When You Can't Sleep, Go Up to the Rooftop

"Okay, sure." Sakura's first reaction was to agree, but after a few seconds, she looked up at him again, "Why?"

"Why what?" he countered.

"You're not pitying me, are you?" Sakura asked seriously. "Do I look pitiful now? It's just a story I made up."

How does it feel to be scammed?

"It doesn't matter if you lie to me, I don't care." Naruto grabbed Sakura's hand and pulled her up. "But you can't lie to yourself."

"Whether you're being deliberately mysterious, making up a story, or simply looking for fun with me, it doesn't matter."

"There's only one thing you need to tell me now: do you want to come out with me or not?"

Sakura fell silent, staring at him for several moments. Then she looked down at the unfinished documents, staring at them for a long time, seemingly hesitant.

Naruto noticed that Sakura seemed to be slower to react than before, taking a while to think before answering anything.

"Okay," she said.

Sakura slowly got up, took a sip of water, and turned off the office light with a click before leaving. As the door creaked shut, she turned around and hesitantly said...

"Sometimes I stay in the Hokage Building all night, or I just sleep here."

Naruto, unaware of these things, offered no comment, simply giving a soft "hmm." The sound of their footsteps echoed intermittently in the corridor.

"When you can't sleep, do you usually work overtime?" Naruto asked.

"How could that be? I'm not stupid." Sakura walked beside him with her hands behind her back. "Work can never be finished. Even if we 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 finish it."

Outside the Hokage Building, the Natsuhiboshi was bright with stars, and the night wind was desolate.

The two paused at the intersection, then Naruto pointed in a direction. In situations like this, making a choice first and guiding Sakura in that direction would be more conducive to advancing the conversation.

He wanted to figure out what was going on with Sakura and then resolve it; he couldn't delay any longer.

"I know a place where there are few people and you can see the stars from the rooftops."

"Where?" Sakura, somewhat confused, but still managed to ask, her gaze piercing through the dim lights. She looked into the distance, towards the even deeper darkness of the night.

It's a very remote place, located in a rather inconspicuous spot within the village. It looks like an illegal structure, but that doesn't matter; the entire Hidden Konohagakure Village is densely packed with villages that seem to have been built on top of illegal structures.

Under the night sky, the two climbed the treetop building. They continued up the crooked stairs, crossed a suspended bridge made of a few wooden planks, and entered what looked like a long-abandoned rooftop.

With a soft thud, Sakura landed steadily, the evening breeze ruffling her pink hair. Looking up, she saw only half of the roof remaining; the other half had collapsed.

In the dim light, the rooftop, overgrown with weeds, was visible. The surrounding view was unobstructed, like a wide-angle lens, with no other buildings blocking the view.

The surroundings were eerily quiet, utterly dark. Faint lights could be seen in the distance; the entire Konohagakure seemed to be in a state of hibernation. Above, a vast starry sky stretched out, its bright, clear starlight enveloping the entire village.

"This is it." Naruto walked to the other side of the rooftop on his own. "This is my first time here too. I found it while I was just wandering around."

"I've always wanted to come up and take a look, but I haven't had the chance."

He didn't ask about Sakura's condition, nor did he care about what had just happened in the Hokage's Office. It was as if he had forgotten everything, or simply didn't care.

"So this place is beautiful, isn't it?"

"Okay." Sakura could no longer say those flirtatious things. Her expression was somewhat serious as she stood on the abandoned rooftop, gazing up at the starry sky that looked like a covered bowl.

"Don't you have anything to ask?" Sakura turned to look at Naruto.

"No." Naruto sat down, took out a drink from the sealed Kazama, popped the can open, and handed it to Sakura. "Here you go."

Sakura walked over and took the drink, then looked up and asked again, "You really don't want to know anything?"

"I want to know, but I don't care about anything else, I just want to know if you've run into any trouble." Naruto casually opened a can of drink for himself and said while pulling the metal ring.

"You're my only companion, if I trust you enough. I hope you can say it yourself, instead of me asking."

"How do you explain that?" Sakura looked up at the starry sky again. "No normal person would believe it, right? My Second Personality came out and I couldn't sleep for a whole year."

"I guess only you would believe this, and I can only tell you this."

"Because I don't care, I'm too lazy to question it," Naruto said half-jokingly, glancing at Sakura again. "Actually, it makes no difference to me. You're fine too."

"If possible, it would be nice to continue like this forever."

"Just not bad?" Sakura's expression suddenly relaxed, she leaned forward slightly, and her tone began to draw out. Naruto felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this.

Here it comes again, it's all too familiar.

"It's so quiet here. Usually, people in the wild like this are couples, right?" Sakura asked with a smile.

"No, it could also be someone like us." Naruto pointed to himself with a serious expression, then to Sakura, emphasizing, "Don't say anything strange, especially things that could easily be misunderstood at a time like this."

"Huh? But I wore it today..." Sakura hadn't finished speaking when Naruto covered her mouth, cold sweat pouring down her forehead.

"It doesn't matter what you wear, you don't need to share that kind of thing with me," he said.

Sakura stubbornly lifted a corner of her clothes, only to be interrupted by the sharp-eyed Naruto, who gave her a stern warning.

"Don't do anything strange."

"Hehe, are you nervous?" Sakura moved his hand away and said with a smile, "You never cared before, you were indifferent to whatever I did."

"So," Sakura suddenly leaned closer, "Let's do more things together!"

"Something I've never done before."

Her chest was almost pressed against Naruto's body, her fair arms hanging down behind her back. A relaxed and cheerful smile graced her face, her eyes curving into crescents.

"Anyway, you like me a little now, don't you?"

"These are two different things." Naruto stared at her with a complicated expression. "We're still young, so let's focus on learning... I mean, on carrying out our missions."

He wanted to solve Sakura's problems, not to take on all the issues himself, but simply to proactively address the troubles Sakura was currently facing. The general process was similar to fixing minor bugs; if the program ran, there was no need to investigate the root cause.

After all, even if Naruto wanted to take on everything, he was powerless to do anything about issues like dual personality disorder.

In short, he only cares about maintaining a facade of stability; he doesn't care if he's considered a scoundrel. Being too much of a saint is simply self-torture.

Sakura wasn't angry at Naruto's obvious dismissive attitude.

Why do you keep rejecting me?

"I didn't refuse. I never know how to refuse," he retorted, uttering a hypocritical statement. "I just said it, this is for your own good."

"Relationships develop gradually, don't they? It's about building rapport little by little. We have plenty of time, so why not?"

"Are you just giving me the runaround?" Sakura suddenly interrupted him, a hint of resentment in her eyes.

"No," he denied instinctively.

"How could there not be? Every time you brush me off, you subconsciously look away." Sakura's voice was low. "I just want to get closer to you, to blend in with you."

"Don't say such scary things! Damn it!" Naruto took a half step back.

Watching Sakura, who seemed somewhat lost in her own world, the blond-haired guy broke out in a cold sweat. Damn it, could she really turn into a yandere? That would be too terrifying. A peaceful black-and-white portrait of Brother Cheng flashed through his mind, and he shook his head violently.

The noble stranger is about to be suppressed by a yandere bloodline with a split personality.

"But... I want to leave a trace of our relationship," Sakura continued, her eyes fixed on Naruto. "Right today, here, under the starry sky."

Naruto blinked, his thoughts hovering on the edge of 404.

He pondered how to refuse.

"I didn't want to either." Sakura suddenly lowered her head. "I also want to take things slowly. As long as I'm with Naruto, that's enough. Even if we're companions for life."

"I don't care what identity I have, as long as I can be with Naruto. Even if I'm nameless, it doesn't matter, and it doesn't matter if we can't hold hands openly, I'll still like it."

"But!" Sakura's voice suddenly became slightly nasal. "I really can't sleep. Time seems to have stretched out so much. No matter how I close my eyes, it feels like there are only 24 hours left."

"I am awake every minute and every second. At one o'clock in the morning, all the sounds will quiet down."

"At two o'clock, the drunkard downstairs always vomits uncontrollably by the telephone pole. At four o'clock, the old man next door gets up and comes downstairs. At five o'clock..."

Sakura's voice grew increasingly excited, and finally she grasped Naruto's wrist.

"I haven't slept for a whole year. I'm not a normal person at all. I've tried so hard to sleep, but it's no use."

"I don't want this either! But I'm just a substitute, I've never truly lived. Having seen this world, I still have to go back."

"Whether you're just giving me the runaround or whatever, I just want to ask you one question: do you want to date me or not?"

Silence fell, Naruto remained silent. Sakura was too agitated to say anything, and nothing he said would be appropriate. So the two of them stood there for over ten minutes on the roof that had collapsed halfway down.

"Never mind, I'm much better now."

After a long while, Sakura sniffed, released Naruto, took a deep breath, and said.

"Let's go somewhere else, I can't sleep."

"Okay." He looked to the other side of the night, to a more secluded field area on Konohagakure Street. "Let's go down from here first."

I was too tired yesterday and skipped it; I feel incredibly guilty.