Sakura Shippuden (#2 Sakura Trilogy)

Sakura Shippuden: [Chapter 3]

Sakura breathed in, taking the crisp air into her lungs. She rolled over, relaying all that had happened in the last twenty four hours. The mattress squeaked in protest as Sakura sat up, then got out of bed, getting ready for her group therapy appointment. She yawned quietly, hyperaware of the fact that she wasn't the only one in the apartment. Sakura dressed quickly, then turned around towards the simple wooden vanity that had already been there when she moved her stuff there last night. The only thing she had removed from her sealing scroll yet had been weapons and clothing. She stared at her reflection, fingering her hair. It was getting longer. Sakura grunted, then opened her window, stealthily leaving the apartment. She leapt from the side of her new home to the roof of another building, until she reached the smaller building near the hospital.

Sakura entered, being hit with the scent of supposedly calming essential oils, and nodded to the receptionist. "I am switching from one on one to group, as requested by Inoichi."

The brown haired lady, Hana, her name tag said, nodded. "Inoichi-san is already waiting. It's the first door on the left when you exit the waiting room. Have a nice..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Sakura was already trekking away from her and towards the room. She gripped the door handle, feeling a hint of apprehension before twisting it open. In a circle were foldable chairs, Inoichi with his clipboard in one of the seven. The blonde man looked up, then double checked before smiling gently. "Sakura. Have a seat. You're a little early, but the others should be coming in very soon."

Sakura bobbed her head, then watched a boy with intense black eyes stalk in. He glanced at her, froze up, then sat directly across from Inoichi and with a seat between him and Sakura. He had positioned himself in one of the spots that minimized any eye contact with her. Interesting. She watched as he crossed his arms, then closed his eyes, breathing in heavily. The boy that was around her age, it seemed, scratched his arm nervously, then moved to fidget and pick at a thread hanging from his sleeve. Sakura watched, intrigued, while the boy was doing anything to avoid her gaze. After a while of staring, Sakura became bored and started to recite from some text she had read earlier on to herself, not even noticing the other patients slowly file in one by one.

"Now that everyone's here," Inoichi started, bringing Sakura out of her thoughts, "we'll go in a circle and introduce ourselves. We'll start with our newest member." He nodded towards Sakura, who blinked owlishly.

"I am Sakura," she said. A few of the others leaned in expectantly for more information. Most looked indifferent and uninterested. "I am a genin. I have low emotional intelligence that manifests itself as concealing my feelings and having little to no empathy."

"And why is that," Inoichi prompted her. His eyes shone with encouragement, but she mistook as challenging.

Sakura stared at him apathetically. "I was raised to be that way." When he probed no longer, Sakura sat back in her chair and absent-mindedly listened, her brain already occupied with other things. She never had enough time, yet at the same time, it seemed to fly past her so quickly, leaving her to grasp at its coattails in vain.

"I'm Hiroto Yokoyama. I'm a civilian."

"Would you like to tell us more about yourself?" Inoichi looked up from his clipboard, eyes imploring him to speak. Instead, Hiroto shook his head and slouched down into his chair. Sakura's eyes immediately went to him, breaking her thoughts. His gaze was downcast the entire time. There was something about him that Sakura recognized—a lightbulb went off in her head. It was him. The boy she had met years and years ago. He probably remembered her, from her bright hair, but his normal looks would be harder for her if she weren't conditioned to take in everything and retain it. His once proud eyes that had silently taunted her were now blank and downcast.

Sakura inspected him further, quickly losing interest in what Inoichi had to say about the purpose of group sessions (something about learning to trust others and be vulnerable together). The boy—Hiroto, she corrected silently, had changed drastically in mannerism. He no longer looked like he felt the need to prey on younger kids by hanging them from trees by their shirts, as he once did to Naruto so long ago. It had been his actions that prompted Sakura to help her future friend. Sakura searched her mind for anything else she had come up with in her observations from the many years ago, but came up blank. She searched his face with scrutiny, until—! The boy suddenly stood, his chair lying astray on the floor, his eyes trained on her intensely. He looked ready to jump her with his body being so tense. He would probably topple over if she pushed him a little.

"Hiroto!" Inoichi, startled, quickly shouted his name before calling once again more calmly. "Hiroto... this is the first time you've acted up like this. Is there something you would like to share with the rest of the group?" Quiet murmurs rose amongst the group.

All eyes were on the boy, who soon wilted from the pressure and slumped back down into his chair. "It's nothing," he mumbled, shooting a look from underneath his hair towards Sakura. Perhaps he wanted to talk to her later. She mentally shrugged, brushed off the event, and observed the other members while absentmindedly listening to Inoichi's talk.

✿ ✿ ✿

Everyday had the same monotonous pattern: wake up, greet Kizashi and Mebuki (it took them a week to get this idea of greeting others in a domestic environment into Sakura's head), eat, study (on Thursdays she instead attended her sessions), eat, then sleep. All the while, two ANBU were still posted outside of the Haruno household, every single waking moment of the past two months.

Her sentence was officially going to be released in three days, and Sakura wanted nothing more than to be able to venture around the village without being trailed two feet away by ANBU. At lunchtime, on a rare midday in which both of the Harunos were home, Kizashi exclaimed in a booming voice he always used, "We should celebrate your probation being lifted, Sakura! What do you say, dear?"

The blonde woman nodded quietly, then sipped her tea. "It all depends on what Sakura wants, Kizashi."

Sakura stared at the both of them, gauging their reactions. Kizashi reminded her of Naruto. The grown man was basically jumping out of his seat, whereas Mebuki was more calm. She still seemed...glad, but not in the outward way her husband was. Sakura thought carefully, then nodded. "I agree." She noted the small eye roll but nonetheless affectionate peck on the cheek Mebuki gave Kizashi before piling up the dishes from their curry.

Sakura excused herself from the table and then walked up the small set of stairs to her room. Now that all her furniture had been moved in, the room seemed livelier. Like always, though, Sakura sat on the side of her squeaky bed and watched the motions from outside her window. Her green eyes zeroed in on a couple with a young child in between them, each of them linked by their gloved hands. The mother and father both said things that made the little girl laugh, and Sakura watched wordlessly as they passed all the food vendors until they were out of her sight, most likely heading back to their home together.

[A/N]: Sort of a filler to build some depth. Some more exciting things will happen soon!