For the ensuing 3 hours, I would fill the time familiarizing myself with the contents of my pouches and reading a scroll of homework notes that Sakura had shoved into the back pouch. I also managed to find some Academy textbooks on a tall bookshelf in the corner of the classroom. They listed out all of the E-Rank Jutsu and physical requirements that Academy students should achieve in order to graduate. I committed to memorizing the hand signs and sparring forms before Kakashi arrived. I would need to train and master them quickly if I wanted to be of any aid during the Land of Waves mission or Chunin exams.

"He's late!" Naruto grumbled, poking his head out the doorway to monitor the halls for the tenth time.

"How come our teacher is the only one who's late? I'm ready to go!" He said, looking back at me. A pout had been painted on his face since the first Sensei arrived for their squad, and just grew deeper with each passing hour. "The other squads already met their new teachers and took off on some adventure or something, and Iruka-Sensei is gone now, too!" All I could offer was a sympathetic smile and shrug of my shoulders.

"Maybe something came up and he had more urgent priorities to take care of." I stated, rolling up the scroll I had been reading and placing it back on the bookshelf in the corner.

When Naruto moved to set the chalkboard eraser in the door as a little surprise for our new Sensei, I straightened up my posture and watched with anticipation. It would be the most interesting thing to happen all afternoon. The clock hanging overhead the chalkboard showed it to be 4 PM. Lunch was at 11 AM, for transparency. We were all tired of being in this classroom.

"What'cha doing over there, Naruto?" I asked, observing as he stretched up to put the eraser in place and giggled evilly. Sasuke turned to watch him, too.

"This is what he gets for coming late." Naruto dropped down off of the chair he stood on, his feet thumping on the ground as he exclaimed "Surprise!"

Sasuke scoffed, pressing his lower face into his interlaced fingers. "Our teacher's a Jonin- an elite ninja. You think he'd fall for that?" He challenged Naruto.

"You would be surprised, Sasuke." I tutted.

A hand emerged in the doorway. Another quiet giggle came from Naruto.

Plop.

The eraser bounced off Kakashi's head and clattered to the floor. Naruto's laugher quieted no longer, he belted out with joy and pointed at Kakashi.

"I got him! He totally fell for it!"

I leaned back against the desk and sighed outwardly, though inwardly I had a hard time dispersing my own joy. Kakashi bent over to pick up the eraser, staring at it with a serious expression.

"How do I put this?" He put his hand up to his chin, humming in thought. "My first impression of this group?"

Sasuke was attentive although fingers still interlocked and lower face hidden. Naruto was fighting to stifle his grin with a long, flat smile. I tilted my head to the side, waiting for Kakashi to finish his thoughts.

"I don't like any of you guys."

Well, Sensei, you've got a lot on your plate now, don't you?

Kakashi gathered us to the rooftop so that we could all introduce ourselves properly. I mentally prepared myself for my turn, anxiety creeping into my mind. I would need to introduce myself as Sakura Haruno as if I believed it. It would be okay if I stretched the truth on everything else, right? No one should notice?

God, I feel like such an imposter. If I took over Sakura's body, then what happened to her? Is her Inner still in here somewhere?

"Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves one at a time." Kakashi uttered tiredly, a tone that told us he had better things to do. He leaned back against the railing, arms crossed as he looked at us expectantly.

"Why don't you tell us stuff first?" Naruto questioned. "I mean before we talk, tell us about you so we can see how it's supposed to work. What are we supposed to say?" I wasn't sure if the boy had ever properly introduced himself to anyone like this before.

"Things you like, things you hate." Kakashi opened his arms up as he spoke. "Dreams for the future. Your hobbies. Stuff like that." He seemed thoughtful for a moment.

"Me?" He began, pointing to himself. "I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate... Well, I don't feel like telling you all that."

"Huh?" Naruto faltered. I rolled my eyes, forgetting the nonsensical introduction Kakashi had given to Team 7.

I guess he's never intended to make a connection with potential students. Not until they proved themselves to him. We would be the first.

"My dreams for the future... Never really thought about it." I can believe that.

"As for my hobbies?" I could see Naruto and Sasuke leaning in a bit, hoping for a real answer.

"I have lots of hobbies." He stretched his palms out at that, not giving us a chance to protest. "Okay, your turn. You on the right, you first."

Naruto perked up at that, adjusting his headband on his forehead. Partly out of nervousness, mostly out of pride he had really graduated this time.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like the ramen Iruka-Sensei got me at the Ichiraku Ramen shop. But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water into the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them. And my future dream is," Naruto took in a breath. With a grin and a fist up, he proclaimed his dream with full confidence.

"To be the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody. Somebody important!" He finished with passion. I smiled, nodding my head a little at his enthusiasm.

You are truly too good for the world.

"Alright, next." Kakashi spoke after a moment, looking over at me with his visible eye. I let out a deep breath, one I didn't realize I had been holding onto.

Might as well get it over with.

"My name is Sakura Haruno." I paused, my true name resounding through my head. I hoped that it had passed as uncertainty in what I should share about myself. "I enjoy learning new things and spending time outdoors, which I suppose would double as hobbies. There are a lot of things I don't like that you will learn over time. My dreams for the future? Dreams have been a waste of time for me, personally." I finished earnestly, leaning forward and wrapping my arms loosely around my knees.

My old dreams came true...

"Now that I've graduated, I suppose I need to figure out some goals to meet." I smiled shortly at Kakashi. He nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"Last one." Kakashi said, looking at Sasuke.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream because I will make it a reality. I will restore my clan and destroy a certain someone." Sasuke spoke with a low, steel tone. He was looking at nothing in particular.

The mood certainly fell.

Naruto was side-eyeing Sasuke with a troubled look on his face.

A certain someone... As memories from the episodes revolving around the Uchiha brothers flashed through my mind, I gave him a worried look myself.

"Good. You're each unique and you have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

"What kind of mission are we going to have?" Naruto was buzzing with excitement.

"It's a task the four of us will do together."

"What? What? What? What?" Naruto chanted.

"A survival exercise."

"What kind of survival exercise?" Naruto inquired. Kakashi began chuckling, darkly at that.

"Sensei, are you okay? What's so funny?" I asked tiredly, wanting nothing more than a bath and a nap at that moment.

"If I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it." He replied with a singsong.

"Huh?" Naruto said.

"Of the 27 graduates who just came here, only nine will actually be accepted as Genin. The other 18 will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make it or break it, pass-fail test, and the chance that you'll fail is at least 66%."

I facepalmed, Naruto was shocked and Sasuke kept his gaze centered on Kakashi.

"See? Didn't I tell you that you wouldn't like it?"

"That's crazy!" Naruto yelled. "We worked hard to get here. Believe it! What was that graduation test for anyway?"

"Soo funny..." I grumbled.

"Oh, that. That was just to select candidates who might become Genin- or not. I decide whether you pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot at 5 AM sharp and bring your ninja gear."

Naruto was deep in thought, growling as if he wanted to protest more.

How did I forget what a dick Kakashi was at the start? A majority of the ninja who truly graduated Genin were part of ninja clans and had help outside the classroom to prepare for the life of a ninja. How is that not biased?

I looked over at the sound of Sasuke popping some of his fingers before Kakahi's voice pulled my attention back away.

"We will meet at the Third training ground. You're dismissed. Oh, and you better skip breakfast...or else you'll puke." At that, Kakashi left the remainder of Team 7. His words fully sunk into his new students' brains.

"I would recommend waking up earlier to eat something, anything. I know I will be." I advised my teammates as I got up and made my way to the stairs and down them.

"Earlier than...5?" I could hear Naruto asking himself hopelessly as I departed.

It looked to be around 4:20 at that point, from looking at the sun. I wasn't sure how much daylight was left- if time and seasons of nature worked the same way here as they did back home then I could put in 4 solid hour's worth of practice.

Kakashi sure kept it brief after making us wait on him for hours. I wanted to be angry, but I couldn't be. How much time this afternoon did he spend at the memorial?

I opened up the doorway to Iruka's empty classroom.

How am I supposed to cram an entire childhood's worth of training into a single evening? I thought to myself, biting my lip in anxiety. I was making my way to the third training grounds. Some kind-hearted Chunin that were heading to the Hokage's office gave me directions as I was leaving the Academy path.

I figured this was the best time to figure out how to get here before it was too early in the morning to get pointed in the right direction. I managed to pick up tourist guides of Konohagakure as I was passing a vendor booth, so I have a map of the main attractions and historical buildings. But none for any of the training grounds, of course.

Tonight I would practice with my chakra and aim. I began with basic physical workouts to warm up, praying that Sakura kept this body in shape as well as slim. It would be hard to pass for Sakura if I didn't have any of the hands-on experience manipulating my charka. The staples.

Her chakra...

Shaking my head to rid myself of my guilty thoughts, I pushed myself up off the ground. I walked about 45 meters from the treeline behind the three infamous wooden poles and picked a tree to target practice with. 4 out of 10 hits off the bat. It certainly wasn't the best, but I was proud.

Maybe I can try to put some charka into my hand to throw it farther while still maintaining accuracy- just as I jumped higher up onto the roof at lunch?

For a little over an hour, I continued training and settled with a success rate of 7 out of 10 hits. I will want to find an actual target to put on a tree and practice with soon. Perhaps multiple on one tree, for training with aiming at various POIs?

I will run through the basic Academy Jutsu now and call it good. The streets will be unfamiliar in the dark.

There were maybe a couple more hours of daylight left to use.

With newfound confidence, I hoisted myself up onto the middle wooden pole. The one Naruto would be tied to by lunch tomorrow. With a smile at the memory, I sat cross-legged on the pole and drew out the teacher's guide handbook that I had found in Iruka's classroom. I would need to return this in the morning before he noticed it was gone.

Is it technically a memory if you haven't experienced it yet?

After some time reading, I brought my hands up into the first-hand sign that came to mind. With a deep breath, I closed my eyes to envision my chakra as I did this morning.

It took about 2 hours before I felt secure in manipulating the chakra inside of my body. I could conjure it to any part of my body I wished and maintain the chakra supply. At that point, dusk was beginning. I was making enough progress that it didn't bother me any. For the next hour, I worked on covering the basic ninjutsu. The one I was having the most trouble with was the transformation technique. I had been using my shiny, new headband as a mirror to check out the accuracy, but I couldn't seem to get it right. I tried Iruka, Kakashi, and Naruto so far. Unfortunately, it got to be too dark to use the headband.

As a last resort, I took in a deep breath and envisioned a person I knew intimately in my mind. Someone I would never see again.

At that sad realization, I closed my eyes again to concentrate. I called on my chakra to fully envelop my body once more.

"Transform." I whispered, hopeful that it would work.

Poof!

I cracked my eyes open slowly, focusing on maintaining the chakra supply so that the Jutsu wouldn't break. I brought my hands up out of the sign to gather all of my hair and pull it over the side of my shoulder. It was black.

Please don't change back yet.

I walked over to the nearby lake and kneeled down next to the water. My reflection stared back at me.

Mine.

I bought my hand up to trace my features carefully. I wanted to memorize my face, burn it into my mind. I felt an uneasy fear that one day, I may forget it...

Tearful light grey eyes stared back at me. Long, black hair splayed over my shoulders and down my back as I leaned further down, the ends breaking the surface of the water and flowing with the soft current. There were two, small black lip piercings just below the left side of my bottom lip.

The reflection was disturbed and rippled out as teardrops rolled down my face and joined the body of water below, causing me to lose my focus.

Poof!

"Oh, Sakura..." I muttered, rubbing the tears away with one hand. When the water calmed, it was her gazing back at me.

Useless.

I reached down to slap the reflection in the water out of frustration, disrupting the reflection once more.

With a quiet sniffle, I hastily got up and shifted to head back towards the pole. My high blood pressure and anxiety from the day would wear in before I could do another run-through of the Jutsus if I didn't hurry. I collided face-first into something and bounced back, a gasp leaving me as I staggered, teetering back towards the water behind me. Someone grasped my wrist at the last moment before I could fall in and jerked me forward, causing me to crash into them again. We both stumbled. Luckily my savior was grounded enough to keep us steady. It took me a moment to gather my bearings, about the time that they released my wrist from their grip.

"Holy shit, you scared me." I breathed, slowly leaning back from them to get a look at their face, rubbing at my wrist. "Thanks for saving my life, that water would have been fr-" I was floored when I saw who had caught me.

"Hn." Sasuke stared back at me, his face hard to read. "What are you doing here so late, Sakura?" My face flushed and fell flat all at once.

Sakura... Will I ever get used to being called that?

"Go home." He sounded irritated, I guessed due to my lack of acknowledgment.

"I'm practicing." I replied tiredly, wandering back over to my favorite wooden pole and quickly shoving the book into my back pouch.

"You aced all of those tests and Jutsus last year. You're better off returning the book and resting up for tomorrow."

Aced them all? Shit, he saw the book. I whipped my head around to stare down Sasuke. Last year? Oh, right... They stopped allowing early graduations.

"That would be the most reasonable thing to do." I replied, collecting some shuriken I had left out. I peeked at him. "I'm really nervous about tomorrow. What are you doing here so late, Sasuke?" I shot his own question back at him.

"Scouting the area and setting up a couple of traps." He looked off to the side in what looked like hesitation as he spoke.

"You sneaky bastard..." I said under my breath.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted.

"Of course you heard that." I felt myself sweat and rubbed the back of my head sheepishly.

He's the one getting caught in the act, not me!

"There is something, in particular, I could use your help with if you're up to it. It's been a long time since I've broken out of a Genjutsu." I proposed, putting my hands together in a prayer-like fashion. "You would be my hero." Sasuke rolled his eyes at that but seemed willing.

"Fine. I could use the practice too." Losing no time, he drew his fingers together into a hand sign, without warning.

My world went black.

"Sakura..." I groaned, pushing myself up from the ground, my weight resting back on my elbows.

"Huh..." I stared up with hazy eyes, looking for the source of the voice. A kunai whizzed by and struck into the dirt a couple of meters to my right, a painful stinging sensation coming from my ear within moments. I brought a hand to my ear and pulled back to see dark red blood on it.

At that I cursed, getting to my knees and next up to my feet. I whipped a kunai out and turned a full circle, slowly, looking for a glimpse of my attacker.

"Sakura." The same voice sounded, it was like it came from all around me.

They sound so familiar... Maybe I can try to sense them? I thought to myself, remembering a passage in the handbook about locating enemy ninja via their chakra signatures. Hesitantly, with fear that I would lose focus on my defense and be injured again, I concentrated on suppressing my own chakra flow and enhancing my senses to detect any other energy...

I drew in a deep shuddering breath, holding my head in my hands. I pressed my hand to my ear and checked for blood.

Nothing.

I looked around, dazed and confused as all of the memories came rushing back to me. Sasuke was watching me expectantly.

"Whoa... How long was that? It felt like I was in there for a couple of minutes at least."

"About 4 minutes." He replied.

"Let's do it again." I said, unraveling my headband from my hair. I pulled it up to my forehead and tied it snug, the cloth soaking up the cold sweat dripping from my forehead.

My world, for the second time that night, turned black.

"I will see you in the morning, Sasuke." I said with a smile of appreciation on my face. "I'm afraid I won't be able to wake myself up early to eat if I don't call it a night here."

"Kakashi-Sensei said that we shouldn't eat." Sasuke stated. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, well, Sensei doesn't know how hangry I get when I skip meals." I joked, double-checking that I had gathered all of my things. "Trust me, I'm doing us all a favor."

"Whatever." Sasuke scoffed, hands in his pockets.

With a final wave to Sasuke, I made my way back to the streets and looked around. They were mostly empty, a few people here and there. Mostly at restaurants and vendor booths that were still open. First, I would backtrack to the Academy and return the handbook to Iruka's class. Next, I would go home and eat. I was starving after all of that chakra use.

You're not a powerhouse like our boys are.

When I made it to the Academy, the door leading directly to the main classrooms was locked. Out of frustration, I shook the doors for a moment.

"Sakura-chan, what are you doing?" I heard Naruto from behind me and silently cursed.

I need to practice sensing chakra until it's like second nature.

"I, uh..." I stuttered, turning to look at him with a sheepish smile. "I borrowed a book before I left, but it's one that they will need for the next set of Academy students. I'm afraid now that the doors won't unlock until after our start time with Sensei in the morning." I finished, a frown on my face.

"I can get you in, no problem!" Naruto grinned mischievously. "I know a few spots that they forget to lock up."

And at that, I was hopping onto the rooftop with Naruto and heading to the side of the building. We dropped down onto a second story and Naruto slid a window open. We hopped in noiselessly and I slid the window closed behind us. We passed through a few hallways before making it to Iruka's classroom, Naruto leading the way.

"You're awesome, Naruto." I put Iruka's book back where I found it and gave Naruto a big smile. The boy seemed moved, his eyes getting teary for a moment before he summoned his signature grin. He had been such a help to me.

"I used to sneak in and out of class all the time and that window has always been my saving grace." He laughed, rubbing the back of his head.

"What was that?"

We both froze and turned slowly in unison to the hallway. At the sound of footsteps growing nearer, we looked at each other.

"Let's get out of here, Naruto." I whispered urgently, waving him over to the closest window. Unlatching the lock, I slid the window open quietly and looked down.

Right, it's just the second story. I breathed out slow, calling on my chakra once more that night. I had nearly drained all of my energy and chakra from training. I briefly worried if I would be able to hold the chakra supply to my feet at landing.

The last thing we need right now is a twisted ankle!

Naruto hopped out ahead of me, landing on his hands and feet clumsily. I heard the door to the classroom begin clicking open.

No time! I leaped out and managed to land just a little bit more gracefully than Naruto had. I landed on both feet but failed to plant them on the ground firmly with my chakra, causing me to have to roll with the momentum versus plummet face-first into the dirt or injuring joints.

We both sprinted to the closest alleyway, not looking back. I wasn't sure how long we ran for, but we went between multiple buildings before we made it to the main roads. Once we rounded the corner, I slowed to a stop and put my hands on my knees, huffing for air. The Yamanaka's flower shop happened to be right across the street.

Oh, thank God... I know my way home now.

"Holy crap..." I breathed in between breaths, looking over at my partner in crime. He held a similar pose.

"That was so close." Naruto groaned.

"We make a good team, don't ya think?" I cracked a smile, straightening up.

"Believe it!"

I bid him goodnight. The same as with Sasuke, I stressed that I needed to get into bed so that I could wake up earlier to digest something. A subtle hint to the boy before me. But I doubted Naruto picked up on it. Or had the self-discipline to do it. I checked the clock when I made it home and found that it was 9:30. Sakura's mom had left a note saying she hoped my first day as a Genin went well and that there was a plate of leftovers for me in the fridge.

By the time I'm ready for bed, I will only have 6 hours of sleep.

I made haste out of eating dinner and made my way up the stairs quietly. I wasn't sure what time her parents tended to fall asleep. I couldn't take another conversation with a familiar stranger tonight. With a sigh, I walked over to the closet and ruffled through the hangers again.

Sakura doesn't have multiple copies of this outfit like she does in her dresses.

I picked out a black skirt with a slit up the left side and shorts underneath and a dark purple half-sleeve button-up to go with it. At second thought, I grabbed a black fishnet shirt to wear beneath the button-up. I finally crawled into bed. I curled up into the sheets and backed myself up against the wall. My eyes were deadset on the moon and stars outside the balcony window ahead of me. For some time I stared as the sky slowly rotated, allowing thoughts and feelings I had been pushing down all day to surface.

I cried myself to sleep soundlessly my first night as Sakura Haruno.

A/N: That concludes Chapter Two!

Thank you for the reviews, follows and favorites. It has truly helped motivate me into working on this story more. :) I appreciate your time and feedback.

- Vee