A pink-haired little girl sat quietly by the riverside, staring at her reflection on the water's surface.
The face mirrored in the river was undeniably adorable. A delicate nose, a tiny cherry mouth, refined and symmetrical facial features, skin as fair as porcelain—everything about her appearance was like a doll come to life. Especially those emerald-green eyes, as pure and clear as polished jade.
With those bright green eyes paired with soft cherry blossom-colored hair, she looked no less than a beautifully crafted western doll.
The girl had been sitting there for a long time. Time seemed to lose meaning as she quietly contemplated her new reality.
Even after an entire month had passed, she still couldn't fully accept what had happened.
Because she—no, he—had once been a tall, strapping young man from the southern provinces, standing at a solid 185 centimeters.
And now? She was a tiny 119-centimeter-tall sweet little girl!
What kind of twisted cosmic joke was this?!
Was this even remotely reasonable?!
In her past life, all she did was pick Spring Sakura as her main in the ninja battle game. The opponent just happened to pull off a crazy summon-combo-ultimate technique and tore through all the super shadow ranks, scoring 3000 points in one go!
Sure, she liked playing as Sakura in the game—but that didn't mean she wanted to become her, damn it!
The thought alone made her heart ache with frustration. Unable to hold it in, she picked up a stone by her side and hurled it furiously into the river.
Plop.
Ripples spread out across the water's surface before gradually calming again, restoring her doll-like reflection once more.
It was as if the river was silently mocking her powerlessness.
"Sakura!"
A voice rang out from a distance, calling to her. It was familiar—jarringly so.
She turned toward the sound and saw a man waving to her from the nearby bridge, his head topped with an absurd hairstyle that looked like a red sea star.
That was Haruno Akira, the father of this body—Haruno Sakura's father.
"I'm coming..." she replied in a listless voice and got to her feet, dragging her steps slowly toward him.
"Sakura, don't go wandering off to the river alone like that. What if you fell in and no one was around to help?" Akira said with a worried frown, gazing at his daughter, who looked up with dull, lifeless eyes.
"But of course," he quickly added with a confident puff of his chest, "if Daddy's with you, then there's nothing to fear! Your dad can handle anything!"
With his tone now boastful, he pounded his chest with a dramatic flair, trying to lighten the mood.
"…"
Looking at this man—her "father"—with that ridiculous sea star hairstyle, Sakura let out a long sigh and responded half-heartedly:
"…Yeah."
"You haven't been yourself lately, Sakura. Looking kind of down."
"…Yeah."
"Not sleeping well at night?"
"…Yeah."
"Want Daddy to sing you a lullaby before bed?"
"…Ye—NO!"
She almost said yes out of habit, but her instincts kicked in just in time.
"Absolutely not!"
"Ahaha! There's that energetic Sakura I know!" Akira burst out laughing and reached out to ruffle her hair affectionately. "You've been gloomy for days now. Mommy was starting to get really worried, you know."
Sakura looked at her father's goofy smiling face and pouted slightly. She hadn't realized how much she'd made her family worry…
Looking down at her small, delicate hands—so fair and soft—they didn't feel like hers at all. She sighed internally, her heart heavy as she watched the fiery hues of sunset dye the evening sky.
Goodbye, my little brother…
Goodbye, my happiness…
Just then, Akira said cheerfully, "Mom's making your favorite dumplings for dinner tonight!"
He noticed his daughter's unusually melancholy expression and immediately began pulling silly faces, doing everything he could to cheer her up again.
Watching this man clumsily acting like a clown just to make her smile, Sakura's lips curled slightly. She reached out and took his hand for the first time on her own initiative.
"Let's go home. We don't want to keep Mom waiting."
"Got it!"
"Hey, want Daddy to carry you on his shoulders? Up there, you'll be able to see everything! Dad's broad shoulders are like a royal throne!"
He patted his not-so-broad shoulders with great pride and made a few exaggerated muscle poses.
"No."
Sakura rejected the offer flatly without changing her expression.
"Aw, come on~"
Akira's whole body slumped in exaggerated disappointment, as if someone had just pulled the plug on his soul. He looked completely defeated.
Sakura couldn't help but feel he might actually be a certified daughter-con.
The pair walked side by side along the riverbank, bathed in the warm light of dusk, heading home.
Sakura glanced up at the man beside her. Her vivid green eyes glimmered with a trace of helplessness.
The past was the past. There was no going back now.
But if anyone thought she'd obediently play the role of some lovesick flower-picking girl, marry a guy, and play house?
No way. Not happening. Never.
As they passed a small embankment, a tiny figure entered Sakura's peripheral vision.
It was a boy around her age, with spiky blonde hair and a white short-sleeved shirt bearing a red spiral pattern.
It's him…
The protagonist of fate.
Her mood was already low, and she had no interest in interacting with anyone—especially not him.
"That's the kid…" her father muttered under his breath.
"Sakura, you should try to avoid that boy in the future. He's a bad omen."
Sakura looked up, surprised.
"If anything happened to you, your mom and I would be devastated."
Hearing his somber tone, Sakura couldn't help but counter softly:
"But… he's just a kid, same as me."
"If he were really such a dangerous threat, Lord Hokage wouldn't let him stay in the village, right?"
"It's just gossip. Baseless rumors."
She shook her head, clearly unconvinced.
Her father stared at her for a moment, then softened.
"Sakura, you've got a kind heart."
"But whether it's true or not, what matters more to me is that you stay safe."
Seeing him so serious, she didn't argue further. She just replied with a soft "I understand."
After all, he was genuinely concerned about her.
—
That night.
In her room, the little pink-haired girl huddled under her blanket, peeking at the twinkling stars through the window.
She could feel it—her chakra, weak and barely noticeable, slowly gathering at her forehead on its own. And this process seemed completely automatic.
Whenever she had even a tiny bit of excess chakra, it would flow toward the center of her forehead and settle there.
Not a single drop was wasted.
She buried her face in the blanket, her heart pounding.
This must be… my cheat skill from transmigration.
The Strength of a Hundred Seal.
But wait—this was way too early!
If she awakened the Seal before even turning twelve—before she ever became Tsunade's apprentice—how the hell was she supposed to explain it?
And why, of all things, did she like playing as War Sakura in that game?!
Wouldn't it have been better to be Otsutsuki Momoshiki or Kinshiki?
Anything would've been stronger than War Sakura!
Damn it!
She turned her eyes toward the starry sky again. Her vivid green pupils sparkled with determination.
She needed to come up with a plan to legitimately explain this seal.
But what kind of story could make sense?
She racked her brain, but it was like her mind had exploded with too many thoughts at once.
A six-year-old girl suddenly having the Strength of a Hundred Seal—what would the Konoha interrogation unit do?
Probably haul her off for questioning and hit her with a hundred and eight rounds of psychological torture...
Suddenly, she sat up straight in bed.
Her eyes shone with fierce determination.
Study hard! Strive for excellence!
She had to become a true prodigy—an elite child ninja whose talents were admired by Konoha's top brass!
Only then could she "plausibly" learn the seal as an early gifted student, and cover up the truth!
Damn it!
She might've been reborn as a girl—but she wasn't going to waste this life lying down!
She would rise again! Through knowledge! Through training! Through sheer genius!
---
(End of Chapter)
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