Sorry for the long wait! School, volleyball practice, and piano lessons started again, so I was pretty busy. I've also been sick for a while so I didn't have the energy to write. But I hope this long chapter makes up for it :)

OOC Madara? idk I tried. Tell me what you think please!

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Asami kept looking at Madara's broad back as she followed him into the living room. All the confidence she had gathered before was now slowly seeping away. She was getting nervous.

Of course, she wanted to know why it took him three full years to return to her, but she was afraid the reason might hurt her. That he didn't come back because he wanted to, but because he felt like he needed to. Was it because he felt responsible for taking care of the two of them, or was it guilt? For getting Kouta and her involved in his mess?

Asami didn't want to hear such things. She wanted him to be here because he loved her, because he wanted to be with here and Kouta.

But did Madara still feel the same way now, three years later?

Asami knew that her feelings were still the same. They may have weakened a bit but she still loved Madara dearly. Wasn't that why she went with him in the first place; because she loved him?

Asami finally looked away from him when he sat down on the couch. Reluctantly, she sat down next to him, but not close to him. She made sure to leave an arm-length between them.

It's not that she didn't want to sit right next to him or that she'd feel uncomfortable if she did so but Asami felt like it'd be better if she put some space between them right now.

An awkward silence filled the room and Asami began to bite her bottom lip out of sheer nervousness. She constantly felt Madara's eyes on her, as if he was waiting for her to speak up, but she honestly didn't know how to start. Getting right to the point seemed so rushed and even a bit rude.

It was true that Asami just wanted to get this over with. She didn't like the tension she created when she said she wanted to know about him and just wanted everything to go back to normal quickly. We'll, as close to normal as possible. Things would never go back to how they used to be after all. Too much time had passed and too much had changed for that.

''You said you wanted to know more.'' Madara suddenly spoke up. ''I'm waiting.''

Asami looked up from her lap to meet his gaze. To her surprise, the didn't look annoyed, even though he sounded that way before. There were also no traces of any other negative emotions visible on his face. Somehow, this reassured Asami quite a bit.

Madara sighed impatiently and leaned against the arm of the chair. ''Well?'' He asked, urging her to start speaking. Madara knew she felt uneasy, but that didn't really matter to him. Ever since he came back, he never saw her fully comfortable and relaxed around him.

It was bothering him a lot more than it should, but now was the time the tension between the two of them could be broken.

''Why...,'' Asami started slowly, but didn't finish her question. Just where was she supposed to start? She had so many things to ask him. After thinking for a few seconds, Asami looked up from her lap to Madara, making eye-contact. ''..What have you been doing?'' She asked softly. ''For these past three years? Why did it take so long? All this time, I believed you were dead. Why didn't you let me know you were still out there somewhere?''

The more questions she asked, the louder her voice got. Asami was upset, frustrated and she felt cheated. She felt betrayed. Why didn't he send her any kind of message? He could at least have let her known that he was still alive.

Madara sighed. He already expected her to bombard him with questions even though she was a bit scared. But to start with this one...

Asami was going to get angry for sure.

Madara sighed again and crossed his arms over his chest. It took him a few seconds to give an answer. ''I was selfish.''

Asami furrowed her eyebrows in vexation when he didn't say anything more. '''Selfish'?" She repeated. It was a vague explanation, and especially one Asami wasn't satisfied with. ''What do you mean by that?''

Did he not want to come back? Is that what he meant by selfish? He stayed away didn't pay any mind to Asami's feelings?

Madara grunted and moved his hands to his lap, putting them together. ''You should have gone back to Konoha.'' He spoke, not looking up to meet her eyes but looking at his hands instead. ''You shouldn't have stayed here.''

Asami felt her chest tighten and blinked. His answer confused her, it upset her, it broke her heart. Did he really wanted to leave her behind now? After everything she did to be with him? Clenching her fists tightly, Asami took a deep breath, trying to hold back the upcoming tears. as she felt her eyes starting to sting. ''W-Why?'' She choked out, trying to control her voice. ''Why tell me this now?''

Madara noticed that she had trouble keeping a straight face. Her eyes were glossy and she looked like she could burst out crying at any moment. ''I shouldn't have involved you in any this.''

Madara looked up from his hands and saw Asami staring at him, mixed emotions visible on her face. Tears were streaming down her face She couldn't hold them back after all. Her eyebrows furrowed in a glare while her hands were shaking. Madara didn't know whether it was in anger or sadness; maybe even both.

Her breathing quickened and she abruptly stood up, looking even

more furious than before.''I went with you willingly! I involved myself in all this!'' She exclaimed as she wiped one of her eyes with the palm of her hand. ''Going back to Konoha wasn't an option anymore when I chose to follow you! I never wanted to go back anyway, don't you understand!? I waited here for you!''

Asami wanted to yell at him so much more. Tell him how much she hated him, how much she missed him, how much she loathed his selfishness and just how much she loved him. But Asami couldn't find the words to describe these mixed emotions and feelings.

Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself down a bit and Asami suddenly felt a wave of tiredness and nausea overwhelming her. Covering a part of her face with her hand, she looked at the ground and sighed softly. ''I'm sorry.'' She muttered. ''I'm going outside for a bit.''

Asami turned around and headed for the door, thinking of the fresh air she'd be breathing in in a few seconds. After yelling and crying, it became stuffy inside the small living room. Asami felt like she needed to get away from it all for a bit, and that was exactly what she was going to do.

Madara grunted as he saw her walking away. He knew he had been wrong, and he also knew that Asami had so much more things to tell him. And those were things he probably wouldn't like to hear. But he'd rather hear all those things now than having to talk like this another day.

He stood up and went after her. Asami flinched when she heard his footsteps and turned around. ''M-Madar-''

Madara grabbed her arm tightly and looked her straight into the eyes. Asami was surprised and also slightly disappointed that he seemed so unaffected by their current situation. It was like he didn't care in the slightest, which hurt her. Wasn't this bothering him at all?

''Are you running away again?'' He asked. ''Don't you rather finish this now?''

Asami frowned at his choice of words. 'Running away'? Hearing that from him just made her furious. He didn't have the right to say that to her at all.

Asami roughly pulled her arm back and glared at him. Her actions surprised Madara a bit. Never had he seen her this angry.

''Running away!?'' She yelled. Asami almost had the urge to laugh, while this wasn't funny at all. ''Aren't you the one who has been running away all this time!?''

Madara clicked his tongue. He'd usually never let anyone talk to him like this, but wouldn't get mad only make it worse in this situation? He understood very well why Asami was so angry. She had very valid reasons. And Madara created those reasons. It was his own fault.

''You should have come back here instead of making decisions on your own!'' Asami kept on yelling, his silence only fuelling her anger. ''That's what you meant by selfish, right? Why didn't you come here!? Why didn't you contact me at all!? If I knew you were coming back only to tell me that I should have returned to Konoha then I'd rather not have known that you were still alive!''

Madara gritted his teeth. Even though he managed to stay calm almost the whole time, her words were really starting to infuriate him even though he deserved them all.

Asami wiped her eyes with the sleeves of her shirt and bit her lip. She really looked like a mess, and she was also feeling like that. Everything was a mess to her at the moment. ''Because hearing you say that you want me to go, that you don't want to be with me hurts so much more.'' Asami whispered ad she buried her face in her hands.

Madara sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He already felt a lot calmer now he knew that she was totally misunderstanding what he told her before. ''Did I say that that was the reason I wanted you to leave?''

''Huh?'' Asami looked up, her eyes red and puffy. ''W-What other reason would it be then?'' She asked quietly. ''I can't think of any other reason than that.''

Madara merely stared at her. She looked so desperate to know the answer, and he understood that very well.

''Tell me, Madara!'' Asami pleaded. ''Please! I want to know everything!''

Madara heaved a sigh and looked out of the window. He didn't want to lie to her. Never had he ever met someone this loyal to him beside Izuna. I made him feel at ease, but it also scared him. All those who have been loyal to him, even if it was only a little, turned against him or died. He didn't want it to repeat.

''Haven't I ruined your life enough?''

Madara's sudden questioned surprised Asami, and she stepped a bit closer to him so she could see his face, which was turned to the side, better. She wanted to what kind of expression he was making after saying something ridiculous like that, but as usual, Asami was disappointed to see a straight face. The only thing that was different was that his eyebrows were slightly furrowed.

''What do you mean 'ruined'?'' She muttered. ''You're not making any sense. You're saying that the reason you stayed away because you ruined my life enough already!?''

Madara clenched his jaw and jerked his head away from the window. ''But it's true, right!?'' He yelled. ''I took you away from your clan, your family, and then let you live here in solitude for three years! I didn't contact you and didn't let you know that I was alive! Don't you hate me for that!?''

Asami was speechless. Never had she heard Madara talk like this; like he was downgrading himself. He had always ignored the hateful stares from others, so why couldn't he just ignore hers, too? She wanted him too. Seeing him like this just made her so sad. He shouldn't talk about himself like that. His pride and confidence would never allow it.

Then, did his pride and confidence shatter during his crushing defeat?

Asami dug her nails into her palms and walked up to Madara. ''Yes, I do hate you.'' She started. ''I hate you so, so much but..''

Madara didn't move an inch, even when Asami stood right in front of him. He simply observed her. What was she going to do? Slap him? Punch him?

Instead of anything violent, what Madara expected her to do, Asami put her head against his shoulder and grabbed the fabric of his sleeve. ''You already know,'' She continued. ''That I am very forgiving.''

Madara looked down at her. He had the urge to place his hand on her head, but he kept both his hands at his sides. It was true that he knew that, but it wasn't what he wanted to hear. Why didn't she get angry like before now that she knew the reason? She should be angry.

''And like I said before; I chose this path.'' Asami murmured. ''I chose to come with you. Nothing of this is your fault. The only thing you should be sorry for is leaving me behind like that.'' Asami tugged at his sleeve and looked up to him. ''I left my family to be with my other family.''

Madara saw tears forming in her eyes again and averted his gaze. He felt despicable. How could she still say something like that in a situation like this?

Asami let go of his shirt and reached out for his face, which went unnoticed by Madara, who was too deep in thought and had his guard down too much to notice anything that wasn't within his view. He flinched when Asami touched his right cheek, and he turned his eyes back to her immediately. Asami smiled sadly and stroked her finger over his skin. ''Aren't you my family as well?"

Madara didn't say anything in return. He merely stared at her in disbelief. So he still had someone left who he could call his family. There was still a place he could call home.

He just never realized it.

Madara just wanted her to go back so she could live a normal life. He already had involved her in so many of his matters, and he didn't want to do it anymore. He didn't want to make the same mistakes.

But he did it anyway.

Madara snapped out of his thoughts when Asami started to touch his hair. In less than a second, his fingers wrapped around her wrist to stop her from moving her hand any further. Asami looked at him and simply raised her other hand. ''You're my family, Madara.'' She said as she began to move the strands of his hair again. ''So don't hide anything from me please.''

Madara didn't resist when Asami moved strands of hair out of the way, revealing his right, white eye. There was no use hiding it anymore, especially when she already knew about it. He saw her eyes widening slightly, but after that, a small smile appeared on her face.''You thought I wouldn't notice?'' She asked softly.

Madara didn't reply once again. He didn't know that Asami was aware. He also never noticed any changes in her behavior that might have let him know that she knew something.

As her smile faded slowly, she continued to caress his face. The scar was one thing, but also his eye.. Now that she got a closer look, she realized that she wasn't the only one who had a hard time.

It hadn't been easy for the both of them.

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Pretty messy chapter..

I had a lot of trouble writing this part. I've been thinking for a long time of how I was going to do this. Finally, it turned out like this.

I also think I didn't always chose the right words to use in certain sentences.

As most of you know already, feedback is very appreciated! It helps me a lot. So if there is something I need to pay more attention to or something I forgot or didn't make clear, just tell me so I can take it into account for the future chapters!