AN: Sorry it took so long to update. Long story short—things haven't been good. This isn't my journal or rant-place so I'm not gonna put on a sob-story, just know I'm trying to keep up. …Kinda.

Sorry this chapter is pretty short and slow and probably really half-assed. Needs to be out though. Will get better soon. Need to stop talking in fragments. Now.

Disclaimer: I wonder how many tongue-rings Orochimaru could get… Oh, and btw, I don't own it.

Mismatched

Chapter II: Peripheral Vision

It had been to cheer them up. She had pushed aside her aching heart to try and make them feel better. She always did that. Put on a smile and encourage her boys.

However as the three stopped dead in their tracks with Naruto and Sasuke staring at her in utter shock and she staring back in horror, her mask crumbled easily and she could almost feel the shards falling from her face.

"Oh, God…"

Naruto was the first to regain his voice. "Sakura-chan! What happened!" He ran forward, grabbing her face, pushing her hair out of her eyes. She barely registered Sasuke was beside him as she winced. Her face was still sore, damnit. "I…"

Caught between frustration and fear, Sakura struggled for an explanation that wouldn't give away anything. "I… the gash on my head actually went further than I said. I had to have the eye replaced immediately if I wanted to have vision in both eyes."

She knew it was a pathetic excuse. If they bought it then she was being blessed by the gods.

Naruto's face fell into one of horror. "Oh, Sakura-chan," He gasped, pulling her into a hug. "I'm so sorry! God, all of this happening to you so fast…"

She hugged him back, burying her face in his shoulder. Naruto was a wonderful friend but sometimes he was very gullible. Besides, why would she lie to him? Sasuke, on the other hand… That was another story altogether.

Sakura glanced at him through the curtain of her hair to find him staring intently at her with his blank expression. That… wasn't good. Taking in a shaky breath, she pulled away from Naruto's embrace. "It… isn't that bad. I've not thought about it much since…" She stopped herself, not continuing. Weakly, she gave a smile, "Do you still want that ramen?"

Naruto swallowed hard. "N-no… I think I've lost my appetite. Thanks anyway, Sakura-chan."

Naruto then turned and walked off in the other direction in a complete daze. Things had not been this bad in… he couldn't remember when. First Kakashi-sensei… now this with Sakura, Naruto didn't know how much more he could take before even his mask crumbled.

Sakura watched him walk away, looking as if she had been slapped. She stood there, eyes wide. Hearing weight shift atop gravel, Sakura turned her attention to Sasuke, who was still there. He was regarding her with a curious gaze. It unnerved her and she hastily turned her face.

"I… I should go." She whispered, taking a step away from him. She stopped when his hand caught her upper arm. "Sakura. What happened out there?"

"Don't, Sasuke-kun." She whispered, closing her eyes tightly. "Just… don't."

Sasuke wanted to press the issue but at the same time he didn't want to get her upset. He dropped his hand, shoving it back into his pocket. Muttering "Sorry," He turned and walked away.

Sakura watched him go, then fled to her apartment where she locked herself in her room and released the torrent of emotions she had bottled inside.

Rock Lee had always been a close friend of Sakura's since the Chuunin exams. When he was in the hospital, she visited him daily with a new flower to place by his bedside. When he advanced to Chuunin, she was there cheering for him. She had become a good friend and confidant. Not a lover like Lee had wanted, but a reliable friend nonetheless.

Now, she needed his help.

She stood in front of Lee's apartment, a day after the incident with her teammates, chewing on her lip. How was she going to go about this? She needed Lee's help.

Sakura remembered when Lee and Sasuke had their first fight. Lee had basically stated that the sharingan was worthless if you couldn't read your opponent's moves. In other words, unless you were fast enough, you wouldn't be able to really catch what was happening. Granted, Sakura had the fully-developed sharingan but her speed was lacking.

This was where Lee would come into play. The taijutsu specialist could help her build up the strength in her legs so that she could be fast enough to track the movements of her opponents. It would also sharpen her reflexes and hone her abilities to see as she performed a move that required a lot of speed.

Hesitantly raising a hand, she lightly knocked on the young man's door. There was shuffling inside and the door opened, revealing a tall young man with the same thick brows and bowl-cut. His mouth curved into a bright smile at seeing Sakura standing there. "Sakura-san! How pleasant to see you here! Please, come in!"

He stepped aside, letting Sakura enter his house. She slid off her sandals, glancing around. Of course, the man's house was filled with training equipment, green upholstery and pictures of Maito Gai posing. She gave a small smile. She heard the soft click of the door and turned to see Lee giving her a questioning look before blinking, "Oh! Would you like some tea? I just finished making some…"

He trailed off as he ran into his kitchen and returned with two cups of hot tea. Sakura smiled and accepted it, taking a seat on the sofa. Lee spoke first. "So, Sakura-san, what is it that you need?"

Sakura blinked and looked up at him. She smiled a bit at seeing his wide smile. "I guess it's pretty obvious, huh?" She inquired, refraining from pushing her hair out of her left eye.

"Well, why else would a pretty lady show up at my doorstep on a lively morning such as this?" Lee inquired, earning a giggle from Sakura.

"Lee-san! Stop that. I'm serious!" She declared, sipping her tea again.

"Oh, but I am serious, Sakura-san," Lee teased. He paused for a moment before waving a hand. "But, please, tell me what's troubling you, Sakura-san."

Sakura gave a soft sigh and put her cup down, looking up at Lee. "I need your help. I want you to train me."

Lee held his cup from his lips, a confused look on his face. "Why, Sakura-san? You're quite powerful as you are. Godaime herself trained you. With your chakra, you're very strong."

"I know, Lee-san, but I want speed and strength like you have that doesn't require me using my chakra."

Lee set his cup down on the table, resting his elbows on his knees. "Why this sudden change, Sakura-san? Does this have anything to do with…?" He trailed off, not wishing to finish his sentence. '…with Kakashi?'

Sakura knew what he meant to say. "Yes and no," She hesitated before adding, "If I tell you, you cannot tell anyone else. Not even Gai, Lee. And definitely not Sasuke. Can you do that?"

Lee set his teacup down, his face completely serious. "Of course, Sakura-san. You have my word. Like Naruto, I don't go back on it."

Sakura gave a small smile and let loose a soft sigh. "Thank you."

She set her own teacup down before speaking again. "Do you remember our first genin exam? You told Sasuke-kun that the sharingan was worthless if you couldn't keep up with your opponent's moves."

"Yes, I remember saying that. But what does that have to do with anything, Sakura-san?" Lee inquired, blinking.

Sakura took a deep breath and pushed her hair away from her left eye, red and black swirling to form the sharingan. "I need your help, Lee."

Lee stared at her and had he been holding his cup it would have hit the floor. "S-Sakura-san… how…?"

Sakura shook her head, letting the eye fade black and her hair cover her face again. "That's not particularly important. It's not too hard to figure out anyway, but I need you to help me become faster, Lee. I need that speed so I can read the moves. Can you—no, will you train me?"

Lee sat there quietly, contemplating her words and the depth of her request. After a good minute of silence, he unfolded his arms and nodded. "Be at the training grounds tomorrow at 6 AM."

She smiled and walked over to him, hugging him. "Thank you, Lee."

After she left, Lee sighed and flopped back down on his chair, staring at the ceiling. 'What have I gotten myself into?'

Dawn had yet to break when Sakura appeared on the training fields, hair hastily pulled back into a ponytail, the rest that was too short falling over her eyes. She wore a jacket and slacks. The dew clung to the grass and a cool mist wafted over the grounds. It was chilly and Sakura found herself pacing to keep the blood flowing through her body. Hands shoved in her pockets, she went over tactics in her mind and what she hoped to learn.

It wasn't but ten minutes later, right when the first rays of the sun were peaking over the horizon when Lee walked up to her, a heavy backpack on his shoulders. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Sakura-san, I had to make sure that I had everything. I assumed you wouldn't want to train on public grounds so we're going to head out to some place private for the day. I've got us lunch and supplies. Are you ready?"

Sakura took a moment to digest the information before nodding, a small smile ghosting her lips. "Yes. Thank you, Lee-san. You have no idea how grateful I am."

Lee gave her the nice-guy pose with the signature smile. "You still have much youth in you, Sakura-san! We shall find it and let it grow!"

Sakura couldn't help but laugh softly. Some things never changed.

And for that, she was glad.

The night before…

A dark figure swiftly darted across the rooftops, concealed in the shadows and the clouds covering the moon. The figured landed at his destination, the Konoha hospital. He slipped inside with not a sound and seemed to smoothly glide across the tiled floor, easily finding his way through the lacking security and into the file room.

Quickly, he found the filing cabinet he was looking for and pulled it open, fingers sifting through the folders. The person held his flashlight between his teeth as his fingers stopped on the manila folder with the tab printed in fine hiragana, "Haruno Sakura."

Eyes narrowing, he pulled out the folder and sifted through it.

He started when he heard the nurse walking down the hall and quickly replaced the folder, shutting the cabinet quietly. As the nurse opened the door in curiosity, wondering why she had heard a noise, the figured melted into the shadows.

Convinced nothing was out of order, she nodded to herself and shut the door, locking it.

The figure was gone moments afterwards.

The man crouched on a telephone pole before leaping off and quickly moving back the way he came. Quickly running up the side of a building, he landed on his balcony and opened the door. As soon as he was inside, he pulled the blinds and pulled his mask off. Dark hair tumbled out, the back spikes sticking up as black bangs fell over narrowed sharingan eyes, which played the pages it recorded over in his mind.

Not being a medic most of the terminology and notes didn't make sense. What little he could understand only confused him more.

'Something doesn't add up here… Sakura, what are you hiding?'

Scowling, Sasuke collapsed into a chair, arms hanging over the armrests. Sasuke never did like complicated things.

End Chapter 2

AN: Well, there you have it folks. Actually, it's longer than my other two chapters so far. Huh… I hate short chapters so I'm trying here. Before anyone asks, there will not be a love triangle between Sasuke, Sakura and Lee. I love Lee, but I just can't put him and Sakura together. It's one of those pairings I'm not too fond of, like Naruto and Hinata. Don't ask why cuz I just don't.

I'll try to go into more detail later about what's happened in the past few years for Team 7.

Uh, other'n that, thanks for your reviews and I'll get back to those who had questions eventually, because I'm tired now and I want to post this and get a nap. It got a quick look-over so ignore any mistakes.

Hope you enjoyed,

Phoe-chan