...Everything looks the same, everyone looks so happy and at peace.

-It is a time of peace right now duh, you were sent back in time by the crazy bitch Kaguya-

"Inner, is that you?"

-Of course it is me you idiot, who else can get into your head like this and talk to you-

"Ino can, or will be able to."

-But not yet and I am much better than her anyway and you know it-

"This is going to be hard."

-You mean exciting, think of all the possibilities! You have your knowledge, your seal plus the one that rabbit gave you, your monstrous strength! This will be a piece of cake. I know you can do this, besides, you won't have to waste time re learning everything, you can learn new stuff, it is like Orochimaru in a way-

"What does he have to do with being sent back in time?"

-Uh duh, you have more time to learn more powerful jutsu, to perfect the ones you started to learn before the whole, oh I don't know, the world went to war?-

"I didn't think of it like that I guess, it hasn't had time to sink in."

-Well no time like the present ...or past-

"You're a real comedian you know that? I never knew I was so funny."

-You aren't, I am-

In Sakura's mind's eye she could see Inner almost laughing at her and slapping her knee as she doubles over...she probably was.

Sakura walked up to the Academy building where parents and children were milling about talking and laughing. She saw Ino and waved to her. It was going to take some getting used to. Ino ran up to her, her dad trailing behind her at a leisurely pace.

"Sakura. Your hair! It looks really good, what made you put it up like that? I thought you didn't like showing off your forehead or your neck?" Ino was smiling proudly at her.

"Oh um, well I don't know I just felt like it? Seemed more appropriate now that we will be learning to be a ninja." Sakura tried to smile shyly but it came out as a grimace.

Ino must have taken her look to mean Sakura was still a bit self conscious of the way she looked because she took her by the hands and said, "I think you look beautiful, I love the black shirt it really brings out the color of your hair."

It was really nice seeing Ino like this again Sakura thought, this time, we will stay friends, no boy will get in the way of our friendship. That will be change number one. She smiled at Ino.

"You're a really good friend Ino, thank you for everything you have done for me." Sakura hugged her hard.

"Whoa Forehead, you okay?" Ino hugs her back and laughs.

Parents start to say goodbye and wave to their kids as they enter the building.

"Let's go Sakura!" Ino pulls her by her hand into the building while waving with her other hand to her dad.

Ino tries to drag Sakura into the middle of the class but Sakura holds back, she thinks it is a better idea for her to sit in the back this time around.

"I would prefer to sit in the back Ino, if that's ok, but you feel free to sit up there?" Sakura smiles at her and takes a seat in the far back corner of the room.

"What's up with you, you're talking funny, why would you want to sit in the back? Is this a self conscious thing Forehead?" Ino pouts.

"No, nothing like that, I just prefer to stay back and watch, it helps me learn if there are less distractions." Sakura offers by way of an excuse. She is trying to sit out of the way to draw less attention to herself.

"Fine, have it your way Forehead." Ino turns and runs smack into Sasuke Uchiha. "Hi Sasuke," Ino batts her eyes at him." Want to come sit with me in the middle, we can sit next to each other." Ino tries to take his hand but he draws it away and points to the seat Sakura is sitting in.

"I wanted to sit there." He gave Sakura an expectant look, like she will move just because he tells her he wants to sit there.

Damn Uchihas, she thinks. This is the second thing that will change.

"I was here first, sit somewhere else." She raises an eyebrow at him and doesn't break eye contact.

"Sakura! Did you just, tell Sasuke off?" Ino is in shock, her mouth hanging open. What was Sakura thinking, telling off the hottest guy in the academy, she wanted her to be more confident but not a bitch. Still, a little part of 7 year old Ino couldn't help but smile at her friends newfound audacity.

Sasuke stares at Sakura. "Are you going to move or not."

"Did I stutter?" Sakura gives him a dirty look.

Sasuke smiles. "No, you didn't." and takes the seat next to her.

Ino's mouth won't seem to shut, it keeps falling back open. She walks down the stairs to the middle of the class and sits down by Shikamaru Nara. Ino turns back to look at her friend. Sasuke and Sakura are purposely looking in opposite directions like they hate each other. What the hell is going on, and what happened to her shy timid best friend.

Iruka walks into the room and the students quiet down. He introduces himself and welcomes them to the academy. While he is giving his long speech of introduction Sakura looks around the room. Everyone looks so young, is so familiar yet so different from when she last saw them. She sees some faces that are no longer alive in her time, she sees the youth and innocence of a past that no longer exists in the hard ruined faces of the future.

A slight nudge brings her from her thoughts. She looks down at her arm, Sasuke is nudging her. She looks up at his face in inquiry. He motions with his head to the front of the room where Iruka is looking at her pointedly.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Iruka frowns at her.

"Oh, yes Sensei, I'm sorry, my mind must have wandered. Did you um ask something?" She stammered.

"I called your name for attendance, please pay closer attention or you will fall behind in lessons. When you are here in the classroom, so should your mind be." He told her and a few other students laughed.

"Yes Sensei." She said and shrugged.

Sasuke chuckled beside her.

She looked over at him and he pretended to look somewhere else but she could swear she had seen a glimpse of a smile on his lips before he turned his head from her.

After attendance Iruka hands out a test booklet, a beginning test to find out how much they know. He explains that it is like a preliminary test to establish their class ranking so he can arrange his lessons accordingly. Sakura looks down at her test. What should she do? Does she answer them all correctly or get some wrong to act normal. She recalls she only got 4 wrong out of 50 her first time around, so it shouldn't be too different if she just gets them all correct.

-Besides, you want to learn more things, maybe if they think you are a genius they will teach you more. Remember how Kakashi never taught you anything, he spent all his time with Naruto and the Uchiha because they were more talented than you?-

Inner had a good point. Sakura started the test determined to ace it, which was kinda a no brainer at this level in her life but to go above and beyond on the written portion explaining what she knew about Jutsus and the differences between Taijutsu and Ninjutsu.

She flipped her test booklet over and noticed that Sasuke did the same a few moments later. They shared a small curious look and she noticed they were the only ones finished so quickly. Had Sasuke always finished his tests so quickly? She couldn't recall. She knew he aced every test but didn't know he did it with such speed.

Iruka had noticed they were both done and with a small look of surprise came and gathered their booklets from them. He went back to his desk to grade them, starting with Sasuke's. She watched him grade the test and noticed Sasuke was watching him too. Iruka nodded his head and smiled periodically while grading Sasuke's test. He made a mark at the bottom of the last page then picked up Sakura's test while the other students diligently finished theirs.

Iruka smiled and nodded just as he had done with Sasuke's but when he got to the written part of the test he read with the sheet closer to his face an odd expression in his eyes. He stopped and set the paper down and looked up at Sakura. Sakura froze. She could see Sasuke next to her giving her a curious look but she ignored it. Iruka shook his head and picked her paper up again. He made some small notes in the margins as he wrote looking up at her now and again. When he finished he set the paper aside, gave her one last look and picked up the other tests from those who had finished by now.

Sakura could tell Sasuke was still staring at her so she turned her head to ask him what he wanted but he turned away. She sighed and put her head down on the table, her arms folded underneath. She had been resting her head on her arms for less than a minute when she felt a small tap on the back of her neck. She turned her head in her arms to look at Sasuke. He drew his hand away and blushed. Sasuke was blushing at her? She smiled at him.

"What?" She sat up now looking at him.

"What is that, on your neck, on the back?" He motioned to the back of his own neck behind his head.

Oh shit, she had forgotten.

-Way to go moron, way to blend in. Sit next to the ever curious, ever observant Uchiha-

"It's um, a seal. I forgot it was there when I put my hair up." She ripped the ribbon from her hair and her hair fell down in sheets around her face and down her back.

Sasuke watched with little hidden fascination.

"What kind of a seal is it?" Sasuke asked her in a quiet tone. He knew a lot of the elite clans used seals on their children but he knew Sakura's parents were civilians, why would she have a seal?

"Um, It's new. I haven't figured it out yet." She wasn't lying but it wasn't the full truth and she knew him well enough to know 7 years old or not, he knew she was lying, kinda.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me." He paused for a moment. "I liked your hair up but you look nice with it down too." He blushed again.

Wow, this Sasuke was so different than the one she had known. Sure she had been obsessed with him all through her academy days but she never really got to know him. She realized as she got older it was an infatuation and eventually fell out of love with him. She loved him, but it wasn't a romantic kind of love, it was family love, friendship love. He was innocent now.

-He is 7 years old and his older brother hasn't been forced into killing his entire clan yet remember, of course, he is innocent, he isn't damaged goods yet-

I'm going to stop the Uchiha massacre, Sakura said to herself, I want this Sasuke, I want him to be happy. He and Itachi deserve that. Wait, the massacre happens soon after Sasuke starts the academy, when he is 7 years old. It obviously didn't happened yet. She had to find out when she would need to investigate. She liked this sweet blushing Sasuke. She would start looking into it right after school.