Special Training? Menma's Lecture

Sasuke and Naruto jolted all over and stared at each other.

In that instant, countless shards of memory and countless nameless emotions, like a disturbed swarm of bees, flooded madly into their minds, colliding and exploding in the same breath.

The initial disbelief and sense of absurdity in Sasuke's black eyes rapidly ebbed away, replaced by fury at being manipulated by invisible strings.

He looked at Naruto's eyes, now filled with immense confusion and shock, but what flashed through his mind was that glaring blond hair and annoying smile from their first meeting by the river in Konoha, the stupid sight of him always coming in last at the Ninja Academy yet never giving up—

And also, today, the way this guy had stood at his front door with that dumb but sincere smile.

What the hell was this?!

Some ridiculous puppet show that had gone on for a thousand years?!

And he was actually one of the "marionettes" in this play, unable to control himself?!

A surge of rage at being made a fool of, along with disgust toward this so-called "destiny," churned in Sasuke's chest like magma.

His hands clenched tightly into fists at his sides, his knuckles giving faint cracking sounds from the force. His nails dug deep into his palms, the sharp pain barely helping him hold on to a sliver of reason.

As for Naruto, those blue eyes that were always brimming with sunlight and energy now seemed shrouded in dense fog.

He stared blankly at Sasuke, at the surging anger in the other boy's eyes.

Indra?

Asura?

Chakra reincarnation?

Me?

And—Sasuke?

He couldn't quite understand these complicated concepts that sounded like something out of a myth.

All he knew was that he and Sasuke had never liked each other since they were little, and