Chapter 85: A Kiss
Midnight, twelve o'clock sharp.
Sasuko lay quietly in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Just then, a pair of Mangekyo patterns like clockwork appeared in her eyes without warning—eerie and gorgeous, slowly rotating.
A massive flood of memories suddenly surged into her mind, and that suffocating scene from an hour later appeared again:
Naruko naked wrapped in bedding, nestled beside Yu, Yu's panicked demeanor...
Intense despair and regret burned her heart like poisonous flames once more.
It was precisely in this ultimate emotional purgatory that she forcibly awakened this forbidden eye technique capable of reversing time.
Although each activation required unimaginable energy as the price, she truly had returned... back to this night, to this starting point where nothing had yet occurred.
So... Yu's final choice was indeed Naruko?
Sasuko numbly sat up from the bed.
Right now, were Yu and Naruko...
The images surfacing in her mind made her breath catch.
Tears rolled down uncontrollably in large drops, sliding across her pale cheeks.
Yet even drowning in despair, a trace of faint hope still existed in her heart. She rose as if possessed and slowly walked toward Yu's bedroom.
But abruptly stopped at the door, her raised hand unable to knock for a long time.
Low whimpers finally escaped uncontrollably from her throat. Grievance and loss swallowed her completely like a tide.
The door suddenly opened from inside.
Yu immediately saw his sister standing at the door with tears streaming endlessly. What shocked his heart even more—spinning in those eyes were clearly Mangekyo Sharingan.
He immediately reached out to pull her tightly into his embrace, comforting:
"Sasuko... what's wrong?"
Hearing his concerned inquiry, Sasuko's tears fell even harder, her thin shoulders trembling uncontrollably.
Because this familiar warmth... perhaps soon would no longer belong only to her.
Yu clearly sensed the person in his arms collapsing. This was the second time he'd seen Sasuko cry so heartbreakingly, even awakening her Mangekyo because of it—he knew better than anyone what ultimate despair was required for these eyes to awaken.
The last time was when they lost their parents.
He tightened his arms, voice carrying anxiety and heartache. "Sasuko... what happened? Weren't you fine earlier?"
Sasuko only continued crying. That embrace's warmth was so familiar, yet at this moment she could no longer distinguish whether the one holding her was a shadow clone... or the real body.
Yu's brows furrowed tightly, expression full of anxiety. "Sasuko, what made you so sad?" Seeing her crying until she could barely breathe, his heart felt cut by knives, only wishing he could immediately stop her tears.
In desperation, he lowered his head and gently kissed her constantly trembling pink lips.
The girl's lips still carried a sweet breath, yet mixed with the saltiness of tears.
Sasuko's crying abruptly stopped.
She suddenly opened tear-filled eyes, looking at Yu in disbelief—so many times before she'd tried to approach, yet he always avoided... why this time did he initiate a kiss?
Yu lightly touched then left her lips, but his breathing had already become somewhat rapid, his ears also tinged red.
Sasuko gazed at him with misty eyes, voice still carrying lingering sobs. "Don't you... like Naruko? Why..."
Kiss me?
Yu cupped her face, gaze tightly locked on her moist eyes. "I've never had those feelings for Naruko."
"Sasuko, what's wrong with you? Tell me."
Sasuko's expression lowered as she dropped her gaze, voice trembling. "I saw... Yu and Naruko close together, she, she only had a blanket wrapped around her entire body..." Before finishing, tears already slid down again.
Hearing this, Yu first froze, then deep heartache and confusion surfaced in his eyes.
He solemnly gazed at her, speaking each word clearly: "Although this never happened, if such a possibility truly existed, even the slightest bit that would make you sad..."
He suddenly released his embrace, left hand fiercely gripping the flesh with the Flying Thunder God mark on his right arm.
The next moment, a piercing sound of tearing flesh suddenly rang out!
He actually forcibly tore away the entire marked area along with a large piece of flesh from his right arm, unhesitatingly casting it to the ground.
Blood instantly gushed out, white bone vaguely visible in the wound's depths.
"Then I'll personally destroy this possibility."
Sasuko stared blankly at the flesh on the ground and the grotesque bone-revealing wound on Yu's arm, blood continuously flowing.
At this moment she was absolutely certain—the Yu before her was definitely not a clone.
He'd used such a decisive method to prove himself...
The intense shock stopped her breathing.
She almost lunged forward, hands rapidly condensing luminous green medical chakra, tremblingly pressing on his terrible wound, trying to stop the flowing blood.
Tears surged out of control again as she sobbed and cried, "Yu... you idiot! Why would you do this..."
Yu didn't even glance at that shocking wound—to him it was insignificant.
He only raised his uninjured left hand to gently wipe away the scalding tears on her cheeks.
"So, Sasuko," he gazed at her eyes, voice low and firm, "now... can you believe me?"
Sasuko's hands still worked hard releasing medical chakra, voice broken from crying. "I believe you... don't hurt yourself like this anymore..."
Yu gazed at her, continuing in a low voice, "Just like all these years, everything Sasuko has changed for me... I've seen it all clearly."
"I'm equally willing to change for you."
"If someday I make you sad... please be sure to tell me directly." His gaze held no evasion. "I'll change—even if it goes against my nature, even my principles."
At this moment, hearing Yu's solemn and sincere words, Sasuko momentarily didn't know how to respond.
He had always been that Yu she knew most deeply—consistent, never changing.
The one whose head was truly clouded by possessiveness, falling into base suspicions... was actually herself.
Sasuko even began wondering hazily—was all that just her own nightmare?
Without her noticing, the eerie clockwork Mangekyo in her eyes had quietly faded, returning to clear black pupils.
Only then did Yu breathe a slight sigh of relief. Everything tonight had been equally sudden for him.
He pulled the still-uneasy girl tighter into his embrace. Sasuko still worried about his injury, saying anxiously in a small voice, "Yu, your wound..."
Magnetic Field Rotation activated, the terrible wound on his arm instantly healed to its original state.
Sasuko leaned gently in his embrace, voice weak. "I'm sorry..."
Yu didn't answer, only gently nuzzled the top of her head with his chin.
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