The Sakura Legend

Two days later.

Sakura's injuries had already healed. In fact, they had mostly healed the night of the incident. After all, medical ninjutsu was quite miraculous. In her previous world, these injuries would have kept her in the hospital for a month. Which made sense, considering ninjas were constantly getting injured on missions. If medical ninjutsu wasn't fast-acting, having a medical ninja on a squad would be a liability.

Sakura returned to school. Her classmates were deeply impressed that she and Sasuke had managed to survive an encounter with such powerful ninjas. They were especially impressed that Sakura had escaped even when the powerful ninja had intended to kill her. After all, they were just students at the Ninja Academy; facing such a powerful ninja, even a Chunin might not have survived.

Today, Sakura's classmates felt that she was different from before.

"Hey, Ino, good morning!" Sakura greeted Ino with a smile.

"..."

"Hey, Kiba, have you been slacking off again? Huh? Did you not feed Akamaru enough? Why does he look so listless?"

"..." "..."

"Hey, Choji, don't eat so much. Eating potato chips in the morning will make you... rounder," Sakura said, quickly correcting herself, remembering Choji's biggest pet peeve was being called "fat".

"..."

"Hey, Hinata, are you secretly thinking about Naruto?" Sakura greeted Hinata with a mischievous grin.

"N-no..."

"Hey, Shikamaru, did you not sleep well last night? You're yawning so early in the morning."

"..."

"Hey, Shino, why are you sitting all the way in the back? You'll have no presence like that."

"..."

"Hey, Sas..." Never mind. Sakura saw Sasuke's increasingly unpleasant expression and decided to let it go. She wouldn't tease him; it would be too embarrassing if they started fighting again.

Sasuke hadn't been seriously injured that night, as he'd been knocked unconscious early on. He didn't know what happened afterward. He woke up in Konoha Hospital. Because his injuries weren't severe, he was discharged before Sakura. Later, he heard that Naruto and Sakura had been seriously injured.

Speaking of Naruto, Sasuke didn't know how he felt. After that near-death experience, Sasuke, who had been immersed in grief for the past six months, had become slightly more clear-headed. He was only nine years old, after all. On the day of the anniversary, Naruto had come to find him. After living alone for six months, Sasuke had some understanding of Naruto's feelings. Moreover, now that his clan had been wiped out, although the villagers didn't shun him, they looked at him with strange gazes. That feeling was truly unpleasant.

Sasuke had grown up in a prestigious and honorable clan, so loneliness and being looked at strangely were things he could never have comprehended before. Now that he was more clear-headed, Sasuke was temporarily less extreme, and he felt a sense of connection with Naruto's feelings. Two people with similar feelings could quickly become friends. But Sasuke was an Uchiha, and Naruto was the dead-last. So Sasuke was constantly torn between his pride and the possibility of friendship.

Sakura walked into the classroom feeling refreshed. She used to dislike interacting with those "kids," but after experiencing a life-or-death situation, she felt like she could let go of her past hang-ups. Perhaps this was the unique difference between people in the Naruto world and those in modern society. People in the Naruto world were accustomed to life and death, while people in modern society rarely experienced such things. This naturally led to a huge difference in mentality.

Sakura scanned the classroom with a friendly gaze. "Huh? Naruto's not here yet? Did he oversleep?" Sakura didn't think Naruto was still injured. Naruto had sustained the least damage from the enemy. Although the Tailed Beast chakra's eruption would have put a strain on his body at this stage, the Nine-Tails' healing power was quite fast. Naruto was also an Uzumaki, and their inherent recovery abilities were nothing to scoff at.

So, Sakura assumed Naruto had overslept. But when Iruka-sensei had been teaching for a while and Naruto still hadn't arrived, Sakura felt something was wrong. Ever since she'd met him, Naruto hadn't skipped class for six months, though he was often late.

"Iruka-sensei, why isn't Naruto here?" Sakura suddenly stood up and asked loudly.

Iruka, interrupted in his lecture, turned around, about to scold the student who had broken the rules. But when he saw it was Sakura, he could only answer helplessly, "Naruto's injuries haven't healed yet. He's still in Konoha Hospital."

Sakura's heart instantly leaped into her throat. "What? Naruto... he... his injuries haven't healed? You're kidding, right? Wait, with Naruto's rampage, Konoha's leadership wouldn't just ignore it. Could it be that Naruto has been detained?"

Sakura thought this was a real possibility and couldn't sit still any longer. If that were the case, Naruto would most likely be sent to Root. After undergoing Root's emotion-suppressing training, a Jinchuriki would truly become a weapon of war. No, I have to go see the old man and ask him what's going on. Has he forgotten the heroes who sacrificed themselves for the village? How could he compromise with Danzo?

Originally, Naruto wouldn't have leaked any Nine-Tails chakra at this stage, let alone manifested four tails. That was an extremely dangerous state. But because of Sakura's arrival, things had, by chance, changed. A small change could lead to huge consequences later on; this was the butterfly effect. When Sakura saw the Four-Tails appear that day, she knew that the Naruto script had changed. Her small actions had led to such a big change; it seemed the original plot could only serve as a reference now.

Ignoring Iruka-sensei and her classmates' surprised gazes, Sakura ran to the window, punched through the glass, channeled chakra to her feet, and jumped directly from the third floor. Then, she sprinted towards the Hokage Tower.

She didn't know exactly which office the Hokage's was in, but she couldn't worry about that now. She had to find it once she got there. Every moment she delayed increased the risk of Naruto being sent to Root. Even if she couldn't stop it, she had to confront the Third and argue with him. Perhaps there was a chance. The old man wasn't a hawk. Naruto had... had manifested four tails to save her. Sakura couldn't just stand by and watch Naruto be sent to Root.

Sakura rushed into the Hokage Tower. The guards at the entrance were about to stop her when an Anbu appeared from the side, waving them off, indicating they should let her pass. Sakura saw the Anbu, of course. She didn't care what the Anbu's purpose was; she turned to him and said directly, "Quick, take me to the old man! I have something important to tell him."

After the incident where Sakura was attacked, and after discussions with the two advisors, the Anbu assigned to Sakura were now very different from those initially sent to monitor her. Sakura was now a priority for cultivation by the Third Hokage and the two advisors. Therefore, the Anbu didn't refuse Sakura's request and immediately led the way, guiding her to the Third Hokage's office.

"Phew, as expected," Sakura thought, seeing the Anbu's attitude. She had already subtly realized the Third's high regard for her. "Then the things I'm about to say should face a little less resistance, right?"