Chapter 52 The 3rd Party

This wasn't surprising, what really surprised Sasuke was what was next to the bed.

A brand new futon, out of place with the rest of the stuff in Naruto's room, was neatly placed next to the bed.

Sasuke was stunned.

All this time, he had thought that the relationship between him and Naruto was only temporary.

Once he surpasses Naruto, once he can't learn anything from Naruto, he will leave and find other ways to become stronger and continue his revenge plan.

But now, he was shaken.

This time, something deep inside him was touched, time seemed to stand still, and he felt like he was standing in a snowstorm, his whole body was cold.

The friendship and trust that he and Naruto had built up should have been his weakness, making him weak.

"Why do I feel so uneasy?" he thought to himself. "Why is this feeling so strong?"

He should just turn away.

He should reject this sudden warmth, throw it mercilessly back in Naruto's face, and then embark on his journey alone.

But he had had enough of those cold rooms, enough of those empty hallways, enough of those nights filled with pain and sorrow.

He had had enough of being alone.

And Naruto, like a warm sun, radiates dazzling light.

He was willing to share this warmth with Sasuke, even if it was only a little bit, it was enough to make Sasuke feel a little comforted.

"I'm going to regret this later," Sasuke thought.

******************

Naruto had been spending most of his time with Sasuke lately, so he wasn't too surprised when Sakura cornered him before class one morning.

Sakura's strong fingers tightened around his collar and she dragged him behind the training dummy.

"You...what do you want to do? Sakura, please talk nicely and don't use violence..." Naruto said incoherently.

Sakura covered his mouth to stop him from making any more sound.

"Shut up!" she whispered, looking around warily, as if she was worried that Ino would suddenly appear. "You came to class with Sasuke again this morning?"

Naruto blinked and asked in confusion:

"Yes what's the matter?"

"This is the fourth time this week!" Sakura said through gritted teeth.

"He just doesn't like staying at home, isn't that right? Would you like to live in a place where your whole family is killed?" Naruto said without thinking, "Besides, my room is so small, why would he come?"

"That's no reason for you to get so close," Sakura demanded.

Naruto made a face.

"We...we just had a fight, that's all."

Now it was Sakura's turn to widen her eyes in surprise.

"There was a fight?"

Naruto shrugged.

"Yeah, we had a fight. And then we became... friends?" He hesitated, unsure how to define his current relationship with Sasuke, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Sakura looked at him as if he were a monster, as if he had said something unbelievable.

"You guys never got along before, ever!"

Naruto shrugged again and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“It doesn’t fit now.”

Sakura was still staring at him, which made him feel uneasy.

He began to move his feet unconsciously, trying to get away from Sakura, like a person trying to avoid a wild animal.

"Well...we should go to class..."

Sakura grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Will he come to your place again after school today?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes and asked cautiously:

"Yes, today is Friday, and we agreed to have curry together. Why are you asking this?"

Sakura put her hands behind her back and showed a sweet smile that Naruto was familiar with on her face. He knew that this was definitely not a good thing.

"What do you want to do?" he asked warily.

"Nothing, I just want to come visit you, is that okay?"

"No." Naruto refused without hesitation.

"Come on, just this once, okay? Besides, you guys are having curry today, right? I know you learned how to cook from Iruka-sensei, and I heard Kai-sensei say that your curry is the best in Konoha Village!"

"So what? You don't really want to eat curry, you just want to show off in front of Ino that you and Sasuke are very close." Naruto said bluntly.

"No way? Okay, I admit that I do want Ino to know about this, but I also really want to taste your cooking. How about this, I pay for the ingredients?"

Naruto hesitated. His living expenses were not much to begin with, and they were almost all gone recently...

"Okay." He finally agreed, "But you are not allowed to do anything rash. Also, you must tell Sasuke in advance that you are not allowed to conduct surprise attacks."

Just like that, Sakura swaggered into Naruto's room after school.

She flipped through the scroll Naruto had placed on the table while Naruto and Sasuke were arguing in the kitchen about whether the curry should be made sweet or savory.

She kept her promise and didn't do anything out of line, and apparently, being able to live under the same roof with Sasuke was enough for her.

"Energy stitching? What is that?" She asked, pointing at one of the scrolls. She didn't ask where the scrolls came from, and she didn't seem to care.

"It's a medical ninjutsu," Naruto replied, "Iruka-sensei said it's a common first aid method on the battlefield. I saw him demonstrate it, it was amazing."

Sakura looked up and asked in surprise:

"Really? Do you know how to do it? Did Iruka-sensei teach you?"

"Impossible, his chakra control ability is too poor, it is impossible for him to learn this kind of advanced ninjutsu." Sasuke said on the side.

When Naruto heard this, he immediately elbowed him.

"You're not much better, asshole! And you're too jealous!"

"I don't think there's enough vinegar."

"I didn't ask for your opinion!"

They started arguing again, completely oblivious to the look of disbelief on Sakura's face.

She stood by and watched them arguing, her eyes changing from curiosity at first to anger.

"You two idiots! Curry is supposed to be spicy!" Sakura finally couldn't stand it anymore, yelled, and pushed them both aside.

Naruto and Sasuke were both startled and stared at Sakura blankly.

She snatched the spoon from Naruto's hand and the kitchen knife from Sasuke's hand with clean and quick movements, and then she began to skillfully handle the curry in the pot.

Sasuke watched all this in amazement, while Naruto couldn't help laughing, laughing so hard that tears came out. It was the first time he saw Sasuke with such a shocked expression.

After a while, Sasuke finally came back to his senses. He turned to look at Naruto and asked:

"Has she always been like this?"

Naruto wiped the tears from his eyes and said with a smile:

"That's what happens if you piss her off."