His voice was trembling a little.
With a probing tone in his steps, he gently opened his mother's door.
The moment I saw it inside, time seemed to freeze.
Hyuga Yuki was lying quietly on the tatami, with an unusually calm face, even with a hint of relief. Under the dazzling wound on her wrist, blood spread and flowed to Ning Xue's feet.
Snap...
The hope he had gained with dignity was scattered beside a pool of blood.
"Mother?"
Ning Xue's voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible. He staggered to the side of the tatami and reached for the side of his mother's neck with trembling fingers.
No pulse. All cold.
His movements froze and his mind went blank. He looked at his mother's bloodless face in disbelief. Beside him, there was only a letter and an old-style notebook left.
At this moment, his bleak world was forcibly dipped in bloody red.
When arranging funeral arrangements for his mother, he was unusually calm, terrifyingly calm.
There were no tears, no crying, just silence to complete all the steps and bury the mother.
During this period, except Neji and the guilty Lan, no one came to mourn, and no one cared.
After all, she is just an outsider.
And "I" is just a Branch Family person of mixed blood.
When he stepped into the familiar door again and walked into the home where he had lived for many years, he looked at the empty room and neatly arranged furniture.
Suddenly, he smiled.
At first it was a low, suppressed laugh, squeezed out from deep in the throat.
Then, the laughter became louder and louder, more and more crazy, with indescribable desolation and deep ridicule of myself.
"Haha... hahaha... hahahaha--!"
The laughter continued, and he grabbed the chair next to him and slammed it against the wall.
"Bang!"
Sawdust flying.
Then came the tables, plates, cabinets... everything he looked at.
At this moment, he is like the clown in DC, who only knows how to destroy and... maintain that twisted smile.
He was venting and destroying, pouring all his anger, sorrow and despair into every swing.
Until--
"Crack!"
The sound of breaking glass.
This voice awakened his remaining sanity.
At this moment, he stopped laughing like a homeless man.
Those bloodshot eyes stared blankly at the object he had just thrown, tears falling silently.
After standing still for a moment, he stepped forward and picked up the smashed object.
And that... is a family photo.
Ning Xue looked at the family of three taking a photo with the Ninja Academy and was stunned.
In the photo, my father is serious, my mother is smiling, but my young self is barely able to pull the corners of my mouth.
For some reason, he laughed again.
He gently brushed his father's and mother's faces, and then applied force with his five fingers.
"Crack!"
The already broken glass of the photo frame was completely shattered, and the family in the photo was also shattered.
At this moment, he felt that the world was completely quiet.
He looked around blankly, seeing only ruins.
Early the next morning.
Ning Xue tidied himself up carefully, put on clean clothes, tidied up the messy room last night, and went out.
He first came to Ichiraku Ramen and returned the originally hopeful money to Uncle Teuchi intact.
"Ning Xue, what are you..." Teuchi looked at his pale but too calm face and hesitated to speak.
Ning Xue just bowed deeply.
"Thank you, Uncle Teuchi. But... it's no longer needed."
Without any extra explanation, he turned and left.
Then, he went to Nakamura Daisuke's home.
Through the window, he saw his former companion clumsily learning to knead dough in the kitchen, with a look of concentration on his face, but a hint of loneliness could not be concealed.
Ning Xue did not go in to disturb her, but stood quietly outside the window for a while, as if saying a silent farewell.
Later, he visited his teachers Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki and exchanged a few words.
Finally he went to the home of Hyuga Neji.
"Keep this for me."
Ning Xue handed a simple small box to Neji.
And inside, it was the photo that was crumpled into a ball.
Neji took the box, keenly aware that something was wrong with him, and frowned.
"Ning Xue, are you... really okay?"
When Ning Xue heard this, he stopped leaving.
He turned around and showed a very calm smile, but... his eyes were particularly... empty?
"It's okay."
He smiled and didn't stop.
the content of the letter.
Sorry, Ning Xue... I have always failed to fulfill my responsibilities as a mother.
It's been me who's been dragging you down all this time.
Sorry...
Forgive Mom for leaving without saying goodbye... because I really don't want to see you working so hard anymore.
You are a child born of the love between me and your father,
So I hope you can live in the sunshine and live without worries.
But... it seems that all the suffering is caused by us...
I'm sorry... I'm really sorry...Ning Xue.
I hope you don't hate us for bringing you into this world.
I always hope that you can smile more like other children.
There is also this notebook, which records a small part of the ninjutsu forms in my hometown Land of Snow. I hope it will be helpful to you.
Finally...Ning Xue... I want to tell you.
No matter what time it is, we will be watching you in heaven.
I will love you forever...
---Fujiwara·Snow