Fire (Madara x Oc) - (Complete)

1

Worried and distant stares from her sisters loomed over the room. She couldn't blame them though. They had gone through a lot, and they had felt betrayed. Kri tried to solidify her resolve, this was the best option for everyone involved. She knew it. She just needed them to know it. A strong and heavy hand landed on her shoulder and squeezed a bit, an indication of 'I am here.' Her eyes and face broke contact with the two women on the opposite side of the ornate meeting room, and turned upwards to her left connecting with dark orbs of strength. He nodded at her, and motioned for her to sit. They all sat down in the room. Her sisters behind the Senju Brothers, the Hokage and Tobirama. Their robes light and full of color, a contrast to hers and Madara's. She opened her mouth but the words would not leave. After agonizing moments she spoke.

"I know you don't believe you've done anything wrong but you need to know what you've done. You need to understand that things will never go back to the way they were before the Uchiha left the village." And that's how she started the story.

The river was clear and cool, trickling through the countryside, not too far from the new village hidden in the leaves. She looked around. It would have been a great night, warm with cool breezes, the bugs starting to buzz, the sweet smell of spring in the air, but it was far from it. Kri's hands shook with adrenaline, fear, and pain, the blood on them not her own. She sprinted through the trees and tall weeds, stopping just short of the small riverside. Swim or fight? Never really was good at swimming. "I guess this is it," she mumbled to no one in particular and turned around, waiting for them.

The glow of red eyes let her know they were already on her. They darted from the bushes, a squad of three or four.. she couldn't tell, dark clothes and red armor. In the moonlight, they looked like demons. Quickly she clutched the kunai a bit tighter and swung blindly, catching one off guard, the others maneuvering easily around her as she fought back like a wounded animal. She roared, clawing into them when they made contact with her, and biting flesh, tearing it from them when given the chance. Two fell from their wounds. They were multiplying though. Kri was growing tired from this fight, after all, it started over five kilometers ago. She heaved, vomiting blood and bile, swinging to keep the enemy at bay. 

One jumped onto her back, pulling her back with him and they tumbled into the shallow part of the riverbank water and blood flying everywhere, punching and hitting and breaking bone. She snapped his neck and looked up just in time to meet swirling red eyes with black lines. Kri reeled back and headbutted him right in the face with a war cry the sound of a banshee. He toppled over, clutching his nose, his eyes starting to form bruises, blood trailing down his face and through his hands. Clapping jarred her from the event. Startled, Kri jumped back from the dead and wounded shinobi, ankle deep in red water under the moonlight. Her eyes caught the sight of the clapping origin. He stepped into the moonlight, his frame large and ominous, wild hair, and eyes darker than coal. She tried to steady her breathing, and stood up straighter in defiance. If she was going to die here, then she was going to drag them all to hell with her. 

She looked like she had been through hell. In fact, she had been through over a dozen shinobi battles in the past fourteen hours and five kilometers, and here she was, standing in a pool of shinobi blood, hair a tangled and wild mess, her eyes defiant and piercing, her face and arms and neck covered in bile and blood and dirt.

"You fight like a bear." His deep voice hang heavy in the air, and she froze where she was. She could feel his power and he wasn't doing a damn thing. "Are you a Senju?"

"Since I have no idea what that is, I'm gonna have to say no." she growled at him, her adrenaline starting to die down a bit, and terror was starting to take root. She had to do something. "Did you come here to chat or to finish the job?"

"Firey. I like that." He took a step forward, slowly moving forward, and almost like he was circling her.

"You won't when I burn you." She hissed.

"Fire cannot burn fire."

"No. It does, however, make things a lot more complicated when the two are combined." She stood her ground, eyeing him close in on her like prey. He paused, noting her hands no longer shaking.

"Are you not scared of death?"

"I've seen death, you are a lot prettier." 

A deep and genuine laugh erupted from the man. "What's your name, woman?" A long pause, but before he could get irritated,

"Names are powerful. You first." She spat blood out of her mouth and backed away from the dead and injured shinobi, noting they had to be comrades of his. Her legs now knee deep in the river. She had no where to go. She'd never out run him, not in these circumstances.

"Madara Uchiha." He paused and stepped forward pulling the injured shinobi up by his collar and standing him up. "And you, a woman.. have evaded fifteen of my clansmen, killed two, and injured six." He looked at her, his eyes starting to swirl red and black. "How?" He growled.

She took another step back, "Unlucky I guess." A curious look crossed his face.

"Are you... immune to the Sharingan?" 

"Is that a disease?" She retorted, earning nothing from the man. He was in her face within the moment, eyes swirling, mumbling orders to see what would happen. She froze, her face plastered with surprise and fear, before, "If.. you want me to do what you say, it's called leadership and it involves convincing me with words." Great. Her mouth would get her killed she was sure of it. He said nothing, and stood up straight, his eyes returning to their previous darkness. She waited for the final blow.. but it did not come.

"Come with us?" He asked, half commanding, half asking. She blinked.

"I don't foresee myself having a choice in the matter..." 

"Indeed."

"But you do." This made Madara curious, she was beyond bold to act like this to him, but he'd allow it for now. She had no knowledge of Senju, no recognition at the Uchiha name, nor his name, and was immune to the Sharingan so far. She breathed out, noticing her toes going cold in the water. "You can let me go, you can kill me here, or.... If you can guarantee my freedom, that I will be allowed to come and go, to fight and train, to speak and be heard, then I will freely come with you, do as you ask within the realm of honor and integrity."

"And if I force you?"

"I will fight you every moment of however short my life ends up being."

"You are not afraid of death then." It was more of a statement than a question. Something odd Madara had encountered. "What are you afraid of, nameless woman?" Curiosity laced in his words. 

"... My name is Kri, and my fear.. is that I will be forgotten."

His eyes met hers, though blue, full of fire and resolve, a burning passion to fight against all odds and make a name for one's self. "Your freedom will not be impeded, so long as you serve with distinction. And if you serve with distinction, you will not be forgotten." He paused, a smirk across his face. "Follow me."

"Lead the way." Kri replied, stepping over the dead body and disappearing in the night with the injured shinobi and their leader