Tsukoru Izumi was young once. And unlike how it seemed to be for everyone else, nothing made sense back then. Looking back, the memories seem distorted, warped and depressing.
Izumi is two when his father brings home the worst present ever. "Your mother betrayed the village" he says. It doesn't even sound like him. "I took care of it." Izumi doesn't move except to glance at the brown stain on the wall that hadn't been there yesterday. His world cracks.
Izumi is nearly three when his face changes. He had been running, hiding, doing the best a toddler can at blending in, when his chakra surged. He staggered and someone caught his arm. The genin spun him around to see his face then shrugged and ran along. 'What?' Izumi stumbled again. They were still pursuing him, he could see them, they had just checked him, what just happened?
He panicked for hours afterwards because that was not his face and oh kami what if dad sees? Not good, not good until he gripped his newfound chakra and imagined his face rippling and settling back into its original form.
Izumi is four when he discovers two things. He wants to become a shinobi more than anything and that his father would "take care of him" before he saw his son become a shinobi. These discoveries happened more or less simultaneously. Izumi had brought up the topic of future careers, thinking it would be cool to work in a forge or be an architect. His father exploded...violently. Izumi cowered under his father's blows, rants, and insults against shinobi, against Izumi's mother, against trust and camaraderie. It was then that Izumi knew, deep in his marrow, exactly what he would be.
Izumi is five when his plan is set into motion. After securing the red headband, black backpack, and sandals, Haruno Sakura sets off to the academy. She is going to be a ninja and if she has to fake her identity and invent a single mom from the red light district to do it, so be it. Her dad thinks she is going to civilian academy. He thinks she wants to be an architect. He's a drunken, violent fool who will never go to a parent teacher meeting.
Sakura isn't actually...Sakura...per say. Izumi had been experimenting with his ability to shift his face. He could shift his body too, to some extent. Bone structure was hard, really hard, but fat distribution was a piece of cake and hair color was almost too easy. Because he would be making this change every day, Izumi made sure 'Sakura' was similar to him. Where his hair was a dark red, nearly burgundy, hers was a soft pink. Where he was lean and slightly starved looking, she was healthy and skinny looking. Most of the transformation was the acting, the stance, the voice, the naivety.
Sakura is six when she receives the best birthday present ever...poison. Along with poison came medical texts as she started building a resistance. It doesn't take her long to discover her shapeshifting abilities help her adapt and counter poisons much easier than should be possible.
Izumi is seven when his father really goes downhill. Izumi had been exhausted and sick from training and his poisons. He had gotten careless. His father found a kunai in his backpack and all hell broke loose. The next day Izumi tries to shift his body and erase the new wounds, bruises, and fear. He only gets two of the three. He sets out to learn medical ninjutsu.
Sakura is eight when she decides it's time to break free. She ties her hitai ate around her forehead and swears to herself that one day she won't need the mask.