Chapter 3(Time skip)

It's been 2 years since the start of my EPIC TRAINING MONTAGE. Just kidding I'm seven, the hell do you want from me? Some secret power up isekai where I become Jonin in a few months? Sigh, the ignorance of man is just too much sometimes. Life isn't a video game, you know.

Most of my time was spent on the above while training a new move of extending the lightning itself onto the Kunai I've got to slightly paralyze before I go in for the kill. Rather than a single jutsu, I want this be MY form of combat, whether it becomes small sets of senbons(which I thank the sharingan for), or a small bolt strike like a mini Kirin, anything that's uncreditable without copy-based hand signs is sure to help against a "standard" Uchiha who people expect.

Mikoto Uchiha, in her all her glory, also brought my kenjutsu up to intermediate level and I finally got to where I could use elite-chunnin taijutsu fluently again(although to father, only seemingly JUST high genin for a 7 year old, ungrateful prick) like I could in my previous life.

As a low-key Uchiha with chuninn reserves(thanks to extra yin chakra), I eventually caught the eye of the higher-ups and while not graduating in one year like Itachi wasn't worth batting an eye over, near the end of the second, EVERYONE kept dropping hints. And even though I could try to act oblivious to it all, when captain asshole gives an order under the name of the patriarch, you take it and move on.

That being said it wasn't all that bad. The academy was growing boringly stale living through it a second time for 2 years in a row.

That also being said, my low key behavior while still being top kunoichi(and rookie but I'm Itachi's sister so it's "expected"), made lord 3rd raise some eyebrows. And as such perhaps my pettiness earlier in the grocery before came back to bite me in the ass, as I got stuck with the asshole of assholes of a sensei once again, Shikaku, mothering-fucking, Nara.

Didn't I gain some good will, lord 3rd? Fuck.

So here I am on team 7(with the same genin-mates as before, mob-boy A and mob-girl B, because they don't implicitly trust Uchiha) doing introductions again with the master profiler himself, Shikaku-teme.

Because for all that I hate that he sees through me in the first life, he genuinely did try to help me out and go above and beyond any other sensei had done in the past. He's what inspired my latter vision toward a low key lifestyle and so I greet him with a light petty smile, acting oblivious to the shit I pulled to the grocery market, but a small smirk that indicates otherwise.

And his eyebrow twitching twice means he knows that I know too. That rather then playing the "let's get all along senpais" personality I exuded the first time around, we're people meeting, who acknowledge the political differences that created this token genin squad, but we both glance knowing looks at each other when the "future" team-mates for life(HA), make statements with child-like enthusiasm, for all that they are 12 year olds, but respectful to me, since I was top dog this year.

When it came down to make my introduction I started with the following:

"Greetings"(with a standard kunoichi bow that mother bone-drilled into my "mannerisms" as the classness she expects to a tee).

"My name is Miho Uchiha, I'm seven years old, and I believe information has a price. This is currently too high for me to pay at this time".

When Roja, my first teammate - male civilian-born, bottom rank, starts to get mad at my supposed arrogance, and turns to start yelling at me, within a few seconds we hear the following voice pierce through his rant-to-be with the following:

"I believe the same".

All three of turn to look at our sensei who gazes at me with a slight twitch of a smile with wryness oozing out of his so called lazy posture. That it is specifically angled in such a way to cover his blindspots and optimally hit the railing Angles' shadows in such a way for extension in case of an attack, makes me all the more grateful, that Ino-Chika-Sho are politically neutral.

I never noticed something like this before until I noticed certain slightly awkward positionings he made in a B-rank, politcally sensitive escort mission last time around and he remarked on it. Unfortunately, it seems my intelligence has already been grasped as he noticed that I noticed this already and gave me another quick knowing smirk.

Internally I sigh: 'Hah, fuck Naras, man'.

Shikaku: "My name is Shikaku Nara, now typically there would a genin assessment test after this with hidden layers underneath, but I already like this team's spirit!"

Pftt, politics aside, I just know this asshole finds amusement in my annoyance. Still, I've been practicing enough kunoichi lessons to remain still and poker-faced. Unfortunately, my eyebrow has other ideas and starts to twitch.

Shikaku: "Today, we're going to do something fun! If you're not in the training ground 3 in 10 minutes, you'll get punished! HAJAME(begin)!"

And just like that, he vanishes as a clone. As someone who's been through this before, time and time again, I just know playing mind games with a Nara is stupid. And hiding will only draw suspicion. Planning leads nowhere against someone who knows what you're thinking. And you can't control how he'll report on you. So all I can do is hide certain jutsus (like the like subtle paralyzing blade I created as a trump card as a puny 5 year old) and do my best.

The more I tried to hide be clever in my last life, the more I felt like I was cast under suspicion. A quiet wary ninja who goes about his craft and doesn't give anything away vs one who tries to "open" and "connect" with others while having a deep hidden side, is quite ironically likely expected from my situation. And therefore that'll be the direction I head toward, as I've already bolted from the spot with no regard to my squad.

Roja and Aruka(my second teammate, Aburame clan loner and also 2nd best ironically in the class but since she was a "girl", not "worthy", yet decent enough to give the Uchiha face) weren't mobs A and B in my previous life. We had an actual connection and had fun times. Aruka and I were annoyingly boisterous rivals that pushed each other to our limits, bonds over being overlooked, outperforming the shadows of expectation cast over us, especially me with injuries and her as just a "Aburame".

But I'm a different Beast(just more well-mannered thanks to mom) this time. She might not keep up. However my soft spot for her, might lead me to feed her advanced jutsu ideas ahead of time. Or hint at it so she thinks she came up on it on her own.

And after his initial arrogance, Shikaku made sure Roja wouldn't be a burden and could not only keep up but also non-arrogantly be the glue of support needed in terms of defense and funny but seen as deceptively dumb callouts and tricks that would make prankers...proud.

As a High chunnin to potentially Jonin-level team, we felt like our cohesiveness was a step below Sannin before I joined ANBU. Following Itachi was a mistake...We could have been Great with Shikaku as a sensei and the foundation he led. Who knows how things will go in this life, with how overpowered I'll quietly try to be.

But there are always certain things as life goes on that you start to notice when you're not in love with them. A quiet disregard to perhaps a waiter while disrespectful. A few shuriken that you lent, they'll "definitely" pay you back for. And when you bring it up, they bring up you're from the main Uchiha family.

It's not about money, it's the principle of trust and friendship. As a Leaf squad, I know I could count on them having my back as we understood the principle of prisoner's dilemma together in Specific Team Fight Situations.

But outside of that...politics makes a girl's heart go blunt, money makes a man look at you different, for even a small swindle tells me how you might betray in the future.

For in my first life, I Ignored a gaslighter's tendency to leave girls hanging Iand gaslight them because of the funny stories that came out of them. Only to have the same happen to me and only realize it recently. I'm not completely Innocent either. I've been a shitty person/friend too. I'm a shitty person/unreliable girl now.

And therefore acquaintances kept at heart's bay feels like the way. Cause relationships are too messy and pretending is too glossy. Sincerity feels like the way.

For only having 2-3 close personal friends in life leads one leaning too much on them and a Wake for even the slightest faults. Including in "love". And family is just too messy. Always. Sasuke and Itachi are too inseparable and I have no plans to change that. And father is too stuck in his ways. The elders are still going to rebel, so I'll try to save mom when the time comes.

As much as I appreciate her creating a neutral faction that leans toward peace, I place no hopes on it stopping Danzo, even if he doesn't learn about Shisui's eye.

All I see it doing is potentially buying some time. Scratch that, no way I'm going to rely on borrowed time.

For Itachi is the wild card which Danzo can and will attempt to manipulate things in such a way that the chess board becomes more uncertain and unstable. If anything, better to prepare for sooner cause giving enemies anytime/hope makes things much harder in the long run. That's how battles are too.

Arrogance gets you killed. Time for a strategist is more food for the table for them to chew on. And they'll make every second turn bite deeper if they can buy more time. But rushing instinctively is an easy impulse/target for a bull with no horns. Information always changes, battle conditions and fighters do too. In the end, man only has his quiet Instinct with him, which he has honed over time.

Philophizing aside, I arrive at the training ground 3 with 5 minutes to spare. After a nod from Shikaku, clearly slightly impressed with my stamina and obviously no body flicker use(I'm not stupid...how "prideful"), he has me running through drills, while laying down like on a beach with ice cold lemonade with a clipboard on the side and smirking, and me running along high(but he did this last time too so I'm unaffected).

I notice this obstacle course is longer and more difficult than the last one in my previous life. But I don't think he realized the stamina training I put in, he's probably being a bit petty for fun.

Ha, I almost feel like I'm "home". But unfortunately genin teams end after 2 years so I know better to ask for more it can provide. A nice aside...held loosely. For even this story being told...ends.

Roja and Aruka arrive wheezing 5 minutes later, and after some nasty glares that I full blow chuckle at, because I get off at being playfully petty while acting like mature hypocrite, they do their 50 extra pushups and trek through the course as if it were a Marines course(which to be fair was meant to toture even me) and breathing for air at end like a man searching for water in a Desert.

They, like me, have got to learn to stand on their on 2 Feet. That's the Truth. And Shikaku knowing this already, helps curb any pre-teen arrogance genin teams typically have in chunnin exams. It's one of the plusses of having a genius sensei at hand.

Shikaku, who's seemingly decided to completely act unexpectedly this time around, drawls about how a seven year old Uchiha genius is fine, and not even close to Itachi, but lamenting they can't keep up turns their dismay into fierce competitiveness and creates a villain out of me already.

Since we both know what's going on, but the kids don't, although you can See Aruka is suspicious..., they still both burn with fervor to keep up. Huh. I wonder how our team will play out this time.

While the kids take a breath, Shikaku slowly walks up to me, while I catch quietly observe.

Shikaku: S

Miho: M

S: Academy students don't usually have chunnin level stamina.

M: Jonin-senseis don't usually test for stamina for getting their toes stepped on 2 years ago out of pettiness.

An almost imperceptible tick mark arises on his head and I let out an open chuckle.

S: Ah you think you're funny, clever brat huh.

M: *silence

S: It seems you know I'm baiting a response, good instincts against a planner

M: *silence(but a small lip quirk doesn't unnoticed from his Angle)

S: First off, your movement suggests mid-level to high-mid footwork between the poles, your taijustu was reported as high genin level on reports.

M: *silence('Fuck')