"Beautiful female clan member..." Ling's mouth twitched slightly, and he slowed down his steps. "Madara, what does that person look like?"
Madara then looked again at the figure standing in front of their door. The young girl was wearing a light-colored kimono with iris patterns, and over it was a long, pure white haori. She appeared shy and demure, and at this moment, she was waving at them with a smile on her lips.
But Madara always felt something was off - because this gorgeous female clan member in front of him had a neat, wavy high ponytail, and judging from her standing posture and position, she was obviously not a meek and gentle girl.
Thinking like this, Madara truthfully conveyed what he saw.
What? Why didn't he describe how she looked?
Were there any other necessary adjectives that could be used to describe all the members of their clan?
Obviously, Ling didn't think there was anything wrong with Madara not describing the other person's beauty. Hearing this, he just nodded with a bitter smile. "It's really her... Let's go."
Madara wanted to ask a few more questions, but finally, looking at the distance between the two parties, he silently shut his mouth - he had already experienced how difficult Uchiha Kenji could be. Before he was sure in which aspect this female ninja, who was also rated as [the most difficult to deal with] by his big brother, was hard to handle, he really didn't want to expose himself.
"Long time no see, Ling-kun."
"Ah, long time no see, Chiho." Ling had a helpless smile on his lips. "You should give up by now, right?"
"Really, the word 'give up' can never be found in the Uchiha's dictionary." Uchiha Chiho reached out to tuck the loose hair behind her ear, with a gentle smile. "Moreover, I also want to hear what excuse Ling-kun can come up with this time to reject my confession.
The first time I confessed, Ling-kun said that you only regarded me as a sister and a potentially reliable future companion. So I worked hard and harder, trying to catch your attention.
But after I gained the strength to talk to you on an equal footing, Ling-kun said that you were burdened with the great responsibility of the family and couldn't make such an important decision just for your own desires... I also know the significance of marriage alliances for the family, so even though I was unwilling, I had to let it go.
But I still want to give it a try, even though everyone says I'll fail... Ling-kun, can I pursue you?"
The atmosphere among the three fell silent. Madara stood there stiffly, with his eyes honestly looking down at his toes. He really felt that his presence was a bit out of place at this moment.
Just when he was struggling with whether to find an excuse to slip away, Ling spoke up. "Sorry, if I used to reject you from the perspective of the family and the overall situation, this time it's just for personal reasons... In my current situation, I really can't utter words like 'I can take responsibility for a family'."
"I don't mind. If Ling-kun can't do it, I'll do it instead." Uchiha Chiho took a step forward. Her obsidian-like eyes were gleaming brightly, and her tone was more serious than ever. "Wasn't it Ling-kun who said at that time?"
He said that even if I'm a female ninja, I'm no less than male ninjas, and even more outstanding. He also said that gender is not the yardstick to judge a person's ability, let alone a limitation to one's abilities... From then on, my heart has belonged to Ling.
"Sorry, Chiho."
The three of them fell silent again. Madara was almost done counting the sand grains in front of his feet. After the silence, he heard Uchiha Chiho's sigh. Then he started to think about whether he should run away with his big brother or leave his big brother here and go to find Father to solve this matter quickly.
But to his surprise, after that sigh, Uchiha Chiho seemed to have flipped some strange switch. Her tone became much more casual, even a bit more relieved. "Really, Ling-kun, a great girl like me won't wait for you forever, you know?"
Ling also smiled. "It's precisely because you're such a wonderful woman that I'm afraid I'll hold you back."
"Humph~ You're still so good with words—" Uchiha Chiho raised her hand and inserted it into her hair, hooking the hairband that held her hair up, letting her long, wavy hair fall loose. "I even dressed up like a noble lady early on as Maki and the others suggested to show my respect."
"Haha... Did Chiho dress up for me?"
"Exactly," Uchiha Chiho drawled distressfully. "I regretted it as soon as I left the house. Coming to see you in such formal attire made me look like a fool. I've just provided others with a free show."
"Then you must have stunned quite a few people, right?" Ling bent his finger and pressed it against his chin, smiling easily. "After all, you once brought me quite a few challengers out of the blue."
"There's nothing I can do about it," Uchiha Chiho smiled charmingly, completely different from her previous gentle self. "Who doesn't like a beautiful Uchiha? You know, even the Senju, who fight us the fiercest, can't bring themselves to say words like [ugly] when they occasionally encounter us and start a shouting match. With their limited vocabulary, all they can do is call us crazy a couple of times."
"Hahaha—That's right. Who doesn't like a beautiful Uchiha?"
Watching the relaxed atmosphere as the two of them chatted and laughed, Madara inexplicably felt relieved, but he also couldn't help but become even more curious about what exactly made this Uchiha Chiho someone his big brother considered difficult to handle.
"Alright, I've finished my business. Now it's your turn." Uchiha Chiho's smile faded a little. "Next, is Ling going to do some training or take on a mission?"
Madara clearly felt his big brother's body tense up a bit, but Ling's voice remained calm. "I've gained quite a few insights from this trip. I'll probably need to do some training for a while..."
"Then Ling must need someone to assist you and record the Scroll of ninjutsu, right?" Uchiha Chiho clasped her hands together. "How about I help? It just so happens that Ling isn't good at cooking. I can help with that too~"
"No, actually, I can handle training on my own..."
"Eh—? Is Ling going to reject me? I'll cry, you know?"
Uchiha Chiho had a sly smile on her face and slowed down her speech. "Ling, you don't want to see a delicate girl like me sitting at your doorstep, wailing uncontrollably, do you? Isn't it going to be a nuisance?"
This time, Ling froze completely.
"Well, it seems there's no other way. How pitiful I am~ We've done so many things together~" Uchiha Chiho waved at Madara with a smile and squatted down on the spot. "It seems I have to cry at your doorstep, right in front of your little brother, complaining about how heartless, cold - blooded, and fickle you are to me..."
"Fine, fine. I got it," Ling raised his hands, showing complete surrender. "But this time during the training, Chiho, you can't secretly put sleeping pills in my food again."
Uchiha Chiho covered her face and playfully punched Ling on the shoulder. After getting a stifled groan from him, she said with a coquettish laugh, "You're so mean~ I'm past the age of believing that having a baby is as simple as just sleeping in the same bed. I'm not that naive anymore. See you tomorrow then~ Ling, don't try to avoid me, okay~"
Madara watched as Uchiha Chiho skipped away happily. Then he looked up at Ling. "Big brother, just now..."
"It's okay," Ling felt the numbness spreading from his shoulder and twitched the corner of his mouth. "She's just very strong."