Everything was going by smoothly. After the initial shock of her existence, Sakura managed to make herself fade into the rest of the Academy students despite her outstanding excellence. The school days went by normally and without incident with Iruka's fair and open way of teaching. Naruto was treated as any other student and was held up to the exact same standard—the way Sakura would've had it if she were in charge of education.
She, Sasuke, and Naruto stayed as close to each other as ever. They mostly hung out at Naruto's apartment whenever they could because of how convenient it was to stay away from prying eyes and judgmental whispers. Sakura was confident enough to say they were close enough to stand at each other's backs in any situation. It was also safe to say that they could rely on Shikamaru, Chouji, and Shino as well.
Sakura did make her trip to the Aburame Household alongside Shikamaru every now and then to study up on more insects (and more possible poisons). The time Chouji tagged along with them, he and Shino hit it off immediately. One clan dealt with bugs and the other with butterflies, so they had plenty to talk about.
Her internship under Ibiki and Genma went as expected. Her chakra reserves grew substantially and her muscle mass was easily seen on her arms and legs, leading her to wear pants and long sleeves to avoid even more suspicion. She could now freely use chuunin level techniques in their presence, leading up to her quickly learning to use her wrist blades.
One thing she didn't think to account for was how much more... involved they were in her life. Sakura noticed that she was spending a lot of her free time at the T&I building. If she wasn't lounging on Ibiki's office couch, she'd be lazing around on the rooftop or training grounds with Genma.
It was during those moments when she caught up with her sleep. Luckily enough, they never questioned it.
"Alright everyone—outside!" Iruka called to his class of second years. "We're going to learn about kunai and shuriken safety!"
Sakura stood from her seat and trailed beside Naruto and Sasuke on their way towards the training grounds. The two were unaware of the slight change in her expression; the way it had gotten weary and filled with hopeless acceptance.
She couldn't sleep anymore. She couldn't stop getting all those flashbacks from the war. She couldn't stop hearing, stop... stop seeing all her friends dead and suffering even though she knew they were all alive and innocent again. And when she saw or even thought of a fire—
Someone poked her shoulder. "Oi, Sakura."
Ino came into view with platinum blonde hair pulled up in a short ponytail and sky blue eyes widened in worry.
"Are you okay?" she asked, "You, I dunno, you don't look okay. Your jaw's tight, your fist's balled, and you're... distracted?"
Sakura's finger twitched. How could she forget? The Yamanaka prided themselves in being experts in the human mind, as it was the clan specialty. That meant they knew about telling signs, when a person was lying, and reading body language. Not to mention that her father was one of the most prominent figures with T&I. It wouldn't be wrong to start teaching his seven year old daughter a trick or two.
"I'm fine," she answered, voice unwavering. "I'm just thinking about some things."
Ino stared at her for a few seconds. "... Okay."
Reluctantly, she turned back to one of her friends and continued her conversation with another girl. Though she did keep a close eye on Sakura as the class settled themselves on the training grounds. And when Iruka began his long spiel on what to do and what not to do with the weapons, Ino saw that Sakura was again off in her own world-- jaw tight, fists balled, and... distracted.
::
"Gaara, correct?"
Gaara jumped and looked over his shoulder. Standing in the soft lighting of the public library was Chiyo: the famed puppet-master and poison user as well as one of Rasa's advisors. She peered into the fearful eyes of the Kazekage's son.
"Y-Yes, ma'am."
"I see. What are you doing here so early then, child?"
Gaara shifted his weight from foot to foot and cast his line of sight at anything but her. The book he picked out from the shelf was held tightly against his side.
"I wanted to know about, um, f-forgiveness," he said, "I thought the library would have something."
There was no visible change in her face, but something told him that she didn't quite believe what she was hearing. In a quick boost of confidence, he raised the book he was holding to show her the cover. A heartbeat passed before she gently took it from his hands and read the title.
Forgive
A book on how to free yourself.
Honda Kayo
Chiyo handed him back the book. The Yashamaru incident, she supposed. She had advised against the course of action because it had the potential to psychologically damage Gaara to the point of no return, but in the end it was Rasa's decision. Not a good one, but his nonetheless.
"I'll leave you to it. Don't stay in too long, your father may look for you later," she mentioned. The boy's eyes darted to the ground as she walked away. When he was sure she was gone, he went over to the most secluded table at the library and sat down to read the book. Gaara flipped through the first few pages, stopping at the introduction.
There are some things that you need to understand before continuing through this book. Here are the main seven points you need to consider to open your heart to forgiving.
1.) When you forgive someone, that doesn't mean you have to be okay with what they did.
That wouldn't be a problem for him. It had been a year and a half now and he had yet to approach Yashamaru and talk about what happened. Since then, they rarely spoke to one another.
2.) When you forgive someone, you don't have to tell them that they're forgiven. If you show that you have gotten past the problem they should be able to see it for themselves.
He missed Yashamaru. He wasn't going to lie about that.
3.) Forgiving someone doesn't mean everything's going to be solved. There are still going to be problems, and there are things that still need to be worked out.
But somehow, it didn't seem right to approach him and tell him that everything would be fine.
4.) After forgiving someone, you can still talk about it. Have feelings about it? That's perfectly normal. Want to talk about it? By all means, go ahead. Communication is key. Nothing's wrong with it.
Gaara wasn't exactly comfortable communicating with people. The only person he ever opened up with had been Hiruko, and he only came by one or two times a month.
5.) I'm sure you've heard the phrase "forgive and forget". Forgiving is what should be done. But you should never forget-- you learn and grow from it.
The things that Yashamaru said... that he was filth, a monster, and a self-loving carnage—how could he forget that?
6.) Forgiving someone doesn't mean you need to keep them in your life. It can be hard; I know it can be. But if you think that removing that person from your life is your best course of action, no one is stopping you.
Did he want to patch it up with him? It had been a long time and his uncle was the very first person who tried to reach out to him. If he was able to give him a chance, he felt he should be able to return the gesture.
7.) Forgiveness isn't for the other person.
Gaara sunk into the wooden chair. Just as Hiruko said. He didn't even read the rest of the book when he shut the cover and hopped from his seat. He walked near the Kage Tower, avoiding the constant stares of everyone else, and approached the apartment he stayed at multiple times when he was younger.
He stretched his hand above his head, fingers curled into a loose fist. A minute passed and he still stood there—waiting with an arm held high. Did he really want to talk to him again? Was he ready to talk about what happened?
He didn't know. At all.
"...Gaara... sama?" Yashamaru paused at the end of the corridor with a couple of grocery bags in one hand and his house key in the other. Gaara yanked his arm back down and turned to the side, holding his hands behind his back.
"H-H-Hi," he mumbled. His eyes were glued to his feet. "I-I, um..."
A sudden dread spilled over his face as he broke into a run down the hall. "I'm s-sorry!"
"Gaara-sama!"
Yashamaru spun around to catch another glimpse of him, but he was already gone.
::
Itachi was having a relatively nice day. Neither Shisui nor Obito had dropped by so far, giving him a quiet time to drink some tea and reflect on his thoughts. His father had yet to return from his police duties and his mother was in the living room, curled up on the couch with a book in her hands. He hadn't received free time like this ever since he joined ANBU, so perhaps he could finally catch up on time lost with Sasuke.
It's been so long since he'd actually spent time with his younger brother that he felt real guilt over not being home that much anymore.
When Sasuke came home from the Academy, he stepped through the door in a frenzy and a wide grin on his face. The boy struggled to take of his sandals and fell over once before eventually kicking them off and running to the living room. He greeted his mother first and kissed her on the cheek, then ran into the kitchen. Sasuke skidded to a stop at the sight of his older brother at the table.
"Aniki!" he exclaimed. Itachi smiled and beckoned him over.
"Welcome home, otouto. How was school?" he asked, tousling his hair. Sasuke pouted and lightly swatted at the appendage.
"School was fine. Kinda boring 'cause he was talking about shuriken and kunai and what to do, but I knew about that," he answered. Seeming to remember something, he rushed over to the pantry and looked around inside. Itachi watched him curiously.
"Hm. I don't have have anymore duties for today. Would you like to join me for training?"
Sasuke emerged from the pantry with an armful of potatoes. He placed them on the table, removed all his papers from his book bag, and slid the vegetables into it.
"Sorry, Aniki. I'm busy."
Itachi blinked. "What?"
"Yeah, I got allota things to do. I'll see you later!"
He slung the bag over his shoulder and ran back out the house, stepping back into his sandals and bolting out the door. Itachi and Mikoto shared a confused look, though his mother's lips quirked up into an amused smile and a small chuckle before she turned back to her book. Her eldest son, on the other hand, moved his stare back to the closed door.
Well... maybe this was a one time thing.
...
But it wasn't, of course. He's been having a lot of shit luck lately, and this definitely wasn't helping.
ANBU had been giving him more guard duty lately which meant that he was out of the house at two o'clock am every day and back at three o'clock pm sharp. And every day, he'd ask if Sasuke would want to go out on a walk or if he'd be up for learning another jutsu. But alas, he kept on getting turned down.
"I'm gonna work in a study group today!"
"We're gonna go and get ramen again, sorry, Aniki."
"Naruto said he was gonna show us a cool bug he found yesterday, so me, Sakura, and Shino are going to the training grounds."
"I can't today, Sakura said she would help me with throwing kunai!"
"Naruto got sick so me and Sakura are gonna take care of him."
Just like that, a whole school week had passed and Itachi was in the living room with drooping shoulders and defeated expression. It was Saturday and Sasuke wasn't even home! Now he was stuck with his annoying cousins laughing over his misfortune.
"Karma sucks, ne, Itachi?" Shisui grinned. He didn't even cringe when a blistering glare was shot in his direction. Obito patted his head.
"Don't worry about it, Itachi-chan. It's not bad that Sasuke has friends now, is it?"
"... No," the youngest begrudgingly admitted, "though it wouldn't hurt if he were home more often. But I will have to thank Naruto and Sakura in the future."
Obito cocked his head and hummed thoughtfully.
"It's that Sakura, isn't it?" he murmured to himself.
::
"Why would you be here in the daytime?"
"I was in the neighborhood and dropped by to see how your day was going and this is the greeting I get? Ungrateful brat."
"I hope you get caught."
"I hope you're too short to reach things."
"How tall are you again? 4'8"?"
"From this moment on, I'm disowning you."
Sakura rolled her eyes and leaned against the tree she was taking refuge in. Sasori sat on the branch next to her, his Akatsuki cloak folded in a way to hide the clouds and draped over the branch behind him. His life had been going quite easily so far, surprisingly enough to him. The Akatsuki was as lenient as ever with their members and let them roam around as they pleased.
There were less missions, though. Since the tailed beasts were no longer a part of the Akatsuki's missions, they stayed a for-hire mercenary group to raise funds for themselves and Amegakure's orphanages and charities. Yahiko, he discovered some time ago, was the hard-working leader of the village when he took control of it from Sanshouo no Hanzo years ago.
"How are Gaara and Deidara?" she questioned.
"Alright, I suppose. I'm trying out some emotional building with Gaara and working with Onoki in assuring that Deidara never leaves Iwagakure. So far so good. I haven't been able to find Hidan, though. I've been too caught up with the other two," he said. Sakura gazed up at the leaves.
"Hidan... the one with the voodoo doll jutsu?"
"Mhm. And the one who was defeated by the Nara boy. I'll check up on him in a few years and see what he's been up to. Maybe I'll even go and try to stop him from joining in the Akatsuki. I should take you along for that one."
She shrugged. "If I'm out of the Academy by then, why not?"
Sasori gazed into her face for a few moments, eyes narrowed and searching. "You're wearing lightening balm around your eyes again," he commented. "You're still not getting enough sleep, are you?"
She rubbed her eyes and sighed. Nothing could get past him. "No. Sorry."
"We've been back for about two years. I think it would be best if you got some therapy or something along the lines of that..." He saw the murkiness of her eyes. "... But I know none of them would understand. Here, I have some of my personally made sleeping pills if you want to try them out. Half a pill every other night," he instructed. Sasori reached into his cloak pocket and pulled out a small bottle filled with circular blue pills. He took her hand and made her hold onto the container.
"Thanks."
"Sakura, look me in the eyes."
Green clashed with brown.
"Half a pill every other night. Do not take them everyday and do not take more than half a pill. Alright?"
It was a few long moments of his dead serious look piercing through her soul before she nonchalantly pocketed the bottle waved him off.
"I'm a medic, Sasori-san. No need to tell me twice."
::
EDITED 1/31/18