Chapter Four edited 9-Mar-2010.

Blinded

Chapter Four – Training With Sasuke Part I

Naruto rolled out of bed the next morning to set off for training, stumbling sleepily from his room to the kitchen. He, however, forgot the sofa-bed was out and promptly fell over it, cracking his head on the edge of the coffee table.

"Fucking owwww!!"

Sai peeked around the corner of the bathroom door as he was brushing his teeth, wondering what all the noise was about. He choked back a chuckle when he spotted his friend sprawled haphazardly on the sofa rubbing his head. He ducked back in to the bathroom and rinsed his mouth before greeting his roommate cheerily.

"Naruto, I thought you would be up earlier. I put your breakfast in the oven to keep warm for you. I hope you don't mind but I forgot my toothbrush so I borrowed yours. I got a note from Hokage-sama and she wants to speak to me about taking your mission, so I asked Sakura to come around and help you get to training. Well, I've got to head off but I'll pick you up from training at about twelve and we can have lunch, okay? See you later! Don't forget about what we talked about yesterday. Oh, and I laid out some fresh clothes for you on the sofa."

The blind teen listened, gobsmacked and a little scared of Mother Hen Sai, as his friend spoke before transporting with a slight 'poof' to his meeting with the Fifth. Naruto frowned for a moment before jumping to his feet and pointing accusingly at the air with a fierce look.

"You used my toothbrush?!"

Naruto dropped his flailing arms, only to rub his face with a groan. He just knew something would go wrong, Sai had been far too normal yesterday. But he did make breakfast. At this uplifting thought, he dived in to the kitchen and opened the oven, sniffing to discover leftover 'Uzumaki Stirfry Special'.

"Okay, you're forgiven," the teen told the empty room as he devoured his new favourite meal in record time.

Naruto changed in to the clothes Sai had left out for him quickly knowing Sakura was on her way, and flew in to the bathroom for his morning routine of splashing his face and brushing his teeth. Only after he had rinsed his mouth out did he remember Sai had used his toothbrush.

"UGH! Sai, you suck!"

He tried to tame his hair, but it was even harder than usual since he couldn't see what sort of state it was in anyway. He gave up and began scouring the living room floor for his favourite nin sandals, which was when his teammate knocked on his door.

"Sakura! Come in!" he called cheerfully from beneath the sofa.

"Naruto!" the kunoichi called with a smile, before she caught sight of the blond on the floor. "…What are you doing?"

"Trying to find my sandals," was the muffled reply. "I know I kicked them off in here somewhere."

Sakura looked down to see Naruto's shoes sitting neatly beside the entry. "This pair near the door…they don't happen to be yours…?"

Naruto looked up with a puzzled frown. "What're they doing over there?"

"Probably so you could find them," the medic-nin sighed, wondering how Sai was faring with her teammate. "Hurry up or we'll be late."

Naruto huffed as he slipped his shoes on. "Like it matters, Kakashi-sensei is always late!"

They were late in reaching the Bridge, though this was only because Naruto had put his shoes on the wrong feet. He didn't mind so much but Sakura had said that he could find his own way to the meeting place if he didn't fix it right now. And, as to be expected since they were running late, Kakashi was on time.

"You're late," he stared at them over his book as he leaned casually against the railing, Sasuke standing beside him.

Naruto grinned cheekily, how he loved payback. "Sorry, Kaka-sensei, but Sakura had to help a blind fox cross the street!"

The medic-nin giggled and even Sasuke couldn't suppress his smirk.

"I guess I had that coming," the jounin sighed deeply, putting his Icha Icha book away. "Anyway, you all know training is going to be a little different today. Sakura, you and I won't be training. We have a short mission I will fill you in on. Sasuke, you explain to Naruto what you two will be doing."

Kakashi glanced at his watch. "Sakura and I should have finished our assignment by eleven so we will be back then. See you boys later!"

Naruto bid the jounin a cheery goodbye before glancing around the Bridge unseeingly. Sasuke hadn't spoken yet so he didn't know where the other teen was.

"Um, Sasuke?"

Uchiha grabbed his wrist suddenly, startling him in to jerking away. "Bastard! Don't make me jump like that! You could've said something!"

"Naruto," he scowled. "I was going to lead you to the training grounds, but if you think you can find your own way there, then fine."

"Oh…right," Naruto sort of apologised hurriedly as Sasuke took hold of his wrist again. "What does Kakashi-sensei want us to do for training?"

"The Jounin Practicals are in four months," Sasuke answered as he directed his teammate to the training grounds. "He wants us to practice for them."

"Eh?!" Naruto stumbled, not losing his balance completely purely because Sasuke kept him steady. "B-but, but…I can't see!"

"Hn," was Sasuke's substantial reply.

"How am I supposed to take the Practicals if I'm blind?! Can't I just wait a year for the next round? My vision…might've returned by then," he almost pleaded as he was dragged along by his teammate.

"No, we aren't waiting until next year!" Sasuke suddenly stopped walking as his voice rose, shaking Naruto's wrist as emphasis. "We were both genin up until a year ago. We passed the Chuunin Exam easily and if the rest of the Rookie Nine can become jounin then obviously so can we."

Naruto suddenly realised that Sasuke kept saying 'we'; we aren't waiting…we were both…we passed.

"Why do you need me?" he demanded. "You keep saying 'we', so why do you need me?"

Uchiha exhaled loudly as he began walking again, his grip on his teammate's wrist still firm. "Idiot. Don't you ever find out information you need to know?"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"The Jounin Practicals are taken as a two-person team. Only the theory side of the Exam is done individually."

"Ooooh."

"Kakashi said we were ready to become jounin," Sasuke continued. "I thought we were too, but then this happened."

Naruto didn't need to ask what he meant by 'this'. He flushed and stared at the ground blindly. I'm keeping not only myself from becoming a jounin, but Sasuke as well. Wait…why should he wait for me? He can find another chuunin to take the Practicals with, surely.

"Sasuke, why don't you find someone else to take the Jounin Exam with? I don't want to hold you back," he admitted reluctantly, knowing his teammate would have been his first choice in any situation to take the Practicals with.

"Idiot," Naruto could hear the smallest of smiles in Sasuke's tone. "I don't want to team up with anyone else."

"But I'm fucking blind!" he twisted his wrist from the other teen's grasp angrily. "I can't do the Practical! I'll just drag you down!"

What little tact and patience Sasuke possessed was wearing thin rather quickly. "Yes, you are blind. But we were ready to be jounin before that happened. It's exactly like learning to use a new weapon in battle; you just have to get used to it and build up your skills."

"You aren't the one who can't see, bastard!" Naruto yelled angrily, his fists clenching in anticipation of a physical fight. "You have no idea what the hell this feels like! It's not something you can just 'get used to'!"

"You're right, I have no idea how the hell it feels! But I do know what it feels like to be the reason for your blindness!"

Sasuke's control snapped and he shoved his teammate, feeling a small sense of satisfaction in sending Naruto tumbling to the ground, though this was chased away by instant guilt.

"Bastard! What the fuck was that for?!" Naruto growled as he leapt to his feet again, waiting for Sasuke to speak so he would know where to throw his fist. "And what the hell did you mean by that?!"

"Because it's my fucking fault isn't it!" the raven yelled back. "If I had deactivated my Sharingan that ninja wouldn't have thrown a blinding jutsu at us and you'd be fucking fine!"

Naruto paused in the middle of punching Uchiha, his eyes widening with each second as he fully digested what his teammate was saying.

"Knowing that I ruined your dream…your life…if your blindness is…permanent?" Sasuke's voice dropped low, hoarse from yelling. "How do I handle that…knowing that I did…this..?"