Just like every other night following her return to the past, Sakura waited for her parents to fall asleep before she snuck out of her bedroom.

She had learned quite a few unbelievable things during dinner earlier that evening, after she had casually brought up her new friends. She had expected her father to be shocked she had befriended Konohagakure 's Jinchuriki, but she wasn 't prepared for the kind of surprise that overtook his face when her mother told him about her meeting with the three young Uchiha, especially the children of the Head Family.

'Mikoto-chan 's kids? ' he had asked, choking on his food, 'You became friends with them? '

Sakura had asked if she shouldn 't have, and her father had smiled, stood up and gone to look for something, rummaging through several drawers; eventually, he had brought out an old, yellowing photograph.

A photograph of three children, each of them wearing a Konoha hitai-ate, and a jonin instructor standing right behind them, smiling. For a moment, Sakura had almost thought she 'd break down crying when her own genin photo with Team 7 came to mind, but then she'd taken a closer look at the young shinobi.

One of them was clearly a Hyuga, the second was a girl with long dark hair and eyes, and the last her own father, younger, shorter, but with the same bright smile and ridiculous pink hair. Sakura had stood staring at the photo for well over a minute, completely baffled. Her father had been a shinobi once, and yet she had never been aware of this fact in her original timeline.

'This is Uchiha Mikoto, ' he had tapped the image of the girl with his pointer finger, 'and this was my best friend, Hizashi. '

Hyuga Hizashi.

Neji 's father

. He was the spitting image of the young Hyuga genius she had known; and he had been her father 's teammate and friend. Sakura had wanted to scream, but had tried her best to stay calm, and had asked Haruno Kizashi to tell her more.

Apparently, her father had attended the Shinobi Academy, become a genin, and taken missions with his team for almost a year before Sakura 's grandfather had passed away and Kizashi had had to take over the family business, which had cut his shinobi career short. He had, however, maintained his friendship with his teammates, especially with Hyuga Hizashi and his twin brother, Hinata 's father, until Hizashi 's death.

He hadn't said much about his time as a shinobi, pointing out that the only time he had ever worn his hitai-ate after resigning had been on the night of the Nine-Tail 's attack. He'd gotten injured, which had resulted in his permanent limp.

Sakura had been too numb with surprise to ask him any probing questions, to dig into the whys and hows, so she had just sat down, still staring at the photo, contemplating this new revelation she hadn't even had a single clue about at any point in her first life.

Her father had then told her that, if she still wanted to, they would enroll her in the Shinobi Academy the following year. Sakura had only nodded, thanking them both profusely for giving her this chance, and, after kissing them goodnight, she had climbed upstairs to her bedroom, still shaken.

Shisui was already waiting where they had met up the previous night. He asked her to be quiet and follow him. They sped through the branches until they were quite a ways away from the village, but Sakura knew they were still too close to the walls to be caught by any ANBU perimeter patrols.

'I hope you 're not too tired, Sakura-chan, ' he smiled, and when she shook her head, still swimming with all her thoughts from earlier, he went on with: 'Good. It 's better if we meet out here for our lessons. Oh, by the way, ' he paused, giving Sakura an apologetic smile, 'Itachi-chan knows. '

'Knows what? '

Shisui had summoned out some attachable targets from within a sealing scroll, 'He 's a smart kid, you see. A true genius, you could say. So he sort of figured out that you must be a prodigy like us. '

The look he gave her seemed to her so disapproving that she had to avert her eyes. 'I told you to be careful, Sakura-chan, and you go around attacking civilians while, I 'm pretty sure, you were aware of the ANBU guards. '

She scoffed, kicking at some of the dirt under her shoes, 'If they were actually doing their job, I wouldn 't have to do that, would I? '

'And what do you think their job is? '

Sakura struggled with formulating her answer. How would she explain her knowledge of the Kyubi's seal and host if she told Shisui the truth? That would raise too many questions, even if he believed her to be someone of prodigious talent and intelligence.

'Well, ' she started slowly, 'I 've seen and felt them around Naruto, so that means they 're protecting him, right? But people keep hurting him and calling him names. '

The boy sighed deeply and moved closer to her, resting his hand on top of her head, 'I can 't exactly talk about this in any detail, Sakura-chan, but you 're not wrong. They should have interfered before it got physical. '

She nodded once he had removed his hand and bit her lip, 'Shouldn 't we talk to someone? The Hokage, maybe? It 's just ' it 's really unfair how they treat Naruto like trash for no reason. '

'Maybe, ' was all Shisui said, before he abruptly changed the subject and told her they'd be working on their kunai and shuriken throwing first. Sakura made a mental note to buy some more weapons as she began her target practice. After she managed to hit every single bullseye, Shisui told her to start on her warm-up exercises.

'Show me the taijutsu moves you learned by watching other shinobi, ' he said once she was done.

Sakura showed him some of the more standard katas she knew first, before adding more of her personalized moves. Nothing too fancy, of course, and without the assistance of chakra, but Shisui seemed impressed nonetheless. They engaged each other in a softcore spar, with Shisui being mindful of her small frame and Sakura holding back her instinct to incorporate her advanced signature style into the fight.

'Do you think it 's safe if Itachi-san knows about me? ' she asked him between labored breaths.

Damn, she really should work more on her stamina training.

Shisui gave her a kind smile, 'You don 't have to worry about my little cousin. He 'll protect your secret and keep you out of danger if the need arises. '

'Why are you doing this? ' There it was. The question that had kept her awake for almost the entire duration of the previous night. Why had he warned her? Why had he promised to help her train without revealing her secret to anyone else? Why did he think she 'd be in danger in the first place?

Sakura watched the ruby-red of his Sharingan melt back into onyx. 'It 's a long story, Sakura-chan, one that I promise to tell you, just not yet. Let 's just say, ' he paused, as though unsure if he was picking the right words, 'that we don 't want people finding out about another prodigy, especially one from a civilian family, because then you 'd turn out just like us, or worse. '

'But there 's nothing wrong with you, Shisui-san. ' She didn 't understand.

He laughed, but it was brittle and bitter, and the smile that followed looked more like a grimace. The wind had picked up, and so his words barely reached her ears: 'I 'm just a tool, kid. One damaged beyond repair. '

Her heart clenched violently. That face, that tone, she had seen and heard them before. It reminded her of Kakashi-sensei, the way he'd been during the war she had come from, of a time she had found him bleeding out and treated his wounds. He had been in so much pain, practically delirious, and it had been the first time he had opened up about his past, if briefly.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she banished the memory from her mind. Kakashi-sensei was still alive in this time, and she would see him again and try to be a better student and friend to him.

But this boy, at merely thirteen, was carrying an invisible burden on his shoulders just the same. She didn 't know what it was or how heavily it weighed on him, but she was aware he had likely gone to war at a young age, and if he had seen even a fraction of what she had experienced in the Fourth War '

'Shisui-san? ' she called in a broken voice, and waited until his hum of a reply came. 'Can we be friends? '

His eyes widened momentarily, but he quickly gave her a wide smile. 'Of course we can, Sakura-chan. And please just call me Shisui, okay? I'm not one for formalities. '

Sakura approached him timidly, grabbing the side of his shirt. 'Friends trust friends, Shisui, so do me a favor. '

He didn 't reply immediately. Whispering, he asked: 'What kind? '

'Don 't smile when you don 't feel like it. Someone once told me a smile can get you out of a tough situation, even if it 's fake, and maybe he was right, ' she gulped down the sob threatening to escape her tiny throat, remembering Sai. (His blood on her hands. She had failed him. Failed to save his life.) 'But I hate it. You don 't have to pretend, at least, not when you're around me. '

As if he had been waiting to hear those words all his life, Sakura saw him physically deflate, his shoulders dropping, and an amused sigh escaped him. He didn 't smile, but his eyes were soft when he looked at her.

'I 'll try, ' he promised. 'Now let 's work on your chakra reserves. '

Sakura was exhausted. It had only been a week since she'd started training with Shisui, and every passing night 's regimen had been more brutal than the last. The young shinobi somehow managed to give Tsunade's barbaric tutoring methods a run for their money (gambling pun intended).

It didn 't help that she had to maintain the social life of an actual five-year-old. Aside from helping her mother, she spent every free minute with Naruto and Ino. Her two best friends had finally met, and seemed to be getting along swimmingly. Well, there was the occasional bickering, but that had been expected.

Her parents had noticed the fatigued state their daughter had been in lately, but she simply brushed it off as lack of sleep because of all the studying she was doing in preparation for her Academy enrollment. It wasn 't that hard to believe. Her parents knew that if she found a book interesting, she wouldn 't put it down.

The day was getting warmer and Sakura walked through the marketplace after having helped Mayu-baa at the dango stall. The old lady had given her a small allowance for helping her clean up and Sakura was more than ready to earn some more and spend every last bit of it on new weapons, or maybe some medicinal herbs.

When she arrived at her parents ' store, she found her mother at the counter, chatting animatedly with a woman with long ebony hair. Sakura paused momentarily, knowing exactly who the lady before her was, and glanced around, eyes landing on two smaller figures roaming around the shop.

'Ah, Sakura-chan, come here! ' her mother called out, smiling brightly. 'This is Uchiha Mikoto, Mikoto-chan, this is my daughter, Sakura. '

Smiling politely, Sakura spoke loud and clear: 'It 's a pleasure to meet you, Uchiha-sama. '

'Oh, my, ' the woman giggled and bent down so she was eye-level with Sakura. 'Aren 't you the loveliest little thing I 've ever seen? Kami, Mebuki-chan, I 'm jealous of you having such a beautiful girl. ' The woman sighed; Mebuki roared laughter loudly in response. 'Sakura-chan, please just call me Mikoto, alright? No more of this Uchiha-sama nonsense. '

'Ah, of course. '

'I believe you already know my sons, ' Mikoto smiled, glancing sideways at her boys.

'I do! ' Sakura confirmed, then threw a toothy grin in their direction. 'Hi again, Itachi-san, Sasuke! ' They greeted her back, young Sasuke with a lot more enthusiasm than his brother, but Sakura vowed to herself that she 'd make Itachi warm up to her eventually.

'Ne, kaa-chan, can we go to the park? Naruto and Ino-chan will probably be there by now. '

Mebuki agreed, and the three children went on their way, with their mothers hot on their heels talking as they joked and laughed like old friends. The first meeting between Ino and Sasuke was ' eventful. Sakura had been betting on Ino falling head over heels for the young Uchiha, but to her immense surprise, they ended up arguing about something that didn 't make any sense to her or Naruto.

They did have a wonderful time nonetheless, playing ninja and weaving flower crowns. Itachi had stayed close to their mothers, joining the younger kids only occasionally. Sakura had been feeling quite unnerved by the looks Itachi was throwing her way at first, but she wanted to believe Shisui 's words, that her secret was safe with them both, so she made sure she didn't do or say anything out of the ordinary, and even offered Itachi a flower crown, which he accepted with a polite nod.

That evening, Naruto was invited to the Haruno household for dinner, after Sakura had pestered her mother to get permission from the orphanage. She had been secretly hoping that somehow the Hokage would get involved and she would finally be able to meet with the Sandaime, but he didn't. Two ANBU guards kept watch outside her house for several hours, until Naruto had to be walked back to the orphanage by her father.

Dinner had gone quite well, even though Naruto had been apprehensive at first. Although he had already met Mebuki, it was the first time he had met Haruno Kizashi, and he hadn't known what to expect. He had been afraid that the older man wouldn 't take kindly to him, that he 'd treat him like every other adult in the village did, that he wouldn't be allowed to stay friends with Sakura; but his fears had been completely unfounded. The Haruno parents had treated him with kindness and warmth, to the point where Sakura had seen him close to tears a time or two.

You deserve this so much,

she had thought, and only the lump in her own throat had kept her from saying so out loud.

Summer was almost over, and fall was nearing upon Konoha. The village's famed leaves were changing color, the winds had grown sharper, the nights longer and colder. Soon enough, it would become impossible for Sakura to train all night long in the forest, so she opted to stay out of the house as much as she could without attracting any undue suspicion.

Her training with Shisui went on in accordance with their covert schedule, and nowadays, Itachi would join them as well. At first Sakura hadn't been sure if she could trust the boy, as he rarely spoke or showed any genuine emotion, but in time she began feeling comfortable around him.

Less than half a year since Sakura had leapt back in time, she already felt stronger. Her hard work had yielded results: notable improvements in her speed and stamina, a better sense of balance and coordination, and after her chakra pathways healed up and kept expanding, an ever-increasing capacity for basic ninjutsu.

Her progress was slow and frustrating, but she was more determined now than she had ever been in her life. She would be strong enough, smart enough, brave enough to stop the war from swallowing her world again, and she would fix everything she could. She had to.

Looking to her right, she huffed out a breath, before readjusting her grip on her kunai. Uchiha Itachi was fast, but Sakura ' even though she was supposed to be a genjutsu and not a sensor type ' ' had perfect awareness of every thread of chakra around her. She dodged his attack, bringing her leg up for a roundhouse kick, but Itachi caught her knee with ease. Sakura substituted herself with a fallen branch, letting it take the Uchiha 's kunai in her stead, to create some distance between them.

From her position high up in a nearby tree, she fired a volley of shuriken, before dropping down to the ground to engage the young prodigy in a taijutsu spar. A rather nasty kick to her gut had her stumbling back, giving Itachi the opening he needed to unleash his Clan 's signature Great Fireball on her.

Sakura bit her lip and cursed when the flames licked her arm. She still wasn 't as fast as she needed to be. She had to train more, instead of just studying and spending time with her friends. She wasn 't really five years old. She had a mission to complete, and

how on earth

would she be able to stop Danzo, find Obito, kill Zetsu and prevent Kaguya's chaos from devouring everyone's future if she was still

so weak

'

Anger bubbled inside her, unbidden, aimed straight towards herself. Haruno Sakura was an experienced kunoichi with battle-honed reflexes housed in her every cell. Why was she holding back? Chakra rushed to her feet, boosting her as she approached the Uchiha heir. She was a blur, targeting every direction in a flurry of strokes Neji would have been proud of.

Itachi was backing down and Sakura wasn 't letting up. She wasn 't Lee, but she had observed and even trained with the boy enough times in her first life to earn the mantle of taijutsu specialist. Of course, shisho 's teachings took precedence over even that, always; channeling chakra to her fist, Sakura aimed at the ground, consumed by the downward spiral of her thoughts.

'Shannaro! ' she struck at Itachi, but he suddenly shunshined away. Her fist collided with the tree behind him as she unleashed her tightly-coiled chakra, splitting the trunk in half. Breathing heavily, she turned around, ready to engage her opponent as soon as he showed himself.

'Sakura-chan! ' a sharp reprimand brought her out of her trance, and her eyes landed on two pairs of spinning Sharingan.

Sakura drew in a breath and looked around. Immediately, her hands dropped to her sides. She gulped, meeting Shisui 's and Itachi 's astonished faces sheepishly, 'I ' I 'm sorry. '

Shisui came closer and tentatively rested his palm on her shoulder. 'Let 's, um, take a break, okay? ' She nodded and headed to her pack, taking her water bottle out. She could feel the cousins sharing looks behind her and she couldn 't help but curse herself for her slip-up. Inner had a lot to say as well.

The two boys joined her when she eventually sat down, and Shisui leveled her with a serious look. 'Sakura-chan, what was that? '

It was hard to lie to him, so she did her best to keep a straight face, 'Chakra-enhanced speed and strength. I read about it in the library, about how Senju Tsunade could use those skills to create entire earthquakes, and I assumed that with my chakra control I could pull it off, so I practiced a few times on my own. I'm still far from causing any earthquakes, though. '

'Right, ' he sighed and looked over at Itachi, who had been observing Sakura levelly. 'You should have told me about that. '

'I 'm sorry, ' she mumbled, bowing her head in mortification. Feeling a sudden tightness and a dull pain in her arm, Sakura cradled it, observing the burn.

A gasp made her look up again, just as Shisui exclaimed, 'Shit, you 're hurt! '

She shouldn 't have laughed, but the horrified expression on Itachi 's face and the disproportionate concern pouring from Shisui 's words suddenly had her in stitches. Yes, her young body was still unused to these types of injuries, but she was in truth a seventeen-year-old front-line medic ninja. A burn was hardly any cause for serious concern, but the two boys were of course unaware of that.

Shaking her head, she brought her hand over the wound, and glowing green chakra engulfed the scarred tissue, slowly healing it to perfection. Her reserves had expanded to the point of resembling those of her genin days by now. Granted, her twelve-year-old self had had

lousy

chakra reserves. It was nowhere near what she was used to, but she 'd get there.

Soon, she hoped.

'Medical ninjutsu, ' Itachi murmured, and even moved closer to watch as Sakura repaired her own skin. She hummed, lost in thought. How much time would it take for her to regain her original proficiency? Two, maybe three years, she'd say, if she kept to her current routine and upped her meditation sessions. Should she start accumulating chakra for her Yin seal? No, that was unwise, not yet, it 'd raise too many questions.

Lost in her own thoughts once again, she had failed to notice Shisui 's horrified stare. 'Sakura-chan, ' he whispered. She looked up, heart thundering inside her chest at his concerned expression. Faintly, she detected Itachi 's Sharingan activating once more, and she made a mental note of that, filing it away into her 'things I need to wonder about later ' list.

'Did I do something wrong, Shisui? '

Bringing his warm hand to her hair, he leaned in closer with a serious look, 'No, but promise me you won 't show your medical ninjutsu to anyone, at least until you become genin. '

She opened her mouth to ask why, but he went on: 'It 's fine if you do it around me and Itachi, but please, Sakura-chan, promise me. '

There was the barest trace of anguish in his words, and Sakura could do nothing but nod. Something inside her burst with warmth, knowing that her friend was worried about her, worried that she 'd been found out by the likes of Danzo, and that he wanted to protect her so desperately.

Itachi stood up then, picking her up like she weighed nothing to him. 'It 's time for some genjutsu lessons. Nothing too advanced, but I 'll put you under some genin-grade illusions and I want you to manipulate your chakra in order to break out of them. '

Sakura got excited. In her original time, many had told her she was a genjutsu type, but in all honesty, she had never honed her skills in that particular area of expertise.

An image of Madara 's Mangekyo Sharingan suddenly popped into her mind, and Sakura had to squash her rising dread. Shaking ever so slightly, she asked, 'Will you use your, um, your Sharingan? '

Expression softening, he let her down and crouched in front of her. Curious, Sakura watched as the index and middle finger of his left hand came together to tap her forehead gently. 'No, I won 't. Maybe next time, if you feel comfortable enough. '

Still holding his hand to the spot he had poked, he stared at her, and Sakura stared back. Uchiha Itachi was a kind person, a loving brother and devoted son, Sakura had seen and heard and felt it in these past few months of knowing him. The image of him in a black and bloodied cloak shifted in her mind then, and this moment, here and now, took its place.

'Okay, ' she mumbled, 'I trust you, Itachi-san. '

If he was taken aback, he didn 't show it, but the slight tilt of his lips told her he was pleased. Shisui chuckled quietly from beside them as his cousin turned around to join him.

Sakura stood up and walked over to the two boys, beginning her genjutsu training under their expectant eyes.