Before he could greet them he had stopped upon realising there was a woman grumbling at Tobirama nearby, her attention fixated on the Senju who had been trying to calm her down.
"I thought I had escaped the fans." he murmured, observing her pause and turn to look him up and down. Having given him a glance over she seemed to remain disinterested and soon went back to bopping the poor Senju brother over the head for trying to grope her ass again during a 'make-up-cuddle' which did not end well. Shaking him by the collar Lenore soon paused when Izuna coughed firmly and successfully got her attention, his hand raising up to chest level.
"This is my brother, Madara." he uttered placidly to introduce him, while she simply dropped the half beaten pervert to come closer and stare at him.
Glancing between both brothers she could feel a heated friction between each and every one of them, why, she was not sure, but she guessed it had something to do with them being male and hormonal, Madara was a great example.
"You're the guy who they're all chasing after?" she enquired bluntly, examining him with no sense of her position at all before she looked between the brothers again. "I suppose you have the same⦠hair." she uttered, tilting her head to the side to stare for a bit longer before hearing a bell.
Wincing to herself she curses softly under her breath. "I'm late for another class, this wont go well on my record, and I really want my sword back." she grunted, waving her hand at them. "Well, I better be going if I want to at least attempt to get there before actual class starts, bye!" she called, thundering down the road with a burst of energy. "Good luck with sentry duty!" they heard her shout, leaving them in an uproar of dust. With wide eyes they watched her go, fairly certain they were not expecting her legs to carry her down the winding path and towards the village that fast.
When she got to class Lenore seemed to be the only person who could walk properly, even her teacher was limping, making her wonder what Madara's age limit was. Practising her balance with a tea cup on the end of her fingers, a stack of books on her head and one foot stuck out to the side Lenore tried to remain as still as possible, her body wobbling from time to time before she straightened up again and became still. Everyone else, on the other hand, went tumbling to the floor with a clatter, making her mumble softly.
Once class was over Lenore stepped out of the building and glanced to her right, her eyes narrowing as she took a detour towards the meeting room for the men, her figure pausing to stand by the door as she used a jutsu to hide her chakra from them so that she could listen in on their conversation with ease. As usual it was a whole load of nonsense, some of it about hunting, other bits about the soon-to-be newly weds and who the men hoped to get paired with.
Upon hearing them packing up Lenore twisted on her heel and ran from the side of the door panel so as not to be seen, while Madara had come out first and caught sight of the end of a kimono disappearing behind the wall. Remaining quiet he continued on, allowing the others to escape the building.
Having gone to a small field to sit by herself Lenore remained perched on a rock, not quite sure what to really think of their conversation about the match maker. Part of her was concerned that it was rigged so that the guys got the girl they wanted, but a large part of her still hoped that that was just a silly idea that had gotten stuck in her head because the little nagging voices at the back of her mind liked to taunt her.
Leaning onto her chin Lenore watched the wind whistle through the grass, her eyes squinting when she heard something behind her and turned to look, a book clasped in her hand as she blinked innocently at the group of men. Apparently Madara was in amongst them staring at her quietly, but Lenore could feel that something was not right about this rare appearance.
"We're going to be training here, you'll have to move." one of the men spoke coldly, making her eyebrow raise.
Giving the miles of expansive grass a quick look over Lenore peered back at them calmly.
"I don't see your name on the grass, nor do I see why you must train right here specifically if you could go all the way over there." the Uchiha spoke, exaggerating the word 'all' just to push her point further. They seemed rather perplexed more than annoyed by the unexpected retort against their words, one of them trying to work out what to respond with next.
"Lenore, don't make this complicated." one groaned, well aware of her mind games. Glancing at him she realised it was one of her friends' brothers who knew full well she was troublesome at the best of times, and was always ready to get her hands dirty or become coy towards anyone who talked down to her.
"I'm not." she uttered smoothly, giving him a devious smile. "I just think it's silly to tell me to move when there's plenty of space over there." she protested sweetly, turning when she realised someone had gotten close enough to take her book.
Giving it a glance over they skimmed the pages dully while she just watched, not particularly in the mood to get into a tussle over something so small just yet.
"How can you read these books, there's no pictures." he murmured, handing it back to her.
"I use my imagination." she responded with a smile, letting her naturally void like black eyes flicker.
"Lenore, it's about time you got your head out of those books and paid more attention to important things. Like marriage." the brother suggested, while she just stood up with her eyebrow raised again. "It's not normal. You already think too much as it is, you don't need more ideas going through your head." he added, making the young woman glance up at him and then shake her head.
"You're acting primeval." the Uchiha grumbled, beginning to wander off. Madara was up to something, and she was not falling into this trap.
"What do you say you and me go look at kimonos in town?" he suggested, following her. Narrowing her gaze at the offer Lenore tutted, all she had was kimonos, the town would not allow the women of the village to wear anything else.
"No thanks, I've already got plenty of them." she answered calmly, waltzing off to leave the men to their training.
Watching her leave the brother shuddered and turned back to the group, a short frown coming over his face.
"Now why did I have to do that? Lenore's already annoying enough without me having to talk to her directly." he asked curiously through a groan, his mind conjuring up all the things he would have preferred to have been doing than speaking to that damned woman.
"You're crazy, Lenore's a babe." one of the others stated. "A weird one, but that doesn't take away the fact that she's the only damned one Madara hasn't gotten in to." he then went on to say, lowering his voice so that the leader's son could not hear him.
Turning to look at them the leader raised his eyebrow.
"I probably have slept with her, it's just that I don't remember." he uttered calmly, but the group just seemed to glance amongst one another and then shake their heads.
"Oh no, that's impossible. Lenore is the girl not even you could get your hands on. She's one cold fish." one of them informed him. "She keeps weapons in her bedroom and is constantly skipping classes to hang about in the woods." they went on to explain.
"We'll see about that." Madara murmured, smirking to himself while they rolled their eyes. There was no chance in hell he was going to woo her, of all people.
Sitting eating her sushi Lenore had found herself alone in the house, her father had went on another mission recently leaving her to her own devices. However that did not means he had no chores to do, as he had left an explicit note telling her he would know if she had not done anything on the list, and he always did. Finishing her food the Uchiha summoned a few clones and began to strum her shamisen and erhu, her father was not the only person who would string her up by the collar if she did not practise her musical instruments.
Taking a moment to glance at her window Lenore accidentally snapped one of the strings when she found Madara standing there watching her, a quiet but colourful set of curses coming from her mouth as she turned away to rummage through the cupboard nearest to her for a new string. Pausing Lenore pulled out a flute with a blink, how long had that been in there? She had not had any flute lessons for seven years, eight years if she counted the year she was supposed to be practising but chose to hide the instrument instead.
Restringing the instrument Lenore lifted her head to find that the annoying leader's son was gone, allowing her to relax and go back to practising. Putting the flute to her lips Lenore blew it a little, wondering if she still remembered how to play it properly. Flicking through the pages in her booklet Lenore paused on one she vaguely recognised and scanned the notes for a moment.
"Meguru natsu no tayori." she murmured, observing the title just to make sure it was a song she had played at least once before. Nodding a little she put the flute to her lips and began to play gently, her eyes shutting slowly as the song that had been drilled into her all those years ago came flooding back to her.
After a little while Lenore found herself disturbed by a small commotion at her window, but apparently it was just her friends. Though it was a little odd that they had popped up out of nowhere looking enticed by the music, the pit of her stomach churning awkwardly when she realised Madara had invited himself inside, and was now sitting with his legs crossed listening to her play. At least it explained why there was a small gathering outside her house.
Rolling her eyes Lenore sent him a warning glance for the Uchiha to leave before the fan girls became a problem but he typically ignored her and only proceeded to smirk as she kept playing until the end. If it were not annoying enough that he had came into her house uninvited, Madara had then began clapping gingerly before looking at her with the expectation that she would play him another song.
Sighing a little Lenore went through the booklet again, looking for another recognisable song, her clone starting off as she read the notes to 'hyaku kaminari no kagura' just to make sure she knew this one as well. She was certain if she could at least remember a couple songs her teacher would not whip her behind the ears come her final test. Firmly certain she was not going to let him win whatever mind games he was playing Lenore began to play slowly, following the notes as she was supposed to.
However, half way through she seemed to just throw the textbook to the wind and play the way she wanted to, while Madara and the small crowd just seemed to stare at her like she had grown a second head. Apparently they were not used to such strange music which was upbeat, fast paced and frantic, but then Lenore was not playing for them, she was doing this for her own amusement. By the end of it everyone had scattered at least, leaving her alone with the annoying leader's son who had been so taken aback by the music that his sharingan had dropped.
Humming Lenore settled down again, pretty sure she should get back on track before she stopped practising completely, her eyes quickly getting stuck back in the book again. Without realising he had began moving Lenore kept her eyes to the floor, the Uchiha shifting closer to sit in the middle of the room rather than by the wall.
"Better learn one I don't really know." she mumbled to herself, shifting part of her long fringe away from her eyes to put it behind her ear. "Honoka na kioku, probably." she went on to say to herself, attempting to ignore the leader as she lifted her head to see he had come closer.
Flinching at this unknown movement she gave him a strange look, finally deciding to actually speak to him directly.
"What are you doing in my house?" she enquired with a half-hearted scowl.
"Watching an angel play." he answered through a coy smirk, this man was starting to get on her nerves. Lifting her hand Lenore gestured towards the door, while he gave her a simply pout in response.
"You're really going to kick a royal out on his bum?" he enquired coolly, sipping from his tea, through where he got it from was a mystery. Twitching her eyebrow at the egotistical nuisance Lenore slowly began to narrow her gaze, not quite sure how to deal with such a stubborn person.
"It's quite strange seeing an Uchiha woman who knows ninjutsu." Madara commented, observing one of her clones.
Deciding not to respond Lenore stood up, in response he did the same. A seductive look coming over his face as he examined her for a moment, as if the very sight of his smouldering features would draw her in like a desperate rabbit in heat.
"Actually, we are taught basic ninjutsu." Lenore answered. "But only to make cooking, cleaning and other boring tasks a bit easier." she added, while he seemed taken aback by this as he gave her a confused expression.
"You don't enjoy the easy labour of home life?" he asked with a hitched eyebrow, his eyes watching the spark of irritation in her own.
"Of course not. I would rather be out there protecting the village than keeping the stove warm for some slob that'll just bitch and moan at me." she groaned, feeling his sharingan pouring into her as Lenore ranted off about the annoyances of home life, he had asked for it. "I mean, who thought it was a good idea to make just about half the village's population housebound?" she snapped at him, causing her clones to burst.
Seeing the soggy mess they had been left behind by them Lenore soon moaned quietly to herself and went to get a mop Upon coming back she found Madara had left without a word, but it was not as though she cared for his absence. It was more the fact that he had been in her house in the first place that bothered her.
"Hey, why was Madara in your house?" came a questioning female voice, which belonged to her friend Ami.
"I have no idea, but I don't want to know either." Lenore mumbled, coming outside to find quite a few girls staring at her from all sides. "Why is everyone staring at me?" the Uchiha asked, walking a little closer to her friend than usual.
"They saw Madara running off from your house with his tail between his legs." her friend replied, giving Lenore a strange stare. "What did you do to him?" she enquired suspiciously as they stopped at a snack bar to order dangos.
Shrugging Lenore sat down on the seat to wait for her food to be made, a soft smile coming over her face as she looked at the lady who ran the shop.
"I might have ranted at him about our roles in the village and terrified him." Lenore uttered, forcing out a short laugh while Ami gasped and simply snickered a little.
"There goes your chance at dating him." she uttered in a mater-of-factual manner, while Lenore just rolled her eyes. Obtaining their mid-evening snacks Lenore practically purred, her mouth watering as she looked at the treat she would devour before doing her infamous disappearing act into the forest to train.
"Good, I don't want him follow me around." Lenore finally uttered, but her friend simply pointed towards the leader's son who was coming right for them.
At the time he had a smirk plastered upon his face, making her eyes slit in a questioning manner.
"Ladies." he spoke, making Ami giggle and wave. Lenore on the other hand remained still and gave him a questioning stare from her seat. "I was wondering if you would like to come to dinner with me?" he suggested, while Lenore simply turned to look at the girl who was nudging her to answer, a look of sheer awe stuck to her face as if she was the one being asked out on a date.
"What's my name?" she enquired, while Madara became silent, his eyes darting about for a moment with an unsure expression he attempted to hide.
"Lily?" he enquired, receiving a mocking laugh. Eating the last of her dango Lenore got up and gave Madara her dazed friend.
"I wish you a lovely evening together." she uttered, escaping while she could. In his arms Ami sighed, clearly mesmerised as she leaned into his arms and fluttered her eyelashes.
Striding between the trees of the forest, having made sure she was not being followed, Lenore slipped a book out from her pocket to read. Scanning a few of the pages on how to do a difficult ninjutsu Lenore practised a few hand seals, her lips pressing firmly together as she concentrated. For a few years now she had been coming into the forest to train and by now had mastered the easier techniques, and so she was hoping to advance in her personal training.
Drawing forth a clone so that she could spar with someone Lenore began dodging and spinning away from its failed attempts to hit her, a kunai been thrown moments later to try catch her off guard as she was trying to land on her feet. Continuing to keep up she then blocks another thrown weapon and started to throw punches and kicks at her copy, in return her clone swung out it's leg to trip Lenore up. Hitting the dirt the Uchiha soon gasped, her body rolling across the ground as soon as possible when a sword cut through the air and came down towards her.
Attempting to keep her distance from the clone as she decided on her next move Lenore backtracked towards herself and began another frenzy of kicks and punches, her feet leaving the solid ground as she jumped to avoid another attempt at tripping her up. In the midst of her jump the clone narrowed its gaze, taking this moment to its advantage to punch her in the gut and send her backwards. Hitting the ground Lenore shuddered as she groaned and clutched her stomach, her head tilting up to look at her clone as it advanced towards her with its sword held up at an angle.
Shakily the Uchiha got to her feet, spitting out a small globule of blood and saliva before wiping the corner of her lip. Preparing herself Lenore ran towards her clone, her body bending forward as she watched the world turn in front of her. Feeling the grass slip between her fingers Lenore spun her leg through the air as she twisted on her hands and brought her foot to the clone's face, knocking them backwards on collision.
Smirking Lenore contorted her body and pushed herself back onto her stable feet as fast as she could, her body bounding backwards in an attempt to avoid her clone when it appeared from the ground. Observing it go back under she quickly began scanning the ground warily, attempting to find the shadow as she calculated her next move. Despite her constant change in direction Lenore did not find the clone until there was a sharp stabbing pain in her ankle, her foot being trapped in the ground seconds later. Struggling against it Lenore stiffened when a kunai was pointed towards the surface of the skin in the position of her heart, her clone smugly smirking in victory before letting Lenore go.
Taking a much needed breath Lenore sighed, her hand rubbing her chest.
"I really need to work on my chakra sensing." she confirmed with her clone as it nods in agreement, the both of them tensing when a dark voice murmurs through the darkness.
"I would say you do." Madara uttered, gaining Lenore's undivided attention as she twisted to stare at him with wide eyes. No one was to learn about her training, and to make matters worse a high-ranking official had caught her in the act. Stepping towards her the Uchiha stared her down, her body automatically moving into a defensive position if he so chose to try kill her.
Behind her the clone had burst existentially, causing her to flinch out of bristled surprise. Even with the clone Lenore knew she was screwed, with his sharingan, chakra and well developed skills he would certainly be the death of her if she made a wrong move now.
"I thought there was something off about you." the leader's son spoke, failing to notice the kunai she was reaching for behind her back so that she could throw it and try to run. Not that it would make much of a difference, as he would probably dodge it effortlessly and grab her with one powerful stride.
Observing her shifting expression Madara's pupils twitched ever so slightly as he spoke.
"You look scared." he acknowledged with a casual smirk, his crimson armour shining under the moonlight as he stepped closer. "I'll make you a deal." the Uchiha stated, pausing in his strides. "Sleep with me and I'll pretend I saw nothing." he offered, while Lenore's eyes widened in disgust.
"I wouldn't sleep with you if you were the last man on this planet." she hissed, while he did not respond and simply began to walk towards her once more.
Backing away from him Lenore cursed when her torso pressed up against a tree, her limited escape routes quickly vanishing before her eyes.
"I'll make this simple. You have two options; sleep with me and live, or die." the Uchiha leisurely uttered, acting as if such a decision was like choosing an ice-cream topping.
Lowering her brow Lenore pushed herself off of the tree slightly, attempting to calm her nerves.
"I'd rather take my chances." she retorted, the little voice at the back of her head questioning her sanity seconds later. Gulping Lenore watched as Madara stepped closer still, his sharingan turning in a slow and threatening manner as he flicked his hand up and brought it towards her. To Lenore's credit she had actually done a good job responding to his attack quickly, her foot sharply kicking him in the chest to knock him about a meter backwards. With that armour of his he had probably felt its weight more than her kick though.
Snapping out of her thoughts Lenore gasped and turned on her heel to run, her feet carrying her frantically towards her house. Feeling a rush of air and a firm arm come around her ribs Lenore felt her heart leap into her throat, this guy was faster than she could have imagined. Mortified, and petrified to the spot, the young Uchiha dared not turn her head, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end as she felt his smirk slither up the side of her throat.
Remaining stood there at a close proximity Madara slowly raised his head up to blow a few strands of her ebony hair away from the shell of her ear, a shallow breath sending a trickling shudder down Lenore's back.
"Going against village tradition and attacking the leader's son? You seem to be a glutton for punishment." he hummed into her ear, Lenore's eyes crinkling shut until his weight seemingly disappeared.
"Brother, what are you doing?" Izuna enquired, holding Madara's wrist at shoulder level.
Turning to look at his Madara's younger brother Lenore gave him a thankful glance and wasted no time in running from them, her legs refusing to stop until she was safely in her house with the doors and windows barred shut. Her body settling in the living room to remain there until dawn with a sword stashed in her kimono just in case someone tried to break in.
