"It's because I LO..." Sakura began, a final tear rolling down her cheek.
Before she could finish, a raw, piercing shriek ripped through the air.
" NOOOO!!!.....NOT WITH SAKURA!"
Mini Sasuke's face was twisted in a mixture of fear and pure anguish as he screamed, his voice shattering the moment.
The raw, piercing shriek from Mini Sasuke had done its job. It had completely, and utterly, shattered the moment. Sakura's impassioned confession hung in the air, a broken piece of a sentiment that would never be fully voiced.
Naruto was the first to react, letting out a nervous, awkward chuckle. "Heh... what was that for?"
Sasuke, still reeling from the sudden chaos, simply looked down. The cold fury and confusion on his face was replaced by a look of sheer, perplexed bewilderment. He looked at his younger self, his brow furrowed in a silent, deadpan question.
Mini Sasuke paid him no mind. He scrambled forward, his little legs working furiously. He ran right up to his older self, reached out, and grabbed his hand with both of his own, clinging to him like a terrified squirrel.
"Not with her!" Mini Sasuke repeated, his voice filled with a childish horror.
Naruto's head tilted in confusion. "Huh? What not with Sakura? What are you even talking about?"
Sasuke, still looking down at his younger self, gave him a flat, unimpressed glare. His eyes, in that moment, held a mix of confusion and a silent demand for an explanation.
'What are you doing? What in the world is wrong with you?' his face seemed to ask.
Sakura, meanwhile, stood frozen in place. Her dramatic, tearful confession had been ruined, and her mind was a complete blank. Her face, her expression, was one of utter blank-faced bewilderment. She felt like a total idiot.
Naruto, seeing the blank look on her face, turned his attention to Mini Sasuke. "Seriously, what's going on in that small brain of yours, huh?"
"What?!" Mini Sasuke shrieked, looking up at his older self and then back at the others. "You all heard that, didn't you?! She was about to say it!"
He then looked at Sakura, a desperate, accusatory look in his eyes. "Tell them! What were you about to say?!"
Sakura's eyes widened. She stammered, frantically searching for an excuse, any excuse, to salvage the moment.
"I was... I was about to say that I... I love to see you calm, not annoyed. That's all I was going to say! I love to see you calm and happy!"
Mini Sasuke's face twisted in pure embarrassment. "Liar! Liar liar liar! You were about to say it! I heard you!"
Sasuke slowly looked down at his younger self again, a chillingly flat expression on his face. "Is this what they teach you at the academy now?" he asked, his voice low and devoid of all emotion. "To misunderstand teammates for no reason?"
Mini Sasuke's face paled. He stared at the utterly unimpressed look on his older self's face, a sudden wave of embarrassment and childish shame washing over him.
He let go of Sasuke's hand, turning on his heel and bolting back into the trees, his own face a new shade of red.
The silence that fell after Mini Sasuke's mad dash into the trees was thick with lingering confusion.
Sakura stood there, her hands still balled into fists at her sides, her shoulders slightly slumped. She felt a wave of crushing embarrassment wash over her. Sasuke, beside her, was still staring at the spot where his younger self had vanished.
He muttered to himself, his voice so low it was almost a whisper, "Is this what my life was like? All of this... and he just thinks it's a game?" A deep scowl crossed his face, not one of anger, but of genuine bewilderment.
Sakura, meanwhile, was just grateful it was over. She wanted to disappear into the ground. A blush crept up her neck as she thought about how a young child had almost exposed her deepest secret. 'I can't believe I almost said that out loud...' she thought, mortified.
Suddenly, Naruto took a step forward, a genuine smile spreading across his face. He didn't say a word. He just raised his arms in front of him, and with a sudden, joyful leap, he crashed into both of them, pulling them into a tight, warm hug.
Sasuke's eyes widened in shock, his body stiffening. The surprise was so sudden that a faint blush spread across his cheeks. He stood there, completely stunned, his arms pinned to his sides.
Sakura, on the other hand, let out a small gasp of surprise before her face broke into a wide, teary smile.
Naruto hugged them both with all his might, his cheeks slightly flushed as he squeezed them tightly. It was a perfect, awkward, and loving embrace.
After a few moments, Sasuke's expression softened. He sighed, a hint of something like exasperated fondness in his eyes. He slightly leaned into the hug, just for a moment, before pushing a little on Naruto's shoulder.
"You Usuratonkachi," he muttered, the insult a sound of pure affection unique to their relationship.
Sakura was so happy that a few tears of pure joy finally escaped her eyes. She hugged Naruto back fiercely, her face pressed against his shoulder, a wide smile on her face.
Team 7 was finally together, and in that moment, it felt like nothing could ever separate them again.
Naruto hugged them both with all his might, a wide grin stretching across his face. He squeezed them even tighter, his voice muffled against Sakura's shoulder.
"I'm glad!!.....Team 7 is finally back in its usual self," he said, the genuine happiness in his tone impossible to miss.
In the midst of the hug, where their hands were pinned awkwardly at their sides, Sasuke's left hand was free. His fingers, a hair's breadth away from Sakura's, twitched. His mind, still reeling from the chaos and his younger self's outburst, was suddenly zeroed in on the soft skin of her hand.
'Sakura's hand?' he thought, the question a sharp jolt. Yet, driven by an impulse he couldn't control, his fingers brushed against hers.
A shock ran through Sakura's body, subtle but electric. Her heart, already pounding from Naruto's hug, skipped a beat. She knew who it was without looking. 'Sasuke-kun...' she thought, her mind a whirlwind of confusion and desperate hope.
It was a contradiction. The boy who had just looked at her with such cold indifference was now, in a moment of quiet chaos, reaching for her. Her hand instinctively wanted to pull away, to hide from the intimacy, but it was frozen in place.
Then, she felt his fingers slide under hers. Slowly, deliberately, his hand wrapped around her own. He wasn't just holding it; he was interweaving his fingers with hers.
It was a silent, powerful confession that was more potent than any words. Sakura's entire body went still. The overwhelming warmth of Naruto's embrace was now mingled with the overwhelming warmth of Sasuke's hand in hers.
A single tear of pure happiness rolled down her cheek. 'He heard me. He heard everything.'
On the other side of the hug, Sasuke's own thoughts were a conflicted mess. 'Damn it! Now it won't appear like it was by mistake..' he told himself.
Yet his grip on her hand tightened almost imperceptibly. He felt a fierce, possessive satisfaction settle in his chest.
In that small, hidden space, with Naruto's exuberant hug as a cover, he couldn't see her face, but the soft, warm feel of her hand in his was all he needed. And then he closed his eyes, gave a smirk and whispered to himself.
"Well what can we do... I could not help it. "
The warm embrace lingered for a few more moments before Naruto finally pulled away, a sheepish grin on his face. The three of them stood in the clearing, the only sounds being the soft rustling of leaves and the faint chirping of crickets. They didn't speak, the quiet hum of the night broken only by the silence between them.
Finally, Naruto cleared his throat, a nervous, awkward sound. He shoved his hands into his pockets and kicked at a stray rock.
"So, uh..." he began, "that was... that was somethin', right? I mean...Sasuke's little self, and... and everything."
Sasuke's brow twitched. He started walking, his hands still in his pockets, and Naruto and Sakura fell in step with him, walking side-by-side.
"You're an idiot, Naruto," Sasuke said, his voice a flat, deadpan murmur.
"I am an Idiot?!" Naruto blurted out. "He just came running at you, screaming! It was crazy! I mean, I thought the kid was gonna throw up or something."
Sakura let out a quiet giggle, hiding her smile behind her hand. "He was very passionate," she said, her voice laced with amusement.
"Passionate about what?" Sasuke scoffed. "About screaming?"
"He was just so... terrified," Sakura said, her voice shaking with suppressed laughter. "He looked at me like I was a monster."
Sasuke just rolled his eyes, a flicker of a smirk on his face. "He's just an over-dramatic brat. He probably screams like that every time he sees a caterpillar."
The image of a tiny, shrieking Sasuke running from a caterpillar was too much. Sakura burst into laughter, and even Naruto let out a relieved, boisterous laugh.
"That's a good one, Sasuke!" Naruto laughed. "But still, what was with all the screaming? Was he scared that you were gonna get a girlfriend before he did or somethin'?"
A tense silence fell. Naruto's own words hung in the air, revealing his internal conflict. He immediately regretted saying it. He looked at Sakura, a flicker of pain in his eyes.
Sasuke, still silent, looked at them both. He watched the flicker of emotion in Naruto's eyes and the sudden stillness in Sakura's expression.
He understood. His own eyes, filled with a strange mixture of warmth and a newfound awareness, passed from Naruto to Sakura. A silent, subtle challenge had been laid down, and it had nothing to do with training or power.
"I don't know," Sasuke finally sighed. "I guess he thought he was the only cool Sasuke in the world."
Naruto and Sakura looked at each other, and then back at Sasuke. A comfortable silence settled in as they continued walking.
The warmth of the moon washed over them, and in their own way, they each understood that Team 7 was finally back. But in this quiet moment, they also knew that their TEAM HAD CHANGED FOREVER.
The night was dominated by the soothing roar of the waterfall and the cool, constant sigh of the wind.
In the first group, Neji maintained a posture of near-perfect meditation, his breathing so soft and steady he seemed less asleep and more in a state of deep, watchful rest.
Tenten was curled comfortably on her side, utterly soundly asleep, and Lee lay flat on his back, his body straight as an arrow, his fists lightly clenched—even his sleep was an act of fierce dedication.
In the second cluster, Sakura was curled up on her side, facing inward, a picture of quiet peace, the faint, residual tenderness in her expression suggesting a heart resting contentedly.
Close beside her, Ino was also deep in sleep. Karin, now feeling accompanied by the group, was lying close to Ino.
The focus, however, was on the pair in the center. Older Sasuke lay on his back, utterly overwhelmed by his younger self. Mini Sasuke was completely wrapped around him like a clingy limpet, his small leg draped across the older Sasuke's stomach, and one tiny hand pressed right against his cheek.
Even in deep sleep, a familiar, annoyed scowl pulled at the older Sasuke's features, a silent protest against the intrusion.
Finally, next to this chaotic scene, Naruto lay in a state of uncharacteristic stillness. He was sleeping very seriously—a quiet, still slumber quite unusual for the normally energetic behavior.
His face was smooth and calm, his arms tucked neatly by his sides, a rare moment of deep serenity reflecting his exhaustion.
His eyes, which had been closed, slowly flickered open. The darkness of the night stared back.
Naruto's eyes were now slits in the darkness, staring up at the dense, starless canopy. His right arm, which had been tucked neatly by his side, was now bent at the elbow, his hand clenched tightly in a fist near his face.
He slowly unfurled his fingers, staring at the scarred, calloused palm—a hand that had saved the world countless times. The anger that flashed in his mind was hot and agonizing.
'It can't be,' he thought, his heart twisting painfully in his chest. 'How could I have been so willfully blind? Even that miniature idiot, that child who knows nothing, saw it. He saw the truth, and he screamed to stop it, because it was so obvious! If a brat like Mini Sasuke also screamed to stop what she was about to say...then that means I also heard it right... This is not a MISUNDERSTANDING!!"
The raw, devastating thought settled over him. 'She really does love him that much. Through all the chaos, all the pain, all the years... her love for Sasuke never changed. Does she even see anyone else when she looks at me? Is there ever a chance for me to be more than just the loud knucklehead?'
He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to crush the memory of the hug—a hug he had initiated to save the team, only to sense the quiet, final shift between them.
A hot tear, betraying the serious, stoic mask he had created for himself, finally escaped, tracking a silent, searing path down his temple.
He whispered, the sound barely audible over the ceaseless rush of the waterfall...
"Why am I the only one who loses, even when I win? Am I the one who is fated to be alone? Is that what is in my blood?"
The question—a heartbreaking contradiction to the glorious destiny Sasuke had once challenged him over—hung raw and agonizing in the silent night.
He allowed his exhaustion to finally overcome him, succumbing to a deep, truly painful sleep.
MORNING
The heavy, deep black of the night had completely surrendered to the sun. The air, which had been so cold, was now warm and thick, gently pushing back the damp chill of the forest.
The powerful roar of the waterfall was still a constant presence, but it was now laced with the brighter sounds of morning birdsong. A faint, golden glow filtered through the thinning canopy, painting streaks of bright sun across the clearing.
A subtle shift in the light registered against a closed eyelid. Then, slowly, almost reluctantly, a pair of black eyes blinked open, instantly squinting against the unexpected brightness
The deep black eyes blinked again, instantly taking in the light. He was stiff, but his mind was already racing. He immediately recognized the rough texture of the forest floor beneath his body, and the sharp scent of pine needles and damp earth was perfectly familiar. He pushed himself quickly into a crouch.
He surveyed the clearing, his eyes instantly registering the absence of heat from the dead fire and the silence where there should have been the heavy breathing of several adults.
A cold knot formed in his stomach.
'I was definitely here, near the waterfall. I remember running away and collapsing after all that emotional noise,' he thought, his small hands clenching into fists.
'But where are they? Where did the loud idiot and that older disgrace of a self go? And the others—the whole pathetic lot of them?'
The only evidence that anyone had been there were the cooled, gray ashes of a long-dead fire. He was entirely, unsettlingly alone. The massive sound of the waterfall now felt like a taunt in the empty clearing.
Mini Sasuke immediately began a silent, methodical search of the clearing. His confusion over his solitude was quickly transforming into sharp, Uchiha-like vigilance.
His black eyes flickered forward, sweeping across the open area. He swiveled his head, checking behind him, where the trees were densest, and where the rhythmic roar of the waterfall was loudest—nothing.
Next, he snapped his gaze to his left, scanning the edges of the forest line where the adults had slept just hours ago.
Finding nothing, he quickly rotated his head to his right. His search stopped instantly. He froze, his small body tensing like a wire.
Mini Sasuke's frantic scan to his right halted abruptly. He was expecting trees, or maybe a rock, but instead, his eyes snagged on two figures.
They were close to the edge of the lake, partially obscured by some low-hanging branches, but clearly visible in the morning light.
It was SAKURA and KARIN.
Sakura was sitting with her back mostly to him, a faint blush already dusting her cheeks as she leaned forward slightly.
Mini Sasuke's eyes widened.
Her upper vest was unfastened and pulled down, exposing a significant portion of her slim, smooth, and notably paleback. The sun, peeking through the canopy, caught the subtle sheen of her skin.
Karin was on her knees directly behind Sakura, her hands delicately working at Sakura's back.
Mini Sasuke, a boy of his age, instantly felt a strange, uncomfortable heat creep up his neck. He couldn't quite comprehend what he was seeing, but his gaze was fixed. He could just make out the faint murmur of their voices, carried on the gentle breeze.
"Are you sure about this, Karin?" Sakura's voice was soft, a hint of vulnerability in it.
"It's the best chance for it to heal properly, Sakura. We don't have enough chakra to fix it quickly, and leaving it covered for too long won't help with how deep it is," Karin replied, her voice firm but gentle.
"The water from the waterfall is clean enough, and the exposure will do it some good. Just for a few minutes."
As Karin spoke, her fingers carefully peeled back the edge of a large, discolored band-aid.
Beneath it, a truly nasty, wide wound was visible—an angry red gash that stretched across Sakura's shoulder. It was still raw, definitely serious, and far too large for their limited resources to fix quickly.
Mini Sasuke felt a flicker of surprise at the severity of it, then his mind snapped back to the more immediate, mortifying sight before him.
Karin finished removing the bandage, revealing the full extent of the injury, and then, with a quiet sigh, she said, "There you go."
She then began to turn around, presumably to give Sakura some privacy to re-cover herself. As Karin completed her turn, her eyes scanned the clearing. Her gaze landed squarely on Mini Sasuke. Her eyes, normally so sharp, went wide in utter disbelief. She stopped dead, her mouth falling open.
Mini Sasuke stood frozen, his face, neck, and even his ears red as a tomato. His black eyes were wide, caught in the act. He had been so engrossed in the scene, he hadn't moved.
Sakura, sensing the sudden, profound silence, turned her head slightly. "Is someone there?" she asked, her voice tinged with unease.
Karin couldn't speak. She just pointed a trembling finger at the small, horrified figure.
Sakura, startled, whipped her head around fully, her movements clumsy. Her clothes, halfway on, slipped down, revealing her chest, which she instinctively covered with her hands, her eyes widening in pure, mortified horror.
The clearing exploded in a tableau of utter chaos
Mini Sasuke's entire body was crimson, his black eyes wide with terror and embarrassment, a silent scream trapped in his throat.
Sakura's face instantly flushed, her body contorted in a desperate attempt to cover herself, her eyes blazing with furious humiliation.
Karin stood frozen, utterly speechless, her own face pale with shock, her finger still rigidly pointed.
A second later, Sakura's scream ripped through the morning air, shattering the peace of the waterfall
"PERVERTTTTT!"
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AUTHOR'S NOTE
Chapter 27:The Confession That Died With A Scream
What an absolutely wild ride this chapter was! 🤯 We hit every single emotional extreme, from utter despair to tearful joy, and then straight to mortifying chaos! 😂
The first half was all about the Silent Confession. Amidst Naruto's exuberant, necessary hug, we saw the most powerful move of the chapter: Sasuke's hand finding Sakura's! 🤝
It was a wordless affirmation that he heard her, sealing the Team 7 bond in a way no conversation ever could. ❤️🩹
But every light casts a shadow, and we had to dive into Naruto's crushing realization. That raw, private moment of pain—"Why am I the only one who loses?"—was heartbreaking.
😭
It showed his ultimate selflessness and the massive emotional weight he's carrying.
And then, the morning delivered the chaos! Mini Sasuke's accidental, mortifying intrusion on Sakura and Karin was the perfect, hilarious release of all that built-up tension. It's a reminder that sometimes the most terrifying thing is a little perversion and a massive scream! 🤣
TALK TO ME 😎
Alright, shinobi! You just finished one of the most action-packed chapters of emotional warfare, and we have a ton to unpack! Let's talk about the absolute madness!
First, tell me what you thought of Sasuke deliberately reaching for Sakura's hand during Naruto's exuberant hug 🫂—was that a quiet sign of affection ❤️, or a possessive, territorial move after hearing her near-confession?
My heart broke for Naruto! 😭 That line about losing even when he wins was painful to read. He's shouldering the emotional burden of the entire team, and he feels like he's destined to be alone.
Do you think he'll be able to move past his feelings for Sakura now that the truth is so clear? Was his outburst of pain an angry, silent plea 😡 to the universe?
And we can't forget the chaos! 😂 Was Mini Sasuke's scream just a childish freakout, or do you think he instinctively knew what Sakura was about to say and was trying to protect his older self from commitment?
And on a serious note, Sakura has a nasty, visible injury. I hope you all know where that wound is from, and why is it so significant that Karin has to treat it so openly in the morning light? 🤫
Share your deepest thoughts and wildest theories! I can't wait to read what you think about this chapter! ✨
📜 TEASER FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER
The morning begins with a scream and a slap, 🙈
As one small Uchiha finds a blush on the map. 🤭
Shyness and chaos lead to a watery fight, 💦
While the last pair of pants takes a frantic flight. 👖
But the air is too cold and the wounds heal too slow, 🥶
As the girls read the signs where the rivers now flow. 🗺️
The deception unfolds beneath the strange, cold sky, 🌌
Leading to the final, shocking, inevitable cry: This is not Konoha! 💥
SNEAK PEAK LINES 💬
" Oi... Wait don't come inside like this or else how would you wear wet clothes"
" Of course it would feel good cause this is your pant only"
" You are a child for me only right now and I have to take care of you. This a real fact not a joke. Now hurry up put your legs in here "
—With love, one forehead poke away from collapse,
Sakura Shinomiya 💫
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