After a long day of work, Tatsu Uchiha dragged his tired body home.
The sun had not yet set, and its last rays bathed the earth.
Tatsu Uchiha stroked his beard, took a teacup from his house, went outside, and began to sip his tea.
"Hahahaha... You can't catch me, you can't catch me!" Just then, a clear laugh came from afar.
Tatsu Uchiha slowly shifted his gaze, and saw several children playing and frolicking there.
Seeing this scene, Tatsu Uchiha's lips unconsciously curled into a smile. On this street, children played peacefully, adults went about their busy work, and life seemed so tranquil and serene.
This was at Tatsu Uchiha's request; instead of living in the villa specially prepared for him, he chose a simple house at the end of a street.
He said he wanted to see the bustling streets; the villa set up for him was too desolate, and he was bored living alone. He longed to experience the noise and activity of the world.
But whether in the villa or in this ordinary neighborhood, he was always alone, a lonely person...
"Why is it just you again? Where are the others?" A pouting girl stood before the younger version of Tatsu Uchiha, her small lips pursed, clearly showing her anger.
Tatsu Uchiha scratched the back of his head. "They're still sleeping at home... so I came alone."
The girl stood with her hands on her hips, her face puffed out in anger. "What the hell? We agreed to go exploring the river today, but they didn't show up when the time came! How awful!"
Tatsu Uchiha tried to smooth things over. "They probably went out on something last night, so it's normal that they didn't come today. See, I'm here. Let's wait a little longer."
The girl crossed her arms and said, "Forget it, I can't be bothered waiting for people who are late like this. Never mind them. Since you're here, you can come with me!"
Tatsu Uchiha froze on the spot. "Huh? Just the two of us? Isn't that a bit inappropriate? We made a promise, after all. It wouldn't be good to stand someone up, would it?"
The girl squinted and said, "Did we stand them up? Didn't they stand us up first? If they hadn't been late, would we have left alone?"
"Oh, forget about them, let's go! Hurry, let's go!" the girl urged, then grabbed Tatsu Uchiha's hand and started running.
Tatsu Uchiha glanced back at the running girl, but ultimately said nothing and followed her away.
After the two had run far away, several Uchiha boys suddenly appeared. Watching the two running figures under the sun, one of the boys said, "Why didn't she just invite us herself? Why did she have to invite us too?"
Another Uchiha boy held up one finger. "You don't understand, do you? This is called inviting everyone, so you don't have to worry about awkwardness or being rejected."
"Sigh, I got a lot of flak for this. We were supposed to have arrived long ago, but we always had to come up with all sorts of excuses to be late." The Uchiha boy waved his hand. "We made huge sacrifices for these two."
"I wonder if that blockhead Tatsu Uchiha will be able to react. Hopefully, they can succeed today."
"I still hope they go there. Those two have been through so much like this already, have you ever seen them succeed? Sigh, if you ask me, they're both just blockheads!"
The girl who was holding Tatsu Uchiha 'Tatsu Uchiha hand in the distance had already led him to the riverbank.
It was springtime, and the riverbanks were covered in wildflowers, which intertwined to create a magnificent sea of flowers.
"Ah, it really is beautiful! I told you last time we came that this place would be gorgeous!" The girl skipped and hopped as she led Tatsu Uchiha into the sea of flowers, occasionally bending down to pick a pretty flower or two and put it in her hair.
"How is it? Pretty, right?" The girl turned around with a smile, her radiant smile shining brightly in the sunlight. Tatsu Uchiha was momentarily stunned. When he came to his senses, the girl was already standing in front of him, looking at him.
"What are you daydreaming about? I'm asking you a question." The girl asked with one eye closed, "Is it pretty?"
Tatsu Uchiha quickly turned his head away and coughed twice, a blush creeping onto his cheeks. "So... beautiful."
After receiving an affirmative answer, the girl smiled even more brightly, "That's good! I was worried it wouldn't look good on me!"
"Um, actually you look good in anything, there's no need to worry about this," Tatsu Uchiha said. "Besides, we came here on an adventure, why are we suddenly picking flowers in a field of flowers?"
Hearing this, the girl turned around and said, "Yes, exploring a field of flowers, how can it not be considered an adventure?"
Tatsu Uchiha's face suddenly turned somewhat helpless. "What kind of nonsense is this? You're being too shameless!"
"Hehehe... So what if I'm being a scoundrel?" The girl laughed as she ran deeper into the sea of flowers, "If you want to settle scores with me, catch up with me first!"
"Hey, don't run away! Don't leave me here alone!"
"What? Are you a coward? You're scared in broad daylight?"
"No! I'd feel really bad if I stayed here alone! So please, don't leave me here alone."
"Don't leave him here alone..." These were the words Tatsu Uchiha said to the others as his teammate fell into a pool of blood.
" Tatsu Uchiha, calm down! He's dead! We still have a mission to complete! The Senju Clan is catching up soon. With a corpse in our hands, we won't get far!" A teammate punched Tatsu Uchiha in the face, knocking him to the ground.
Tatsu Uchiha turned his head blankly to the side, looking at his teammate who was sleeping peacefully with his eyes closed. He shook his head and said, "But leaving him here alone will make him very lonely."
The girl slowly walked up and grabbed Tatsu Uchiha's arm. " Tatsu Uchiha! We're on a mission! If this continues, we'll all be stuck here!"
You need to calm down now, you need to clear your head! We don't want to leave him here either, but... this is the only way now.
"This is the only way now!" The young Uchiha clansman, trapped in the trap, gritted his teeth and shouted at Tatsu Uchiha, who stood at the edge of the trap, reaching out to him.
"No, grab my hand, you can get up here!" Tatsu Uchiha's face turned bright red as he tried to stretch his hand out further, but the trap was too deep.
He was impaled in the thigh by the spikes in the trap and was completely unable to move.
"Hurry up and leave! If you don't leave now, the Senju Clan will catch up! What do you care about me for? You have no choice but to abandon me now, understand?"
As he spoke, he gouged out his Sharingan, and blood flowed from his eye socket.
"Take the Sharingan and hurry up! Time is of the essence, this is the only way, so get going!" With all his might, he tossed the Sharingan to Tatsu Uchiha and the girl standing beside him. "Take my eyes and go!"
Tatsu Uchiha took one last look at the Uchiha boy trapped in the trap, hardened his heart, gritted his teeth, grabbed the girl beside him, and ran away into the distance.
"Chen..." the girl suddenly called out behind her. Tatsu Uchiha turned around sharply and asked, "What happened?"
The girl looked flustered and seemed very unwell. Before Tatsu Uchiha could figure out what was going on...
"Chen..." The girl's face was suddenly splattered with blood, the bloodstains impossible to wipe away.
Tatsu Uchiha bit his lower lip hard, the shock of what he saw almost causing him to collapse. Sobs escaped his throat. "No! You won't die... you'll be alright!"
"Chen, I'm sorry, I promised you I'd stay with you forever, but I have to break that promise." The girl's blood-stained lips still managed a forced smile, as if she wanted to Tatsu Uchiha.
"From now on... it will all be just you all by yourself. I'm so sorry."
"No! How can you? I don't want to! I'm afraid of being alone. I'm a coward, I hate being alone! Everyone else has left, and now you're going to abandon me too?"
Raindrops fell continuously from the sky, landing on Tatsu Uchiha's face and washing away the blood from the girl's face, revealing her features once more.
As Tatsu Uchiha was drawing his weapon, a trembling hand suddenly touched his face. He opened his eyes abruptly and saw the girl with that radiant smile, "Don't cry, you're never alone. I will always be with you..."
As soon as she finished speaking, the girl's outstretched hand suddenly lost its support and fell to the ground with a thud. Her eyes gradually lost their luster and became empty.
"No—" Tatsu Uchiha held the increasingly cold body tightly in his arms. Raindrops fell one by one on him, taking away the last remaining warmth from her, as if prying open his hands and forcibly taking her away.
"... Ha! Coward, nyah nyah nyah..." A crisp voice rang in Tatsu Uchiha's ears once again, and Tatsu Uchiha suddenly snapped back to reality.
It turned out to be the laughter of children playing.
Tatsu Uchiha stared blankly at the now-cold cup of tea in his hand. A tear slowly welled up in the corner of his wrinkled eyes, and his lips trembled slightly. "So in the end, I'm still all alone."
He wiped away the tears that slid down his cheeks, downed the now-cold tea in one gulp, and forced a smile, "However, I'm not a coward, and... I've never been alone..."