Chapter 104: Lost and Found
Consciousness slowly surfaced from the depths like emerging from a drowning sea, gradually breaking free from the bonds of darkness. The black-haired girl lying on the hospital bed trembled her eyelashes and struggled to open her eyes.
What greeted her sight was an unfamiliar ceiling, with the distinctive smell of disinfectant permeating the air.
Where... is this place?
Uchiha Satsuki slowly propped herself up, her mind still somewhat hazy and confused. She unconsciously raised her hand to touch her cheek, her fingertips encountering two cool tear tracks that hadn't completely dried—marks left by tears that had flowed while she was unconscious.
Why... does my heart feel so heavy?
A profound and dark sadness pressed down on her heart like a boulder, weighing so heavily that she could barely breathe.
Just then!
"Ugh!"
A sudden, searing pain like her eyeballs were being burned erupted from deep within both eyes!
Satsuki cried out in pain, violently pressing both hands against her eyes as her body curled up from the unexpected agony.
She didn't notice that at the instant the pain struck, her pitch-black pupils underwent a dramatic change—the deep black was instantly replaced by ominous crimson, three black tomoe materialized against that blood-colored base and slowly rotated once.
Simultaneously, more tears spilled uncontrollably from her eyes, sliding down between her fingers.
And accompanying this intense physical reaction, the veil obscuring her memories was forcibly torn apart by the pain.
The final and most terrifying scene before she lost consciousness flooded back like a bursting dam—under the moonlight, her parents lying on the ground... Uchiha Itachi's cold expression... and... and...
Naruto!
Pierced by a blade... through his body. It was her... it was Uchiha Itachi... who killed him.
Overwhelming grief and despair far beyond her psychological limits instantly consumed Satsuki completely. Her heart ached so much she couldn't breathe. That hatred with nowhere to vent, nearly tearing her soul apart, burned like toxic flames within her chest.
"What... happened...?"
Broken syllables filled with sobbing and extreme pain unconsciously spilled from her lips.
All that flashed repeatedly through her mind was the resolute, cold look in that black-haired woman's eyes when she raised her blade of slaughter.
The sister she had once most admired and trusted... had personally destroyed everything she held dear.
Desperately and urgently, she sought some real, tangible sensation that could soothe her inner turmoil.
However, when her fingers unconsciously tightened, what her palm encountered was the cold, rough texture of coarse fabric.
This icy touch not only failed to bring any comfort—even deeper sorrow and despair ruthlessly pierced her chest.
Satsuki once again stood frozen on the precipice between sanity and complete madness. The dark desire within her chest to destroy everything, to burn even herself to ashes, climbed frantically upward, nearly breaching the final dam.
That name carrying all her hatred and pain—Uchiha Itachi—was about to burst through her clenched teeth as a tearing, shrieking roar...
At that very moment, from beside her came an extremely faint but distinctly involuntary sound.
Was that... breathing?
Not her own rapid, painful gasps, but another kind... steady breathing with a hint of weak snoring.
This sudden presence of "another," like a lifeline, yanked her back from the edge of that self-destructive whirlpool.
Satsuki slowly turned her head, looking through tear-blurred eyes toward the other side of the hospital bed.
In that instant, the pain and hatred that had nearly devoured her began to recede and fade like an ebbing tide in an incomprehensible way.
She didn't even realize what she was doing, only called out another name with an incredibly weak voice filled with unbelievable hope.
"Naruto...?"
The blonde boy sitting in the chair beside the hospital bed was indeed Uzumaki Naruto. At this moment, he was sleeping deeply in an extremely awkward position with his head tilted, emitting very faint snoring sounds.
After last night's events, once Naruto had brought the unconscious Satsuki to Konoha Hospital and settled her in, there was no way he could have the heart to go home and rest alone.
So he chose to stay here and wait for Satsuki to wake up.
And when Menma's shadow clone finally completed its mission and dispersed, that enormous fatigue accumulated over an entire night and the heavy burden from manipulating Tailed Beast chakra instantly backfired.
Extremely exhausted, Naruto ultimately couldn't resist sleep's invasion and had dozed off leaning against the chair back.
Satsuki got out of bed barefoot and silently approached, all her senses occupied by that blonde figure sleeping so ungracefully before her.
Her face was inches from his. That face that was always noisy and boisterous now appeared unusually peaceful, even carrying a trace of heartache-inducing exhaustion.
As if possessed, she reached out and pinched Naruto's warm cheek.
It's real...
Not a dream, nor that bone-chilling cold illusion that had shattered her heart.
He's alive, he's warm...
Real, vibrant life warmth instantly melted the heartstrings that had been stretched to their breaking point.
An irrepressible gasp filled with violent sobbing escaped her throat. She immediately bit down hard on her lower lip with her teeth, trying to use pain to dam up those flooding emotions.
However, after experiencing such a massive impact from the depths of despair to recovery of what was lost, crying was no longer an instinct that could be restrained by willpower.
The first scalding tear fell without warning, immediately followed by the second, the third... Like a flood bursting through a dam, it could no longer be suppressed.
She didn't even realize what she was doing, only followed instinct and extended her arms.
Fear, despair, and immense relief that had been suppressed too long transformed into torrential weeping.
In his sleep, Naruto groggily felt a familiar weight carrying a faint, pleasant fragrance press down on him, followed by the extremely suppressed yet still broken, fragile sobbing he'd never heard before reaching his ears.
This unprecedented situation made him almost instantly jolt awake from deep sleep.
He suddenly opened his eyes, pupils still carrying the confusion of just waking, but his body had already sensed the abnormality. He instinctively looked down to see that black head buried against his chest, trembling continuously.
"...Satsuki?"
His voice still carried the hoarseness of just waking but was full of shock and disbelief.
Before his eyes was no longer that proud Uchiha genius. She had completely abandoned all pride, unreservedly displaying her most vulnerable inner self.
Crying until her whole body shook, tears flowing as if to drain all fear and sorrow, those irrepressible sobs were something he'd never imagined hearing from her.
In this moment, Naruto was completely awake.