The Argument

"Of course we won." Sakura Haruno said casually, fiddling with her shoes. "Otherwise, would you still be standing here?"

After a while, when she didn't hear Sasuke speak, Sakura looked up and saw the black-haired boy staring intently at her.

"You won?"

The girl blinked. "Okay... actually, there's no winner."

She put down her shoes, tilted her head slightly, and smiled, saying, "It was just an exchange of skills, and then whoever couldn't defeat the other retreated."

"I can't just leave you like this..." Sakura shrugged, looking at Sasuke, "I'll go after him by myself!"

She wasn't telling the whole truth.

So when she said this, Sakura Haruno felt a little ashamed. Except when she was joking, Sakura rarely lied to others about serious matters. She hated being deceived—and therefore did not want to become the kind of person she hated.

However, Uchiha Itachi's matter involved village secrets and could negatively impact Sasuke, so she intentionally omitted the parts she couldn't tell Sasuke, giving him a vague answer. Sakura Haruno used to hate people making arrangements for others or deceiving them under the guise of "I'm doing this for your own good." She always believed that those involved had the right to know and choose, but when Sakura actually faced this situation...

"I guess I'm just an ordinary person after all."

The girl sighed inwardly.

"A lie." Sasuke frowned, speaking calmly, "Sakura, whenever you lie, you like to look people in the eye with such sincerity."

"Too much of a good thing is bad. Your actions have only revealed your flaws and made you seem very fake!"

"Eh, is that so?" Sakura gave an awkward, dry laugh, unsure of what to say.

The black-haired boy shook his head. "Sakura, the Sharingan can clearly capture the micro-expressions on your face. You can't lie to me... Tell me the truth, you know a lot about that person that I don't!"

Sakura Haruno waved her hand and said seriously, "Everything else is fine, but I can't agree to this one thing!"

"Why?" Sasuke frowned deeply, his voice rising several octaves. "Why can't you tell me?! What do you know?"

Sakura Haruno frowned slightly, looked at the somewhat agitated Sasuke, and sighed. He was usually fine, but whenever Itachi was mentioned, Sasuke would always lose his composure and become easily agitated.

In particular, he had just been severely beaten by his own brother, who knocked him unconscious with a merciless Tsukuyomi.

This makes him an easy target, a ticking time bomb.

She understood Sasuke's feelings. However, there were some things Sakura simply couldn't Sasuke —not to mention that she herself didn't fully understand Itachi's situation, she owed Itachi a huge favor from the battle against Danzo; she couldn't just forget Itachi's request in the blink of an eye, could she?

The affairs of these two brothers and the Uchiha are a complete mess, and Sakura Haruno doesn't think that getting involved without proper understanding will bring any good results.

"Sasuke, calm down..." Sakura pressed her temples, saying with a hint of helplessness.

"I can't calm down!" the black-haired boy shouted, his face tense. He strode Earth Flow, glaring at Sakura Haruno. "Because you weren't the one whose entire family was wiped out seven years ago! Because you weren't the one who was almost killed by your last remaining relative!"

So you can stay calm!

"But I can't calm down!"

He roared as if he had used all his strength, venting his emotions like a volcanic eruption, a complex mix of unease, anger, pain, and more!

Sakura Haruno looked at him with a complicated expression.

"Tell me about Uchiha Itachi!" He stepped forward, grabbed the girl's wrist, and, panting heavily, stared intently at Sakura Haruno's face. "Otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?" Sakura Haruno silently looked back at him. "Although I wasn't the one who experienced those things, I was the one who fought alongside you, the one who risked my life to defeat powerful enemies and protect you!"

"And that's how you talk to me?"

Sakura Haruno glanced at her wrist, which he had grabbed, and her voice sounded a little tired.

Sasuke was suddenly stunned. "I...!"

Even though he was furious, he was just venting his pent-up emotions. Once he finished venting, looking at Sakura's face and thinking about how she had just saved him again, Sasuke's feverish head cooled down as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water over his head.

"Sasuke, I want to apologize to you... but there are some things not that I don't want to do, but that I can't."

Sasuke lowered his head.

After a long silence, he finally released his grip and said hesitantly, "No, I'm the one who should apologize..."

"I'm sorry, Sakura," the black-haired boy said, sounding both ashamed and very formal.

"Okay," the girl rubbed her wrist and laughed nonchalantly, "I forgive you!"

"But I will not give up on finding what you have hidden!" Sasuke suddenly raised his head, clenching his fist tightly. "I will discover the truth one day!"

Seeing his somewhat immature demeanor, Sakura Haruno secretly shook her head. She suddenly had an idea: perhaps hiding the truth from Sasuke, like Itachi did, was the best choice for him?

However, Sakura didn't think Itachi's "I'm doing this for your own good" approach to concealing things could be sustained. Sasuke wasn't a child who would be manipulated! In the end, Sakura Haruno's willingness to cooperate with Itachi this time was simply because she hoped that Sasuke would be less exposed to things that would shatter his values before they were fully formed!

As for the Uchiha Clan Massacre, Sakura Haruno has never dared to comment on it; especially after she traveled through time and personally experienced the night of the massacre, she felt that the matter was extremely complex and that even Konoha probably didn't fully understand the truth of the matter, even though it happened in the village.

"Whatever you like!" Sakura was too lazy to pay attention to him for the time being. She looked at the sandals in her hand, whose glue had dried, and put them on her feet. She tried to stand up and stomped her feet.

It seems to be working well?

However, she laughed too soon: Sakura then tried to run back and forth using Taijutsu Body Flicker Technique, but her shoe cracked again when she pushed off with her feet the second time, and the girl almost knocked Sasuke flying.

"Who told you not to wear your proper ninja shoes? You're so vain!" Sasuke, having calmed down after his outburst, taunted her while holding her arm.

"Those ninja shoes we're issued have worn out before..." Sakura Haruno rolled her eyes at him. With her way of exerting force, any shoes would be consumables. After all, she uses Monstrous Strength Technique to push off the ground, and the enormous force passes through the shoes as she steps on the ground. Even the sturdiest shoes can't withstand the pressure of tens or hundreds of tons of force!

Even if you protect the shoes with Chakra, they will wear out sooner or later.

"Never mind the shoes for now," Sasuke, pressing Sakura's hand. "I want to know about your fight with him—after I passed out."

"Hmm?" The bright green eyes blinked.

"How did you deal with his techniques, such as Susanoo and Tsukuyomi? Just how far behind him is my strength?" Sasuke asked seriously.

"Surely these problems can be solved?"