Chapter 263: Hinata, Maybe You Should Consider Me Instead
The next day
The Haruno house
Early morning
The pink-haired girl glanced at the little sleeping shape sprawled across her own bed, then gently pulled her bedroom door shut.
Mebuki Haruno hadn't changed one bit for having a Hokage as a daughter — busy as ever, up before dawn every day to prepare the family breakfast.
"Hm?"
"Up this early today?"
Noticing movement in the house, Mebuki poked her head out of the kitchen, a little surprised to see Sakura.
Even though her daughter was Hokage, as far as Mebuki was concerned, the job didn't seem all that demanding, actually.
Sakura usually dragged herself out the door around nine or ten most mornings, came home by four or five in the afternoon, and even got a two-hour break at lunch.
Only the past couple of days had she gone off somewhere with a group of people.
"I always get up early."
Sakura yawned, heading toward the bathroom to wash up.
"So you're saying you've just been lazing in bed this whole time?"
...
"I'm heading out."
Sakura wolfed down breakfast in a couple of bites, then sat in the entryway, ready to leave.
Her goofy father had already left for work before six, as always.
"Coming home for lunch?"
Mebuki's voice called from the kitchen.
"Nah. Eating out."
Sakura slipped her shoes on, pulled on her coat, and pushed open the front door.
As a member of the logistics department, Kizashi Haruno was always the first one out of the Haruno house every morning, gone before six sharp without fail.
Even Sakura becoming Hokage hadn't changed that one bit.
Goofy as he acted around his own family, he was, notably, unshakably reliable to everyone outside it.
Twenty-some years of keeping that ridiculous starfish hairstyle for Mebuki's sake alone told you everything you needed to know about his priorities.
Stepping outside, Sakura breathed in the crisp morning air, about to head off—
Then something green caught her eye.
A frog, sitting in the corner of the courtyard wall.
"Ribbit~"
The frog's mouth snapped open, tongue lashing out to snatch a flying insect out of the air.
Sakura's gaze fixed on the frog, her eyes narrowing slightly.
At that, the frog, seemingly startled by something, leapt straight through a gap in the courtyard fence and vanished.
Normally, Sakura wouldn't have given it a second thought.
But having visited Mount Myōboku just yesterday — and successfully getting thoroughly annoyed by Gamabunta while she was there — spotting a frog in her own courtyard the very next day naturally invited a bit more suspicion.
Still, considering not every single frog in existence belonged to Mount Myōboku, Sakura simply used a bit of intimidation to chase the thing off.
She could hardly go around exterminating every frog and toad in existence, after all — the mosquito population would send her a heartfelt thank-you note.
Pinky's such a considerate person, really.
Faintly annoyed as she was, there wasn't much else to be done about it.
She could hardly summon a slug and just have it permanently camp out in her courtyard, either.
Even the smallest slug was still, technically, one of the Slug Sage's own kin.
For something this trivial, Katsuyu would probably agree to it if asked — but doing that indefinitely still felt excessive.
Sakura glanced back once at the house behind her before finally heading off.
Rather than going straight to the Hokage Building, Sakura decided to wander around Konoha a bit first.
Might as well check in on how public order and daily life were going around the village.
Paperwork on her desk was just paperwork, after all — actually walking around and checking in on how everyone below her was doing was the proper way to run things.
"Morning, Sakura!"
Neighbors near the Haruno house greeted her warmly as she passed, and Sakura smiled, returning each greeting in turn.
Sakura spent the entire morning wandering Konoha, feeling like things were generally holding up well, and was just about to head to the Hokage Building to clock in when, passing by Training Ground Three, she ran into a few familiar faces.
Sakura was about to step forward and say hello — but what happened next left her momentarily frozen.
"Naruto, you idiot, you're late."
The red-haired girl stood with her arms crossed, glaring with visible irritation at the tardy blond boy.
"Ah, ah, sorry, overslept."
Naruto scratched his head, looking sheepish in front of Karin, then, as if just noticing them, glanced over at the two white-haired figures sitting under a nearby tree.
"Oh, and Old Man Stone-Face, the Second Hokage."
"And Kakashi-sensei."
Tobirama was long since used to Naruto's carefree nicknames, and Kakashi, likewise, didn't seem bothered in the slightest.
"Idiot!"
"Show some respect to Lord Tobirama and Senior Kakashi!"
Karin, clearly annoyed, reached up and grabbed Naruto by the ear.
She was Tsunade's own student now, and Tobirama was her master's own grand-uncle — practically an untouchable senior figure by any measure.
For Naruto to be this casual about it was simply intolerable.
"Ow, ow, ow, Karin, easy, easy~~~"
Naruto didn't dare voice a single complaint about Karin yanking his ear.
The sight left Sakura's raised hand, mid-wave, freezing in midair.
Naruto and Karin?
Wait, what—
Tomato-and-eggs, version 2.0?
Hinata, you don't seem to be in the running anymore, huh...
How about... considering me instead?
Sakura understood Naruto far too well. That kind of reaction — as normal as it looked on the surface — was almost certainly a sign he'd already, consciously or not, developed some genuine feelings for Karin.
And the sheer visual of the two of them standing together carried an unmistakable resonance.
It automatically brought to mind Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.
Sakura wasn't alone in noticing it, either — even Kakashi, sitting under the tree, clearly had the exact same thought.
And Karin's own personality carried more than a passing resemblance to Kushina's, too.
If Naruto ever crossed paths with that residual chakra his own mother had left sealed within his body someday, it would almost certainly...
Well...
Never mind.
I'll just give Naruto a nudge in the right direction later.
She wasn't exactly cut out to be a matchmaker, after all — better to let the parties involved sort their own headaches out.
With that, Sakura vanished from the spot entirely.
Tobirama, sensing something, glanced over toward where Sakura had just disappeared.
That one's got time to kill today, apparently.
Without dwelling further on the pink-haired figure's brief, fleeting appearance, Tobirama turned his attention back to Naruto and Karin, still bickering in front of him.
"Enough. Naruto, let's try seeing whether you can use Karin's power to suppress the Nine-Tails inside you."
Tobirama hadn't followed Sakura's original training plan for Naruto to the letter.
As far as he was concerned, relying on the so-called Truth-Seeking Waterfall would certainly accelerate mastering a tailed beast faster.
But that would mean relying on outside assistance. If Naruto could instead achieve control over the tailed beast through his own strength and his companions', that would carry far more meaning — and demonstrate a genuinely more mature, resolute mindset befitting a jinchūriki.
"Naruto, you carry Uzumaki blood, and Karin is a pure-blooded Uzumaki herself. I believe the two of you will work well together."
Tobirama continued.
As far as he saw it, his own sister-in-law, Mito Uzumaki, had easily suppressed the Nine-Tails on her own — and with Karin's help now, Naruto ought to be capable of the same.
Unless absolutely necessary, Tobirama had no interest in Naruto relying on Sharingan-based power for this.
"Okay!"
"Just watch me, Old Man Stone-Face!"
"You brat!"
"Show Lord Tobirama some respect!"
—
Setting aside her growing pile of concerns, Sakura arrived at the Hokage office.
To her mild surprise, a certain Uchiha great-grandma was already there waiting — and had, by the looks of it, been waiting quite a while.
"Yo. Morning."
Sakura greeted Hikaru.
"Morning, my ass!"
"It's practically noon already!"
Hikaru, clearly still furious, glared daggers at Sakura.
"Oh, want to grab lunch together later, then?"
Sakura scratched her head.
"Lunch, lunch, EAT, EAT!"
"All you ever think about is food!"
"Explain yourself! That woman you sent to that evil little Uchiha brat's house yesterday — what was THAT about?!"
Hikaru, bristling like a furious cat, stormed forward and grabbed Sakura by the collar.
"Oh, Nao Itsutsura..."
Sakura, entirely unbothered by Hikaru's lack of decorum, answered with genuine seriousness:
"Once words leave my mouth, there's no taking them back."
"A real man's word, once given, can't be reeled back in by a team of horses."
"I promised Sasuke twenty wives. That's just the first one."
"What's the rush?"
Hikaru went momentarily blank at that — then absolutely exploded.
"WHAT?!"
"TWENTY?!"
"Have you lost your mind?!"
"Aren't you worried about that kid getting wrung completely dry?!"
Sakura shrugged, entirely unbothered. "Well, Sasuke's the last surviving male Uchiha, isn't he? Needs to have plenty of kids to bring the clan back to its former glory."
"What about you, though? Why are you so worked up about this?"
Faced with Sakura's teasing look, Hikaru found herself momentarily speechless, a flush rising in her cheeks, stammering slightly:
"I— I'm just — worried..."
"...worried that kid can't handle it."
By the end, Hikaru had convinced herself of her own explanation, nodding firmly to confirm it.
Right! Exactly!
I'm just worried my long-term meal ticket's going to suddenly keel over dead!
"Oh, that's no problem, then."
"With me around, even if Sasuke gets wrung down to skin and bones, I can patch him right back up."
At Sakura's words, Hikaru went blank again.
Then her lovely face turned an unmistakable, deep shade of red.
Hikaru felt something building up tight in her chest.
Her father had once told her — hold your temper, keep it locked away, be the bigger person.
But right now, all she wanted to do was smash that boat clean apart.
"YOU!"
"I don't care! Get that woman out of my house right now!!!"
A roar like a lioness's rang out through the Hokage's office, loud enough to make Sakura clap her hands over her ears.
Maybe I pushed the teasing a little too far — genuinely got her mad this time.
"Okay, okay, I'll give the order right now — have Himura come collect her."
Watching Hikaru's face burn crimson, Sakura quickly backpedaled, reaching up on instinct to pat the top of her head.
Feeling the hand on her head, Hikaru stared flatly at Sakura. "What exactly are you doing?"
"Uh, comforting you?"
Sakura realized, belatedly, that she'd poked the tiger again.
"Do you think I'm a child?"
Hikaru ground her teeth, glaring unpleasantly at Sakura.
"Aren't you?"
Sakura, possessed apparently by some demon of poor judgment, said the words before she could stop herself.
!!!
"You're done being Fifth Hokage as of TODAY!"
"Konoha's picking a Sixth right now!"
Like a woman entirely past caring for dignity, Hikaru shoved Sakura straight down onto the couch.
But in her rage, the furious great-grandma had apparently forgotten entirely about the size difference between herself and Sakura.
A single twist later, and Sakura — pinned beneath her a moment ago — had somehow flipped the position entirely, now pinning Hikaru instead.
In an instant, the tables had turned completely.
"Relax, will you."
Feeling Sakura's weight pressing down on her, and hearing those distinctly suggestive-sounding words, Hikaru froze in place.
"AH!"
"I'll KILL you!"
Hikaru's body thrashed violently in pure reflexive resistance.
"Go ahead and scream. No one's going to hear you, though."
Watching this, a streak of pure mischief lit up in Sakura's mind, and she leaned in close to Hikaru's ear, breathing softly against that flushed, delicate earlobe.
!!!
AAAAAAH!
This pink menace is an absolute pervert!
I'm done for!
Hikaru felt exactly like some innocent young bride fallen into the clutches of a wicked, lecherous villain.
Waaah! Mother, I've been ruined!
At the thought, a wave of pure humiliation surged through her, and her eyes actually welled up with unmistakable, glistening tears.
Sakura blinked, caught genuinely off guard at that.
Huh. Might've actually gone too far there — made her cry.
Right at that moment, the office door was pushed open.
"Sakura, this is the hospital's latest—"
Tsunade walked in, holding the newest hospital report in hand.
Given all the injuries from the fight against Mōryō, the hospital's medicine stocks were running low.
She'd come to get Sakura's sign-off on a budget for restocking medical supplies.
But the instant the door opened, she found herself staring at an absolutely explosive scene.
An Uchiha girl, pinned beneath the sitting Fifth Hokage — and apparently in tears.
Even someone with an Uchiha's temperament is crying...
Tsunade decided it was probably wise to leave.
"...Carry on."
With that, the door slammed shut, firmly, with a resounding bang.
Tsunade hurried away, having just witnessed that scene.
I probably need to be silenced now, don't I?
"Huh?"
"Wait, let me explain—"
Sakura's scalp prickled with dread.
My spotless reputation, built up over a lifetime — about to crumble to dust, right here, right now.
I only meant to tease her a little...
—
Hikaru left, still trailing humiliated tears and furious glares.
Sakura simply felt drained by the whole thing.
I really do overdo it sometimes...
With a helpless sigh, she sat back down at her desk and wrote a note, having Yūgao deliver it.
The gist of it: have Himura come collect Nao Itsutsura from the Uchiha compound.
Er... hopefully Sasuke hasn't already done the deed with Nao during all this drama with Hikaru.
If he had, well, there wasn't much to be done about it now.
Whatever else, the Itsutsura family's legitimate daughter really was quite beautiful, after all.
Hmm...
If I were in Sasuke's position, honestly, who's to say...
Shaking her head to clear out that whole mess of thoughts, Sakura swiftly worked through the stack of documents her staff had brought in, then split off a shadow clone, dissolving into a puff of white smoke and vanishing from the spot herself.
With the fight against Mōryō having entirely drained the Sage Chakra stored in her Yin Seal, it was time to recharge.
That final Yang Release — Mountain Splitter technique had drawn on all three sources at once — her own Yang Release, Inner Sakura's Yin Release, and Sage Chakra — condensed and compressed together into her ultimate trump card.
And since she'd almost never actually used the technique before, combining it for the first time with Sage Mode's Yang Release had led her to badly misjudge the cost — she'd essentially wiped out her entire chakra reserve with that single axe swing.
Beyond that, Sakura also just wanted to slip away and get some peace and quiet for herself — after all, she'd just reduced that particular great-grandma to tears. Who knew what would happen if Sasuke came looking for blood over it?
(End of chapter)
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