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chapter twelve.

sometimes you win

sometimes you learn

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Misaki Haruno paced the halls with tears staining her face and expensive mascara running down her cheeks.

Her husband had left already, Hoki and Niko had gone with him, watching their mother with sad eyes as she sobbed and sobbed with her younger sister by her side. Haruno Rei sat near her two daughters but felt no sympathy for them, she was doing what she had to for her clan. She was doing what she had to.

Mito stood away from them with an unreadable face, her arms were crossed as she stood in the night air waiting for her husband to come back. 

The yard had been cleaned already, bodies were taken from the lawn and the fairy lights had been put away and the only remnants of the fight were the marks of battle. Mito closed her eyes and breathed out, she felt bad for the Haruno family. She knew what it was like to do something she didn't want because of clan politics but she had never seen a civilian clan act so brutal to one of its own members.

Mito closes her eyes and can't help but think of her own clan, pawning her off to the Senju clan because she was the second born, the disposable one. Mito grits her teeth and looks up at the parting of the trees and feels releif clutch at her chest as her husband appears from the stretching shadows because she had been forced into this marriage but she had learnt to love Hashirama for all of his stupid little quirks, even if he would always love his Uchiha more than he loved her.

Madara and Tobirama are flanking Hashirama, each holding a child in their arms and Iwa-nin are slung over their shoulders. 

Mito pointedly ignores how her husband is undamaged and instead makes her way to Aoi Haruno who looks as though she is dripping in her own blood. Orochimaru looks as though he is faring much better than Aoi so she ignores him too. Instead, she puts her palm on Aoi' suspiciously hot forehead and furrows her eyebrows because while she has sustained many injuries, the most life-threatening thing plaguing her is chakra exhaustion which means that... all the blood covering her... it belonged to the shinobi who had kidnapped her.

Mito gives an airy laugh and heals Aoi's superficial wounds and then she stares Tobirama in the eyes, "She's certainly your daughter, Tobirama, in blood and in spirit."

Tobirama's jaw clenches and his grip on Aoi tightens, but not because of what Mito had said, oh no. His grip tightens because behind Mito is a woman with red hair streak with grey and harsh green eyes.

"And it is a good thing she is his daughter because she is no longer regarded as a Haruno meaning she is no longer Misaki's daughter. No longer filth to plague our clan with her stupid fantasies of being a ninja, of being anything more than cannon fodder in a place where she can't even be a proper child."

Tobirama's eyes widens and he thinks on what to say but finds himself choking on his fury but Madara, Madara does not falter in his rage at the Haruno elder. Madara's eyes widen in sheer anger and he passes Orochimaru to the more secure arms of Hashirama and he sneers in adultered rage at the Haruno woman, his face inches from hers, "And just why has she been banished from your pitiful civilian clan? Just tell me why, when you finally have someone taking the Haruno name and throwing it to high places, places you will never reach without her, you would banish her?"

(Madara has heard rumours from his own clan, whispers of banishing him because he is volatile, unpredictable and he is rearing his head to even Hashirama these days.)

Haruno Rei sneers up at the Uchiha man even as fear clenches her chest and freezes her blood, she knows he would not hurt in around the Hokage but she also knows he is Madara Uchiha, untamed and an arrogant brat at heart as told from other civilians in passing gossip.

"That's precisely it Uchiha-Sama, she is spreading our name, no. She is smearing our name as she moves along in her shinobi career. The complete opposite of what our clan is, the opposite of what she should be."

"And what should she be," Tobirama demurs, a frown gracing his stone-cold face. 

Rei see's red for a moment, before she calms herself enough for an answer, "Dead, preferably. Or none existent if you would like it to be put in nice terms."

The three men stand in stunned silence before Madara's eye burn a scarlet red of fury and Tobirama's frown is a sneer and killing intent is slowly wafting from him and even Hashirama has to take a deep breath to calm himself.

It's Tsunade who reacts the worst.

Little Tsunade who had run out of the clan house the moment she saw her grandfather walk out with her great uncle and Madara flanking him. The moment she saw Orochimaru and, oh so bloody Aoi. Sakumo was on her heels as she stumbled from her room and down the stairs. Through the crowded living room to the backyard and all she could feel was anger as this old hag spoke about Aoi as though she was nothing but a bug under her shoe.

Tsunade had been angry before. She had been angry at Aoi for being so calm and level headed no matter the situation. Angry because no matter how dissociated Aoi made herself seem she was always able to make friends and sometimes, just sometimes it seemed like she was an entirely different person with no worries or fear or those awful, awful nightmares that seemed to always plague her. 

Tsunade grits her teeth and stomps her way towards the old hag that dare say Aoi would smear the Haruno name, that would dare to say she wanted Aoi dead. Sakumo is on Tsunade's heels and the blonde registers his existence in the back of her mind but she is too focused, too determined to stand up for her friend.

"How dare you!" Her voice is loud and she's sure it's octaves higher than usual. "Aoi is the best, the goddamned best you old hag! She's got superb chakra control and she's the best in taijutsu class! She isn't some damned bug you can't step on and get rid of! She's my best friend! She approached Orochimaru even though no one liked him cause he's got weird eyes and he reminds people of a snake but Aoi didn't care! Aoi is kind and caring and she loves dango but denies it cause 'sweets are for kids, Tsunade,' but she still eats them because she is a kid! She's an awesome kid who's going to be a kickass shinobi with or without your stupid civvie clan backing her up! Because if you don't want her in your family then we do dammit!"

Sakumo sneers up at the woman, "And Aoi is a great friend, and yeah she's got a few quirks that make her weird but that's why we like her! Because yeah she's bad at social cue's but she builds the best pillow forts and she's always been the best at making us happy through her dumb jokes and weird references that no one ever understands! Because yes, Aoi is weird when she talks about James Charles pulling an Uno reverse card on Tati and Jeffree Star but dammit it's what makes her special! Because we have no idea what a Shrek is but that doesn't mean it isn't funny when she talks about him! And yes, she gets this weird look of nostalgia when she looks at us sometimes like she's thinking of someone else when she see's us but it's fine because that's just how Aoi is. And yeah she calls me Kakashi sometimes, and she glances over at Tsunade to quickly and gives a surprised whisper of Keina but that's fine."

Tsunade and Sakumo glare up at Haruno Rei with fury rolling through them and their eyes are set in harsh determination. 

And it's Hashirama who speaks next, "Please leave the property Haruno's, Aoi is officially a Senju now that you have disowned her. That means you have now right on our property."

From a few feet away Misaki gives a strangled sob but Rei simply sneers, "Good riddance, when the brat's K.I.A before seventeen without making any worth of herself come and find me. I'll be happy to tell you I told you so."

And Haruno Rei walks out of the Senju compound with grace while Misaki is led out by her sister, choking on her sobs in a pitiful manner but no one winces at the sight, they simply watch her leave with steel in their hearts because their friend, their precious person, is going to wake up after killing dozens of Iwagakure shinobi and be told that she had been disowned and that the Senju clan would be hosting her because of her newfound mokuton. She would not be told of her relation to Tobirama and even if she somehow miraculously finds out they will never confirm it. She will, from this day on, be parentless. 

(Tobirama doesn't admit it but there is an ache in his heart and he just want to comfort Aoi until he is blue in the face but he knows he can't.)