[Comprehensive] How to kill a rabid dog gently

According to the family's calendar, the festival day of the Uchihas is usually at the end of summer, and the moon phase is especially perfect and bright.

According to the legends he heard from the elders, and the stories he learned from the records later, Cheng found that the Uchiha clan always seemed to have a subtle connection with the moon, and the festivals handed down from generation to generation might serve as one of the evidences.

However, with the changes of the times, the gods worshiped at the beginning of the ceremony also lost their names in the long river of history. Up to now, although the purpose of holding the ceremony has changed slightly, its weight has not been reduced at all—to pray powerfully With victory, survival and reproduction, even young lovers make karmic promises with each other... The festival carries all kinds of wishes and meanings. Even in wartime, people will be allowed to temporarily forget their origins on this day. The oppression of harsh reality.

Cheng woke up early in the morning and heard footsteps outside the door. She rubbed her eyes and opened the door, just in time to see Quanna leaning over and putting a brand new kimono on the porch.

"Quanna?"

"...Are you awake already, Cheng?"

"Well, today is the festival."

Cheng knelt down to look at him.

"This is……?"

Quanna met her curious eyes.

"It's a coming-of-age ceremony."

Cheng thought for a while, but still vaguely recalled that there seemed to be a custom in the clan to give a kimono symbolizing adulthood to a girl after she turned 16.

But usually it is prepared by the girl's mother or other female relatives, so Cheng also forgot that there is such a thing.

"However, I shouldn't have come..."

"I know, after all, I don't have any living female blood relatives."

Cheng carefully wrapped the kimono in his arms and smiled.

"How should I put it, there are some things that only Quan Nai can notice, thank you."

She looked down at the patterns on the clothes.

"It's calamus and platycodon flowers... wait for me, Quanna, I'll be fine soon."

She was about to turn around and leave, but suddenly stopped and confirmed again.

"Will you wait for me?"

"Last time because..."

Quan Nai knew where her concerns came from, and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed... But he couldn't deny what had happened, and at that time, he was really not in the mood to explain it to her here.

"Yes, I will wait for you."

After receiving an affirmative answer, Cheng went back to the room to change clothes with peace of mind, while Quanna was waiting alone, she also began to realize something else.

Quanna guessed that Cheng probably didn't understand this custom very well.

The giver of the bar mitzvah can also be a man.

...if the giver is a man.

Just like presenting a comb with a vague meaning of "hair knotting", if the gift is the kimono of adulthood... This is a lifetime-limited request and promise to this girl.

However, preparing this dress for her was an idea I had a long time ago... At least at that time, Quan Nai's starting point was just not wanting Cheng to leave regrets about this matter.

He always doesn't want her to feel sorry, if she tells him her wish, Quan Nai will definitely do her best to fulfill it.

However, it seems to be the same for Cheng.

So their visions permeate each other, build on each other, and finally become inseparable, in a future that Izumi can touch and cannot touch, and he can't imagine Cheng not existing there.

But no one can make the future that hasn't happened completely unfold according to his own imagination. In this way, when Quanna discovers factors that may bring about instability, he will naturally feel uneasy—even if it is non-malicious , and manpower cannot defy, such as time.

Quan Nai had made his wish clear a long time ago, and he shouldn't have been confused about his position.

He didn't want time to bring about changes, but Quan Nai forgot that both she and herself were in the middle of the torrent of time, so she would grow, and she would go to a new position, and he...he also had to move forward.

Besides, he is not static.

It was when she realized her own change that Quan Nai ran away from her at that time.

Cheng, who had changed her clothes, opened the door a little. At first, Quanna only saw half a sleeve decorated with bellflower branches. As she walked, the flower bushes on the swaying clothes seemed to gradually grow and bloom along with the folds.

"Does it fit?"

Cheng raised his head and asked him.

In this kind of occasion, probably no one can say no to her... not just because of her bright and beautiful smile.

"Ah."

But Quanna couldn't say anything more for a while.

At this moment, he could almost only hear the beating of his own heart.

When she was walking towards him, he suddenly saw a new kind of future... This idea is not so absurd and far away, but he did start to include it in the picture scroll about the future from then on, and then Like light suddenly piercing through the night, his heart instantly brightened up.

So, what position does he want to take to witness her adulthood?

"Cheng, have you thought about the future?"

he asked.

"Do you imagine we'll always be by each other's side?"

"...I have thought about the future."

Cheng didn't know why he asked the question, but it didn't prevent her from taking the other party's confusion seriously.

"However, I can't plan with too long a span, so the range I can grasp is very narrow...for example, tomorrow."

Cheng said to him.

"Tomorrow I have places I want to go, people I want to meet and things I want to do. After finishing all of them, it will be time to usher in a new day."

"My future is accumulated and supported day by day in such a cycle... But when it comes to 'always', I define this concept a little differently."

She sighed and gently took Quan Nai's arm.

"The past time that has settled down, and the upcoming day, this is all I can see... Quanna, we will still meet tomorrow, and when tomorrow comes, I will probably have the same hope. For me... ..."

Quan Nai lowered her head and fell into her soft and bright eyes.

"This is what has always been together."

Is it because she is too gentle... that she can't bear to ask time for more.

Cheng.

Quanna thought.

Then it's up to me to be the greedy one.

"Speaking of which, shouldn't we go to Madara's place?"

"...Ah, the sacrifice is about to begin." He said, "My brother should be preparing to preside over the sacrifice. Let's go directly to the shrine."

"Quanna, do Uchiha and the moon have a relationship?"

"Why do you think so?"

"Look, the gods we enshrine live in the moon according to legend..."

Speaking of this, Cheng saw the shrine and the crowd gathered at the shrine from afar.

"There is also the stone tablet in the Nanga Shrine, some people say that it is a stone that fell from the moon?" She turned her face, "So I wonder if Uchiha moved here from the moon Woolen cloth?"

"..."

The expression that Quan Na showed at this moment, if Cheng could describe it, it was a troubled look like Santa Claus who couldn't bear to pierce the child's fantasy, she couldn't help laughing.

"Just kidding."

Suddenly there was a gust of wind, and the bells of the shrine shook, making a deep and distant sound.

Following the ringing of the bell, the clansmen not far away joined hands and stood together.

"here we go."

Cheng took Quanna's hand and trotted a few steps, they slowed down on the periphery of the crowd, and then they both stood still.

Cheng clasped his hands together like everyone around him, and closed his eyes.

According to the custom, the Uchihas will make a wish to the gods at this time, and at the same time accept the blessings from the gods.

Are there any gods in this world?

After going through many things, Cheng can't easily assert whether there is a mysterious existence in the dark...but even if He does exist, he probably doesn't always worry about the fate of human beings.

Cheng did not place her wish in the unknown.

At the same time, she does not think that prayers are completely useless. Talking out can bring people temporary peace, plus the one-tenth of a million expectations that are quietly born in people's hearts... If you can cast away your fears and move forward bravely, then then It couldn't be better.

Therefore, for that one-ten-thousandth expectation, Cheng still makes a wish every year.

Her wish is the same every year.

Cheng suddenly felt a little warmth on her forehead, she opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was the mask symbolizing the god.

The person in front of her was wearing a black feather weave with the clan crest and hook jade painted on it. This was the costume of the sacrificial priest, so Cheng immediately knew who the other party was, and realized that it was envoys from the gods on the foreheads of the clansmen. A pattern is drawn on the front as a brief ceremony of blessing.

She remembered that it was a touch-and-go process, but now Madara's fingertips sketching patterns seemed to be much slower and more detailed than she used to remember.

During this process, Cheng looked at the other party's mask, and couldn't help reaching out to touch the mask's cheek.

Madara gently pinched her flailing wrist, and when Cheng tried to withdraw his hand, he let go.

Just when the pattern was about to be completed, Madara tapped the mask with five fingers, and moved it a little, revealing the line of the jaw.

"Cheng, what wish did you make?"

She heard the other party ask herself in a low voice.

"I can't tell you this year, Madara."

Madara was noncommittal, the mask covering his face again.

But Cheng didn't miss his slightly raised lip line.

Cheng seems to have heard him say something softly, but she didn't have time to confirm it with him.

——"See you later."

Before leaving, he seemed to say so.

When the copper tongue of the pendant bell rang again, the ceremony was over, and the crowd was noisy again.

Cheng didn't see Madara, he probably returned to the altar in the shrine, but she turned her head, and Quanna was still standing by her side.

"What wish did you make, Senna?"

"Can't tell you, Cheng." He said, "However, if you are willing to exchange yours..."

"Hmm...no way." Cheng thought for a while, "It's said that wishes are easier to come true if you don't tell them, so let's keep it a secret from each other."

"It would be nice if it could be realized."

Quan Nai said, he glanced in the direction of the agency.

"I have something to go to my brother's place, and I'll see you later... Cheng, goodbye."

"See you soon."

After saying goodbye to Quanna, she walked out with the flow of people, and when she was about to walk out of the torii gate, Cheng suddenly heard the bell ringing again.

She stopped and looked back, but everything around her was as usual, and she was the only one standing there, so Cheng wondered if the voice was an illusion of her own.

The ringing of the bell was considered to be a sign of the coming and going of the gods, so Cheng thought, if this is not her hallucination, maybe the gods are passing through the clouds above her head.

Such thoughts made her close her eyes subconsciously, and silently recited the wish she had just made just now.

If anyone can hear it.

She prayed in her heart.

Before I can leave in peace, please be more generous to me...

——Please, give me enough time.

After walking out of the shrine, the crowd split, and Cheng looked around, unable to make up his mind where to go next.

"Cheng!!"

Before she could turn around, the children caught up one by one, and the fastest one grabbed Cheng's right hand.

"The fastest is the mirror again..."

"He must have sneaked away!"

Uchiha Kagami, who was severely condemned by his friends, didn't seem to take these voices to heart at all. He raised his face, and his sheep-like curly hair and black pupils only made people feel innocent, and he couldn't find anything in the mouths of other children. Sly shadow.

"Where is Cheng going?"

"I haven't figured it out yet... How about everyone?"

The children looked at each other and started discussing in one go.

"My elder brother went to participate in the clan wrestling!"

"That can only be participated in after adulthood?"

"Mother went to pray for the guard."

"About this..." Cheng said, "That's what married women do for their husbands and children. We probably can't do it."

"What about the date? Cheng doesn't have a date?"

"Impossible, because Cheng is very cute." A boy patted Jing's shoulder maliciously, "I've said it before, Jing, girls like taller opposite sex."

Uchiha Mirror, who had been quietly listening to everyone's speech, flattened his mouth, showing a sad expression.

"...Where did you learn the word 'dating'?" Cheng sighed softly, touching Jing's hair, "But no, I don't have that kind of partner."

Mirror held her hand slightly harder.

"Then, Cheng, let's play together."

Cheng thought about it and laughed.

"Okay, what are we going to play?"

"... There are also traces of Senju's action in the territory of other ninjas, and their range of activities is getting wider and wider." Quan Nai said, "The investigation of the leading team must increase the level of vigilance..."

"There was information from the Yuyi clan that Senshou had formed an alliance with other ninja clans."

Spotted sighed.

"Is Hashirama still continuing to make such efforts..."

"--elder brother."

"Just a sigh."

Madara has always known Quanna's position on the issue of the Thousand Hands, and he has no intention of having a dispute with his brother on this topic.

"Then let's change the configuration of the scouting team. Each team will add a sentient ninja."

Quanna nodded slightly.

"Yes."

Their conversation took place in the shrine. Madara took off his feathers and casually took off a fox mask from the altar. He rubbed the red lines on the mask and suddenly thought of Cheng.

Madara folded the mask upside down in front of her body and asked.

"Quenna, did you send Cheng's kimono?"

"Yes." Quan Nai picked up the fox face mask, her expression softened, "When this festival is over, she will no longer be regarded as a child..."

He put the mask back in place and didn't finish his sentence.

Madara didn't make a sound either.

Coincidentally, they fell into thinking at the same time.

Did they set their sights on the future through the cracks of time?

And whether the future they hope to reach is similar or not.

This is something that even Madara and Quanna will never know.

Just reached the end of that thinking.

What Quanna was thinking was...

What Madara thinks is...

——It would probably be very painful to hand her over to someone other than myself.

Although the children had different opinions when choosing what game to play, they decided that after hunting ghosts, the voices of making Jing become the first person to become a ghost were very unanimous.

"Because he sneaked away just now!"

...that's what the kids said.

Although the mirror seems to be a little bit suspected of being targeted, sometimes it is better for the children to handle and judge by themselves, so Cheng did not raise any objections at this time... But Cheng forgot that these children are also ninjas. The moment the countdown started, these soft and cute children instantly entered the fighting mode, and immediately turned into a few shadows and swished into the bushes.

The blindfolded mirror tried to catch other people's movements based on the sound, but after all, it was too young, and was soon disturbed by the messy movements from different directions. Cheng, who was staying behind the tree, noticed his confusion, and stretched out his hand to grab the top of his head. The branches made a rustling sound.

Although the voice was not loud, it was clear enough. The mirror looked for the source of the voice, and indeed saw a vague figure. He chased the shadow, but the other party did not avoid or run away.

Jing easily hugged him, Cheng looked down at him, and took off the white gauze he used to cover his eyes.

"Cheng?"

"You caught me... I'll be a ghost next."

Cheng said to him with crooked eyes, stuffed the white gauze into the child's hand, and squatted down.

"Can you tie it for me?"

"it is good."

After carefully fastening the mirror, Cheng started the countdown before the game restarted.

"three two……"

When counting to one, Cheng heard the light rustling of branches and leaves, and she knew it was Jing hiding.

She stood up and felt what it was like to be blindfolded.

In fact, this piece of fabric is not completely opaque, she can still vaguely feel the light from the gap, and she can roughly see the shape of the obstacle, but everything is blurred into a vast expanse.

But obviously, she probably won't be able to win in this game.

...What should I do next?

Cheng was thinking without any sense of tension, while groping forward without direction.

Her original idea was that if the children were tired of the "ghosts" who couldn't catch anyone, sooner or later someone would interrupt the game... It's just that before that, her actions seemed too aimless, When the surroundings became quiet, Chengcai suddenly realized that he had gone to a place where no one was there.

Should I go back the same way?

She thought so.

Just as this idea came into being, Cheng suddenly heard footsteps...very faint, but gradually approaching.

She followed the sound a few steps forward, and a hazy shadow appeared in her vision.

From the outline of this shadow, Cheng guessed that it was probably a man, because his stature was much taller than himself. In addition, he was dressed in black, and what Cheng saw through the white gauze was like a scene shrouded in thick fog In it, like a cluster of bright black flames.

He stopped only an arm's length away from Cheng, and at this distance, a familiar feeling hit her.

"You are……"

Cheng hesitated, and stretched out his hand towards the opponent's face.

"Madara, or Senna?"

What her fingers touched was the cold mask.

The other party didn't answer her, Cheng stroked the shape of the mask, and vaguely recognized the appearance of a fox.

But whose face is under the mask?

Is it Quanna... She clearly remembered that he was indeed wearing black today.

Or... Maybe it was Madara, at some point, Madara was as silent as she is now.

The two guesses were entangled in Cheng's mind for a while, but in the end there was no winner.

It's just conjecture, it's impossible to draw conclusions.

Cheng realized this, so she lowered her head slightly to untie the scarf in front of her eyes.

It didn't take long for her, but when the veil slipped off, the sun suddenly became a little dazzling and made her want to close her eyes unconsciously... At the first moment of seeing the sun again, Cheng caught the movement of the other party raising his right hand, He seemed to be about to take off that mask, but at that very second, Cheng couldn't resist the instinctive reaction of his body and closed his eyes.

She raised her face, her eyes were about to open again soon, and the answer to the mystery was close at hand...but the mask that fell blocked Cheng's sight for an instant.

Now, that fox mask has turned to cover her face, and it has been moved up a little compared to its proper position. This subtle dislocation makes Cheng unable to see...

This state lasted only a short time.

dark.

and also.

Intertwined breaths.

The wind that brushed his cheek as he left.

The sound of the mask falling.

belated light.

The last thing that comes to mind is the unknown answer.

...and, kisses.