For almost as long as there have been Shinobi the Senju and Uchiha Clans have been at war with each other. The Clan of the Jealous Elder Brother and the Clan of the Favored Younger Brother. The war sprouted from many things, and some of those very things became blossoms and fruits of the tree of the war. From this war bloomed hatred, bitter rivalry and brutal deaths. But more has come from this never ending war. From it came the fruits of forbidden friendships, and forbidden loves.
I, like so many other men and women, fell victim to those fruits and blossoms. I hated, I had rivalry and killed. But I also formed a friendship and also... A love...
I lived, breathed, and drank the poisons of the war oh to unwillingly like all the other members of both Clans. My love ran, danced and jumped through the mine field of hatred discreetly so we may be together. We kept our love secret. We kept our hopes, souls and dreams in each others hands. We confided our weaknesses, our hates and our dislikes in each others hearts.
But more than just the conflict between our two Clans stopped us from having a life together. Running off into the horizon and never to be heard from again. We were simply born into an unlucky situation, our parents. Them not letting us, on top of not knowing, was not the reason we couldn't be together. It was the positions of our Clans that we were born into that stopped us.
I was the little cousin of the heir to the Senju Clan. The niece of the Clan Head. He was the son of the Uchiha Clan Head, but not first in line. No. He had an elder brother. His parents and brother hated the Senju Clan more than any others past. My uncle hated the Uchihas with a vengeance for killing his daughter. Those conditions made it seemingly impossible for us to be together.
But where there is a will there is a way. And my Will of Fire is to know when to think things through, know when to just thoughtlessly act, and know when to toss both aside and follow your heart. I passed this on to the only apprentice I ever had. I wasn't alive when I taught her and neither was she. But she went back with my Will and she will incorporate into her Will of Hope. A Will that goes beyond all Country barriers. A will that goes beyond all Village walls. A Will that goes beyond all Clan defenses.
My name is Toka Maria Senju. My story has never really been told before. I don't know if it's because no one really noticed me or if no one ever really cared. But this is my story for anyone who wishes to know me. For anyone who wishes to know the pain that both Clans suffered because of one foolish brother who could not see past his jealousy.