Chapter 188: A Younger Sister, Recycling
The setting sun was holding a grand farewell ceremony in the west. The fiery red sunset dyed the entire sky in its colors. At this moment, Uchiha Tonan, Uchiha Obito, and Nohara Rin had just completed their training and were returning to their homes.
Obito was tormented all afternoon and was feeling extremely unhappy at the moment. But he couldn’t vent his grievances on his beloved Rin. Therefore, he could only sneak behind Tonan, trying to find a small place to ask him whether or not he liked Rin.
Tonan quietly walked towards Konoha’s shopping street while Obito sneaked behind him. Tonan had noticed that Obito had taken the bait and the corners of his mouth couldn’t help rising a little. He arrived at a flower store and walked in.
Obito stuck his head out from the street’s corner and watched Tonan walk into the store. He grumbled, “What a disgusting person! Why’s he going to a flower store?”
His imagination ran wild and Obito’s hostility towards Tonan rose by several levels. He began to contemplate how to mess up his plan. Soon, he saw Tonan walking out with a bouquet of roses.
“Roses… he wants to confess his love!” Obito hastily followed but to his surprise, this pursuit brought him only to the Uchiha district gate. “Is he planning to do it tomorrow?”
Obito saw Tonan was about to walk into his house. He couldn’t wait any longer, so he rushed and called out, “Tonan!”
Tonan, who had just opened the courtyard door, turned and gave Obito a blank look. He then forced a smile and asked, “Obito, what’s wrong?”
Seeing Tonan’s expression was not looking very good, Obito turned his question into a statement, “I wanted to ask you something.” Tonan nodded, “Wait for me, let’s talk on the way.”
Tonan walked into the courtyard. Half a minute later, he came out with a wood carving in his hand. “What did you want to talk about?” Tonan asked as he walked towards the clan’s border area. Obito didn’t know where Tonan was going, so he followed him, “You… are you interested in Rin?”
Thinking about how Tonan and Rin were driving him crazy earlier, Obito’s anger rose again and his words were emotional. Tonan was slightly startled and asked with a puzzled look, “What do you mean?”
“That…” Obito kept scratching his head. He didn’t want to spell things clearly, lest Tonan realized he liked Rin. After all, he had maintained a secret crush for all this time and he couldn’t let others know about it now.
Tonan looked at Obito deeply, and as if he realized something, he chuckled and shook his head, “You are thinking too much. I’ve always regarded Rin as a younger sister.”
Obito was first stunned when he heard Tonan’s reply and then was pleasantly surprised. His hostility towards Tonan disappeared in a flash. “Really? And here I thought…”
As he was speaking, he noticed the wood carving in Tonan’s hand. The carving looked like a girl and most likely a cute girl. Obito felt it looked familiar but he couldn’t quite remember. “You already have someone you like?”
“Why are you asking that?” Tonan’s voice was filled with reminiscence and melancholy. His pace slowed down a little and he lowered his head as if he was deeply saddened. Obito put on a face as if he could see through everything. He pointed at the bouquet in Tonan’s hand and said, “Why else would you buy roses? Aren’t they used to propose?”
Tonan was silent after hearing his words and continued to walk with a deep look. The setting sun was slowly falling into the mountains but even its last sliver was releasing its light to the fullest. The horizon’s afterglow shone on Tonan and Obito.
Seeing that Tonan had such a side, Obito was very excited. With a gossipy look on his face, he poked Tonan with his elbow and asked, “Who’s she? I never saw you together with that girl.”
Tonan’s voice was hoarse as he replied, “Mina.” He seemed to be filled with longing.
“Mina? Who?” Obito felt as if he had heard this name before and he thought about it for a long time.
Tonan smiled bitterly and shook his head. He sighed, “Sure enough, not many people remember her name anymore.” His words seemed to jolt Obito’s memory, “I remember, she was our classmate in the first grade.” As soon as he said this, Obito recalled that Mina was dead. He lowered his voice, “Sor… sorry.”
“Never mind, people die like a light being extinguished. It’s not surprising you don’t remember her.”
Tonan forced a smile again and his eyes became dim, “In this cold and indifferent clan, I’d only seen two kind-hearted people. One of them was Mina.”
Obito scratched his head and asked, “Who’s the other one?”
Tonan paused and turned his head to look at Obito meaningfully. He then continued to walk again. Obito was stunned for a moment and then pointed at himself, “Me?”
But Tonan seemed to be in a bad mood and didn’t answer him again. Obito felt that he should find a way to comfort Tonan at this time so he looked for a topic and asked, “Can I take a look at this wood carving?”
Tonan quietly handed it to Obito. Obito noticed the wood carving’s outlines were clear and even the expressions were very detailed. The wood was also of good quality. The edges and corners were spotless and without any flaws. It looked like it was kept very well every day.
Obito exclaimed in admiration, “It’s so delicate, you carve so well.”
Tonan sighed deeply, “It doesn’t matter what it is, you can do it well as long as you work hard. For many years now, her voice and smile have filled my mind, accompanying me every night. As time passed, not only did the memory not fade, but it became clearer. It just so happened that today was also a special day so I want to go to pay her a visit.”
Obito nodded quietly, recalling Mina’s memories. But he couldn’t remember what day it was today, so he asked, “What special day is it? I remember she didn’t die in this season and it seems her birthday was also not around this time. When we were in the first grade, she invited her classmates to have snacks.”
Tonan didn’t know when Mina’s birthday was so he could only cook up a reason. He said with a sad look, “Today is the day we met.”
Obito thought for a while. This was not when school was open so he did the math in his mind and asked, “So, you two knew each other before you went to the academy.”
Tonan nodded, “I met her briefly when I was a child, but at a glance, I knew I’d never forget her in my life.”
At this moment, Obito felt that Tonan was like a kindred spirit. In fact, Tonan was worse off than him. Although Rin didn’t quite like him, she was at least alive. But the person Tonan liked had died long ago.
What a pity… Thinking of this, Obito looked at Tonan with sympathy and said, “Tonan, you miss her to this day. I think if she knew this in the nether world, she’d be very happy.”
