"Grandma! Don't leave me!"
Terumi Mei jerked upright with a cry. Her chest heaved; tears still clung to the corners of her eyes.
Then reality slammed back in.
The burned-out village. The empty snow. The silence where a voice should have been.
Her lips trembled. Slowly, her hands fell limp to her sides.
Everything in the dream had been a lie.
Grandma was dead. She wouldn't be coming back. Everyone was gone. Only Mei was left.
"You're awake?"
Uchiha Sogetsu watched her sit up. "How do you feel? Any better?"
Mei said nothing. She folded in on herself, shutting down.
The lively light that had danced in her eyes before was gone. Now they were dull, ashen, staring at nothing—at a place where no one stood.
This won't do.
Sogetsu's brows drew together. He opened his inner sight and looked into the girl's mind.
Gray. Still. Hopeless.
Like a dead sea without a single wave. A heart that should have been clean and clear was faded, colors washed out.
If he left her like this, she'd probably sink and never surface again.
Sogetsu sighed softly and pinched the bridge of his nose.
He could ignore it. Walk away. Strictly speaking, this wasn't his business.
But this had started because of him. And Terumi Mei had helped him first. He owed her at least this much.
"Are you planning to stay like this forever," he asked quietly, "or stand up and avenge the people you lost?"
He braided a thin thread of suggestion into the words. Just enough to nudge, not to shove.
At last, Mei moved. A faint light flickered in her eyes.
"I can give you two choices." He paused, waiting until she raised her head, confusion clouding her gaze. Then he went on, "First option: I send you somewhere safe. I erase your hatred—cleanly, gently. You live there in peace for the rest of your life, never having to wake up inside this pain again."
Erase… hatred?
Deep bewilderment flickered across her face. She lowered her eyes, staring at her clenched fists.
"But… can hatred really be forgotten?" she whispered.
Her grandmother's broken body flashed across her mind. The torture. The blood.
No.
Why should it?
Hatred shouldn't be buried. It should be paid back in blood. That was the shape it had carved into her heart.
"I don't want that. I don't want to forget!"
Anger came boiling up. Her hatred twisted her features; she ground her teeth, fists shaking.
"I want revenge! I want to avenge Grandma!"
"This path will be hard."
Sogetsu adjusted his glasses, watching the fire in her eyes. His tone stayed gentle. "Are you truly ready to walk it? The ninja's road is paved with blood."
Mei straightened her back. She met his gaze head-on, without flinching. No fear. No retreat.
Sometimes silence said more than speeches. A wordless resolve could weigh more than a thousand promises.
"I understand."
Sogetsu inclined his head. "In that case, come with me, Terumi Mei."
But Mei shook her head. Her teeth dug into her lower lip as she refused him.
"No, ninja big brother. I want to stay in the Hidden Mist."
"Oh?" That, he hadn't expected. One eyebrow lifted; genuine interest sparked in his eyes. "You want to stay in Kirigakure? Why?"
"I want to change this country."
She seemed to settle something inside herself. Her eyes grew bright, each word hammered out from somewhere deep.
"There are so many people here—people like us—living through the same kind of suffering. I want to change that. I don't… I don't want anyone else to go through what I did."
A line fit to shake mountains, spoken in a small, scorched voice.
Who would have thought such ambition would come from a child?
"How do you plan to change it?"
Sogetsu was surprised—but not stunned. Knowing she would one day become Mizukage, it made a certain sense.
"I… I don't know."
The grand declaration had been easy. The method… less so. Mei's confidence faltered; uncertainty washed in.
"Then go and find the answer," he said. "In your own way."
He extended a finger and tapped gently between her brows.
"If you've chosen to stay, I'll respect that."
A cool tingle spread across her forehead. Mei lifted a hand to touch the spot, frowning slightly.
"Ninja big brother… what was that?"
"A gift."
Sogetsu ruffled her hair, smiling. "It'll help you blend into Kirigakure more easily. I'll be watching to see what you do with it."
There was a note of parting in his voice. Mei heard it and panicked.
"You're leaving?"
"Time's almost up, Mei."
He shook his head, then nodded once. "What's standing here is just a shadow clone. The chakra won't last much longer. You chose to stay, so this is as far as I can walk with you. The rest of the road… you'll have to take on your own."
Mei's head drooped. Her small hands knotted in the hem of her clothes.
"Then… will I ever see you again?"
"Yes."
A quiet laugh slipped out of him, carrying something layered and distant. "Our paths are different, but they lead to the same place."
"Then… let's pinky swear!"
She looked up suddenly, eyes rimmed red, swallowing her tears. She stuck out a small pinky finger.
"Next time we meet," she said, every word trembling but firm, "I'll be a real ninja. A strong one. I'll change the Hidden Mist's laws, so everyone can live in a safe, equal country."
The clarity in her gaze tugged a smile out of him. Sogetsu hooked his pinky around hers.
"Deal. Next time we meet, Terumi Mei will be a remarkable kunoichi."
"Pinky swear, hang us high, break it and you don't get forgiven in a hundred years!"
Snow whispered around them. The promise settled, small and sharp, into both their futures.
—
Later, trudging through the snow with White Zetsu somewhere underfoot, Sogetsu stopped suddenly. The corner of his mouth lifted.
"What is it, Lord Sogetsu?" White Zetsu's head popped out of the ground, curious.
"Nothing."
Sogetsu shook his head and glanced back in the direction of the ruined village.
"Just thought of something interesting," he said softly.
White Zetsu scratched its head. It didn't understand Sogetsu's thoughts—and didn't try too hard. After this long together, it had at least mapped out the general shape of the man's temperament.
"Lord Sogetsu, according to Nono Yakushi's intel, Isobu is sealed under that lake up ahead."
It pointed toward the broad, frozen expanse now visible through the storm and snickered.
"But really, Lord Sogetsu… are we sure about this plan? Isn't it a bit… much?"
Sogetsu stopped, eyes narrowing slightly as he looked out over the blizzard-locked lake.
"Isn't this," he said calmly, "exactly what the Hokage asked for?"
White Zetsu wisely shut its mouth. Inwardly, it offered half a moment of silence for Konoha's leader, hoping the old man wouldn't cough blood when the news arrived.
"Come on, White Zetsu."
Sogetsu stepped out onto the ice. The tomoe in his eyes began to turn, linking until they formed a four-bladed pinwheel.
"Let's go turn the world upside down."
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