It's a Tuesday night, yet for some reason Sakura feels as if it should be a Saturday night. Fatigue is something she usually experiences later in the week. The couch she sits on is lumpy so she awkwardly wiggles to find comfort. It makes a weird fabric rubbing noise against her pants and after getting some glances from other magazine-reading patrons, she squeaks out a "sorry" and finally sits still.
Green eyes squint impatiently at the clock. It was one of the few occasions she was on time for her appointment. It was supposed to begin twenty minutes ago. One of her advisors said to bring a book or something, but in some odd form of defiance, she didn't. So, she just picks up a random magazine from the pile on the table.
Sakura hates her advisors. She thinks all they do is play pretend-parent. Perhaps she's right. The advisors don't care what happens to her, they just want food on the table. Maybe, that's not such a horrible thing to want.
It's a sports magazine. She randomly picks an article about basketball. Sports is not something Sakura has had the opportunity to learn, so even after two thorough reads, it still confuses her.
Frustration flows through her veins and she throws the magazine to the floor. The people around her look at her with a mixture of disgust and pity. She hates that look.
Shikamaru appears on the seat next to her. He's a ghost and her best friend. "Cool it," he says. He doesn't have to whisper, she's the only one who can hear him. It's Sakura's ...gift. She sees, hears and speaks with the dead.
Sakura nods.
After a few moments of painful silence, the other patrons turn their attention away from Sakura and back to whatever they were doing before.
Sakura turns her attention to the door of her psychiatrist's office. What was taking Shizune so long? As of on cue, the office door opens. The doctor invites Sakura in.
"Go get 'em," the ghostly teen says.
"I will," Sakura whispers. It's only audible between the two of them.
The pinkette enters the office. Shizune's office is filled with board games and children's toys. Several beige couches stand in the middle of the small room. This place is quite familiar to Sakura, she's been coming here every Tuesday night since she was eight, but the thing that perplexes her the most now is the stranger who sits on on the far left of one of the couches.
Squinting at the older man, who appeared to be no older than forty despite his gray hair, Sakura sits on the same couch, at the far right. It's conveniently somewhat far from the strange man. Sakura is correct, Hatake Kakashi is a strange man. His face is covered, nose and below by a piece of fabric and one eye is covered by an eyepatch.
So yes, he is strange-looking, but he is kind, very kind.
"Shizune," they're on a first-name bases, Shizune made that very clear to Sakura on her first session, years ago. "Why is there a pirate at my counseling session?"
"Sakura, he's not a pirate-"
"Then why is he here?" The emerald eyed girl interrupts.
"I haven't told your advisors that he's here," Shizune was definitely not fond of them. "You can't tell them he's here, agreed?"
Sakura nods.
"Okay," Shizune turns to Kakashi. "why don't you introduce yourself?"
"Yo," he greeted. "My name's Hatake Kakashi."
"I prefer Pirate-man."
"I don't," he says matter-of-factly.
"Sakura-" The therapist starts.
"My name's Haruno Sakura, I'm sixteen."
Shizune gives Sakura a look. In a quick flash of movement, Sakura sticks out her pale hand. She often forgets social protocol. They don't let her out much.
Kakashi's mask shifts in a figure, he is smiling. He doesn't do that a lot.
"Tell me about yourself, Sakura."
"Like what?"
"Well," he starts, "what about likes and dislikes?"
"I like... time to myself," she lies. Whenever Sakura's alone she isn't really alone. "I don't like..." the word 'advisors' immediately comes up, but she tweaks it a little and says, "fakers." A pause pours into the room. "Shizune," Sakura turns to the dark haired woman, "why is he here anyways?"
"The hospital believes that you may be ready for discharge-"
"Really?!" She's wanted to leave ever since her first night there, eight years ago.
"Yes, but you have to go through a trial first," Shizune exclaimed. "For a year, you will be living with Kakashi and you will go to school. If there are no mishaps, you go for adoption and you never have to go back to the institution ever again."
.
Author's address: Hey! I got this idea while listening to 42 by Coldplay. Those who are dead are not dead, they're just living in my head. Oh. And since I fell in that spell, I am living there as well. Get it? This will be a Sasusaku. I really enjoy feedback, positive or not. Your opinions are important to me! What do you think is going to happen in the future? Critique requested.