The Sakura Legend

Uchiha Clan Compound.

Naruto walked ahead, with Sakura following close behind.

"Naruto, do you know where Sasuke's house is?" Sakura asked, curious about Naruto's confident stride.

"Uh~~~~~ I think,~~~~~ maybe~~~~~~ I don't know," Naruto stammered, scratching his head, his initial confidence deflating.

"Sigh," Sakura sighed. She'd thought Naruto knew where Sasuke lived, seeing him walking so confidently. It was just misplaced confidence, it seemed.

"I can't believe you. Okay, I don't know where Sasuke's house is either," Sakura admitted wearily.

"Ah, what should we do?" Naruto's eyes suddenly lit up. "Let's just go house to house! We'll find him eventually."

"There are so many houses! How long will that take? Please, use your brain and think for a second," Sakura said, looking around at the Uchiha compound. "Sasuke's father was the head of the Uchiha clan, so his house should be the largest one here. And since Sasuke is the only one left in the clan, his should be the only house with lights on. We can use that as a guide."

"Haha, as expected of Sakura-chan, you're so smart!" Naruto said, happy to have a solution.

"Please, this has nothing to do with being smart. If you just thought about it for a moment, you probably could have figured it out, Naruto," Sakura said, choosing not to discourage him entirely, offering a small bit of encouragement instead.

"Okay, let's go find Sasuke now!" Naruto said, punching his fist into his palm, full of energy.

Under the moonlight, in the silent Uchiha compound, two small figures darted through the streets, their shadows stretching across the silvery ground.

"Naruto."

"Hmm? What is it, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, tilting his head to look at her.

"When we find Sasuke, you should be the one to talk to him. I won't say anything," Sakura said after a moment's thought.

"Huh~~~? Why, Sakura-chan? You were the one who wanted to invite Sasuke to my house. That means you care about Sasuke too, right?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Did you forget? I had a fight with Sasuke a few days ago. Our relationship probably isn't very good right now. So, you need to become friends with Sasuke first, and then get him to forgive me," Sakura explained, skillfully manipulating Naruto.

"Is that so? Okay, Sakura-chan, don't worry! I'll definitely get Sasuke to forgive you!" Naruto exclaimed, fired up by Sakura's trust in him.

Sakura almost burst out laughing at Naruto's reaction. He was way too easy to fool. While it was true that she'd fought with Sasuke a few days ago, and she had ended up pinning him down and pummeling him, it was Sasuke who had attacked her first! If anyone should be forgiving someone, it should be her forgiving Sasuke. Naruto was truly a simpleton; he had seen her beat up Sasuke and somehow concluded that Sasuke needed to forgive her.

The two of them continued to search, meandering through the Uchiha compound. After searching the last street, they still hadn't found a single house with lights on.

"Sakura, do you think Sasuke isn't home? There's not a single light on anywhere. Do you think he went out to play?" Naruto asked, disappointment evident on his face.

"Do you think Sasuke is as playful as you are? Don't worry, let me think," Sakura said. After searching all the houses and not finding anyone, she had a pretty good idea where Sasuke might be.

At this time, Sasuke was probably at the Uchiha clan's training grounds. The arrival of the anniversary celebration must have been especially painful for him. Sasuke, who was determined to kill that man and avenge the Uchiha clan, wouldn't be goofing off like Naruto. So, there was one last place to check: the Uchiha clan's training grounds.

"Sasuke's probably at the training grounds. Let's go look there," Sakura said to Naruto after a moment of thought.

"What? Why would Sasuke go to the training grounds on a cold night like this?" Naruto complained.

"How do you think Sasuke got the second-highest grades in the class? If you don't learn from Sasuke, you won't be able to protect me, you know," Sakura said, feigning disdain.

"Sakura-chan, don't worry! I'll surpass Sasuke sooner or later," Naruto said, secretly resolving to study harder after hearing Sakura's words.

The Uchiha clan's training grounds were located in the mountains behind the compound. Because the Uchiha clan was renowned for their shurikenjutsu and Fire Release techniques, the forested mountain environment was perfect for practicing throwing kunai.

At this moment, in a clearing, a young figure flashed back and forth. Kunai flew continuously from his hands, striking the targets in the center of the field with perfect accuracy. Mobile throwing – that was Sasuke's current training regimen. The targets were pierced with kunai not only on the front but also on the back, demonstrating the Uchiha clan's skill in kunai throwing.

After throwing all the kunai in his hands, Sasuke formed hand seals. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" A massive ball of fire slammed into the targets in the center of the field, scorching them black, but nothing more.

"Damn it, it's not enough," Sasuke muttered, stopping after releasing the Great Fireball Technique, clearly exhausted. He punched the ground in frustration as he looked at the effect he'd created. "This is nothing compared to Sakura's punch. Forget about killing that man, I can't even beat Sakura."

Since being defeated by Sakura a few days ago, Sasuke had once again clearly recognized the gap between them. For the past six months, Sasuke had avoided sparring with Sakura. Driven by his obsession with revenge, he had trained relentlessly, never wasting a moment. He'd thought he had become much stronger than before, that defeating Sakura would be easy.

But because of the grief of his clan's massacre, he had not challenged Sakura. The sudden attack a few days ago could be said to have given Sasuke a significant advantage; he had ambushed Sakura when she was completely unprepared. But even so, he had been utterly defeated by her, with no chance to fight back. He had attacked with all his might, fueled by hatred, yet he'd been beaten and thoroughly frightened by Sakura's punch.

"Damn it, what have I been doing for the past six months?" Sasuke thought, pounding the ground to vent his frustration, remembering how effortlessly Sakura had defeated him that day.

When Sakura and Naruto finally found Sasuke, he was sitting on the ground, his face clouded with gloom.

"There he is! Naruto, it's up to you now," Sakura said, nudging Naruto with her chin.

"Okay, Sakura-chan, let's go," Naruto said, walking towards Sasuke.

Sakura followed behind Naruto, looking at Sasuke, who was still lost in thought. Sigh... Hatred. They'd almost reached Sasuke, and he still hadn't noticed the two uninvited guests.

"(??∀?)?? Hey, Sasuke," Naruto greeted cautiously.

"Hmm? It's you. What are you doing here? And Sakura, too," Sasuke said, finally noticing the two. He stood up, coldly looking at Naruto and Sakura.

"Sasuke, today is the anniversary celebration. I thought you were probably alone at home. I'm alone too, so I wanted to... to... spar with you."

When Sakura heard Naruto say "alone," she inwardly groaned. A few days ago, she had inadvertently said something similar and been attacked by Sasuke. Naruto, with his big mouth, had gone and said "alone" anyway. It would be strange if he didn't provoke the guy. It was supposed to be a celebration invite and he goes and mentions sparring! Sakura discreetly gathered chakra, preparing to intervene at any moment.

"Hmph, dead-last. Instead of boasting about sparring with me, you should go train. Come find me when you can beat Sakura," Sasuke scoffed, a smirk playing on his lips.

???????

Huh? That's not right. Why isn't Sasuke exploding? Sakura had been fully prepared to pin Sasuke to the ground and beat him up again. She hadn't expected Sasuke to, surprisingly, not attack Naruto. Strange.

"Haha, Sasuke, Naruto didn't mean it like that. He just wanted to..."

Before Sakura could finish her sentence, a shuriken suddenly whizzed through the air, landing between the three of them with a piercing shriek. Attached to the shuriken's end was a burning explosive tag.

Sakura's pupils instantly constricted. Disregarding the chakra cost, she instantly flooded her body with chakra, grabbed Naruto, and leaped backward.

"BOOM!" The explosive tag detonated between them, sending a wave of scorching heat that knocked Sakura to the ground. Naruto, thrown a distance away, was dazed and confused, not understanding what had just happened. Sasuke, also quick to react, had retreated swiftly.

Sakura sat up, feeling as if her internal organs had been rearranged. From the darkness, three figures emerged, all wearing masks and no forehead protectors.

"Hehe, what an unexpected surprise," said the one who seemed to be the leader, looking at Sasuke.

Sakura looked at the three figures emerging from the darkness. Although they wore no forehead protectors, they were clearly not Konoha ninjas. Most of Konoha's ninjas would be enjoying themselves in the village's bustling areas, not sneaking around the Uchiha compound in the middle of the night.

"And two brats, too. Hehe, let's just kill them," the leader said, looking at Sakura and Naruto.

Sakura saw the leader's emotionless eyes fixed on her, and she felt a chill run down her spine, making it hard to breathe. "Damn it, how could we run into foreign ninjas here?" Sakura thought, fear gripping her heart.

She had known that coming to this world meant she would eventually have to fight. She had known for a long time that there would be a day when she would have to go to war and kill. Because she hadn't been a soldier or a fighter in her previous life, just an ordinary person, even though she knew it was inevitable, Sakura had imagined that she wouldn't face such a situation until she became a Genin. But that day had come much sooner than expected.

Sakura had thought a lot about how she would react if she encountered an enemy. She had even practiced how she would fight. After studying at the Ninja Academy and sparring with Sasuke, Sakura thought that if she really met an enemy, she would be able to hold her own, at least for a while.

But at this moment, Sakura couldn't control her body. Her legs were weak, cold sweat poured down her back, and she struggled to breathe. She felt no courage to fight the enemy, only the urge to turn and run. But her legs were so weak that she couldn't even stand.

It turns out I'm not as strong as I thought I was, Sakura thought with a bitter smile.