Naruto couldn't blame them even if he wanted to—he doubted they had time to sleep at all.
Now, Naruto needed to contact the escort team and let them know he planned to leave early the next morning.
He had done all he could for Sunagakure—or at least, there was nothing else he could do under the current circumstances.
But one thing was certain: despite Pain's Rinnegan and overwhelming strength, he would eventually be stopped.
Even if war was the only way to reach him, Naruto was ready. After all, he wasn't the one who started this war.
Pain was the one who launched the attack, and the Allied Ninja Forces would be the ones to end this catastrophe.
Naruto found Sakura alone.
She was resting on a supply crate outside the medical tent, drinking water to regain her strength.
She had worked nonstop all day treating injured Suna ninja and civilians.
Since Naruto told her he killed Sasuke, they hadn't spoken much at all.
So much had happened—meetings with the Mizukage, Raikage, and Kazekage; the attack on Sunagakure...
Neither of them could leave right now, and no one knew when they'd meet again—this was the perfect moment to talk.
"Hey, Sakura," Naruto said as he approached.
Sakura had tied her pink hair into a neat ponytail. She wore her white medic coat over her usual clothes.
When she heard Naruto calling, she turned her head, swallowed the water in her mouth, and waited for him to come closer.
"Naruto… How are things?"
Naruto didn't feel like making jokes under these circumstances, so he sat down beside her.
He felt relieved that Sakura hadn't blamed him for what happened with Sasuke.
"To be honest… it feels like every time something good happens, something bad always follows."
Look at what's happened lately—for every victory, something bad followed. He beat Deidara, but lost an eye.
Sasuke's defection had finally become negotiable. He had planned to return Kiri's Cleaver Sword in exchange for an alliance, but Sasuke died in battle while Danzō vanished in the desert.
He mastered Sage Mode, expecting to catch Akatsuki off guard. The Alliance was ready for a fight to the death—but then Sunagakure was attacked by someone who had completely defeated him in battle eight years ago.
And now, a full-scale war was about to erupt…
Sakura nodded, understanding how he felt.
"I'm sorry."
Naruto looked at her in confusion, waiting for further explanation.
"During the mission to help you recover the Cleaver Sword from Kiri, I focused too much on Sasuke. As a result, both me and the slug got hurt… nearly costing us our lives. I keep thinking—if I had helped her better, maybe I could have stopped Sasuke, or at least held out until your clones arrived. Maybe things could've changed."
Naruto shook his head.
"You don't have to apologize for what already happened. Just make sure not to repeat the same mistake again. Besides, Katsuyu's fine now—I've already moved on. Are you still mad at me?"
"No," Sakura replied softly.
"Sakura said, clutching her knees tightly and bowing her head. 'I wasn't angry... I was just shocked. I never expected things to turn out this way, but Sasuke became a missing-nin, and you didn't... In the end, it came down to either his life or yours. You told us yourself you didn't want to kill him, but it went too far, and you ended up regretting it deeply. You even told us everything that happened in your own words. If I had been strong from the start, you wouldn't have had to step in. So I also bear some responsibility.'"
The two remained silent for a while.
Since Naruto returned after releasing the seal, they had gradually grown distant.
Their relationship started to improve when Sakura began training under Tsunade.
Before their mission to Snow Country, their relationship finally improved significantly.
At that time, Naruto had just become a jonin, and they went out together with other young ninjas their age and had an amazing time together.
However, what happened with Sasuke could've completely ruined their relationship.
Naruto had mentally prepared himself, but Sakura's reaction proved stronger than he'd imagined.
She didn't fault him for obsessing over Sasuke, nor did she lash out at him for killing Sasuke.
"So are we okay?" Naruto finally found the courage to ask, not wanting to keep lingering in uncertainty anymore.
When she heard his question, Sakura smiled gently and gave his shoulder a light nudge with her elbow.
"Of course. I thought maybe you were still mad at me, but since you're fine, then there's nothing between us."
"That's good to hear." Naruto exhaled in relief, using his black-gloved hand to ruffle up his already messy hair. "Because we're about to go into battle, it'd be terrible if my relationship with Lady Tsunade's apprentice was bad. Right now, I really need one or two medical ninja friends."
Now that the atmosphere had eased, he tried to lighten the mood with a joke.
"Please..." Sakura rolled her eyes, unimpressed by his overacting. "If I had any real complaints against you and wanted to hit you, Lady Tsunade would kill me in front of everyone first, then Senior Shizune might bring me back just to kill me again… And don't forget the slug summons..."
"Ah, I should get back to work."
Both Naruto and Sakura stood up. Her break time was nearly over.
"See you later, Sakura," Naruto said.
Sakura began stretching her body, preparing to return to her medical duties.
"Do your best helping them, okay? There's much more you can do than I ever could."
Smiling, Sakura nodded sincerely and gave Naruto's shoulder a friendly pat.
"I will. And be careful on your way back, alright?"
*****
Inside the Hokage Office meeting chamber, a high-level meeting was in session.
"Why am I even here?" Shikamaru muttered under his breath.
He sat beside his father, surrounded by Konoha's top-ranking veteran ninja, all waiting for Tsunade's report on the current situation.
"There's no way I'm sane for coming here. I've got better things to do."
"Like sleeping?" Shikaku saw right through his son's act.
"Listen, I don't know why you're here. It's me who was summoned by Lady Hokage, not you. You're just too young for a meeting like this. You've never truly experienced war."
"What about the invasion three years ago? That wasn't war?" Shikamaru thought to himself.
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