Chapter 27: I Heard the Uchiha Clan Was Massacred
"Did you hear? Something happened to the Uchiha clan last night…"
"I always knew they were up to no good…"
"Shh, don't say that out loud. Be careful if someone hears you…"
On the way to school, Naruto overheard the quiet whispers of the people around him.
They spoke in very low voices, but Naruto could hear every word clearly.
The Uchiha clan had been massacred. What happened last night was already known throughout the village by this morning…
The news had spread far too quickly. Some people were even openly saying that Uchiha Itachi was the one who had wiped out his own clan.
It looked like Konoha's higher-ups were in a hurry to celebrate.
"Naruto, have you seen Sasuke?"
As soon as he reached the school gate, Sakura and Ino, along with a group of girls, spotted him and immediately ran over to ask.
They had all heard about the Uchiha situation. Since Sasuke — who was usually early — hadn't shown up, they naturally started imagining the worst.
"I just got out of bed. Is Sasuke late today too?"
Naruto rarely talked to anyone on the way to school, so it made sense that he wouldn't know.
He scratched his head in confusion and turned to look back down the road, clearly having no idea what had happened to the Uchiha.
"As expected, Naruto doesn't know either…"
Sakura sighed and leaned against the wall with a helpless look on her face.
All the girls in class liked Sasuke, and Sakura and Ino were among the few who could occasionally talk to him…
But now it seemed their hopes were about to be shattered.
"Why are you all making such weird faces? Sasuke probably just trained too hard yesterday and overslept. I used to oversleep all the time after training late, but I never saw Sakura-chan come worry about me…"
Naruto pouted and tried to walk past them.
As someone who was often late himself, it wasn't strange at all for a classmate to be late once in a while.
"You idiot, Naruto! Haven't you heard?! The Uchiha clan was massacred!"
Sakura grabbed Naruto's shoulders and stared into his eyes, anger mixed with worry on her face.
As Sasuke's best friend in school, she refused to believe Naruto didn't care about what happened to him!
"Massacred? What happened?"
Naruto looked up at Sakura with genuine confusion in his large eyes. On his entire walk to school, he hadn't heard a single voice that would have told him the news.
"The Uchiha clan was wiped out… We don't know if Sasuke is…"
Ino whispered beside them. She was so sure because during breakfast, her father had mentioned to her mother that the entire Uchiha clan had been destroyed.
"W-wiped out?"
Naruto's neck stiffened as he turned to look at Ino. His expression shifted from confusion to shock and fear.
"We only heard about it this morning too… The Uchiha clan was massacred…"
Sakura was already silently shedding tears. Other girls around them began to sob as well.
They were all classmates. Sasuke had the best grades in class, and most importantly, he was the most popular boy among the girls…
Now that the news of the massacre had spread, most of them already believed Sasuke had been killed along with the rest of his clan.
"I don't believe it… Sasuke won't be in trouble. I'm going… I'm going to find Iruka-sensei!"
After more than a year, the only adult Naruto was truly familiar with was Iruka.
Seeing the group of girls crying around him, he shook his head hard, then turned and ran straight toward the hospital.
He had just gone to see Iruka last night, so now he could go with Iruka-sensei to check on Sasuke.
Of course, that would depend on whether the Hokage allowed it.
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