Hey everybody! Thank you so much for all the love and feedback. It's so nice to read in the midst of shit that's going on at my house :(. Anyway, MAJOR trigger warnings for mentions of sexual assault/rape and eating disorders/disordered eating behavior.

To Sasuke,

I hope this finds you well. It's been a few months since I've last seen you and you haven't reached out to contact me once. You've left your poor mother in the dark with no consideration for her feelings. All I know is you got accepted as a new ANBU recruit and then I never saw you come back home! I'm not asking you nicely anymore, you WILL send me updates from now on or I will have the council rescind your ninja status.

With love,

Your Dear Mother

Sasuke rolled his eyes. His mother had such a flare for dramatics. He could admit that he hadn't been keeping in contact with her as much as he should, but she didn't need to coddle him every step of the way. Most ninjas his age had their own apartments. The only reason he still lived at home was because his mother threw a hissy fit at the slightest mention of it from Itachi.

He slid the now folded letter in between the sheets of his binder. He was in the middle of another lecture about chakra. Sasuke thought he knew all there was to know about chakra, but there were apparently all sorts of things he didn't know about it.

The lecturer was speaking at length about chakra manipulation today and it all sounded so much simpler than he imagined it was. When he read it in books, it sounded like a foreign language, but he was sure that he could do it now.

The bell rang for the end of class. A stampede of teenagers ran through the exit door near the back of the classroom. Sasuke followed close behind them. The hallway was teeming with noise and people who were very obviously on close terms with each other if all the PDA was an indication. He walked further down the hall until he saw Sakura unloading things from her locker. Whatever happened between them at dinner the other night had left things between them a bit more awkward than usual.

He leaned against the locker nearest to hers. After taking a couple things out of her locker, she looked up at him and gave a stiff smile. Sasuke gave one of his signature "hn's" in response. They walked in a comforting silence until they were outside of the school building.

Sakura had probably finished all of her classes for the day, meaning that she'd spend the rest of the day doing busy work in the hospital. He didn't understand why she continued to do something so demeaning. From what he'd seen from her team training sessions and heard from Tsunade, Sakura was her mentor's successor and therefore a vital resource for her environment. She and her team were still on probation for her being a wood user and therefore unable to complete missions or do any serious work. It seemed that their team was well liked and used to going on more rigorous and frequent missions. He didn't understand how she hadn't gone crazy from being cooped up for so long.

"How was your day?"

Sasuke was pulled out of his reverie by her girlishly sweet voice. He hadn't noticed that they'd stopped at a nearby food stand. The vendor placed two chocolate taiyaki into a small, brown paper bag and handed it to her. She held the bag out to Sasuke, offering him a piece, to which he shook his head. Sakura reached into the bag taking small nibbles here and there.

"Nothing much. You?" he finally replied.

She giggled a bit. Sasuke raised his brow in confusion. For the life of him, he would never understand this girl.

"You're so…Sasuke," she remarked offhandedly. "Mine was good. I had a lecture focusing on battlefield medical assistance, so I was really in my element."

Sakura babbled on endlessly. It was strange, but he found comfort in it. His team now was filled with nothing more than the noise of Naruto's declarations of superiority and Sai's underhanded slights. He had forgotten how uncomfortable it was to hear someone talk about nothing at all.

"What class did you have today?" she asked, making him jump out of his stupor again.

"We focused on chakra manipulation."

"Ah, like that thing you tried to do weeks ago with your chidori?" "

Ah," he responded, stuck between a question and a statement.

She smiled up at him again. He felt his stomach tingle. Sometimes, when he looked close enough, he still saw that girl that she used to be.

"Hmm," she mused while rubbing her chin. "Your chakra control's good, but it's never been better than mine. Maybe I could help you with your technique. If you're up for that sort of thing."

Sasuke's brow raised. There she was again. This new Sakura that he couldn't understand. The undeniable cockiness that lingered in her tone would've never been present in the old Sakura of Team 7. He wondered what had made her change along the way.

"Let's train."

"Huh?" Sakura said with furrowed eyebrows.

Sasuke didn't give her much time to think about a decision. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her close then transported them to her team's usual training grounds. When Sasuke released her, she almost stumbled to the ground. Sakura took a few moments to regain her footing, but didn't bother to turn around.

Sasuke could see the tips of her ears redden with whatever emotion she was experiencing. He walked a few paces until he was standing directly behind her. He watched her back stiffen with every step. She slapped her cheeks a few times and turned to face him. Sasuke unsheathed his kusanagi and presented it to her. Her eyes darted back and forth between his face and sword clearly confused by his silent question.

"I want to fuse my chidori with kusanagi," he stated in the same tone one would use with a five-year-old.

Sakura rolled her eyes, used to his condescending manner. She placed her taiyaki into her satchel and moved to stand behind him. His body stiffened as she circled her arms around his waist and adjusted his posture. She fixed the way he held his sword and repositioned his hands in a way that would allow him to create the hand seals for his chidori while holding his sword.

"Really, this is more Karui's department, but I can help you with chakra manipulation," she explained carefully. The heat in Sasuke's face rose as Sakura continued to move his body at her will.

"It's just like the tree walking exercise. You balance all your chakra equally, but when the right amount is levelled, then you focus on your target spot. In this exercise, you would focus your chakra into your palms for your chidori and try to keep a hold of your kusanagi."

Finally satisfied with his body placement, Sakura let go of Sasuke and backed away to watch him perform the technique. He revved up his hand with his chidori and concentrated it into the sword's material. One thought too many caused the entire technique to falter. Sakura giggled as she walked over to readjust his stance. He found that he didn't mind the sound of her laughter even if it was at his expense.

….

Things had been moving too slow for Danzo's taste. He had hoped to take out the fourth Hokage during his wife's birth, but a miracle had happened and the two adults and their demon spawn had survived untouched. That setup for a Kyuubi attack was then supposed to segway into a sticky situation for the Uchiha clan that would end up in even more village-wide distrust and hopefully extinction. If that succeeded, he would've found a way to decimate and stronghold the Hyuuga clan into bowing to his every whim. With that power, he could've come up with a force to rid himself and his beloved village of the useless third Hokage. A man without a spine who'd spent far too long twiddling his thumbs in his ass until things exploded beyond control.

His last shot was the Chuunin Exams attack that he'd instigated under disguise with the Suna, Sound, and a few Akatsuki members. Somehow, the lucky bastards had still found themselves alive. Danzo would once again have to take matters in his own hands.

He'd found time to travel to the Rain village. He was under heavy disguise as he usually was when he snuck around, but it was harder to do while sifting through heavy rain and mud. He was looking for a certain man. He'd never seen him face to face, but his sharp baritone was recognizable no matter where he heard it.

Danzo reached a tall building where people loitered around it menacingly. He knew better though. He performed a series of hand signals that allowed him access into the building. Everything about the building was shoddy. Especially the inside. It was completely dark aside from the flickering lights. It was shocking that the elevators even worked. Large cobwebs covered walls in every room. Dust was piled higher than a skyscraper.

The walk through the building was harder than the trip to the building. He pressed the button for the elevator to open and prayed for the best. Each passing level left a lump in the pit of his stomach. The flashing lights passing over his body as he moved up levels did nothing to quell his worry. The man he was hoping to work with was very busy and he took no nonsense. Danzo admired him for that. He saw himself in the mysterious man.

The elevator had finally come to a stop. Floor 28. An unnecessary amount of floors, but somebody else's interior design abilities was yet another thing in this world that he could not fix. He stepped out into the dimly lit hallway. Compared to the other floors, this one was fairly clean. No cobwebs and it seemed as if someone had actually taken the time to mop the floors once or twice.

His footsteps echoed through the corridor. He made no move to soften his footfalls either. It was better that whoever dwelled these halls knew that he was coming beforehand. Things tended to escalate unnecessarily whenever he came here.

A door labeled 2807 was ajar to his right. Danzo took that as a sign that he was in the right place. He opened the door slowly, the eerie creaking irritated him, but was necessary in case he was to catch who he needed by surprise. The room was barren aside from the pale moonlight filtering through the window. Danzo walked farther into the room until he saw a pair of bright red eyes off in the corner.

"State your purpose."

"I can't wait any longer. I've tried everything to get rid of the cancers in the village and like roaches, they rise again and again," Danzo huffed indignantly.

The looming figure moved in the dark. His outline stretched fully before going on to crack his spine. "Who are you trying to get rid of?" he asked.

Danzo steeled himself, making sure to keep his wits about him in case he had to be on the offensive. "The Uchiha clan for one, but there are others that need to be purged as well."

The looming figure sat on a nearby surface that Danzo couldn't make out and folded his arms. He couldn't see it, but he could sense the smug look that colored the man's features. "How am I supposed to help you with that?"

"I know that you work for or with the Akatsuki," Danzo explained. "The time for war is now if you ever want your little group's dream to be realized. We – all the villages – are pretending to be friendly with each other for now. All they need is one little hint of war to destroy whatever semblance of unity they think they've carved out."

The hidden figure chuckled to himself. It was ridiculous. The entire request. He might've asked Danzo what his motivation was to do this, but there didn't have to be a reason for self-righteous guys like himself. Causing chaos was what he knew best and taking down the Uchiha clan once and for all wasn't something he'd ever be against. He held his hand out to the bandaged man.

"You've got a deal."

….

Anticipation for the night ahead of her was driving Sakura mad. It had been days and Karui was still giving her the cold shoulder. It was even more awkward considering they spent most nights sleeping together on the same bed.

The past few evenings had been spent with everyone sleeping in their own beds. Sometimes, Karui still stirred from her nightmares and when Sakura would wake her out of her sleep to comfort her, the girl she loved would only shove her away and pretend to sleep again. Dread filled as she walked the familiar path to her apartment.

Naruto had decided to tag along this time much to Sasuke's annoyance. Sakura found that it was just comforting to hear the sound of his voice, even if he was just speaking at length about the awesomeness of different ramen flavors.

"Nee, Sakura-chan…is something wrong?" he asked, pulling her out of her worry-induced daydream.

"No," she said, trying to convince herself. She shook her head and faced him properly. "I'm alright."

"But you weren't even listening to what I was saying," the sunshine boy countered.

"Tch, with good reason," Sasuke quipped, speaking for the first time that evening.

It looked like a shouting match was about to start, so Sakura caved in. "It's just…I'm having problems with a friend," Sakura started.

Naruto instantly calmed down, fully wrapped in whatever information Sakura was about to relay to him. She blushed from the attention.

"It's…well something happened years ago that still affects her to this day and I did something totally out of bounds that I know for sure reminded her of it. I tried to apologize, give her space, and all the other things you should do as a friend, but she just won't forgive me. I feel so bad about it, too."

Tears were welling in her eyes before she knew it. She felt so stupid. She thought she had come so far in her training, but here she was crying so frivolously in front of her teammates again. Naruto placed a gentle, encouraging hand on her shoulder.

"You're a really good friend, Sakura-chan," Naruto encouraged. "Your friend will be mad for now, but I'm sure she knows you're sincere about your feelings."

As Sakura beamed up at Naruto, out of the corner of her eye she could see the weirdest expression cross over Sasuke's face. It wasn't one she'd ever seen him wear so she couldn't decipher it.

"Or you could do like me when you get mad and just wait it out until you're in a better mood," Naruto added.

Sakura playfully smacked him upside the head. Their laughter rang through the streets. Sakura had never felt so at home in all of her life. She grabbed Naruto into a bear hug. "Thanks Naruto. You always know what to say."

It wasn't long before they were standing in front of her apartment. She waved them both goodnight, but she couldn't forget the clouded look that washed over Sasuke's face as he left without a word. Sakura sighed.

Just when I thought we were getting close.

The elevator ride was nerve racking. She tried to consider what Naruto said, but nothing had come of that because she'd already tried it. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she almost missed her elevator stop. She reached her shared apartment door and begrudgingly unlocked it.

She was immediately met with the scent of Karui's familiar bath wash. It sent chills up her spine. Karui hadn't spared her a glance. Jinora watched over the two, completely annoyed. Sakura walked over to her own room and undressed herself. She was too tired for a bath and feared that she'd collapse while taking her shower. She slipped into a silky nightgown and headed back out to the kitchen.

Karui was sitting on the couch wrapped up under a large blanket reading a book. Sakura tried to dredge up the nerve to say something, but the words remained stuck in her dried mouth. Jinora stood in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips. She was tired of sitting through all this awkward bullshit. They needed to make up already.

"This has gone on for too long," Jinora shouted. "I'm not going to sit through another minute of you guys' shitty melodrama. Tell me what happened in the Investigation Unit."

Sakura looked over at Karui hoping she would start first. Unfortunately, she hadn't bothered to look up from her book. Sakura became visibly deflated.

I'm the worst person ever.

"When Karui woke up after fainting in the waiting room…I kissed her when she woke up," Sakura admitted, completely ashamed of herself.

Jinora took in a sharp breath. Not even she could've guessed what this was about. "Sakura, I thought we made this clear a long time ago. You two aren't dating anymore. You can't just do whatever you want."

"I know! I was just so worried and it was like instinct-"

"It was just instinct for you to kiss me?!" Karui yelled, finally peeling herself away from her book. She rose from her seat on the couch and stood next to Jinora with her fists clenched.

"I can't accept an excuse like that! Not anymore," Karui said between clenched teeth. It was taking everything in her not to cry. "You can be so selfish sometimes! You used me as your emotional crutch and you hardly ever considered how I felt in the process!"

"Karui," Sakura said in a hushed, disbelieving voice. "I never intended to make you feel that way. I was just so happy that you were ok. I…I'm nothing like that guy who assaulted you!"

As soon as the words escaped her lips, Sakura knew she was out of line. She watched Jinora's eyes widen to the size of saucers. Karui stood shell shocked, working through all her emotions until she settled on blind fury.

"There's no difference between you two," Karui said in a low, unfeeling voice. "You both took what you wanted with no regards for my well being."

All Sakura and Jinora remembered in that flurry of movement was the sound the door made as it slammed shut. Sakura ambled over to her room slowly. She locked the door behind her and plopped belly down onto her bed. She cried for the rest of the night.

Jinora could only stand shell shocked in the middle of the living room trying to process all that she'd been witness to.

….

"Is there something wrong?"

"No…"

"You're awfully quiet."

"I just don't have much of anything to say at all."

The familiar room of Dr. Kin was awkwardly silent. Sakura sat on the firm couch fidgeting. Her hands became very interesting to her. She had been kneading them together nonstop since her session had begun about an hour ago. Dr. Kin looked her over with a grim frown. The woman adjusted her thin, square-rimmed glasses.

"Sakura, if there's something bothering you, now is the absolute best time to say something."

Sakura gave a small, sad smile as she rose from her seat. The timer on Dr. Kin's desk went off. The older woman made haste to turn it off and looked at the young girl sadly.

"We're all out of time," Sakura said with a playful shrug.

Dr. Kin frowned. "I'll see you soon, Sakura-chan."

Sakura bowed politely to the older woman and exited the room. She walked the rest of the pathway out of the facility with her hands in her pockets and her head hanging low. Sakura had to be the stupidest person she knew. Who the hell got upset over making someone else sad?

She was totally in the wrong last night and here she was acting like she was the victim. The incident had weighed on her heavily. Karui had been upset with her before, but never to this extent. When she tried apologizing to her earlier today, she found that Karui had made sure to leave before everyone got up to do god knows what.

Sakura knew she wouldn't be able to talk to her anytime soon. She was being avoided and most likely about to be relegated to the silent treatment. Jinora was no better. She'd been avoiding them both. Sakura couldn't blame her. Who would want to get involved in the shit show that was last night? She'd probably be staying at her boyfriend's apartment more often now.

Sakura walked to a nearby convenience store and prayed that Sasuke wouldn't find her. Now was really the worst time for him to see her. She'd ordered dozens of snacks that she had sworn herself off of years ago in the name of better eating and headed to a sworn off place near the outside borders. She needed to be alone while she did this.

She started off slow. The snacks were good, but she didn't want to be a glutton. She savored every bite. Somewhere along the way, she devoured entire packs of cookies in what seemed like one gulp. In the aftermath of her pigging out session, Sakura looked down to see the mess she made. Wrappers from all the food she'd eaten were sprawled out in front of her. Shame hit her like a ton of bricks.

Sakura placed a hand on her swelling belly. The first signs of bloating were already present and it didn't make it any better that she'd essentially eaten a bag of salt and sugar. She cleaned up her area and carried it all in the bag she brought it in. She walked a bit further out into the forested area and picked a tree.

Sakura stood in front of it and kneeled down. She began digging a sizable hole in front of the chosen tree. She felt childish or even like a dog. When the hole got to a size she liked, she dusted her hands off and sanitized them with the antibacterial wipes she kept handy in her pouch. She stuck her index and middle finger to the back of her throat.

Every false alarm hurt worse than the last. Gagging alone made her nauseous, but she especially hated the waiting game that took place before she got the results she wanted. After several attempts, Sakura finally retched as she had hoped. It was completely disgusting, but she'd purged every drop of food from her body. She threw up a few more times before she was finally finished.

She gathered the pile of dirt she'd collected around the hole and filled it to cover her mess. Sakura remained kneeling on the forest floor for a few more moments before getting up. Nausea, vertigo, and extreme light headed-ness would hit her all at once if she tried. She got up slowly and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

I'm ok. This is fine.

Hope you guys liked it! Please leave me all your thoughts. I love reading them :). 'Til next time babes.