Of Armor and Pink Petals

Chapter 26

Note: Things are getting complicated ahead! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

After the attack on Sakura's life, Tobirama had been preoccupied. He was spending more time in the office and searching for any clues about the attackers. He went back to the hospital and analyzed everything, every detail, and even tried to track the direction from where the attackers had came from. He was able to do so, but after a while, there were no more tracks. Defeated he went back to the compound and tried to find in their library any jutsus that could have caused the man to die during the interrogation. The white-haired man spent three days, barely sleeping, trying to find answers. Every time he thought he had a piece of the puzzle, the whole puzzle changed, and it was frustrating.

Sitting down at his desk, he knew that he would have to go back to Sakura eventually and the idea was frightening him for some reason. Since that doubt about her being honest made its appearance in his mind, he could barely think about anything else. He would have to ask her questions. He needed to know if she was hiding anything from him...

Sakura did not see the man for a few days after that morning. She wondered where he had been. A part of her was wondering if, maybe, they had gone too fast for the stoic man. She also thought that the cryptic messages would not find her new office, that all of this would be behind her, but she was mistaken. The day after her tea meeting with the Uzumaki, she had gone to her new office and found a piece of paper on her desk staring back at her, mocking her.

She had been on edge since her fight outside the hospital. The fact that she did not have any clue why people were targeting her was making her anxiety peak. The dark presence still followed her, more often than not, and her nightmares were coming back full force, like there was a connection between the occurrences of her nightmares and the increase of the shadow's presence. When she was waking up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, she would take out Mito's scrolls and try to understand the seal that she kept seeing to no avail. The whole situation made her patience stretch thin. The lack of Tobirama's calming presence in her life did not help either. In only a few days, her temper grew worst and she snapped at people so easily that it scared her. She tried to tell herself that she was fine, that the situation was ok, but the way she acted with people clearly showed her that it was everything but fine. One day, she had been so abrasive that she even made Kaiya cry with her harsh words.

Knowing that it was unlike Sakura to act this way, Ama had reported her behavior to Izuna and Madara, but both men brushed it off, saying that she would come around. They both knew how she could be when she was on edge about something. But even though he did not want to worry about her, Madara, to make Ama feel better, came to Sakura's office the next day to check on the medic. Sakura had been polite and nice, but he could see a flicker of uncertainty and, dare he say, fear in her eyes. She was holding onto something. He did not push her, but observed her when he could, coming to the hospital a few times per day.

When Madara went back in the office that day, he told Tobirama about Sakura's behavior. Seeing the young Senju rub his eyes and pinch the bridge of his nose, Madara raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?" Shaking his head, Tobirama met Madara's dark eyes.

"I have been so caught up on finding who did this that I totally forgot to check on her..."

At that, Madara frowned. There was something that put the white-haired man on edge, but it was not the attackers. It was something else that prevented him to go and see Sakura. Deciding not to get involved in this, Madara only shrugged and before to leave, he gave the man a look over his shoulder.

"You should go and see her." And left before anything else was said.

Tobirama stared at the door for a long while after the man left. Yes. He would go and see her. Maybe ask her some questions in the process. Closing his eyes, he leaned back on his chair. Images of soft skin, dark green eyes and sweet sounds rushed in his brain and his eyes snapped open. Getting on his feet, he left the office.