Sakura's Longing

In the audience stands.

"Look, Sasuke's at it again!"

Seeing Sasuke still acting awkward in the face of Itachi's overtures on the screen, Naruto could not help curling his lip.

"See? Sasuke's always like this. He wants it so badly inside, but he refuses to admit it on the surface!"

[Ding! Emotional fluctuation from Naruto Uzumaki detected! Emotion Points +100!]

Sakura frowned at that. She gently nudged Naruto's arm and softly scolded, "Naruto, don't always talk about Sasuke like that!"

"Hmph, I just can't stand that way he always acts tough and tries to look cool!" Naruto turned away and muttered. "He's obviously looking forward to it, but he has to pretend he doesn't care. What a pain!"

Kakashi sat beside them. Listening to the two kids bicker, he shook his head helplessly.

However, he quickly wiped the smile from his face and focused on the screen, his gaze gradually deepening.

Not necessarily this time, Kakashi thought, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. After all, Itachi was the culprit who slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan... It's only natural for Sasuke to harbor such hostility toward him.

He knew very well what kind of hatred Sasuke carried in his heart.

Therefore, Kakashi found Sasuke's cold attitude toward Itachi in the dream perfectly understandable.

It was Naruto and Sakura, who did not know the truth, who thought Sasuke was merely sulking and putting on a tough front.

More importantly, Kakashi had not overlooked what Shisui and Itachi had discussed earlier.

His thoughts raced.

Everything in this dream world, so far, seemed to correspond to reality...

Then those white monsters capable of transforming probably existed somewhere near the Leaf Village in reality as well.

If it were merely an ordinary Transformation Technique, Itachi and Shisui would never have treated it with such caution.

Those white monsters were most likely something extraordinary. They had to stay vigilant.

Seeing Kakashi suddenly turn serious, Naruto and Sakura exchanged puzzled looks.

But seeing his grave expression, the two could only quiet down for now and stop interrupting.

As for Kakashi, he was already planning to report the matter to the Hokage as soon as he returned to reality.

Since when had such monsters been lurking near the Leaf Village?

Who exactly was plotting in the shadows?

Kakashi furrowed his brow, his mind full of doubts.

It seemed he had obtained some incredible intelligence.

[Ding! Emotional fluctuation from Kakashi Hatake detected! Emotion Points +400!]

On the screen.

Sasuke simply could not listen to Itachi's apologies or attempts to keep him.

Even if this dream world's Itachi had not committed that insane atrocity, Sasuke still had no intention of giving him a pleasant look.

If he wanted to train in genjutsu, he could go to his father, his mother, or even any other Uchiha clansman for help. Any of them would be better than Itachi.

Seeing his younger brother's unyielding attitude, Itachi had no choice but to step forward and lower his stance as he pleaded, "Sasuke, I know I was wrong last time and let you down... I've felt guilty these past few days. I deliberately cleared my entire day today because I wanted to make it up to you. Give me another chance, okay? I'll train with you. We can practice whatever you want."

As he said this, Itachi wore an unusually uneasy expression, looking at his younger brother with a face full of guilt.

Sasuke had never seen the normally calm and composed Itachi reveal such unease and regret.

Sasuke raised his face and met Itachi's black eyes, which were filled with expectation.

The ever-composed Itachi now seemed so cautious that Sasuke was slightly taken aback.

He fell silent for several seconds, then turned his head away and gave a cold snort, waging an inner battle.

In truth, Sasuke knew very well that Itachi's mastery of genjutsu was unmatched in the world. Having him personally teach him would undoubtedly be an opportunity too good to pass up.

Besides... Sasuke's eyes shifted slightly as a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

Training with Itachi was not necessarily a bad thing.

This way, he could take the opportunity to observe and familiarize himself with Itachi's techniques, learning all the genjutsu Itachi was best at.

Then, when he faced that Uchiha Itachi in reality in the future, he would know every one of Itachi's moves inside out. What would there be to fear?

That was right!

It was all so he could defeat Itachi more effectively in the future!

It was all to familiarize himself with all of Itachi's techniques in advance, so he could be more certain of killing him someday!

It was absolutely not because he wanted to train with Itachi!

At that thought, Sasuke's tense expression relaxed slightly.

He pursed his lips in thought for a moment, then snorted as though reluctant. "Training is fine. But—"

He shot Itachi a sidelong glance and added awkwardly, "I'm practicing what I want to practice. You're not allowed to object!"

"Fine, I'll listen to you." Seeing his younger brother finally relent, Itachi visibly relaxed. A smile returned to his handsome face as he nodded repeatedly. "Whatever you want to practice, I'll practice with you."

Seeing Sasuke finally agree, Itachi let out a great sigh of relief.

Sasuke's coldness toward him these past few days had filled him with regret. Now that he finally had a chance to make up for it, he secretly swore that he would do his best to make his younger brother forgive him.

Sasuke gave a light snort and did not argue any further.

He called out, "Let's go to the clan training grounds."

Itachi nodded and quickly followed after him.

Before long, the two arrived at a training ground behind the Uchiha Clan District.

This open space was usually used by clan members to spar. At this early hour, the surroundings were silent, with only several tall trees standing at the edge of the field, their leaves rustling in the breeze.

There were also several blackened scorch marks left by Fire Release along the edge of the grass field.

Itachi looked over his younger brother, who stood ready for battle, and smiled softly. "Sasuke, when we sparred last time, I noticed that your taijutsu had improved greatly. But your control over Fire Release had become much rougher, wasting quite a bit of chakra. Would you like to review chakra control first? Or I could teach you a more advanced Fire Release ninjutsu, such as the Dragon Flame Technique..."

Sasuke shook his head at that and coldly cut him off. "Neither! What I want to learn is genjutsu—the Sharingan's genjutsu!"

Itachi was slightly startled, clearly surprised. "Oh? You want to learn Sharingan genjutsu?"

But despite his surprise, Itachi did not ask why. He quickly nodded with a smile. "Sure. Since you want to learn genjutsu, then I can teach you one of the Sharingan genjutsu I'm best at."

Smiling, Itachi walked over to Sasuke's side and slowly raised a hand to tap his forehead. "But before we begin, Sasuke, you need to activate your Sharingan first. The technique I'm teaching you requires the Sharingan to use."

Upon hearing that, Sasuke immediately steadied his mind. Forming a hand seal, he steadily channeled chakra into his eyes.

In an instant, ripples spread through his black pupils. A single tomoe emerged and slowly began to revolve around his pupils.

A faint, eerie gleam flashed through his crimson eyes in the morning light as Sasuke successfully activated his one-tomoe Sharingan.

In the audience stands.

"Tch, see? Didn't I call it?"

Naruto leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head, smugly raising his chin at Sakura beside him. "I told you Sasuke wanted it desperately but still had to act all stubborn! See? Didn't he end up obediently going to train with his brother?"

[Ding! Emotional fluctuation from Naruto Uzumaki detected! Emotion Points +200!]

Though he said that, Naruto stared at the screen, where Itachi patiently guided Sasuke, and felt jealousy bubbling up inside him.

He muttered, "It's so unfair. Sasuke can learn new ninjutsu in his dream too, and his strength is skyrocketing... What about me? I don't even know when I'll be able to learn the third stage of the Rasengan..."

Yes, Naruto felt terrible.

Deep down, how could he not long for an opportunity like this?

If he were in the dream right now,

he could have his dad teach him too.

Sakura watched the two brothers spar on the screen, then secretly glanced at Naruto beside her, whose eyes were wide with envy. An indescribable feeling rose in her heart as well.

Naruto and Sasuke had entered this mysterious dream one after another, and both had learned new ninjutsu that would be difficult to master quickly in reality. They were all growing stronger.

And what about her?

All she could do was sit here as a spectator, watching her companions train and grow in the dream while she could not take part at all.

If only... I could enter a dream like this too.

Sakura could not help fantasizing about it.

But then she gave a bitter smile and shook her head.

The Sakura Haruno in the dream was no different from her in reality.

Even if she entered it, she probably would not gain any extra growth.

Thinking of this, she sighed softly. While she was happy for her companions, she also felt sad over her own inadequacies.

However, she soon made up her mind.

She absolutely could not keep getting left behind like this. In reality, she had to train even harder too!

[Ding! Emotional fluctuation from Sakura Haruno detected! Emotion Points +200!]