Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; it belongs to its writers, animators, and producers. I gain nothing but writing and editing experience from this fic.

Summary: After waking up from a horrible dream, Sakura's life takes a turn for the...well, something? She only hopes it will be good and will end better than her dream suggests her life will. The secret family trade is hers to learn, and in the process she will become a stronger kunoichi. Sometimes all it takes is a little wake up call.

Warnings and Tags for the Story: Coarse Language, violence, no pairings whatsoever, Strong!Sakura, Strong!Team7, rough/dark beginning, and slow build—like really slow. (Please correct me if I've used anything incorrect, I don't really get how tags work)

Betas: Thanks to Anonymous56789 and AkatsukiLover465, and Hellsig Otoupeim for their feedback and support. They have been a great help during this process. We've been working on these changes for...years now.

A/N: Before reading, please note that I changed Sakura's father's name so that he fits more with his altered background. Also, her parents are going to be civilians because one, it gives her a better character backstory; and two, I still can't believe them being ninja is cannon. Finally, I will be harsh with the characters initially because their flaws cannot be so easily overwritten or excused. I am particularly harsh with Sasuke in part because his perspective will not be shared for several chapters and Sakura is a biased narrator. I hope you enjoy ~ with love, depressedchildren Final edits: 2/11/2019

Chapter one: Waking Up

Sakura sat up in her bed and panted heavily. She wiped her sweaty bangs away from her face and pulled her long hair away from the nape of her neck. She grimaced at the feeling of the wet hairs as they caught between her fingers.

Her dream had been hazy, but it left an impression on her. She clutched at her stomach as phantom pains continued to course through her torso. Sakura felt so hopeless and helpless. She was weak and pathetic. She couldn't even protect or heal herself, let alone others.

Sakura choked on a sob. What was all of this about?! Where had that dream come from? She had been fighting, but she was so weak compared to…compared to who? Everyone, it felt like. She was a child fighting among legends and she was just getting in the way. She couldn't even save anyone.

Yet…she had still been amidst those legends, so Sakura knew she could be powerful. She could be like Tsunade when she had been in her prime. Sakura could be powerful. She could save lives…if she would just try. But in her dream she hadn't tried.

You can do it Sakura, I know you can.

Someone had told her that in the dream. The person had sounded like Naruto—the dead last—but older. For some reason, Sakura believed the voice; in fact, recalling those words gave her the courage to get out of her bed and get ready for the day despite lingering doubts.

"Sakura?" her father asked from the door to her room a few minutes later. Sakura stopped fixing her dress and looked over to the closed door as her father spoke again. "Is everything alright? Usually you're up by now. Has your pollen begun to fall? Should I get some mochi?" her father teased. Did he have to come up with such a terrible and embarrassing analogy! It wasn't even accurate!

"Tousan!" she cried as she hid her face. Ugh, her father was so embarrassing! "Don't call it that!" she whined, but that just made him laugh more. Why couldn't he be like other dads and get all awkward and uncomfortable when Sakura or her mom talked about that time of the month?

Her father was still chuckling, so Sakura huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I just had a weird dream," Sakura said with more bite than she had meant to. She began to frown as she stared at herself in the mirror. It was just a dream, she repeated reassuringly to herself.

She was Haruno Sakura: a newly minted genin, a leader of the Sasuke Fanclub, and a top ranking kunoichi among the graduates. There was no way she would let a crazy dream shake her so much. She nodded once more at her reflection as she brushed away the last of her fears.

Sakura pulled away from her thoughts when she heard the door creak open. Through the mirror's reflection, she could see her father looking at her grimly.

"What is it?" Sakura asked slowly as she turned to face the man.

"What do you mean by weird dream?" her father asked almost warily as he opened the door wider. He had narrowed his eyes slightly as if searching for something.

Sakura blinked owlishly. Why was he so serious? Normally when he asked her about her dreams, his voice was edged with resignation. Today, her father was…confusing. He seemed hopeful yet cautious; that, coupled with his unsmiling face, made Sakura feel on edge.

He entered the room with one hand holding onto the doorjamb. "It wasn't the usual one about the Uchiha?" he asked. He was trying to sound casual but was failing.

"Sasuke-kun, Tousan," Sakura reminded him in a clipped tone. "And someday I will marry him, so you really shouldn't be so hostile."

Her father was not one to roll his eyes, but he did widen them skeptically and look away from her for a second. Sakura frowned and folded her arms over her chest. Her father coughed slightly. "Yes, well, was that your weird dream?" he asked again.

Sakura still wasn't happy about her father's response to her beloved Sasuke-kun, so she just shook her head.

"Oh?" her father inquired. He had raised his eyebrows and sounded relieved. However, his expression fell quickly, and he continued speaking with a measure of urgency. "How exactly was it weird?"

Why was her father taking this so seriously? He hadn't taken her dreams seriously since she was ten and began dreaming about her wedding to Sasuke-kun. The attention was a little unnerving after these last few years. Regardless of her unease, her father was waiting for a response.

Sakura fidgeted in place before replying, "It was nothing." She tried to laugh off her discomfort. "You know, it was just…hazy images and lots of voices." Sakura coughed when she finished and then looked around her room. That was a partial lie; at times the dream had felt real.

Her father frowned in thought. "Hazy images," he repeated slowly as he narrowed his gaze at Sakura again.

She could practically see her father thinking. He was giving her the same look he gave building plans. As an architect, her father would occasionally be caught between client expectations and the feasibility of a project. He would come to a decision after sitting and staring at the building's blueprints. It was unnerving to be on the receiving end of such deliberation.

After a long moment, something in her father's expression settled. He straightened his back and nodded his head gravely. Her father then made a beckoning motion with his hand before he turned and left the room.

"Tousan?" Sakura questioned in alarm as she followed her father down the stairs. What was going on?

"Sakura…" her father paused and sighed. He then ran a hand through his dull pink hair as he continued down the stairs. "Perhaps it is time I tell you about my side of the family," he muttered.

Sakura's mother looked up from the stove when she heard their approach. At her husband's solemn expression, she moved to put the kettle on the burner and quickly removed all food from the stove top. They often had serious conversations (well, all conversations) over tea, so the reaction was not surprising. Yet, something stalled the woman's move toward the cabinet with the tea leaves. "Ayumu, is it just tea or…?" her question trailed off as her eyes shifted toward the living room with something close to worry.

"It may be time, Mebuki," he replied.

Sakura looked between her parents nervously. Why was her dad so serious? It was just tea. Or were they going to use that special tea they never used—not even for special occasions?

"I'll get her the tea and a cup," her mother responded quietly but did not look pleased.

"Bring two cups if you will," her father requested as he pulled a chair out from the dining table.

"Why should I?" she snapped. "Sakura is the only one who needs to drink it."

Her father frowned slightly in disappointment with his hand resting on the back of the chair. "You would rather she went through it alone?"

Her mother now pursed her lips in displeasure. "Perhaps," she responded tersely.

"Mebuki," her father called almost gently. "It's a rite of passage, and an elder should be with her."

"It's not as if you'll be with her the whole time," her mother argued with her arms crossed over her chest. "Besides, was it a 'rite of passage' when you decided to have a serving after the Kyubbi attack?" she asked angrily.

Sakura's father coughed. "You didn't help in the excavations," he replied quietly after a moment.

"Now you're making excuses," her mother snapped again.

Sakura stared between her parents in unease. "Um…what is the special tea?" she asked quietly.

"It's a family tea we should drink together," her father replied without looking away from his wife who continued to glare at him. "Mebuki, you're scaring her. It will be best for us to drink it together as parents have always done with their children in my family."

"This is your last time then, and you best guide her through it," the woman warned, shaking her finger as an added measure. She then moved toward the china cabinet in the living room. Sakura's father nodded grimly as if assenting to his wife's stipulations and sat down in the chair.

The china cabinet held several sets of ornate porcelain tea cups and various expensive boxes of tealeaves, but the box her mother was reaching for was the special one tucked back into a corner. Sakura had memorized what the box looked like because it had always fascinated her; how could such a battered, old, wooden box exist among her mother's prized porcelain cups and imported teas? Sakura had never bothered opening the box because the most fascinating thing about it was the lid. There was this intricate carving on the top that Sakura used to trace.

But now... The way her parents had talked about the special tea rooted her in place. The special tea…was it a drug?! As far as Sakura had known, no one drank that tea.

Okay… Sakura was beginning to panic a little, but it felt valid. For one, her parents never talked about her father's family. All Sakura knew was that her paternal family traveled around the Elemental Lands, and her father had been disowned when he had settled down with Sakura's mother. By the Hokage, Sakura didn't even know what her father's family name was; Haruno was her mother's familial name. So now that her parents were talking about rites of passage, Sakura was genuinely perturbed.

Once her mother returned to the kitchen, her father rubbed his face tiredly. He then set his arms on the dining table and laced his fingers together. "Do you remember the dreams you used to have when you were little?" he asked.

Sakura raised an eyebrow as she made her way toward the dining table. This day could not get any stranger. "What dreams?" she asked as she sat down in a chair.

Her father smiled slightly. "When you were four, you had a dream of your aunt."

"Fujie-obasan?" Sakura asked for clarification. Fujie-obasan may have been her mother's only sibling, but there were many family friends who acted like Sakura's uncles and aunts.

Her father nodded his head slightly in response. "You had dreamed she was dressed in white," he added. "You said she stood in a field of white flowers surrounded by trees. She smiled at you and then began walking into the trees. You said you tried to follow her, but your aunt had disappeared."

Sakura frowned slightly. "Was I remembering the funeral?" she asked. Sakura knew her aunt had died when she was four; as such, Sakura couldn't remember the ceremony.

Her father shook his head. "You had this dream the day before she died," he replied calmly. Sakura couldn't help but look at her father skeptically.

What exactly was he getting at? Yeah, that sort of dream was a little creepy, but it could be explained. Surely Sakura had overheard some conversation or—but Kaasan had said Fujie-obasan had been killed by a thief…

Despite all the ninja and Uchiha police in the village, no one noticed a civilian merchant dying in an alley as her murderer ran away. Even though the Uchiha Police caught the guy, Sakura's mother said it should have never happened to begin with. Kaasan even told Sakura she had to be observant and look out for civilians like Fujie-obasan if she was going to be a ninja—no matter what state the village was in, the civilians should be a priority too.

"What are you trying to get at Tousan?" Sakura asked slowly.

"That wasn't the last time you had a dream that came true, Musume."

"So? It was probably a coincidence."

Her father sighed. "Sakura, I come from a long line of fortunetellers, and the children of my family are known to have…" he trailed off as if afraid to say the rest of the sentence out loud.

Sakura gave her father an unimpressed look. "Your side of the family are fortunetellers?" she asked with a touch of derision.

Her father pursed his lips together in displeasure before speaking. "Yes, and most of the children have one or two...premonitions." He said premonition under his breath.

Sakura raised her eyebrows and sat back in her seat as she waited for her father to make sense. He made a noise at the back of his throat. "I am serious, Sakura," he snapped. Sakura jumped slightly in her seat.

"When I was six, I dreamed Ojii-san died—he had a heart attack two days later," her father announced in an urgent but frustrated whisper. "My cousin dreamed of a lake overflowing with water as three lights danced above the surface. The next week three children from our caravan died in a flash flood. When my mother was a child, she had dreamt of a black cat crossing the caravan. The next day, her father had found a bandit's money cache and had returned unscathed with it."

Sakura shifted in her seat uneasily. "That could all be coincidence…" she argued, but her words lacked conviction as her unease grew.

"Musume," her father began patiently, "do you remember my friend Ren?"

Ren-oji used to work at the architecture firm with Tousan until he got sick. He had gotten sick after the Kyuubi attack and everyone thought he would die. Ren-oji had decided he would live the rest of his days at a temple, but he returned to the village healthy when Sakura was eight.

"You had a dream of Ren being happy and healthy when you were eight," her father stated. "You didn't remember who he was, but you described him to me. I knew it was Ren you had dreamed of. A few weeks later, I saw him at the market in perfect health."

Sakura looked away from her father uneasily. "I don't remember that dream. You could be making this up," she argued quietly.

Her father exhaled in wry amusement. "You're right," he agreed. He then leaned forward and continued speaking. "But you know I'm right."

"Then why don't I remember?" Sakura challenged. She distantly heard the teapot begin to whistle.

"Why would you?" her father asked. "You were eight and had a dream about someone you didn't remember. It wasn't a fun dream but neither was it scary. Why would it be memorable?" Her father leaned back with a smile as he crossed his arms over his chest. "If you want further proof, I kept a dream journal for you," he stated before humming slightly. "Wonder where I put it?" he mumbled as he stroked his mustache thoughtfully.

Sakura glared at the table. She heard her mother moving about the kitchen as she likely set up the "special" tea for them. This was all ridiculous. "So all the kids in our family have those dreams?" Sakura wasn't sure what her question was, but her father seemed to understand.

"Most, but the dreams are few," her father clarified. "Some children only have one premonition in their lives. Others may be lucky to have two. However, there are a select few children who continue to receive premonitions throughout their entire lives. Something about our family makes us in tune with the possibilities, and we use that…" he trailed off as he searched for the right word, "intuition to read tealeaves, cards, and sometimes bones. We're known for our accurate readings."

"Th-this is ridiculous," Sakura exclaimed.

"It isn't, dear," her mother stated as she brought them the tea. "While your father jokes about many things, this is the one thing he has never joked about."

The woman paused as she set one cup in front of her husband. "Your last one, Ayumu," she reminded him threateningly. He nodded almost dismissively.

Wait, why weren't they going through a proper tea ceremony if this was so special—a "rite of passage" as her father called it? Were they just trying to pass this off like it was any other tea? This was weird.

Sakura eyed the dark brown liquid in the cup warily. She could see clumps of plant matter slowly settling to the bottom in a mesmerizing sort of dance. But wait, was that tree bark and what looked like a fried plantain—was it a mushroom?! Her mother must have noticed Sakura's bewildered and wary look because the woman smiled reassuringly.

"It will be alright, sweetheart," she murmured as she smoothed down some of Sakura's hair. She then set a hand on Sakura's shoulder and squeezed encouragingly. "No matter how unorthodox your father's measures are, he speaks the truth."

The woman then pulled back and stated, "I should finish breakfast."

Sakura, shocked, watched her mother retreat to the kitchen. She believed this too? Sakura shook her head slowly in disbelief. What was happening to her family? None of this could—no, should—be possible! Maybe if these premonitions were a bloodline ability she could believe it, but she was the first ninja on either side in decades. Her parents never hesitated to talk about that little fact when protesting her choice to become a kunoichi.

"Sakura," her father began, "if this 'weird dream' is a premonition, this could mean you are one of the few."

Sakura shook her head again. "Why, because it will be my third premonition?" she asked skeptically.

"Fourth," her father corrected, "and most children stop having them when they enter puberty."

Sakura blushed at the reminder and was relieved her father didn't use his typical "budding" or "blossoming" analogy, but then she frowned. "When was my third premonition?" she asked.

Her father looked down at the table. "You woke up screaming the night of the Uchiha Massacre. You were distraught and speaking so quickly…" her father trailed off as he shook his head. "I didn't know what to make of it—I even thought it was just a nightmare. You seemed to have forgotten by the next day, but then we all heard about the massacre, and I thought your dream might be connected."

"Why would I scream?" Sakura asked with a shaky voice.

"I don't know," her father admitted. "You were frantic and acted like the end of the world was going to happen."

Sakura blinked several times as she tried to process that. She felt a little sick. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but why a nightmare on that night.

Her father frowned and clasped his hands together thoughtfully. "Perhaps it is related to your most recent dream. What did the dream tell you?" he asked.

Sakura reached for the still steaming teacup. The warmth of the porcelain was comforting. Sakura didn't want to look at her father so she focused on the tea.

"Sakura," her father chastised when she didn't respond.

Sakura clutched the porcelain more tightly. "I saw how I am a worthless kunoichi!" she finally gritted out. "Th-that I am stupid and foolish and-and…" Sakura trailed off as she tried to push back tears which suddenly threatened to spill. "No matter what I do, Sasuke-kun would rather kill me than be with me!" She gasped and shuddered as she recalled moments from the dream.

Her father just hummed as Sakura worked to keep her tears at bay. "Frankly," her father began, "I'm not surprised the Uchiha would—I've often read such a fate in your tealeaves regarding him."

Sakura looked up at him sharply in offense and horror. "What?!" she exclaimed.

"Whenever you talked about that Uchiha boy over our evening tea, the leaves read disaster and death…more specifically, your death. Even our formal tea readings showed disaster and death, with the occasional sign of success." Her father sighed. "I always hoped you'd grow out of this childish infatuation, and I still hope you will."

"I don't believe you!" Sakura shouted while standing up from the table so fast her chair threatened to clatter to the ground. She had left her teacup on the table, and some of the dark brown liquid sloshed out.

Her father sighed again. "Shall we do a formal reading then?" he asked as he gestured to the teacups. "I'll teach you what the different clusters of leaves mean," he added.

Sakura glared at her father for a moment before the energy left her and she dropped into her chair. This was all so messed up! Everything should be looking up for her now that she was a genin, but her dream said otherwise. What if it was true? What if her father was right about her Sasuke-kun? What if she died like her dream said she would?! Sakura felt the pressure building in her chest and behind her eyes.

Her mouth began to pull back as she tried to stop the tears from coming, but then they were slipping down her face. "I-I don't want to die!" she sobbed. She wanted to live and marry her Sasuke-kun. But she couldn't do that if her dream came true. Worse, if her father was right, she had no chance with Sasuke-kun ever. She was so afraid, and nothing made sense!

"Sakura, what do you mean?" her father asked urgently as he moved to crouch in front of her. He grabbed her arms in an attempt to comfort her as he looked up at her face, but it only made her sob harder. "Musume…" he exclaimed as he pulled her down into a hug.

"Th-this man killed me," Sakura sobbed onto her father's chest. "H-He had two different eyes, and his body—" She could see the knotted strange scars that decorated the man's right side in her mind's eye. She could feel his fist in her stomach as his chakra disrupted her healing efforts. His two eyes were hypnotic as they stared at her smugly. One eye was red like a Sharingan; the other had concentric rings.

"Oh, Sakura…" her father soothed. He began to rub her back. "Not all premonitions must come true."

Sakura pulled back and gasped out, "B-but you said—"

"Sometimes premonitions reveal possibilities," he interrupted. "Knowing the possibilities can be enough to change what happens, especially if the premonition is of the distant future."

That didn't make her feel that much better. Her father patted her head slightly before he smoothed down her hair. "Musume," he began, "the future needn't be set in stone. Those with a pronounced gift like yours need to understand that the future is malleable."

"S-so I won't die, and I can still marry Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked as she sniffed and wiped her tears away.

Her father closed his eyes for a moment. "Why don't you tell me the rest of the dream while we drink our tea, alright?"

Sakura bit her lip, but eventually nodded. They both moved back to their chairs and it was silent for a moment. Well, it was silent until Sakura's mother returned with breakfast.

She set the dishes down at the table. "Should I let you two finish the talk alone?" Sakura's mother asked hesitantly.

"That may be for the best, Mebuki," Sakura's father replied. The woman nodded and went upstairs.

Once her mother was out of hearing range, Sakura's father motioned for Sakura to begin.

Sakura looked down at her hands in her lap before she closed her eyes. "It was all hazy," she confessed, "but I know there were people everywhere with completely black eyes. There were also these white, plant creatures. I-I remember someone…" Sakura trailed off as she grasped at the vague memory of the dream. "H-he was glowing gold like he was on fire and yet he wasn't… He had these markings like swirls and lines." She could see the man in her mind's eye, but the image kept slipping out of focus. Sakura frowned but added, "He was saving the world—I know that much.

"There was also a grey haired man with a mask. He and—" Sakura cut herself off as she reached for her stomach.

"Musume?" her father questioned worriedly.

"T-The man who kills me," Sakura began haltingly. "He and the masked man have the same red eye. I-It's like a Sharingan but…" Sakura trailed off and shook her head. The memory was slipping away. "The masked guy looked really pissed off—like he recognized the…my killer." The words were hard to get out and seemed to choke Sakura. In the dream, she had been a medic ninja but the guy with the weird concentric eye still killed her. He killed so many people Sakura knew she was supposed to protect. During the whole dream, she had been scrambling to keep up and was failing.

Sakura couldn't repeat the end of the dream, so she opened her eyes and looked over at her father. He was frowning.

"You may want to start a new dream journal and write down what you remember from this premonition. I would also like to do a formal reading with you, but we may not have time," he commented as he gestured toward a clock. Sakura's eyes widened in alarm; how much time had passed?! She hadn't done any of her morning beauty rituals—not even combing her hair! What if she doesn't have time and Sasuke-kun sees her like this?!

"Musume," her father addressed her. She froze in her movement to leave the table. "Please drink the tea and eat your breakfast."

"Why?" Sakura asked as she stared at the special tea.

Her father looked slightly displeased. "Because that tea will verify if you are indeed one of the few."

"Didn't you say I already was?"

"It is a very likely possibility, but you are also the first ninja within the family…" he trailed off.

"Which could explain things," Sakura deduced. Her father nodded his head slightly.

"Since we do not have time for a formal reading, I ask you to drink your tea as you concentrate on one question. I will do a formal reading while you are at team assignments," he explained.

Sakura nodded and bit her lip as she looked down at the steaming cup. She had so many questions and thoughts whirling around in her head; she had no idea where to start! Was her dream really going to come true? Would she be a weak kunoichi like it implied? She shook her head and pushed those disturbing thoughts aside. She had a topic in mind: the people with the black eyes. They disturbed her as much as the rest, but so many people looked horrified and hurt that they had to fight them. Yes, she'd wonder about them as she drank her tea.

Her father was already calmly sipping at the tea and she quickly joined him. She almost gagged at the first sip; the tea was...pungent and had a strange earthy aftertaste—she half-imagined this was what licking a toad tasted like. Regardless, she continued to drink until the plant matter settled at the bottom in clumps—yep there were pieces of bark and mushroom among the leaves. She spun the cup three times before she handed it to her father.

The moment he looked down, he did a double take and frowned. He turned the cup so he was looking at it from different angles before he set the cup upside down on spare plate.

"What is it, Tousan?" Sakura asked.

"Troubling to say the least. What did you question?"

"The people with the black eyes. I wondered what they were."

Her father frowned and hummed. "The leaves are confusing, but perhaps the formal reading will clear up the ambiguity. There are symbols of death, but whose death is uncertain. There also seems to be some symbols related to second chances and tragedies." Her father sounded unsure.

Sakura looked down at the cooling food before her and began to pick at it. "What do your leaves say? What did you wonder?" Sakura asked after her first bite. She then leaned in closer to get a look at the cup.

"I wondered if the end of your dream would come true," he murmured. Her father then sighed and pointed to several clumps of leaves stuck along the sides. "This pattern may symbolize loss. There is also death in this clump," he stated as he gestured to the leaves. "After a formal reading, the symbols will be clearer."

"Can you tell who you'll lose?" Sakura asked as she continued to eat her breakfast, though she no longer had much of an appetite. That had left her when she recognized some of the clumps from the sides of her own cups after thinking about her future with Sasuke-kun.

"It depends on the leaves proximity to the edges," her father explained.

Sakura nodded slightly and continued to pick at her food. It was still hard to believe all of this, and, frankly, she wondered if she should believe it. Part of her wanted to write off everything she had learned as coincidence, but how could it all be coincidence?

Her father began to fill his own plate with food and eat with Sakura. Her mother came back down and joined Sakura at breakfast. Why were her parents just acting like this was any other day? Sakura felt like her whole world was spinning. In fact, her head was starting to hurt and feel fuzzy again.

Her mother looked up at Sakura with a frown. "Go on, my brave kunoichi of Konoha, eat up. You'll be meeting your team today and will need your strength," the woman encouraged, but she sounded muffled to Sakura.

Sakura blinked once more before her eyes rolled backwards in her head.

For a brief moment, she felt like she was floating in a void of faded swirling lights before they solidified into a hazy image—like the dream she had had earlier. Sakura now found herself racing neck and neck with Ino-pig toward the Academy—her limbs felt strange and floaty, yet she could also feel the cobbled streets under her shoes and the wind rushing past her. Sakura burst into the room, declaring she made it first at the same time Ino-pig did. Then she was arguing over the seat next to Sasuke-kun. The sound was distorted, and she only received a vague impression of what was being spoken, like in most dreams. To her immense shock, she saw Naruto end up kissing Sasuke. After beating Naruto to a pulp, there were the team announcements… Iruka-sensei's voice was low and strangely distorted as he announced Team 7 as Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke under Hatake Kakashi.

Sakura snapped to, to find her mother waving a smelling salt under her nose while her father looked strangely pleased. "The tea affected you faster than I thought it would, but it still confirms you are one of the select few," he stated.

"Wh-what?" Sakura asked as she held her head. Her mother helped her back into her chair, which was probably good given Sakura's headache.

"You had a premonition, Musume," he explained. He sounded proud of her. "The tea helps those with the gift to access it, but it tends to leave the drinker disoriented." He laughed slightly at some joke only he knew. Her mother frowned disapprovingly, which led to her father coughing as he looked away from the woman chastising him.

Sakura was still trying to wrap her head around the whole fortuneteller-psychic conversation with what she had just seen. Although, if what happened in her last "vision" came true, she would have to accept this psychic stuff as truth. Really, who would ever think of the Dead Last and Sasuke-kun kissing?! It was impossible. The team assignment was unbelievable too. Sure a top kunoichi like Sakura would be on Sasuke-kun's team, but no way would a loser like Naruto be on the same team. However, a sinking feeling in her gut told her not to be so blind.

"Ayumu," her mother began again almost threateningly. Her father coughed. "Be more specific," her mother added.

"I don't know what she'll experience," her father said like it was a defense; her mother just glared. "Alright, well, Obaa-san always talked about premonitions like they were some sentient thing…" he trailed off with a shrug. "So, I imagine…you may have clear visions occur randomly?"

Sakura frowned a little. "So I will be hallucinating all day," she said slowly.

Her father frowned. "No, not necessarily. There might be waking visions, but Obaa-san said she would often get a feeling in her gut that guided her, or she would hear a whisper in her mind. Sometimes, the visions and premonitions occur in response to stimuli or a need. But in all cases, she said these divinations become increasingly less clear as you age."

"Why?" Sakura asked.

Her father shrugged. "I'm not sure. Why do children have premonitions regardless of whether the gift develops further?" he questioned in return.

Sakura frowned slightly. "That seems a bit farfetched," she commented before pursing her lips in thought. "Although…" she began with a frown.

It was ridiculous to think people could see the future, but then children have more malleable minds and chakra than adults—at least according to the textbooks Sakura got from the library. If her family was already susceptible to visions, then it would explain why children had them and not all adults. A kid's brain and chakra would still be developing, so theoretically a child in her family could grow in a way that made them remain susceptible to premonitions. But then where did the premonitions come from and why did they affect her family? Was it chakra based? But why would it be chakra based? It's not like ninja have premonitions, or there would be a race to acquire such forces for a village's own power. Of course, studies into chakra are limited. Most scholars are interested in bloodlines, combat capabilities, and how to increase reserves. The larger questions of where chakra comes from epistemologically were answered through folk tales. How chakra could react to different populations had barely been studied. So while it was unlikely to be chakra-based, there was still so much humans didn't know about chakra.

Sakura closed her eyes and shook her head. Why was she even taking this seriously? It was all lunacy, and she would continue denying her supposed gift until she had more substantial evidence than her father's testimonies.

"It may seem farfetched, Sakura, but it is the truth," her father argued—likely seeing her skepticism increase. He then sighed and stood up from the table. "You will likely feel the effects of the tea throughout the rest of the day—in rare cases you might feel it over the next few—"

Her mother interjected at this point, "Perhaps you should tell her what she's going to face, especially if it is affecting her so quickly?"

Her father blinked and set one hand down on the table as if to balance himself. "I don't know exactly what those with the gift see," he responded confused. "I mean, besides clearer visions," he corrected himself.

Sakura's mother looked heavenward and sighed impatiently. "Ayumu, what are the physical effects she might have, and if it goes bad, what she should do?" her mother asked slowly and with clear annoyance.

Sakura's father blinked slowly again before nodding. "Right…" he trailed off and coughed. "Some drinkers experience numbness around the face, muscle weakness and convulsions, dry mouth followed by nausea and vomiting, accelerated heart rate and breathing, high blood pressure—" her father cut his rapid and practiced reply short at Sakura's look of horror.

"What?! Th-that sounds like drug side-effects!" she exclaimed.

"Because it is a drug," her mother responded in a clipped tone as she gave her husband an unamused look.

Her father coughed again. "The family psychics have used it for generations to broaden and strength their visions," her father defended.

"That doesn't mean you should have been partaking in it," her mother chastised now that the topic had been brought up again.

"It's not harmful in small doses," he refuted. "And, as I've said before, it is a rite of passage."

Her mother gave him an annoyed look. "Still you shouldn't have continued to drink it—no matter what you had seen after the Kyuubi attack or any of the other times!" the woman nearly yelled. "And I don't want Sakura drinking it again either!"

"Well, I don't want her drinking it again either if we can help it," her father nearly yelled in return. "It can be dangerous if taken too much by those with the gift."

"What?!" Sakura exclaimed. "First you gave me a drug and it's a drug that can hurt me?!" Sakura's heartbeat was beginning to pick up.

Her parents both grimaced and seemed to realize what their personal argument had devolved into. "Oh, sweetheart, you don't need to worry," her mother tried to reassure.

"Yes, Musume, you have nothing to worry about. You might see some strange things, hear voices, or smell something that isn't there, but it's not harmful to you," her father added in.

"You gave me a drug!" Sakura replied skeptically.

"A drug which opens the mind, Musume," he retorted. "And for those with the gift, it enhances the visions one has, but the effects will grow less strong with time, I imagine."

"You imagine?!" Sakura asked incredulously. "Am I going to be hallucinating when I meet my team?"

"Oh sweetheart…" her mother began while her father shook his head.

"Musume," he soothed before he moved to crouch down in front of her again. He was looking up at her with a gentle expression as he grabbed her hands. "You shouldn't worry about that. The physical effects should wear off by mid-afternoon at the latest. You might have the occasional vision after the fact, but that is very rare. Maybe one in ten with the gift will have visions a few days after, but you won't be hallucinating."

Sakura must not have seemed any calmer, so her father let go of her hands and rubbed her arms in a comforting manner. "Okay. Sometimes a person might experience those negative side-effects I mentioned, but most of the time one enters a state of happiness and relaxation. You will enter such soon, Musume, so long as you remain calm." He then brushed back some of her hair and smiled almost serenely. "If it becomes too much, come home or find a safe place to lie down. Stare up at the clouds for a moment and calm yourself. If you do that, you have nothing to fear."

Her father then waited a moment. Once satisfied Sakura had calmed down, he stood up and stepped back toward his chair. "The premonitions won't always come to you so clearly, and to achieve the same effects that you experience now you will need to take stronger doses, which can be very dangerous," her father explained gently. "This is why I will never ask you to drink the tea again, or why I will never want you to drink it freely. It can be dangerous for those with the gift. I knew a gifted cousin who ran off a cliff due to the effects of a large dose."

Sakura stared at her father wide-eyed. Her parents gave her some kind of hallucinogenic drug that would supposedly reveal vivid visions to her. How could she even trust those if they were hallucinations? And what about the potentially harmful side effects?

She heard her father sigh, and then he was crouching in front of her again. He cupped the sides of her face and asked her to breathe with him. How could she breathe though? Her parents had knowingly given her something potentially harmful because they think she's some kind of physic?! By the Hokage, a family member had died because of the tea!

"Breathe with me, Musume," her father murmured repeatedly, like it was a chant. Sakura unconsciously began to match his breathing, and her racing mind and heart slowed. "You will never have to drink the tea again," he reassured her once she had calmed. "I intend to teach you how to read even the haziest visions, along with other methods of divination."

Her father's voice was so low and soothing; it began to lull her into a state of relaxation. He sounded so sure and calm that Sakura found herself nodding along. Yes, learning divination would be good, then she wouldn't need the tea. Her father let go of her face, and Sakura smiled slightly. She then turned to look at the clock and gasped—it was nearly time for team assignments!

Sakura didn't even have time to finish her breakfast as she raced for the door, only just remembering to say goodbye to her parents. Her father sighed as she ran out to the street, but she thought she heard him say, "She's going to get sick on an empty stomach."

Sakura had no time to contemplate this; she was going to be late to team assignments at this rate. To her amazement and horror, Ino was just running past her house when Sakura came out. Sakura matched her speed, even though she was trying to go as fast as she could.

They ended up arriving at the Academy at the same time. Ino-pig shouted that she got there before Sakura, but in Sakura's shock she couldn't retaliate. It was so strange, it was just like her last supposed premonition. She hurried over toward Sasuke and Naruto with Ino-pig gawking at her—perhaps it was because she hadn't risen up to her bait? Sakura just stared at the boys. In her "premonition," the unthinkable had happened.

"Naruto get away from Sasuke-kun!" Ino growled out now that she caught up with Sakura. "I'm going to sit by him!"

Without thinking, Sakura blurted out, "Fat chance Ino-pig!"

Then Naruto moved to crouch in front of Sasuke, just like in Sakura's vision. "Naruto, don't do that!" she called out in alarm, which only made the blonde narrow his gaze more and lean closer. Then, like a slow moving disaster, she watched as the boy sitting in front of Sasuke moved and consequently knocked Naruto into Sasuke. She screamed, long before the rest of Sasuke's fan-club realized what exactly happened.

There was no way she could have predicted that through logic or coincidence. Oh gods, her hallucination came true…her premonition…came true. She sat down heavily in the nearest seat while the rest of the Sasuke fan-club pummeled Naruto into the ground. Her head felt like it was spinning and her leg muscles were starting to twitch. She needed to calm down, but her heart was beating so fast now—and were the walls waving like a far distant mirage?

Sakura watched in a daze as Iruka-sensei entered the room and ordered them all to sit down—why did she smell strawberries? Ino was sitting next to Sakura, which was different than in the premonition, but then again, in it she had fought to get the seat next to Sasuke. As Iruka-sensei gave his speech about their responsibilities as ninja and began calling the teams, Sakura's dread grew.

It was all true then? Wasn't it? She really had a premonition. The man with the swirl mask killed her. All her father's tealeaves about Sasuke said he'd be the death of her. Those people with the black eyes, they dealt with death and second chances. It was all so surreal and why was Iruka-sensei wearing civilian clothes and when did he get that wrinkled? In fact, when did everyone in the class get so old?

Sakura was looking at Ino-pig with her brow furrowed. Why was Ino-pig's chest so big? That's not fair! And when did she get so tall—wait, underneath the image was Ino-pig just as she had been earlier. Sakura blinked and looked away, only to stare with her mouth open at Hinata. Transposed on Hinata was a woman with a sizeable chest—in fact, it seemed disproportionate. Sakura suddenly felt so inadequate because she remembered staring down at her stomach as the swirl-mask guy killed her, and Sakura had been smaller than either the transposed Ino or Hinata. Did that make her less of a woman in the future? Or was this just her drugged brain playing tricks on her? How was she going to be a sexy bad-ass kunoichi with a big forehead and small bust? Sasuke would surely never marry her if that was what Sakura had to compete with!

Sakura was forced from her spiraling thoughts by Ino-pig screaming in her ear and trying to throttle her. "How can you have Sasuke-kun on your team? I'm a way better kunoichi than you! I'm from a clan!" she screamed, and the transposed image of an older Ino shattered. Ino-pig hadn't mentioned her clan in reference to her skills for a long time; it must be a testament to how angry she was.

Sakura shook her head and focused back on Ino-pig. Had they already announced her team, what had Iruka-sensei said? In her dazed state, she looked over at the Uchiha who was astutely glaring at the front wall as he ignored everyone. An image flashed before her eyes—no it was more than that.

Sakura could feel the cold around her as the wind whipped her cloak against her limbs. Her breath fogged before her as small snowflakes drifted down from the gray sky. She could smell the cold and ozone in the air—even taste the metallic edge. There was snow everywhere about her, and a man stood across from her. One eye was black with a red etching, the other was a strange looking sharingan. The black eye was spinning rapidly as it bled. The man held electricity in his hand, and it was heading for her heart. Sasuke, her mind supplied, he's going to kill you.

The vision ended abruptly, and Sakura looked forward. Fortunately, Ino-pig was too busy yelling at her to notice her odd behavior. Oh, look, now the walls were undulating and flowers began to sprout out of the wood paneling. Sakura closed her eyes tightly and shook her head. Why was this happening now of all times? Her head was throbbing and she just could not shake this dread and fear when it came to Sasuke. Her mouth was getting dry now, yet she felt close to vomiting.

Before Sakura knew it, they were dismissed for lunch; however, she just stayed in her seat with her eyes tightly closed. Why was this happening? This ruined everything! She'd have to reevaluate her whole life! Or-or was it just a hallucination? Everything with Sasuke could be nothing, but then the dread was overwhelming after all she had learned that day.

"Neh, Sakura-chan?!" She opened her eyes at the boisterous call, and found Naruto in her line of sight. There were enough obnoxious sights before her without adding Naruto to it—wait was that a flying fish in the air? Sakura stared off into space which made Naruto frown. "Eh, Sakura-chan? You okay?" he asked nervously.

Blinking, Sakura went into auto-pilot. "Mind your own busi—" she paused mid yell as she stared at Naruto. Superimposed on Naruto was the glowing man from her first premonition. Did that mean, Naruto really was the glowing man? The little boy behind the confident, radiant man dropped his head and raised his shoulder's up slightly like he was preparing for a blow.

"I-I'm sorry, Naruto…" Sakura hesitated before she added, "-san" to the end. It felt so strange to say it, but the superimposed image flashed this brilliant smile, and the boy underneath the image looked up surprised before smiling too. Sakura focused on her younger classmate's face. He looked genuinely happy and surprised; it kind of made Sakura's stomach flip a little and then sink. A simple apology could pull out such a genuine and even thankful response from the class' Dead Last. Sakura was starting to feel sicker now as a mix of shame and guilt welled up inside of her.

A realization struck Sakura. Had she ever even gotten to know Naruto? He was the class clown and idiot, yeah, but that couldn't be all there was to him. Sure, her parents had always been wary of Naruto and advised Sakura to stay away from him, but this boy... What did Sakura know about him, and what did her parents know? If he did become the golden man, why would he save the people who treated him so poorly?

"Neh…" Naruto began nervously as his smile fell. "Sakura-chan. Are you okay?" he asked again, genuinely worried.

The shame wrenched at her again, and her head spun a little. "I-I'm sorry," she repeated again. She used to punch him and call him idiot all the time, but she didn't even know him. He was just some kid in her class that did stuff for laughs, but he was always there with a smile for people and he tried so hard at everything he did. How did any of that warrant scorn or abuse?

Naruto was frowning now. "Sakura-chan?" he called her name worriedly again and then began to fidget anxiously. "H-Hey don't cry, 'tebayo!" he said in a panicked voice. "Uh—" The blonde looked frantically around the now empty classroom as Sakura brought her hands up to her eyes—oh there were tears welling up.

"D-do you wanna punch me or something?" he asked anxiously. "I didn't mean to make you cry, dattebayo. Y-you can punch me if that'll make you feel better," he rambled on in increasingly more self-depreciating directions as his nervousness grew.

Sakura's tears spilled over as the guilt overwhelmed her. "I-I'm sorry Naruto-san, I'm sorry!" she cried. "I'm such a jerk!" She was done insulting him. His ramblings had ceased at her bout of apologies.

"Ah…h-hey, Sakura-chan, y-you don't have to apologize, 'tebayo. You're the most beautiful and smartest kunoichi in the class and—"

"No! I'm a jerk," Sakura sobbed into her desk. She had made a cushion with her arms, so it hid her face. Gods, she felt so sick with herself and everything.

"Oh dear…I was afraid something like this would happen," someone muttered from across the room. Sakura looked up, sniffing and wiping at her eyes, while Naruto froze in a panic. Sakura wiped snot across her wrist as she spied her mother standing in the doorway.

"K-Kaasan!" Sakura sobbed. "I'm terrible. I-I feel sick!" Her mother looked heavenward and shook her head.

"Ayumu is going to be sleeping in the living room for a very long time," her mother mumbled as she moved over to Sakura. "Sweetheart, you feel sick because you have an empty stomach," she explained once she crouched in front of Sakura.

"B-but," Sakura gasped, "I'm mean. I-I've been mean to N-Naruto-baka for no reason!" Then Sakura cried even harder as she fell back into her usual form of address for the Dead Last.

Her mother sighed heavily. "This is the tea talking, Sweetheart," she muttered. All the while, Naruto just stood there frozen. Sakura's mother tried to help Sakura up, but Sakura resisted. "Sakura, your father asked me to collect you, so please cooperate," the woman almost chided.

"Uh…I'm gonna leave you two alone…" Naruto mumbled as he began to back away, but Sakura cried even harder.

"No! I'm sorry! W-we're teammates now, and I-I've been a jerk!" Sakura practically yelled.

"I-It's okay, Sakura-chan," Naruto replied nervously—but there were now furry ears growing out of his head and the lights were turning into this amazing sort of kaleidoscope of colors. The guilt still ate at Sakura all the same, even if the surroundings became interesting.

"Sakura, will you please move," her mother ordered, but Sakura was limp to the request—even if she wanted to comply, her muscles were all twitchy and the floor was moving like waves. Her mother made an annoyed sound and stood up.

"You're her teammate, right?" she asked Naruto coldly. The boy straightened up to attention and nodded.

"Y-yes, Haruno-san!"

"Then help me get her home," her mother said in an equally cold tone. "And don't you dare drop her," she threatened.

"No way, Haruno-san! I wouldn't ever drop Sakura-chan, dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed as if accepting a challenge. Sakura then watched as the blonde crouched down in front of her and gestured for her to climb onto his back. This was a traveling recovery position they'd been taught during one of their first aid lessons. Sakura limply moved onto Naruto's back and he caught her legs. The difference between this position and a piggy-back ride was that the carrier (Naruto in this case) tilted his torso forward more, so that if Sakura was unconscious, she couldn't swallow her own vomit or choke on her own blood. Alternatively, the carrier could position the unconscious person over their shoulder slightly so the carrier wouldn't have to angle their torso quite so much.

Sakura kept mumbling how sorry she was while the three of them walked in a tense sort of atmosphere. Eventually Sakura's rather hysterical episode stopped, but her legs were still twitching, so she couldn't trust herself to walk on her own. Instead, Sakura watched the hallucinatory ears on Naruto's head swivel this way and that as villagers watched them pass and whisper. Sakura started to reach out for one of the fluffy looking ears but only touched hair.

"Sakura-chan…?" Naruto asked in confusion. Her mother looked on with a clear disapproving frown.

"It was fluffy," Sakura mumbled. Naruto just shifted her weight slightly.

"Neh, Sakura-chan, why'd you call me –san before?" he asked as he fidgeted. "And why'd you call yourself a jerk? You're not a jerk, dattebayo—you're the most awesome, prettiest, smartest—" the blonde cut himself off as Sakura's mother shot him a look. He gave a nervous laugh as he looked down and scuffed his foot against the ground.

Sakura looked down at his shoulder. She was still reeling from the waves of guilt and shame, even if she wasn't sobbing now. She was a jerk—she had been mean and even cruel at times to someone she didn't even know, and now he was probably the golden man! It was like that old proverb about judging a book by its cover. Although, she still hated when Naruto tried to ask her out. It was so annoying, but she shouldn't be punching him in response.

"W-well, we'll be on the same team, so we should act professional with one another, right?" she reasoned quietly. "No more…Sasuke-kun," that was painful to say, "no more Naruto-baka, and no more Sakura-chan, alright?" She stressed the last one because she really wanted his stupid crush on her to end.

The boy furrowed his brow and kicked a pebble across the street. He shifted her weight again, while Sakura's mother piped in. "That does seem reasonable. Same with no inter-team infatuations," she said pointedly at Sakura.

"Wha's infaduation?" Naruto asked while mispronouncing the actual word.

"It means unproductive, useless, juvenile crushes," she replied in a clipped tone. Her mother was still staring at Sakura. "They are more likely to get you killed than lead to fruition," she added.

"Why would you want fruit?" Naruto asked in disgust, and Sakura couldn't stop herself from snorting.

Her mother looked displeased again—although, Sakura liked how her hair was now dancing in the air and changing different colors. "Fruition, boy, is to bear fruit—to be a success," her mother explained in annoyance. "And frankly, no twelve or thirteen-year-old should be having any romantic relations!" Her mother said this with a touch of finality.

Sakura frowned and stared down at Naruto's shoulders. Her mother had a point. After all she had seen today, how could she know Sasuke was safe to be around? What did even she actually know about Sasuke? He liked tomatoes, liked training, was the last Uchiha, was dreamy when he brooded, and brooded a lot. But in the end she didn't really know him. Who was to say what she saw in the vision wouldn't come to pass?

"Okay," Sakura murmured in defeat. "I'll…stop pursuing Sasuke-ku-san," Sakura managed to force the words out, but it was painful.

"Liking your teammates is really that bad?" Naruto asked after a moment. Sakura's mother only nodded grimly. Naruto ducked his head more. "But can't you be friends, 'tebayo?"

"Yeah, but my mom's right about trying to date teammates," Sakura replied before her mother could say something (likely) scathing. "We're bound to become close as teammates, but then that could get used against us, right? Like Iruka-sensei always said. So then we'd have to be careful about expressing our closeness, right?"

"So…" Naruto began to say, "we use –san so enemies won't know how close we are, 'tebayo?"

"Yeah," Sakura agreed.

"Sakura." Her mother called for her attention, and Sakura turned to look back at her mother's dancing hair. "Do you feel well enough to walk now?" she asked.

Sakura scrunched up her nose and flexed her legs—nope they still felt weak and twitchy. She shook her head. Naruto shifted her weight again, and she could feel his palms getting sweaty against her legs—she should feel grossed out about it, but she was beginning to feel very relaxed.

"Neh, Sakura-cha-san," Naruto began before correcting himself, "don't chaya think, maybe, we'll be super awesome teammates some day and –san will be weird?" he asked.

Sakura hummed and rested her head down on Naruto's orange jacket—it looked really soft and like clouds at sunset. "Well, maybe we could come up with nicknames with time, but we should be as professional as we can be until we gain that level of trust, right?" she asked. She felt much calmer and more relaxed than she had earlier, and the day's events no longer disturbed her as much. She smiled a little as she watched her mom's hair dance in the air—almost making shapes of real people. "We'll get strong, the both of us!" she added, her voice was almost serene as she took in the calm.

Hey! It looked like little silvery fishes were swimming through the air, or were those threads? They shimmered in the light and moved like sonic waves. She wanted to touch one.

Naruto began to laugh. "You better believe it!" he agreed.

Sakura had just reached out for one of the fish and caught it. Oh...it was a thread, not a fish. We can be the next Sannin, an older Naruto suddenly said beside her. He walked between young Naruto and Sakura's mother. He wasn't glowing now or wearing as much orange. In fact, he had a white sleeveless trench coat with flames at the bottom—hey, that kinda looked like the Yondaime's coat. She laughed a little.

"Maybe we'll be the next Sannin," she said cheerfully as she stared at the older Naruto who was dressed like an orange Yondaime.

The Naruto carrying her paused and tried to look over his shoulder at her. "Really?! You think we can be as great as the Sannin," the boy asked in excitement before his smile fell. "Or is it just because of Sasuke-teme?" he asked almost bitterly.

Sakura blinked and lost hold of the silvery thread. Older Naruto disappeared.

"Sasuke-san," she corrected automatically, but she had to stop herself from yelling at him like she'd use to. "And no, not just because Sasuke-san is on our team…" Sakura trailed off and bit her lip; it felt weird to say Sasuke-kun—Sasuke—wouldn't be the only reason their team could be great.

Sakura's mother had her lips pursed in displeasure, as usual when it came to Sasuke, but now Sakura wasn't sure if it wasn't also in response to Naruto. What did her mother have against the blonde besides him being an occasional nuisance? Still, her mother didn't say anything and opted to watch them in a calculating sort of way.

They were almost at her house now. The blonde was still quiet as if he couldn't believe Sakura right now. Sakura wistfully watched the thread-fishes pass above her head.

"I bet someday you'll be very powerful," Sakura murmured as one silvery thread seemingly swam down to her. She gently touched it with her finger as it curled around Naruto's shoulder. She felt a gentle sort of presence in her mind like a genjutsu; it whispered, He could be like the Rikudō Senin. She blinked at the whispering voice in her head, then the silvery thread drifted off back into the sky.

Naruto was frozen in place now, and she could feel her legs slipping out of his grasp. "Y-You really think I could be powerful?" he asked as if he couldn't believe this was really happening.

Sakura wrapped her arms around his chest lest she fall off. "Yeah," she replied cheerfully again.

Sakura's mother was now staring at them with her brow furrowed, but her lips were still pressed into a thin line. "Well…" she began awkwardly, "Uzumaki, why don't you take Sakura inside." Sakura could practically see her mother re-evaluating the boy. The blonde just nodded jerkily and followed Sakura's mother to the house.

"Neh, Haruno-san, Sakura-cha-san, what's wrong? Why can't Sakura-ch-san walk right now?" he asked as they were stepping into the house. Even though he kept almost adding –chan to her name, he was trying to follow Sakura's earlier suggestion.

"I drank some tea," Sakura answered calmly, while her mother frowned in disapproval.

"Just set her on the pillows next to her father in the living room," her mother ordered Naruto instead of commenting.

"Did he drink the tea too?" the boy asked warily.

"Yes," her mother deadpanned as Naruto set Sakura down beside her resting father.

"What kinda tea does that?" the blonde asked as he made a face.

"Only the best tea, Uzumaki boy," her father replied in a serene state as he lay sprawled out on several pillows. "Hey, why are you here?" her father asked as he raised himself onto his elbows and stared at the blonde boy. "Musume, do you see the ears too?" he whispered over to Sakura.

"Yep," Sakura replied. "I also see Kaasan's hair dancing, and the floors moving like waves."

Naruto was now staring at them with a perturbed look on his face. "Uh…should I tell our sensei you're sick?" he asked.

"Yes you should," Sakura's mother interjected before motioning toward the door. "Now you should run along," she said dismissing him. The woman then dropped her head forward and pinched the bridge of her nose.

Sakura distantly heard Naruto close the door before her mother walked away from them.

Sakura turned toward her father. His hair had always looked like a cherry blossom—even when his hair was wet it looked like droopy petals. Now, however, the resemblance was even more uncanny. She reached out to see if his hair felt as smooth as a petal—it didn't, it was still coarse to the touch. Why did his hair always stick out like that? It was like he was using chakra to make it stick out, but he wasn't.

Her father stretched his arms over his head, thus batting away her hands from further inspection. "So, what did you see, Musume?" he asked with a slight yawn.

"Naruto-san" she stuttered over the honorific, "is the golden man."

"Who's the golden man?" Sakura's mother asked. She had now returned with a glass of water and a wastebasket.

"The one in her apocalyptic vision who was saving the world," her father replied before sitting up and reaching for his own glass of water, which had been set off to the side.

"Yep," Sakura affirmed before frowning. "And I realized I've been so mean to him without a reason. I kept hitting and insulting him just because he was an idiot and annoying, but I don't know anything about him." The guilt was welling up again. "He's done nothing too bad and someday he'll be the golden man, but I kept being such a jerk."

"The golden man really saves the world?" her mother asked as she helped Sakura sit up. Sakura nodded as her mother pressed the glass to her lips. Sakura drank the water and realized just how thirsty she was—it was the most refreshing drink she had ever had. Her mother hummed contemplatively, like she was reassessing things. She then set Sakura back down and said she'd prepare something for them to eat.

"What else did you see, Musume?" her father asked in his effortless state of calm.

"I saw an older Sasuke-ku-san, trying to kill me with lightning in his fist," Sakura whispered with a frown. "I realized I don't know him at all either. What if he really is just…" Sakura couldn't finish the words and felt tears welling up.

Her father only hummed. "I never liked the Uchiha clan," he confessed. "Not since the Kyuubi attack, and not since they let your mother's sister die."

"They didn't let her die—they just didn't find Fujie-obasan in time," Sakura said with a frown. Her father just shrugged. "Neh, Tousan, why would you hate the Uchiha clan for what happened with the Kyuubi?" she asked.

He waved his hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter now," he stated. "What matters is that Uchiha boy is all by himself after a very bad trauma and he's been trained to kill—that's what keeps me up at night." He then smiled slightly and added, "At least he's not on your team."

"He is, Tousan."

"Shit."

"Ayumu!" her mother chastised—she seemed to like sneaking up on them (at least in their current state). Her father jumped slightly and then coughed before laughing. Sakura snorted into her hands. "Oh don't start laughing, young lady. I don't want you repeating that foul language." Sakura tried to stifle her laughter, but she failed. Then, her father and mother joined in with their own laughs, and the tense mood from earlier dissipated.

"I'll be okay, Tousan," Sakura said after a moment. "I will try to not be blinded by him anymore." Although he still is really dreamy, she thought before mentally berating herself. What if he becomes that murderous jerk she had seen before?!

"That's my girl," her father said with a smile.

They then lay on the pillows for some time while Sakura's mother helped them through the hallucinations. Overall, it was peaceful and her father even began to describe some of the tea clump formations in tea-reading. He also related a few stories about his cousins when they had partaken in the special tea. One cousin had seen a giant dragon slithering through the sky, but it had only been the northern lights moving against the stars. She asked him what the lights were like, and he said they differed from Kumo to Iwa. In Iwa they took on more greens and blues, while Kumo had more purples thrown in. He said the lights moved like waves through the sky. Sakura mentioned the fish-threads and her father frowned.

"Obaa-san said she always saw green tendrils in the sky when she drank the tea. Sometimes they looked like cats, but then she liked cats..." her father murmured tiredly.

"Yeah?" Sakura asked dazedly as she stared up at the ceiling. Between the kaleidoscope of bursting colors coming from the ceiling, Sakura saw the fishy-threads again. They seemed to dance and whirl above her head in an unending sea of movement. Sometimes the tendrils moved down close enough for her to touch. Sakura imagined they were examining her the way a cat or dog does. She giggled. One rather bossy fish-thread came right up to her and coiled on her head. She called it bossy because it pushed the other inspecting threads out of the way. As it landed on her, Sakura felt transported.

There were coffins in front of her, about a half-dozen. Ninja stood before the coffins, but she could only see two clearly. Both ninja were young within her purview. One was a child with pale blond hair. He had two different eyes, just like the masked man who killed her. However, this child had a stitch like scar running over his left eye and he carried a staff with a flower on the end. The other young ninja was a teenage girl with bright blue hair and tanned skin—she was even tanner than Naruto. Both figures' faces almost looked like masks that had been cracked and glued back together. It was strange, but then the thread left Sakura, seemingly satisfied with itself.

Sakura's mother gave them lunch and sat with them on the pillows. It was interesting eating while the world around her kept moving, bending, and changing into different colors. She even smelled mint and basil though there was none of that on her plate.

Another thread came down to dance by her head, but it did not touch her. Frowning, Sakura reached for it, but it slipped away. She frowned and batted at it again. She had barely caught it before it slipped her grasp. Still, in that moment she saw and felt herself punching down into the ground. But she wasn't punching normally. No, Sakura let a burst of chakra spread out at impact and it created a giant crater. Sakura frowned when that fishy-thread swam far away from her.

"Dear, what are you trying to catch?" her mother asked worriedly.

"The threads," Sakura replied distractedly. She was going to catch another one if it was the last thing she did! There was a sluggish one above her now. It looked fat. She grabbed it easily and gasped. Sakura saw the many all black-eyed people whose faces looked like cracked masks. Some she thought she recognized from text books, others she could not name. There were so many and they were fighting people from all the nations. It was overwhelming and caused a searing headache. She let the thread go like it had burned her. It just swam there lazily and she thought it was mocking her. Sakura pouted and lay back down. She wasn't dumb enough to try again. She'd wait for more to land on her then.

One almost coquettish fishy-thread kept sauntering up to her before darting away. This went on for a minute before it made its way down to her. It brushed against her hand on one of the many pillows. For a brief moment she saw a battlefield before her. Fires rose up in columns, and there were literally tens of thousands of people fighting these white creatures and the people with the black eyes and cracked faces. She saw people dying in what felt like droves. Sakura pulled her hand away from the thread. It floated back up. These coming battles would be immense and she felt so small. What would come someday would shape the world—no rock the world. But who was Sakura? She was a Sasuke fangirl and a top kunoichi, but how would that make her a formidable kunoichi in the end? Would she be able to keep up with the golden man or stop a crazed Sasuke from killing her?

She lay there questioning this and dodging the threads. She didn't want to see anything more. Perhaps an hour passed as Sakura worried and her thoughts spiraled. Part of her noticed the walls had stopped moving and the colors had dimmed to their normal hues, but she was too distressed to appreciate her high coming to an end.

"Why did I join the academy?" Sakura asked her father after a long moment. Her legs no longer convulsed and she felt strength in her limbs again, but she had not wanted to move from the pillows as she ruminated.

Her parents looked over at her with frowns marring their expressions. "I believe it was to follow Ino-chan," her father said after a moment in confusion; however, her mother shook her head.

"No, Ayumu, that was what she told you," her mother argued before smiling gently down at Sakura. "You told me you wanted to protect people, like Ino-chan had done for you," her mother murmured as she combed her fingers through Sakura's hair. "When I told you a ninja should look out for the civilians too, you told me you didn't want anyone to lose their sisters like I had—you wanted to save people."

Sakura frowned and leaned into her mother's touch. She could remember emulating Ino, but the rest was only a vague memory. "Do you think I can do it?" she asked.

"Protect people?" her mother asked before nodding her head adamantly. "If you put your mind to it, Sweetheart, you can achieve anything."

Her father laughed slightly. "She sure could," he agreed. "Remember when I used to have her help me calculate the materials we'd need for building projects," her father asked her mother. He then turned toward Sakura and added, "You could find out how much lumber we needed for a room in seconds."

"Oh! Remember how excited you'd get about decryption homework?" her mother asked animatedly, and Sakura smiled slightly as she nodded.

"Yeah, I always loved learning new ciphers."

"Loved learning?" her father repeated incredulously. "Musume, do you remember all of the ciphers you made?" he asked.

Sakura blushed and looked down at the pillows around her. She still had some of her ciphers in a drawer under her sewing things.

Her parents began to sober. "It was heartbreaking to see all your efforts turn toward that Uchiha boy," her mother lamented. Those words stung, and Sakura suddenly felt ashamed of herself.

"You lost your friendship with Ino-chan over it too, and all for a boy who will only bring death into your life," her father added quietly.

"D-do you think I shouldn't be a ninja anymore?" she asked her parents as she sat up and faced them. They both stilled. When her parents didn't speak, Sakura started to get up from the pillows. "You don't think I should be a kunoichi," she half-accused.

"No parent wants their child to enter a dangerous career, Musume," her father tried to reason.

"You also haven't been going into it with the purest of intentions lately," her mother added.

"But I want to be a kunoichi!" she exclaimed, and her parents only stared as if asking her why. And that was the question, wasn't it? Why did she want to be a kunoichi?

"I-I'm already late for the meeting with the instructor," she said in order to deflect attention. She then moved toward the entranceway. Her parents didn't try to stop her as she put on her shoes and raced away from them. All the while, Sakura kept wondering: why did she still wanted to be a ninja?

TBC

A/N: For those wondering what I've changed... I've flushed out the mythos (if you will) behind the premonitions, and flushed out the parents a little more. Ayumu means "Walk" "dream," which fits with his family being psychics who have prophetic dreams (this was recommended by a reviewer back when I first put up the story). I also added in what I've learned about tea reading, and I made the "special" tea have some rhyme and reason as well as a more understandable danger. (Yes it is a psychedelic tea and I did look up the actual physical symptoms. But, no, I have never been high; although, I have had conversations with people who have done hallucinogenics—panic seems to be common during bad trips.) Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed ~ much love, depressedchildren

Now, things to note for the story (since each writer adapts the source material differently):
1) Sakura does not know the full circumstances surrounding all Sasuke-related things. Thus, she will be a biased narrator—very biased. However, the whole team will narrate eventually.

2) My understanding of chakra is that it is physical and spiritual energies mixed together. To increase chakra, one must hone the body and the spirit. Honing the body is easy (e.g. physical conditioning), but honing the spirit is different. Therefore, meditation and like practices will hone the spiritual energies in this fic.

3) There will be no excessive weight training in order to boost the physical conditioning. Frankly, the physics behind it in anime/manga is baffling. Surely someone carrying an obscene amount of weight on each limb would break the tree branches or the floors they step on.

4) I have lengthened the timeline for this fic. Wave and the Chuunin arc is about 6 months after academy graduation. This length of time feels more appropriate for when personnel can vie for promotion. In most armed forces, one must do tours or seek further education/training before he or she is up for promotion. Why wouldn't it be the same here during peace time?

5) Sakura's abilities are not meant to be a cure all. There should still be conflict and uncertainty; she can't fix everything and shouldn't fix everything.

6) While Sakura's abilities are hereditary, I do not want to call it a bloodline. My understanding is that bloodlines are for shinobi clans and have specific techniques based off of it. Sakura's paternal family are all civilians and there are no "clan techniques," hence I don't want to call it a bloodline. Also, given that other creatures in the universe have prophetic abilities, this shouldn't be too farfetched.