Stumble [Rewrite]

Forgiveness

Everything was going by smoothly. After the initial shock of her existence, Sakura managed to make herself fade into the rest of the Academy students despite her outstanding excellence. The school days went by normally and without incident with Iruka's fair and open way of teaching. Naruto was treated as any other student and was held up to the exact same standard—the way Sakura would've had it if she were in charge of education.

She, Sasuke, and Naruto stayed as close to each other as ever. They mostly hung out at Naruto's apartment whenever they could because of how convenient it was to stay away from prying eyes and judgmental whispers. Sakura was confident enough to say they were close enough to stand at each other's backs in any situation. It was also safe to say that they could rely on Shikamaru, Chouji, and Shino as well.

Sakura did make her trip to the Aburame Household alongside Shikamaru every now and then to study up on more insects (and more possible poisons). The time Chouji tagged along with them, he and Shino hit it off immediately. One clan dealt with bugs and the other with butterflies, so they had plenty to talk about.

Her internship under Ibiki and Genma went as expected. Her chakra reserves grew substantially and her muscle mass was easily seen on her arms and legs, leading her to wear pants and long sleeves to avoid even more suspicion. She could now freely use chuunin level techniques in their presence, leading up to her quickly learning to use her wrist blades.

One thing she didn't think to account for was how much more... involved they were in her life. Sakura noticed that she was spending a lot of her free time at the T&I building. If she wasn't lounging on Ibiki's office couch, she'd be lazing around on the rooftop or training grounds with Genma.

It was during those moments when she caught up with her sleep. Luckily enough, they never questioned it.

"Alright everyone—outside!" Iruka called to his class of second years. "We're going to learn about kunai and shuriken safety!"

Sakura stood from her seat and trailed beside Naruto and Sasuke on their way towards the training grounds. The two were unaware of the slight change in her expression; the way it had gotten weary and filled with hopeless acceptance.

She couldn't sleep anymore. She couldn't stop getting all those flashbacks from the war. She couldn't stop hearing, stop... stop seeing all her friends dead and suffering even though she knew they were all alive and innocent again. And when she saw or even thought of a fire—

Someone poked her shoulder. "Oi, Sakura."

Ino came into view with platinum blonde hair pulled up in a short ponytail and sky blue eyes widened in worry.

"Are you okay?" she asked, "You, I dunno, you don't look okay. Your jaw's tight, your fist's balled, and you're... distracted?"

Sakura's finger twitched. How could she forget? The Yamanaka prided themselves in being experts in the human mind, as it was the clan specialty. That meant they knew about telling signs, when a person was lying, and reading body language. Not to mention that her father was one of the most prominent figures with T&I. It wouldn't be wrong to start teaching his seven year old daughter a trick or two.

"I'm fine," she answered, voice unwavering. "I'm just thinking about some things."

Ino stared at her for a few seconds. "... Okay."

Reluctantly, she turned back to one of her friends and continued her conversation with another girl. Though she did keep a close eye on Sakura as the class settled themselves on the training grounds. And when Iruka began his long spiel on what to do and what not to do with the weapons, Ino saw that Sakura was again off in her own world-- jaw tight, fists balled, and... distracted.