It's better to be a rebel ninja than to be a Hokage

The ticking sound reached Sasuke's ears in an extremely piercing way.

Sasuke opened his eyes and saw the pure white ceiling.

He was lying on the same pure white bed.

This is Konoha's hospital.

The device making the ticking sound in the room was a life-detection device.

Densely packed wires extend from the instrument to the electrodes attached to Sasuke's skin, monitoring Sasuke's vital signs in real time.

Why am I in the hospital?

Sasuke felt dazed and tried to get up from the bed.

The price he paid was that whenever he moved his body, he felt severe pain all over.

Every cell in his body was howling in pain.

"Don't move. You're seriously injured. You're lucky to be alive."

A familiar voice came and Sasuke looked towards its source.

The person who spoke was standing at the door of the ward. It was Kakashi Hatake, the leader of Team 7.

Next to Kakashi was Haruno Sakura, a fellow ninja from the same ninja class who came with Kakashi to visit Sasuke.

"What does...hurt mean?"

Sasuke didn't notice that he was missing any limbs, and there were no obvious external injuries on his body.

"You almost exhausted your chakra fighting Gaara—"

A ninja would die if they ran out of chakra, but Sasuke was still alive.

Kakashi glanced at the curse seal on Sasuke's neck and shoulder: "--The curse seal barely saved your life, but your body also suffered serious damage. You have been in a coma for a month since that battle."

With Kakashi's reminder, Sasuke, who had been sleeping for a month, finally regained his consciousness.

He remembered what happened when he was unconscious.

At that time, Gaara turned into a giant raccoon cat and wreaked havoc in the forest. Sasuke, who was barely able to move with the help of the curse seal, took Sakura, who had lost her ability to fight, away from the center of the chaos and went back alone to look for Naruto...

But Naruto ignored him, and didn't even look at him...

Sasuke vaguely remembered that Naruto suddenly disappeared in front of him at the end, and the giant raccoon cat that was causing trouble also disappeared after killing the ninjas that were besieging it...

Sasuke himself finally couldn't bear the exhaustion and fainted.

When I woke up again, I was in a hospital bed.

and……

"A month?"

Sasuke thought he must have heard wrongly.

"No more, no less, a full 30 days."

Kakashi gave more details about the number of days Sasuke was unconscious.

Sasuke's eyes moved to Sakura.

Sakura just lowered her head, looking at the fruit basket in her hands, unwilling to look at Sasuke.

"…That Naruto!"

In this ward, Naruto was the only member of Team 7 not present.

Naruto's previous behavior was so abnormal.

Sasuke was worried that Naruto might not have come to visit because he was injured more seriously than him.

With this thought, Sasuke endured the severe pain in his body and forced himself to stand up with emotion.

The visualized heart rate of the medical instrument also soared at this moment, and the originally slow ticking sound of the instrument began to sound rapidly.

Sakura quickly put down the fruit basket in her hand and went to support Sasuke, who was exhausted just from sitting up.

"Naruto should be fine—but I can't say for sure."

"Kakashi, I don't feel like playing guessing games with you!"

Kakashi's ambiguous words made Sasuke frown.

"…Okay, this is an order from the Fifth Hokage - 'Officially classify the former Konoha ninja, Uzumaki Naruto as an S-rank traitor' - Sasuke, Naruto has already defected from the village, and no one knows where he is now."

The fifth Hokage?

Rebellious?

I have only been in a coma for a month, how come such new words suddenly appeared?

"Kakashi, could you please put it more simply? I don't quite understand."

Kakashi looked at Sasuke who was unwilling to accept the fact for a moment and didn't know how to continue speaking.

And Sakura just remained silent from beginning to end.

Kakashi sighed in his heart about his own failure. As an adult, he made the two children worried...

"Let me explain this Uchiha brat."

The third visitor arrived at the window of the ward.

The man was tall, with long spiky white hair, a forehead protector with the word "oil" on it, a red coat and a pair of wooden clogs.

The person who came was Jiraiya, the Toad Sage, one of the Three Ninjas of Konoha.

Jiraiya flipped over and entered the ward through the window. Feeling the depressing atmosphere in the ward, his eyes fell on Sasuke.

"who are you?"

This is the first time Sasuke meets Jiraiya.

"Yes, Uzumaki Naruto's master."

This was Jiraiya's answer.

Jiraiya could tell that Sasuke was more willing to listen to "Naruto's master" rather than the title of Sannin.

"Master Jiraiya, why are you here..."

Kakashi was somewhat surprised by Jiraiya's appearance.

Konoha is in a state of disrepair at this moment, and all the ninjas are working overtime.

Even Kakashi rarely got a moment of rest before he could take the time to visit Sasuke with Sakura.

"I was also asked by the Fifth Hokage. Tsunade said that her student has been in a bad mood recently and her studies have not progressed well. However, she has just succeeded to the Fifth Hokage and has been so busy with the affairs of the village that she has quit gambling and drinking and has no time to spare. So she asked me, the 'One Moon Teacher' who has also taught this student, to help out."

Jiraiya looked at Sakura.

"I... I will try my best to calm down, and I will apologize to Master and Senior Sister Shizune during class... Lord Jiraiya, I am really sorry to trouble you..."

Sakura quickly replied, and apologized to Jiraiya for bothering him with her own affairs.

"Tsunade is not blaming you, she can understand your feelings... Tsunade is not only the Hokage now, but also your master. If you have any troubles, just tell her boldly - this is what Tsunade wants me to convey to you."

Hearing Jiraiya's words, Sakura nodded silently in agreement.

After helping Tsunade to comfort Sakura, Jiraiya turned his attention back to Sasuke.

"Let me start with Konoha's current situation..."

……

The doctor checked the physical condition of Sasuke who had just woken up.

After confirming that Sasuke was not seriously injured, Sasuke and his bed were transferred to the observation ward where he could be discharged as long as he successfully passed the short observation period.

Neither Kakashi nor Jiraiya stayed long after this.

One of them is an elite jonin of Konoha, and the other is a highly respected Sannin.

There are so many places in Konoha that need both of them.

After a short rest, Kakashi and Jiraiya returned to their work on their own accord.

The only people left in the ward were Sasuke, leaning against the bed, and Sakura, sitting on the round chair in front of the bed.

Neither man spoke.

Sakura is peeling an apple.

Sasuke stared out the window in a trance. This ward offered a better view of the current scenery of Konoha.

The once prosperous streets with crisscrossing buildings have disappeared.

All that remains is the "endless" view.

The person who made Konoha become like this... was Naruto.

Jiraiya's previous words lingered in Sasuke's mind, unable to be shaken off.

Sand Village and Sound Village.

The Fourth Kazekage and Orochimaru.

The official statement of the Sand Village who surrendered to Konoha was that the attack on Konoha was planned by Orochimaru alone.

The fourth Kazekage had already been killed by Orochimaru, and Orochimaru, who disguised himself as the fourth Kazekage, deceived the entire Sand Village.

They launched an attack on Konoha during the finals of the Chunin Selection Exam.

Orochimaru, also known as "Sound", disguised himself as the Fourth Kazekage and killed the Third Hokage.

The ninja class sent by "Sanda" to take the exam has the One-Tail's Jinchuriki, Gaara.

Orochimaru destroyed the Hokage, the symbol of Konoha, in political and spiritual terms.

The ones who physically destroyed Konoha were Gaara who transformed into the tailed beast and——

——Naruto.

"I just learned that Naruto is... a Jinchuriki."

Sasuke regretted his late realization.

When Naruto was in ninja school, why was he hated by everyone even though he didn't do anything bad? Sasuke never thought deeply about this question.

He just took everything Naruto encountered for granted. He did not feel disgusted with Naruto, but he never offered Naruto a helping hand either. He only regarded Naruto as a stranger.

Sasuke clenched his hands into fists.

It was not until everyone graduated from the Ninja Academy and Sasuke and Naruto were assigned to Team 7 that Sasuke belatedly began to get to know Naruto in depth.

But... it's too late.

"Those words that treated us as companions were just a disguise, Naruto?"

Sasuke recalled the masked ninjas who suddenly surrounded Team 7 in the Konoha Forest...

They made no secret of their hostility towards Naruto.

Has Naruto always lived such a humble life in Konoha?

"hateful!"

Sasuke raised his hand and slammed it down on the bed again.

He got no answer at all.

If he had discovered Naruto's abnormality earlier, Naruto would have told him the answer to the question in person.

If he became stronger, would Naruto trust himself more instead of hiding all his troubles in his heart and making extreme choices like defecting from Konoha?

Sasuke felt his own weakness once again.

This was the case in the very beginning of the mission in Wave Country... He was completely powerless against the traitorous ninja named Zabuza.

During the Chunin Selection Exam, his Sharingan couldn't even see through Rock Lee's physical skills.

In the battle with Gaara in Konoha Forest, he even borrowed the power of the curse seal, but was unable to defeat Gaara.

Sasuke fell into deep self-doubt.

Could it be that... I haven't grown at all?

It's ridiculous for someone like me to call myself an avenger... Not to mention being an avenger... I can't even notice the suffering of my companions, and I can't even share their pain...

I……

Sasuke was trapped in a maze of thoughts and couldn't find a way out.

He dropped his head and trembled all over.

——I can’t stop my friends from leaving.

——I can’t take revenge on my brother either.

Sasuke was sinking deeper and deeper into the quagmire called "self-doubt".

I——can’t do anything!?

At this moment, the plump and juicy flesh of the carefully peeled and cut apple on the porcelain plate appeared in Sasuke's sight.

The whitish flesh is like a guiding light in a maze.

Let Sasuke wake up in an instant.

"Sasuke, eat some apples."

Sakura's voice made Sasuke subconsciously turn his head to look over.

Sakura saw a rare look on Sasuke's face.