Replacement

Ino finished reading the note and blushed instantly. Her heart felt like a knotted wild grass, impossible to untangle or sort out.

"Who would make that kind of face!" she retorted.

She put the bracelet on her wrist, looked at it seven or eight times in the light streaming through the window. She blinked repeatedly, then threw herself onto the bed and rolled around in bed.

"He knew perfectly well that he was deliberately messing with me tonight."

After feeling inexplicably sullen for a while, Ino recalled the sudden hug that had instantly brought her to her senses, and her body went limp again.

He whispered under the covers, "Happy New Year."

On the way, he saw Inoichi Yamanaka returning from overtime work in the distance, looking somewhat tired. However, he was accompanied by several subordinates, and the direction they were heading didn't seem to be the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

"Strange, is the Hokage Building this busy for the New Year?"

He stood there watching for a while, but had no intention of going to Tsunade to ask her questions right after the New Year. What did it matter to him if the people in the Hokage Building were busy?

This person showed no awareness of their high position, strolled around in the cold wind, and went straight back.

The New Year Festival lasted for several days, and Naruto didn't see any of his friends, so he simply stayed at home. It wasn't until three days later that Sakura invited him out.

"So you stayed home the whole New Year?" Sakura asked.

"Or what?"

"Ino, or Hinata."

"I don't really have much time, since it's a big family and everyone's very busy," Naruto said. "Normally, girls don't come to my house."

"After all, he's not a child anymore, so we should avoid suspicion."

He paused, glancing at Black Sakura.

How are you feeling?

The two sat in the snack shop, Sakura smiled as she asked a question while biting her straw.

"Are you worried about me?"

"Um."

Naruto's clean and straightforward admission surprised Sakura for a moment, but she quickly resumed her enigmatic smile, habitually concealing her emotions.

"I'm basically fine. I've gotten much better since that day. Anyway, I'm not going anywhere, and I'm not going to disappear."

"What do you mean by 'neither here nor there'?" he asked, glancing at Sakura.

"I might be like this forever, never to get better." Sakura looked at him deeply, her eyes filled with suppressed emotions, restraint, and control, and said in a low voice.

"I've thought about getting out of this situation, but I failed, so it's fine as it is now."

"Didn't you always have control over the body?" Naruto looked down at the worn wooden table. "So what's going on now? Are we taking turns controlling the body?"

"Of course, it was me who took the lead," Sakura replied, "But the Sasuke incident had a huge impact on her, and it became an obsession."

"Sasuke isn't coming back, and I have no interest in looking for Sasuke." Naruto rubbed his temples and looked out the window. "You know, things don't always go as planned in this world."

"I have no obsession with Sasuke." Black Sakura leaned forward a bit, but unfortunately, she was wearing a thick cotton coat. "You know me, I'm just a weak personality normally."

"It's like someone who only knows how to stare at an electronic screen, watching every move in the Main Personality's life, and it's the kind of forced viewing."

"Now that we've finally gotten out, why would we go looking for trouble? So, you don't need to worry about that kind of thing."

Naruto put down his drink, his brow furrowed slightly, just as he was about to speak. At that moment, the snack shop owner delivered the food, leaving with a "Please enjoy your meal" before departing.

The rising mist blurred the distance between the two, and Sakura saw a pair of bright eyes, like deep lake water.

Do you remember what I said before?

"You told me not to bother you." Sakura pouted.

"That's not it."

He didn't recall saying that, but it didn't matter; whether it was said in anger or a lie, there was no need to correct it now. Because...

"Tell me to be normal, don't suddenly say strange things," Sakura said, counting on her fingers as if she knew them all by heart.

"No."

"Huh? What's that? Does it mean I shouldn't do that?" Sakura asked, tilting her head.

"Ahem, you still haven't changed?"

"It's okay, only Naruto can hear me." Her eyes curved into a smile. "If it's Naruto, you can hear me anytime!"

Upon hearing this, Naruto remained lazily leaning back in his chair, his expression nonchalant. His eyes showed no emotion as he coldly stared at her.

Sakura couldn't stand being stared at like that, so she sighed as if to give in and pleaded.

"I was wrong."

"What's wrong?"

He slowly picked up his chopsticks, plunged one into the hot pot, letting the steam rise. Without even glancing at Sakura, he glanced at her briefly as he lifted the chopsticks.

She stopped talking, no longer daring to be cheeky. "I shouldn't have said that."

Sakura felt a little uneasy. According to her plan, Naruto was going to fall into Hinata and Ino's trap anyway. Since she was going to be ensnared, she could be completely unburdened.

She could always do it secretly; after all, her mind wasn't entirely on romance. In fact, she had no concept of romance whatsoever, practically equating the word with an immoral RPG with Naruto.

Besides, she had other things to do to pass the time, so she wasn't exactly bored. And she knew all too well that if she didn't diligently cultivate, she might be looked down upon.

In this way, a year passed by in the blink of an eye.

Although occasionally, even just once, the crazy thought of wanting to be Naruto's girlfriend openly and honestly would pop into her mind, she quickly convinced herself that such a thing didn't matter.

Even if it's not honorable, as long as it's exciting, that's fine.

But things didn't go as she imagined. Since that incident, Naruto had stopped avoiding her as much. He didn't react much to her various tricks, and would occasionally pay attention to her.

But every time she was stared at by his cold gaze, Sakura couldn't help but give in first.

"That's not what I meant. You seem to have forgotten something," Naruto said casually. "I've never found you troublesome, and there's no need to deliberately change the subject."

"Sasuke's situation is indeed troublesome, and I have no reason to go to such great lengths to help her, but I can help you."

Sakura paused for a moment, her smile faded, and she frowned as she spoke.

"You didn't need to do that, I was just joking."

"Since Sasuke is already missing, she shouldn't wake up unless he shows up in front of her. Besides, didn't you say last time that Sasuke and doesn't recognize his own family?"

"Hmm." He nodded. "We'll run into each other sooner or later. Besides, we can't just leave you like that."

"Do you have any good ideas right now?" Sakura asked.

"No," he said honestly. "Not for now, but there's still plenty of time. We should be able to find a solution later."

"No need to wait until later." Sakura stood up, moved from the seat opposite Naruto to his side, and whispered in his ear, "I have a good idea now."

"What method?" He felt a slight itch in his ear.

"Replace him," she whispered, almost leaning against Naruto through her thick cotton-padded coat.

"Replace? Replace what?"

"Naturally, it's to replace Sasuke's obsession in her heart." Sakura smiled and released Naruto, her eyes full of laughter. "I really like Naruto."

"Oh."

"The reaction is really lukewarm," Sakura said, pouting slightly.

"Go on," he said. "How will you replace him?"