When All Is Dark
Chapter 1
Sakura shifter her weight slightly, uncomfortable from being in one position for so long. She was crouched on a branch high in a tree, overlooking the rutted path below. A band of men would pass through here any minute now. With them would be a cart full of spoils gained from attacking a nearby civilian town. Each of the men were rouge ninja, but their skill level was expected to be low. The object of the mission is to subdue the men and return the stolen items. The other Konoha ninja also on the mission were Kakashi, Naruto, Sai, and Yamato. They were all perched in the trees, waiting and watching.Approaching voices caused Sakura to tense. They were coming.
The first few began to appear along the trail, followed by a wagon, and then more men. There were quite a few. She counted nineteen. A lot for some people, but these men were reportedly all genin level. Sakura was confident in here team's ability to take all of them without incident. She waited just a bit longer as all the men passed beneath her. When the last one passed and had it's back to her she jumped down and decapitated him in one swift blow. At nearly the same moment the other ninja on her team did the same thing, instantly reducing the enemy's number from nineteen to fifteen. As if a switch was flipped, the previously clam forest was filled with shouts of anger and pain as the rouge ninja and her friends began to fight.
The ninja closest to the one she had just killed, a thin man with shaggy dark hair, charged her, katana held high. She easily dodged his sloppy blow and delivered a chakra induced punch to his head, killing him instantly. Another man ran at her, throwing shuriken. She easily sidestepped his onslaught and launched her own attack. He dodged her fist and pulled out another shuriken, but before he could throw it Sakura punched him hard in the side and he fell to the ground.
The other members of her group seemed to be faring the same, easily defeating their enemies without obtaining so much as a scratch. The reports on the rouge ninja's abilities must have been accurate. It wasn't long before all of the men were dead or incapacitated. Sakura wiped her brow clean of sweat as she walked over to the wagon, where the others seemed to be gathering.
"That was way easy!" Naruto cheered happily, leaning against the wagon.
"Looks like the reports were accurate." Yamato agreed, joining the group.
"Is any one hurt at all?" Sakura inquired, leaning up against the wagon along with Naruto.
"No, but you will be!" Sakura jumped startled. The voice had come from behind her, but before she could turn around, she was hit hard on the back of her head with a blunt object. She fell into darkness immediately.
Sakura blinked her eyes open. Her eyelids were heavy, as if they had been closed for a long time. She sat up stiffly looked around. It was pitch black. She lifted her hand to her face, only to find that no matter how close she brought it she could see nothing. But she could still feel. She could tell she had been lying in a bed, one with sheets and a pillow. From what she could tell she was no longer wearing her ninja clothes, but something lighter. Where was she? Sakura thought back to her mission. They had easily defeated the rouge ninja, but something had happened. One of them had been left, she'd been hit on the back of the head. She must have been captured. It was the only solution she could come up with. The one remaining enemy ninja had knocked her out, bested her team, and then captured her.
She whipped her head around at the sound of a door opening, wincing at the pain the action caused. The kunoichi looked around franticly for any sign of an enemy, but it was still just as dark.
"Who's there?" She demanded, her voice slightly hoarse from lack of use.
"Sakura! Your awake!" The familiarity of the voice startled Sakura.
"Shishou?" She asked surprised. "Where am I?"
"Why, your in the hospital, Sakura." Tsunade answered, sounding slightly concerned.
Sakura exhaled in relief. She hadn't been captured. "Why is it so dark? Is the power out? Why aren't you using the backup generators?"
"Sakura," Tsunade began, fear evident in her voice. Sakura could here footsteps as she walked closer. "The lights are on."
"What?" Sakura asked, confused. "No they're-" She stopped and brought a hand to her eyes. They were open. She recalled being struck in the head, and the realization hit her. But, she had to be sure. Tsunade had to be mistaken. She reached out and fumbled with items on the nightstand until she grabbed what she knew from her long hours at the hospital would be lit up beside her bed. She felt the heat from the lamp scalding her hand. It was on. She was blind.
Sakura heard some shuffling movement as Tsunade grabbed something out of her cloths. "Hold still Sakura." She began to speak, her tone serious. "I need to check you out. You received blunt force trauma to the back of your skull. You've been under for a month and a half. We did the best we could to patch you up, but there are some things I need to check. And you're obviously are having a problem with your eyes." Sakura flinched as she suddenly felt the Hokage's hands softly grasp her chin. "Open your eyes wide." She said, and Sakura complied. She heard a small click of the medical flashlight turn on and felt it's slight warmth against her skin as Tsunade inspected first one eye, then the other. Dread filled her as her mentor made a slight choking sound, then turned the light off. "I need to check your stitches." The older woman whispered softly.
Sakura sat in silence as Tsunade inspected the stitches in the back of her head.
"Those stitches will have to remain for quite a while longer, the wound was pretty terrible." Tsunade explained quietly while working. "We had to shave your hair, to get to the wound, but your hair has grown back pretty well so far. It's short, but it'll look cute once you get it trimmed up." The Hokage rambled on, but Sakura wasn't listening.
She couldn't see. She was blind. Tsunade hadn't said it, but Sakura could tell by her reaction. Her life as she knew it was over. She wouldn't be able to be a ninja anymore. That was evident. You can't fight what you can't see. Not only that, but she wouldn't be able to do normal things, like going to the store, or going to work. She would have to start her life over. And she would be weak, so weak. Unable to care for herself.
"H-How long?" She choked out, doing her best to hold back tears. "How long until I can see again?"
"Sakura," Tsunade began carefully. Sakura could hear the pity in her voice. "When you were struck in the back of the head the part of your brain that corresponds with your eyes was damaged."
"Please, Shishou, please just tell me I'll be able to see again." Sakura begged, her voice cracking.
"It's most likely, you'll never regain your sight, Sakura." Tsunade answered, sadness lacing her voice. Sakura could feel the older woman place her hand over her own, but she jerked away from her touch.
Before Sakura could say any more the door crashed open, causing Sakura to flinch yet again.
"Hokage-sama!" A voice she didn't recognize yelled, full of urgency.
"Can't you see I'm busy?" The older woman snapped.
"Please, Hokage-sama! It's an emergency! It's our patient from room nine, he's-"
"Room nine?" Tsunade repeated, Sakura could here her pace quickly over to the door. "I'll be back later, Sakura. Try to get some rest." And with that, the woman's footsteps disappeared and the door slammed behind her.