Chapter 129: A Dangerous Visit
"Excuse me..."
Sakura said this somewhat nervously, carefully stepping into Naruto's small apartment. She looked around curiously, somewhat surprised in her heart.
So this was the home of the class's recognized genius, Uzumaki Naruto? The room's furnishings were simple, but unexpectedly clean and tidy, with items arranged in perfect order—completely different from the chaos she might have imagined in a boy's solo living space.
Logically, being grouped with the admired Satsuki and the class genius Naruto, and even being actively invited to visit their home, should have been something exciting and joyful for her.
But for some reason, that vague, cold feeling had wrapped around her again since earlier, making her feel chills down her back and restless, unable to relax at all.
"Don't be so formal, just sit anywhere, make yourself at home." Naruto said with a smile, turning to open the refrigerator and taking out a chilled red bean soup drink, handing it to Sakura. "Here, I remember you like this, right?"
Then he skillfully took out another carton of strawberry milk—this was something Satsuki had particularly favored for a long time, drinking it almost every visit.
"Ah, thank you!" Sakura quickly thanked him and accepted the red bean soup, but Naruto's warmth couldn't dispel that inexplicable chill at all.
She sat side by side with Satsuki on chairs beside Naruto's small dining table. Satsuki quietly accepted the strawberry milk, sipping it in small mouthfuls, her gaze seemingly focused on the table's grain pattern, not looking at Sakura or speaking.
The atmosphere became somewhat awkwardly silent and... frozen.
Sakura tried hard to find some topic to break this embarrassing silence, but every time she glimpsed Satsuki's expressionless profile and the invisible low pressure emanating from her, she felt like something was blocking her throat, unable to say anything.
"Just wait a bit more, the food will be ready soon."
From the kitchen came cooking sounds and Naruto's voice. Originally Naruto's kitchen had been in the living room, but since Satsuki started visiting frequently, Naruto had moved the kitchen to another room—after all, cooking smoke could be quite choking.
To ease this suffocating silence and tension, Sakura's gaze involuntarily began wandering around the room, trying to find some decorations or items that could open up conversation topics.
Then, her attention was drawn to something unusual beside the bedside table.
It was a small nest carefully constructed with soft fabric and warming materials, connected to what appeared to be heating devices to maintain temperature. And in the center of this warm little nest was placed... an egg?
An egg about the size of two footballs, pure white all over with green circular patterns?
What was this? Such a big egg... was it some kind of summoning beast's egg? Or some special ninja tool?
Sakura's curiosity was instantly piqued, temporarily overcoming that inexplicable chill. She instinctively wanted to stand up and get closer to carefully observe this mysterious egg.
However, just as she had barely left her chair, leaning forward—
A hand suddenly gripped her raised wrist tightly! The force was so great it even caused her some pain.
"Eek—!" Sakura cried out in surprise and pain.
She turned her head in alarm to meet Satsuki's eyes, which had somehow become incredibly cold. There was no trace of warmth in that gaze.
"Don't touch that thing... No, to be precise, don't touch anything in this room. Do you understand?"
"I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"
Sakura was startled by this sudden stern warning. She tremblingly sat back down in her chair, her heart pounding wildly.
But strangely, after being sternly warned, Sakura felt that Satsuki had actually initiated conversation with her, and her cheeks inexplicably felt somewhat warm.
The silent and awkward atmosphere once again enveloped the small dining table.
After a long while, just when Sakura thought the conversation had ended, Satsuki's cold voice sounded again, still without much inflection.
"Sakura... right. We're going to be teammates from now on, correct?"
"Y-yes." Sakura immediately straightened her back, not expecting Satsuki to speak up again.
"Then, Sakura," Satsuki slowly turned her head, those deep black eyes focusing on Sakura's face for the first time with real intent.
"Do you know what happens to a ninja squad if one of the three Genin unfortunately has some 'accident'—like... dying, or suffering 'serious injuries' that prevent them from continuing missions?"
"Eh? About that..."
Sakura was stunned by this sudden topic. She tried hard to recall the relevant regulations she'd seen in the Konoha Ninja Handbook.
"According to regulations... when ninja squads execute missions, the basic formation must be one Jonin leading three Chunin or Genin. If... if any squad member is missing for any reason, the entire squad must immediately stop executing all missions until that member recovers, or... until a new member is added to replace them."
"...Tch."
Satsuki made a very soft clicking sound with her tongue. Clearly, Sakura's textbook answer about "member absence" wasn't satisfying to her.
The next moment, she spoke again. This time, facing Sakura, those originally cold eyes curved into two beautiful crescents, and the corners of her mouth slightly lifted, showing a faint smile.
However, this smile inexplicably made Sakura feel a pang of unease.
"So, Sakura..." Satsuki asked in what seemed like a friendly tone, "What is your personal opinion of Naruto?"
"Naruto..."
Sakura had no idea she was standing on the edge of such a dangerous cliff, much less knowing that if her answer was even slightly wrong, when those crescent-shaped smiling eyes next opened, they would reveal what kind of terrifying abyss!
She thought seriously for a moment and decided to speak honestly, since this seemed to be a topic Satsuki was interested in. "Naruto is a very excellent person! At the academy, it seemed like only you, Satsuki, could fight him to a draw, right? You're both still academy students but already so amazing—it's really incredible!"
Of course...
Satsuki closed her eyes, silently nodding in her heart. Naruto was the only opponent she recognized as worthy of her full effort. Hmph, at least you have some sense.
Seeing that Satsuki didn't seem to object and was even maintaining her smile, Sakura felt encouraged and continued. "Also, Naruto is an incredibly thoughtful and gentle person! I often saw him actively helping classmates, though... because of some bad rumors in the village, most people in class had prejudices against Naruto-kun and kept their distance. It's really unfair!"
Exactly! That's right! Satsuki's agreement increased by several degrees. Those ignorant fools who understood nothing! To treat Naruto that way was too much!
Seeing Satsuki actually close her eyes and begin nodding slightly, seemingly quite agreeable to her words, Sakura was delighted, feeling she'd finally found the right topic. These two really had an incredibly close relationship!
The atmosphere seemed to ease considerably, and Sakura's courage grew a bit. Remembering some school rumors and the intimate interactions she'd witnessed today, she couldn't help but curiously ask with a hint of probing.
"By the way, this might be a strange and presumptuous question..." Sakura's face reddened slightly, her voice becoming smaller, "May I ask, Satsuki... are you dating Naruto-kun?"
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