Sakura, and she's tired.
It had been only a few short months into her training with Tsunade when she was sent to the unassuming building for the first time, Tsunade having taken one look at her moping form before shoving a folder into her arms and sending her out. The building was small looking, a dull grey paint lightly chipping off the walls as it sat snugly between two large and much more vibrant stores- no one cast the place so much as a second glance.
Taking a second look down at the papers in her hand, Sakura felt her brow furrow before huffing out a tired sigh, her eyes still slightly puffy from holding back tears earlier.
She….hadn’t been well lately.
Not sick, just…off.
Mentally.
Emotionally.
To say she was upset would be an understatement, but at the same time, she just felt…detached…if that was the word to describe her current mood.
And for good reason.
Sasuke had abandoned them all, leaving his friends and village for power. Leaving her and any future they could have had, all for the sake of revenge.
Naruto had followed shortly after, disappearing into the night with little more than a note left with Tsunade, a note shakily scribbled out and informing her that he’d left on a training trip and that he wouldn’t be back for a few years. He’d left her with nothing but a promise and a smile that still flashed into her mind when she thought of him.
And Kakashi….He just left. She’d seen nothing of him, heard nothing from him since Naruto’s departure. And today, when she saw him across the street she’d been so happy, so full of joy to have one of her boys back! He’d turned, looked at her briefly from the corner from the corner of his eye and smiled in the way only he could….then just walked away. He’d left her, with not even a backwards glance or a ‘hello!’.
And she felt detached from it all since then, like she was floating above the world, watching herself go through the motions of her day to day life as she went to Tsunade. Had felt like she wasn’t her when Tsunade turned her out, sending her to some run down building with nothing but a short conversation and a file.
She felt distraught, she knew it. Her emotions, everything that had been building up these last few months were weighing in the back of her mind, and she knew it wouldn’t be long before everything hit home.
Home… Sakura just wanted to go home and sleep. Rest and hope that when she woke up, she was feeling better, because lately, all she’d been was tired.
Tired from training.
Tired from the helping at the hospital.
Tired from running errands.
Tired of the whispers she heard about her team.
Tired of hoping things would go back to normal.
Tired of people leaving her.
Sleep would help.
Gathering herself together, Sakura forced a smile onto her face and strode forward, idly listening to the bell above the doorway ring as she looked around the dim room, taking in the dust covered shelving and the equally dirty floor as she walked in further and let the door fall closed behind her.
It was…disgusting in here.
Who in their right mind would want to work in such a cramped, filthy place?
“How can I help you today-Sakura? Sakura, what on earth are you doing here?” A familiar voice called from the back room, a head full of long blond hair filling her view as her former best friend’s father lent out from the darkened doorway, his gaze assessing and a little too blank for her to be comfortable with.
“Umm…Tsunade-sama sent me here with this file? She said Shizune usually drops them off but since she’s ill…”
His gaze hardened, his normally warm demeanor cold and a touch too tense to be normal as he moved to lean over the old wooden counter in front of her.
“Yes, she usually does.” His steely eyes clashed with her own and Sakura felt something pressing down on her, a shiver passing through her body as his fingers tapped lazily on the table.
Her body felt…cold. Unwelcome here.
But she didn’t care, she’d been ignoring her own feelings for long enough to ignore this too.
This was nothing.
“Oh!” Sakura’s mind blanked for a moment, her breath catching in her throat as the room seemed to close in around her, something small in the back of her mind telling her that she shouldn’t be here. She should leave.
This wasn’t a place she should be.
It was time to go home now.
It was-
“Tsunade told me to ask about the tulips your flower shop just got in stock…? I don’t know why though, I think she’s been drinking again…”
And just like that the aura lifted from the room like a sheet being pulled from an old sofa, sudden and with a flair, even the grimy windows seemingly letting in a warm and comfortable light now. It felt like someone had just kicked her in the chest, yet she’d somehow never felt better, had never felt as much as she did in this room.
Inoichi smiled at her then, his shoulders slumping into the usual lazy grace she always saw when he was at home, his crooked grin warm and bright as he reached over to ruffle her hair playfully, his voice so welcoming after such a long day…
Safe.
She felt safe with Inoichi, she always had. He was always the one to comfort her after she fell while playing with Ino, had always been the one to walk her home after a day of playing.
He’d even been the one to happily check up on her every few months after her fight with Ino, always promising to be there for her if she ever needed anything.
“It’s good to see you again Sakura. How have you been? I’ve missed seeing you around the shop!”
Inoichi was safe.
Inoichi never left her.
Sakura just burst into tears.