"Tell me Uchiha-san, have you ever felt so trapped, so cornered that you cannot breathe?"
He wasn't sure how to respond, he wasn't sure why the kunoichi was talking to him in the first place, after all, she was his prisoner. "Aa." He certainly didn't know why he responded, why the simple monosyllable slid past his lips into a verbal agreement that he knew she would understand. He continued to sit cross legged at the other side of the table she was chained to, her sitting on the opposite side, as if this was just an everyday, pleasant meeting. He watched as her emerald eyes danced in the light of the fire next to them, a fire he had made to keep her safe, after all she was needed. The lighting bouncing off of her pink locks, allowing it to be obvious her hair was pink but yet in other places where the light didn't reach it almost looked like a soft purple, then her head shifted, she had tilted it and her hair fell to the side, some of it into her face.
"Then you understand, also, what it feels like to be free, to be able to do your own thing, correct?"
Did he? Did he really understand that freedom? Yes... he had known it once, he understood what it felt like to be happy. He was going to simply ignore her, the best plan of action, after all, she was his prisoner, should he not be the one asking the questions and her answering them? But the word slid from his mouth with ease, it felt as if they had known each other for a lifetime, he couldn't just ignore her, he couldn't just shrug off her words, "Yes." The soft smile that showed on her face was almost amazing, she had smiled towards him; she had smiled such a gentle smile, such a truthful smile that he was honestly winded by it. She took his breath away.
"Then you know how I feel right now. Despite being chained to a stone table, despite being kept in a cold cell... I feel free. Lighter than I have in many years, lighter than I have since I can remember." He listened to her release a soft breath of air, the sigh almost wistful, as if she was about to lose something that she enjoyed. He couldn't fathom why, but as he studied her face, watched her pale complexion in the moonlight, had a sinking feeling he knew what she was about to say, he had a sinking feeling he wasn't going to like it very much. "I know what ails you, Uchiha-san, I can cure both your eyes and your illness."
He didn't know how she knew about his illness, he hid it well, he never let anyone see him when he was having a fit, he never let people see him slowly fading away. He wasn't sure what to say, he didn't know if there was something to say to something like that, he hadn't exactly had the most social of lives, even while in the village. So he stared, what else could he do? None of the proper etiquette rules that flashed through his head sounded like the right thing to say, no not in this situation. This was a, dare he think it, moderately intimate situation with the pink haired kunoichi from his village, from his home. She had been the one to save his brother, he owed her a real response, he owed her more than that; he owed her her freedom. He blinked calmly, when she finally spoke again, their staring match must have bored her, she usually didn't lose interest, perhaps, perhaps he had been wrong. Perhaps she was ill herself.
"I know... well... I created a jutsu, it's been tested and proven at least sixty two times with no failures, to work. So you would not be a test subject, you would be added to that list of success for sure." She was giving in, she was going to heal him. Why would she do that, why would she want to do that? How did she know that's what he wanted? "I will perform this jutsu on you, but it will take two weeks to recover from. You will need to be somewhere safe in a room that has a consistent temperature of at a minimum seventy two degrees, and it will be painful. I can't imagine it would hurt any more than the pain you are already suffering from, but I cannot be for sure. It will completely rebuild your lungs, completely, and it will completely mend the damage done to your eyes, it is not capable of rebuilding eyes, the DNA is too intricate, but we can mend them."
He watched her, she was weak. She had not been brought food or water, she had not been allowed a chance for proper rest, but yet she functioned, she managed. They had not denied her access to her chakra but that was low. That was the sacrifice. She would not mention it, but he was wise enough to evaluate someone before they do something as stupid as rebuild two organs in a body. She was willing to kill herself, to save him. Just as she had saved his little brother. "No."
She watched him, the denial was unexpected but she did not allow him to see that. The surprise would ebb away eventually, "Is there a reason you are denying complete healing?"
"You will not sacrifice your life for me. If you wish to do this jutsu after your strength has been returned, then we shall discuss it." He stood up, gripping a key from his pocket and maneuvering around the table, "You will come with me, Haruno-san. There is no need to keep you restrained in this cell any longer."
Unlocking the restraint from her ankle had been the easy part, but watching her attempt (and utterly fail) at standing had been a bit painful. She had been there five days, and he had never seen her move from that position. She hadn't slept at all, perhaps she had known all along why she had been brought there and had been thinking about it. Debating what she should do, but at the same time, he had the feeling that that was not it all. That she was merely just sitting there, unsure how to react because; as she had stated, she felt free. She didn't understand it, that had probably been what kept her up every day, every night, sitting at the stone table, waiting for him to come for their daily staring match. He picked her up, carrying her bridal style out of the cold, damp dungeon, for the first time, realizing just how feverish she was.
She didn't question it, she didn't fight him, she just allowed him to carry her off to who knew where. She didn't really have the will to fight even if she wanted to and she didn't want to. It was odd, for her entire life she was a fiercely loyal kunoichi of the leaf, but now, after five days of meditation and realization, she understood, she understood everything she should have seen from the beginning. They were just using her. They didn't actually care anything for her. She was just cry baby Sakura Haruno, the one everyone scorns, even her dearest "friends". She wasn't sure how she managed to push all of that out of her mind for five years, but things had happened that way, and now, now she was literally in the arms of the enemy and she... she didn't care. She felt better where she was.
"We will work on rebuilding your strength." That was all he said.
