"Ahhhhhhh"
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh"
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"
After hearing the scream, Kakashi stood outside for a moment, his visible eye narrowing slightly.
At first, his mind moved in a direction he did not want to openly admit.
'Were Naruto and Sakura doing something intimate?'
The thought came naturally, almost too naturally, because of the kind of books he always read. Love stories, messy relationships, misunderstandings, secret feelings. Specially written by toad Sannin—Kakashi had read enough of them to recognize, the same situation.
Before, Sakura had always been focused on Sasuke. Her eyes followed him, her words were always sweet toward him, and her attention almost never left him for long. But recently, something had changed.
Now, why did Sakura went outside with Naruto.
That made the situation look like a strange triangle.
Sakura, who had once chased Sasuke without hesitation, now seemed to be moving closer to Naruto. Kakashi was curious. A part of him truly wanted to know the full story behind it. This sort of relationship change was exactly the kind of thing that would appear in the books he enjoyed.
But Kakashi controlled himself.
Team 7 was his team. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were his comrades and students. No matter how curious he felt, he could not simply poke into their private matters too deeply.
'Everyone has secrets,' Kakashi thought calmly. 'And some secrets should remain with them unless they choose to speak.'
After the screaming stopped, Naruto and Sakura came out.
Sakura's face looked somewhat tense, and red, but she quickly calmed herself. In the end, she agreed to what Naruto had said earlier. She did not argue further, and the night passed without any more disturbance.
........
The next day arrived.
In the morning.
Sakura attitude toward Naruto had clearly changed. She brought him tea warmly, prepared a good breakfast, and even packed lunch for the journey.
After they finished preparing, Team 7 left Tazuna's house and started their journey back toward Konoha.
Sakura walked beside Naruto.
Sasuke walked ahead of them, while Kakashi moved in the middle, silently observing his students.
Sasuke noticed it immediately.
Sakura was no longer walking near him like she usually did. Before, she had always stayed close to him. She had always called his name, looked at him with shining eyes, and treated him like he was the coolest person in the team.
He was strong. He was talented. He excelled in everything. Because of that, Sakura had followed him like a firefly chasing light.
But now that light had changed.
Now Sakura was walking beside Naruto.
Naruto.
The same Naruto she had always hated. The same Naruto she had called annoying. The same Naruto she had looked down on as a creep. Yet now, after Naruto showed strength, and his intelligence. She was standing beside him like he was the one who mattered most.
Sasuke's eyes darkened slightly.
'So that's how it is. She is a pure Gold digger.'
In his mind, Sakura's image began to change.
Before, he had only thought of her as noisy and troublesome. But now, a worse thought entered his head.
'She only favors the one who is stronger. The one who looks cooler. The one who excels more.'
To Sasuke, Sakura started to look like someone who simply shifted toward the person standing higher. When Sasuke was the strongest in her eyes, she chased him. Now that Naruto had shown power, she moved toward Naruto instead.
A bad image of Sakura slowly formed in Sasuke's heart.
Kakashi also noticed the same thing from the middle of the group.
Sakura was clearly tending more toward Naruto now.
After walking for some time, Kakashi looked at Sakura and asked casually, "Did you sleep well yesterday?"
Sakura stiffened for a second.
Then she quickly answered, "Yes, sensei. Why are you asking?"
Kakashi's eye curved slightly. "I just heard some noises, that's why I am asking."
Sakura's heart tightened.
She immediately understood what he meant. Kakashi had heard something. Maybe he had heard the screams she made. Maybe he had heard more than that. She did not know how much he had heard, or maybe for how long he had been nearby.
But from his question, Sakura felt that Kakashi had misunderstood those screams and may think, they did some intimate things.
Her face became slightly uncomfortable.
'Sensei heard my screams…'
Then another thought struck her.
If she suddenly moved toward Sasuke now, after walking beside Naruto, Kakashi might misunderstand her even more. He might think Sakura was behaving shamelessly, like a slut moving between Naruto and Sasuke after something had happened.
That thought made her hesitate.
She wanted to go toward Sasuke. A part of her still wanted to explain herself, or at least return to how things were before. But now the situation had become complicated.
So Sakura made a decision.
'For now, it is better not to go near Sasuke. Not today. Maybe not for a few days… maybe even a few weeks. I have to stay away from him for now.'
With that decision in her heart, Sakura continued walking beside Naruto.
Naruto, however, remained calm.
He did not care about Sasuke's thoughts. He did not care about Kakashi's suspicion. He did not care about Sakura's dilemma either.
All these changes were happening because of him, yet Naruto walked as if none of it mattered.
His face remained composed, and his mind remained steady.
Eventually, Team 7 returned to Konoha.
After they came back, Kakashi handed Haku over to the village authorities. Haku was detained and sent under the Hokage's supervision. The Hokage then ordered Inoichi Yamanaka to read Haku's mind and confirm the truth.
Haku obeyed quietly.
This was what Naruto had told him to do.
When Inoichi entered Haku's mind, he noticed something strange. Many of Haku's memories were not clear. Some parts were covered in a reddish blur. Some parts were shattered. Some parts looked as if they had been forcefully erased.
The memories related to Zabuza were especially damaged.
Inoichi could not see the full truth.
After the examination, Inoichi gave a vague report to the Hokage.
According to him, Haku had truly lost many memories. Only a few memories remained intact—his difficult past, some of his struggles, and the memory of coming to Konoha. Everything else was broken and unclear.
The Hokage listened silently.
Then he summoned Naruto.
Naruto came before the Hokage with a calm expression. He did not look nervous. When the Hokage questioned him about Haku, Naruto gave the story he had already prepared.
"I struck hard on Haku's head," Naruto said. "Actually, I didn't want to kill him, so I struck him hard with my sword on his head, and then he collapsed on the spot."
The Hokage watched him carefully.
Naruto continued without hesitation.
"After I tied his hands and legs, Then I tried to wake him up. But, he lost a lot of his memories."
Naruto's voice remained steady.
"He asked who I was, who he was, where he was, and many other things. Then I created a story and told him that I was his partner, and that we were both best friends."
The Hokage's eyes narrowed slightly.
Naruto continued.
"Later, Seeing my strength, he himself decided to become my servant. He accepted it and Haku unexpectedly obedient to me."
There was no guilt in Naruto's voice.
He spoke as if everything was natural.
Then he added, "If you want, you can make him stay under my command. You can also use Anbu to watch over him."
The room became silent.
The Hokage leaned back slightly and thought about it.
Haku was not an ordinary shinobi. He possessed a powerful kekkei genkai. Shinobi like that were rare in the world. Having someone like Haku inside Konoha could become a benefit to the village.
If Haku had truly lost many of his memories, then placing him under Naruto's control might be useful. At the same time, Anbu cane be used to watch over both of them, the village would not be completely blind.
As, they both lost their memories, we can't predict what they might do. Under the pretext of watching over Haku, we can keep watch on both Naruto and Haku.
If Haku did anything dangerous, the Anbu could immediately subdue him.
If necessary, they could kill him.
Since, either way, this is advantageous to village, the Hokage finally made his decision.
He gave Naruto permission to keep Haku under his command.
However, he also assigned Anbu to secretly watch Haku's movements.
Not just Haku.
Naruto too.
From that day onward, Haku stayed in Konoha village under Naruto's command, while hidden eyes continued to observe him and Naruto from the shadows.
(....to be continued.)