Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 10 "Missing You"

"Heh, look at the mess you've made of yourself." Kurama, sitting in the shadows with an air of superiority, crossed his arms and sneered. "My chakra can heal your body, but what about your spirit? You'll die if you don't sleep, brat."

Naruto sat up from his sea of ​​consciousness. He had only experienced a very brief fainting spell, and a quick dip in the water immediately brought him back to full consciousness. He'd never been urged so frequently by Kurama in his previous life. Drawing on his own experience, Naruto retorted, "That's just theoretical. Unless someone forcefully interferes, a person wouldn't trap themselves to death." (It will force a shutdown.)

"Who said that! You just haven't seen it!" Nine Lama slammed his fist on the cage, making a deafening noise. Then he discovered that this ancestor had drawn a world map in his mind's eye and was sitting cross-legged to observe it with great seriousness. Well, he hadn't heard a word of it.

"Enough of that. Help me think, in the human history you've witnessed, has there ever been a relatively peaceful era?"

His body was asleep, but his mind continued to contemplate a new path. Kurama felt the man was beyond saving, so he simply lay down and pretended to be asleep as well. Naruto, who hadn't received a reply for a while, seemed to glance at him, then fell silent, quietly as if he had already fallen asleep.

So, when it's time to sleep, don't force yourself to stay awake.

Kurama praised himself for his cleverness and, in a daze, actually fell asleep. After all, he was exhausted from keeping an eye on that brat these past few days, and he also had to painstakingly squeeze out chakra to seal and repair the brat's internal injuries. It was quite an achievement to manage to put a tailed beast like him to sleep. However, when Kurama woke up, all he wanted to do was roar to the sky, because when he looked out of the cage, he found that the brat was sitting motionless in the same position as when he fell asleep, his head occasionally turning slightly from side to side, his half-open eyes still staring at the map.

"Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto's mind was stirred by the waves, and he rose and fell with them, yet he still managed to calmly say good morning.

"You're awake, Kurama. You only slept for four and a half hours this time, and there are still two hours before it's time to get up. Let's discuss this. I just came up with a brilliant idea."

His response was a giant wave from the Nine Lamas that slammed him against the wall.

"You get inside and go to sleep!"

Even though he didn't need to sleep, Naruto obediently went to lie down to coax Kurama.

"He couldn't have fainted from excitement, could he?" Izuna rolled up his sleeves and looked at the child on the table. He had seen Naruto's speech in Tobirama's memories, which was anything but childlike, but due to his personality, he still had doubts.

A person with such a desire is easily consumed by ambition. Can he truly hold onto his original aspirations?

The strongest medical ninja in Konoha's history examined the area for a while, and the green light quickly went out. Hashirama smiled somewhat awkwardly and said, "The Nine-Tails doesn't really like me and won't let me treat it."

“…Let me do it.” Tobirama waved his hand and grabbed his older brother, looking calm but actually more anxious than anyone else.

The final diagnosis was: over-fatigue, shutdown.

"I forgot he goes to school during the day, not to rest." Tobirama was a little embarrassed. He had personally witnessed Naruto use dozens of shadow clones and continuously use the Flying Thunder God Technique. How could he have agreed to let him work overtime for three consecutive nights? He even stayed up all night yesterday!

“Now that Naruto has provided the route, we adults should also take responsibility. We can’t rely on our juniors for everything.” Hashirama offered his opinion as a matter of course. “Let’s give him a break until that kid named Sasuke is discharged from the hospital. Let’s discuss the next steps.”

The group nodded in agreement, and the task of sending the child back was entrusted to Tobirama. Fortunately, they had a habit of sending each other Thunder God Marks, so Tobirama didn't alert anyone. He sent Naruto back and conveyed their plans to his clones who remained in Konoha.

Tonight is destined to be another sleepless night.

Naruto accepted the suggestion of his reliable comrades. He also needed time to refine his own thoughts, and at the same time, he had to grapple with when and how to tell Sasuke the truth. Sasuke was a blank slate right now; anyone could leave their mark on him. Even until his thirties, Sasuke remained a remarkably naive person. Naruto hoped he could stay naive and happy for longer, but from the moment he turned a blind eye to the Uchiha clan's massacre, he no longer had the right to say such things.

I clearly intended to give Sasuke a future without regrets, but getting him back doesn't count. It seems I'll have to take good care of him from now on. Hopefully, when the truth is revealed, he won't hit anyone too hard...

And so, Naruto resumed his life of shuttling between the apartment, school, and hospital. Every day, he would stand beneath Sasuke's window until nightfall, lost in his own thoughts while silently keeping him company. Even if he couldn't go upstairs, he hoped that Sasuke would see him the first thing he saw when he looked out the window. As for his reason for doing this? He couldn't say, he only knew that Sasuke needed "companionship" right now, and even if it was just a little comfort, he would do it.

However, he was once a master of pranks, so coming up with ideas to attract attention is easy for him.

On the fourth day of Sasuke Uchiha's hospitalization, a paper airplane hit his window. Perhaps because the Third Hokage had instructed the Anbu to stay behind, they did not stop the ordinary paper airplane that flew up to the third floor.

Sasuke initially ignored it; the dull thud of the glass hitting him had nothing to do with him. He lay on his back on the bed with his eyes open, barely daring to close them. The hospital's distinctive smell of disinfectant seemed to be mixed with a nauseating stench of blood. He couldn't eat, surviving on IV drips, searching for himself on the verge of collapse.

He had no home left; it was the weasel that destroyed everything. That incomprehensible logic, that inescapable sense of incongruity, were ultimately swallowed by the void. They merged in the abyss, emitting inhuman screams, about to give birth to an even more terrifying monster.

Then, he was hit by something, and looking down, he saw something completely out of place in a hospital. After some adjustments, the paper airplane finally squeezed through the gap opened for ventilation and entered the room. Sasuke wanted to throw it away, but the crooked words on the wing pulled him back to reality.

Only that guy could write such ugly characters. And how could you just write something like that so carelessly?

Sasuke finally decided to make a move. He leaned over the windowsill and looked down. Sure enough, he saw a golden-haired idiot standing on a tree downstairs, who gave him a silly smile as soon as he saw him.

His eyes stung again, and his chest felt tight, but he held back his tears, opened the window, and shouted, "Hurry up and go home, you big idiot!"

"No! I haven't seen Sasuke for three days!"

"It's only been three days! It's happened before!"

"When will you be discharged from the hospital? I'll come pick you up!" Naruto stood on the treetop, looking like he was about to fall.

Sasuke was worried, but a warm current, like a secret joy, welled up in his heart, which was riddled with wounds.

There were also people willing to come and take him home.

"Tomorrow, I'll be discharged tomorrow!"

Watching Naruto return to safety and leave, turning back every few steps, Sasuke finally went back to bed. Despite his turbulent emotions, he didn't even manage to wrinkle the paper airplane. He placed the paper airplane close to his heart and finally mustered the courage to close his eyes.

"Only by killing your closest friend can you gain these eyes."

The devil murmured in the darkness again, but Sasuke was both strong and vulnerable at this moment. He wished he could immediately cut off the culprit's head, but he could not loosen his grip on his heart.

He wouldn't listen to that guy's nonsense. He would obtain the power of revenge in his own way!

PS.1. Please see the title for the words written on the paper airplane.

2. He hasn't figured it out yet, so we can't be too harsh.