Chapter 106: Companionship and Promise
Why are these people so nosy...
Finally escorting Satsuki near the entrance to the Uchiha compound, Naruto secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Throughout the entire journey, those undisguised pointing fingers and whispered conversations from all directions had been truly uncomfortable.
Of course, this time, those gazes and discussions weren't focused on him as the "demon fox," but entirely on Satsuki walking beside him with her head lowered.
However, this focus wasn't malicious, but rather a heavy sort of pity.
"Look... that must be the child, right? I heard that last night the entire Uchiha clan... they were all..."
"What a tragedy... at such a young age, to experience this kind of..."
"Shh! Keep your voice down! Don't let her hear! But I heard... it was her own sister who did it. How could she bring herself to..."
"I heard it was because of this incident that it attracted that terrible organization, nearly causing another disaster..."
Those hushed discussions pricked at them like needles. Every pitying glance, every "how pitiful" sigh, was like repeatedly tearing open Satsuki's bloody wounds, making her already lowered head sink even deeper.
Naruto could clearly feel the stiffness in the girl's body beside him, which filled him with inexplicable irritation, yet he couldn't silence everyone's mouths.
In current Konoha, two bombshell pieces of news had swept through every corner like hurricanes, causing unprecedented upheaval.
The first was the Uchiha clan's massacre. As Konoha's undisputed premier noble clan, they had been nearly completely slaughtered in a single night, leaving only a handful of survivors. The shock this news brought was undoubtedly earthquake-level.
However, such a horrifying tragedy could only rank second in the storm of public opinion.
What truly occupied the top of the discussion charts, triggering universal condemnation, was the exposure of the monstrous crimes of an already-dead high-ranking official—Shimura Danzo.
Desecrating the First Hokage's remains, stealing cells for forbidden research, secretly attacking Uchiha comrades fighting alongside them during the Third Shinobi War to steal their Sharingan, creating numerous "missing persons" cases.
Maintaining secret cooperation with the long-fled, notorious S-rank missing-nin Orochimaru, continuing inhumane human experimentation, even kidnapping innocent villagers and isolated shinobi as test subjects for his insane research...
Each of these crimes exposed to the public was so horrifying that it completely overturned people's understanding of "Konoha's leadership," sparking universal outrage and denunciation.
In comparison, the truth behind the Uchiha massacre was temporarily handled ambiguously, actually directing people's anger more toward the already-dead Danzo.
Although demanding Danzo's accumulated crimes be made public was a condition Naruto had proposed as Menma, right now he had no mind to pay attention to all the heated discussions and condemnations outside.
All his attention was focused on the girl beside him. He absolutely didn't want Satsuki to walk down that lonely path alone like in the original story.
Stepping into the Uchiha clan's streets, deathly silence rushed to meet them. The compound that, while not particularly lively before, had been full of life, was now completely empty, leaving only heart-stopping quiet.
On the streets, human outlines drawn in white chalk representing the positions of "corpses" were shocking to behold, with large patches of dried, blackened bloodstains still remaining nearby.
Naruto silently observed these traces, his heart somewhat complex. He couldn't tell which were real bloodstains and which were realistic forgeries left behind when Gold Experience created those biological replicas... Perhaps both existed.
He said nothing, didn't try to offer pale comfort with words, only silently accompanied Satsuki, walking shoulder to shoulder with her, step by step toward the depths of the compound.
There was still a long distance from the entrance to the clan head's residence.
Then, without warning, the sky darkened and fine rain began to fall, quickly forming lines as it pattered down steadily. This rain that had come in the original story to emphasize loneliness had arrived as scheduled.
Raindrops struck their faces and bodies. Satsuki seemed so overwhelmed by the shock that she didn't even react at first, only continued walking in a daze.
Not until the rain soaked her hair and clothes, bringing an icy sensation, did she snap out of her dreamlike state.
She unconsciously stopped, then suddenly turned her head, looking at Naruto beside her with eyes filled with near-panic, thick helplessness, and pleading...
She wasn't worried about the rain, nor afraid of these empty streets. She was afraid—afraid that Naruto would leave because of this sudden downpour, that he'd find it troublesome, that he'd consider accompanying her on this final stretch a burden, that he'd abandon her to face it alone.
She didn't know what she'd do if Naruto really left, whether she'd have the courage to walk alone down this path leading to her already-broken "home."
She didn't want to be alone.
Absolutely not.
Naruto looked at Satsuki's rain-soaked face that appeared even paler, her slightly trembling shoulders. He hesitated briefly, then reached out and touched her wet hair.
Honestly, he'd wanted to do this for a long time, just hadn't been sure if the proud Satsuki would pull away.
But now... Satsuki only stiffened slightly, showing no resistance or evasion. Instead, as if seeking comfort, she continued looking at him with those tearful eyes filled with vulnerability and dependence.
"You..." Naruto sighed. "Have a little faith in me, would you?"
With that, he pulled Satsuki's hand and quickly ran to shelter under a nearby eave as the rain intensified. Both their hair and clothes had gotten somewhat wet, clinging to their bodies and bringing waves of chill.
Once steady, Naruto quickly formed a simple hand seal.
Poof!
With a light sound, an identical shadow clone appeared beside them.
"Go," Naruto's original body instructed concisely.
The shadow clone nodded. The next second, chakra exploded under his feet, and at the high speed shinobi used for travel, he instantly rushed into the curtain of rain, his figure disappearing at the end of the street after several bounds.
"Let's wait here for a moment," Naruto explained to Satsuki beside him. "He'll bring an umbrella right away. I told you I'd stay by your side, and I keep my word."
Hearing this, Satsuki lowered her head deeply, making her current expression unreadable, only nodding almost imperceptibly to show she'd heard.
However, her body unconsciously moved just a little bit closer to Naruto.
Naruto felt her subtle dependence, sighed again in his heart, and said nothing more, only occasionally stroking Satsuki's rain-dampened hair.
——————
On the other side, the shadow clone that had rushed into the rain stopped again after running far enough to completely leave Satsuki's line of sight, forming hand seals once more.
Poof!
Another puff of white smoke flashed, and another clone appeared.
One clone continued without pause toward the nearest general store.
The other newly created clone's aura suddenly changed! A vague figure emanating blue-pink light appeared behind him.
Then this clone sprinted at full speed toward Konoha Hospital.
His mission was to use that power that could repair everything to completely fulfill that "one hundred percent recovery" promise to Satsuki.