Chapter 365: Children Without Umbrellas Can Only Run Hard
Naruto listened to her quietly until she finished, without answering immediately.
The night wind blew across the cliff top, fluttering their hair.
He remained silent for a moment, shifting his gaze from Sakura's confused and searching face to Konoha Village below, illuminated by lights.
Then, he spoke, his voice not loud.
"Sakura, do you know?"
He didn't answer "how he did it" directly, but instead began to tell a seemingly unrelated story.
"On a rainy day, if other children have parents holding umbrellas for them, they can walk slowly, or even stop to play in the water."
He paused and turned his head, his blue eyes meeting Sakura's again. The usual bright smile was gone, replaced by a clarity as calm as water.
"But a child without an umbrella... if they don't want to get soaked, don't want to get sick, and don't want to be left behind..."
"They can only run even harder."
"Running with all their might toward a place to hide from the rain."
"They don't have time to complain about why they don't have an umbrella, nor time to envy others who can walk slowly."
Stopping means they'll only get soaked even worse."
These words seemed to state a simple truth, yet they clearly mirrored his own childhood—struggling desperately in indifference and loneliness without anyone to hold an umbrella for him.
His "optimism" was never innate lightheartedness, but a survival instinct that forced him to look forward and believe "the rain will stop" even in desperate situations.
Immediately after, Naruto's words went a layer deeper:
"Without parents to back you up... when you're wronged outside, get into trouble, or simply feel scared and lost... there's no embrace to unconditionally return to, to stand up for you, and tell you 'it's okay, we're here'."
He lifted his chin slightly, his gaze becoming sharp and firm.
"That's why orphans have to be even stronger!"
"Because in the end, the only one you can rely on is yourself. If you fall, you have to get up yourself; if you're bullied, you have to get stronger and fight back yourself; if you're lost, you have to find the way yourself."
No one will always be there to catch me, so I don't dare to fall easily, nor do I dare to let myself be overwhelmed by emotions."
His "optimism" and "unbreakability" were, in a way, the "self-reliance" birthed from this extreme lack of support.
It was a survival resilience, tempered in desperation, that had become almost instinctual.
His smile was often not because he had no troubles, but because he knew crying and complaining were useless; it was better to spend that energy finding a way out and getting stronger.
Loneliness was the background of his life, so he had to face life with a smile even more.
At this point, Naruto looked back at Sakura, his tone softening slightly:
"Sakura, you have an umbrella. Your parents are your umbrella. They might sometimes cover you too tightly, making you feel suffocated, or their umbrella ribs might not be strong enough, making you feel disappointed."
"But at least, when it rains, they want to shield you from it."
"You also have a 'home' to return to, and parents who worry about you and search everywhere for you."
"This in itself is a'support' that many people can only dream of."
"My 'optimism', or that 'unbreakable' appearance, is partly because I have 'nothing'."
"I have no way back, so I can only look forward."
"Sakura, blindly envying others for how they run in the rain, or throwing your umbrella aside to get soaked out of spite just because it's not perfect..."
Naruto shook his head, his tone carrying a note of admonishment.
"In the end, the ones who get hurt are yourself and those who truly want to hold the umbrella for you."
He stopped, saying no more.
This was ultimately someone else's family matter, and as they say, even an upright official finds it hard to settle family quarrels.
A few words of advice were enough.
He didn't even know exactly what had happened, so how could he judge who was right or wrong?
Young boys and girls are like birds yearning to fly; excessive protection is like a cage imprisoning them.
No one wants to be suppressed forever; no bird doesn't yearn for the sky.
Sakura pursed her lips tightly, digesting Naruto's words and the meaning behind his unspoken thoughts.
The night wind blew, bringing a hint of chill, but also causing her chaotic thoughts to gradually settle.
After a long while, she looked up. Although there were still tear stains on her face, her eyes were much clearer. She gave Naruto a somewhat tired but sincere smile:
"Thank you, Naruto."
"You're welcome."
Naruto responded naturally, a gentle smile also appearing on his face as he added what he considered obvious:
"We're friends, after all."
Seeing that Sakura's mood had clearly improved and she was no longer in that initial state on the verge of collapse, Naruto felt his "mission" was complete.
He turned to leave.
He'd wander around for a bit and then come back here to watch the fireworks.
"Friends..."
Sakura repeated the word in a low voice, so softly it was almost scattered by the night wind, but Naruto's keen hearing still caught it.
A trace of extremely complex emotion flashed across her face—some relief, and some... something else.
It seemed Karin hadn't told Naruto yet...
A thought flashed through Sakura's mind.
About that honest and deep conversation she had with Karin before, about the confirmation and decision regarding certain feelings. Karin probably wanted to leave it for her to say herself.
But that was fine too.
Sakura thought that, as expected, some things... were better said with one's own mouth.
Especially on a night like this, at such a height, under the full moon before her.
Courage, like a tide surging back after receding, gathered once more.
"Naruto..."
Sakura called out to him, her voice not loud, but carrying the clarity of a firm decision.
Naruto stopped and turned around with some confusion: "Hmm? Is there something else?"
He thought Sakura still needed help or was still hesitating about her parents' situation.
Sakura took a deep breath, as if to inhale all the tension, hesitation, and past conflicts into her chest and then exhale them completely.
She looked up, staring directly into Naruto's blue eyes, which appeared exceptionally clear in the moonlight. In her green pupils, there flickered an unprecedented honesty and determination, stripped of all concealment.
Then, in a clear and steady voice, she said word by word:
"I like you."
Naruto stood there quietly, without any surprise or panic on his face.
He didn't even twitch an eyebrow, simply returning Sakura's gaze calmly with those blue eyes, as if what she had just said wasn't an earth-shattering confession, but rather "the weather is nice today."
Then, after a few seconds of silence that made one's heart almost stop, Naruto spoke, his tone as natural as if they were discussing what to eat for dinner:
"I noticed."
Sakura: "..."
The expression on her face instantly froze. Her cheeks, which had been slightly flushed with tension and anticipation, quickly drained of color before turning a violent red. Her green eyes widened, her mouth opened slightly, and her whole body seemed to have been struck by an invisible bolt of lightning, freezing her in place.
I noticed?
What kind of reply is that!
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