At the end of the notes, Sai noticed the blush spreading across Maki's face, and everything suddenly made sense to him.
He realized that throughout the entire explanation of the plan, Maki had been holding back her embarrassment, which was why she had appeared so calm.
If Sai still had normal human emotions, he would've burst out laughing—compared to everyone else's lengthy speeches, Maki's reaction struck him as even more amusing.
"Uh… What an ambitious plan, right?" Sai broke the silence, feeling it was getting too awkward not to say anything.
Maki gave a stiff nod, too nervous to speak, afraid that if she opened her mouth, she'd end up exposing her embarrassment.
"Is there something you *want* to say?"
"What am I even supposed to say?" Maki murmured, her tone filled with disbelief. She couldn't believe she was actually going to marry Naruto. Yet, she had to admit, Danzo's plan did make a certain amount of sense.
"I mean… I really do care about Senior Naruto. I always have cared about him, but… sigh…" Maki turned away, scratching her cheek, "...if he hadn't been sent outside the village, maybe we really would've ended up together."
Sai's grin widened even more.
"You want to marry Senior Naruto, don't you, Miss Maki?"
"What?" Maki shot to her feet, her face turning bright red. "I never said that! How could you even ask such an inappropriate question?"
The grin on Sai's face didn't fade in the least.
"But you didn't deny it either, did you?"
Maki didn't answer. Instead, she spun around and darted through the crowd, leaving the room.
Watching her retreat, Sai helplessly shook his head before beginning to gather up the microfilm, preparing to destroy it.
## Several Hours Later – Naruto's Home ##
Naruto's house was packed with people—including all nine ninjas who had graduated alongside him. As the host, Naruto warmly welcomed everyone and had prepared a lavish feast for his guests.
Kiba Inuzuka was convinced Naruto threw this party just to show off his huge house.
"Check out my big house, jealous yet?" Kiba thought to himself.
He was genuinely jealous, especially watching Tamako play the part of the perfect hostess.
"Well, Naruto, it's good seeing you again, bro, but seriously, that girl is really bugging me," Kiba said, pointing at Tamako, who was chatting with the other female guests. "I still can't believe she lives with you. You lucky bastard. Why does this never happen to me?"
Naruto peeked out from the kitchen to pour himself a drink before walking back into the living room. "To be honest, life's like the weather—it's great when it shines, but when the rain hits, it pours…"
As he spoke, Naruto reached over and gently patted Akamaru's head.
"Now that we're all together again, there's something important I wanted to talk about."
Sakura Haruno immediately stopped talking and whipped her head around to face Naruto in an instant.
"Did you see Sasuke?" she asked.
Sakura's words made Tamako, seated nearby, feel rather displeased. She let out a quiet, resentful "hmmph."
"Talk about timing."
Naruto walked over to Tamako and gently rested his hand on her shoulder.
"It's okay, Tamako. That's exactly why I brought everyone here. You know that."
"You called all of us here just to talk about the mission?" Shikamaru Nara asked, recalling his previous involvement in helping Naruto return to his hometown. "You really fought Sasuke, didn't you?"
Naruto leaned back against the kitchen counter and let out a sigh.
"What a hellish day that was. I fought Deidara from Akatsuki and got a bit injured. Then I tracked down Sasuke and found out he fought against Itachi."
Ino shot up from her seat immediately.
"Are you saying Sasuke actually fought his older brother? What happened next?"
Naruto's expression turned serious as he continued,
"Sasuke did fight me... And Itachi too. We three had a battle."
Recalling the fight, Naruto instinctively winced. He considered that battle among the worst three days of his life.
"We destroyed the entire base. Sasuke's power was unbelievable; I couldn't even believe the strength of his attacks... And Itachi proved to be as terrifying as we'd imagined."
Naruto wished he could better describe how brutal that battle had been.
Sakura listened carefully to every word Naruto said, piecing them together and analyzing their meaning.
His tone, Sasuke's absence, and his use of past tense all pointed to a single conclusion.
If Naruto had won, he wouldn't sound like this now.
"You won, didn't you?" Sakura met Naruto's blue gaze directly.
Naruto nodded slightly.
"What happened in the end?" Even though Sakura had already guessed the outcome, she still wanted to hear it firsthand—even if it would hurt deeply.
All eyes turned to Naruto. It was time to reveal the truth.
Naruto took a deep breath and said,
"Orochimaru's soul had been sealed inside the Cursed Seal on Sasuke's neck, and traces of Orochimaru's strength remained inside him. During our three-man battle, Sasuke ran out of energy first, and Orochimaru seized the chance to take over his body, turning into a monster. Itachi and I worked together to suppress Orochimaru, but by then, Sasuke was no longer able to fight. I tried to finish him with my strongest jutsu, but Itachi blocked my attack using the same technique. He didn't want me killing Sasuke."
"So," Sakura's voice carried hope. Seeing Naruto nod, her hope surged stronger.
"But..." Naruto's tone suddenly shifted. "I had used the exact same jutsu earlier against the Sasuke controlled by Orochimaru, and that attack completely destroyed his chakra network. The only reason he survived was because Orochimaru's monstrous form temporarily strengthened his body. Although Itachi blocked my final strike, my teammates later told me that Sasuke was already dead. My attack caused irreversible damage to his body."
After listening to Naruto's account, Shikamaru decided to get straight to the point.
"So, are you telling us that you killed Sasuke Uchiha during the fight?"
"Yes," Naruto replied. He could feel the heavy silence settle over the room.
"If I'd had the chance, I would've brought his body back, but back then I had no strength left. After Itachi blocked my attack, the base blew up. I never hated Sasuke, but in a battle like that, I could only choose to show no mercy."
From the start, the Uchiha brothers harbored hostility toward him.
The room fell silent as everyone was trying to absorb the news.
Most people believed Naruto had done the right thing. Ino felt sad but silently accepted the result. After all, she couldn't blame Naruto for completing his mission.
Sakura fully understood Naruto's situation; she could examine the whole incident from every angle.
There was a time when she had hoped to be strong enough—strong enough to make the same decision as Naruto while joining forces with Tamako against Sasuke.
But it did nothing to ease her pain now. She felt as if someone had pierced her heart with a knife and twisted it cruelly.
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