Title: The Most Important Things (are the Hardest to Say)

Summary: Life, as life is just bound to do, goes on. A continuation to the Small Things Series. HashiMada, happy ending AU.

A/N: So far I thought I'll never post this thing. Too many OCs, too many changes compared to canon. However, I now find the recent manga happenings so shitty that I figured I don't have to be ashamed to post anything.

If this didn't put you off from reading, please heed the warnings: OCs and all kind of stuff happening that you can usually watch on Hallmark channel 4 in the afternoon.

Also, this is at this point massively a WIP.

If you didn't read It's the Small Things and Those Everyday Things, this won't make much sense.

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"Dad, can I talk to you?"

Hashirama emerged from under his desk, where he'd been busy trying to hide papers in his overflowing drawers so his brother wouldn't see them lying on his desk and assume (correctly) that he hadn't dealt with them yet. Tobirama took on the habit of regularly checking on him in the evenings and he wasn't too keen listening to him ranting about the importance of accurately done paperwork as he usually did. A bit flushed for being caught in the act, but altogether happy to see his daughter as always, he straightened up, brushing out the hair from his face and came over to greet her.

Aina returned his hug rather tensely and her smile was strained too. Hashirama sat down on the edge of his table, his own grin fading seeing her grim expression.

"What's the matter darling?"

"It's… I need to ask you something, dad. Rather, to tell you something."

"Did something happen on the mission?" he asked, concerned. She just returned from one, he well knew. He rarely had any peace of mind, now that all three of their children lived as shinobi is supposed to live. He couldn't even keep thirteen years old Noboru away from fights, lucky that his position allowed him to at least filter the too dangerous ones. But both Takumi and Aina claimed they were adults now and demanded him to assign them proper missions. She looked unharmed, even if a bit pale, but some wounds were invisible to the eye - the ones that healed the most difficult, scars of the soul, a lost comrade due to a wrong decision, a jutsu that didn't take effect as it was supposed to, and affected the whole team…

"No, it's nothing like that…" Aina looked down at her toes, apparently searching for words. Hashirama remembered a conversation like this, from three years ago, when his then fourteen years old daughter had her first serious crush... Maybe it was a similar problem this time too?

"Is it something to do with a boy?"

"You could say that," Aina sighed, but didn't look as if she wanted to share more.

"I know it's been hard on you since Hideki left…" Actually leaving was a very gentle way to put it. Aina had broken up with his boyfriend for a year amid a huge quarrel then cried loudly whole night a few months ago. Hashirama remembered it as one of the most terrible days in his life, as he tried to comfort - in vain - his devastated daughter while two of his wood clones did everything they could to hold Madara back from going after the boy to do something fatally unpleasant to him, something that not even the Hokage's partner could do without consequences. Like gutting him. He was really protective of their daughter. "Do you still miss…?"

"It's not about Hideki ."

"So is there someone new?" It was good to hear, though of course the news worried him a bit too. Aina tended to switch between boys trying to win her favour. She fell in love so easily… and fell out of it just as quickly. Hashirama would have liked her to find some nice, dependable young man who could make her happy and with whom she could settle down with. Sometimes it was very hard not to tell her so.

"You could say that…"

"So is it someone from your team? I was always sure Jorou fancied you…"

"No, it's not…"

"Then is it maybe…?"

"Dad, would you stop guessing?" she snapped. "I'm trying to tell you something important here!"

"Sorry, sorry," he held up his hands, trying to remain silent. Aina just stared at him and he realized she was trying to gather her courage for whatever she wanted to talk about. That was foreboding as generally she wasn't afraid of anything. "You know you can tell me whatever's on your mind, darling," he prompted softly.

"Dad, I'm pregnant."

Hashirama blinked at her, at loss for words. What can you say to an announcement like that? But you're only seventeen! came to his mind first, but he gulped that back. How is that possible? seemed way too ignorant and Madara will kill me for letting this happen! just sounded selfish.

"How… I mean… who…?" he croaked at last.

Aina crossed her arms and looked sideways. She was hurt obviously, but before Hashirama could amend his words, she replied.

"If you mean who's the father, it's Minoru Rinha."

"Oh. I didn't know you are together…" Hashirama had a hard time recalling the boy, a couple of years older than Aina. He wasn't really a noticeable ninja, but if Aina loved him, that would be enough...

"We're not."

"Oh."

"It was a one-time-thing, and…"

"Oh!"

"Dad. Don't worry," Aina said on a firm voice, setting her chin up, and that was such a nonsense thing to say under the circumstances that Hashirama didn't manage more than to blink at her. "I don't want to bring shame to you, so I already made plans to move to another village - before anyone here would notice anything."

"What are you talking about, darling?" the Senju asked, totally dumfounded.

"Dad," her daughter sighed, the way Madara always did when he deemed his lover too slow. "You did so much to me already, and I don't want to pay it back with making you and Madara- san the gossip matter of the village."

"Why would you…"

"I'm obviously not going to marry Minoru, but what would people say, if the Hokage's adopted daughter gave birth to a… bastard."

"Oh." he was repeating himself, he knew.

"So before it becomes obvious, I'm going to…"

"Aina, honey," Hashirama found his voice at last. "Madara and I've been raising you three and living together for years. Do you honestly think either he or me would care what people say about your pregnancy?"

"But that's…"

"If we learned anything, it's how not to care about gossipers."

"But…"

"You don't think we'd let you go away when you need our support more than ever, do you?"

"Dad…"

"Why have you ever thought we'd abandon you so? We are your family after all and…"

Tears started to roll down the girl's cheeks, silently at first, but when Hashirama tried to wipe them off with the back of him hand, they turned into choked, throaty sobs. He gathered her in his arms and held her close until she calmed down, her wet face pressed against his chest.

"Aren't you mad?" she mumbled after a while. "Why aren't you mad?"

"Aina, honey, I'm just worried. You are so young and…" barely more than a child yourself, "… you know there are ways to not to have this baby…" as a medic himself, he was aware how to abort a pregnancy without endangering the mother, even if he wasn't at ease with the idea. Still, it was probably better than giving birth if she didn't want to.

"I…" his daughter sniffed, rubbing her cheeks against his shirt. It was a gesture she did ever since Hashirama knew her; trying to disguise the marks of crying after he comforted her. "I can't do that, dad. I've been thinking this through. I want to give this child a home just as you have given it to me. That's why I said I'll move away, so…"

"Don't worry," Hashirama said, and he managed to sound calm despite the thoughts chasing around wildly in his mind. "He or she will be welcome to the family."

"Madara-san will be so mad at me."

"No," he denied firmly. "He won't be mad at you." Which was the truth – he would be at Hashirama though, and it was better not to even think about what he might do to the unfortunate father-to-be. "Just let me talk to him first."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, it will be better that way. You just don't worry – you shouldn't overtax yourself at any rate. Don't you want to sit down?" worry twisted his guts suddenly as the news finally sank in. What did he know about pregnancies? The very basics a medic should know, but that wasn't the same as dealing with it in practice. He would definitely need to consult this with… gods, who should he turn to? Tobirama came to mind instantly, being a proud father for two years now, but he discarded the idea. He didn't need additional problems right now, and the younger Senju would definitely not be pleased with this development. And what the hell could he say to Madara that wouldn't result in bloodshed? There would be the baby coming… when exactly? In less than nine months at any rate, and he needed to get prepared… To what, he didn't even know. They raised their children together, but as his brother once put it, they got them ready made, they didn't prepare them for dealing with a newborn. Aina didn't have a mother to comfort her and to give her advice, he should have realized in time that she'd need someone from her own gender to turn to for guidance…

"I think it's rather you who need to sit down," Aina peered at him sceptically. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, yes, just a bit dizzy…"

"I know it's a shock, but dad… thank you. You don't know how much this means to me."

"Honey, I'm your father. This is the least I can do. That reminds me – does your brothers know?"

"Only Takumi and only because he caught me when I was throwing up."

"Were you feeling sick?!"

"It's apparently completely normal," she soothed him, obviously barely resisting rolling her eyes.

"I guess it is. I need to do a research and see…"

"It's just pregnancy, dad. You don't need to fret over it."

"You're talking about the birth of my first grandchild young lady, I maintain the right to fret all that I want over it!"

"All right, grandpa," Aina smirked and cuddled close once again, letting him support her weight.

They stood like that for a while. Hashirama bathed in the feeling of being needed, and the happiness of her daughter turning him in need. It was such a pleasant sensation that it even managed to cloud the rather frightening thought of becoming a grandfather at thirty-eight.

Aina washed her face before leaving the Hokage's office. She still felt shaky, but she put that down to her hormones – all books she read agreed that pregnant women were bound to be less balanced. She hated that, it made her feel weak. Really, breaking down and crying, when she'd been so firm in her resolve to leave the village, to cause the less possible harm to her family.

She'd been ashamed for being so stupid for allowing something like this to happen to her, for the ordeal this might mean to the most important people. She was ready to take the blame – she wanted to take the blame when she decided to talk to her father, but he didn't let her.

She smiled into the mirror above the sink. Her face was still flushed and her eyes red, but she looked a bit better. It was easy to believe everything was going to be all right when dad said so.

She clearly remembered that day, ten years ago. She had been so lost – standing in their empty house, while men she didn't know told her that her mother wouldn't be back. Just like her father hadn't come back one day. She remembered the fear – what would happen to her? Would they take her away some place where children, whose parents were gone lived, or was she expected to get by on her own from now on?

Than another man came, and she knew him by site. Her mum always pointed him out when they saw him on the streets, saying "Look at Hokage-sama! Thanks to him, we can sleep safely in our bed at night." Saying that he was there to protect them all. But in the end, that was a lie.

She still remembered how tears clouded her vision, how close she was shouting at him for failing to protect her mother, which was supposed to be his job.

Than the man crouched down in front of her and hugged her. He had deep, sad eyes and warm, wide palms and despite her will, seven years old Aina started to trust him instantly.

"I'm so sorry," he said. "This shouldn't have happened. If you want to, you can live with us – I'll make sure that no further harm will come to you."

She believed him and that was a decision she never regretted.

Takumi was waiting for her, sitting on a bench under the shadows of trees. Seeing her shaky smile and cried-out eyes he snorted.

"I told you that you were being an idiot!" he claimed, louder than necessary which showed he was worried too. "There's no way he'd send you away. You're his favourite after all."

"No, I'm not!" she denied, secretly pleased with him saying that. "He'd be the same to you!"

"Just Noboru or I can't get pregnant."

"You don't know how lucky you are," Aina murmured. Sometimes she felt it unfair, being the only female in the family. Guys got it so much easier. They didn't have to worry much about how their clothes looked like, how their hair looked like, of monthly periods or tits being a damn hindrance when you were dashing among trees on a mission… nor about getting knocked up on one silly, drunken night by a guy you don't even particularly fancy.

"So what did he say?"

"That it's going to be alight. He wasn't angry at all – just a bit overwhelmed, I guess. And that he's going to talk to Madara-san first."

"So you got it easy, didn't you?"

Aina sighed, feeling guilty. Despite Hashirama's insurance, she was sure their other adopting father wouldn't take this turn of events easily. She was a coward for letting dad handle it, but if she feared something, it was disappointing Madara-san.

"You know how he is like – what he thinks how we should live is too conservative for easily accepting something like this."

"Rather hypocrite of him, isn't it?" Takumi muttered. "Him living with dad is much more scandalous than you getting…"

"Don't say it like that!" Aina snapped, glaring angrily at him. It annoyed her that she had to look up to do that. Her brother grew so much in the last year or so, into a gangly, awkward sixteen years old. "You know that he wants the best for us, to be able to be proud of us…"

"Honestly, you're worse than father! There's a limit to adoring someone - after a point it just gets crazy."

"Are you telling me you don't care what he thinks?!"

"No, I don't! Just that he might not be always right. He's only human too, you know."

"Hmph," she mumbled, unconvinced. From the day she set her eyes on him, she was completely bewitched by the Uchiha's charm. As far as she was concerned what he said or thought was the right way of saying and thinking things. She used to be so firm on her beliefs that one day she's going to find a boy who was just as - or almost as - great as him. Well, she thought sourly, putting his hand over her still-flat belly, her chances were now worse than ever for that.

"What's with the long face?" Takumi questioned her.

"I was just wondering if I ruined my whole life."

"You're just being an idiot again. Everything will turn out for the best."

"Nothing's gonna be the same again!" she snapped. "I'm going to be a mother," saying it out loud seemed to make it real somehow. Tears started to cloud her vision again, so she swiped them angrily away with her sleeve. "I'll never find a proper boyfriend now."

"Is that really your biggest problem? You're… you're the Hokage's daughter. And you don't look too bad. Guys will line up to adopt your kid."

"Thanks, I guess," Aina muttered, but she couldn't help but smile at this not-quite compliment. At least he was trying.

"And you know that we'll help you too. That should count."

"That's pretty much the most important," she assured him, stopping to hug him. Takumi flushed red from being embraced publicly, but she didn't let him go until he started to fidget.