Naruto: Blind

He could not brace himself for the worst, he could not prepare himself for what he knew was coming—and right when he felt his heart would stop, he heard something. It was distant at first, but it grew louder with each passing moment. His eyes were locked with Itachi's but he could see behind his brother, a figure emerged from the darkness, seemingly haloed in light.

The sound was coming from the figure that was approaching, and the world around him seemed to stop. The sound was a tune—a familiar song that he had heard many times, and the figure was singing it quietly, but in his ears it echoed loudly. They were singing that song, the song that his mother had used as a lullaby for him, but the figure could not be his mother; the corpse on the floor confirmed as much.

As the figure stepped daintily from the shaft of light that had appeared from the darkest corner of the room, the world around him shattered into a million of tiny dark shards, the pieces of his brother's face becoming mingled with the others, and disappearing from view. Only he and the figure remained in the void they hovered in, the shards fading away to nothing, leaving them alone.

Tears of relief spilled over his face as the figure smiled gently at him. To him, she appeared like an angel of light in the deepest hells of his mind; she had to be the most beautiful angel he had ever seen. The only one in fact; the other was sprawled lifeless on the floor. Her eyes were a field-green and sparkled with love and tenderness; tendrils of cherry blossom-pink hair framed her beautiful face, softening her appearance; and the smile that shone on her face made her seem radiant in his eyes.

Approaching him, she knelt down and encompassed him in a protective embrace, the song in her melodic voice never breaking as he clung tightly to her. His tiny arms were wrapped around her waist securely, his small hands clutching the fabric of her red dress. The sound vibrated in his ears as he cried quietly; she was here, holding him close to her, and he knew she would not let go—she would keep him safe.

"…Sakura."

This was the way that she always warded his nightmares away—he knew he would wake up in her arms again the next day. And in all honesty, he was glad.

Sakura lay on the grass, looking up at the cloudless blue sky, the July sunshine dappling the earth in a warm glow. Sitting calmly next to where she was lying down, was Sasuke; turning her head slightly, she looked at him and smiled. He was sitting with one leg bent at the knee, where one of his arms was draped over it lazily. The other leg was stretched out on the ground, while his other right hand was playing with the grass.

The two of them were taking a break from their morning exercises, and were spending that free time enjoying the summer sun. She couldn't help but grin at the conversation that had led up to the break—of course Sasuke didn't want to take a break, he wanted to train, but she marveled at how the mere suggestion of a new method in exchange for a break could quickly change his mind.

"When are we going to get back to work?" he asked her after another few minutes of silence.

Sakura reached out to him and took the hand that was idly pulling the grass out of the ground, the action of brushing the back of his hand with her thumb having become an automatic habit. She squeezed his hand slightly, an action that would have been considered a forbidden form of affection a couple months previous, but had grown to become an acceptable gesture.

"You're so impatient, Sasuke," she told him lightly, "It's a nice day, can't you just enjoy it, if even for a moment?"

"I have been," he told her bluntly, ignoring her hand, "But I want to get back to work."

She rolled on to her side so that she could more easily face him, and just gave a mellow smile, "You're much less pleasant to be around when you're obsessing over training—you get impatiently and grouchy. And when you get grouchy, you start denying things."

"No, I don't," he retorted in an almost indignant tone.

She laughed, "See? There you go."

He gave a noncommittal grunt and she giggled quietly to herself. There was another period of silence and Sakura let the sun warm her back, knowing that her shoulders and legs would probably get sunburned worse—they had become quiet red over the last month, but she didn't really mind, applying a lotion helped sooth the burning, and the prospect of skin cancer was years away. She closed her eyes and listened to the birds sing, trying for a moment to experience the world from Sasuke's perspective.

"You didn't answer my question," the said Uchiha spoke up again, interrupting her tranquil state.

"I know I didn't," she replied with a mischievous grin on her face.

"It's unfair to say you're going to teach me a new technique after a break and then make the break last all day," Sasuke said impatiently.

"It won't last all day. You should listen to yourself, you sound just like Naruto did when we were kids, so eager to learn a new jutsu or to accomplish a difficult mission," she replied smiling nostalgically to herself, "And you know the routine, I don't usually request breaks anyways. We're actually waiting for someone."

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