Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto characters, whose births are credited to Masashi Kishimoto. And I admit a majority of these "bending" ideas belong to the creates of AtLA.

Several Years Ago

When I was young, I would hide in the woods and cry. The darkness was comforting, and the trees seemed to bend to hide me from the bullies. Sometimes they got to me before I reached my safe sanctuary. Luckily they never followed me all the way, and I was always careful in the routes I took. Always varying, always changing, but I never lost my sense of direction. I was smarter than them, I did well to hide it because they already made fun of my wide forehead. I didn't need them being angry at my intelligence either.

On an especially bad day, when even Ino turned on me because I confessed my feelings about Sasuke-kun, I stayed in the woods until nightfall. I lost track of time, crying myself out and sleeping for escape. The moon was very bright that night. I remember. Because I saw a figure shooting across the treetops. Fast, like an ninja, but no moonlight glinting from a village forehead protector. Surely the figure was an enemy, with ninja training and no evidence of village allegiance, he must have been there to kill someone. They had taught us the basics of recognizing enemies in class, because kunoichi especially needed to defend themselves from unwarranted leery attacks.

Suddenly frightened and wishing to be home as soon as possible, I started running back to my home. But that day, I had wandered deep, deep into the woods. My pants and my tiny running feet were heard by the mysterious figure, who landed in front of me. Gasping, I fell back. The figure was silently approaching.

I did what I was taught in class; look for distinguishing details. As the person moved closer towards the light, I noticed the slightness of the person's build, the curve of the body, the lightness with which the person strode towards me. From the hilt designs, it looked like the stranger had two katana and a chokuto strapped to their back. It looked like a woman, with the beautiful long dark hair and a noticeable curve in the upper chest, but I couldn't quite tell because of the mask covering the lower half of her face. At the figure's next step, I saw something that definitely solidified my conclusion; a very, very pregnant belly. This woman had kids growing inside her, how could she move so lightly and silently within my village? Her enemy's territory?

I took another step back, my back hitting a tree. I was still too young for combat training, and I had no one to teach me any techniques or defense skills since both my parents are non-ninjas. Tears started gathering in my eyes, but I blinked them back rapidly. I refuse to die a crybaby, I refuse to let Ino and Sasuke hear about my terrified screams the next morning and see my self-soiled corpse when I die.

I was about to attempt escape again, when I saw something gripped in the woman's hand. A familiar white fan and red circular pattern. The crest that Sasuke-kun always wore on his back. She must have done something with my beloved Sasuke-kun! I grabbed the heaviest branch I felt with my hand, and I ran charging at her, screaming a battle-cry. I must alert the village somehow.

But before I could take a third running step towards her, knocked the branch out of my hand with one of hers, and she covered my mouth with the other, the one holding the crest. She ran be back to the tree and lifted me to her eye-level, studying my face. She has beautiful eyes, I remember thinking. Stony grey, some parts of her irises shining like starlight. Her skin was pale, soft, and beautiful. And her hands gripped me with more strength than I expected a pregnant woman to exert.

The tears flowed freely now, and it seems the woman noticed. Because she slowly lowered me to the ground, but she kept one hand on me. The other she let go. After silently making me agree to keep quiet, she let go of my completely and I coughed. The woman stood up to her full height and looked at me.

"What-did you do-with Sasuke-kun?" I coughed at her.

She didn't answer.

"I swear, if you hurt him..." I coughed again.

"Do you love him?" Her voice was startingly quiet, soft, almost musical.

I can still only cough, but she sees something in my eyes and her eyes soften a little.

"Would you give your life for him?"

"Yes," I answer immediately. I would do anything for him, probably even kill, if it meant his survival and happiness. "I don't care even if there are stronger people out there, I just want to be with Sasuke-kun and make him happy." I can't believe I've just told this stranger more about my feelings for Sasuke-kun than I've ever told anyone else.

"If you had power that no one else would ever have, would you use it for him?" She asks for a pause.

"Yes."

The woman studies me more. I stand up straight, confidently, like my kaa-san always told me to. I will not wither again under this woman's gaze. The woman pushes down her mask, so I can see the rest of the face. She is beautiful, a small smile on her face.

Then, the woman does something I've never seen before. She makes circular motions with her hand, body twirling and turning, and wind literally forms under her pliant hands into a ball. She lets me gawk at it for a while, before letting it spin itself out. Then, she drops to ground and moving her hands like a snake, I watch in fascination as she literally draws a water globe from the dew on the grass under her palms. She smiles at my shock, and splits the ball of water into tiny droplets and manipulates them so they are dancing around me. I laugh, despite myself. Suddenly, all the water droplets collapse back to the ground, like rainfall. Looking back at the woman, I see her drop into a strong crouch, and she moves with more athleticism and flexiblity than I expected a pregnant woman to be capable of as fire spews from her bare hands. Leaping, twirling, bending. It was like watching a primitive dance. After a while, with both feet planted on the ground, she stayed in that position, almost unmoving as the earth rose to meet her hands.

This brief show fascinated me. This woman, this foreign, pregnant woman was doing all of this without using ninja seals! It was amazing.

"Would you like to learn?" She asked me with, the smile still on her face. She rose back to a standing position, and she made no movement towards me.

"Amazing!" I saw in wonder. "How did you do that?"

"Are you willing to train with me?" The woman asks again, a smile glimmering in her eyes, too.

To be strong, to be able to protect Sasuke-kun, too? It was a dream come true. I could do it, I could finally become the strong kunoichi I've been wishing to be. I wouldn't just be "civilian crybaby Sakura" with the large forehead, weak and unnoticed. I could be acknowledged by the others as a ninja, finally earn a position in the ninja world no matter how small it is.

I look straight into the woman's eyes. "When do we start?"

AN: I'm rewatching Naruto because I'm missing watching addicting anime, and this concept has been with me since before the manga ended. I need to know, should I continue? Because I still have a lot of scenarios running through my head with this story, but I'm not sure if this is a concept anyone'd enjoy besides me. If someone tells me they don't like it, I will immediately take this down.

Also, I know that I'm a mess since I hardly update regularly anyway...please forgive me! But reviews help, because they help inspire me, help lead the characters into new places.

On that note, Reviews please!