Chapter 60: Unequal Love
The turmoil brought by the Hidden Cloud was like a summer storm—violent when it came, quick to pass. Konoha soon returned to its usual tranquility.
This morning, Naruko bounced toward the ninja academy as usual.
The sunlight was still bright, the streets still bustling, but she felt something wasn't quite right.
"Good morning, Lady Naruko!" The dango shop owner suddenly used honorifics, deliberately stuffing two extra skewers into her hands. "These are fresh today—please try them!"
The blonde girl blinked her blue eyes in confusion. Before she could pull out her wallet, the owner waved his hands repeatedly: "No need, no need! It's an honor to have you taste them!"
The closer she got to school, the more obvious this strangeness became.
Passing chunin would specifically stop to bow to her, and the older kids who usually loved to tease her were all taking detours today.
Even stranger, there were two ANBU she'd never seen before standing at the school gate, who even nodded respectfully when they saw her.
"What's going on here..." Naruko muttered, tugging at her twin-tails, her azure eyes full of confusion.
She looked down at her mud-stained shoes, then rubbed her pale cheeks.
She was still that annoying demon fox brat, right?
She asked inwardly:
'Big fox, what do you think is happening?'
The Nine-Tails ignored her, keeping its eyes closed in feigned sleep within her consciousness.
It wasn't until she spotted that familiar figure at the school gate that her eyes lit up, running over like she'd found salvation: "Sasuko, Sasuko! Everyone's acting weird today..."
Sasuko didn't look back as she pulled away from Naruko's grip on her sleeve, her tone cold: "Nothing's different. You're the one—if you keep dawdling, you'll be late."
The black-haired girl walked toward the classroom with composed steps, already accustomed to the awed gazes around her. This treatment hadn't changed since the first day of school.
Naruko hurriedly caught up, her blue eyes full of unease: "Sasuko, look at everyone..."
"There's nothing wrong with it." Sasuko interrupted flatly, not even bothering to glance at the suddenly respectful classmates and teachers around them.
She had already noticed the new ANBU at the school gate today, and seen the hint of flattery in the teachers' eyes when they looked at Naruko.
But none of this mattered to her. As long as that person's attitude didn't change, everything else was meaningless.
"But..." Naruko wanted to say more but was interrupted by the class bell.
Sasuko glanced at her: "Dummy, instead of worrying about this stuff, think about how to pass today's jutsu test." She tugged at Naruko's swaying golden twin-tails. "Let's go."
"Ow... Sasuko, be gentler!" Naruko complained softly, fumbling to fix her disheveled twin-tails.
She carefully retied the scattered ends and hurried to catch up with the black-haired girl's steps.
The two girls walked through the corridor one after another, with students along the way stepping aside.
Sasuko walked without looking around, treating the surrounding abnormalities as if they didn't exist.
Naruko curiously looked around, noticing that even the usually strictest head teacher was giving her what could be called a "kind" smile today.
"It's really weird..." Naruko muttered as she moved closer to Sasuko, only to be stopped by the other's cold glance.
"Quiet, dummy." Sasuko pushed open the classroom door and walked directly to her seat under everyone's gaze.
When they reached their desks, both couldn't help but freeze.
"Wow! Is the school giving out breakfast today?" Naruko's blue eyes instantly lit up.
Her desk was covered with exquisite rice balls, steaming miso soup, golden crispy tempura, and even a small box of rare high-grade tri-color dango.
Sasuko frowned slightly, her obsidian eyes quickly scanning the surroundings.
All the other students' desks were empty—only hers and Naruko's had such lavish breakfast spreads.
"The school didn't provide this." Sasuko coldly burst Naruko's bubble, casually picking up a rice ball to examine it—the wrapper bore the logo of Konoha's finest restaurant.
This level of breakfast was something even jounin might not enjoy daily.
Naruko belatedly noticed the oddness, asking with a mouthful of dango: "Why do only we have this?"
Sasuko didn't answer.
She understood perfectly well that this sudden "kindness" was undoubtedly connected to Yu, who always loved ruffling her hair at home.
But Sasuko was also curious—what exactly had Yu done to make Konoha show such favor?
"Sasuko, Sasuko!" Naruko leaned over mysteriously, her warm breath brushing against the black-haired girl's ear. "Do you think it's because of Yu..." Her blue eyes sparkled like she'd discovered some great secret. "He disappeared suddenly a few days ago, and today everyone's acting strange..."
Sasuko lightly poked Naruko's forehead with a bamboo skewer: "Dummy, you're too loud."
"Ow, but..." Naruko rubbed her reddened forehead, lowering her voice further. "What exactly did Yu do?"
Sasuko lowered her gaze, looking somewhat dejected.
Of course she didn't know the answer either. Yu was always like this—quietly handling all the troublesome matters, only showing her the most beautiful side of things.
Just like when their parents had died, they suddenly moved into that large house with a courtyard.
She remembered looking up and asking: "Yu, where did this house come from?"
Yu had smiled and ruffled her hair, saying: "Someone gave it to us."
'Treating me like an idiot again!' Sasuko thought quietly.
She was never a fool. Who would give away such a luxurious house for nothing? Besides, there wasn't a single neighbor around—they were the only household on that entire street.
Thinking about it, an indescribable sense of loss welled up in Sasuko's heart.
Her eyes dimmed as her fingers unconsciously gripped the corner of her clothes. She seemed to always live under Yu's protection, selfishly enjoying this excessive care without even knowing what burdens he carried.
I clearly said I wanted to become stronger... and then...
She looked up irritably, just in time to see Naruko still carelessly swaying her twin-tails with that silly, curious expression.
That nameless anger suddenly found an outlet: "Just eat your food! Where do all these questions come from!"
Her voice was louder than expected, startling even the students in front.
Naruko pouted aggrievedly, her golden hair drooping: "Why are you being mean... I was just asking..."
Sasuko immediately regretted her words.
Seeing Naruko's instantly dimmed blue eyes, a wave of guilt arose within her.
Sasuko awkwardly turned her head away, saying quietly: "Sorry..."
She wasn't angry at Naruko, but at her own helplessness.
Unable to see through the truth behind that person's gentle lies, unable to break free from this suffocating sense of powerlessness.
Naruko was stunned for two seconds, then suddenly leaned over like she'd discovered a new continent: "Eh—you actually apologized!"
"Shut up!"
Sasuko tried to grab her twin-tails in embarrassment, but Naruko dodged with a giggle.
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