Thank you very much, those of you that have reviewed! Here is chapter 2

If any of you have suggestions, feel free to send me a message. I'll take them into consideration and see what I can do

This chapter is mainly a look back on what happened after the hospital. Chapter 3 will be the main start of the story, so hang in there for a bit :D

I'll try putting up the next chapter as soon as possible. Enjoy~~

Cheshire

Chapter 2: Recovery?

Roughly 8 months later

I sat in the new car, breathing in the leather smell. Kakashi sure was taking his time. It wasn't new for him to be late, but that didn't mean I had to like it.

Today was the first day of my sophomore year, at a new school, in a new town. I think it was understandable that- today of all days- I didn't want to be late. I sighed and sunk further into the cushy seat, thinking about how I had managed to make it here.

Shortly after I was released from the hospital, school had started up again. Same school, same classes, same teachers and friends… different me. I suddenly felt so out of place. This became especially apparent after I got a panic attack from my best friend Sakura giving me a hug, since she hadn't seen me the entire break. Truth be told, I didn't tell anyone where I was. I knew my friends were probably worried, but I didn't want to tell them. If I had told them I was in the hospital, I would have had to tell them WHY.

I had known Sakura for almost 10 years, having met in first grade, but I panicked anyway. As soon as her arms moved to close around me, I broke out in a sweat, started screaming and throwing my arms around, willing her to let me go. When she did, I saw the hurt and confusion in her face, but that quickly disappeared, only to be replaced by anger.

"Bitch."

She turned around and stalked off, the rest of my friends, who had been watching silently until now, following close behind. I spent the rest of the day in the nurse's office. And, when I came back to school the next day, I was alone. I chose to accept it as it was. As much as I loved and missed my friends, Sakura especially, I couldn't and wouldn't tell them why I acted the way I did. If I told them, they would pity me. I didn't want pity.

So I spent the rest of the school year, quietly, peaceful and alone, just going through the motions. Thank god Kakashi got that work offer in this other town, Konoha. This is where we were living now.

At home, things weren't so bad, but not so great either. Even though in the hospital, I had an attack around Kakashi, it seemed that my body slowly grew accustomed to his presence, and somewhere in the back of my mind something clicked. Like there was something telling me 'He's safe. He won't hurt you' and even though I knew it in my heart, my mind took a bit to catch up. After three months of Kakashi tiptoeing around me in the house, I finally stopped getting panic attack when he touched me. It made me happy to see him smile when it happened the first time, and again the next, and the time after that.

Now, he gives me a small hug whenever he sees fit. I don't know if it's to get me used to more contact, or for him to reassure himself that I was getting better.

Some things at home though, weren't so great. I was frequently plagues by nightmare, mostly memories of the night I was….attacked. (I didn't like saying the "R" word. It made me uncomfortable.) I would wake up, sometimes screaming, and often drenched in sweat. As the time passed, the amount of nightmares that plagued me decreased. Sometimes though, even now, I wake up feeling dirty and weak, wanting to get the feel of their hands on me off my body.

As if I wasn't already terrified enough, when I heard the sound of fabric ripping, I struggled against their strong holds even more. 'No no, please no' I thought in my head. Talking was useless, they couldn't hear me and wouldn't care.

"Hold her down properly, will you? The bitch is struggling too much!"

Why wasn't there anyone around to help me? I tried moving around so that I could get my mouth free long enough to scream. The one who seemed to be the leader, and had been unbuckling his belt (a though I deliberately pushed out of my mind) seemed to notice what I was doing. His face hardened as he walked towards my left side. He motioned for the guy who had been holding me down from the left to give him my arm. I was trying to understand what he planned to do. As soon as he had a good grip on my arm, he ripped, ripped it right out of its socket.

All I felt in that moment was white hot pain coursing through my arm, as I tried to cry out in agony.

That moment was usually when I woke up, but on very bad occasions, the dream would continue further. I dreaded those nights.

About a month before the school year ended, Kaka came up to me and told me he had been offered a new position in a city called Konoha. It was about a half hour drive away from Suna, where we were now, but Kakashi thought that moving might help me move past the trauma I had received. Not feeling like I was leaving good behind here, I had agreed quickly.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I felt my shoulder being shaken. I looked to my left, and there was Kakashi, looking at me expectantly.

"Kaka! You're LATE!"

"I may have been, but now it's not me who's about to be late."

'Huh?' I looked out of the window. The car was no longer parked in the driveway; instead, I was looking at a large, rather dreary looking, stone building. Somehow, I had managed to be so lost in thought; I hadn't noticed Kakashi arriving, much less the entire ride to school.

Now, I registered what Kakashi had said. Something about being late… I looked at the car dashboard. 'Shit' I had five minutes before the bell rang. Quickly, I shouldered my messenger bag, pushed open the car door and ran towards the building in front of me, calling out a rather hasty reply to Kakashi. He looked rather stunned at my sudden take-off, but was soon recovered and speeding off towards his new work place.

As I was running through the double glass doors that made the entrance to the building, I managed to catch a few words that were written on the wall right next to the door:

"Welcome to Konoha High."