Chapter 209: It's time to Head Out - Part 5

This chapter is updated by Novels.pl

Land of the Waves,

Naruto had finished having lunch with Inari's family and walked towards the main door.

"Goodbye, Big brother Naruto!" Inari waved followed by Tsunami, Tazuna, and Matsuda.

"I'll see y'all later, ya know," Naruto waved back, following which he put his hand over the Flying thunder God Mark that he had marked previously on Inari's door.

(Whoosh!)

Naruto had vanished.

—————

Back in the Hidden Leaf…

In the Third Training Ground, a girl with pink-colored hair entered the field.

"Hmm, I wonder where Sasuke is…" Sakura thought as she looked around.

*bz!*

*bz!* *bz!* *bz!*

*bz!* *bz!* *bz!* *bz!*

Sakura heard the buzzing of lightning natured chakra a few meters away from herself in the woods.

"Sasuke!" Sakura excitedly ran towards the source of the sound.

…

*Hah* *Hah*

*Hah* *Hah*

Sasuke breathed heavily, staring at the condition of his arm after training since morning.

"Sasuke… Ah?" Sakura was shocked seeing at the state of Sasuke's hand.

"What are you thinking?!" Sakura shouted as she quickly rushed over to where Sasuke stood.

(Bang!) Sasuke fell on his butt, losing the energy to even stand properly, exhausting himself from the Raikiri training.

"Sasuke!" Sakura immediately grabbed his left arm and held it using both her hands.

Sakura immediately started using the basic healing technique she knew.

"…" Sasuke didn't even respond to Sakura's cries, seemingly preoccupied with his thoughts.

Sasuke thought back to the time, Kakashi showed him the Purple Lightning Technique.

…

"I'm sorry, I haven't learned much about healing yet," Sakura said as she slowly dropped Sasuke's left hand on his thigh.

Sasuke stared at his left hand, which had considerably healed, although the last bit would still take a few days to heal up on its own, it was much better than the time Sakura had arrived.

"Thanks, Sakura," Sasuke said before standing up again.

*Bz!*

Once again, Sasuke had summoned his lightning natured chakra.

"Sasuke! Please, You mustn't strain yourself like that,"

"You must take a break for a few days before you start training again," Sakura begged.

"…" Sasuke remained silent, intent on going back to his training.

"If you continue, there are chances of irreversible damage to the chakra network in your arm…" Sakura said as she quickly held Sasuke's left hand.

*BZ!* *Bz!* *bz!* *z!*

Sasuke's left hand, powered down the technique coming back to a relaxed position.

"Why must you push yourself like this…?" Sakura asked slowly.

"…" Sasuke remained silent.

"Is it because of Naruto?" Sakura asked after a moment.

"…" Sasuke's hands tightened into fists, somewhat answering Sakura's question.

"…" Sakura was saddened upon interpreting Sasuke's response.

"Sakura. Do you remember what I said back when Kakashi asked us to introduce ourselves?" Sasuke asked.

"Back when…" Sakura thought back to the day Kakashi asked them to introduce themselves.

Back then things were relatively simple with Naruto being the idiot she knew and Sasuke being the cool kid of the class, but it was also the day that she found out about how mean she was to Naruto, Sasuke not having parents and Sasuke calling her annoying.

But there was one more thing that she had learned, that had also reminded her of the incident, in the Hidden Leaf, back before she had even started liking Sasuke.

It was just like any other day she had headed to the academy. Except for that morning, a certain boy didn't turn up.

— - Flashback - —

Sakura entered the classroom, only to find students gathered in groups.

"Hmm?" Sakura was surprised feeling the atmosphere intense from the topic of the talk.

"Hi Sakura," she heard a voice.

"Hi," Sakura repelled in a shy voice to Ino.

Yamanaka Ino, a very close childhood friend of Sakura. The two were on very friendly terms before knowing about their feelings for a certain boy.

"What happened, why has everyone gathered around?" Sakura asked.

"Ummm… They said something terrible happened last night… Something about a clan getting wiped…" Ino explained.

"A clan… Got… Wiped…?" Sakura asked slowly trying to comprehend the intensity of the matter.

"Everyone!!" A voice was heard.

"Quick!" All the people in the class dispersed, quickly taking up their usual seats in the class.

The classroom door slid open to reveal Iruka with his usual strict face.

"I'm gonna take your attendance," Iruka said as soon as he settled his books on the teacher's desk.

His eyes wandered around the class before finally resting on the seat Sasuke usually sat in.

"Looks like he didn't come today…" Iruka was sad.

The Uchiha clan's disappearance was a very complicated matter, and so was Sasuke's existence being the last descendant of Uchiha, as Uchiha Itachi was considered a Rogue ninja.

(Bang!)

The entire class's attention was drawn towards the door being slammed open.

"Sorry I am late, Iruka Sensei!!" Naruto shouted.

"…"

"Naruto…" Iruka's thoughts were shifted back to the class upon seeing Naruto.

"What are you waiting at the door for? Get to your seat!" Iruka ordered.

"Yes!" Naruto sprinted towards his seat and took his place.

…

The day proceeded as usual with the class getting over around evening.

Sakura and Ino went towards the park with a few other classmates to play for the evening. As Sakura and Ino walked together, Sakura asked Ino about the matter in the morning but was disappointed to learn that even Ino had no clue about it since only the adults were privy to the matter.

After everyone finished playing, Sakura went back home by herself.

Later that night she would find out from her parents that the Uchiha clan was one of the founding clans of the Hidden Leaf village that was taken down by a single boy overnight leaving only a single person from the clan alive, the boy whose name was Uchiha Sasuke.

…

The next day, Sakura was surprised to see Sasuke in class. Sasuke was considered a cool and a diligent pupil in the class who always ranked at the top, however, he never had any closer friends at that time.

"It's time to spar!" Iruka announced, following which the entire class was assembled outside.

Almost an hour later it was Sasuke's turn.

"Look, Look!, It's Sasuke-kun!" The Girls of the class cheered.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" Iruka called out.

Naruto naturally stepped out, claiming that he would easily take down Sasuke. It was a regular scene that the class was used to, however, that particular day Sasuke lost control.

"UUWAAAAHH!!!" Sasuke pinned Naruto to the ground and raised a fist at Naruto's face causing Naruto to flinch.

The class was shocked by Sasuke's reaction. However, a few intelligent ones apart from Iruka understood the reasons leading to such action.

Sakura was feeling Sorry…

Iruka forced the two to make the Unison sign, but that only pissed the two off even more.

It was around late evening when the sun was at the Horizon line, almost going to completely set…

Sakura was done playing at the park. On her way back she stared at the sun as she walked on the road next to the river bank.

"Hmm?" Sakura was surprised to see Naruto on her left walking towards her from the opposite direction. Since Sakura was walking on the road, Naruto was walking at a lower position on the grassland that was facing the river. She found it somewhat weird to see Naruto somewhere out than where she usually saw him in the class.

At that moment Naruto who was walking suddenly turned towards his right and frowned.

"Huh?" Sakura was intrigued by what Naruto had seen, so she slowly turned towards the left only to see, a boy in a black shirt with the Uchiha clan crest on his back staring at Naruto with a grumpy look.

("That's Sasuke,") Sakura identified seeing Sasuke sit on a fishing spot/ a small dock that faced the river and the horizon line where the sun set.

Naruto and Sasuke turned their faces away from each other at the same time, with Naruto continuing to walk.

"Those two, they hate each other…" Sakura murmured, while also silently sympathizing with Sasuke for his loss.

As she continued to walk, she turned back only to be surprised at seeing Naruto and Sasuke smiling acknowledging each other's existence in their minds.

At that moment, something had hit her heart. She found Sasuke's smile and that peaceful countenance he had to be the most cutest thing in the world. From that moment on she had loved him, not just because he was handsome or cool like the other girls saw him. It was her unconditional love which made it her duty to see that Sasuke would smile and laugh, she would become the source/reason for his happiness to exist and it would be her duty to provide him that.

Later on, she ran back to the park and told her friends that she loved Sasuke, and Ino would become her rival from that point on, vowing to break their friendship in name of rivalry.

— End of FlashBack —

Fast forward a few years later, Sakura had become accustomed to reacting to Naruto without limiting her inner feelings but became very shy in front of Sasuke. She even ran off her mouth about Naruto's bad parenting that led to him pestering her and would, later on, get crushed by Sasuke's true thoughts on her, but that never broke the desire she had for him.

Even when Kakashi had asked to introduce herself, her dream and ambitions, Sakura's one thought was Sasuke himself. Until Sasuke had introduced himself

His ambition to kill a certain man, which she initially thought made him look cool, but now that she thought about it, it brought back the memories she had regarding the Massacre incident, especially after studying the academy she had a clear understanding behind the significance of the incident and Sasuke's desire for revenge.

"But why? Sasuke, I know the deal with your clan, but revenge for its own sake… That won't make anyone happy. Not you Sasuke… Not me either," Sakura said.

Sasuke stared at Sakura.

"I'm not like you or Naruto… I'm on a different path from the both of you,"

"Naruto… I think he may already possess more than the strength I seek…" Sasuke said.

"Sasuke…" Sakura's feelings were complicated, knowing the rivalry between the two since young, but also the fact that Naruto's situation was unexpected eventhough she didn't exactly have a clear idea of it.

"Who massacred the clan?" Sakura asked suddenly.

"…"

"Sakura, we were betrayed by our own blood," Sasuke said as he looked at his hand.

"Own Blood?" Sakura asked.

"My brother…"

"He killed everyone… Mom, Dad…" Sasuke said slowly.

"Sasuke…" Sakura's core shook hearing Sasuke unravel the truth.

"But why would your…"

"HOW COULD I KNOW!!" Sasuke shouted, scaring Sakura away.

"I'M WEAK, I DON'T HAVE THE EYES!" Sasuke shouted almost traumatized by the incident.

("Foolish little brother. If you want to kill me, despise me, hate me, and live a loathsome life… Keep running and cling to that pitiful life. And then someday, when you have the same eyes as I do, come before me.") Itachi's nauseating voice, replayed in his mind.

"The eyes?" Sakura was concerned but also confused by what he meant since Sasuke already possessed the Sharingan.

"…"

"But Sasuke, How do you know he's the one who killed your parents?"

"I mean how could he kill the entire clan all by himself, surely there could have been stong people from your clan who could put up a fight against him," Sakura defended.

"…"

"Did you see him kill anyone?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke also thought carefully not remembering seeing Itachi personally kill anyone, as by the time he came home, everyone was already killed.

Sasuke thought back to Naruto's words from the forest.

- FlashBack -—

"I'll tell you the truth about your brother if you defeat me in battle one day,"

—End of FlashBack—

("I've had enough of this!") Sasuke stood up in anger.

"What are you doing Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke picked up his sword and sheath that was lying near the place he trained.

"Wait here," Sasuke said before he sat down on the ground.

"…" Sakura stared at Sasuke silently, sitting on the ground for a few moments.

A layer of Purple shade appeared over Sasuke's eyelids.

"That's…" Sakura was surprised, as this was the first time she had seen Sasuke use this kind of power.

*Sh!*

Sasuke's eyes opened, with a sly smile.

("He's here!") Sasuke was excited.

"Sakura, It's time to head out!"

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