In the living room, Naruto took a sip of water and silently thought about what to do next. If things got too complicated, he might just have to set it aside for now.
'Tsunade's departure was almost on the horizon, and there were still many things left unfinished. Danzo is not dead, he is still alive and well, and who knew where Sasuke was at this point?'
'I just hope that Sasuke kills Uchiha Itachi sooner rather than later. Logically, by this point, the plot of Sasuke killing his brother should have already begun. But due to the extended timeline, everything was delayed, so I had no idea what the current state of affairs was outside.'
'Konoha had basically been cleared of threats, with only the final chapter left. Staying in the village didn't make much sense anymore, but at least things with Ino hadn't gone wrong.'
'Dark Sakura had suddenly gone dormant, and I still needed to make plans with the Hyuga Clan. Time… what I lacked most now was time.'
If Sakura hadn't come to him so soon, maybe Naruto wouldn't have had these thoughts right away. But now, he wanted to resolve Sakura's issues as quickly as possible.
Half an hour later, Sakura came out wrapped in a bathrobe. After smoothing out the folds of her robe, she sat upright on the sofa.
"I have something to ask you, about Sasuke."
"I don't know much, but go ahead." Naruto put down the cup in his hand.
"I want to know, what happened later?"
"Later?" He pondered for a moment, "At that time, Tsunade-sama had just taken office and the village was short of manpower. After the failed attempt to bring Sasuke back, people stopped paying much attention to it."
"Sasuke probably went to Orochimaru's place. I heard that he killed Orochimaru and went to seek revenge on Uchiha Itachi. After that... no one knows his whereabouts."
"Mm."
Time ticked by, and the living room fell into silence.
"Sasuke... there's no hope for him to return to the village, is there?" Sakura suddenly asked, a hint of sadness flashing in her eyes.
"Do you want him to come back?" Naruto suddenly asked, staring intensely at Sakura.
"I-I don't know. Besides, it's not like there's anything I can do now." Sakura's eyes were a little evasive. After all, her thoughts are still naïve, as if she had oversimplified everything.
After a moment of contemplation, Naruto decided to take this opportunity to make everything clear.
"Even if we found him, what then? Do you think Sasuke would give up his quest for revenge after the massacre of his clan? How do you expect to reform him? Lock him up until he decides to give it up?"
"Don't be foolish, Sakura. Sasuke and us are just companions. Compared to us who have only been together for a year, his parents and clan who grew up with him is obviously more important."
"The flames of revenge can completely consume a person's beliefs, changing them entirely. No one knows where his fate will lead him after he's finished his revenge."
"I..." Sakura had no words in response.
With that, Naruto left and went to take a shower. When he came out, Sakura was still sitting motionless on the sofa, but he didn't pay her any mind and went straight to his room to sleep.
The next day.
Naruto decided to let Sakura stay home to rest, figuring that in her current state, she couldn't do anything anyway. He, on the other hand, went out to meet Neji and discuss the issue of the Caged Bird.
The two met in a bamboo forest not far from the Hyuga Clan's compound. Neji seemed a little hesitant, and it was obvious that he had not made a decision yet.
"How about this: let's start by removing the Caged Bird from some of the branch family's members." Naruto knew Neji's upright character, so he naturally wouldn't reveal the full extent of his plan to him.
"Besides you, there are definitely other branch members who would be willing to try. You don't have to make a decision right away, think about it some more."
"But all you need to do is introduce me to one branch family's member. I'll handle the rest."
"This..." Neji found it hard to refuse after Naruto had put it that way. After all, his hesitation wasn't because he didn't want to remove the Caged Bird.
"Okay then." Neji gritted his teeth and finally agreed.
The wind rustled through the bamboo forest as Neji's brow furrowed in deep thought. He couldn't shake the feeling of guilt. Hiashi had treated him like his own son, with the respect and care of an elder.
Neji didn't believe Hiashi was entirely to blame for his father's death, but he was also well aware of the Hyuga clan's deep-rooted hierarchy, so he knew clearly what kind of existence the main family played in the Hyuga Clan.
His personal feelings were clear, and he knew Naruto could easily bypass him and approach the other branch family's members directly, but he hadn't done so out of respect for their friendship.
This was a bond between them, and Neji couldn't ignore it. More importantly, he hesitated because of Hiashi, so he couldn't let his hesitation stop other branch family's members from escaping their suffering.
The rest of the branch family lived under the constant shadow of the main family, subject to orders, beatings, and scoldings without the ability to fight back. Any sign of disobedience would result in immediate punishment.
As for the Caged Bird's protective function, most Hyuga Clan's members rarely left Konoha. Most of the time, they stayed in the Hyuga Clan's compound, and some people had never even left the village.
If Konoha couldn't protect its people, the Caged Bird wouldn't be of much use either.
"What about you, Neji?" Naruto asked.
"I'm sorry, Naruto, I still can't do it." Neji shook his head and said, "I know you mean well, but I..."
"It's fine. I won't force you. We can talk about it later." Naruto patted Neji on the shoulder. He knew that Neji was a man of loyalty and friendship, and it was precisely this quality that Naruto admired.
Even though he himself bore the burden of the Caged Bird, Neji was willing to put others first and offer them the opportunity to break. To the younger generation of the branch family, Neji was their Prometheus.
Yet, Neji's character almost guaranteed that he would be the last one to free himself from the seal, fulfilling his duty for the main family until the end. If he wasn't fit to take the position of Clan Head, who else was?
Tsunade had predicted all of this with astonishing accuracy, and Naruto couldn't help but marvel at the depth of her strategies. However, this saves him a lot of trouble, as all he had to do was follow the plan step by step.
After making an appointment with Neji for the next meeting, Naruto turned to head home, planning to bring back some food. On the way, he ran into Yugao, who hurriedly passed by.
"Strange?" Naruto muttered to himself as he watched her disappear into the distance, "Everything's over now. What's keeping her so busy?"
…
Back home.
Naruto placed two takeout meals on the dining table before heading to the kitchen to get some water. Just as he was about to take a sip, a flash of red on the balcony caught his eye.
Kurama, who had been missing for an entire day and night, had returned, looking disheveled and filthy. He climbed in from the balcony with great effort, stood up, opened the sliding door of the balcony and shouted.
"Water! Get me a bottle of booze."
"Do you want water or booze?" Naruto was a little speechless. He lifted his glass and took another sip, "Were you bullied by a group of male dogs?"
"As if!" Kurama stretched out his short claws and stroked the hair on his belly, and said smugly, "This place is so dull. I went out for a bit of fun."
"Guess who I ran into?"
"Who?" Naruto asked, unimpressed.
"Ugh, just my luck. I bumped into the evil Uchiha!" Kurama cursed and went into the refrigerator to look for some alcohol.