newbobooks Chapter 112 Parents and Children
Chapter 112 Parents and Children
Satsuki slowly opened her eyes. It was the familiar ceiling... to be precise, the ceiling of the Japanese-style room where she often stayed at home.
Outside the window, the faint, melodious chirping of birds could be heard—the unique calls of early morning.
She slowly sat up, the blanket covering her slipping off her body. Almost subconsciously, still groggy and dependent from just waking up, she unconsciously uttered the name of the person she most wanted to see at that moment.
"Naruto..."
"Oh, you're awake?" That familiar, incredibly reassuring voice immediately came from nearby. "Did you sleep well? Did you have any nightmares?"
Hearing the sound, Zuo Yue turned her head and saw Naruto sitting cross-legged on the tatami mat not far away, leaning against the wall, reading a rather thick novel. The title on the cover was—"Battle Through the Heavens".
Zuo Yue vaguely remembered that this was one of the books on her father's bookshelf in his study.
Upon hearing that she had woken up, Naruto naturally closed the book, casually placed it on the tatami mat beside him, and then stood up and walked over.
"Because you fell asleep while walking outside yesterday, I had to carry you back here first."
He explained, "You didn't eat dinner last night, are you hungry? Get up and wash up first, I have something to show you."
Satsuki then fully regained her senses and realized that the room she was in was the Japanese-style room next to the living room where she and Naruto had spent the previous afternoon warming themselves by the fire, drinking tea, and chatting, and not her own bedroom.
This realization made her heart leap into her throat again, a wave of tension and panic washing over her. He...he didn't take me back to my room? Then...did he go in? Did he see...that...?
She cautiously raised her eyes and tentatively called out softly, "Naruto..."
"Hmm? What's wrong?" Naruto stopped and looked at her, his expression completely natural, showing no sign of anything unusual or teasing.
Looking closely at Naruto's unchanging and ever-present open and honest expression, Satsuki's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down, and a feeling of relief welled up inside him.
It seems... he probably never went in...
She quickly lowered her head to hide her embarrassment, muttering softly, "N-nothing..."
While she was still dazed and slightly guilty from just waking up, she found that Naruto had grabbed her hand without saying a word and pulled her up with a little force.
"Alright, stop daydreaming and get up!" Naruto said with a sly smile. "There's a 'surprise' waiting for you outside."
Seeing Naruto's expression, which clearly concealed a secret, Satsuki became even more puzzled. However, she did not have any intention of breaking free. Instead, she obediently let Naruto take her hand and lead her step by step out of the room and into the living room.
Then--
A voice, so familiar and gentle, that she thought she could only hear in her dreams for a long time, entered her ears clearly.
Good morning, Satsuki.
Zuo Yue's pupils suddenly contracted, her eyes widened abruptly, and she froze in place as if she had been frozen in place!
That voice… she knew it so well! It was her mother's voice!
She looked incredulously toward the dining table in the living room—and there, two people were sitting!
The parents she thought were still unconscious in the hospital, and even predicted by doctors that they might never wake up, were Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Fugaku.
They seemed to be waiting for Satsuki to have breakfast together. Father Fugaku sat there, his eyes not as sharp as usual, but rather showing fatigue, and his face looked somewhat haggard and pale.
As for her mother, Mikoto... although she wore the gentle smile that Satsuki knew best, her reddened and even slightly swollen eyes silently told the story of the crying she must have gone through after waking up.
Zuo Yue was completely stunned, her brain instantly overloaded, unable to process the information that was beyond her comprehension.
She instinctively gripped Naruto's arm tightly beside her, and whispered to him for confirmation with extreme uncertainty.
"...Naruto...can you...can you see that?...That's...?"
"Yes," Naruto replied with absolute certainty and reassurance, "Uncle and Aunt are back. Welcome home."
"But...the doctor said yesterday...they...how could this be..." Zuo Yue still couldn't believe it, the huge shock made her incoherent.
"It might be a miracle, but it doesn't seem like it... Anyway, let's go over there first. If we go and check it out ourselves, we'll know whether it's an illusion or a dream, right?"
Naruto almost blurted out, "Even without me, you won't be alone." But when he thought of the crazy surge in bond level last night, which even exceeded the system's limit, he swallowed it back.
Zuo Yue was filled with confusion. She cautiously walked forward step by step.
Seeing her daughter's cautious and fearful expression, as if the scene before her was about to shatter, Mikoto felt a pang of heartache. She could no longer hold back and reached out to tightly grasp Satsuki's cold little hand.
She conveyed that real, warm touch. She didn't say anything to comfort her, but simply gazed at her daughter with incredibly tender eyes, silently telling her that it was real, that Mom was here, and Dad was here too.
The familiar warmth and strength of her mother's palm, and the undeniably real tenderness in her mother's eyes, though filled with heartache, exhaustion, and sorrow, finally shattered the last vestiges of uncertainty and fear in Zuo Yue's heart.
The huge rock that had been pressing down on her heart, almost suffocating her, suddenly fell to the ground and shattered without a trace!
Instead, she was overwhelmed by a tremendous joy and the ecstasy of regaining what she had lost!
"……Mother!"
With a tearful cry, Satsuki threw herself into Mikoto's arms, as if trying to melt into the warmth of what she had lost and found again.
Once again, because of her parents, Satsuki burst into tears. But this time, her tears were scalding hot, an outpouring of immense relief and joy.
She cried so intensely that even Fugaku, who had always taught her to be strong and patient, didn't frown at all. He simply watched his youngest daughter silently with his eyes, which looked slightly weathered after experiencing great changes, his eyes filled with heartache and guilt.
Seeing this reunion, Naruto's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down. The guilt in his heart also dissipated, replaced by a heartfelt sense of relief and satisfaction.
That's great... Finally... Even after the night of the massacre, Zuo Yue still has her parents by her side and doesn't have to bear everything alone anymore...
However, just as this heartwarming atmosphere reached its peak, Satsuki, who was crying loudly in her mother's arms, suddenly stopped crying without warning.
She abruptly lifted her head from Mikoto's embrace, almost with a panicked, desperate urgency, as if grasping at a straw. She turned her head sharply, her gaze sweeping rapidly across the surroundings, finally settling precisely on the figure that had been standing quietly not far away—
She looked at Naruto.
Before Naruto could even wipe the satisfied smile off his face, he was suddenly met with a gaze from Sasuke.
This sight caused his body to freeze instantly on the spot.
because……
Satsuki's eyes, which had just been filled with the joy of reunion and tears, were now filled with... panic!
What's wrong?
Naruto was filled with confusion and a sudden sense of unease. A pure fear was gripping Sasuke's heart, even overshadowing the immense joy of his recent reunion with his parents.
Is she...scared?
Satsuki was indeed afraid. When her parents appeared before her unharmed, the "uniqueness" that had driven her to the brink of despair suddenly vanished, and a deeper fear gnawed at her heart.
If her parents return and everything "returns to normal," then what about her desperate, almost pleading dependence on Naruto yesterday? Where is the foundation of the "promise" that pulled her back from the brink of despair?
She was afraid that this only "foundation" supporting her would be taken away!
She feared that if she lost that extreme situation where "you are indispensable," she would also lose the "qualification" and "reason" to stay by Naruto's side and monopolize all his attention.
Under the puzzled gazes of her parents, Satsuki gently broke free from her mother's embrace. With her head down, she slowly walked towards Naruto.
Finally, she stopped in front of Naruto, still not daring to look him in the eye, only murmuring in a faint, almost inaudible voice, her words chaotic and helpless. "Naruto...you...I...I, what should I do..."
She slowly raised her hands and gripped Naruto's sleeves tightly. Then, under her parents' increasingly astonished gazes, she suddenly raised her head and cried out in a desperate sob.
"Naruto...please...don't go!"
When Naruto met her eyes, which were completely washed by tears and filled with panic and pleading, he clearly understood the deeper question that was left unspoken.
"Will you still want me? Do I... still have a reason to stay by your side now?"
She was afraid. Afraid that Naruto would think "mission accomplished" and "crisis resolved," and thus take it for granted that he would leave her. She was afraid of losing this newly acquired, precious, and unique connection.
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(One update this morning, three updates this afternoon. In the next chapter, Bie Tian's mouth will continue to spit fire.)