In the Forest of Death, at the bottom of a massive crater nearly a hundred meters wide, Naruto, Gaara, Fū, Yūkimaru, and Utakata lay sprawled near the rim of the blast zone.
Fortunately, they had only been caught in the outermost edge of the explosion and didn't suffer fatal injuries. The Nine-Tails had absorbed nearly all the damage for Naruto.
But now, Naruto was completely drained of chakra. Inside the seal, Kurama gave a helpless shake of his head.
"Damn it... this seal only lets me pass a limited amount of chakra through."
"We lost this one."
With that, he lay back inside the seal and began recuperating his energy.
Kurama had to send out three times the chakra just to get one portion through the seal's gap—meaning only a quarter of what he wanted actually reached Naruto.
If the other four Jinchūriki hadn't transferred all their tailed beast chakra to him earlier, Naruto wouldn't have even been able to activate his Tailed Beast Transformation.
At that moment, Saya dissipated her Susanoo, dropping from the sky and landing lightly on the ground. She walked slowly toward Naruto.
Without a word, she knelt and pulled the scrolls from the tool pouches of Yugao, Gaara, and Fū.
"One Heaven Scroll and two Earth Scrolls..."
Saya stuffed them into her own pouch, then looked down at Naruto, who was lying motionless on the ground.
"Are you going to hand it over yourself, or do I have to take it?"
Naruto lifted his head with effort, staring up at Saya.
Bitterness, regret, frustration, and helplessness all swirled in his chest—but above all, there was overwhelming powerlessness.
Even with the combined strength of the five of us Jinchūriki… we still can't beat Sister Saya...?
Suddenly, two figures—one blue, one pink—rushed down from the edge of the crater and landed beside him. Each held a kunai in hand, ready for battle.
"What are you doing!? Are you really going to give up now!?" Sakura shouted.
"Don't give up. No matter how slow we are, we keep moving!" added Sasuke.
They stood protectively in front of Naruto, prepared to confront Saya if needed.
Naruto stared at the backs of his teammates, and tears welled in his eyes. A surge of guilt flooded over him.
"I'm sorry, Sakura."
"I lost…"
With trembling arms, he pushed himself up off the ground. Reaching into his pouch, Naruto pulled out his team's Heaven Scroll, along with the Earth Scroll he'd taken earlier from the Iwagakure team.
He staggered forward, gently pushing Sasuke and Sakura aside, then stopped in front of Saya.
Sasuke's expression faltered. Conflict flickered in his eyes. He lowered his head, his voice shaking.
"Is this... really what you want to do?"
But even as he said it to Naruto, it felt like he was asking himself.
He was Uchiha Hikaru's disciple, Fugaku's son, and Itachi's younger brother.
He carried too much on his shoulders.
Itachi had always been a genius, someone he looked up to since childhood. Then came Hikaru—his mentor, someone even greater—and Sasuke's ambition grew.
His goal wasn't just to surpass Itachi anymore. It was to catch up to Hikaru someday.
So how could he stop here?
Naruto took a deep breath, turned back to Sasuke with a faint, bitter smile.
"Yeah…"
"I lost. But I still believe in pressing forward and keeping my word. That's my ninja way. I'm sorry, Sasuke. I've let you down..."
"Sorry, Sakura. I've dragged you into this too. I guess we'll have to wait until next year to take the Chunin Exams..."
Saya accepted the two scrolls, but then gave the trio a peculiar look.
Huh? When did I say I was going to eliminate them? I just wanted the scrolls...
Did they misunderstand? Should I explain?
...Forget it. It's kind of cute. I'll clear it up later.
She crossed her arms and watched the scene unfold with faint amusement.
Sasuke's body trembled for a moment—then stopped. He clenched his right fist and suddenly punched Naruto in the face.
"Asshole!"
The punch landed square on Naruto's cheek. With no strength left to defend himself, Naruto tumbled across the ground, rolling seven or eight times before staggering upright again.
He wiped the blood from his mouth and walked back over.
"It's okay... Go ahead and hit me. You'll feel better."
Sakura looked on in confusion, glancing at Saya helplessly.
Saya just shrugged and stayed silent.
If I remember correctly, isn't this... the classic friendship punch in the manga...?
Sasuke punched Naruto again, this time in the gut. Naruto bent over in pain, curling up like a shrimp.
"I didn't hit you because you gave up the scroll."
"I hit you because I thought you were going to apologize to me and Sakura!"
"We're teammates, aren't we!? Why the hell are you apologizing!?"
"Didn't you fight with everything you had just now!?"
Miraculously, Naruto straightened back up.
"Of course I did!"
"I—"
He didn't finish. Instead, he suddenly hugged Sasuke tightly.
"Sas... ge..."
"Shut up! We're teammates! We're brothers! There's nothing to apologize for!"
Sakura watched with a soft, teary smile.
Saya, meanwhile, blinked and tilted her head.
Wait, what? Why are two guys hugging each other like this? Is this... like me and Master Hikaru?
Is this what they call... 'love between men'?
Saya, unfamiliar with deep emotional connections, misinterpreted what she was seeing as some mysterious human emotion she hadn't experienced yet—specifically: "gay love."
Feeling like she should do something as the "older sister" here, Saya solemnly handed the two scrolls back to Naruto and Sasuke with a warm, approving smile.
"Here, take them. Consider it a red envelope from Sister Saya to celebrate your relationship."
"One's a red envelope, and the other is a reward for your team's impressive performance."
Sakura's brain short-circuited.
Together...? Red envelope...?
Naruto: ?
Sasuke kicked Naruto aside, his face twisted in fury as he pointed at Saya.
"Sister Saya! Don't lump me in with him! He's a guy! We're not together!"
Then he snatched their original Heaven Scroll from Saya's hand.
"We'll take this one. As for the red envelope... save it for when I actually get married."
Naruto got up again, looking at Sasuke with feigned disgust. His cheeks turned a bit red as he glanced between Sakura and Saya.
"Hehe~ Sister Saya, don't forget my red envelope when I get married too~"
…
…
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