2 Because I Cherish You

On the Hokage Rock, Naruto stared blankly up at the sky.

The setting sun bathed the clouds in fiery red hues, and he seemed utterly captivated. After an unknown stretch of time, a sparrow fluttered its wings and took flight.

His attention was quickly drawn to the sparrow, and watching the little bird soar freely across the sky, the blond boy couldn’t help but smile.

But the smile lasted less than two seconds before he saw another sparrow fly up beside the first. The two birds nestled close together and flew off into the distance.

They were gone.

The bright smile froze on Naruto’s face and slowly faded away.

A hint of melancholy surfaced in his eyes.

Just then, he felt a weight on his shoulder, someone pressing down on him, causing him to lean forward involuntarily.

“Uh?! Who—” Before he could finish speaking, a girl’s cheerful voice cut him off.

“What are you daydreaming about here?”

The little girl seemed to have just run up the Hokage Rock, her damp bangs stuck to her forehead, and her breath was slightly labored as she spoke.

Naruto remained dazed for a long moment, still somewhat vacant.

“What’s with that silly expression?” Though teasing, the girl’s tone was sweet and gentle, far from annoying.

Unable to resist, she pinched Naruto’s cheek. “You didn’t eat dinner last night, are you hungry now?”

Naruto nodded.

“Then let’s go find something to eat.” Konno shrugged. “My allowance is almost gone, so we’ll probably only be able to afford bread or instant noodles.”

Naruto obediently nodded again.

“Come on, let’s go.” Konno reached out her hand.

Naruto grasped it and stood up accordingly. After a few steps following Konno, the usually silent boy finally spoke, “Konno, did you come looking for me?”

“Otherwise?” Konno rolled her eyes. “Next time you go somewhere, remember to tell me.”

There was a trace of annoyance in her voice, but she lost sight of him soon after, and Naruto vanished without a trace.

If it were anyone else, Konno wouldn’t care, but it was Naruto.

Did Naruto realize how many villains coveted his body? Fool!

Naruto would lose control again in the future, and he himself wouldn’t remember what happened during those times.

He would mistake severed fingers for candy and the people he killed for attacking puppets.

Listening to Konno’s constant complaints, Naruto muttered gloomily, “Konno…”

“Hm?”

“Why are you so kind to me?”

This question had long been bottled up inside Naruto.

Though young, the cold stares of the villagers had already made him sensitive in many ways.

In his memory, Konno was the only one who treated him with such warm kindness.

Third Hokage didn’t count.

Uncle Ichiraku didn’t count.

Konno Uzumaki was... different from them.

Naruto sometimes couldn’t help but wonder if he was really an unlucky monster, even despising himself.

But Konno always cared for him steadfastly.

“I’m just worried that if I tell you the reason, you wouldn’t believe me.”

The blond boy immediately pressed, “What?”

Konno said seriously, “Actually, I have memories of a past life.”

“Past life memories?!” Naruto exclaimed, then stopped in his tracks, holding his breath, eyes wide and fixed on her.

“Want to hear?”

Naruto nodded eagerly.

“Yes, in our past lives, we were lovers. You suffered a lot since childhood. To protect you, I was willing to give everything. In the end, I sacrificed myself, and you waited for me until old age.”

“How cool!” Naruto believed her completely.

“But lovers?” The boy was puzzled by the word. “What’s that?”

“It means being together and loving each other.”

“Is it like family?” Naruto thought of the beings he admired most.

Konno considered it and nodded, “Yes.”

She cupped Naruto’s hand and, almost solemnly as if making a vow, said:

“This is our destiny, but destiny has more than one ending. That’s why in this life, I found you early. I want to protect you and help you find true happiness.”

That’s how we Fate players do it.

The fated romance of Boy Meets Girl flows naturally.

Under the gaze of her warm, clear, tea-colored eyes, Naruto’s face flushed deeper and deeper until he whispered softly:

“In any case, we’re family. We must always be together.”

“Right.” Konno nodded. “We both share the Uzumaki name. It’s pretty rare. Maybe eight hundred years ago, we were really one family.”

Naruto looked wistful. “I wish I had red hair too. Then we’d look more like family.”

He admired Konno’s beautiful red hair.

“My hair isn’t good. It’s coarse and thick. Every morning I have to wet my comb before brushing.”

“No, it’s really, really beautiful!” Naruto insisted. “Anyone who sees Konno’s red hair will definitely be drawn to it.”

Konno felt Naruto was looking at her through rose-colored glasses.

But she was still very happy.

Who wouldn’t be pleased by such sincere praise?

Naruto Uzumaki was a very good boy.

Since fate had given her these eyes that saw through reincarnation, she had to do something about it.

That familiar player’s sense of destiny crept back in.

She said seriously:

“I will live happily with you, Sasuke, and another person who will appear in the future but whose identity we don’t yet know.”

Hearing the first part, Naruto was moved to tears; but when she mentioned the latter half, his tears stopped, and his expression fell.

“Why!?” he protested.

“Why include that annoying Sasuke?”

“Because Sasuke is your older brother from a past life.”

(This life is uncertain since Naruto doesn’t really look like Fugaku Uchiha’s illegitimate son... Hmm, maybe I should investigate.)

Konno thought she had revealed a long-kept secret, but Naruto’s expression looked as if he had just eaten a fly.

“No way! That guy is my brother? I’d rather jump off Hokage Rock than call him brother!”

The red-haired girl sighed.

She roughly understood where Naruto’s grievances lay.

It was the possessiveness of childhood friendship.

She had almost never spoken to Sasuke, so why did she act as if they were close?

But fate was like that.

Destined, Sasuke would secretly fall for her in his early teens, forging a bond that transcended the cycles of fate.

In some alternate fate, she would be with Sasuke, truly becoming partners of justice.

“Besides, Sasuke plays an important role.”

Because when you’re a bit older, she could choose to perform chakra supplementation.

But since Naruto had suffered from the parasite torment, she respected him and felt it better to supplement chakra with Sasuke.

Of course, she also respected Sasuke, but... sigh, it was all sacrifices to overturn fate.

Since he was an older brother, of course he had to yield to his younger brother.

*

Today’s lesson was taijutsu sparring, and the students paired off.

Naruto and Sasuke faced each other.

One was among the top ranks; the other was at the bottom, so the result was unsurprising.

Naruto was instantly defeated by Sasuke.

However, when Iruka-sensei asked them to seal their reconciliation with a handshake, both refused.

The two boys, who had long disliked each other, grabbed each other’s collars, about to fight.

Ah, Sasuke kicked Naruto!

Konno was heartbroken.

Ah, Naruto grabbed Sasuke’s face!

Konno’s pain deepened.

Ah, Sasuke punched Naruto!

Konno felt like she couldn’t breathe.

The two boys wrestled, and Iruka-sensei couldn’t pull them apart.

“You lied to Konno!” Naruto shouted while fighting.

“I don’t know that woman you’re talking about!” Sasuke was equally furious.

Konno, at the center of this conflict, felt both happy and hurt.

Obviously, she selectively filtered out Sasuke’s excuses.

Konno wanted to shyly shout to them.

Stop fighting!

I admit, you’re both my wings!

In the end, Naruto took two punches, but with his persistence, Sasuke was also left in a sorry state, his clothes torn.

Looking at the young master sitting at the desk, messy but still exuding a cold aura, Konno decided to speak.

The Uchiha clan was known for being aloof and exclusive; the villagers only knew the prestigious family but not their inner workings.

After much thought, she felt she should ask Sasuke.

He was Itachi Uchiha’s younger brother and likely one of the most observant about the Uchiha family.

She wanted to ask if Itachi had any close secret friends.

When Kirei Kotomine killed their teacher Tokiomi Tohsaka, he collaborated with a vile fellow named Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh was Tokiomi Tohsaka’s servant.

There were no known servants in the Uchiha clan, so Itachi’s accomplice must be someone connected to the Uchiha family.

Perhaps a subordinate? A student?

“Good afternoon, Sasuke.”

Konno, ever familiar, sat beside Sasuke, making it clear she wasn’t moving.

This instantly caused a stir among the girls closely watching—Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka, and others.

Sasuke was the most popular boy in class, a shared treasure, and no girl dared sit so intimately by his side.

What was going on with Konno Uzumaki?

Normally, hanging out with Naruto, the bottom-ranker, was one thing, but now she was sitting beside Sasuke?

“Ino last time tried to sit next to Sasuke, but he just walked away.”

“Just wait, Sasuke will definitely kick Konno Uzumaki out!”

Yet, under their eager gazes, Sasuke did not do what they expected.

When Sasuke saw Konno, his expression flickered subtly, but he merely snorted and didn’t drive her away nor leave himself.

Impossible!

Ino was so aggrieved she couldn’t speak: “Sasuke, how could you—”

“You’re noisy.” Sasuke coldly glanced up.

Ino was too angry to reply, sitting aside in grievance, and Sakura gave her a comforting look and joined her.

Seeing Konno looking toward Ino, for some reason Sasuke’s cheeks flushed slightly, his pride taking a hit.

His expression grew sourer as he deliberately said coldly to Konno, “You’re annoying too.”

Konno was unfazed by this tsundere attack.

“Can’t you say anything else besides that?”

She remained calm because she was certain Sasuke was a textbook tsundere and would repay these words later.

No matter how many words he said, if Sasuke said he disliked her, it meant he liked her.

“I want to ask you a question.”

Was the familiar, overly friendly aura of the fool always this strong?

Sasuke glared at her for a moment, then reluctantly said, “...Ask.”

“It’s simple, really. It’s about your brother,” Konno said bluntly. “Has he been unusually silent lately?”

At first Sasuke was wary, but Konno’s words hit the mark, and he was at a loss.

Because his usually gentle brother had indeed grown more silent and troubled recently.

“Why do you ask?” Sasuke kept a cold expression.

Konno certainly couldn’t say, “Because your brother thinks life’s too boring and killed your father to find pleasure.”

“Because I have eyes that see through reincarnation.”

Sasuke was suspicious; he hadn’t heard of any powerful ocular bloodline abilities in Konoha besides the Uchiha and Hyuga.

“By the way, actually, you and I were lovers in a past life...”

Seeing her spout nonsense, Sasuke’s face turned cold immediately.

“So Naruto is your lover from a past life too?”

“How do you know!”

Konno was startled.

Sasuke sneered, “Because that idiot keeps blabbing about it everywhere!”

Konno felt relieved. “Naruto’s become more cheerful.”

Sasuke: ...

“Do you know your brother?” Mentioning him, Sasuke’s tone softened slightly.

Though he didn’t know what had happened to Itachi, he thought Konno might be right—Itachi was indeed facing some unsolvable problem.

Even Shisui couldn’t help...

They were the clan’s most outstanding geniuses and very close.

If even they couldn’t solve it, what could it be?

Because of Itachi’s philosophical dilemma, the conversation between Konno and Sasuke flowed smoothly.

“Does your brother often talk about family ambitions, finding life’s meaning, magnanimity, and other hard-to-understand things?”

Sasuke nodded.

“Does your brother seem to obey your father but remain silent and poor at expressing himself?”

He thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Is your brother tense mentally, and hard to read what he’s thinking lately?”

He added instinctively, “He’s been smiling less these days.”

Honestly, Sasuke was shocked. How did Konno know more about his brother’s condition than he did?

“Do you really not know my brother?”

Konno replied solemnly, “I just have some understanding of your brother’s illness.”

“Your brother is sick?!”

Yes.

Konno answered heavily in her heart.

Mentally ill.