A/N: I wouldn't be able to pull off the soup-dumping either. Though…I wish I'd seen Madara's expression when she did that. Also Izuna's expression. A woman scorned is someone to be feared! And Madara AHAHA…I just love how he was messing with her – and then he got turned on? THESE TWO ARE TOO MUCH FUN XD;;

Yes, I can totally relate with the persecution thing. It shouldn't affect us writers, but bleh, fanfiction is pretty review-driven after all. Thanks for empathizing? Hahaha.

Till You Die

9 – Bloodrose Secunda

He was gone before she woke up the next morning. And, judging by the coolness of the sheets, he had been long gone.

…

For a long time Loreli sat at the edge of the bed, her mind drawing a white blank.

It seemed a long time since she had been taken away from her beloved home. Loreli counted and recounted inside her head. One week…was it?

Only one week…?

Yuzuzu-hime…Loreli wondered if her mistress had stopped crying yet.

…A warm, bittersweet, nostalgic feeling.

No…those were dangerous thoughts.

Drawing the blanket around her body, Loreli calmly went to the door. Was he planning to keep her in here?

Two guards.

"…I need clothes."

No speaking glances exchanged. No hesitation. One of them left.

…

"…Where is your leader?" Loreli asked the remaining guard.

"A missive arrived via falcon earlier," he replied nonchalantly. "He is with the councilors."

She looked at the Uchiha guard curiously. He didn't bother to return her gaze.

"You will really accept an outsider as the mistress of your clan?" Loreli asked tonelessly.

Same indifference, he wasted no time in answering to the space before him. "Betray the clan, and you're as good as dead. Your authority will only last so long as you still have Madara-sama's favor."

"…I see."

In other words…

…She wasn't going to get out of this alive.

…

Loreli rubbed her temples wearily with one hand.

The guard who had left earlier returned with an older woman by his side.

"There, there." Loreli felt herself being patted on the side of her shoulder. "Go back inside before you catch a chill like this."

She allowed herself to be propelled through the door.

"This should be your size, I would think." A bundle was pressed into her arms. "Go on, go wash up and change."

Loreli hesitated, watching as the older woman picked up the remnants of the ripped garments from the floor with a cluck of her tongue. Then the Uchiha woman approached the bed.

"…I will take care of that myself," said Loreli as the woman started bunching up the sheets. She had bled last night. The thought of having anyone else seeing it… It mortified her.

The older woman paused, looking over at her skeptically. Then she shook her head, but to Loreli's relief, she let go of the sheets.

A deliberate sigh. "When will that boy learn that relying on force won't win him everything?"

Loreli blinked.

"Look at this, look at this, all this dust!" the older woman exclaimed disapprovingly, having rubbed two fingers together after running them along the top of a nearby shelf. "What a horrid room to live in! If it weren't for his younger brother, I wouldn't be surprised if he died from a lung infection or something."

"…Izuna-sama indeed seems like a mother figure to him," Loreli remarked dryly.

The Uchiha woman chuckled. "You would think, right? In fact, it used to be reversed with those two. As a young boy, Izuna detested learning the art of war, so much that the trainers thought something was wrong. Madara repeatedly confronted their instructors for giving his younger brother a hard time. I remember there was not one day he didn't return from training all roughed up. In the end, they left regular training. The only person Izuna would fight is his older brother. And now, years later…" She shook her head. "Hard to imagine they're the same boys from before."

"…What happened to those trainers?" Loreli asked wryly.

Quizzical look.

"…Madara-sama didn't hold a grudge against them for beating him up in the early days?" Loreli asked half-heartedly.

"What are you saying?" Knowing smirk. "He's the one who defeated each of the instructors."

"…Oh."

…How long ago was this? No-…it wasn't like she was actually interested.

"Your husband" making Loreli flinch momentarily "had learned early on that it's not a matter of who's wrong or who's right in a warrior clan like the Uchiha. It's only a matter of who's strongest. Whoever commands the most power commands obedience. But, you seem like a brave girl. Perhaps he has met his match."

Ah… Loreli had a vague suspicious this was where it was all leading. It was like the women of the clan thought her to be some kind of heroine for daring to pour a bowl of hot soup over Uchiha Madara.

"…You are mistaken," said Loreli blandly. She wasn't brave… "I was…not in my right mind yesterday." She had been too distressed for her own good yesterday. "He would have killed me if it weren't for keeping up appearances."

The older woman clucked her tongue, propelling her towards the bathroom door. "I'm not going to try figuring out what's going on with you two. But let me tell you this; he could have avoided it if he wanted to. He didn't. To have done so would have immediately alienated you from the rest of his men. To us, it only seemed like he was issuing a warning to everyone of just how far your influence goes."

The door shut gently behind her. Loreli stood facing the unlit bathroom, motionless.

The bundle of cloth slipped from her hands, unnoticed, dropping to the cold tiled floor.

No cooperation.

They could force her if they had to, but to cooperate would mean that she'd accepted her new role.

On second thought…

"Give me that," said Loreli. She was going to spike Izuna's tea with chili.

That's right. She knew if she remained stubborn long enough, he would come find her.

None of the clansmen had gone against her thus far. She was amazed, appalled. Did they truly think she was going to lie low and calmly accept all this?

And what was with this- this robe? Despite what that Uchiha woman had excused about the size not fitting, Loreli couldn't help but suspect that it wasn't the size that was the problem. It was not modest. Not modest.

There was not one person who was on her side.

"Awfully spirited today, aren't we?"

Loreli spun around.

"Up here."

Izuna, above her, standing perpendicular to the pillar which was beside her, his long thin ponytail hanging down.

"…Why are you…?"

"You're not planning to spill anything on me, are you?" replied Izuna, good-naturedly.

She considered this. "…No…come down."

He did. A small, agile flip which landed him next to her.

Like his brother, Uchiha Izuna was one head taller than her. The same stature, the same build; a lithe but impressively toned frame. Yet there was an overall difference. Izuna was pleasant to look at, despite knowing how deceptive appearances could be. Unlike his brother, meeting eyes with Izuna would not evoke an urge to stare and to look away at the same time.

"A token of my appreciation," said Loreli, holding out the glass of warm beverage to him.

He winced. "Making gifts to me? Well, this is rare." Swirling the liquid in the glass, but knowing better than to drink it. Amused tone. "Is this a bribe?"

She responded with a small dry smile.

"…Actually…there's something I want to ask," Loreli told him. "Your brother, Madara" she watched his expression carefully "towards this marriage, was he willing or unwilling?"

…

Izuna hiked a thin eyebrow. "I'm guessing nothing happened last night?"

She didn't reply. He had a way of skirting around questions.

"Hn." Loreli did not avoid his arm, wrapping around her shoulders. "Don't be surprised," Izuna told her, "Madara…doesn't want any children."

"Doesn't want-" she started, and then cut herself off. Izuna was messing with her again, wasn't he? "Then why did he-…" she paused at the sight of his innocent smile. "You."

"Madara," Izuna explained to her unhurriedly, "thinks that having children would mean taking time away from his duty on the battlefield." Wry smile. "But…I know my brother's ambition. He can't seem to accept that it's not something anyone can accomplish within the course of a lifetime."

She understood. He wanted someone to give Madara heirs who would inherit his ambition. Loreli felt sick. "What kind of twisted ambition…?"

"Hn?" Izuna suggested, "That, why don't you ask him that for yourself?"

She slipped out from under his arm. She wasn't interested in getting pushed into his brother's arms again. "You…picked the wrong person," Loreli informed him calmly. "I may be trapped, but you are mistaken if you believe I will eventually give in to persuasions or intimidations."

She closed her eyes briefly before continuing. "I will never accept that role. Wife to a heartless, manipulative, arrogant," she went on.

Izuna listened with a pleasant smile. "Behind you."

Loreli frowned slightly. Did he expect her to fall for that a second time?

Nonetheless, she glanced back. "-vengeful, and-…"

Madara.

…

She watched, frozen, as the tall, dark-haired shinobi slowly bent forward to her eye level. One long eyebrow rose slightly as his impassive obsidian black eyes pierced her. A soft, foreboding voice, prodding, "…And…?"

Lips numb, Loreli murmured monotonously, "…And an insensitive jerk who expects me to say good things behind his back after almost having me killed four times…"

Izuna, laughing. She wasn't aware. All that was occupying her attention was how close and how sinister Uchiha Madara looked at that moment.

Those dark eyes, cold and hard like black diamonds. Dark lips set in a thin, harsh line. He-…could it be that he had heard everything?

A dragged out pause. Suspense.

"Mistress of the most powerful clan in the land of fire," Madara mused smoothly, arrogant brow rising in mock inquiry. "…Not good enough?"

In truth, she didn't want to say any more, she only wanted to get away. But nodding her head would mean that she conceded.

"…I…didn't ask for it…Madara-sama."

"What she means is she doesn't appreciate the trivial duties imposed on her," Izuna interrupted. "Here, I believe this was for you," he added, handing the glass of tea she gave him to Madara.

Her heart did a plunge.

"Wait…" Both hands on his strong black-clad arm. Madara's arm. It didn't matter that she was contradicting everything she'd just said about not giving in to intimidation.

…Uchiha Madara's mood at the present…

…was dangerous.

"…I'll get you another one…"

His eyes on her back. Intense. Loreli felt a cold sweat swept over her as she retreated.

Murderous aura.

Izuna watched as Madara shattered the glass of liquid against the pillar. He spoke.

"You need to win her over before we leave," commented Izuna. "She is confused, trying to be brave, innocent but not naïve enough to believe that she'd find an ally in this place. I have fallen out of her favor. If anyone chooses to show her kindness at this stage…" Izuna paused in thought "…she may become easily susceptible to their influence."

Irritably. "Then have it known that no one is to show her any kindness!" snapped Madara, loud voice echoing off the walls as he turned away in dismissal.

Izuna kneaded his forehead in exasperation.

So, she still ended up doing this…

Loreli was amazed at her own lack of willpower.

No…he had caught her off-guard …that was all. Having to confront without any warning the man who-…last night- She-…She would be prepared this time.

"…This…is it alright if I leave it here?"

She had set the tray on the table. She didn't look up or even bother waiting for a reply.

Faster than she could blink, Izuna was next to her, one arm lashing out to shut the double doors close before she could escape. The clang actually resounded inside the meeting room.

…

…Immediately she knew nothing good was going to come out of this.

"You don't need to run off, this concerns you as well."

Slowly, Loreli turned around. It wasn't a pleasant sensation, being the center of attention of a group of men who could have her dead without rising from their seats.

"…What is it?" she asked blankly.

With an arm around her shoulders, Izuna drew her away from the exit. "This is abrupt, but…we, the men, are setting out tomorrow."

She was silent as he moved away.

"You must be mad, right? Your husband's going away to war immediately after your wedding. Hn…" deceptively innocent smile "I have an idea."

Loreli watched warily as Izuna approached a seated Madara at the end of the long oval table. What was he playing at?

"Why don't you ask him for something in compensation?" suggested Izuna.

Silence.

Standing next to the clan leader in question, Uchiha Izuna encouraged her in amusement, "Go ahead. Ask him anything."

Her mouth dry, Loreli couldn't shake off the feeling of being cornered.

Uchiha Madara, facing her at the opposite end of the room, his councilors on either side of the long oval table, watching her. Just watching her. Was he not going to comment on this?

"…Anything?"

Slowly, she met Madara's dark, veiled gaze. He had propped his head up against the back of one hand, tips of his long, ebony spiked hair brushing the surface of the table. A look of boredom, if nothing else. Yet it was suffocating.

…

Izuna was mistaken if he thought that she would give in to the pressure. Loreli leaned forward in a bow.

"…I ask that Madara-sama relinquish his claims on my person and to send me home."

…Izuna let out a small laugh. "Told you she'd be mad."

A sharp and scathing command.

"Leave us."

…

It was not an order spoken in a tone anyone wanted to argue with. Izuna was massaging his temples while he cleared the room with the others.

The door shut behind them, leaving them in silence.

Loreli straightened from her bow when she heard his chair scrape back.

"You've gotten quite bold."

The observant voice came from behind her.

She felt herself stiffen, listening to his slow footsteps as he paced around to face her.

He leaned in. She held her breath, eyes fixated on a spot ahead of her.

"Look at me," Madara told her softly, tilting up her chin. His dark eyes mocking, long thin eyebrow arched in pretense, he told her, "I don't mind."

Coldness crept up the back of her arms, to her shoulders, settling high up into the back of her neck.

His low, smooth question to her, so close to her that Loreli was afraid to blink, "But are you prepared to pay the price?"

Inhaling sharply, she found herself pressed against the edge of the oval table, her wrists pinned down to either side.

Slowly, Madara lowered himself to her eye level. Feeling him pressing even closer, it took Loreli all her willpower not to arch back, away from the proximity of his dark parted lips.

…He wouldn't… In here…?

But the long-haired shinobi paused in whatever he had planned. For a long moment, his half-lidded eyes bore into hers.

Silence. Remaining in that position.

Lightly, Madara remarked, "I don't like those eyes."

He watched as she blinked once, a hint of a question forming in her deep brown depths.

Women who wanted him for his power, women who cowered before his power, he had seen many in his life. It disgusted him. Yet…

Again, he reached two fingers beneath her chin, even though she wasn't looking away. Pondering darkly.

Her eyes. She neither desired him nor cowered before him, and all the power he could offer did not persuade her into obedience.

Yet this was what infuriated him more than all the others. Ah, this woman, he thought, dark eyes slimming ominously…only this woman, he would not tolerate such indifference from her.

…

"…Madara-sama…I was born like this," she said.

"Heh."

Hands on her waist, he abruptly lifted her into his arms.

Panic was written over her delicate features as she looked up.

"Even if only on the surface," Madara said silkily down at her. "I am going to tame you."

It was the second time he had carried her. This time she didn't bother with struggling, although, like the other time, she looked like she was withholding a scream.

Heh. It didn't matter if she screamed. His men could pause to stare all they wanted. She was his wife.

He released her once they were inside his room. She stumbled backwards a few steps.

"Your resolve," Madara commented, pouring himself a glass of wine. He sank back into the chair next to the bed, long legs crossed, before completing his mocking statement, "It's impressive."

She was nervous; a fine, nearly unperceivable trembling along her arms. Madara drank from the glass, lazy half-lidded eyes watching her over the rim.

She was but a simple girl, not a single ninja skill to speak of, and she refused to give in to him – Uchiha Madara.

"I'll give you a chance to make things easier on yourself," Madara told her in dark amusement. Leaning back into his seat, he returned the guarded look she gave him with a cruel smirk. "Touch me, of your own accord."

She flinched visibly at his taunting suggestion.

Leisurely, he rested the side of his head into his hand, elbow propped up on the back of his chair.

"Your answer?" asked Madara, knowingly.

She hesitated in giving a response.

Predictable, her reaction was.

"…Madara-sama," her characteristically light and patient voice, "you ask too much of me."

He set his glass down on the table next to him. Without getting up, Madara reached over to the side. A sharp, ripping sound as he tore a long narrow strip away from the bed-sheets, barehanded.

Looking back up to see her stunned expression, Madara leaned back again into his seat, holding out one hand to her.

She was not a clueless girl. He could see that she was able to figure out what he meant.

Madara quirked an eyebrow, still waiting.

Long black lashes flickering in fear, she stepped back from him.

He got up.

Faster than she could retreat another step, he was before her. She made sweet, gasping sounds as he lashed her wrists together.

She resisted, but he easily flung her onto the bed, securing the other end of the binding to a bedpost.

Calmly, Madara went back to the table and finished the remainder of the wine in his glass, deliberately dragging it out for her.

She was looking up at the binds which tied her hands. She knew she couldn't free herself of them without help, biting her lip at the knowledge.

He circled the bed before coming around to her side, slow gaze trailing over her.

"Spread your legs," Madara ordered.

She stared up at him, motionless, aghast.

"Or we can do this the hard way," Madara told her, bending over to speak closer, "I can tie down your legs."

Her face rigid in an effort to keep her emotionless mask in place, she seemed to agonize over this.

Finally, her eyes shut and she parted her legs.

"Wider."

He saw her jaw clench, but she obeyed.

"If you're just going to close your eyes," Madara suggested smoothly, "why don't I just blindfold you?"

She stiffened visibly. A short moment's pause. Then she reopened her eyes.

"I warned you, didn't I?" Madara remarked wryly. "I don't want to see that look."

…

Before a snide retort fell from her parted lips, he was above her, a fisted arm against the headboard above her head supporting his weight.

"Ah." Arrogant face hovering inches above hers, Madara's dark lips smirked down at her. "That mood," he warned her, long taunting eyebrows twitching up, "It's dangerous."

Whatever remained of her protest silenced when she felt his other hand loosen her robe. Her breathing came quickly.

It didn't take much to get it out of the way; she was dressed lightly; though he made it torturously slow. Her legs squeezing against his, an instinctive action to protect herself. She didn't know how erotic that was.

Exposed to his silent scrutiny.

It wasn't only her face; her entire body was soft and supple, radiant. Her neck was slender, skin pure, her shoulders refined, with perfectly shaped breasts, a small waist and long shapely legs. The sheer amount of feminine allure she exuded was enough to shake the resolve of any man.

Madara felt his own breath starting to lengthen despite himself.

It didn't matter how many men had been tempted by her in the past. She was his. And he would keep her.

He shifted position. She resisted when he slid her panties away from her legs, but he allowed that to pass. Prying her legs apart, Madara traced lazy circles on her inner thigh with his thumb, eyes on her face.

She tried to slide up, away from him. He yanked her back.

Her eyelids fluttered rapidly a few times, as if blinking back tears.

Madara straightened. He pulled off his black, high-necked shirt over his head, long hair tumbling back down into place. Then the remainder of his clothing, and she looked away.

He turned her head back, long strong fingers grasping her jaw line. "Shhh…" Madara leaned in, an elbow next to her head bracing himself above her. "Behave yourself," Madara told her smoothly, wryly, "and you'll see that I am capable of being a gentle lover."

Dark smirk forming on his lips at the sight of her unappreciative eyes, Madara brushed strands of her hair away from her throat, asking her tauntingly, "Would you like that?"

"No."

"Heh." He lowered himself, drawing his hand down her smooth throat, across her rapidly rising chest, over the supple mound of her breast. "You don't know what you're saying," Madara commented silkily, tweaking the peak none too gently. Dark promise. "I'll forgive you this once."

Before she could reply, he had reached down and had found the nub between her spread legs. She jerked back. Immediately his arm wrapped around her waist, keeping her in place.

Slowly, Madara teased her sweet flesh with skilled fingers until the most sensitive spot on her body grew hard, her entire body taut, straining against her bonds.

She was determined not to make a sound, he observed. It was unlikely she knew that her squirming underneath him and her shuddering breath had the same effect. He arched her up, lowering his lips to one breast, teasing her with his warm breath rushing over her sensitive skin.

It was good enough. Her peaks were hard and risen, matching the height of his own arousal. He lowered her gently back into the sheets.

"You'll be watching me," Madara commanded, gripping her chin lightly, making her face him again.

He spread her legs further, without waiting for a reply. If it weren't for his own unsatiated need, he thought darkly, he would have dragged this part out for her.

She squeezed against him as he entered her, as if trying to reject him. She was tight, tense, though not as unyielding as she had been last night. He pulled back, only to thrust in a little deeper each time just as her walls had started to accommodate to him.

She wanted to edge away. Madara placed both hands on her hips, keeping her still. He started a slow pace, savoring the feel of her underneath him, the feel of ownership.

…Oh, traitorous. Her body was traitorous.

The pain had faded, that was true, but it still shouldn't have felt remotely pleasurable. If he had allowed her to close her eyes. If he hadn't been an undeniably and fatally attractive male.

Loreli had averted her gaze many times, but each time he would pinch the tip of one breast sharply in reminder.

It wasn't the pain she was trying to avoid by keeping her eyes on him. It was the knowledge that her body was responding to him every time he did that. It was already hard enough attempting to stop her body from arching into him.

The sound of him sliding inside her, slow and deliberate, making sure he filled every space within her each time. The sound of his soft grunts as she fixated on the sinews inside his neck, with strands of his long ebony-black hair plastering against his skin from the sweat.

Even so, this man…doing such things – things no man had ever done to her…no…how could her body react this way?

He saw her troubled expression.

"Give in to me," Madara breathed, low and seductive.

Loreli gritted her teeth.

Uchiha Madara grasped her hair, dark eyes possessive as he leaned in and told her firmly, eyebrows rising in challenge, "You are mine."

She shook her head lightly.

"Ah-!"

He had given her a hard thrust, taking her by surprise.

Mockingly. "You like that?" Madara asked with a knowing smirk.

Hands on her waist, he quickened his pace, his rhythm deep and insistent.

Her breathing became ragged. She didn't want to give him a reaction he wanted to see.

Pain, intermingling with the pleasure which had been building up. It was neither pain nor pleasure. It was both. An intense, an unbearably intense sensation winding itself at her core where his heat reached her repeatedly.

A quiet whimper. Hers.

When- when will he stop?

She felt his arm snake behind her waist, using it to hold her against him as he buried himself deeper inside her. His other hand reached down to flick her nub. His long hair slid back and forth along her skin. And the feeling. The inexplicable feeling building up inside her.

It was too much. She couldn't endure it. She wanted him to stop. She needed him to stop before bitter tears at her helplessness leaked out.

"I- I am yours," Loreli choked out brokenly, voice rising to match his force, "I am yours! My god, I am yours!" Stop. Her voice caught.

The spasm gripped her without warning, violent and mercilessly. Loreli gasped sharply, feeling her folds convulse tightly around him as he gave in to his own pleasure, panting above her.

She was still catching her breath, stunned at her own body's response, when Madara pulled away. He laid facing her on the bed, next to her. A masterpiece, a sculpture of flesh and blood, thin trickles of sweat glistening on his skin.

Loreli stared, speechless, at his smug expression, his head propped up on one hand. What was there left for her to say? Why the expectant look?

Finally regaining her voice, she asked him as steadily as she could make it "…Madara-sama…may I be untied?"

The corner of his dark flushed lips quirked up further. Madara lifted himself slightly and brought himself closer. Speaking low and smooth directly next to her ear, he promised her, "It's not over yet."

...

A/N:Yes! I finally got to a lemon! My first! And it was…unexpectedly difficult…for this Madara =.= no…don't look at me like that…

Aw…I think Madara's having/going to have a hard time with this romance thing…XD Dammit, I love this happy couple. Izuna's probably thinking he should just give up on them.

Have a fun and safe holiday~