Chapter 12: Only trouble is, gee whiz, I'm dreaming my life away

One Week Later: Konohagakure

Sakura knew that she should feel something other than the numbness that had taken up permanent residence in her body. Some called it Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, induced by her abrupt departure from the dream weaving jutsu and the trauma of experiencing her own death. Others, like Lady Tsunade and Shizune, were calling it a deep depression, and anxiously employed her friends and family members in their effort to watch over her. She knew they thought they were being subtle, but Sakura was a medical ninja for a reason and she could spot a suicide watch a mile away. It was, after all, something she would have implemented if she had a patient exhibiting her symptoms. Had she been more of a romantic, she would have said that she was suffering from a severe and chronic case of heartbreak; but she had left that side of her behind in that damn charlatan's dream world.

As she sat on top of the mountain outside the village, her legs dangling over the visage of the second Hokage, she couldn't help but relive the shame and embarrassment brought on by that horrible debriefing.

Shortly after returning from the mission, a journey that she only vaguely remembered, she was quickly checked over by a nurse who had deemed her fit enough to have a conversation with her mentor. What had followed was a mix between a scolding for being so careless and distracted and a gruff admission from Tsunade that she was glad that Sakura was ultimately alright. She wasn't sure how being trapped in a coma and potentially wasting away because she was playing house in a mental paradise made her in anyway okay, but she had learned a long time ago to smile and nod around her teacher. Sakura was asked to give her recounting of events as she remembered them, alternately blushing and stammering when she was forced to divulge the more graphic details of her "relationship" with Ino. She could have just said that they were best friends again, that her fantasy had only involved platonic intimacy, but every time she closed her eyes she could feel Ino inside her body and smell her on her skin. Besides, Sakura figured that Ino would be debriefed too, and she had such a big mouth. It would be just like her to brag to the entire village how she was the girl of Sakura's dreams.

Of course, towards the end of her tale, she couldn't disguise the anger and vitriol that had plagued her since she had woken in Choji's arms. Anger at being so well deceived by both Yume and Ino and the hurt that had followed in the wake of understanding, of finally realizing that she had been murdered, was not something that she'd ever thought she'd have to deal with. The life a shinobi was difficult at best, but she knew she stood apart, unique in the fact that her death was the only way she could live.

"Hey Sakura. What are you doing all the way up here?" Tenten's lilting voice asked, hiding the concern that she felt for her friend and fellow kunoichi.

'Mmm…' mused Sakura. 'Must be noon; time for a shift change.'

When she didn't receive an answer, Tenten sat down on Sakura's left, careful to avoid the fissures in the ground that Sakura's super strength had unconsciously created.

"You should be more careful," she said, placing a hand on top of Sakura's closed fist, "Lady Tsunade is going to kill you if you put a crack in the Second Hokage. It took forever to repair the face of the Third, you know."

Sakura slowly lifted her left hand, marveling at the fist-sized craters on either side of her body. For the first time since she came home she was glad to have some company, even if it wasn't from the person that she really wanted.

"Come on," Tenten coaxed, standing up. "Let's go for a swim. It's too nice to be hanging around up here." What she didn't say was that when she first noticed Sakura all the way up here, her heart had leapt to her throat. Tenten had been briefly updated on Sakura's condition and was told that she was in danger of hurting herself, but it wasn't until she had looked up and seen the girl that everything had solidified into a hard knot of fear. She didn't think that Sakura would have jumped, but she seemed so despondent and lost, Tenten didn't want to take any chances.

The walk to the lake was a silent one, each girl lost in thought. It wasn't until they were a few hundred feet out that Sakura heard it. A lilting laugh followed by a gruff chuckle and the unmistakable sound a cannonball. Any tension that had eased from her body during the long walk was immediately back. She knew that laugh. Eyes flashing, she whirled around to confront Tenten.

"Why are we here? Is this some kind of trick? I would have expected this from one of the guys, because you know, they're guys and they're stupid, but I can't believe you're in on this!"

"Whoa! Hold on for a minute." Tenten pleaded, hands grabbing Sakura's arm before she could flee. She didn't expect the haymaker aimed at her head. Bending over quickly to avoid the blow, Tenten was lucky that Sakura was so upset that she only managed to clip her temple. Still it hurt like a bitch, and Tenten had to do some serious blocking to avoid being killed.

"How could you be so insensitive?!" A lunge to the left that felled a tree. "I don't want to see her, ever! A quick sweeping kick aimed at the knee and just missing. "She killed me," Sakura's screaming now, the numbness replaced by rage, "violated me." Hand signs form and clone punches through Tenten's midsection, only to gaze at the hand lodged in the log from the substitution jutsu milliseconds before being destroyed by a well aimed kunai. "Do you know what it feels like when your neck snaps?!" Sakura's swinging blindly now, not even trying for finesse. "I loved her." The trees are thinning out and rocks are now taking the brunt of Sakura's rage.

Tenten's being herded and she knows it. Even consumed in pain, Sakura's smart and she's repeatedly cut off Tenten's attempts at retreat. She can see the wall of earth looming large in front of her, the ravine that she's been unsuccessfully trying to hide in coming to a dead end. All Tenten has are a few lousy kunai, her large scroll left at home because she was going to go swimming for Christ's sake. She reaches into her pouch and pulls out a kunai, knowing the futility of facing the force of nature that Sakura has become.

"I loved her," She screams again and again. "I loved her and she killed me." She's cocked her right fist back, palm blazing with chakra. All Tenten can do now is shift her feet into a better stance and wonder how many bones she's going to break in her arm when she tries to block Sakura's punch; if she can block it at all.

"Sakura, stop!" The command is spoken, not from Tenten's lips but from the bikini clad blond standing behind Sakura. The earth by Tenten's head splits and groans as the fist is diverted and plunged into the rock. Sakura is breathing heavily and her face is caked in dirt mixed with her sweat and tears. The first touch of Ino's hand on her shoulder has her flinching before she falls onto her knees and collapses in on herself, sobbing uncontrollably.

Ino, looking at Tenten, smiles apologetically. "I'm sorry about that. Are you okay?"

Lowering her kunai, Tenten nodded, because really, what else could she do? "She managed to graze me but other than scaring the crap out of me, I'm good."

Ino offered her a quick smile and said, "Yeah. You should see her when she's PMSing."

"No thanks."

The two shared a quick giggle before things became awkward again. Ino gestured ineffectually down at Sakura, saying "Well, I guess I should…"

"Yeah, I guess you should. When she, you know, returns to normal, tell her I didn't set anything up. And that I'm not mad at her, but she owes me one hell of a dinner."

"I will," Ino said as she bends down to cradle the sobbing form of her girlfriend? Best friend? Lover?

Tenten walked away, glad to leave the scene and resisting the urge to turn for a last glance at the two women. She had just experienced first hand what a broken heart could do and she was resolved to do a better job with her own love life. Sakura may have almost killed her, but she knew that Temari definitely would.