At Shikamaru’s cry, Saiga rode a bird made of super beasts and materialized numerous lions. The lions took out the puppets close to Naruto one by one, then returned to Sai with Naruto in their mouth.
“Now, Sakura!”
“Damn it!!”
As soon as Naruto got out, Sakura, who was riding on another super beast, came down and hit the ground with her fists with her chakra. Then, with a tremendous impact, the area around it was blown away along with the puppets.
“Huh…everybody?!”
“It’s dangerous to go alone at a time like this, Naruto-san. Thanks to that, the enemy appeared in front of my eyes.”
When Sai said something heavy for him to say with a smile on his face, Naruto lowered his head as if he couldn’t even make an excuse. But then more marionettes appeared from the lunar side, riding mounts that flew like birds. Sai saw that and immediately corrected his posture seriously.
“Hold tight, Naruto.”
“Ah yes!”
As the puppets each began to fire yellow spheres, Sai immediately lowered his altitude and entered the forest to avoid the spheres. In the meantime, a picture of Shikamaru and Sakura riding next to him came up before he knew it.
“Sai, a head-on battle is impossible. Too out of number!”
“Then what are you thinking, Shikamaru?”
“It would be nice to step back for now… but before that, there’s something I want to confirm. Follow me!”
“Okay, if that’s the case.. Super water level”
Sai quickly drew a picture and summoned another bird to burn Naruto. And behind that, Sakura is also the batter, and Shikamaru opens his mouth.
“We will find out where and how they came from. In the meantime, I’ll take care of Naruto, Sakura”
“…Okay”
Sakura’s expression darkened as if she was unwilling, but calmly suppressed her emotions and nodded. At the same time, he threw a smoke grenade from his bosom and exploded it.
“mountain!”
At Shikamaru’s signal, Shikamaru and Sai went up in the sky, Naruto and Sakura hid themselves behind a smoke screen and went into the forest. However, the puppets were not taken aback and split into two teams and started chasing them.
“Summoning… Fox!”
Before the smoke screen completely disappeared, Naruto summoned a fox with silver fur, using all the chakra he had recovered in a short time. Then the fox made it rain with his golden eyes shining. The fox rain created a thick fog, and Naruto and Sakura barely escaped the pursuit in the fog.
“hahaha… ”
Naruto sighed, breaking out in a cold sweat as his chakra was completely used up. Sakura was wary of the surroundings and took Naruto down to hide under a large rock nearby. And as soon as the puppets passed through the sky, Sakura let out a sigh of relief.
“Once you are here, you will be fine”
Perong-
As soon as Sakura finished speaking, Naruto’s fox disappeared. Sakura saw the exhausted Naruto and sat across from him.
“Yes, you. Why did you wander around alone when you knew he was after you?”
“…I’m sorry”
“Will apologizing now change things? If Sasuke-kun gets hurt, I will never forgive him.”
“…”
Naruto nodded heavily, not even making excuses. A heavy silence followed. Although the two avoided it due to a sudden situation, Naruto and Sakura had never been together for a long time.
“…”
“…”
The awkward silence continued, and as the situation became more quiet and killing people, the atmosphere naturally became heavy. Sakura let out a few deep sighs and secretly looked at Naruto.
Naruto was so exhausted that he didn’t notice Sakura’s gaze, so Sakura saw Naruto properly for the first time. No, I had seen Naruto once during the Intermediate Ninja exam, but it was the first time after that.
‘Monster… I take it for granted…but honestly… ‘
i hate naruto That was Sakura’s true intention. But at the same time, I don’t really think of her as a monster. She didn’t think deeply about it, perhaps because she was jealous of Sasuke, but she was surprised to realize that even Sakura herself didn’t actually think of Naruto as a monster.
‘How was my first meeting with Naruto… ‘
His parents said he was a monster and he was taught never to play with him. However, if you think about it, Naruto was a calm and quiet child from a young age. Rather, he was timid and avoided others. By the way…
“If…if the circumstances were a little different, you and I…”
At that moment when Sakura muttered involuntarily, Naruto opened his eyes as if surprised and rushed at Sakura, pushing him away. Sakura didn’t expect it, so she was greatly surprised and flew away. And in front of Sakura who got up to get angry…
“What… did this?!”
I could see Naruto being hit straight by the yellow sphere thrown by the puppet.
Epilogue – Episode 14
[The day the cherry blossom petals fell]
Koo Woo-
“Go one step further!”
Shikamaru attached the prepared detonator to a small bird Sai had made and threw it at a giant sphere that appeared to be the moon. What looked like the sun or the moon when viewed from below was actually a sphere floating high. That is, it was an artificial sun. After a few more attacks, what appeared to be a barrier opened within the sphere, and more puppets appeared. In the meantime, Shikamaru accurately saw and remembered the seal that the puppet had released.
“Sai, it’s over now. Let’s go back!”
“Okay!”
coong-
At that time, the sound of an explosion came from the forest in the direction where Sakura and Naruto had fled. Shikamaru had a bad feeling and immediately flew there and shouted.
“It’s a change of strategy. Deal with these guys!”
“Shikamaru is surprisingly reckless to leave in front of so many enemies.”
“Seriously, I can’t get used to the vicious words I hear with a smile on my face. Please, Sai!”
“Leave it to me”
As Shikamaru was flying over Naruto’s group, a huge explosion occurred in Sasuke’s direction. When Shikamaru looked at the place where the explosion had occurred, he saw Sasuke falling with serious injuries.
“Sasuke!?”
Sai was fighting enemies right now, so he couldn’t move. Shikamaru, who was worried about Naruto and his party, but couldn’t pretend he didn’t see Sasuke, flew towards the falling Sasuke at full speed.
“Damn it!!”
Every time Sakura swung her fist, countless puppets flew away. However, more puppets than those that flew away appeared and attacked. If you fight alone, you might not know, but now Naruto was attacked instead of Sakura, and he was injured and lost his mind.
“Keugh, there are too many of them..!”
Sakura didn’t know that she would fight while protecting Naruto, but Sakura moved her body even more. Each of the puppets rushed to take Naruto away, and there were absolutely not enough numbers to stop them.
Koo Woo-
At that time, somewhere, an explosion sounded on a different level than before. I looked in the direction Sasuke was. Reflexively worried about Sasuke, Sakura returned her focus to the enemy. However, in the midst of the crisis, Sakura’s confused feelings and worries about Sasuke made her more anxious. And that nervousness was more than enough to create a gap for Sakura.
“Keugh!!”
A yellow orb flew at Sakura, who fell after being hit in the side by a puppet. Sakura intuitively knew that there was no way to avoid it, so she closed her eyes and crouched down as much as she could. However…
“Kurama… !”
Kurama’s tail appeared and protected Sakura. Naruto must have run out of chakra? Looking at Naruto with the thought, the owner on Naruto’s neck glowed red and began to strangle Naruto.
“Ugh!”
“…”
It was a reaction when Naruto forcibly released his master and used his chakra. Sakura forgot that there were enemies now and stared blankly at Naruto. I couldn’t understand. Why did he save himself twice? Naruto must have known that Sakura hated him.
“Uh..why”
Naruto’s owner is dangerous enough to threaten Naruto’s life. That’s why, even when he met Toneri, he couldn’t exert his strength. However, despite the fact that he did not go against his master even when he was in danger, he squeezed chakra without any hesitation for Naruto’s most hated opponent, Sakura.
“…”
Tears welled up in Sakura’s eyes without realizing it. Whether these tears were because she was sorry or because she was angry, even she herself couldn’t figure out why. But the reason for the tears was irrelevant. I just wanted to ask. Why did you save yourself?
you know yourself The reason why he hated and bullied Naruto was simply jealous… no, it was similar to a child’s complaint. But I didn’t want to admit it. I didn’t want to admit it. That means losing Sasuke.
To be honest, I still like Sasuke. I don’t want to give in to Naruto to anyone else. However, if Naruto and the first button were different, it would be completely different from now.
When I was young, there was a rumor about a certain monster in the leaf village. It was said to be hideous in appearance and spread curses and pestilences wherever it went. And above all, it is said that there was a terrible incident that killed many people.
I heard the rumors too, but honestly thought it was just a ghost story. It was because even though the monster was roaming around like that, no curses and pestilence were seen, let alone an unhappy person. So I thought I had nothing to do with the monster and lived my life forgetting it.
But one day, at the ninja academy… After having a dream of becoming a ninja, I met a certain kid while I started training. No, I saw it exactly.
“Hmm…I wonder if there’s a difference between actual combat and theory… ”
It was when I was practicing shuriken avoiding the eyes of adults with the shuriken I had picked up in an alley before. To be honest, at first, I was worried about playing with dangerous things, so I was anxious for a few days, but luckily I was able to continue practicing for a long time as I was not caught.
However, I realized that no matter how well I got the answer to the shuriken throw calculation formula from the book, it wouldn’t be very helpful in actual combat. It was when I was tired from practicing without giving up with only one goal of becoming a ninja, so I was taking a break. I heard someone’s footsteps nearby.
‘Ser…Couldn’t my parents have caught me?!’
Surprised, Sakura grabbed the shuriken and hid nearby. Then, while breaking out in a cold sweat, I looked around and saw a child whose face was covered with a hood. At first, I was relieved to know that they were not my parents, but I soon became anxious.
‘Come to think of it, I thought monsters covered their faces?!’
Was the rumor true!? trembling with fear, the child took off his hood, leaning against a nearby tree. Seeing the hooded child’s face, Sakura involuntarily stopped breathing.
‘Yes.. pretty… like a doll… ‘
Sakura stared blankly at Naruto’s bare face for a while. Then I recalled the rumors that the monster looked awful, and I thought it probably wasn’t a monster. While thinking about talking to him, Naruto started to shed tears.
“Hey…hey…why…why do you have to… suffer like this… ”
“…!”
Sakura’s thoughts about talking to Naruto were blown away. I felt like I was going to cry when I saw what happened to such a pretty child. Sakura thought about whether to go out and comfort the child, but she was afraid.
‘Anyone like me…if I could comfort him… ‘
He was teased by other boys for being a long-haired boy, and he was teased by girls for having pink hair and crying often. But you, Sakura, could never have imagined that you would comfort others.
Clink-
While thinking that, Sakura accidentally dropped the shuriken she was holding. And when Naruto heard the sound, he looked at Sakura in great surprise. In the very short time our eyes met, Naruto reflexively trembled in fear at the sight of the dropped shuriken and the child of his age.
The shuriken was a terrifying weapon that ninjas sometimes threatened, and children of their age were terrifying beings who threw stones at them. But what if a child of your age is holding a shuriken?
“…!!”
Naruto let out a silent scream and hurriedly covered his face with his hood and ran away.
“Come on..sleep..”
Sakura was also surprised and tried to call out, but Naruto had already run away. This was Naruto and Sakura’s first meeting, which I don’t know if I should call it. After that, Sakura advised her parents not to play or go near the hooded child, saying that the child wearing a hood was a monster, and it was the first button against Naruto, who ran away after seeing herself.
Epilogue – Episode 15
[Land of the Moon]
aww-
Sakura thought about the past for a moment and then gnashed her teeth. Then he ran with all his might and swung his fist at the puppets aiming at Naruto, who was suffering as a master. Then he picked Naruto up and started running. And carefully examining Naruto’s condition, he could not be said to be in good condition because of the owner’s loss of consciousness and the explosion just before.
“I have to interrupt!”
Kicking away the attacking puppets and trying to run again to join Shikamaru and the others, Sakura realized that her whole body was not moving. Before I knew something was wrong, Toneri appeared in front of me.
“You… are you?!”
“I’m sorry, but I have to take Naruto with me.”
Seeing Sakura for the first time, she instinctively noticed that this man was Toneri’s enemy. In my heart, I wanted to get out of the seat right away, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t move. Suddenly, Sakura remembered Sasuke and shouted.
“Why are you here?”
“What do you mean?”
“What did Sasuke-kun do!!”
Apparently, Sasuke and Toneri were fighting. But that Toneri is here, and there was a big explosion just now… Sakura came to a conclusion, like putting pieces of a puzzle together in her head.
“Stand… no way”
“Heh, the guy with those bad eyes won’t disturb me anymore.”
Sakura looked genuinely shocked, but Toneri looked at Naruto who was hugged by Sakura as if it didn’t matter. And I took one look at the owner on the neck and noticed that the owner had already been activated.
“Poor Naruto. I’ll save you from them.”
Toneri moved Naruto from Sakura’s immobilized arms to hers very easily. Sakura is looking at Toneri with a look of resentment, so he opens his mouth as if he doesn’t understand.
“Why are you making that face?”
“…!”
“Don’t you hate Naruto, stupidly.”
“…”
“It’s so ironic and selfish to make Naruto look like this because of guys like you.”
Toneri created a green orb in one hand and aimed it at Sakura’s head.
“Unpleasant”
“Cherry Blossom!!”