"Sakura, come down for breakfast!"
At 7 o'clock in the morning, Sakura was startled awake by her mother's call.
Having grown accustomed to sleeping in until she naturally woke up at sea, she was dazed and didn't react immediately.
"Ah, I don't want to get up."
The girl let out a few weak wails and climbed out of bed.
After dawdling for a long time, Sakura finally went downstairs with a heavy heart.
"Sakura-chan~ You're awake~"
In the dining room, Leviathan smiled like a virtuous wife and mother, her raincoat replaced by a small frilly pink apron under the effect of a transformation technique.
"Breakfast~ is ready~ Eat up~"
The little girl, dragging out her syllables, stood on tiptoe in her cotton slippers and brought breakfast to Sakura.
"Oh~ Thanks."
Sakura rubbed her head and yawned.
"Leviathan is so adorable, I wish you were my daughter!"
Looking at the well-behaved Leviathan, Mebuki showed a kind smile.
"Sakura's family~ is my family too~"
Leviathan didn't understand Mebuki's meaning, instead answering seriously with a stern little face.
"Wow, too cute!"
Mebuki's maternal instincts flared up, she hugged Leviathan close and rubbed cheeks with her.
"By the way, Mom, I'm going to take care of Ino today, I won't be back for meals."
Swallowing the sandwich in front of her in one bite, Sakura called out to her mother who was engrossed in 'adoring' the ship.
Mother fell silent, looking at the 'daughter' at the table wearing pajamas, with messy hair, swinging her feet. Her expression was frighteningly calm.
Mother doesn't want to talk.
Mother doesn't want to acknowledge you.
Mother is building up rage.
Mother wants to change daughters…
Finally, after taking a few deep breaths and reminding herself that this was, after all, her own child, Mebuki managed not to start scolding on the spot in front of Leviathan.
After hurriedly finishing breakfast, Sakura changed clothes and sat in the entryway to put on her shoes.
"I'm off!"
She called out to the two in front of the TV, but Mebuki didn't even turn her head.
Seeing her like this, favoring the little daughter over the big one, Sakura let out a helpless sigh.
'-So, love disappears, right?'
…
Setting off from her home, Sakura passed through several streets on her way to the Yamanaka Flower Shop in the southern district.
"Ara, Sakura is here!"
Yamanaka Rindo, who was managing the shop, saw Sakura and smiled.
"Auntie Rindo, this is a souvenir."
Sakura handed her the souvenir she was carrying, causing the elegant lady to look surprised.
"Ara, you didn't have to bring anything just for visiting."
Rindo hurriedly invited Sakura into the shop and served her a cup of hot tea.
"Both Inoichi and I have been quite busy lately, sorry to trouble you with taking care of Ino."
"To be honest, I feel quite apologetic. Ino ended up like this because of my fault."
Sakura scratched her head apologetically.
"Such is Ninja combat, no need to dwell on it."
"The door on the second floor isn't locked, you can go up by yourself."
Rindo told Sakura, then went back to being busy due to customers arriving at the flower shop.
The Yamanaka Residence's flower shop and living quarters were on different floors, the structure was a bit complex, but Sakura, having been here many times, easily found Ino's room and pushed the door open.
"Sakura... cough cough!"
At that moment, Ino in the room had just open the covers, wanting to reach for the water glass on the bedside table.
"Lie down properly, patient!"
Sakura went forward, wrapped the covers back around her, poured a glass of water, and fed it to her.
"Huu~"
Ino, her forehead sporting a fever-reducing patch and her face flushed, stared at Sakura. The two looked at each other for a while, then both started laughing.
Sakura's slight apology thus disappeared within the laughter of her understanding friend.
"You really hit hard, you know!"
Ino lifted a corner of the quilt and patted the futon beside her towards Sakura.
"Of course, would you be happy if I really used strength similar to yours to play house with you?"
Sakura didn't hold back either, took off her slippers, and burrowed into Ino's futon.
"I'll hit you!"
Ino pressed close to Sakura, her fist under the covers waving weakly at her.
"What do you want to eat for lunch? How about I cook some porridge for you?"
Leaning against the headboard, Sakura gently massaged Ino's temples. Yang Attribute Chakra flowed from her fingertips into Ino's pressure points, soothing her dilated blood vessels.
"Okay, I'll eat anything Sakura cooks!"
The headache Ino had from the fever subsided, her tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxing.
"Sakura...."
"What is it?"
Attracted by her friend's soft call, Sakura lowered her head.
"Can you tell me what level has you reached now? That technique that froze the forest the other day, even Asuma-sensei said his strength isn't as good as yours!"
The feverish, sleepy-eyed light-brown-haired girl completely forgot the Ninja habit of keeping one's techniques and strength secret, coyly asking her friend.
"Hmm, the level huh...."
Sakura raised a finger, looking at the Chakra dancing on her fingertip.
From a pure Ninja perspective, she had mastered Chakra Shape Transformation, two types of Chakra Nature Transformation-
And had studied genjutsu, Earth Release, Water Release, Medical Ninjutsu, Flying Thunder God, Sealing Techniques, and Summoning Technique.
A normal Ninja qualified for the position of Kage was probably about at her current level.
However, with Ino's question, Sakura, carefully considering everything she had learned, discovered a problem.
Disorganization.
What she possessed was too disorganized, to the point that it hadn't formed a combat system unique to her.
Recalling her adventures between the Ninja World and the sea, she always relied on her exceptional learning ability, learning whatever she saw, resulting in her techniques and Taijutsu becoming bloated and complex.
'No wonder my strength seemed to have hit a bottleneck recently, despite learning so many Ninjutsu, and not improving much.'
"Perhaps it's time to properly plan out my Ninja Path?"
After thinking for a long time, Sakura put her finger down and let out a sigh.
"What plan?"
Ino muttered in her dazed state, but Sakura didn't answer her.
Instead, she steered the topic in another direction.
"Well, if Ino wants to know my strength, I'll specially tell you today!"
Sakura narrowed her emerald eyes, revealing a mischievous smile.
She brought her head close to Ino's ear and blew a warm breath onto it.
"Actually, my strength is about the same as the rice-carrying uncle downstairs."
Instantly, Ino, who was almost asleep from Sakura's massage, heard this, her eyes flew open, all sleepiness gone.
"Sakura-chan!!!"
The girl's coquettish cry echoed in the bedroom.
"Ahahahaha!"
Sakura's joyful laughter intertwined with the coquettishness.
The sounds of their playfulness leaked from Ino's room window, blending into the gentle and peaceful daily life of Konoha Village's thousands of households.
Amidst the bustling noise filled with the atmosphere of life, a man with white hair, dressed in red-brown attire, with a large scroll on his back, entered Konoha.
Standing at the highest point of the Hokage Rock, he looked down at everything, revealing an expectant smile.
"Konoha, this pervert has returned!"