PLEASE READ!

I'll keep it short: I've released two stories at the same time but I will only continue the one with the most reviews (or views if they tie) in the first chapter. So if you like it please review.

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'He ducked under a punch and directed his kunai under the arm, edge slicing into the pit, severing muscle from bone and rendering the limb useless. His opponent didn't scream instead he bit his agony down and fuelled his next strike with it, like a well-trained soldier. The hit to his chest connected and Izuna felt his ribcage rattle with its strength. Really well-trained. He cursed as he watched the enemy advance further on his unit. They were taking too much time neutralising the thread, he was taking too much time.

A twinge in his eyes was all it took for his opponent to be engulfed in black fire. This time the man did scream because unlike normal fire, Amaterasu didn't choke people first as it produced no smoke, no it ate its target alive. He didn't spare the man another glance nor his own comrade that fell beside him with various wicked kunai embedded in his body, there was no time, he would mourn the dead later. Kunai whistled in the air as they flew at him with great speed, he plucked a few crucial ones from the air and let the others fly by him or catch in his heavy leather bodice then he met another enemy's eyes and combusted him as well. Fast as lightning he drew his tanto off his back and plunged it into the stomach of a shinobi who had tried to sneak up behind him.

It was a kid barley twelve… Wait no… He didn't consider that a kid, he'd been fighting well before tha-'

Sakura woke with a strong twitch, the only sign she showed of the horror her sleep had been. She had long since gotten used to that, and this was by far one of the milder 'memories'. The worst where when her brothers died, she still couldn't quite stop the tears from coming when those nightmares plagued her.

Breathing in slowly, she laid her duvet aside and stepped out of bed. She pushed her curtain up, checking the position of the sun, before silently letting it down again. It was around six, like usual. She settled at her desk and pulled out one of her many notebooks recording what she had seen in her sleep then she checked the detailed file she had on Izuna Uchiha to see if there was something new she learned here. There wasn't, she'd already known about Amaterasu and its terrifying scorching prowess.

A sigh escaped her lips, completely unprecedent off her. She never sighed, slouched or whined because she was disciplined and composed but… over time she had come to wonder just how much of that was her and how much of that was Izuna. After all, her parents didn't really know the meaning of the word discipline as Sakura was their only child and spoiled rotten.

It had taken her until she was nine to figure out something was wrong, that it happened around the same time her parents took her to a therapist for her 'nightmares' was no coincidence. Thank her lucky stars that it had been a civilian therapist, she didn't think that having a Yamanaka scope the inside of her head would have ended well for her.

Ever since then she had started writing down what she saw at night, trying to figure out what was wrong by herself. It had taken her awhile to learn his name, the one whose memories she shared. At first, she had believed Izuna Uchiha had been some sort of vengeful spirit, disrupting her sleep but that hadn't explained why she felt so hateful whenever she had looked up at Hokage mountain because those where her feelings… not dreams.

By now she was mostly convinced that rebirth was a possibility. The soul was supposed to be cleansed of its previous life, only for some reason that hadn't happened thoroughly enough with hers. Traces of Izuna still clung to her, that itself was a terrifying thought.

But if he was her and she was him, those memories, his influences, didn't mean her any harm because then he would be harming himself. At least that's what she told herself, the though bought her some form of mental peace.

She was still going to wreck the second's stony face one day… but nevermind that. Another glance at the sun told her it was time to get ready. She pulled one of her drawers open and took out her neatly folded headband, placing it on the sink before she got dressed. She couldn't forget to put it on, especially not today.

She checked herself in the mirror, trying to find the best way to wear it. Standardly it was displayed on the forehead and so she was naturally inclined to put it on that way, seeing as she didn't like standing out, at least not through such trivial means. But her hair was fashioned in a neat bun, not a hair out of place aside from her bangs and the few locks specifically trimmed the frame her face. As it stood, tying the knot at the back of her head would be awkward and the plate would cover her bangs and Sakura didn't fancy the thought of a constantly sweaty forehead. Tying it around her neck was equally appalling, reminding her too much of a dog on a leash. She was a soldier, not a slave, the difference being that she got paid to do what she did.

Eventually, after trying out various parts of her body to place it on and finding none satisfactory, she settled to place it on top of her head with the knot tied underneath her bun. Gave her at a bit of a housemaid look but she was frustrated enough with the loss of time to overlook that.

Noise from downstairs made her pause for just a second, before she recalculated her schedule so it deviated from her usual routine. Her parents were awake already so she would go without breakfast. At first, she had told herself that she wasn't avoiding them, not on purpose anyway, but she had to admit that with her tattered soul came a certain weariness for people treating her like an eleven-year-old girl. Her parents where at the top of the list of 'people who treated her like a child who hadn't seen and lived through war', she supposed it was a good thing that they still did that, it meant she wasn't behaving too different, too noticeable, but it certainly tired her. Today she just didn't have the patience to deal with them. That it really wasn't that different from how she felt on other days, well… that was inconsequential.

She left the curtains of her own window drawn and made her way to the only guest room their house had to open that window. It was slightly smaller and less comfortable to squeeze through than her own but that wasn't the point. Her room aligned with one of the main roads of Konoha, it had people traversing it at any given time and during the morning rush, it would practically be buzzing with people. Sakura had learned to never practise wall-walking on her side of the house after the first time a woman screeched when she saw an eight-year-old flinging herself out of the window.

Civilians… typical.

The guest room had the worst view, seeing as it was really never used. It looked over a narrow backstreet, the kind that tradespeople used for navigating around the crowds and for stocking some of their wares away from the public eye. Sakura put her head out of the window and looked down the streets for any sights of life. Content with her quick sweep, she crammed her growing body through the window and placed her feat, one by one, on the wall. Once they were securely fastened to the bricks with her chakra she soundlessly closed the window as best as she could, the latch was on the inside and try as she might she couldn't will her arm to pass through the glass to lock it.

Her decent wasn't nearly as smooth as she wanted it to be, not as smooth as Izuna could defy gravity, but in the three years she had been practising she had evolved from awkwardly sliding and falling from the wall, to gracefully stepping down it with a slight falter at the end to let go.

Stepping from behind her house and easily mingling with the rest of the crowd, Sakura began her daily struggle between trying to keep a straight posture with her chin up high and keeping her eyes resolutely on her sandals. Otherwise she would see it, and it more often than not stirred these foreign, aggressive feelings in her.

A few deep breaths were needed to slow down her excited heartbeat. Today was the day she became a ninja, today she would start building her reputation from scratch as she rose through the ranks... again, sort off. If she had pushed she could have graduated well before now but unlike the other impatient children she took the extra years for the gift it was and allowed her body and chakra to grow alongside her skill. It was a luxury that was not always given to ninja children.

She arrived early but less early than usual, which irked her. Somehow, she just knew that having to deviate from her usual time table was a bad sign. Still she calmly sat down at her usual spot in the middle row to the left, purposely picked for being unremarkable. A few recent graduates where already there, some from the other classes.

Overhearing some of her classmates debating their potential placements made her wonder about that as well. If the teachers had any idea of what they were doing they'd put her in an intelligence gathering squad or an espionage based squad, perhaps she'd do well in a tracking squad or scouting team, honestly anything that required to have half a brain would suit her well enough.

Sakura was fairly certain that she had natural born intelligence instead of it being Izuna's past skills that influenced her talents. Izuna had been lucky his brother was, while not exactly more powerful, definitely more flashy and impressive then he himself was. This tented to draw attention away from him, allowing him to live in his brother's shadow and do what he did best, remain inconspicuous and use that against people. Uchiha Madara was also generally considered unpleasant and ruthless making Izuna the more approachable brother with his charming smiles and funny wit. Nobody ever seemed to realise that his elder brother held more compassion in his little finger than Izuna had in his whole body. Behind the brave and honourable warrior exterior was a man would crawl through the darkest of pits, lower himself to do the most disgraceful of things as long as it served his brother.

So, sharing his memories might have taught her more about espionage and stealth than she ought to know but it was her own talent which made her good at it. Not the impossible situation she had been born into and a blazing sun of a brother.

During her musings, the classroom had filled out. While there were enough last years for three classes to exist, the genin trails had narrowed them down to just one full class. One row further down sat the last Uchiha, the insignia on his back made her stomach lurch so she quickly looked away. She was at a loss at what to feel for the Uchiha clan, as in a past life she had lived solely to serve it and that loyalty was still there but here in this life she had discovered they had betrayed her brother which she could not forgive. So, she settled on 'not thinking about it and bottling it up' like a total boy.

When the Uzumaki went and made a spectacle of himself her attention was once again drawn towards the Uchiha's general direction. There was nothing confusing about the blond one, the Uzumaki where allies of the Senju and thus enemies. While she didn't really regard the boy as her enemy since that was in Izuna's time, she still disliked him because of that.

All in all, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke where the two only people she really didn't want to end up on a team with. Their dynamics translated to instant migraine even without past-life issues.

After the boy's accidental kiss – which was nearly as gross as the thought of an Uchiha kissing a Senju – Iruka-sensei entered the classroom and made short work of ensuring silence and congratulating them on making it this far. He then proceeded with announcing the teams. Sakura perked up whenever a team was called that she could potentially end up in.

"Team seven: Uzumaki Naruto," Sakura immediately recognised the team as a frontal assault squad with just that single name. The boy was more brawn than brain, after all.

"… Haruno Sakura," That couldn't be right.

"And Uchiha Sasuke." Drat!"

Her expression soured and in her mind she muttered obscenities that would have made Iruka-sensei's ears wrinkle if he heard.

This was turning out to be very bad day indeed.