Chapter 269 Their Hopes
My sister... is back?
Fugaku Uchiha seemed to freeze in his mind, unable to process what was happening. He stared blankly at the expressions on the faces of the people in front of him.
Hope, fervor, emotion, even tears streaming down their faces.
Each one of them expressed their joy.
Suddenly, the sound of a door being pushed open came from the doorway not far away.
Caracara—
"Sasuke, is there a flower shop on East Street?"
"I thought you were going to Ino's place."
"That's fine. The Ino family's house is a bit far, but it's good to support a friend's business!"
Sensing the intense gaze from the other side, Haruko and Sasuke stopped talking and looked over.
Then his gaze met that of several people with tears welling up in their eyes.
Haruko's smile turned to shock as she leaned close to Sasuke Uchiha's ear and whispered something.
"No wonder it's the clan chief's house; it's practically the neighborhood committee's name."
With his sharp eyes, Sasuke Uchiha noticed the father standing out from the crowd and almost agreed with her words for a moment.
Staring intently at the handsome face beside his son, Fugaku Uchiha was somewhat stunned.
The crowd around him dispersed and ran away.
He remained standing there, his deep, weathered black eyes reflecting his sister, who was surrounded by her clansmen.
Haruko, that's right, it's Uchiha Haruko.
Fugaku Uchiha murmured silently, his identity as clan leader and police chief forcing him to remain calm despite the great shock he was experiencing.
The excited Uchiha clan members couldn't maintain their usual arrogance and started talking all at once, vying to speak to Haruko Hayashi.
"It's Haruko! It really is Haruko!"
"Haruko seems to have grown up a bit, and she's even more beautiful!"
"Wait, how come she's still so small after all these years?"
"Oh...it's good that you're back, it's good that you're back!"
The clansmen were moved by each other's words, completely ignoring the confusion on the faces of Haruko Hayama and Sasuke Uchiha, who were trapped in the middle.
"What are they saying?" Haruko asked in a low voice, covering her mouth.
Having never been surrounded by so many people before, Sasuke Uchiha's body stiffened.
"……have no idea."
The woman pushed the child she was holding in front of Haruko Hayama. Besides her gentle demeanor, her dark eyes were also misty with tears.
"I'm married and have a daughter. Doesn't she look a lot like me when I was a child?"
Following her words, Haruko looked at the girl who looked about four years old.
He had short, obsidian-black hair, and his large, grape-like eyes darted nervously around in their sockets after meeting her gaze. His cheeks were rosy, and he looked like a shy child.
Her expression did look somewhat familiar to Haruko Hayama, but she couldn't quite place where she had seen her before.
Haruko looked up in the morning and saw the woman's eyes filled with expectation, feeling somewhat at a loss.
She didn't know what to say to live up to those expectant eyes.
Seeing that she did not reply for a long time, the surrounding tribesmen spontaneously quieted down, and the lively atmosphere gradually subsided.
They both realized a certain possibility.
It's possible that Haruko isn't Haruko.
The woman felt a stinging sensation in her nose, and what was originally a thin layer of mist grew thicker until it shimmered in her eyes and then flowed down her cheeks.
"Mommy, don't cry!"
She looked down at her daughter through her shimmering gaze, then at the worried Haruko Hayama.
It was as if scenes from history were overlapping, and she could hear Haruko Uchiha's comforting words from when she was a child—
"Chengzi, don't cry! I'll go teach him a lesson!"
Instantly, tears flowed even more profusely.
Driven by intense grief, her black pupils turned blood red, symbolizing the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan, and she activated the third tomoe in full view of everyone.
Seeing the crowd stirring, Fugaku Uchiha finally took a step.
Upon seeing the clan leader arrive, the clansmen respectfully moved aside to make way for him to walk towards Haruko Hayama.
"Father."
"uncle……"
The way the two children addressed each other brought a sense of peace to the two conflicting memories that were swirling in Fugaku Uchiha's mind.
He accepted reality very quickly.
This speed, compared to others, was simply because he was the only one in the Uchiha clan who knew Haruko came from the future.
Therefore, he remained silent, only carefully tracing her appearance with his gaze.
She is Haruko, who doesn't need to stay at home all the time, doesn't need to wear a veil, doesn't need to wear heavy clothes, and is healthy and full of vitality.
Fugaku Uchiha asked in a low, hoarse voice, "How...are you feeling?"
"Huh?" Haruko was taken aback for a moment, then hesitated before replying, "Not bad?"
"Hmm." Seemingly realizing his tone was too serious, Fugaku Uchiha softened his voice and added, "Very good."
While Haruko was puzzled, Sasuke Uchiha, who was watching the conversation, was shocked.
Is this soft-spoken person really his stern father?!
"Well..." Haruko glanced at the crowd of people waiting behind him and tentatively said, "Uncle, Sasuke and I will be leaving now?"
Hearing that she was leaving, one of the tribesmen became anxious.
"Haruko can't leave! What if she disappears again?"
This sparked a huge wave of discussion, and with this clansman taking the lead, the quiet crowd started chattering again.
The central point they all made was that Haruko couldn't be allowed to leave the Uchiha clan.
Just then, the florist that Haruko and Sasuke Uchiha had been talking about was in the crowd. He squeezed out, his aged face showing earnest attempts to persuade them to stay.
"Haruko, come to my flower shop! I can have any kind of flower you want!"
The situation was so strange that Haruko just wanted to leave as soon as possible, so she politely declined his offer with an apologetic expression.
"No need to trouble yourself. I'll go home after I go to Ino's flower shop."
Looking back, the suggestion to make this decision came from the clan leader's son, Uchiha Sasuke. The florist looked at the innocent Uchiha Sasuke with resentment.
Sasuke Uchiha, who had never been looked at like that by his clansmen since birth: ...
"Quiet."
Fugaku Uchiha's calm and measured words silenced the surroundings instantly.
He gave Haruko Hayama a deep look before stepping aside.
“She wants to go back.” Fugaku Uchiha repeated in a deep voice, “Haruko Hayama, she wants to go back.”
It wasn't Haruko Uchiha, but Haruko Hayama.
The clan chief's emphasis on the surname suppressed the clansmen's excitement.
They all understood something from the clan chief's words to some extent, and stopped clamoring to keep Haruko Hayama. With sorrowful faces, they all stood on both sides.
"Wait, wait!" Mikoto Uchiha rushed out of her house.
She vaguely heard Haruko leaving in the morning, and rushed out without even having time to put the lid on the bowl.
With trembling hands, she stuffed the lunchbox into Haruko's arms, her quiet, tearful eyes filled with a faint plea.
"I wanted to take this back for you to eat!"
Haruko, holding her lunchbox, removed the loose lid and was somewhat surprised to see several small rabbit-shaped apples piled up in the bowl.
Time was too tight, and Mikoto Uchiha didn't have time to make the dessert that Haruko Uchiha used to love, so she could only quickly cut up a rabbit-shaped apple.
She couldn't be sure that Haruko Hayama was Haruko Uchiha.
But such an action could at least alleviate a sliver of her longing amidst the vast ocean of emotions.
******
The list of recipients of gratitude as of July 12, 2024:
grateful--
Braised Rabbit Dazai Osamu's Love Letter x17, Explosive Update Celebration x2, Update Urging Charm
A handsome cat. (A reminder to update!)
Random thoughts about the bubble tea you sent me.
Frog frog frog. A razor blade was sent as a gift.
Luo Keke sent a like and a love letter to Pigeon Keya.
A love letter from Chen Jiangnan
Yingyou gave me a thumbs up
Just for you, I'll treat you to strawberries~, flowers sent by Yan Yiyue.
Written by Passerby A, updated by Mu Xue Shu Yu, Ampera Alien of Yancheng Mountain Island, Ying You, φμξ, Sanhao Squirrel, Please Eat Strawberries~, Yan Yi Yue, A Yu Really C, Random Thoughts with You, MZYJ, Yi Gu You Tai Du Wei, Jin Xiu La from Nanning sent with love ×3
★★●, Yang Rubing (real and fake), Yuanwei^, Yu & Jiuci, Chuxia.Xingkong sent two gifts powered by love.
Single Tower, Fog Purple Cloud, dkdk, One bite Xia Youjie, Piano Lacquer Worker, Qi is not seven, Struggle Ajuan, Silver_w, Shishi Poetry, You win if you read novels without using your brain, tsuki Jia, ..., Xiao Xingxing who loves to eat stir-fried duck with ginger, Sakurai Yuki, Lin Lingnuo, Xi Ya Ling, Open the skylight and swear, User 15521380, Likes big scaled bream, Li Qingjiu, Huo Si who loves to eat braised beef brisket with radish, Powered by love
Thank you so much for the gifts! The author is truly touched! The entire Uchiha clan thanks you with tears in their eyes (ω)
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