Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the Fate Series. They belong to Kishimoto Masashi and Kinoko Nasu (& co.) respectively. Well, I guess I own the OCs...

Sakura was pretty surprised that she got used to living in an orphanage this easily. The horrible tales she had heard of the Konoha Orphanage: Peeling wallpapers, scuttling cockroaches, abusive caretakers, and children who would go to great lengths to sabotage each other's chances of being adopted…Those tales had caused a lot of unease and apprehension for her when she was first dropped off at the orphanage, but the orphanage turned out to be quite nice (or maybe the Konoha Orphanage was just extra nasty). The caretakers, sisters, Sakura reminded herself, were strict and not exactly motherly, but they were never dismissive of the orphans and they did their best to meet the children's physical and emotional needs. The other orphans, most of them older than her, were nice in general; the few spiteful ones who were stupid enough to make fun of her large forehead or hair color had been rewarded with a punch (or several in some cases), and after that they made sure to avoid her at all costs. To be honest, compared to life in the orphanage Sakura had more trouble getting used to the city, because unlike Konoha, trees and greenery were scarce here, and she hated how the weather was damp and depressing for nearly every single day, in fact, she was certain the heavy fogs in this city were even worse than Kirigakure's, and that was saying a lot.

She stirred the stew absent-mindedly (dinner preparation was her Chore of the Day) as her mind wandered back to the Fourth Shinobi World War and how she ended up in this strange new world.

Sakura could feel the adrenaline coursing through her veins, her heart thumping madly against her ribcage, chakra flowing down her arm as her fist collided with Kaguya's skull, propelling the Goddess downwards and trapping her in between Naruto and Sasuke's palms. When the Rikudō Chibaku Tensei was activated, Sakura saw a tremor of despair that crept into the Kaguya's pale orbs as well as how a swirl of black and white began to permeate the Goddess's Rinne Sharingan. It was strangely captivating, and Sakura took a moment too long to admire the sight when, to her horror, she felt herself being sucked towards and into the now monochrome Rinne Sharingan.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto's cry of utter desperation was the last thing she heard before whiteness completely engulfed her and she blacked out.

She recalled how terrified she was when she realized she got transported to a completely different world, a different dimension, and worse of all she was trapped in an infant's body. The pinkette didn't know if it was another trick of the Rabbit Goddess or an unaccounted side-effect of the Rikudō Chibaku Tensei that caused everything in her body (except for her intelligence) to regress into an infant-like state, and for a long time she had been seething over her idiocy of not retreating from Kaguya's side earlier. However, Sakura was thankful that her mother had cleverly sewn her first name into her shirt's hemline before she departed for war, and that a sister of Japanese descendent had been around when she was delivered to the orphanage, or else she would have probably ended up with some hideous other-worldly names. Thank goodness it didn't turn out to be that bad.

"Sakura."

The pink-haired child was pulled from her thoughts as one of the sisters entered the kitchen. "Come with me. A couple has expressed their wish to talk to you," a small smile tugged at the sister's lips as she ushered Sakura away from the stove, "it seems they would like to adopt you, my child. How wonderful!"

"You said she could walk on water?"

"Those were the words of other children. They once saw her save another drowning child, but it is impossible for her to walk on water. It must have been a trick of the eye."

"But would you say this child, Sakura, is somewhat different from the others?"

"…Yes. Sakura is…different. Talented, for sure, but she is not what you would exactly call normal. Once she turned four she has been training non-stop for hours on end, on a daily basis, and she has a bad habit of flinging knives and forks at trees and shrubbery when she thinks no one is around. The child never explains her actions, and that is quite worrisome."

"Can we speak to her in person? She does sound like a handful, but I believe she is the child my wife and I have always hoped to have."

Sakura Hortensia. That was her name now. There was a nice ring to it, yes, but Sakura knew nothing would ever beat Haruno Sakura (unless it was Uchiha Sakura, a part of her mind squealed). That being said, Sakura was glad that her adoptive parents were accepting, and even encouraging, of her strange habits. They were not horrified with her grueling training routine, and they even gifted her with (blunt) kunais and shurikens when Sakura expressed her interest in the ninja arts due to a few 'inspiring' ninja action movies. However, there was a glint in the Hortensias' eyes that Sakura was very wary of, as if they were assessing her potential and abilities for…Something she couldn't yet comprehend. The years passed by peacefully until one day, the puzzle that had been on Sakura's mind forever was finally solved when the Hortensias introduced her to magecraft training on her tenth birthday.

"So both of you are magi?"

"Yes. Most members of the Hortensia Family are well-trained magi. In fact, our family used to be one of the most renowned magi clans across Europe."

"Used to?"

"…Things have changed. The world of the magus is more complicated than you can imagine Sakura."

"But why would you be willing to train me to become a magus? I'm, well, I'm just an orphan."

"We…Couldn't produce an heir, but we need one, an heir to lead the Hortensia Family after me and continue its legacy. I have a niece, but her affiliation with the Church means that she can never become the heir. I'll explain it all to you later Sakura, but we hope you are willing to become a magus. Your talent is unbelievable, not just with your intelligence and physical prowess, but also your Magical Circuits, we've never seen anyone's Magic Circuits as developed as yours at your age. Trust me Sakura, you have what it takes to be a brilliant magus."

In the end, Sakura agreed to undertake magecraft training. A part of her enjoyed the thrill of learning new knowledge and being acknowledged as talented in magecraft, but another part of her was hoping magecraft would offer her a way to return to her world. Even though this world was fascinating and she genuinely liked her adoptive parents (despite being 'used' by them), Sakura had no intention to forever remain in this foreign dimension. Konoha was where she truly belonged, and throughout the years Sakura had tried so many ways to return to her world, to her Konoha, but none had succeeded. She had tried to summon Katsuyu, but the connection to Shikkotsu Forest was forever blocked, and the experiments she had with time-space travel jutsus often resulted in explosions and severe chakra depletion on her end. Hopefully, magecraft would lead her to a solution.

On the fifth year of her magecraft training, Sakura's adoptive parents passed away in an unfortunate plane crash, leaving behind half of their fortunes to her (the other half went to her cousin) and a will that introduced Sakura to the Holy Grail War. Apparently, her father had intended to participate in the upcoming Holy Grail War, but since he had passed away it was up to Sakura to inherit his will and win the Holy Grail War in order to resume the Hortensia Family back to its former glory. However, Sakura had her own selfish reasons, because what she saw in the Holy Grail War was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for her to go back home. The Holy Grail would grant any wish to whoever claimed it, and the kunoichi-turned magus told herself she would, no, she had to become the victor, the only person to lay hands on the Holy Grail and wish upon it.

This is my chance, Sakura's resolve hardened as she held the catalyst for the servant summoning ritual close to her chest, my only chance. She would summon her servant, they would win this war together, and she would wish for her return to Konoha.

Let silver and steel be the essence.
Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation
Let my great Master Hortensia be the ancestor
Let rise a war against the wind that shall fall
Let the four cardinal gates close.
Let the three-forked road from the Crown leading to the Kingdom rotate.

I hereby declare.
Your body shall serve under me.
My fate shall be your sword.
Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail
If you will submit to this will and this reason...Then answer!

I hereby swear.
That I shall attain all virtues of Heaven.
That I shall have domination over all evils of Hell.

From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three greet words of power,
Come forth from the ring of restraint,
O Keeper of the Holy Balance!

A/N

So I've had this idea ever since I watched Fate/Apocrypha (which was quite a long time ago). It took me a while to muster the motivation to write this instead of having endless plot bunnies hopping in my head and disturbing my dreams, but I managed. Yay.

I was doing some reading on the Fate Wikia before I started on the Prologue, and I just stumbled across Claudia Hortensia's article (btw she's Kirei Kotomine's wife). I decided that Sakura being adopted by my OC Hortensias makes sense, 'cause A) The Hortensia Family is canon, so I don't have to make up a random surname and B) Not much has been said about the Hortensia Family, so I can be creative with the family background and its connection with the Mage Association/Church.

The Cover Image will be constantly changed, because I like to try out different designs for Sakura's Command Seal. :D