Hey, I've edited this chapter. Since I'm just editing it, not completely rewriting it, and not adding anything new, it's still short. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

"Sakura, get up,'' a rather loud voice called from the kitchen. A sleepy sixteen year old pink haired girl groaned in response. Usually she was all for getting up early, but the day before she was up very late helping some wounded patients in the tiny hospital in Tora. She didn't get back till about midnight, and then she had to do her chores around the house. By the time she went to bed it was probably around one in the morning.

"Coming Tayo!" she called as she slowly got up from her warm haven. As much as she wanted to sleep, she didn't want to face the wrath of her step mother. Many a time had she attempted to sleep in only to get a bucket of freezing cold water splashed onto her face. It really was not a nice way to wake up in the morning, though it did make you feel very awake afterwards.

As her feet touched the cold wooden floor, she quickly made her bed. To be quite honest she didn't really see the point of it. After all, you were just going to sleep in it again later on in the day. But again, she didn't want to get Tayo annoyed with her.

She went over to her dresser to pick out some clothes. After one moment of consideration, she picked out a pair of worn brown breeches and a green shirt. It used to be part of a dress, but thankfully she had managed to convince Tayo to cut it into a shirt. She hated dresses; they were so uncomfortable and hard to move in. Just the thought of wearing them everyday like most females did made her shudder.

That was something that seemed to separate her from most people. Even in the small village of Tora, she would stand out because of her fashion choices, well that and her signature pink hair. But those weren't the only reasons why she was different although they were the only reasons that other people knew about.

Sakura was a princess. Yes, seeing as how she lived in the forest with her step mother, volunteered in the hospital in Tora, and would willingly dress in clothes that could resemble rags, it was hard to believe. It was a fact only three people knew about. Her and her parents back in Heilig. Her step father, Haru, had known it but unfortunately he had taken the knowledge to his grave.

After she was dressed and had deposited her night clothes into a small hamper, she quickly braided her long pink hair, washed face in a small basin full of water, and went down the stairs of the cottage to the kitchen. When arriving she saw that Tayo was already cleaning the plate that she had used for her own breakfast. Upon seeing Sakura, Tayo pointed to the table, where a piece of bread with butter on it and a glass of water were located. "Thanks," she told Tayo as she sat down.

As she ate, she thought about everything that Tayo did for her. Sakura was always interested in medicine and upon seeing that, Tayo had taken it upon herself to teach the pink haired girl more about it. Tayo also decided to look after the girl, even after her husband had died. She was like a second mother to Sakura.

Sakura didn't know much about her actual mother. She was born in the palace of Heilig, but she didn't remember anything about the palace or her parents. At the age of two the kingdom of Heilig had been involved in a war and for safety reasons Sakura had been shipped off to the place where she was currently residing. Originally it had just been her and Haru. He was a kind man who had taught her self-defence and archery. When she had turned ten, Haru had married Tayo, who had just moved into the village from another called Naboo and the three became a small family. Unfortunately just one year later Haru had died in a bush fire leaving Sakura and Tayo alone. However the two had managed well. Tayo was a traveling healer and would go to houses where people were too ill to be taken to a hospital on horseback or on a carriage while Sakura would help out in the hospital. While Tayo would handle all of the house work inside Sakura would do all the necessary chores outside such as chopping fire wood and taking care of the horses.

Soon Sakura finished her small meal. "Thank you," she told Tayo as she put her dishes into the sink. She then walked out of the house to their small stable. They owned two horses; a tall, black horse with a love of speed who belonged to Sakura. The other was an older, calmer horse they called Alba. She gave both of the horses more feed then led them out to a small nearby stream for water. After that she put Alba back into the stable and rode Blackfire bareback into Tora.

After a thirty minute ride, she arrived in the village. The girl immediately went over to the hospital, flashing smiles at those who greeted her. After arriving at the hospital, which from the outside just appeared to be a large house, the pink haired medic dismounted Blackfire and went in to the hospital. Sakura didn't need to tie her horse, instead she allowed Blackfire to wander around, knowing Blackfire would always come back when it was time to do so.

When she walked into the hospital, she went past a few rooms in search of Taka, the hospital's main healer. She found the middle aged women spoon feeding a patient. "Hey Taka," Sakura greeted her.

"Hello Sakura, ready to help me now?'' Taka asked with a smile, looking up from her task.

"Yes, let's start,'' Sakura answered her, returning the smile. Taka would always ask the exact same question and Sakura would always have that answer. It was a sort of routine the two shared.

Sakura started walking around the hospital, helping patients and assisting other healers. She quickly lost track of time and was focused solely on her work. That continued until Taka came into the room and told Sakura that she should return home before it got too dark out. Sakura nodded, told Taka goodbye, and rode Blackfire (who was there waiting for her) back to her home in the forest. That was her usual routine that she did every day. Last night was an exception; she needed to stay longer since some middle aged men, drunk off of rum, decided that it was a good idea to see if they could jump off their roofs onto their horses. Obviously it didn't end very well.

She arrived home just as darkness was beginning to spread across the sky. Then she fed and watered the horses, checked the fire wood (they still had a big supply), checked if anything needed to be fixed around the stable and went inside the house. She and Tayo chatted over what they had done throughout the day while eating supper. Sakura told her about some kid mistaking her for his mother and basically trying to latch himself to her when she was in his room. And Tayo in turn told her about an entire family that had small pox and how sorry she felt for them.

When supper was over, Sakura returned to the stable to brush the horses, then sat down on the grass to look up at the stars. It would be amazing if her life would always be like this. Unlike some other teens, the young medic wasn't looking to have adventure in her life, or even romance. The life the pink haired girl had was good just the way it was. That was the main reason why when her parents sent a secret messenger last year, asking if their daughter wanted to return to the palace, Sakura declined. Why would she want to live some boring life as a spoiled princess? Plus, what would the medic tell Tayo and the people in the village? After all, it wasn't like the pinkette could just tell them "hey, believe it or not I'm actually a princess and I've just been pretending to live like a normal person here. I'm going to go back to the palace now, bye!" Somehow she didn't see that going very well.

Sometimes she herself found it hard to believe that she was a princess. It if it wasn't for a small tattoo that had been branded to her shoulder a few months after birth, and a necklace the girl always wore which showed that the person who wore it was a member of royalty; the medic would have thought it to be untrue. She took out the necklace from under her shirt and stared at it, fingering the design at the same time. It was an eagle surrounded by a star; an identical design was embedded in the tattoo on her arm. The eagle was the symbol for Heilig, and the star symbolized royalty. The necklace itself was made of gold. Sakura, being a rather simple person, almost felt disgusted thinking about it. Here the princess was, wearing some of the world's most expensive jewellery while other people out there were starving, not even able to buy a crust of bread. She quickly tucked the necklace back into her shirt and stared at the stars once more.

Sakura remained like that until Tayo called for her come back in and get some sleep, unless the girl planned on sleeping on the grass. Since Sakura enjoyed dozing off in a bed, she quickly complied. The pinkette told Tayo goodnight, went upstairs, changed into night clothes, and crawled into bed. Her last thoughts were about how many people needed to be treated tomorrow in the hospital. There probably wouldn't be too many people in it tomorrow. The princess had no idea how wrong she was going to be, and it was all because of her.