Chapter 364: You're Sitting on My Head
After Naruto finished dealing with Nagato's matters, he left the subsequent sealing and site cleanup to his Shadow Clones, while his Main Body quickly used the Flying Thunder God to return to the festival area.
However, when his figure quietly emerged, he did not see the three girls.
Instead, he gave Sakura's parents, who were nearby, a fright.
Their faces were filled with urgency, and they stood on tiptoe from time to time to look through the crowd. When they saw Naruto suddenly appear, they were first startled, then acted as if they had caught a life-saving straw.
"Hokage-sama!"
The two spoke almost simultaneously, their respectful tone laced with an unmistakable urgency.
They stepped forward quickly. Haruno Hiashi was rubbing his hands nervously, his eyes fixed on Naruto:
"Have you seen Sakura just now?"
"Sakura?"
Naruto frowned slightly and shook his head.
"No, I just finished handling some official business; I haven't seen her."
He quickly recalled the situation in his mind.
Since the last time he went with Sakura because of Yakumo Kurama's matter, it had indeed been a few days since he last saw Sakura.
But this was normal in Ninja life; everyone had their own busy missions and shifts.
"Why, did something happen?"
Naruto's tone became serious as he squinted, seeing the anxious expressions on Sakura's parents' faces and realizing that things might not be simple.
"I remember the Medical Department is currently implementing a 'White and Night Shift' system. Is she on the day shift or the night shift?"
"She was on the day shift today and was supposed to hand over her shift in the afternoon."
Haruno Mebuki took over the conversation, her face full of self-reproach and frustration, her voice choked with emotion,
"It's all my fault. Just now, because of a small matter, I said a few things to her... I might have been too harsh."
Hearing this, Naruto didn't even want to listen further.
Based on the experience summarized from several examples Naruto knew in his past life,
generally, the so-called "said a few things" often meant it was by no means just a few lighthearted words; it was likely a long-winded tirade filled with emotion, bringing up old scores, or even personal attacks.
And the phrase "too harsh" almost meant "applying severe pressure, performing emotional blackmail or PUA-style belittling, making the child feel worthless."
However, in the plot, Sakura's parents seemed to treat her quite well. Of course, Sakura also felt her parents were too strict, so it wasn't impossible for such a thing to happen.
He waved his hand to indicate he understood.
"Alright, I'll help you find her. You two go back to whatever you were doing; don't affect others."
After dealing with Sakura's parents, Naruto directly activated the Kagura Minds Eye.
Finding someone in Hidden Leaf Village was quite easy.
Find her quickly, then continue the date.
But it was almost time; after finding Sakura, they should probably go directly to the Hokage Rock to watch the fireworks.
On the Sixth Hokage's face on the Hokage Rock.
The moonlight was mostly blocked by the rock statue itself, making the light here even dimmer than below.
Naruto immediately saw the figure curled up in the center of the rock statue's forehead.
Sakura Haruno was sitting on the cold rock with her back to the direction he came from, her hands tightly hugging her bent knees, her whole body curled into a ball.
Her short pink hair, which was usually full of vitality, was now somewhat messy and scattered. Her head was buried deep in her arms, and her shoulders were uncontrollably trembling slightly in the night wind.
Even from a distance, Naruto could clearly feel the heavy aura of depression, grievance, and even self-doubt emanating from her, which was almost too thick to dissipate.
He quietly switched the Mangekyo Sharingan in his eyes back to his own eyes, then casually wiped the blood off his face.
She seemed to merge with this lonely, high rock, immersed in a world of sorrow where she was the only one.
"Hey, you're sitting on my head."
Hearing his voice, Sakura's arms hugging her knees seemed to stiffen, and the trembling of her shoulders stopped.
She slowly raised her head a little from her arms and turned it sideways, glancing at him with eyes that were slightly red and swollen, with traces of tears still remaining.
Under the reflection of the moonlight and the faint light of the distant festival, the tear stains on her face were clearly visible, her nose was red, and her lips were tightly pursed, trying hard to maintain her composure. But that fragile yet stubborn appearance was more heart-wrenching than if she were crying outright.
"Ah... it's Naruto."
She pulled the corners of her mouth, trying to squeeze out a smile, but it looked worse than crying. Her voice was also somewhat raspy and dry from her previous crying.
"How did you find this place? Don't you need to accompany Ino and the others at the festival?"
The signs of her forcing herself and the exhaustion and sadness hidden deep in her eyes could not be concealed at all.
Looking at her like this, Naruto didn't answer her questions about "how he found her" or "who he was accompanying"; those weren't important.
He just looked at her quietly, his blue eyes appearing exceptionally deep in the night, and then asked:
"Tell me, what's going on? Your parents are going crazy looking for you."
"Let's get this straight first, I'm not good at comforting people."
He turned his head slightly and looked at the lights of the distant festival, seemingly unaccustomed to handling scenes that required delicate emotional solace,
"Don't expect me to say anything nice to comfort you in a bit."
Giving a "precautionary shot" in advance was to avoid Sakura's expectations falling through, and it was also his honesty about his own way of communicating.
Hearing Naruto's "straight-man style" opening and the subsequent "disclaimer," Sakura was first stunned, then the corners of her mouth curled into a bitter arc.
She took a deep breath, the cold night air rushing into her lungs, clearing her chaotic mind a bit.
She raised her hand and forcefully, even somewhat roughly, wiped away the remaining tear stains on her face with the back of her hand. Her movements carried a stubbornness as if she were throwing a tantrum, as if she wanted to wipe away all her weakness.
"It's okay."
Sakura's voice was a bit more stable than before, but it still carried a nasal tone and raspiness.
She didn't look at Naruto; her gaze was cast toward the lights of Hidden Leaf Village's thousands of homes below. There was the Village she protected, her home, and also the source of the pressure that made her feel suffocated at this moment.
"It's just... I feel like they control me too much."
She said in a low voice, her tone full of exhaustion and an unspeakable sense of powerlessness.
"From work to becoming a Ninja, it seems like I'm never good enough. I know they care about me, but..."
"That constant 'advice,' 'reminders,' 'worry,' and occasionally like tonight."
"Excessive reminders and accusations really make it hard for me to breathe."
"When I'm sweeping the floor, my mom tells me to sweep the floor. When I'm about to wash the dishes, she tells me to wash the dishes. I'm clearly already doing it, but she still likes to talk."
She paused, her voice becoming even softer, with a hint of self-mockery:
"Sometimes..."
Sakura finally turned her head and looked at Naruto sitting beside her.
Under the moonlight, the lines of his profile were clear, and his eyes were still calmly looking into the distance, seemingly listening intently.
Looking at his appearance, as if he could find a way out no matter what he encountered and was always full of vitality, a thought that had been buried deep in her heart for a long time emerged involuntarily, and she spoke it in a low voice:
"Sometimes, I really envy you, Naruto."
"You seem... always so optimistic."
Her voice was filled with unabashed envy.
"No matter how great the difficulty or how terrible the situation, you always seem to find a reason to persevere and face it with a smile."
"Facing doubts, facing pressure, facing those gazes that wish they could pull you down... you never seem to be truly crushed."
"How do you do it?"
She finally asked this question that had perhaps been circling in her mind for a long time. Her green eyes stared fixedly at Naruto, filled with confusion, inquiry, and a longing for resonance or guidance that she might not even be aware of herself.
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