December quickly moved on to January and the students of the ninja academy soon found themselves back at school. That didn't necessarily mean that the holiday buzz had ended. Everyone was taking what they had recently received for Christmas and plus other major events that had occurred during the holidays; all except one. Sakura didn't need to use her abilities to sense that something was up with the girl. Ino sat all by herself, not to mention her appearance was awful. Greasy hair, dark bags and messy clothes defeated that whatever happened to her affected her greatly. It was not like her at all. None of her friends even attempted to help her, instead they had moved two rows away from her. Iruka sensei had not arrived yet and the boys were busy talking among themselves to have noticed anything. Nudging Hinata gently in the side, she jerked her head in the girl's direction. Following Sakura's eye line, the Hyuga soon saw the dilemma. They didn't even need to speak. Both looked at each other and their eyes spoke volumes. With a simple nod, they made their way the other rows, being careful not to distract the boys from their conversation.
"Iruka sensei sure is late." Sakura simply comment as she sat down beside Ino. It seemed that the pink haired girl had startled the blonde out of her day dream and stared at her blankly. She looked tired; really tired.
"Yes… I suppose he is." Ino finally managed to answer after a while. Watching the girl carefully, Sakura saw that all of Ino's reflexes were quite slow, almost as if she was in a dazz. Before Sakura and Hinata had a chance to say or do any more, their teacher finally arrived and everyone slowly began to settle into their seats. Leaping over the blonde, Sakura sat herself on the Yamanaka other side, while the Hyuga heiress moved closer to close in on the blondes right. Looking left to right, Ino looked at both of them carefully before deciding she was comfortable having people actually sitting next to her. They talked for a while (mostly Hinata and Sakura did the talking) until they're teacher finally turned up for class.
"Good morning class." Iruka smiled to all of his students. "I hope you all had a good holiday."
"Yes sensei." Everyone answered, accept Ino, who continued to keep staring at an invisible spot on her desk. With a quick glance at Iruka, Sakura could see that his focus was on Ino. The way he looked at her made the pink haired girl think that he already knew what was wrong with the blonde. Nevertheless, she kept her head down and pretended like everything was normal. Class began and their first lesson was simple mathematics. Everyone moaned and some even had the guts to complain about it, until their sensei shouted at him and freaked everyone out. It wasn't anything hard, so it was easy to complete. Then they went outside for some morning physical training. Mizuki sensei was already outside waiting for them, setting up the list for partners that day. He saw the students coming towards him and waved. For some reason his gesture sent a cold shiver down her back. She hoped she would be studying under her other instructors eye today, anyone but him.
Thankfully her prays were answered and she was placed in Iruka's group. Not to mention fate seemed to have a few other tricks up his sleeve. Sakura was surprised to find she was partnered with the Yamanaka. Fixing the grip she had on her leather gloves, the blossom calmly waited for the rest of the list to be called out before making her way to the position. Everyone made the signs for battle before battling.
Before Sakura had a chance to breathe, she had to leap back to dodge a high kick at her face. A sudden fury overcame Ino and she was throwing punches madly in all directions, throwing all her might into her fists but not aiming or even trying to control them. But as expected, Ino's reactions soon began to slow down. Not because she wasn't trying, you could see the fire burning in her eyes, almost as if she wanted to take out her pain on something; sadly, it was Sakura dodging all the punches. The thing was that the Yamanaka was relying on this sudden adrenaline boost and not her own energy. Judging by the dark circles under her eyes she didn't have much of it. Right now, Sakura was glad that with all the extra training she had with Naruto. Over time her stamina had grown greatly and it was coming in useful for now as she dodged all the attacks, waiting for Ino to worn herself out. It took another few minutes for the Yamanka to stop, panting heavily and leaking buckets of sweat. Nevertheless, Sakura stayed wary of the girl and kept her distance, just in case she got another burst of energy and tried to punch her again. But it never happened. Instead, the girl just sat on the floor and started to cry.
Immediately, Iruka sensei cancelled the rest of training and ushered everyone else into the classroom except Ino. With no teacher in the classroom the children were allowed to go do whatever they wanted. Some minded their own business and did their own thing while others talked about what just happened. However, Naruto and Kiba seemed more interested in planning their next prank.
"You guys are going to get in so much trouble." Shikamaru muttered from his desk as the small group carefully watched what the two boys were doing. At first the silent genesis had tried to ignore what they were doing and tried to catch up with his sleep. Sadly, his curious mind got the better of him. Looking up from what he was doing, Naruto just gave him on of his cheeky smile before turning back to his work. Only Sakura's mind was still set on Ino and her sudden collapse. If it hadn't been for her terrible beforehand Sakura would have believed that she had just tired herself out by working too hard. But something about this disturbed her too much to just let it go. Maybe it was the years of being trained to be suspicious of everything by her grandfather being beaten into her or maybe she just had really good instincts but she couldn't just let it go. Sighing to herself, Sakura followed Shikamaru's example and rested her head on her desk; her head hurt. Suddenly the door slid open and their teacher returned back to the classroom.
"Alright class settled down." Iruka spoke loudly over his students, somehow his voice travelled over the other waves of child's chatter and everyone was suddenly under quiet again. That's when everyone finally noticed that Ino had not returned with him. Studying everyone's expressions around the room, she could see the same question on everyone's faces. Where was Ino? Apart from the two trouble makers that existence of course. Looking up, the pink haired girl was surprised to find Kiba and Naruto suddenly back in their seats, trying to suppress the grins on their faces. Iruka made his way over to the desk. "Now if you could all turn to pa…" Crack! The next thing that everyone witness was their teacher falling off his chair and a large pile of chalk dust falling on top of him.
"Come on! You can't even admit it was a little funny." Naruto tried to persuade her as they walked home with Kakashi walking behind them. To be honest, Sakura didn't just find the stunt funny; she found it absolutely hilarious. Iruka's reaction was the best bit. The thing was though that when their sensei ordered them to give up who was behind it the whole class did say anything. Which was good in one way because part of their training was to learn not to rat out their comrades or give away enemy intelligence. The bad part of it was that since their teacher couldn't discipline the culprits, he had to take out his revenge on the whole class. But no matter how much she found the scenario funny she was not going to admit it to her brother.
"No, you so over did it with the chalk powder." Sakura snapped back at him and tried to look disapproving. But he just beamed right back at her, sensing what she was really thinking.
Kushina was not happy when she heard about it. It didn't take a genius to figure out Naruto was the mastermind behind the prank and mother knew her son better than anyone. As punishment he was not allowed to join in with the family training or have desert. Naruto called it unfair; Sakura called it justice. Right now, the pink haired girl was performing one of the sword dances that her adoptive mother had taught her just over a week ago. In a way it was almost like dancing, remembering the moves and swaying your muscles to the counts of the drills. Her mentor was watching her carefully from where she sat, watching Sakura's movements carefully and trying to point out her steps and her weaknesses. At three months, a bump around Kushina's stomach, much larger than average as she was carrying twins and made it impossible for her to teach the steps to her. Luckily Kakashi had copied enough so some of his mother's training sessions to help Sakura with the basic sword forms she had to learn. Ending the sword form with a mid-chest thrust, the young girl took a deep breath and went to join her adoptive mother by the bench. Sitting down, she to a large swing from her water bottle and used the towel to get rid of the dampness around her head and neck.
"Well done Sakura. That was excellent!" Kushina congratulated her young prodigy. "Now we just need to work on speeding it up but making sure you main control of the sword." She added on. Sakura turned to smile at her new mother but froze when she saw the woman's hand on her stomach. Every time she saw Kushina directing motherly affection towards her unborn children Sakura was instantly reminded of her horrible nightmare. The dream gave her more conviction to work harder at her studies. She wasn't going to let anything bad happen to her family; never!
"Is it okay if I go to Ino's place with Hinata after school tomorrow?" She asked, desperate to change her thoughts in a different direction.
"Sure honey, I hadn't realised you had been friends." Kushina answered, suddenly intrigued at this innovative development.
"We're not but she's been very upset recently and all her friends have abandoned her, so I and Hinata thought we might go and cheer her up." The medical student answered, taking her cleaning items from her bag and began cleaning her sword. It had been Hinata's idea to go and check on the Yamanka tomorrow as she had eavesdropped on sensei's conversation and heard that she wouldn't be coming in to the academy until she was mentally healthy to return to school. Sakura agreed to it instantaneously and even Choji and Shikamaru had volunteered to come as their family was close to hers; even though Shikamaru found it all troublesome. Naruto would have come but he and Kiba had to spend detection with Iruka after school tomorrow, as he had soon figured out it was them that had been the masterminds behind the prank. Sakura's thoughts were suddenly interrupted
Sakure, Hinata, Choji and Shikamaru all gathered up after school and walked to Ino's house. The two boys led the way as they knew where it was, giving the girls some time to go over their stuff and make sure they were alright to give to a grieving ten year old. The group headed into the market place, weaving through the large crowds that were on the street trying to buy goods for dinner. Finally they came to the Yamanka family flower shop. As soon as Sakura was a step away from the shop something pierced her hard in the chest. It was nothing physical but there was a strong energy presence surrounding the house. It felt like someone was sad, depressed, in pain. It felt like Ino.
It was Shikamaru who knocked on the door. When the door opened up, a tall man with long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail just like Ino's but had spikes around his head and even though he was working in the flower shop still had his uniform jacket on. His pupilless green eyes stared at them, trying to read any signs of threat. It was understandable; ninja's had learned to be cautious, even if it was your best friend's kids, it was the same look Sakura had witness Kakashi use when he had taken his siblings out. Finally, his facial features relaxed and it seemed like a whole weight had lifted from his shoulder.
"Shikamaru, Choji, Lady Hinata and…" The shinobi stopped when his eyes landed on her, seeming to know her in some way but unable to place her face anywhere.
"Sakura." The girl smiled, helping the poor man out. The Yamanka's eyes suddenly widen in realisation and stumbled into a clumsy bow.
"Lady Sakura… I… I did not realise." The man stuttered, while everyone just looked at him oddly. Huh! Lady? When did people start putting a lady in front of my name? Sakura wondered to herself, unable to think of a reason why this sudden new development had occurred. Still confused she looked to her friends for support but all of them just shrugged in reply. Hinata seemed to know but had seemed too nervous to say anything.
"Uuummmm, there's no need to apologise." Sakura managed to say after she was unable to consider any other opinions.
"Please come in." He smiled, unexpectedly returning back to normal and stepping back to let them in. Stepping into the shop, Sakura could see why the Yamanka's plants were so highly recommended and respected. It must have taken a lot of skill and patience to create such beautiful, organic life. Despite herself, Sakura not help but let herself be distracted by the colourful display. Inspecting one set, Sakura took a moment to admire some of the dandelions that were on the shelves. "Just placed on display today." Inochi beamed behind her, knowing the look on her face and now was proud of his work.
"They're very beautiful." Sakura admired, delicately stroking one of the petals. It was strangely soft.
"So what can I help you guys with?" Inochi asked, addressing the rest of the group now. Everyone looked at Shikamaru to take the lead. He was close to the family so it was his reasonability.
"We came to see how Ino was." The boy shrugged and everyone nodded, just so the ninja could see that they were all there for the same reason. The father looked a little shocked by this for some reason but didn't say anything as he led them to the back of the shop and up stairs to the apartment. It was quite a cosy place with homey furniture and light colours; defiantly had a woman's touch to it.
"I appreciate you for coming but please remember Ino is still not feeling… well." His hesitation made everyone look at each other again. Everyone nodded except Sakura. He looked at her for a moment before finally stepping out of his way to allowed them room to walk pass him and held the door open as they walked into the girls bedroom.
Everyone was purple; literally. Purple curtains, quilt covers and even the teddy bears. This girl had an obvious obsession with the colour for some reason. The closest difference to a colour change was a lilac rug on the floor. Even though in different circumstances this type of arrangement would seem weird but for some reason Ino had somehow been able to make everything all work; you had to admire the girl's skill. Sakura's thoughts were soon distracted when she both saw and felt movement move under the bed. Quieten her mental systems down, she re-focused her mind on the task ahead.
"Leave me alone dad, I'm tired." A small voice moaned from under the blankets. She didn't know why but something about this really made Sakura mad. Marching towards the bed, she grabbed a corner of the covers and yanked them off as hard as she could. Immediately, the blonde curled up into a tight. Human nature, the shock of the cold air makes a person automatically search for ways to maintain their previous condition. Once the quilt had been removed, Sakura had to step back and cover her nose.
"Good God Ino when's the last time you took a shower." Sakura complained, now breathing through her mouth. For the first time, Ino opened one of her eyes and actually looked at her. It swelled up in surprise. Something nudged her in the side of her stomach.
"So much for gentle." Shikamaru hissed in her ear angrily. To see an emotion other than tiredness or boredom was both interesting and scary at the same time. Nevertheless, Sakura held her ground and grew to her fall height so she was now eye level with the Nara.
"It's called tough love." She answered. To be honest the pink haired girl was surprised about her own behaviour but something inside her told her that what she was doing was the right thing. Maybe it was when she let her guard slip and her mental powers pick up how Ino was feeling; maybe she unintentionally picked up on what the blonde needed. In end Sakura had started something; she might as well go with it. "Trust me." She whispered, staring Shikamaru right in the eye. They were like that for less than a second but it was long enough for the message to get across. The boy stepped back into the shadows and muttered something that sounded like,
"Troublesome woman." Looking to her right she saw that Hinata and Choji had decided to stay out of it and trust Sakura.
"Come on Ino, we're going outside. I don't know what you've been going through but you can't just stay in your room and hide, at some point you have to face reality…"
"What do you know?" Ino snapped, up on her feet quicker than the speed of sound, making everyone jump back in surprise. "Who died and made you the greatest guru of the universe? Huh! You have no idea what it's like to feel like someone's tortured you mercilessly! To feel like you've lost everything! To…" Smack! The deafening sound sent the room into utter silence. Everyone stared at Sakura like she was a rabid dog, you wanted to help but you were too scared to approach. The pink haired girl was trying to keep herself under control but everyone could see from the facial expressions on her face that she was enraged. Not to mention she had just slapped Ino. The Yamanka could only stare at Sakura, one hand covering the side of her cheek from where Sakura had slapped her.
"Guess what Ino." Sakura hissed, trying to grip some control over herself but her whole body was shaken. "I have been torture. I did loss everything. So don't you dare tell me what I have or have not felt, because I've not just felt them I've experienced them." Again the room was silent. No one seemed sure what to do anymore and afraid that if they did speak, Sakura would just bite their head off. Slowly, Ino collapsed back on to her bed, staring into space. Finally, she said,
"Okay, I'll go out." She whispered her voice so small that at first it was barely recognisable. But what happened next shocked everyone to the core. Sakura smiled.
"Now that's the spirit!" She encouraged, patting her girl on the shoulder. "Though, you might want to consider taking a shower first."