The next two chapters will be all background information, as to what lead up to the 'New World'. I wasn't sure if I should write everything out starting from when Sakura was young or just make it short and sweet. I decided to make it short just because that's how I had originally invisioned the story.

A New World

Ch. 2-

The Old World pt. 1

Growing up, Sakura had had a lot to prove. Being the only female in her family she had to prove that she was just as capable as her brothers to her father. At this she had failed, misreably. Everyday after her mother's death she had been put to the test. Taunted, teased, berated. Most would call it abuse, her father called it love.

The first times she hadn't been ready for his stinging words and harsh treatment. What made it worse was the torment she was subjected to by the neighborhood kids day in and day out. Her hair was pulled because they thought it was fake, they would pull on her limbs to make the rest of her match up with her huge forhead, or she was taunted because she never spoke.

Eventually she had gotten used to the harsh treatment, not that it hurt any less, she just got better at hiding her pain. Her brothers had tried, at first, to protect her from their father and the outside world but eventually they too joined in. At seven, Sakura had had no doubt in her mind, all people were scum.

But then, in the ninja academy, she made friends with Ino Yamanaka and Hinata Hyuga. They had been nice to her on the first day and as the years passed their had bond had only stengthened. One that still stuck to this very day.

Later Naruto, Kakashi, and Sasuke would come into the picture, melting the rest of the ice covering what had once been her hardened heart. Their tragic pasts endeared them to her in a way that she would have never thought possible. In Hinata and Ino she had found friends but in her team she had found a family.

Little by little all the things her father had taught her in hopes of toughening her up were eroded by the new lessons she learned from her close group of friends and comrads. This, of course, infuriated her father. So, in a last ditch effort, he revealed to her the truth about her own rather tragic past.

He her that mother had died on a mission where her assignment was to kill a young boy to keep him from becoming the heir to some large fortune. Once her mother had learned the details she had refused to do the job which didn't go over well with her client who had then a group of rogue ninja after her mother.

The truth had hurt Sakura deeply but it also made her understand her father more. She finally knew that his reason for treating her so harshly was to protect her from one day sharing in her mother's fate, and for that she was truly grateful. Even so, she didn't return home after that.

Instead, she moved in with Hinata, who's father had exiled her from her clan until she could prove her worth. To Sakura, it seemed like they were in the same boat. Both of their fathers wanted them hardened for the right reasons but used the wrong methods.

After that life seemed to get better, her bond with her team strengthened as did her bond with Hinata and Ino. She didn't see her brothers after the incident with her father but she heard they were doing well for themselves as traveling merchants.

And then the Chuunin exams came and with them came distruction.

Orochimaru, his Sound nin, and Suna led an invation on Konoha during the final part of the exam. The battles that followed resulted in the deaths of the Third Hokage, seven genin, and the Fourth Kazekage. Sakura had seen more blood on that single day than she had her whole short life til then.

For most of the battle she played the damsel, being saved by Kakashi and then by Neji when she had went after Sasuke and Naruto. The short time she spent with Neji that day was the basis of their future friendship. One that she would eventually be extremely grateful for.

Once she had finaly made it to Sasuke and Naruto she had only really gotten in the way. That aside, it was a pivitol point in her ninja career. As she watched Naruto and Sasuke duke it out with the Kazekage's son, Gaara, she realized that she the teachings of her father had had a useful place in her world.

All the time she had wanted to give up on that hardened part of her instead of using it to her advantage. Letting it motivate her because the reality was that the ninja world was a dog eat dog place. She had given up on people at a young age and then had found her faith later but the life she had been born to lead wasn't a solely civilian one.

In those long moments she took the time to accept the teachings of her father and the teachings of her friends. She was determined to be both an astounding ninja and a marvelous human being. Some people weren't capable of both but she would be. That was her ninja way.

So there's a bit of background. I'm serious about this being a short fic, there'll probably only two or three more installments. Honestly, though, I'm enjoying myself writing them.