Nine-Tails: What Bad Luck, I Ran into an Evil Uchiha

Naruto stood in the doorway, looking Sakura up and down. Until Sakura revealed her meaning, he couldn't speculate and could only wait for her reply.

"I can't go back," she said, looking down.

"Huh?" Naruto was somewhat surprised at how smoothly things were progressing. Although it was pretty much as he had expected, but...

"I was planning to go out and clear my head, but when I got back the door was locked." Sakura looked up at Naruto and said, "Could you... let me stay for the night?"

Upon hearing this, he realized he had misunderstood. He coughed awkwardly, stepped aside to make way for Sakura, and said with a smile.

"Of course, given our relationship."

Naruto couldn't continue speaking halfway through his sentence. He suddenly realized that just a few hours ago, he had just escaped someone else's trap.

Every word I say now seems ambiguous, even though it doesn't mean that. But in the end... never mind, I'll stop talking about it.

"Mm." Sakura nodded, lowered her head slightly, and walked inside.

She didn't seem to notice the ambiguity in Naruto's words, or perhaps she didn't care; in any case, Naruto couldn't detect anything unusual from her slightly lowered face.

At the entrance, Sakura bent down and took off her shoes, her movements extremely slow.

Naruto stood there watching, his gaze unconsciously lingering on her feet, starting from her heels and rising slightly to reveal her snow-white insteps.

It's the kind of slightly fleshy, muscular instep where you can vaguely see bluish veins.

The situation is somewhat complicated; two personalities share one body. The Main Personality had been dormant for a long time, but unexpectedly awoke halfway through the process.

Black Sakura is temporarily dormant, while the Main Personality, Pink Sakura, has emerged. In a sense, their memories should be shared.

But now Pink Sakura's memories are stuck six years ago. Either Black Sakura is unwilling to share them, or Pink Sakura is unwilling to accept reality and rejects these six years of memories.

Based on his understanding of Black Sakura, the probability of the former happening is not high. So, is Pink Sakura unwilling to accept reality? After all, it was because she was trying to escape the reality of Sasuke's defection that her Main Personality fell into a deep sleep.

Such speculation is not impossible.

"This way, come on. This must be your first time here, right?" Naruto led the way. "Please make yourself at home. I'll get you a glass of water."

Sakura responded and cautiously looked around the unfamiliar living room. In her memory, Naruto's house was still the old house in the very center of Konohagakure.

The night rain pattered softly, and in the dim light on the other side of the balcony, all that could be seen was a hazy, gray mist.

Naruto was pouring water in the kitchen when she noticed the sofa was a bit messy, clearly someone had just been there. She turned to look at the locked rooms, and an idea inexplicably popped into her head.

Avoiding the two scattered spots, Sakura sat down on the other side of the neat sofa, but not completely. She just sat close to the edge, as if she were about to leave.

This is a sign of insecurity. Naruto noticed this detail when he came out of the kitchen and handed Sakura a glass of water, but he didn't say anything.

No one would feel safe in this situation, after all, being pulled out the moment they woke up and having to knock on their partner's door at night.

"Don't be too sad, cough cough." Naruto sat down and smoothed out the stains on the sofa. "She's used to spending the night in the hospital's private lounge and rarely comes home."

"Your parents are probably used to her rhythm, but they may not be able to get over the psychological barrier. They haven't spent much time together in the past six years."

"Yes, I know." Pink Sakura fell silent, clutching her cup, and after a long while asked, "Is there no other way for me?"

"Your situation is rare. We've tried many methods," Naruto said carefully. "There's basically no solution. The best approach is to coexist."

"Coexist?"

"Personality cannot be killed; it is engraved in the soul." Naruto got down to business, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "If we compete with each other, we will only fall into an endless cycle of life's gaps."

"Why don't you two communicate and allocate some time, share memories, or something like that?"

"Allocate time." Sakura was silent for a long time before looking up and saying hesitantly, "But this will cause a conflict, won't it? She...she's with you, using our bodies."

"I don't know either. Anyway, we still need to communicate," Naruto said, shrugging. "She has done a lot of work and put in a lot of effort over the years."

"There are many things waiting for her to finish. In other people's eyes, you and she are no different. If you don't communicate, you won't be able to access that part of the memory, right?"

"Let me think about it some more." Sakura took a sip of water, pursed her lips, and frowned deeply.

"Okay." Naruto got up and walked towards the room.

With a loud bang, thunder and rain suddenly poured down.

Naruto ignored Sakura on the sofa and went into the room to announce to the two girls in a low voice that the vacation was ending early and the remaining vacation time would be postponed to the next one.

As for when the next time would be, he himself didn't know. With a flick of his wrist, he skillfully stored both women in his Sealing Space. He turned and left the room, opening the door behind him.

Sure enough, Sakura looked up and saw something behind him. Finding the door open, she was puzzled, then glanced at the sleek sofa and blinked.

"Normally no one comes here, but two guests came before you," Naruto answered her question directly, pointing to another room.

"The bedding in that room is clean. I tidied it up a bit. You can rest there tonight. Don't be shy."

Two? Sakura was a little startled. Did he find two more after he left? In six years, Naruto seemed to have changed a lot.

Her impression of Naruto was still that of the cheerful blond boy from six years ago, and that scene remained vivid in her mind, lingering there.

Naruto seemed to have a good relationship with Ino before, but now he's with his own body, so are they together? What's their relationship now? Is he cheating on Ino?

"Okay." She didn't ask anything in the end.

"That's the bathroom over there. I have clean bathrobes here. You can throw your clothes in to wash before showering, and then dry them."

Naruto patiently gave instructions, not wasting any time at this crucial moment.

"If you don't know how to use the dryer, I can teach you beforehand. As for the washing machine, you should know how to use it, right? Here are bath towels and hand towels, take them."

"Mmm." Sakura's unease gradually disappeared. Under Naruto's incessant admonitions, she found a sense of stability.

Bathroom.

Just as Naruto was teaching Sakura how to use the latest dryer, Sakura suddenly looked up at him and asked a question.

Are you with Ino now?

Under the bright lights, he looked down at Sakura and paused for a moment.

Why are you suddenly asking this?

"Nothing, I was just suddenly a little curious?" Sakura said with a smile. "After all, I've been asleep for so long, it's like a long journey, and my companions have all grown up."

"We haven't officially started dating yet, but maybe later," Naruto replied.

"Um."

In the living room, Naruto sipped a glass of water, silently pondering what to do. If things were too complicated, he would have to put them aside for now.

Tsunade's departure is fast approaching, and there are still many things left undone. Danzo is alive and well, and no one knows where Uchiha Sasuke is.

I just hope Sasuke kills Itachi Uchiha soon. Logically, the plot of Sasuke killing his brother should have already started. But because of the extended timeline, it's been delayed until now, and we have no idea how the outside world is going.

Now that Konohagakure is basically wiped out, all that's left is the final push. There's no point in him staying in the village anymore, except that Ino's side is the only one that hasn't run into trouble yet.

Black Sakura suddenly went into hibernation, so Hinata will need to spend time making plans. Time, that's what he needs most right now.

If Sakura hadn't come knocking on his door so quickly, he might not have had any particular thoughts for the time being. But now he wanted to resolve Sakura's troubles as soon as possible.

Half an hour later, Sakura came out wrapped in a bathrobe, smoothed out the wrinkles, and sat properly on the sofa.

"I have something I want to ask you, about Sasuke."

"I don't know much, go ahead and ask," Naruto, putting down his cup.

"I want to know, what happened next?"

"Later?" He pondered for a moment. "At that time, Lord Tsunade had just taken office, and the village was short-handed. After failing to retrieve Sasuke, no one paid much attention to this matter anymore."

"Sasuke probably went to Orochimaru's place. I heard that Sasuke killed Orochimaru and went to seek revenge on Itachi Uchiha. After that, no one knows what happened to him."

"Um."

Time ticked by, and the living room fell silent.

"Sasuke has no hope of returning to the village, right?" she suddenly asked, a hint of sadness flashing in her eyes.

"Do you want him to come back?" Naruto suddenly asked Sakura, his gaze intense.

"I... I don't know, and there's nothing I can do about it now." Sakura's gaze was somewhat evasive; after all, she was just a young girl with a naive mind, and she thought of everything too simply.

After thinking it over, Naruto decided to take this opportunity to make things clear.

"So what if we found him? With the hatred of his clan being wiped out, will Sasuke give up on revenge? How can we influence him? Lock him up until he gives up on revenge?"

"Don't be silly. Sasuke is just a comrade to us. Compared to us, who have only been with him for a year, his parents and family who raised him are obviously more important."

"The flames of revenge can completely burn away a person's beliefs and change them from beginning to end. No one knows where fate will lead or what they will do after taking revenge."

Sakura was speechless.

Naruto then left to take a shower. When he came out, he saw Sakura still sitting on the sofa, but he didn't pay any attention and went back to his room to sleep.

The next day.

Naruto decided to let her rest at home, since she couldn't do much in her current state anyway. He went out and found Neji to discuss the Caged Bird Seal with him.

The two met in a Bamboo Forest not far from the Hyuga Clan. Neji looked hesitant, clearly still undecided.

"Alright, let's first remove the Caged Bird Seal from the heads of the other Branch Family." Naruto knew Neji's straightforward personality, so he naturally wouldn't reveal the whole plan.

"Besides you, there must be other Branch Family of the family willing to try. You don't need to refuse so quickly; you can think about it some more."

"But you only need to introduce me to one member of the Branch Family, and I'll take care of the rest."

Neji saw that Naruto had already put it this way, and it would be difficult for him to refuse, since he was only hesitant, not unwilling to untie the Caged Bird.

"Alright then," he gritted his teeth and agreed.

The wind rustled through the Bamboo Forest, Neji's brows furrowed; he couldn't get over that hurdle in his heart. Hyuga Hiashi treated him like his own son, with the respect due to a nephew.

Neji didn't think that his father's death was entirely Hyuga Hiashi's fault, but he was also well aware of the true Main Family of the main branch of the Hyuga Clan.

He kept his personal feelings separate from matters of principle, and he knew that Naruto could have bypassed him and contacted the Hyuga Branch Family, but he still didn't do so.

This was a personal bond between them, one he couldn't betray. More importantly, he hesitated because of Hyuga Hiashi; he couldn't very well prevent the other Branch Family from escaping their misery.

The rest of the Hyuga Branch Family lived in the shadow of the Main Family every day, constantly subjected to beatings and orders, with no way to resist. Any hint of dissent would result in immediate punishment.

As for the protective function of the Caged Bird, the Hyuga Clan members rarely leave Konohagakure. They spend most of their time at the Hyuga compound, and some have never even left the village in their entire lives.

If Konohagakure can't even protect its people, then even the Caged Bird won't be of much use.

"And what about you, Neji?" Naruto asked.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, I still can't do it," Neji said, shaking his head. "I know you mean well, but I..."

"It's alright, don't force yourself to do this, we can talk about it later." Naruto patted Neji on the shoulder. He knew Neji was loyal and righteous, and that was what he valued most about him.

Despite being Caged Bird himself, he selflessly shared this precious opportunity with the other Branch Family members. To that new generation of the Branch Family members, he was the Prometheus of the Hinata.

But unfortunately, Neji Hyuga's personality destined him to be the last Caged Bird, having done everything he could for the Main Family. If he doesn't become the head of the family, who will?

Everything went exactly as Tsunade had predicted, making Naruto marvel at the unfathomable depth of her Tsunade. However, this did save him a lot of trouble; he could simply follow the plan step by step.

After agreeing to meet Neji, Naruto turned to head home to get some food. On the way, he bumped into Uzuki Yugao, who quickly left.

"Strange?" He stood on the street, watching Uzuki Yugao's departing figure, and muttered to himself, "Everything's over, yet she's still so busy?"

I'm home.

He first placed the two takeout meals on the table, then went to the kitchen to get water. Before he could even take a couple of sips, a fiery red figure flashed across the balcony.

Nine-Tails Fox, who had been missing for a day and a night, returned looking disheveled and filthy. She laboriously climbed in through the balcony, stood up, opened the sliding balcony door, and called out.

"Water! Quick, give me a bottle of wine."

"Do you want water or wine?" Naruto was speechless. He rested his fingers on the glass, picked it up, and took another sip. "Did you get kicked by a bunch of male dogs?"

"How could that be?" Nine-Tails- Tailed Fox stroked its belly fur with its short paw and said smugly, "This place is too boring, so I went out to play for a while."

"Guess who I ran into?"

"Who?" Naruto sneered.

"It's really bad luck, I ran into the evil Uchiha!" Nine-Tails cursed as he went into the refrigerator to find some alcohol.