This was the sixth year since she had transmigrated as Sakura Haruno, and today was the first lesson at the Jonin Academy.
“Ino Yamanaka.”
“Present!” a loud and youthful girl’s voice rang out.
“Choji Akimichi.”
“Mmm-hmm, here.” Choji Akimichi hurriedly stuffed a bag of potato chips into his desk. Though he was young, his sturdy build was already apparent.
“Kiba Inuzuka.”
“Present, woof!”
“Naruto Uzumaki.”
“PRESENT!!!” Naruto jumped up directly, his outstretched hand nearly touching the ceiling.
“Sakura Haruno.”
Hearing Iruka call her name, Sakura Haruno raised her hand expressionlessly. “Present.”
Naruto immediately turned his head, grinning excitedly as he said loudly, “Sakura, we’re sitting together!”
Sakura reached out, hooked her arm around his small neck, and yanked him back down into his chair, helping him dodge a chalk flick from their angry teacher. Then she leaned in and whispered, “We’re in class, be quiet.”
Their faces were almost touching, their breaths intermingling. Sakura carried a faint, warm fragrance that Naruto, being so close to her, perceived directly.
Naruto stared blankly into her clear green eyes. Suddenly, a flush crept up his cheeks, and within half a second, his entire face turned as red as a tomato skin. He instantly snapped his body upright and stared straight ahead with burning ears, not daring to look at Sakura again.
“Sasuke Uchiha.” With the hyperactive Naruto settled, Iruka could finally continue the roll call normally.
Sakura looked up immediately and saw a hand raised neatly in the row ahead of her, followed by a calm response. She frowned as she stared at the ping-pong paddle on the back of the child’s shirt—red on top and white on the bottom. It made her want to throw a ball at it.
Before her eyes, a translucent screen that only she could see appeared, automatically scanning the Clan Crest as data popped up.
Name: Sasuke Uchiha. Ability Table [+], click to browse detailed information.
Clan Crest: Uchiwa (Paper Fan).
Family Members: Fugaku Uchiha, Mikoto Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha…
Clan Members: Count too high, please click [+] to browse the full list.
Sakura glanced at the task bar and, as expected, saw a new task notification surface.
Task automatically activated. Countdown: xxx minutes. Click [+] to view task details.
Task Reward: Ten points.
Host’s Accumulated Points: Thirty-nine. Used: Thirty-nine.
Sakura propped her cheek on one hand, squishing her baby fat out of shape. After a long hesitation, she finally called out in her mind to open the task details.
[Task: After the school bell rings, Sakura Haruno must confess to Sasuke Uchiha. The volume must be no less than xx decibels, and she must receive a response from him.]
This task made Sakura’s fists tighten. A surge of violent, destructive desire instantly rushed to her heart. Before transmigrating, she had been a “content creator” in the Naruto fanfiction circle, and her specialty was breaking up the Sasuke-Sakura ship.
She could write, draw, edit, and headcanon. She had a deep, profound love for Naruto, especially the Naruto-Sakura ship. From the first day she watched Naruto, she held high the banner of “NaruSaku is the best.” Who was Sasuke? Just an angsty, entirely unlikable, expressionless male supporting character.
What? You say Sakura likes him?
That was just a small plot device used by the author to push the feelings of the male and female leads. The author would surely kick him aside at the end, letting Naruto and Sakura hold hands as they walked toward a beautiful finale.
Being the occasional reason for the two to get jealous was Sasuke Uchiha’s greatest function—nothing more.
Ringing the wedding bells for the NaruSaku wedding—that was the crazy obsession she had worked her life away for, producing content for NaruSaku every week for three years.
And then Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno had a kid… To hell with you, Kishimoto, you old bastard! Come out and face your death! You ruined my youth and destroyed my life! I’m taking you down with me!
Don’t stop her. She wanted to fly straight to that traitor Kishimoto’s doorstep and spit venom at his window in the middle of the night. Tui-Tui-Tui-Tui!
Upon seeing the ending, her sanity completely collapsed. She became a total Sasuke-Sakura hater, deleted all her NaruSaku content with one click (a married man was already “dead-dead” in her heart), and began tirelessly writing various “anti-SasuSaku” fanfics.
Some were so twisted they could only stay on her hard drive; publishing them would lead to an immediate 404 error.
And then she transmigrated.
She transmigrated into a newborn baby. A genuine one who couldn’t see colors, couldn’t understand a foreign language, couldn’t handle her own bodily functions, couldn’t even lift her head—a human cub who only knew how to look for milk.
By the time she realized her name was Sakura Haruno, several months had passed.
There was no pleasant surprise. Transmigrating into the world of Naruto was more like divine retribution. Being a ninja wasn’t a job for humans; it was a life of blood and tears. As a successor of socialism who lived perfectly well in a modern society that was convenient and safe—she hadn’t even ever called the police!
Throwing her directly into the world of Naruto was basically asking her to die.
It wasn’t that because one likes Naruto, transmigrating into Naruto would be a cause for celebration. It was precisely because she loved Naruto too much and had studied the plot so deeply to create content that she could be 100% certain: this world was a hell where ordinary people could not live well.
She wanted to go home.
The System replied: “You can.”
She was… shocked, yet felt it was expected. Isn’t a “cheat” the standard equipment for a transmigrator?
System: “Complete tasks.”
She was very sensible: “What tasks?”
System: “SasuSaku is the best! I am a pink, super-kawaii little System dedicated to advancing the relationship between Sasuke and Sakura!”
With that, the System chattered on about how, in the readers’ world, the interactions between Sasuke and Sakura were too sparse, making the “shipping points” pitifully meager. It hoped to make their emotional arc more substantial.
The System was born from this desire. After resetting a parallel Naruto world, it coincidentally found that a Sakura Haruno was missing, so it brought her in as a replacement.
As for why it was her—it was because the System detected her deep love for Naruto and her intense emotional fluctuations. Since she happened to have died, she was the perfect tool… oh no, the perfect executor of destiny.
If it could detect her deep love for Naruto, how could it fail to detect who her rival ship was?
And if the task was to flesh out the SasuSaku relationship, how could Sakura Haruno have been missing in the first place? How much did it have to love that “Sasuke” heretic to lose its most precious Sakura?
System: “As long as you promote the Sasuke-Sakura relationship, you can earn points to become taller, stronger, and smarter. Finally, after marrying Sasuke Uchiha, you will be rewarded with a painless ‘Return Home and Resurrection’ package. Go forth, young girl, and unlock your emotional destiny…”
Her: “I’m not going back.”
She flipped the table mentally. Get lost, you piece of trash! Going home didn’t mean squat!
Even if she starved to death, hung herself, or jumped off a cliff, she would absolutely never do a single one of those wretched tasks to promote the Sasuke-Sakura relationship. Not even if she died.
Besides, she was a transmigrator. Even better—who better than Sakura Haruno herself to break up Sasuke and Sakura?
She now unilaterally announced in advance that Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno were divorced! Hahaha!
To implement her “Break SasuSaku” will, even when she was carried out as a baby and saw Sasuke as a fellow toddler, she looked away in disdain. When she was a few years old and running around, if she saw Sasuke clinging to that “Uchiha Weasel” (Itachi), she would take a detour, fearing she’d catch some bad luck.
In the tiny Hidden Leaf Village, she managed to hold out until age six without having any connection whatsoever with any Uchiha. They didn’t even have a “hello” kind of relationship.
From the age of three, when she could run and jump, the System had issued several tasks.
For example: Get to know Sasuke Uchiha early and become childhood friends.
— Your host has clicked [X] to decline.
For example: Sasuke Uchiha is depressed because he can’t get a letter from his brother; go comfort him.
— Your host has clicked [X] to decline.
For example: Sasuke Uchiha is practicing throwing Kunai in the woods; go train with him.
— Your host has clicked [X] to decline.
For example… your host has clicked [X] and pressed the “Do not notify me of tasks for one month” button.
Later, seeing her persistence, the System learned its lesson and started issuing tasks involving Naruto. However, compared to Sasuke, the points were as meager as something scraped out of a floor crack.
The System wanted to use this point gap to let her know that SasuSaku tasks were the most profitable.
Sakura Haruno immediately and happily went to do the tasks.
The System flipped the table. Get lost, trash host! You ruined my youth and drained my battery! I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and spit on you!
— Your host has clicked [X] and reported you for psychological harassment.
System: Report bounce back, bounce back, bounce back!
Time passed steadily amidst the exchange of censored insults and crude language between her and the System. Finally, she started school.
On her first day of school, the hideous System unsurprisingly revealed its cruel side and activated full mandatory task takeover.
As for how it was mandatory:
If she didn’t do it, the System would possess her body and do the work for her. It had possessed her once this morning, and the voice it used was so high-pitched and “sweet” that it nearly made her brain explode.
“Mmm~ Sasuke-kun, oh ho-ho-ho, play with me, la-la-la” The System made her walk with her toes pointed inward, fists held to her chest, winking every half-step as it spoke with a flushed face.
“If you don’t do it, I’ll confess to Sasuke in this tone,” the System said, its face suddenly darkening as it sneered while posing in front of the mirror.
Boom. Sakura Haruno punched the mirror into pieces.
This was more maddening than dying for failing a task. This level of disgust was the same as being forced to eat three tons of cilantro, celery, durian, and five-nut mooncakes all blended together.
Sakura Haruno decided not to give the trash System a chance to possess her. It was just a confession, right?
Fine. She’d confess. It wasn’t like she had to get married.
“Sasuke Uchiha?”
The dismissal bell had just rung. Iruka was still packing his textbooks, and the air was filled with the giggles and chatter of restless children. Amidst the warm cacophony, Sasuke, who was thinking about going home immediately to practice Kunai throwing with his brother, heard someone calling him.
He looked up with a hint of impatience, only to see a girl with long pink hair looking him over casually with a cold gaze. A child trained in a clan from a young age had a natural sensitivity to killing intent and coldness.
Especially a sensitive Uchiha. He immediately went on high alert.
He had heard that many people in the school looked down on the Uchiha. Naturally, he didn’t care to play with these weaklings either. Could this be one of those people who had a problem with him?
Did she want to fight?
Sasuke Uchiha thought of the several combat techniques he had just practiced, and a competitive interest ignited in his eyes.
“That’s me. What is it?”
The girl gave a cold huff before saying, “I’m Sakura Haruno.”
Sasuke frowned. Was this a self-introduction before a duel?
“I like you.”
He was just about to stand up to accept the challenge—to “slaughter the chicken to warn the monkeys” so that no more pests would bother him at school—when his movements froze completely upon hearing those words.
Sasuke was only six years old. He wasn’t the “Expressionless King” who had seen the world and gotten used to being surrounded by girls yet. For a moment, he didn’t know how to handle the situation.
Sakura Haruno thought that once she finished the confession, she would hear the task completion chime. Instead, after waiting three seconds and just as her patience was running out, the System said gloomily that the task only counted as complete if she got a response from the other party. Moreover, the volume of her confession just now was failing.
A familiar rage flared up. Sakura checked the time—the deadline to claim a “Super Deluxe Ramen Set” coupon at Ichiraku Ramen was almost up. Impatiently, she slammed her hand onto the desk in front of her and shouted, “Sasuke Uchiha! I said I like you! Did you hear me?!”
The desk let out an overburdened groan as countless terrifying cracks spread across its surface.
The classroom suddenly fell silent. Only Naruto, who had just put on his backpack, let out a delayed “Ah!” and stared with wide, shocked eyes.
Sasuke glanced at the desk. She seemed to have… just tapped it without much effort? What kind of strength was that?
Seeing him dazed, Sakura’s brow furrowed, and she took on a fierce, menacing look. “Did. You. Hear. Me?”
In her anger, her fingers punched five holes directly into the desk.
A drop of cold sweat slid down his forehead. Sasuke Uchiha, still just a young child, gave a slight nod.
A nod was a response. Task complete.
Sakura Haruno immediately slung her backpack over her shoulder and dashed outside. The coupon! The diamond-level coupon that could only be claimed once a month! If she didn’t go now, it would be gone.
Naruto jumped onto a desk and chased after her, shouting anxiously, “Sakura! Wait for me! Why do you suddenly have someone you like…”
Sasuke stood frozen on the spot. His hand accidentally brushed against his desk, and he watched as the desk collapsed into a pile of splinters.
He took two steps back, his cheeks puffing out involuntarily.
“…What the hell?”
Was this some strange new way of picking a fight?