Valentine's Day: SasuNaru 3: Eating Fruit

Returning to the future, Orochimaru was nowhere to be seen.

"That guy Orochimaru, did he just walk off and leave such a complex ninjutsu behind?" Sasuke shook his head helplessly. "Regardless, I should head back to Konoha first."

Sasuke walked away, but something still felt wrong. Why had the formation for the time ninjutsu vanished from the ground? And suddenly, he couldn't find the entrance to Orochimaru's underground base either.

He decided not to dwell on it; Orochimaru was a man who simply refused to die. He had likely used some bizarre ninjutsu again. He could confirm that later.

Back in Konoha, the village was ordinary today, with no signs of any grand celebration. It seemed Naruto wasn't getting married to anyone in Konoha today.

Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief as he entered the village and headed straight for Naruto's home.

"!"

Sasuke opened the door to Naruto's house, but a completely different family was living there.

"Is there something you need?" The woman who opened the door took one look at him, then happily called out to her husband and children: "Look who's here, it's the great hero Sasuke!"

Sasuke didn't react much to their enthusiasm. He asked, "Excuse me, is this the home of Naruto Uzumaki?"

"Naruto Uzumaki... you mean that Nine-Tails jinchuriki who almost defeated Pain? What a tragedy..." the woman said with regret. "We treated him so poorly, yet he gave his life for us. We are truly sinners..."

"What! Naruto is dead?!" Sasuke couldn't process this, nearly collapsing to the ground.

The woman nodded, confirming it once more.

"Why..." Sasuke leaned against the wall and left. He was dazed, unable to believe what he had heard. He asked several others, but they all gave the same answer.

Only then did he remember: during the duel with Pain, Naruto had nearly been captured. Fortunately, Hinata had appeared and sacrificed herself to save him. Because of that, Naruto had tapped into the Nine-Tails chakra within him, nearly transforming into the Nine-Tails, which allowed him to turn the tide.

But now, Hinata had been killed early on, and no one had come to save Naruto. Naruto had been taken away just like that. Once captured, the Nine-Tails' power must have been extracted by the Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals, and he had ultimately died at the hands of the Akatsuki.

"No! This can't be! I have to go back again... I have experience now... I can do it..." Sasuke wanted to find Orochimaru to help him return to the past once more.

But that was no longer possible. When Sasuke killed Hinata, he had been disguised as Orochimaru. This caused the Hyuga Clan to exert immense pressure on Konoha, forcing the Third Hokage to mobilize the Five Great Nations to eradicate Orochimaru. In the end, Orochimaru was sealed by Jiraiya. The scroll used to seal him had been lost during the Fourth Shinobi World War, blown away by a Tailed Beast Bomb from the Ten-Tails.

Without Orochimaru, there was no hope of using the ninjutsu to return to the past.

Kaguya Otsutsuki, who was supposed to be sealed through the combined efforts of Naruto and Sasuke, had been soloed by Sasuke instead. Consequently, Sasuke had become the great hero of the entire world.

Sasuke collapsed to the ground, his body devoid of strength. His momentary act of childishness had caused the person he loved to die a tragic death.

"It was this hand... that erased Naruto's existence..." Sparks of lightning flashed in Sasuke's hand, and then he gently thrust it through his own chest...