The Sakura Legend

Afternoon. A classroom in Konoha. Iruka Umino's class.

"Hello, everyone. Today is our first day together. I'll be your homeroom teacher from now on. My name is Iruka Umino, and I'm a chunin. I'll be teaching you during your time here at the Ninja Academy." In the tiered classroom, Iruka stood straight with his hands behind his back, speaking seriously to the students below. "Let's all do self-introductions. Who wants to go first?"

"..."

"No one? Then let's start from..."

"Teacher Iruka, I'll go first!" A boy with yellow hair interrupted Iruka. He ran excitedly to the front of the class. "You all better remember this! My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going to be Hokage someday!" The yellow-haired boy on the platform pointed at everyone.

"Haha... haha..." "You, Hokage? Haha..."

The classroom immediately erupted in laughter. A boy in gray clothes stood up and pointed at Naruto, saying, "Haha, you, become Hokage? That's impossible, because you're..."

"Alright, Naruto Uzumaki, you can go back to your seat now," Iruka quickly interrupted the boy, preventing him from continuing.

Although the fact that Naruto was the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails was an open secret in the village, the Third Hokage had issued a gag order. Basically, aside from the adults, very few of the new generation knew about it. But that boy knew, which meant his parents must have told him.

"Now, starting from the front row, let's go one by one for self-introductions."

"Hello everyone, my name is..." "Next."

"Hello everyone, I'm..." "Next."

"..."

It was finally Sakura's turn. Sakura stood up and walked to the front of the class. Looking at her classmates, she said, "Hello everyone, I'm Sakura Haruno. I'm six years old. Please take care of me." Then, she returned to her seat. This kind of introductory meeting had happened several times in her past life, and it was really quite boring. Sakura just wanted to quietly improve her strength at the Ninja Academy, without attracting attention.

Although Sakura didn't want to attract attention, she'd already caught the Third Hokage's eye. Iruka, seeing Sakura return to her seat, recalled what the Third Hokage had told him at noon.

"Iruka."

"Yes, Third Hokage-sama. Is there something you need?" Iruka had finished assigning the classes for the morning and was about to go home when he found the Third Hokage in his office. He immediately stood at attention.

"Iruka, I have something to discuss with you. No need to be so tense. Sit down," the Third Hokage said kindly to Iruka.

"Yes, Third Hokage-sama."

"I wanted to ask, in the class you're teaching, there's a little girl named Sakura Haruno, right?"

"Um... I think there is such a girl," Iruka thought for a moment and recalled. "What is it? Is there something special about her? I remember her file said she's a civilian, right?"

"Yes, that little girl is indeed different. The village is currently in a period where the old generation is fading and the new has yet to fully rise. Otherwise, we wouldn't have compromised with the Cloud Village's demands years ago," although the incident between the Cloud Village and the Hyuga clan was not widely known, a good number of Leaf ninjas had the information.

"Please rest assured, Third Hokage. The Cloud Village will pay the price eventually. We cannot let the people of Konoha die in vain," Iruka immediately said.

"That's not what I came to talk about," the Third Hokage waved his hand and continued, "Regarding that little girl, Sakura Haruno, three years ago, the medical department reported something to me. A civilian came to have his daughter examined, but he didn't bring his daughter with him. He just described his daughter's symptoms to the medical staff, and they analyzed the case and gave their diagnosis to the civilian. The diagnosis was amnesia."

"Amnesia?" Iruka repeated, frowning.

"Yes, amnesia. That girl was only three years old," the Third Hokage continued.

"Three years old? That... that's impossible. How could a three-year-old recognize that they have amnesia? Could it be a very severe case of amnesia?" Iruka asked, somewhat shocked.

"No. According to the medical staff, her mother described it as a limited form of amnesia, not a complete loss of memory of events or people she'd interacted with."

"This... then could this girl be..." Iruka didn't finish his sentence, but the Third Hokage confirmed his thoughts.

"That's right. That little girl had already developed self-awareness, clearly recognizing her own existence in this world, and was capable of thought. The civilian also confirmed this, telling the medical staff that his daughter had been smarter than other children her age since she was little, learning everything instantly. Iruka, do you know what this means?" the Third Hokage asked seriously.

"It means... it means... this little girl is a genius," Iruka said with difficulty, swallowing hard.

"Yes. Because the village is currently lacking in strong leadership, after that civilian received the diagnosis, the medical department reported it to me. I then assigned ANBU to observe that little girl. According to the ANBU reports, this little girl is indeed as the medical department reported, and she has already started refining chakra and practicing chakra applications based on books. The ANBU have been continuously observing and reporting for three years. This little girl has an extremely high talent for refined chakra control. As of now, the ANBU have concluded that she can already perform precise chakra manipulation, delivering punches similar to Tsunade's monstrous strength."

"Delivering punches like Tsunade-sama's monstrous strength?" Iruka asked, shocked.

"Of course not. Haha, even if she's a genius, she wouldn't be able to learn monstrous strength without anyone teaching her. Right now, she's just using refined chakra control to crudely imitate monstrous strength punches," the Third Hokage chuckled. "But if given time, she might actually learn monstrous strength."

"Then, could that little girl be..." Iruka asked, finding it hard to believe.

"She was assigned to your class this morning. She's Sakura Haruno," the Third Hokage said slowly.

"It's her," Iruka thought, recalling the cute, pink-haired little girl he'd seen in the files.

"I came to ask you to keep an eye on this little girl. Report any developments to me immediately. Such a genius is rare in the entire ninja world. She might become a pillar of Konoha like Tsunade in the future," the Third Hokage said seriously.

"Sigh, a genius... That puts a lot of pressure on me, Third Hokage-sama," Iruka said with a wry smile.

"I believe in you, because you are a Konoha ninja who has inherited the Will of Fire," the Third Hokage said with a smile.

Iruka looked at Sakura, who had returned to her seat, and fell into thought. So this is that genius. A brief introduction, neither arrogant nor impetuous. If it weren't for the Third Hokage's reminder, I might have taken her for a shy, introverted little girl. But now, her behavior seems entirely like that of a mature adult.

Sakura returned to her seat and slumped over her desk, bored out of her mind, listening to the self-introductions of the other students. What a bunch of brats, each with their boastful and grandiose speeches that give me goosebumps. Suddenly, she felt like someone was watching her. She looked up and saw Iruka staring straight at her.

"Huh? Why is he looking at me? I thought I made my introduction pretty unremarkable. He should think of me as a shy little gi... boy. Wait! Why is he still looking at me?" Sakura realized that Iruka was still staring at her after a while.

"Holy crap, Iruka isn't a pedophile, is he? I don't remember anything like that mentioned in the plot. He was still single at the end, I think... Wait a minute, he was still teaching at the Academy at the end... " Sakura found that the more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed. She shrank back in fear, shifting slightly to the side.

On the platform, Iruka suddenly realized that he'd been staring at Sakura for a while, which was a bit impolite. So, he gave Sakura an apologetic smile.

"Meow meow meow, Iruka is a pedophile! He just gave me a creepy smile." Sakura felt a chill run down her spine, and goosebumps instantly covered her entire body. She still had to spend six years under his supervision. She couldn't beat him in a fight right now, and she didn't have any prominent background. The more she thought about it, the more dangerous it seemed. Maybe I should go report this to the old man Hokage. The old man Hokage seems to care about Konoha's next generation.

Just as Sakura decided to find an opportunity to snitch to the Third Hokage, the students in the class had all finished their self-introductions. Then, Iruka announced that the students should get to know their future companions for a while, and after distributing the textbooks, he dismissed the class.

"Tomorrow is the first day of classes. Don't be late," Iruka said in closing.