If you were going to ask Sarah how she got into this position, she honestly wouldn't know the answer to that question. All she could remember was the sounds of metal clinging against each other, fire, and a fierce roar before her vision went completely black. After what seemed like an eternity, she woke up in an extremely unfamiliar location.
"You're in what is called a 'hospital'." a voice said in her head.
The voice belonged to the ancient demon who was sealed inside of her, Nemuri Xavier. Sarah groggily rubbed her eye, hesitantly feeling something covering her other...bandages.
"I had to teleport us to a safer location after I got done destroying that wretched village. We took quite a hit from that 'mother' of yours. Half our body ended up getting burned during our escape," Nemuri explained as Sarah looked at her heavily bandaged body, "Luckily enough we were founded by some guards and was taken in to this village named Konaha to get treated. Most of our wounds got healed, though we're still going to be in here for quite some time thanks to those fucking elders."
Sarah recalled being thrown into the dungeon for the first time. She was four year old, a child, being forced to be the container of an ancient demon that ravaged her homeland by the council. Her mother...former mother gave her up, her other mother died during the sealing, and her once beloved grandfather ended up becoming her tormentor for five years.
At last, she escaped. But at what cost?
A few minutes have passed since she woke up. A nurse walked into her room and noticed that she was awake. Eventually a doctor came into the room and did a few checkups, then some guards (shinobi) came in and asked her a couple of questions. It must be for investigative purposes, Sarah assumes. After a while a man wearing some big fancy hat and robes came into her room and sat down in a chair beside her bed.
Sarah didn't know who this man was, but he sure did look important.
"Greetings, my name is Hiruzen Sarutobi and I am the Third Hokage," the man introduced himself, "It is very nice to meet you Ms..."
"Sarah," Sarah responded. She wasn't no longer part of any family, so it just doesn't feel right to use the last name 'Bellum'.
"Alright, I'm here to ask you some questions regarding your situation. Do you remember how you got here?" Hiruzen asked her.
"I don't really remember much. The last thing I can recall is seeing some fire," Sarah responded.
Hiruzen nodded, "Hm, I see. Do you remember anything else?"
"Nope," Sarah responded as she looked Hiruzen in the eyes.
"Hmm...it seems he's trying to try and find out who did this. He can't do anything, they're all dead," Nemuri said, "It's probably best we keep the extent of our abilities on the down-low, especially around this man. I don't trust him at all,"
Sarah knew better than to question Nemuri's judgement. They were pretty spot on about everything. If they didn't trust this old man sitting right beside them, then she shouldn't either.
"Alright, thank you for your time," Hiruzen said as he got up from the chair, walking out the door.
Nemuri mentally glared at the man as Sarah laid back in her hospital bed.
"Are you sure this world would be safe to live in?" Sarah muttered under her breath.
Nemuri nodded, "I doubt it is. As long as we remain on the right side of things we should be fine."
"I hope that should be the case," Sarah shut her eye, trying to fall asleep.
"Just trust me Sarah, you're safe here," Nemuri said as they watched the purple-haired child fall asleep in the hospital bed, "We'll make sure of that."
-Childhood (1): Origins-
A few days have passed since she landed here in Konoha and Sarah has just freshly got out of the hospital. She was quite excited to explore the village, Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi by her side. Sarah didn't know why the old man bothered to show her around, but she wasn't one to refuse a free tour.
This was a brand new experience for her. She was finally able to be part of a community. Nobody here knew her or her past, nobody knew that she was the holder of Nemuri, nobody knew anything. It was the fresh start she always wanted for herself.
Walking beside the Hokage dressed up in some old clothes she found in a random bin (you got that from the lost and found you idiot), Sarah was eager to finally be able to own some clothes for herself and live in her very own place. She would even get to go to school for the first time...even if it was a regular old ninja academy.
Stopping inside of a store, Hiruzen allowed Sarah to pick out some clothes for her to wear. Sarah didn't know what she liked; she was always forced to wear rags growing up. Wearing actual clothes was a completely new experience for her.
Looking around the store, Sarah picked out a couple of clothes that caught her eyes. A purple hoodie, a few tee-shirts, some shorts, a bag to keep stuff in...
"It's great for seals too," Nemuri mentioned.
Seals? Sarah didn't know what Nemuri was talking about. What kind of seals?
"That's something I'll show you at a later date," Nemuri said before pointing at something nearby, "Grab that mesh under top!"
"Eh?"
"It would look cute on us. Imagine all the people we could attract."
"Cha??!???"
Sarah decided to not grab the mesh under top, instead opting to grab some cozy socks that she'll totally not cut the foot part out from. As she got done shopping, Sarah placed the clothes at the register and watched as Hiruzen used some form of weird currency to pay the clerk.
As the duo walked out of the shop, Hiruzen showed her the apartment she would be staying in. It was a nice cozy one bed-one bathroom apartment with accommodates such as a bed and utensils. Sarah wasn't complaining, this was FAR nicer than where she used to reside.
She even had a dresser she could store her clothes in. Hell, she had actual fucking clothes to wear! And a bed to sleep in too? If this was a dream, Sarah hoped to god she would never wake up from it.
"Ah, I see you like your apartment," Hirzuen said as he handed Sarah an envelope full of cash, "Here is your monthly allowance. Make sure to not spend it all in one place."
"Damn, that's a pretty hefty amount he gave us," Nemuri said as Sarah accepted the envelope full of cash.
"Thank you Mister!" Sarah smiled.
Hiruzen chuckled, "You're welcome Sarah."
As Sarah watched Hiruzen walk out of her apartment, she looked down at the envelope and nervously chuckled. Thank god she and Nemuri shared a body, if it was only her Sarah wouldn't know what the fuck to do with this amount of cash. Hell, she didn't even know what type of currency this is...or well the concept of currency in general...
"Don't worry, I'll teach you everything you need to know," Nemuri reassured the girl, "Though firstly we need to put some seals up around the place, invest in some healthy food, and maybe sneak into that library I saw to grab some books. We do need to increase your knowledge on this place before we head off to the academy."
Sarah shook her head, "Alright. But how am I going to even make seals? Actually, what even are seals? You never did explain that to me!"
Nemuri rolled their eyes, "Well, I guess that'll be your first lesson...after we go buy some food."
"Cha?!?"
-Childhood (1): Origins-
Sarah laid there slumped over her desk. She just spent the past three hours listening to Nemuri ramble on about seals, their properties, and how useful they would be in certain situations. Then Nemuri made her create some very complex privacy seals (which she somehow managed to pull off) and placed them around each possible entry point in the apartment. It was tedious work, but Sarah was quite proud of what she managed to accomplish.
The fridge and cabinets were all stocked up with a variety of different foods. Sarah even went to the library earlier and checked-out a cookbook. She was going to have to learn how to cook eventually, especially since there was nobody around to help her. Well..there was Nemuri, but they despise the idea of cooking (Sarah just assumes it has something to do with their past), so it was up to Sarah to cook herself a nutritious meal.
After a little nap of course...
Somehow making herself move over towards the bed, Sarah flopped down on top of the mattress and went off into a deep slumber. Finally for the first time in a long while, she was able to dream.
-Childhood (1): Origins-
It's been a long and tedious week of getting used to living in the village, but Sarah could confidentially say she was ready to start her career as a Konoha ninja. Standing outside the academy building, Sarah placed her hands on her hips and grinned from ear to ear. This was it, this was her big moment! Nobody could mess this up...nobody!
.
.
.
"What's up with the weird ass scar on your face?"
"CHA?!?"
Everyone looked down at Sarah as their teacher introduced her to the class with a curious look on their faces. Sarah was used to that, since she was still relatively new. Nothing out of the ordinary there..but this kid with a freaking dog had the audacity to point out her scarred face.
"Kiba, stop being so insensitive!" A girl with a long blonde ponytail chided.
"What? I was just asking her a question!" Kiba responded, "It wasn't even insensitive!"
Sarah just watched as the duo argued back and forth, cringing at the sight while trying to keep a smile on her face. Okay, she changed her mind: her moment was definitely ruined.
Whilst everyone was distracted, Sarah snuck off and headed towards an empty seat towards the back. There was a blonde boy sitting there wearing some of the tackiest clothing she has seen on a person, and was that goggles sitting on top of his head? Doesn't matter, the seat was unoccupied and FAR away from the front. That was a win in Sarah's book if she's ever seen one.
Sarah sat herself down in the chair beside the blonde boy, yawning as she looked down at her classmates arguing. The blonde looked at her skeptically, seemingly on alert. He's probably been hurt by people before, Sarah assumes. She was in that position too just a few days ago, before she gathered the courage to escape. She could understand where the boy was coming from.
Still, the least she could do is try and make friends with him. Having a friend in this world would be nice..
"Hey," Sarah looked over at the blonde, "Do these people always act like this?"
The boy nodded, "Yeah they do. So..what's up with the scar?"
"Freak accident," Sarah responded. "Got caught up in a mess and ended up getting burned. Why are you sitting by yourself in the corner?"
"I got no friends," the boy responded. "Everyone here seems to despise me. I don't know why, I haven't even done anything to them."
"Eh, they all seem annoying to me. You on the other hand interest me," Sarah said bluntly, "I want to be your friend."
The boy stared at her in shock, "No you don't. If you become my friend then you'll get targeted!"
Sarah shrugged, "I couldn't care less about being targeted. You look like you need a friend, so therefore I'm going to become your friend."
"O-Okay," the boy looked at her as if she has three heads, "My name is Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki."
"Sarah," Sarah responded, "No last name."
"So your name is just Sarah?" Naruto asked her.
Sarah nodded, "Yup."
"So your family was also killed in the nine-tails attack?" Naruto asked.
"Eh? Nine tails attack?"
"Ten years ago on October 10th, the nine tailed fox attacked the village after being freed from its holder. A lot of people died that night, including the Fourth Hokage," Nemuri explained.
"So Naruto assumed that I lost my parents during that attack?"
Nemuri nodded, "Mhm."
"Oh. I guess I'll have to come up with an explanation."
"No, I lost my parents in a house fire a few weeks ago before I came here to Konoha," Sarah lied.
"That's terrible! Are you doing alright?" Naruto asked her, dense to the fact that she just lied to him.
"I'm fine," Sarah responded. She wasn't fine. She still suffers from nightmares of her time in captivity.
"Well that's good," Naruto responded.
"So..." Sarah looked at the boy, "Does this mean that we're friends?"
"Heck yeah!" Naruto responded, "And you're in luck because I'm going to become the next Hokage, believe it!"
Sarah chuckled. Oh boy, she was going to be in for a ride...