Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Breakaway ❯ Rehabilitation 2: A Broken Mind ( Chapter 7 )

Breakaway

 

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Disclaimer: Check out Chapter One if you're into reading these, and for that I label you as weird…

 

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Chapter 6: Rehabilitation II: A Broken Mind

 

Thrice

Lockdown

 

Once you were free and you stretched out your wings to the sky

Sky was the limit, cap on your creativity

Team against team could we even the score

Our hearts kept the rhythm; that forbidden beat

Your talons now grip like steel to the weight they chained you to

Two in the morning, you can't hear the rumbling train

Trained not to think or question anything

The chains that had bound you are now obsolete

 

Please open your eyes,

Everything they told you was a lie,

Think for yourself won't you even try to look past all of those lies

Think for yourself

 

For generations the answer has always been no

No one remembers and nobody cares to ask

Asking a question is deemed criminal and slowly the silence grows

On the growing list of the mindless, by your name a check

Checkmate the situation if we all toe the line

Line up and never open up your eyes

And don't even think about raising your voice

 

Leave your mind without thought (they fill it)

Identity erased

Place refuse in your sight (you swill it)

Yeah it seems they got you bound (bound tight)

Yeah it seems they got you beat

The chains that held you down (you down)

They now hang obsolete

 

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Sakura unslung her backpack full of new clothes onto the futon at her feet. Glancing about her new surroundings, she took it all in with a grain of salt. This room, like all of Suna, was a mixture of tans and browns.

 

It almost matched the drollness of the hospital in its own ways. The hospital was bright, sterile and functional, this room was…brown, bare, and cleanly. Just like her psyche. Except hers was grey, not brown or white.

 

Temari stood behind her, watching Sakura's lack of any reaction with interest.

 

“I know it's not much, being the Kazekage's house and all, but it's yours to whatever you want with. Gaara will come to see you in an hour or so. Feel free to wander around, put your stuff away. If you need anything, I'm two bedrooms down the hall.”

 

Sakura turned and looked at her with blank eyes and face. This was like hitting a brick wall for Temari who was used to dealing with a fiery and constantly angry Gaara. She simply didn't know how to deal with this lack of response. Typically she would get a response immediately, sometimes with household items flung her way.

 

But Sakura had her stumped.

 

The pink-haired woman just nodded her head to Temari and turned around, continuing to inspect her surroundings.

 

With a frown, Temari turned and left the room, closing the door behind her quietly so as not to interrupt Sakura's inspection of the room. Once she heard the click she leaned back against the door, chewing her lip in thought.

 

Gaara hadn't mentioned just how serious Sakura's mental state was. Temari thought that she'd be the same cheerful spitfire she'd encountered at the chuunin exams, just a little depressed but still able to smile. Or maybe she knew all along that this was exactly how Sakura was going to act, just that she was hoping that Sakura was the same person. It wasn't often Temari encountered a female that she got along with.

 

The entire shopping experience was done in relative silence and for the most part it took Temari picking out clothes for Sakura so that the girl might actually any. The woman exhibited no interest in the world around her. She simply let it run its course all over her.

 

And those eyes…she had hoped to never see eyes like that ever again. She owed Naruto the world and the sky for what he did for Gaara. She would forever be thankful to him. And now, she guessed that it would be her turn to help Naruto out and help fix what was left of Sakura's will and soul.

 

She looked like an empty shell, her eyes the windows to an old, dusty abandoned house, full of ghosts from the past. Haunted, hurt, irreparable. Just waiting for the day she would finally collapse in on herself from the strain of staying upright.

 

Temari closed her eyes for a few seconds then pushed up off the door, walking opposite of her bedroom. She was going to berate Gaara for not telling her the whole truth. Sakura wasn't just hurting, she was slowly dying. Her body may be healthy, but if the mind wasn't intact, the body meant nothing.

 

He shouldn't hold out on information like that. Definitely not like this.

 

The blonde disappeared around the corner.

 

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Sakura was sitting down on the low futon, her knees drawn up close to her face. Her mottled arms lay loosely across the top and she stared vacantly straight ahead.

 

Until she was interrupted by a series of sharp knocks.

 

Sakura blinked out of her stupor and gave a soft answer, her head not moving but her eyes now trained onto the worn wood grain of the door.

 

“Come in.”

 

The metal knob slowly turned and the door opened slowly to reveal a shock of red hair and sharp jade eyes. Gaara stepped silently into the room and closed the door behind him. He turned and looked at Sakura with eyes filled with empathy and a lingering pain.

 

He took a deep breathe, closing his eyes as he collected his thoughts. Finally he opened them and locked eyes with Sakura's blank green ones. He stepped in front of her then knelt before her, getting on eye-level. He never broke eye contact the whole time.

 

“Good afternoon Sakura. I am here to discuss your repayment for the hospital bills and rent for the remaining time you are here.”

 

He paused to wait for any sort of acknowledgement and received a slight, almost imperceptible nod. This relieved him that she was at least a little in contact with the surrounding environment. With the way Sakura had acted with Temari, and after the reaming he had received from his vicious sister, he was afraid that he had evaluated Sakura wrong.

 

Proceeding, he nodded his head back.

 

“From now on you will work as my personal aide, not much unlike Temari. She needs a break anyways. You will sort paperwork, make sure that dated paperwork gets to me on time, that the paperwork gets to where it needs to be on time, handle my scheduling for meetings, set up meetings for Temari when I am unavailable, and other such work. You will also be charged to have some self-defense lessons, which I am sure you won't have a problem with, what with your ninja past.”

 

He knew he was baiting Sakura with his last statement. He wanted to see if she'd bite either way. Either to say that she didn't have any schooling and shut down or say that she needed some help.

 

He received a continued blank stare much to his displeasure. A frown marred his face and forehead. He took a deep breath and forced himself not to sigh in exasperation.

 

“I will be in charge of teaching you self-defense, and should you wish, enroll you in our ninja academy. Effective immediately, you will start your repayment tomorrow morning. Temari will show you how everything works and tutor you on the politics involved and our many alliances. Do you understand? You will be stuck here in Suna for at least a year. Every hour of work will be valued toward paying back your debts, which means you will receive no money. Food will be provided for in my house free of charge and you already received clothing.”

 

Sakura had reacted none during the entire one ended conversation, but Gaara knew she had been listening. Her eye contact remained sharp, not cloudy and wandering. He wished she would snap out of her funk. It brought back painful memories for him to see her so.

 

He watched as she nodded her head shallowly in response to his earlier question. She immediately broke eye contact and returned to staring dully at her hands. Gaara stood smoothly, looking down on her small form.

 

“Please join my siblings and me for dinner in three hours. Temari will come to escort you down to the dining room. Beyond that, please feel free to use the facilities of my home and to explore the town if you wish. Have a good afternoon Sakura-san.”

 

Gaara turned and walked to the door, wishing he could hear a returned reply of the same, but knowing he would not receive it. He opened the door and passed through, closing it behind him with a soft click. It was going to be a long recovery, he knew this. Rekindling a will to live when nothing remained to live for was almost next to impossible. At least he had his siblings at his side the whole time, offering him their love and support.

 

Now he had to find someone to rekindle her will to live and to offer her love. He may be the cruel bijuu and Kazekage, but he had been through what she had, and felt obligated to pull her out of her hell.

 

Gaara walked down the hallway to his personal office, where much paperwork waited for him until dinner.

 

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Sakura slowly wrung the water from her wet hair, standing in the steam that was left over from her scalding shower. Her skin was an angry red from the heat of the water. It was another sad attempt on her part to feel something.

 

She glanced at the moisture covered mirror and wiped some of the condensation from its surface. She took in her mottled skin and mismatched hair. She brought a hand up and took a few strands between her forefinger and thumb, looking at it dispassionately. She let it fall from her fingers and turned her attention to her ribs.

 

Although she had gained weight, her ribs still stuck out. She ran a finger over the still creamy skin, counting each rib as the appendage ran over it. Two, three, four…

 

Her hand dropped back to her side and she turned away from the mirror. Picking up a tan towel that had been sitting on the toilet she wrapped it about her body and left the steamy room to enter her bedroom. Her feet padded quietly on the sand colored carpet until she reached the bureau where she had placed all her clothes. She opened drawer after drawer, pulling forth bra, underwear, long pants, three quarter sleeve shirt, and socks. She then carried these articles of clothing and laid them out on her futon.

 

She stood there for a few moments, just staring at the clothing. The pants were white, the bra, underwear, and socks white, and the shirt a teal. As she stood there, a knock issued forth from the door. Without hesitation or permission, the knocker entered the room. Blonde hair revealed the intruder as Temari, who turned questioning eyes to Sakura.

 

“Dinner's in a few minutes. You aren't ready yet?”

 

Temari took in a still dripping Sakura, her multi-pink hair hanging limply. Temari also took in the patchy skin of Sakura's face and arms, but also the smooth cream of her back and what was exposed of her chest. Sakura reminded her of a rag doll, sewn together with many different colored fabrics. And she looked just as abused as any rag doll.

 

Temari felt tears enter her eyes at the sight, her heart going out to the emotionally abused girl. Temari had only been moved once before in her life to tears, and that was during the exchange between her brother and Naruto years back.

 

Sakura turned back to the clothing on the bed, ignoring Temari's presence. She dropped the towel from about her form to gather up the bra and underwear to put on.

 

A tear spilled over onto Temari's cheek. She could count the ribs from where she was standing. And she knew she was right at that moment. Sakura's body would be unable to survive if her mind was not restored.

 

Temari quickly wiped the tear away and waited patiently for Sakura to finish dressing. When the pink haired woman finished, she turned to Temari. Her hair was still wet, drips causing the teal shirt to stain dark blue where ever they landed. Her green eyes revealed nothing, betrayed nothing.

 

Temari shivered, but turned and exited the room, knowing that Sakura would follow.

 

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The dining room was not extravagant, much like the rest of the house. It was tastefully done and did display wealth, but it was all functional and clean. The oak table and display case where the china was shown off gave the air of Suna riches. Wood was hard to come across, so furniture was a giveaway for wealth.

 

Sakura drank in the cream walls adorned with pictures of different countries, recognizing one as Fire Country. Her eyebrow quirked a bit upon seeing it, but that was the limit of her reaction.

 

She turned to see Temari sitting to the right of the head of the table, motioning for Sakura to sit across from her and to the left of what Sakura assumed to be Gaara's spot.

 

Walking calmly across the room, Sakura sat without a word on the cushion, her legs tucked neatly beside her. She glanced up to see Temari staring at her. After a few moments of locking gazes, Temari opened her mouth.

 

“Gaara will join us in a few moments. He's been backlogged under all sorts of paperwork. The reconstruction of Suna has had him flooded and busy from dawn till dusk. Your help will be most appreciated. Gaara doesn't trust just anyone to help him with the legislation of Suna.”

 

Sakura nodded her head once but didn't say anything. Temari quickly suppressed another shudder as it gripped her form. Sakura gave her the willies worse than Gaara ever did. But she had also known Sakura as someone lively and full of fight.

 

Sure her brother had been full of fight, but it was also filled with desperation. Sakura's fight had been full of life, the expectation that she would pull in that next breath no matter what happened. Gaara's fight was fighting, struggling to take the next breath, sure that it would be ripped from his throat if he didn't do something about it. Sakura fought because she was alive, Gaara fought to stay alive.

 

A tingle passed down to Temari's toes and she knew Gaara had just stepped into the room. If it weren't for the sixth sense between siblings, Temari would be unable to sense Gaara, for he did everything with stealth. She turned to greet her brother.

 

“Konbanwa otouto-sama. How go the paper mountains?”

 

Gaara shot Temari his scowl of death, displeased that she was cracking jokes at his expense. He strode over to his seat, eyes now not focused on his teasing sister.

 

“Where is Kankuro? Surely he'd take a little of his busy schedule to join his remaining family for dinner? I haven't seen his tattooed hide in months. What has he been doing?”

 

Temari frown at the mention of the puppeteer. He'd been sent out on one of Suna's rare high-paying, high-ranked missions. Since Sakura had arrived, a few neighboring countries had been behaving strangely. A few of Suna's border allies requested that the Wind Country investigate, offering a hefty sum.

 

Kankuro was the highest ranked ninja that was available to investigate. He'd been gone all this time and just returned two days prior. He came back a bit battered and very withdrawn. He had immediately walked into his room and locked it behind him without a word to anyone.

 

Both Gaara and Temari were concerned to say the least. Gaara had banged on the sibling's door for half an hour, demanding a report and that Kankuro come out to eat. No sound had emerged from the other side of the door, just silence.

 

Temari shrugged in response to Gaara's questions.

 

“He'll come out eventually Gaara. I'm sure he's just consolidating all the information he collected. Sometimes it takes a while to sort through intelligence to make something of it.”

 

Gaara shot Temari a skeptical look. He was quickly distracted as a butler walked out from the adjacent kitchen with a couple of trays laden heavily with food. It was laid out carefully in front of the three, then the waiter retreated quickly back to the kitchen to await plates cleaned of food.

 

Both Temari and Gaara turned and looked at Sakura expectantly, waiting for the almost comatose woman to select her food from the trays first. Sakura made no move.

 

Gaara quickly grew irritated, his face turning red. His patience was almost non-existent after fighting his way through piles of ridiculous propositions about marriage and land boundaries and useless disputes between the civilians that lived within the village. He didn't feel like dealing with Sakura's stubborn refusal to acknowledge the world around her.

 

Temari could almost smell ozone radiating from Gaara's form as he prepped for a proverbial nuclear meltdown. Rushing to save both Gaara and Sakura, Temari reached out and picked up the pink-haired woman's plate, placing various foods upon its surface.

 

She didn't desire to listen to anymore of Gaara's rants. Nor did she wish to cause Sakura more of a reason to not open back up. Gaara blowing up wouldn't help her situation, especially after Gaara took all the time to ensure her the best care and that she survived her extensive injuries.

 

Placing the plate back in front of Sakura, she noted that Gaara was still glaring daggers at the poor woman, but that he was no longer ready to explode. She sighed and slowly placed food on her own plate. It was going to be a long meal, mediating between a short fused Gaara and an unresponsive Sakura. Why was she always the referee when it came to Gaara?

 

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Gaara sat back at his desk, biting back a groan as he glanced at the never-ending, replenishing piles of paperwork. If there was one thing he had wished to have known before accepting the position of Kage was that the paperwork never went away.

 

He could deal with the political aspect of his job. In fact, all he had expected of this position was to interact with other Kage and country leaders, not paperwork and legislation and on the odd day some jurisdiction.

 

He plopped down into his cushy leather swivel chair and glared at the paperwork, hoping to will it away. He tried this everyday since he started as Kage, and the paper had yet to burst spontaneously into flames. He cursed being an earth jutsu user. He also wished flames could burst forth from his eyes to engulf the pieces of offending parchment.

 

As he sat there and tried to use non-existent mind powers on the helpless sheaves of paper, he reflected on the dinner he had just left from.

 

It was hands down the worst dinner he had ever sat down to, next to that dinner with the old fogy Kage and his repulsive daughter of course.

 

The food wasn't bad and nothing horrendous happened during the course of the meal that would force Gaara to label it the worst meal. However, Gaara had never felt that awkward for that long, ever.

 

His sister tried so hard to make conversation to break the heavy silence that domineered the room, she really had. It was an admirable effort on her part. Gaara had even tried to put his two cents in every now and again to help her along. But Sakura's deafening silence reigned supreme and both Gaara and Temari were left squirming in their seats, wanting to be anywhere but in that same room with the pink-haired woman.

 

Any attempt to interact with her was met with a stone façade and a blank stare. Not really conducive for making further attempts, but the siblings kept trying nonetheless, hoping to break the awkwardness.

 

Turning his thoughts away from the dinner, Gaara focused on the hour of training he was going to put Sakura through. If he had felt that awkward during dinner with a chatty sister, he was doomed for that one hour everyday; except the ones where she would be returned to physical therapy for special treatments and for check-ups. Those were twice a week if he remembered correctly.

 

He also remembered hand picking the doctor who was in charge of her physical therapy. If that wasn't a blast from the past for Sakura, Gaara didn't know what was.

 

Upon seeing the picture attached to the man's admirable portfolio, Gaara had done a double take, knowing that the last remaining Uchiha was dead. And it was disconcerting to see that same face with a gentle, warm smile upon it. Gaara knew Sasuke to be dangerous, so seeing such a look on a born killer's face set off alarms.

 

But Gaara knew that this was not the same man. Looking into his blue eyes revealed that fact. And he had the most impressive folder of all of them, even though he was just beginning his practice. He came from the best schools and teachers and was the best of his classes. He had also written a few theses on therapy practice that were close to revolutionary, though Gaara was not one to understand about what.

 

Gaara had been surprised that he hadn't been employed yet, but he wasn't complaining.

 

Speaking of therapy, Sakura was going in a couple days from now for an appointment. Gaara had never met Tai in person, but decided that he would escort Sakura to therapy to see if maybe he could enlist in the therapist's help. Paperwork and a pissed off Temari be damned.

 

Happy at the prospect of ditching his never ending pile of paper work, Gaara delved into them, hoping to make enough of a dent so that he did not become too swamped when he left them unattended.

 

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Over the next two days, Temari slowly introduced Sakura into Suna politics. She showed her how to file paperwork, fill out portions of it to save Gaara time, taught her about Suna alliances and the wiles of bordering politicians, and was generally miserable because the most response she could get out of the rag-doll woman was a quirked eyebrow.

 

It was enough to drive a woman crazy.

 

Said blonde was currently glaring daggers at her new counterpart in work, willing the broken woman to suddenly develop a soul and a sense of humor. At this point Temari would gladly go back to the boredom of working on her own. At least the silence wasn't oppressive and eerie.

 

But Sakura did her job, and she was exceptional at it. But the girl definitely would not be up to actually interacting with delegates yet. Only if Suna wanted to scare them away…

 

A light bulb went on in Temari's mind. Gaara wanted nothing to do with that one Kage, so why not let delegations go through Sakura? He'd be creeped out enough to leave her brother alone for awhile.

 

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Temari jumped. Sakura was late for her appointment! Gaara was going to kill her!

 

In a flurry of paper, Temari leapt from her seat and grabbed a very mildly surprised Sakura from her stack of paperwork. Dragging the clueless pink-haired woman down the hallway, Temari stopped in front of Gaara's office and without knocking, barged in.

 

“Gaara! You're late! Here's Sakura! Go!!!”

 

Gaara glared from his position from behind his desk. She was acting like it was his fault that he and Sakura were late. He wasn't the one who was directly in charge of her. He wasn't the one tasked to make sure she got to her physical therapy session on time; he was only to escort her there and observe the session to assure that she was receiving proper care.

 

He stood slowly, leaning his weight onto the tips of his fingers, leering at his huffing and puffing sibling. He made sure to make his feelings on her poorly thought out statement known through his heated gaze.

 

Temari gulped a bit and pushed Sakura toward her brother, knowing that she had placed the blame wrong and she had angered him.

 

“She has five minutes until she has to be over to the hospital. Now's not the time to rip my head from my shoulders.”

 

Gaara sneered, but stepped around the desk and placed a hand on Sakura's shoulders, turning her around back toward the doors.

 

“I'll let it slide this time Temari. You can finish what you can that is in that pile. I expect it to be considerably smaller when I get back.”

 

Temari gaped in disbelief as Gaara took Sakura by the elbow and led her gently out the double doors of his office.

 

He did not just tell me to that!

 

Then the insomniac and the soulless shell disappeared from her sight.

 

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Gaara watched through the glass as Tai had Sakura jog on a treadmill, attached to numerous nodes that recorded how the pink haired woman moved and where she was having difficulties.

 

He took special note that the therapist treated Sakura with the utmost care, speaking in gentle and soft tones, encouraging her at everything she did. His eyes, whenever they looked at Sakura were filled with warmth and some emotion that seemed to grow through out the session.

 

Gaara also took special note that for some reason, both he and Shukaku disliked the way this Tai looked at Sakura. Hackles rose with each glance.

 

Gaara kept telling himself that he didn't give a shit, that Sakura was merely a way to somehow get his money and time back that he had afforded her to help her get better.

 

His only consolation was that Sakura remained unresponsive to every glance and every soft word that man gave her.

 

Not that he cared or anything. Heaven forbid he should care. Gaara didn't care about anything or anyone.

 

Gaara's chakra flared a bit as jealousy consumed his body for a short time before he clamped down on the foreign emotion. As he looked up his eyes clashed with dull, yet curious sea-foam green eyes.

 

He quickly glanced away and picked up a pamphlet on muscular dystrophy, a very interesting subject indeed.

 

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Inside Sakura was secretly quailing under Tai's care. She couldn't believe how much he was flirting with her, and she wanted more than anything to melt into the floor.

 

Not only did she have no desire whatsoever to interact with other people, but he looked like Sasuke. The boy who represented all her hopes and dreams, who crushed them all in one fell swoop.

 

She was just unable to find anything desirable in allowing herself to care about the man in front of her.

 

She sighed inside her mind and lifted her leg laden with weights. This strength training business was boring and overdone. She knew what would come out of Tai's mouth each time for each exercise.

 

Tai looked at her with laughing blue eyes.

 

“Very good Sakura. I see that you've kept up on your exercises. I'd say that you're about ready to begin your training with the Kazekage, very light training, but training nonetheless.”

 

Tai gestured for said Suna ruler to enter the bare, sterilized, and padded room.

 

Gaara pushed the door next to him open gently and stepped through the portal, looking bored and disinterested as always. He approached the two, feet not making a sound. He seemed to pass through air without disturbing it.

 

Tai watched his Kazekage with envy. He had always wished for the grace of a ninja. He had contemplated as a child joining the ninja academy in his home country. But all the tales of how they were treated made him avoid joining and instead focus on medicine.

Though he had no ability to sense chakra or to manipulate it, he knew where some of the chakra flow points were.

 

But moving on…

 

Tai shook his head to clear his thoughts and smiled at the sand nin.

 

“Kazekage-sama. You are cleared to begin preliminary training with Sakura-san. I know most of the prelim will be strength training, but don't push too hard at first.”

 

Gaara nodded his understanding, turning his eyes to look into Sakura's.

 

Her eyes were unreadable as always. Gaara frowned in his mind at her lack of response. Gaara turned back to the dark haired trainer.

 

“We shall begin immediately. As in right now. Thank you for your help. I'll make sure that she makes it to her next appointment. Contact Temari to set-up the next date.”

 

With that, Gaara gently but firmly led Sakura out of the rehabilitation room and out of the hospital, glancing at nothing other than the road in front of him. He never released Sakura's shoulder.

 

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Sakura woke from her stupor as Gaara came to a halt outside of a large, gymnasium type building. It looked newer than all the buildings surrounding it, and the hum of electricity and air conditioners met her ears.

 

Gaara watched as Sakura displayed a light curiosity about the building before. She turned and met his eyes.

 

“Where are we Gaara-san?”

 

He broke eye contact and looked up at the unmarked building.

 

“Welcome to Suna's new and improved ninja academy. This is where you will be training for the next year or so. Let's go get you an outfit appropriate for training in.”

 

Sakura gave a minute glance down to her oversized tee-shirt and basketball shorts and shrugged, following quietly behind Gaara as he entered the building.

 

Goosebumps broke out over her skin, not due to the extremely cold air blasting out from the open door, but because that small part of her was cheering with joy. And that she felt the shadow of destiny pass over her slim form.

 

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A/N: And that would be the end of this chapter! I apologize for taking so long, but school's a bitch. Muah…I really enjoy writing this story, don't get me wrong, it's just that all my time went out the window without my express permission. Grrrr… And thank you my readers, my reviewers, my haters, for continuing to read this! Till next time! Ja ne!