White steam curled through the bathroom, filling it with a hazy warmth. Sakura lay comfortably in the bathtub, letting the heat soak away the exhaustion from her early morning run.
She lifted her small palm out of the water, causing gentle ripples to spread across the surface. Under the steaming water, her hand—belonging to a six-year-old child—looked soft and rosy.
With her mind calm and settled, Sakura could feel her chakra having mostly recovered. Not only that, but the excess chakra was automatically gathering at the center of her forehead.
Just as she began to feel at ease, her nerves suddenly tightened again.
At sixteen, the future Haruno Sakura was strong. But in the grand scheme of Konoha, even she wasn't all that special.
Better not get too relaxed...
"Sakura, you're going to be late!"
A knock came at the bathroom door, followed by her mother Haruno Mebuki's voice.
"Coming, Mom!"
—
By the time Sakura arrived in the classroom with her hair still a little damp, class was about to start.
"Sakura, did you take a bath?" Ino reached over to touch Sakura's soft pink hair, which was still a bit wet.
"Yeah, I exercised a bit this morning, so I took a bath afterward."
"Sounds like you didn't manage your time well. Maybe you should get up a little earlier next time."
Sakura casually tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear that were falling into her line of sight and smiled at Ino in response.
"Ah…"
Sakura's so hardworking…
Ino looked at Sakura with a slight sense of defeat welling up inside her.
"Why is Sakura working so hard? Isn't being with us enough for her?"
Ino couldn't understand why Sakura was pushing herself so much. She'd only just gotten new study materials yesterday, and yet today she was already practicing.
Sakura glanced around at her classmates.
There weren't too many of them, just over twenty students.
But the majority of them were children from various prominent ninja clans. Of the twelve major young ninjas, nine were here. Besides herself, among the remaining eight, six were future clan leaders, one would become the Seventh Hokage, and the last was the last remaining Uchiha.
In terms of background, Sakura ranked the lowest.
In terms of resources, she was at the bottom too.
She was just an ordinary civilian ninja.
To reach the peak and withstand the storms from all directions in this world that valued bloodlines above all, the abilities of even the war-hardened Sakura weren't enough.
She had to work even harder.
"Ino, actually, we are—"
Before Sakura could finish, a dry towel was suddenly draped over her head.
"Dry your hair. You'll catch a cold like this."
Iruka smiled gently at the slightly damp-haired girl.
"Thank you, Iruka-sensei."
Sakura took the towel and began drying her hair as she thanked him.
"What were you going to say, Sakura?" Ino looked at her curiously.
"We're best friends for life, of course."
Sakura grinned as she answered.
"Liar! That's not what you were going to say at all."
Ino pouted and lunged at Sakura, snatching the towel off her head.
"You don't even need to say it. I already know."
Ino stood behind her and began drying Sakura's hair herself, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Feeling Ino's motions on her head, Sakura couldn't help but smile.
Maybe she had overthought things.
She and Ino were the same, after all.
Unlike usual, today Sakura wasn't paying attention to Iruka's lecture. Instead, she had picked up another textbook and was flipping through it.
The material Iruka was teaching today? She'd already mastered it last night.
Time passed, and the morning lectures came to an end. Iruka didn't say a word about Sakura's "daydreaming" behavior. In fact, he seemed to completely overlook it.
"This afternoon is physical training. Everyone be prepared, and don't eat too much at lunch."
As Iruka's words landed, the classroom instantly erupted with groans.
Physical training at the ninja academy wasn't like a normal gym class from Sakura's previous life. It was an intense regimen meant to push the young ninjas-in-training to their physical limits.
Or to put it more bluntly: as long as it doesn't kill you, we'll train you to death.
"Especially those in the back—don't even think about skipping."
Iruka knocked on the desk as he continued sternly.
"I'm talking about you four—Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji."
The boys he singled out immediately froze, their clever little plans vanishing on the spot.
"Sakura, we have hell training this afternoon~~"
As soon as Iruka left, Ino latched onto Sakura with a miserable look on her face.
"It's not like we can skip it anyway," Sakura replied helplessly, closing the textbook in her hands as she looked at the clingy Ino.
Suddenly, Ino leaned closer and sniffed Sakura, her breath tickling the nape of Sakura's neck.
"Sakura, you smell so good~~"
"What shampoo do you use?"
…
At lunchtime, Sakura didn't eat in the schoolyard like she usually did. Instead, she sat quietly in the classroom, flipping through The First Hokage's Will of Fire while munching on rice balls her mom had made.
Ino had run off somewhere, and someone else had taken her place sticking to Sakura.
"Hehe, Sakura, this is something I learned to make yesterday using the recipe you gave me!"
"Try it for me, okay~~?"
The blonde boy grinned as he scooted up next to her, holding out a food box that was clearly brand new.
Sakura looked at the not-so-appetizing dish inside and gave Naruto a surprised glance.
This guy… he really put effort into cooking…
She didn't turn him down. Taking the chopsticks he offered, she picked up a fried shrimp and put it in her mouth.
To be honest… it didn't taste great.
"The taste's not bad. Maybe cut back a little on the salt in the batter next time."
Sakura preferred light flavors, and Naruto had gone a bit heavy on the seasoning.
"Then I'll do even better next time!"
Naruto didn't get discouraged at all. Instead, he looked more motivated than ever.
"Since when did those two get so close…"
Three heads peeked in from the classroom window, lined up in a neat row.
Kiba, his face painted with red markings, stared at the two inside and commented.
"Something seems fishy…"
"When did Naruto learn to cook? I wanna try it," Choji added, eyes locked on Sakura's food box as he munched on chips.
"Isn't it obvious? Naruto likes Sakura, but she doesn't feel the same," Shikamaru muttered, deadpan as always, eyes dull as a dead fish.
Still, that Sakura really is impressive. She's seriously planning to skip grades.
The pineapple-headed boy had noticed from the start that the book in front of Sakura wasn't one they were supposed to be studying yet.
In other words, she had actually gotten the materials for an advanced grade from Iruka, and the fact that Iruka had let her be all day clearly meant he supported her decision.
Looks like a real genius is about to emerge from their class...
(End of Chapter)
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