Sakura jolted her head up.
A blond, blue-eyed boy stood there, looking at her with confusion and worry.
"What happened?" Naruto took the kunai from her hand, baffled. From what he could see, she wasn't even injured.
Why did she look like she'd seen a ghost?
Sakura choked out, "You idiot man!"—then suddenly threw her arms around him.
Naruto froze. Instinctively he hugged her back, feeling her chest heaving against him as he patted her shoulders.
Her thin clothes clung to his body, soft and full. A faint girlish fragrance drifted into his breath.
Naruto's mind screamed danger. How did the situation veer into an R-rated lane this fast?
I mean, I'm not against it, but can we have a little plot logic before you reward me like this?!
His head went in two directions at once, but given that Sakura's monstrous strength was already real, he didn't dare take a single extra step.
So he simply held her while she sobbed, stealing a few seconds of peace.
After a moment, Sakura seemed to notice how intimate it had gotten. She slipped out of his arms, cheeks flushing red.
Naruto coughed awkwardly, then quickly reset himself and asked what happened.
"Ahem… what was that? Did you run into the transmigrator freak?"
Sakura snapped back to reality. "Crap. We need to get to Sasuke. He might be in danger!"
"Okay. Tell me on the way."
With Naruto there, Sakura's legs returned to her. They rushed through the forest along Sasuke's trail.
As they moved, they exchanged intel. Sakura also explained why she'd panicked.
"So that's it." Naruto looked enlightened. "No wonder you introduced yourself like that."
"What?" Sakura didn't get it.
"Back when Team 7 first formed," Naruto recalled while running, "you said stuff like 'I hate cringe guys who show off' and 'don't be sexist to women,' and I thought it was weird."
"Ninja world doesn't even run like that. Look at Yūgao—she works in ANBU." Naruto suddenly had a thought: When Hayate gets killed later, should I pick up Yūgao?
Sakura tucked a strand of pink hair behind her ear, embarrassed. "…I got harassed by too many creeps back then. I kind of defaulted into gender-war framing."
"Then do you think I'm cringe?" Naruto looked over with hopeful eyes. He felt like he'd just delivered a textbook warm-boyfriend performance.
Not cringe—more like "based," right?!
Sakura turned her face away, lips pressed together, saying nothing.
"Tch. Fine."
Naruto shifted back to business. "Right now, all we know is the transmigrator is a pervert. After we confirm Snake-guy's status, do you think we should use Sasuke as bait?"
"How?"
"Once he gets bitten he's gonna pass out, right? We dump him someplace obvious. That freak will probably take the hook."
"You sure?" Sakura eyed him skeptically.
Naruto didn't answer—just wore a mysteriously confident look.
Doubting Sasuke's succubus aura? What a joke.
Even near the end of serialization, Kishimoto drew Naruto and Sasuke's severed arms bleeding into a heart shape—people genuinely thought the author was shipping them.
And most straight male readers went, "Yeah, I can accept that."
Canon Sasuke really was a charm-monster. Orochimaru coveted him, then worked for him after resurrection. Itachi loved him. Obito irrationally protected him. Kabuto called him out by name in the war. Girls were even worse.
As they ran, they saw another crooked carving on a trunk.
[Woof woof woof!]
Naruto's mouth twitched. Fine. Great. Keep doing this. If I catch you, I'm ending you.
It felt like a mosquito was buzzing around his head—no damage, max annoyance.
Sakura shivered hard, trying to rub her goosebumps off.
"Let's… let's go." Her face was stiff. Her suspicion of Orochimaru rose another notch.
She forced herself not to imagine what might happen after Orochimaru crushed Sasuke.
They sped up.
…
Elsewhere.
Flames licked around nearby trunks. Trees were punched open into charred craters. Smoke whipped through the air, scattering splinters.
Two figures stood among the wreckage. One was unhurt. The other—blue-clad, black-haired—looked battered.
Sasuke's sleeves were torn, his body covered in cuts, but his eyes were blazing, his fighting intent undimmed. If Haku were here, he'd probably be infected by that ferocious aura.
Unbalanced frustration hung over him like a sword of Damocles, ready to sever reason at any time. But he felt no fear—only fatigue, near-empty chakra, and limbs too heavy to move.
"Your performance impressed me. As expected of Itachi's little brother." Orochimaru peeled off the woman's face and tossed it aside, returning to his hoarse real voice. Sasuke's pupils shrank.
"You… who are you?" Sasuke's voice trembled. He hadn't expected to hear that name from a stranger.
"My name is Orochimaru. If you want to meet me again, then pass this exam."
He formed seals, long tongue extending as if savoring a delicacy.
"Hehe… you will come looking for me, Sasuke. Only I can give you that kind of power!"
His neck snapped forward, stretching impossibly, jaws biting down on Sasuke's throat.
Sasuke couldn't dodge.
"AAAAAGH!" He clutched his neck, screamed, and collapsed.
The flow matched canon almost perfectly.
Then Orochimaru heard movement behind him.
Two figures flashed in at insane speed. One of them thrust crimson chakra forward—inside that red chakra was a bright violet spiral.
Orochimaru's pupils constricted. He narrowed his eyes and stepped aside.
BOOM!!
A purple Rasengan detonated, shredding the spot Orochimaru had occupied into rubble. The tree beside it trembled and tilted.
Orochimaru retreated. Naruto shot past, grabbed Sasuke, then roared at Orochimaru:
"Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron!"
Orochimaru blinked, clearly not expecting Naruto to scream a list of elements in the middle of battle.
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