[Enhancement made permanent.]
Sakura ignored the system's message. Even without looking, she knew what it was going to be.
"So, that's how it's meant to be played," Sakura marveled as her anger calmed down, her eyes tracing the final positions on the shogi board. She had just finished another game with Shikamaru. If not for Shikamaru patiently telling her mistakes, explaining the strategy he had used, and the reasons behind his moves, she would have exploded because of her anger for her own stupidity.
She knew you can't learn Shogi in a day, but she couldn't help but become angry when she made obvious blunders. Making an obvious blunder was her old habit from chess. She would make a move, then immediately see what she had done wrong. She swears to god she sees those blunders before her opponent. It was so strange.
She has asked herself millions of times why she couldn't see that before making moves, but sees it immediately after making the move. This is said to be common in chess, but she feels that this happens to her more than any other player.
"Do you understand now?" Shikamaru's question brought her mind back.
"Yes," Sakura nodded. She could understand everything he said. Shikamaru was a surprisingly good teacher or her Intelligence I perk was working.
"If you play like this, you will improve quickly," Shikamaru said, rearranging the pieces. "Would you like to play another game?"
"No, not another game," Ino said before Sakura could reply. "I am bored of watching you guys play."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Ino," Sakura said, quickly offering her spot to Ino. "I got carried away playing with Shikamaru. Here, you can play this time." She felt guilty; she had forgotten about Ino and Choji.
"I will not play with Shikamaru," Ino stated firmly, not moving from her spot. She knew a little about shogi, but playing against him was torture for her. "He wins every single time in very few moves. It's not fun at all."
"You can play with me then or with Choji," Sakura offered.
"I don't want to play Shogi at all," Ino whined.
"What do you want to do then?" Sakura asked, her mind was also tired of playing. If Ino had another idea, then they could do that.
"I don't know," Ino admitted, deflating slightly. She didn't have a better idea either.
"Then you should play. Shikamaru and I will teach you," Sakura said. Even though she could hardly be considered a qualified shogi teacher herself, guiding a complete beginner like Ino wouldn't be a problem.
"But," Ino started to protest.
"Isn't your family in the field of psychology?" Sakura interjected, with a plan in her mind. "Since Shogi is as much a psychological game as it is an intellectual one. Your father is going to teach you this someday, isn't he? Wouldn't it be easier if you started learning now?" She was trying to inspire, or perhaps more accurately, to trick her. If she could spark Ino's interest in Shogi, she could play regularly with them.
"Fine, then," Ino agreed. Her father had indeed tried to teach her shogi before. She'd even learned a few times. He'd called her a natural, praising her to the skies. But her confidence was shattered when she played with Shikamaru. It didn't take long for her to come crashing back down to earth. After that humbling experience, her interest in the game had completely vanished.
"You should play with Choji. He is also a beginner, but he may know more since he watches Shikamaru play all the time." Sakura said as if today wasn't the day she played Shogi seriously for the first time.
"Shikamaru, you will help Choji, but you aren't allowed to interfere too much, just give a suggestion when he is losing, and I will do the same with Ino," Sakura said to Shikamaru, and he nodded. "This way you will learn faster."
"I'll start with this," Ino decided, activating her Bishop by moving the pawn that blocked its path.
With that, the game began. Sakura and Shikamaru watched closely, offering quiet advice to their respective teammates when needed. As the match entered its tense endgame, a popular question from the Naruto series popped into Sakura's head.
"Hey, Shikamaru," she called him with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Do you know who is the King on the Shogi board? Or rather, who is the King for you?"
This question has multiple answers, but she was asking this answer to Shikamaru as a person, not to Shikamaru, a Konoha ninja, like in the anime.
"Huh?", Shikamaru was confused by the sudden philosophical question.
"On the Shogi board, the King is the most important piece. Every other piece sacrifices itself to protect it. So, for you, who is the King?" Sakura asked again, her smile widening.
Ino and Choji shot her a curious look but remained focused on the board. They didn't know what she was trying to say. Since she was trying to target Shikamaru, they kept quiet. It wasn't the first time Sakura had asked these strange questions.
In the anime, during a training session, Asuma had asked Shikamaru, "Who is the king on the Shogi board?"
Shikamaru immediately answered, "The Hokage, of course."
Asuma told him he was wrong. He said the answer isn't so simple and that Shikamaru must "find the king" for himself. But Shikamaru couldn't find the answer, so Asuma revealed the answer to Shikamaru when he was going to die.
"Is it the Hokage?" Shikamaru said uncertainly. He knew it probably wasn't the right answer based on how she was asking.
"No,"
"Is it daimyo?"
"No, they aren't the king. You have the answer in your heart, but you don't know it yet. You have to search for your king yourself," Sakura said, shaking her head.
"Then who is the King?" Shikamaru couldn't find the answer.
"I don't know who your king is either, but I'm certain it's not them. Like I said, only you can know your king." Sakura felt smug seeing the "intelligent" Shikamaru look so confused.
"But, I know who my king is," Sakura said with a smug smile, but to Shikamaru, the smile looked a little different on her cute face, causing him to blush.
After throwing away the thought he just had, which he knows isn't true, he seriously thought about Sakura's question. It must have a deeper meaning, and he didn't get it.
***** (Next day)
Shishui and Itachi were watching Sakura, who was sleeping in her class. She was tired from the training in the morning. Guy was on the mission, but that hadn't stopped her from training.
"King?" Itachi repeated.
"Yes, the king. Apparently, the Hokage or Daimyo aren't the King that she was asking about. She said something like, You know the King you want to protect in your heart." Shishui was sharing what he had heard yesterday. When Sakura talked about the king, whom you would sacrifice yourself to protect, it deeply touched his heart. When Sakura said she already knew the King, she would sacrifice for he also searched for the King. While Shikamaru was struggling with the answer for him, it was obvious.
"For me, the King is the village. I will sacrifice myself without second thought to protect the village." Shishui said with a smile.
"Since Hokage and Daimyo aren't the answer, would the village be it?" Itachi felt the answer must be different.
"I think this question will have a different answer depending on how it is asked. She was asking the King in your heart, for which I have a clear answer: it is the village." Shishui said with certainty. "It may also be asked who is your King, as the King of ANBU Shisui, then it would be Hokage, or maybe as my king as a ninja, or as a clan member."
"What I like about this question is that we are placing ourselves as a piece that can be sacrificed to protect others, rather than placing ourselves as the King whom others must protect, or we must protect ourselves by sacrificing others," Shisui explained his understanding to Itachi.
"King, I must protect," Itachi murmured. Unlike Shisui, Itachi felt that he didn't have a clear answer. He feels that he has multiple kings like the village, his brother, Izumi, his mother, Shisui, etc. He doesn't know if the King represents a single person or multiple people because he will happily sacrifice to protect his loved ones.
"I must say, Sakura is somewhat like you," Shisui said, observing Sakura, who was currently sleeping to recover from her hard training in the morning.
"She is mature even though she is young. She wants to get stronger to protect her loved ones and the village. She has the same drive that you had to train. In the entire history of the ninja world, there are very few who train themselves day and night to protect others." Shisui gave a smile to Itachi, "That's what I like about you and now of her."
"Now I know why Captain Kakashi would kill the Root to protect her. Today, we are the protectors of Konoha, who protect the village from outside threats and threats within. Tomorrow, she would be the one to do so. So, we must protect her today so that a new protector of Konoha can grow. The responsibility and duty will pass down from us to her, and she will continue to protect Konoha as the new generation grows and the cycle continues. This is the will of fire that Third Hokage mentions frequently." Shisui felt for the first time that he truly understood the will of fire.
"I also finally understand why Second Hokage sacrificed himself to save Third Hokage, Danzo, Hokage advisors, and my father. Logically speaking, as a creator of the village, many powerful ninjutsus, many systems within the village, and the strongest ninja of that time, it would have been in the village's best interest if he survived instead of the other ninjas who were weaker than him and had less contribution to the village."
"But if he sacrificed the future generation to protect the present, then who will guard the future? So sacrificed himself to protect the future. Similarly, the Fourth Hokage sacrificed himself without any hesitation to protect the future of Konoha." Shisui sighed, remembering their bravery.
"Therefore, like how Land of Fire has Hokage and Daimyo, I also have two Kings; the village and the younger generation." Shisui, for the first time, felt he had a clear goal and an answer to the question he had been searching for all this time. If the younger generation were the future of the village, then they were also the future of he clan.
After hearing Shishui talk about the younger generation, Itachi suddenly remembered what Sasuke had said about Sakura.
"How could a civilian become the strongest ninja? Only a Uchiha can become the strongest ninja, just like Madara. She doesn't even know that you need the Sharingan to become the strongest."
"Younger generation," Itachi also found the current problem and the solution for the future of the clan.