It seemed as though Sasuke had been influenced by Sakura's fervor. Leaning against the ship's railing, he turned to the pink-haired girl beside him and spoke softly.
"So, Sakura… what exactly do you want me to do?"
Sakura looked at the unusually cooperative Sasuke, the corners of her mouth curling into a faint smile.
As expected, Sasuke was still Sasuke.
Even though she—this self-proclaimed shit-stirring stick—had turned the entire shinobi world upside down, his personality remained the same as ever, rebellion etched into his very bones.
She gazed at the boy in front of her, reached out, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Her lips parted slightly, and the words that came out made Sasuke freeze for a moment.
"Sasuke, I'm going to become Hokage."
"When that day comes, join my Shadow Guard."
For the first time, Sakura was sincerely baring her true ambitions in front of someone else.
Until now, it had always been the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, pushing her forward—relentlessly pushing her toward that throne.
Even the first time she'd declared in front of Hiruzen that she would become Hokage, it had only been a means to obtain the Hundred Healings Technique.
Now, that position felt almost within arm's reach.
And Sakura knew, with perfect clarity, exactly what she wanted.
She wanted to tear down this rotten, obsolete, filthy, crumbling hierarchy.
She wanted to make the nauseating existence of nobility disappear completely.
She had realized that she could never fully assimilate into this deformed shinobi world.
If Sakura herself could not change who she was, then the world would simply have to change according to her will.
A thousand years ago, the Sage of the Six Paths, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, had preached that people should understand one another.
Now, if she could not understand these so-called daimyo and nobles, why shouldn't they be the ones to understand her?
And if they were incapable of understanding her—wouldn't that be a betrayal of the Sage of the Six Paths himself?!
A single world divided into two rigidly separated classes.
That was a naked betrayal of the Sage!
An outright abandonment of the Sage's will!
The Sage's will had been ruined by the very people who upheld this system!
She would raise high the banner of the Sage of the Six Paths' true will and sweep everything away!
She would consign these rotten old classes, these filthy repulsive laws, these broken frameworks to the garbage heap of history.
A will like this had existed a thousand years ago. Since history had spent the last millennium driving in reverse, it was time to wrench this runaway train back onto the proper tracks.
Sasuke stared at the girl before him.
Sunlight filtered through her flying pink strands and fell across his face. That slender, almost frail-looking body somehow felt, in this moment, utterly dependable.
She was… clearly just a girl the same age as him.
Yet in this instant, Sasuke's heart wavered.
The girl right in front of him was close enough to touch, and yet he felt as though they belonged to completely different worlds—separated by an unbridgeable chasm.
At this moment, Sasuke even felt that Sakura didn't belong to this world at all.
Like he could never have her.
The gap between them wasn't one of strength.
It was a gap in ideology.
Something hollow opened up inside Sasuke's chest.
That unclear emotion he had felt toward Sakura—he finally understood it now.
It was adoration.
But this feeling, before it could even be spoken, was already over.
He had thought that someone like him, burdened with a blood-soaked vendetta, wouldn't care about such things.
He had been wrong.
He cared. He cared far too much.
His Mangekyō Sharingan had awakened for her.
Twisted hatred had given birth to the Heavenly Opposition Fate, yet because of her, no amount of twisted hatred felt excessive.
The Divine Real Fate had arisen in response.
"…Alright."
Sasuke accepted the idea of the "Shadow Guard."
If I can't have you, then let me at least witness everything you do.
Let me become the sharpest blade in your palm, tearing apart anything that stands in your way.
Anyone who blocks your path—I'll kill them.
As for that tender sprout in his heart that had withered before it could even bloom…
Let it remain as though it had never existed.
"Thank you, Sasuke."
"When I finally become Hokage, I'll definitely let you live the good life—eat well, drink well!"
"I'll even find twenty wives for you!"
Sakura looked at the boy in front of her and couldn't help teasing him with a grin.
Seeing the pink-haired girl switch from deadly serious to completely unserious in the blink of an eye, Sasuke felt a speechless warmth in his chest and showed a helpless smile.
"…Aa."
"Then I'll be waiting."
For some reason, Sasuke felt the distance between him and Sakura grow a little wider in that moment.
"Eh?"
"You're actually taking it seriously? If you do that, people will definitely call you a playboy."
Sakura hadn't expected the guy to actually play along.
"No helping it. It's an order from our future Lord Hokage, after all."
"As your subordinate, I can only helplessly accept."
For reasons he couldn't explain, Sasuke suddenly felt a trace of ease.
Was he really this complicated a person?
"Eh?"
"Sasuke, you've gotten sly, you know that?"
Port of the Land of Snow
As the ship reached its destination, the film crew began gathering their things to disembark.
Sakura stepped off the ship wrapped in a standard Konoha cold-weather cloak. Looking at the endless snow and ice, and at the familiar uniform on her body, she couldn't help but recall her days in the Land of Frost.
What annoyingly persistent snow.
"Sakura, what are we supposed to do next?"
Karin, also bundled in a cloak, came to Sakura's side and asked hesitantly.
For some reason, she felt that Sakura had changed a little.
But she couldn't quite put her finger on how.
"What are we supposed to do?"
"Protect the film crew while they shoot, of course."
"Don't forget—that's our mission."
Sakura smiled and gently brushed the snowflakes from Karin's bangs.
That striking red hair actually looked rather pretty against all this white.
"Eh? But…"
Karin instinctively glanced toward the Iwagakure ninjas not far away.
Didn't we agree to take care of that daimyo of the Land of Snow, Furious Wave?
Sakura patted Karin's shoulder and smiled without saying anything.
The cake had already been divided. Why should she still worry about it?
One of Iwagakure's top combat assets was here. Sweeping through the Land of Snow would be child's play for them.
What could a single Furious Wave possibly do?
Even if the Third Raikage came back to life and stood in their way, he'd have to kneel and sing "Conquered."
Seeing how unconcerned Sakura was, Karin suddenly understood everything.
If that was the case, then they might as well just watch the crew film in peace.
Their mission was only B-rank, after all.
Iwagakure's side was A-rank.
"Let's go check on the crew."
"Who knows, Karin—you might even get a cameo and become a big star someday."
Sakura ruffled Karin's red hair.
"Sakura, you're making fun of me!"
Karin's cheeks puffed out at the teasing pinkette.
"I'm being completely serious."
Sakura poked one of the puffed cheeks, then headed toward the film crew.
"Sakura is seriously talking nonsense."
Karin muttered a complaint, but quickly hurried after her.
"This is nice and relaxed~~~"
Hikari, who had just disembarked, watched the two departing figures and gave a soft hum.
"Let's go."
Sasuke looked at the girl beside him, utterly helpless.
"Yeees, yeees~~~"
Hikari waved her hand in a "whatever you say" gesture and followed behind Sasuke toward the film crew.
Though she wouldn't admit it out loud, Hikari was actually quite interested in this whole movie-making business.
Back in her era, even traveling theater troupes had been a rarity.
Let alone a fully modern film crew like this one.
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