Sakura Wavered Before Knocking on His Door

With a thud, Sakura stood up, but she wasn't completely open with Naruto.

She turned sideways, one hand across her chest, and squatted down to pick up her clothes. The feeling was somewhat strange; she had transformed from one person into another, and the Pink Sakura had returned.

It's the same body, yet it gives the impression of two completely different people. From their eyes to their micro-expressions, even before they speak, a strong sense of unease is palpable.

The team was changed halfway through, which was quite awkward.

He looked over again and saw Sakura wiping herself with a tissue, then raising her head to look at Naruto with a complicated expression. Her gaze only lingered above his head, completely avoiding looking down.

"Naruto, could you... put on some clothes?"

These words were like a wake-up call. Naruto was still thinking about Black Sakura outfit when he heard Sakura speak. He quickly responded with a few "oh oh oh" sounds and then put on his clothes.

He was a little confused and almost put his clothes on backwards.

After they had both finished getting ready, a brief silence fell over them. Then, a flash of lightning streaked across the night sky, and Naruto finally spoke.

"If you don't say anything now, I'll assume you've calmed down," Naruto said, pulling up a chair and sitting down, keeping a distance between them.

Outside the window, the rain continued to fall heavily, the white mist whipped up by the downpour obscuring everything. The thunder rumbled incessantly, and the rain showed no sign of abating.

In this situation, Sakura gripped her thigh. Looking at the small, dimly lit room, she could smell the ambiguous atmosphere mixed with the earthy scent of soil.

She knew all too well what had just happened. After all, she had clearly experienced it. But Naruto's words made it hard for her to accept the reality: she had been asleep for six years?

"I know you're feeling a bit lost right now, and I can explain it to you. But before that, I want to ask you something: can you sense another version of yourself?"

"What?" Sakura looked up, her eyes filled with confusion, just like the bewildered girl standing in the rain six years ago, only now everything had changed.

"I mean another personality, the one who has been in control of this body for the past six years," Naruto said. "You just woke up suddenly, so..."

"I want to know, can you sense her presence?"

Sakura's expression was somewhat complicated, but she had vaguely understood many things.

So, was it another version of her doing that with Naruto, and then she suddenly woke up? If so, he's concerned about the other one.

"I can sense it, it's like she's asleep." Sakura hesitated for a moment, then suddenly felt a little wronged. "Are you planning to wake her up?"

"Um," Naruto thought, trying to answer tactfully, "Do you still remember Medical Ninjutsu? Or do you share a memory or something?"

"No." Sakura shook her head.

"I do need to wake her up. I'll explain slowly. In any case, this will be good for both of you," Naruto said. "Then let me help you remember first. Where should I start?"

"Well, let's start from when Sasuke defected. You started around that time too."

So, Naruto began by recounting the events of six years prior, starting with Sasuke's defection and the subsequent period of her drastic personality change. The story unfolds slowly in the archives of Black Sakura, the Qidian of that dream.

The story wasn't complicated at all; the entire six-year ordeal was recounted in about ten minutes. Sakura listened with surprise, recounting how she became Tsunade's disciple and then became entangled with Naruto.

Finally, there was the strange relationship between the two, and her body, which had already been used. She suddenly felt dizzy and lightheaded, as if she had just woken up and the world had changed drastically.

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

"He defected," Naruto said casually. "He's now an S-rank rogue ninja, happily on his path of revenge. If you want to confirm it, I won't stop you."

Sakura lowered her head and spoke.

"My mind is a bit of a mess right now, and I want to go home and be alone for a while."

"Okay." Naruto stood up to make room for Sakura, and said, "Find me when you've thought it through. I'm at Konoha Street 404."

"Your situation is rather unique. I have a solution, but it requires the help of another personality."

Sakura, completely oblivious, left the room with a blank expression. Naruto watched from behind the door, his brows furrowed, but he still let Sakura leave first.

Since Black Sakura is still asleep, it proves she can still be awakened. Perhaps in a day or two, Black Sakura will wake up on her own, or perhaps she will return on her own accord.

He wouldn't have any solution, and if he did, he wouldn't have waited until now. He only said those things to make Sakura willingly come back to him.

Since Pink Sakura awoke abruptly under such stimulation, Black Sakura could also awaken again under the same stimulation. Just like the first time, Pink Sakura fell asleep upon receiving news of Sasuke's defection, while Black Sakura awoke.

He just needs to try each method one by one, from verbal stimulation to various other forms of stimulation. If he keeps alternating like this, the probability of Black Sakura waking up is very high.

That's the principle, but whether Sakura is willing to cooperate is still unknown. However, Naruto isn't entirely without options; he just won't use them unless absolutely necessary.

With a six-year gap, so much has changed, but Naruto believes Sakura will eventually come back to him.

At the dinner table, Sakura looked at her parents, who had aged considerably, and seemed slightly lost in thought.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" her mother asked.

"No, it's nothing." She lowered her head and ate her food, her heart churning with emotions.

"You don't usually come home much, what happened this time?" her father asked gently. "Did you run into trouble at work? Or did you break up with your girlfriend?"

Hearing the words "I haven't been heartbroken," Sakura felt as if her heart had been struck by lightning. "I'm full, I'm going to take a shower first."

"What's wrong with this child?"

In the bathroom, Sakura was soaking in the bathtub, recalling the events and feelings of the afternoon, and her emotions suddenly became complicated.

She had been asleep for six whole years, a fact so outrageous that it made her question the meaning of life. The job wasn't hers, nor were the six years of experience hers.

With a splash, she submerged her entire head in the water. The bathroom was silent for two minutes, then with a splash, Sakura floated back to the surface, gasping for air.

She slowly calmed down, her body going limp as she leaned against the edge of the bathtub. One hand hung down, and she silently thought about what Naruto had said, feeling a sudden pang of distress.

She didn't know how much time had passed before she got out of the bathtub. She dried herself off, put on her clothes, grabbed an umbrella, and prepared to go out for some fresh air.

The heavy rain continued from afternoon into evening. Sakura emerged from the winding passageway and stood on the unfamiliar yet familiar streets of Konohagakure, looking at the various neon signs flashing in the rain.

Even on a rainy day, Konohagakure Street was still bustling with traffic. Unlike the old Konohagakure Street six years ago, colorful umbrellas bloomed along the road.

People come and go, hurrying in different directions.

Sakura gripped the umbrella handle tightly and followed the crowd toward the most crowded area, growing increasingly anxious as she walked, as if she had arrived in a completely unfamiliar place.

Finally, she saw Ichiraku Ramen, its lights shining in the rain. The familiar decor, unchanged for six years, gave her a sense of security, as if she had finally met an acquaintance in a strange place.

She shook the water off her umbrella, desperately resisting the urge to run home, and walked into Ichiraku Ramen Shop with a feeling of unbearable urge.

The shop was brightly lit, Ayame had already grown into a beautiful young lady. The Teuchi man was busy in the kitchen, his back straight. Even on a rainy day, there were only a few customers scattered around the shop.

"Ha! On a rainy day like this, you really need a bowl of ramen!"

The sudden sound startled Sakura. It was two customers, one adult and one child, enthusiastically praising the ramen. Their bright smiles made Sakura slightly lost in thought.

Just as she was ordering, she discovered that the set meals had changed. The only thing that remained the same, the tonkotsu ramen, had been given many more toppings; time had changed everything.

Has the most popular tonkotsu ramen changed? She wondered to herself, taking a bite and the taste felt both familiar and strangely different.

"It's about time to go home?" she muttered to herself as she stood under the eaves of Ichiraku Ramen, then opened her umbrella and stepped into the rain, strolling along Konohagakure Street.

As she stepped through the rain-soaked ground, a sudden thought struck her as she looked down. It was about her favorite female teacher from her time at the Ninja Academy.

However, one day the female teacher suddenly stopped coming to class, and various speculations spread in the class until Sakura saw her on the edge of the village one afternoon.

A pregnant woman sat on a swing in an abandoned open space, basking in the sun. Her eyes swept over Sakura, and she spoke in a voice devoid of emotion.

"Teacher, I did something that is not very acceptable to people. I am pregnant, so I can no longer stay at school."

That smile was something she couldn't quite understand as a child. But she always remembered that smile, a smile that seemed bitter yet carried an immense sense of peace.

Now she understands a little, just like how she really wants to cry. But she realizes she doesn't have the right to cry, as if everything would be fine if she hadn't woken up.

She seemed to be adrift in the shadows of an era that did not belong to her, enveloped in endless loneliness. And this loneliness erupted completely when she returned home and found the door locked.

Sakura probably knew that her other self was used to leaving home, so her parents were used to locking the door when they saw her go out. She didn't want to knock, she just squatted by the door, biting her wrist and crying.

She cried silently for a while, without making a sound. Then, an address came to mind: Konoha Street 404.

She stood up unsteadily, but stopped in her tracks as soon as she lifted her foot.

Should I really go find Naruto? Although it's already... I clearly love Sasuke, but Sasuke has already defected and may never come back.

Are you going?

That has already happened, and there's absolutely no way to turn back. It's already happened, and there's no way to blame anyone.

Sasuke

What was Sasuke doing at this moment? He woke up, only to find that terrible thing had happened. Now he truly had no choice but to...

A rapid knocking sounded at the door.

Naruto was arguing with Hydrangea about a scene from a TV drama, betting a day off on it, while Yakumo Kurama watched the spectacle from the sidelines.

The sudden knocking shattered the harmonious atmosphere. Naruto turned to look at the door, his brow furrowing slightly. The two women also paused for a moment, and Naruto waved to them.

The two girls quietly went back to their room. Naruto, slipping on his slippers, walked to the door and flung it open with a loud bang. A gust of wind, carrying raindrops, rushed in. Sakura stood outside, clutching her umbrella.

Her thin body trembled slightly as she glanced down at him in the corridor. An awkward expression appeared on her face, as if she had been forced into it.

"What's this?" Naruto was a little surprised. They had just parted ways in the afternoon, and he was here in the evening? He... he figured it out so quickly, huh? That's amazing.

Sakura wasn't thinking too much about it; she was just struggling with whether or not she should go find Naruto, even though she had already decided to go home and start over that afternoon.

But

The character alternate accounts for Naruto and Ino are now available. The operations team has the necessary permissions; you can apply if you want them, but you don't need to do anything.

P. S.: Qidian has collectively blocked the chapter comments for the past few days, and the same goes for other books. I can see them in the backend.