Resolve

The mountain wind howled atop the cliff. A loosened red hair ribbon came free from Sakura-pink strands in the gale, but just as it was about to blow away, a fair, delicate hand caught it.

"Sakura, your idea really is..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi carefully chose his words, unsure how to evaluate "Haruno Sakura's Will of Fire."

"I know, Hokage Grandpa."

"After all, Hokage Grandpa is getting on in years."

"If we still make Hokage Grandpa worry and work so hard for us juniors, wouldn't that make us juniors seem far too useless?"

"So, I want to achieve it myself, one step at a time."

Seeing the pink-haired girl's earnest expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi fell silent. She had completely cut off anything he might have said.

Pink-haired girls were black-hearted to the core.

"Sakura..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the little girl before him. His gaze was no longer clouded, as though he had made some momentous decision.

"What is it, Hokage Grandpa?"

Sakura tilted her head.

The old man's slightly dry lips moved, and the words he spoke made the girl's emerald eyes, like precious gems, widen slightly.

A huge success!

Sakura weighed the purple scroll in her hand, feeling as though the massive stone pressing on her heart had finally settled firmly onto the ground.

The Sword of Damocles hanging over her head had finally been moved away as well.

An unexpectedly huge success. All those brain cells she had burned to come up with "Haruno Sakura's Will of Fire" had not been wasted.

Creation Rebirth Hundred Healings Jutsu!

It was hers!

It had taken a full two years. From an ordinary Ninja Academy student, she had skipped grades all the way to the sixth year, then secured it with an essay on the Will of Fire during the graduation exam!

I'm seriously amazing!

Sakura felt completely unburdened now, free of the shackles that had weighed on her before.

Even the air seemed a little fresher and more pleasant to Sakura.

At that moment, Sakura wanted nothing more than to find someone to share her joy with. Yet this joy was destined to remain buried in her heart, left for her alone to slowly process.

She continuously leapt across the rooftops of Konoha, not knowing where she was heading.

But did that matter?

It did not.

She only wanted to find somewhere deserted to vent.

Two years of effort, two years of time—she had not slept peacefully even once.

She had always feared that the Yin Seal might reveal itself at some unknown moment, and that the Torture Department would take her away.

Sakura did not know where she had ended up. She only saw the lake before her, thought the scenery was nice, and stopped there.

She opened the scroll in her hand, marked with the special code denoting absolute secrecy.

Line after line of text appeared before her eyes.

They were like the most familiar of strangers. Though she was seeing them with her own eyes for the first time, Sakura understood the various meanings almost immediately.

Sakura read quickly and understood quickly, because this was knowledge she had "forgotten."

In theory, there were no shortcuts to the Yin Seal. The caster could only slowly master it by steadily accumulating Chakra step by step.

Closing the scroll in her hand, Sakura looked toward the clear lake. Her face was reflected upon its tranquil surface.

Delicate as a carved jade doll.

She picked up a stone beside her and tossed it in. Ripples spread across the surface, then soon settled back to normal.

But the face reflected on the lake this time was no longer as happy as before...

Sakura felt hollow inside.

She had clearly obtained the Yin Seal, yet after her initial joy faded, she no longer felt happy in the slightest.

She thought of what Hiruzen Sarutobi had said to her earlier.

The old man's lips moved. His eyes, which should have been clouded, now made Haruno Sakura unable to meet his gaze.

"Sakura, would you be willing to become my disciple?"

"My final disciple."

The tips of her pink hair fluttered in the wind as Sakura found it hard to believe the old man's words.

But after a brief daze, she spoke quickly and urgently:

"I'm willing!"

"Master!"

She looked at the Purple Scroll in her hand. When Sakura said she wanted to become a ninja like Lady Tsunade, Hiruzen Sarutobi had given it to her.

Her Emerald Eyes were somewhat dim at the moment.

Was she... deceiving him?

Was Hiruzen Sarutobi a good person?

Sakura could not help but ask herself.

To his enemies, he was not.

To his political opponents, he was not.

But... Sakura pressed her lips together. To her, he truly was a very good elder.

Perhaps he had some other purpose, perhaps he only wanted Naruto to form some kind of bond with Konoha, with her being one of those bonds.

But did that matter?

A gentleman judges deeds not intentions.

Now, for the Yin Seal scroll in her hands, she had deceived that old man.

That old man might have seen her as Konoha's future.

And he had taken her as his Final Disciple.

In this world, master and disciple, teacher and student, were two completely different concepts.

Kakashi and Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were teacher and students.

Jiraiya and Naruto, Lady Tsunade and Sakura, were master and disciple.

One was an arrangement of the system; the other was a genuine inheritance.

Naturally, they could not be mentioned in the same breath.

In a sense, the bond between master and disciple was even stronger than blood ties between relatives.

Haruno Sakura suddenly stood up, her Emerald Eyes glaring viciously at the lake before her.

Sakura knew that perhaps she was being foolish, perhaps self-righteous, perhaps completely inexplicable.

She was putting shackles on herself, adding burdens to herself.

The Pink Little Girl stood up, picked up a pebble by her feet, and hurled it fiercely toward the lake.

Ordinarily, how much power could a pebble thrown by an eight-year-old girl possibly have?

But...

The wind howled, and the water wailed.

That single pebble directly churned the entire lake into waves. With a crack, a thick tree on the opposite shore slowly toppled to the ground.

A waist-high boulder behind the tree had been shattered halfway through by that single pebble!

This was Monstrous Strength...

Absolute violence.

The Monstrous Strength Hiruzen Sarutobi had bestowed upon her.

Old man, since you think I can do it, then I'll become the kind of person you believe I can be.

"Huh?"

"Sakura!"

A delighted voice from behind brought Sakura back to her senses.

A Blondie carrying a fishing rod appeared in her field of vision.

"Naruto?"

"Are you fishing?"

Sakura looked at the thing in his hands, somewhat surprised.

"Yeah! I didn't expect to run into you here, Sakura!"

Naruto beamed at the girl before him and immediately leaned closer.

"Sakura, do you want to fish with me?"

"I can make another fishing rod!"

Seeing Naruto's expectant expression, Sakura scratched her head.

Forget it. She had nothing to do today anyway, so she might as well keep him company for a while.

"Alright, then."

"By the way, did you chum the water?"

"Chum? What's that?"