Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the anime Naruto. Naruto© Masashi Kimimoto.
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"I'll make you sit if I have to." said Sakura firmly, glaring at Uchiha Itachi.
It had been after a fight with Sound, Akatsuki and Konoha's enemy.
Konoha had been allied with Akatsuki for a while, and Sasuke had formed a truce with his brother, for the time being.
Many had gotten injured, but we were now recovering in one of the Akatsuki lairs.
We had won…for now.
"Areti-chan, can you get me some water for him?" Sakura asked me as she asked Itachi to turn off his sharingan.
"What is the reason for that?" he asked, gazing at her.
Sakura closed her eyes and sighed. "I need to see your eyes to check if they work properly."
Itachi did not do as she commanded.
"I already know I am going blind, Haruno-san."
I froze.
Hinata-chan noticed the shocked look on my face. So did almost everyone in the room.
Sasuke glanced in my direction, and then turned away. Future Hokage-chan wouldn't meet my eyes.
Everyone seemed to know…and they had not told me?
I turned to look at Orochimaru. Even he would not meet my gaze. Karin was wrapping bandages around a fresh wound on his arm.
And I stood in the middle of the room, the incomprehensible nightmare dawning on me that Uchiha Itachi was going to lose his sight.
I turned to look at him, amber meeting crimson as we had a staring contest. He wouldn't cut his gaze from my eyes.
"Do as Sakura-san says, please…" I whispered.
And I turned and went out the door to get the water.
When I came back, Itachi was seated on a chair, and Sakura was inspecting his eyes.
I had never seen them in their regular color before. And yet, somehow, they were quite beautiful to me because they were a rarity.
After a while she told him the diagnosis. "You will go blind if you continue your use of sharingan. Perhaps, around three years you will cease to see."
Three years. That's all he had.
And I couldn't take it.
That night I sat in his room with him. I sat on the floor, as did he.
"So…you will lose your eyesight…if you continue."
"Yes…"
I watched him look down at his hands, observing them with is dark eyes. I'd never seen him without his sharingan. It made him look more kind, even gentle, without the blood red indicating his status as a missing nin.
"Don't use it then, if your eyesight will deteriorate sooner." I tried saying it firmly, but inside I was pleading with him.
He looked at me with his onyx eyes, his face impassive.
Then he closed his eyes and opened them again. He had turned his sharingan back on.
"No!" I instantly snarled, slamming myself down on him to hold him there. I felt like my insides were tearing apart. "Turn it off!"
He looked at me with those crimson irises, silent, despite my evident protesting.
"Turn it off!" I exclaimed, grabbing the front of his cloak.
I don't want to see you go blind.
"Please…" I begged, feeling heartbroken. I banged my head lightly against his chest. "Turn it off…"
I felt something wet drop on my hands that were clenching his cloak, one by one in a small torrent.
I realized I was crying. In front of him, no less.
I couldn't help it. I didn't want him to do this to himself.
He couldn't do it for my sake? My sanity?
He continued to stare at me, but he wouldn't turn off his sharingan. Slowly through my tears I saw him take his hand and wipe some of them away.
"Why do you cry…for me?" he asked quietly.
I didn't say anything. I couldn't choke out any words.
But I held on to him. I wouldn't let go of him until he turned off his sharingan.
"Don't go blind…" I murmured painfully, more tears coming. I didn't look at him then.
So inaudible I could barely hear him, he said, "I do not deserve your sympathy."
I looked at him and glared. Who cared? I didn't. I was the one that loved him.
"Even if I want it." He added quietly, watching me.
"But why? Why do you use your sharingan like this?" I asked sullenly.
He was quiet for a moment. I wondered if he actually heard what I had said.
"I only have it on because of you."
My eyes widened. "What…?"
Itachi stared at my face. I suppose entirely for my reaction.
"With the sharingan, despite my going blind, I can see things as good as one with perfect eyesight."
"How does that justify that I am at fault?" I asked him, tears still dribbling down my cheeks.
His hand came near my face again to stroke my hair. I had never seen him act like this.
"I can only see blurry figures and monochrome with my normal sight. With sharingan, I can view the color of your eyes. I can observe your face, if you are unhappy or angry. I can see you." He said quietly, wiping away more tears.
That didn't help. I cried more with this confession. It meant so much to me.
All this time I'd seen him with his sharingan on, deteriorating his eyesight, just so he could see me clearly.
"I don't deserve you." I whispered.
It was then I saw the corners of his mouth twitching. Was he going to smile?
He leaned forward towards me and kissed my forehead softly.
"Then we are even." He told me, before using his inhuman strength to get up, and at the same time, take me with him.
I leaned on his chest, content as he set me down a bed, then lay down beside me.
That night I felt like one of the safest people in the world with him at my side, his arm protectively around me.
If someone couldn't soften Uchiha Itachi, who could?
I smiled when I realized the answer.
I had.