7 months

Asami smiled softly as she watched Madara and their son walk in front of her. Kouta wanted to take another walk, and although Asami often declined when she was asked to tag along, this time she agreed to come, but the further they walked away from the house, the more she regretted it.

It had been quite some time now, and she started to feel tired and her feet started to hurt, yet she hadn't voiced any complaints. Since Kouta seemed to enjoy himself so much, beaming so brightly, Asami didn't want to ruin the mood by telling him she wanted to go back. He was so excited when Asami told him she was coming too, so she'd feel guilty to turn such a happy expression into a disappointed one.

But now, it was slowly becoming unbearable. The pain only increased with each step and her breathing only became more uneven. She already was out of form, and the pregnancy wasn't making it any easier.

''Madara?'' She called out, and she succeeded in grabbing his attention. She didn't think he'd hear her since Kouta just kept talking to him and she had fallen pretty far behind. ''I'm going back, okay? I'm pretty tired and I want to lie down for a bit.''

Madara looked back at Kouta and said something to him that was inaudible to Asami due to the distance between them and the soft voice he probably spoke with. Kouta shook his head vigorously and pulled at Madara's hand, who sighed in response.

Asami pursed her lips and put her hands together, squeezing her fingers now and then as she approached the two of them so she didn't have to talk loudly. ''It's fine.'' She spoke, managing a small smile. ''I can get back on my own, so take your time and I'll see you back home, alright?"

Madara clearly hesitated, remembering the moments when they almost or actually encountered somebody in these woods. They had immediately recognized Asami, and of course also the infamous Uchiha Madara. Even though this happened rarely, if Asami were to run into someone, she'd definitely be taken away or worse. In her current state, she wouldn't risk fighting. She hadn't trained properly in more than 5 years, so even if she tried to put up a fight, the chances of her winning were very low.

Asami pressed her lips together, also knowing the risks of going back alone, and placed her hand on Madara's upper arm. ''I'll be fine.'' She murmured softly, but the smile she was trying to maintain wasn't very convincing. ''I'll let you know if something happens.''

Madara narrowed his eyes and quickly glanced at Kouta, but he didn't seem to pay any attention to either him or Asami, before he looked back at the Uzumaki. ''And how do you plan to do that?''

''Summoning jutsu.'' Was Asami's simple reply, remembering the scrolls she always carried in one of the inner pockets of her kimono. ''I still have a contract or two. I can summon them to protect me or to warn you, so just keep going with Kou and I'll head back. It'll be fine.''

Although Asami tried to persuade him, she wasn't very reassured herself. It was a good plan, but she couldn't help but be scared. All this time, either Madara or Keiji was by her side. They were both incredibly capable fighters, unlike her. On these rare occasions that they encountered someone, former ally or enemy, they took care of it. The presence of Uzumaki Asami, Uchiha Madara and the existence of their son was to stay a secret after all.

But last time when she was on her own, Asami was almost killed and Kouta was almost taken away. The immense fear she felt back then was something she never wanted to experience again, but she couldn't be afraid forever. She already needed to conceal herself from the inhabited world for the rest of her life, so hiding behind Madara's back all the time, keeping herself safe from people she might not even run into was not something she was going to do as well.

After all, how could she live a seclusive life like this if she was scared of being alone? It was a fear she had to overcome, and that was exactly what she was going to do.

''I'll go now, okay?'' She asked carefully, and Madara merely nodded, but the look in his eyes said otherwise.

Asami smiled weakly, but gratefully at him before she crouched down, not without effort, to face another displeased Uchiha. The pout on his face was adorable, while the look in his eyes was far from that. ''Hey Kou.'' Asami murmured, gently taking his small shoulders. ''I'm going back now, bu-''

''Why can't you come?"

Asami pursed her lips at the slight sadness and disappointment in his dark eyes. She knew how much he loved it to go on walks. She thought it was because being out in the woods gave him the feeling of freedom. Being confined in the house all the time was becoming more and more difficult for him, and she wasn't the only one who had noticed that. Madara had too.

''I'm really tired.'' Asami replied, lifting one of her hands from his shoulders to run it through his soft locks. ''But let's go again. '' Her lips curled up into a smile. ''Maybe there'll be four of us by then.''

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Asami hissed when her feet started to throb and stopped to curl her toes, as if that would decrease the discomfort. A sigh left her lips. "I should've just stayed at home." She mumbled as she continued to walk back to the house.

She wasn't paying attention to her surroundings, only to the ground in front of her. She didn't even need to look around to know where she was going. After spending a few years here, she knew a big part of the forest like the back of her hand, even when it was dark, and the darkness was starting to set now in slowly.

Though, when she heard a twig snap in the distance, she raised her gaze from the leaf covered path, frantically searching for the source of the sound. Her heartbeat picked up with every second that passed without finding the one who was out there with her, and she slowly reached into her kimono, ready to take one of the scrolls she needed for the summoning jutsu.

She didn't dare to take another step, afraid that it might give away her presence to whoever was out there, if it was person who made that sound and if this person didn't already know that he or she wasn't alone as well. She swallowed thickly and wrapped her fingers around the first scroll.

She found out that her guess of it being a person was right when she heard another footstep, but this one seemed more careful somehow, which made Asami think that this person knew she was there.

Desperately trying to look through the dense forest, she finally noticed the shadow standing only a few meters away.

"Asami-san?"

Asami exhaled shakily and dropped her hand, letting it hang next to her body. "K-Keiji-san?"

She heard Keiji chuckle softly as he quickly approached her. "What are you doing out in the woods at this time?" He asked. "Where is Madara-san?"

Asami tried to even her breathing, but her heart just wouldn't stop beating like crazy. "I could ask you the same thing." She murmured, letting him know she wasn't exactly happy to see him since he totally scared the living daylights out of her. "And Madara is further down the forest with Kou. I'm simply heading back first."

Keiji laughed sheepishly when he noticed the annoyed look in her eyes. "Ah, did I scare you?" He asked apologetically. "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to."

Asami sighed and her eyes softened. "It's fine." She mumbled softly. "Now why are you here?"

Keiji smiled. "I have something for you." And he put his hand in his pocket.

Asami blinked. "For me?" She breathed surprised. "What is it?"

Keiji grinned and pulled a folded envelope out. "A letter from Mito."

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Madara grabbed the door handle and pushed it down, letting out a sigh when the door opened, which meant that Asami was home, but he also sensed another certain person's chakra.

"Go on, Kouta." He said, and he let Kouta into the house first. The young Uchiha didn't bother taking his shoes off and ran into the living room.

Madara grunted and quickly locked the door. With all the mud stuck beneath Kouta's shoes, there was going to be dirt on the floor and stains on the carpet. He wasn't really one to care very much about that, but Asami would always complain so much whenever that happened, and Madara actually wanted to prevent that this time. Getting another scolding from her would be troublesome. "Kout-"

"Keiji!"

Madara heaved another sigh and took off his own shoes before entering the living room. He was met with the sight of Keiji and Kouta, together on the couch.

While Keiji simply showed Kouta his signature grin and greeted him as well, Madara looked around the room for Asami, but she wasn't there. "Upstairs huh?" He mumbled to himself.

"Hello, Madara-san." Keiji spoke. "Apologies for the intrusion. Asami-san let me in."

"It's fine." Madara grumbled. "Is she asleep?"

Keiji ran his hands through Kouta's strands, ruffling his hair. "Yes. She seemed pretty tired when I ran into her in the woods." He said. "Apparently, I gave her quite the scare."

Madara merely hummed, not really paying attention to what he was saying. "I'm going upstairs for a bit." He said. ''Can you take Kouta's shoes off and bring them to the front door?''

Not waiting for a reaction, he left the living room and went down the hall and up the stairs.

After walking past one empty bedroom and Kouta's room, he reached his own and while he tried to open the door slowly, it still creaked a lot, but that didn't seem to awaken the sleeping Uzumaki.

Madara carefully walked closer. He noticed the red kimono she was wearing before hanging over a chair.

He had also noticed that she was wearing it more often, but simply not as tight as usual. That was probably because most of her clothing didn't fit anymore.

Madara moved his gaze away from the kimono and sat down on the edge of the bed. As he glanced over his shoulder, he simply watched her for a few seconds. She was lying on her side on top of the covers, her face turned to him. A few of her red locks covered her face, but that didn't seem to bother her.

His eyes traveled down from her face to her exposed stomach, since the tank top she was wearing had moved up a bit. It was still a weird idea to him that there would be a new addition to their family soon. That another child was growing in there,

Their child.

Without thinking, he reached out. His cool hand touched her warm skin, and Madara's eyes flickered back to Asami's face, but her eyes remained closed.

He noticed that the chakra inside her was very familiar to Asami's, but he was able to detect more of a difference between the two than a few weeks ago.

Asami's pregnancy hadn't been easy. She had to endure a lot of pain and there were so many things to take into account, like making sure the bathroom is ventilated whenever she takes a shower and having small meals throughout the day and staying hydrated was also important. Never had Madara thought that carrying a child inside of you could be so tough, and this was already the second time for Asami, and although she said that Kouta didn't give this many problems at all, it still made him feel bad that he left her all on her own when she needed him the most. She relied a lot on him now, but she had no one to rely on 5 years ago, and some time after at.

To be honest, he was still surprised that she let him back in.

A hand covered his, entwining their fingers. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "Hey." Asami whispered softly.

Madara turned his head, and his dark eyes met her green orbs. The corners of his lips twitched up. "Hey."

Asami smiled tiredly and brought his hand to her face, pressing his knuckles against her lips. ''We still haven't thought of names.'' She murmured against his fingers, chuckling quietly. ''We don't have long anymore, you know.''

Madara nodded and pressed his lips together. Names, huh? Even though he and Asami hadn't talked about it before, Madara had already given it some thought. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of any, just like now. No matter how hard he tried to think of a name he'd consider fitting for his own child, nothing came to mind.

Asami seemed to have noticed him struggling, as she let out a soft laugh. ''We don't have to decide now.'' She spoke, pressing his hand against the corner of her lips and her cheek. Though, she had to admit that it was pretty funny to see this side of him.

Madara grunted. ''I know that.'' He muttered.

Asami smiled at his slight irritation and gave his hand another kiss. ''Okay, so what do you think of...''