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It was funny how quickly life could change in the blink of an eye. Death came for her in an instant, swallowing her whole then, and she had assumed the Pure Lands awaited her – the place where spirits resided. Not that Sakura had ever been one to dwell on her own death as other shinobi sometimes did. But assumptions were not always quite correct, or so one previous Haruno Sakura figured out in good time. She had died. She knew that as surely as her hair was pink and her eyes were green. She knew that she would hopefully meet her friends again once more, and put her hope in that. Her hope was well and truly misplaced. The world shifted for her with a flash of pink, a light pop in her ears, and the loud screams of a new-born. Truly, Sakura knew that sound well, having passed the maternity ward one too many times whilst working one of her long shifts. It had been an oddly lively place in a way, situated on the third floor – only offices on the floor above, because for all purposes and instances the fourth floor did not exist for patients to go to. Still, that hardly explained why she was hearing such sounds when she was supposed to be dead. Kaguya had come, conquered, and killed. They had been the last hope for the rest of the world, stuck in that illusion as they had been, and they had failed. That was undeniably her bitterest regret. Still, she rather hoped Ino had a nice illusory life. That’s all you can do for her now, some part of her which sounded viciously bitter about it all whispered, and Sakura closed her eyes and let exhaustion take her somewhere new.  
She dreamt she was small, her limbs tiny, as she ran about the field of long grass, chasing a white fox as it led her onwards and onwards and on to something new.
  Her eyes opened ever so slowly, the word around her not yet in focus, and Sakura felt a whimper escape her as she tried to look around wherever she had woken up. Was this what death was? Another whimper escaped her then, and she reached up above her. Her hands and arms didn’t quite obey her though, and she felt oddly sensitive and raw all over. Like just after having regrown her own skin over a wound. It was that sort of a feeling, over she felt it all over her body, tingling and stinging somewhat as she lay back against something which felt oddly soft. Why was she feeling things? Death was so very strange. Lacking motor control, part of her whispered, even as she flailed there, feeling utterly helpless. Was it some machination of Kaguya’s doing? Some machination of death? Sakura could only wonder, all the while wishing she could somehow lift her head to look at the wound which had to have killed her and sent her on her merry way to the Pure Lands. She had to see it, still there, still bleeding, still proving that it had killed her. But this isn’t the Pure Lands, is it? part of her whispered again, sly and cold. Sakura could only wonder on what and where she was. That statement… the question felt as though the conclusion she had invariably come to was so very correct, even as she lay there, confused and hurting in ways she didn’t quite understand. You remember the feeling when you died, don’t you? that same part of her whispered, sounding ever so sly and cold still. Unfamiliar and calculating. But that didn’t quite matter the way its words did. You remember the icy cold which gripped at your heart, don’t you? Sakura closed her eyes, wishing she would be able to see clearly right then and there, if only to try and make headway on figuring out where she was. And how she could get around to being where she was meant to be.   
She dreamt of a dragon in the ocean, swimming merrily there, even as lightning rumbled in the skies above and the clouds loomed, dark and heavy with rain which began to splatter against the sands.
  Clarity seemed to come rushing down on her like a waterfall and then realisation struck her like lightning as she lay there – for she knew she was lying down. Up until that moment she just hadn’t figured it out, caught between sleep and brief moments of spotty awareness which plagued her with questions she was only just starting to figure out the answers to. You remember the feeling when you died, don’t you? that part of her whispered once more. Well, why don’t you feel it anymore?  Sakura could only blink and stare up, unable to focus on anything even as she lay there, oddly confounded. She wasn’t cold anymore. She couldn’t feel the cold suffusing through her the same way that death had. She reached for the ceiling then, lifting her hand to where the sky had to lie, satisfaction soaring through her when she did just that. Only it was a baby’s hand which reached up and for the skies. Her brain felt as though it had short-circuited then, and the baby hand flopped back down. She was alive. She was a baby.  
She dreamt of a dove flying free in the skies above her, high and jubilant as it soared through the cloudless blue skies without a care in the world.
 
She wished she could join it.
  “You are very awake today, Sa-chan,” the black-haired woman said, staring down at her as she was held in her arms. Her vision was steadily improving and she eyed the pale colours of the formal dress the lady wore. Black eyes stared down at her, warm and somehow familiar. A finger poked at her cheek gently, and a happy gurgle left her lips. Curse her underdeveloped tongue and ability to vocalise things. “Your father will be sad to have missed this,” she remarked, and Sakura had the sudden realisation that wait, this must be her new mother. “I swear this is the first time you’ve smiled…” Sakura blinked, something ugly stirring in her belly then as she stared up at the lady. This was her new mother. But when she thought of mum she thought of short auburn locks, a sharp tongue, and a rougher voice. Just as when she thought of dad she thought of spiky pink hair, a warm laugh, and a brilliant smile. They’re your new family, the voice whispered to her then. Shiny and new – you used to like those kinds of things, didn’t you? Her stomach twisted again, a soft whimper escaping her then, and her new mother stroked at her cheeks, even as she threw her mouth opened and screamed then, much to the stranger’s concern. “What’s wrong?” her mother asked, voice so very soft and unlike her mum’s voice. “Shh, dear,” she murmured then, rocking her back and forth ever so softly. Your mum is dead, the voice reminded her, her wails reaching fever pitch, before the bliss of unconsciousness took her into its depths once more.  
She dreamt the white fox laughed at her, eyes narrowed when it glanced behind it, always checking to see whether she was keeping up.
 
It was a nice laugh.
  “I have a temporary respite,” the male voice came, and Sakura could only blink and stare up out of her crib at the face she could just about see peering down at her. “How are the twins?” he asked, and Sakura blinked at that. “Ryu-chan is a little darling,” her mother said, voice so very fond, and Sakura could only blink. She was a twin? Why was she a twin? “Sa-chan has been crying so much… I almost thought I would have to separate them… because it’s only when Sa-chan starts crying that he gets set off,” her mother continued, and Sakura could only gurgle in shock. Reincarnation, darling, her voice whispered to her, even as another dark-haired, dark-eyed figure leant over her crib, peering inside then. “You’re bigger than I remember, Sa-chan…” the male – her father, part of her distantly screamed – said, big hands lifting her from the crib then. They were warm, rough hands, from the little she could feel. Different to her dad’s soft hands. “That’s only to be expected,” her mother said, coming to hover at his side then, looking at her then and smiling even as she stared at them in confusion and irritation. They weren’t her parents. “You were away for months, love… and you were injured,” she mumbled, and Sakura could only blink at the new influx of information. “Though I suppose this means Tajima-sama cannot risk sending you out anytime soon…” But they are your parents now, Sa-chan, that voice purred to her, even as her stomach twisted in sickness and annoyance. You’ve been reborn again. You’re alive. And your hair probably isn’t pink, nor are your eyes probably green.  “Not unless the clan wishes to lose another warrior so soon… besides, the next generation taught by Fuyutake-sensei are ready to be let loose on clan missions,” her father said, and Sakura blinked and wondered why he was talking about clan missions rather than village missions. The voice laughed at her then, evidently having figured out something she hadn’t, even as the beckoning of sleep called to her. She slept.  
She dreamt the dragon in the ocean bit its own tail, its body forming a single ring, one which spun and moved away from her, the definition of the dragon’s body growing fainter and fainter, colour fading from the dragon then, until there was only a single white ring upon a backdrop of red.
 
She wondered what it meant, to be dreaming of that familiar sigil she had once worn.

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She was three-years-old the first time she held a kunai again – a whole three years earlier than what she had in her last life, even if both of her fathers had desperately tried to snatch it away from her each time. “Sakura, sweetie, put the kunai down,” her mother said, holding out her hand for the blunted instrument. “That’s not a toy for you to play with. It’s your brother’s—”“Mine.” Sakura hugged the blunted kunai to her chest, careful to keep it from cutting into her skin. That would hardly make a brilliant impression on her parents. In fact, they’d probably start keeping them the hell away from her if that were the case. Clumsiness and kunai weren’t the best mix, but Sakura was fortunate to not have much of the former, though she’d used plenty of the latter, not that her parents knew about that. She doubted they would ever know about that. It would be a stupid idea to get up and shout about how she was from the future and to not trust the creepy plant with yellow eyes. Yeah, saying all of that would really go down well, wouldn’t it? Sakura resisted the urge to scoff. She’d probably be married off and sent to some remote part of the clan compound before she could blink. “Me gonna protect nii-san from the baddies.”“Sakura, dear,” her mother spoke, edging closer as though approaching a wild animal, her voice soothing and calm as always. “You won’t be able to do that, I’m afraid… we cannot afford to risk ourselves on the battlefield with our numbers… though if you really want to help your brother I’m sure you’ll be able to help out at the infirmary,” she crooned, no doubt expecting her not to understand a single word she’d said. Of course, Sakura wasn’t just any other three-year-old. She had a whole another lifetime of memories stored in her head, along with an understanding of more complex language beyond that of an average three-year-old. She’d already made her decision, and her decision was to fight. Both the Senju and her blasted new clan’s patriarchal ways. She couldn’t protect anybody if she was stuck back in the clan’s pathetic excuse for a hospital. Really they needed to improve their supplies and their treatment plans. She was a field medic – and that was what she was going to be. She wasn’t some homemaker, like her parents were clearly expecting her to be.“Tch.” Sakura pouted, huffing loudly as she curled in on herself. Curse the Uchiha for not having more female babies. She scowled, looking determinedly away from her mother. Curse the Uchiha for refusing to marry outside the clan. She knew that tone of voice – the one that said, ‘mother knows best’ and also ‘give me the damn kunai, brat’. Sakura wanted to claw her hair out, her new raven locks which edged between a dark navy blue, and black, but she refrained from doing so. She didn’t particularly want to go bald. In fact, she wanted to grow the lovely blackish blue hair out. Frankly, it looked awfully similar to Sasuke’s, and Sakura had the vague horrible feeling that somewhere down her family line, the duck-butt would appear again. Though no doubts that would be long after she’d passed away… and that was only if the future panned out like it was supposed to – peaceful, happy, with the absence of a certain black plant.She’d be starting to put her plans in to get rid of that weed. Oh yes. She would be starting with that slippery bastard, and she’d be putting him out of commission one way or another… perhaps a nice seal or two programmed to transport him somewhere inside the sun’s gravitational range. She wanted her side of Zetsu crispy. Very crispy.Naruto had taught her everything she’d needed to know about seals, especially all the ones which could catch, contain, and get rid of the cockroach that just refused to die. Though Sakura could safely say that wouldn’t be the case in her new world. She’d had three years to adjust to her strange new reality, spending most of it in a daze, but now she’d moved on to acceptance. She was there. She existed. She could make a difference to the world, and she’d do it… if only to carry on Naruto’s Shinobi Way – his Will of Fire. The one he had entrusted to her before his death. Well, that and the fact she had a whole new life, a whole blank slate. She could do anything she wanted, within reason, of course.The kunai being wrenched out of her grasp snapped her back to reality, her mother looking at her in confusion and horror, her father having the same uncertain expression.It was then Sakura realised the shit-eating grin currently plastered across her face.Dammit. Her mind was a mess, and thoughts about revenge on Black Zetsu just kept cropping up. Even in her last life, the thought of turning the annoying plant into a gooey pulp always brought a smile to her face… but now she was an Uchiha on top of everything else. Of course she just had to inherit the Uchiha penchant for manic, twisted, and honestly terrifying smiles.“Kura…” Short stubby arms wrapped around her all of a sudden, her fluffy hair being nuzzled against her twin’s cheek. “S’okay. I’ll protect you.”Sakura bit her lip.Her brother was far too innocent to know the bloody reality of what it took to protect in the Warring Clans Era. Sakura had read the history books and she’d lived through a war. She wasn’t innocent in the slightest. Her family didn’t understand that – she didn’t want them to either, not that they would believe her.“Come on, Ryosuke,” her father spoke, taking his hand, pulling him away from her in the blink of an eye. “I think it’s time I began your training… you’ll join the rest of the Clan in training once you turn five.”Two years away. Sakura swallowed audibly, eyeing her brother. In just two short years he’d be introduced to the rest of the Clan… and then he’d be sent off to the battlefield. That could happen anytime, once the elders or whoever it was that decided thought he was ready for battle. Kids as young as seven had been on the battlefield, some even younger, according to the history books. But she wasn’t reading a history book that time around. She was practically living in one, and it could kill her brother.The thought made her heart hurt.She had sometimes slept in the same crib as him – seen his tiny, squishable face – and more importantly, she loved him like a brother. Somewhere over the last few years, he’d clawed his way into her heart. Not that it’d been very hard for him. They’d shared the womb together, so no doubt it was kind of a given they would have a close bond.“Sakura, honey.” Her mother turned to her, larger hand taking her tiny one, pulling her towards the table while her brother went out into the garden. It was just about visible from where she sat, the screen door remaining open whilst her father began his training. “Come on. I think it’s time I started teaching you everything you’ll need to know.”Sakura scowled, doing the only thing she could at that instant in time. She played along, putting on her best good girl act… if only so no one noticed when she snuck out into the garden later that evening to begin her own self-imposed training.Flower arranging could go screw itself – she had never had the patience for it. Especially with Ino taking the higher marks in that in the Academy.Needlework and stitching could be applied to medicine, so she didn’t really mind it too much. Cooking was also a valuable skill, but she already knew a reasonable amount about it. She had been brought up by Haruno Mebuki and Haruno Kizashi the last time around, and they kept a special place in her heart, just like her new parents were weaving their way in there as well. As a civilian, her mother had taught her plenty about cooking, just in case she’d decided to go into the culinary arts. She’d had skill, and it had been a bit of a disappointment for her parents when she’d opted for the shinobi arts instead.
She could never picture herself as a baker. Not as a civilian. The shinobi life was the one that suited her best. It had brought out her confidence, which was why Sakura was so determined to cling to that lifestyle. Then she might improve herself some more.
Though unfortunately, her mother deemed her far too young to begin training as a glorified nurse – because no one there could be qualified to be called a doctor – so the medical texts were kept on the high shelf. Out of reach, or so her mother thought, but Sakura had already been taught chakra control in her last life, so it didn’t really take her too long to get the hang of it a second time around – even if her chakra felt completely different to her.It felt like an inferno, and Sakura had the strangest feeling that she’d very much enjoy learning fire jutsu… even if she had to steal some scrolls or spy on her family to do so.Nothing was going to stand in her way.Not even her new parents and all their odd overprotectiveness of her. Just her – because she was a girl, and she had far more importance to the Clan compared to her brother. It made Sakura gag internally, that they were already thinking about her ‘continuing the Uchiha line’. Though Sakura supposed it could’ve been worse. They could’ve thought she had no importance whatsoever.She would have had to punch someone Tsunade-style if it’d been the case.Sakura cackled at the thought as she dragged her aching body to bed. She couldn’t deny she was planning on raising hell, especially when someone tried to marry her off – apparently, arranged marriages were a thing in the Uchiha Clan, not that she was going to care about that too much. Smirking, she pulled her covers up to her chin.The Uchiha Clan had no idea what was coming for them.

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Stealing kunai and shuriken from her brother had been alarmingly easy – as had practicing without neither of her parents or her brother noticing. It was so much easier than she’d thought, especially with her father being a notable warrior in the clan, but even he had to sleep and within the clan compound, he did so peacefully. He could relax there, and relaxation meant when he slept, he slept deeper than usual. She’d just had to sneak out in the dead of night, when everyone else was fast asleep, including him. If anyone had actually been awake, they might’ve heard the dull repetitive thud of metal meeting wood as she launched both kunai and shuriken into the wooden targets, but they weren’t so her little escapades remained a secret. Her secret. She hid the callouses forming on her hands as best she could, ignoring the way her mother eyed them, not bothering with the bottle of moisturiser pointedly left out for her to use. She didn’t need her hands to be pretty and soft. She didn’t need to be kept beautiful for marriage. They were there for a purpose, and Sakura was going to use them to their full extent, even if her parents were seemingly intent on blocking her every step of the way. By the time she was five, she needed to be ready, and by the time her brother was five she needed to get him onboard with her plan.Sakura scowled. She didn’t have enough time to do everything – and if she was honest it was always that way. There just wasn’t enough time. Not enough time to save everyone. Not enough time to connect with her newfound brother before the war snatched him away, possibly for good. She stabbed the needle into the fabric, irritation building as she sat at the table with her mother, learning how to embroider. It required patience and skill to create a nice pattern. Sakura didn’t have either of them at that moment. Sure, she could whack a set of stitches out no problem, but art and design… that was Sai’s job, not hers. God she missed Sai. She missed him calling her ugly. He’d been all that’d been left of Team Seven after the other two had gone on and died like the idiots they were. They’d left her behind again… but now, she was leaving them behind apparently.“Sakura, it doesn’t need to be perfect first time around,” her mother whispered, setting down her needle and thread to one side, pulling her out of her mourning. She’d probably done enough of that over the past three years. It was no wonder her parents thought she was an odd child.“Hn.” Sakura folded her arms, pouting. “Wanna go play with nii-san,” she muttered, looking every inch the grumpy toddler she was. She was totally just playing the part of a toddler. It wasn’t like part of her had become one. “Embroidery is stupid.”Her mother smiled sheepishly, reaching over to brush a strand of hair behind her ear. “Maybe have a little break and come back to it in a few minutes.”That Sakura could do. Nodding, she abandoned her needlework, pottering away from the table as fast as she could with her short stumpy legs, her eyes fixed on her brother as he flailed about in the garden. Internally, she winced. If she hadn’t been there, memories and skills somewhat intact, then she doubted her brother would’ve survived the battlefield long. He was no prodigy, in fact, he had little skill at all.She was going to change that.She was going to bring him in on her little plot as soon as she was able, as soon as her parents left them alone together for more than a few seconds. Neither of them had been left to their own devices for a while, probably because they were three-year-olds, but silently Sakura wished they’d be a bit more lax. How else was she supposed to screw everything ten times over? How else was she supposed to start painting the seals which would ruin Zetsu’s life? How was she supposed to train her brother into a kickass warrior who’d come home alive if they weren’t left alone for a few hours at a time?“Nii-san,” she mumbled, wandering over to where her father and brother stood on the grass. The trees loomed over them, just beyond the back wall and the wide fence encompassing the entire Uchiha Compound. They lived on the very edge – not the best place, but Sakura could deal with that. She would deal with that. It was a good twenty minute walk to reach the Clan Head’s house at the very heart of the place, and that was where Madara was. She wanted to avoid him for as long as possible.“What up?” her brother asked with a yawn, pausing in his katas to turn and face her.“’m bored,” she grumbled, ignoring the disapproving stare her father was giving her as she interrupted her brother’s training session. “Wanna play after training?”A blinding smile lit up on his face, and behind him their father’s expression softened ever so slightly. “Sure!”Sakura smiled. Then she remembered she still had to embroider, and her grin promptly vanished as she went back inside and picked up the needle and thread. Just another hour or so and then she’d have some time to start phase one of her plan – get her brother onboard and prepare for the show to kick off. Humming quietly, she stitched, ignoring the mess of a pattern she was creating, instead focusing on her brother’s form and all the corrections she’d need to address if she wanted to keep him alive.The Warring Clans Era was a bloody one, and the Senju and Uchiha both held no qualms about slaughtering children… at least up until Hashirama and Madara took up the reins, but her brother would already be on the battlefield by that time, so all she could do was prepare.“I think we can call it a day—” her mother trailed off, the sounds of voices reaching both of them, followed closely by a firm knock at the door. Her father hurried inside soon after, leaving Ryosuke with her as he went to see who was knocking. “Come on you two,” their mother murmured, herding them towards the stairs, ushering them into their shared room. “I think your father will be busy with clan business for a little while, so go and play together in your room.”Sakura could barely conceal the grin that stretched at her lips. The universe had answered her calls. Finally… She could rope her brother into her schemes which involved him alive and a certain plant very much dead. “Come on, Ryo-nii,” she said, pulling him inside their room. “We’ve got things to do!”“What we playing?” he asked, curiosity written across his face as she pulled him in front of the little mirror they had.“We’re going to play a prank on the clan,” she said, a mad grin appearing on her face as she noticed the glimmer of mischief that’d entered her twin’s eyes. Her brother enjoyed a good prank or two, though her father was apparently hoping to train that out of him. “It’s going to be hard to pull off… but it’ll allow us to protect each other.”“But Imma protect you…”Sakura scowled. “So why can’t I protect you?”“Tou-san says girls aren’t s’pposed to… something ‘bout strength. They have to be protected, cause they’re ‘mportant for the survival of the clan.” He folded his arms, looking proud as he stared at her with that big gummy smile of his. “So don’t worry, Saku, I’ll always protect you.”“Do you even know what protecting me means?” she asked, lips wobbling as she used some of the minute chakra she had to create a genjutsu, casting a soundproofing one around the room as the pale walls around them melded into a battlefield. He needed to learn. Needed to understand despite the rose-tinted glasses which he still saw the world through.Blood spattered across crimson armour, mud squelching under sandals, swords grinding against each other in a battle of strength as her chakra throbbed and drained inside her body. Kunai littered the ground, some embedded in cooling flesh, others scattered across the ground which was quickly becoming the colour of leaves in autumn. A metallic taste hit the backs of their throats, the scent cloying and sickening. Ryosuke gagged, hand coming up to cover his mouth as he stared around the forest they were now in. Corpses were strewn across the downtrodden grass, some belonging to those only a few years their senior, skin torn and eviscerated, red leaking slowly – far too slowly for their hearts to still be beating.Ryosuke stumbled backwards, panic in his eyes. “Saku…” His voice trembled, fingers clamping around her wrist in a vice-like grip. “Saku, what’s going on?” He shuffled back a few more steps, eyes wide as a man rushed over to them all of a sudden, seemingly drawn in by her brother’s cries, a blood drenched sword lifted, ready to strike down at the pair of them. “Sakura!” he screamed, legs shaking even as they moved in front of her, eyes flashing red, and then her genjutsu shattered. The room returned to normal, and her brother was shaking still, hands clawing at her top. “What was that? Sakura…” He clutched at her, and Sakura winced. He was terrified, and rightly so. But better there than on the battlefield.She shrugged, pulling him into a hug as quickly as she could. She wasn’t trying to traumatise her brother, though admittedly she forgot that he was only a few years old. In her old time, he likely would’ve had no understanding of death… but she wasn’t in the era after the Third Shinobi War. She was in the Warring Clans Era, and children had to grow up fast or die trying. “Genjutsu,” she explained slowly. “It’s an illusion. It wasn’t real… But it’s a taste of what the battlefield is like… I’ve seen one before.”Her brother turned to her wide-eyed. “But…”“You can’t tell okaa-san, OK?” Sakura stepped back, staring into his blood red eyes, a single tomoe spinning inside before they faded to black. “And you can’t use those eyes in front of anyone except me, kay? Otherwise you’ll be sent to that place sooner, and I don’t want that to happen.”Ryosuke nodded viciously, a slight tremble in his voice when he spoke. “I won’t.”“Promise?”He nodded again. “Promise.”She took his hand in hers, pulling him directly in front of the mirror, eager to get to the real reason she was so eager for them to play together. “Ryo-nii…” she mumbled, pointing at their reflections. “See anything?”He stared at her, confused, and Sakura grinned.They might have been fraternal twins, but they looked practically identical aside from their hairstyles. There were a few differences here and there, but only someone who was looking for them would notice, and Sakura’s mind was already coming up with all the possibilities. “We look the same… well, if you grow out your hair a bit.” She pulled at her chin-length locks, smiling widely at him.Ryosuke stared at her blankly.“Remember that prank I said we’d be doing?”He nodded.“We’re gonna switch places every now and then.”

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Sakura bit her lip, staring at the unconscious form of her brother curled up in the roots of the nearest tree. Her eyes flickered over the ruined bark, heart beating furiously as she wandered over to her twin. He was growing his hair out, just as she’d instructed, and was following her every order like the good little soldier he was. Her heart hurt though, whenever she thought of him like that. There was just something so Naruto-ish about him – the way he tried his best, the way he usually failed to grasp things the first time around, and the way he didn’t stop trying till he’d done it. Blonde and black sometimes overlapped, whisker marks sometimes appearing on pale white cheeks, black orbs replaced by blue. Each time she had to remind herself that he wasn’t Naruto. He was Ryosuke. She’d already checked, subtly, her heart breaking when she realised her best friend hadn’t been reborn with her. She was alone. All alone. Well, aside from Ryosuke. He was her sunshine now, and she would never let anything happen to him.He was her brother and she loved him to the core. Oddly enough, it had been that moment of realisation, the moment when she realised how deep her love for her new brother went that she activated her sharingan. Because she had realised how easy it would be to lose him. Because she had lost her love of that world. Of the Senju Clan. Something inside of her had clicked, and then the world suddenly became impossibly clear, awash in a slight red tint. She hadn’t realised what had happened at first, until she’d caught sight of herself in the mirror… of those blood red irises, a single tomoe spinning around in each eye. Turning them off had been a simple matter of pulling her chakra back from her eyes, legs shaking at the odd tiredness she felt in her limbs. Genjutsu casting had been simple after that, even without them activated, and that was what she’d used on her brother.Seeing him with the same eyes as her had been both a pain and a relief. It would be easier for him to survive now with the sharingan, but on the flip side, it could easily mean he’d be sent onto the battlefield that much sooner, before he was ready to face the horrors she’d let him have a glimpse with that genjutsu she’d cast. The Uchiha needed soldiers. They needed shinobi… and that need would only increase. More and more were coming back injured and unable to fight. They didn’t have the luxury of waiting for their children to be ready to fight.It was a vicious cycle – because only a slim number of children would survive. And that meant more had to be forced onto the battlefield.Sighing quietly, she picked her brother up, throwing him over her shoulder like a bag of flour before she made her way back towards the house. Their night of training was over for the most part, and it was time for her solo training to begin. She was allowed to sleep later than her brother – not having to get up for early morning training – so another hour or two of training wouldn’t hurt. She’d been clawing her chakra control back and seeing as that was what they’d been working on, she decided to go a step further. Silently, she walked towards the koi pond, a small smile on her face as she pulled herself up onto the ledge. It’d be easy. She’d done it before… Taking a deep breath, she pushed her chakra towards her feet, taking a step onto the water, eyes widening when she slipped and fell in with a loud splash.Sakura scowled, surfacing quietly, spitting water out of her mouth before she launched herself out of the koi pond, hurrying back indoors. She hadn’t exactly been quiet in her overconfidence, and evidently she’d forgotten how to stand on water… something she’d be rectifying as soon as she could. She needed her chakra control back if she wanted to learn medical jutsu again, and she’d need them if she wanted to ensure her brother’s survival.She palmed a kunai on the way back to her room, slipping in silently, changing out of her soaked clothing, throwing it in the bathtub. Yawning, she dried herself off, deciding to meditate instead before she went to bed rather than doing anything too noisy. She couldn’t afford to get caught. It would be far too soon, and she still had far too much to do.  Morning came far too quickly for her liking.Her brother’s bed was already empty, as per usual, and the light was far too bright. She blinked, stumbling out of her own bed, busy being corralled into her usual outfit by her mother. Breakfast was an ordinary affair, with nothing out of sorts, and then it was back to needlework and learning how to cook – all to impress her future husband.Sakura always had to repress a shudder at that thought along with a gag.Neither of her parents were anybody particularly important, and that meant she’d likely be married off to someone who could very well die soon after… not to mention she didn’t particularly like any of the men, or the boys, in her clan of the few she’d met so far. Most had come across as misogynistic snobs, whom she really wanted to knee in the groin, no matter the consequence. She’d had to restrain herself with her mother present though. Getting lectured on etiquette would only eat into her training time.Fortunately, she hadn’t had many interactions with them as of yet, but that would apparently change when she turned seven. She wasn’t looking forwards to that in the slightest. She’d be introduced as a potential marriage candidate in two years, alongside her brother beginning his training with the rest of the clan, though she wouldn’t be expected to be betrothed until she was seven or older. Silently she wondered who the hell would want to marry her when she showed the true extent of what she could do. She wasn’t exactly the perfect picture of the elegant ladies the Uchiha Clan usually raised, and that wasn’t due to her mother’s lack of trying. Instead, she was far more likely to punch someone should they start insulting her, which wasn’t the definition of lady in the Uchiha Clan.“Kura!” The voice of her brother had her turning away from her horrible stitching and terrified tumble of thoughts about betrothals and marriages. “We still on for tonight?” he asked, lowering his voice, a small smile on his face, and an odd giddiness in his step. He had already noticed the improvements of the scant few times she’d trained him.“Yeah.” She nodded, grinning as she thought of all the things she still had to teach him to give him a fighting chance. There was so much he still had yet to learn. Healing was one, punching another, swordplay yet another…“Awesome!”Sakura smiled.Ryosuke had no idea what he was in for. She had been trained by both Tsunade and Kakashi, after all… not that he knew that. A soft smile pulled at her lips at the thought of her Hokage. She was going to be fighting against her shishou’s clan, and it was going to be bloody whether she liked it or not.  The evening light was fading, the shadows lengthening as she led her brother to their preferred place of training for their nightly session. “Guess what we’re going to be doing today, nii-san…” Sakura purred, staring out across the small pond a little ways away from their house. She couldn’t be making too much noise right next to the house, and this part of training was going to be just that. Well, at least until her precious nii-san had the basics down.“Swimming?”“That too,” she murmured, silently remembering her brother still didn’t know how to swim. A grin cracked at her lips. He’d have to learn quickly. She was throwing him in the deep end – quite literally too.  “Why are you covered in fish guts, Kura?” Her brother looked up at her cutely from the little stream she’d dragged him out to a little ways into the forest. Her sensor skills were good enough now so she’d be able to get them out of the way of any enemies quick enough, not that there’d be many with all the patrols a little further out.Sakura grinned, holding up a flapping fish, her recently improved calligraphy allowing her to create the necessary scrolls to help her brother focus his chakra. Sakura was just thankful scrolls weren’t too expensive, and that her family had a whole stockroom of them. They’d probably have noticed an alarming deficiency otherwise. “You’re going to try and keep this fish alive out of the water.”“That doesn’t explain why you’re covered in its guts…”Her smile turned impish. “I’m sure you’ll soon find out.”  “Pfft.” Sakura snorted as they stood in the dark forest, a large tree in front of them, wrapped in a padding of straw she’d hastily made a few days before. “You call that a punch?”“Hn. You try.”
Crack!
Sakura smirked at her brother’s pale face as he eyed the small crater in the tree trunk. “Now that’s what I call a punch.”“HOW?”  “Why are we practicing water walking on the stream?” Ryosuke asked. “I already know how to do it.” He folded his arms, pouting at her. “Can’t we do shuriken and kunai stuff already? Tou-san says I’m doing awesomely with taijutsu stuff now, and that’s thanks to you.”“Humour me,” she said, standing on the river, a smile on her lips as he confidently strode out onto the moving water.He fell in, obviously, and Sakura smirked.“That’s why, silly nii-san.”Ryosuke emerged, coughing and spluttering. “You’re really smart, Kura.”“Hn. You shouldn’t have doubted me.”  “Sakura… why do you have a sword?”“You said you wanted to start weapons training.” She grinned, light glinting off the edge of the dangerously sharp blade she had procured from clan stocks. “Run, nii-san.”  “If we’re practicing kunai and shuriken throwing again, then why aren’t we at the targets?” her brother asked, shuddering when that grin crept onto her face.“Nii-san… I said I was practicing my throwing.”“And?”“You’re practicing your dodging and evasion skills.”He paled. “But those kunai and shuriken don’t look that blunted…”Sakura smirked. “Then I guess that’s just an extra incentive to not get hit.”Ryosuke whimpered.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The day had come far too quickly for her liking.“Aww,” he mother crooned, staring at her with an intensity which made her shiver. She did not like it. She didn’t like it at all. “Saku-chan, you look so adorable…”Sakura felt her eye twitch.“Ryosuke will have to beat the boys back with a stick.” Her father chuckled, and Sakura shuddered. She’d be doing the beating if it came to that… besides, what sort of preteens would make advances on her? She was five, for crying out loud, and she had her mean face on. “At least we won’t have trouble finding a match for her.”Sakura felt her whole face twitch.She was stood in the entryway to their small house, dressed out in a kimono, hair neatly styled, all for the purpose of visiting her clanmates at the main household. Ryosuke stood next to her, hand holding her own as they waited for their parents to stop cooing at her. Sakura sighed, eyeing her brother as he stood there, decked out in his training gear… how she wished she was the one wearing it instead of her stuffy kimono…“You ready to meet the clan, Saku-chan?” her mother asked with a smile.Smiling brightly, she nodded, screaming negatively all the while in her head. The day was finally there. Two years had flown by, and now she and Ryosuke were about to be formally introduced to the clan. The only bright side was that after that day her mother had said she could begin training for work in the hospital they ran in the main household. She wouldn’t have to refine those techniques in private anymore, nor worry about lack of antiseptics and the like.“Let’s get going then. We don’t want to be late.” Her mother took her hand in her own, leading her out of the house and towards the main house. Where the Council of Elders, Clan Head, and heir – Uchiha Madara – waited. Not that they were the only ones. They were just the ones she wasn’t looking forwards to meeting in the slightest.They wouldn’t pay that much attention to her though – she wasn’t the child of an Elder or anything of the like. Her father was a strong warrior, but he was well removed from any line of succession to a seat, whether it be the heir’s or the council’s. They were one of many minor branch families. She was a warrior’s daughter, and as such she ranked only above those who focused on more civilian crafts. Perhaps if she’d been born to one of them, she’d never have needed to worry about protecting her brother. She might’ve had a slightly more peaceful life – one where she could immerse herself in the healing side of things – but she hadn’t. It was that same fact which forced her to be introduced to the clan. Her father had activated his sharingan, and despite the clan being unaware of her own, either way it meant her own children would likely have a good chance of activating the clan’s bloodline. She was a good marriage candidate in the eyes of the clan, and the thought still made her want to throw up. She was a child in body at least. Nobody should’ve been worrying over who she’d get married to just yet.But clans were weird, and she wasn’t a civilian-born shinobi anymore.  The inarizushi she made under the watchful eyes of adults and the occasional Elder were delicious, or so she was told. She hated how marriage was the first topic they talked about thanks to that – only five-years-old and already an excellent cook. Though the next topic they talked about had to do with what her role in the Homeguard would be thanks to that. Sakura scowled as she arranged a few to take out to her brother, eager to escape the eyes of her new clansmen. It was oddly stressful being the centre of attention. Especially when there were a bunch of preteen girls there too, all of whom seemed to be jealous of her for reasons unknown.
It was hardly her fault she’d been born with her memories of her last life intact – nor that she’d had great cooking skills in said life.
Silently, she prayed there weren’t any fangirls there thinking she was out to steal their prospective man. Wasn’t it a little early for children to be thinking about marriage? She had been a fangirl before. She knew exactly how rabid they could get, especially when they congregated. Sighing she wrapped up the bento, walking out onto the engawa, seating herself down there as she waited for her brother to break for lunch. The other girls weren’t making any moves to approach her, and her mother wasn’t pestering her to go and make some friends – because connections were important for a minor branch family, or so she was told – so she was content to sit there in silence, munching on some inarizushi while she waited.She hadn’t been expecting any company, so when a slightly older boy sat down, she startled ever so slightly. He was taller than her by far, and probably belonged on the training grounds. Though seeing as they were all seemingly starting to break up for lunch it was hardly too much of a surprise to find him settling down for lunch. She just hadn’t expected him to sit next to her, nor to start talking to her either.“You’re Ryosuke-kun’s sister, correct?” he asked, staring at her curiously from the corner of his eye. “Sakura-chan.”She nodded. “That’s me.”“Hikaku.” He inclined his head in greeting.Sakura shifted awkwardly on her knees, the silence between them thick and uncomfortable, especially with the eyes she could feel boring into her back from places unknown. How the hell was she supposed to interact with her clanmates? She didn’t want to do anything too weird straight off the bat, and she wanted to fly under the radar as best she could. “How was your training?” she asked, eager to break the awkwardness floating through the air.“It went well,” he said, not elaborating an inch after that, and Sakura’s shoulders slumped minutely. She was hopeless when it came to conversing with Uchihas outside her immediate family. She’d sucked even with Sasuke, and silently she lamented that fact.“I made inarizushi,” she said, cracking open the bento. “It’s for my brother, but there’s some extra. Want some?”Hikaku blinked placidly, taking a roll from the bento, nodding at her in acknowledgement once again. “Thank you, Sakura-san.”“You’re um… welcome,” she mumbled, resuming her stare out across the field in front of them, the silence slightly more bearable now Hikaku was busy eating. Her brother was almost finished and there were four more—Sakura blinked, staring at the two inarizushi rolls left, eyes narrowing at the pair of feet she could see standing behind them in the corner of her eye. She puffed up, slamming the lid down on the bento to prevent any other grubby hands from stealing the lunch she’d made for her brother. “Those were for my brother,” she grumbled, turning to glare at the older boy. He was in his early teens, and apparently had some very sticky fingers. It didn’t matter if his cheeks were slightly puffed out, or that his hair was adorably spiky.“They’re good,” the other boy said, starting on the second one he’d stolen without a hint of remorse as he did so.“It doesn’t give you permission to steal them,” she hissed, kicking at his shin, barely blinking as he let it make contact. Clearly he didn’t see her as much of a threat. His mistake.He blinked. “Ow. I didn’t know girls could hit that—”Sakura twitched, fist lashing out in an instant, intent on showing him exactly how hard a girl could hit. If she so happened to add a little chakra to it, it was hardly her fault, and if his crotch just so happened to be positioned at perfect punching height for her… well… Sakura smirked, pulling her bento to her chest. “Hn. Don’t steal other people’s food,” she said, turning on her heel, walking away proudly, heading towards where her brother was standing.Sniggering sounded behind her, a slightly higher-pitched voice ringing out. “Madara-nii, did you just get taken down by a girl?”“Not a word!” Sakura stumbled. That boy had been Madara? The one destined to jump off the deep end and try and trap the world in a genjutsu reflected off the moon… She blinked. She’d thought his hair was cute too, and that alarmed her. Madara was not supposed to be cute. Not in the slightest. She wasn’t supposed to punch him either, considering his position in the clan. Well there went her anonymity.“Sakura…” Ryosuke looked at her imploringly. “Did you just punch the clan heir in the balls?”She smiled sheepishly. “Don’t tell kaa-chan?”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Being born into a clan wasn’t as simple as being a civilian, or so she learnt as soon as her mother decided it was time for her lessons in lineage and clan history to begin.Nothing was simple, especially not when she’d been born a hundred odd years before her original time, when clan and bloodline were that much more important to survival. There were numerous different nuances of clan life, none of which she’d experienced in her first life, so in some respects she was a bit out of her depth. She leant quickly though. She always had, and it was that which gave her a leg up in the never-ending climb for power and status.All of her clan could be traced back to one single ancestor, his name smudged on the clan records, all memory of him forgotten thanks to the lack of written accounts during the time in which the Uchiha Clan was formed. Likely the work of Black Zetsu, Sakura mused, tracing over the space which should’ve read Ootsutsuki Indra. He’d had nine children, each of whom had started a family line of their own within the clan.She was born in the Watatsumi lineage, of the fourth child, to a lower branch family, and whilst it wasn’t as prominent as the Amaterasu, there was still prestige to be had – even if the few water-style users from their predominantly fire-style clan had come from her lineage. The Uchiha weren’t overly fond of water jutsu – though they had their uses, especially with their sharingan’s ability to copy jutsu.Prestige for a lineage was important, which was probably one of the many reasons why her mother and her father had chewed her out over punching Madara in the balls despite his blatant theft of her inarizushi.Her brother had told on her, the snitch.She swung her legs back and forth, quietly listening as her mother explained the clan system – and how hard she’d have to work to claw some honour back after her little stunt. While approving of displays of strengths, the Uchiha did like their hierarchies, and those at the top demanded respect.Plus it wouldn’t do if Madara took a disliking to the Watatsumi lineage because a slip of a girl from there had once punched him in the balls. He was going to be Clan Head, and the driving force behind the Outguard. Nobody could afford to have him on their bad side. Mentally she snorted. It was why everyone seemed to suck up to him.All Sakura wanted to do was punch him in his smug face over and over again.She wouldn’t be part of the Outguard which he would lead though. Not officially anyway. She, like her mother and her mother before that, would be staying well within the boundaries of the Clan Compound. Well, officially. Like most of the rest of the women, children, elderly, and disabled, she’d be a small cog in the gears of the Homeguard.
Unofficially, she’d be a member of both the Outguard and the Homeguard, just like her brother – switching between fighting Senju on the frontlines and healing her injured clanmates in the relative safety of the compound. Just because she wanted to fight didn’t mean she could neglect the injured. She was a healer first and foremost. A Frontline Medic.

Not that anyone knew what that was in her current time period.
Healers weren’t sent out to the frontlines, not when the Uchiha had precious few. At first she’d thought if she could get her brother to heal, then maybe things would be OK – maybe he wouldn’t have to go to the frontlines… but the Uchiha needed every possible warrior they could get, and she was a better healer than her brother.
Why would they waste the decent warrior her brother could be when she could easily train up several other women to the same level as him instead?

He was needed on the battlefield…
Sighing quietly, she listened with drooping eyes as her mother spun tale after tale about their clan, about their gods. She was still only a child in their eyes, unlike her brother who was well on their way to being regarded as an adult. He just needed to learn the fireball jutsu, show it off, and then he’d be an adult. Soon he’d be able to wear the Uchiwa with pride – not that they didn’t already.There were Uchiwas. Uchiwas everywhere. In the bathroom there was tiling with the Uchiwa Fan glazed on – a wedding gift for her parents from her now deceased uncle who’d worked as a potter. She’d never even met the man, since he’d died before she was born, but she always felt a bit sad whenever she saw those fancy tiles. A symbol of what could have been.He’d been killed on a trade run. Her eyes narrowed. And obviously it’d been done by the Senju. The only clan who was at war with them constantly. The only clan who attacked each other, civilian or fighter be damned. The thought made her heart sink.If she hadn’t had her memories of Konoha… and the histories of the clans… she might’ve fallen into the trap. The Cycle of Hatred. The same one Naruto had tried so hard to break. The same one she swore she would never succumb to.It didn’t change the fact that people close to everyone around her were dying at the hands of a clan who’d always been painted in such a pure light.
And the Uchiwa all around the place mocked her for that.
Maybe things would’ve been different if she had come back as a Senju, maybe she would still have been blissfully ignorant, but no. She’d been reborn as an Uchiha. The clan who’d been painted as the ‘bad guys’ during the Warring Clans Era. It had been the Senju who’d brokered peace. No mention of the greatest traitor – the first missing-nin Uchiha Madara. Her lips curled, expression souring the longer she stood there and thought. Konoha Standard Textbooks couldn’t afford to paint that man in a good light… in a human light. Uchiha Madara was a demon, a tale mothers told their wicked children at night to keep them on the right path.The face of the spiky-haired idiot of a Clan Heir popped into her mind, cheeks stuffed with stolen inarizushi. Uchiha Madara was no demon. Her lips twisted downward. Not yet, at least.Footsteps scuffed by the doorway, the sounds of the door opening snapping her out of her tired musings. A grin lit up her face. Her brother was home. She jumped down with as much grace as she could muster from her short limbs, racing around the house towards the front door. There taking off his shoes was her brother, alive, covered in mud, and very very beaten up. Her eyes narrowed into slits, and she made a mental note to ask him who exactly had given him all those bruises. They’d agreed she’d go tomorrow, and that they’d switch as much as possible so none of their clanmates noticed too much of a difference. Both of them had only just been introduced to the clan, and that meant they didn’t know the little differences in the way they carried themselves – the way they spoke – or the way they fought. The more they switched in the earlier period, the better for their disguise. And that had the added bonus of ensuring she could take care of the ones who really hurt her brother. Discreetly of course… just a few accidental jabs at vital areas where it would hurt that much more.“Kura!” Ryosuke pouted, wrapping his sweaty, mud crusted arms around her before either of their parents could stop him. “This is all your fault.”Sakura blinked. “Huh?”“Madara-sama was glaring at me the entire time!” he whined, burying his face in her neck and her nose wrinkled. He really did smell horrible. She patted his dirty hair gingerly, knowing she’d definitely be having a bath later with her mother. “There, there.” A grin pulled at her lips. “Hopefully that won’t happen tomorrow,” she said with a wink. Because she’d be facing the brunt of it instead.He laughed. “S’ppose I can forgive you then,” he mumbled, yawning as he turned to their mother. “Kaa-chan! What’s for dinner? I’m really really hungry.”“Bath time first, little warrior,” their mother said, flicking his forehead with two fingers, and Sakura froze. She swallowed the lump in her throat. That was it – it was official. She was totally going to be one of Sasuke’s ancestors somehow. That was the Uchiha Brothers’ trademark poke. Clearly it was passed down through the family.“You too, missy.”Sakura blinked, noting the fact her lovely kimono was now covered in a slight layer of dirt and sweat from brother dearest. Pouting, she trudged behind her brother, taking his tiny hand in her own as they trailed behind their mother like little ducklings. All they were missing were the duck butt hairstyles, as Naruto had so fondly called them. “I’ll get you some fresh clothes,” their mother said, having finished filling the bath and buckets of warm water. “You start scrubbing down, but no going in the water until I get back.”
Not that either of them would drown. Ryosuke could finally walk on water, and his medical jutsu was coming along nicely too. He’d never be a match for her, but he’d be able to take care of minor wounds with enough concentration.
She lifted the scrubber, sighing quietly as she went to help her brother with his clean up. He was considerably dirtier than her, and slightly less flexible when it came to getting to twist his arms behind his back. Not that clearing the muck did much to improve the look of his pale white skin. Bruises lined his back, ranging from purple to a deep blue, a small hiss escaping her brother’s lips whenever she touched one. He was trying to be tough… the idiot, she mused, ignoring the fond note and her soft expression. She really loved her brother. It was hard not to. He was a loveable idiot – slightly hard-headed at times, and not that talented at whatever she threw at him. But his determination was something she respected… and not just because it always reminded her of bright blonde hair, whiskers, and sky blue eyes.Her hands buzzed with chakra, a green light forming in her hands as she ran them over Ryosuke’s back, watching as the marks of his training faded. His skin looked whiter and whiter, his winces growing fainter, at least until he jerked away from her.His puppy eyes rounded on her in full force, pleading with her to stop. “No, Kura!”“What?” She blinked, brow furrowing. Was something wrong with her healing? Something wrong with him? Peering at him, she waited silently, one eyebrow arched in question as she stared at her pouting brother. That trembling lower lip was deadly.“I’m supposed to be strong.” He folded his arms. “I don’t needta be healed. Gotta get used to the pain. Kazuma-sensei told me I need to toughen up,” he said matter-of-factly, and Sakura scowled. What was it with her getting saddled with macho imbeciles? Idiots, the lot of them.Scowling, her hands fell back to her sides, and she slapped his half-healed back. If she added a smidgeon of chakra to those slaps, that was entirely her own business. “Don’t worry, Ryo-nii,” she said, voice saccharin sweet, the volatile Uchiha temper coming into play at her brother’s blockheadedness. She’d make him see reason… make him enjoy getting healed… whether he liked it or not. “I’ll be sure to add more pain-tolerance building lessons to our evenings,” she purred, smirking like the Uchiha she was as her brother shuddered.
At least his instincts weren’t totally dead.
  Sakura was awake before her father tapped her shoulder, her eyes flickering over to where Ryosuke lay – on her bed, wearing her clothes just like she was wearing his. Black eyes so similar to her own watched her, a smile on Ryosuke’s face as he watched her climb out of bed. It was time, and she held her breath. If anything went wrong, it’d happen sooner rather than later. Their parents were the ones who knew them best. They knew of the slight patch of darkened skin on Ryosuke’s neck, and the paw-print birthmark on her hip. It was oddly fitting of an Uchiha – given their contract with cats. Most of the summoning contracts held by their clan were feline of some nature. They probably had the largest stockpile of those kinds of summoning contracts. Aside from the snow leopard contract – that was in the hands of Senju Tobirama, and it’d been stolen from them. They did have birds though too, the most notable being the crow contract signed first by Ootsutsuki Indra’s fifth child.But it was early morning, and she figured Ryosuke would’ve been fairly quiet getting up and getting ready to face the clan’s training. She didn’t want to arouse suspicions by behaving weirdly, so quiet and cautious was the way to go, her chakra coating her voice whenever she spoke to ask a few questions her brother would’ve no doubt asked. She’d been around him for five whole years. That was plenty of time to pick up on his habits. It couldn’t be worse than anything she’d already experienced. Tsunade-shishou and Kakashi-sensei had both been hard taskmasters when it came to training. Especially in the preparations leading up to the war. So her father didn’t seem to notice a thing. She got changed out of his sight, the high collar covering the absence of the barely noticeable mark that should’ve been there.Her father didn’t even glance twice in her direction.Shoulders slumping ever so slightly, she stepped out of the house, a wide grin pulling at her lips. Her brother smiled far too much. It was time for their prank to begin.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Mediocrity was key, Sakura reminded herself as she faced off against her opponent. If she showed skills too advanced, then she, and consequently her brother, would be thrown out onto the battlefield to face the perils of missions that much sooner. Ducking under the strike, she threw out her pudgy fist, landing it right against the vital area – but her opponent remained unmoving. She had expected that much though. She hadn’t added chakra like she usually would, so nobody went flying and the instructor didn’t bark too many corrections at her.He was a wizened older man, and by old she meant in his mid-forties. His hair was greying from the original rich brown colour it had been. Sakura had the slightest inclination he was related to Hikaku, but she couldn’t be too sure. She didn’t know everyone’s lineage there.Sighing quietly, she bowed to her opponent as they ended their spar, and Sakura all but skipped over to where one Kazuki-sensei was calling for them to gather. It was time for kunai and shuriken practice, it seemed, and Sakura was only too happy to take part.It was different to the academy though, and rather than there only being a set of stationary targets there were a set in the woods. They were secured and used solely for training – Sakura had discovered them upon one of her many sly explorations of the clan compound. They were made to simulate throwing whilst moving – whether it be to flee or whether to get practice at throwing things at targets which weren’t necessarily stationary. Some of them swung back and forth, especially with Kazuki-sensei there to make them do just that. She was still only just a little beginner, so she was stuck on the stationary targets, just as her brother apparently had been the day before. She stared at the little defect on the target board, smiling as the kunai she had thrown slammed into it – earning a snort from the boy using the same training target, given the defect had been right on the very edge of the target.“Ha! You suck!” the boy muttered, and Sakura rolled her eyes, pointedly ignoring the boy, watching in glee as his first throw completely missed the board.Sakura smirked, folding her arms, kunai carefully tucked into the pouch they had all been given upon arrival. Since they needed to get used to carrying their weapons – as well as ensuring they didn’t clink inside the reinforced cloth bag they had been given. “Hn,” she muttered, enjoying herself immensely as the boy’s face screwed up in annoyance and embarrassment.“My-my wrist stiffened up! That’s all,” he hissed, pale face turning an odd shade of red as he floundered about. “I’ll get it next time, just you watch!”He didn’t, and Sakura felt an alarming amount of smugness as she kept hitting the board and her partner kept missing. But it was as they were finishing that she went over – internally admitting that Kakashi had well and truly corrupted her with his training ways – and patted her partner on the shoulder consolingly. “You actually did rather well,” Sakura said, smiling gleefully as the boy glared at her menacingly. Though it wasn’t really all that effective. “I mean at least you were consistent”—Sakura’s grin turned shark-like—“and by that I mean consistently missing the target board.”“Just you wait!” he hissed, face a bright blotchy red. “I’ll beat you next time!”Sakura blinked, rubbing at the odd flame of excitement she could feel flickering in her chest. Oh. She smiled happily, even as they went through their stretches and then headed home. She and her twin now had a rival. Her eyes narrowed, and she went and sprinted into their shared room as soon as she got back, stripping down to her underwear as her brother did the same – in preparation for their usual shared bath.The water was shallower, given their mother was leaving them in there all alone, and Sakura pulled her knees up as she sat next to the tub with her brother by her side doing the same. Not that he really had the same concept of nudity as her. But it wasn’t like he didn’t have anything she hadn’t seen before. She had been a hospital medic, and the issues she’d dealt with had been numerous and sometimes rather embarrassing for the patient. Sakura had learnt how to deal with those and reassure them it was hardly anything to be flustered about.But it was later in that evening when she turned to her brother – who was already ready and excited for their little secret training they did together.“We’re working on kunai and shuriken today,” she declared, fire burning in her eyes. “I’ve found us a rival… though I guess he’s more of a marker for how much skill we should show,” she said, ignoring her brother’s groans about doing something so boring. She had spoiled him too much with chakra control and jutsu. “Come on, nii-san! The basics are very very important… and if you miss even a single throw tomorrow – and by that I mean you miss the board, not the bullseye since we’re not supposed to aiming for that just yet – then I’ll add more pain tolerance building lessons, understand?” she questioned, leaning close to him, eyes boring into his own.Ryosuke swallowed. “Of… course, Sakura-hime!”Sakura blinked. “Sakura…hime?” she echoed, frowning at her brother as his face reddened. “I’m not a hime, dummy,” she muttered, shaking her head as she led her precious twin out for their latest training session.“But in the stories okaa-san reads to you… they’re pretty, ele-gant, and graceful… just like you, imouto,” he said, cheeks reddening ever so slightly.“They’re weak, usually,” Sakura grumbled, her own face heating up.“Then you’re a strong one,” Ryosuke said, and Sakura sighed and grabbed his arm – dragging him forwards at a faster speed, silence falling between them as she led them over to the makeshift targets in the woods bordering their house on one side.  Sakura sighed as she stared at her failed needlework. She absolutely failed whenever it came to decorative stitching – the kind her mother could usually be found doing on certain kinds of clothing. It was part of her role in the Homeguard, and she worked hard on it. Sakura had actually grown to appreciate how hard it was to succeed in the fine arts and respected her mother for doing stuff. Though she didn’t particularly like that her mother kept trying to encourage her to go down that route.“You suck at this,” Kana, one of her mother’s friend’s children, said matter-of-factly.Sakura felt her eye twitch. She could dish it, but she couldn’t take it, it seemed. “Pssh,” she muttered. “I want to work in the clan hospital,” she said. “I don’t care about decorative stitching.”“But okaa-san always tells me you need to know how to stitch if you want to become a good wife,” Kana said, staring at her messy work. “Y’know… if you need to repair your clothes and your husband’s… and your children’s clothes if you have any.”“I don’t want to be a wife,” she grumbled, thinking back on the selection of boys her age. “I don’t want to marry some smelly boy,” she continued, blinking at the twin chuckles she heard from behind her – and she blushed, remembering both of their mothers were still in the room.“At that age already,” Mina, Kana’s mother, murmured, sounding oddly fond.Her mother sighed then. “She’ll grow out of it eventually… when she grows up a bit.”Sakura pouted. She was an adult inside, even if her mother didn’t know it, so she wouldn’t be changing her mind. She currently had no interest in marriage. Maybe when she was a fair bit older. In her late teens or her early twenties… Then, and probably only then, would she start to think about settling down.She hadn’t had the chance to grow and have her own family before, and a small, tiny part of her was curious. There was a sliver – and only a sliver – of want for that. But if she was going to marry, it was going to be for love. The kind their clan treasured. The kind that most Uchiha thought they would learn in time, before they married at a suitable age. It was why betrothals tended to last so long.Sakura stared at her stitching. She was fine with the ordinary simple stuff – the kind used to mend things and make things, but decorative was always the problem for her. Frowning, she peered at her good stitching, wondering what other kind of project she could come up with that didn’t involve embroidered handkerchiefs. It had to be something useful… but what?Frowning, she glared at her stitching as if that would tell her the answer. What was something she could solve via stitching fabrics? The reinforced fabric which made up the weapon pouches and featured in places on the under-armour most shinobi of their clan wore. It wasn’t like she could improve—A grin stretched across her face. Of course. That was it.Her feet padded against the wooden flooring as she ran over to the fabrics her mother kept in her workroom. “Okaa-san!” she called, finding a strip of the fabric she would need. “Can I make something for nii-san out of this?” she asked, practically sparkling with enthusiasm – so much so that her mother acquiesced. It was probably the first time she had looked so enthusiastic about her needlework. On the whole, she was terribly impatient when it came to days where she hadn’t switched out with her brother. Though he did need more training than her. The only reason they actually needed to switch was to learn how to imitate each other so they could fool everyone with their little prank.Sakura giggled.Kana peered over at her, frowning as she cracked out the ink and the scissors – eyes narrowing when the kunai and shuriken she had asked her mother to provide for her (for reference) were placed on the desk in front of her at a safe distance away. “What’re you doing there?” she asked, peering curiously as she measured out the correct lengths she would need to make her brother a more modern-styled weapon’s pouch with divisions to separate the kunai, the shuriken, the scrolls, and anything else he might need to carry.“Wait and see,” Sakura said, grinning unrepentantly at the slightly older girl. “Oh, and okaa-san, can I use some of the metal thread—and oh, do we have any metal wire?”