Wounded Worlds

二

The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.

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A little while after cleaning and getting over her feelings of being blue, Angela was kneeled by her mother in the throne room. Butsuma sat in the center and sat proudly as his sons sat to the right of him. All lined up from eldest to youngest. Hashirama was the first and acted as Butsuma's right hand man. After Hashirama was Tobirama, the albino brother. He was a year younger than Hashirama and was the most serious out of all the siblings. He took his tasks seriously and prioritized them over anything else. Clan first, then family. Next in line was Senju Kawarama with short, light brown hair and a scar on his cheek from the war. He was cool headed and silently reserved to himself. Sometimes Angela forgot he was in the same room as her.

Last but not least of the sons was Senju Itama. He was a fraternal twin of Kawarama and were both at the age of seven. Itama bore half dark brown and half white hair and dark brown eyes. He was a soft hearted boy who was the most traumatized by the brutalities of war out of his brothers. He was Angela's closest sibling who got along with each other easily. Butsuma often scolded him and forced him to mature at such a young age. Crying was a sign of weakness and was condemned by their father, especially if it came from a male. All in all, the brothers grew up numbed to the war and were raised on nationalistic beliefs.

Clan over family.

Each member had roles to serve. Hashirama would one day take over Butsuma's role as leader of the clan and Tobirama would be his right hand man. For the twins, their role had yet to be picked. But they most likely would be Hashirama's advisors once they matured and grew. As for Angela, she was merely a tool for power. Either she would be wedded off in an arranged marriage for an alliance between clans or traded as a concubine for wealth.

As of now the family sat in the throne room in silence while Butsuma and the leader of the invited clan discussed over something Angela lost interest in. She had been spacing in and out and only thought of the boy. The Senju had never seen him around before and it was rare to see anyone with hair colors different than brown around these parts. Plus they were strangers. Were they spies? Enemies? She didn't know. Her head suddenly perked up when the word, "alliance" was mentioned by her father. Was it her time? Angela mentally shook her head at that thought. She was only five and had more to learn, what would be the point in giving a mere child away who could barely pour tea without messing up?

"I think it's time we renew our alliance. Our grandfathers were good friends, no?" Asked the man who Angela assumed to be the leader of the clan. He bore a serious expression with facial lines on his forehead and other stress lines on his face. He was growing a beard but had stubbles in replacement for the time being. His hair was red with dark grey eye colors. A katana hung off of his hip as did a selected handful of his men who kneeled behind him. The clansmen sat across from her family with a good amount of distance from each other. Hazel eyes finally trailed back up to the stern face of the man— only to slightly jump in shock to find him staring back at her. His tanned colored lips curled upwards into a smile. "You'd make a lovely wife for my son, Tanjiro."

"Perhaps that is a topic for another time." Reminded Seiko sweetly. But it sounded more of a fake tone of sweet and more forced. "We are here to discuss renewing our alliance, not marriage, Tenzou-sama." Tenzou looked back at Butsuma with a raised eyebrow, as if asking him a silent question.