I awoke to a gentle hand on my forehead. "Sakura, darling? It's morning."

I rubbed at my eyes. A man and woman were seated by my bedside; it was the woman's voice I'd heard.

She smiled softly at me. Her eyes were shiny and a little red, but her shoulders were relaxed..

"How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good. Sleepy. Slept too much yesterday, I guess." I pushed myself upright, stretched my back and kneaded my hands together, trying to get my blood flowing.

I gave the best smile I could to the couple sitting beside me. Judging from the man's dusty-pink hair, I had a good guess as to who these folks were. "I'm sorry. You're… my parents, yeah?"

The woman pressed her lips together, her eyebrows curving upward and inward. The man put one hand on her back and the other over mine. "Don't you apologise." His voice came out gruff, but his palm over my hand was gentle. "It's not your fault. They told us everything."

I stared down at our hands and swallowed thickly. This isn't what I wanted to go through first thing in the morning, but I should have expected it. In the end, it was probably for the best to have this conversation sooner rather than later.

"I..." My voice came out thick. I cleared my throat. "I remember being someone else. I feel like I took something away from you. You don't have to be so..." So what? Kind? Nice? Worried?

"Now I don't know what those awful people did to you," the woman's voice came out much harsher. I jumped a little. "But you are my child and no ninja spy is going to take that away!"

Oh.

Because if they didn't believe I was their real daughter, then their daughter was essentially dead.

The man seemed to sense my train of thought and let go of my hand to rub a light noogie against my head. "Stop that, you're you. I'd recognise that worrywart face anywhere." He laughed. "Your family will be here to help you figure things out."

"That's right," the woman huffed. "And if we can't find your old memories, we'll just have to make new ones."

They stayed by my side for a good while; intermittently assuring me (that I was very smart and I'd feel better in no time), trying to remind me of things I liked (apparently the colour pink, sweets, word puzzles, and studying), and bickering between themselves (my new father-figure was an expert at dad jokes, and my mother-figure was not impressed).

It felt weird to have parents, even if they didn't feel like mine. For almost as long as I could remember, it was always me, my little brother, and my big sister raising us. Even though she was much older than us, I still always felt a little guilty that she'd needed to be the one to take care of us; pushing aside college and her own goals for two kids she didn't ask for. She made it through and eventually finished Nursing school, but sometimes I'd wonder what she'd be doing right now if she didn't have to spend her time worrying about me.

Something about having parents made me feel less guilty.

I wonder what Sis is doing now? Was Sis ever even real?

"Sakura!"

"Oh! Sorry, what?" I'd started spacing out while they argued.

A nurse in the doorway cleared her throat. She was holding a tray with food.

Kizashi– the name I learned belonged to the father-figure– stood up to take the tray and set it on my lap for her. It had rice, rolled egg, and a small bowl of miso soup.

Mebuki, the mother-figure, thanked her. The nurse waved her off with a smile.

"After Haruno-chan is done eating, the doctor will come in and go over the results of yesterday's chakra scans."

She left and I started digging into the food. It was surprisingly tasty, especially the soup. Mebuki looked a little concerned when I asked her what it was called, but otherwise, breakfast was a relaxed affair.

I wiped my hands on a napkin. "Um..." This was going to be awkward.

"Finish chewing first and then spit it out," Kizashi grinned. Mebuki slapped him on the shoulder.

"Um, I was just wondering… Do I live with you? They said I'm more-or-less an adult with a job, so I wasn't sure where I'd go after this, and..."

It was loudly and defiantly explained to me that yes, I was going to their house after this, and yes, I lived there. I was also given to understand that they'd tie me up and drag me back if I tried to move out before I was at least sixteen.

Well. That solved one problem, at least.

"And, um… I'm going to keep being a ninja. Is that okay?" I kept my gaze on the empty tray, now sitting on the side table. They were parents, after all, and all the parents in books tried to keep their kids from doing dangerous things, especially after something went wrong.

Kizashi laughed; the sound made me jump. I stared at him.

"Of course we never wanted you to be a ninja, but we gave up convincing you to stop a long time ago. Just make sure you find the ninja that did this to you and kick their ass!"

"Kizashi!"

"Will do," I smiled, a little shakily. These people were wonderful.

Before long, the nurse came back to collect the empty breakfast tray, a doctor in tow. I recognised him; he was the dark-haired man I'd met with Inoichi. What was his name again?

"Haruno-san, Haruno-san," he nodded curtly. "My name is Migaki. I'm the specialist assigned to your daughter's case. Hello again, Sakura-san."

"Hello, Migaki-san."

He walked to the opposite side of the bed and took a seat. "How are you feeling this morning, Sakura?"

"Same as yesterday. I just can't wait to get out of this bed." I hadn't been paying attention, but now that he mentioned it, yeah. I still felt energised. It was… awesome.

"Very good." He opened up a folder and put a few scans on my lap. The parents leaned over to get a closer look. "We've looked over the chakra scans and have reason to hope the fluctuations won't be detrimental."

He pointed to an image of a brain scan; it had washed-out patches over it, brighter in some areas, dimmer in others.

"Mind-produced chakra is primarily produced in the ventricles of the brain," he traced his finger over a path that went over the brightest splotches. "These are the same areas that produce cerebral-spinal fluid; while the release of chakra and fluid does not always match, this still gave rise to the term 'chakra gates'." He pointed out small delineations between areas. "As you can see, you're getting extra chakra in some areas, and less chakra in others. The areas which create mental chakra are brighter, and the areas which create physical are dimmer."

"Is that dangerous?" Mebuki broke in.

He shook his head. "No, the areas producing less chakra are producing a level normal for a girl her age. If you'll look here," he pointed to one of the areas of the brain that looked lighter than the others. "The higher concentrations of chakra are directed toward the areas of the brain most involved in memory. As it is your own body's chakra and not that of an outside force, this is a clear case of the body trying to regulate itself."

I thought I was following, but, "So what does that mean for me?"

He pointed to the full-body scan. "As the rest of your body's chakra pathways are operating normally, and the chakra you're overdeveloping is purely mental, there will be a slight imbalance. This may rectify over time as your body reconciles the new information it has been forced to process, or as it tries to recover information it has lost. You may find mental tasks come to you more easily than physical tasks for a short time."

I shrugged. "Well, I'm used to that."

"The more things change," Kizashi muttered. His wife shot him a glare.

"So," he continued. "We want you to come back at least once a month to monitor changes in chakra levels, but otherwise, you are a perfectly healthy young woman. All other tests came out clear."

There was a quiet whoosh in the room as three people blew out breaths of relief.

"Am I going to be allowed to train? And keep doing… ninja stuff?"

The corner of his mouth twitched. "I'd recommend taking it easy for at least the remainder of the day, but yes, I clear you to restart your ninja training tomorrow. Please try to keep your schedule as close as the one you were most used to before your onset of amnesia. Make sure to ask your parents and friends for help as you need it; community support is always beneficial in cases of memory loss."

I bowed. "Thank you, Doctor."

"We will ask you to go through one more brain scan before you go, just to double-check if your levels have changed through the night."

I sighed and flopped back down on the bed. Where's Kakashi when you need him?

"That works!" a cheerful voice called. All four occupants in the room jumped and stared toward the doorway, where a man was leaning and reading an orange book. "Your first day of training starts tomorrow morning at eight. Training Ground 3. Don't be late!" Without looking up he flipped a salute and left the room.

"...Who was that?" Mebuki asked.

"My sensei. I'm starting to get the feeling he, uh, does that sometimes." I shrugged. Internally, I whined: Come back and punch me out or something, sensei, please..?

He did not.

I survived. The scan itself only took a couple of minutes. Apparently when I wasn't subjected to every test known to man, the whole thing took much less time. Before I knew it, Mebuki and Kizashi were by my side and walking toward the hospital exit. I had fresh, clean clothes that Mebuki was kind enough to bring with her. I was starting to get a good feeling about all of this.

Sure, it was surreal and kind of terrifying. But I knew I could figure things out if I just took it one step at a time. I was very fortunate. Even if I held doubts about who I was and what was coming next in life, I knew there were people around me to help me see it through. Already, I had begun to love them.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" a voice wailed out as soon as we reached the hospital lobby.

Oh, right. Naruto was a person who existed.

This was particularly hard to ignore as he became a 40-kilo bowling ball of Emotional Boy. He knocked into me and held me several inches up off the ground. "SAKURA-CHAN!"

"Yikes," I coughed. "Alright! It's okay, I get it, put me down! I'm fine!"

While this was reasonable Naruto behaviour from what little I knew of him, what he did next threw me off completely. He pressed a big, gross, moist kiss to the side of my cheek.

And I reacted as any other girl would do in that situation.

Without thinking, I launched my knee up into his stomach, and as he released his hold on me I spun to the side and whipped my leg out, throwing him across the room. He smacked into the wall and crumbled onto the floor. He stared back at me with wide, tear-filled eyes.

I blinked. "Oh." I didn't feel particularly bad about this, but, "Sorry, you kind of went a lot further than I was going for? And..." Irritation quickly bubbled up under the shock. "And what was that all about, anyway? You can't just do that to girls! It's rude!"

"Sensei said," he sniffed, scrubbing at his eyes, "Sensei said you were brain-washed by evil pirate-ninjas, and the only way to save you was through true love's kiss!"

...

Goddammit, Kakashi.

My shoulders dropped. "My true love is breakfast, and I've already had it. I'm fine, Naruto. Why would you believe something as stupid as that? And what is a pirate-ninja supposed to be?" I stomped over and hauled him up by the arm.

"Pirate-ninjas are horrible, evil, thieving ninjas who steal pretty girls away from their home! Obviously!" He pouted. Then brightened. "Wait, you're all better? For real?!"

"Uh, not really. I still can't remember anything." I scratched the back of my neck. "But the next person to try to kiss me is getting their mouth ripped off." I jabbed a finger into his chest. "Don't believe Sensei when he tells you weird things like that, he's just messing with you!"

There was a strange noise coming from behind me. I spun around and raised my eyebrows. Kizashi was doubled over choking out laughter; Mebuki had her head in her hands.

"Um, anyway…" I turned back to face Naruto and bowed. "Thank you for coming to visit me, but I'm going to be okay. I was just heading out the door. I'll see you tomorrow at training, though?"

"You bet!" He beamed and crossed his arms behind his head, all sadness forgotten. "We'll get you better in no time! You can believe it!"

I smiled. For a silly, hyper kid, he was pretty cool. His words echoed my earlier thoughts as I'd been walking out with my parents.

Things were difficult right now and I was confused, but I had wonderful people around me and a true desire to work hard and figure things out. As long as I was willing to try, everything would turn out okay, right?

...Right?

Extra Special Trivia Part 1: I had to do so much research for this chapter… I thought being a medical nerd would help me out, but I still ended up having to do a lot of searching on Narutopedia. Sometimes I forget that following someone else's rules can make fanfiction a lot harder than regular fiction. I greatly admire the writers who have tackled this universe before me.