Sasuke lay in the hospital bed, staring straight at the ceiling. Itachi had been gone for several days.
After waking up from the illusion, the doctor advised him to rest for a few days.
With his personality, he naturally wouldn't honestly stay here. He went out to follow Itachi's advice and train for a few days, but he didn't feel any real progress.
Anxiety, constant anxiety, made it almost impossible for him to feel at peace.
Including the subtle disappointment that Itachi showed.
Also, Naruto, who Sasuke always saw as a loser, seemed to be constantly improving, even threatening to surpass him.
Either of these things was hard for Sasuke, who held the "genius" card, to accept.
He couldn't feel any real sense of his own progress.
Whether it was because of work, or for some unknown reason, Uchiha Itachi's attention was often focused on Naruto.
After one fight, whether it was about talent or his brother, it all seemed to lean towards Naruto.
This difference only made him feel like he was being left behind by everyone, and he had no way to catch up.
"Knock knock...".
Just as Sasuke was restlessly sitting on the hospital bed, he suddenly heard a few knocks on the window.
It wasn't a person, but a crow pecking at the window with its beak.
"Huh?".
In Sasuke's memory, the one who usually got visited by crows was Hatake Satoru.
He was clearly in the village, so why would that guy need to use a crow to find him?
Sasuke couldn't help but complain inwardly as he walked barefoot from the bed and pulled open the window.
A cool breeze blew in from outside the window, and the thin curtains flew high, brushing against Sasuke's face.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly, and when he opened them again, the crow had disappeared, leaving only scattered crow feathers and a sealed letter by the window.
Sasuke suspiciously picked up the envelope, strangely poked his head out the window, and saw no sign of anyone.
Sasuke walked back to the bed, opened the envelope, and unfolded the letter inside.
However, when Sasuke saw the contents, his eyes widened in almost disbelief.
"There's someone sending love letters right before he's discharged? Let me see it too~".
"Ah, it's not a love letter...".
Hatake Satoru's voice suddenly rang in Sasuke's ear.
Hatake Satoru didn't really look at the content, just glanced at the signature, noting that it was a letter from Uchiha Itachi.
"Ah!??!"
The shocked expression on Sasuke's face was still there when he was startled by the sudden voice next to him, almost jumping up.
With a cry of surprise, he instantly crumpled the letter in his hand.
"When did you come in?!"
Sasuke tightly clenched the letter in his hand, nervously glanced at Hatake Satoru, and then turned to look at the door.
Fortunately, it seemed that he was the only one who came in.
Sasuke thought that this guy would bring Naruto and the others with him, and he almost had a heart attack on the spot.
"You were really engrossed in it."
Hatake Satoru straightened up, pointed to the wide open window behind him with his thumb, and the translucent curtains kept fluttering behind him.
After all, moving quickly is more convenient through this kind of place.
Sasuke couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and released the letter in his hand.
"Would you die if you just used the door...".
Both the content of the letter and Hatake Satoru's sudden appearance were a challenge to Sasuke's heart.
But how much did Hatake Satoru know about the contents of this letter?
Although it seemed like this person wouldn't care much about this kind of thing....
Sasuke swallowed and couldn't help but look up at Hatake Satoru.
"...What are you doing."
Sasuke was engaging in a psychological battle, but when he looked up, he saw Hatake Satoru casually taking out a tomato from a bag and starting to eat it, as if he didn't care at all.
Hatake Satoru didn't have his mouth free to respond, just gave him a look that said, "Are you blind?"
Sasuke pouted unhappily and reached out to grab the bag of tomatoes from Hatake Satoru's hand.
"Who visits someone in the hospital and then just starts eating by themselves?"
"Does someone who likes sweets even deserve to eat fruit?"
Hatake Satoru quickly flicked Sasuke's forehead.
"Would you dare talk to your brother like that?"
"..."
"You're not the same as my brother!"
"You really haven't changed since you were a kid." Hatake Satoru looked at Sasuke, who was starting to bare his fangs at him again, raised an eyebrow, and made a silly face.
"Whatever, your brother also likes sweets."
"How childish are you!"
Sasuke couldn't help but complain to Hatake Satoru. He had never gotten along well with this guy since he was a kid.
"You, who has everything written on your face, don't have the right to say that about me~."
Hatake Satoru smiled playfully, and then snatched the letter from Sasuke's hand...
"Naruto and the others will be here soon, so I'll take this letter and destroy it~."
"After all, it would be troublesome if anyone saw it."
Sasuke looked at the letter in Hatake Satoru's hand, paused, but didn't try to take it back.
What was inside the letter really couldn't be seen by others.
"You..."
Sasuke hesitated, looked at Hatake Satoru, who had one foot on the windowsill.
"You're not a child anymore, do you still need to ask me these kinds of questions~?"
"The options are already there, just choose what path you want to take."
"I'm not going to give you good advice."
Hatake Satoru turned his head and stuck his tongue out at Sasuke mischievously, and then disappeared from the window.
He's a good person... but I just can't like his personality.
Sasuke took a tomato from the bag, took a bite, and instantly frowned, tightly pursing his lips.
So sour!
That guy really doesn't have a good heart.
"Sakura, are you here to see Sasuke too?"
"Ah, Naruto, you're back too."
The hospital's soundproofing was only average, and the two people outside had already walked to the door, so their conversation was especially clear.
Sasuke sat up slightly on the bed, and looked towards the outside of the door.
Through the narrow strip of glass, only a person's shadow could barely be seen.
Sasuke's mind recalled the battles they had had before. During the Land of Waves, he still had the chance to mock Naruto.
But maybe from that time on, he and Naruto were already standing on equal footing.
It was just that he hadn't noticed it at all at that time.
He had been comfortably training at his own pace, but when they faced Gaara during the Chunin Exams, they had already started to widen the gap.
I can't stay here any longer. At my current training speed, I'll only fall further behind Naruto.
Sasuke's eyes gradually darkened, and his hands clenched unconsciously.
The image in his mind was fixed on Uchiha Itachi's slightly disappointed gaze.
"Has someone already been here?"
"Hey, Naruto, let's fight right now."
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