With an angry roar, the middle-aged mother Haruno Sakura—possessor of monstrous strength—launched her fist directly at Naruto's face.
Sasuke's expression changed drastically at the sight of that punch. He felt like he was about to have a heart attack. He stretched out his hand desperately, shouting to stop her: "Sakura, wait! Don't collapse the house, or we'll have to pay another mortgage—"
The voice of pain and despair tore from Sasuke's throat.
But Sakura was already in a state of complete rage. She didn't care about Sasuke's pleas at all. Right now, she just wanted to slam her fist into Naruto's head and beat it into a giant lump.
She'd always done this. Whenever Naruto bullied Sasuke, Sakura stepped forward and beat Naruto violently.
As for mortgage payments when the house collapsed? She didn't care about that when she was angry. Only after calming down would she suddenly realize—oh, the house collapsed, we have to pay the mortgage again. Then her heart couldn't take it and she'd faint.
Naruto naturally heard Sasuke's desperate cry. This world's Sasuke is truly miserable, he thought. No money to repay mortgages because all the Uchiha clan's inheritance was confiscated after his defection.
The Sasuke in his own world was completely different. Even if he married several wives and bought multiple houses in the future, he'd never have to worry about mortgages. Because after Naruto killed Sarutobi Hiruzen, he'd settled all accounts.
The entire Uchiha clan inheritance had been returned to Sasuke, who'd naturally invested a large portion into Naruto's farm and other industries.
Naruto's parents' legacy from Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki had also been extracted from Hiruzen Sarutobi's private treasury. Though not as extensive as Sasuke's inheritance, it was still substantial. If it hadn't been stored in that old man's personal vault, Naruto wouldn't have needed to survive on expired milk and bread after his parents died.
He could have lived well. Even without opening a farm, the inheritance from Minato and Kushina would have covered his dietary needs from his training.
This world's Sasuke was truly pitiful. Not only was his body in poor condition, but he was also crushed under mortgage debt every single day.
However, this world's Sakura gave Naruto a wonderful surprise. Her straightforward personality made Naruto very satisfied. He'd learn about this Sakura's past later, then create a similar "Sister Sakura" in his own world—one who could learn from him directly.
Thinking this way, out of pity for Sasuke's mortgage situation, Naruto reached out and caught Sakura's fist. Then, using Instantaneous Movement, he took Sakura out through the window to prevent Sasuke's house from collapsing.
Seeing Naruto leaving with Sakura, the desperate Sasuke finally breathed a sigh of relief. He felt deeply grateful to Naruto in his heart. As for whether Sakura would end up as bruised and swollen as himself? Sasuke couldn't afford to care about that.
Better a swollen face than another mortgage payment.
With that thought, Sasuke sat down to wait for Naruto and Sakura's return.
Being grabbed by Naruto, Sakura wasn't surprised. He carried her to the same clearing where he'd fought Sasuke earlier. Sakura immediately launched another punch at Naruto's face.
This world's Sakura is amazing, Naruto thought with satisfaction. She dares to initiate a friendly discussion with me proactively. The Sakura in my own world uses every means possible to evade maintaining our friendship.
Naruto dropped Sakura to the ground, landing beside her.
"Naruto! How dare you bully Sasuke! Take this punch!" Sakura hit the ground with one hand, sliding backward to arrest her momentum. Then she rushed toward Naruto again.
Sakura charged! Reaching Naruto, she punched the ground beneath his feet. Instantly, countless cracks radiated outward from her fist in all directions. The earth shook violently—anyone standing on it would surely be overthrown.
However, Naruto simply stepped forward and appeared above Sakura's head.
Sakura kicked upward. The land collapsed and cracked under the force. Using the momentum from that kick, she reached Naruto's new position and threw another punch without hesitation.
Not fighting back was never Naruto's style.
Of course, Naruto wouldn't stop friendly exchanges just because his opponent was Sakura. In Naruto's eyes, friends were friends regardless of gender. He wouldn't treat them differently. If you wanted to make friends, you still had to go through the process.
"BANG! BANG! BANG!"
Countless fists landed on Sakura's face, knocking her back to the ground instantly. Then another series of punches demonstrated Naruto's sincerity toward this other-world Sakura.
Even someone as strong as the Seventh Hokage, or Sasuke with all his power, weren't Naruto's opponents. Let alone Sakura, who was suppressed and beaten the entire time.
However, this middle-aged mother with monstrous strength gained a rage buff partway through the beating. She didn't say the words of surrender even once.
"BANG! BANG! BANG!"
Half an hour later, the middle-aged mother with monstrous strength collapsed to the ground, her face blue and swollen. She looked exactly the same as her husband Sasuke now.
"Sakura, you're really amazing!" Naruto said with genuine sincerity, reaching out to help her up. "You actually persisted for half an hour. That really surprised me."
Sakura stood up and looked at Naruto properly for the first time. Her anger receded as she began examining him. Long golden hair, handsome facial features, young and vibrant. Although he wore the same Hokage robes, he looked nothing like the middle-aged Hokage in the building.
More importantly, the Uzumaki Naruto in the Hokage Building had liked her very much as a teenager. He would never attack her seriously. But the Naruto before her had no scruples whatsoever about his strikes. Every single punch had been aimed directly at her face.
Thinking about this made Sakura's face ache even more.
"You're not Uzumaki Naruto," Sakura stated.
Naruto shook his head. "No, Sakura. I am Uzumaki Naruto. Just not the Uzumaki Naruto from this world. I'm Uzumaki Naruto from another parallel timeline."
So that's how it is... Understanding dawned on Sakura. She thought about how furious she'd been just moments ago and couldn't help feeling afraid. She'd almost collapsed the house again, forcing them to bear another heavy mortgage. Fortunately, this Naruto had helped her by taking her outside.
"Thank you, Naruto from another world." Sakura bowed and thanked him sincerely.
"You're welcome. Sakura from my world and I are also very good friends," Naruto said cheerfully. "Just now, I saw your sincerity. We're friends now too."
When did we become friends? Sakura was confused, but she couldn't help asking another question. "Do you like the Sakura from your world?"
"No, we're just friends," Naruto said simply.
No wonder, Sakura thought, touching her pig-headed swollen face.
"Let's go back. Sasuke is still waiting for us." Naruto wanted to have proper communication with both Sasuke and Sakura. He grabbed Sakura's hand, and in the next second, they returned to Sasuke's house.
Seeing Sakura's face, Sasuke wasn't surprised. He'd expected exactly this.
"Come on, Naruto. Drink some tea!"
A short while later, they sat around the tea table on the tatami. Naruto sat on one side while Sakura and Sasuke—both with bruised noses and swollen faces—sat together on the other. Sakura poured tea for Naruto.
As Sakura served the tea, Sasuke felt somewhat uncomfortable looking at his wife's injuries. The sight seemed strange somehow.
Sakura sensed Sasuke's gaze and turned to look at him. She felt equally strange seeing him.
But in the next second, she realized they both looked the same now. There was nothing strange about it at all. The weird feeling in her heart disappeared immediately.
Seeing the steaming hot tea, Naruto remembered drinking tea with the Seventh Hokage this morning. Now he felt the need to use the bathroom.
"Excuse me," Naruto said. "I'll use the restroom first."
He entered the bathroom and reached to relieve himself, but came up empty. His face showed confusion, then understanding dawned. During the fight with Sasuke earlier, he'd used the Protective Retraction Technique, pulling everything inside his abdomen. He still hadn't released it.
Momentarily speechless, Naruto adjusted himself and took care of business.
Definitely more efficient than yesterday's approach, he thought absently.
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