Two: Graduation

"Good morning everyone, I hope you're all ready for the final exam?"

Entering the classroom, Iruka-sensei spoke and smiled.

He was a slightly tall man with short black hair tied into a ponytail on the back of his head.

Behind him was a silver-haired man with a fake smile on his face, Mizuki-sensei.

Staring at him, Sakura couldn't help but feel disdainful. This trash was amongst the lowest level of Chunin and barely had any useful techniques in battle. Knowing what his future was, she couldn't help but laugh in her heart.

'Yes, go on, pretend you like the kids and is a good teacher, it's just a pity I won't be the one to wipe out that smile out of your face.'

Looking at Naruto secretly, she couldn't help but nod. 'It's just a pity that you're too soft handed, you should have at least broken his arms and legs.'

As she thought that in her heart,

A mischievous idea popped up in her mind. After reading all kinds of fanfic, how couldn't she be aware of the transmigrator and reincarnator ones? Those people usually keep hiding themselves like sewer rats and are just plain trash in her eyes.

The beauty of a new life is to fix your own mistakes and doing so in a fictional universe has the added bonus of allowing you to change the things you didn't like!

'Can I change Naruto's future?' As the idea surged in her heart, she couldn't help but laugh menacingly. Even Jotaro would have goosebumps at the sight of her insidious smile.

Lost in her thoughts, he almost didn't notice when Naruto called her just now.

"S-sakura!"

"Uh? Sorry, what did you say just now?"

Looking at him, she asked in confusion.

In response to her, Naruto just sneakily pointed to the front where Iruka and Mizuki were staring at her with a frown on their faces.

"Haruno Sakura, this is the second time we called you, will you come or not?"

"Ahhh?!" Standing up in shock, Sakura almost slipped and fell.

What the hell? When did they call her?? Lies and deceit! They are just targeting me because I'm the prettiest girl in the class!

Puffing up her cheeks in her mind, she hurriedly followed the teacher to the examination room.

Having arrived at an empty classroom that belonged to the students of the first grade, Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei sat down on their table and gave her a serious look.

"Perform the doppelganger technique."

Nodding, Sakura weaved the technique's seals with her hand and with a puff, three clones of her appeared out of nowhere!

The three clones and the original stood in place, with a hand in their hips and staring at each other.

"Hm, very good, there aren't any differences between you and your clones, you have passed the test. Congratulations on becoming a Genin. Please head to the room on the other side to get a picture of you taken and to receive your ID card."

With a nod, she hopped out of the classroom and finished her other businesses before returning to the classroom.

Her classmates were all there, talking to each other about random topics and laughing. The only one who was lonely was none other than Naruto, who was sitting in the same place with a bored look on his face.

Seeing him like this made her remember something which she never paid attention to but was still aware of. Despite what you may be led to believe by his interactions with Shikamaru later in the future of the anime, he was actually very lonely in the original story, the manga. Most people in class tended to ignore him and some even bullied him outside.

Actually, weren't there a bunch of plot holes introduced by the anime? Things like making kid Naruto become Shikamaru and Choji's friend, or even Sasuke's friend before the start of the story.

If it wasn't for Naruto's temper and willingness to fight, they would probably have bullied him everyday, it's just that nobody could really withstand fighting with him all the time, Naruto could recover way too fast.

Seeing her returning, the one who greeted her was none other than Naruto.

This action made Sakura blush a little.

What is this? Why is a boy greeting her on her way back so enthusiastically?

What about her friends?

As she looked around a look of realization flashed in her mind.

In fact he was the only one who paid attention to her.

Looking into her memories, she couldn't help but sigh. Apparently Sakura was always a bit of a loner too despite what you may be led to believe considering her short lived friendship with Ino.

Before getting into the academy, she was bullied for her appearance and only made friends once she met Ino, and even after that they all became rivals because of their crush on Sasuke.

This realization led her to feel a little sympathetic with that boy and also a little more self conscious. Looking back and being honest, Sakura's forehead was never really that big, it was perfectly average. She couldn't help but have some thoughts on this, was she bullied for some other reason? She read somewhere that it wasn't uncommon for children to bully other children out of jealousy. But what could they be jealous of? Her lonely self?

Feeling more connected with this Sakura who had a similar childhood to hers, she snickered in her mind and sighed a little more depressed than before.

In the end, she begrudgingly rose her hand and waved back at Naruto.

Sitting down by his side, she laughed secretly, it's good that there's such a nice guy like him around, she didn't want to be lonely here like she was in her previous life.

After all, the first time she made friends was at fourteen years old, and she still had to go around wearing a mask, pretending to be someone she wasn't everyday for that. Those people, she wouldn't miss them a single bit.

"Haha, welcome back Sakura-chan! How was it? Did you pass the exam?"

"Yes." With a nod, Sakura pulled out a headband from her pockets and put it on the table. "How is it? Very shiny right? I hope you won't fail the exam, it would be boring to become a Ninja without you around to make me company."

Hearing her words, Naruto blushed and laughed a little embarrassed. "Hahaha! Of course, how can I fail? When I pass the exam we can go on missions together, what do you say, Sakura-chan?"

"I don't mind that, but are you sure you gonna pass? What if the content of the test is the clone technique?"

Hearing her words, a shiver went down Naruto's spine. Shaking he looked at her in fear and asked. "W-what did you just say? Clone t-technique?!"

Sighing, Sakura stared at him in pity. "Naruto, you idiot! Don't tell me you haven't mastered the clone technique yet?"

"Ah?! H-how could it be?" Naruto denied quickly as droplets of cold sweat ran down his face. "I definitely m-mastered it!"

Although he said that, the fear in his eyes were evident.

Sakura knew the truth, but there wasn't anything she could do, if it had been a week ago when she came to this world, things would have been easier to fix, but now? Now Naruto would have to go the cannon route.

"Well, good luck then."

Hearing her words, he nodded and smiled with difficulty. In normal times, he would have been ecstatic with her encouragement, but this time, he was really worried.

...

At the back of the school, after the end of the classes for the day, the students and their parents gathered at the school's backyard.

Every time a student came out, their parents would pounce on them and hug them with prideful smiles. More specifically, all of this was happening to the students in the fifth grade who happened to have graduated today.

"Congratulations, Sakura! Come, give your mother a hug!"

Before Sakura could react, a powerful woman appeared behind her and hug her using all her power.

"Ah, w-wait!" Helpless, Sakura could only endure the shower of love and warm from her mother.

"Well done, Sakura! You're finally a Kunoichi, and we are very proud of you!" Not to be outdone, the slightly less outgoing Haruno Kizashi, Sakura's father, spoke with a smile on his face as he petted Sakura's head.

Blushing slightly at this show of affection from her parents, she felt a little overwhelmed but still smiled happily in her heart.

'Buuuhuu, they are so good to me!' Inner Sakura had tears of joy as she experienced this kind of parental love. And subconsciously she also felf envy towards the real Sakura.

'You had such good parents but didn't cherish them, ptui!' Inner Sakura spat on the imaginary ground. 'Since I have taken your place, then, I will take them as my parents!'

"Thanks, Dad, Mom!" Hugging her parents, a genuine happiness bloomed in her heart. She never thought that there would be a day where she would hear something like this from her parents.

In her previous life, her parents were no way like this. They acted as if she was just a bothersome thing they were forced to keep and only did the bare minimum forced by law. Not to mention acknowledging her existence, they never even hugged her.

In this situation she felt she was truly blessed. Faced with this, determination blossomed in her heart, for the sake of these parents of her, she must become stronger and protect them from the likes of Madara and the Otsutsuki! So long as she lives, no harm shall befall her family.

"In any case, this is our first time coming here since you enrolled, when will you show us the boy you liked? What was his name again? Sasuke?"

Hearing her words which were spoken out loud, a blush filled with embarrassment appeared on her face. "What?! Mom, no way! Don't speak so loud! Also, who says I liked him? Why are you slandering me??"

Kizashi laughed at her words and nodded happily. "That's right, how can my daughter like a boy at this age? No can do! She can think about matters like this after becoming twenty one years old, until then, she only has to focus on her training."

On the side, Mebuki rolled her eyes and spoke disdainfullly. "Who was it that brought me to the back of the school and kissed me when I was eleven? Don't think you can pretend in front of me, compare to us back then, Sakura is pretty tame."

Kizashi blushed and laughed sheepishly at her words, the other adults around who heard it all had amused smiles on their faces.

After all, in this society, it wasn't uncommon for couples to be formed during their childhood. The nature of this power hungry world made the life expectancy somewhat low, so humans naturally compensated for it by maturing a lot earlier.

At the end of the day, Kizashi was just being protective of her, but Sakura didn't mind. She was actually very happy, her real father wouldn't mind even if she came back pregnant at the age of fourteen, he might even laugh and bully her.

Blushing deeply, Sakura quickly shook her had. "C'mon! Don't embarrass me in front of my classmates!"

Pursing her mouth, Mebuki rolled her eyes but didn't argue. She would help her daughter this time.

Then as other adults appeared, some began talking with her parents, so Sakura made use of this time to take her leave and look around for her friend. Looking at her memories, she looked around for a moment and finally found him standing silently under the shade on a swing.

Not only that, it was also at this time that she noticed quite a few people looking at him with gloating in their eyes.

It was only a few people, but you could still hear them praising the academy for not letting him pass the exam and even outright insulting Naruto.

Frowning, Sakura walked out from the crowd and approached him.

Raising his head, the silently crying Naruto noticed Sakura and was stunned, fearing that his tears would be noticed by her, he hurriedly pulled down his goggles to cover his eyes.

"S-sakura-chan, you... are you here to use the swing? S-sorry, you can take it... I won't bother you..." The words came out unconsciously as he stood up and was about to leave.

Before he could take even a step, a hand reached out and grabbed him by the arm.

"You silly, do you want to hide from me?" Shaking her head she pulled him closer and hugged him slightly.

Having gone through a similar pain, she knew how hurtful it was to have to shoulder all the pain and disappointment alone. Although she couldn't help him now, she could still provide him with something he desperately needed at the moment.

"S-sakura..." Feeling something wrapping around his neck, it took him a second to recognize that it was a pair of soft and warm hands, at that time, he completely broke down without noticing it. Tears streamed down his face, and he cried without making a sound, his hands wrapping around Sakura's waist.

She didn't say anything about it. Just hugged him for a long time.

What she didn't notice was the few pairs of eyes that stared in their direction in surprise.

The feelings in those looks varied to a certain degree, but most had the same element of surprise. They didn't expect to see this scene.

Sakura's parents had knowing smiles on their faces. How couldn't they connect their previous conversation with this scene they had just witnessed? Alas, it was really a misunderstanding. Still, they were even more worried, after all, almost everyone in the village had some degree of resistance towards the blond haired kid.