"Excuse me..."
After Sakura said this with some restraint, he cautiously stepped into the small apartment where Naruto lived. She looked around curiously, feeling a little surprised.
Is this the recognized genius in the class, Uzumaki Naruto? The room that came into view was simply furnished, but unexpectedly it was very clean and tidy, with items placed in an orderly manner. It was completely different from the mess she thought the middle-aged man might have if he lived alone.
It stands to reason that being able to be in a group with Satsuki, her dreamer, and Naruto, the genius in the class, and also being invited to her home as a guest, should have been something that made her excited.
But for some reason, from just now, that icy coldness had been lingering around her again, making her always feel cold on her back, as if she were sitting on pins and needles, and unable to relax at all.
"You're welcome, just sit down wherever you want, just like you're at home." Naruto said with a smile, turned around and opened the refrigerator, took out a can of ice-cold soup drink Anko and handed it to Sakura, "Here, I remember you like this, right?"
Then, he skillfully took out another box of strawberry milk - this is the drink that Satsuki has been particularly fond of a long time ago and drinks almost every time he comes here.
"Ah, thank you!" Sakura thanked him quickly and took the Anko soup, but Naruto's enthusiasm could not dispel the inexplicable chill at all.
She just sat side by side with Satsuki on the chair next to Naruto's small dining table. Satsuki quietly took the strawberry milk and sipped it. His eyes seemed to fall on the grain of the tabletop, without looking at Sakura or speaking.
The atmosphere was slightly silent and... frozen for a while.
Sakura tried hard to find something to talk about to break the awkward silence, but every time she caught sight of Satsuki's expressionless side face next to her from the corner of her eye and the invisible low pressure emanating from her whole body, she felt as if her throat was blocked by something and she couldn't say anything.
"Wait a moment, the meal will be ready soon."
In the kitchen, the sound of cooking and the sound of Naruto came. It turned out that Naruto's kitchen was in the living room, but since Satsuki often came to visit, Naruto moved the kitchen to another room. After all, cooking and fireworks are still quite annoying.
In order to relieve the suffocating silence and tension, Sakura's eyes couldn't help but start to wander around the room, trying to find some decorations or objects that could open up the conversation.
Then, her eyes were attracted by an unusual thing next to the bedside table.
It was a small nest carefully made of soft cloth and thermal insulation materials, and there were some heating devices connected next to it that seemed to maintain the temperature. And in the center of this warm little nest, there is an... egg?
A giant egg about the size of two footballs, with a clean body and a green circular pattern on it?
What's this? What a big egg... is it some kind of Summoning Beast egg? Or some special ninja tool?
Sakura's curiosity was instantly aroused, temporarily overcoming the inexplicable chill. She subconsciously wanted to stand up and get closer to take a closer look at this mysterious egg.
However, just as she left the chair and leaned forward——
A hand grasped her tightly and raised her wrist! The force was so strong that it even made her feel a little pain!
"Ugh——!" Sakura was caught off guard and couldn't help but cry out in pain.
She turned her head in horror and met Satsuki's pair of black eyes that had become extremely cold at some point. There was no warmth in those eyes.
"Don't touch that thing... no, to be precise, don't touch anything in this room. Do you understand?"
"Ten... I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean it!"
Sakura was startled by this sudden and stern warning. She sat back down on the chair tremblingly, her heart beating wildly.
The strange thing is that after being severely warned, Sakura felt that Satsuki actually moved to talk to her, and her cheeks felt inexplicably warm.
An atmosphere of silence and awkwardness once again enveloped the small dining table.
After a while, just when Sakura thought the conversation was over, Satsuki's cold voice sounded again, but there was still no ups and downs.
"Sakura... right? We will be teammates from now on, right?"
"Yes... yes." Sakura straightened his back immediately, not expecting Satsuki to speak again.
"So, Sakura," Satsuki slowly turned his head, and his pair of deep black eyes truly focused on Sakura's face for the first time.
"You know, if one of the three Genin members in a Ninja team unfortunately has an 'accident', such as... sacrificing his life, or suffering a 'serious injury' that prevents him from continuing to perform the mission... then, what will happen to this team?"
"Eh? Is this..."
Sakura was stunned by this sudden topic. She tried hard to recall the relevant regulations she had seen in the Konoha Ninja manual.
"According to regulations... when the Ninja team performs a mission, the basic composition must be one Jonin leading three Chunin or Genin. If... if any team member is missing for any reason, the entire team must immediately stop performing all tasks until that team member recovers health, or... there are other team members to supplement."
"... Tsk."
Satsuki made a very light clicking sound. Obviously, Sakura's standard answer about "missing team members" just now did not satisfy her.
The next moment, she spoke again. This time, when she faced Sakura, her big, cold eyes turned into two beautiful crescents, and the corners of her mouth were slightly raised, revealing a slight smile.
However, this smile inexplicably made Sakura feel heart palpitations.
"So, Sakura..." Satsuki asked in a tone that sounded friendly, "Excuse me, what do you personally think of Naruto?"
"Naruto..."
Sakura has no idea what kind of dangerous cliff edge she is standing on, and she doesn't know that if her answer is slightly wrong, the next time Satsuki's crescent-like smiling eyes open, what abyss will be revealed!
She thought about it seriously and decided to tell the truth. After all, this seemed to be a topic that Satsuki was interested in. "Naruto He is an outstanding person! Among the Ninja Academy, it seems that you are the only one who can tie with him, Satsuki, right? You are still a student of the Ninja Academy, but you are both so powerful. It's really amazing!"
Of course...
Satsuki closed his eyes and nodded secretly in his heart, Naruto He is the only opponent I recognize and must go all out to deal with. Humph, you have some discernment.
Seeing that Satsuki seemed to have no objection and even kept smiling, Sakura was encouraged and continued. "Also, Naruto is a very careful and gentle person! I often see him taking the initiative to help classmates in the class, although... because of some bad rumors in the village, most people in the class are somewhat prejudiced and alienated from Naruto-kun. It's really too much!"
Uh-huh! That's it! Satsuki agreed a little more in his heart, those ignorant guys don't understand anything at all! It's too much to treat Naruto like that!
Seeing Satsuki closing his eyes and beginning to nod slightly, as if he agreed with his words, Sakura felt happy and felt that he had found the right topic. The relationship between these two people is really, really good!
The atmosphere seemed to have relaxed a lot, and Sakura was a little bolder. She thought of some rumors in school and the intimate interaction she saw today, and couldn't help but asked curiously and with a hint of probing.
"By the way, and... this may be a bit strange and presumptuous to ask..." Sakura's face turned slightly red and his voice became softer, "Excuse me, Satsuki, are you... dating Naruto-kun?"