Slowly a pink and red petal drifted away from a tree, swept up in the pine scented breeze. It levitated downwards towards a young girl who was sitting on the ground, her small hand clasped around a branch as she played in her background. A small paradise which was overlooked and forgotten by the fortress above that sustained Madara Uchiha and his kin.
Lenore had only ever heard gossip about this young boy who would one day lead their people to a new and prosperous way of living, but this was something she would never get a chance to take part in. Women were nothing more than cooks, child bearers and servants to the men of the village, while he men were to ones who would fight the battles and to go school to train. This was not to say that women did not go to school to learn as well, but what they were taught was little more than simple healing jutsu and how to be a good wife.

Standing up the little girl continued to play with the stick by waving it through the air, her feet carrying her across the grass as she chased a cicada as it flew above her. Spotting a strange dark shadow come over her Lenore had come to a grinding halt, a confused expression coming over her as she examined it. Turning on the spot she quickly called for her father, who came to see what she wanted before a ball hit her on the top of the cranium and caused her to go slightly cock-eyed.
Flopping backwards onto the dew covered grass with a twitch she then rubbed her head as her father came over to make sure she was okay, her large black eyes staring at the round object that had plummeted from the skies with awe.
"Daddy, the sky's falling!" she chirruped, running over to pick it up with astonishment as a very strange man dropped down near by in thick samurai armour. Looking at him Lenore stared with a doe eyed fancy, while her father seemed to straighten up and go to confront him.

Quietly discussing something amongst themselves they then came over to her, her father being the first to speak.
"Lenore, this nice man would like his ball back." he uttered, causing her to glance down at the leather and thread bound toy before she held it up to him. Taking it he gave her a short lived smile, his head turning to look at her father again as he apologised to him. Pulling at the man's armour Lenore frowned a little in thought.
"Are you a yokai?" she enquired curiously, while her father could just about feel a bead of sweat escaping his hair line.
Not particularly gaining a response Lenore pointed to the sky and then glanced up at the stranger once more with a mesmerised gaze.
"Say goodbye to the nice man." her father chuckled, trying to get across his own apology as she smiled sheepishly and raised both her arms into the air.
"Fly, fly!" she giggles, making both of them sweat a little this time.

With ease the man soon launched himself into the air, making Lenore squeal in complete amazement.
"Frog!" she shouted, keeping her eyes glued to the green armour more than the man himself now. Shaking his head her father turned his attention to his daughter's head, which he felt he should check for any injuries.
"Lenore, be more careful. You could have hurt yourself." he informed her, glancing up at the large house before looking to the sky. "It's time for school anyway." he hummed, taking her hand to pull her along.
Heading into town they went towards where all the other girls where, Lenore's head turning to look at all the different coloured kimonos before turning to the other side to stare at all the armoured men. Stopping at the doors Lenore peeped up at her father, who gave her a vague smile and pushed her inside.

Heading deeper into the corridor she scurried into a room and found a place to sit on her knees, only rising to her feet when her teacher gave her an umbrella and told her to practise walking with it. Unlike the other girls, who were far taller and older than she was, she seemed to wobble about slightly, causing the onlookers who were sitting by the wall to snigger amongst themselves.
Apparently a few of these young women were going to meet the match maker today, and so the lecturer was acting stricter than usual to make sure they were definitely ready for the event. Lenore always got quite excited when they mentioned the match maker, as this all-knowing figure seemed to know who your perfect best friend would be. All they had to do was read their name out of a book and you were matched for life, the whole thing sounded great. Especially when Lenore's mother had met her dad through that book, and they were super best friends.

As Lenore got older the aspect of being matched wavered thin however, and by the time she was capable of fully understanding what was really going on she would always find herself standing in her usual black and red kimono, waiting for the right opportunity to skip the line and disappear down an alleyway once class was over. As always this was an easy task, her eyes lolling about to make sure no one was around before a devious smirk slid up her face.
Running into the forest Lenore went to the pond where she usually relaxed and lay down, a soft sigh parting her lips as she got comfortable and just lay there watching the white clouds above her with awe .Her hand slowly slipping up towards her hair to pull the tie out and let her ebony locks coil across the grass and curl up where she was laying down.

All remained quiet as she lazed there, her eyelids beginning to flutter shut but never fully closing before the sound of someone running past the area disturbed her peaceful relaxation.
"A girl?" she heard someone enquire when more feet trampled the grass, now there was a group of them, great. Groaning inwardly Lenore fully opened her eyes once more and peered up at them, and after a short period of time, and no actual conversing, she shut her eyes again and went back to unwinding.
"Shouldn't you be with the other maids?" someone asked, striking the first cord on Lenore's metaphorical harp.
Standing up she soon found herself looming over them, apparently, even though they were her age, their collective heights had not caught up to them yet.
"You're tall." one actually hesitated to say, gulping a little. Taken aback by this she began to smile, almost naively in a way.
"Hey, is that a kunai?" Lenore asked, pointing to the weapon one of the boys had.
"What would a girl want with it?" the wielder asked in a smug tone, already, without being around this boy for less than forty seconds, Lenore had a distaste for him.
"A lot, actually. Shouldn't you be training, or chasing butterflies?" she asked dryly, giving him a dazzling smile while her hand started to pull at his strange spiky hair.
"We're men, we chase bad guys, not stupid animals!" the boy barked, batting her hand away.

In response Lenore had began to giggle, the white of her knuckle wiping away a small tear.
"You're a little short to be calling yourself a man." she commented, while he just scowled at her, which only made her snicker at him further. "I heard you're first mission is to catch a cat, any luck?" she then enquired, as they glanced between each other when.
"We lost the stupid beast, but it's not our fault. It had claws, fangs, three tails!" the leader of the troop stated firmly, puffing out his chest.
"It was horrifying!" another barked, spinning the yarn a little further.
"Oh, well I guess I haven't seen anything like that around here." Lenore uttered gently, pulling out a cat from behind her back. "I did find this though." she murmured, watching it mew as they tried to snatch it from her. "But this cat doesn't really fit your description, so I should just let him go…" she innocently uttered, slowly loosening her hold on the feline.
"Oh, but that's a trick." one of them quickly stated, getting her to stop and look at him curiously.

Elbowing the ring leader he soon spoke again, trying to splutter out a convincing story.
"Yeah! It takes on the form of an ordinary cat to trick unsuspecting heroes so it can get away from them." he explained, while she gasped in feigned awe and widened her eyes.
"Really?" she asked, grinning brightly. "Okay, I'll give you the demon." she informed them, turning away slightly to put her cheek on top of the cat's head. "If you give me that kunai." she offered them, while they seemed to look between one another nervously.
Determined to get that cat they eventually nudged their leader again to hand over his weapon in exchange for the animal. Swapping items Lenore examined the kunai with glee, her mouth agape as she reflected sunlight off of it with amusement.
"C'mon, Madara, we'll want to get the cat back before everyone else." one of the group members shouted, running off quickly to catch up with the rest. Hesitantly the boy looked at Lenore, not quite sure he wanted to leave her alone with such a dangerous knife, but after some persistent yelling from his friends he finally left.

Giggling Lenore began to stab the shiny object into just about anything inanimate, but she quickly hid the weapon under her kimono when she heard the sound of someone coming.
"There you are, Lenore. Ten year old girls shouldn't be out here alone! Dinner is ready." her mother scolded her, while she simply nodded and took her hand to quickly head home as the evening rolled in above them.

Laying on her bed the raven haired woman stared at her reflection coagulating in the kunai she had received all those years ago, her arm flicking to the side to swiftly hide it underneath her bed when her father came in to glare suspiciously at his daughter, who was 'innocently' reading.
"You weren't at your tea making class, Lenore. Where did you go?" he asked, while she gave him a doe-eyed expression which quickly came undone when his sharingan began to glow dangerously.
"I couldn't sleep last night, so I ended up sleeping in." she sighed, while her father groaned, his mouth hung open to speak once again as they both stopped to the sound of something coming from outside.
"Oh, oh, oh Madara!" came the cry of a woman who sounded like she had been mortally wounded.

In response her father had allowed his eyes to grow wide, while Lenore, who was accustomed to those particular sounds, pointed at the castle, which was her exhibit A.
"See, that's why I can't sleep. That is going on every available minute." she protested, using it to change the subject, but her father simply rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.
"This doesn't give you an excuse to skip your classes. What would your mother say?" the Uchiha enquired, tapping his foot while his daughter silently groaned. She hated it when he brought up her mother to try win arguments.
"Mum would have been unhappy, I know." Lenore uttered, while the both of them attempted to ignore the sounds still protruding through her window from the house right next door.
"Madara, I've been a naughty girl! Oh, oh yes, spank me!" the woman cried, forcing Lenore to raise her hand towards exhibit B.
"He does that every time! Does that guy not have any control? He's such a man who-" Lenore snapped, being cut off mid-sentence by her father's stern glare. A look he only gave her when she was going to say something horrible about their 'beloved' leader's son, even if the words that were going to come out of her mouth was what he was thinking as well. "You're thinking it, I'm just saying it." she grumbled, furrowing her features.

Sighing deeply her father took a sword from the night stand near her wall, the very act causing Lenore to gasp in shock as he began to walk away.
"I'm taking this away until you complete five classes, for each subject." he stated firmly, causing her to squeal and grab onto her father with a begging whimper.
"But daddy, I-" she began, only for her father to shoot her yet another warning glare and force her to let go of him and look down at her feet in defeat.
"Lenore, you will be eighteen in two months, you need to-" he began, being cut off by her this time as she pined at him in pain like a wounded dog.
"I know, I know! I have to be a wife that cooks and cleans and gives birth to our next blood line, but I don't want to! I want to go with you on missions. I want to fight the bad guys. Be a heroine! Just like every other girl in every other village." she complained, while her father simply put down the sword and confronted her without an ounce of pity.
"You're an Uchiha, and we Uchiha follow tradition. You will learn to cook, you will learn to clean, and you will be married!" he snapped, watching her stern face attempt to battle with his own for superiority.

Sighing in defeat Lenore eventually drooped forward and whimpered, her arms swinging from one side to the next like a willow tree in the wind.
"Okay, okay, I get it." she mumbled, giving him a pitiful look. "But I want a good husband, not some whore like Madara." she huffed, while her father gave her a bitter scowl. Smiling at him triumphantly Lenore headed back to her room once she was certain the argument was over, deciding it was best she left before he took her sword and showed her how to use it. She always wished he would, but not on her, on something like a tree.
Standing in her room the young Uchiha could hear Madara still at it with another woman, causing her to wonder how many he actually had. Walking over to the window Lenore peered down at the queue of young women, all of them waiting with jittery and hopeful expressions on their faces. They all seemed to be hopeful to get in before he got tired, but by the sound of things he was not going to be for a long time.

Going outside Lenore wandered over to her friends, who were waving at her from a bench.
"I would have suspected you all to have been in that line." Lenore spoke, before actually looking at them properly. After a close examination she could quickly see the key signs of a good 'rump', as they would call it, forcing her to roll her eyes a little. "Should have guessed." she murmured, while they just remained slightly spaced out and a bit giddy. Though occasionally they could try to get up, telling her that they were more than prepared to get back in the queue for another round the moment their legs were working again.
"You should try it. It was blissful." the group sigh in agreement amongst one another, while Lenore simply pulled at her loose kimono passively.
"That guy's probably diseased sleeping with all these people at once." she informed them, while they simply gasped and shunned her for the comment.

They seemed to drop it moderately quickly though, as they were used to Lenore's reactions to anything male or traditional.
"What's he look like anyway?" she asked, while they widened their eyes, or at least tried to, and sat up shakily with a croaky groan.
"Silky, long spiky black hair." one sighed.
"The most beautiful crimson red sharingan we've ever seen." the other added with a blush.
"And the hottest six pack you just want to suck on." the third butted in, clasping her hands together.
"Not to mention his pe-" the first girl tried to say, being cut off by Lenore's hand cupping her mouth. She did not want to hear anymore of this conversation, her mind was already corrupt enough after hearing what they screamed from out that damned window every night.
"You must be the only girl who hasn't slept with him yet, not to mention the only person who doesn't know what he looks like." they uttered, while someone in the background murmured a 'he's gorgeous'.

Turning to look at the queue again Lenore examined the Uchiha men scowling at the sight of all the girls lined up and waiting at the door, another being pulled inside as the previous occupant came twirling out with a bright red face and her lips hung wide open with a dazzled smile. The very sight was enough to make one of the men gasp and run off wailing in sadness, clearly a heart had just been broken very cruelly there.
Being given notes for the classes she had missed Lenore tanked her friends, a sigh parting her lips as she wandered away to a more silent part of the village. This normally meant heading up towards Madara's family estate, but at least it meant she could have some peace and quiet for a little while.

Half way up the path Lenore had paused to look behind her, her eyelids squinting as she peered about. When she was sure no one was there she continued walking again, but when the same thing happened again she frowned. Waiting for the opportune time she quickly spun on the ball of her foot and grabbed her stalker by the throat, her narrowed gaze loosening quickly when she realised who it was.
"Oh, Izuna, it's just you." she spoke, letting him go so that he could rub his throat with a hint of annoyance.
Trying to give him a gentle smile she waited until his sharingan went away, allowing his iris to melt back to its naturally ebony state.
"Why are you here?" he enquired coldly, her mouth opening to respond before her teeth clenched together. Madara's games had managed to reach this outpost in the village, the very noise forcing her to give Izuna a rather dim look. The young man himself just looked gob smacked however, his eyes widening and his skin becoming pale as if he had seen a ghost.

Standing in stunned silence Izuna could not really say much, what was there to say when your older brother was causing so much noise in such an inappropriate manner. Soon enough the awkward atmosphere was broken when a man with a greyish tan appeared, his armour clicking as he landed on the ground with a suspicious air about himself, though he settled when he saw it was only Lenore and gave her a small smile.
"Good afternoon, Hashirama." she greeted him, bowing her head a little. This Senju, along with Izuna, were probably the only two men she could actually get along wit without them bursting out with some kind of flirtation comment or annoying assumption that she was looking for a 'good time'.

With the three of them in a small circle it was not long before they attracted more attention, and this time it was the attention of someone who could have stayed away for a little while longer. From what she could tell they had all appeared from the watch tower, causing Lenore to raise a fine black eyebrow.
"And now Tobirama's here?" she asked. "What is this, a big get together and I wasn't invited?" Lenore uttered, smiling sweetly at them.
"Now why wouldn't we invite you?" the man in silver armour spoke, putting his arm around Lenore's shoulder, causing his white collar to tickle her cheek. "Now, why are you all the way out here on your own?" Tobirama questioned, while Lenore grabbed his fingers to lift his hand and arm off of her.
"I couldn't stand hearing Madara any longer, so I came for some silence. Not that I can get any with those damn women screaming so loud." she replied with a grunt, crossing her arms to glare back at the village.
"I'll help you get some." Tobirama snickered, making Lenore groan inwardly at her faulty sentence.
"You couldn't get any if you tried." she retorted, while the armoured watcher came closer towards her with a perverted toothy grin, apparently he was just about ready to prove her wrong.

Soon enough this is stopped by Hashirama however, who butts in to calmly speak before Lenore jumped to a hasty conclusion and socked the Senju's brother in the face.
"You shouldn't be up here." he spoke, while Lenore just gave him a curious expression.
"Why, has something interesting happened?" she enquired, hoping for the tale of an epic battle.
"For the fiftieth time, we can't tell you." Izuna grunted, causing her to pout. There was only one way she was going to get anything out of them, she decided. Widening her eyes Lenore began to pout and whimper like a puppy, making them twitch on the spot. In a matter of seconds they were all looking anywhere else but at her, attempting to escape her very own kind of paralyzing sharingan that took the form of a begging, eye jerking, eye sparkling stare, which usually broke down anyone that looked into it for too long.

Hearing the sound of unhappy fans all four had turned to look down the path at someone running up it frantically, apparently they were trying to escape a horde of women. Swiftly Hashirama had grabbed and hauled Lenore out of the way before she was trampled by the ongoing stampede, while Tobirama, who was not so lucky, lived up to his name and got 'rammed' down in the process of trying to escape. Waiting for the ruckus to dissipate Lenore quickly ran over to the Senju's side with her eyes wide with shock.
"Are you okay?" she hastily asked, the man groaning as he looked up at her dizzily, a smile coming over his face as he took her hand.
"I am… now." he gasped, causing her to blush. Now, it would have been a rather sweet moment had Tobirama just ended it there, but he quickly ruined it by wriggling his hand up to pinch her bum.

In response Lenore had screwed up her facial features and smacked him across the face before getting up, causing him to cup his stinging cheek with a smirk.
"It was worth it." he chuckled to himself, while his older brother and Izuna shook their heads in mutual disbelief. All the while Lenore was still fuming, a bottled up sentence that had been churning in her mind for a good minute finally bursting from her mouth.
"When I become the first lady Uchiha I'm going to kick your ass." she snapped, only making him snigger, while his brother and Izuna grinned until Lenore cracked her head around to glare at them. Quickly they dropped their smirks and had began to pretend they had been doing something else the entire time. "You'll see, I'll make it happen!" she protested, flexing her arm while Izuna squeezed the soft muscle that was there sceptically.
"With those, I doubt it." he murmured. "Brother." he then uttered, turning to look at a tall man with spiked hair and plated crimson armour that had been walking over.