A growl escaped Madara's throat.  He sat before his family and the Uchiha clan elders with Izuna sitting next to him, a smile on his lips.  Madara, however, had a grimace etched into his features as he held his chin in his hands.  This is just what he needed, another boring meeting to keep him from training.  His father, an older man with bags under his eyes and raven black hair reaching his chin and covered his eyes from view, gave Madara a look telling him to behave.

What kind of meeting would it be this time?  Strategy?  Marriage?  Alliances?  Whatever it was about, Madara wanted no part of it.  The Uchiha clan leader had no need to be a part of these meetings when other things took more precedence, things of which he would not explain to the elders.  "Lord Madara, it is time that you settled down and produced a strong heir for the clan," one elder spoke, his dim onyx eyes holding no emotion as he gazed upon his clan leader.  Before anything more could be said, Madara had stood from his seat with his sharingan blazing furiously as he trapped the man in a genjutsu.

Whispers broke out.  Some cowered while others glared.  Tajima swiftly stood in front of his eldest son, his own sharingan swirling in rage.  "Release the genjutsu now and accept your fate," he demanded.  Madara released the genjutsu, but he refused to back down.  He wouldn't be bound to another woman when one already held his heart and soul.  They could force Izuna to marry someone of their choice, but not him.

"I will never marry someone who is forced upon me," he snarled.  The thought of an arranged marriage made him outraged.  His father allowed for an enraged sigh to escape him.

"You will marry someone from the clan--"

"Or what?" Madara interjected.  "You'll strip me of the title that I already possess?  You'll treat me as if I were but a mere child?  Your power has waned since you relinquished your title to me.  You no longer have the authority over me you once had and I will not allow the council to decide my fate.  This is a decision I will make myself."  He calmed himself and deactivated his sharingan.  His father had lost all his power over the clan and the elders never had any to begin with when Madara stepped up as the leader.  Turning his attention back to the elders, he stepped away from his father with his gunbai in hand.  "I will have Hikari Karoshi--leader of the Karoshi clan--to wife, that is my final decision.  Anyone who tries to say otherwise will enjoy some time in the tsukuyomi," he expounded and left the room full of terrified elders, his angry father, and bewildered younger brother.

Hikari, he thought, we will soon be together without any obstacles between us.
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A groan left Hikari's lips as she sat alone in her quarters.  She had just finished training as she tried to adjust to her lost sight.  How people could deal with being blind was a mystery to her.  All she knew was that she desperately wished for her sight to return.  But it would never happen.

A knock sounded on the window, putting Hikari on edge.  She kneaded chakra and let out a sigh of relief.  It was only Madara.  She stood from her bed and opened the window, helping her love into her room.  "Madara, coming through my window is risky.  What do you need?" she questioned softly, hoping no one was outside her door.  The male in front of her smirked before pulling her flush to him.

"What's the harm in seeing the woman I plan to marry now that I've properly shown the Uchiha Clan elders their place?" he inquired playfully.  Hikari blushed furiously and cast her gaze downward.

"I have yet to discuss that matter much with my elders," she admitted sheepishly.  She had only stormed out on them when they came up with the idea.  What use would it be to try and talk herself into speaking with them after having made such a scene?  Perhaps it would be better if Madara were there to help and support her.  She smirked.  "That's it!"

"It is," he replied with a nod.  Madara stopped for a moment, questions flowing through his head.  "What is?"  Hikari smiled with a small giggle.

"You can come with me and we'll talk to them together!  When they see us together, perhaps they'll rethink what they wish to do," she explained happily. The idea soon turned grim as she thought of what the elders might do to Madara with their shiru-me.  She wouldn't put it past her clan elders to torture him or drain his chakra to the point he could hardly stand.  There's always the possibility that she could keep any jutsu from being thrown at him by using her own sealing jutsu on all of them.  She's practiced enough after massacring the entire Chinoike clan that she can now keep every part of the body from moving.

Madara nodded before putting an arm around her waist and pulling her to the door of her room.  "Then let's go right--"

"Wait!" she interjected.  Madara turned to gaze into her eyes.  That's when it hit him.  He knew one of the Uchiha healers could possibly restore her sight, but it would have to be soon.

Hikari grasped the cloth of his shirt above his chest, biting her lower lip.  "We have to come up with a plan first, or we could be caught in a trap should someone have realized you're here.  We need to be bold and make them see that they can't separate us," she explained.  A smirk surfaced on Madara's lips as his gaze traveled from her eyes down to her natural pink lips.  He chuckled softly at seeing her nervously bite her lower lip.

"Well, there is one way to show them we mean business," he whispered into her ear.  Her brows furrowed as he slowly leaned in, their lips being mere centimeters apart.

"How so?" questioned Hikari.  Madara's eyes glinted mischievously.  Sometimes he didn't mind her being blind, but he would miss seeing her blush just by being near her.

Placing a hand around the back of her head and neck, he leaned a little closer, smirking in satisfaction as she blushed at the feeling of his hot breath.  "I feel it's better to show."