Chapter 13: One Year

*Whoosh!*

A shuriken sliced through the air and landed firmly on the target.

While all the other students had already gone home, Uchiha Sasuke remained at school, practicing his shuriken throwing alone.

Frowning, he stared at the shuriken that had landed just slightly off the bullseye.

Still not good enough…  

Ever since he lost first place in physical training to Haruno Sakura, he hadn’t been able to reclaim the top spot.

Or rather, he had reclaimed it—because Sakura no longer participated in shuriken-throwing competitions like this.

So, by default, first place was his.

Sasuke thought about his father’s calm, unreadable gaze. More than anything, he wanted to hear his father say—

"That’s my son."  

*Whoosh!*

Another shuriken flew out of his hand.

This time, it spun rapidly and struck the bullseye dead center.

---

"Looks like it’s going to rain."  

Sakura had given herself a rare day off. After school, she did nothing—no studying, no training. She just wanted to sit on the rooftop, feel the evening breeze, and count the stars.

But looking at the dark, overcast sky, she knew that plan was a bust.

A cool breeze lifted strands of her pink hair.

“Sakura! It’s going to rain—come down already!”

Her mother, Mebuki, called from inside the house.

“Got it!”

Sakura responded, but at that moment, she caught a faint scent in the air.

The smell of blood.

It was subtle, barely noticeable, but to Sakura—who possessed the heightened senses of her sixteen-year-old war-hardened self in a younger body—it was unmistakable.

Her eyes followed the direction of the wind.

It was coming from the Uchiha district.

The Uchiha compound was on the outskirts of the village, far from her home. If the scent of blood had reached this far… just how many people had died?

Yikes…  

Not my problem.  

She had enough on her plate without worrying about whatever mess this was.

Not that she had the power to intervene anyway.

Sakura turned and headed inside.

As expected, the rain soon started to fall, a soft but steady drizzle tapping against the windows.

Watching the raindrops slide down the glass, she casually reached out and locked the window tight.

---

 The Next Day

The rain had washed the village clean, and the air smelled fresh and crisp.

As always, Sakura prepared to head to the academy.

She didn’t really need to listen to Iruka’s lectures anymore, but he still insisted she attend school every day—except on weekends.

The moment she stepped outside, she noticed something was different.

The streets were quieter than usual. Fewer people were out, and every now and then, she caught glimpses of hurried shinobi moving through the village.

She even spotted an ANBU member flashing past in a blur.

Their destination was clear—they were all heading toward the village outskirts.

Sakura sighed internally.

So, the Uchiha Clan really was wiped out.  

That weasel-faced Uchiha she met once actually went through with it.

What an arrogant guy.  

Instead of figuring out how to solve the problem, he just wiped out the people causing it—like some twisted game of "match-three" with entire bloodlines.

Talk about extreme.  

She rolled her eyes and dismissed the thought.

She had bigger things to focus on—like preparing for the fourth-to-fifth-grade advancement exams.

One year had passed since she was reincarnated into her younger self, and she could already feel the Yin Seal absorbing chakra at an increasing rate.

As she continued to grow, her chakra reserves steadily increased as well.

At this rate, she estimated the Yin Seal would fully form within five years.

That meant she had a lot to accomplish in that time. Not only did she need to officially become a ninja, but she also had to figure out a way to obtain the Yin Seal technique.

Not an easy task…  

As for defecting from the village?

That had never even crossed her mind.

What about her mom?

Her dad?

No way.

---

“Morning, Ino.”

The moment she stepped into the classroom, Sakura spotted Yamanaka Ino standing near the door, looking like a lovesick puppy waiting for someone.

“Oh… Sakura?”

Ino’s face fell, visibly disappointed.

“What? Seeing me ruined your mood, Princess Yamanaka?”

Sakura teased, raising an eyebrow.

“N-no, that’s not it!”

Ino shook her head so fast it was a wonder she didn’t get dizzy.

Then, after making sure no one was paying attention, she leaned in and whispered into Sakura’s ear.

“Sakura, stay away from the Uchiha compound for the next few days.”

She lowered her voice even more.

“A lot of people died there.”

Sakura felt the warmth of Ino’s breath against her ear—just a tiny bit ticklish.

“Mm-hmm, got it.”

She waved dismissively, completely unfazed.

“…Wait, you’re not even surprised?”

Ino looked at her, confused.

Sakura tilted her head, pretending to think about it, then suddenly gasped in exaggerated shock.

“Oh wow!”

“So scary~~”

Ino pouted, unimpressed.

“…That was so fake.”

“No, really! I was totally shocked.”

Sakura stared at her with wide, innocent green eyes, silently begging to be believed.

“Yeah, right.”

Ino huffed and lightly smacked Sakura’s arm—a weak hit that felt more like a playful nudge.

“Alright, alright, my bad.”

Sakura chuckled, ruffling Ino’s hair before heading to her seat.

She already knew who Ino had been waiting for.

The sole survivor of the massacre.

The last Uchiha.

But unfortunately for Ino, she wouldn’t get to see him today.

Right on cue, Iruka walked in.

“Ahem.” He cleared his throat, addressing the class. “Sasuke won’t be coming to school for a while due to… personal circumstances.”

He glanced around at the students.

“I’d also like to remind everyone not to discuss the situation too much. Please be considerate.”

That was all he said.

When you try to suppress information too hard, people only get more curious.

But if you just mention it lightly and move on, most won’t think too much about it.

As expected, most of the students barely reacted—many of them had probably already heard something from their families.

Sakura ignored the classroom chatter and pulled out a book from her desk: The Will of Fire: A Legacy of the Third Hokage.  

She had been through three advancement exams already and knew exactly what to expect.

Forget the usual lessons—when it came to the exams, the Will of Fire was the real focus.

Not that it had much substance.

After going through nine years of mandatory education in her past life, she found the whole thing to be… well, pretty basic.  

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