Chapter 15: Hokage
Hiruzen Sarutobi stroked his beard, watching the pink-haired girl in the crystal ball.
Sakura's handling of Sasuke had been a touch blunt, perhaps — but more than adequate in his eyes.
When words couldn't reach a classmate spiraling out of control, subdue them first, then talk them down.
It had clearly worked.
This is the future of Konoha…
Recalling the scene, Hiruzen considered for a moment — and seemed to make up his mind about something.
Sakura leaned against a thick tree trunk, breathing hard. Beads of sweat traced lines down her cheeks.
The Sasuke incident hadn't shaken her much. She bore him no ill will.
He was just a kid who'd lost everything. That was all.
Right now she'd just finished a thirty-kilometer endurance run, and even at seven years old, she could tell — this was her body's current ceiling. Pushing further would do more harm than good.
"Sakura?"
"What are you doing out here?"
A voice — aged but strong — called out with a note of curiosity.
The pink-haired girl turned to see a slightly balding old man in casual clothes studying her from a short distance away.
"Lord Hokage?"
Surprise crossed her face. She tried to stand, but her body had nothing left. After two failed attempts, a hand settled on her shoulder and gently pressed her back down.
"If you're tired, rest."
Hiruzen smiled warmly at the girl.
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
Sakura pressed her lips together, then looked up at the kindly old man.
"What brings you here, Lord Hokage?"
"Ha ha ha — to check in on our little genius kunoichi, of course."
Hiruzen sat down beside her and patted her head.
Sakura hadn't hidden an ounce of her talent. Her reputation as a prodigy had already spread through the village — naturally, the Hokage would know.
But at his words, Sakura went quiet.
"What's wrong?"
Hiruzen studied the girl, who didn't seem particularly pleased.
Sakura pointed at the sweat on her face, then at her body — too exhausted to even stand.
"The word 'genius' erases everything behind it."
"Nobody sees the work. They just assume my results are a given."
She'd deliberately let her talent show — that was strategy. But this past year had cost her real sweat. Late nights studying by lamplight. Training squeezed into every spare moment of the day.
She'd achieved her goal, but the price had been anything but free.
"I see… that was thoughtless of me. You've worked very hard, Sakura."
Hiruzen's expression softened.
He'd already thought highly of this child. Now something warmer stirred — a twinge of sympathy for the effort no one acknowledged.
"Then may I ask — why do you push yourself so hard?"
The question sharpened Sakura's focus.
She raised one arm and pointed — toward the Hokage Tower. Or more precisely, toward the Hokage Rock behind it.
Even if you couldn't see it from here.
Hiruzen followed the direction of her finger.
"I want to be the first female Hokage!"
"I want to protect my mom, protect my dad, and protect this village!"
Hiruzen stared at the girl.
The strong impression she'd already made — the diligence, the talent — and now words that were almost identical to what a certain red-haired firebrand had declared years ago.
He could see other people in this child.
Tsunade's monstrous strength. Kushina's ambition. Minato's temperament.
His eyes stung. In this one small girl, he saw the shadows of three different people.
From where he sat, he couldn't see the slightly stiff, embarrassed look on Sakura's face.
Saying something like that to a man in his sixties — yeah, it was awkward.
Conning old men is just part of the plan.
"That's a fine dream."
"This old man believes in you, Sakura."
Hiruzen wiped the moisture from his eyes, ruffled her hair once more, and smiled.
"If you ever have questions or need help with anything — come find me."
Then he stood and vanished from sight.
Wait — Lord Hokage, you're just going to LEAVE?
Sakura sighed, watching the empty space where he'd been.
Then, from the corner of her eye, she noticed something sitting where he'd been a moment ago.
A scroll.
The old man dropped loot!
She snatched it up and unrolled it immediately.
Two large characters on the first page.
Enhanced Strength.
Honestly… a little disappointing.
But it was fine. At the very least, she could now use her superhuman strength out in the open without anyone asking questions.
She kept reading — and her eyes lit up.
This wasn't the same as the raw power her body already possessed.
Enhanced Strength was Tsunade's original creation — a taijutsu technique that concentrated chakra into a specific point of the body, then released it in a devastating burst. An extremely high-level combat art.
The precision required for chakra control was immense — but precisely because of that, the scroll also detailed methods for refining and streamlining chakra manipulation.
Sakura already had the technique thanks to her cheat. But the fine-tuned control? She was still rough around the edges.
And since ninjas fought with chakra, mastering control was the foundation of everything. Better control meant faster acquisition of every technique down the line.
Well — unless you were Naruto Uzumaki, who just brute-forced everything with his ocean of chakra.
And then there was Hiruzen's parting line: If you have questions, come find me.
Oh, Lord Hokage — I have SO many questions. About EVERYTHING.
She tucked the scroll away carefully, humming a tune as she strolled home under the fading sun with a spring in her step.
"Beneath the endless sky, my heart runs free~"
"Where mountains meet the flowers, that's where I'll be~"
The shimmering lake reflected her silhouette as she walked along the familiar embankment. There, sitting alone by the water, a solitary figure stared blankly at the surface.
"Yo, Naruto — what are you doing just sitting there?"
"It's getting dark. Go home and make dinner."
"And if I catch you eating instant ramen again, I'm telling Iruka-sensei you've been paying two hundred ryō a cup~"
Her bright voice made the blond boy turn around.
What met his eyes was a smile so warm it nearly stopped his heart.
"Standing there like a dummy. Come on — it's almost dark. Get going."
"O-oh! Right!"
Naruto blinked, then broke into a grin.