A/N: In this chapter you may notice I use the word crone. It is more commonly used as an insulting term but in this fiction I merely use it as a descriptive noun.

Warning: Crack pairings

Disclaimer: If you believe I own Naruto, you are WRONG.

Chapter 2

Dark Premonitions

Ino was admiring herself in a relatively small mirror they had out for people who tried on charms. After thinking about it a little (because if she thought too much it would give her a headache though she would never admit it) she had decided that it would be too much for the beauty charm to improve on perfection. Instead, she decided to go with the love charm.

Suddenly a reluctant looking Sakura was pulled out by an excited fortune teller. What was her name again? I'm pretty sure it was Misaki. Momo-chan ran up to Misaki, who rushed right past her.

"Momo, tell our sisters we have a customer for Grandmother." Misaki muttered to the girl before disappearing behind yet another curtain with Sakura close behind.

Just how many of those do they have in this place? Wait a minute. Isn't Grandmother the best fortune teller here? NO FAIR! I wanted to see her, but they told me only certain people can see her. Why does Sakura get to go and instead of me? Ino wondered.

"Wait! I'm going with Sakura! I want to see for myself how great this fortune teller is!" Ino demanded.

Misaki came back out and put on a business smile. "Yes of course. I'm going to invite all of Sakura's friends. It is very rare for Grandmother to do a reading so on the exciting occasions she does everyone in the tent is invited. To tell you the truth even I have never seen her do one."

"That's right Misaki! You were away when she did the fortune of the last customer she had. Oh that makes it even more exciting, and since I can't remember the one from a decade ago, it's like it's both our first times to see it!" Momo exclaimed gleefully.

"Momo, I told you to quickly gather everyone. Please, you must learn to listen to your elders." Misaki scolded with exasperation but no real anger.

"No need to berate her, Misaki." Megumi said gently.

"She probably figured we would hear you. The curtains do have a soundproofing charm, but it doesn't work when we're eavesdropping." Yuka stated mischievously.

"W-what's g-going on Hikari-san?" Hinata stuttered as she stumbled out after Hikari.

"Megumi-san, is everything alright?" Tenten inquired as she, too, came peeking out from behind the curtain.

"What are you all going to do with Sakura?" Temari questioned slightly on the cautious side. She was certain that Yuka, at least, did this because she felt the need to use her "gift" if it in fact existed. One thing was certain. Yuka believed she could predict the future. However Yuka had admitted to Temari that the future wasn't set in stone and not even the revered Grandmother could predict with 100% accuracy. What the sisters did was make people aware of the path they were currently taking. If they get off that path, no one knows where they can end up.

Misaki motioned for everyone to follow her, but then paused in the next instant. She spoke in a barely audible voice. "Just to let you know Grandmother's room is pitch black. You must place your trust in us for the moment, and allow us to guide you. Don't fear the darkness. It will reveal things to you that you never would have noticed otherwise. Do not doubt us. We will not steer you wrong."

"How can you see if we can't?" Tenten asked.

"You're silly Ten-chan! We will be using our gifts to see." Megumi giggled out her reply.

-Inside Grandmother's room-

"Sakura, Grandmother, we're here." Misaki called

The girls did indeed notice things they hadn't before. The crickets chirping outside and the wind blowing just enough to rustle the leaves sounded like music. They realized how tired they were and how they could feel Sakura's desire to go home. Most of all they noticed that Sakura was the only visible person in the room … because she was glowing slightly.

"Misaki, I feel our guests' discomfort light some of the scented candles to help them relax. Use the cinnamon candles. They clear my foggy mind and help me concentrate" A crackling voice replied.

Misaki did as she was told and lit the candles. As the candles brightened the room, Sakura and the girls began to notice something was off. Grandmother was smiling gently at no one in particular. Her eyes were unfocused and milky white. They were almost as pale as Hinata's eyes. Grandmother was blind.

"Wait a minute!" Sakura began. "Can she even do a reading? She's blind!" She couldn't believe this. Didn't these "readings" involve looking at something like a crystal ball or cards?

The sisters gasped at Sakura's words except for Grandmother. The crone cackled. "I like this one. She's got spunk. The others just sit there meekly, not believing a word, but they decide to 'humor the old bird.' They aren't so cynical once the predictions start coming true. After all, the people who don't believe us always have their predictions come true. Yes, child, it is true that I'm blind, but that doesn't mean I can't see. Please come and sit in the chair across from me. If you would just hold out your hand I will do your reading."

Sakura knew this wasn't an ordinary woman. She was blind, but even when Sakura moved without making a sound her eyes followed her every move. Her eyes had changed as well. They had taken on an eerie bluish glow, and seemed focused on her face. Even if I hadn't been moving silently, should this woman be able to find my face so easily? This is so weird. Sakura thought as she took a seat and held out her hand.

The crone grasped at it almost eagerly. As soon as they touched however she recoiled and gasped. "Grandmother, what is it?" Momo asked tentatively, but also with a great deal of concern for both Grandmother and the nice Ms. Sakura.

"If you were more patient, Momo I would have told you by now. It's just that I've never seen so many bonds and of such variety! It blurs my vision a bit. Let's see, there is everything from a struggling artist to the heirs of multimillion dollar corporations is there in her heart. They all want her affections. That isn't what worries me though. It's what Sakura is that worries me."

Sakura stiffened. A memory she always tried to keep suppressed was rising to the surface.

-Flashback-

Sakura had fallen asleep in the car. She awoke to the worst possible sight, her parents unconscious and bleeding. She had awoken to screeching tires and the sound of cars colliding. A crash was not an accurate word to describe it. It sounded more like an explosion to her thirteen year old self. She heard someone screaming and realized it was herself.

"Mom, Dad, please wake up!" She cried. Then for reasons unknown to her at the time she put her hands over their injuries and started to focus all her energy into her hands. Heal them, please heal them. I need them. She chanted internally. Her hands began to glow green and the lacerations on her parents bodies began to close.

-Two weeks later-

Her parents had miraculously healed. According to the doctors it was like their bodies had a strange energy that was accelerating and amplifying their natural healing abilities. Despite their fast recovery, her parents were tense and jumpy. That's when they took Sakura aside to tell her the truth.

"What do you mean I'm not your daughter?" Sakura asked in a disturbingly calm voice. "Let me get this straight. I'm not your daughter. I was given to you by a beautiful woman named Tsunade. Tsunade is a goddess of healing and strength whose powers were passed on to me and you're saying that the "strange energy" the doctors were talking about is my energy. To top that off my father was human but died from a bullet to the heart and his murderer is still not found. My mother disappeared shortly after leaving me with you."

Her parents nodded, silently begging her to believe them. They knew it was a farfetched tale. No one in their right mind would believe it, but they were dead serious.

"As for you two, you are completely incapable of having children naturally. You tried artificial insemination, but the baby didn't survive. You have always wanted children, but the pain of losing a child was too much so you gave up. When Tsunade offered you a healthy baby, you took up her offer without question and raised me as your own daughter." Sakura repeated her parents' story word for word in that same emotionless tone.

She didn't want to believe it, but there were so many unanswered questions about the accident and her life. Her parents had life threatening injuries consisting of broken bones, ruptured organs, and jagged cuts. They should have bled to death, if nothing else, but the bleeding injuries closed on the ride to the hospital and after the bones were set in place they mended within the week!

As for Sakura, by the time they reached the hospital she didn't have a scratch on her. Besides that she looked nothing like either of her parents. Sakura never got sick. She wouldn't even catch the chicken pocks as a child. If she truly was the daughter of a goddess, perhaps it wasn't that she wouldn't get sick so much as she couldn't. Only one thing was certain; she would watch herself and then decide. However hidden deep in her heart, a part of her knew it was all true.

-End Flashback-

She knows. Sakura realized. I've got to play it off. "You mean a nurse? What's so wrong with that? I think it's a great job personally." She laughed nervously.

Grandmother smiled softly. "It's alright, Sakura. I have no intention of going into further detail, but you have to promise me you will tell your friends that are here with you. It does not have to be now, but soon. Can you agree to that?"

Sakura looked at her friends feeling guilty for keeping it from them for so long. There had been many times she wanted to tell them, but how do you tell your best friends you're a demigod without at least one of them shipping you off to the house of crazy? She sighed. "I was going to tell them. I'm just not sure how to go about it."

"That's easy child. You just have to demonstrate. It shouldn't be so hard because you do work in a hospital filled with the injured and sick." Grandmother commented. "Now let's continue with that reading. As I said earlier you have many men in your heart who seek to win you. That's the good news. The bad news is that your powers have attracted some terrible lowlifes who both fear your power and wish to control it for their own selfish reasons."

Sakura wanted to laugh at herself. What was she getting all worked up for? First there was the many men competing for her heart, now there's "some terrible lowlifes" who are out to get her? This woman knows how to tell fairytales that's for sure. Even if she knows what I am she is still paid to make life sound interesting and full of adventure. Sakura thought bitterly. She retracted her hand and stood.

"Sakura what's wrong?" Grandmother had felt Sakura's belief slip away before her hand did. This was terrible. If Sakura didn't believe her then the poor girl would stumble blindly on the same path into a dreadful future. The only thing Grandmother could think to do was make one last prediction before Sakura left. "A young man named Gaara will ask you out within a week of today, Sakura. You should pick out a nice dress for him."

Sakura paused in dragging a whining Ino away to nod. If Gaara did ask her out before the week was up, she would even consider believing the rest of that crone's reading, but not before. Sakura had known Gaara since she and Temari first met. Gaara was an emotional wreck after finding out the uncle he loved hated him for the death of Gaara's mother. Sakura had reached out to him and offered him comfort, and for that, Gaara was one of the most loyal friends you would ever see. He had never seemed to think of her as more than a friend, though.

"Wait, please, Sakura-san!" Hikari called, catching Sakura's arm just before they left the tent. "I haven't done Ino-san's reading yet! Don't you think it's unfair for all of you to get a reading, but not her? She's already paid for it and it looks like she still wants it. Do you still want it Ino-san?"

"I absolutely want it! It's what I've been waiting for all this time!" Ino cried turning to her friends. "Please, girls, let me have my reading! It's only fair!"

Sakura, Hinata, Tenten, and Temari all sighed simultaneously knowing they would have no peace till Ino got her reading. "Alright you can go. We'll be here when you're done." Temari spoke for the four.

Ino squealed so excitedly, her friends had to cover their ears from the harsh sound. She grabbed Hikari and pulled her into the room where the fortune teller had come out with Hinata.

Having a feeling they were going to be here a while yet, Temari and Sakura found a few fortune telling magazines while Tenten and Hinata looked at charms. This was turning out to be quite the long night.