First off, I would like to say "Thank you" for taking the time to read my story. This is my first attempt at writing pretty much anything, so any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I've been thinking about this story for the past few months and only just recently gathered enough courage to actually write it out. So, again, thank you for giving me a chance to share my thoughts with you.

Truth in the Eye of the Beholder:

Summary: After a tragic battle injury has rendered Sakura blind and in mortal danger, a rash decision to implant recently deceased Itachi Uchiha's eyes into Sakura's skull, gifting her not only with the gift of the sharingan, but also an unexpected insight into how Itachi saw the world around him... literally.

Forced to turn to her ex-teammate and general pain in the ass for help controlling her new power, Sasuke in turn learns through Sakura's eyes that appearances can be deceiving. Can Sakura convince Sasuke that the truth is in the eye of the beholder, or will past conspiracies bury that truth forever?

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Encounter

Floating along on a wave of darkness, Sakura could feel herself slowly rising up from its depths. As a trained mednin, she knew that the first thing she should do was run a quick diagnostic on herself to check for any abnormalities or injuries, but her mind was still far too clouded to think clearly.

Reaching out with her senses as she seemed to settle into her own body again, Sakura realized a few things. The first of which was that everything was dark. It wasn't the darkness of having her eyes closed, for there wasn't even a faint filtering of light permeating her eyelids. This was an all-consuming darkness of being blinded. Feeling a slight panic at the prospect of losing her sight, Sakura had to remind herself that her teacher was the best medical kunoichi in the world. Even if something horrible had happened to Sakura's vision, she was sure that her master could fix it. Taking a deep, calming breath, she continued to take stock of her current situation.

The second thing she realized was that she was laying in a hospital bed. She could tell it was a hospital bed, not only from the distinct smell of disinfectant and lemon-scented cleaner that was used for the floors, or from the rhythmic beeping coming from the heart monitor positioned at the right side of her head, but from how horribly uncomfortable the mattress she was laying on was. I'll have to talk to Tsunade about this. How can we expect our patients to heal if the beds are killing them.

Now that she was awake enough to take stock of her surroundings, Sakura began focusing on her own status. Slowly summoning chakra to her hands to run a diagnostic scan, she felt a searing pain rip through her skull, radiating from her eyes. Screaming in agony, she clutched her face and it was only then that she realized that she had bindings covering her eyes. She knew they had to be there for a reason, but instinctually she lurched upright and began clawing at them in an attempt to free herself from the darkness.

Suddenly, she heard her hospital room door whoosh open with a slam and the rapid, no-nonsense sound of her teacher's sandals clicking on the linoleum floor.

"Sakura! You're awake! It's about damn time, if you ask me." The smoky tone of Tsunade's voice was tinged with worry, but it made a smile creep up on Sakura's face.

The brisk clicking continued as Tsunade walked around Sakura's hospital bed to check her vital signs.

"Shishou, what happened?" Sakura asked apprehensively, hands fisted tightly around the paper-thin blanket covering her lap. She was afraid to ask, but knew that she was only delaying the inevitable by attempting to avoid this conversation.

She could hear fabric rustling as her teacher shifted, presumably crossing her arms under her overly well-endowed chest. "That's what I'd like to know, Sakura." She could feel her bed shift as Tsunade sat down by her hip. "What do you remember?" she carefully asked.

With that simple question, Sakura's fragmented memories began shifting back into place. "I remember being on a mission with Team Kakashi and Team Eight to apprehend Itachi Uchiha and attempt to bring Sasuke back," Sakura began.

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Standing on the roof of the building that Kakashi determined would be their central base of operations while searching for Itachi and Sasuke, Sakura looked down at the ninken appointed to be her temporary, furry teammates. The grey one wasn't so bad, but the tan furred dog had already insulted her and they hadn't even been teamed up for five minutes yet. Sighing as she accepted her fate, Sakura turned to Kakashi as he set out the mission objectives. Their priority was locating Itachi and Sasuke's scents and they prohibited from engaging them in combat. Sakura knew that if anyone got close enough to Sasuke for his scent to be identified, he would turn tail and run, avoiding the Leaf shinobi until his objective – the death of Itachi Uchiha – was completed. Sakura vowed to herself that despite Kakashi's warnings, if her team managed to find Sasuke, she would do everything in her power to stall him until reinforcements could arrive.

Walking through the woods, waiting for any sign from the ninja hounds that they had detected anything from the Uchiha brothers, Sakura was forced to listen to Biscuit, the annoying little brown-furred mutt, lecture her to play hard to get because boys don't like being chased. Doesn't he realize that our mission is to do exactly that? The whole reason we're out here is to chase Sasuke. Stupid mutt.

Suddenly sniffing the ground, Biscuit told Sakura, "It's faint, but I can detect Sasuke's scent."

"Seriously?!" Sakura bounded down the path, chasing after her new favorite ninja hound. Finally we're catching a break. Finally we can bring Sasuke home.

Racing down the path, the ninken and Sakura approached a town. "It's here. I can smell Sasuke here. It's moving, but it's close. Can you see him, Sakura, or sense his chakra?" Biscuit asked.

As Sakura frantically scaned the crowd, praying for a glimpse of her ex-teammate, she began thinking about her next move. What would she do if she found Sasuke in this town? It's far too crowded for a full on battle between her and Sasuke, there's too much of a risk of innocent bystanders getting caught in the crossfires and getting hurt. But there was absolutely no way that Sasuke would just agree to come with her. Trading blows was inevitable no matter how Sakura thought about it.

Dragged out of her contemplations by a sharp tug on her cloak as Shiba, her gray-furred ninken partner, yanks on it, Sakura realized that she had been leaving herself wide open to attack by not paying attention to her surroundings. Forget engaging Sasuke in battle. If I don't shape up, he'll just kill me where I stand before I would even realize what hit me. Stupid, rookie mistake, Sakura.

"Well, Sakura? Can you sense Sasuke close by at all?" Shiba asked.

Sakura kept silent as they continued down the main road, still desperately searching for any clue to Sasuke's location.

"It's no good. It's fading fast now." Shiba sighed in resignation as the trail grows cold once more.

Sakura and the ninken thoroughly searched the town, but no sign of Sasuke was found. Resigned, they leave and begin combing the surrounding woods, but to no avail. Sasuke's scent had vanished in the wind.

After determining that Sasuke is nowhere in their vicinity, Sakura and the ninken decided to head back to the central command center to report their findings – or lack thereof. But before she could take a single step, a huge explosion was heard, the blast sending Sakura's hair flying in the wind even from a distance.

"What was that?" Biscuit exclaimed. The amount of chakra contained in the blast was enough to set his fur standing on end.

"I have no idea, but we'd better check it out and make sure there's no casualties," Sakura decided.

As they raced towards the explosion, Biscuit calls out, "I've got it! I can smell Sasuke's scent. It's strong, and getting stronger. Whatever that blast was, Sasuke's definitely involved."

With hope blossoming in her heart once again, Sakura raced through the treetops, praying that she isn't too late.

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Looking across the now barren field and down into the massive crater left behind, Sakura could feel despair begin to devour her. There was just no way anyone could survive being caught in an explosion of this magnitude. With tears welling in her eyes, she looked down at her partners and asked, "Well? Can you smell anything? Any traces of Sasuke?"

Shiba shook his head and gently said, "He was definitely here, Sakura. This place is covered in his smell, but it ends here. There's no scent trail leading away from this crater. I think whatever happened here, Sasuke got caught up in it."

Doing her best to stifle a sob, Sakura shook her head. "No. I refuse to believe he's gone. Try sniffing harder. Maybe you're missing something. Sasuke's too smart and too powerful to let something like a little explosion take him down."

"'A little explosion'?" Biscuit barked incredulously, "Did you not see the size of that blast? The thing lit up the sky like a supernova, and you call it 'a little explosion'. You seriously need to get your head exami-"

"Wait a second! I've got something!" Shiba hastily interrupts Biscuit's tirade. "I can smell snake. A big one, too."

"Snakes?" Sakura pondered. "Hang on, what if Sasuke signed a summoning contract with snakes? After all, he was Orochimaru's apprentice and everyone knows that Orochimaru was a snake master."

"Makes sense," Biscuit agreed. "Maybe he summoned a big snake to act as a buffer to the explosion."

Sniffing the air again, Biscuit caught a whiff of something he hadn't smelled when they first arrived at the scene of the devastation. "I've got him! He's re-emerged again. He must have summoned the snake, and then used it to transport him somewhere safe." He nodded his furry head in approval. "The kid's definitely smart, I'll give him that."

Sakura could barely contain her excitement. "Can you tell where he is?"

Once again Biscuit nodded. "Yeah, he's back in the direction of that town we were in not too long ago. It doesn't appear that they're moving. I think Sasuke may be injured from his ordeal here and is recuperating there."

"Seriously?" Sakura sighed in exasperation. "We should have just stayed there and saved ourselves the trouble." She giggled as they headed off once again, chasing the ghost of Sasuke's scent.

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Sprinting through the trees as fast as her feet could take her, Sakura prayed with every fiber of her being that they would make it in time. That Sasuke would just freaking stay put for once and let her catch up to him. She was so close to him that she could almost reach out and touch him, and she didn't want this chance to slip through her fingers.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" Shiba suddenly yelled from in front of Sakura. "He's on the move again. He's with three other people this time." Shiba sniffed the air again to verify the information being carried to his nose on the wind.

"Seems like your Sasuke has made himself a new team," Biscuit quipped from behind her. "I think he replaced you."

"Shut your mouth, mutt, before I shut it for you," Sakura growled through clenched teeth. "And he's not my Sasuke. He's just a missing Kohona shinobi we're bringing back home. That's all."

Snickering could be heard from all around her as the ninken laughed at her denials. "Sure thing, Sakura. Whatever you have to tell yourself so you can sleep at night." Biscuit raced ahead of her to join Shiba in the front and help pinpoint Sasuke's location.

"Oh, what the hell is this?!" Biscuit muttered to himself as he caught a whiff on the wind that he sincerely hoped was wrong.

"What is it now?" Sakura asked.

"Sasuke's scent is dispersing. They're on to us and they're sending Sasuke's scent in multiple directions somehow to throw us off the trail," Biscuit explained.

"Any clue which one is the real Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

"No," he responded. "If we're not going to wait for back-up, we're just gonna have to guess and hope we're right."

She sighed in defeat. "Shiba, can you contact the other ninken with our location and the current situation? Tell them we're in pursuit and we'll keep following them until we make contact. We'll keep everyone else updated on our location, but we can't afford to wait for help. Sasuke'll be long gone by the time someone else arrives."

"On it." Shiba began howling as they ran, which was impressive considering he was sprinting as fast as his chakra-enhanced paws could take him.

"Okay," Sakura began, "we'll go after the closest scent signature and hope for the best. If nothing else, it'll eliminate one of the targets so the others don't waste their time with a false lead."

"Got it." Biscuit veered to the right and dove head-first into the foliage. "This way."

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Sakura and her canine teammates skidded to a halt as they finally caught up to their target. Rather than a raven-haired shinobi, standing in front of them, blocking the path, was a crimson-haired kunoichi wearing glasses. As if sensing their approach, she began swaggering toward them with exaggerated hip swaying and a flip of her hair.

"It's about time you guys got here," she sneered. "I thought I would just die of boredom waiting for your slow asses. I thought you were supposed to be a kunoichi. You're just pathetic." She snickered as she strode toward Sakura.

Sakura seethed. Who was this girl who dared say such a thing to her? If there was one thing Sakura couldn't tolerate, it was being called pathetic.

"How dare you." Sakura's blood was boiling, but she still kept her mind clear and focused as she stared the other kunoichi down. "You have no idea just who I am, do you?"

"Ha!" The redhead barked a condescending laugh in the pink-haired girl in front of her. "I don't need to know who you are. It looks to me," she sneered as she looked Sakura over from head to toe, "like you're nothing more than a weak little fangirl, panting after MY Sasuke, playing at being a kunoichi."

Oh really? Sakura thought to herself. "Fine. You want to play," she asked as she slowly reached into her medic bag strapped to her hip to remove her leather battle gloves, slipping them on with practiced ease, "let's play."

In the space of a single heartbeat, Sakura sprinted toward the girl, right arm drawn back, ready to strike. The kunoichi in front of her raised her guard, but it wouldn't be enough, for Sakura wasn't aiming to her the girl, but instead pounded her fist into the ground, instantly shattering it with her chakra-enhanced strength. Using the resulting dust and falling debris as a diversion, Sakura swiftly withdrew several kunai and threw them at her opponent.

Blinded by the dust in the air, the bespectacled girl felt a blade bite deep into her thigh. Seething with indignation as she clutched the handle of the weapon, she roared, "What the hell was that? How are you so strong? You're not supposed to be this strong!"

Sakura chuckled softly and leapt into the treetops to get a better view of her opponent. She had been warned before the mission started that the ninken she was partnered with were not combatants. If she happened to engage in battle, their orders were to hide and provide support if necessary, so Sakura knew that she was on her own. She watched as the girl ripped the kunai out of her leg, blood already darkening the fabric of her thigh-high socks. Shaking her head at the girl's impractical battle garb, Sakura almost felt a stab of sympathy. Almost.

"Who are you to Sasuke?" Sakura asked as she silently jumped from branch to branch, hiding her presence as best she could. She saw the kunoichi limp as she turned, attempting to locate where Sakura was.

"I'm Sasuke's teammate." Her opponent was holding her leg in an attempt to staunch the bleeding. "He came to me specifically and told me that he needed me."

The emphasis the redhead put on the words caused her stomach to twist. Never once had Sasuke said that he needed her. She knew that he had always considered her to be a burden. Someone to protect. Worthless. Annoying…

"You know," Sakura began, "you really should get that taken care of. I nicked your femoral artery. If you don't get that patched up in the next couple of minutes, you'll lose enough blood to lose consciousness and die." She smirked as she watched the girl continue to paw at her leg, trying to slow the bleeding. She dropped out of the treetop she had been perched in and started walking towards the girl. "I'm a mednin and if you agree to allow me to pass, as well as tell me where Sasuke is headed, I'll heal your leg and let you live."

A dark chuckle echoed through the forest. "You'll 'let' me live?" the girl asked with a smirk on her face. She straightened up back and pushed up her glasses more securely on her nose with a hand crimson with her own blood. "You really shouldn't let your guard down when you think you have the upper hand."

Suddenly, the girl flashed through a handful of handsigns and with a yell, a brilliant light blinded Sakura momentarily. Completely blind, she instinctually jumped towards the trees, but it was too late. When the light faded, a cluster of barbed chains burst from the girls back and rushed toward Sakura. Unable to evade the surprise attack, Sakura felt the chains wrap around her torso, binding her arms to her sides and rendering her immobile.

In an attempt to break free from her captivity, Sakura called upon her chakra, only to find it unresponsive. There was something about these chains that was suppressing her chakra network.

"What is this?" Sakura grunted as she attempted to loosen her bindings.

"Those," the kunoichi said as she walked toward Sakura's prone form, "are my Adamantine Chains. They have the power to capture and suppress my victim's chakra so they can't fight back. Aren't they wonderful?" She bent over and pressed a glowing green hand against her injured leg, the wound slowly closing until the only trace of her injury was the blood stain on her skin. "You really should be careful about being too arrogant, Sa-ku-ra…"

Beginning to panic, Sakura frantically searched the area around her, looking for something to aid in her escape. I've got to stall her. I know Biscuit and Shiba can't fight with me, but they must have already alerted the others of my current location and situation, so I've just got to buy myself some time until help arrives.

"How do you know my name?" she asked. When she first encountered the enemy ninja, the girl had made no indication that she had known who Sakura was, other than an adversary. But the fact that she knew Sakura's name meant something different altogether.

"Oh, believe me, Sasuke's told me all about you," she giggled. "He told me that while he was stuck in the Leaf village, those morons in charge saddled him with your worthless hide. All you were good for was crying while he did all the work." She stalked closer and gave Sakura a shove.

Off balance due to the chains wrapped around her entire body, Sakura fell backwards with a thud, her head bouncing off the hard-packed earth with a hollow thud. Slightly stunned from the blow, she watched as the redhead loomed over her, feet on opposite sides of her body.

"He also told me about how you sobbed like a pathetic child when he left the village." She crouched down, hovering over Sakura's heaving chest. "Poor Sakura. Pitiful, aren't you? In love with a man who couldn't care less if I murdered you where you lay." Straddling Sakura's chest now, she bent over to whisper in her ear, "It would be so easy too."

Thrashing wildly now in a last ditch effort to get some distance between her and her adversary, Sakura could feel tears welling in her eyes. Her desperation to get away from her enemy was suffocating and she was beginning to hyperventilate.

Cackling hysterically, the girl wrapped her bloodied hand around Sakura's throat. "All I would have to do is squeeze, and it'll be all over for you. All your hard work and training, wasted because you were too full of yourself to take me seriously." She released her neck with a jerk. "But I'm not going to do that. No…. I'm not going to make it that easy for you." She sat back and looked Sakura in the eyes, a malicious glee shining her crimson irises. "You see, I want you to suffer. I want you to feel the agony of knowing you have no hope, no salvation, not a prayer in the world of being saved. Just like I did before Sasuke set me free from Orochimaru's twisted reign."

Sakura watched helplessly as her hand began glowing green, then darkening to a sickly mossy brown color. Eyes wide with apprehension, she watched as that horrifying, glowing hand got closer to her face.

"This is something Orochimaru gave to me. He used me and my healing abilities for his own sick, twisted amusement and in return, he gave me the ability to heal. This is a malignant chakra that he and Kabuto developed just for me." She ran her finger down Sakura's cheek, making her flinch at the contact. "All I have to do is introduce this chakra into your own chakra network and it will rip through you, contaminating you with its corruption until it chokes the life out of you. Pretty nasty if you ask me, but I think it's perfect for a nasty girl like you."

"Please," Sakura pleaded. "Please don't do this…"

"Tough luck, bitch," she sneered. "I'm not a bleeding heart like the rest of you Leaf folk."

And with that, she slammed her palm against Sakura's eyes and immediately she could feel the virulent chakra seeping into her pupils. The burning sensation that accompanied the invasion was akin to nothing she had ever experienced.

Screaming in agony and writhing in pain, Sakura could feel the infectious chakra making its way slowly deeper into her eyes. She could feel her chakra rotting away. She could feel her cells burning away. She could only feel.

She suddenly felt the weight on her chest disappear and the chains binding her release. She heard a muttered curse and a rustling of leaves, before the only thing she could hear was the sound of her own screams echoing through the darkness until she lost consciousness.