Chapter 175: Lines
The familiar training ground sat quietly on the outskirts of the Uchiha compound. This place was very close to the clan grounds and had originally been a simple training area used by Satsuki and her sister Uchiha Itachi when they were children.
Time had passed and things had changed. Now, Satsuki's once most admired sister had become an enemy she must defeat. This place therefore carried many complex memories.
But this was also where she and he—Uzumaki Naruto—had first truly met, trained, and shared lunch together.
That sunny afternoon, Uzumaki Naruto had rashly but sincerely burst into her world. Though memories of training here with that woman made Satsuki feel disgusted, now this place had been given new, warmer meaning.
This was... a place where she could have Naruto "all to herself." Though Sakura sometimes came now, most of the time it was just the two of them. Naruto would guide her taijutsu here, engage in ninjutsu sparring with her, or simply rest and chat together.
The area had long since ceased being its original crude appearance. At first there had only been a few crooked wooden target posts. Now, through occasional repairs by Naruto and herself, there was a simple track, wooden benches for resting, and those targets had been replaced with sturdier, more standard new ones.
At this moment, Satsuki was staring intently at a target riddled with kunai holes. The red center portion was already densely packed with shuriken and kunai, with almost no gaps left.
This was the only method Satsuki could think of, besides being with Naruto, to forcibly calm her violently fluctuating emotions—training until her physical strength was completely exhausted, until her brain had no energy left to think about those shameful and panic-inducing things.
"So why not just go find him directly and honestly tell him: 'The reason I did those strange things was because I like you and wanted you to pay more attention to me.' How about it?"
Kakashi's final "simple and crude" suggestion echoed in her mind again and again.
Opening her heart directly... displaying her most genuine, most vulnerable emotions completely before Naruto?
Just slightly imagining that scene made Satsuki feel like all the blood in her body was rushing to her head, her brain burning hot enough to explode with fever! Her heartbeat was so fast she could barely breathe.
But... would Satsuki do it?
The answer was affirmative.
Her face had already been completely lost in front of Naruto, her social death experience could be called the lowest point of her life. Things having reached this point, what was there left to fear? Satsuki was completely going all out! Rather than continue this awkward embarrassment, better to go for broke!
But before that, she needed to completely calm this wildly beating heart full of various chaotic emotions. She needed to gather courage and make final psychological preparations for the upcoming "confession operation" that might once again change her life.
So she raised another kunai, her gaze sharply locking onto that already overburdened bullseye, her arm swinging out forcefully—
"Whoosh!"
The kunai struck with a whistling sound, precisely embedding itself in that forest of metal.
After catching her breath slightly and recovering from the rapid breathing caused by intense exercise, Satsuki walked toward that scarred target, preparing to retrieve the densely packed kunai and shuriken one by one.
However, her mind had long since flown to the clouds. Her fingers mechanically pulled out each ninja tool while her brain was like a floodgate had opened, uncontrollably and frantically rehearsing various scenarios and lines for "confessing" to Naruto, each one making her cheeks burn and her heartbeat irregular.
"Naruto! You, you listen! I... I actually like you the most! Please... please always, always stay by my side!"
"Stupid Naruto! Can't you tell? Everything I did... those bentos, those words... were all because I like you! I like you most in the whole world!"
"Hey... Naruto. From now on... only I can train with you alone, okay? Did you hear me?... Why? No, no reason! It's an order!"
"Naruto... you can only look at me. If you dare smile at other girls... or make bentos for other girls... I'll do terrible things."
"Listen, Uzumaki Naruto. Your future has already been reserved by me. Whether you agree or not... you can't escape."
"Naruto's scent... Naruto's smile... please only open them to me from now on! Everything belongs only to me!"
"I want to see Naruto the moment I open my eyes every morning... I want to tie you to my side where you're not allowed to go anywhere..."
Each fantasy made Satsuki's finger movements slow by a fraction and raised her cheek temperature by a degree. Her kunai-pulling became absent-minded, almost cutting her own hand.
"Ugh..." She let out an annoyed whimper, lowering her burning cheeks and quickly driving those chaotic thoughts from her mind, trying to cool down.
"No no no no... these... these are completely unspeakable! How should I even begin!"
The anxious and agitated Satsuki, after this bout of wild and extremely shameful fantasizing, had her emotions that had just barely calmed through frantic throwing thrown into complete chaos again.
She paced frantically in the center of the training ground, especially those last few "obsessive girl" fantasies that made her feel like a pervert just thinking about them.
Just as she was completely flustered, having no idea how to organize her words or face Naruto—
Rustle... rustle...
Not far away, clear footsteps gradually approaching suddenly sounded!
Who was it?! Could it be Naruto?!
Satsuki's heart instantly jumped to her throat! Not many people knew the location of this hidden training ground. Her mind was currently a complete mess, she hadn't thought of any explanation at all, wasn't prepared to face Naruto at all!
Extreme panic and the instinct to escape instantly took over!
In her urgency, Satsuki almost reflexively leaped up, silently jumping into the forest beside the training ground. She quickly formed the simplest, most basic seal.
The next moment, Satsuki's figure rapidly transformed in a wisp of light smoke into an extremely ordinary-looking tree that blended perfectly with the surrounding environment.
She had just completed her transformation and was holding her breath when the owner of those footsteps had already walked onto the training ground's clearing.
Through the strange vision of the transformation technique, Satsuki nervously looked over—only to see the newcomer wasn't alone, but two familiar figures.
Walking in front was that golden-haired boy who made her heart restless—Uzumaki Naruto. His face seemed to carry some worry and searching expression as he looked around.
Following beside him and talking with him was her teammate—Haruno Sakura.
"Naruto... and Sakura?"