Blind Faith

Chapter 6

xoxoxoxoxo

"Ow!"

Sakura bit her lip after the exclamation, but couldn't help slightly flinching when the sting returned to her forehead. She may have been one of Konoha's Top Medic-nin, but when it came to herself…

She'd rather let it go.

It had taken her years to develop a technique, a way of doing things that didn't harm the patient, years of training to be able to do things painlessly, that when it came to others healing her...

"Ow."

She had become a baby…

"If you continue to whine, I'll leave you with a gaping head wound to tend with on your own."

Sakura shut her mouth, firmly, and began to think of happy thoughts.

Happy thoughts…

Happy thoughts… and suddenly found herself morbidly depressed, she was lost, well, she was lost, she was blind, her eyes were starting to ache from the constant changes in the environment and her inability to allow them to adjust due to her inability to see…

She was in a set of clothes that did not belong to her and were too big and had no weapons on her to speak of.

A sharp pain hit her forehead in the direct center of her wound and before she could help herself, "OW! You did that on purpose!"

The accusation was well founded as another sharp pain followed the first, "You might be unable to see, but I can, quite well."

Sakura felt the expression on her face twist into a scowl and another pain followed the first two.

Sakura fell silent for a moment, and he continued to stitch her head wound, "Are my pupils dilated?"

There was silence then, "Greatly."

Sakura shut her eyes and took a deep breath, careful not to jar the hand on her forehead or the careful needle work of the shinobi before her.

Sakura reopened her eyes, "Now?"

"Slightly less than before."

Sakura shut her eyes again, once her chakra was restored and her eyes fixed she could undo the damage done by the poison, but if her eyes were continuously under as much strain as they had been in the past day…

"Finished."

Sakura reached up and lightly touched the stitches in her forehead, they were small and precise and wouldn't leave a scar if it was kept clean.

Sakura sighed and let her hand drop to her shoulder for a second, her eyes still shut.

"How long do think it will take to get to Konoha?"

A pause then, "Four days travel, possibly five depending."

Sakura couldn't put her eyes under that much continuous strain, it would do damage not even the fifth could reverse. With a sigh Sakura reached up with both hands to untie her hitai-ate, carefully placing it over her eyes, avoiding the wound on her forehead completely as she reached around the back of her head and tied the cloth firmly behind it.

She felt his eyes on her and turned her head away slightly as she dropped her hands, but he didn't comment.

"It will rain soon, we need to get moving."

Sakura nodded her head, taking the proffered hand that lightly brushed her fingers and helped her up.

It was hard, hard to feel so helpless.

xoxoxoxox

The rain was falling hard in Konoha, it was odd for that time of year, but it had been raining almost constantly for the past two days. At first, the Godaime had attributed her apprentices' lateness to the unusual weather, but now…

The last thing that she wanted to do was jump to the wrong conclusions and send a team after Sakura, only to find her holed up in a tea house somewhere waiting out the rain or helping some elderly man or woman with a sickness or injury.

She could not so fondly say that this had happened before.

Sakura had been sent on a three day exposition to a near by town, she had no need of checking in since it was only a 'B ranked' mission.

On the third day, she had waited all morning for Sakura to come in to the office, she had been waiting for the excuse to debrief her student in private all morning, really she had been itching to get the item Sakura was going to pick up for her on the way back, a mini-mission if you would.

She waited until noon to get annoyed, four o'clock to be angry and six o'clock that evening to get nervous.

When it reached nightfall Tsunade had spent all night in her office, it was the only time she had been able to stay up and concentrate on documents since her inauguration; she had been trying to keep her mind busy.

That morning at six a.m she had called in a team and sent them to find Sakura, and she hadn't stopped flying through documents until she had received word…

That Haruno Sakura was five miles from the village, being detained because she was helping an elderly merchant make it home to Konoha because he had been injured in transit.

Tsunade had never felt more like a fool in her entire life, and when Sakura had returned to the village thoroughly annoyed since the fourty-eight hour rule was broken, with the "Green Beast" of Konoha and the remainder of Team Gai in toe, it wasn't pretty.

Needless to say all the parties involved were quite embarrassed, Tsunade had always made a point to trust her ninja, and there was no one she trusted more then Sakura, which may have been why she jumped the gun.

Neither had spoken of the event again, but Tsunade felt she owed it to her apprentice not to repeat it, if Sakura didn't return in forty-eight hours, by Konoha law feelings be damned, Tsunade would send out a search party.

She just hoped Sakura made it back far, far before then…

xoxoxoxox

Sakura had never been more embarrassed in her entire life.

She remembered the time when she had fallen and broken her ankle during a mission, a 'C ranked' mission that had been in the village, it had only been a year or two ago and it hadn't even been a good reason.

She had taken a step backward, tripped on a bucket, twisted wrong, got caught up in the bucket and broken her ankle while tumbling down a little hill and landing at the bottom in a heap…

Right in front of Kakashi-sensei, Yamato-taichou, Naruto, Sasuke and Sai, the sad thing was Yamato-taichou and Sai weren't even part of the mission, Sakura had been stuck with her team in a low rank mission due to Sasuke and Naruto's argument in front of the Godaime.

And while lying on the ground contemplating how to make the best out of the situation as the whole of anyone who had ever been on team seven rushed down beside her, Sakura decided that single moment in her life had been the most embarrassing moment ever.

But now she was rethinking it.

"Hey precious, like it kinky do you?"

It took everything Sakura had to keep walking beside the shinobi, she was pressing her teeth so hard together she was sure they were about to crack.

She willed herself to ignore the cat calls and the rude remarks, she clenched her hands into fists, they where hidden by the shinobi's cloak, she was holding onto his arm to be guided through whatever hell hole town they had to walk through to get past Amagakure border control.

"Haha, I can show you a better time then pretty boy over there, why don't you come over here Baby!"

Sakura flushed, oh great, that's all she needed to know now, not only was she blind, being hit on, having to hold onto a shinobi she barely, if at all, knew to guide her but now she found out that he was apparently good looking?

Of course, just her luck with men that she would meet some good looking shinobi who was a literal 'Knight and shining armor' and she would be knee deep in a stinking pile of screw up.

She prayed to every deity she knew to make the misery stop, why couldn't the poison have taken out her hearing instead of her eyesight?

She really didn't need to hear this right now, not in the mood she was in, not in a place she didn't have the slightest clue as to where they had been or were they where going.

And not when she probably looked like dog crap when she was hanging off an apparently good looking man.

Just her luck, of course.

And just her sense of adventure.

"Aw, baby, leaving so soon!"

Sakura was three seconds from turning around teaching everyone they just passed a lesson in manners, chakra blocked and blind be damn.

A sudden tightening of the arm she was holding onto caught her attention luckily and the shinobi drew the appendage closer to his body effectively catching one of her hands between his arm and side.

Sakura knew she had flushed; she took a deep breath and directed her head down a bit to hopefully hide the angry embarrassment she felt.

"Kunoichi," Sakura turned her head slightly towards the shinobi who was speaking to her now, but did not raise her head any, she could still feel her cheeks burning.

"Yes?"

There was silence and she listened to the sounds around them, there where few, they where travelling during the day, and not many people where about, she could hear people behind closed doors, small feet and mothers hushing their children or the scraping of pans in a kitchen. Or the snores of men in alleyways, or drunken stumbling around, how anyone could be drunk this early…

Sakura peered up at the silent shinobi then immediately turned her head away again, she couldn't believe she forgot she was blind, the darkness was becoming friendly.

It was so strange, not being able to see, so awkward and yet she was getting used to it, "Are you just going to leave me hanging?"

He chuckled, but he still didn't answer her, Sakura smiled a little, they where almost out of the village and she had been properly distracted from going further into her angry train of thoughts.

"Jeez," Sakura smiled, "You remind me a little of my sensei, the only time he says anything is when he wants to distract you from something."

"How so?"

Sakura brushed her hand through the end of her hair that wasn't tied in the hitai-ate, "Like," Sakura paused for a moment to think, "He's always late, no matter what the situation is, he's even late saving people, but immediately he'll give you the most ridiculous excuse and it's actually to endearing to allow you to stay mad at him."

The shinobi beside her chuckled softly, "Is that so? What type of excuse?"

Sakura smiled a little at the ridiculous excuses that came to mind, "Helping old ladies with their groceries, helping them cross the street, black cats crossing his path so he had to take a longer route," Sakura tilted her head slightly, "That type of thing."

"How do you know he wasn't telling the truth?"

Sakura paused for a moment, she a took a breath before releasing it, "He…every morning he has this sort of ritual, sometimes he's really late because he over slept, but a lot of the time it's because," Sakura trailed off, she didn't know if it would be polite to Kakashi-sensei to continue.

The shinobi beside her didn't push her and she fell silent, and slowly the two made there way back into the forest.

"He visits the memorial stone in the morning, sometimes in the evening if he's running too late."

The shinobi beside her remained silent, and having no more to say the two fell in step with each other, making their way through the edge of Amagakure's countryside.

xoxoxoxox

"Kisame, where's Itachi-sempai?"

Kisame glanced over at the orange masked man standing a little ways in the shadow, "Eh, Tobi? He's taking an alternate route, he'll return to base in a week."

Tobi waved his hand in the air excitedly, "Tobi wants to walk with him, Tobi wants to travel with Itachi-sempai! Can Tobi go in Kisame's place?"

Kisame rose a dark blue eyebrow and gave a sharp toothed grin, "Suit yourself Tobi, but Itachi won't be pleased."

Kisame stepped away from the dark haired, orange masked man and continued on his way through the balcony wrapping around the Amagakure base.

"Ah! You don't think Itachi-san wants to see Tobi?"

xoxoxoxox

"Tell me, kunoichi, why a medic?"

Sakura paused for a moment on the log she was standing on before accepting the hand she knew was there and hopping down to the ground.

"Why?"

Sakura continued to navigate through the woods with the help of the shinobi, "Well… it seemed like the right thing to do at the time…"

"And what time was that?"

"After the chunnin exams, after… after my first chunnin exams, just seeing everyone else, my teammates, it made feel inadequate I guess, and then after the chunnin exams my friend, my teammate got injured fairly badly," Sakura fell silent for a moment remembering that time, remembering a time when she really could do nothing to help her loved ones.

"It was about the time the Godaime came into office, I asked to be her apprentice and it really took off from there. I became a medic because I wanted to do the most I could possibly do, to the best of my ability."

The shinobi beside her was silent, but it was never an awkward silence, Sakura got the feeling this man analyzed everything she said and everything he was going to say before responding to her or any situation.

The leisurely way he spoke, the way he was never in hurry, it almost reminded her of Shikamaru, but this was a different kind of silence, he wasn't lazy, she gathered that much from him.

It just seemed like… he relished things.

"What did your teammates think of this sudden change? Surely losing a member of the team for medic training would have brought protests."

Sakura felt like she was being baited, but she answered anyway, "My teammates weren't around when I was training to become a medic, they where undergoing there own training, tell me something…"

Sakura paused in their walk for a moment, "What do you know about me besides my name and occupation?"

"Besides what you have told me?"

Sakura lifted her head a bit to the sound of his voice, she could feel his eyes on her, but Sakura wasn't suspicious, just curious, at this point he had done to much for her to just kill her off.

"You are the Godaime's apprentice Haruno Sakura, former member of Team Kakashi also known as Team Seven, I know the names of your teammates, that you're head ranking Medic at Konoha hospital and yourself and teammates have quite the track record. Besides that, I know nothing more then rumors."

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows, "Rumors? What kind of rumors?"

Sakura took a step forward and the two where walking again, "Hey, what kind of rumors?"

The shinobi merely chuckled at her and continued to help her navigate the undergrowth of Amagakure, "Hey! You have to answer me sometime, what kind of rumors?"

Only silence followed her exclamation.

"Uh! Men, I swear, you lead us on and the leave us hanging, this is why I don't date!"

A slight snort was heard from the shinobi beside her before Sakura huffed and fell silent, a blush staining her cheeks.

xoxoxoxoxox

Itachi glanced down at the pink haired kunoichi he was helping down from yet another fallen tree, they where beginning to breach the outer edge of Amagakure, having already gotten through border control, avoiding it completely thanks to Akatsuki influence in the area, they would be out of the country all together soon enough.

It would be getting into Fire Country with the pink haired kunoichi and his Akatsuki self that would be the problem.

Konoha frequently sent ninja teams in all directions of the main gates and towards many of the villages, ANBU would be a constant threat, it was one reason why attacking the Konoha village had always been an issue to other hidden villages, the sheer amount of traffic would mean any large force would be found out before they could get anywhere close.

Not only that but the amount of attention that had been attracted by the Akatsuki the past few years was a troubling prospect, and it wasn't like he wasn't exactly recognizable.

Nor was the kunoichi beside him, it didn't help that she had pink hair, but really that should be the least of his worries, her reputation was what had made her known.

Konoha's Haruno Sakura was known for her extraordinary medical prowess and the fact that she never turned anyone away, she was better alone then a team of medics and rumored to be faster then them too.

Clients requested her and patients would travel to Konohagakure for the use of the medical facilities there, the hospital that had barely made it by before the rein of the Godaime Hokage was now a booming enterprise that didn't turn anyone away and had a training program that put the Academy system to shame.

Konoha's hospital and three top medics where well known in the ninja world, as well as the fact that they weren't only the top medics but decent fighters as well.

He supposed the Akatsuki could speak up for that fact; Sasori had fallen to the pink haired medic's insane strength with the help of an elderly woman and a few wards.

Being as close to the Jinchuriki Naruto as she had always been she had encountered multiple Akatsuki members including himself multiple times.

It was a shame, however, that she had to be teamed up with Naruto-kun, she was a continues threat to the Akatsuki as long as she was a member of team Kakashi and on any team that had Naruto and his biju on it.

But that was just it wasn't it?

She was a constant threat as long as she fought for the Kyuubi container; she was a constant threat when she fought.

Itachi had always been one to follow orders and keep to schedules and deadlines given to him, but this opportunity was one to good to pass up, meetings and deadlines be damned.

His pet had his full attention.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

A/n: I love this song :heart: the "Abuse of Sid" by Hurt is amazing :3 Sooo, I'm sitting at the airport and we have to wait until 2:50 because our Flight was delayed from 11:15 to a later time, previously mentioned as 2:50. That wouldn't be so bad except we missed our connection and now I don't know how long it's going to be until we can get a new one from Kentucky to St. Louis or how long the layover's going to be, so for the first time in months I have time to actually sit down and type, so I'm working on fanfiction and trying to get some stuff out.

Though I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to post it, (looks for a WiFi connection) if not I have to wait until I get home, jeez.

And if anybody has read the more recent Naruto manga continue beyond this point-- Sasuke you b-otch!! Madara is using you! USING YOU. Like Orochimaru was going to! And after rereading the entire Shippuden manga I find that I should have seen all of this coming because of the RIDICULOUS amount of hints and foreshadowing used!

Jeez. Anyway, this was one long author's note, the rest will be spread out in all my other stories, unlucky people :3 HAHA!

"To see your face with an empty smile, because I touched that place on you, and all the while…" –Abuse of Sid by Hurt