Naruto: Blind

Despite the fact that he had told Sakura not to fret over his nightmares, it became a regular occurrence to wake up with her holding him protectively in her arms. He would find his head lying on her shoulder, his forehead against her neck, the pulsing of her jugular veins only enhancing the sound of her heartbeat. Other times he found woke with his head in her lap, one hand holding his head supportively, and the other lying comfortingly on his shoulder. And twice he had woken to find her lying on top of his bed, next to him, with his arms securely fastened around her waist. When they both would wake, neither would say anything, but rather would get up silently and get ready for the coming day as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

It was another one of those mornings that he woke with his head on her shoulder, and as he released his tight grasp on her, he heard her shift as well. When she was awake, he waited patiently for her to stand so that he could pull back the covers of the bed, and as she stood up to stretch, he heard her joints cracking.

"You shouldn't sleep like that," he told her neutrally, and he heard her pause to stare at him, "It's bad for your back."

"Oh, probably," she replied noncommittally, "but if you're able to get a better night's rest out of it, I don't mind."

"You're losing sleep," he told her flatly, standing up from the bed, "Don't worry about me."

It was true that he was able to sleep better when she came and dispelled his nightmares, but he did not want her to continue to sacrifice herself. If she were tired then it would encumber her daytime tasks, and slow his training down. He would not have his own strength hindered by allowing her skill to slip.

"What if we came up with a compromise?" she asked after a moment's consideration.

"How?" he demanded, a displeased frown crossing his brow.

Both of them could think of the answer to that question, and neither voiced it. As things stood, they were already walking the line of decency, and the only compromise either could think of would be crossing that line to where neither of them wanted to go.

"Just forget it," he told her firmly, glowering in her direction, "I'll be fine."

He had put a note of finality in his voice and walked over to the closet to emphasize that the matter was closed. As he felt around inside his half of the closet, Sakura stayed standing silently where he had left her, and it was only after he had collected a set of clean clothes and proceeded to the shower that she let out a small sigh and moved towards the closet herself.

She was so altruistic sometimes, something that never ceased to amaze him—something that made him feel undeserving, but he put that thought aside. As selfish as it was, he had to kill Itachi, no matter what happened, or what obstacles he came across. It was his goal, and nothing could come before that.

Sakura shuffled past him as he exited the bathroom twenty minutes later and unhurriedly he made his way to the kitchen. Knowing that sometimes she could take forever, he wandered around the house, practicing his exploration skills. It had been a just over a week since they had started walking around the house, allowing him to layout the rooms in his mind, mentally judging where the furniture and walls were in relation to him, and how far it was to get there. The dizziness was as good as gone, only if he moved too quickly or halted abruptly would it come to him. It was a vast improvement, Sakura had told him, considering the fact that he had been blind for only a month and he was picking up on it so quickly.

He stopped in the kitchen, and could see the room almost clearly in his mind. The low table with the cushions around it, the counters, the cupboards, sink, refrigerator; with each object he listed, he could feel their textures tingle in his palms at the memory of touching each one, remembering them. He took a few steps into the kitchen and stood for a minute; Sakura would be a while longer, and he did not like standing idle in the kitchen, it felt like he was wasting time.

Sasuke walked over to the kitchen counter and laid his hand on the cool, smooth surface, feeling the texture under his fingertips. If he could do something now to save time, then they could get more training done that day. He reached up and felt the old cupboard door, his childhood memories matching a picture to the grain of the wood running up and down the wooden slab. Sakura most likely hadn't moved any of the dishes around when she washed them, to prevent from confusing him when she left; his mother had always kept plates and the like three cupboards down from the end, he recalled. He walked along the counter with one hand on the wood, and when he reached the end, he backtracked three and opened the door.

He reached inside tentatively and when his fingers brushed a stack of clean plates, he knew that nothing had been moved. After taking one out and setting it on the counter, he reached up a shelf higher and took out two smaller plates. The glasses and mugs were kept two cupboards left of this one, he recalled, and soon two tea mugs joined the plates that were lain on the counter.

.

.

.

‼️If you want to access to more than 400 advanced chapters, wait no more and subscribe to my Ko-Fi, where you can buy books in completely downloadable PDF format.‼️

☕️ko-fi.com/skyarc☕️