Stumble [Rewrite]

Deserving

She had gotten good at hiding her worry and surprise.

It was like when Ibiki told her Shizune had appeared—she didn't tense or make a face near relief but had accepted it with a curious and interested facade. Or it was when she learned Tsunade was still alive and well. Her heart filled with the thought that her mentor was off living her wandering life, but she kept her face at its most neutral as she kept her pulse to a normal beat.

The one thing she couldn't hope to hide was her fear. It was most apparent the days she spent on that examination mission. She knew Obito would never hurt her and that he was as innocent as they came, but everything was too overwhelming and it all fell to pieces with the snap of one's fingers. She couldn't control it. She let herself go.

And look at where it had brought her! That one slip up earned her weekly therapy sessions and offered everyone a look at just how bad she let her trauma take over. Now...

Sakura folded her hands in her lap as she inspected a spec of dust on the table. Ibiki sat on the other end, arms crossed and a blank look to his features. There were no stars in the sky that night, only clouds that took their time to crawl over the country for the extremely rare chance of rain. Chance. It didn't always mean it would happen.

"So," Ibiki began, "do you want me to ask questions or are you willing to tell me everything yourself?"

She didn't raise her head. "Ask me. It's easier for you to find out what you want to know that way."

He nodded in agreement. Ibiki then reached into his overcoat to dig in the many hidden pockets he had. Finally finding the thing he'd been searching for, he pulled it out and set it on the center of the table.

Clink.

"First, how about you tell me what these are?"

Sakura's hand clasped around her eyes as she let out a strangled sigh. The glass bottle he placed in front of her was half filled with circular blue pills.

How many times was she going to fuck up? Just how many?

"Those are my sleeping pills."

"Highly potent and very much illegal. How did you get your hands on these?"

"From a friend."

"Who's your friend?"

Sakura stared at him, tight-lipped. There was no possible way she would ever rat Sasori out even for the sake of possibly being prosecuted for having unregulated substances. Ibiki had most likely taken a sample and ran it through various tests at the lab. She imagined that they hadn't gotten very far in deciphering the medicine's blueprint—it was made by one of the most infamous poison experts of their time. She could only hope the ingredients he used didn't come from only one traceable area.

Ibiki sighed inwardly. "At least tell me your friend isn't in any way a danger to Konoha."

She crossed her arms. "They aren't. They know how important the village is to me," she said. Her voice was even and didn't show any discomfort or nervousness that was clearly present in her physical being. But he knew better. Her tone may not have given anything away, but there was no underlying sincerity when she talked about the village. Yes, she was strong and yes, she was a force to be reckoned with.

Did her fierce loyalty apply to the system and the village as a whole?

No. It was obvious that it didn't.

"What makes you so sure?" he questioned. "By the looks of it, your friend isn't our normal branding if they're able to get their hands on pills like those, civilian or shinobi. And if I had to guess, they're not a part of Konoha."