"Hokage-sama, I can't become the homeroom teacher of Naruto. Please replace me with others." Iruka bowed to express his apology.
"Iruka, do you know why I chose you to be the homeroom teacher for this class, one that includes the heirs of powerful clans and Naruto, the boy many villagers believe is responsible for the death of your parents and their loved ones?" the Third Hokage said, calmly puffing on his pipe.
"I don't know Hokage-sama."
"You do know about Jinchuriki, right?"
"Yes," Iruka lowered his head in shame.
"Do you know, Iruka? The Fourth Hokage's last wish was for the villagers to treat Naruto as a hero, the child who sealed the Nine-Tails within himself to protect the village. But what are the villagers doing instead? Except for the ninja clans who know the truth, the rest needed somewhere to place their grief, pain, and hatred. So they chose a parentless child to hate, just because someone called him the demon fox, and all the proof they needed was those whisker marks on his face." Iruka felt shame as he was also one of them.
"Do you know what I see in the crystal ball right now, Iruka?" the Third Hokage asked, pointing toward the glowing orb, which showed Naruto crying alone in some quiet corner of the village.
"I see a child without parents, without friends, without a guardian. All alone… crying, just to ease a little bit of the sadness. Doesn't that feel familiar to you?"
Iruka's chest tightened. "Naruto..."
"That's why I chose you," Hiruzen continued softly. "You know that pain, the pain of being alone. You've lived through that sadness. And that's why only you can truly understand him. You see, you and Naruto... you're not so different."
*****
"Damn it." Sakura was very angry. She had known from anime how Naruto was treated and also seen it in person before her memory fully recovered. But seeing it in person was more painful than she had imagined. Children often say hurtful things without understanding the consequences, but that wasn't the case here.
This wasn't just childish teasing; it was a kind of bullying on the basis of the behaviour and attitudes of their parents towards Naruto. These kids had learned how to treat Naruto by watching the adults around them talk about him behind his back.. But, he was just a child with no one to look after him, suffering the greatest misunderstanding and hatred of the world..
"That's why I must become strong. If the Hokage were stronger, they could guarantee the safety of the village, just like the previous and current Raikage do. The people of the Hidden Cloud stopped fearing their jinchūriki; instead, they came to respect and admire him. But in Konoha, people don't trust their Hokage to protect them from the Nine-Tails. That's why they fear Naruto and hate him."
"I just wanted to go with the flow, train a bit more than the canon Sakura, get stronger, and hope the system or my abilities would carry me forward. But reality is cruel. Naruto's situation reminded me: people like Danzo could commit horrible deeds because they had power, just like Obito, Madara, and every other villain. The only way to fight back is to have enough power of my own. I knew the future, so I was certain everything would get good in the end."
"But, if Pain decides to set his plan in motion earlier than in the original timeline because of the butterfly effect, then this world is doomed. Right now, there's no one strong enough to stop Pain or Obito. There are also factors like Sasuke who will change either for good or bad because I am different now. So, I have only one choice. To become strong enough to fight them." Sakura clenched her fists in determination.
*****
"Mom, from now on, cook more meat, and I want to eat eggs every day," she told her mother after she reached home. "I want to become the strongest ninja."
"That's like my Sakura." Kizashi on the side gave her a thumbs up. She ignored his thumbs-up and went to her room.
"Let's make my training plan." She took out her notebook and started to write.
"My greatest strength is my chakra control. I also have a natural affinity for yin and yang release, which means I'm better suited for genjutsu and medical ninjutsu. But I can't learn them yet. I also can't train my chakra control because I still can't feel my chakra. Until the academy teaches us how to sense, use, and control chakra, there's not much I can do. I could either ask a ninja for help or focus on physical training. I could even do both if I went to Guy-sensei, but I'd rather not go anywhere near him and exercise on my own."
"What should I do as exercise then? Running, skipping, push-ups, pull-ups, then... maybe yoga for flexibility, but I don't know yoga, and I doubt there is yoga in this world." She couldn't find any exercise that would help her in overall body strengthening and development. She can't do heavy ones because she is a girl and doesn't want to be a muscle giant like Miss Monday. "I didn't have to worry about strength, as perfect chakra control would take care of that."
"I can ask Iruka sensei tomorrow. He will help me. I can also train in kunai throwing. If I can throw kunai like Itachi, then it will be very useful in fights." Thinking of Itachi's kunai skills, Sakura knew she would not be able to master them to that level, as it requires assistance from Sharingan, but it was a must-have skill for ninja, and she would have to train in Kunai and Shuriken throwing.
"Yosh, l will exercise regularly from now on. When I become strong enough, then I will let them know what physical pain is." The fiery resolution was burning within Sakura.
"Let's get everything ready. I will wear this.... The alarm clock has been set... Where is my water bottle... I don't think this shoe is meant for running. I will ask dad to buy me a new one and use this for tomorrow."
"All done." After a while, Sakura had done all the preparation. Tomorrow, the new Sun will see a new Sakura.
*****
In front of her house, Sakura was stretching to begin her exercise. She planned to run to the practice ground and do several laps around it. Once she got tired, she would practice kunai throwing. After that, she'd move on to other exercises, such as pull-ups, push-ups, and skipping, then return to kunai practice to give her body enough time to recover some stamina before running back home. For now, this was her training schedule. Today, she also planned to ask Iruka-sensei for help and follow his recommendations.
"Yosh! The path to greatness begins now!" Sakura declared, jumping into the air and raising her fist triumphantly. She only dared to act like this because no one was around to see her. Even if she was only six years old, she still wouldn't dare do something so embarrassing in front of others.
"Sakura, where are you? Mebuki, have you seen Sakura?" The sound of Hizashi searching for her was the cue to run. She had told him she would start running at 6 a.m., but she woke up at 5 to get a head start just so he wouldn't follow her. With his personality, he'd probably tell everyone along the way that she was training, and worse, try to limit her training because of his overprotective nature.
She started her run at a slow pace, carrying a bag on her back that held a water bottle, a towel, and the kunai she needed for her practice. After running for 100 meters or so, she heard a woosh sound, and a cloud of dust enveloped her.
"Cough, cough." Sakura inhaled the unexpected dust cloud.
"Are you training, little girl?" A rough voice sounded beside her.
"Yes," She barely managed to reply while coughing.
"So, you must be a student of the ninja academy." The man said.
"Yes, I am. My classes began just yesterday." She could finally breathe properly and looked at the man who might be the cause of the dust cloud, though she had a nagging feeling that she knew the man.
"You are still a child, but I can already feel the surging energy of Youth in you." Yep, the man was a green tights-wearing blue beast of Konoha. As the dust settled, she could see him giving his signature thumbs-up and smile, showing his sparkling smile. There was also a rising Sun behind him. Seeing this, Sakura immediately knew she had experienced the legendary genjutsu of Gai-sensei.
Wait, on a closer look, it was the morning sun rising from the horizon. How could there be such a ridiculous genjutsu?
"I also used to train very hard when I was your age," Guy said. "But Kakashi used to beat me every time! I was very weak back then, so I trained day and night just to be worthy of calling him my rival. But he… he graduated early! Can you believe it? He was just five years old!" Guy wiped a nostalgic tear from his eye. "Still, I didn't give up! I trained even harder..."
He then launched into a dramatic retelling of the epic saga titled "The Rivalry of Might Guy and Kakashi!". Sakura felt that if someone dared to listen, then it would become longer than the Mahabharat.
"Uncle, why are you telling me all this?" Sakura asked. It was rude to interrupt someone, but she didn't want to sit through the biography of Guy. She was just some random girl to him. It made no sense for him to recount his entire life to a little girl he met on the road. Either he was the kind of weirdo who shared his rivalry saga with every kid he passed on the street… or he had a reason for talking to her.
"Little girl, seeing you train, I couldn't help but remember my days in the ninja academy. But, you have average or perhaps even below average chakra compared to other ninja, which means you're likely to become a mediocre ninja at best. Maybe you'll reach Chūnin, or stay a Genin forever. That's not uncommon. Many civilian-born ninja take early retirement when their growth stagnates. I was once like you, so I devoted myself to taijutsu."
Guy said with nostalgia, but the more Sakura listened, the more she felt his vibe resembled that of those weird masters in Chinese novels. They would first tell the main character they were worse than trash, then claim they could turn trash into gold or had a manual that could do so.
"I carefully observed your body and felt that you are very suitable for taijutsu." Yep, now she was sure. He wants to make her his student.
She was right, the Third Hokage had forced Kakashi to take on a team of recent graduates if he found them suitable to become his students. The goal was to pull Kakashi out of his depression and help him escape the darkness that had been accumulating since the death of Minato and his time in the Anbu.
Seeing this, Guy felt that he, too, should accept a student and turn them into a rival for Kakashi's student. Kakashi had already failed the first team assigned to him, so now Guy had a chance to take a student first and win their unspoken challenge of "Who gets a disciple first?"So, when he saw a young girl with low chakra reserves running early in the morning, he felt he had found exactly the student he needed. His only requirement for a student was hard work, and who could be more hardworking than a little girl out training before sunrise?
"Oh," Sakura replied, but she had a lot to say about the above comment. First, Guy had a good chakra reserve, which even increased due to the strengthening of his physique by taijutsu. As for being weak, he was just below Kakashi and above everyone in Taijutsu in the academy, and that Kakashi and Kakashi now are different people. Kakashi was a monstrous genius with very people being as talented as him in the early stages. The one person who resembles Kakashi in this regard is Itachi. As for the present Guy, he is the strongest person in Konoha right now. But, he doesn't know.
"But, didn't you still lose to this Kakashi uncle?" Sakura asked with a meaning of why are you telling me all of this if you lost at the end. She wanted to make him reconsider making her his student by being rude, as she didn't want to be his 'real' student. Being his 'real' student was torture only Lee could survive.
"Haha, I have a secret technique that I have reserved for Kakashi. I will surely win if I use that." Guy didn't mind her blunt but rude comment. While Sakura's mouth twitched,
"You won't just win… you'll annihilate him. Literally," she thought to herself, imagining the scene with Kakshi instead of Madara.
"That makes me one of the strongest ninja of Konoha," Guy said with pride.
"Behind Hokage and Kakashi, he can challenge even the peak Hiruzen with his 7 gates open, let alone now. Do you really think the self-destructive Kakashi who wants to die in a mission is stronger than you? I have to say, the greatest glazer of Kakashi is definitely Guy, not his fans on Earth." Sakura wanted to roll her eyes at him.
"Didn't you just say you can beat the Kakashi uncle with your technique?" Sakura questioned him.
"That technique is meant to be used on enemies, not on friends. So, Kakashi still beats me," Guy said seriously at first, but ended with a proud grin of being Kakashi's only rival.
"So, little girl, would you like to be my student?" Guy asked with the greatest smile he could muster, showing his white, shiny teeth.
"I don't know," Sakura replied uncertainly. Considering both her 'Angry Sakura' ability and her system's ability, becoming Guy's student might be the best choice for her. She was sure she'd end up furious with herself every day for agreeing to it and even more furious with Guy for his hellish training. It might increase the chances of triggering permanent boosts. Still, she didn't want to go through that kind of torture, and she was certain her parents would never allow it.