In Konoha, Naruto lies down

It wasn't because he couldn't decide, but because it was difficult to make a decision. But after all, they were familiar people, so he couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

"I was kidding." A smile suddenly appeared on her face. "I can't touch her, and she doesn't know I exist. For her, it's probably just a good night's sleep."

"Isn't that ironic? I haven't slept in a whole year, and I'm incredibly lucid."

Naruto didn't show any surprise in his eyes, he just looked at her calmly. He turned sideways to reveal half of his body, so that half of Sakura's body was in the light.

"Insomnia? That's quite serious." Naruto reached out to the table and pressed on the document, "I want to know something."

"Her?" Sakura continued to smile.

"No." Naruto shook his head, "I sleep well and spend most of the day lying down and sleeping, so I'm sorry I can't empathize with you."

His hand, which was pressing on the documents on the desktop, slowly crawled forward inch by inch, like a slowly growing green tree, and his palm with distinct knuckles gradually approached the other end.

"But I want to know what people think about when they can't sleep. Do they get up and go downstairs to eat, or do they want to go out for a walk? Do they go to see the stars in the summer? Do they go out to see the snow on a winter night?"

"I don't know, I...never felt that way," Sakura said, a little surprised, her palms curled up.

She originally thought that Naruto would ask some old-fashioned questions, such as "What's wrong with you?", "Why do you think so?", "Everyone is equally important to me."

But she never expected him to ask that, so she began to recall and think carefully.

"My parents are asleep. Sometimes I stand in the kitchen for a while, sometimes I take out old photo albums and look through them. Most of the time, I close my eyes like a normal person."

"Let's do something a little different occasionally." Naruto turned his palm up and made an invitation, his eyes calm, as if he was talking about something very ordinary.

"Let's go out for a walk and look at the stars."

Chapter 214: Go to the roof when you can’t sleep

"Yeah, okay." Sakura's first reaction was to agree, then after a few seconds of pausing she looked up at him, "Why?"

"Why?" he asked back.

"You're not feeling sorry for me, are you?" Sakura said seriously, "Do I look pitiful now? I just made up a story."

"How does it feel to be deceived?"

"It doesn't matter if you lie to me. I don't care." Naruto grabbed Sakura's hand and pulled her up, "But you can't lie to yourself."

"It doesn't matter if you're being mysterious or making up a story, or even if you're just trying to make fun of me."

"There's only one thing. Tell me now, do you want to go out with me?"

Sakura was silent, staring at him for a long time. She then looked down at the unfinished document and stared at it for a long time, as if hesitating.

Naruto discovered that Sakura's reaction seemed to be slower than before, and she had to think for a while before answering anything.

"Okay." she said.

Sakura slowly stood up, took a sip of water, and flicked off the lights in the office before leaving. As the door creaked shut, she turned around and spoke hesitantly.

"I sometimes stay in the Hokage building all night, or even sleep here."

Naruto didn't understand any of this, so he didn't comment, only humming softly. In the corridor, the clattering footsteps of two people could be heard.

"Do you usually work overtime when you can't sleep?" Naruto asked.

"How is that possible? I'm not stupid." Sakura walked beside him with her hands behind her back. "There's no way the work will be finished. If I finish it today, there will be more tomorrow."

She waved her hand and made an exaggerated circle.

“It’s endless, there’s no way to finish it.”

Outside the Hokage Building, the summer sky is bright with stars and the night wind is bleak.

The two paused at the intersection, and then Naruto pointed in a direction. At this time, making a choice first and guiding Sakura in the right direction would be more conducive to the progress of the conversation.

He wanted to find out what happened to Sakura and resolve it without delaying any longer.

"I know a place where there are few people and you can see the stars from the roof."

"Where?" Sakura was a little confused, but she still asked, her eyes piercing through the dim lights. She looked into the distance, into the even darker night.

It was a remote place, located in a not-so-conspicuous part of the village. It looked like an illegal building, but it didn't matter, the entire Konoha was densely packed with villages that looked like they were built on illegal buildings.

Under the night sky, the two climbed up the treetop building. They continued up the crooked stairs, crossed a suspended bridge made of several wooden planks, and entered a rooftop that looked like it had been abandoned for a long time.

With a thud, Sakura landed steadily on the ground, the evening breeze blowing her pink hair across her forehead. Looking up, she saw only half of the roof remaining; the other half had collapsed.

In the dim light, one could see the broken rooftops covered in weeds. The view was wide open, like a wide-angle lens, with no other houses blocking the view.

The surroundings were unnaturally quiet, completely pitch black. Faint lights could be seen in the distance, as if the entire Konoha had fallen into a state of slumber. Above them was a vast starry sky, its bright, clear starlight enveloping the entire village.

"This is it." Naruto walked towards the other side of the roof. "This is my first time here too. I found it by chance while wandering around."

"I've always wanted to come up and take a look, but I never got the chance."

He didn't ask about Sakura's condition, nor did he care about what had just happened in the Hokage's office. It was as if he had forgotten everything or didn't care.

"So it's nice here, right?"

"Okay." Sakura could no longer say such naughty words. She looked serious as she stood on the abandoned roof, looking up at the starry sky that was like a covered bowl.

"Don't you have anything to ask?" Sakura turned to look at Naruto.

"No." Naruto sat down, took out the drink from the sealed wind room, opened the can with a puff and handed it to Sakura, "Here."

Sakura walked over and took the drink, then looked up and asked again, "You really don't want to know anything?"

"I want to know, but I don't care about anything else. I just want to know if you are in any trouble." Naruto opened a can of drink for himself and said while pulling the tin ring.

"You are my only companion, right? If I trust you enough, I hope you can tell me yourself instead of me asking you."

"How can I explain something like that?" Sakura looked up at the starry sky again. "No one in their right mind would believe it. My second personality came out and I couldn't sleep for a whole year."

"Maybe you're the only one who believes it, and I can only tell you."

"Because I don't care, so I don't bother to question it." Naruto said half-truthfully, and then glanced at Sakura again, "In fact, it doesn't make any difference to me. You are also very good."

"If possible, it would be nice to keep going like this."

"Just good?" Sakura's expression suddenly became relaxed, her body leaned forward slightly, and her tone began to draw out. Naruto's scalp suddenly numbed when he heard it.

Here it comes again, so familiar.

"It's so quiet here. Usually, people outdoors like this are couples, right?" Sakura asked with a smile.

"No, it could also be someone like us." Naruto pointed at himself and then at Sakura with a serious face, emphasizing, "Don't say anything weird, especially at a time like this, it's easy to be misunderstood."

"Eh? But I wore it today..." Before Sakura could finish her words, Naruto covered her mouth and cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

"It doesn't matter what you wear. You don't need to share that kind of thing with me," he said.

Sakura stubbornly lifted up a corner of her clothes, but was interrupted by the sharp-eyed Naruto, who gave her a serious warning.

"Don't do anything weird."

"Hehe, are you nervous?" Sakura removed his hand and said with a smile, "You didn't care at all before. No matter what I did, you were indifferent."

"So," Sakura suddenly leaned forward, "Do more with me!"

"Something that has never been done before."

Her chest was almost pressed against Naruto's, her pale arms hanging down behind her back. A lighthearted smile hung on her face, her eyes curved into crescents.

"Anyway, you kind of like me now, right?"

"These are two different things." Naruto stared at her with a complicated expression, "We are still young, so study hard...Pah, carry out the mission well."

He wanted to solve Sakura's problems, not to take on all of them, but to proactively address the issues Sakura was facing. The process was similar to fixing a minor bug; if the program worked, there was no need to find the root cause.

After all, even if Naruto wanted to take on everything, when it came to issues like dual personality, he was powerless.

In short, he just wants superficial stability, even if he is considered a scumbag. If he is too saintly, it is simply self-torture.

Sakura was not angry despite Naruto's strong perfunctory attitude.

"Why do you keep rejecting me?"

"I didn't refuse. I never know how to refuse." He retorted, his hypocrisy well known. "I just said it, this is for your own good."

"So-called relationships develop gradually, bit by bit. We still have a lot of time, so why not..."

"Are you just trying to fool me?" Sakura suddenly interrupted him, with a look of resentment in her eyes.

"No." He denied subconsciously.

"Of course not. Every time you're being perfunctory with me, you subconsciously look away." Sakura's voice dropped. "I just want to get closer to you, to blend in."

"Don't say such horrifying things! Damn it!" Naruto took half a step back.

Looking at the somewhat oblivious Sakura, a certain yellow-haired man's back was wet with cold sweat. Damn, is she really going to become a yandere? That would be too scary. Makoto's peaceful black and white portrait flashed through his mind, and he shook his head violently.

The noble stranger is about to be suppressed by the yandere with split personality.

"But... I want to leave a trace of our relationship." Sakura continued, her eyes fixed on Naruto, "Today, here, under the starry sky."

Naruto blinked, his mind wandering to the edge of 404.

"I..." He was considering how to refuse.

"I don't want to either." Sakura suddenly lowered her head. "I also want to take it slow. As long as I'm with Naruto-kun, it's fine. Even if it's a lifelong companion."

"No matter what my identity is, as long as I can be with Naruto-kun, I don't mind. Even if it's nameless, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if we can't hold hands openly. I like it all."

"But!" Sakura's voice suddenly became nasal, "I really can't sleep. The time has become so much longer. No matter how long I close my eyes, it feels like 24 hours."

"Every minute and every second is spent awake, and at one in the morning, all noises become quiet."

"At two o'clock, the drunk downstairs always throws up on the telephone pole. At four o'clock, the old man next door gets up and goes downstairs. At five o'clock..."

Sakura's voice grew increasingly agitated, and she finally gripped Naruto's wrist.

"I haven't slept in a whole year. I'm not a normal person at all. I've tried really hard to sleep, but it's no use."

"I don't want to be like this either! But I'm just a substitute. I've never truly lived. After seeing this world, I still have to go back."

"It doesn't matter if you're being perfunctory or not, I just want to ask you one question: do you want to date me?"

Silence fell all around, and Naruto remained silent. Sakura was a bit agitated right now, and anything he said would be inappropriate. So the two of them spent more than ten minutes like this, standing on the half-collapsed roof.

"Never mind. I'm much better now."

After a long moment, Sakura sniffed, let go of Naruto, took a deep breath and said.

"Let's go somewhere else. I can't sleep."

"Okay." He looked towards the other side of the darkness, which was a more secluded field area on Konoha Street. "Anyway, let's go down from here first."

Chapter 215 The End of June

He could agree to her, even if it was just out of pity.

But Naruto didn't want to be like this. He was empty inside and had always lived with a gaming mentality. Even after staying in Konoha for a year, he didn't feel any sense of belonging.

It's okay to get along with little girls in daily life, but forget about redemption. He doesn't even believe what he says, and if he says something insincere, it will be seen through even if he says it.

The two of them crossed a rice paddy, groping their way along the ridges in the dark. Occasionally, they would stop, only to be blocked by swarms of mosquitoes and have to return the same way.

"Is there any store open this late?"

"I'm not sure." Naruto squatted on the wall of an inconspicuous alley on Konoha Street. "I'll go over and take a look. Do you want to come with me?"

"it is good."

Someone was coming from a distance, and the two of them flipped over and hid on the other side of the low wall.

In the darkness, the two looked at each other. Naruto's eyes were calm, as they had been from beginning to end tonight, and he didn't seem to have any intention of doing anything.

Sakura's eyes were bright and her face slowly turned red.

The surroundings were pitch black, lit only by the faint light of the stars. The constant chirping of insects and the warm night breeze made Sakura sweat slightly, and her eyes fluttered.

"Do you want to...?"

"Hmm???" Naruto tilted his head and gently pushed her, "What weird stuff are you talking about? Let's go and take a look."

"Tsk." Sakura turned away unconvinced, "Naruto is an idiot."

"Why are you suddenly so arrogant?" He had already stood up, glanced at her lazily, and climbed over the wall.

The grass was fluffy and the air was filled with a faint fishy smell from the scorching sun. Sakura also rolled over, and the two of them, one in front and one behind, stepped on the grass, making a rustling sound.