The next afternoon there was tension throughout the family. Sen was practicing taijutsu in the courtyard whenever Mizura approached her. She ignored him, hoping he would go away; however, he remained in front of her, silently watching with those cold eyes as she trained.

Whenever she acknowledged that he wasn't going to leave anytime soon, she paused and asked him in a flat tone, "What do you want?"

"Now that you're betrothed," he said with a sadistic pleasure dripping from his voice, "you mustn't see Madara Uchiha anymore."

"It's interesting that you think I'm going to listen to you."

He stepped to her and snarled menacingly, "But you will obey me... I'm the leader of this clan, Sen, and you're just a pawn in my game."

"I don't give a damn what you are and you certainly aren't going to tell me what I am... whether it be a pawn or Tobirama Senju's wife, but then again what's the difference," she snapped back to him aggressively. In a cold tone, she added, "Do you understand, Mizura?"

His nostrils flared as he ran his tongue over his teeth. He stepped toward her and raised his hand to her face. She was immobile as her brother's cold white eyes narrowed at her and his rough fingers cupped her chin. Her gaze was steadily holding up against his. The last thing she would ever let Mizura see was weakness.

"If you choose to disobey me, I'll take further action."

"Go ahead."

Mizura laughed under his breath before asking, "You really don't understand why we're doing any of this, do you?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and asked what he meant. With a smirk building on his face, he replied that the Uchiha were too volatile and were a danger to the village's safety. Sen asked what that had to do with the marriage. He rolled his eyes and spit back, "It means there's no future for the Uchiha in Konohagakure. It would be a wasted life to spend with Madara Uchiha whenever Tobirama Senju is available. Not even the Hokage disagreed with that whenever we spoke with him."

Hashirama? She asked herself. Would he really betray her and Madara like that? No, he wouldn't. He had just recently told her how he approved of their relationship, and then to do this? It made no sense.

"Seems your lover doesn't tell you everything," Mizura commented with arrogance. "He's become increasingly at odds with Hashirama. It seems their childhood dream diverged somewhere along the way."

"You're lying."

He told her that she could go ask Lord First herself. As his hand continued to grip her chin, he studied her face and then coldly mocked, "Why must we fight, Sen? After all, you're the only sister I have left."

A pang of anger flooded across her at his cutting remark.

"You and I may share blood, but you're not my brother," she responded. She tore her chin out his grip, turned away from him, and headed for the Hokage's office.

Upon reaching his door, she was seething with anger. She roughly swung the door open and barged into Hashirama's office. He looked up from his paperwork and smiled briefly before his face melted into worry once he saw the state Sen was in.

She marched to his desk and slammed her palms on the table before asking, "Did you urge Mizura to marry me off to your brother, when you know damn well I love Madara?" The end of her words trailed from anger into pain as her voice broke.

Her pale stare stuck to him as he stood and sighed, "They asked if I would bless the union. I told them I had no reason not to. Sen, as the Hokage, it's my job..."

"To fuck over your friends?" she snapped angrily.

He continued evenly, "To keep the law, no matter what my personal feelings are."

She threw her hands up and laughed, "I'm glad the decision of men at my expense is more important than my own desires!"

"Sen..." the Hokage tried to reason, but he knew it was futile. He had felt uneasy about the situation since it was first mentioned, but never seriously considered that Mizura would actually arrange the union. Now, it was a reality and Sen was suffering. He finished up, "I'm sorry."

She ignored his apology and asked in a low growl, "Where is he, Hashirama?"

"Tobirama?"

"You know damn well I'm not looking for Tobirama. Where is he?" she shouts aggressively.

As she raised her voice, Madara was already nearby. He had felt her angry chakra and been concerned as to what she was doing here and why she was so troubled. He was nearing the Hokage's office whenever he heard her shouting, "Where is he?"

He pushed open the door and looked at his lover and the Senju. Hashirama looked distraught while Sen was positively fuming. She turned and upon seeing him, crashed into his arms and begged, "We have to talk, right now."

Madara looked from her to Hashirama and back again. He was thoroughly confused, but he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and hardened his gaze at the Hokage. Without a word, he guided her out of the office. As they exited, Madara cast a glance back to his friend, who was watching them with a sad face. Madara watched as he sighed and let his face fall to the ground. He tightened his arm around Sen's shoulders and set his jaw, determined to find a way through this mess him and his lover were in.

In the Uchiha man's mind, there was no one worth fighting for as much as her. He would do anything to protect and make her happy.

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Can't sleep — fuck it two chapters in one night