"I was just thinking about the clan meeting." Qingguang's face showed his remorse.
"What were you saying just now?"
Mikoto stopped and walked in front of Qingguang, hands on her hips. Her delicate, willow-leaf eyebrows drew together with emotion.
"I was saying, could you stop filling your head with nothing but training and missions, or the clan and the village?"
"Do you really not have even a little time to rest for yourself, to stop and catch your breath?"
At that moment, Mikoto finally said the words she had been holding inside for so long, words she had always wanted to say but could never bring herself to speak.
He'd promised to go with her to the new Dumpling Shop in the village, but they still hadn't gone.
He'd promised to help her train, but kept putting it off. He said he'd be free next week, which meant he probably wouldn't have time until the week after.
Even now, as he walked her home, he couldn't slow down a little to look at how the clan grounds had changed over the years. His mind was still on those things.
Although Qingguang's behavior sometimes made her angry and disappointed, she could understand the difficulties he faced.
But what angered her most wasn't that Qingguang often neglected her.
It was that he never gave himself any time to rest, treating himself like an emotionless machine and never considering his own needs.
"I'm sorry, Mikoto, but I can't." In response to her question, Qingguang only shook his head slightly, took her hand, and continued down the street.
"That's Yashiro's house. I remember those two willow trees weren't there by the gate before. Yashiro once said he wanted to plant a pair of trees by his door so he could enjoy their shade in summer."
"That's Inabi and Tekka's house. When we were kids, their family often made delicious food and invited me over. They even pushed me off a swing once."
"That's Sister Jing's house. Brother Tensho has had a crush on her for ages. I wonder when he'll confess. He doesn't even know she likes him too. I hope they get together soon."
As they walked along, Qingguang pointed out whose home they were passing each time they reached another house.
Mikoto could feel the warmth of Qingguang's hand and the heartfelt gratitude in his words.
She clasped his big hand tightly in her little one, afraid he might pull away.
At last, they reached her home, the little courtyard nestled in the woods.
They stopped there.
"This is my home. It's the home my parents left me. I never got to meet them, but through the things they left behind—the table, chairs, cabinets, and books—I've imagined what their life here was like."
"I was unlucky. I lost my parents at birth."
"But I was lucky, too. Everyone in the clan has shown me so much love."
Qingguang looked down at Mikoto's face and slowly raised his hand.
Mikoto's heart began to pound faster and faster.
Senior... What's he going to do? Is he going to confess to me?
But... I'm not ready! This is so sudden!
In the end, Qingguang only curled his fingers and gently brushed the tip of her small nose.
"Mikoto, I like you."
!!!
Senior Qingguang really confessed to me! He really did!
I... I... Am I dreaming?
"Not just you. I love Uncle Shifang, Yashiro, Inabi, Tekka—all of you are family I love dearly."
As he finished speaking, Mikoto's hopeful excitement suddenly fell away.
So he likes me the same way he likes everyone else...
But I'm different! The way I love you isn't the way family loves each other. I want to become your family!
It's been so long. Haven't you noticed?
You idiot. You big idiot!
Mikoto wrenched her hand free and spun around, sprinting away as she shouted through her tears, "You stupid senior! I'm never speaking to you again!"
Her unexpected reaction left Qingguang frozen. He watched her retreating figure, at a loss for what to do.
He wanted to go after her, but it was as if an invisible wall had sprung up between them.
He silently turned away, went home, and lay down on his bed.
How could he not have sensed Mikoto's feelings?
But he needed to figure out how to respec his points first. Right now, he had too many buffs and was playing too many sides.
One wrong move could ruin everything. He could even imagine what would happen to him.
Danzo would turn his eyes into a watch, Orochimaru would slice up his corpse, and Hiruzen Sarutobi would use his identity to suppress the Uchiha Clan.
That was the Shinobi World for you.
"I'm sorry, Mikoto. Now isn't the time."
Meanwhile, when Shifang saw his daughter return, he was just about to go over and ask what had happened.
Then he noticed her bloodshot eyes—and the single Tomoe in her pupil.
"Mikoto, you..."
"I'm tired. I'm going to bed."
There was none of her usual gentleness or cheer in her voice, only disappointment and heartbreak.
Watching Mikoto's lonely back, Shifang felt his heart clench.
Could Mikoto have been rejected?
Does that brat Qingguang have another woman?
No, that can't be right. Qingguang isn't like that.
Besides, he knew his daughter. Mikoto couldn't have worked up the courage to confess at a time like this.
Then what happened?
Back in her room, Mikoto flung herself onto her soft bed and buried her face in the pillow.
All she wanted now was to shut out the world and find somewhere quiet to cry.
Her tears soaked the pillow and bedsheets.
She didn't know how much time had passed. Perhaps she had finally cried herself dry; perhaps she had found her own resolve.
She got up and walked over to the mirror.
She looked at her long, smooth black hair.
Senior Qingguang had said he thought girls with long hair were prettier, so she had kept it long all this time.
But now, she could feel the enormous gap between herself and Qingguang.
It was like a sheer cliff, too daunting to climb.
Picking up a kunai, Mikoto looked at herself in the mirror and swiftly cut.
Strands of dark hair fell to the floor.
She carefully gathered them, arranged them, and put them away in a long, narrow box.
Gazing at her bloodshot eyes in the mirror, she swore to herself:
"Senior."
"If the clan is what stands between us, I'll clear away every obstacle within it."
"If the village is the wall between us, I'll tear that wall down."
"If our strength is what separates us, I'll close the gap."
"I'll make sure you can live a happy life..."
At that moment, without a sound and unknown to anyone,
the Uchiha Clan had given birth to its greatest outlier.
Her Sharingan had not been born from hatred, nor awakened by anger.
Love was the strongest force within her heart, inexhaustible and impossible for anyone to shake...
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