Title: What is and What Should Be

Author: Sintari

Words: 100

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

#26 The Way Things Are

"It's just a symbol," she says. "Destiny is what you make if it," she says.

"It's a brand," he wants to say. "It's slavery," he want to shout. "It's standing outside the door never able to completely enter."

"It's the death of possibility," he wants her to understand.

They are just a year apart in age, but she is so young. She's acquainted with cruelty, of course, but for her, horrors are reserved for the next territory, the next village, the next household.

"You're right, it's just a symbol," he says. Then he takes her hand and walks her home.