Late November, Konoha Year 60 – Land of Grass
The sky over the Land of Grass was a brilliant blue, hosting a bright, sunny day without a cloud in sight. But that was only the sky over the Land of Grass. With Yanluo Bridge as the demarcation line, the heavens were split into two distinct palettes: one bright, one dark; one south, one north. Two utterly different weather systems shared the same expanse, a testament to the strange wonders of nature.
A middle-aged man leaned listlessly against one of Yanluo Bridge's support pillars, a stalk of foxtail grass dangling from his mouth. His eyes scanned the crowds crossing the bridge, as if searching for someone.
Due to the infamous weather in the Land of Rain, most travelers wore straw raincoats. Nearby villagers seized this opportunity, selling raincoats near the bridge to supplement their income.
Just then, a figure clad in a straw raincoat approached the middle-aged man. Seeing them approach, the man spat out the foxtail grass and made a subtle hand gesture. The two then vanished from the bridge together, unnoticed by the bustling crowd.
Inside a nearby cave, the middle-aged man and the raincoated figure reappeared. "What's the situation? Did you find her?" the middle-aged man asked.
"No, but I have made some discoveries, Jiraiya-sama." The figure removed the raincoat, revealing his true identity: Konoha's Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi.
"Tell me."
"Intel from Takigakure matches Sasuke's report. Traces of Sakura traveling from Taki towards the Land of Rain were still present; we easily tracked her route," Kakashi reported, pausing before continuing, "But the trail goes cold here, at Yanluo Bridge."
Jiraiya nodded. "I've already scouted the vicinity."
"Oh?" Kakashi's usually listless eye brightened. "Did you find anything, Jiraiya-sama?"
"There are signs of a ninja battle nearby," Jiraiya said gravely. "Judging from the traces, it looks like Hanzo's handiwork."
"Hanzo!" Kakashi pinched his chin thoughtfully. "So, Sakura encountered Hanzo and they fought? That's truly bad news."
"Although we found traces of Hanzo fighting, we can't be certain Sakura was his opponent," Jiraiya countered, shrugging. "After all, we haven't found her body. Perhaps this battle didn't involve her; maybe someone else fought Hanzo."
Kakashi nodded in agreement. "Sakura is strong compared to her peers, but if she faced Hanzo… her chances of survival would be virtually nil."
"I don't know what's happening in Amegakure that would bring Hanzo all the way out here to fight someone," Jiraiya mused, gesturing towards the remnants of a campfire on the cave floor. "I found this cave during my reconnaissance. We can tentatively conclude Hanzo stayed here for a time."
After leaving Konoha, Jiraiya had proceeded alone to Yanluo Bridge to scout ahead, while the others methodically searched sections of Sakura's likely route. Four days had passed. Kakashi was the first to reach the bridge; Gai was following behind, conducting a second sweep. Finding people in an era with primitive communication was difficult; unless the target stayed put, leads could easily be missed. Therefore, as a precaution, after the initial search by each team, one member would double-check the area while the other reported to Jiraiya.
Kakashi, being the first to finish his section, had met Jiraiya waiting at the bridge and been brought here. He had initially assumed the campfire ashes were Jiraiya's own.
"Here?" Kakashi pondered Jiraiya's words for a moment. "Jiraiya-sama, do you think Hanzo abducted Sakura?"
Jiraiya shook his head. "No. While the gap between Sakura and Hanzo is vast, abducting her wouldn't be simple. I've scouted the Rain Country side; Hanzo likely came from the direction of Amegakure. The most probable scenario is that Sakura encountered Hanzo here. If there was no third party… then she fought Hanzo."
"But, if she fought Hanzo… she wouldn't have survived," Kakashi interjected.
"That's correct," Jiraiya agreed, closing his eyes briefly. "Yet, there is neither Hanzo's body nor Sakura's body here."
"Could Hanzo have taken Sakura's body?" Kakashi speculated.
"I considered that possibility," Jiraiya shook his head again, "but the strange thing is, there are no tracks indicating Hanzo left this area. Even someone like Hanzo couldn't vanish without a trace. Furthermore, the signs suggest he wasn't alone. That's what I can't figure out."
Silence fell between Jiraiya and Kakashi.
Just then, footsteps echoed from the tunnel leading deeper into the cave. Both Jonin instantly tensed, alert.
"Yo, yo, yo! Relax, it's me! Finally got some news!" A familiar voice preceded the figure emerging from the darkness. Hearing it, the two relaxed their guard.
Two men emerged, one carrying an unconscious person over his shoulder. The other was… Jiraiya's shadow clone.
The clone delivered the person, then immediately returned to keep watch on Yanluo Bridge. Jiraiya turned to the newcomer, asking, "Who are you carrying? Eh, it's a woman!" Instantly, Jiraiya's serious expression melted into a lecherous grin. He nudged the man with his elbow. "Didn't know you were that type, Asuma."
Asuma sighed, dropping the person unceremoniously onto the cave floor. "Please don't tease me, Jiraiya-sama. This person might have seen Sakura."
"Oh!" Jiraiya's expression slowly grew serious again. "Who is she?"
"Based on the intel description from Takigakure, she should be one of the three Ame-nin from that incident – the ones Sakura was pursuing," Asuma shrugged. "She refused to say anything, so I had no choice but to knock her out and bring her here."
Jiraiya nodded, knelt beside the unconscious Ame-nin, and formed a hand seal. A blast of water hit the woman's face. Choking on the sudden drenching, she coughed violently a few times before slowly blinking her eyes open.
"She's all yours, Kakashi," Jiraiya said, standing up.
Kakashi wasted no time. He pushed his forehead protector up, revealing the crimson Sharingan beneath. Genjutsu activated. The Ame-nin, barely conscious and still disoriented, immediately fell under its sway.
Red Leaf Village – Junko's Home
"I refuse!"
Hearing Haruno Sakura's unequivocal answer struck Junko's heart like a hammer blow. Biting her lip, she remained stubbornly in her kneeling position, bowing motionless before Sakura.
"Ai…" Sakura sighed, seeing Junko's persistence. "Why put yourself through this? I will avenge Granny Rika. I'll kill those four Kusa-nin myself. You don't need to do this."
"No!" Junko's voice was ice cold. "I will destroy Kusagakure."
"Junko…" Sakura fell silent for a moment. "In this world, the number of shinobi capable of single-handedly overthrowing a hidden village can be counted on one hand. Even if I teach you ninjutsu, achieving that goal within your lifetime… would be incredibly difficult."
"Then I will spend my entire life doing it!" Junko interrupted sharply.
"..." Another silence stretched between them. "Precisely because you saved me," Sakura said finally, "I cannot agree to your request."
"Why!" Junko cried out, her hands clenching so tightly her fingernails dug into her palms, unnoticed.
"Why are you so fixated on destroying Kusagakure?" Sakura countered, ignoring Junko's question.
"..." Hearing this, Junko slowly raised her head and sat upright. The turmoil in her eyes subsided, replaced by a calm stillness. She looked at Sakura and began to speak. "Granny Rika hated ninja. I always thought she hated them because we had to pay them such large commission fees every month."
As she spoke, Junko pulled a forehead protector from within her clothes. Sakura's pupils contracted – the symbol was Konoha's. The style was familiar; it was probably hers.
"I took this from you the day I found you," Junko's voice choked slightly. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have hidden it… But… Granny Rika… she really hated ninja. If she knew I'd saved a ninja, she definitely wouldn't have allowed it."
"I'm sorry… I just… I just haven't had… any friends… for so long…" Junko's voice broke completely, tears finally spilling over. "B-but… it wasn't until last night… that I understood what Granny Rika meant."
"Granny Rika… she didn't hate all ninja… She hated Kusagakure… Kusagakure killed Granny Rika!!!" Junko shrieked the last sentence, her emotions shattering, before collapsing forward again, sobbing uncontrollably on the floor.
Watching Junko's heart-wrenching grief, Sakura began to understand. She saw now why Junko was so obsessed with destroying Kusagakure. Incidents like yesterday's "mandatory commission" were likely commonplace here. Compared to bandits, who could say which method was more civilized? Both plundered civilians. This exploitation had probably gone on for a long time, perhaps since Kusagakure's founding.
Viewed this way, Kusagakure was essentially a bandit village established by ninja. Sakura, having grown up surrounded by ninja culture, had little understanding of the civilian perspective. Such blatant extortion never happened in Konoha; even civilian commissions were based on voluntary requests.
No, wait. Sakura abruptly recalled her own Genin days, the D-rank missions Team 7 undertook under Kakashi-sensei. At the time, she'd thought nothing of them, accepted them as normal. But after witnessing Junko's plight, looking back… those missions likely held an element of exploitation too.
Weeding, farming, cleaning, babysitting… D-rank missions paid between five hundred and two thousand Ryo. Though split three ways, were those tasks truly beyond the civilians' own capabilities? No, they could absolutely do them themselves; it was their own work. Yet, they commissioned ninja.
Those tasks could be done in a day, sometimes just hours. The pay, relative to the labor, was exorbitant. Perhaps those commissions were quotas set by Konoha or the Daimyo. Maybe Fire Country civilians were simply wealthier and never complained.
These missions supported Konoha's tens of thousands of ninja. But in smaller, poorer nations, they were a crushing burden on the populace. Some nations might be gentler, others, like the Land of Grass, had abandoned all pretense.
Ninja… are vampires latched onto the civilian populace… Even the Daimyo are more merciful.
Sakura's breathing grew shallow, rapid. What she had always accepted as normal was actually a cruel form of mercy shown to civilians. Though she had lived in this world for twelve years, she couldn't erase the worldview of her previous life.
Perhaps if Junko's tragedy hadn't occurred, Sakura, even if she'd recognized this truth later, might have adopted a detached "none-of-my-business" attitude. But looking at the weeping girl before her, Sakura's heart felt heavy, constricted. Situations like this were probably happening everywhere, every day. And the root cause was the ninja system itself. Sakura wasn't callous; she couldn't, as part of the perpetrator class, simply enjoy its benefits with a clear conscience.
Naruto is wrong. His peace is narrow, selfish. Ninja are the world's cancer. Even if he achieves peace among ninja villages, it's only peace for ninja, not for everyone. The ninja system is a grotesque aberration, parasites feeding on civilians… This isn't the manga I read in my past life, where ninja were the theme… This is a real world, terrifyingly real for me…
Looking at Junko, whose voice was now raw and hoarse, whose small shoulders shook with sobs, Sakura's eyes filled with pain. "Junko!"
"Yes?" Hearing her name, Junko looked up at Sakura.
"I can teach you ninjutsu."
Surprise flared in Junko's eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but Sakura held up a hand, stopping her. Then, devoid of any emotion, Sakura continued, "But I must also tell you: ninja face death constantly. You might die long before you achieve your goal."
"I have no regrets!" Junko declared, bowing her head firmly.
Sakura sighed, shaking her head. Reality was so far removed from ideals. When she first arrived in this world, she'd imagined it would be fun, that her story would involve cheerfully accompanying the main characters, fighting bosses, marveling at ninjutsu, and somehow stumbling into world peace.
She'd never truly questioned Naruto's philosophy, his methods. But after her recent thoughts, Sakura suddenly felt Naruto's ambition was primarily about gaining recognition by becoming Hokage and stopping wars between ninja. But even without wars, ninja still fed on the blood of civilians.
Even if all ninja reached a consensus to stop fighting, it offered no benefit to civilians. The ninja class would become even more entrenched, their exploitation potentially more brutal. And powerless civilians could never resist. Such peace was merely a mirage for the vast majority.
This incident had profoundly altered Sakura's perspective, weighing heavily on her spirit. No matter the world, exploitation exists. She had been fortunate to be born in Konoha, already part of the exploiting class.
Class conflict existed from the beginning.
And Junko's tragedy had rekindled Sakura's own fading compassion – perhaps, she admitted, because Junko had saved her life.