Last Time .....
Sarada wiped it, only to discover that the frame was broken, and what appeared to be a single photo of her parents was actually a composite. Puzzled, she pulled out her father's picture and discovered a red-haired woman with glasses who looked remarkably like herself in the photo with Sasuke.
Although it wasn't Sakura herself, everyone suddenly felt an awkwardness, even more so than Sakura, to the point of being speechless.
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Only Obito murmured, "Wait, 12 years of marriage, and not even a single photo together? They even need to make a fake one to keep at home."
At that moment, Obito was overwhelmed with a feeling that was neither sympathy nor pity for Sakura.
The one who falls in love first is always considered inferior. His unrequited love for Rin had left him plagued by insecurity, and even after Rin's death, Obito didn't truly know who Rin loved. She was very gentle and caring towards him, but Rin was inherently a gentle person. However, Obito couldn't deny that Rin cared for Kakashi.
The pain of not getting what you want, but why isn't what you get as wonderful as you imagined? Obito silently looked at Sakura, lost in thought.
After that argument, Sakura's health deteriorated, and she was hospitalized again. Sarada, however, began investigating the mystery of her origins.
"What's wrong with Sakura?"
Kakashi couldn't understand what was wrong with Sakura. Shizune in Tsukuyomi only said Sakura was too tired, but would exhaustion cause her to faint repeatedly? Besides, she possessed medical ninjutsu and the Hundred Healings Technique; couldn't those heal her?
Sasori ran away alone and finally met her father, only to be nearly killed by him, Uchiha Sasuke. If Sarada hadn't called out "Dad" in time, this father-daughter reunion would have turned into a bloody battle.
Sasori scoffed, "How laughable! He doesn't even recognize his own daughter, and he almost killed her with his own hands. Uchiha Sasuke is truly a successful father."
Itachi was completely at a loss for words to defend Sasuke. This only proved that Sasuke hadn't cared for his daughter at all for the past twelve years. Otherwise, even a brief visit home late at night to see his sleeping daughter wouldn't have led to this misunderstanding.
Kakashi clenched his fists, deeply angered by Sasuke's actions, yet also feeling compassion and pain for Sakura's situation.
"So, Sasuke never even read the letters Sakura sent, right? Sakura always sent him photos of herself and Sarada, so if she'd read the letters, how could Sasuke not recognize Sarada? No wonder Sakura never got a reply; she never even read them, so how could she reply!"
To be honest, seeing Sasuke act like such a jerk, even fellow Uchiha like Madara, Izuna, Itachi, and Obito felt like they were being unfairly vilified. They were all loyal and devoted people, and once they understood love, their love for their loved ones ran deep. That's why they became more insane than ordinary people after losing their loved ones.
Obito loved Rin, so he couldn't understand how an Uchiha in love could act this way. The only possibility was that Sasuke didn't love Sakura.
"If Sasuke didn't love Sakura, why did he bother with her?" Obito felt sorry for Sakura.
During the Fourth Shinobi World War, when they were searching for Sasuke together, this girl reminded him of Rin. She refused treatment even when injured, just to conserve chakra and find Sasuke as quickly as possible. Her deep affection moved Obito; seeing her was like seeing himself.
Sasuke didn't love Sakura—this was an unspoken consensus among everyone. Actions speak louder than words, especially since Sasuke had neither acted nor spoken. Therefore, in comparison, all of Sakura's words of comfort to Sarada, her years of self-sacrifice and willingness to dedicate herself, seemed like self-deception.
However, what no one expected was that this wasn't the worst of it.
When Sarada used Karin's umbilical cord to do a DNA comparison with her own, and the result showed they were related, even Madara Uchiha, who had previously shown little sympathy for Sakura's situation, felt a pang of pity for the little girl. If this was true, it would be too tragic. No wonder the little girl called it a humiliating life—wasn't this humiliating? But Madara didn't expect that even more humiliating things were yet to come. Hashirama's jaw nearly dislocated; he simply couldn't believe such a thing could happen.
"Sarana isn't Sakura-chan's daughter? How is that possible! Does Sakura-chan not know whether she gave birth to this child or not?"
Minato, equally incredulous, uttered a lame joke that, at this moment, was anything but funny.
"Yeah, it's not like your father isn't necessarily your biological father, but your mother is definitely your biological mother. There's no such thing as the other way around; you must be mistaken."
Tobirama muttered to himself, feeling for the first time that his judgment wasn't so sharp. "So, I was right about Sarada being more like the Uzumaki girl who followed Sasuke?"
"It might be a misunderstanding." Kakashi still refused to believe it was true. This meant not only Sakura had been deceived, but also that Sasuke's despicable nature was unimaginable. The child might not be Sakura's, but it would definitely be Sasuke's, because Sarada's Sharingan was undeniable. But if that was the case, abandoning a child that didn't belong to Sakura to her and then indifferent for twelve years—what kind of person would Sasuke become?
Itachi didn't want to believe his younger brother was that kind of person either. In Tsukuyomi's memory, when faced with Sarada's questioning, Sasuke was initially shocked, but soon he insisted that Sarada was Sakura's daughter, that the umbilical cord was Sakura's, and that Karin Uzumaki was the one who delivered Sakura's baby. Karin Uzumaki also stated matter-of-factly that Sarada was Sakura's daughter.
"See? It was just a misunderstanding." Itachi finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled with satisfaction. Thankfully, Sasuke wasn't a despicable person, and Sakura was still Sarada's mother.
The others, though relieved that this misunderstanding had given them a false alarm, were thankfully it was just a misunderstanding.
But Tobirama suddenly realized something was wrong. "Wait, how did this memory appear? Isn't this Haruno's Infinite Tsukuyomi memory? She wasn't there, how did she know about this memory?"
"Did she hear it from Sasuke and Sarada afterward, and then fill in the blanks in her mind?" Kakashi guessed.
Madara was too lazy to answer, so only Itachi, who had used Tsukuyomi to investigate others' Infinite Tsukuyomi experiences, could answer. He didn't confirm Kakashi's statement, but simply stated a common fact.
"The Infinite Tsukuyomi is a one-person, single-player world. Everything revolves around that person, but if the plot requires it, it can see scenes that the user shouldn't know even when they're not present, but are necessary because they're closely related to the user. It's a bit like a god's-eye view, or like a movie, presenting the cause and effect and logic."
Tobirama finally put aside his doubts. "Then this Infinite Tsukuyomi is really meticulously designed. I wonder who it benefits from."
"After all, it completely simulates reality," Minato laughed.
The father and daughter returned to Konoha together. Sakura was excited and happy to see Sasuke and Sarada. She blushed terribly when she saw Sasuke and even fainted on the spot. When she woke up, Sarada teased her, saying that her mother and father didn't look like they'd been married for years, still acting like young girls in love.
Sakura later told Ino about the incident with the fake mother and how her daughter teased her for fainting from embarrassment, treating it as a joke.
Ino frowned slightly after hearing this, asking with a hint of inquiry, "Wide-forehead, do you and Sasuke have a frequent marital relationship?"
Sakura blushed instantly, her heart pounding, flustered and almost steaming, stammering, "What?! Ino-pig, how could you ask that? How could you say something like that!"
She cupped her cheeks, finally whispering, "Sasuke doesn't come back often, but he does come back sometimes."
Ino frowned again, "Why do I feel like Sasuke has only come back once or twice in the last twelve years? And each time he doesn't stay in the village for more than three days, otherwise Sarada wouldn't not recognize her father. How many times a year does he come back? Does he always come home late at night?"
Sakura's expression went blank for a moment, as if she couldn't recall the intervals between Sasuke's visits. After a while, her face brightened, and she blushed, saying, "Sasuke actually comes back every year, and quite frequently, for about three or four months a year."
Ino was somewhat skeptical. "If he really comes back that frequently, it's unbelievable that Sarada has never met her father."
She suddenly asked Hinata, who had come out with her, "What about you and Naruto? How frequent is your sex life?"
Before Hinata could answer, Sakura blushed for Hinata and exclaimed, "Ino, Hinata is the most conservative one here, don't be so hard on her."
Indeed, Hinata used to be the shyest one, and would have blushed and fainted long ago at such a question. However, twelve years of marriage had changed her, and she smiled faintly.
"It's alright, now it's good if we can do it once every month or two. Naruto is busy and often doesn't come home. After I gave birth to Himawari, I've become much less interested in this kind of thing."
Sakura looked at Hinata's calm face with some astonishment, as if she couldn't believe that she was so unreserved. Ino suddenly cupped Sakura's cheeks and said somewhat seriously.
"See? This is what a married couple should be like after 12 years. Sai and I are the same. We've long lost the passion for this kind of thing. He touches me like he's touching his own left hand, it's so familiar. Even if you and Sasuke are often apart, after 12 years, you're still like a little girl. That's completely abnormal, you know?"
Sakura didn't believe her, saying Ino was talking nonsense, that not all couples are like that. Neither could convince the other. Hinata just tried to smooth things over, saying it couldn't be generalized. In the end, Sakura and Ino both stormed off.
This conversation in the flashback wasn't friendly to Tobirama, Madara, Izuna, Obito, Kakashi, Itachi, and Sasori, who had never been married or in a relationship. Because they lacked experience, they had no right to speak, so they didn't know who was right or wrong between Ino and Sakura. They could only look to the only two married people, Hashirama and Minato.
Minato, feeling awkward, blushed and didn't want to answer, but under the encouragement of his two unfilial students, Kakashi and Obito, he finally replied. "Although Kushina and I have known each other for a long time, we only really got married the year we got married. We were still newlyweds, so I guess we weren't tired of each other yet. Anyway, I wasn't."
Minato wasn't exactly a saintly figure who could resist; the main issue was that Kushina had always had reservations. Initially, she used the excuse of not wanting premarital sex, and even after their marriage, she consistently refused to let Minato ejaculate inside her without a condom, fearing an accidental pregnancy. After all, childbirth would be when her seal was at its weakest, making things easy for complications. As it turned out, Kushina indeed didn't escape this fate. Thinking of this, a slight gloom appeared in Minato's eyes.
The others, however, didn't pay attention to Minato's troubled expression. They all looked at Hashirama, who had been married the longest. Minato, having adjusted his mindset, also looked curiously at the First Hokage.
Hashirama, facing the focus of everyone's attention, somewhat naturally scratched his head and smiled.
"Huh? Why are you all looking at me? Mito and I are in an arranged marriage. Although we get along well, like friends, we're rather distant in matters of the heart. But traditional families don't usually have very close relationships; it's just that young people these days are too passionate."
That was true. Tobirama remembered that for the first year, Hashirama, to show his respect for Mito, slept in the same room with her. From the second year onwards, they slept in separate rooms. As for whether they had a marital relationship, Tobirama said he wasn't that nosy and naturally wouldn't pry into his brother's private life.
But what Hashirama couldn't say was that Mito was too dignified and reserved, making their bedroom a bit dull and uninteresting. He couldn't find stimulation, so he naturally became indifferent. However, his desires were still very strong, and in the end, he could only seek physical relief in the red-light district. Mito knew this, but as a noblewoman, maintaining a facade of propriety was the best outcome for her.
Madara and Izuna nodded in agreement. After all, although their parents had five children, including themselves, their relationship wasn't particularly close. Once they seemed to have had enough children, their relationship quickly cooled.
However, this left everyone with no point of reference, so naturally, they couldn't judge Sakura and Ino's case.
But three days later, Ino stormed into Sakura's office, looking furious.
"Hollow-forehead, come with me!" Ino grabbed Sakura and pulled her away.
Sakura, bewildered, stumbled out, asking in confusion.
"Ino-boo? What's wrong? Who upset you? Why are you so angry? Where are you taking me?"
"To get you a physical exam," Ino said aggressively.
Sakura's face immediately changed. She quickly shook off Ino's hand and forced a smile,
"I'm perfectly healthy. What kind of physical exam do I need? You came here just for this? If there's nothing else, I'm going back to work. I'm very busy."
"Even if it's a huge deal today, you still have to get that physical exam!" Ino remained defiant, pulling Sakura to continue walking.
Sakura immediately became angry and shook off Ino's hand again.
"I said I'm perfectly healthy, don't you understand? And what's wrong with you today? Why do you keep insisting I get a physical exam? I won't do it. I'm leaving. Calm down!"
Seeing Sakura about to leave without looking back, Ino finally couldn't help but shout.
"I did a DNA comparison with your and Sarada's hair, and you and Sarada aren't related by blood at all!"
This boomerang-like statement came back to haunt everyone, leaving Itachi stunned. Itachi couldn't help but exclaim.
"Wasn't it a misunderstanding? Why are you saying again that Sarada isn't Sakura's daughter?"
Sakura abruptly stopped, turned around, and angrily threw a punch. "Ino, this joke is too cruel!"
Ino didn't dodge, her face filled with sorrow. "I also hope it's false, so, broad-forehead, let me give you a gynecological exam. We'll know if you've had a child."
To Be Continued .....