Fate's Twisted Whims

a Bleach fanfiction

by: Sakura Onna

A/N: I started writing this almost a year ago after Sakura was born in my mind. I owe it to Sakura that I got my nickname in my school's anime club, and by extension my pen name, by cosplaying as her at the anime club Halloween party. I don't totally know why but I seem to like to give my female mains twisted and painful pasts. Sakura eventually comes to terms with hers and this story is hers told through her eyes. It may seem slow and boring at first as it starts in the past and works its way forward, but I hope it gets better and more interesting as it progresses.

Sakura-Hime: Um... Want to do the honors, Captain Kuchiki?

Byakuya: How about no, mortal?

Sakura-Hime: T.T Sakura?

Sakura: . . . Fine. The one whose name is way too similar to mine owns nothing of Bleach. That belongs to Kubo-sama.

Sakura-Hime: And?

Sakura: (growl) but she does own me, my family, and my life's story. (whispers conspiratorially) almost like we're her slaves.

Sakura-Hime: (grabs zanpakuto) I heard that, you ungrateful little-! (runs toward Sakura)

Byakuya: (sigh) -_-" The things I have to put up with. . . Go read the actual story now, mortals! Nothing to see with those two! (sound of author fighting with her oc in the background) (turns to fighting pair) Will you two knock it off already!

Sakura-Hime and Sakura: (pause in fighting turning to reader) Yeah, go read the story already!

Chapter 1: Beginnings

I don't like remembering my early years that much, but everyone has to look back at what they left behind at some point. Even a shinigami like me. My name is Sakura Hideyori. I was born to a powerful noble family. My family was so powerful that it was on the verge of being called the new fifth great noble family. I was born the third of the four children of Tadakatsu and Ai Hideyori. My father was the captain of squad 10 of the 13 court guard squads, his zanpakuto was the flame type and he was respected by most shinigami of all branches. My siblings were an older brother Hiei, older sister Yume, and younger brother Ranmaru. I can't really remember much of what Hiei was like or much about him period he was so much older than me. Same is true for Yume as will except I can remember that Mom and Dad were trying to find her a husband from one of the four great noble families. I got brought with on one meeting with a potential candidate for Yume, but I think me falling in there koi pond made them change their mind on my sister. I know for sure Dad was extremely mad at me for that. Ranmaru was still young enough that he had problems with his clothes and sandals on a regular basis. Most of my memories of my family are hazy while some stand out with crystal clarity. Of the koi pond incident I only remember the coldness of the water and Dad's anger afterwards for example. Two crystal clear events stand out the most though out of everything, because my life was irrevocably changed forever by them.

The first one was Father's death. While he may not have been a candidate for "father of the year" as mortals seem to put it he was still the center of our lives. . . He had been assigned a mission, that I learned much later was handed to him by the head-captain himself, that teamed him up with members of another squad but with none of his own squad members. I still don't know what that mission had been or how it happened, but he died on it. The men who brought his body home had been of a different squad, that's all I can say about them. . . I remember being in the garden by the blooming trees I share my name with practicing my writing skills just like I was told to when I heard Mother's scream of anguish. I had jumped at the sudden scream to my feet so quickly I knocked over my ink well and spilled ink all over my kimono. I ran to the courtyard as quickly as my legs could carry me and what I saw froze me in place. Mother was on her knees, her face whiter than her under kimono, crying in front of the stretcher on which Father's body lay. Before my eyes could absorb more than that Hiei and Yume turned me away and forcefully held me in place when I tried to turn back around. One stood in front of me, the other behind me, and both put their hands on my shoulders making sure that I couldn't view any more of the proceedings. My mind only absorbed maybe half of what everyone said. Some of what I caught was stuff like: mission, shame he had to die like that, and there was nothing we could do to help. By that point I was numb from head to toe and couldn't have cared less what was said. Even though I was maybe nine or ten by mortal standards of development, I knew things would be a lot harder from that point on because Father wasn't going to be there to guide us anymore. After what felt like a long time Hiei and Yume lead me away from the courtyard back into the garden and we sat on the grassy spot by the small waterfall and koi pond. It was there that I got a glimpse of my reflection; my face was even paler than Mother's which caused the ink that had some how got on my right cheek stand out even more, my eyes were wide with shock, my hair had somehow gotten partly loose from my braid and now hung a bit in my face. In basic if this was ordinary circumstances I would be getting the scolding of my life for how unkempt I looked. We sat there in silence partially leaning on each other with me in the middle for a very long time. I think all of us were mostly just trying to process what had happened, or at least I was. As thoughts raced through my head seeming to set my brain on fire with their speed and intensity, I watched the koi. Their dance like movements seemed to belie the fact Father was dead. How could they just keep swimming around in their pond like nothing happened? Father's funeral was the next day and all the household except for Ranmaru, who was sick, and his nurse were present. I didn't cry until a week later when Ranmaru was well enough to notice Father's absence and comment on it. . .

The second was the night of the fire about one year later. I don't know how the fire started or where, just that I woke up in the dark of night in a cold sweat from a nightmare to smell smoke: a nightmare come to life. It wasn't long until I saw the glow of the flames lapping at my bedroom walls and heard the screams of pain and fear from other parts of the grounds. I tried to throw off my blankets and run, but my legs got tangled up in the bedding. I couldn't do anything but scream myself, clawing at the bedding, and watch as the flames got closer and closer to me. By the time I was freed my eyes were watering and my lungs starting to burn from the smoke and heat. I fled my burning room and blindly ran down the corridors trying to find a way out and calling for help from basically anyone. The rafters burned above my head threatening to collapse at any moment while I ran. Then I made a huge error, one I'm surprised didn't kill me: I found the one and only dead end corridor. As I was about to run back the way I came one of the rafters came crashing down on me, pinning me to the floor. I remember trying to free myself from under it to no avail. The last thought I had had before I lost consciousness was that I didn't want to die yet. . .

I don't know how long I was out cold, but when I woke up I was in a grassy field on my side. My hair was singed to almost a third of its previous length, it hurt slightly to breathe, and I smelled of smoke but other than that I seemed in one piece. There was no sign of any one. I don't know how I got out of the fire alive but apparently I did. The mansion, or what should be the charred remains, were nowhere in sight nor were anything else I recognized. Looks like I'm in the middle of nowhere, and I guess I'll just have to pick a direction, start walking and see what I find. It's over a mile before I see anyone and by then my bare feet are extremely tender. The mode of dress of the first person I saw made me inwardly cringe they were clearly someone that belonged to the Rukongai with their rough, dirty clothes. As I got reluctantly closer I could see it was a kid maybe slightly older than me and they were just as filthy as their clothes. I couldn't help it my nose scrunched up in disgust at the smell before I could even think of the reaction. By then the kid, I couldn't tell if it was a boy or girl with all the dirt and grime, had noticed me and the look on my face. If I had known the kid would scream at me and chase me I would never have tried to go near them. Fear gripped my heart as I ran for my life from them as they shouted at me in a stream of obscenities. My heart was pounding hard enough that I missed most of what they yelled, but what I did hear was along the lines of: "Wat' a d*** rich b**** doin' her! Wat can' stan' 'e smel b****! Gat 'e 'ell autta her! Ain't notin' for 'ur kind her! Ah catcha Ah'll turn ya ta dog meat!" I got away from them, but at a price. By the time I stopped running my feet were more than just sore, they were cut and bleeding. I did what I could to bandage them with stripes of the sleep kimono. It was a poor substitute for the care I would have gotten at home but it was the best I could do.

Too bad that wouldn't be the only time my feet bled in my days of wandering that followed. Over time I came to learn what the signs of those best avoided were and how to steal whatever I could to survive. I learned that the place I now lived within was the Rukongai and very different from where I was born. I came to basically call west Rukongai #79 my stomping ground even though there were many groups of other orphans that would hate to hear me call it that. I came to learn to not even bother trying to join any of the groups of orphans that live and work together in any part of the Rukongai: all they would do is drive me off, and if they caught me beat me half to death. The adults were just as bad if not worse than the kids, some of them even went as far as suggesting I find work lying on my back or any other position a man would want to put me in! Ew! Some even tried to force me, but I always fought them off. I can't say exactly when it started but by the second winter of being on my own in this harsh world that was now my constant reality and nightmare, hunger was my constant companion. Hunger was something that wasn't supposed to happen in the Rukongai or anywhere else in the soul society, a world of spirits, so I didn't know what to do at first, but I learned that eating was more than just a habit: it made the hunger go away for a time. After a series of failed attempts at stealing food from the ordinary locals I was driven to try something that would be considered madness. I was driven to try stealing for the Shiba clan's storehouse.

Somehow the getting in part was easy. I got past the boars and slipped into the storehouse with ease. Seeing the food-stores I scarf down more than a handful of things I can't remember later with minimal chewing then grab as much food as I can carry and run for the door. Wouldn't do me any good to waste to much time and really risk getting caught. Too bad for me as I come out of the storehouse, a man comes around the back of the Shiba house. He yells something and I take off running. Even though I run as fast as I can he catches up to me without showing any sign of exertion. Not good. As he moves to grab me I swing my leg out tripping him. The next thing I know, though, I'm on the ground myself and he has me pinned down. I lost my hold on the food on the way down which left my arms empty at my sides. As I raise one of my arms to hit him I say something I don't remember and lightning shoots out of my hand. I can't say if I hit anything or not because I fainted right after that moment I saw his eyes widen in surprise.

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A/N: That's it for now. Who is it that Sakura just got in a fight with? What happens to our little noblewoman turned peasant next? What was it that she really did right before she fainted? Answers to these questions and a few more next chapter! Review if you like or hate this story so far please! Yeah I know Byaku don't appear in this chapter but I thought it would be fun to use him with the disclaimer anyways. ^_^ The pair is going to be Byakuya/Sakura after all. And don't worry about her out look on things and them getting together: what I wrote for this chapter and at least the next one are still when she's a kid. Byakuya and Sakura meet when she's all grown up so lots can happen between now in the story and that point. ^_^