Maybe trying to kill her was a bad idea.

Maybe offering up a super secret vigilante group he was hoping to use to take over the world in a bet that he could beat her, was an even worse one.

It was probably even worse that she kicked his ass and tried to wave it off as nothing big...

Her kekki genkai can copy other kekki genkai after all so it wasn't even fair.

she still won.

Madara uchiha was having a terrible day.

and it was all her fault.

looking back, it was probably fate who was cheerfully laughing her ass off, and a good deal of sake in his effort to mope and forget his loss that got her brought back to the akatsuki base.

And even worse when it turned out that this was his great nephew Itachi's sensei. and that she fucking adored him, doted on him, and clucked over him and his health like a demented ass kicking mother hen.

Madara snorted. Women.

what made it worse was when she had cheerfully squashed sasori into her chest and began carrying him about like a tiny toddler as she walked around exploring the base.

He was NOT jealous that the puppet was squashed into her huge bosom. of course not. never. he had class. and sasori could be a right smug bastard.

madara was not mad. not. at. all.

Not even when she cheerfully suggest that they go and retrieve her and sasori's daughter, when she noticed that itachi was sick so her daughter could heal him after she unlocked her daughters white chakra.

Wha.. Wat. What daughter? what the fuck?

He was not mad. he liked blowing shit up and the base needed remodeling anyways. no big E.

Haruno sakura. With her gray hair and sasori's red it just had to be the only pink haired konoichi in konaha. Of. Fucking. Course.

Mad. Madara wasn't mad. he was the epitome of cool. and he tried smiling when she had finally extracted sasori from her chest and went to hug him, thanking him for helping her put her family back together, but he felt it came out as more of a grimace.

And he did NOT blush when he got a kiss on the cheek and some pocky for the help. ...Nope. Epitome of cool remember?

One day madara actually finds out her name. He feels her last name should be the same as that asshole sasori's, but hes surprised to find it's actually Haruno. Haruno Layla, known as the missing-nin, the Gray lady. Now he understands how she kicked his ass. it was a Huge note in the bingo books that she had run away from her clan due to the stress of being pushed to be the best, she was also known as being kakashi of the sharingan's bastard sister. no wonder. Madara kinda felt dumb.

It comes to him much later that he remembers hearing from pein that sasori is gay. And that sasori only found this out by fathering a kid with his best friend, which was part of the reason he left suna. to get away from that clan and because they would have killed his friend and with her his baby. sasori would never have let that happen of course. so he went rouge, and the akatsuki picked him up. Now Madara wants to hit himself. he wasn't attracted to her. of course not.

...

...

...

Okay. maybe a little. But you can't blame him. She was really pretty. kinda like a colorless cherry blossom, fallen from the tree.

Madara loved cherry blossoms almost as much as he had loved his baby brother Izuna. and that's a lot. so maybe he could admit he likes her. But he is a socially awkward and emotionally stunted uchiha warrior and he has no idea how to ask someone for a date.

He musters up his Uchiha courage and just asks, and no he didn't stutter thank you very much.

She giggles and kisses his cheek, and not he did not blush. Fools.

she accepted.

they went to a nice tea shop.

They got Dango, and had tea.

He awkwardly tried some cheesy pick up line he had heard itachi and sakura giggling together over while sasori gave them the stink eye.

She turned a pink color and smiled at him.

Madara liked that.

He liked it when she smiled.

And suddenly, world domination was sounding like a bad idea. especially with Layla being around. he didn't want to hurt her in his eternal quest for control

so he gave up those plans and starts to plan something else.

Because if every day was going to be like this...

with the most beautiful and strong woman he had ever seen in the world

Who was he to take the world away from her?

Especially when she just got free.

Why couldn't he give her what she had actually voiced she had wanted one night while they were all talking, and she was telling them about herself,

her dream of opening a place for those who had nowhere else to call home? they could be missing nin or just homeless, or wanted to get away from oppressive clans and villages.

A village for those who need a place to go to when they have no place to call home.

Some where safe and worry free.

A safe haven of sorts.

So madara decided he wanted to give her, her dream,

so long as she kept smiling at him.

And he did.

She kissed him.

Madara did blush that time, but so did she, so he thought it was a win.

madara proposed to her the next year, when the cherry blossoms bloomed, under his favorite cherry blossom tree

She said yes.

They were married under a full moon.

in a cherry tree grove.

It was a double wedding.

She even kidnapped her brother to walk her down the aisle because sasori had to walk sakura, as she and itachi had really hit it off and apparently itachi had proposed a few days after madara did proposed to Layla

she and her daughter were beautiful, when they walked down the aisle.

it was amusing that she had her brother tied up as she dragged him down the aisle.

Madara was happy. A konaha nin was horrified.

He had a good day. It was actually a day right up there on his best list. right next to Izuna being born.

He had actually never been happier.

He cried when their first children were born. Twins.

A daughter and a son on the first go.

Their son was promptly named Ash and their daughter Azure.

Madara felt life was good.

and it was.

They ended up having twelve children, Layla wanted to strangle him, but even she wanted a big family. so she acquiesced..

Her daughter sakura had had eighteen.. and when she had the last one she stabbed itachi.

the kunai went completely thru his left leg..

And they still aren't sure exactly how she smuggled the damn thing into the delivery room.

but to each his own.

when sasuke attempted to come and seek revenge on itachi he was promptly attacked by the army of children that all wanted to "play with uncle sasuke"

Layla and sakura both laughed their asses off.

...come to think of it.. so did madara and itachi.

they promptly tied sasuke to a chair to tell him the truth and sasuke forgave itachi.

life was good.

Madara wouldn't change any of it.

Especially the life changing day he met the grey lady.