Author's note: Omg, Dixi, get out of my head. I was totally thinking about how to introduce that. And I did. In this chapter.

Chapter 10: Explanations

"Everyone that lives in the village today…they believe in it." Umika began her explanation. "I was only there because I believed in Madara. I have nothing there without him."

"Why do you care so much for a man that treats you with such brutality?" Tobriama questioned.

"It wasn't always like that." she quickly defended the man. "When I was five, the Uchiha had a shortage of battle-ready warriors. My mother was recalled to the battlefield, alongside my father. I don't know how they died, or who killed them. I just know they didn't return." She took a shaky breath. "I spent a year bouncing from one person's care to another's, until Madara's father, Tajima took me in. He had three empty rooms in his house…each one from the death of a son. I think he was just eager to fill the rooms so they wouldn't be a constant reminder of his loss. Even though I cooked and cleaned to earn my keep, Izuna and Madara never treated me like a servant. They loved me. They looked after me." A ghostly smile passed over her solemn face. "This group of boys began bullying me one day, making fun of how easily I cried at everything, and Izuna and Madara scared them away. I had a real family with them." She paused for a moment to pat away the building tears, and Tobirama felt his blood run cold with guilt. "After that battle…when Tajima was killed and Izuna succumbed to his injuries…I thought I had lost my home again. But Madara stayed by my side. We eased each other's pain, and I realized he is all I have ever had. And now, to lose him, it's more than I can bear."

"Madara told you what happened? With Izuna and Tajima?" The Senju wondered how she could sit and speak with the man who had stolen her family.

"He doesn't talk about it…and Izuna told me not to look back…just keep moving forward." She pulled her sleeves over her hands. "But...I think I know why." Her eyes lifted to Tobirama. His breath caught in his throat. "I heard what happened from the others."

"What did you hear?" He wasn't sure what compelled him to ask. He already knew the answer. Maybe he just needed to hear it from her. He needed her words to breathe life into his sins. He wanted to see the anger and resentment in her eyes. He wanted her to look at him with the same hatred that he bore for himself.

"The Senju were present at the Sarutobi encampment the night of the Uchiha's assault." Her brow switched into a small glare. "I think," Say it. "…a Senju killed Izuna."

"A Senju?"

"I overheard the medic tell Madara that the poison was unique to the Senju clan. And only a select few coat their weapons in it." She waited for Tobirama to confirm. "Is it true?" His lips parted slightly, trying to piece together the information.

"What?"

"That poison…did the Sarutobi have it?"

"No." The whispered admission forced Umika to look away.

"So…it was your people…." She doesn't know. Her lip quivered pathetically. "My heart will not let me build a home in that village. Not after losing Madara."

"It is not your first loss."

"No…but my parents…Izuna…they were ripped from me completely." Umika lamented. "They do not linger in my peripheries, purposely, cruelly out of reach." A thousand arguments raced through Tobirama's mind. He could poke holes into this girl's reasoning until she broke. He could mock her, manipulate her, guilt her into returning to the village with him. Yet, Tobirama did not feel like he had the right to do anything but beg this girl for forgiveness. She was clearly a gentle soul. She had avoided violence by choice, opting to use her Sharingan to trap her enemies in the mercy of their dreams. Tobirama had repaid that kindness by taking away her family.

He clenched his jaw at the sight of her anguish. Perhaps…. Perhaps this conflict in his heart was meant to be atonement for his sins. Perhaps the gods had provided him with an opportunity to ease her suffering. Perhaps that was more important than anything else he was supposed to be doing with his time.

"I'm not convinced." Tobirama said with a sigh. He began pulling off pieces of his blue-plated armor, setting them down in one corner of the room. "But you seem to be." He slipped off his shoes next. "So, fine. You want to defect? Let's defect together."

"T-together?" Umika blinked dumbly, stupefied by the offer. She watched him walk back to the bed and flop down on one side, his back towards her. "Wh—you…you can't just. You have responsibilities!"

"So did you." he retorted through a yawn.

"B-but you—" She let out another dumbstruck grunt, running over to the other side of the bed and crouching down to meet his gaze. "I just had a wedding! You have to meet with the Fire Lord!"

"About courtship." Tobirama corrected her urgent tone.

"With the Fire Lord?" Umika scrunched up her face cutely in confusion.

"With his daughter."

"O…well, all the more reason to be there! Don't you want to be royalty?" she chirped. He stared back, stunned by her naïveté.

"You really have no idea how any of this works…do you?" She blushed and shook her head. "I wouldn't be royalty. She would move to the village, and I would just be responsible for her."

"So…it's just—"

"A hassle? A burden? A massive waste of my time?" Tobirama finished for her.

"I was going to say a normal marriage…." Umika pouted. He let out a small chuckle at her comment and turned to his other side.

"I'm tired."

"You're staying here?" Umika asked. Tobirama didn't answer. She waited a few minutes, wondering if he heard her. She slowly crept around the bed until she could see his face. She watched it for any sign of movement. His breathing slowed to a soft snore. His eyes fluttered beneath their lids. "I guess so…." She ran her fingers through her hair, wondering what to do next. Umika decided to take it one step at a time. First, she would rest, then she would deal with everything else. She pulled the covers over Tobirama's body and separated their sides of the bed with a wall of pillows. She squeezed onto the remaining sliver of mattress, falling deep into her thoughts, and then to sleep.