The crescendo of the musical orchestra reached a high pitch as the conductor waved his arms rather frantically, or so it seemed to the august audience seated in the hall, now bringing a conclusion to a rather frenetic finale of the William Tell Overture. Each and every one of the members of the orchestra looked so focused, anymore might see them break in sweat.

Waving her arms in sync with the Conductor, seated in a box at the very top in the most expensive gallery of the hall, was a young woman dressed glamorously. She waved her elegant arms, humming with her eyes closed. Besides her to her right sat another young man, eyes closed with a look of concentration, and another tall stately man of good age with elegant white hair sat in a bespoke suit to her left, all three clearly enjoying themselves.

The conductor brought the overture to an end, and bowed to a politely applauding audience, giving a courtly half bow, then proceeded off the stage followed by the members of the orchestra.

What a lovely performance, thought Fumio to himself, then was immediately bought back to reality by the raucous clapping to his left. He had almost forgotten that he was currently accompanying a certain Yukinoshita Haruno, and her father of all people was sitting not two seats away as well.

What terrible luck, that he should be picked out from the hundreds seated in the regular not so expensive seats down towards the back of the hall where he had seated himself, by a particularly sharp eyed woman.

He had just settled down for the performance when the woman stormed through the aisles, as she usually did anyway, and grabbed his arm with a 'Fumio-san!' and dragged him away into hell…uhm, into the topmost gallery where her father was already seated. The performance had already begun by then, and so he quietly joined them there, seating himself on one of the numerous empty seats, then getting dragged closer by Haruno.

As soon as Haruno's clapping finished, she turned and said, "Wasn't that great? I really wish I was down there conducting the orchestra."

"Are you sure you could conduct a full Rossini composition, my dear?" asked her father with an indulgent smile.

"Oh, pshaw Father." Pouted Haruno. "I can play Mozart or Rossini or Tchaikovsky if I wanted to. Do you have no trust in your daughter's skills?"

"Of course dear, of course I know you can play all those composers. I have full trust in you." He placated her with raised hands smiling at her indulgently.

Unconvinced, Haruno hmph'ed and crossed her arms. "I'm going to the Ladies room. Keep Fumio some company, please." And stormed out.

Mr Yukinoshita sighed, as if he had had a handful of his daughter. Come to think of it, his family was filled with indomitable and strong women, who all seemed to want their way.

But this was awkward. For some reason, Mr Yukinoshita kept looking his way with a smile.

"You know," he broke the silence, still smiling, "she's…happier now. Which is something difficult for so many of us to achieve." He got off his seat, unbuttoning his coat.

"This business is one of deception, lying and trickery."

"Not something you would want your daughter to learn." Fumio said rather tartly.

"No, certainly not something I would want my kids to learn." He sighed. "I sent Yukino away when I saw how Haruno felt stifled with all the facades we put up in the course of our work. I thought that would work."

"Yukino…your younger daughter?" Fumio asked.

"That's the one." He replied.

"But you know…" he continued, "she seems free-er now, as if a whole lot of possibilities have opened up for her." He looked down and paused, then continued. "I've always wanted my daughters to choose what they felt they wanted to pursue.

It came as a surprise when Haruno started playing a part in family politics alongside her Mother. Which probably means her Mother has had a part in… recruiting her in to the family business. I should've prevented her from joining in with a firm hand right at the start."

"But she's just too good isn't she? That's why you don't want to let her go?"

Mr Yukinoshita sighed again. "I guess I've always wanted a helping hand from someone I could trust. Also…"

But Fumio guessed what he really wanted to say. "You wanted to be a role model for your children. Maybe convince them that your job really had a higher purpose. That it was a good calling."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. When all is said and done, every man would want his decisions to be the right ones, no matter how improbable that is. Maybe you will understand when you get to my age."

"Nevertheless, I know there are others in her life who have helped her along. Her old sensei, for one. And others too. She speaks highly of you too."

Fumio smiled, but curdled it when Haruno came back inside. "I want to meet the conductor and the orchestra." She said to no one in particular. Then she turned around and said, "I know you have a meeting…with Mother. Why don't you buy something for her on the way?"

"I'll do that dear." Mr Yukinoshita smiled at her, and putting his coat back on, and kissing Haruno lightly on her cheek, walked out. But not before a 'I'll be seeing you soon' whispered to Fumio.

"Come on, they won't be waiting for long, and I need to inform the conductor that his baton technique is not quite up to the mark."

"Woah, hold up, Miss. He's not going to be thrilled when some random woman from the audience walks up to him and lectures him on his techniques, especially since he is the Music director of some orchestra, and some might say, at the height of his profession."

"But why not? He should be thankful that I'm giving him some tips regarding the techniques he uses."

"If everyone was open minded enough to accept constructive criticism, there would be no wars and peace would take over the world, and we could all stay at home happy with our lives. Unfortunately, some people just do not like being told they are wrong, even if they are wrong. And they only find out through some catastrophe that they were wrong."

Haruno looked at him for what seemed like a long time, then grabbed his hand dragging him along to the backstage. Once there, she proceeded to tell the conductor how his techniques were not right.

"Ma'am, you are right. As a matter of fact, my baton technique might have been a bit off today because I sprained by elbow two days back. I'm nursing it back to full health. But say, you have very good eyes spotting my baton technique. Are you a professional yourself?"

"Ah, no, you flatter me. But I have studied Music since I was small, and I have conducted a few amateur orchestras in my time."

Once they winded down, Haruno led a somewhat flabbergasted Fumio out.

"See, that didn't go so badly, did it? He accepted what I have to say. Sometimes," she gave him a disapproving look, "you just don't believe in people. And when you don't, you miss out on how good people can be. The world isn't filled with manipulative people who are just waiting to stab you in the back. After all, you help people without expecting rewards too, don't you?"

Fumio sighed. He had to give her this one.

No, who was he kidding? He would argue of course.

"Very rich coming from someone in the politics arena. Besides, he only accepted your critique because he could afford to. Because he sprained his elbow. He would never accept his style to be wrong." Fumio argued.
"You will never admit that you're wrong, will you?"

"Well, fine. I admit, that was a flimsy argument at best." Fumio decided to let this one go.

"My, my, you gave up so easily. What happened to your combative spirit, Fumio-san?"

"This is truly confusing. You ask me to give up saying I don't accept I'm wrong. Then you take me to task for not arguing with you?"

The two entered a coffee shop. "That's how women do things, Fumio san. You can never truly understand a woman."

Well, that was definitely true.

"So, what are we doing in a café?"

"Nothing, just catching up. I haven't seen you in a while."

Fumio sat heavily across the table. Normally, he would like to be back in his room, preparing for…wait, it was holiday time. He didn't have anything better to do anyways.

After a few minutes of silence, Haruno spoke up,

"You never told me much about your family. How come?"

Fumio looked up from his phone.

"You never asked."

"Well, I'm asking now."

"What's this about?" Fumio asked suspiciously.

"Just killing time."

"Well, I never did have one. I stayed at a foster home. More importantly, how are things with your mother? I seem to recall you had some issues there. Everything all right?"

The change in topic worked wonderfully.

"Yeah." She said wearily. "It's resolved. We talked it out. Turns out she wasn't all that intimidating after all."

"She's just human, you know. Besides, she has a huge soft spot for you. Every mother does,"

"I found that out. I feel…somewhat at ease now. I can talk to her more freely, I can talk to my sister more freely. There aren't black clouds hanging over my head anymore. The feeling is very nice." She stopped and looked out of the window.

"But?"

"But… I can never stop myself from feeling a little guilty. Turns out she always wanted something good for me. So I didn't really have to doubt her, did I?"

"No, no you didn't. Despite her forcing you to do things, there was always a good reason behind it. But the point is that now you can voice your concerns when you think something is not right. You can have a conversation with her, it's not going to be a one way order-based communication."

"Yeah, you're right. I still feel uneasy about other things."

"That's natural. Once you have what you want, you start questioning your decisions and your methods. What's bothering you?"

"Turns out I have never been as independent as I thought I was. First I thought I would try to be independent of my mother, but now I realize that that was just a mirage. I still depend on her just as much. Not to mention I wouldn't be any where if it weren't for my father.
Second, I never thought I would actually rely on my younger sister to do things for me. Turns out I have been doing exactly that."

"How so?"

"Do you remember that kid who you met at the childcare center a few weeks ago? Hikigaya Hachiman?"
"I remember. Quite a perceptive young man."

"Yes. Well, I relied on him to push my sister. To push her into a confrontation with Mother so that when she and my mother talked things out, I would also benefit from it, and be left to my own devices. Or, in other words gain my freedom. It's funny." She snorted self-deprecatingly. "She always thought she relied on me to do things for her, whereas I was the one relying on those two. How ironic."

Fumio leaned back on to his seat and sighed.

"No person is truly free. Everyone has obligations they need to attend to. When you have someone who loves you, they will definitely expect something or the other from you, just because you have that special relationship with them which makes them feel special. Lose that, and you lose your family.

As for your sister, I am sure she has her illusions regarding your status as the elder sibling, just as you have certain illusions regarding her freedom and so on, her being the younger one."

"So…there's no relief from expectations is there?"

"Let me tell you a story." Fumio leaned forward.

"You know how much I love those." Haruno said in a bored voice.

"You'll find this one more…relatable."

"Go on."

"Well, we once had a group of people who decided to forsake each and every responsibility in the name of enjoying their youth. They decided that they wanted to hold on to no permanent relationship, live independently and cut ties from their families in all but name, going back to their homes only on long holidays-"

"Yes, yes, I get the picture. The Americans are who you are talking about. Do go on." She hurried him.

"Yes-No, not strictly speaking, but they are definitely there. But do you see where such an experiment leads? Old age homes where their parents go once no one wants to take care of them. The concept of having open relationships is all very liberating. But what happens once a woman gets pregnant and the man simply runs away and doesn't take responsibility? I've seen so many cowards like those in my life. Kids left to their own devices to take care of themselves with no fallback plans if things go downhill economically."

"What are you trying to get at?"

"All I'm trying to say is, for certain people in life who you love, you need to take responsibility. That's the best way you can live. Sure, it gets cumbersome when someone wants more of your time or some of your resources. But it is the cost of loving someone. And once that cost is paid, you get profits beyond your dreams. No one can count the cost of warm fuzzy feeling of emotions when such emotions are good. Such parameters do not exist."
"Depending on someone is really not a bad thing. You might view it as a weakness, because in politics, the strongest survive. But is that really true? Do you not make alliances and strengthen your positions to attack your opponents?"

"Yes, we do. But such alliances can dissolve very quickly once the goal has been achieved, right?"

"That's true. And that's the cost you pay when everyone has their own agenda. But you cannot stop that from happening because everyone has an independent thought process. They see themselves in a different way than you do. They have different goals and aspirations.

And that's how it is in real life. Your family may see themselves in different places using different methods. World peace can be achieved through violence or through negotiation. But the point is, everyone sees themselves differently. But if there are people who support you, things become far more easier."

"Huh, you can be a very positive person when you want to, right?"

"I can be positive when I'm feeling like it." Fumio replied negligently.

"Well, you found your way out then, right?" he asked.

Haruno arched her eyebrow with a silent question.

"With your mother, and everything."

"Oh, Oh yes I did."

"Good, that frees up both you and your sister."

"It sure does."

"Well, that's one more thing set right in this world."

"Not quite." Haruno said.

Fumio looked at her in askance.

"There's still the matter of your reward."

"What do you mean? Reward for what?"

"For putting up with me. Both you and Shizuka chan."

"Speaking of, it's been a while since I went to the Center. Exams and such. You want to go?"

"Why not? Let's"

And the two of them got up, with not a care in the world. Life can throw what it wants your way, Haruno thought. But it was important to have good people by your side, just to make sure you kept to the right track. And she certainly was thankful she had such people around her.

A/N: I had pretty much finished what I wanted to do with this fic the last chapter. There was no significant development for Haruno this chapter. Just airing one other theory I have regarding her behavior towards Hikigaya and Yukino.

It is quite ironic that my other fics have brought out certain guest reviewers who think this fic is better than the others, which amuses me a lot because I certainly don't see them reviewing this fic if it's so much better than the others. Such behavior or commenting, retard-ness aside, seems quite immature coming from people who have never written (or at least displayed written works) here on fanfiction.

Stupidity and useless critiques aside, I've covered what I wanted to cover regarding Haruno from a philosophical lens. I understand such fics may appear grandstanding, arrogant even, in their assumptions of Haruno's character, but apart from maybe just one other really old fic that I found on this site, there is no coverage of Haruno's side of the story. Hence this effort at understanding her problems.

Finally, I understand that such a huge amount of character development cannot realistically happen in short time (or maybe it can, given Haruno's intelligence), but that aside, I felt I wanted to show one positive pathway for Haruno's quest to freedom and even greater maturity.

Sincerest thanks to all the (sincere) reviewers such as Ralph, Imanuke, Sorashita, Aqua sama, wewewe (Tobe-kun, is that you?) and all the guest reviewers. Thank you. Hslipppery out.