Chapter 16: Pear Blossom and Violet, the Soul of Gossip is Burning!
"This… just what kind of place is this!?"
Izumi suddenly found herself standing in the middle of a forest.
Before her eyes stretched a small, clear lake, and beside it stood a very beautiful wooden cabin.
The ground was carpeted with all kinds of blooming flowers.
It had the distinct feeling of a hidden paradise, completely removed from the world.
"Hey~
Hello~"
All of a sudden, a crisp, bright voice rang out.
Izumi looked up.
There, sitting on a tree branch, was a red-haired girl dressed in the exact same style as her. The girl was swinging her fair, slender little legs back and forth while keeping her eyes closed, twitching her nose in the air like she was sniffing something.
"Mmm~
Such a nice violet fragrance~
I really like it~"
Karin finally opened her eyes, grinning widely as she slapped the branch.
In an instant, a wooden slide appeared on that very branch.
Without any hesitation, Karin sat down and whooshed straight down the slide.
"Hello~
I'm Pear Blossom~"
"Wood Release?"
Izumi gave Karin a slightly surprised glance before smiling gently.
"I'm Violet."
When she smiled, her big eyes curved into perfect little crescent moons.
She looked incredibly soft and adorable.
"Looking forward to working with you!"
"Looking forward to it~"
After the brief self-introductions, the two girls immediately set off toward Kirigakure.
Their mission this time: head to Kirigakure and… abduct—no, rescue—a little loli!
Since both of them belonged to the same organization, were around the same age of twelve, and had no generational gap between them, plus both were kind-hearted at their core…
It didn't take long at all for them to become close.
And naturally, the topics started drifting toward very… "girly" things.
"Violet, do you have someone you like?
I remember the flower language for purple violets is 'I've fallen in love with you in a dream'!
So, who did you fall in love with in your dreams?"
"Uh…"
Izumi's face instantly flushed red.
"That… that was just a dream for me~
There's no way it could ever happen!"
"Ehhh?
There's something juicy here, isn't there?!"
Karin immediately leaned in close, eyes sparkling.
"Spill! Spill it!"
"I can't say!"
"You have to say!"
Karin reached out and started tickling Izumi's sides.
The two girls instantly dissolved into playful wrestling and laughter.
Although, with their strength, this kind of behavior was honestly pretty childish…
But.
Karin had been lonely since childhood and had never really tasted true friendship.
Izumi had watched her entire clan get massacred, her heart still carrying deep sorrow.
So right now… both of them were simply basking in the warmth of this newfound friendship.
"Hahahaha…
Okay, okay, I surrender!"
After a round of playful roughhousing, Izumi finally pushed Karin away while laughing, then abruptly dropped a bombshell to forcefully change the subject.
"I can't talk about that person.
But… I can tell you about someone else!
Mhm~
My first love."
"First love?"
Karin looked curious.
"Then why don't you like him anymore?"
"Because he killed my entire family."
"Uh…"
Karin stared at Izumi, who was suddenly radiating a bone-chilling aura, and couldn't help but shiver.
"If he had only killed me…
I could forgive him. I could understand his reasons.
I might even have forgiven him.
But he killed my whole family.
For the sake of his little brother, for the so-called 'peace of the village,'
he sacrificed the entire clan.
He committed clan extermination.
Unforgivable.
No matter what reasons he had, it's unforgivable!
I watched with my own eyes as my family died right in front of me.
A grudge like that…
I wanted to cut him down with my own blade.
All those hazy good feelings from before… they completely vanished that night.
They turned into pure hatred."
Seeing Izumi calmly recount such an earth-shattering tragedy, Karin actually felt a little scared.
"You… you're not planning to kill him, are you!?"
"Kill him?"
Izumi gave a gentle smile and shook her head.
"After Holy Master enlightened me, I've already decided to cut off the past.
Because when I really thought about it…
Killing him would be letting him off too easily.
It's better to let him live healthy and whole…
and let him suffer forever.
"Uh…"
Karin's eyes instantly rolled into pure white circles.
"So… so terrifying…"
"Don't worry~"
Izumi showed her crescent-moon smile again and looked at Karin.
"Everything is secondary to the mission!
I won't go against Holy Master's orders.
Whatever Master tells me to do, that's what I'll do~"
At this moment, her cheeks were faintly pink.
Because once again… she thought of that dream…
Back when she was revived by Byakuya, although she had been restrained by his power and remained in a semi-conscious state the whole time,
she still had vague memories of everything that happened.
For example…
Byakuya gently feeding her meals and water, tenderly tucking her in, softly massaging her stiff muscles, carefully helping her to the bathroom…
Although it was embarrassing…
Because it was a dream, her mind automatically added all kinds of beautiful filters and fantasies.
For example…
In the morning, greeting each other beneath blooming cherry trees.
At dusk, leisurely walking together along streets carpeted with golden ginkgo leaves.
Sometimes teasing cats, sometimes standing atop the Hokage Rock and whispering sweet nothings, sometimes chatting about love at the dango shop.
Later, when she suffered a grave injury and became disabled,
Byakuya still never left her side, taking care of her with infinite tenderness.
Such a sweet, beautiful dream…
the complete opposite of that unforgettable nightmare…
She had become utterly addicted to it.
When she finally awoke, she was shocked to realize
that the prince in her dreams had actually turned into Holy Master!
This realization shocked her… and at the same time, made her feel a little lost.
So she decided to bury this impossible love deep in her heart.
The codename "Violet"… was also born from that dream.
However…
The Byakuya who didn't know the truth had completely misunderstood.
He thought she was still hung up on Uchiha Itachi.
He even added that final sentence—
"Wishing you an early awakening from your dream."
...
"Hehehehe…"
Karin pushed up her glasses and gave two awkward dry laughs.
"That's good then~"
Then she hurriedly changed the subject.
"Right!
Did you know?
I once heard Holy Master say…
the person Uchiha Itachi likes most is actually his little brother!
Sasuke!"
"What!?"
Izumi froze.
"There's such a thing?"
"Yeah yeah!
Holy Master said most men of the Uchiha clan actually like men~
Full of passionate bromance energy!"
"Then doesn't that mean… Itachi probably liked Shisui!
Back then, his relationship with Shisui was really good!
After Shisui died, he completely changed as a person!"
"Eh?
Really?
That actually makes sense!
After all, Sasuke is his real little brother…
Probably impossible, right?
But Shisui is different!
There's definitely a chance those two could've been together!"
...
At this moment, the two fujoshi girls felt their gossip souls igniting like wildfire.
They began frantically gossiping about the once-genius Uchiha Itachi.
Meanwhile, Byakuya had no idea about any of this.
He also wasn't using the Telescope Technique to spy on their conversation.
Because the Chūnin Exams had already ended,
and right now his bookstore was being swarmed by a huge crowd of people…