Stream of past

Reinvention

Immediately after the trial had been over, Ino had gathered the girls and dragged them to the hot springs, not giving Naruto and Sasuke a chance to steal Sakura away. The girls had been horrified to see the scars on Sakura's body. Sure, as ninja they all had some, but Sakura's were so much worse. There was one across her abdomen, starting from her right hip and going a all the way under her left armpit. She explained to them that Danzo had done it in an attempt to force her Byakugō no In to surface. It had failed, as that was not how the seal worked and had she not been such a talented medic, she would have died that day. The pitying looks Hinata and Tenten gave her were completely unappreciated. 

Karin did her best then to steer the conversation away from ROOT and onto brighter topics. They spent the rest of their time in the water updating Sakura on their lives, they spent time teasing Tenten on her budding relationship with Neji and let Karin complain about this guy from Kiri that got on her nerves every time she had to go there. The redhead swore the Mizukage paired them up just to see them argue. The rest of their time was spent getting a few messages and the first mani-pedi Sakura had in three years. Afterwards they walked Sakura to her new home in the Senju compound.

The next day however, Ino had shown up at her door, entering her room while she was still asleep and throwing the duvet off her. "Rise and shine, forehead! We're going shopping."

"Ino? What the hell are you doing here? And what time is it?" said Sakura as she woke up.

"Its 10am. And didn't you just hear me? We're going shopping. You're gonna need something new to wear aside from whatever Shizune-senpai and Tsunade-sama got you."

"And does it have to be the first thing I do in the morning?"

"Yes it does, because I heard that Tito's Tailor Shop has a sale today that ends at 2pm and I refuse to miss it. Now chop, chop, we need to get moving."

With a sigh and a smile, Sakura got up and went to get ready. After a quick shower and putting on a black long sleeve shirt and some red pants, she let Ino lead her towards the civilian district. As they walked, people kept giving her looks of surprise, as if they saw a ghost. Everyone knew what she had done and who she was and they were all curios for more details. Ino however, exuded such a 'speak to us and you die' aura that most steered clear and the few brave enough to stop them would get ignored as Ino kept dragging her forward. Reaching Tito's, Ino immediately shoved a bunch of shirts, pants, skirts and dresses in her arms before pushing her into the changing room.

She tried on as many as she could, but none were to her liking. Exiting the changing room, she told Ino as much. "These are things the Sakura before ROOT would have liked, but I don't know if I can be that confident girl again, Ino."

With a sad look, the blonde took her hands. "I know that what you have been through in the ROOT has changed you and I don't expect you to be the same person. But don't you dare tell me you aren't that confident girl. You singlehandedly took down Danzo and his operation with no back up. And that, is impressive. I don't know what type of person you are now but I would like to know this new Sakura. So can we just keep trying?"

With a wobbly smile, Sakura pulled her into a hug. "Of course."

They kept trying on more clothes, with even Ino deciding to buy something to encourage her. She didn't get as many as the blonde would have liked, but the few she had were enough.

...

The next few days, Sakura found herself relaxing in the compound, meeting up with Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi at Ichiraku(she almost cried when Teuchi remembered her order) and spending time with Tsunade. She was on a mandatory rest period for two weeks, where Tsunade told her to just relax and focus on herself. The Hokage told her that if she wishes, she can return to active duty afterwards with a bonus little title of Tokubetsu Jōnin. Right now the Godaime and her student were in the garden, Sakura was laying down with her head on Tsunade's lap.