Mornings in the Senju compound were always extremely lively, as men and women were going in every possible direction trying to get their chores done.

The market especially was the liveliest of places. Merchants went around their small shops serving customers or arranging their displays. Some were loudly praising their merchandise to get more customers in. The scents of freshly baked goods filled the air, almost covering the less enjoyable smells of fish and meat shops.

The clientele was mainly female, with the odd man here and there accompanying his new wife, shopping for himself, or getting reluctantly dragged into a tailor's shop. The civilian males of the Senju clan weren't too reluctant, but the only type of shopping you could get the shinobi interested in was shopping for weapons. That's why there was always a large crowd at the five weapon shops of the compound, no matter the hour or season.

Usually, going to the market was an activity that all the housewives enjoyed. They sometimes went in groups, or brought their children along. Most of the time they would meet a friend on the way and start to loudly call for them, which was usually the start of a pretty long, loud an energetic conversation. The kids would run around, playing with each other, and the mothers would remember them sometimes during their conversation, get a scare when they realized their children were no longer besides them, and then relax and go back to their gossip when they heard a cheerful shout indicating their whereabouts.

But today, quite a lot of people weren't being their usually loud selves. They gathered into small groups and disapprovingly whispered to each other, while staring at the two silhouettes making their way in the middle of the road. Everybody was carefully making way for them, afraid to come in contact with them, but apparently not too afraid too openly gossip about them. Most of the mothers had tightly gripped the hands of their children, and were hastily making their way to a safer side of the market. No one wanted to let their kid come near her.

In the middle of the road, a man walked while holding the hand of a little girl. His free hand was nonchalantly tucked above the waist belt in his loosely tied yukata, and his expression was cheerful, with a light smile on his lips, as if he hadn't noticed all the disapproving and disgusted stares directed their way.

The little girl holding his hand was six years old. She wore a dark purple, short-sleeved, kimono shirt with mesh armor underneath, held closed by a purple sash, and dark pants. Her long silky black hair reached down to the middle of her back and was tied loosely at around three quarters of its length, but two huge chunks from the front have been carefully styled so that they would fall like curtains on her face, effectively hiding most of it, especially her eyes. Only two very small openings were left so that she could see in front of her a little bit.

If anyone tried to look underneath the silky curtain, they would see a small face with pale but healthy skin, a small pointed noise, cherry colored small lips and a pair of wide purple eyes with black concentric circles. The little girl was indeed a beauty, and her unusual eyes only added to her mystic. Unfortunately, rare were those who could look past their hatred and misgivings to acknowledge that fact, especially not mothers with daughters not nearly as pretty.

The girls expression was however odd for her age. To her father's despair and amusement, she had inherited her mother's poker face and slightly cold exterior, and had pushed the art to the point of having a blank face 24/7. Her expression wasn't threatening or arrogant in the slightest, she just never reflected any type of emotion, and looked like she was always unfocused or detached from the present moment, when she actually wasn't.

But her lack of facial expression, didn't mean that she was incapable of feeling. Small gestures like a quivering of her eyebrow, a slight purse of her lips, the way she keeps readjusting her hair so that it was hiding her eyes, all told her father, and however was interested enough to see them, about her internal turmoil.

Like how she was tightly gripping his hand at the moment, betraying her anxiety and sadness.

She opened her mouth and a gentle silvery voice came out: "They are staring."

Her father smugly stated: "Indeed they are. Because my Yume is the most beautiful girl in this clan. Probably in the whole Land of Fire."

Yume felt her mood improve quite a bit. It always did when Papa praised her. And also because it was time for her favorite activity: Poking holes at Papa's words. She always loved to see how far he could take his shamelessness just to never admit that he was wrong.

She started in her trademark monotonous, matter of fact tone: "Papa, how can they know that I'm beautiful, if my hair is covering all of my face?"

He resignedly huffed: "And whose fault is that really? I kept telling you to tie it up properly or at least let it down, but you always insist on hiding behind you hair. You know what, I take it back. They are staring because you look weird. Like a scarecrow."

She raised her head to look at him, not missing a beat: "Papa, how can I look like a scarecrow, if you always insist that I put too much importance on looking tidy?"

He raised his head, taking the expression of a teacher who was saying something really important, and said: "Fine, then not like a scarecrow. Maybe an evil spirit. Or a ghost. Yes definitely that. Only ghosts have this hair style of yours."

He closed his eyes, seeming to think about something, and then turned to look back at her with a mischievous smile: "On the other hand, maybe you should keep this hairstyle. Ghosts are scary, so maybe you will help creep out all these nasty shameless people, who have nothing better to do with their miserable excuses for an existence than look at us going shopping."

The last part of his speech was shouted loudly enough to startle all the people who had been openly staring at them, and make them scurry away. Senju Hideki might be disgraced, but no one was daring enough to actually anger him. He was as crazy as he was strong, and no one wanted to be the target or his revenge, no matter how playful it was.

The man in question happily and smugly continued on his way, while his daughter turned back to staring ahead of her.

After a while, she said: "Papa, you're a silly man."

Hideki who was caught up in his smugness, didn't actually process what she said before he answered: "Indeed, your father is a silly man. In fact, they are so scared of me that…"

Once he realized what he had just repeated, he angrily glared at her, but she paid him no mind, and continued walking with her slightly showing blank expression. After a second, he sighed dramatically: "Out of all the things your mother had taught you, making fun of me has to be your favorite. What have I ever done to deserve this?"

She didn't answer him, but he noticed that her step had a more happy skip in it, so he smiled lightly too. It had worked and he had managed to ease her worries a little bit, and that was what counted.

Yume was an extremely smart and wise child, and she picked up on a lot of stuff kids her age usually didn't. For some time, she had understood that she wasn't welcome in the clan, and that it had something to do with her eyes, even if he didn't explain to her why. From her mother, she had learned what dojutsu were, so she knew that people didn't mind that her eyes were different, they minded her particular brand of different.

So that morning, when he had insisted that she be brave and come with him to the market, she had insisted on this particular her style. It was the one she used whenever she had to meet people she didn't trust, which virtually meant anyone other than him. He knew that it wasn't harmful to her eyesight, the tiny cracks she left where enough for her Rinnegans to see perfectly, but it pained him that his daughter felt the need to hide her beautiful face like this whenever she got out.

He would be lying if he said that he didn't resent the clan for shattering her confidence like this. He couldn't make them accept her as their own, but there was no need for the constant covert bullying he knew they subjected her too whenever he wasn't around to protect her.

They finally arrived to the vegetables shop they were heading to. This wasn't the closest one to their house, but the owner was one of the few people on the clan who were nice to Yume, so Hideki shopped exclusively from him. The owner was actually a crippled shinobi that Hideki had saved years ago. He had retired with a limp in his leg, but he was always grateful to his savior, and so he treated his daughter as nicely as he would any other child.

Yume stood by the entrance, while her father took out the list they had made, and started getting the things, while chatting with his old buddy. Three women were in the store next door, openly staring at her and hiding their lips behind their hands, as if that would stop the sounds of their whispers from reaching her.

The conversation went something like this:

Woman 1: "Tsk, why the hell does he insist on bringing her with him every week? Can't he just come alone, and keep her away at that cabin. I don't even know why the clan leadership keeps her around."

Woman 2: "I heard from my husband that they don't want those eyes to fall in enemy hands, better we keep her close and use her to our advantage than let the enemy take the lead."

Woman 1: "Everybody keeps talking about those eyes. Rinnegans here, Rinnegans there. Pfft, I still haven't seen them do anything yet."

Woman 2: "That's because she isn't properly trained yet. The elders have been urging her father to train her to the best of his abilities, so that she can be of use to us later. And with the rise of conflicts we have with the other clans, this might be sooner than later."

Woman 3: "If Hideki-san is personally training her, then the elders must really believe in her potential. Such an elite shinobi would only be given the best students. After all, Butsuma-sama has personally asked he take the young Hashirama-sama as his disciple, a year and a half ago."

Woman 1: "Well Hideki-san is still undoubtedly our best shinobi. His career only got side tracked by that bewitching Uchiha harlot, otherwise he would still be basking in glory. But even then, whenever we had a complicated battle ahead of us, he still swooped in and reversed the situation in our favor. That's why he is still so respected in our clan."

Woman 3: "But ever since that bitch died a couple years ago, he is starting to get back some of his earlier prestige. I heard that that Hanako-sama has already started looking for a match for him between the noble lineages of our clan. No family will be okay with giving him a perfectly fine young daughter with his record, and he is a bit too old for that. But our clan doesn't lack young widows with both money and status. They must be all lining up to contend for such a handsome and powerful catch."

Woman 2: "I bet they are too. But which normal woman of our clan would be willing to take in his half-bred child too, let alone a noble one. So that's why he is still dragging his feet and keeping up this whole fateful widower act. If he knew what's best for him, he would just drop her. Give her up to the clan's orphanage to raise, or at least leave her to her grandmother. That way he would be able to start again and the whole clan will gladly act like these last six years had never happened."

They kept chatting after that, but Yume tuned them out. She had heard this conversation and these comments more than a thousand times. Last time they were invited to Grandma Hanako's house for her birthday celebration, she had even heard her and Aunt Mei say them directly to her father. She had an inkling that it was the reason why they had to leave early.

She never let it show, but every part of it always felt like a knife piercing her heart over and over again. Not the insults directed at her, but the parts about her parents.

Mama had braved everything and forgot even about her own health to get her to safety on the day she was born. As a result she had fallen gravely ill, and never managed to truly recover in the four years before her death.

But Yume remembered everything about her mother, her smile, her scent, her gentle touches, her meticulous care, the way she would get angry at Papa and start throwing shuriken at him. Mama was a wonderful woman, she deserved all the love Papa felt for her and none of the nasty words the clan used to describe her.

And Yume worried about her Papa too. She had heard it too often not to start believing that she was an obstacle to Papa's happiness. If Papa would be happier remarrying and people would stop saying bad stuff about him, then she would gladly go live in the orphanage. Grandma Hanako wasn't an option for her, she knew that the old woman disliked her as much as these women did.

When Hideki finished his purchase, he got out of the shop to find his daughter deeply lost in thought. She took his free hand without a word, and both started making their way to another shop. He was about to ask her what's wrong, when she started: "Papa?"

He curiously answered: "Hmm?"

She bowed her head in a sad way, not letting him see the little of her expression he could make out, and said: "If you want to marry someone other than Mama…that's okay. I understand. I want you to be happy."

He was so shocked, that he came to an abrupt stop. Their linked hands made it so that she had to stop too, but she kept her head bowed, and didn't look at him. He could feel his anger levels rising rapidly and was about to ask her who the hell dared to say anything to her, when a cheerful boyish shout came from in front of them: "Sensei!"

In less than the couple of seconds it took him to turn his head to look at the kid he had already recognized, an eight years old ball of energy had already ran up to him, and big brown eyes were already staring up at him, with a mischievous twinkle in them.

The young boy started enthusiastically: "Sensei, what are you doing here? I never see you around in the market, and I come a lot to run errands for my mother. But I guess that you have to come sometime too, otherwise you will have nothing to eat. Anyway, I was so surprised that I run out to say Hi to you. I don't think that I have ever seen you around on our day off from training."

Hideki was amused by Hashirama's rambling, but he humored him, putting a pin on his anger for the time being: "Well I can't always be training you, now can I? I have to make time for my daughter and, as you said earlier, find something to eat."

Hashirama seemed to finally notice the little girl besides his sensei. He openly gave her a once over and then beamed at her while saying: "Hello! You must be Yume. I'm Hashirama. I know that I have seen you around a lot, but I don't think that we have ever officially met."

She was startled a little bit by the fact that he would even say Hello to her, let alone present himself in such a cordial manner.

Of course they had never 'officially' met, Yume even thought that she had never actually been within less than a mile from him up to that point. In the hierarchy of the playground in the Senju clan, Senju Hashirama and his brothers were akin to superstars. Everybody wanted to hang out with them, play in the games they were a part of, and share their snacks with them. Boys wanted to compete with them and girls wanted to be close to them, even if their mothers still hadn't fully explained why they had to want that. All in all, places in their social group were highly sought after, not something she could even dream of.

On the other hand, on the two only occasions she had tried to frequent the playground before giving up, she had been a pariah. The kids didn't fully understand why their parents didn't like her, or prevented them from playing with her or even talking to her, but that had never stopped them from being mean. Pushing her around, insulting her and openly shunning her were only some of the things that those kids had done.

On one of those occasions, she had heard him ask around if anyone wanted to join a game he was organizing that had no limits on teams, and had gathered all her courage to try and ask if she could join in.

It turns out that all of her courage wasn't much, because a glare from Cousin Yuri, the daughter of Aunt Mei, and her group of friends was enough to make her remember who she was and stop her from even trying. She sat down at the side, waiting for her dad to come pick her up, and watched as the group of girls happily went to join the game.

That day, Hashirama's team had won over his brother Tobirama's team, and she had chosen to never come back to the playground.

In response to his greeting, she only managed to give him a tiny bow, and an even tinier Hello.

Her father smiled a bit fondly at her awkwardness and said: "You'll have to excuse my Yume this time, Hashirama-kun. She is a little bit shy."

Hashirama nodded with a smile and then stopped to stare at her for a second before saying: "Your hair is all over your face. I think you hair tie came loose. You should adjust it, or you will see nothing, and bump into someone, or even worse, a wall. That won't be good for you face. Not one bit."

Hideki stifled a laugh. That was what he liked the most about his student. He was blissfully unaware of most social conventions, and those he knew of were of little to no importance to him.

Hideki knew that Hashirama was perfectly aware of his daughter's difficult situation in the clan, they had talked about it and you would have to be a fool not to notice how everyone treated Yume, and this was his way of trying to befriend his sensei's daughter.

He was truly grateful to him, and made a mental note to teach him something awesome in their session the next day. He knew that Hashirama wasn't looking for compensation, but that didn't mean he shouldn't give it. God only knew how good it will be for Yume if she befriended the clan heir.

On the other side, Yume wasn't grateful at all. What the hell was she supposed to answer his statement? And Papa was no help at all, even if she kept squeezing his hand with all her might to get him to help her think of something. She was about to start hyperventilating, when someone came to her rescue.

A pale hand, paler that even Yume's, balled into a fist and came to hit Hashirama over the head quite hard. The boy screamed, a hand shooting to grab the place that had been hit while he mournfully turned his head to look to his left.

A younger albino kid was standing there, wholly unimpressed by his older brother's glare. He had a hand on his hip, one other raised hand, and a glare that signaled that he wouldn't mind hitting again. She immediately recognized him as Senju Tobirama, Hashirama's younger brother. Behind him were also Kawarama and Itama, Butsuma's two other kids. One had a mocking look on his face, while the other looked a bit apologetic with a worried smile.

Tobirama started scolding: "Care to explain to me why you ran out of the fisherman's shop without saying a word? And why you couldn't even be bothered to drop the fishing rods you were examining before bolting out? You know that we had to pay for those, right?"

True enough, once Yume took a good look, she noticed that Hashirama had too fishing rods in one hand. Kawarama and Itama had one each too, and they were holding small bags, that she guessed were filled with other fishing equipment. Tobirama had two bags with him, but no fishing rods.

She couldn't help but feel slightly envious. Even if he was scolding him, Tobirama had already decided that he would take one of the rods, to cover for his brother's blunder, and had even brought him a bag too. She too would have loved to have a sibling, so that she wouldn't be so lonely anymore.

Hashirama pouted while explaining: "I just saw sensei passing by, and had to come say hello. I was being polite, you should learn that skill too someday. And it's not like anyone would accuse me of stealing, they all know who I am at the shop. I would have eventually comeback."

Tobirama looked up at Hideki and then gave a small bow: "Nice to see you, Hideki-san."

Hideki gave him a smile and a nod: "Like wise." He titled his head to the side and then asked: "Are you boys going somewhere? Having a brothers' fishing expedition, or something?"

The exited voice of Kawarama answered him: "Father has a day off today! And it's the first time it coincided with both Hashi ni-san and Tobi ni-san 's day off too. So he promised that he will take us fishing today. He even gave us the money to buy proper gear, and said that we can keep the change to buy sweets. This is the best day ever!"

Everybody smiled at his enthusiasm, even a few passerby. Such peaceful days where children's enthusiasm could be set free were hard to come by in their line of work.

Hideki thought about something: "Well you better go back fast, before someone comes to him with a problem, and you lose him for the day. I will see when you get there."

Hashirama was confused: "You're going fishing today too, sensei? And at the same place we are?"

Hideki just smiled: "You will get it later. Now off with you, your brothers all look like they want to murder you for slowing them down."

Hashirama yelped and turned to look at his siblings. Even the usually aloof Tobirama was showing signs of restlessness. He quickly said goodbye to his teacher, and run off with them, to keep their father secure from any bureaucrats that might be lurking around.

Hideki watched them run with amusement, and then turned to look at his daughter: "They said something about candy. Do you want some too?"

Her eyes shot up to him, and not even her hair could hide the glint of greed in them.

He laughed once again and said: "Alright, Papa is going to spoil you rotten today."