20 Red Cloud

Lao Beifong was sitting in his office holding his face with both hands, if anyone could see his facial expression now, they would be able to see his worry and guilt.

Three days ago, his daughter showed up intact, clean, and proper, guided by Lei who said he spotted her running around Gao Ling, lost and trying to find her way home.

Toph also claimed that she discovered her earthbending and tried it without knowing what it was.

He sent his guards to search for proof of their claim but it was impossible to confirm or deny it, as there are many children that run around Gao Ling every day. It would be impossible for him to know the truth, but the key point is that she came home clean, without any serious bruises, perhaps there were some here and there, but nothing serious by any means, which made him believe their words.

The problem is that 8 hours later, Madara showed up being carried by a very… well developed… young woman, with an incredibly nasty vocabulary, who ignored everyone on her way and went straight to the guest house while being guided by Lei.

Just looking at his circumstances, Lao could see that Madara fought to the death against the Fire Nation for the sake of rescuing his daughter, a fight that he now believed was completely unnecessary since Toph was in Gao Ling all along.

His people went to examine the area and when he got the report he couldn't believe it, that young boy killed more Fire Nation soldiers in one night than the Earth Kingdom managed to kill in the past month!

To make matters worse he had promised his wife that Madara would be removed from his job and kicked out, a clause on their contract was that if he caused direct or indirect damage to the Beifong family, the contract would be terminated and consequences would be deliberated, his wife argued that Madara's behavior was in line with such clause.

'He fought through a battalion of soldiers just to rescue my daughter that wasn't even there… and even if she was…." He paused and closed his eyes. "And I was the one who sent him there, to begin with… and now I'm supposed to kick him out?'

"To think that I would be forced to behave ungratefully by my own family…" shaking his head, he looked through the window, staring at the sunny day outside 'And he's been out cold since he arrived… How am I supposed to do this?! The level of loyalty that he displayed is not something that can just be bought with money'

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes "…I'm sorry…"

A few hours passed since he decided to play statue on his comfy sofa chair, when a sudden knock on the door woke him up from his thoughts.

"Yes?"

"Sir, this is the Head Maid Nari, Mr. Uchiha has awakened." Said a mature female voice from behind the door.

Lao stood up at lightning speed, making his expensive chair fall to the ground, though he didn't care as he hurriedly walked out towards the guest house.

Madara slowly opened his eyes to stare at a fancy familiar ceiling while a gentle breeze moved the yellow-colored curtains near the window in and out of his field of view.

"Ugh.." was the only sound he could make, to put it simply… he was feeling like shit.

"Ye finally decided to wake up, eh princess?" a soft chuckle was heard and he moved his gaze to the side.

"Did ye have a good nap?" Kaliya grinned while eating some sliced fruits near the bed.

Cough "Weren't those fruits supposed to be for me?" he could only ask with a wry smile.

"Oh, is that so? I didn't know that…" she said while placing the last slice inside her mouth and chewing it "they taste great though, totally recommend ye trying it."

He chuckled "Glad that you enjoyed it."

A comfortable silence was maintained for a few minutes until a knock came from the door.

"Miss Kaliya, Mr. Beifong is here to see Mr. Uchiha." The Head Maid's voice echoed.

Kaliya turned to Madara and said "Can ye believe that? I'm Miss Kaliya now! HA!" she chuckled, and he followed suit.

The door was opened and revealed Lao Beifong beside a beautiful woman wearing fancy grey and green long robes, she had shoulder-length light brown hair with almost yellow-colored eyes.

Madara looked at Lao for a few seconds before sighing "Mr. Beifong, I…"

But Lao interrupted him by raising one hand as he took a step closer "Don't say anything Mr. Uchiha, Toph already told me that she was never in the Foggy Swamp, she was in Gao Ling the whole time, lost on the streets, and Lei found her and brought her back… I…" sigh "I'm sorry for giving you the wrong information, I also didn't know."

Madara was VERY confused right now, but when he looked at the maid, she smiled at him and winked with one of her pretty yellow eyes. 'Oh?! What a cunning little Jackie… heh.. I like it!'

Sighing, Madara asked, "So… what now, Mr. Beifong?"

Lao kept staring at Madara in silence for a bit before turning to the two women "Care to leave us alone for a bit?"

Kaliya shrugged and stood up, walking towards Nari who chuckled "Alright, I'm going out... come Nari, tell me more embarrassing stories about Jackie! I'm curious about what happened after he fell in that hole…"

After both women left the room, silence prevailed.

After mustering his courage Lao said, "You don't have to worry about anything, you can stay and recover as long as you need."

Madara chuckled "Is that a Beifong way to say that I will be kicked out once I'm better?"

Lao lowered his head in shame "I'm sorry, Madara… I can't keep you around my daughter anymore… My family…"

Closing his eyes Madara just sighed. "It was nice to work for you, Mr. Beifong."

Lao couldn't say anything else, he was very ashamed of his behavior right now, so he just nodded and walked out.

Looking at his own body, Madara noticed he was covered in bandages, especially around his torso though he didn't look like a mummy since he didn't have any broken bones, just some cracked ribs. Still… What a shameful sight for the mighty Uchiha Madara.

Deciding to go back to his rest, he drank some water and closed his eyes for a few hours until a maid brought in his meal.

Two weeks passed as Madara was recovering, he came to terms with the fact that he would be kicked out of the Beifong estate eventually, although he was pissed that there was nothing that could actually be done… Toph would've run away with or without his existence but that didn't matter, his presence created a catalyst for it to happen, he was to blame and he knew it.

Kaliya had displayed loyalty and he was actually surprised about it, after everything that happened on the sea, she had a legit reason to strike him when he was vulnerable and still, she chose to help him. 'Good woman.'

Lei also visited him constantly, always bringing him food and drinks, new pillows, and thicker blankets in case he was feeling cold. Madara couldn't help but wonder 'Where was this person during canon?' No, he didn't think Jackie was the reincarnator, in fact, he was sure Jackie wasn't, because if he was, he would've recognized Madara right away. Even if he had the best poker face in the world, he wouldn't be able to hide the minute changes from the sharingan, Uchiha Madara was a very famous fictional character after all.

Three months later Madara was ready to leave, he put his old black robes on and walked out of the guest house without looking back. When he closed the door, he turned around to see Lao coming toward him.

It was the first time since the day he woke up that he saw Lao.

"Oh! Mr. Beifong, I was about to head toward your office, I'm finally feeling good enough to go back on the road again."

Lao hurriedly replied "Are you sure? You can stay longer if you want, you might not be my employee anymore, but… " he wanted to say 'but you are a friend of the Beifong's' but he couldn't, not after what he did to Madara, that's not what a true friend would do.

Chuckling Madara replied, "Don't worry, I don't want to overstay my welcome, I will go find Kaliya and start my journey anew."

Lao stood in silence, Madara was actually curious about what this man was doing here… There was nothing to be said, the Beifong's decided to cut ties with him, what did he want?

"Could you please follow me, Mr. Uchiha?"

Curious Madara nodded and followed him.

They walked outside the estate, toward his training 'hollow mountain', and he noticed that the mountain looked different this time, it was as if the earthbenders removed the top and it made it look like a small volcano instead of a mountain.

As Lao led Madara inside the place, the moment he stepped inside his mouth went wide open, his eyes went wide and he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"… is that?...." Madara couldn't even complete his sentence anymore, he was THAT shocked.

"Yes, I called a few favors and got my hands on one of these a couple of months ago, it was rather troublesome, they are still in a prototype phase after all… but… heh." Lao grinned "Money has the power to do many things."

In front of Madara was a huge Fire Nation airship, just like the ones used by Ozai when he went to strike the Earth Kingdom before the final showdown with the Avatar!

But instead of red, it was black, and instead of the Fire Nation flag on the sides, it was just a blank canvas.

"This is my gift for you, Madara. I know what I'm doing is shameful, disrespectful, and ungrateful… But I wanted you to know that regardless of the outcome, I consider you a trustworthy friend, even if my actions somehow display otherwise…"

Madara stood in shock for several whole minutes, WHAT THE FUCK?!

Lao chuckled "Take your time, I was also very impressed by the Fire Nation technology."

"But… The Fire Nation would never accept to part with one of these… so… how?"

Lao laughed "You know Madara, having money gives you a lot of privileges, and one of them is the power to completely disregard what others like, dislike, accept, or reject…" he shrugged "It's yours now."

They both walked around the airship, then went inside where Madara spotted the decor as very 'Beifong decoration style', everything was so lavish and comfortable looking, there were even four big cabins for people to sleep, completely furnished, and a fifth huge room for supplies, and it was packed to the brim with fuel and other resources.

"Why go to such lengths? I'm-"

Lao interrupted "Let me stop you right there. Listen, Madara, I'm no idiot, I know that Toph and Lei's words were shady, for all I know she could've very well been in the swamp. It's just that there's no proof of it. The point is, you ran head first into certain death to save my daughter, you faced over a hundred soldiers for the sake of my daughter when you could've run away, in fact, ANYONE in your position would think about their own life first, but you didn't… that's above loyalty, that's true friendship" he said while pointing to the warship "And so is this, you displayed your friendship towards us, I'm displaying mine towards you."

Madara once again stood in silence for a whole minute, then he chuckled.

"Your wife will hate me even more when she finds out."

Lao chuckled "IF she finds out."

They both laughed out loud for a while.

"Well, I guess I will take the fancy robes you gave me with me now.."

"Yeah, you do that, there are many others inside the ship even if you didn't, they will last you for a LONG while, also… that weird weapon that you brought back is also in there, I prepared everything while you were asleep."

"You know what, Lao, you are a nice person… Just promise me that you will never grow a stupid mustache on the sides just because your wife finds it fancy and traditional."

Lao chuckled awkwardly "O-okay…" but internally he was 'How the hell does he know all these things?!' but quickly changed the subject. "By the way, your payment is also inside."

Raising one eyebrow Madara asked "What payment?"

Shrugging Lao answered, "Well I hired you for 5 years, and you stayed for a whole year, so I decided to give you a 5x bonus on your one year of good work, to display how appreciative we Beifong's are of your efforts."

"You didn't have to do that…"

"Oh, but I did… By the way, I didn't request them to paint the symbol on the sides, do you want me to paint your family sigil?"

Thinking for a minute, Madara shook his head "It would be way too pretentious to paint my family sigil on the airship, I won't be using it alone, I would rather paint the sigil that represents my team."

Raising an eyebrow Lao asked, "And what sigil would that be?"

Grinning, Madara replied. "A red cloud with white borders on a black field."