She had imagined countless possibilities: a gentle rejection, a serious attempt to dodge the subject, an awkward silence, even a flustered panic...
But the one thing she had never expected was such a casual "I could tell," as though he were stating an objective fact he had understood all along!
This was even harder to handle than an outright rejection.
He "could tell"? When had he figured it out? How? If he knew, why hadn't he ever given any sign of it? What did he mean by saying it so casually now? That he knew but didn't care? Or that he didn't think it was a big deal at all?
Countless questions burst like fireworks in Sakura's mind, leaving all the courage she had mustered and the emotions she had built up stranded in an awkward limbo.
Looking at Sakura, who seemed to have choked on her words, Naruto finally appeared to realize that his response might have been a little too "unexpected."
He blinked, gave a slightly troubled, somewhat helpless smile, and scratched the back of his head.
"Uh... what I mean is... hmm..."
For once, he seemed a little at a loss for words, too.
"I can probably... sense some of how you feel. It's just... if you don't mind."
Naruto thought back to his previous life.
It had probably been an ordinary break between classes, with sunlight streaming through the classroom windows.
A few male classmates he got along with reasonably well had gathered to chat, and somehow the conversation had drifted toward wild fantasies about the future.
"Hey, buddy."
A classmate draped an arm over Naruto's shoulders and asked with a mischievous grin,
"Say you were gonna get married someday. Would you pick someone you liked, or someone who liked you?"
"Like I'd have anyone to