Within Her Shell: Chapter 2

She had given it a lot of thought, of what Tsunade had said the day before. This morning, instead of the usual half an hour in front of the mirror, it was an hour. Sakura stood gazing at herself, her mind deeply absorbed.

Sakura searched the eyes of her mirror self. She pretended that she was looking at someone else, and tried to search as if she would to any other person but herself. She tried to find anything, anything that would give her the slightness hint of who she was. Anyone who met her now would think she was normal. But anyone who knew her before knew she wasn't.

"Is it true? Is it like what they say? That I've…" Sakura daren't say it out loud.

Changed? She finished the sentence in thought instead of vocally. Somehow, it did not scare her as much, if she did not say it aloud. It was only recently that she had finally noticed that there was something wrong with her. Sakura had pondered about herself before, but now…it just hit her harder, harsher.

Sakura blinked. The decision came as suddenly as her doubt on herself did. Sakura will accept Tsunade's suggestion. To travel and journey to other villages.


When she arrived at the hokage office later that morning to inform her decision, she saw Tsunade sleeping on the table, with a note in her hand. Sakura had advanced to see that the note was addressed to her, Sakura.

'Go on, no need to worry about the missions I've assigned you. I've found replacements."


The sky turned into a deep crimson red as the sun quickly began to set at the horizon. The trees were still and the wind silent. It seemed as if time has stopped and Sakura was the only one still in motion.

She moved from branch to branch in an automatic rhythm, her mind focused elsewhere. Sakura was too distracted to hear the rustling behind her.

A hand grabbed her from behind and she twisted around to stab the opponent but the man was prepared for her reaction. He blocked her left hand and disabled her right by piercing it with a kunai. With one hand injured and the other restrained by her opponent, Sakura proceeded into using her feet. As if it was a regular routine, the enemy easily blocked her kicks with his own legs and held it down onto the soft moist ground. Pinning her down, his face moved eagerly to her own to attempt a sloppy and perverted kiss.

"You're a rough one." His hoarse voice sneered into her ear.

Disgusted, Sakura spat at his face and summoned all her strength to push him off of her. Her reactions to his kiss must have surprised him for he was caught off guard when she hit him hard on the head with hers. Her good hand quickly grabbed at her back pouch to throw two senbon needles at her opponent. To make sure she would hit her enemy, she threw another weapon, this time a kunai. The kunai traveled at a certain speed that appeared to be nothing but a shadow so that when the enemy dodged the senbon needles, he was hit squarely on the chest with the concealed kunai.

The ninja gave out a low groan and collapse on the ground on his knees, one hand trying to pull the harsh weapon out.

Sakura could hear groups of other ninjas heading her way as she advanced towards the injured opponent. She should not waste her time to finish him of or it would be foolish. His allies were coming and it would not be wise to get into a fight with numerous ninjas in her current injury.

She was foolishly off guard, resulting in an unwanted enemy and an injured limb. Sakura had not wanted this to happen.

Sakura quickly headed towards the nearby village to seek safety, all the while holding her injured left hand in her right. It would be incredibly troublesome if she were to meet a more challenging opponent, which she knew she was sure to encounter. The guy she had just fought was nothing, and perhaps the friends that were coming before to back him up were nothing. But to engage in battle and lose her strength so unnecessarily was irrational. She was, after all, renowned medical ninja, one of the top five. Tsunade had warned about this over and over once she discovered that Sakura had great talent in the medical field.

"Enemies would seek for your talent, forcing you to heal those who are not meant to live."

Once Sakura knew that she had lost her enemies, she collapsed against a tree near a spring and proceeded into healing her wounded hand. The kunai had not pierced too deep because Sakura had jerked away so that the wound may remain shallow and easier to heal. She applied some medicine on her left hand and with her right, gathered a sufficient amount of chakra to quicken the healing process.

Sakura gave a small sigh and stood up, eyes glancing around her surrounding.

"I should get something to eat, it's evening already."


The place was filled with people, women crowding around the latest grocery market deals, children dashing excitedly in their pretend games and men enthusiastically telling their friends stories that featured themselves as the heroes. The smell of freshly cooked food was present and Sakura felt her tense body relax at the familiar scene laid out before her. It reminded her of Konoha, in the summer time where everyone was relaxed and happily living their lives.

Sakura stopped at a nearby ramen shop, deciding that it was best to eat something quick and warm. She noticed that the corner of the shop had two empty seats so she proceeded into sitting on one of them. Sakura gave her orders to the ramen shop owner and suddenlyshe felt her heart stop. He's here.

His quiet footsteps were all too familiar to her, yet something was different. Sakura felt the uncertainty in his steps, which made her slightly bothered. She did not turn around, for she was not ready to face him, not yet.

The young man sat quietly next to her, unaware of her presence. Sakura turned to look beside her and she felt her breath seize as she saw his profile. His face had grown more mature, but still pale and refined. His black hair was somewhat longer than when she remembered and Sakura could tell his body was lean, even underneath that loose black shirt and beige shorts he wore. He was indeed handsome, if possible, even more than before. Sakura continued to observe him, this time she looked at his eyes. It struck her with surprise that they were not red with sharingan, but the dark black orbs he had before he discovered his bloodline limit. It surprised her even more how they seem to hold such loneliness and sadness that she instantly felt the pain pull at her chest mercilessly.

"Sasuke-kun." She murmured not even above a whisper.

His head jerked to the side to search for the source that had called his name.

Sakura was struck with even more confusion as she observed his face. Stern and serious, his face faced her directly, yet his eyes…seemed confused. Although they still held the cold and arrogant personality, they were vulnerable. His eyes were troubled. They did not hold certainty and knowledge, as before, instead they appeared to be…

That was when she felt the most pain, like something that had been eating her heart away as time passed suddenly decided to wretch her heart right out in one movement. His handsome eyes wandered helplessly back and forth, looking at her direction, but unseeing. Uchiha Sasuke was blind.