Chapter 39: Sakura, You're Fired
Naruto stood there clutching the Scroll of Seals, staring at the girl beside him. At some point without him noticing, his eyes had filled with tears.
Screw the Fourth Hokage. Right now, the person who believed in Naruto was Sakura. And there was no way in hell he was going to let her down!
The blonde boy scrubbed his eyes hard with the back of his hand.
His blue eyes — the ones that were normally clear and stupidly innocent — locked onto Mizuki with pure fury.
His hands moved into the seal. As they did, fragments of his life began surfacing in his mind.
Apart from Grandpa Hokage, Sakura had been the first person to ever come up to him on her own. Then Kiba. Then Chōji. Shikamaru. Ino. Hinata...
"Multi Shadow Clone Technique!"
POOF POOF POOF POOF POOF POOF POOF POOF—
The signature monstrous chakra reserves of the Uzumaki clan went on full display in that one moment.
A hundred. Two hundred. Five hundred...
Over a thousand solid clones materialized through the trees.
Even though Sakura had been expecting it, her mouth still fell open slightly.
Knowing it was one thing. Watching it happen up close was something else entirely.
She was jealous.
If she had that level of chakra reserves, her Yin Seal would already be fully formed!
It wasn't just Sakura. The other ANBU on scene had all gone visibly stiff.
That kind of chakra was completely impossible to train into existence. You either had it as a freak of birth, or you didn't.
"Mizuki-sensei! There's a lot of us!"
Naruto grinned ferociously at the now-retreating, openly horrified Mizuki.
"Better hold on tight!"
And then Mizuki was simply swallowed into a sea of Naruto.
Fists and feet from every angle. He had no chance to resist. None.
Mizuki's screams ripped through the night sky.
By the time the dust cleared, Mizuki had been beaten into a misshapen lump by a thousand-strong shadow clone mob and lay limp on the ground, completely unable to move.
If not for the faint rise and fall of his chest, Sakura would have assumed he was dead.
"Eh, hehe — maybe I went a little overboard."
Naruto scratched the back of his head and grinned at her sheepishly.
"Naruto."
A figure stumbled out of the trees, holding his side.
He had seen all of it. He'd been about to step out earlier — but the moment he'd arrived, he'd heard Sakura saying Naruto carries the Fourth's will, and he'd held back.
"Iruka-sensei!"
Naruto bolted over and caught the man, propping him up.
"Naruto."
Iruka looked at him with deep, warm relief, a gentle smile spreading across his face.
In front of everyone, Iruka untied his own forehead protector. Naruto stared, frozen, as Iruka knotted it carefully around his head.
"Congratulations. You graduated."
In that moment, the dawn broke. The first rays of morning sun fell across Naruto's face.
Sakura walked over to Mizuki, looked down at the disfigured wreck of him, and let a flicker of disgust cross her eyes.
She picked him up one-handed and turned to Iruka and Naruto.
"Naruto, take Iruka-sensei to the hospital first. I'll deliver this one to Lord Hokage."
She vanished, taking Mizuki and the rest of her squad with her.
Watching everything play out through the crystal ball on his desk, Hiruzen smiled.
The work he had put in years ago was finally bearing fruit.
Sakura would be able to keep Naruto firmly anchored.
Although — the way that pink-haired kid handled Naruto looked uncomfortably like a big sister handling a much younger brother. Which gave Hiruzen a slight headache.
If Sakura was going to one day sit in the Hokage's chair, then Naruto needed to be tied permanently to her side.
And what was the most reliable bond you could form between two people?
Marriage, of course.
Unfortunately, Sakura did not appear to have any interest in that particular angle...
Meanwhile, the pink-haired girl was already in the Hokage's office, hauling her swollen-faced delivery in behind her.
"Lord Hokage. Target acquired."
Sakura, mask still in place, knelt on one knee in front of Hiruzen.
When it was professional, it was professional. Sakura kept that line very clear.
Hiruzen waved a hand. Other ANBU appeared and carried Mizuki off — to Konoha's Intelligence Division. The very same division Sakura had spent her entire childhood working not to end up in.
The moment they were gone, Sakura sprang up off her knee, yanked the mask off her face, and complained at a normal volume.
"When are you going to redesign this stupid mask? Four years. Four years and the thing still gives me a headache every time I wear it."
Hiruzen couldn't help laughing softly.
"Sakura. You've been in ANBU for four years now. You've gone from a regular squad member to squad captain."
Sitting on the office sofa, Sakura's eyes flicked over to him with sudden curiosity.
"Old man, are you telling me you're about to make me ANBU Commander?"
Hiruzen's mouth twitched. He pulled out his pipe and was about to light it when he saw Sakura had already preemptively opened every window in the office.
"This office is full of smoke. It smells terrible. If you want to live a few more years, smoke less."
The complaint, blunt as ever, made Hiruzen smile.
This child was, in a very real sense, his to raise. He had watched her grow up. There were times she felt almost like his own granddaughter. Definitely better behaved than Konohamaru, anyway.
"Not Commander. And honestly, you're not suited to that role anyway."
Hiruzen got his pipe lit and took a long, satisfied draw, exhaling a chain of smoke rings.
"Captain of ANBU Squad Seven, Sakura Haruno."
Sakura looked at the old man, puzzled.
"You're fired."
???
Old man — if you're having a stroke, I have Enma AND Katsuyu, I can fix you up right now—
The Next Morning — Ninja Academy
Sakura sat alone on the rooftop of the academy, looking deeply put out.
Four years of grinding in ANBU. Four years. She'd just barely clawed her way up to squad captain. And now they were telling her she'd been let go?
The reason was the upcoming Chūnin Exams — a large-scale, joint event being co-hosted this year by the Lands of Fire, Wind, and Earth.
Hiruzen needed someone to anchor the room for Konoha. So, with absolutely no shame, he was going to disguise her — a Special Jōnin — as a freshly graduated genin, and slot her back through team assignments like she was a brand new academy grad.
Show everyone watching: even without Konoha's White Fang, even with the Sannin gone, even with Yellow Flash dead — Konoha is STILL Konoha. The Konoha that intimidated the entire shinobi world!
And while she was at it, she'd handle protection duty for the village's Nine-Tails jinchūriki at the same time.
Once the Chūnin Exams ended, she could of course resume her Special Jōnin status.
Meanwhile, in the ninja classroom downstairs, Iruka had already started reading off the team assignments.
Sakura idly extended her sensory range, listening in, and her thoughts drifted.
Without me in the picture this time — would Naruto and Sasuke, those two glorified rivals, still have That Kiss...?