Healing Blossom of Time

Chapter 1

A small girl slept in her bed; sightly twitching every now and then. She was mumbling broken sentences in her sleep as sweat manifested from her skin. "Not there...high...risk. I'm sorry," she frowned and thrashed around. "Stop it!!" She shouted.

"Sakura, sweetie, is everything all right?" A woman knocked on the girls' bedroom door and waited patiently for a response. When one didn't come in time she opened it. She gasped and rushed to her side. She gently picked the girl up when she saw her trembling. Her skin being ghostly white didn't help either. "Sakura, it's me! Wake up, sweetie!"

"Stop!" Sakura clawed at her arms; effectively drawing blood. "No, don't touch me! Stop it!"

The woman ran out of their house. She held her daughter tightly in her arms. She ignored the clawing and punching being done to her and headed straight to the hospital.

She arrived and handed Sakura to some nurses. They restrained the child; she was screaming bloody murder all while her body thrashed.

Mebuki sobbed as she watched them take her only child into another room.

::

I hazily opened my eyes to a bright ceiling. I wearily glanced down and expect to see the ground, but to my surprise, I found myself in a... bed? I must really be dead. I haven't laid on a bed for a little over 5 years.

I pull my arm forward and am immediately stopped by a small prickly feeling. My eyes move to the IV sticking in my vein. I gently pulled it out and turned off the machine before shakily getting off the bed.

My legs wobbled as I headed for what I assume is the bathroom and searched for the light switch. Once I found it I flick it upward.

I saw a mirror and stood in front of it. My eyes adjusted to the bright lighting before widening at my reflection. I touched my hair, face, arms, and legs.

'What the hell!!' I screamed inside my mindscape. 'It really wasn't a dream! It was all real!' I freeze on the spot and scream. 'Why do I look so different?! Why is my hair lighter and longer?' I pulled on it to see if it's a wig; it is not. 'Why are my eyes darker? I don't like this. I liked my old appearance. Dammit, now I have to go through puberty all over again!' After a few seconds of silence, another thought came. 'This also means I'm a virgin, again.'

I made my way out of the bathroom and slid open the door leading to the hallway. I glanced around to make sure there was no one walking through. I could barely sense anyone's chakra. 'This means I have to go through all of that hard training, again.' Sakura took a step forward and halted the next second. She walked backward and closed the door when she realized another fact about this world.

Tears sprang into her eyes. "They're alive in this world. My parents are breathing. They're not six feet in the ground." She sat on the floor. "I can sense my mother's small chakra... she's really here."

::

Mebuki paced in the lounge and waited for a doctor or nurse to inform her of Sakura.

She turned around and stopped. Her daughter stood in the hallway. Both females stared at each other with wide eyes. "Sakura, wh-"

"Mommy!" Sakura shakily ran to Mebuki and hugged her legs tightly, as if she were her last thread of life keeping her bound to the earth. Her mother knelt down to her height and embraced the child in what Sakura thought to be the most loving and warm hug she's felt in years.

"There, there, Sakura-chan, it's all right." The older woman cooed. "Mommy's here. She's not going anywhere." Sakura sobbed hysterically.

A doctor walked up to them. "I'm sorry to cut your moment, but we need to make a few more tests on her."

"Did something come out bad on the other examinations you performed?" Mebuki questioned.

"They came out negative, but we jus-" he stopped himself.

"Just what?" Mebuki glared at the doctor.

He swallowed hard. "Nothing. Sign these before leaving." He held out a clipboard. "Have a nice day, Mrs. Haruno."

::

We arrived home after stopping by 'The Dango House' down the street.

I glanced around the living room. "Hey, mama," I skipped toward the kitchen, "when is papa coming home?"

'She went rigid,' I noted.

She sighed. "Sakura, I beg of you, stop asking me that. I'm going to give you the same answer I always do." Mother rubbed her temples. "He went to a better place. He's not coming back."

::

Sakura felt horror electrify through my entire being. "Wh-what?! How?! Papa can't be gone!"

Mebuki rubbed her face. "I'm sorry sweetheart. I forget that it was traumatizing for you as well."

"I'm fi-ive already, mama-a! You c-an enroll me i-in the Shinobi Academy! I can ge-et strong-er!" She felt her resolve bubble up. 'I can't lose her! Never again will I lose her!'

Mebuki scoffed. "Are you insane?! I just lost the love of my life to rouge ninja! I'm not going to let my only child become a kunoichi so I can let her die! Don't you get it?! I'm not losing you too!"

Sakura seethed. "I think it's you that doesn't get it. I want to become strong so I can protect you! I can't do anything about losing my dad, but I need to make sure that you won't leave me either mama... I don't think I could ever handle that."

Her mother swallowed hard. "I'm sorry, Sakura. I am your mother, so what I say is final. You will not join the other kids at the Shinobi Acadamy. You'll go to a civilian school. End of story."

Sakura felt like her heart had shattered. "You really don't get it..." She turned to the front door and ran out; wiping her tears.

"Sakura, wait!" The young mother ran out of the door. She cupped her hands and called out to her daughter. "Sakura, come back! Sakuraaaa!"

The people around her were whispering and staring as she ran down the street.

::

Sakura was out of breath when she made it to the cemetery.

"Wow, I am... out... of shape..." She huffed, her body leaning against the rail. Sakura took her time while looking for her fathers' grave. After a few minutes, she found it. "Dad..." She traced his name with her finger. "You weren't s'posed to leave me yet. I wish you were here. I want to go to the Shinobi Academy to become strong, but mommy doesn't want me to. She thinks I'll leave her like you did!" Her voice started cracking. "She doesn't understand, daddy! She's one of the only people I have left! I need to protect her, but she still refuses to let me join! She really doesn't understand... I lost you... I don't want to lose her too."

"I see," a voice from behind startled her. Sakura spun around in shock. "Is that the only reason?"