Back home, Qingguang had barely arrived when he spotted Yashiro sitting outside his house, scratching his head over and over and blushing every so often.
"Yashiro, what are you doing here? Did you need something?"
At the sound of his name, Uchiha Yashiro immediately looked up. When he saw Qingguang, he seemed to have found hope. He hurried over and grabbed Qingguang's hand.
"Qingguang, I... I need your help with something." Yashiro stammered, his heart pounding with nerves.
But more than anything, he was hopeful, his eyes full of longing for the future.
Seeing Yashiro like this, Qingguang smiled knowingly. "Is it about Akiya?"
"How did you know?!" Yashiro jolted, utterly incredulous.
"Who else could make you act like this, Yashiro? I can't think of anyone but Akiya." Qingguang teased him with a grin.
Yashiro hurriedly waved his hands, but soon his shoulders slumped. "Sigh, Akiya and I were doing just fine. We haven't known each other long, but we truly love each other. We were even planning to get married."
"But while you were away these past few days, Akiya told me her parents don't approve of the marriage. Just because I'm an Uchiha."
"Tell me, if I married into the Inuzuka Clan and took their name, would her parents agree then?"
At those words, Qingguang froze.
O.o?
Bro, do you hear yourself? Apart from Obito, how could the Uchiha have another hopeless romantic like you?
"Ahem. Yashiro, big bro, let's put the name change aside for now. That would only happen after you got married—uh, after you married into her family."
"But the point is, her parents won't even let the two of you get married. How are you supposed to change your name?"
At Qingguang's words, the despair on Yashiro's face deepened. His Sharingan had even activated without him noticing, and tears slid down his cheeks. He tilted his head toward the evening sky at a 45-degree angle, as if mourning the love that was about to die.
"If I can't be with Akiya in this life, then what's the point of living..."
Yashiro's lovesick expression left Qingguang at a loss for words. He worried Yashiro might do something rash.
"Yashiro, don't panic. I have an idea. Just calm down first."
Yashiro spun around, bent his knees, and dropped to the ground in front of Qingguang. "Qingguang, I've never asked anyone for help in my life. This is the one and only time. My love is in your hands."
With tears glistening in his eyes, Qingguang felt utterly miserable. How had he ended up caught in something like this?
It took quite a while to soothe Yashiro. By the time Qingguang had calmed him down and sent him home, night had fallen.
The next morning, Qingguang went to Uncle Shifang's house.
As expected, Mikoto had already gone out to train. Only Uncle Shifang remained in the courtyard, humming a tune with a distinctly military flavor.
"Uncle Shifang, has Mikoto been taking the herbs I gave her lately?" Once he sat down, Qingguang's first concern was Mikoto's recent condition.
Shifang nodded. "Herbs? Are those the ones you gave her—the ones she insists on boiling herself every night when she gets home?"
"I wondered why she wouldn't let the maid do it and insisted on handling it herself." Shifang gave him a meaningful look.
Qingguang could only respond with an awkward smile.
Then he quickly got to the point and told Shifang about Yashiro and Inuzuka Akiya the night before.
"If I remember right, Akiya's father is an elder in the Inuzuka Clan, responsible for training their Ninja Dogs."
"Could it be because cats and dogs don't get along?"
Almost every Uchiha who became a ninja signed a contract with the Ninja Cat Clan. It was a family tradition, and Yashiro was no exception.
Qingguang shook his head. "That's unlikely. I think Akiya's father is wary because of the relationship between the village and our clan."
Within Konoha, the Hyuga Clan was the only clan that prohibited marriage outside the clan. Other clans with bloodline limits or secret techniques didn't impose such restrictions.
Though most chose to marry clan members with little or no blood relation to avoid suspicion, plenty still married outside their clans.
"Is he wary of the Uchiha?" Shifang muttered, recalling his life over the years.
He realized that every clan member he knew had either married within the clan or married a civilian.
There had never been a case of an Uchiha marrying someone from another Ninja Clan. Yashiro was the first.
But since the Uchiha had never restricted such marriages, Shifang had never given it much thought.
"Hmph. The Inuzuka Clan is nothing special. How dare they refuse to let their daughter be with an Uchiha?"
"Why doesn't Yashiro just find someone else? Why cling to one tree until he dies?"
At that moment, Shifang thought Yashiro was being a fool. Shifang himself had married first and fallen in love later, but Mikoto's mother had died young, leaving him alone ever since.
"Then why don't you find someone else, Uncle Shifang?"
"There's only one woman in my heart. There's no room for anyone else." Shifang looked up at the sky, as if he could still see the gentle face of his lost love.
"Uncle Shifang, you're an Uchiha too. You can't expect Yashiro to find someone else." Qingguang sighed.
Only then did Shifang realize that most Uchiha were devoted lovers. He let out a long sigh. "Then what can we do? If Akiya weren't a Konoha ninja, we could just kidnap her. But we're all in the same village. What else can we do?"
"Looks like the poor kid Yashiro is out of luck."
Seeing that he'd successfully stirred Shifang's sympathy for Yashiro, Qingguang seized the moment. "Uncle Shifang, I have a plan."
"But I'll need you to come with me to visit the clan head."
"Oh? What's your plan?" Shifang was intrigued now. He didn't want such an outstanding Uchiha as Yashiro to lose heart and waste away.
He also wanted to prevent the Uchiha from suffering another tragedy like this in the future.
The two talked in the courtyard for a long time, until the afternoon.
Qingguang and Shifang went together to pay a visit to the clan head, Fugane.
"Elder Shifang, Qingguang, what brings you two here?" When Fugane saw who had come, he was delighted.
Ever since the tragedy involving his close friend Kagami, Shifang had refused to participate in any clan decisions. At the last clan meeting, it had taken considerable effort just to get him to speak up.
And when he finally did, he'd come up with the idea of having Qingguang take over that hot potato. He was clearly a cunning old fox.
As for Qingguang, Fugaku had spent the past few months constantly trying to bring him over to his side.
Although Qingguang had changed the Police Department's situation considerably, he himself had never indicated any intention of joining Fugaku's Neutral Faction.
But Fugaku's son was troubled by the fact that everything Qingguang did genuinely benefited the Uchiha. He was torn, unsure how to bring it up.
Now Elder Shifang and Qingguang had come together to visit. Could it be that they both wanted to join his Neutral Faction?
Before you continue