[Hokage] Flower Time

Huashi was awakened by Bai Jue's noisy voice.

"Happy birthday!"

She seemed to hear someone whispering this in her ear, and thought in a trance that it was those annoying boys who took advantage of her lunch break to stuff those unpleasant gifts into her drawer.Those weird-tasting candies, flowers unsuitable for young girls, poetry with very nasty words and sentences...

She slowly opened her eyes, a white light appeared in the darkness, and then gradually expanded.Her eyes moved slightly, trying to adapt to the light, and her gaze drifted to the side—a small green dinosaur stood upright on the door frame that opened at some point.

She sat up all of a sudden, and subconsciously wanted to reach out and throw the little dinosaur out.When she stretched her hand halfway, she suddenly stopped her movements as if she suddenly remembered something.

It was sent by Bai Jue.

Apart from it, no one cared about her birthday now.

She was born on April 44th in Konoha'[-]...it was a very good day.It is the time when the flowers bloom, and it is also the warmest and most beautiful time among the four seasons.In the past, every year on her birthday, she would receive many strange gifts.Poetry collection, brand new kunai, wristbands chosen by the teacher, scarves woven by others, delicious tricolor dumplings...

"Hey, Bai Jue." She lifted the thin blanket covering her body, stood up, and said, "Take your toys away."

——For so many years, it’s too much to send the same dinosaur every year, right?Don't think she can't see that the dinosaur's tail will be broken by Bai Jue.

Bai Jue emerged from the ground, blinking its green eyes, and said, "Don't you like Xiao Huashi's birthday present this year?"

"I don't like it."—she never said she wanted a baby dinosaur as a present!

"Why are you always so indifferent?"

"……No reason."

After talking with Bai Jue, she felt a slight tingling and stiffness around her lips.She touched it with her hand, and it turned out that someone had treated the burn wound around her mouth that was extinguished by the fire, and put a piece of adhesive plaster on it, which felt cool to the touch.When she spoke just now, she pulled the cheek muscles that were bound by the tape, so she felt stiff.

She touched the tape up and down for a while, suppressing the strange feeling in her heart.

With her back facing Bai Jue, she began to dress, wash and take care of her long hair.While washing her face with cold water, she couldn't help looking to the side—a glass bottle was quietly placed on the tatami over there, and Shisui's eyes were silently half-hanging in the liquid inside. .

——Brother's eyes are looking at her...

She seemed to see her brother bid farewell to her tenderly at the door of the house again, and in the afternoon, he gathered the black clothes on the clothesline and threw them into her arms one by one.He should be taller now, right?If all that hadn't happened, he would already be the best ninja in the Uchiha clan, right?

"Madara has left again." Bai Jue shouted towards her back: "For a while, we are the only two of us for company again."

"..." She smoothed her combed black hair to the back of her head, ignoring Bai Jue.

Madara left and had nothing to do with her.

That's what Huashi said to herself.

"Will Xiao Hua feel bored?" Bai Jue continued to ask: "I am just a clone, although I can split into many clones to play with you, but if Madara is not around, you will be quite bored, right? After all, he is so good to you."

"...He is good to me?" Hua Shi frowned, and said coldly: "If he is really good to me, then how did my injuries come from? When he wanted to kill me , but there is no mercy at all..."

Speaking of this, her words choked.

No mercy at all...

"But you're not dead." Bai Jue's voice was full of confusion: "I've never seen Madara pay attention to someone for so long... Five years? Seven years?... I don't really remember."

"What?" She seemed to have caught something suddenly, and asked suspiciously, "How many years?"

"Ah, nothing." Bai Jue said, raised the little dinosaur with his white arms, and said, "Come play with the little dinosaur?"

"……To shut up."

— No one wants to play with baby dinosaurs at all!

×

For Huashi, Baijue is a moving background that can be ignored.He chatters occasionally, and when no one responds and feels bored, he will automatically disappear.But for Bai Jue, talking to Hua Shi is a waste of time.She said less than Madara.She always trains against those kunai and bull's-eye alone, or simply tries her illusion on it.

She remembers her desire to "be stronger", so she never stops practicing even when Madara is not here.The previous battle with Danzo brought her knowledge of actual combat one step closer.The practice of throwing at the dead bull's-eye, as she used to do, made her feel dull.

The few kunai on the wall all hit the red heart, leaving broken cracks on the hard stone wall.She straightened up, lowered her crossed arms, and wanted to use a fire-type ninja technique in the seal.

When the fireball was blown out, the muscles in the mouth pulled the original burn again, causing her to frown slightly.

All was quiet, and she could hear the flapping of birds' wings in the nearby forest.However, in the most normal and incomparable silence, she heard someone's footsteps gradually approaching.

That wasn't Madara's footsteps, nor did it belong to Bai Ze.

Immediately afterwards, Bai Jue's wailing came from not far away.Although she knew that Bai Jue could have unlimited clones, and it would not be a big problem to lose one clone, she still frowned.She pulled out a kunai from the wall, and walked towards the place where Bai Jue was screaming.

Before she got close, she saw the jumping black flame on the opposite side.The flames seemed to be alive, and the flames licked on Bai Jue's body. After a burst of raging without any sign of extinguishing, Bai Jue turned into a piece of scorched black and lay down on the ground.

"This is..." She closed her eyes slightly and turned her gaze to the side.

Someone she hadn't expected stood there.

Maybe it's the deity, maybe it's just an illusion, but he really appeared in front of her - the long black hair was tied behind his head, and the well-shaped face was half covered by the high collar, which made her countless times Ridiculously, it is called the law pattern that "grown too much ahead of time", the Konoha forehead with a scratch, and the red cloud robe with a black background that is considered dangerous.

He watched her silently, and Hua Shi also put down the hand holding Kunai.

It had been a long time since I saw him last time, but the two of them didn't seem to have changed much.

"It's Itachi." She slid Kunai back into her sleeve and tried to calmly say, "What can you do with me?"

Itachi Uchiha closed his eyes slightly and said, "You went to find Danzo."

"Yes."

"You're too impulsive." He said slowly, with a calm voice: "You shouldn't do that until you've confirmed his information."

Listening to his peaceful words, Hua Shi even felt absurd in her heart.His tone was like teaching her how to practice shuriken in the ninja school, or telling her what his shortcomings were after a battle, without any ups and downs.

"Did you come to me just to preach to me?" She asked, "Or, you know you can't hide it anymore, and you want to take the initiative to tell me the truth?"

Uchiha Itachi was silent for a long time, and said: "There is no... so-called 'truth'. I came to you just to tell you one thing. Uchiha Madara is not credible."

"No matter what kind of attitude you have towards me now...whether you hate it or are tired of it. Please remember my words."

After he finished speaking, a sudden gust of wind lifted the hem of his clothes.The never-ending black flame also slanted to the side.

"Of course I know." She raised her chin slightly and said, "He is an untrustworthy person."

When speaking, the corner of her mouth moved the tape on the side, making her tone less natural.

"Then, leave him." Itachi said, closing his eyes.

He looked calm and unruffled, as if he had put on a mask of no sadness or joy, hiding all his emotions under it.Looking at his current appearance, Hua Shi couldn't suppress her inner suspicion again, and she asked loudly, "Why are you so calm?"

"Why can you still talk to me so calmly after so many things have happened? I learned the truth about you from Danzo...you obviously did it to complete that inhuman and terrible task This kind of unforgivable thing... but you want to deceive me and pretend to be an emotionless person, what is this for?"

Facing her questioning, Uchiha Itachi did not answer.Maybe he didn't want to answer, or maybe he just couldn't explain why he did it.He opened his black eyes and said again: "Leave Uchiha Madara."

After speaking, his figure gradually dissipated and disappeared, turning into crows flying around.

"Hey, Itachi!" She ran forward a few steps, trying to catch his figure, but her hand passed straight through the black phantoms without touching anything.

——Sure enough, it’s not the deity, it’s just an illusion.

Did he go to such lengths to find himself just to warn her to leave Uchiha Madara?But she has been guarded by Bai Jue all the time, so...

Thinking of this, her gaze suddenly turned to the side.The black flame did not go out with Itachi's departure, and Bai Jue, who was in charge of guarding her, had long since died, lying on his back without moving.Black flames raged on its body, showing no sign of stopping.

In Madara's absence, Bai Zee was also killed by Uchiha Itachi.Now she seems to be free.

As long as she stepped out of here, she would be free again.