nagpurpolice Chapter 577 Bonds
Chapter 577 Bonds
"It's over. How does revenge taste?"
Naruto watched as young Sasuke slowly walked back.
Sasuke's face was expressionless.
It wasn't the cold, expressionless kind, but rather a dazed look, as if he hadn't fully recovered from what had just happened, or hadn't truly internalized the fact that "Danzo is dead."
"……I have no idea."
There was no sense of satisfaction in Sasuke's tone after achieving his revenge. When he said "I don't know," he genuinely didn't understand how he was feeling.
This is completely different from Sasuke's reaction after killing Danzo in the original work.
"But... I have a question for you."
Sasuke struggled to pull himself out of his dazed state. His gaze fell on Naruto.
"The strength you gave me..."
"But I feel like before I gained this power, you didn't seem to care about anything I had... So..."
There was something uncertain in his eyes that rarely appeared on his face—a cautious hesitation, as if he were testing something.
He was worried. He worried that if he made the wrong decision, if he chose the path that Naruto didn't want him to choose, if he used these eyes to do things he shouldn't have—would Naruto take back this power?
Also, what if Naruto asks him to forgive everything else? Not Danzo, Danzo is dead and doesn't need anyone's forgiveness.
Instead, he should forgive those who stood with Danzo, those who gave him a push in the darkness. If Naruto said, "You should let go of your hatred," what should he do? Can he refuse? Should he refuse?
"...I don't want to decide other people's lives without my consent."
Naruto spoke up.
"But I think these eyes are a help, not a distraction."
"It's up to you to decide what to do. But... if I had to make a request, I would only ask that you remember this one thing."
Sasuke's heart started racing as he waited for Naruto to make that request, for the answer he both feared and anticipated—an answer that could change all his future decisions.
"Don't hurt innocent people."
Sasuke was stunned for a moment.
"……Then what?"
"That's all."
Naruto shook his head. "That's all."
"...Is that all?"
Young Sasuke thought that older Naruto would ask him for more, that he would say things like, "You have to use these eyes to protect the village," the kind of things an adult of that age would usually say to a child.
"But don't narrow the scope of 'innocent' too much."
Naruto had no choice but to add this sentence.
"For example, you could kill Shimura Danzo, the mastermind behind the Nine-Tails' attack, or even the Konoha high-ranking officials who pressured the Uchiha back then, without any problem."
"However, if it's a decision made by some high-level officials, and you want to take your anger out on the entire village or the country and kill all the civilians in the village, I don't want to see that kind of scene."
"...I'm not that extreme."
Sasuke's voice carried a slight hint of displeasure, a quality that only comes with being offended.
Young Sasuke felt that Naruto was being a bit too extreme.
"Okay, that's good."
Naruto's lips curled up slightly. "Anyway, I hope you can control your vengeful heart, just like now, not disappear, just control it."
"I won't interfere in your life. I can understand what the Uchiha clan has suffered in Konoha..."
Naruto wouldn't dare say he fully understood, but he at least knew that such pain couldn't be relieved by simply saying "let it go."
"So, even if you leave the village, I can understand."
He was giving young Sasuke the right to choose. He didn't have to return to Konoha, he didn't have to forgive those people, and he didn't have to follow the path that others had laid out for him.
You can choose to leave, you can choose to go wherever you want, you can choose to live any kind of life you want. I won't stop you, and I won't let anyone else stop you.
"Wait, wait, wait! No! Sasuke! You can't leave the village!"
However, from the woods behind, came a hurried, urgent sound, as if someone had stepped on its tail.
That voice was so familiar, so familiar that Sasuke knew who it was without even turning around. Naruto had finally confirmed the situation of his companions—those who needed to be sent back had been sent back, and those who needed to be settled had been settled—and then, guided by the sounds of the battle and that all-too-familiar chakra aura, he made his way here.
As he walked through the woods, he was still thinking, "How is Sasuke doing?" But as soon as he got close, he heard Naruto say, "Even if you leave the village, I can understand." He immediately exploded.
Naruto emerged from the woods looking somewhat disheveled, with a few leaves hanging from his hair, and completely ignoring the corpse not far away.
Sasuke glanced at the idiot who was rushing over, covered in sweat and with leaves stuck to his face, then turned his head back.
"Shut up, you utter idiot."
"Seriously! Why are you saying all this!"
Naruto ran up to Sasuke, grabbed Sasuke's shoulder, and clenched his fingers tightly on Sasuke's shoulder blade, as if afraid that Sasuke would suddenly disappear.
He stared straight at Naruto, at that face that looked exactly like his own, but was many times more composed, his voice filled with undisguised accusation.
"My goal was to get Sasuke back to the village! Why did you suggest he leave?!"
Sasuke's shoulders were being gripped by Naruto's, but he made no attempt to break free. His body stiffened slightly for a moment, then slowly, little by little, relaxed.
Naruto watched this scene, seeing Sasuke being held by the shoulders by Naruto but not resisting at all.
"...I'm just stating my position."
"Besides, Sasuke isn't leaving the village to join Orochimaru again, and his life isn't in danger. Even if he's heartbroken by the Uchiha massacre, can't he leave the village if he wants to?"
"Huh? This..."
Naruto's voice suddenly lowered, and his expression changed from anxious to conflicted.
Yes. Naruto thought to himself silently. He knew everything Sasuke had experienced in his childhood. He knew what Sasuke had lost, what Sasuke had gone through, and how many nights Sasuke had spent alone in that empty clan compound.
He knew there were problems on all sides. He knew Sasuke had reasons to hate Konoha, reasons to leave Konoha, and reasons he never wanted to return to that place. He knew. He knew everything.
However, he still didn't want Sasuke to leave.
"Then I'll go with Sasuke!"
"Huh? Idiot! What are you saying?!"
Sasuke's voice suddenly rose, and his face—which had just been cold, expressionless, and deliberately avoiding looking at Naruto—suddenly turned red.
He leaned back slightly, trying to break free from Naruto's grasp, but Naruto's grip was too tight, and he struggled twice without success.
"How could I possibly let you leave the village alone!"
Naruto's voice boomed in front of Sasuke. His eyes were fixed on Sasuke, on those eyes filled with panic, shyness, and a little anger. His expression was one of stubbornness, as if he wouldn't change his mind no matter what Sasuke said.
"Sasuke, you'll never get rid of me again!"
Although Sasuke hadn't decided whether to leave the village or not, and probably hadn't seriously thought about the question, Naruto still shouted that.
"Whether you leave or not is your business, but I will follow you; that's my business. Don't even think about getting rid of me, don't even think about leaving alone, and don't even think about leaving me alone in that village without you."
"Why are you following me?!"
Sasuke's face was still red. "Didn't you want to become Hokage?!"
"If even you can't believe in me, what right do I have to become Hokage!"
Although Naruto himself has never admitted it, and although he always uses words like "rival," "comrade," and "friend" to define their relationship—in those unspoken corners, perhaps even in places he himself is not fully aware of.
In terms of possessiveness and importance, Sasuke far surpasses the Hokage.
Becoming Hokage was his dream, but Sasuke—Sasuke was something else entirely. It was something he had never told anyone, something that even he himself felt was a bit off, but something he simply couldn't control.
Having grown up without family and lacking love, Naruto projected all his stubbornness, domineering nature, and possessiveness onto Sasuke.
It wasn't intentional, and he wasn't even aware of it—but that's how it was.
From the moment they became teammates, eating together, training together, and doing missions together, Sasuke became an irreplaceable and more important person in his life than anything else.
He couldn't speak, didn't know how to express himself, but his actions spoke for him—he wouldn't let Sasuke go alone, wouldn't let Sasuke disappear from his side, wouldn't let anything widen the distance between them. Even if Sasuke went to the ends of the earth, he would follow.
Naruto stood to the side, watching the two children bickering, and prepared to turn away and stop watching.
But Satsuki, who was next to him, suddenly became very interested.
Naruto glanced at her, then at the two children who were still arguing, and was about to say, "Never mind, let them argue for a while longer"—when a thought suddenly popped into his mind.
"Hey, you two. Come on, follow me."
Naruto called out to the two of them, interrupting their argument.
"The resurrected Fugaku Uchiha, Mikoto Uchiha, the Fourth Hokage, and his wife have awakened."