A/N
So I've been watching Naruto recently and Sakura pissed me off, a lot. She has so much potential and she just wastes it, worse people let her waist it. So I'm going to write a fanfic for if her potential wasn't wasted. I am also reinventing some of her past, but that more out of boredom than anything else and to spice up the plot a bit.
In Which The Truth is Revealed
Sakura Haruno was a rational child, if nothing else that was true. It always had been and always would be. It was this rationality that lead to her impressive intellect and maturity. She had no delusions of the reality she lived in, she was a citizen of Konohagakure which was a ninja village. A village of murders, and all sorts of other unsavory titles but also a village of protectors, after all they were the nice village. Sakura preferred the contradicting village. She also knew that her parents were both very intelligent, her mother's abilities lying in manipulation and people while her fathers with cold hard facts. Her parents did not love each other, their marriage was arranged and they had cheated on each other multiple times, her mother was selfish and her father detached. It was probably under these conditions that inner was born, after all a child can only be alone for so long but who knows inner had been there as long a Sakura had been there. Eventually Sakura and her inner were so different there were no longer truly the same person, when this happened Sakura decided to name her inner, or sister rather. After careful consideration she decided upon the name Mana, meaning affection or love(at least I'm pretty sure that's what it means). They named her this because she was the first and at the time only one to ever love Sakura and one that Sakura had loved. When Sakura was four a year after naming her closest friend and sister she decided to become a ninja. She chose this profession because it was when she was four she realized how exhilarating it was to lie. At the end of a day what did a Shinobi do but lie and deceive, it was the foundation of the art. Later in life Sakura would discover another reason to be a Shinobi, but that wouldn't happen for a few years. So at age four Sakura went out and bought- read stole, 'borrowed' and bought- every book and scroll about ninja she could find. She didn't understand all of it right away but after a year and a half she had made her way through her mini library. It was then that taking the scrolls she had on the topics of applied practice Sakura and headed to a pre designated location for practice. It was a spot in a forest near a training ground but not too near by, nowhere near the inuzuka clan and far enough away from the Hyuuga and Uchiha that they should not detect her. This unfortunately put Sakura slightly near the Aburame clan, but she doubted they would care. So scrolls concealed in a bag with training clothes wearing a jade green dress, Sakura skipped out the door and down the road with no one the wiser. When Sakura arrived at the clearing she warmed up and began her slow training regimen which would increase as time went on. It was built in such a way that she would make large amounts of mental progression and small amounts of physical progression because she was still growing. However these combined would allow her chakra reserves to grow. By the time she was 8 Sakura had considerable mental chakra reserves, for an 8 year old anyways(AN- basically chakra built through meditation in this story it will also make it so she uses less chakra for genjutsu similar to if it was her affinity they also don't really show up the way physical chakra does, this will be explained later). She had also developed her training area to also function as a residence, and if anyone had noticed they didn't care enough to do anything about it. But regardless of this on the first day of the academy Sakura tied a ribbon in her hair put on a navy blue shirt cream pants and smiled brightly and uncaringly, well that's how it appeared anyways.
Mana-nee, this is very boring.
I agree darling but what would you like me to do about it.
We could discuss my training regimen, mother and father are going on a month long vacation in a few weeks we should use this opportunity.
Hmm, we will do one week of survival training, we will also go weapon shopping and possibly some spying.
M'kay, I think the shower at home is broken though we should fix that.
Maaaa, it can wait a day or two.
After arriving at the academy Sakura sat through possibly the most boring orientation in history, until a blonde haired boy jumped up and exclaimed that Hokage-sama was boring everyone. To have the guts to do that and call Hokage-sama Ji-chan, would be impressive, if the blonde boy was punished. In Sakura's mind Mana narrowed her eyes.
Sakura-chan, something here is off, that boy looks strangely familiar I'm going to go search for some information in our big brain ok?
Alright, I will admit I'm very curious.
Soon weeks became months and Sakura had finished her first year at the academy. She now had one month of summer break before she returned, taking this opportunity she meditated in order to access the part of her mind where Mana was, so they could sort through the years memories and information. The whole process took four days of intense meditation, only breaking for sleep, food, water and stretching. But it was necessary.
Hello Mana-nee .
Sakura-chan! It has been so long.
Mana-nee we share the same head, baka.
Hurtful imoto, the things I do for you and this is what I get.
Stop being dramatic Mana-nee we have things to do, no?
Alright, the most important things that happened this year would be as follows, the Uchiha massacre the only survivor would be Sasuke Uchiha, naruto is definitely the son of Kushina Uzumaki and probably the son of the Fourth Hokage- Minato Namikaze. He is also the jinchuuriki of the nine tailed fox. That's all for information gathered really, besides the general things such as personality traits.
Alright and as far as maintaining our cover I believe come next year we should develop a 'crush' on Sasuke. This can also allow us to stalk him without having to worry about suspicion.
Alright, now moving onto what information to keep and discard.....
Sakura continued to keep up the facade, at least till graduation day.
Good bye cover!!!!!!!!
Calm down Mana-nee. Some people already know that there is a cover.
So we have no real training in undercover work and they do it was bound to happen.
Shino doesn't.
Bug boy doesn't count.
Really Mana-nee.......
Yup, bite me.
Ew! No. You are so unsanitary sometimes, and I'm supposed to be the younger one.
Technically I am younger than you.
Hmmm, then maybe you should be calling me Sakura-nee imoto.
Can it brat!
Sakura woke up early as she normally did, but instead of her traditional morning routine she only did a light warm up mostly consisting of meditation and stretching. After her shortened morning Sakura took a shower while Mana quizzed her a little bit, that morning instead of her normal Qipao Sakura dressed in a green tank top and ankle length cream pants. She wore black ninja boots and tied one ninja pouch to her right left thigh and one to her right hip using bandages. The pouch on her left thigh held the required equipment of academy students(AN: I don't think this is actually something they had, but whatever- fanfiction) which included ten shuriken and ten kunai, as well as one yard of ninja wire. The pouch on Sakura's hip held her wallet as well as one scroll and two books and a note book. Grabbing two apples Sakura departed for the academy, pulling out the book on genjutsu holding that in one hand and her apple in the other Sakura absently began to read and eat her apple. Mana decided that it would probably be best to let Sakura read in peace and set upon the task of planning how to utilize what information Sakura absorbed in battle. By the time Sakura arrived at the academy she had finished her second apple and was almost a quarter of a way done with her book. It was still early in the morning and only Iruka-Sensei was in the classroom. Entering the classroom and nodding respectfully to her slightly unnerved sensei, Sakura took the seat at the back of the classroom near the window and pulled out her notebook. Holding her Genjutsu book in her left hand and a pen in her right Sakura would occasionally jot down a note or two if she found something interesting that she would like to explore more in depth at a later date. Receding into her own world and trusting Mana to keep a watchful eye out for anything important.
When Iruka had woke up this morning he had prayed Naruto would pass and expected Sasuke to be rookie of the year. He had expected girls to fight over who sat next to Sasuke and Shikamaru to sleep through the graduation exams. He had not expected for Sakura Haruno to arrive only minutes after he did, not dressed in her usual attire at all and not stutter out a good morning and fidget at being the first student to arrive. But before he could really ponder the strangeness that was Sakura Haruno today, he picked up on a commotion outside and noticing Naruto running from Chunin decided that he had other priorities.
After Iruka left to go and deal with the nuisance that was Naruto Uzumaki's immaturity Sakura let out a small sigh of relief, she had sensed the questions coming and to be honest it was something that she could live without. Slowly more and more students began to trickle into the classroom and while some gave Sakura questioning glances none of them bothering her.
Yah, and they better stay away from my imoto if they know what's good for them, CHA!
Mana-nee.... We share a body, which is good you would be so embarrassing as a real person.
WHAAAA! Sakura-chan why would you say something so mean and cold to you amazing Nee-sama!
...
Don't ignore me, just because it's your body doesn't mean you get to be mean to me!
Mana-nee why are you so dramatic.....
Oh, hush. Exams are starting.
Mana was right, Iruka had just began passing out the written portion of the exam and was only three people away from her. Flipping over her test Sakura scanned the first question, rolling her eyes she began to fill out the forty-seven question test. About thirty minutes later Sakura stood up and walked down to Iruka's desk and set her test down. Shooting her surprised sensei at knowing smile.
"Iruka-sensei I finished my test early can I read a book until this portion of the exam is over?"
Iruka looked at Sakura, his eyes flicked to the clock and then back to her, "as long as you go outside Sakura-chan, just go wait near the target field."
Shooting her considerate sensei a smile Sakura headed outside and finding a comfortable spot in the sun sat down and began to meditate, she did not want to be stuck in that room for another two and a half hours.
Iruka blinked once, twice, three times. He had read Sakura's test twice, once by himself mostly out of curiosity. But after finding nothing to his knowledge incorrect had pulled out the answer sheet and compared. It was all correct, her answers were complete and well worded and her multiple choices were well marked and accurate. There were no signs that she had ever second guessed her answers, Iruka had always known that Sakura was unparalleled in book smarts with the exceptions of Shikamaru and possibly Sasuke. But the level at which she had completed this test, well it was what Iruka had generally expected if Shikamaru had decided to try during the exam. How in the fourth Hokage's name could I have missed this, if Sakura continues to perform at this level, she could have graduated last year if not before then. The graduation written exam was not hard, by any means and completing it all correctly simply would mean that Sakura was sharp, but in thirty minutes. She must be a natural born ninja, I've taught her for four years and never noticed.... Iruka frowned, normally he would have noticed, he was a more than competent Chunin even if he was an academy teacher. But... this is a class of clan kids, not to mention Naruto it must have been comically easy for even an eight year old to smoothly lie their way through the day. She probably isn't even crushing on Sasuke, i wouldn't be surprised if that was simply a way to seem normal.
Outside Sakura smiled and simply continued meditating. After another forty-five minutes another figure stepped out into the target field.
"How did you do that."
Sakura opened her eyes and looked at the slightly taller figure in front of her.
I was wondering when duck-boy was going to show up.
"I simply answered the questions as clearly and quickly as possible Sasuke, I would assume you did the same."
"You're lying, there's no way a civilian nobody like you could finish that quickly when it took me an Uchiha longer. You probably didn't even finish the test."
Sakura simply rolled her eyes, "Ok," she shrugged, if he didn't believe she completed the test then he was denying something he had seen with his own two eyes. Sasuke stared at her for a second longer then went off to continue to brood somewhere else, Sakura simply continued to meditate.
Prissy little brat, I hope we flatten him in taijutsu.
We will not spar each other for the taijutsu portion of the exam Mana-nee. We will spar Iruka-sensei or Mizuki-sensei for about three minutes and then they will dictate if we pass or not.
Well, I still want to crush him.
Who knows maybe we'll get lucky and be on his team.
Now why would we want to do that.
So that we can continuously crush him in team sparring.
*Snif*My cute imoto is all grown up.
Mana-nee are you crying....
No I just got something in my eye!
Sakura burst out into uncontrollable laughter, startling a few of her classmates, by the time she managed to get herself under control again the rest of her class had arrived. Iruka sensei then explained the next portion of the test would be kunai and shuriken throwing followed by a three minute taijutsu spar. Out of the ten kunai Sakura threw only one didn't land in the center of the target and out of the ten shuriken only three didn't hit their marks. Her taijutsu match with Iruka sensei went as expected and while Sakura didn't have much physical strength she made up for it with agility, speed and resilience. She used her prefered dodging method of using minimal movement and staying close to her opponent. Finally her class was led back inside for the ninjutsu portion of the exam. Sakura went back to her spot from earlier in the morning, this section of the test was going to be given in alphabetical order.
At this rate we're going to starve before we graduate.
Calm down Mana-nee there is only one hour or so left.
I. Don't. Care. I. Am. Hungry.
Nice to meet you Hungry, my name's Sakura.
Not funny Sakura-channnnn!
"Haruno, Sakura"
Sakura walked down to stand in front of Iruka's desk, there were two other Chunin there as well as Mizuki-sensei.
"Henge yourself into Iruka-sensei," instructed Mizuki-sensei. Sakura simply raised her hands and performed the technique, there was a small puff of smoke, but it was very small and dissipated quickly there was also no noise. Her copy was exact, which was to be expected as she had known Iruka since she was eight years old.
"Substitute with the log over there." Instructed Mizuki-sensei. Not dropping her Henge Sakura silently substituted with the aforementioned log, again with a small amount of smoke and no noise. Mizuki raised an eyebrow, he hadn't technically instructed her to drop her Henge, he had assumed she would just assume that she could drop the technique. "Create three clones of yourself."
Scrunching her eyebrows together in concentration Sakura produced three clones that appeared exactly as she did, exactly her current Henge and all. While there was definitely much more smoke then with her previous techniques and a soft pop, it was safe to say that Iruka was impressed. "If you would drop you Henge as well please" Iruka requested. All four of the Henged Iruka's simultaneously raised their hands and dispelled their Henges in a similar way to the appearance of Sakura's original Henge. Iruka was now thoroughly impressed with his student, not only had she deceived him for years, but she had out done all of her classmates so far with ease. "Congratulations Sakura you pass."
A small smile creeped onto the pink haired girl's face as she accepted her Hiyate. "Thank You Iruka-sensei." Sakura made her way back to her seat, doing her best to ignore the curious glances and the angry glares.
Nice going Sakura-chan, you seriously kicked but. We've got that rookie of the year spot in the bag, CHA!
Yah, that was not as difficult as I expected it to be, it wasn't easy but not extremely difficult either.
Whatever, you're officially a ninja now! Which means we can do so many things we couldn't earlier.
Like what Mana-nee.
Well for starters we can emancipate ourselves from are no good parents, and they can't do anything. We should also probably pick up some change of address forms, we can also get to the Genin section of the library legally.
Yah right, I give it a month and you'll convince me to break into the Chunin section of the library.
Sakura-chan! How dare you, I'll have you convinced by the end of the week. Underestimating my skills, hey what's up with Naruto's clone?
Sakura moved her focus from the tree outside to the front of the room, sprawled on the floor were three very dead looking Naruto's.
Iruka sighed, he had really thought Naruto would get it this time, "I'm sorry Naruto but you can't possibly pass with clones in this condition."
"But Iruka-sensei, I, I tried so hard-"
"How hard you try doesn't matter if you don't pass brat!" Mizuki barked out surprising some of the other students, Mizuki-sensei was normally very kind. Sakura sat up straighter, she knew what it was like to be alone, but she had never been ridiculed the way Naruto was. If her cover had allowed she would have befriended the boy.
But there isn't anymore cover to worry about, is there Sakura-chan.
No Mana-nee, there isn't.
Sakura stood up abruptly and before she one hundred percent realized what she was doing she opened her mouth, "With all due respect Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei, I think that you are being unreasonably unfair to Naruto. As he has previously demonstrated, Naruto has incredible Chakra reserves but as a side effect of this his Chakra control is abysmal at best. It is unlikely that Naruto will ever be able to do something that requires as little Chakra as creating only three clones, at this point in his life he just simply doesn't have the control for this, he will continue to overload his clones resulting in a very dead like appearance. It would probably be best if he was taught a version of the technique that used more chakra. But for the short term you should assign him the task of creating more than three clones, a number more around twenty should be sufficient."
It was safe to say that everyone's jaw dropped, for starters Sakura was standing up to a teacher, not to mention for something as official at the graduation exam and for Naruto of all people. Naruto! The two ANBU guarding Naruto while he was at class faltered if only slightly and if only noticeable to the highly trained eye, but it was a falter nonetheless. As for Naruto, after shaking himself out of his shocked stupor only grinned, and turned back to Iruka, "Yah, what she said Iruka-sensei."
Before Iruka could even open his mouth to begin a response Mizuki burst out, "The set number for the test is three and it will not be changed for anyone, especially not the dead la-"
"Mizuki!" Iruka interrupted, "That is enough. Sakura-chan, brings up a very good point and I think it is fair if we adjust the test considering Naruto's circumstance." Iruka turned his attention to the hopeful boy infront of him, "Naruto, create twenty clones of yourself."
Naruto's face nearly split in half with his trademark grin. A few handsigns later there were twenty one identical looking Naruto's, even if the clones appeared to be slightly tired, it was passable. "Congratulations Naruto, you pass."
"Just you wait Iruka-sensei, soon I'll be Hokage. Believe it!"
Iruka turned to address the rest of the class, "For those of you who passed arrive tomorrow at twelve, we will then awarded the rookie of the year and give you your team assignments.
Hell yah, it's food time! Get a move on girl or so help me I will take control of this body so fast, you will be dizzy for days.
I'm going, I'm going. Geez, calm down will you Mana-nee.
I. Don't. Care. FOOD!
*sigh*You are so impatient.
FOOOOOODDDDDDD!
I'M GOING! Yeash.
"Hey, Sakura! Wait up." Sakura turned around and shot Naruto a slightly confused look. "Yes, can I help you Naruto."
"Why, why did you do that, for me." Naruto asked, with a slightly dejected look on his face, "You've never been nice to me before, all you've done is yell at me."
Naruto....
"Naruto, I would like to apologize for the past four years. It was a lie, I was honing my reconnaissance skills as well as my natural ability to lie. How about I treat you to some food to apologize, the way you are treated by a majority of the population is wrong and I regret having added to it." Sakura finished her brief speech with a short but sincere bow.
"Really! Thats amazing, I know a great ramen place nearby, Belive it! But you don't have to pay for me, I eat a lot." Naruto suddenly dropped his grin, "What you did for me today, that was more then enough of an apology, I owe you even."
"Nah, we're even now, still want to get some food at this ramen place. We can start over," Sakura reached out her hand, "Hello, my name is Sakura what's your name."
Naruto gave her his trademark grin, "Naruto, let's be friends kay!"
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Not many people know but from the moment you are evaluated at the beginning of the academy to the day you graduate you are on a team. The team you are placed on will change over the course of your time at the academy. It is for this reason that Iruka was stressing himself halfway to death. He was given a list of instructors and was instructed to pair the final copies of the teams with the one he deemed best for them. Normally this was not particularly difficult but normally his teams didn't have to be changed. God Dammit Sakura, you couldn't have called off your charade at the beginning of the year could you. Or at least let me in on it so that I wouldn't have to remake some of the teams. In actuality a good amount of his teams were fine, but the three of them needed to be redone. It didn't help that it was the three special ones. Originally there had been an Ino-Shika-Cho trio a tracking team with Shino, Kiba and Hinata -two of which were clan heirs- and then the odd ones out Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura. That was until Sakura had messed it all up. Team seven was already doomed to fail, Iruka knew that. But with the way Sakura was acting now they wouldn't survive until Chunin like he had previously hoped. So now here he was at ten at night trying to rework the teams while keeping the Ino-Shika-Cho trio intact. You know what, fuck this shit. The Ino-Shika-Cho are just gonna half to deal because there is no conceivable way to do this while keeping them together. Forty-five minutes later Iruka had figured a way to rework the teams in a way that he found would actually help them grow rather than looking nice.
Team 7- Kakashi Hatake
Kiba Inuzuka- can communicate with dogs and other canines but average chakra reserves and control. Is being taught his family's technique and is raising Akamaru his partner. Has slight abandonment issues from when his father left and has an inferiority-superiority complex, is extremely brash and will put himself first. What he needs most is assurance.
Sakura Haruno- has highly above average chakra control and intelligence but slightly below average chakra reserves. Is from a civilian family but chose to use the past four years in the academy as practice for espionage. Originally appeared to be in love with Sasuke and to have an inferiority complex but that is unlikely. It is possible she may have slight abandonment issues due to the fact her parents are barely around, because little is known about her she could go dark. It is unclear what she needs most because I don't really know her, but probably comrades.
Shikamaru Nara- has highly above average intelligence but average chakra control and reserves. Will be taught his family's technique. Is extremely lazy and does not know anyone outside of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio very well. Is closed off but there are no signs of any serious mental issues. What he needs most is dedication.
Team 8- Kurenai Yuhi
Naruto Uzumaki- has incredible stamina and chakra reserves but little to no control- in anything. Will be taught the Kage Bunshin and may have an aptitude for fuinjutsu. Has been isolated a majority of his life and looked down upon, is extremely driven to prove to everyone 'how great he is' by becoming Hokage. What he needs most is acceptance.
Hinata Hyuuga- has above average intelligence and incredible chakra control. Possess the Byakugan and is being taught the Hyuuga fighting style. Has a serious inferiority complex and is in love with Naruto. She wants to help him but is too shy to do so. What she needs most is confidence.
Ino Yamanaka- has slightly above average intelligence but average chakra reserves and control. Is being taught her family's technique. Has a dangerously large ego and is 'in love' with Sasuke Uchiha. She does not doubt herself and will overestimate her own abilities, she is very oblivious to the challenges of the Ninja world. What she needs most is awareness.
Team 10- Asuma Sarutobi
Sasuke Uchiha- has above average intelligence and slightly above average chakra reserves. Has been learning his family's techniques on his own and thinks no one knows. Has an inferiority-superiority complex and mental scars from the Uchiha massacre. Is extremely self centered and should receive therapy for mental scarring, has a possibility of going dark. What he needs most is to be guided.
Shino Aburame- has above average intelligence and houses bugs in his body, slightly above average chakra control but average chakra reserves. Is learning how to utilize his bugs and how to breed his bugs. Is very closed off due to the slight isolation of his clan but shows no serious mental issues. What he needs most is to open up to his comrades.
Choji Akimichi- has an insane metabolism due to his family's technique but average chakra control and reserves. Is learning how to utilize his family's technique. Has a slight body complex but that does not inhibit him greatly, only really talks to Ino and Shikamaru. What he needs most is to become confident around his comrades.
Everyone will probably hate me for this, but in the end I think this will end the best.
The next morning at seven AM Iruka called all genin sensei to his office with the exceptions of team 8 and 10. After handing out their assignments and telling them to go to academy room 1-A at 12-1 later he called team 8 and 10 to come to his office at 9. Two hours later at 9 AM Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai showed up, Kakashi then sulked for 5 minutes because he was cheated out of being late and Asuma almost died laughing.
"As funny as this has been, there is a reason that I wanted to meet with you all separately." Everyone sobered up immediately and Iruka passed out their teams. A quick glance at all of their papers and all three Jounin looked up at him gaping. Asuma was the first to speak.
"You split up the Ino-Shika-Cho trio heirs. Are you insane! I wanted the Ino-Shika-Cho team."
"Asuma," Iruka sighed, "Read the description of your team."
Kakashi then raised his hand as well, "I would like to know why I do not have the Uchiha."
"Because you would ultimately end up favoring him or be forced to do so by the council, they can't do that if he's not on your team and the Hokage has already approved the teams. I made teams based on skill and mental state, not the preferences of others."
Asuma sighed, "I hope you are prepared for the shit storm that's gonna hit you."
"Auuggghhh, don't remind me. Just be glad there are no fangirls on your team Asuma. Anyways Kurenai, any questions."
"Not really Iruka, this team seems good enough."
"Good, at least one of you is grateful, be in acadmy room 1-A around 12-1, Kakashi I would like to talk to you for a bit if you don't mind."
Kakashi nodded and Asuma and Kurenai filed out of the room. Iruka turned to Kakashi, "The girl on your team, Sakura. I want you to watch her, she used the academy to hone her ability to lie. I think she's done doing that but all the same...."
"I will keep an eye on her Iruka."
"Thank you Kakashi."