5 - Dual natured
The compound is lively. Varying shades of pink-haired children are running around her backyard and several adults all have a beverage, alcoholic and non, in their hands. Her world is full of laughter and peace as she rests in her brother's arms, chewing on her hand.
Why does my hand taste sooo good? She moans in the safety of her mind.
They sit under the largest akebono cherry blossom tree behind her home. Around the siblings, several cousins also join them. All wear a variety of clothes, some similar to that of a miko (kosode and hakama), others something casual.
Sakura closes her eyes, letting the chatter wash over her and enjoying the rumbling of her brother’s laughter. A summer breeze blows by and the giggling of the children around her is a lullaby. There’s also a whisper in the wind that she’s certain only she can hear.
“Kaechan! Sacchan! It’s time to start!”
“Coming, Haha-ue!”
The time traveler's eyes snap open and she lets out a whine at being moved haphazardly. Kaede mutters an apology before he kisses her cheek as he carries her to their parents.
Spring green eyes take in the long table and the variety of trinkets spread about. A sniff and she can smell dishes coming from within the home.
Is this my 100-day celebration?
She blinks rapidly at the assortment of items on the table, feeling something odd in her chest. Obviously, in her original life, she would never remember her first 100-day celebration. But she also could not recall any photos of it.
Those thoughts are shoved to the back of her mind when she finds herself in the ever-jovial arms of her dad. His sakura petal-styled hair and navy eyes are as inconspicuous as ever.
“Sacchan!” He sings jokingly, “It’s time to choose your future!”
He turns her around, and she can feel dozens of blue, green, hazel, and brown eyes upon her person as her feet idly kick out. Beside her, she can feel her mother’s chakra and the newly memorized chakra of her brother.
With her constantly improving vision, she can make out the various career choices scattered before her. When her dad puts her on the table, she barely registers his “Go!” as she crawls excitedly toward her destination.
Sakura has always been dual-natured. Like her equal affinities for doton and suiton. Like her and her mental fortress- Inner Sakura. Haruno Sakura always was and will be a shinobi and iryō-nin.
So she grabs the toy kunai in her left hand and the stethoscope in her right before falling back to sit on her diapered bum. She lifts both items high and giggles, ignoring the shocked looks her family gives her.
(She doesn’t care that she’s supposed to pick one. She’s always been weird and has no plans to change that now.)