2014-

Sakura's eyes fluttered open to see a trail of florescent lights hanging over her head in a pristine white ceiling and wanted to frown as her eyes closed again for what could have been a moment. Or an hour. Why did she have no concept of time? She was conscious. So she should have some concept of time, shouldn't she? She wondered as little snippets of conversation drifted her way from various sources.

"Sakura De'Winter... Age-twenty one. Local..."

"Happened?"

"Found unconscious...alley."

"What does her file say?"

"File says- Prone to blackouts...due to- Is this even possible? I mean, is it a legit medical condition?"

"Prone to blackouts due to psychic phenomenon... Takes meds- Mood stablizers, antipsychotics... Apparently so." Sakura frowned as the bits and pieces of information she was picking up started to give her a headache.

"Family?"

"Older brother... Out in the waiting room-"

"Take this file and see if everything on it is up to date," An authoritative voice said a moment before she felt the air above her stir and a second later her eyes were pried open one by one and a bright, annoying light was flashed into them. Temporarily blinding her as the same voice from a moment ago asked, "Sakura? Sakura? Can you hear me?"

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Konoha two days later-

Sakura awoke to the softly whispered sounds of something sharp sliding through something soft and nearly decided to keep her eyes closed out of dread. If it wasn't for whatever was being cut up being put aside and a large, rough palmed hand gently placing itself against her skin- she might have thought that she was having a flash back to a traumatic event from when she was ten or something.

Said event might not have been so traumatic for her if she had at that point realized that she could see spirits. And that most spirits- however frightening they appeared- weren't harmful in any way. With a few exceptions here and there.

One such exception had been one that had followed her home and stayed in her bedroom closet and had even killed her family's pet cat and skinned it, staining her bedroom floor and clothing and shoes crimson with it's blood in an attempt to frame her for it's death and isolate her so that it could continue to prey on her fear and spiritual energy.

And she would admit, the event had shocked not just her, but her entire family. Many of whom tended to avoid her after it had occurred.

She waited a heartbeat or so, trying to fight the urge to have a panic attack as she slowly- very, very, very slowly, opened her eyes and then blinked at the blurry image of a blond with the most amazing azure blue eyes leaning over her slightly. Blocking what little light there was from her eyes in an effort to give her some time to adjust before he moved back slightly with a sigh and a small smile.

Her head tipped back on her pillow to follow his movements, for some reason not wanting to let him out of her sight as he sat back in the lounge chair by her bed and picked up a plate with an half peeled apple and knife on it and resumed peeling the fruit while she watched him in total awe. He wasn't even looking at the damned slippery fruit in his hands and he hadn't cut himself yet!

If she'd ever tried something like that, she'd wind up with her arm missing, and perhaps a few dead passer-by's too.

Life just isn't fair sometimes... She thought sardonically to herself as the blond finally finished peeling the skin from the fruit then started to cut it up into pieces before he bothered to speak. "Are you hungry?" She blinked at his question, unsure if he really cared one way or another if she was hungry or not. Besides, she couldn't exactly speak to answer him anyways.

Her neck and throat felt like they were on fire.

It just wasn't a pleasant feeling at all.

"Sakura," The blond said as he set the plate of apple pieces aside again and leaned forward so that his face was a little closer to her own. This time she was distracted by more than just his hair and eyes. This guy- whoever he was- was a total hottie! Strong stubborn jaw, straight nose, wide and slightly angled eyes, blond hair was longish in length. Hanging around his face and down to the middle of his back in a ponytail.

Reaching out with her uninjured arm, she hesitated for a moment and then placed her hand against his cheek. Running her thumb along the silken skin of his face, earning a small frown from the young man as he placed his hand over hers and gave it a squeeze before jumping up out of his chair and stalking across the room where the plastic cup she had drank from before was sitting on a table. "Sorry. I forgot that you couldn't speak because of the wound to your throat. Give me a sec to get you something to drink then you can try eating."

He left her sight for a moment and then returned with two orange juice cartons and walked back over to where he had been sitting and set everything down so that he could prepare her cup for her as he said, "Tell you what... If you can manage to drink some of this while I cut the apple pieces into smaller bits- I'll hand feed you. And I won't even complain if you don't clean the plate. Deal?"

Again Sakura stared at him, her expression somewhat questioning now as he glanced over at her and caught the look on her face before she could hide it and frowned. What was that about? Naruto wondered as he finished pouring the orange juice into the plastic cup before adding a small pain medicine tablet and stirred it into the drink before screwing the lid back onto the cup and moving to adjust Sakura's position so that she could drink.