Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and probably never will. Sometimes, dreams don't come true.

Notes: Thank you guys for being so generous. I love you more than anything else! This is for you!

Sarada wakes up before anybody else in the house, which just consists of her and her mom, Sakura. She just had another night terror, but, again, can't quite remember what had happened. She got a feeling of déjà vu, but shook it off. She couldn't continuously go on like this. If the world was not going to change, she will change it herself. This was the exact confidence that would make her Hokage.

After looking up at her pink calendar right in front of her bed, she realizes that, also for the first time ever, she did not finish her homework that night. How could she, if she was still missing her precious beige bag? Speaking of which, she needed to find it today for the Academy, otherwise she was screwed.

Sarada quickly tuned her mind in to other things, ignoring the protests of her mind that told her that not doing her homework was a warning sign for her. She was surprised it was still on her side. However, Sarada had a feeling this fragile alliance wouldn't last long. She was right.

The 12 year old brushed her hair and her teeth, that is, after she made herself an omelet. Being the daughter of a working medic means you had to learn how to take care of yourself once in a while. She got dressed, and was honestly more than ready to learn who her teammates were in approximately-she looked over at her calendar- three days. It was almost the end of her days at that Academy, and she was ready to start her missions, for crying out loud!

As she walked to school, crows cawed all around her. It gave her a feeling of safety, but she didn't know why. Just another thing to add to the list. She looked around for her book bag but did not see it anywhere nearby, nor was it in the spot that she (probably) left it.

She enters through the front doors, bracing herself for hate and violence. What she got in return was much worse. Stares and disapproval. The brunette bully is not there, but it feels like she is with all the people staring at her hatefully. But not Boruto. He was avoiding her gaze, looking angry at himself. Her heart dropped. Of all people, she didn't expect him to be avoiding her. He was the one who was harassing her. Right?

Sarada couldn't believe her ears at that moment in time, and every time she replays the memory in her head, she still can't believe them. What the hell did that mean? Why would he mess with her head like that, and then avoid her? They were only twelve for goodness sake! Was that really all boys thought about? What was all this even about?! Sarada was so confused. She didn't know what to think of Boruto anymore. So she just ignored him right back.

Although she looked like she was focusing on her sensei's every word, that was far from the truth. She couldn't focus at all. Not with Boruto staring right at her when he didn't think she was looking. Not with that idiot girl on her mind, laughing at her as she dangled her precious bag over a cliff. Not with this awful headache, this awful heaviness weighing on her brain, making her feel down, down, down..

"Sarada!" Said girl hiccupped and jumped in her seat. To her complete and utter embarrassment, the entire class started to laugh out loud. Sarada blushed a deep, deep tomato red.

"Y-yes? Sensei?" She stuttered, eyes finding her fists in her lap so much more fascinating than the teacher's own eyes.

Shino sighed. He had noticed Sarada was not paying attention because of that glazed look in her eyes. Just to test if his theory was correct, he asked a question he knew only Sarada couldn't resist to answer to.

"Who was the only survivor of the Uchiha Massacre?" Although they covered this topic a long time ago, this was the only question Shino knew of that Sarada would answer to, for the off chance that she would be distracted. She was his favorite student, after all. He had a irresistible question to each student, just in case. Caution was the best answer to everything. And in this case, he was right.

"My father, sir.." She answered in monotone, shocking Shino. He knew this was Sarada by her chakra, but maybe this was a Sarada he didn't know. A Sarada that was ill.

The bell rang, and Sarada was the first to stand up and gather her things as she rushed to the door. Before Shino could call her name, however, the front doors had already shut close. He sighed in frustration. He would find out what was up with Sarada, whether she liked it or not.


Sarada held on to her sanity as tightly as she could. She clenched her teeth, willing for the burning sensation behind her eyes to go away. Not today. Not again. Everything was fine, she had just been singled out in class, that's it. Nothing too major, nothing terrible. Kids could go through so much worse. But none of her inner dialogue was making her feeling any better. It only made her feel worse.

She finally got control of herself by the time she got home. She was fine now. She hadn't cried. That gave her some of her pride back. The reason why she didn't immediately go to the forest was because she didn't want to be a burden to her mother again. She couldn't do that to her anymore. Her mother wouldn't be able to deal with it. She would be convinced something was truly wrong. Sarada didn't know how many more excuses she could come up with, but decided to stop there.

Wasn't something truly wrong already? The voice whispered, mocking her, laughing manically. Sarada figured her mind was beginning to switch sides. She wish it would just choose one already. When had she become so bipolar?

She realized as soon as she reached the door, panting, she had forgotten to write down that day's homework. Another night without doing her homework. And she didn't even care. What was happening to her?

She sighed, disappointed in herself.

What have you done? Her mind hissed, now officially against Sarada.

That same heaviness from before came back tenfold, and the raven groaned, clutching her head. She whimpered, stumbling to the medicine cabinet in her mother's bathroom. She sat on the toilet, and poured some tap water into a spare cup on one of the shelves. She drank down two Advil and sighed, already feeling the pressure fade a bit.

The crows cawed around the house once more, and this time, Sarada didn't feel safe. She felt scared, and wondered when exactly she had changed from getting scared once in a long time, to once every day. All of a sudden, she got the idea that the crows were watching her, keeping tabs on her. It wasn't a pleasant feeling.

"Go away!" She screamed desperately from her spot on the toilet. "Leave me alone!" Her heart beat faster, and only got quicker and quicker every time she heard another crow caw. Finally, they stopped cawing and flew away. Sarada breathed again. That is, until, she heard a knock at the door.

Well, now, maybe it's the brunette, coming to give you back your bag, her mind sneered and Sarada ignored the sarcastic jab.

She walked over to the door and looked through the peephole. She couldn't believe her eyes. Were all of her senses failing her? It was a tall man in a dark cloak, with raven black hair hanging over one side of his face, kind of like Sarada's own hairstyle. She gasped as he suddenly spoke,

"Sakura? It's me. I'm home."

It was Sasuke, her father, the one and only survivor of the Uchiha Massacre