Drowning

"I did it!"

Joy surged within his chest, and a happy smile bloomed across his face.

However, joy often turns to sorrow; his excessive excitement disrupted Sasuke's control over his Chakra.

With a splash, he tumbled into the water.

To make matters worse... due to the prolonged exertion and excessive energy consumption, lactic acid had built up in his muscles, and his leg cramped.

"Mmph... help... mmph..."

Sasuke's arm reached out above the water, struggling for survival as his body drifted downstream with the current.

"I think I heard... someone calling for help?"

Naruto, who had been engrossed in tree-punching, stopped his movements and looked around, but he didn't notice anything unusual.

"Was it just my imagination?"

Inside the Sealing Space, Kushina and Minato, who were busy flirting, noticed the situation outside and asked with concern, "What's wrong, Naruto? Are you tired and need a rest?"

"It's nothing, I can keep going, but speaking of which... where is Second Pillar?"

That's right, Naruto had long since discovered that Sasuke was tailing and spying on him.

The other boy thought he was hiding well, but in Naruto's eyes, he was full of holes.

Not to mention the powerful sensory abilities granted by the Nine-Tails, Naruto's own perception was enough to detect Sasuke's tracking.

But after discovering him, Naruto didn't bother to intervene.

If he wants to watch, let him watch; one more or one less doesn't make a difference.

Anyway, he had been used to being watched since he was a child.

"It's Sasuke, not Second Pillar. Why do you keep giving people such weird nicknames?"

This was the nth time Kushina had corrected her son's way of addressing Sasuke.

Naruto said solemnly, "Giving nicknames is a sign of intimacy."

Minato asked curiously, "Then has Naruto given me and Kushina any nicknames?"

"Uh... about that..."

The titles "Bloody Habanero" and "Fastest Man in the Ninja World" flashed through Naruto's mind. He shook his head, but his tone was firm: "No! That would be too impolite."

"You know it's impolite, yet you still give Sasuke a nickname."

Kushina was speechless.

"It's different; the two can't be mentioned in the same breath... Alright, you two stop talking, I'm going to start training."

To avoid Kushina's nagging, Naruto immediately started punching the tree again.

Bang, bang, bang...

A while later, Naruto stopped again, frowning as he tilted his head to listen.

"Did you guys... hear someone calling for help?"

Limited by the Sealing Space, Minato and Kushina's actual sensory range was not as good as Naruto's.

They didn't hear anything, but both of them still suggested that Naruto should go and take a look.

It wouldn't matter if he heard wrong, but if it were real, he should save them; it was a life, after all.

"Is this where it ends for me? How ridiculous. I, who boasted about killing Itachi, am actually going to die like this..."

Cold water surged into his body from all directions, flowing into his mouth, nose, and throat, bringing a chilling sensation of suffocation.

Sasuke's vision grew increasingly blurry, and his body had turned cold and stiff.

"Father, Mother, I'm coming to find you..."

He just lay there silently, motionless, letting himself sink and gradually submerge into the deeper darkness.

"Found him, he's here."

A voice full of surprise rang out, piercing the endless darkness and pulling Sasuke back toward the light.

On the riverbank.

Sasuke lay unconscious on the grass. Naruto knelt beside him, pressing on his bloated stomach, and river water flowed continuously from Sasuke's mouth.

After a long while, Sasuke's stomach was no longer as distended, but he still hadn't woken up.

Kushina reminded him, "Naruto, you need to perform CPR. Let me teach you..."

"No!"

Naruto flatly refused. His first kiss was reserved for his future wife; how could he possibly give it to Sasuke?

Minato lectured, "Don't be willful, Naruto. A ninja is someone who can endure everything..."

"Sorry, but I'm not the type to endure anything."

What did I work so hard to cultivate for? It wasn't so that in the end, I would have to endure everything, but rather so that I wouldn't have to endure anything at all.

Only in this way could I live up to my arrival in the Ninja World.

Naruto Uzumaki walked over to a nearby tree, knocked on the trunk, and looked up, saying, "Come down and save him."

"You could detect me?"

The Anbu jumped down from the branch, looking at Naruto Uzumaki with a solemn gaze.

"With your lousy concealment skills, is it really that strange that I found you?"

"You..."

"Don't waste time, hurry up and save him. You should know how to perform CPR, right..."

Naruto Uzumaki waved his hand, signaling the Anbu to get on with it.

The Anbu glanced at Sasuke and refused, saying, "Saving people is not my mission."

His mission was only to protect and monitor the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails.

"What about your Will of Fire?"

Naruto Uzumaki frowned and said, "Where the leaves dance, the fire burns; the fire's light will continue to illuminate the village and allow new leaves to sprout... You shouldn't have forgotten Lord Hokage's words. Now that a young sprout's life is in danger, you remain indifferent... Honestly, I'm starting to doubt your loyalty to Konoha."

That accusation was so heavy... not only could the Anbu not take it, but even Kushina and Minato couldn't stand it.

The couple realized for the first time that their son had such a sharp tongue; he was practically making the Anbu want to kill him.

The Anbu clenched his fists, his body trembling with rage, and shouted, "What do you know, you brat! When I was risking my life for Konoha..."

"Cough, cough... I'm not dead?"

Naruto Uzumaki looked back and saw Sasuke sitting up with a dazed expression, so he waved his hand at the Anbu.

"Go away, there's nothing left for you to do here."

Without paying any more attention to the Anbu, Naruto Uzumaki came before Sasuke and asked, "How do you feel?"

"A bit uncomfortable... cough, cough, did you save me? Thank you, I owe you my life now."

Sasuke coughed up some river water, stood up, and thanked Naruto Uzumaki earnestly.

Naruto Uzumaki accepted it calmly, then asked curiously, "How did you end up drowning?"

If he hadn't arrived in time, this generation's Indra would have drowned to death, and by then, all of Itachi's schemes would have become a joke.

To protect his younger brother?

If the younger brother is gone, how can you protect him? Itachi would probably go insane and eventually decide to launch the Infinite Tsukuyomi to create a world where his brother exists...

Sasuke hesitated for a few seconds, then decided to explain.

After finishing, he turned his face away and said, "If you want to laugh, then laugh. It was my own stupidity that led to this, and ending up drowning is just what I deserve."

"Can I really laugh?" Naruto Uzumaki seemed to be suppressing his amusement.

Sasuke gave his permission indifferently, though he felt very disappointed inside; so the little blond guy was just like this after all...

"I'm going to laugh now?"

"Go ahead."

"I'm really going to laugh?"

"Stop asking, just laugh already."

"I'm really, really going to laugh?"

"Are you annoying or what? If you want to laugh, just laugh, why do you keep asking me?"

Sasuke turned his head sharply, looking like he was about to throw a punch, only to see that Naruto Uzumaki's expression was solemn, without a trace of a smile.