aren't fine''

Asami narrowed his eyes at him. She wanted to reassure Keiji, not wanting him to worry. Madara wasn't exactly helping, though. ''I'm good now. Just not fully healed yet.'' Physically, she'd heal, but she wondered if she'd ever recover mentally from that horrifying event. That night, she almost died for the second time. It was so much more terrifying than the first time she was so close to death. Her son, the person she cared for the most, was also almost taken from her if it wasn't for Madara.

That night was without doubt the worst night of her life.

The water started to boil and the sound along with her own thoughts made Asami's head ache slightly.

''Are you sure?" Keiji asked, worry clearly visible on his face. ''You look quite tense now.''

Asami wanted to answer, but she was interrupted by Kouta, who was now also in the kitchen. ''Mommy?''

Asami let out an exasperated sigh before picking up both cups of coffee, gently shoving them in both Keiji and Madara's hands. ''Im fine, now shoo.''

Keiji quickly went back into the living room, while Madara frowned at her once before following his former right hand. Then Asami handed Kouta his glass lemonade and gave him a soft push, guiding him back to where he came from a few seconds earlier.

Running her hand through her hair, Asami took a few seconds to calm down. For a few seconds, it had become to much for her. She didn't mind explaining the situation to Keiji, even though she actually found it harder to tell about it than she had previously thought, but her own thoughts, the sounds around her and the sudden attention from the three Uchiha frustrated her. 

After pouring the steaming water from the saucepan into a mug, she chose a flavour from the box and repeatedly dipped the tea bag in the large cup. The strong smell of cinnamon was so incredibly enticing that Asami already wanted to drink the tea, even though the hot liquid would probably burn her tongue. Heaving another sigh, she submerged the tea bag a few times more before dropping it in the trash can. Her hand closed around the handle of the mug and she lifted it from the counter.

Walking back into the living room, she took a seat on the chair situated at the opposite site of the couch where the three dark haired males were sitting, a coffee table between the two pieces of furniture.

There was a short silence before Keiji spoke up. ''I understand it if you don't want to talk about it.''

Asami blew on her tea in order to cool it down before turning her attention to Keiji. ''There's really not much to say about it anymore.'' She mumbled, wrapping her fingers around the cup. ''They were rogues and they tried to kill us. They almost succeeded, too.''

Asami eyed Madara with a warning look in her orbs, which happened unbeknownst to Keiji. At the moment, she didn't feel like she could handle a lot of questions, so if she were to tell Keiji the reason why the rogues probably came here, it'd result in long conversations with a lot of inquiries.

It wasn't difficult for Madara to figure out what her intentions were, and he chose to go along with her. It's not like Keiji knowing would change anything. He could always tell him later if he really wanted to or needed to.

The three adults shifted their gazes to Kouta when he put the glass on the wooden coffee table a bit too loudly. ''Can I go outside?"

Asami was surprised that he still wanted to leave the house after he was practically dragged outside by one of those strangers that had the intention to steal his eyes. 

She exchanged glances with Madara. While Asami seemed a bit anxious, Madara was unexpectedly calm. He easily noticed her unease so  he closed the book and drank the last bit of coffee that was left in the cup before standing up. ''I'll go with him.'' He didn't mind going with him. Being stuck in the house all the time was not something he could do with ease like Asami could. Madara also wanted to go outside once in a while.

Kouta rushed to the front door, followed by his father who walked a lot slower compared to him. Asami pursed her lips together and put her mug down, standing up as well. Keiji simply frowned as he watched the family make their way to the entrance of the house, sipping at his dark drink.

''Madara.'' Asami called after him as he put on his coat after handing Kouta his one. He hummed in response, turning around while Kouta was trying to reach the knob in order to open the door. ''Please don't go too far.''

Madara nodded and opened the door for Kouta, who immediately left the house. Asami's eyebrows knotten together in worry as she placed a hand on Madara's shoulder, looking past him to see if Kouta was still within sight. When she noticed him patiently waiting only a few meters away, she turned back to Madara. ''They can't find out about him again, and nobody can find out about you either.'' She rambled, a perturbed look on her face. ''Stay close to the house, okay?"

Madara sighed and took her hand from his shoulder, letting it go. ''It'll be fine.'' He said. ''You don't have to worry so much.''

Asami blinked in surprise, not expecting him to say something like that while there was a lot to worry about. ''You can't tell me that.'' She whispered harshly. ''Have you forgotten what happened only a few days ago?"

''And have you forgotten who I am?" Madara countered. ''I can sense them from a mile away.''

Madara's carefree behaviour caused Asami great distress, but she knew she couldn't win this argument. Madara wouldn't stop after all.. ''Just be careful.'' She murmured, looking up to him with pleading eyes. ''I don't want anything to happen to you two.''

Madara noticed just how anxious she really was and raised his hand, placing it on top of her head. ''I told you, you shouldn't worry so much.'' He says, watching Kouta who was waving at him. ''Nothing will happen if I'm around.''

And with that, he walked past Asami and left the house.

~~~~~~~

Asami took a sip of her delicious cinnamon tea, already feeling more reassured after hearing Madara's words. Even if he was acting so nonchalant, he did make sure to keep an eye out. Instead of worrying, she should have trusted him immediately. She even felt a bit guilty for thinking that he wouldn't be cautious in their situation.

''You've been taking good care of him.''

Asami stopped drinking and looked up to Keiji, still holding the mug in front of her lips. His abupt comment surprised her. She didn't expect a compliment, and especially not one she didn't deserve. Shyly, she put her mug down and put a strand of hair behind her air. ''I haven't done much at all.'' She spoke softly. ''He is just trying to adjust to this lifestyle, and he's doing a very good job so far.''

Keiji shook his head stubbornly. ''It's because you've given him the chance to do so.'' He said. ''And you're treating him so well, better than I thought you would.''

Asami frowned, confused at why he would think that. ''Why wouldn't I treat him well?''

Keiji raised an eyebrow as if it was all so obvious and Asami was the only one who didn't realize it. ''Because he was practically an ass for the last three years for keeping his existence hidden from you. He lied.''

Asami chuckled at his choice of words. ''Are you sure you should call him that?''

''An ass?'' Keiji questioned, and Asami nodded. ''Well, he isn't here right now so he'll never know about me calling him that.''

''I wouldn't be surprised if he came through the front door now, though.'' Asami spoke, an amused smile on her face. ''They've been away for a while now.'' Even though she knew they'd be safe, the thought of them being out of her sight made her feel troubled. She wanted to know how they were doing, and she wanted to confirm it with her own two eyes.

''I mean it, though.'' Keiji said, the seriousness from before returning. ''He seems a lot more at ease compared to the first time I came here after he returned to you. He didn't do that to himself.'' He took another sip, a lazy smile hidden behind the cup. ''You did that to him.''

Asami felt her chest tighten at his words. Did she really have that much influence on him? Never had she realized just how much her actions affected him. This was also the first time she thought about it so deeply.

At the moment, Asami didn't think that anyone had any idea of how incredible happy it made her to hear him say that.