Chapter 579: Two People
For some reason, Sasuke subconsciously averted his gaze.
A guilty conscience? Or... something else?
"Actually, it's just a very boring little question."
He coughed drily twice, deliberately speaking very plainly.
Sakura Uchiha smiled faintly, slowing her pace. She looked quietly at Sasuke, waiting for him to continue.
"Well... you inherited the original's memories," Sasuke began slowly, carefully weighing his words, "so you should know that a few months ago, Sakura and I went to another world, a world slightly different from ours..."
The original world.
Of course, for Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, the transmigrator, was the genuine Sakura he truly acknowledged. This world was his "original world." In addition, the Sakura in that world who appeared weaker and more delicate, the slightly more chuunibyou Sasuke, and the difference in the flow of time were the main points of divergence between the two worlds.
"I remember."
The girl responded at the right moment, nodding.
Sasuke cleared his throat and continued: "There, we fought against the 'us' of that other world, as well as Danzo Shimura and a strange man."
"I know!" Sakura Uchiha laughed. "That seems to be the first time the original activated a clone to fight, right?"
"Yeah, but the one she 'used' back then was another one, not you," Sasuke added.
"Used"...?
Little brother, how are you speaking?
Sakura Uchiha was no soulless tool to be commanded at will; she was a living, breathing person! A stunningly beautiful woman standing right beside him!
The boy's ribs subsequently received a direct elbow strike. It wasn't very painful, but it made Sasuke realize his poor choice of words.
He turned his head, only to be met with the girl's flushed face as she shot him an annoyed, embarrassed glare and turned away. "Hmph!"
"Ahem..." Sasuke felt a bit awkward and coughed drily twice, hurriedly making amends, "I misspoke, it was 'activated', 'activated'!"
Another terrible choice of words. This time, it successfully amused the feigned angry girl. "'Activated' is also wrong!" Sakura raised her index finger, emphasizing, "Fine... whatever, it actually doesn't matter. Anyway, I am the first independent individual with autonomous consciousness. That previous one was just an ordinary clone, nothing special!"
"Her biggest contribution was helping you awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan."
She smiled faintly, leaning in a little closer, and turned her head to look into Sasuke's eyes.
Sasuke happened to look back. In their shared gaze, he could see the girl's equally dark eyes, her pupils clearly reflecting his figure. Like a pool of calm, transparent water.
Her eyelashes were very long.
Trembling slightly like a young deer.
"Mhm," Sasuke replied, completely unaware that he had even made a sound.
Sasuke sometimes found that he hadn't truly distinguished the difference between Haruno Sakura and Sakura Uchiha. Scenes like this, where they walked side by side, and she suddenly smiled faintly, turning her head to look at him with his figure reflected in her eyes—it felt as if it had happened many times in the past.
He could precisely trace in his mind the scene of the morning light outlining a golden silhouette on the girl's hair.
Sakura's eyelashes were also very long.
The boy's feet moved mechanically. His mouth opened and closed automatically, his brain actually unaware of what he was saying: "It was a bit awkward, right? I thought Sakura was dead at the time. You know how the Sharingan is—get emotional and the Mangekyou awakens. You also have the Sharingan, you should know the feeling."
Sakura Uchiha covered her mouth, giggling.
Her eyes curved, her lips slightly raised; her smile was very beautiful.
"Haha... What happened back then was really too coincidental, even more so than if it had been deliberately arranged, you know? Don't look at the original always acting like she's strategizing and full of confidence; actually, she was completely bewildered at the time herself. But the result was good, anyway."
"Is that so?" Sasuke snapped back to reality and smiled. "Sigh, as someone involved, it's truly a pity I didn't see that scene with my own eyes..."
Sasuke suddenly stopped.
He pursed his lips. The air fell silent for about two seconds, so he and she tacitly turned their heads simultaneously and exchanged a look.
And then they burst into laughter.
Laughter with absolutely no reason, but very happy.
"What are you laughing at?" Sasuke asked while laughing.
"What are you laughing at?" the girl countered, starting to act mischievous with her elbow again, trying to poke Sasuke where she had hit him earlier, which he agilely dodged.
Her eyes curved into crescent moons, laughing as she tirelessly played this hands-on game. Finally, she was caught by Sasuke, who coughed drily twice and said: "Alright, back to business. I don't even know where this topic wandered off to."
"Ahem, okay, back to business." Sakura Uchiha obediently withdrew her arm, adopting a posture of attentive listening.
"Mhm..."
Sasuke pondered for a moment, reorganizing his words.
He also reined in his overly exuberant emotions, so as not to laugh out loud when he was supposed to be serious later.
"You don't know about this. —Oh, I mean Sakura didn't know. Because we split into two groups at the time. It was right before I awakened the Mangekyou; I ran into the Naruto and Sakura of that world, along with a few others."
"Oh," Sakura Uchiha nodded obediently. "And then?"
"And then—"
Recalling this matter still brought a lingering sense of shock to Sasuke.
He took a deep breath and then recounted the story in detail: At that time, Sasuke was lurking outside their sensory range—
...
"Naruto... I love you!"
In front of everyone, Sakura hugged Naruto tightly and confessed her feelings.
...
Afterward, they were discovered by the group, leading to the story of fleeing all the way toward Haruno Sakura, ultimately witnessing the clone's death and awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan.
For the longest time, Sasuke had wanted to ask Haruno Sakura a question.
But driven by some inexplicable impulse, he ended up telling Sakura Uchiha about it instead.
"Is that how it was?" The girl was also somewhat surprised. To think the Sakura of the original world would actually confess to Naruto. "I couldn't have imagined it at all... but..."
If she remembered correctly, the knowledge inherited from the original clearly stated that the original Sakura liked Sasuke. So, what exactly happened? Did that Sakura fall in love with Naruto anew, or... was it a fake confession?
"Anyway... so you like Naruto?"
Sasuke looked at the ground beneath his feet and asked abruptly.
This stretch of road in the Hidden Mist connected to the small courtyard where they were temporarily staying. Because of its remoteness, it was a rather uneven dirt road, with occasional pebbles lying in the middle.
The boy suddenly developed a strong interest in these pebbles. With his head lowered, he kicked them one by one, looking as if he was kicking very seriously, yet the pebbles flew haphazardly in all directions.
Sakura Uchiha had also lowered her head at some point, joining in this childish game of kicking pebbles.
"If you're asking me, I've only been born for a few days and haven't even spoken a word to Naruto, so of course it's out of the question to say I like him."
She wore a pair of exquisite sandals, revealing her rounded toes and fair insteps. Yet, her delicate feet played with the pebbles with extreme agility and dexterity, appearing both cute and lively.
"Of course... I know the person you want to ask about is Sakura. As for the original..."
Sasuke suddenly missed a kick, and a pebble bounced diagonally onto the girl's slender ankle. She subconsciously absorbed the force, her ankle trembling slightly, and with a masterful taijutsu move, returned the pebble, which ended up stepped under Sasuke's foot.
Sakura Uchiha raised her head, glanced at Sasuke, covered her mouth with her hand, and giggled mischievously. She paused before saying: "Her? She doesn't have those kinds of feelings for Naruto either."
"As her teammate, you should be very clear about this kind of thing."
She blinked.
Sasuke's face flushed slightly red.
"Ahem," he felt like he was about to get pharyngitis today. "I usually couldn't be bothered to care about this kind of gossip! I just saw that world's Sakura do that and found it a bit weird, that's all!"
"Oh~"
Sakura Uchiha teasingly drew out the vowel.