Chapter Two: Deal
Sasuke's chest burned as he held himself up against the wall beside his bed. Sakura's voice was echoing through his head and he was having a hard time accepting that she was there. Recognizing the chakra seals for a fire jutsu, Sasuke's eyes tightened, knowing she was about to light the room up. Struggling to stand, Sasuke cringed as his chest burned even more as he tried to breathe. He wanted nothing more than for Sakura to leave. He didn't want her to see him so weak…
Sakura set the candle down before him, carefully reaching her hand out to his to let him know she was there. He flinched and turned to stare unseeingly right into her eyes. Alarmed, Sakura backed away.
"Sasuke, you don't have to worry—I'm not here to hurt you," she said.
Sasuke scowled. "Just leave, Sakura."
Hearing how angry he was, Sakura put her guard back up. "Sasuke… I'm here to help you. I can see that you are sick… and blind."
"I don't want your help, Sakura. Leave me alone," he spat.
Sensing how vulnerable he was, Sakura could predict his attack. It was easy for her to counter and brace him against the floor and she almost felt guilty doing it.
"Sasuke! I came to find you… if you don't return to Konoha in the next eight months they are going to send assassination squads from every nation to finish you off. You are too great of a threat to them as a missing-nin."
Sasuke laughed darkly. "Some threat I am… considering you can take me down this easily."
Sakura glared at him and stood up, releasing him as she did so. She couldn't stop the anger from burning within her. After all this time, Sasuke was still the same, even when his life was at stake. And even now, when she truly had something to offer him, he wanted nothing to do with her, preferring the help of his hand-picked comrades that clearly did not include her or Naruto.
"Fine! If you don't want my help, then you can stay here and suffer until they find you. What a pathetic end for the great Uchiha clan," Sakura spat as she turned on her heel and left.
Sasuke listened as he heard her leave, surprised his jab had actually sent her away. For a fleeting moment, he wondered if she had been serious when she said she could help him… but it didn't last long. Surely Sakura would be of no use to him. Crawling back onto his bed, Sasuke slipped into unconsciousness after realizing their fight had caused his fever to rise.
# # #
Sakura lay back on her bed releasing a long overdue sigh. Her room was cramped and poorly lit, and Sakura found herself wishing she was back in Sasuke's cold one. Curling into a ball and hugging her pillow, she thought sullenly, at least Sasuke was there. She regretted what she said to him… how had she expected him to react? Clearly he would have gone back to the village if he wanted their help, so nothing he said was really a surprise. But how could she just leave him like he was… She knew Sasuke was stubborn. The loss of his doujutsu and strength to whatever illness was eating away at him would turn him into a very unpleasant person. As the great Sasuke Uchiha, he wouldn't want to be around anyone he knew formerly… he wouldn't want them to see what had become of him.
Frustrated with herself and with him, Sakura snapped her boots back on, throwing a cloak around her shoulders. She would drag him back to the village if she had to, damn his pride.
The streets outside felt strange to Sakura. It was as if she were in the calm before a storm. The people were glancing over their shoulders, and the nervous chatter of the afternoon was gone. People were scared. Stopping at a local ramen shop, Sakura purchased two meals and asked the owner what was going on.
He rushed and gave her the order saying he didn't have time to talk.
"We're closing. We just got word that the border country was planning an attack," he said, packing things up and snatching the money Sakura handed him.
"What?!" Sakura gasped.
"Yeah, you better get out of here," he said, glancing at her headband. "You don't want to get mixed up in this. They've been trying to take back this village by force since the Earth country annexed it a few years ago."
Thanking him, Sakura hurried to the alleyway where Sasuke's room was hidden and took one last glance at the street--it was nearly empty, with only a few people left hurrying to their homes or out of the village. Certain she didn't want to get caught in this storm, Sakura hurried back down the corridor to where Sasuke was. Dropping the food and knocking open the door, Sakura found the candle about to burn out and Sasuke collapsed on his bed.
"Sasuke!"
Rushing over to him, Sakura did a quick check of his vitals and felt the fever immediately. Guilt washed over her as she realized how sick he was. Using the small amount of chakra she had regained, Sakura used it all to reduce the fever to something manageable. Feeling the sweat falling onto the sheets, Sakura pulled them down and shifted Sasuke so that he would be under them. Locating a small kitchen area down the hall, Sakura got a towel and rinsed it with cold water to wipe his face with. Exhausted, she fell to her knees beside the bed and rested her head for a moment on the edge, trying to regain her stamina. A few seconds later, she passed out.
# # #
Opening her eyes Sakura continued to see only darkness. Feeling disorientated, Sakura scrambled to get her bearings and realized she fell asleep at the side of the bed. Sitting up, she realized Sasuke wasn't in the bed before her anymore and jumped to her feet. Rushing into the hall, she listened and heard something further into the small compound and found another room. Frustrated, Sakura thought to do something she hadn't before—search for a light switch.
Finding it, Sakura sent warm light throughout the room and blushed when she found herself staring straight at Sasuke who was standing under the water spraying down on him in the shower. Immediately diverting her eyes, she turned to leave.
"Sakura."
Pausing, she listened, her face growing redder and redder by the second at having walked in on Sasuke in the shower.
She heard the shower shut off and the door slide open. After she noticed the towel shuffling, she turned back to see him leaning on the counter.
"What did you do to me?" he asked, his voice strained, like he hadn't been using it much recently.
Feeling the need to be defensive, Sakura narrowed her eyes. "I just healed you, Sasuke."
Seeing the relaxed expression on his face, far different from the previous night, Sakura relaxed a bit too.
"I haven't felt this well in months, Sakura," he said quietly.
Surprised, Sakura felt her defensive posture slip away.
"How did you do it?" he asked.
Sakura glared at him like he was stupid. "I know medical ninjutsu, Sasuke. I simply reduced your fever."
Sasuke didn't say anything, but walked past her and returned to his room.
"Sasuke," Sakura said, following him, "If you would just come back to Konoha, I could treat you properly and perhaps do something for your vision."
"What about my sharingan?" he asked, letting go of the towel.
Sakura opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Stunned, she tore her eyes away from the unexpected sight to regain her thoughts.
"I don't know. I would have to do an exam," she said.
After pulling on his robe, Sasuke sat on his bed. "I won't go back to Konoha."
Just when Sakura was about to get angry, there was a loud explosion above them causing everything to shake. Distant screams and shrieks of terror alarmed them both.
"Oh no," Sakura muttered.
"What is that?" Sasuke asked.
"The village is being attacked," Sakura said. "It's too late now. If we were going to get out of here, we should have done it sooner."
Sasuke hmphed. "I wouldn't have left with you anyway."
Sakura glared at him. "What if I can restore your vision and doujutsu?"
"What if you can't? I'm not going to go back there just to find out it's not possible," Sasuke said.
"What if I did heal them? Would you return with me?" she asked.
Sasuke was silent for a while, thinking over what she said. "If you prove capable of fully restoring my eyes, then I would return to Konoha to settle whatever their problem is."
Moving towards him, Sakura slowly reached out for him, only for him to stop her wrist in midair before she could touch him.
Staring into his blank dark eyes, Sakura was overwhelmed with sadness. "Why don't you trust me anymore, Sasuke?"
Slowly, and as if unsure of himself, Sasuke released her hand and allowed her to rest her fingers on his face beside his eye.
"I'm going to run chakra through your eye and see what is causing the damage," she said.
Sasuke nodded.
Emitting the familiar green glow, Sakura watched Sasuke's expression turn from disapproving to relaxed as her chakra flowed into him. As she expected, the problem was not anything obvious. Pulling her hand away, she frowned.
"It's strange… there is nothing wrong with your eye itself… but"
Sasuke's eyes widened. "What?"
"It's almost as if there is a genjutsu that is self activating each time chakra is used to cast one of your doujutsus. Your eyes are causing your mind to descend into darkness. However, it appears to be something that once it has run its course, it is finished. Your eyes will never respond to the mind that it has cast the genjutsu upon. The light will have vanished… its like it has made the eyes useless to your mind," Sakura said, amazed at the complexity of the mangekyou's makeup.
Sasuke felt fear strike him for the first time since he had lost his vision. "What are you saying? Nothing can be done?"
Sakura continued to stare at his eye and bit her lip. Lifting her hand back to his temple, Sakura sent a strong surge of condensed chakra to the nerve bundle where the genjutsu had taken hold.
"Ah!" Sasuke cried. "Wait… I saw something. There was a flash… of pink."
Sakura smiled at Sasuke's comprehension as he said the last bit. "The genjutsu is feeding off of your chakra to continuously cast it. It was like I broke the electric current for a moment, allowing your eyes to work again. So yes, it should be possible, it will just take some time for me to find a way to do it that won't kill you."
Sasuke gave her his typical un-amused look. "Are you saying you really might be able to do it?"
Sakura scowled, wishing he could see it. "Sasuke… you're talking to the top medical ninja in all the five great shinobi nations… I can break a self-activating genjutsu."
Watching the skepticism on his face fade, Sakura was surprised when she noticed that Sasuke was actually smiling.
"Then we'll remain here until it is done."
"And afterwards, we'll return to Konoha," Sakura added.
Silently, Sasuke nodded.
AN: Please review!
