Echoes
Chapter Three
Cross My Heart
"Sakura, you're sitting rather close to the television, don't you think?"
Kei Haruno almost laughed when his fourteen year old daughter sent a glare in his direction - she was a stubborn one alright.
"I mean it Sakura, you shouldn't sit that close."
Kei watched in satisfaction as his only child got up off the floor and moved over to the sofa. Taking a seat, Sakura slouched moodily and stared at the floor. Kei tilted his head in confusion and sighed.
"Sakura, I thought you wanted to watch the film."
"I do." Sakura mumbled.
"Then why are you staring at the floor?"
Sakura looked up at her father and grimaced. "I can't see the television from here."
Kei frowned and glanced between Sakura and the screen in the corner. "You can't see it?"
Sakura shook her head. "It's blurry, it's giving me a headache."
Kei sat down beside his daughter. "What about at school? Can you see the board?"
"I swapped seats so I could sit closer to the front but I can't see everything."
"How long has this been going on?" Kei was concerned for his little girl. She'd had no problems with her sight before, and nothing of the sort ran in the family.
"I don't know," Sakura shrugged. "I guess a couple of months ago I started having a little trouble but I wasn't really bothered by it until a few weeks ago, but now it's gotten really bad."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Sakura offered no answer and merely tucked her feet up beneath her. Kei sighed and ruffled the girl's hair.
"I've got to go back over to the base now but when I come back I'm going to make an appointment at the opticians, okay?"
Kei stood up to leave but was stopped by the thin arms wrapping around him a hug. Smiling down at his daughter he returned the hug, trying to provide her with reassurance. It did not take a genius to see that Sakura was put out by her blurred vision, but he would do everything in his power to make it better.
Sakura groaned as her mind slipped back into consciousness. She couldn't remember what her dreams had been about but she felt secure and warm wrapped up in her blankets and was loathe to get out of her bed. Rubbing at her eyes, she turned onto her side and enjoyed the pleasant feeling of rhythmic warm breathing passing over her face.
She tensed.
Breathing?
Wait…
There was someone in her bed!
With a loud scream, Sakura shot away from the source of the breathing and tumbled out of bed, landing on the floor with an audible thump. There was a moment of silence before hysterical laughter broke out from the direction of her bed.
Sakura stilled. She doubted that any self-respecting homicidal maniac would break down into fits of girlish laughter. Besides, she knew that voice.
"Temari?"
The laughter subsided and Sakura heard the bedsprings groan as someone stood up. "Hello to you too Sakura. You're certainly active in the mornings aren't you?"
"Active!?" Sakura tried not to screech. "I thought there was someone in my bed!"
"There was someone in your bed." Temari pointed out.
Sakura sighed, knowing that it was pointless to answer back. "How did you get in?"
Temari tugged the pink-haired girl to her feet and hugged her. "I've got a spare key, remember?"
Letting the hug drop, Sakura stepped back and allowed Temari to scrutinise her appearance.
"Hmm, you're looking well. I still think you could stand to gain few pounds though."
Sakura laughed and headed out of the room. "Try telling that to Metsuki. I get too much exercise from chasing him around to gain weight."
Temari trotted after the younger girl and grinned upon entering the living room. Her little brother was sat on the settee with Metsuki lying across his lap. The red-head looked vaguely irked at the unwanted attention but seemed determined to maintain his stoic façade.
"Aw, looks like Gaara's found a friend." Temari smirked at the glare she received and moved to sit on the closest armchair.
"Hello Gaara," Sakura greeted, moving towards the kitchen. She smiled when the quiet boy murmured his reply, and she set about making breakfast for herself, after being assured that her friends had eaten on their way from Suna.
While she waited for the kettle to boil she put down food for Metsuki, prompting the Labrador to leave his perch on the disgruntled male.
"So," Temari began, "what are we going to do today?"
Sakura put two slices of bread in the toaster and sighed. "Well I don't know about you two but I've got to go to work."
"Oh, well you're no fun. I wanted to catch up with you today, Gaara and I will be rather busy from tomorrow."
Sakura hummed thoughtfully and tapped her fingernails on the breakfast bar. "Well Ino has taken it upon herself to organise a party so we can all catch up tonight… although knowing Ino she's probably invited enough people to fill up the Hyuuga mansion."
Temari snorted in a very unladylike fashion. "So much for spending time with just our friends." She watched as Sakura popped the slightly burnt bread from the toaster. "Are you sure you can't take the day off work?"
"Nope," Sakura muttered around a mouthful of toast. "I love my job too much."
Sakura paid no mind as Temari remarked that it was 'just plain weird' to actually like working, and headed back to her room to get ready for the day.
"Teme!"
Sasuke glared fiercely at the blonde idiot who burst unceremoniously into his office. "Dobe."
Naruto let the insult slide in favour of sitting on his best friend's desk. Said friend nearly snapped his pen in frustration as Naruto parked his rear directly on some reports he needed to review and sign.
"Move idiot! I have work to do."
"See, that's your problem," Naruto began sagely. "You're too focused on work. However the great Uzumaki has brought your salvation."
Sasuke sighed and placed his pen down on the desk, resigning himself to suffering Naruto's presence. "And what would that be?"
"A party at the Hyuuga mansion tonight!"
Sasuke stared into Naruto's excited, shining blue eyes and almost felt a twinge of regret at shooting him down. "I already know."
The blonde very nearly deflated, his grin slipping from his face. "You do?" At the nod from his ebony-haired pal, Naruto huffed childishly. "Well I can't believe that you knew about a party before I did. When did you find out?"
"Yesterday. Tenten told me when I went to see Neji."
Naruto nodded in understanding and replaced the grin on his face. "So can I get a ride with you?"
"I'm not going."
"What! Why not you miserable hermit?"
Naruto was very much immune to the withering glare that Sasuke sent him. "I have better things to do with my time than make small talk with people that I don't even know."
"Oh yeah? Like what?" There was, of course no reply from Sasuke. "Oh I get it, it must be so entertaining sitting in your house all alone. Besides I know why you really don't want to go."
"Really?" Sasuke tugged the report he had been working on from under Naruto and tried once more to get some work done.
"Yep!" Naruto smirked. "It's because that blind girl will be there, isn't it?"
The pen froze in Sasuke's hand as he turned disbelieving eyes. "How do you know she's going to be there?"
Naruto poked his tongue out mischievously. "I heard about the party from Kiba, who heard about it from Neji's cousin Hinata, who was told by Neji that you knocked down Sakura, who is one of Tenten's best friends." Sasuke blinked as Naruto paused for breath, trying to decide whether he followed his friend's ramblings. "Well it turns out that Hinata is apparently also friends with Sakura." There was a slight pause as Naruto contemplated something, before he suddenly let out a snigger. "Hey, Teme isn't funny that everyone already seems to know her apart from us?"
"Hilarious." Sasuke replied dryly.
"So are you going to come tonight or are you too chicken?"
Sasuke knew what Naruto was trying to do, and unfortunately he knew that it would probably work and he would indeed end up at the Hyuuga mansion.
Groaning in frustration the annoyed male shoved his best friend off his desk and pointed to the door. "I'll come if you leave me alone and let me get some work done, Dobe."
Naruto threw him a wide grin as he left the room and Sasuke knew that he had just been played for a fool.
"Saki?"
Sakura felt a tugging on her sleeve and smiled, crouching down to sit on her haunches. "Akio? What's wrong?"
An angry puff of air came from the young boy in front of her and tickled Sakura's nose. "I'm going on holiday tomorrow with Mommy and Daddy."
"What's so bad about that?"
"I'm gonna miss a lot of lessons if I go… I like coming here and learning things."
Sakura laughed softly and moved to sit cross-legged on the floor. When Sakura had been young she had decided that when she grew up she wanted to be a doctor, and the dream had stayed with her as she grew up. Unfortunately when she reached her teens she had realised that she would never be able to be a surgeon like she had always wanted; it was one of the few times that going blind had stopped her from achieving something.
She hadn't thought much on what she would like to do about a career as she battled with her failing eyesight, it had been the last thing on her mind. By the time she reached sixteen she was completely blind and along with attending mainstream school she took extra lessons to learn how to live in a dark world. She was taught how to read Braille and how to manoeuvre safely. Eventually Sakura was confident in taking care of herself again and decided she wanted to live her life to the full. When she was eighteen she had been taught how to work with Metsuki and since then she had felt truly independent.
Only one thing had kept niggling at the back of her mind; work. She wanted something to fill up her days though she couldn't think of anything that she might like to do. Then, one day whilst receiving a visit from her doctor, Tsunade, who had become a very good friend to Sakura over the years, they had hit upon the idea of Sakura working in the hospital with blind children.
True, it wasn't quite the job she had dreamed of as a young girl, but it was rewarding nonetheless and Sakura was just glad that she could give back the support she had received to others.
Every week, Monday to Friday, Sakura would show up in the paediatric department at Konoha General Hospital and spend the day with children in a specially set-aside room, supporting them as they too were taught coping skills from an instructor. So many kids came in and out over the course of the day, each one in differing circumstances from the last; some were totally blind, others were partially sighted. Most of the children attended mainstream school and merely supplemented their studies with what the nurses and specialists in the hospital could teach them. The only constant day to day was that Sakura enjoyed herself every time and the children did too.
Akio was relatively new at these lessons and he had taken to them like a duck to water. The first day he had spent at the hospital, Akio had told Sakura (very matter-of-factly for an eight year old) that he had Cone-Rod Dystrophy (though he horribly mispronounced it as any small child would be expected to), and that his mother and father had decided he should learn how to cope with blindness before he lost his sight completely when he got older.
The little boy had grown on Sakura in no time at all and he often spent his hours at the hospital glued to Sakura's side.
"Ah, don't worry Akio, I'll make sure to fill you in on everything you've missed when you get back. Where are you going on holiday?"
And just like that, the little boy was his usual bright self, taking a vast amount of pleasure in telling Sakura all about the things he was going to do when he was away. Eventually, as most eight year old children are prone, Akio lost his train of thought as something more important occurred to him.
"Hey, Saki? Where's Metsuki today?"
Akio was not the first one to inquire about her faithful friend's absence and Sakura smiled at the boy. "I left him with some friends today. Metsuki decided to keep them company."
"Will he be here when I get back from my holiday?"
"I promise you he will."
Akio's small hand patted the back of Sakura's and he gave a rather grave sigh. "Just make sure he is, Saki. Remember, a promise has to be kept."
Fighting back laughter, Sakura nodded and reaffirmed her pledge. Seemingly satisfied, Akio left to play with some of the other children before his parents came to pick him up. Sakura took a seat in the corner of the room and listened to the giggles and shouts of happiness and allowed herself a moment to wonder how Gaara and Temari were faring.
"Really Gaara, I never knew you were such an animal lover. Had I known then we could have gotten a dog of our own."
Temari smirked at her disgruntled younger brother; it was hard for him to look quite so threatening while Metsuki had his head propped on the redhead's knee, fast asleep and apparently very comfortable. Temari took a moment to muse on the stress-relieving benefits of pets (maybe it would help Gaara), before the ringing of the doorbell interrupted her thoughts.
She exchanged a look with her brother before moving to open the front door.
Temari was hardly surprised to find Ino stood at the threshold of Sakura's apartment, though the same could not be said about Ino.
"Temari? I didn't expect you guys to be here this early."
Temari stepped aside and let her fellow blonde into the flat. "Ah, you know me, I'm not really one for waiting around. Gaara and I snuck in this morning to wake Sakura up."
There was a moment of awkward silence between the girls. They got on perfectly fine, but they weren't exactly close friends. Sakura often told them that they were too much alike for their own good, and because of this Ino and Temari would sometimes ruffle one another's feathers.
A diversion came in the shape of Metsuki skidding around the corner and bounding towards Ino. The woman crouched down to intercept the Lab and turned to Temari.
"Is Sakura here?"
"Nope, she's still at work. She just thought that Metsuki might like a day off from screaming children."
Ino gave the dog one last pat before straightening up and following Temari into the living room. "I couldn't remember if Sakura was working today or not, but I thought I'd come over and start work on her outfit for tonight."
"You still like to play dress up I see," Temari smirked. "What would you have done if Sakura wasn't in?"
Ino stuck her tongue out at the older girl. "You aren't the only one with a spare key you know. Oh hey, Gaara." Ino sent a flirtatious smile in the male's direction… she wasn't particularly attracted to Gaara but she could still appreciate a handsome man when she saw one.
Looking at the clock Ino was satisfied to see that it was lunch time. She had made Sakura promise to be around in the afternoon so they could get ready for the party at the Hyuuga mansion.
As if answering her thoughts, Ino heard the front door open and close before Sakura walked in to the room.
Metsuki was positively quivering in excitement of seeing his mistress again and quite happily trotted over to her.
Sakura called out a greeting to Gaara and Temari and turned her attention to Metsuki.
Ino grinned mischievously realising Sakura didn't know she was there. Not one to let such an opportunity pass, the blonde dynamo pounced on her unsuspecting friend and shouted a loud "BOO!".
Sakura screeched and flailed, trying to get away while Ino fought to contain laughter.
"Oooh Ino!" Sakura fumed. "I know it was you, Pig. What is it with people trying to scare me today?"
"Chill out Forehead, I just came to make you pretty for tonight."
Sakura frowned and reached towards her wristwatch, pressing a button on the side. A computerised voice announced that the time twelve fifty-four pm, and Sakura raised an eyebrow at Ino. "We still have six hours before the party starts."
"Yeah, but I want to get there earlier to see how Hinata has done setting stuff up. Besides, it's going to take a lot of time if I have to work on you too."
Sakura's affronted noise was promptly ignored as Ino grasped her wrist and began to pull her towards the bedroom.
Sakura turned her head in the direction of her other friends and mouthed a plea for help. Needless to say she was quite disgruntled to hear peals of laughter from Temari and even a low chuckle from Gaara.
Four and a half hours later, Sakura was wishing for a meteor strike, the next ice age, the overtaking of humanity by artificially intelligent technology, anything to get her away from the demon she called her friend.
Poked, plucked and powdered, Sakura felt like she had just undergone some sort of freakish torture session. She felt Ino's hands ruffle her hair once more before stepping away from her. "Perfect. Oh you look so lovely Sakura. I do good work."
Bright jade eyes narrowed in Ino's direction. "Why is all this necessary for a simple party?"
"Simple?" Ino sounded affronted. "You know me better than that Sakura. There's going to be a lot of people there tonight. Most importantly however, all the friends that we haven't seen in ages are going to be around too."
Sakura knew that it was pointless arguing with Ino and instead walked over to the floor length mirror next to her wardrobe. She hadn't chosen to put a mirror in here for herself of course, it was more for Ino's benefit as her friend spent a lot of her time in Sakura's apartment.
Sakura heard Ino rustling through cosmetics, getting started on her own makeup it would seem, and felt significantly less foolish about what she was about to do. Running her hands down her dress, Sakura judged the neckline and cut of her dress. It was a little shorter than she was comfortable with, but not offensively so, just a few inches above the knees. The material had a lovely softness to it, and Sakura felt that the slight weight of it was comforting. Her fingers found cool metal as her hand brushed over the under bust of her dress.
She knew it was pointless to stand in front of mirror as a blind person, but as a young woman barely out of her teens, going through the motions of 'checking her appearance' was soothing; it was something she remembered doing while she could still see.
The warm hands that came to rest on her shoulders made Sakura jump.
"You want to know what I see?" Ino's soft voice sounded from behind her. "I see an emerald green dress with a sweetheart neckline which brings out a pair of beautiful green eyes. I see that the silver brooch on the waistline of that dress looks lovely with soft, pink hair. Really though, I see my stunning best friend who is going to get a lot of attention tonight."
Sakura was extremely touched. She smiled towards the mirror, knowing that Ino would see it. "Since when did you go all soft on me?"
"Well don't get used to it," Ino nudged her playfully.
Sakura laughed and sat on her bed while Ino finished getting ready. Temari and Gaara had returned to the hotel they were staying at to get ready for the party, and had promised to find Sakura when they got there.
"I'm done!" Ino's voice was bubbly, and she was already in full party mode it would seem. "Let's go!"
"Woo hoo." Sakura intoned flatly.
Ino huffed. "What's with the grumpiness?"
"You know I don't really like big parties like this Ino. I can't take Metsuki and I'll feel lost on my own."
"Don't be silly." Ino slipped her arm through Sakura's and began to lead her out of the apartment. "Everything will be fine, you'll see. Just relax and have fun, I promise not to leave your side the entire night."
Two hours later the ballroom in the Hyuuga mansion was full of people dancing to the music that the sound system that had been rented was sending out.
In the midst of the grinding bodies, and very much alone, stood one annoyed and disorientated Sakura Haruno.
'I am going to kill Ino!'
Wow how time flies. Busy year with university and life and all that… I'm sure you understand…
…
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Okay I'm sorry! I looked at when this was last updated and nearly passed out. It's weird that I've been writing some future chapters of this story but that my mind would just shut down if I even attempted to finish this chapter.
Once again, sorry for the wait, but on the plus side, I have the first few pages of chapter four already written down… somewhere -__-
Thank you for all the reviews you guys have been sending, I'm glad you have been enjoying this story so far.
