Those words struck like a perfectly aimed finishing blow, hitting Sasuke right where it hurt.
He really had been too shocked and furious just now—so caught up in venting his own emotions that he'd forgotten to actually tell Naruto to shut up.
Being called out on the spot, Sasuke's expression stiffened, his face alternating between red and pale.
"You…!"
He was so angry he could almost cough up blood. Any trace of reason was drowned beneath his displaced humiliation and rage. Without thinking, he threw another punch at Naruto, who had just climbed back to his feet.
Thud!
Another dull impact. Naruto's other cheek quickly swelled up as well, puffed like a steamed bun.
"I'm saying it now!" Sasuke panted, glaring fiercely at Naruto as he forced the words through clenched teeth. "Got a problem with that?!"
Both sides of Naruto's face burned. Tears welled in his eyes.
Of course he had a problem!
A huge one!
Why was he getting hit?!
Sasuke was the one who had—
But before Naruto could shout out his grievances, Sasuke seemed unable to endure the suffocating atmosphere and Naruto's accusing gaze any longer. He suddenly turned and bolted out of the classroom, almost fleeing in panic, disappearing down the hallway.
All that remained was his retreating back, the heavy silence in the classroom—and Uzumaki Naruto, clutching his face, on the verge of tears.
Sasuke had used the crudest method possible to silence Naruto and escape the humiliating scene.
But deep down, he knew the truth revealed by the sky—the possibility that he, too, was some kind of "chakra vessel"—had already lodged in his heart like a poisoned thorn.
No number of punches could pull it out.
This farce was nothing more than a tiny outlet for the storm raging inside him.
The real struggle had only just begun.
Rubbing his burning cheeks, Naruto stared in the direction Sasuke had vanished, filled with confusion and hurt.
"I… I'm like that too, aren't I?"
He muttered softly, kneading the swollen skin.
"Pervy Sage and Granny Tsunade both said there was something strange about me… but I… I still feel like me…"
He couldn't understand why Sasuke had reacted so violently.
In his mind, even if there was some extra chakra inside him—something that might influence his thoughts a little—as long as he held on to his true self, wouldn't that be enough?
He was Uzumaki Naruto.
The one who would become Hokage.
That almost naïve optimism—and his thick-skinned resilience—allowed him to recover quickly, even after such a worldview-shattering revelation and two solid punches.
Naruto clenched his fists, staring at the empty doorway as his fighting spirit reignited.
"Sasuke! I'll make you understand! We're the same! I'll make you acknowledge me!"
The other children in the classroom exchanged awkward glances.
Naruto's mentality… was it excessive optimism, or just sheer obliviousness?
Getting punched and bouncing back with renewed determination—there really was no one else like him.
In sharp contrast to Naruto's broad-mindedness, Haruno Sakura was locked in fierce inner turmoil.
She undeniably—undeniably—liked Uchiha Sasuke.
That flutter of a young girl's heart, that admiration, had been one of her biggest motivations to grow stronger.
But…
"Sasuke might also have a 'monster' inside him?"
"His thoughts and actions might be influenced by something foreign?"
The moment that idea surfaced, a chill ran from the soles of her feet up her spine, making her scalp tingle.
This was far more terrifying than Sasuke simply being cold or aloof.
It meant that the proud, talented, sometimes awkward Sasuke she liked might not even be "pure" in his very existence.
"No!"
Sakura suddenly slammed her hand on the desk, the sharp crack drawing everyone's attention.
She lifted her head. Beneath her pink bangs, her eyes burned with determination.
"I have to find a way… to help Sasuke! To free him from that thing!"
She couldn't just watch him be manipulated by some unknown presence.
"And how exactly are you going to do that?"
Yamanaka Ino had sidled up beside her at some point, chin resting in her palm as she asked curiously.
Though usually rivals in love, Ino's concern was genuine in the face of something this serious.
"Of course I'll find a way to remove that 'foreign presence' from his body!" Sakura answered without hesitation, as though it were already a challenge she'd sworn to overcome.
But Ino's next words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Sakura's burning resolve.
In a calm, almost worldly tone, Ino asked softly:
"But, Sakura…"
"What if—just what if—you really do remove that 'foreign presence'?"
"Will the Uchiha Sasuke afterward still be the same Sasuke you like right now?"
Sakura froze, mouth slightly open, as if struck by a paralysis jutsu.
Ino continued gently, each word tapping against Sakura's heart.
"His personality. His obsessions. The way he sees the world… How much of that comes from himself, and how much is influenced by that chakra?"
"If you remove it, and he becomes completely different from how he is now…"
Ino met Sakura's eyes and asked the question that mattered most.
"Would you still like him?"
"I… I…"
Sakura stammered, her thoughts in chaos.
She liked the Sasuke who excelled at the Ninja Academy—cool and composed.
She liked the Sasuke shown in the future, the one who would stand against Naruto and prevent catastrophe.
She liked the Sasuke who, even burdened by hatred, possessed an undeniable charisma.
But if those very traits—those things that made her heart race—were mixed with the influence of an "outsider"…
Then what would a "pure" Uchiha Sasuke look like?
She couldn't imagine it.
Would he be gentler?
Or colder?
Would he let go of his hatred?
Or become someone entirely unrecognizable?
"What if," Ino pressed, delivering the final blow, "it's like the same body—but a completely different person inside? Would you still love him?"
Sakura stood there, stunned.
The fearless determination she had moments ago dissolved under Ino's soul-searching questions, leaving behind confusion… and a trace of fear.
This philosophical dilemma—about essence and appearance, authenticity and influence—was far too heavy for a young girl just beginning to understand love.
Could her feelings for Sasuke withstand the weight of the truth?
At this moment, even she could not give an answer.
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