Fire (Madara x Oc) - (Complete)

3

It was dark already. She had missed the afternoon training session. Perhaps they'd still be out there. Better bring something to bribe them with, she thought, moving along the tents towards an old woman's place. She always had hot soup in the evenings. Kri paid her for a large pot, and heaved it back to the training area. She was well received.

"My wife could learn something from you!" One man piped up.

"Don't say that too loud, or you'll learn something from her." Kri warned with a laugh. The men erupted in laughter and she studied them. Why had they left the village for this life? What would cause an entire group of people to abandon everything for food scraps and sleeping under the stars? At last she spoke, trying to understand. "Why did you decided to leave the Leaf village?" a hush came over the shinobi small group, and one man's face twisted in rage. Luckily, he was drowned out by another voice, Setsuna.

"That's right, you don't know." They began to murmur a bit, "We agreed to a truce a year or two ago under the direction of Lord Madara. Hashirama Senju and Lord Madara worked out the peace agreements and our clans founded the Leaf Village." He paused. "But.. it was like the shadow of the past wouldn't leave us alone."

"They persecuted us. They banned us from different parts of the village. We were segregated into a small place just inside the village walls. Equality, my ass." The angry man spat, his fists shaking with rage. Her mind wandered back to her past life. One of her sister's ancestors had gone through something similar. 

"'They' meaning..?" She inquired, trying to understand the story. Setsuna spoke up again,

"The other Senju. Hashirama did try his hardest at first, but there was no way to merge our clans. The blood was too bad." He shook his head. "They were going to elect Lord Madara as Hokage, but the election got rigged and Hashirama took the position. From there, it all went down hill. Even now, when we're not in the village, they sabotage our supply for food and water."

When they had finished their meal, they brought the pot back to the old woman and parted ways for the night. Kri could not sleep however, and sat out at the training area to think. She had been here for weeks already and these people weren't savage. At least not to each other. The children and mothers were regarded with great care, the old women were often respected more than anyone in the village, even if the old men were spouting nonsense most of the time. They were a close nit community of people. They helped each other and took in their fallen clansmen's orphans as their own. She couldn't imagine they would lie about their oppression. The solemn looks of the other men and the anger of Setsuna and the other were just too real. 

These people chose to fight, and possibly die, over being considered equal people in the sight of others. It made a lot of sense now, how they were trying to undermine the village, though the village never really came after them. This wasn't just about the oppression and discrimination of their clan. If anything, it was a righteous endeavor to ensure that no other clans were ever subject to the same treatment ever again. Maybe they didn't see it that way, but she was starting to see a bigger picture. Perhaps overthrowing the Leaf was the only way to ensure that no clan was ever oppressed again. Kri sighed heavily. She was invested more than she thought she'd be, but to her, she couldn't ignore their plight. It would have been a dishonorable thing to do, knowing what her sister's ancestors had gone through. She wasn't around back then, to stop the oppression of her sister's ancestors, but she was here now, and this she could do something about.

"It is a bit late." She jumped at the sound of Madara's voice behind her, and squeaked. It made him laugh a bit. 

"Yeah." She mumbled, sighing.

"Something is on your mind." He stated, moving to her side, eyeing the training field as if it were the most interesting thing on the planet. It was not.

"This war. The reason behind it." His gaze slowly fell to her face, taking in her seriousness, the solemn thought whirling in her eyes. 

"Speak freely." He calmly commanded, the warm breeze sifting through the two.

"I had family once." His ears perked, interested in where she was going with this. "A husband. Blood relation clan of my own with an older sister and little brother. I had two additional sisters, though they weren't blood, they meant everything to me. They taught me that family wasn't always about blood or what clan you were from." She paused, trying to judge his reaction. He said nothing so she continued. "They were all I had left when everything was taken from us. I lost them too in the end. War changes a whole lot of things, but what it does not do, is bring people back from the dead." She could hear his armor shuffle a bit as he shifted his weight to listen. "But one of my sisters.. her ancestors had been oppressed by mine." This caught his attention.

"Oh?"

"Hm." She answered. "I can't change the past. I can't atone for their sins, but I can do something about here and now." She stood and turned to him. "It would dishonor her if I didn't stand up for what was right... and equality and fairness is right and true, that I know for a fact." His face softened a bit, listening to her ramble. "I am not an Uchiha, but I want to stand in solidarity with your people." 

Kri had never seen Madara smile before. A smirk, yes, but not a genuine smile. His heavy hand found her shoulder with pride, "Then you shall stand with us."