Consciousness slowly surfaced as if emerging from the deep sea, gradually breaking free from the shackles of darkness.
The black-haired girl lying on the hospital bed's eyelashes fluttered slightly, and she struggled to open her eyes.
What met her gaze was an unfamiliar ceiling, and the air was filled with the unique scent of disinfectant.
Where… where was this?
Uchiha Satsuki slowly propped herself up, her mind still a bit hazy and bewildered.
She subconsciously raised her hand to touch her cheek, her fingertips brushing against two cold, not yet completely dry tear streaks—marks left by the tears she had shed unconsciously.
Why… why did her heart ache so much?
A heavy, dark sorrow pressed down on her heart like a boulder, making it almost impossible to breathe.
Just then!
"Ugh!"
A sudden, intense, burning pain, as if her eyeballs were being seared, erupted from deep within her eyes!
Satsuki cried out, clamping her hands tightly over her eyes, her body curling up from the unexpected agony.
She didn't notice that at the exact moment the pain struck, her deep black pupils suddenly changed—the profound black was instantly replaced by an ominous crimson, and three black tomoe symbols appeared out of nowhere within that blood-red base, slowly rotating once!
At the same time, more tears streamed uncontrollably from her eyes, slipping through her fingers.
And with this intense physiological reaction, the veil obscuring her memories was forcibly torn apart by the pain!
The last and most terrifying scene before she fainted rushed into her mind like a bursting dam—her parents lying on the ground under the moonlight… Uchiha Itachi's cold face… and… and…
Naruto!
Pierced through the body by a short blade! It was her… it was Uchiha Itachi… who killed him!
A massive sorrow and despair, far exceeding her psychological endurance, instantly engulfed Satsuki completely.
Her heart ached so much she couldn't breathe.
The hatred, with nowhere to vent, that almost tore her soul apart, burned wildly in her chest like poisonous flames.
"…What… happened…?"
Broken, choked, and extremely pained syllables unconsciously spilled from her lips.
Only the resolute and cold gaze of that black-haired woman raising her blade repeatedly flashed in her mind.
The older sister she had once admired and trusted the most… had personally destroyed everything she held dear.
Driven by unease, she yearned even more urgently for a real touch that could soothe her heart.
However, when her fingers unconsciously tightened, what her palm felt was the cold, rough texture of the corner of a fabric.
This cold touch not only failed to bring any solace, but a deeper sorrow and despair fiercely "blew" into her chest.
Satsuki once again stood frozen on the precipice between sanity and complete madness, the dark desire to destroy everything, to burn herself along with it, surged wildly in her chest, almost breaking through the last dam.
The name that carried all her hatred and pain—Uchiha Itachi—was almost bursting through her teeth, about to transform into a tearing scream…
At this moment, a very faint, yet extremely unnatural sound came from beside her.
Was that… breathing?
It wasn't her own hurried and painful gasps, but another kind… steady, with a slight, faint snore.
This sudden presence of an "other" seemed to pull her back a little from the edge of that self-destructive vortex.
Satsuki slowly turned her head, her tear-filled eyes blurring as she looked at the other side of the hospital bed.
In an instant, the pain and hatred that had almost consumed her, incredibly… began to slowly recede and fade like a tide.
She didn't even realize what she was doing, only calling out another name in an incredibly weak voice, filled with unbelievable hope.
"Naruto…?"
The blond boy sitting in the chair beside the hospital bed was indeed Uzumaki Naruto.
He was currently slumped in an extremely awkward position, head tilted, deeply asleep, emitting a very faint snore.
After last night, after Naruto had brought the unconscious Satsuki to Konoha Hospital and settled her, he simply couldn't bring himself to go home and rest alone.
So he chose to stay and wait for Satsuki to wake up.
And when Menma's Shadow Clone finally completed its mission and dispersed, the immense fatigue accumulated throughout the night and the heavy burden from controlling the Tailed Beast Chakra instantly rebounded.
The extremely exhausted Naruto ultimately couldn't resist the onslaught of sleep and simply leaned back in the chair, falling into a deep slumber.
Satsuki, barefoot, silently got out of bed, all her senses occupied by the ungracefully sleeping blond figure before her.
Her face was incredibly close to his.
That face, usually so boisterous, now appeared unusually peaceful, even with a hint of heart-wrenching fatigue.
As if by a ghost's whim, she reached out and pinched Naruto's warm cheek.
It was real…
Not a dream, nor the cold illusion that had shattered her courage.
He was alive, he was warm…
The tangible, vibrant warmth of life instantly melted the taut, strained strings of her heart.
A suppressed gasp, filled with intense sobs, escaped her throat, and she immediately bit down hard on her lower lip, trying to use the pain to stem the flood of emotions.
However, after experiencing the immense shock of going from the abyss of despair to having him back, crying was no longer an instinct that could be restrained by willpower.
The first hot tear fell without warning, followed by the second, the third… like a dam breaking, it could no longer be held back.
She didn't even realize what she was doing, only following her instincts, extending her arms.
The fear, despair, and immense relief that had been suppressed for too long transformed into tumultuous sobs.
In his sleep, Naruto vaguely felt a familiar, faintly fragrant weight press down, followed by the extremely suppressed yet still broken, fragile whimpers he had never heard before.
This unprecedented situation almost instantly jolted him awake from his deep sleep.
He suddenly opened his eyes, still with the daze of just waking up, but his body had already sensed the anomaly.
He subconsciously looked down and saw the trembling black head buried in his chest.
"…Satsuki?"
His voice was still hoarse from sleep, but filled with shock and disbelief.
Before him was no longer the proud Uchiha genius.
She had completely abandoned all pride, revealing her most vulnerable inner self without reservation.
Crying, her whole body trembling, tears flowing to release all the fear and sadness, those uncontrollable sobs were something he had never imagined he would hear from her.
At this moment, Naruto was fully awake.