Chapter 49: Chapter 49
A car pulled up near the school gate, and a boy with short blue hair stepped out.
"See you later, Moigetsu."
Suigetsu bid his older brother farewell and headed toward the school.
Moigetsu cast a glance at his brother with a gentle smile—until his gaze caught two figures standing by the gate, staring intently at one another.
His expression darkened slightly as he focused on them.
(So this is it.)
---
While Sasuke and Naruto stood facing each other, locked in a silent stare.
Naruto smiled softly, the tension in the air fading as he spoke gently, "It's been a while, Sasuke."
"Yeah," came the cold reply.
Naruto kept smiling, his eyes closed for a moment.
"Why are you trying to do something foolish, Sasuke? Doesn't this remind you of what happened back in middle school with me and you two?"
Sasuke remained silent, hands in his pockets, his face shadowed. He looked down and said, "What happened back then is nothing like what's happening now."
"Don't push your friends away just because you're angry or depressed, Sasuke."
"Naruto… I'm not as strong as you are." Sasuke raised his gaze toward Naruto, though his expression remained hidden.
"The darkness in my heart can't be turned into light. I lost the source of that light a long time ago."
"I don't know what you're going through… but that's only because you won't tell me. How am I supposed to help you if you keep pushing me away?"
Sasuke didn't respond.
"Then tell me—what would make you feel better?"
Suddenly, Sasuke stepped closer, surprising Naruto. He pushed him against the wall, one hand placed beside his face, staring intensely at him.
The gesture left Naruto slightly flustered.
Sasuke leaned in close, his breath brushing against Naruto's skin.
He whispered in his ear, "Cut ties with Sakura. Make her hate you. Leave this school. Then, maybe… I'll consider going back to how things were."
Naruto's eyes widened in shock. His lips trembled slightly.
(It's happening again. He's trying to distance himself from us again.)
He clenched his fists tightly.
(I won't let that happen—not in this world too!)
"What nonsense are you spouting, Sasuke? Didn't we agree the loser would accept the outcome no matter what it was?"
Naruto smiled and gently placed his hand on Sasuke's chest, whispering with a plea in his voice, "Please, Sasuke… overcome that darkness. Please… don't push her away. Don't push me away."
Sasuke remained silent. The two of them stayed frozen in that moment.
Then, biting his lip hard, Sasuke turned away and walked off, leaving Naruto standing alone without a word.
Naruto's eyes were hidden beneath the shadow of his hair.
"Damn it..."
He muttered, his voice full of mixed emotions.
---
Elsewhere, a girl stood observing the scene, flanked by two companions.
With her wide violet eyes and long blonde hair, she watched them closely.
"Do they hate each other? Let's find out. Maybe this is a chance to kill two birds with one stone."
She whispered with a sly smile.
Then, changing her path, she walked off—with the girls following close behind.
---
In the classroom, students were slowly gathering, chatting among themselves.
Among them were two girls engaged in lively conversation.
"What Sasuke did in the last match was incredible, don't you think, Sakura?"
Ino spoke with excitement, her eyes fixed on Sakura.
Sakura gave a faint smile and replied, "Sorry, but I didn't see his last match. I went looking for Naruto... he wasn't answering my calls."
"Heh, so that's what happened..."
Ino smirked mischievously as she stared at Sakura.
"Wait, don't get the wrong idea!"
Sakura quickly clarified, flustered.
"Yeah yeah, keep denying your feelings. You're the one who'll suffer in the end!" Ino replied with a wise tone.
"You're the last person I'd want advice from, Miss Ino!"
"How dare you! Don't you know my wisdom sells for a fortune these days?"
"Yeah yeah, Miss Ino's Wisdom: 'How to Become a Fool in Three Days.'"
"I'm going to hit you, you brat!"
Ino glared at her, then sighed. "Anyway, you need to figure out how to handle your feelings. Even I can tell from here that a war is about to erupt between Naruto and Sasuke over you. I wish I were the one surrounded by such handsome guys..."
Sakura blushed and responded quickly, "Idiot, lower your voice! And besides Naruto..." She calmed a bit and added, "Sasuke doesn't feel the same way about me. I'm sure of it..."
"So what? Are you saying you're not going to do anything about it?"
"And what if I do, and it just causes more misunderstandings?"
"Those misunderstandings are happening because you don't dare to cross the line!"
"And what do you want me to do then?"
"You need to make your position clear—for their sake, not just yours. You have to put an end to this before it escalates any further."
"And what would I even clarify? Go confess to Sasuke again after what happened last time? Or tell Naruto I'm not sure about our relationship?"
Ino stood up, grabbed Sakura's wrist, and dragged her away.
"Hey, where are we going?"
"Just shut up and follow me."
The two left the classroom and headed to a relatively empty corridor rarely visited.
Ino threw Sakura against the wall, leaving her slightly shaken.
"Listen up, you idiot. Even a moron could see that both Sasuke and Naruto are in love with you. And what are you doing? Making things worse by staying close to both of them at the same time!"
"That's not my intention! I'm just treating them like childhood friends—I care about them!"
"That's the problem. You need to make things clear, not just go around getting close to both like that."
"As I told you, it's impossible that Sasuke's in love with me. And Naruto knows I treat him that way because he's a dear friend."
"And what makes you so sure of that?"
"That's..."
"We're here to talk, aren't we? Won't you open your heart to me?"
Sakura closed her eyes and shouted, "It's because Sasuke's been getting close to you lately! I know it! He wouldn't suddenly approach someone like that out of nowhere—and Naruto has stopped crossing the line with me..."
"..."
Sakura opened her eyes to look at Ino, only to find her staring back calmly—something she hadn't expected at all.
"My relationship with Sasuke isn't what you think," Ino said with a gentle smile. "I wish the feelings Sasuke has for you were the ones he had for me."
"I told you, he—"
Before Sakura could finish her sentence, Ino suddenly punched her hard across the face, slamming her into the wall.
"Ino! What the—"
Sakura lifted her head in shock, but Ino cut her off with another blow to her face.
Sakura's hair was disheveled, and her body sank slightly.
Ino grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground.
"Aah!"
Sakura let out a soft cry of pain.
Ino straddled her lap and stared at her coldly before raining down a flurry of punches.
Sakura raised her arms to shield her face.
"What are you doing, Ino?! Stop, please!"
"Shut up, you slut. How long will you keep playing the weakling who needs protecting?"
"What do you mean by that?!"
"Oh, come on. Those two might be idiots, but I'm not." Ino's voice was icy as she raised her fist again, glaring at Sakura whose lips were already bleeding.
"You're trained too. Why aren't you fighting back? Or has being protected by two guys made you so soft and useless?"
Sakura gritted her teeth and shouted back, "I don't know what you're talking about!"
Ino grabbed her by the collar, slammed their foreheads together, and whispered coldly:
"Do you enjoy playing the slut, Sakura? Because if you do, you'll fall from my eyes completely."
Sakura clenched her fist and landed a solid punch to Ino's face, sending the blonde flying.
Sakura stood, hair tousled, her face dark. "I act weak not because I want to—but because my strength is brutal! And I hate being described that way!"
Ino rose slowly, dizzy. Sakura had aimed for her jaw to knock her out—but changed direction mid-punch.
"Heh… such monstrous strength! Were you a man in a past life?"
Sakura scowled. "Say 'monstrous' again and I'll actually send you to the hospital."
"Let's see what the slut can do~"
Both lunged forward, fists raised.
Ino landed a punch to Sakura's stomach, making her stagger back.
She tried to follow with another blow to the face, but Sakura blocked it.
"What, did you just block that? Are you a gorilla or something?" Ino grinned, provoking her.
Sakura punched her back.
Ino dodged low and aimed a deceptive strike toward Sakura's side—then abruptly shifted direction and landed a blow to her waist.
"Wait, that—!"
Before Sakura could finish her sentence, Ino had driven her knee into Sakura's nose.
"Aaah!"
Sakura cried out, holding her face as blood trickled down.
Ino tried to land another kick, but Sakura caught her leg and swept her other one, making Ino fall.
Sakura sat on top of Ino and began punching her repeatedly, nearly rearranging her face.
"Let's stop here. I don't want us both ending up seriously injured."
"Look who's talking—the one who just tried to break my nose..."
"I knew you'd dodge it. Besides, I had to go all out to keep up with your monster strength."
"If you call it 'monster' one more time, I swear I'll really send you to the hospital."
"Hehe. Now you're acting like your true self."
Sakura sat beside her, hugging her knees.
"What's the point of it all now? I don't think showing my true self will change anything..."
Ino pulled out a tissue and handed it to her.
"You need to face your real feelings and go after what you really want. Stop bottling things up—eventually, it'll push them both away."
Sakura wiped her face and stuffed the tissue in her nose to stop the bleeding.
She lowered her head.
"The first time we met as kids... I thought Naruto was just a silly, kind-hearted idiot. And Sasuke—someone out of my league. Maybe that's why I felt comfortable with Naruto, and tried to reach Sasuke's level."
"That's exactly what being a slut means," Ino said with a mocking laugh.
"I'll kill you." Sakura rolled her eyes in annoyance.
She sighed. "At some point, my desire to reach Sasuke's level turned into something else. Honestly, I never really gave my feelings for Naruto much thought. He was always there for me, so I thought I'd never lose him, no matter what. That's why I started neglecting him."
She smiled faintly. "I thought he was just a fool… but he sensed it. My lack of attention, how I took him for granted. I wasn't aware of his feelings—or maybe I pretended not to be. Until that moment… when he started treating us like strangers. That's when the guilt set in."
"You mean when you were getting bullied, right?"
"Yeah. That was the turning point. Sasuke got upset and blamed Naruto for what happened to me—but I was the reason. Naruto was just giving me space to be with Sasuke, sacrificing his own happiness. How did I not realize that?"
Her cheeks flushed slightly, remembering recent moments.
"After that, Naruto started caring more than ever. He was trying to claim a place in my heart—relentlessly. That made me incredibly happy."
"And then?"
"Sasuke wasn't unkind to me either... but once Naruto got closer, Sasuke started pulling away."
Sakura lifted her head, her tone calm.
"That's when I decided to confess to him... but he rejected me. And it felt like he despised me. He shattered me that day."
Ino stayed quiet, watching her.
"But he was still there..."
Sakura's face turned crimson as she stared into the void, as if seeing his image.
"He left everything just to sit with me and listen to my problems. Even knowing I'd used him, he kept loving me. He never stopped supporting me."
She finished:
"In that moment, all the feelings I'd buried exploded at once. The times I ignored him. His sacrifices. His teachings. It all burst in my heart and left me completely shaken."
"And now... do you know what you need to do?"
"Yeah, I think I do."
Ino finally smiled. "Then that's good! But I won't hand Sasuke over on a silver platter!"
"Hehe. We'll see about that!"
The two smiled and burst into laughter.
After a few minutes, Ino stood and straightened her clothes.
"I've decided. Let's go on a date!"
"Huh??"
Ino grabbed Sakura's hand, dragging her along.
"Come on, come on! I don't want to see any hot guys today! I'm sure I'll lose control and kiss one!"
"You pervert!"
"Shut up! You've kissed Naruto twice! I haven't kissed anyone except my brother!"
"Hehe. Pathetic!"
"Slut!"
"Child!"
"You want a rematch?"
"Bring it on!"
"Spare me. You've got gorilla strength..."
"Ino!!"
"Okay okay, I'm sorry!"
They continued walking until they left school—clearly sneaking out.
"By the way, where are we going?"
"I don't know. Let's just go somewhere, anywhere."
"Alright, alright."
Ino walked slightly ahead, then looked back at Sakura and said:
"No matter what happens, we'll still be friends, right?"
"What are you saying? Even if you tried to run from me, I'd drag you back by your hair!"
"Kyaa! What, are you trying to make me part of your harem?"
"Even if you were a man and the last human on Earth, I'd rather go extinct than have kids with you!"
"As if I'd ever want a slut to carry my children!"
"You're still mad because I beat you in that fight, aren't you?"
"Yes! Damn it! After saying all that cool stuff, I still lost? That's just depressing!"
"The date's on me, okay?"
"Kyaa~ My lady Sakura, marry me!"
"Get off me, you pervert!"
The two laughed and started a game of chase.
---
A few days earlier...
At a certain hotel, outside room 209.
Two people exited—a blonde man in his twenties and a girl with blue hair.
"Yahiko, where should we go now?"
"How about booking a room by the sea?"
"That sounds fun!"
"What about Nagato?" Yahiko asked with a tinge of sadness.
"We had to leave him behind. He needs some time to himself... You know he's been avoiding us since we told him about our relationship."
"He didn't have to act like that. I can't believe he's the same childhood friend we used to play with."
"Let's not dwell on it. This is our time together."
"Yeah, you're right."
They walked for a while on foot.
"Someone's following us..."
"I felt it too."
They continued walking and slipped into a deserted alley.
"Come out. I can sense you," Yahiko said coldly, scanning the area.
"Oh God, I told you to stop acting like a depressed puppet. Now they noticed us."
"Do you want me to kill you, freak?"
"Say that again!"
Yahiko and Konan exchanged confused looks as the two strangers argued despite seemingly being allies.
"Who are you two? And why were you following us?"
"Ah, right. His Excellency decided you two are important. Don't ask too many questions. Are you interested in joining us—or dying here?"
The blonde spoke carelessly, while the puppet-like one remained silent.
"How do you expect us to join an organization we know nothing about?"
"It's not like we know that much either. I only joined for the cash."
"Sorry, but you don't seem like a good organization. I'll have to decline."
"Ha, told you."
"Let's just kill them."
"Yeah yeah, as always."
Yahiko stepped back. "Konan, stay behind me. I'll protect you."
"I hate doing this to people like you. Why not just join already?"
"Forget it—let's get it over with."
The cold one lunged at Yahiko, who blocked the attack and delivered a strong punch that sent the attacker flying.
"Damn, he's strong," the other muttered mockingly.
.
.
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#To_Be_Continued.