I really loved the feedback! That was awesome!
OoO
This was all just so much. Soft, velvety silks with so many colors and patterns. Shoes too comfortable to even walk in. And then there were the softest bed sheets to ever touch her skin. All for the love of her life. He smiled through it all, just because he thought it made her happy. He should know this isn't what made her happy, but that didn't matter now that she couldn't fight. There was a chance before, but with no chakra now, it was a dead dream.
She didn't fight it when Izuna bought her elegant kimono's and walked her around to show them both off. Was this how he was with weak women, women who were not strong enough to be shinobi? It was insulting, but how could she say that to him? She had no fight left in her. All that fight left the moment she woke up from her near death experience, and what remained was destroyed when she made the choice to give her chakra to Hisen. All of this was because of her choices and her choices alone.
A sigh left her lips as she stared out at the courtyard from the veranda, watching Hisen train with Kouzai in a physical form. Her body was draped a couple layers of thick, elegant fabric, each with its own design. A dark blue, then a light purple, and on top a light blue patterned with flowers. With the summer heat rolling in, wearing such a thing was causing a layer of sweat to form on her neck.
"It looks like your chakra has done Hisen some good," she glanced over, catching sight of Madara leaning against the post next to her, his arms crossed and a foot against the post, that blank look on his face as his gaze shifted to her, "although, it has had the exact opposite effect on you."
She turned towards him, leaning against the rail. He no longer looked at her, but back out at Hisen and Kouzai, who both sat under the shade of tree. "And who are you to be concerned about my wellbeing? You have no idea what you speak of. I'm fine."
"That's a lie."
Her eyes narrowed at him. His steely gaze was back upon her again, unwavering even in her irritation. Who did he think he was to come to her and tell her how she felt? "You don't know how I feel, Madara-sama. I have a loving partner. My brother is safe. I love Izuna. I'm happy."
The older shinobi and clan leader closed his eyes, a 'hmph' sounding from him as he looked upon her, and she watched as a certain anger filled his gaze. The look in his eyes – the anger that filled them. She fully turned towards Madara, instantly taking notice in his change of mood. "Bullshit."
She opened her mouth to yell at him, but a gloved thumb stopped her lips from forming words. Madara hadn't even moved his position. He merely reached his hand out and silenced her. She didn't know what to do except stare at the hand touching her face. After a moment, Madara removed his thumb from her lips. As she looked to his eyes, she was immediately met with many memories in which Madara had done the same thing to silence her when she was little.
"Will you listen?" She touched her lips with her fingertips, for it still felt like he was silencing her, yet his arms were back over his chest. Since no words formed, she merely nodded. Why she was agreeing to listen or to even stand there and take his idiocy and absurd words was something she couldn't comprehend. But she stayed.
OoO
Madara turned his back towards her and began to walk in the opposite direction. Soft footsteps came behind him until Anju was at his side. His eyes flickered over to her and that ridiculous kimono Izuna had her wear. As a shinobi… no, former shinobi, Anju shouldn't be wearing such things. Such a garment was disrespectful to her previous position in the clan. He felt offended just looking at it.
"You may be able to fool Izuna, but I'm not as easily blinded as my brother. You have been fooling him this entire time but I can see through your façade, as I have been. When will you stop the self-destruction? When will you allow yourself to be happy?" He could see the sweat beading against her neck. Why would his brother have her wear something so thick in this heat? Was he so blinded by the prize he had obtained that he had forgotten her to be a living human being? Even he, a leader and head of the Uchiha Clan, a man who killed mercilessly and showed no emotion no matter what, and generally showed no compassion for anyone but his own blood, recognized her as a person, and not just as a woman...
"Izuna is gone on a mission. Take a couple of those layers off before we go out." He stopped near one of the wings, where she could go in and take a layer off if she pleased. "It'll get hotter once we begin walking. Your choice."
They became locked in a staring match, with neither of them blinking or making a single move to get out of the others way. A spark lit up her eyes – one he hadn't seen in a long time. That spark reminded him of the old Anju – the one who fought for what she believed in and didn't let anyone push her around, including Izuna.
Finally, after a few minutes of staring each other down, Anju sighed and looked at the side room. "I have nothing else to where, and I still have enough dignity left to not walk around the clan in the thin layer of this wretched thing. I'll have to endure."
At the realization that she had nothing else left to wear, Madara became angry towards his brother. Izuna was stripping away who she was, bit by bit – just like he did with the weak women of the clan before he made the decision to court Anju. He wasn't going to make her walk with him in the heat in layers of thick clothing. He was cruel, but not that cruel to Anju.
He didn't say anything else, but instead motioned for her to follow him. She walked by his side in silence as they came to a shop within the clan, one she raised an eyebrow at. "Clothes? I have clothes Madara-sama."
He looked back at her and waited for her to step inside first. "What you are wearing should offend you. It offends me and I'm just looking at it."
She raised an eyebrow, seemingly confused at first, but she laughed and smiled. "I could only imagine if you were wearing such a thing, Madara-sama."
His eyes narrowed at her as she walked inside, though not in anger or warning. He looked from her back to the woman in the shop, who bowed her head to him. "Madara-sama, what can I do for you and Lady Anju this evening?"
"Lady Anju is in need of the usual attire, which I'm sure you have. Long shirt, split on the sides. It would be more comfortable in this heat." Anju looked at him, going to protest, but he placed his thumb against her lips, silencing her once again. Just this one simple action was enough to pacify her as the women brought out a dark blue shirt with a belt and handed it to Anju. "If there's anything else you need, I'll be here, Madara-sama – Lady Anju."
Madara simply nodded to the woman and then looked over at Anju, who was staring down at the clothes with a thoughtful look on her face. "Put them on and we'll get going."
"But the-"
"She'll take care of that dreadful thing. Just leave it and put the shirt on. You'll feel better."
With no further argument, she sighed and went into a room. Madara in the meantime went outside the small shop and looked up at the sky. Ren and Ken were circling above him, waiting for their master to come out from the building. He whistled, and much to his liking Ren came and settled himself on a branch above Madara. The bird of prey tilted its head to look at him and Madara did the same to the bird, staring it down. Anju was lucky to have such beautiful birds of prey at her disposal. It was sad they were now confined to the clan, as they listened to no one but Anju.
"I never thought I would miss this so much." A sweet, hopeful voice met Madara's ears. He turned his head to see the owner of the happy melody and froze. Anju was looking at him with biggest smile on her face – not a fake one, but a genuine smile, the first he had seen on her in very long time. But it wasn't just her smile, it was the way she looked in battle attire. She looked like her old self again. Her hair was longer, but she looked like her happy self. He found himself staring, taking in a sight he thought he would never see again.
A soft smile tugged his lips upwards slightly. Such a simple thing had brought her more joy than anything Izuna had given her in the past weeks. "Battle attire suits you better than extravagant, miserable clothes. Now we can walk."
It was an odd sense of déjà vu. She was back in the battle attire, with the Uchiha crest shown proudly on her back and her head held high with pride. She looked ready for a fight and he thought for a moment maybe they were going to battle, but a quick look at her chakra brought him from that fantasy. He had to remember why he was doing this and what the plan was for the evening. He didn't do anything without reason or a goal in mind, and this was no different.
"Well, Madara-sama? What's the meaning of all this? You come into my home and question my life, silence me, have me put on these clothes, and now we're walking into the forest. Why?"
Madara looked down at her next to him. She was looking ahead, her arms down at her sides and covered entirely by the overly long and large sleeves of the shirt she wore. He looked away from her to the forestry in front of them as well. "There used to be this spark in your eyes," he felt her gaze upon him and stopped as she did, and looked down at her again, "more like a firestorm. They blazed with defiance and challenge and were as wild and beautiful as flames themselves. That storm in your eyes is what made pissing you off such fun to me. It would get brighter with challenge and make you fight harder for what you wanted and believed in. But ever since you woke, that storm has not surfaced. It did when the Uchiha were betrayed by the Hagoromo, but not once since."
He fully turned towards her, towering over her small form. "This isn't you. I may not have liked you before, and I may still hold ill feelings towards you, but what you have become is not fit for a shinobi as strong as you were. What you have become, which is due to Izuna and your own self-destruction, is not who you are. You were the woman who destroyed an entire Senju army with Izuna. You ran reconnaissance missions that results in valuable intel against various clans. You single handedly annihilated the Hattori Clan. That's who you are. A shinobi. I frown upon women fighting in battle, as I believe they belong in the clan, but you are not a weak woman and do not belong with them."
For a while, all she did was stare at him, and he stared back, trying to predict what her reaction would be. It was not easy for him to say any of this, but he was an honest person and could no longer just sit by and watch as Izuna helped Anju destroy herself. His brother was blinded by his love to see what was really happening and Izuna would no longer listen to him. He had to do something.
"Madara-sama… this was my decision. The moment I decided to give Hisen my chakra was the moment I decided I would no longer be a shinobi. I no longer deserve that title nor do I want it. I am just like the rest of the women in the clan now and I will behave as such, like the good housewife I'm wanted to be. I thank you for trying to humor me with the training, but you know as well as I that it was going nowhere. I was getting a false hope. It's time for me to become the good housewife I'm meant to be and make Izuna happy, just as you have been asking me to."
"You think that training was a false hope? Did you really expect to have results in a couple weeks? Your chakra was sick and your body weak. You would have killed yourself!"
Her eyes blazed as he yelled at her and she didn't back down. "Stop pitying me! I don't want your pity, Madara-sama! Just let me go on with my life!"
He grabbed her shoulders as she turned away and held her in place. "You want to be miserable for the rest of your life? Do you really want to be stuck in this position until you finally die? Look me in the eye and earnestly tell me that you're happy with your life and Izuna, Anju. Do that and I'll let you go. Do that and I'll leave you to destroy yourself."
"I…" Her eyes darted from his eyes to the surrounding forest. "I'm…" Her jaw clenched and her hands balled into fists at her sides. She lifted up her face and looked up at him, pain apparent in her eyes, but she said nothing. She couldn't do it. A smirk tugged at his lips, for he knew he was right. She wasn't happy.
He activated his sharingan, the pattern of his mangekyou taking form instead of the three tomoe pattern. Her eyes stared into his, wide and fearful. His brow began to scrunch together at the expression on her face, and he was taken back when her hand reached up to cover his eyes. "Please, Madara-sama, please don't do that. When you do that, I feel violated and it gives me a migraine."
When she was done speaking, Madara grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away from his eyes. He deactivated his sharingan as her onyx orbs stared into his own and relief filled her face. He so desperately wanted to see what else went on in the mind of hers, to see what could be done and to confirm his suspicions, but he found himself yielding to her request. His eyes narrowed at her and he clenched his jaw. "Fine. I won't do it."
A sigh of relief left her lips and she retracted her hand back to her side. "Thank you, Madara-sama. I really don't want you invading my head like that."
"I won't if you start being honest with me. I don't take kindly to liars, Anju. Answer my questions as I ask them with truth. Even without the sharingan I'll know you're lying."
"Why should I tell you anything? You don't care about me – you care about your own self-interest! Whatever I tell you, you'll use it against me later!"
He crossed his arms over his chest, slightly tilting his head. "I do care about my own self-interest, but I make decisions that will benefit this clan, even if I don't like it. The decision to train you is beneficiary to the clan. I can't keep going to Hisen's rescue when he's in a tough spot, and neither can Izuna. We have our own battles to fight. That's where you come in."
She scoffed at him and looked up at the darkening sky. "I don't want any part of whatever you have in mind. Just leave me out of your schemes." She looked at him and then turned on her heels. He thought that she would listen if it involved Hisen, but he had been proven wrong.
"If you weren't interested in what I have to say you wouldn't have followed me out here." Like he predicted, she stopped in her tracks and kept her back to him as he walked towards her. "If you didn't trust me, you wouldn't have come here either."
An amused snort came from her as she turned to meet him. He stood about two feet from her, and had to incline his head to look down at her small form. "Where does trust come into any of this?"
"In order for this to work, you have to trust in me, Anju. Do you trust in me?" He held his hands out in front of him, palm side up. She looked down at them, a thoughtful look on her face. If this worked how he planned, that spark in her eyes would return. The smile and joy in her face would once again manifest itself as it was meant to.
Lost in thought, Madara didn't realize what was happening. It was only when he felt a pair of small, warm hands against his palms that he snapped from his daze and looked into the trusting eyes of Anju. "I trust you, and I'll put my trust in you, Madara."
The realization that she trusted him made his body feel a strange way. He searched her face, looking for any signs of a lie or that she was only playing him for a fool. But he found none. She was being genuine, and he could see it in her eyes and in her face. She trusted him.
In that moment, he took her hands and held them in his. She looked nervous, but she didn't waiver or pull away. A few seconds later, he smirked as she gasped and pulled away, looking down at her hands. "What did you do? This feeling I have… what is this power?"
He chuckled and watched her as she moved her arms around in front of her face. "Since you have none of your own, I've given you a portion of my own chakra. As you get stronger and more accustomed to it, I will give you more. I can do the same thing in battle if need be."
She said nothing, and instead chose to stare at him and he was frozen in place. No one had ever looked at him with such happiness, and that happiness was directed towards him. It was such a happiness that tears had formed in her eyes. "Madara..."
In her daze, Madara took a kunai and threw it towards her. She dodged it last second and grabbed the kunai, twisting around to face him. A smirk came to his face as he saw the red glow of her eyes, courtesy of the sharingan. "Careful now, Anju. Your sharingan may not be-"
He cut himself off and dodged one her blows, only to turn around and block another. He held her ankle in one hand and she held his fist in the other. He activated his sharingan, adrenaline beginning to pump through his veins, for he was excited at the prospect of a fight. He could see the same look in her eyes as he spoke. "Well, little Anju, shall we dance?"