Naruto tapped lightly against tree branches, using the momentum to propel himself forward through the village.
He looked down at the unconscious Sasuke in his arms. He didn't dare run too fast—afraid the jarring motion would worsen his friend's injuries.
When he reached the hospital, they took Sasuke directly to the emergency room.
Naruto stood outside and waited quietly.
An hour later, the emergency room door opened. A doctor in a white coat stepped out, nodded slightly to Naruto, and explained Sasuke's condition.
After listening, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, nothing too serious. Some internal injuries, a hairline fracture in his right arm, another in his left foot. With proper care for about a month, he'd probably be discharged.
Naruto entered the hospital room quietly. He looked at Sasuke, now medicated and bandaged, with casts on one hand and one foot, both suspended in traction.
Some minor scratches marked his face. A shallow gash crossed his left cheek where Itachi's shuriken had grazed him.
Looking at Sasuke sleeping deeply, Naruto's tense heart finally relaxed.
The moment he did, exhaustion hit him. His back felt numb and sore. During the fight with Itachi, he'd overused those two back muscles. The excessive strain had caused his body to produce lactic acid through anaerobic respiration, and the buildup in his muscles created the soreness.
My control over my muscles still isn't good enough.
If his mastery of muscle and tendon manipulation were high enough to change their shape at will, when he'd fallen into Itachi's embrace, he could have made those two back muscles stand rigid and sharp like spikes. Combined with his body's strength—comparable to metal and stone—that strike definitely would have caused serious damage.
The Weapon Body technique still required much more study. It was the ultimate close-quarters weapon.
The doctor had mentioned that Sasuke's mind had suffered severe trauma on top of his physical injuries. It would probably take three or four days before he woke up.
And that was a conservative estimate.
"Sasuke, wake up soon. Don't forget—you have to get your revenge yourself." Naruto glanced at his friend once more, then decided to return to the farm first. There were still some loose ends to tie up.
Back at the farm, he found Nine-Tails standing on the stone in front of the wooden cabin, waiting with a knowing smirk.
"Naruto, you're finally back! How did it go?" Nine-Tails had felt that hated chakra signature leave the area, but didn't know the specific details.
"The one who killed the Uchiha clan was Itachi Uchiha, the eldest son of Clan Head Fugaku. Sasuke's older brother." Naruto said flatly.
"So it was internal conflict." Nine-Tails' ears flattened slightly.
Naruto shook his head. "It's definitely not that simple. I feel like there were many hands pushing from behind the scenes."
He began thinking through everything that had happened, but it felt like a tangled mess. The mess might be composed of a single thread running through it all, but with his limited wisdom and the incident having just occurred, he couldn't unravel it.
Still, this showed Naruto's early development of insight. The System's two years of teaching were paying off. When he'd been younger and ignorant, the System had made him read and study medical texts—not just to learn medicine, but to understand human nature, recognize how the world worked, and develop moral reasoning.
You can never judge someone by surface appearances alone. The System had taught him that. Did he really think that in stories and real life, just because people didn't change clothes on screen or never mentioned bodily functions, those things didn't happen?
Don't be blinded by a single leaf.
Using this logic, Naruto thought of a real example: Grandpa Third always smiled warmly at him—while simultaneously sending ANBU operatives to monitor him.
"By the way, Nine-Tails, did you handle those two?" Naruto asked.
Nine-Tails immediately patted his chest in assurance. "All taken care of! Same brick as last time. I threw in a few extra hits to be safe. They won't remember anything when they wake up."
"Good." Naruto nodded.
Without wasting more time, Naruto began training.
He felt the urgency of time pressing down on him.
If he achieved physical godhood today—could shatter the void itself with his fists—what would conspiracies and schemes matter? What would ghosts and demons be to him? He'd smash them all with a single punch. Why waste brain cells thinking about it?
The next morning, Naruto rose early. He cooked some millet porridge and prepared to visit Sasuke at the hospital.
If Sasuke woke up, he could give him the porridge to settle his stomach gently. With his current physical condition, this wasn't the time for heavy food.
When he arrived at the hospital, Sasuke was still unconscious.
Naruto sighed. He set aside the millet porridge he'd brought. He'd reheat it when Sasuke woke.
Tap, tap, tap.
Not long after, a series of light footsteps approached from outside. Naruto stepped out of the ward to look. It was Iruka-sensei, bringing classmates to visit Sasuke.
Everyone carried fruits, flowers, or snacks in their hands.
"Naruto, there you are. I've been looking for you." Iruka came over, speaking softly. "How is he? Has Sasuke woken up?"
Iruka's face looked heavy. He felt terrible for Sasuke. So young, and his entire clan... Thinking about it made him remember his own past. His heart grew even heavier.
"Not yet. But nothing too serious. I'll keep watching him." Naruto glanced at the cluster of classmates, then looked back at Iruka. "Sasuke needs quiet space right now. Maybe let everyone visit one or two at a time?"
"Yes, I was thinking the same thing." Iruka agreed with Naruto's suggestion immediately. He went to explain the situation to the students.
Iruka went in first to see Sasuke. Seeing the extent of the injuries, he sighed deeply, placed his gift aside, and stepped back out.
"Naruto, thank you for bringing Sasuke to the hospital." Haruno Sakura stopped as she passed him, eyes red.
Naruto nodded slightly. This was what he should do as a friend.
"Thank you, Naruto." Ino Yamanaka added her gratitude as well.
Both girls came out with tears streaming down their faces.
Then came Shikamaru and Choji. They were Naruto's friends, and Sasuke was Naruto's friend, so by extension, Sasuke was their friend too.
"Sasuke, wake up soon. This world isn't good enough. Without you, it's... even worse," Shikamaru murmured.
"Sasuke, when you wake up, I'll share all my food with you..." Choji's voice cracked.
"Naruto-kun, is Sasuke-kun going to be okay?" Hinata asked softly when her turn came.
"I heard yesterday was very dangerous. Naruto-kun, are you alright? I was so worried about you..." She looked at Naruto with genuine concern, fear flickering in her pale eyes that something might have happened to him.
Naruto shook his head reassuringly.
After everyone finished visiting Sasuke, Iruka took the students back to class.
Naruto naturally stayed to care for Sasuke. If he suddenly woke up and needed the bathroom, or wanted some fruit, someone had to be there to help.
Near noon, a familiar voice sounded at the door of the ward.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writing takes time, coffee, and a lot of love.If you'd like to support my work, join me at [email protected]/GoldenGaruda
You'll get early access to over 50 chapters, selection on new series, and the satisfaction of knowing your support directly fuels more stories.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~