Author's Note: Again, thank you so much for all the feedback on the last chapter, you guys rock! I'm sorry my updating schedule has not been followed at all lately; I haven't been able to set aside much time to write. As usual, if you reviewed, you'll have received a response from me either in your inbox or at the end of the chapter :) I really, really appreciate your patience on this.

SHATTERED
A Girl Named Blessed

CHAPTER FOUR: Lockdown (Part 2)

The remainder of the assembly was uneventful, and when the students were dismissed to return to their classes for the remainder of first period, Sakura pulled Tenten aside to talk alone. Neji went on ahead without looking back.

"Earlier before the assembly, you were going to say something about Ino," Sakura said, ignoring the students walking past her. Tenten nodded slowly. "Well?" Sakura prompted.

"She was in the infirmary this morning. I don't know why," Tenten added, as Sakura opened her mouth. "I just saw her there."

"The infirmary?" Sakura repeated, furrowing her brows. "Did she get hurt?"

"I really don't know," Tenten answered apologetically. "I wanted to see her, but the Headmistress told me to get to class if I didn't want to be–"

"Wait," Sakura interrupted, "Headmistress Tsunade was there? Isn't that kind of, I don't know... weird?"

Tenten's eyes flickered away from Sakura for the briefest of moments. "Not really, I mean, Tsunade – Headmistress Tsunade – well, she was the head nurse here before. From what I've heard, our old Headmaster didn't give the Academy a lot of notice that he was going to be resigning, and Tsunade got stuck with the job because he asked her to take over."

The sound of heels clicking against the hardwood floor filled the auditorium. Sakura turned around and saw their Headmistress walking in their direction. Had the woman heard their conversation?

The Headmistress walked past them, and Sakura let out a small sigh of relief – relief that was short-lived as Tsunade came to a stop and looked at the two teens over her shoulder.

"The assembly is over. You should hurry on to class." Tsunade advised sternly. Tenten tensed up before nodding and moving to leave the auditorium. Sakura stood her ground.

"Come on, Sakura," Tenten urged.

Sakura shook her head. "Go on without me."

Tenten's lips pressed tightly together as she glanced from Sakura to Tsunade and back again before she gave a slight nod. Sakura watched her friend's retreating back briefly before facing the Headmistress.

"Headmistress Tsunade–"

Tsunade held up her hand, and Sakura promptly closed her mouth.

"Please follow me."

Unsure of what else to do, Sakura trailed behind the Headmistress as they exited the auditorium and turned down the hall, away from the classrooms. Questions of whether or not she was in some kind of trouble flew through Sakura's mind as she replayed everything that had happened since she had arrived at the academy.

As though reading her mind, Tsunade's voice interrupted Sakura's speculations. "You're not in any kind of trouble. I just assumed you would want to see Miss Yamanaka – she's your roommate, correct?"

Sakura wrinkled her eyebrows, a small frown settling on her face. "Yes, she is."

The question of how Tsunade knew that hung in the air, unspoken. The two continued walking through the hallway until Tsunade came to a stop suddenly.

"She's in the last bed on the right," Tsunade informed her, sliding the infirmary door open. "I have a quick errand to run so you can have a few minutes alone with her before I need to resume testing."

"Testing?" Sakura frowned.

Tsunade nodded grimly, hands wrapped around her waist as she gazed into the infirmary. "I'm afraid that we've been unable to identify what's wrong with Miss Yamanaka. The circumstances in which she was found..." Tsunade trailed off, eyes closing for a moment as she sighed.

Sakura felt the colour draining from her face, the sound of her heartbeat roaring in her ears. "What circumstances?"

"You should try to talk to her," Tsunade said softly, turning away from Sakura. "I'll be back soon."

Sakura turned back to the infirmary, taking a deep breath as she walked into the room. All of the beds were empty, except the one Ino's frail body occupied. Sakura walked over to the girl's bedside and looked down at her pallid face. Ino's lips were slightly parted, her breathing coming in short, ragged breaths. She was either sleeping or unconscious. The air around her seemed heavy somehow, like a dense fog that slowly disappeared. Sakura felt dizzy suddenly, and she sank down into the chair next to Ino's bed.

"I'm sorry, Ino," Sakura murmured, her head hanging low. "If only I had stopped you from leaving... if only I had followed you. If I had just done something, maybe you wouldn't be in here."

Sakura was unsure of how much time had passed before she felt a hand settle on her shoulder.

"She'll be alright," Tsunade assured, before lifting her hand and proceeding to check on Ino.

Sakura didn't speak, she simply watched the Headmistress glance over Ino's form. When Tsunade began scribbling something down on her notepad, Sakura decided to break the silence.

"What is it?"

Tsunade glanced up from her writing, a peculiar look in her eyes. "Tell me something, Sakura. Did you make any observations of your own when you first came into the infirmary?"

Sakura stared back at the Headmistress, her brows slowly drawing together as she shook her head. "What kind of observations could I possibly make?"

"Humour me," Tsunade requested. "Did you notice anything at all, anything that didn't seem right to you?"

The way the Headmistress was staring at her, with such strong intensity, made Sakura shift uncomfortably in her seat. She looked back at Ino, unsure of what exactly Tsunade expected of her.

Finally, she shook her head.

Tsunade nodded slowly, a frown pulling at her lips as she looked away. "I see. I had thought..." She sighed. "You should go to your second period class now."

Sakura rose to her feet, lowering her head so that her bangs fell into her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Tsunade smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Don't be."

Nodding, Sakura walked past the Headmistress with one final glance at Ino's still body. Despite the Headmistress's words, Sakura couldn't help feeling as though she had failed the older woman.

Kakashi gingerly turned the page of the latest Icha Icha book, barely able to conceal his excitement as his eyes scanned over each word. It was lucky for him that he had no classes this period – he was just dying to read the final chapter, something he hadn't had the time to do during the assembly, not with the lockdown and –

The sound of the classroom door sliding open made Kakashi glance up from his book to see who was disturbing his precious reading time. When he saw the new pink haired student slowly drag herself in, he set his book down.

"I see you finally remembered to come get your books," Kakashi said conversationally.

Sakura gave a small start, and the look she gave him betrayed the fact that she hadn't realized anyone was still there.

"Headmistress Tsunade took me to see Ino," Sakura explained, walking to her desk and gathering her things. "She's in the infirmary."

Kakashi frowned behind his face mask. "Oh, I see. I hope she feels better soon."

"Me too," Sakura murmured. She went to leave, but paused, her hand gripping the door frame. "Sensei."

"Hmm?"

"Earlier, when the lockdown ended, you asked Naruto to leave with you. It was to look for Sasuke, wasn't it."

"You stated that as if it were a fact, Sakura. I don't believe anything I have to say will change your mind on the matter." Kakashi smiled, his tone relaxed as he leaned back in his chair.

"No," Sakura admitted. "I guess not. I just feel like what I'm seeing is just an illusion, and it's slowly starting to crack. Maybe I'm just having trouble getting used to being in a new school, and staying on campus instead of living in my own home. I don't know. But earlier, when I was in the infirmary alone with Ino..." Sakura paused, clutching her books closer to her chest as she looked away. "I don't know. I guess I'm just a little on edge. I should really get to my next class. I've already been gone so long. Thanks for listening, Kakashi-sensei."

"Of course, Sakura." Kakashi smiled at the girl as she walked out of the classroom. It seemed she was far more perceptive than he'd been giving her credit for.

Sakura never made it to her second period class. Instead, she sat outside of the classroom, sitting against the wall until the bell rang, signalling the beginning of lunch.

As Sakura made her way to the cafeteria, she couldn't help feeling as though she were being watched. Glancing around the hallway, she made eye contact with Shikamaru, who promptly looked away; his usual expression of boredom was missing.

"Shikamaru," Sakura greeted slowly, unsure of why he'd be watching her. The boy rubbed his neck as he walked up to her.

"I heard you saw Ino," Shikamaru said, not looking at her.

Sakura nodded. "Headmistress Tsunade took me to her."

"And?"

Sakura blinked. "And what?"

Sighing, Shikamaru glanced at her. "So how is she?"

"I don't know. Headmistress Tsunade, she... she said Ino would be fine, but..." Sakura trailed off, eyes downcast.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Tsunade's qualified. If she said Ino will be fine, she'll be fine."

"Yeah, I'm sure you're right," Sakura murmured, looking up. She caught a flash of spiky black hair from the corner of her eye. "Uh, I – I have to go." Sakura said suddenly, walking around Shikamaru and heading in the direction she thought she had seen Sasuke turn.

Sure enough, Sakura could see Sasuke up ahead at the end of the hallway she had gone down. Keeping a safe distance, she mentally debated about whether she should confront him or follow him to see where he was going.

The decision was made for her as Sasuke suddenly turned around, his lips pressed tightly together.

"Why are you following me?"

Sakura blanched, eyes widening. She tried to think of an excuse, an explanation that wouldn't make her seem like some crazy stalker – but failed.

"I want to know what's going on." Sakura stated, her voice quivering ever so slightly under the piercing stare of the Uchiha teen.

"Nothing. So go away," Sasuke retorted, turning around to continue walking.

"I know something is going on!" Sakura shouted after him. "And I'm going to find out!"

Sasuke didn't respond, didn't even falter for a second as he disappeared down another hallway.

Author's Note: I'm not keen on the ending, and this chapter isn't as long as my usual, but because I was actually supposed to have this out a week or two ago (but was unable to due to a family emergency) and because that felt like a fitting place to end this chapter, I thought, what the hell, a shorter chapter is better than no chapter. The next one WILL be out sooner, I know exactly what I want to happen by the end of it, and permitted nothing else happens at home I should be able to get it out according to schedule this time ;)

I spent a lot of time trying to work on reviving my old writing style standards, because apart from this fanfiction it has been a LONG time since I wrote anything faithfully and I'm quite a bit out of practice. I also switched perspectives a little in this chapter, just something experimental but I made sure not to have the perspective change too revealing regarding plot events. That would completely take the fun out of Sakura discovering it xP

Anonymous Reviews:
Sabaku no Emiii - I'm glad you're enjoying it so much! :) I kind of like portraying Sakura's shallow side because it's a big part of her character when she's younger, and a lot of what made her grow up was being around Sasuke and Naruto, and the situations they got in to. They'll have plenty of that in future chapters, which I am so excited to get to - it's taking every ounce of willpower I have not to just write the chapter where Sakura finds out everything that's going on at the school and jump right into the action. Heh, anyway, I hope this chapter was satisfactory! Thanks so much for reviewing :)