Disclaimer: Fanfiction means written by fans. *sigh* I do not own Naruto. Dattebayo!

2. Red Stings of Fate

I was born in an era of blood that was hidden by the faux tranquility we had as we waited for the next inevitable conflict that would, once again, shake our world to the core. My mother could not hide the scars on her skin, nor my father the lines that advanced year by year.

My heritage was the clan of secrets. I was born of Uchiha.

15 years later

The streets of the settlement were busy as defenses were being erected and worn rituals performed in the face of another threat. The two young women were all but ignored as they glided through the streets with the grace of kunoichi.

"I should be with my father preparing for the Kaguya and their allies. It is the duty of the firstborn to help lead the clan" the speaker was a tall curvy 15 year old wearing armor. She had hair of midnight black and eyes almost the same color except for tints of violet.

"You cannot let the clan control you, Hashi. Yamato-sama knows this and allows you to have this freedom so you will know what it is like to control your own destiny"

"It does me no good to know what I will never have" she looked up at the tree lined sky as if searching for answers there.

"Hikari when you look at this village what do you see?"

"I see a settlement full of people all touched by war who band together to live in freedom" Hashirama Senju winced at the innocent words of her closest friend.

"I see a village held in place with chains born from clan pride. The strong rule those weaker than them with a strict hierarchy. The clans are foolish and corrupt because of the power held by the clan elders" Hikari's blazing orange cat eyes looked steadily at the stoic heiress beside her. It was clear she was not talking just about the village the Senju unofficially ruled.

"Indeed. Why have you not revealed the illusion?"

A hard look came over the girl's face " I will keep this illusion the rest of my life" she answered shortly. "My feelings are not the only ones in this matter. If I reveal my Father's deception I will bring dishonor upon the clan and our family will be exiled from the clan and marked as blood traitors"

Hikari could feel the hopelessness burn up her throat but did not show the pity held deep within herself as she looked into the eyes of Hashirama Senju. After years of repressing everything she was, the pride of the Senju clan became an illusion herself.

"What of your happiness? What of your feelings for Uchiha Madara?"

Turning towards her Hashirama gave the saddest and most bitter smile Hikari had ever seen, her eyes shadowed by her dark hair.

"My happiness is naught but a far off dream and my feelings for Madara will remain just that; feelings"

Madara

No other girl had ever fascinated me as much as her. Every other girl I had acquainted myself with were just one night stands; none of them had ever engraved their image upon my memory like she had. She was obviously a well trained kunoichi judging by the light and careless grace she moved with. There was something about her eyes, the wariness and shattered innocence there that attracted me to her and when she said my name once on the street I felt like I had known her forever. And as she looked up and saw me with emotions flashing in her eyes I drank it like a thirsty man seeing water for the first time again.

Hashirama

I hated being a woman, the emotions I could otherwise suppress, the nagging desire to be free, hoping for things I had given up many years before, and …him. Everything I had ever said to Hikari I wished I believed, but the words were hollow, meaningless.

Seeing him again after two years of absence was widening the crack in my armor to a chasm; spilling the emotions out like water. In the two years he had been gone he had grown to manhood. His already long hair spiked down his back and his lean frame was more muscular; and just like every other time I saw him my heart bled a little more.

Hikari

They say that the red string of fate binds two people together, and their destinies are forever intertwined. Whenever they met I could almost see the red strings of their fate tangled, and the weight on their shoulders lightened. What they felt for each other almost blazed: in their gazes, a casual brush, the way they wove around each other almost unconsciously in the street when Hashirama allowed herself to be her true self.

They were blind to what everyone else could see or denying the impossible; because no matter how much they shined, rose above everyone else, they could not escape being puppets of the clan.

My duty was to the firstborn of the clan that had conquered my own many years ago. The marks burned into my skin showed the debt I would have to pay for the rest of my life. I had hated Hashirama until I saw the same invisible chains around 'him' that bound me. Senju Yamato had sensed what many refused to notice because of the resentment between Uchiha and Senju that still burned strong; the love his children had for the children of the Uchiha. He had assigned me the duty of protecting my new best friend from the elder's influence, and when the time was right, tie the red strings that bound them tighter.

This is my mission, and I would not, could not fail…