Sasuke

"Rasengan?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was handling official business in his office, looked at his young disciple in surprise.

"Yes."

"I want to give the Rasengan to Naruto," Sakura said with a nod.

"Why?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not reject Sakura's proposal, but neither did he agree to it.

"I'm not Naruto's babysitter. I can't stay by his side forever."

"He needs a way to protect himself."

Sakura's words made Hiruzen Sarutobi raise his brows slightly, and he sighed inwardly.

His plans to bring Sakura and Naruto together were probably doomed...

"The Rasengan is fine, but why have Kakashi teach Sasuke the Chidori?"

The corner of Sakura's mouth twitched at Hiruzen Sarutobi's words.

This old man had definitely been spying on them again!

Then, before she arrived, he had put on an act and started handling official business!

"Do you really not understand Sasuke's situation, old man?" Sakura asked helplessly.

"If Sasuke were just an ordinary Genin, then the village's old methods would work."

"But Sasuke is the last Uchiha."

"Old man, you wouldn't want the village's last Uchiha to be lured away, would you?"

Sakura sat down on the sofa beside him and poured herself a glass of water.

Hiruzen Sarutobi fell into thought. As Hokage, his perspective was at least broader than Kakashi's at present.

Rather than refuting Sakura's words, Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned slightly and asked, "You mean we should do everything we can to nurture Sasuke?"

Sakura held up one finger and shook it, speaking seriously.

"Not do everything we can. We need to let Sasuke see hope for revenge."

"If he just keeps carrying out so-called missions..."

"Without being able to see any hope, put yourself in his shoes."

"If you were Sasuke, what would you choose?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent. Then, under Sakura's puzzled gaze, he slowly rose and left the Hokage's Office.

Not long afterward, Hiruzen Sarutobi returned, with an extra scroll in his hand.

"Take a look."

"The truth about the Uchiha."

Hiruzen Sarutobi placed the scroll in Sakura's hands and could not help sighing.

He had not wanted Sakura to come into contact with these things, but the child was too clever. Without knowing the truth, she might very well make the wrong choice.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had already chosen Sakura as his successor, so he had to make her understand the truth.

Sakura's expression turned solemn at his words as she slowly opened the scroll...

Second by second, time passed. Sakura sighed and gently closed the scroll.

Compared to the few scattered scenes in the original work, this file clearly recorded everything.

The conflict between the Uchiha and Konoha, as well as everything that had happened on the night Uchiha Itachi slaughtered the clan.

From eighty-year-old elders to infants barely a month old.

Not a single one had been spared.

"So, Sakura, do you still choose to nurture Sasuke?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, smoking as he silently watched his disciple.

Sakura frowned at the smell of smoke, then looked at him with certainty.

"Yes."

She could roughly guess what Hiruzen Sarutobi was thinking. As long as Uchiha Sasuke stayed safely in Konoha, Uchiha Itachi could stay safely outside.

As for what became of Uchiha Sasuke, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not need to care that much.

As long as he was alive and remained in Konoha in good health, that was enough.

"Give me one reason to convince me."

Hiruzen Sarutobi smoked as he frowned at Sakura before him.

"Put yourself in Sasuke's shoes. If he were treated so lukewarmly all this time..."

"I'd go insane."

"Besides, the Sharingan was that kind of power to begin with."

"When the time comes, either you'll clean up the mess yourself, Old Man..."

"Or I'll clean it up for you."

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned at Sakura, his tone calm. "Aren't you afraid he'll turn his hatred toward Konoha?"

Sakura drank the warm tea before her and said, "That's exactly what we should do. We need to choose his path for him."

"We'll help him grow, help him take revenge, help him restore the Uchiha clan's glory."

"In the end, he'll remain peacefully in Konoha, the village that helped him for his entire life."

"And the Uchiha will vanish into the river of history, carrying the prestige of a thousand-year-old great clan."

The pale blue smoke Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled filled the office. He hesitated before speaking. "Then Uchiha Itachi..."

Before Hiruzen Sarutobi could finish, the girl before him spoke quietly. At this moment, those emerald eyes suddenly sent a chill through him.

"Old Man, do you think this wasn't Uchiha Itachi's own choice?"

"After committing such a heinous crime, dying by Sasuke's hand would be his salvation..."

By the time Sakura returned to the Riverbank with a large bag of Water Balls, Naruto and Sasuke were already practicing Water Walking.

With Tree Climbing as a foundation, the two of them had managed, through plenty of stumbles, to stand on the water's surface.

"Sakura!"

"Look!"

"Am I awesome or what?!"

Naruto waved his arms excitedly at Sakura, only for a splash to sound as he fell straight into the water.

"Idiot."

Seeing Naruto turned into a Drowned Rat, Sasuke could not help but curl his lips into a faint smile.

Sakura calmly glanced at Sasuke.

She had not finished what she wanted to say to the Third Hokage.

Once Uchiha Itachi was dead, she would personally drag Shimura Danzō before Sasuke and let him do whatever he wanted.

Only by telling Sasuke the truth could everything be resolved.

With a little guidance, Sasuke would understand her.

Anyway, it was all Weasel and Pot Kage's fault.

"Oh, right, Sakura..."

Standing atop the water, Sasuke looked at Sakura. His expression was slightly awkward, and a faint blush colored his face as he said, "Thank you..."

Kakashi had already told him that he planned to teach him Chidori.

He had also explained that he had only decided to teach it because of Sakura's help.

What Sakura had said was also true. Even if Kakashi did not teach him, she could obtain Chidori's training method from the Third Hokage. It would merely take longer to learn.

"It's fine. We're teammates, aren't we?"

Sakura responded to Sasuke with a light smile.

Looking at the bright-eyed, radiant-toothed girl before him, Sasuke could not help but nod.

In truth, his feelings toward Sakura were complicated.

Ever since she had pushed him out of first place at the Ninja Academy when he was six, he had always regarded Sakura as a rival.

He had secretly worked hard, always wanting to surpass her...

Then she skipped a grade, and his clan was massacred...

He found her and wanted to defeat her, only to be easily crushed.

Time passed bit by bit. Sasuke had always wanted to defeat Sakura, to overcome the first goal he had set for himself.

He just had not expected that he would be assigned to the same class as his rival—at least, the rival he saw her as.

That only made him swear even more fiercely in secret that he would defeat her.

But Sakura's sudden kindness today had caught him completely off guard...