Mad Dog

Haruno Sakura looked at the copy of "The Third Hokage's Will of Fire" in her hands, feeling a bit speechless. If she were to write this book, the actual content would probably be more exciting than this hollow material.

In summary, it boiled down to four words: loyalty to the Hokage, love for the village.

Tossing the Will of Fire aside, Sakura stretched lazily. She'd been sitting in the classroom for most of the day and it was time to move around.

Sakura closed her eyes, clearing her mind in preparation for training.

All her classmates were out on the training grounds practicing shuriken, and she could faintly hear Iruka yelling at Naruto.

"The Jutsu of Reckless Shuriken Throwing..."

"My own super-advanced ninjutsu..."

"No messing around with any weird jutsu..."

Wind, carrying the smell of wet earth after the rain, blew through the classroom window, rustling the girl's hair. Sakura suddenly felt a chill, and a shadow fell over her eyes.

Sakura instinctively opened her emerald green eyes, and a face that could only be described as despair and deathly stillness appeared before her.

"Sasuke-kun?"

Looking at the boy in front of her, Sakura felt a bit surprised.

Why was Sasuke here?

He shouldn't be...

"Haruno Sakura."

Words that could be described as completely devoid of emotion came from Uchiha Sasuke's mouth.

"Huh? What is it?"

"I want to fight you."

Uchiha Sasuke's gaze was hollow. In a single night, all his family was gone.

His strict father, his gentle mother, and...

And that scumbag Uchiha Itachi!

I was too weak to even be worthy of being killed...

All for that ridiculous reason...

To test his own worth, he killed so many innocent people!

The warmth of those past families shattered in Uchiha Sasuke's heart like a dream bubble.

That seemingly beautiful, seemingly warm, seemingly within-reach happiness was shattered by Uchiha Itachi's blade!

I'm too weak, I'm too weak. Not only am I no match for Uchiha Itachi.

Even Haruno Sakura from school has always kept him firmly under her thumb.

"No."

"I have something else to do, I don't have time to fight you. Besides, I think you should go home and deal with..."

Sakura said as she tidied her things.

So many Uchiha had just died. Sasuke should be going home to handle the bodies of his clan members and the aftermath, not picking a fight with her here for no reason.

Bang!

The boy's palm slammed hard onto Sakura's desk, making a loud booming sound that interrupted Haruno Sakura.

"You look down on me too?!"

Uchiha Sasuke's face was almost contorted as he glared ferociously at the girl in front of him, his voice filled with hysteria.

Hearing the word "home," Uchiha Sasuke completely lost it.

Home?

Where was his home?

Did he even have a home anymore?!

Sakura frowned slightly as she looked at Uchiha Sasuke in front of her, suppressing her dissatisfaction and saying, "Sasuke, I think you should right now..."

The sharp gust of wind from a punch ruffled her pink hair. If Sakura hadn't dodged quickly, that punch would have likely landed directly on her face!

Get stronger, get stronger, get stronger!

Uchiha Sasuke was attacking Haruno Sakura like a wild beast.

If he wanted to kill Uchiha Itachi, he had to keep getting stronger. And Haruno Sakura, who had always been more outstanding than him, was his first hurdle!

Sakura dodged Uchiha Sasuke's attacks, which could only be described as chaotic, and frowned at the boy in front of her.

"Sasuke, if you don't stop, I won't hold back."

However, these words only made the already frenzied Uchiha Sasuke even more enraged.

What did she mean by 'I won't hold back'?

Did this guy mean he was going easy on me?

Extreme emotions flooded Uchiha Sasuke's heart. He had only one thought right now.

Defeat her, defeat her!

Haruno Sakura looked at the frenzied Uchiha Sasuke before her, and for some reason, the dissatisfaction in her heart inexplicably calmed down. She just felt pity for him.

Like a discarded dog.

Except this dog couldn't accept that fact and was just going crazy.

Sakura took a step back, and Uchiha Sasuke advanced step by step.

She felt a hard, cold sensation behind her. Sakura had retreated to a corner.

Bang

A slightly muffled sound echoed in the classroom.

Uchiha Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, and he looked at the scene before him in disbelief.

The other party had caught his punch with just one palm.

Sakura grabbed Uchiha Sasuke's fist with one hand, rendering him unable to break free no matter how hard he tried.

"Did you see clearly?"

"The gap between us."

Sakura's calm words reached Uchiha Sasuke's ears, making him even more frantic.

No matter how he pulled or tried to escape Sakura's grasp, he couldn't. Sakura was like a stone statue, unmovable no matter how much force Uchiha Sasuke exerted.

Seeing that he still intended to attack her with his other hand, Sakura slowly pressed down with the hand holding Sasuke.

Uchiha Sasuke's body was involuntarily pushed down by Sakura's single hand.

"Aaaahhh!!!"

Uchiha Sasuke roared in fury. What was he seeing? Was that pity in her eyes?

Since when did he need anyone's pity?!

"Taking out your resentment on others is a very disappointing behavior."

"Sasuke, and more importantly, I'm your classmate."

Her emerald green eyes calmly looked at the boy struggling to resist before her.

"And besides..."

Sakura stopped herself instinctively at this point.

She shouldn't know these things.

"And as you can see, you can't beat me."

"I accept your challenge, but I don't accept you like this, like a mad dog."

"Go back, Sasuke."

Sakura released Uchiha Sasuke. The freed Sasuke, who had started crying at some point, stood silently in place, not saying a word.

Sakura glanced at him, didn't say anything more, and simply walked past him.

"Haruno Sakura..."

A choked voice came from the boy.

"I will win..."

Hokage's Office

Hiruzen Sarutobi calmly smoked his pipe while watching the scene in the crystal ball. Thinking of Uchiha Itachi's request before he left, he couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

All Uchihas who awakened the Mangekyo were lunatics...

Uchiha Madara was like that, and Uchiha Itachi was the same...

At this moment, he finally understood why his teacher, Tobirama Senju, was unwilling to let the Uchihas fight on the front lines and assigned them to the Konoha Military Police Force.

The stronger the Sharingan, the more obsessive the mind becomes, and the Mangekyo is even more so.

Extreme methods, extreme emotions...

If the Uchihas were to be deployed on the battlefield in large numbers, such a multitude of extreme ninja would be a disaster.