Chapter 580: Waking Up
Sakura Uchiha chuckled teasingly; her sparkling eyes and meaningful gaze made Sasuke extremely embarrassed.
For an innocent boy who had never been in a relationship, his skin was still very thin.
Even though Sasuke had undergone strict training and personally killed enemies, appearing to be mature, his temperament was actually still very naive in many aspects.
Fortunately, the girl quickly let him off the hook.
She steered the topic back to the main point. "Speaking of which, the biggest difference between that world and ours is the difference between the two Sakura-kuns, right? That Sakura-kun and the original are completely two different people."
"Yeah," Sasuke nodded.
He recalled the events that happened in the original world. Surprisingly enough, that was already several months ago, but the experiences of that day, the battles of that day, every face and every sentence, including the details of his private conversation with the other Sakura-kun before leaving, clearly surfaced in his mind at this moment.
"I know, she and Sakura-kun are not the same person," Sasuke recalled, looking faintly ahead and saying slowly.
"The night before coming back here, I even had a private chat with that Sakura-kun."
He remembered the scene from that day. It was dusk, and facing that familiar face, he wanted to ask the same question. [Chapter 480]
But in the end, he didn't say anything.
He remembered every expression of that Sakura-kun that day, remembered the dim light in her eyes.
He knew she also had some words she left unspoken.
"So actually, Sakura-kun didn't truly 'like' Naruto, right? The kind of 'like' between a boy and a girl," Sasuke said.
Sakura Uchiha slowed her pace, taking step after step, walking very seriously.
"I think you should be right," she said slowly, wearing a faint smile on her face.
Sasuke also slowed his steps, falling into step beside the girl, quietly waiting for her answer.
"That Sakura-kun, the look in her eyes when she gazed at Naruto didn't have that kind of light of liking someone."
When you like someone, the way you look at them is different from how you look at others. There would be a kind of light shining in those eyes.
"So..." the girl drew out the syllable, as if reading a final verdict.
Sasuke lowered his eyelids, looking at the path under his feet without speaking. Unknowingly, their paces had synchronized perfectly, stepping on the gravelly dirt road, producing rhythmic bursts of rustling sounds.
Sakura Uchiha suddenly turned her head, and Sasuke tacitly raised his eyelids at the same time. Their gazes intertwined in the air.
"So the one Sakura-kun likes..." she looked at him, "should be Sasuke."
...
Naruto Uzumaki was awakened by his craving for the aroma of food.
Lying in bed, his nose twitched slightly, and then he suddenly opened his eyes, sitting up from the bed: "Ichiraku Ramen!"
"There's no Ichiraku Ramen here." A familiar voice came from the living room. Naruto shivered, and before his brain was fully awake, his body had automatically jumped out of bed. Without even putting on shoes, he rushed out of the room.
In the living room, two figures had already been waiting in front of Naruto, looking at him with smiles.
"Sakura-kun, Sasuke!"
Naruto shouted in pleasant surprise.
But not even half a second later, he pointed at Sakura Uchiha and asked doubtfully: "Eh, Sakura-kun, how come you've changed..."
"No, that's not right, you're not Sakura-kun!" Naruto's expression changed drastically, instantly assuming a combat stance. "Sasuke, watch out, she's not Sakura-kun, someone transformed into Sakura-kun's appearance!"
This overreacting blunderer instantly amused both of them.
"Are you still half asleep, Naruto? Wake up a bit!" Sakura Uchiha pressed a hand to her forehead, saying speechlessly. "I am indeed not Sakura-kun, Sakura-kun is temporarily in the Shikkotsu Forest, but I'm not an enemy either! Sakura-kun mentioned my identity before, didn't she?"
"Eh?" Naruto looked at Sakura, then at Sasuke, who had an amused expression, and finally realized he seemed to have made a silly mistake.
"Do you understand now?"
"Oh!" He put on a look of sudden realization, dropped his defensive stance, and stared seriously at Sakura Uchiha for a few seconds. "So who exactly are you?"
Sakura Uchiha was instantly speechless, rolling her eyes hard.
For some reason, seeing Naruto acting stupid made her really want to knock him hard on the forehead a couple of times.
"Haha!" Sasuke snickered to the side, but ended up taking another elbow strike. He immediately didn't dare to laugh anymore and prompted Naruto: "Naruto, think about it carefully, what Sakura-kun said before going on the mission."
Naruto scrunched up his fox-like face.
After pondering hard for a while, it was finally Sakura Uchiha who revealed her Sharingan that made Naruto suddenly realize: "Oh! So you're that special clone with the Sharingan that Sakura-kun mentioned!"
"Wait!" He slapped his forehead. "Sakura-kun isn't here, how can a clone last this long?"
He had used the Shadow Clone Jutsu too many times and naturally accumulated a lot of experience, understanding the limitations of clones very clearly.
"Because she's not an ordinary clone." This time it was Sasuke who explained. "She's very special. In fact... right now, you can completely treat her as another person who looks very much like Sakura-kun."
The girl nodded, adding: "That's right. Imagine if one of your shadow clones suddenly turned into a real person, possessed its own body and spirit, and could exist independently from the main body. I am in that situation, do you understand?"
"It feels so complicated..." Naruto looked utterly confused. After thinking for a long time, he finally said, "Anyway, it just means treating you as another person who looks a lot like Sakura-kun, right?"
"Bingo!"
Sakura and Sasuke tacitly snapped their fingers at the same time, then smiled at each other.
"You can call me Sakura Uchiha." The girl said. "Sakura-kun instructed me that while she's away these few days, I will protect you two in her place. But my true identity is temporarily only known to the few of you. So in front of outsiders, absolutely do not expose my identity, just treat me as Sakura-kun!"
"Then what about Sakura-kun?" Naruto scratched the back of his head.
"She... is temporarily recovering from her injuries in the Shikkotsu Forest." Sakura Uchiha hesitated for a moment but still told Naruto the truth honestly.
"Recovering?" Naruto furrowed his brows deeply, his expression instantly becoming serious. "What exactly happened? Oh right, I released too much of the Nine-Tails' energy back then, and as a result, it overtook my consciousness! Did we defeat the enemy later? Are you okay, Sasuke? Were you attacked by the Nine-Tails?"
As he spoke, he slapped his own head forcefully: "Damn it, I can't remember anything!"
"Don't rush, Naruto. Asking so many questions all at once, I won't be able to explain clearly." Sakura Uchiha gently consoled him. "Anyway, you've slept for two days and two nights. You just woke up, so have something to eat first. We can talk while we eat!"
It would have been better if Sakura Uchiha hadn't said anything. The moment she finished speaking, Naruto felt an emptiness in his stomach, and an intense pang of hunger surged from his empty stomach.
"Let's eat first!"
The girl took out a food box like magic and handed it to Naruto. It was exactly the breakfast she and Sasuke had bought for Naruto in the village just now.
She pulled Naruto to sit down. She and Sasuke also sat on the other side of the table, and she said seriously:
"Since Naruto is awake, first, an intelligence exchange... Let's recount the things that happened after we separated, as well as the intelligence we don't know about each other!"