章節 240: Chapter 240 When You Can't Sleep, Go Up to The Roof
"Yeah, okay." Sakura's first response was to agree. After a few seconds, she looked up at him, "Why?"
"What do you mean, why?" Naruto asked back.
"You're not pitying me, are you?" Sakura asked seriously, "Do I look that pitiful now? It was just a made-up story."
"How does it feel to be fooled?"
"It doesn't matter if you lie to me. I don't mind." Naruto said, grabbing Sakura's hand and pulling her up, "But you can't lie to yourself."
"Whether you're just being mysterious, making up a story, or simply messing with me, it doesn't matter."
"But there's one thing… Tell me now: do you want to go out with me or not?"
Sakura was silent, staring at him for several moments. She then glanced down at the unfinished documents, staring at them for a while as if hesitating.
Naruto noticed that Sakura's responses seemed slower than before, and she took longer to think things through before answering.
"Okay." She finally said.
Sakura got up slowly, took a sip of water, and, before leaving, switched off the office lights with a click. As the door creaked shut behind them, she turned around and spoke hesitantly, "Sometimes, I stay in the Hokage Tower all night, or I just sleep here."
Naruto didn't know about these habits, so he didn't comment. He simply hummed lightly in response. In the hallway, the sound of their footsteps echoed unevenly.
"You usually work overtime when you can't sleep?" Naruto asked.
"How is that possible? I'm not that stupid." Sakura walked beside him with her hands behind her back. "There's no way to finish the work. Even if I finish it today, there will be more tomorrow."
She waved her hand and made an exaggerated circle.
"It's endless. There's no way to truly end it."
Outside the Hokage Tower, the summer stars shone brightly, and the night wind was cool.
The two of them paused at the intersection before Naruto pointed in a direction. In moments like this, taking the lead and guiding Sakura would be more conducive to their conversation.
He wanted to understand what was going on with Sakura and resolve it. He knew this couldn't be dragged on any longer.
"I know a place where there aren't many people, and the rooftop gives a clear view of the stars."
"Where?" Sakura asked, still a bit puzzled but curious enough to follow his gaze, peering through the scattered lights toward the darker night.
It was a secluded spot, located in an inconspicuous area of the village. It looked like an illegal construction, but that was fine, as the whole Konoha was practically a village built atop a maze of haphazard structures.
Under the night sky, they climbed up a building nestled within the trees. Ascending a crooked staircase and crossing a makeshift wooden bridge, they reached what appeared to be an abandoned rooftop.
With a soft thud, Sakura landed steadily, the night breeze lifting her pink hair from her forehead. Looking up, she saw a half-ruined rooftop, the other half having collapsed.
Under the faint light, the rooftop's jagged edge, overgrown with weeds, was visible. The view was wide and unobstructed, as if the horizon had opened up, without any buildings blocking the sight.
The surroundings were eerily quiet and pitch black. In the distance, a few faint lights could be seen, making all of Konoha appear as if it were slumbering. Above them, a vast, clear sky, dotted with stars, bathed the village in a soft glow.
"This is it." Naruto said as he walked to the other side of the roof, "It's my first time here too. I found it while wandering around aimlessly before."
"I've always wanted to come up here and take a look, but I never had the chance."
He didn't bring up Sakura's situation or what had just transpired in the Hokage's Office. It was as if he had forgotten all of it or simply didn't care.
"So, does it look nice?"
"Yes." Sakura couldn't bring herself to say anything flippant this time. She looked serious, standing on the abandoned rooftop and gazing up at the vast, bowl-like sky.
"Don't you have anything you want to ask?" Sakura turned to look at Naruto.
"No." Naruto replied as he sat down. He pulled a drink from his storage seal, popped it open, and handed it to Sakura, "Here."
Sakura took the drink, then looked up and asked again, "There's really nothing you want to know?"
"I do want to know, but I'm not concerned with anything else. I just want to know if you've run into some trouble." Naruto said as he opened another can for himself, his hand casually pulling on the tab.
"You are my only companion, right? If you trust me enough, I hope you'll speak up on your own rather than me having to ask."
"How do I even talk about something like this?" Sakura gazed up at the stars again. "No one in their right mind would believe it. A second personality came out and I couldn't sleep for a whole year."
"You're probably the only one who believes it, and you're the only one I can tell."
"It's because I don't care, so I'm too lazy to question it." Naruto said half-jokingly, then glanced at Sakura again, "In fact, it doesn't make much difference to me. You are also very good."
"If possible, it wouldn't be so bad if things stayed this way."
"Just 'not so bad'?" Sakura's expression suddenly lightened, and she leaned forward slightly. Her tone became drawn out, causing Naruto to feel a shiver down his spine.
'Here it comes again, something all too familiar.'
"It's so quiet here. Usually, people who hang out in this kind of place are couples, right?" Sakura asked with a playful smile.
"Not necessarily. It could just be people like us." Naruto said with a serious expression, pointing at himself and then at Sakura, " Don't say weird things, especially at a time like this, it can easily be misunderstood."
"Eh? But today, I'm wearing…" Before she could finish her words, Naruto quickly covered her mouth, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.
"It doesn't matter what you're wearing, you don't need to share that with me." He said tiredly.
But Sakura stubbornly started to lift a corner of her shirt, only to be interrupted by the sharp-eyed Naruto, who sternly warned her.
"Don't do anything strange."
"Hehe, are you nervous?" Sakura asked with a smile as she moved his hand away, "You didn't care at all before. No matter what I did, you were indifferent."
"So…" Sakura suddenly leaned in closer, "Let's do more together!"
"Things we've never done before."
Her chest was almost pressed against Naruto's, her fair arms hanging loosely at her sides. She had a relaxed and happy smile on her face, with her eyes curved into crescents.
"After all, you kind of like me now, don't you?"
"That's a different matter." Naruto stared at her with a complicated expression, "We're still young. Focus on study, uh, I mean, focus on completing our missions."
Naruto wanted to resolve Sakura's issues, not by taking on everything himself, but by addressing the immediate problems she was facing. It was similar to fixing a small bug in a program. If it runs, there's no need to dig too deep into the root cause.
After all, even if Naruto wanted to take on everything, dealing with something as complex as a second personality was beyond his capability.
In short, he was aiming for surface-level stability. Even if that made him seem like a scumbag, it didn't matter. After all, being too much of a saint would just be self-torture.
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Iampoorguy
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章節 241: Chapter 241 Do You Want To?
Despite Naruto's blatant attempts to brush her off, Sakura didn't seem angry.
"Why do you keep rejecting me?"
"I'm not rejecting you; I never know how to reject." He retorted, saying a famous hypocritical sentence, "I already told you, this is for your own good."
"Relationships are supposed to develop gradually, right? Slowly deepening feelings. There's plenty of time, so why not?"
"You're just brushing me off, aren't you?" Sakura suddenly interrupted him, with a look of resentment in her eyes.
"No." He instinctively denied.
"Of course, you are. Every time you brush me off, you instinctively look away." Sakura's voice grew quieter, "I just want to get closer to you, to blend in with you."
"Don't say something so terrifying! Damn it!" Naruto took half a step back.
Looking at the selfless Sakura, a certain yellow-haired man's back was soaked with cold sweat, 'Damn it, could she really be turning into a yandere? That would be too terrifying.' A vision of a certain young man's peaceful black-and-white funeral photo flashed through his mind, and he shook his head violently. (T/N: School Days. Recommended for scumbag.)
The noble stranger is about to be suppressed by the yandere bloodline with split personality.
"But... I want to leave a mark, a sign that we were together." Sakura pressed further, her eyes fixed intently on Naruto, "Today, right here, under the stars."
Naruto blinked, his thoughts teetering on the edge of a mental 404 error.
"I…" He hesitated, carefully considering how to reject her.
"I don't want this either." Sakura suddenly lowered her head, "I want to take things slowly too. As long as I'm with you, Naruto-kun, it's fine… Even if we're just lifelong companions."
"No matter what my identity is, as long as I can be with you, I don't care. Even if it's without a real title, even if we can't hold hands openly, it's fine with me."
"But!" Sakura's voice suddenly carried a hint of a sob, "I really can't sleep. The nights have gotten so much longer. No matter how hard I close my eyes, it's still 24 hours."
"Every minute and second, I'm fully awake. At one in the morning, all the noises quiet down."
"At two, the drunkard downstairs always ends up throwing up all over the place near the utility pole. At four, the old man next door gets up, and by five..."
Sakura's voice grew increasingly agitated as she finally grabbed Naruto's wrist.
"I haven't slept for an entire year. I'm not a normal person anymore. I've tried so hard to sleep, but nothing works."
"I don't want to be like this either! But I'm just a replacement, never truly alive. I see this world, but I still have to go back."
"It doesn't matter if you're just brushing me off or not, I just want to ask you one thing… will you be with me?"
Silence fell all around them. Naruto didn't say anything. Sakura's emotions were running high, and anything he said at that moment wouldn't be right. So, the two stood there on that half-collapsed rooftop for a good ten minutes, just in silence.
"Never mind. I'm feeling much better now."
After a long while, Sakura sniffled and let go of Naruto. She took a deep breath, and said, "Let's go somewhere else. I can't sleep."
"Alright." He glanced toward the other side of the dark night, where the more secluded fields of Konoha lay, "Anyway, let's go down from here first."
Actually, Naruto could agree to Sakura's request, even if it were out of pity.
But Naruto didn't want that. He felt empty inside, living life with a game-like mentality. Even after spending more than a year in Konoha, he still had no sense of belonging.
Daily interactions with girls were fine, but saving someone? No, that was too much. He didn't believe the words he said, and if he wasn't sincere, Sakura would see right through him.
The two walked through a rice field, navigating the narrow paths in the dark. Occasionally, they had to stop and turn back because a swarm of mosquitoes blocked their way.
"Are there any stores still open this late?"
"I'm not sure." Naruto crouched down in an inconspicuous alley along Konoha Street, "I'll go over and take a look. Want to come?"
"Alright."
They noticed someone approaching in the distance, so the two quickly vaulted over a low wall to hide on the other side.
In the darkness, the two exchanged a glance. Naruto's gaze remained calm, just as it had been all night, showing no intention of doing anything more.
Sakura's eyes were bright and her face slowly turned red.
It was pitch black around them, save for the faint starlight overhead. The continuous chirping of insects and the warm night breeze made Sakura sweat lightly, her eyes fluttering slightly.
"Do you want to?"
"Hmm???" Naruto tilted his head and gently pushed her, "What weird stuff are you talking about? Come on, let's go check it out."
"Tch." Sakura turned her head away, slightly annoyed, "Naruto, you're such an idiot."
"Why are you suddenly acting like a tsundere?" Naruto had already stood up. He glanced at her lazily before vaulting back over the wall.
The grass they walked on was soft, and the air was filled with the faint musty scent of earth baked by the sun during the day. Sakura also vaulted over, and the two of them stepped on the grass one after the other, making a rustling sound.
The fluffy texture seemed to amuse Sakura, and she stomped on it several times, with the corners of her mouth slightly raised.
Naruto didn't urge her, and just stood there and watched. He watched as Sakura entertained herself until she was sweaty. After she was finally satisfied, she stepped away from the grass.
When she caught up, Naruto began to walk ahead, turning his head slightly to ask, "Is it that fun?"
"I don't know. I've never done it before. It was okay." Sakura replied honestly with straightforward tone.
A little further ahead, a convenience store was still open. The late hour made Naruto glance over for a moment. Seeing the lights, he suddenly felt a bit tired and didn't want Sakura to see him yawn.
"Wait here for a bit. I'll go grab something."
"Alright." Sakura stood there, watching him.
Naruto turned and walked towards the store, stifling a yawn when he was far enough away. As he stepped halfway into the shadow of the convenience store, he glanced back to check on Sakura.
She still stood there, like a slender blade of wild grass.
Satisfied, he stepped fully inside, and began to yawn unrestrainedly while standing in front of the freezer. The store owner also dozed off at the counter. When he heard the wind chimes at the door rang, he opened his eyes a little, took a look at Naruto, and promptly closed his eyes again.
Under the bright store lights, two ice creams landed on the counter.
"How much?" Naruto asked.
"Two hundred ryo." The store owner muttered and yawned heavily.
With a rustling sound, Naruto grabbed the two ice creams and stepped outside, instantly feeling the humid heat wrap around him again. He squinted his eyes and scanned around to make sure Sakura was still standing where he left her.
"Here." Naruto handed one of the ice creams to Sakura.
The two found a bench to sit on, with Naruto leaning back as he licked his ice cream, and Sakura mimicking him, eating her own. Their legs were crossed, and they sat close to each other.
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