Preventing The Inevitable

Chapter 26

Before Sakura knew it, a week had passed. Time was passing. Quickly. And she was getting anxious.

Because she felt like she was not doing anything. Not achieving anything. Not changing anything.

And yet, her schedule was packed full. Every day, she'd go through the steps of her routine.

Wake up in the morning.

Eat breakfast with Yūta. Try to gather information concerning their family circumstances and his ANBU identity (to no avail).

Leave the house under the pretense of "going to the library."

Train in the forest.

Eat lunch even if she wasn't hungry (growth).

Actually go to the library and search for anything of use for her chakra pathway problem and the chakra-pool-not-growing problem.

Go home and tediously untangle paper-thin chakra pathways at a painfully slow speed.

Eat dinner.

Meditate.

Go to sleep.

Her schedule left little time in between. Depending on her plans for the day, she would sometimes skip dinner or lunch. But never the important things. Never the training. She was doing as much as she could.

But was she really? A sinister voice whispered in her mind.

Was she really doing everything in her power to work towards her goal? Was she truly doing everything she could? Sakura didn't know.

Or maybe she didn't want to admit that she could do more. Could work harder. Sakura had seen herself during the war. She knew that she wasn't as productive as she could be right now. After experiencing seven years of war, Sakura knew that 'giving her best' wasn't 'giving everything.' If she wasn't fighting tooth and nail for something, she wasn't using her full potential.

But Sakura enjoyed talking to her mother in the evenings. She didn't mind cutting her library research time short in favor of childish, trivial conversations that still meant the world to her.

She enjoyed basking in the warm afternoon sun of an otherwise cold winter day in Konoha. She enjoyed listening to the soothing hum of nature as she entered the forest for training. And what did it matter if her steps slowed down slightly?

She had plenty of time, after all.

Except she didn't. Not when the Academy term started in nearly four months. Not when she should have applied for entrance by now. Not when her mother was nowhere near convinced.

She had left her training session last Friday with a goal in mind: to figure out a plan. Sasuke had been partially right after all. She couldn't continue to hide her problem from Shisui. Shisui, who had been convinced to train her after hearing her 'worries' about the Academy. Shisui, who could drop their little teacher-apprentice act whenever he wanted.

So Friday evening, Sakura decided to do something in order to solve her problem.

Friday night, she found out Yūta was ANBU. Yūta, who she had reluctantly come to accept as a brother. Yūta, who she had believed to be a harmless, if only slightly troublesome, change to her everyday life. Yūta, who had turned out to be an even bigger anomaly than she had imagined. Yūta, who Sakura had no clue how to act around.

Saturday, Sakura decided to figure out how to deal with the stranger she called family.

She fell into her routine, went through the steps each day, and worked in her spare time. She talked to Inner and visited Ichiraku.