[Hokage] Holly

. "

I was perfunctory at first, but Ino nodded to me seriously after hearing this.

"What you said makes sense." She stretched out her hand as she spoke, and touched my forehead with her white and slightly cool fingertips. Ino said again: "Look at your complexion, it's good to rest for a while."

【ten】

Everyone hadn't arrived yet, at least Naruto Uzumaki, the protagonist of the party, hadn't arrived yet. People who were acquainted with each other gathered in twos and threes, either talking about each other's work, or chatting about some irrelevant topics like Ino and me.

"Sasuke will return to Konoha at the end of this year, right? If he comes back in winter, he should leave after the New Year."

The little girl who liked Sasuke's face since she was a child showed a yearning expression in Shikamaru's disgusted eyes: "That's great, I also want to celebrate the New Year with Sasuke-kun."

I was amused by her and laughed out: "Then you go, anyway, Sasuke is coming back, are you afraid you won't be able to stop him?"

"I'm a girl, so I can't give Sasuke-kun an aggressive and bad impression."

Ino held his chin and muttered: "I still envy you, Holly, when I was a child and Sakura and I were still arguing about who said more words to Sasuke, you have already spent many New Years with him. "

How can there be many of them.

I stared at the tea in the cup without saying a word.

Where are there so many?

In the past, Sasuke was the beloved young master of the patriarch's family. The only intersection with me was that we both had the same surname Uchiha.From Uchiha's overnight destruction to Sasuke's departure, we only spent six New Years.

Ten years is a blink of an eye, so what is six years?

What a short time... But, I don't have time.

Seeing that I didn't answer for a long time, Ino suddenly came up and looked at me worriedly and blinked.

"What's wrong with you? Did I say the wrong thing?"

She looked around, Shikamaru hooked Dingji's shoulders and didn't know what she was talking about. Occasionally, there was a low laugh or two, and while no one was paying attention, she lowered her voice and whispered: "Holly, do you like him?" ?”

After saying that, Ino backed away a little.

"I...although I also liked him, but we are friends. If you really like Sasuke-kun, I will support you."

She looked at me as if she had made up her mind.I smiled at her, and when I was about to answer something, I heard some commotion in the crowd, and the noise exploded in the box that could accommodate more than ten people. The conversation between me and Ino was interrupted. At the same time, he turned his head and looked at the past, and found that it was the protagonist of the long-awaited party that caused the commotion.

Naruto, who was dressed in dust and dust, staggered and was dragged into the room by Inuzuka Fang. He looked around in the crowd as if looking for someone.

He and I met eyes, and Naruto's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Ah! Holly! I knew you were here, and I was looking for you."

【eleven】

Naruto raised his right hand and squeezed between several people, only then did I realize that he was still holding a branch of a tree that didn't match him very well.

It was a hard-to-find green plant in autumn. Unfortunately, I didn't have much research on plants, so I couldn't tell what kind of plant it was.I can only roughly see that it must have been broken off for a while, and the fracture has been dry enough to form stubble.Naruto pushed all the way to me despite all difficulties, and before I could speak, he involuntarily stuffed this branch into my hand.

"...Why did you give me this?"

"Sasuke asked me to bring it to you. I don't know what he means. You can ask him when he comes back."

Naruto raised his hand and scratched the somewhat messy blond hair, and said in doubt: "By the way, although Sasuke asked me to bring this back to you, what is it?"

"Probably because he doesn't have the money to buy local specialties, so he just folded it for me as a souvenir. Do you want it? If you want it, I'll give it to you."

【twelve】

The protagonists of the party had already arrived, and the food and drinks were served on the table in turn.The sound of "Zizi la la" from the barbecue sounded, and the already lively atmosphere was heated up to the point of boiling along with the drinks and food.

And the ones who are out of place in it are me who don't know how to eat, and a branch that is as long as my forearm at my hand.

Ino, who had finished talking with Sakura, Hinata, and Tiantian, was holding a glass of wine, and sat back next to me with a complicated expression.

"Today really... made my impression of Sasuke-kun change a lot." She sighed, touched the leaves of the branches and clinked the glass with me: "Do you know what this is?"

"What could it be? Could it be a rare ninja tool that I didn't see?"

After clinking glasses, I took a sip of the wine in the glass. The high-strength shochu slipped into my throat without any taste, only the slight tingling sensation after my lips touched the liquid still reminded me that what I was drinking at the moment was not pure water. Mild and harmless liquid.

I licked away the traces of alcohol remaining on the corners of my lips, and faced Ino's indescribable expression, I couldn't help feeling a little funny: "Why do you have that expression?"

"Because I don't know whether to envy you or sympathize with him."

Ino wrinkled his nose and looked even more tangled: "This is a branch of a holly tree. Sasuke-kun will ask Naruto to bring it to you. You should know what it means without me telling you."

"Just tell me, I don't know."

"The holly tree symbolizes life, and it is always spring in all seasons, bringing hope and blessings to people. Sasuke-kun broke off the branches of the tree with the same name as you and gave it to you. This is basically confessing to you."

Ino's voice paused for a moment, then said softly: "Don't you like Sasuke, Holly, later..."

"There is no future."

After being interrupted by me, Ino pursed his lips tightly and seemed a little at a loss.I couldn't help laughing, and raised my hand to touch the smooth and soft blond hair of this little girl who has been close to me since ninja school: "Don't get me wrong, Ino, I don't like him."

I can't wait for the future, and the remaining half year does not leave me enough time to talk about the future.

Ino still seemed hesitant to speak, so I raised my head and drank the rest of the wine in the glass.

As for the problem of drinking and hurting the body...for the dying person, never mind.

【twelve】

[Since it is a last word, it must be something serious. ]

[But thinking about it carefully, I don't have anything to entrust. ]

[It is estimated that I will be about 22 years old when I die. I have no wife, no children, no family, and no worries. Don’t worry about the inheritance. That salary is not enough for me to spend myself. ]

[From top to bottom, the only thing I can afford is a pair of Sharingan, so I can give it to anyone who wants it, since it's useless for me to keep it anyway. ]

[Remember to dig out the eyes before my corpse rots, but it’s not too early, you must wait until I die before doing it, I am quite afraid of pain. ]

【Thirteen】

After turning into late autumn, the temperature is getting cooler.I didn't feel it in the past, but now I feel as cold as if I wish I could freeze my breath.

When I was sixteen or seventeen years old, I also had the experience of wearing a single national uniform in the iron country where the four seasons are severe and cold. Now that I think about it, it was because I was young and in good health. After becoming terminally ill, I became like this. In the early years, I definitely didn't want to die like that.

It took me a long time before I changed into clothes and got up from the bed with difficulty. I hadn’t used chakra for a long time. Logically speaking, my physique as a ninja should allow me to last for a while, but I didn’t expect the decline So fast.

I once heard Sasuke vaguely mention that Uchiha Itachi was seriously ill. From his fragmentary words, I can roughly guess the cause of my illness.

It's just that the eldest son of the patriarch's family has high hopes and is tough. In all fairness, under the same situation, anyway, I can't do everything like him and pretend to be okay.

It's pretty good that I can arrange my own funeral affairs.

I was sitting with my head bowed, and the blood dripped down the nasal cavity onto the back of my hand without warning.As usual, I took out a few paper towels that I had prepared at hand, wiped off the blood on my hands indiscriminately, and then blocked my nose with the paper.

I tilted my head back and waited for the bleeding to stop, and the first thing I looked up was a sprig of holly in a vase on the windowsill.

Logically speaking, I shouldn't have anything to do with Sasuke, I have to throw away this holly.But I am a self-willed person, and I want to keep it as a thought.

After such a long time, Ino told me that the well-supported holly branches failed to grow roots. On the contrary, because of too long time, the broken holly branches were a little dry and yellowed.

The ivy tree, which symbolizes hope and life, is dying.

like me.

【fourteen】

I don't know what kind of mentality I have, I actually went to Anbu to find Captain Tianzang with that dying holly branch.

Before I realized it, I was standing outside his office.The holly branches in the vase were knocked off many leaves by me along the way, leaving only dry branches, and the scattered leaves hanging from it looked hopeless.

After much hesitation, I still knocked on the door of the Anbu Commander's office.

"holly?"

Captain Tianzang seemed quite surprised by the visit of the retired team members, especially when he saw the tree branch in my arms, his dark eyes clearly showed a layer of doubt: "You are... ...?"

I didn't feel embarrassed to say it directly, but I just stood in front of his desk dawdly, trying to hint him with "you know" eyes.

"I see."

Captain Tianzang nodded suddenly, took out a stack of task books and spread them out in front of me one by one.

"No money, right? Although you are no longer a member of Anbu in name, I can make an exception for you. There is no confidentiality involved here.