edited: 05/03/2022

Chapter 6: Getting Better

Just under two months since the attack, and I finally felt ready to face the academy. I had finished going through and sealing all the properties, although Hound had to seal the apartments for me since I couldn't manage them yet with my current chakra capacity. I had finally felt like I would be able to cope in the academy without having a panic attack, but I would be able to breakaway if I needed to.

I woke as normal at 4:30 to complete my normal routine. The academy started at 8:30, so when I left the house at 7:30 I was an hour early but I figured I would need the time to speak with Iruka-sensei about the content I had missed.

Since I wasn't rushing it took thirty minutes to walk across the village to the academy. If I'd run, or taken the roofs I could have gotten across the village in eight minutes, but I used the walk to mentally prepare myself for the day.

The few civilians currently on the streets were so busy setting up their stools for the day, or getting to their job, that they didn't have time to stop and stare at me. The Shinobi that were jumping across the rooftops didn't do anything more than register my presence as they continued about their day.

The academy was empty of students except for a boy, who was about a year older than me, who was training in one of the open spaces. He had thick hair cut into a bowl shape and was wearing a green shirt with green shorts. The only non-green pieces of clothing were the white bandages he had wrapped around his arms and legs. I made a mental note to turn up earlier and see if the kid wanted to spar before lessons started; someone who turned up early and focused so much on their physical conditioning would likely be a reliable sparring partner and, because he was older, he would - theoretically - be more experienced and skilled. Sparing before the academy would also mean I had to get up half an hour earlier than I normally would to get everything done. At least my body and mind would get used to working at maximum on little sleep before I start needing to be able to do so for missions.

I decided not to approach him that morning, instead I headed into the academy and the classroom where I found Iruka working on some paperwork.

"Sensei?" I caught the man's attention.

"Sasuke-san." Iruka climbed to his feet and rapidly approached me. "I wasn't aware you were returning today."

"I wasn't sure if I had made that decision yet." I admitted.

"Are you better?" Iruka kneeled so he was at the same height as me.

"I'm recovering. Not sure if I can go a full day in public but I needed to try. Is there a list of topics I need to go over?"

"If you need to leave, do not be afraid to do so. I will understand if you're not ready to come back yet." Iruka reassured me. "I can have a list of topics prepared if you give me a few minutes."

"Thank you." I moved to the seat in the back corner, by the window. This meant I had an easy escape route and no one would be sat at my back. Since I had plenty of time till the rest of the students arrived, I got my current book out (which was on the Nidaime Hokage) and a note book to take notes.

Iruka placed the list detailing the things that I missed on my desk just as the first student's started trickling into the classroom. My presence was ignored by everyone until Shikamaru took his seat next to me.

"You're back." He greeted simply.

"Couldn't stay away forever." I answered quietly. "Did I miss anything interesting?"

"Not really." And with that, Shikamaru placed his head on his arms and fell into his normal doze state.

Over Shikamaru's head Choji offered me a chip from his ever-present collection of snacks which I took with a small smile. This was his way of stating he was glade I was back and I didn't begrudge the shy boy his wordless greeting.

When Iruka began his lessons for the morning – on important decisions in the Third War - I continued reading my book, but had a second note book open to make note of anything important that was said. Multi-tasking was a skill that Sasuke had always had, but with Jane's experience and intelligence added to my natural brilliance and I was easily able to assimilate the information in text, listen to what Iruka was saying and keep a discreet eye on my classmates.

When the lunch hour was finally upon them, I joined Shikamaru and Choji under their favourite tree which was out of the way of where the other children played games.

"So, what are the rumours?" I asked as the three of them dug into their respective lunches.

Shikamaru sighed, "Troublesome." He had known that when he returned to the Academy Sasuke was going to want information about where he stood with everyone. What the rumours where and how everyone was likely to react to him. When Sasuke had started the academy two years before he had been distant and watchful. He was polite to everyone but it was clear he wasn't sure how to go about making friends. He had ended up sitting next to Shikamaru for the majority of their lessons, and it wasn't unheard of for one or the other of them to bring a portable game of Shoji or Go to the school to play at lunch, which was how their friendship developed. Sasuke had proven that he was intelligent enough to keep up with Shikamaru and offer him some form of challenge, and he was quiet and respectful of the times when he just wanted to nap or cloud watch. The fact that he was also polite and accepting of Choji was also a bonus in Shikamaru's book, even if it was clear neither of them were particularly close despite two years having passed since.

Although he had disliked the extra work watching and learning the classes response to Sasuke's disappearing and his Clan's tragedy caused him, Shikamaru reminded himself that it was training for when he became a ninja and started working himself into an intelligence position and potentially his father's replacement as commander of the Jonin.

"It's known that you are the only Uchiha to survive the attack, although no one knows why it happened. The leading rumour is that an enemy village – most likely Kiri – infiltrated the village and attacked because of your Sharingan. The children seem to believe that you survived the attack despite being critically injured which is why you were missing for so long. You may want to beware the girls, they seem to be developing an obsessive mentally instead of the simple interest they had before."

I sighed at that last bit of news. If it wasn't for my own protection, I would reveal that I was a girl and prevent the inevitable fan-girls, but I wouldn't undo all my brother's hard work just because I didn't want to deal with a bunch of childish girls. Although I hoped that they wouldn't be as bad as Jane seemed to remember them being for the fictional Sasuke.

"The clan children have all been asked to keep an eye on you, for one reason or another, but I doubt anyone will approach you. My mother has ordered me to bring you back for dinner." Shikamaru continued explaining with a wince. His mother wasn't someone you really said no too, not even his father dared to argue to much – he just worked his naps in away from her.

"Thank you for the offer, but I'm not prepared for something like that yet. Perhaps in a couple of months." I winced slightly. It was hard enough sitting in the back of the classroom when the majority of the class didn't know about my presence. I had been spotted leaving the classroom, which meant they would all know by the time they returned from lunch and that would be harder to cope with. There wasn't a chance I was prepared to deal with not only Shikamaru's overbearing mother but also his extremely intelligent and shrewd father who would undoubtable take the time to try and assess me.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered with his shoulder's slumping. That meant he would have to try and distract his mother. Perhaps his father or Inoichi will be able to help him with that since they would both be able to understand why Sasuke wouldn't be ready to interact in such a close social environment. Inoichi hadn't even expected Sasuke to return to the Academy for at least another month when Shikamaru had asked. Yes, he'll just make sure that Inoichi came to dinner that night so he could explain everything to his mother with his father's help. Then he wouldn't have to deal with being nagged all the time.

Adjusting my schedule to include Academy hours was annoying because I was no longer as productive as I had been before. In the morning I would wake at 4 in order to go for a run, do my tie chi/yoga stretches and make breakfast and lunch. I would then head to the academy at a run (using the roof tops as much as I could, although there was a short stretch which had larger gaps which I couldn't cover yet), where I would spend an hour sparing with Lee who was the kid who was training in the Academy yard that first day.

The academy would take up the hours of 8:30 till 3:00, and I would get in as much reading, chakra control and situational awareness training as I could while also making sure not to attract too much attention at the academy beyond maintaining my top spot as Rookie of the Year. Spending so much time around the children of my year (and running from fan girls who had decided it was their lives mission to marry me), also helped me get used to being around so many people again. I still had moments where the anxiety would build up, but I was able to push it to the side – especially since I wasn't the direct centre of attention all the time (only when the fan girls were let loose at lunch time).

However, I still couldn't stand any kind of touch outside of training purposes, and my body would automatically move in such a way as to ensure a circle of protection (which I had managed to reduce to two inches because I couldn't really allow the entire foot it had started as). I'd already been very cautions around people, before the massacre but I had been able to hide it better. But now, if a ninja moved a little bit too fast in my peripheral my body flinched as though it wanted to move into a defensive position before my brain caught up with me and I'd stop. In an attempt to prevent this flinching, I was constantly scanning the area around me for people or threats. This hyper awareness of where other people are, lent itself towards my senses training, since to be a great ninja was to be aware of everything happening even in the middle of a battle.

After the academy I would retreat to the training ground I always used in order to continue training my fighting style, increasing my stamina and speed, my aim and E and D rank Ninjutsu that I had learnt to increase my chakra capacity. After dinner, I would spend a few hours in the study either working on basic Fuinjutsu or working through the paperwork I had collected from many of the homes in the compounded.

Having Lee as a training partner was very rewarding. The boy wasn't yet under the mentorship of Gai, but he was still faster and stronger than any other Academy student. Perhaps only Niji of the Hyuga Clan would have been a better partner simple due to his Gentle Fist style. But Lee had variety when it came to hand-to-hand combat that Niji doesn't have yet. Lee gave me the experience I needed in testing my new style, pushing me to increase my speed and endurance. In turn, I also pushed Lee to improve his fighting style because he couldn't just use his strength to overwhelm me or his speed to trick me because I was better at reading micro-movements and expressions which gave me enough of a warning to combat his speed advantage – especially since I was getting faster as well.

During the academy hours, I was presented with an opportunity to help Naruto without bringing attention to myself. Two weeks after I had returned to school Naruto was transferred into their class and he took the seat in front of me. This stopped the fan girls from fighting over the seat (since Shikamaru sat in the one next to me) for the day. I had been writing basic notes (compiled in note books) about tactics, training and such that I believed was necessary for all ninja to know. I left the first of these on Naruto's desk with a note attached to the inside front cover. When Naruto read the note, he slipped the book into his bag and spent the rest of the day bouncing in his seat excitedly. Every two weeks, I would give him another note book, the second of which contained a training plan for Naruto to follow so that he might have a chance of getting his taijutsu and theory down enough to cover his inability to do the Bunshin due to his excess of chakra (which was explained in note book three, with different exercises he could use in order to get better control of his chakra).

Despite the information that he had been given, Naruto didn't really change. He was still loud, still skipped class and still played his pranks. The only time you could see the impact of the knowledge I was giving him, was when he took part in a taijutsu spar because he was no longer brawling or trying to outlast his opponent. After near three months of training, I was the only one who could keep up with him in taijutsu and so Iruka regularly paired us together. Although I ended the spars between us in under two minutes, I made sure to target the holes in Naruto's defence so that he would learn to guard against these.

After three months at the Academy, I finally accepted the dinner invitation from Shikamaru's mother. I had been putting it off, because it would be a close intimate meal with one of the smartest men in the village and I wasn't confident in my ability to cope with that scrutiny. Since I would need the time to unwind following the dinner, I accepted the invitation for Friday afternoon, which meant I could still get a couple of hours of training in (or stress relief as it ended up being) before heading to Shikamaru's and I wouldn't have to deal with anyone on the following day.

*****Prov Change******

It was about thirty minutes before Sasuke was due to arrive when Inoichi, Ino and Ima of the Yamanaka Clan, and Choza, Choji, and Iku of the Akimichi Clan turned up. Shikamaru greeted his father's teammates and their children before scrawling with a sighed troublesome. He didn't think his mother would be pushy enough to actually invite the Ino-Shika-Cho and family to a dinner with Shikamaru's friend who had recently gone through a very traumatic experience.

He had no idea if Sasuke would have been able to cope with just three people, but now he's going to have to cope with dinner for nine without any pre-warning. He still couldn't get through the school day without going through internal calming exercises and disappearing the moment the bell rings to go and work out his anxiety. What would make this worse would be the fact that he only knew Shikamaru, his father, Choji and Inoichi. He didn't count Ino because she was likely to make this situation worse than it already is if she allowed her fangirl side to override her common sense.

"I'm nearly finished in the kitchen if you would like to join me?" Yoshino invited the women and children into the kitchen so the men could go off to the study and talk.

Shikamaru's shoulders slumped and he was prepared to follow after his mother when his father intervened.

"Actually, Shikamaru I need to speak with you in my office first." Shikaku requested before leading his team mates and son to his office.

"What happened to it just being a family dinner with Sasuke? That's the only reason he agreed to come." Shikamaru asked as he slumped into a seat next to his father and across from Choza and Inoichi.

It had taken three months for Sasuke to build up the mental fortitude to accept the invitation and he knew that it had cost the boy a lot and he'd only accepted so soon because he knew how much Shikamaru was being hounded by his mother. If Shikamaru had known his mother was going to ignore his father and Inochi's warning, he would have pre-warned Sasuke about the change in plans so that he could think of a reasonable excuse to put the dinner off until he felt he was ready to deal with the larger intimate gathering. He knew that Sasuke was coping astonishingly well with the trauma that he had undergone, but even he had a breaking point and Shikamaru didn't want to be the reason for Sasuke snapping.

"Your mother invited the women, and by the time we'd been informed we couldn't change the plans." Shikaku answered. "How do you think Sasuke is going to take this change in plans?"

"Not well. He might have already considered this possibility, but he's not going to be happy about it." Shikamaru admitted. He knew that off his class mates, Sasuke was probably the closest to him in intelligence. And he was aware of how close the Nara clan was with the Akimichi and Yamanaka clans, and he knew that Shikamaru's mother was pig headed and regularly attempted to force him to socialise, so there was a chance that Sasuke had considered this possibility. But just because Sasuke might have been aware that this might have been a possible outcome of agreeing to the dinner didn't mean that he was mentally or emotionally capable of handling it.

"How has he been in school? Is he coping with being back among people?" Inoichi questioned seriously. The ANBU could only give him a description of Sasuke's behaviour, not an analysis of the boy's mental state nor a comparative to his behaviour before the attack. Shikamaru however was very good at reading people and he had experience with Sasuke from before the attack. In fact, from what he knew, Shikamaru was Sasuke only true friend. When Hound had informed him that Sasuke flinched away from unexpected movement, or any kind of bodily contact, he had been very concerned. Especially when he took into account what Sasuke had said about Tsukuyomi and what he knew could be done to break someone.

"He's still adapting." Shikamaru answered thoughtfully. "Sasuke won't allow physical contact unless it's a result of taijutsu practise. I don't think he's even consciously aware of the way he moves to avoid any kind of contact. Although it's not as bad or obvious as it was when he first re-joined the class. He also still gets anxious about being surrounded or around too many people. He's able to cope, function and keep a calm exterior during the day and while around people. But I know the moment he's alone he breaks down. I'm not sure what he does to let out those emotions but he does let the emotions go."

From the vast improvement in the way Sasuke moved and fought, Shikamaru suspected that Sasuke was throwing himself into training. Exhausting himself through training so that he could get through each day. If Sasuke had another coping mechanism, Shikamaru didn't know about it yet. But he was going to find out, because there was no way that Sasuke was able to maintain the stable mentality that he has by training himself into exhaustion. Nor would Inoichi have allowed Sasuke to go without therapy if that was the case. He knew that Sasuke was being watched, even if he'd never noticed said watchers, and that they reported back to his uncle.

"So, having the dinner after the Academy wasn't the best decision." Choza commented before munching on some chips.

"No. But Sasuke will have two days when he can retreat from people completely and regain his sense of balance." Shikamaru reminded them. "I think that's why he agreed to come tonight. And why he said he would come here for six instead of simple coming home with me. He needs the time to prepare himself."

"We need a plan of action," Inoichi decided. "We can't be the reason Sasuke goes into a tail spin."

"Keep Ino away from him," Shikamaru said at once. He had seen Sasuke's reaction to Ino, Sakura and Ami (the loudest of his fans); the way he'd moved away from them and the effort he put into ensuring they never gained physical contact with him. When the three of them were lavishing him with verbal attention Sasuke would simply ignore them, but if they made a move to physically touch him Shikamaru had seen the aborted movement of his hand to grab a weapon. The only reason he hadn't attacked the girls was because he'd managed to avoid contact and escape since he had enough control over his instinctive 'fight' reaction to do so. Which was likely the reason he had remained away from the academy for so long.

"I would try speaking with her if I felt it would actually curb her behaviour." Inoichi apologised. "But she's just going to have to grow out of her fixation. And I'll make sure she stays next to me."

"Probably best if Sasuke wasn't next too, or across from, my wife." Shikaku added.

"Me and Choji sit on each of Sasuke's sides." Shikamaru offered. Sasuke didn't consider Choji a friend, but he did accept his presence and was relatively comfortable with him because Choji was quiet and reserved.

"Then you two can sit opposite him, with Ino on the end of that row. With Iku and Ima on either side of the boys and me and Yoshino at the heads." Shikaku proposed.

"That should work." Inoichi agreed. "And trying to keep the conversation neutral would be best."

"Not something you really need to worry about. Sasuke has gotten very good at avoiding questions and manipulating the conversation too safe topics." Shikamaru reassured them just as there was a knock at the door.

*****Scene Change*****

Since the Akimichi and Yamanaka's were staying the night, Inoichi decided to walk Sasuke home before meeting for a drink with Shikaku and then going to report to the Hokage (with Hound who always delivered his report at ten thirty because Sasuke would be asleep by then).

"How have you been?" Inoichi asked once they were away from the Nara compound.

"Coping." Sasuke answered in a monotone. As the night had started coming to an end he had started saying less and less, deferring to Shikamaru a lot of the time. In fact, Inoichi didn't think he had ever seen Shikamaru so engaged in a conversation before.

"Do you think you'll be accepting anymore invitations around people's homes?"

"Unlikely." Sasuke answered before he took up a run.

Knowing a dismissal when he saw one, Inochi stopped and let Sasuke run off the stress of the dinner. He had the ANBU following him anyway and would be fine.

The drink at the bar with his old team mates was nice, although they avoided talking about Sasuke and what they had observed about him. Until 10:30 when he and Shikaku headed to the Hokage's office to report.

"What can you tell me?" The Hokage requested, leaning back in his chair. Soon he would have Hound report to him every other week unless something happened, but keep Inoichi in the loop daily. Since Sasuke's schedule was so repetitive these daily reports were starting to become pointless. He'd already dropped the guard for the hours that Sasuke was actually in the academy after he proved that he would stay on the school grounds during those times.

"Sasuke wasn't emotionally prepared to have a dinner with nine people, yet he was able to cope well enough. He didn't lash out or break down and was able to interact without coming across suspicious or otherwise drawing the attention of our wives or Ino and Choji. I doubt he will ever accept a dinner invitation to the Nara household again though." Inoichi reported first.

The way Sasuke had coped with that dinner had been better than he expected. With his acting skills Sasuke would make a great infiltrator if his mind was ever stable enough to handle such missions. He wouldn't be including such information in his report, simple because he didn't believe Sasuke was mentally capable of handling such a mission. When Sasuke encountered his first real B rank mission, Inoichi was going to request that he be given an official mental assessment so that he could determine whether it was safe for Sasuke, and others, for him to continue on the path of a ninja.

"That's an understatement. If Sasuke had any less control of himself, he would have run way from my house the moment he realised how many people had been invited. He was having an internal panic attack for a good ten minutes, and if it wasn't for Shikamaru he would have had an actual panic attack. Do we know what happened to him? This is more than just the trauma of losing his clan." Shikaku asked. He had accepted that he had been kept out of the loop in regards to Sasuke before now, but he felt that he deserved some answer considering both his station and how close his son was to Sasuke.

"That's heavily classified information. Only those in this room and Hound's team know the entire story." The Hokage hummed, observing his Jonin Commander who was sat in the chair across from him. "I suppose it would be best if you were informed about what we know."

"Which isn't a lot." Inoichi commented.

"We know that the Uchiha Clan was massacred by what appears to be one man, who was described as wearing a black cloak with red clouds on it. He was also described as a Sharingan thief because of the Sharingan embedded in his right eye. Sasuke only survived the attack due to the intervention of his brother." Hound reported at his Hokage's order. "We believe that Itachi either died freeing his brother from the technique that was holding him in a coma, or he was captured and unable to report in."

"The technique he was held under held him in what we believe was suspended time, where the holder of the technique has complete control over everything – including life and death. Sasuke admitted to being tortured for the equivalent of years. Apparently, the attacker was trying to turn him against his brother and blame him for the attack. If it wasn't for Sasuke's mental fortitude, we would believe that Itachi had been responsible for the massacre as that was where the evidence had been pointing until Sasuke woke up."

"So how did Sasuke stay sane? Greater ninja have broken under less, and you don't even know the details." Shikaku leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and chin on his interlocked fingers. Inochi hadn't specifically stated that he didn't know the details of the torture that Sasuke had gone through, but Shikaku had known Inochi for nearly thirty years and he was very familiar with the details the man normally included in reports and his typical use of language.

"I believe that he has placed his belief in his brother and what he stood for. Made it a very fundamental part of his psyche." Inoichi explained. "And his mind isn't as stable as others of his age, but he seems to have developed a coping method which has allowed him to function."

"What about if he becomes a genin? Do you think he'll be able to cope when he wouldn't have been able to have dinner with us if it wasn't for Shikamaru?" Shikaku challenged.

"Yes," Hound answered without prompting and with no doubt.

Inoichi sighed. "I think it's entirely possible for him to form bounds with his team mates. He just doesn't currently consider his classmates worthy. Whoever he gets assigned to a team with would have graduated and therefore proven themselves worthy. It's a high compliment of Shikamaru that Sasuke trusts him as much as he appears to."

"With all the emotional trauma that he experienced, has Sasuke showed signs of an activated Sharingan?" Shikaku asked a question that no one else had considered.

"No. He has shown absolutely no indication off activating his family inheritance." Hound answered.