I don't own Naruto.

I was out shopping when I was shot. Shot by a civilian, what are the odds- I survived the war to be killed at home.

I don't know what I expected death to be like, but I never thought it would be like this. There was no light at the end of the tunnel. Just the darkness.

I couldn't do anything. There was this continuous beating, beating, beating. It was my whole life, my whole existence for that agonizing time. I don't know how long I was there, but it felt like forever.

There was this itching, too. It felt like little bugs crawling around under my skin.

A long, long time later there was sudden pressure everywhere. I was going to die again.

Suddenly, it was freezing and way too bright. It hurt so much that all I could do was scream.

Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. I was being wrapped up in something warm. I was given to something big that held me.

I had closed my eyes somewhere in the process and when I opened them again, I saw a huge face in front of me. I couldn't make out any of the details of it other than it seemed to be a female.

She smiled at me and I had the worst realization that I've ever had: I had just been born. Again.

Luckily the people around me (who I later found out were my family) spoke in a language that I already knew parts of: Japanese. So, I was not totally lost when the people around me spoke.

I was frustrated with the fact that I couldn't speak, though. Because of my recent transition back into being an infant, I lost my ability to verbally communicate.

But, I absorbed much of the language around me until I was fluent. Well, fluent in my understanding. I still can't form the necessary syllables to string words together yet.

In my mind, though, I practiced English, in addition to Japanese, so that I wouldn't forget my mother tongue.

With my new understanding of my new language, I discovered my new name: Haruno Sakura.

At around five months I started to crawl, and around eight I started to walk. I was progressing rather quickly in the motor department, but I still had trouble talking.

In my room during the night I started trying to form words before going to sleep so that the less I stumbled over words in the day, the less I embarrassed myself. Around thirteen months old, I decided to try it out in broad daylight.

I was looking at a children's book that was about a great shinobi hero, so when my mom was in the room I said, "Shinobi."

"What was that, Honey," Mom asked distractedly. "Did you say something?"

"Shinobi," I repeated while pointing at the book's protagonist.

My mom's eyes widened before she called out, "Kizashi!"

He came running in, "What's wrong, Mebuki?"

"Sakura said her first word! Go on show your Daddy, Sakura."

"Shinobi," I said again, still pointing at my book.

My dad exclaimed, "Good job, Sakura!"

I smiled at them before turning back to my book, not noticing the look my new parents shared.

Soon after I started to speak, my parents apparently decided I could be introduced to the outside world. In the mornings my mom and I would stretch using the few kata that she could remember from her time in the genin corps. Then we'd eat, pack lunch, and head down to the family shop.

My father's family had owned a weapons shop that he inherited when his father, my grandfather, died. My dad used to be a shinobi, but his mom couldn't carry the business alone.

He retired from the shinobi life and took up my late grandfather's job, forging the weapons. My grandmother would sell while he worked in the back and now my mom works the counter. My father teaches me about all the weapons he creates because I'm too young to do anything else.

I would only be at the shop until noon when we would have a lunch break and then I would be set free for the afternoon. First, I always went to the library to read for awhile.

Studying was made really easy, though, because of my memory. I have an eidetic memory, so I only have to read through text once.

After I finished reading about this world's history, I moved onto math and science. Though there wasn't much to come by in the way of math or science, I still studied what I could.

When I found all I could on the other subjects, I started on chakra and jutsu. Because I was a civilian, I couldn't access anything but the basics, but it was enough to get me started.

After I finished the most basic parts, I decided to actually work on chakra, so I went to one of the more secluded parks.

I sat down under a tree and started to meditate. I focused on finding the source of the, now faint, itching under my skin. The itching, which I had learned to be called chakra, was the base of all the cool abilities this world had to offer.

The center of my chakra was in my stomach, which makes sense when you think about it. The abdomen is where all the different parts of the body stem from.

In my mind's eye, I could kind of 'see' my chakra. The physical aspect of it looked orange, while the spiritual side looked blue. I snagged a bit of both and focused on swirling the two together.

When I was finished I opened my eyes and grabbed a leaf. Holding it up against my forehead, I directed my chakra to my head. When I thought that it would be secure enough I dropped my hand. The leaf stuck.

I kept on adding more and more leaves to various parts of my body until a crash startled me. I blinked at the boy sprawled out on the ground as all the leaves I was using rained down.

From the look of it, a genin with spiky, black hair and a bandage across his nose had fallen out of a tree. How weird.

We stared at each other for a few seconds before another genin dropped down (this time gracefully) from the trees. He had long, brown bangs covering his right eye and a hitai-ate like a bandana.

"You idiot," said the second teenager. "You nearly fell on a kid."

The clumsy one got up and shrugged, "Sorry, kid."

The brunet hit the other teen on the head, "Stupid." Then he turned to me, "Sorry for my partner, we just learned how to tree jump."

"He just ruined my concentration. No harm was done."

"Your concentration? What were you doing," the black haired teen asked.

"A chakra exercise."

"Will you show us," the two boys asked at the same time.

"Um, sure," I said, taken aback. I picked up one of the leaves and stuck it to my head with my chakra. The two older boy's' eyes went wide.

"Woah," I heard one of them whisper.

"That's really advanced for somebody your age, Kid," the brunet said.

"Thanks, Stranger," I said pointedly. They both smiled sheepishly.

"My name is Izumo, and this is Kotetsu," the newly dubbed Izumo said.

"I'm Sakura."

"It's nice to meet you!" Kotetsu chirped.

"It's been interesting," Izumo added before turning to his partner. "We should leave her alone, now. C'mon."

"He," I interjected before they could leave.

The two boys turned to me before both asked, "What?"

"He," I repeated. "I'm a boy."

Kotetsu crouched down next to me, "Sorry about that."

Izumo mirrored his partner on my other side, "Yeah, sorry. I won't make that mistake again."

"It's fine, as long as you don't do it again I won't hold it against you."

They both smiled in creepy unison and patted my head before standing up straight.

"We really do have to go now, though," Izumo said. "See ya around, Sakura!"

"Later," Kotetsu called as the two boys jumped back into the trees.

"Bye."

I sat back down to resume my chakra exercises.

My days continued in much the same way. Stretch, eat, go to the shop, study at the library, train my chakra in the park.

Chakra enhancing wasn't that hard. All I did was guide the chakra towards the place I wanted to enhance and it kind of did the rest.

Chakra threads were a little harder because I had to form a thread outside of my body that was flexible enough to move around, long enough to reach stuff and be strong enough to lift things.

I started by calling chakra up to my finger tip, then slowly pushing it out in a cylindrical shape. I could only get it to about five yards before I started to feel drained.

I had gathered leaves beforehand and put them in a pile in front of myself. Shortening my thread down, I grabbed a leaf and when I was comfortable, lifted it off of the ground. It kind of reminded me of a tractor beam, actually.

Soon, I started to play with the lengths and how well it could be controlled. I found that I didn't actually have to move my finger for the thread to move, just manipulate it with my chakra (but it was easier moving my finger). I put the leaf down and tried adding more threads to different fingers.

Once I got a whole hand I extended all of them as far as the would go and saw they only went about a yard each. Turns out, adding more fingers divides the chakra up, but it's still the same amount. I resolved myself to growing my reserves.

The Henge wasn't too difficult, it was like a chakra coating over what part I changed and Bunshin was basically creating a hologram.

Kawarimi was the hardest thing of all to learn, though. I had to reach out with my senses to find something to replace with, then sharply tug to change places. It took me a couple weeks to get down, but once I had it I was ecstatic.

Every once and awhile, Izumo and Kotetsu would pop in to help if they weren't busy. Kotetsu goofed around a lot, but he was helpful sometimes, like during target practice.

I had no trouble hitting a stationary target, so Izumo had me aim for Kotetsu, who wasn't pleased with our newest activity. I threw all kinds of weapons, too. Kunai, shuriken, senbon, and all sorts of other weapons my dad let me have from the shop.

When I finished learning the ninjutsu I originally set out to do, I started trying to walk up trees. In the original story, Sakura had no trouble walking up a tree the first time, but I was still years behind physically. Even though I had been training for longer than Team 7, I could only go six steps before I fell.

A few months later I decided to take a week off of most training and spent most of my afternoons in the library. When I was searching, I found a few books on fuinjutsu theory and basic fuinjustu. Pulling them out, I started to read.

Fuinjutsu was hard.

The theory was pretty simple, but translating it into seals? That was the difficult part. So, I went out and bought a couple pots of ink, a few brushes of varying sizes, and some rolls of parchment.

I decided to experiment in the safety of my own home so little outside distractions weren't, well, distracting me.

To start, I took a knife and, with a small hiss, sliced the pad of my small finger and let it drip into one of the inkwells. After I bandaged my finger, I got out some parchment and one of my books.

I absently mixed the ink as I studied the example of an explosion seal. It showed that it had a small radius of impact, so I felt that it would be best to make first. Copying down the seal, I started to get excited. I always thought that explosions were cool and couldn't wait to try it out.

When the first one was dry I ran to an unoccupied training field. After checking to see if the coast was clear, I pushed chakra into it so that it could be used then set it on a tree. I sprinted as fast as I could to get away before actually setting it off from a safe distance.

I watched as my creation rained down fiery destruction on the poor training ground. I sensed a few chakra signatures coming to investigate the source of the explosion, but left soon after.

I did sense two familiar signatures approaching with an unfamiliar one, though. I turned towards them with a smile on my face, "Izumo, Kotetsu! Look what I did!"

"That was so cool," cheered Kotetsu.

"How'd you do it, Sakura-kun?" Izumo asked.

"Imadeanexplosivetag!" I yelled excitedly.

"What?" Kotetsu asked, looking confused.

"I made an explosive tag!" I repeated slowly.

Among the praise my two friends were yelling in the background, the guy they brought along came up to me. He was a little younger than my two friends and had his brown hair back in a ponytail. His most defining feature was the scar across his nose, though, besides that he was pretty normal.

"Hi," I said. "I'm Sakura, who are you?"

He smiled, "I'm Umino Iruka."

"Cool," I told him.

Kotetsu bounced over to us, "Sakura, will teach me how to make bombs?"

Izumo ran up, "Oh, me too! Me too!"

"I just copied a seal."

The two exuberant boys looked sad for a moment before they perked up, "That means we can do that, too!"

I smile as all three boys start to scheme, "I just came here to test my prototype out, guys. I'm going to head home."

I left with a few distracted farewells. Once I got home I started to copy down that first seal until I had the movement and feel of it memorized. I created as many tags as I could with the rest of the inkwell I had opened, being careful to not put any chakra into them.

Then I started on a trick in one of my books. I had to take chakra and cover the seal then, holding it together with my chakra, pick it up and move it. I kept trying to move it, but it would dissipate once it was off the parchment.

It took me a week and a half to do it, but I could successfully transfer a seal. I then moved on to creating one with just my chakra.

I had to visualize the seal in my mind and let my chakra form it. It took me a few days to get it, but once I did I kept creating it over and over until it was instinctive.

I went back to my fuinjutsu books to study more before I even thought about trying to make my own seals. I found tons of different styles, too.

The most common style was circular, deriving from the Uzumaki clan. Other shapes aren't as stable as a circle, so I decided to stick with the basic pattern.

Of course, seals could also be compressed into kanji, but that took a lot of chakra, something I don't have.

I decided to upgrade my explosive seal to one with a wider radius after a while. I went through the whole process again of memorizing it until I could make it from chakra.

One day I was stretching using all the yoga I could remember from my past life, which was a dreadful amount, when I sensed someone approaching.

I rolled out of my stretch and onto my back, keeping my eyes closed. "Hi," I greeted my visitor.

"Hello. What were those kata you were doing?" The voice was familiar, a regular customer at the shop maybe?

I went into a backward bridge, still keeping my eyes closed. "I'm just stretching."

"I've never seen stretches like those." It's definitely a guy, and he's young, too.

"It's not structured like kata. I'm just doing whatever." I pushed off into a shaky handstand.

"Seems fun," the voice mused. I started to sway a little as I struggled to hold my position.

"Yeah, it- woah!" I started to fall over, but a pair of large hands grabbed my ankles and let me down slowly.

"Be careful," he said, sounding amused.

"Thanks," I huffed out as I opened my eyes. A hand entered my vision and I grabbed it, letting the older boy pull me up. I finally looked at my savior and froze.

"You okay, kid?" asked Hatake Kakashi.

I blinked and stuttered out a late response, "Uh, yeah."

"Good, I wouldn't want to have to take you to see a medic," Kakashi crouched down to my height. "Why are you out here all alone?"

"My parents are working and I'm training."

Kakashi raised his one visible eyebrow, "Training?"

I sat down cross-legged on the ground, facing him before replying, "I'm training to be a shinobi."

Kakashi mirrored me, but he sat slouched as opposed to my straight back. "You don't want to be a kunoichi?"

I gave him a flat glare, "No. I'm not a girl. I will be a shinobi."

He blinked (although, I suppose he could be winking since I couldn't see his other eye), "Ah, sorry about that."

"It's fine," I sighed.

"So, what's your name, young shinobi?"

"Sakura," I murmured.

Kakashi reached out to ruffle my hair, "Fitting name."

I scowled at him and brushed his hand away, "Whatever."

"My name is Kakashi, but I think you already knew that," he insinuated, giving me a look.

I shrugged, "You're infamous." Technically it wasn't even a lie. "Even civilians know who you are."

The air suddenly felt tense; Kakashi seemed to be gazing into my soul with the ferocity of his stare. Then, he suddenly smiled, his exposed eye crinkling with the force of his smile, "That's certainly possible."

I slouched slightly, glad that the pressure was gone, "I should get back to training."

"I'll leave you to it then," Kakashi ruffled my hair one last time before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

I started to stretch again, but the whole rest of practice, it felt like I was being watched.

I fell into a set routine after that. When I was done at the store, I would go to the library and study anything that struck my fancy.

Then, I would go to the training ground where I'd train on my own until somebody showed up.

Occasionally Izumo, Kotetsu, and Iruka would drop by to say hello, but they never had time to stay for very long. What was really rare, was when Kakashi would show up, like he did today.

"Hello, Sakura. How are you doing today?"

"I'm fine," I answered as I finished up the katas my mom had taught me.

"The Hokage would like to meet you," he informed me.

"Why?"

"I wasn't told, but you have to go anyway.

"Yeah, I know," I huffed but took off in a run. When we arrived at the Hokage tower I gave Kakashi a look as he went straight to the Hokage's window.

I shook my head and took the more civilized route. I climbed through a window two stories below the Hokage's office and walked up, my breathing slightly labored.

Entering through the door at the Hokage's assistant's (a lovely chunin named Annaisha) insistence.

I walked to the middle of the room and bowed to the old military leader before standing at attention.

"Your name is Haruno Sakura, is that correct?"

"Yes, sir, Hokage-sama," I responded. Looks like old habits die hard.

The old man gave me a calculating look, "You may be at ease, Sakura."

I didn't say anything as I went to parade rest.

"How old are you, Sakura-kun?"

I answered even though I knew that he knew and was just asking as an attempt to put me at ease,

"Almost three, sir."

"So young and yet so strong. You certainly are impressive, Sakura. Do you know why I've called you in here today?"

"No, sir, Lord Hokage." At my words, the Hokage's eyes filled with sorrow, though I couldn't begin to know what he was thinking.

"I have heard from a few of my shinobi that you have talent in the ninja arts, is that correct?"

A few emotions passed through me: surprise, anger, apprehension, before settling on suspicious.

He chuckled a little, "I've decided you should be enrolled in the next term of the Academy, with, of course, your parents' consent."

My eyes widened, I could decline and try to keep canon as intact as it could be at this point, or I could become stronger earlier to be able to stand up to the threats that Team 7 would constantly run into. The decision was easy, really.

"I would be honored, Lord Hokage," I replied as I dropped into a deep bow.

The Hokage pulled a bunch of paper and a letter out of a different drawer and gave them to me, "That is a letter to your parents detailing what we have talked about today and the paperwork for if the accept."

I took the offered papers before dropping into another deep bow, "Thank you, Lord Hokage."

"Of course, child. I hope to see you at the Academy."

I left without another word.

Yes, I am again rewriting this. I've learned so much about grammar and sentence structure and all that fun stuff since I last even looked at this. There is still so much work, so if anybody wants to be my Beta, I would appreciate it. If you find any mistakes, please tell me. Thanks for reading, and I hope you continue to do so!

(This story is also posted on Archive of Our Own (same username, but with underscores between each word).)

(Also, this website keeps eating my scene dividers.)