Chapter 3: Daily Life at the Ninja Academy
"Naruto, you're sleeping in class again! Get out in the hallway and stand there for the rest of the lesson!"
Iruka-sensei was blowing up at Naruto again. The scar on his face twisted into a very ugly shape from his anger, and his mouth was open wide enough to probably swallow the sleepy-eyed Naruto whole. Who knew Iruka-sensei had the ability to turn into a python? Then again, every time it was Iruka-sensei's class, Naruto couldn't help but fall asleep. It wasn't that Iruka-sensei's lessons were bad; it was just that he was teaching a culture and history class. The students didn't like listening to it, and it wasn't a major focus of the graduation exams. Everyone was drowsy!
Of course, most people would still give the teacher some face and wouldn't blatantly sleep or ignore the lesson. Sakura took the opportunity to glance back and survey the entire classroom, taking a look at this class of delinquent students. For example, little Hinata-chan had her Byakugan activated, secretly gazing at someone. Kiba was affectionately playing with his little puppy. Shikamaru, sitting to Sakura's left, was sitting bolt upright and listening attentively... wait a minute. Since when did Shikamaru learn to sleep with his eyes open? Hey, the eyes he drew on his eyelids are pretty realistic!
Looking around, all the members of the Rookie Nine were doing their own thing, not giving Iruka-sensei any face at all. But at least they were putting on a show. Only Naruto was so blatant as to start snoring, and his snores were so loud they were disturbing Choji's snacking! So, he was immediately made an example of. When her gaze swept over to Sasuke, the boy seemed to sense something and glanced back at Sakura with a defiant expression on his face.
This boy, Sasuke, wasn't yet the chuunibyou protagonist who liked to act all cool and aloof. He was just a cute little kid who wanted to be first in every subject so his father would praise him. Ever since he sensed that Sakura had the ability to challenge his number-one spot, he had started to find her irritating in all sorts of ways. Sakura understood this slightly awkward, well-behaved child quite well. His overly excellent older brother, Uchiha Itachi, had put him under immense pressure. With his brother's brilliant achievements preceding him, his own progress and accomplishments always seemed so insignificant. This, in turn, made him yearn for his father's approval, even if it was just a single word.
Therefore, it was inevitable that a challenger like Sakura would make him feel annoyed and uneasy. The contrast with the fangirl Haruno Sakura and Sasuke from the original story was enormous. As for the other corner of the original love triangle, Naruto, Sakura's relationship with him was actually decent. However, ever since their first meeting where Sakura left a deep impression on him, the image of a "violent girl" had become permanently etched in his mind. This was evident during their second meeting at the Ninja Academy's opening ceremony, where Naruto's first words were, "Ah, it's you again, the violent girl!" For that, Naruto paid the price of being beaten up by Sakura again, which simultaneously deepened his understanding of Sakura's true nature hidden beneath all her pretenses. It was unlikely that Naruto would ever fall for this version of Sakura. If things continued to develop this way, the original love triangle would surely cease to exist. The wheels of history were rolling forward, but this little pebble, the transmigrator Sakura, had already caused the wheels to swerve off course... lifting a corner of the curtain on a collapsing plot.
After the snoring disappeared, the young Sakura, who had been struggling against the hypnotic lecture, thought about this with a sense of boredom. Overall, she was quite satisfied with the current situation. As she grew older and lived in Konoha longer, the traces left by the transmigrator were becoming more numerous. When everything had a traceable origin, the possibility of her secret being exposed became smaller and smaller. And her influence on the plot had not yet reached the level of a butterfly effect. This was the so-called "minor trends can be changed, but the major trend cannot be altered," or to put it more scientifically, the "inevitability of history" was crushing the wings of this little butterfly, Sakura. It was obvious that since the Fourth Hokage's sacrifice, Konoha's main conflict had shifted to one between the village leadership and the great clans. After the Nine-Tails attack, Konoha was severely weakened. The Uchiha, who had always been dissatisfied with their status in the village, began to stir. The great clans, led by the Uchiha, sought to gain more authority in Konoha, even the position of Hokage. Meanwhile, the Konoha leadership, headed by the Third Hokage, tried to consolidate power and suppress the great clans, especially the Uchiha clan, who could not clear themselves of suspicion in the Nine-Tails incident.
Beneath the calm surface of Konoha village, a dark undercurrent was surging. The fundamental reason the situation had developed to this point was the shift in power between the Hokage's faction and the great clans. The Hokage's faction had suffered a massive blow in the Nine-Tails incident, losing the Fourth Hokage, a mature Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and a large number of core ninja. In contrast, clans like the Uchiha and Hyuga were largely unharmed. With one side falling and the other rising, the previously suppressed clans naturally began to surface, especially the Uchiha, who had been suppressed since the founding of Konoha. Due to the immense suspicion surrounding them in the Nine-Tails incident—historically, the Nine-Tails had only ever been controlled by a Mangekyo Sharingan—they had developed a clear tendency towards secession. It was so obvious that even a child could see it. Children couldn't even enter the Uchiha clan's district. Sakura had once passed by there, hoping to "coincidentally" meet the popular character Uchiha Itachi, but she was chased away by Uchiha guards from a distance. Being so closed off, even with guards, they were practically a village within the village.
As a transmigrator who had read the original story and was now living in it, Sakura was very clear about Konoha's current situation. She knew even better that everything now was just a prelude. In the shadows, the Third Hokage and certain individuals within the Uchiha clan were still striving to find a peaceful solution. Undoubtedly, the kidnapping of Hyuga Hinata that happened last year was the Third's move to "kill a chicken to warn the monkey," a warning shot to the Uchiha.
When Sakura read the manga back then, she had always found it strange. Konoha was clearly the victor of the Third Great Ninja War, so why was the Cloud Village still so arrogant? They were clearly the ones who committed a crime and were caught and killed, yet they still dared to demand that Konoha hand someone over. After the Nine-Tails incident, Konoha's losses were severe, and they were in a transitional period. More importantly, Konoha was politically unstable, with the powerful clans showing signs of wanting to break away. This was the source of the Cloud's confidence to test Konoha's bottom line. A lack of unity could destroy Konoha more than any disaster!
Although the kidnapping plan failed (from a conspiracy theorist's perspective, one could even argue it was an intentional failure), the Cloud's demand to hand over the killer of the kidnapper was a brilliant move. If Konoha refused, the Cloud could create enough of a pretext to mobilize their own war-weary ninja to start a war. Once a war began, regardless of whether the Cloud won or lost, Konoha would be the loser. Therefore, Konoha absolutely did not dare to go to war. Conversely, if they handed over the killer, how could the Hokage explain it to the Hyuga clan, who were just beginning to be dissatisfied with their position, and to the other great clans in the village?
Furthermore, did the Hokage at that time truly have the power to hand over the head of the Hyuga clan?
Refuse to hand over the killer, and war would follow. Hand over the killer, and Konoha's situation would become even more dire, internal strife would intensify, and its decline would be inevitable. And when Konoha became weak enough, being conquered would be its only fate.
Without a doubt, the Cloud Village had chosen their opportunity perfectly, striking a vicious blow at the weakened Konoha's most vulnerable point!
However, the Third Hokage was truly a Shinobi God. In such a perilous situation, faced with the Cloud's aggressive pressure and the cold indifference of the village's own powerful clans, he was still able to find a precise way to break the deadlock, saving the situation by sacrificing Hyuga Hizashi.
After transmigrating and truly understanding the inner workings of this event, Sakura, who had once been terrified by how close war had come, felt immense admiration for these two men: the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and the unsung Hyuga Hizashi from the original story. It was precisely the latter's voluntary sacrifice that prevented the war. Perhaps he also made such a resolute decision so that his son, Neji, could live in a Konoha free from the chaos of war.
Having obtained Hyuga Hizashi's body, the Cloud Village quieted down. Without a pretext for war and seeing that the Hokage still maintained absolute control over Konoha even in such a situation, their hopes for internal chaos in Konoha were shattered, and they had no choice but to retreat dejectedly.
And within the village, the various clans that had just started to have ideas of their own were put back in their place by the Hokage's warning. Although the Hyuga clan was humiliated, since Hizashi had sacrificed himself voluntarily, they didn't have much to say. After all, the Hyuga were a great clan that could see the bigger picture. Everyone was in the same boat; if Konoha truly fell, the Hyuga would not fare well either.
In the original story, when Neji spoke of this incident, he summed it up with a light phrase: "Konoha, which valued peace, ultimately reached a deal with the Cloud." If not for having transmigrated here, how could Sakura have imagined the incredible peril involved?
However, the Third's move to "strike the mountain to shake the tiger," which was meant to pacify both internal and external threats, had no effect on the biggest tiger—the Uchiha clan. The sacrifice of the Hyuga clan head's twin brother did not deter the Uchiha. On the contrary, seeing the essence of Konoha's weakness from this incident, the Uchiha walked further and further down the road to their own destruction.
Similarly, the Third's move to show weakness, while stabilizing the turbulent situation in Konoha, also aroused the dissatisfaction of the village's hardliners. When had Konoha ever suffered such a great loss and humiliation? The one who killed the criminal was handed over as the murderer—where was the justice in that? It was because of this that the Third was labeled as weak, planting the seeds of disaster for Danzo and Root's independent actions in the future.
At this moment, the only two men in the Uchiha clan who had transcended the clan's narrow-mindedness, Shisui and Itachi, were probably working hard on the path to peace, right? Unfortunately, all their efforts would be in vain.
If Sakura hadn't changed the grand course of the village, next year would be the time of the Uchiha clan massacre.
Looking at Iruka-sensei, who was still on the podium trying his best to impart knowledge, Sakura couldn't help but sigh. "It's really nice to be a normal person who doesn't know anything!"
Yep, that was some top-tier pretentious brooding. I give myself a perfect score.