"Sakura!" her mother's voice echoed up the stairs, and Sakura yawned as she pulled her door open. She had woken up slightly earlier than she was used to, and she was paying the price now. "Come on down! I've got lots for you to learn today," she called, and Sakura perked up at the promise of more information about her confusing new world. She wanted to know more about the forest surrounding them. Her feet slapped against the stairs, excitement written all her face as she hurried down. "You'd better not be running down those stairs, Sakura!"

Wincing at the reminder, Sakura slowed her pace – at least until she hit the bottom of the stairs. Then she was sprinting again, eager to reach the cushions by the fireplace where her mother always told her interesting bedtime tales. It seemed it was time for another one, but after the events of yesterday, Sakura doubted they would be tales. Instead, she was expecting truths.

"Someone's eager to learn, I see," Mebuki mused, smiling as she patted the cushions next to her. "Come. Sit…"

Smiling, Sakura did as she was asked, eager for the lesson to begin. Any sort of information about her new world was welcome, even folk tales and fairy tales. The culture there was slightly different to Konoha, though most of the buildings there retained the same design as those she was used to. For one people despised rabbits instead of foxes. Though given Kaguya had been called the Rabbit Goddess back in the Elemental Nations… Sakura supposed she could get behind the idea.

"I told you yesterday," her mother said, ruffling her hair as she pulled out a book with an inky black covering. "I'd be telling you about what lurks in the forest."

Sakura blinked, staring at the silvery cursive script written on the covering. The Wolves of Ookami, it read, and she frowned.

"Ookami likes warriors like you."

The words floated through her brain, and Sakura swallowed – because it seemed like the Ookami mentioned was rather a big deal, especially to the village around her. Though Sakura enjoyed reading, the collections of books there weren't as extensive as what she was used to. Most of it was either based on culture and lore, or on factual subjects needed in areas like the one she was in.

"Whose Ookami?" she asked innocently, tilting her head as she begged with her eyes for the answers she was thirsting for. Her appetite for knowledge was one thing which was still unchanged.

Mebuki smiled, flipping open the page, revealing the sketch of a wolf in ink. There were no colourful photos there. Not even black and white ones. She missed cameras the most, even if they were only for special occasions back then. At least it meant she could capture a few memories, even if only at events like festivals. "Listen, Sakura," her voice turned serious and scolding. "If you ever see a wolf with white fur and red markings like these," she said, tapping the decorative symbol made of swirling lines. "You hide where it cannot find you, or you get back to the village if you're close enough and it can't catch you before then, understand?"

Sakura swallowed. "I understand," she echoed, knowing deep down she would likely encounter the wolf whether her mother liked it or not. Because she was going to be worthy of that blessing the wolf from before had told her of. Anything which would give her strength was something she had to earn or take.

She wasn't going to die again.

She had a feeling she wouldn't get a third chance, and it was doubtful she would end up with her old friends even if she died. It was a completely different world. Sakura still had no idea why she had been taken there but given the rabbit ears and the general Kaguya-ness, it probably meant nothing good for her.

"As for your question…" Mebuki trailed off, flipping over the page, revealing another ink sketch – this time of a pack of wolves. "Ookami is either the name or the title of the wolf which rules over its pack here in the mountains and forests bordering them."

"Her," Sakura mumbled, remembering the wolf's words. "Her blessing."

Mebuki blinked, before she chuckled quietly. "You read a lot, don't you? You already know about blessings… though don't go trying to get one, missy. Only warriors and heroes ever come here in search of those – and more often than not they die before they can get them."

"Blessing?" Sakura parroted, feeling an alarming kinship with the bird she wasn't sure still existed in that world.

"Silly girl," Mebuki murmured. "Didn't you find out what that meant before mentioning it?" she asked, ruffling her pink locks yet again. "Well, I suppose it's not like you'll need it. As soon as you turn nine, I'll begin teaching you my craft."

Sakura blinked. "But what about the test at the temple?"

Her mother only sighed softly, petting her silky hair as she leant against the older woman. "Little bean, I don't want to upset you… but this village has only produced three people capable of wielding magic in the last hundred years."

"Oh."

"But who knows what the future holds?" Mebuki mumbled, sitting back, turning her attention back onto the book. "Though I think the present is far more important for you," she said, stern expression returning to her face. "You were very lucky last night, Sakura."

"I know." Though she did have some skill, if not luck. It was how she'd survived until those other wolves had come to claim their old companion's body. Dimly, Sakura wondered why that wolf had attacked her. Why it had been hunted down by others of its pack… Shrugging, Sakura presumed it was none of her business.

Not until she ventured back into the forest when she turned eight – almost a year away.

She would attempt it then.

Ookami's Blessing.

Whatever exactly that entailed. Sakura could only presume it worked something like a powerup, and hopefully there wouldn't be any repercussions. She was searching for more power – more power native to that world – and if it meant confronting a powerful wolf, then so be it. It was like a summon. The worst that could happen would be that she was forced to run away very quickly, and that was something she would be improving on in the next year before she even went inside the forest again.

"Ookami is one of what is collectively known as the Thirteen," her mother continued, stirring her from her thoughts, pulling her attention back to the book in front of her. "Depending on whom you ask, they'll either tell you they're minor gods, or demons."

Sakura blinked, swallowing. Had she just been thinking of challenging a being classed as a god at the tender age of eight? Her eyes narrowed. It wasn't like she had a lot of time on her hands. Because she had a feeling she would be going somewhere soon after her ninth birthday.

She needed to get much stronger… much, much stronger…

It wasn't like she could be weak again. Not like her life before. Her hands curled into fists, chakra thrumming in her veins, ready to be used at a moment's notice. Not that she could really start at that moment. Her mother was in the room, and her father was out in the garden – chopping the wood ready for the fireplace or the bath. Probably both.

"Though sometimes," Mebuki said, and Sakura resisted the urge to slap herself. She was getting a lot of information about the world right then and there. "They're spoken of as the Nine and the Four, with Ookami belonging to the Four."

"The Nine?" Sakura frowned, watching as her mother went and pulled out another book.

"You can read about them later, given they don't actually affect us. You're very unlikely to see one of the Nine this far west. They're more common to the North and the South – your father learnt that much on his travels, before he settled down here."

Sakura frowned that much harder. "But what about the East?" she asked, wondering why her mother hadn't mentioned that place. The same place which was apparently that the heart of their country was. Though to get there, Sakura was fairly sure she'd seen a desert or some description on the maps between the East and the West.

"They don't venture near there… in fact, they prefer to stay away from humans whenever possible," her mother answered, and Sakura swallowed harshly as she eyes the red-bound book.

Her hands moved towards it, almost shaking as she flipped it open, heart almost stopping as she spied the ink drawing of a sandy racoon with markings. Shukaku. That was his name, according to what Naruto had told her. The One-Tail. So what was it doing there?

But Kaguya had also been there… and back in the Elemental Nations at the same time. Sakura shook her head, trying not to dwell on that thought. Because her friends had probably moved onto the Pure Lands. Dimly Sakura wondered if they had forgotten her by then. If they had moved on and found their peace in the afterlife.

She had, and she had sworn not to look back because otherwise she would just keep second guessing herself time and time again.

There was no time to dwell on the past, not with her strange future ahead of her. An unknown to explore. It terrified and excited her at the same time. Because she wanted to explore this new place, but she didn't want to again… and heading out unprepared into the unknown was a sure-fire way to get killed what with the luck she had proven to still have. Let it be said the Curse of Team Seven was still happily inflicting itself upon her with a gleeful vengeance.

"But today we're focusing on the Four, given how one of them lives in the forest surrounding us," her mother spoke, yet again yanking her out of her thoughts. "It's rather ironic though…"

"What is?"

Mebuki only chuckled. "Before the modern years came, the years were counted in cycles of thirteen, and some people still keep a track of what animal of the thirteen the year belongs to… Do you know which year you were born into?"

"No." She tilted her head, blinking owlishly up at her mother. Really if there had been a rabbit she would have said the year of that, given exactly who had dragged her soul there. But there was no rabbit as far as she was aware amongst the Nine at least – not to mention those creatures were hated there, so she didn't want to try and guess that. Something told her the reaction to that would not be good. So she waited for her mother to tell her.

"The Year of the Wolf," her mother answered, a gentle smile on her face. "It wasn't a nice year, what with the floods and the harsh winter… It's why you're the only baby who survived it." She poked her small nose, and Sakura blinked. "You're a survivor, Sakura. So don't go running off into the woods anytime soon, Little Wolf Child… because I have the strangest feeling you wouldn't come back the same, if at all," she murmured, trailing off, and Sakura silently apologised.

Because she had to.

It felt as though coincidences were lining up. She had bumped into the wolf on her first outing into the forest. She had been told about Ookami's blessing. Now she found out she was born in the Year of the Wolf. Green eyes narrowed, and Sakura smiled grimly.

It was like the universe was telling her to do it, and though she loathed to listen to it, there was a strange feeling deep in her bones. One which sung to her of power and the strength she needed if she were to follow that path.

"Neh, mama," Sakura spoke up, brow wrinkling as she finally found the time to ask about what had been bugging her ever since her arrival there. "Why does everyone hate rabbits?"

Blinking, Mebuki frowned at her. "Ah. I guess it hasn't come up in your fairy-tales because it's a bit of a darker story."

Leaning forwards, Sakura stared up at her mother, all but demanding answers to her questions with her eyes. "Tell me. Please? I'm a big girl now."

"If you say so, Little Bean," she said, chuckling at the grimace on Sakura's face at the sound of that all too familiar pet name. She honestly preferred Little Wolf Child over Little Bean. At least the former sounded a bit more scary – because what fear could a bean inspire. Unless it involved allergies though, she guessed. "The reason people see rabbits as an ill omen are because of their patron goddess – The Rabbit Goddess, sometimes called the Moon Rabbit, because only under the light of the moon can she achieve her full power. She betrayed the rest of the gods and goddesses, you see."

Sakura chewed on her lip, shivering as she remembered those pale white rabbit ears in place of the horns which should have been there.

The Rabbit Goddess. The Moon Rabbit. However she was called changed nothing. She had visited them the night of her birth – been in her sight when she had woken up in that tiny, frail form. But unlike the Kaguya she remembered, this one had given her life. It hadn't been taken away unlike the horned version who had stolen her and her friends' lives.

They were different from each other.

That much was evident. So why did she seem to have a similarly dark history in her new world? More importantly though… What was the connection between her and that strange goddess? Sakura swallowed, throat feeling dry as her mother explained more and more about how she had betrayed the other gods and goddesses. How she had tried to poison them, jealous of what they each governed when she could only truly access her full power on the night of the full moon…

Lavender eyes came up in her thoughts then, and Sakura shivered, climbing to her feet all of a sudden.

"You alright there?" her mother asked, one eyebrow raised in question as she tottered over to the window, intent on getting some fresh air.

"'m fine," she mumbled, pushing it open ever so slightly, only to freeze when she saw it sitting there in the middle of the road. A rabbit. Not just any rabbit though. The same one she had seen before around the place.

White-furred. With pale purple eyes which seemed to bore into her very soul as she locked eyes with the little creature. The same kind of creature she had loved before when she was a little girl back in Konohagakure.

She wasn't in Konohagakure anymore.

She wasn't even in the Elemental Nations anymore.

Swallowing nervously, she pulled the window shut once more, hurrying back to sit with her mother, slightly shaken at the third appearance of that particular rabbit. One whose hair and eyes matched that of the Rabbit Goddess. She was fairly certain that wasn't a coincidence. Not with how often she had seen it watching her with something that could only be described as interest.

But having the patron animals of a sealed, traitorous goddess following her around could only be interpreted as an ill omen. A sign of foul fortune to come. But Sakura was accustomed to that well enough thanks to her less than stellar luck. Trouble would always find her.

She just needed to be ready when it did decide to show its ugly face.

"How was the Moon Rabbit sealed?" she asked, remembering how desperately Naruto and Sasuke had tried to seal her away using the power from the sage. Had it involved white suns and black moons there too?

Mebuki only smiled, climbing to her feet as Sakura wandered around the room – staying away from the few windows as best she could. She didn't want to see the rabbit which unnerved her so. Didn't want to start asking questions she had no answers to. "Our saviour…" her mother said, walking over to the kitchen. "One of the nine most worshiped gods and goddesses, and he governs over another creature, just as the Moon Rabbit does."

Sakura toddled around after her mother, curiosity burning inside her as she reached the kitchen in time to see her mother readying to prepare lunch. "What creature?" she enquired, the sparks of curiosity feeling as though they were about to burst as she waited eagerly for the answers only her mother seemed to have.

Her father tended to be the more closed lip type when discussing about their gods and goddesses. More so because apparently he was scared of rabbits somewhat. But then again he was the one out of both her parents who had apparently travelled and seen the world beyond their village. Maybe that had something to do with it? Sakura tilted her head. After all, her new world was that much more scary than her last, or so it seemed. Even if there were no shinobi to steal people away and slice their throats open. Instead there were scary wolves and godly beings who roamed the earth.

Somehow she doubted her power compared to that of a true god or goddess. She was just a frog in a small well, and sooner or later she would be climbing out of that well. Or so she hoped.

Pouting, Sakura stared up at her mother. "Come on, mama," she groaned, earning herself a poke on the nose. "Tell me please!"

Mebuki chuckled, answering in her next breath.

"Dragons."