Chapter 17: Iruka's Guidance
A dark-haired boy stalked down the hallway outside the classroom, wearing an expression that screamed stay away.
In the two weeks since the Uchiha massacre, the fallout had fully engulfed the village. Itachi Uchiha had been branded an S-rank rogue ninja on the spot.
Any Konoha shinobi who encountered him was authorized to kill on sight.
And Sasuke Uchiha — the sole survivor — now carried the weight of a blood feud on his small shoulders.
The girls who used to fawn over him had shifted to pitying, sympathetic glances.
Those looks only deepened the darkness already festering inside him.
"Wow, Sakura! You're amazing!"
"You're already starting the sixth-year curriculum!"
Before Sasuke even reached the classroom door, he heard Ino's excited voice from inside.
"Does that mean you'll graduate soon?"
"I'm going to see you so much less after that…"
Ino's words hit Sasuke like a blade. He stood frozen beside the doorway, fists clenching.
Sakura Haruno.
The genius of their year. Next to her, he felt like a clown.
That humiliating "match" two weeks ago — the gap in raw strength alone had been devastating.
He couldn't even overpower a girl.
He lingered at the entrance for a long moment, then turned and walked away, face dark.
He was going to find Iruka. He wanted to skip grades too.
"Don't say that, Ino."
"I can come pick you up after school, you know."
Sakura flipped through her textbook, smiling at Ino's pouting.
Yesterday she'd passed the fifth-year promotion. For the first time, it had been genuinely tough.
Not the academics — the physical tests. She was still only seven, and the fifth-to-sixth-year exam was designed for eleven-year-olds.
The physical assessments didn't allow chakra enhancement, either. Pure body, no tricks. Otherwise she'd have just channeled Enhanced Strength into her legs and leaped fifty meters.
She needed to ease off. Let this body grow a little more.
"Huh? You can't do that!"
Ino tilted her head, imagining the scene — Sakura, the same height as her, standing at the school gates alongside all the parents, wearing a warm grown-up smile, waving—
"Ino! Over here!"
Ew.
That feels SO wrong…
"No no no — when you graduate, don't come pick me up at the gate!"
"Sneak in and find me!"
The blonde girl latched onto Sakura's waist and buried her face against her, sulking theatrically.
"Yeah, yeah — I'll sneak in for you, Princess Ino."
Iruka studied the boy standing before him, his expression grave.
This was arguably the most talked-about figure in the entire shinobi world right now.
The last Uchiha.
Who could have imagined that a thousand-year-old clan would be wiped out in a single night?
"Iruka-sensei — please!"
Sasuke bowed deeply.
Iruka chose his words carefully, doing his best not to touch the boy's raw nerves.
"Sasuke — can you tell me why you want to skip ahead?"
Sasuke straightened, hatred plain on his face.
"I'm going to kill him."
Who "him" was needed no explanation.
"Sasuke, I think you may be misunderstanding something."
Iruka kept his voice as gentle as possible.
"Wanting to skip grades like Sakura — that drive is admirable."
"But Sakura didn't get strong because she skipped ahead."
"She skipped ahead because she was already strong."
"The material I cover in a full class period — Sakura absorbs in fifteen minutes. After that, the rest of the lesson has nothing left to offer her."
"Sasuke — if I compressed an entire lesson into fifteen minutes, would you be able to follow it?"
"And that's just academics. As for the physical side… I think you understand that better than anyone."
Sasuke stood rigid, knuckles white.
"The truth is — getting stronger doesn't require skipping grades."
"At the end of the day, a promotion is just a change in status. Whether you're strong or not has nothing to do with what rank you hold."
"Sakura chose to advance because sitting through classes felt like wasted time. That's all."
"If you spend these six years at the Academy honing yourself to the absolute limit before becoming a shinobi — that doesn't make you any weaker, Sasuke."
Iruka spoke from the heart. If Sasuke, in his current mental state, somehow skipped ahead and became a genin — he'd get himself killed on his first real mission.
"So you're saying… I don't need to skip grades. I just need to focus on getting stronger?"
Something shifted in Sasuke's expression. Iruka's logic was getting through.
"Exactly. And if there's ever anything you don't understand, come to me directly."
"Even if I can't answer it, I'll find another shinobi who can."
Iruka's face softened as he looked at the boy, a quiet sympathy in his eyes.
"Yes — thank you, Iruka-sensei."
At noon, Sakura left the Academy. The afternoon was more written coursework — attending or not made zero difference.
What she really needed right now was to do nothing. Let this body grow. By age eight, she could consider graduating.
But if she waited until eight, that left only one year to get the Yin Seal.
That was cutting it razor-thin.
One year to obtain the Yin Seal. Three years to accumulate chakra. Hit twelve right when Tsunade shows up…
The timeline is so tight…
She sighed, then headed toward the Hokage Tower.
Two weeks ago, Hiruzen had told her to come with questions about Enhanced Strength.
She wasn't about to let that invitation go to waste.
Arriving at the tower, she was stopped by two chūnin guards at the entrance.
"Hey there, little miss — can we help you?"
One of the guards crouched down, smiling at the little girl. Sakura was undeniably adorable — the original author had literally used the word beauty to describe her.
"I need to see Lord Hokage."
"He told me I could come to him anytime."
She helpfully produced the Enhanced Strength scroll and showed it to the two guards.
Every high-level technique scroll carried a unique identification code. One glance was all they needed to confirm it was genuine.
"I see — go ahead and wait inside, miss. I'll let Lord Hokage know you're here."
No dramatic confrontation. No power-tripping gatekeepers. Just professionals doing their job — the way things were supposed to work.