The Naruto franchise is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.
Chapter 21: Hakke no Fūin Shiki
"...spired with a known criminal, kidnapped you and tried to kill your teammates," rang the Godaime Hokage's voice.
"It wasn't him! He was... I don't know how to explain it... different," responded Sakura's.
Neji tried to sit up but found himself unable to move. Heavy restraints secured him to the hospital bed.
"Fine," Tsunade spoke again after a long pause, "I'm trusting your judgment on this one."
The Hokage's heels clicked sharply against the hospital tiles as she left the room.
"Haruno?" Neji asked.
"H-Hyūga-san!" Sakura stammered, "You're awake?"
Neji tried to nod, but found even his head was restrained.
"Why am I tied down?" he asked.
"You mean... you don't remember?"
He tried to shake his head and failed.
"No."
"You... I think you were being controlled by Sasuke. You did some pretty awful things."
Neji felt his throat constrict.
"Did I hurt you?"
There was a pause.
"No."
Something bothered Neji about the way the word had been said, but relief flooded him anyway.
"I understand the restraints, in light of those facts, but do I really have to be blindfolded as well?"
Glass shattered on the hard floor.
"Y-You mean..." Sakura choked out in a strangled whisper, "You aren't blindfolded..."
Realization sank into the Neji's soul like an iron weight.
The Hyūga prodigy was blind.
~o (0) o~
Tsunade allowed the ANBU captain to be released hours later, after a full medical examination. They couldn't find a reason for his blindness, and only accepted that his disability wasn't a ploy after splashing his face with cold water.
Humiliating.
He left the hospital room, opening the door much harder than necessary and storming down the hallway briskly. A haphazard nurse who didn't move out of the way fast enough was plowed into, scattering the medical instruments she had been carrying. They left lacerations on the Hyūga's body, and the pitter-patter of dripping blood became his constant companion.
They asked him if he needed help. Their requests fell on deaf ears as Neji moved on unyieldingly. The blood was nothing in contrast to what he had lost.
He forced himself down the stairs. Often, he would miss a step and stumble, but pressed on with dogged determination. It was then that he became aware of Sakura following him. Sakura, catching him when he was too close to the brink of falling. Sakura, who had been healing his wounds all along.
The proud Hyūga refused to be a charity case and had angrily informed her of the same in so many words. She didn't respond.
People hurried to clear a path for the volatile ANBU captain. The village, though unaware of his condition, was very much aware of his reputation.
A shinobi, he thought with an ironic twist of his lips, A shinobi who once saw everything, but now sees nothing.
The walk from the hospital to the training grounds was one he had made many times before in the past. He had always fought against nurses and injuries to get to that point, anxious to be back on his feet. Never before had he had to struggle against something as overwhelming as he did now.
He fumbled with the gate, painfully aware that the medic was watching him.
Humiliating.
In some irrational part of his mind, he had expected the walk to have cured him. He had no such luck, though. His weapons had been confiscated, so there would be no practice with them. It wasn't as though he could use his senbon anymore, anyway.
He tried a jutsu. Nothing. His attempts at jūken failed as well. Nothing seemed to work.
He would not allow himself tears. Tears were useless to a shinobi. As useless as he was in his present state.
Seating himself in the wet snow, he began to meditate.
But serenity was not to be found.
~o (0) o~
"It's getting dark," Sakura said quietly, rousing him from his meditation, "You shouldn't be out here."
Neji gave a wry smile at the meaninglessness of darkness to a blind man.
"You'll freeze to death," the medic said, resting her hand on his shoulder.
"Why are you still here?" Neji asked. He hadn't meant to sound so harsh.
There was a pause.
Strange, how silence can seem that much more potent without sight.
"I don't want to lose anyone else I care about," Sakura answered quietly.
Neji cringed inwardly. Something about hearing the hurt in the medic's voice stabbed at his heart like a knife. Regaining his composure, he nodded slowly.
"Very well, then," he said, tentatively stretching out a hand. She took it and pulled him to his feet.
"Will you tell me what happened? What I..." he swallowed, "Did?"
Sakura gave his hand a small squeeze.
"I will."
~o (0) o~
"You sealed me?" Neji asked, quietly.
"I-I... yes..." Sakura hesitated, "I'm sorry, Hyūga-san."
"No," he said, "That was the appropriate course of action. There is no need for apologies, Haruno."
"My offer still stands," the medic replied.
Neji canted his head to one side.
"Sakura. You can still call me Sakura."
"...ah."
~o TBC o~
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