It was a jutsu she thought Tsunade-sama had perfected, but it seemed, even such a technique could go wrong.

Haruno Sakura was on an A-rank mission in Otogakure when it happened. She had been using the Creation Rebirth to heal some of her fallen comrades and herself when an unknown jutsu from a S-Class missing nin had blasted through her.

"Black Vortex Technique!" the missing-nin had yelled and with Sakura's back turned towards the enemy, she had only the time to use her body to protect her squad and amplify her Creation Rebirth Technique.

Sakura thought she would survive the blast, but it turned out, she wouldn't.

Instead something else had happened.

Sakura had died.

Thereafter, she remembered passing through a dark tunnel, and then there was a bright light and the sound of crying.

Her crying.

That was when Haruno Sakura realized that she was baby again…a baby whose name was Arya Stark.

...

..

.

The Beginning

"Arya, what in heavens are you doing?!"

Jon. Sakura thought, sighing.

"Get down from there!" Her brother commanded while Sakura watched him strode near the tree where she was hanging upside-down with only the back of her knees for support.

"You are no fun, Jon." She called, scowling while she extended her hands towards the bough and pulled herself up until she was sitting in the high branch. "I am simply practicing."

"Practicing?" Jon said, sounding both worried and exasperated. "You could have fallen off from the branch, Arya!"

"No, I won't!" Sakura disagreed. "Because I've been doing this since the day I learn to walk brother! Just as Bran learn how to climb trees and towers of Winterfell." which was partly true because as soon as Sakura was able to control her body at an early age, she had begun relearning the things she learned in the Ninja Academy.

Learning the language of this world had been easy, but forcing her underdeveloped body to do the things that it hadn't done before had been completely difficult for Sakura. Yet she had still done it until her body was forced to develop faster than any other child. And how her mother and father – Catelyn and Eddard Stark – had been proud of her when Sakura had learned to walk and talk earlier than her peers.

Gratefully, her infant and toddler years were over, and now Sakura was already eight years of age and was in the process of increasing the amount of chakra in her body, which she knew would take years to do. However, Sakura couldn't wait that long. She needed to learn how to use her Creation Rebirth Technique in this world, which would possibly give her the chance to go back to her own world if she managed to recreate the scene of her being taken to this one.

"Arya!" Jon was calling her now and Sakura turned to see her brother peering up at her. "Come down from there before Lady Catelyn sees you!"

Sakura sighed again and did as she was bidden and jumped from the tree. She had been sitting in the highest branch of the ironwood tree in the Godswood, which gave Sakura time to do something dangerous – in Jon's opinion - before making her landing on the ground.

She heard Jon let out a curse as she flipped mid-air and Sakura grinned at that.

"Arya!" Jon yelled in concern. However, her brother had no reason to worry as Sakura landed on the ground in a half-crouched. She could feel the earth shake momentarily beneath her feet, and as she looked down, she saw a spider-webbed crack had appeared where she landed.

At least, I still got it. She thought in satisfaction as she slowly stood up, dusting some imaginary specks from her breeches while she could hear Jon berating her.

"Gods, Arya! You scared me half to death there!" Jon was saying as he hurried towards her. Placing his hand on her shoulders, he turned her this way and that to see if she was hurt. "Don't do that again! Or your Lady mother will have my head if you hurt yourself while under my watch."

"You needn't worry about that, Jon." Sakura said, shrugging his hands off her shoulder. "You know I've been able to treat my injuries on my own, which prevent father and mother from ever knowing about it. So you need not concern yourself with me if I get injured. I've learn from the best."

What she said was true since Sakura had learned all the things she needed to learn about the healing arts of this world from Maester Lewlyn. She had studied under him since the day Sakura had learned to read and write her letters. Although Sakura had started learning on her own by sneaking books from the library before Maester Lewlyn had begun teaching her.

Certainly, other than the healing arts, Sakura was also able to learn the different kinds of poisons of this world as well, which she understood was another vital knowledge she needed to know.

"I know that, Arya." Jon said, looking at her with his jaw clenched. "But still, I want you to practice caution when you are out here, or in the Wolfswood, training on your own. I don't want you hurting yourself when no one is around."

"Alright, Jon." Sakura said contritely. "I will be extra cautious the next time I train," which had become often after Sakura had received the castle-forged shuriken, senbon and kunai Jon had asked the smith to make for her.

Sakura remembered the day when she had given the sketch of the weapons to Jon, and how she had convinced her brother to commissioned the smith for it.

"What you are asking me to do is something our Lord father and Lady Catelyn will not approve of, Arya." Jon had said after he had scrutinized the drawing of the shuriken, senbon and the kunai Sakura had sketched. "These are not playthings to be taken lightly, sister. The smith will see these as weapons…and as odd as it may be to hold and look at, this is still not something to be given to a child."

"Then, lie to the smith that the weapons are for you, and not for me, Jon." Sakura had said to him then. "But I want you to understand that I want these weapons made for me, brother, it is for my protection…"

It had taken a while for Sakura to convince Jon about taking the sketch to the smith, but she was glad that her brother had a soft spot for her, and had easily given in to her request.

"As you wish, dear sister." that had been Jon's words when he had inevitably agreed.

Jon Snow may be her half-brother, but he was Sakura's favorite brother out of the four. Jon understood her better than anyone else, and he loved her despite her many flaws.

But more than that, Sakura would defend Jon to the death if someone dared hurt him, like she had done to Theon Greyjoy who had often mocked Jon and called him 'Bastard.' And in response to that, Theon had received a good beating from Sakura, where she had broken his arm and leg and fractured parts of his face. Her Lord father and Lady mother hadn't been happy about it at all. Even now, the Greyjoy ward was still afraid of Sakura and had stopped bullying Jon since that day. Though Sakura knew that Theon Greyjoy called her names behind her back. He called her a 'Monster' and 'Abnormal' after Sakura had used bits of her strength when she had given the stinking squid a good wallop.

'A lowly squid does not deserve the attention of a wolf.' Sakura often told herself when she heard the awful things Theon Greyjoy talked about her. Yet Sakura ignored the Greyjoy when she was in his presence, and Jon did the same as well, not wanting to cause more trouble for the two of them.

"What are you doing here, Jon?" Sakura finally asked the question as she came back to the present.

"I'm here because our Lord father was looking for you. Arya." Jon responded. "He wanted you to dress before the King arrives in Winterfell, which will be any moment now."

Sakura finally noticed how her older brother was dressed. Jon looked handsome in his dark sable cloak and his black boots, which she could see peeking through his winter cloak. Her brother had even done something to tame his wild curls and shaved his jaw. She had to admit that her brother looked like a Prince, but of course, Sakura wouldn't admit it out loud.

"You look like a proper lordling, Jon." Sakura teased instead and got a satisfaction of seeing her brother flushed scarlet.

"And you look like you need a bath, Arya." Jon retorted, wrinkling his nose as he surveyed her. "Come and let us go back to the castle before your Lady mother comes looking for you."

"If you say so, brother." Sakura said and began walking beside Jon and out of the Godswood.

She silently wondered the reason why the King had come to visit Winterfell in this time of year. Sakura hoped that this would be a good thing for her family.

Then, she remembered the rumors she heard around the castle. About a dead direwolf with an antler stuck up its throat, plus the six direwolf pups found in the snow. The people in the castle had said that it was a bad omen; an omen sent from the Old Gods.

Sakura wished that it wasn't the case. She wished everything would turn out well for her family when the King arrived.

AN: For my writing updates, you can check me on tumblr: bloomsburry-dhazel