Sakura fell asleep in my study today. She had spent the entire evening preparing for her first MBTs and dozed off right in the middle of cramming. Being only one month into her apprenticeship, Shizune argues that Sakura is pushing herself too hard. "No one should be consuming this much knowledge so quickly." It was a humorous announcement, considering that Shizune was just as if not more ambitious than Sakura in her own endeavors. "The girl can handle it," I reassured.

As I laid a blanket over Sakura, she muttered the Young Uchiha's name. No, not in affection nor teenage lust—she spoke in sadness. I knew of Sasuke's reputation as local heartbreaker but this...this precedes simple rejection. To have befriended such a closed-off individual, to entertain the privilege of such a rare and unique friendship...only to lose him in the end? Absolutely horrid. She had spoken to me before about the young man. It was enough for me to know that no matter how much he continued to hurt her, she could never truly hate him. I guessed as much. It just breaks my heart to hear it.

What is it in the genetic code that provokes young men to be so stupid? To be driven so callously by power? Is it to impress us, the women? Is it flaring egos, a desire for blood? The compulsion to control those who are weaker? To kill? I pity the Young Uchiha but I cannot afford him any further sympathies. Not as Hokage, not as a Sannin, not even as a human being. I've seen what blind lust does to men—I cannot forgive it.

Should the Young Uchiha resurface as a terrorist, he will be hunted down. And should he break Sakura's heart once more, I will crush him under my heels. The gods as my witness, I will crush him under my heels.