After three full days of roughing it in the wilderness, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke returned to Konoha, looking almost gaunt from hunger.
But before their long journey's fatigue could fade, Anbu seamlessly took over, escorting them directly to the Hokage's office.
After submitting four or five reports, exhausting their words to divulge the Akatsuki's goals and detailed information on each member, and incidentally revealing a bit about the existence of the Otsutsuki to Tsunade, they were finally released by the insatiable Hokage, escaping from the office as if liberated.
A short while later, the Uchiha Clan's compound.
"So, why are you in my house?"
Sasuke looked at the girl in a yukata before him, sitting without any decorum, and clutched his head in pain.
"I have nowhere to go. I happened to run into Aunt Mikoto on the street, so I came along."
Sakura, freshly bathed, was using Mikoto's hairdryer to dry her hair.
Originally, she had returned home joyfully, planning to beg her mother to prepare a delicious meal.
But those two unreliable parents had actually left her behind and gone on a trip!
Heaven knows how devastated Sakura was when she saw the note left at home.
And judging by the dust settled in the house, they had likely set off right when she left for the rescue mission in Sunagakure!
Faced with a dusty home, Sakura couldn't be bothered to clean. Just as she was about to head out for a meal, she met Mikoto, leading to the scene Sasuke was questioning.
"Fine, as long as she's happy!"
Sasuke glanced at his mother bustling in the kitchen and sighed softly.
He walked over and sat opposite Sakura at the low table, crossing his arms and resting his chin on his hands. "I'm sorry about what happened before. If it weren't for saving me, you wouldn't have been injured by that sneak attacker."
"Ah, it's nothing. Besides, I guess misfortune turned into a blessing!"
Sakura reached out and patted his shoulder casually.
"And, I want to ask you something!"
The boy's eyes flashed crimson, a hexagonal blood-red pupil spinning into view within. "This, you know about it, right?"
Faced with Sasuke pointing at his eyes, Sakura fell into rare silence.
After a moment, she spoke. "Your father and Uchiha Itachi both possess this power. Its name is the Mangekyo Sharingan."
Sasuke closed his eyes, dispersing the pattern within. "After using its innate technique last time, I noticed my vision seems to have permanently deteriorated."
"Yeah, the Mangekyo gradually leads to blindness the more it's used."
Sakura turned off the hairdryer and placed it carelessly on the table. "So, before Itachi left the village, he asked me to retrieve Shisui's eyes, precisely to transplant them to you."
"Oh, so he made preparations..."
Sensing the girl had casually revealed some crucial information, Sasuke shot to his feet, even knocking over the hot tea on the table.
"What did you say!!??"
"This is a special ocular technique unique to your Uchiha Clan. Only by transplanting another person's Mangekyo Sharingan can one awaken the Eternal Mangekyo that never loses sight. The closer the blood relation, the higher the success rate." Sakura held the hot tea she had swiftly saved, blowing on the fine steam rising from it. (T/N: The Author seems to change from only family members to all Uchiha.)
"You've got to be kidding me... Shisui-nii and that guy... How is that possible? Tell me everything clearly!"
Sasuke's voice was nearly a roar, his Mangekyo unconsciously activated in both eyes, emanating a cold, oppressive chakra pressure.
From the kitchen, Mikoto made the sounds of stirring the frying pan even louder. Sakura took a deep breath and began, "It's a story about a Ninja who accidentally stepped into darkness..."
Over the next several dozen minutes, Sakura sipped her tea and narrated the Uchiha's past.
Starting from the Second Hokage sowing distrust towards the Uchiha, to the cooperation of the Third Hokage and the [Blame Kage], then to the death of Shisui, and finally the eve of the coup's outbreak.
As a participant in that bloody night eight years ago, the girl gave Sasuke a new perspective on the village he had lived in for over a decade.
The village, the elders, the Uchiha, Danzo, Fugaku, Shisui, Itachi... Each walked the path they believed was right, ultimately leading to the defection of more than half of the Uchiha's main fighting force.
"He... So he didn't kill Father, right?"
Agony twisted the boy's face, making his expression fierce.
"To be precise, Fugaku chose to end his own life, to ensure the future he saw would become reality."
Sakura's emerald-green eyes flickered as she set down her tea.
Clatter!
The sound of a table being shoved aside rang out as the boy forcefully grabbed the girl's collar, lifting her up.
"Why? Why didn't you tell me sooner! You knew everything!" Sasuke roared at Sakura, his eyes bloodshot.
Sakura hung her head, eyes downcast. "What good would telling you have done in that situation? Were you planning to assassinate the Third Hokage or Danzo? Or suppress the radical Uchiha who were running amok?"
"I..."
The boy's voice faltered. He released his hands, slumping weakly against the wall.
"That's enough, Sasuke. I was the one who asked Sakura to keep it from you!"
Mikoto slowly emerged from the kitchen, her hands tightly clutching her apron.
Standing in the hallway now, she seemed as frail as if a gust of wind could blow her away. "I never wanted you entangled in the strife of those cursed eyes again. But your talent was ultimately like theirs. You've still reached this point."
"..."
In the silence, Sasuke, gritting his teeth, stormed out the door, swallowed by the crowd on the street.
"Tch, and it was going to be such a nice meal."
Sakura sighed, looking up at Mikoto. "I'll go check on him."
Mikoto nodded, packing the prepared meal into a bento box and handing it to Sakura.
After storing it, Sakura formed a hand seal and used the Body Flicker Technique to leave the Uchiha Clan's compound.
The scenery flew past as Sakura leaped across the rooftops of the village's houses.
Her Observation Haki spread out like a tide, instantly covering the entire village.
Finally sensing Sasuke's Chakra in the direction of Training Ground 3, she immediately changed course and headed there.
In the training ground, Sasuke was throwing punches fiercely at three posts standing in the open field.
He wasn't using any Chakra or Haki, and soon his fists began to bleed.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"
"Hit it, hit it more! With this state of mind right now, you might even master Armament Haki!" The girl's voice sounded.
Sasuke turned to see Sakura sitting on a tree branch, enjoying the bento.
"Want some? Aunt Mikoto put a lot of effort into it!"
A Flying Thunder God kunai embedded itself near Sasuke's feet. Sakura's figure flickered as she appeared leaning against a post in front of him, offering him the bento.
"So, how many more things are you hiding from me!"
Sasuke pushed the bento away, his voice hoarse. He kept his head down, bangs covering his eyes, looking like a wounded stray dog.
A strange sense of loneliness and being abandoned by the whole world clung to him.
"Probably not many left, right?"
The girl scratched her head, taking out a storage scroll and handing it to Sasuke.
"Anyway, I'm handing these eyes over to you. What choices you make, what path you walk from now on is up to you."