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Trois|Three

Light streamed in from the windows behind her. The sounds of people talking around her echoed on in a buzz of indistinguishable conglomerate conversation. Plates rattled as they were stacked on top of the other and tables were cleaned. Forks, spoons and chopsticks clattered against one another in the midst of all other noise.

Green hues ran over a page in her book and narrowed on the information as she held it up to her face; her elbow was propped on the table. She had a fork in one hand, silver-reflective-item of it precariously hanging betwixt her fingers; a piece of egg hung off of it as dripped on to her plate.

"Naruto, throw that at me and I promise you will go through the window behind me."

"Idiot," she heard Sasuke breathe out next to him.

She could feel the blonde pouting. "You're no fun, Sakura-chan."

"And you're grating my nerves," she responded.

"Bah! You're both boooring," he chimed out in reference to both Sasuke and Sakura. "Bastard I understand. But, since when did you become such a stick in the mud, Sakura?"

She moved her eyes from the page to him; he was just barely across from her at the bench-style table they occupied. "I'm reading, Naruto," as if that answered the question. She gave him a cute smile. She wasn't really upset with him, but, it was fun to tease her blonde teammate when he was being a child.

"You were supposed to be eating with us. Not reading."

"A girl can multitask, can't she?"

He sighed long and heavily, obviously beyond exasperated at her.

She chuckled and closed her book. A marker was slid between the pages after she finished the bite hanging from her fork. As she glanced down at her breakfast she realized it was getting cold and she needed to finish it;… perhaps she had been reading for a bit too long.

"Are you training with us today?" she heard the darker-haired male ask.

Perhaps… three or four months ago… yes, that seemed right in her head; perhaps then she would have been a little put off by his question. Naruto was a repeat offender when it came to getting her out for a roll in the mud with a few kunai and fists passed between. Sasuke was another matter entirely; he had been, anyway.

"Yeah, Sakura. You're coming, right?" This was Naruto's muddled reply between bites of his biscuit.

It couldn't be denied that there was this distinct quality of satisfaction someone got from laying Sasuke on his ass. She was no longer a stranger to that feeling and hadn't been for a while. Still, there was no good face to be made rubbing it in his; she hadn't.

By then she'd been through so much she didn't give a damn to anymore.

Sakura shook her head. "Not today. I've got to get groceries."

Naruto frowned. "You went shopping for those yesterday."

"A keen observation," she agreed with some sarcasm. "I'm not getting them for me; they're for a patient I've been assigned the care of… well, indefinitely." She shrugged. "Or, at least until he can take care of himself." She cut off another bite of her egg and popped it in her mouth. Bacon came next.

"They have nurses for that." This from Sasuke.

She wasn't sure if it was directed at her. Maybe he was stiff about her not being able to run him through his paces today? "This patient has run off all of his nurses. He's abusive and belligerent. Tsunade seems to think I'm the only one who can make sure he's taken care of and does what he needs for his rehabilitation."

"Man, who is this guy? I'll knock his head for ya if you need me to, Sakura-chan." Naruto was grinning that whiskered grin at her; the one that made his eyes close and his whole face look foxy.

She took another bite and chewed slowly. She wasn't sure if she was being extra-paranoid, but, she could feel her darker-haired teammate's eyes on her. She wasn't really wary of the intensity; perhaps the feelings behind it once she spoke. She didn't hate Sasuke… she loved him, but, not so much as she had in a different time and place. So, it was possible this was the reason why she was attempting to not look like she was hesitating. Such a thing was rather difficult when it was directed from someone that had known her for a very long time.

"Uchiha Itachi," she finally murmured after her bite and just before she took a sip of her orange juice to wash it down.

Naruto blinked at her; several times. She wasn't looking at either of the two men; she focused her unexpressive gaze down at her plate as she continued eating. There was no reaction from her answer; not from her.

"Isn't that—."

"Let's go, Naruto," Sasuke interrupted him. "Sakura can join us later if she has time."

"I may," she replied as she looked up at him, meeting his dark gaze without consequence. "Will you be there tonight as well?"

"Probably," he murmured. "That is what we usually do, isn't it?"

She smiled. "Yes, it is."

All he did was nod and head towards the exit; she barely kept her gaze on the back of his green Jounin vest.

"Bye, Sakura." Naruto gave her a smile before leaving her staring at much the same back, sans the black tuff of hair to be replaced by blonde.

Well… that hadn't been as hard as she imagined.

She was there for maybe ten minutes longer before she scraped up the last of her food, finished her juice and stood up. She pocketed her book in much the same place Kakashi did his IchaIcha and tossed a roll of bills in a disarrayed mess on the table for the wait staff.

"Have a nice day, Haruno-san," a waitress piped up as she came in behind her to clean the table and pocket the money

She gave a lazy wave over her shoulder in response as she walked out; the bell on the door above her chimed. She stuck her hands in her pockets as she made pace down the street.

Her steps were slow and lethargic; not because she was tired, or, really lazy… It was about half past seven; while the grocer might be open this early, she wasn't so sure about Itachi. Was he the type to get up at the ass-crack of dawn? She enjoyed sleeping when she could; which wasn't often between her team and Tsunade.

She gave a stretch; her hands reached high above her head and something popped. A grumble escaped her lips and she sighed; she rolled her shoulder while rubbing it, resisting the urge to wince.

She wondered, briefly, if today was going to anything like yesterday. He'd surprised her by giving in with the bath and when she'd combed his hair. She'd assumed he would put up a fight with the former, but, he hadn't. That could easily be blamed on exhaustion; he'd been half asleep when she'd brushed his strands.

…It was a sin any man had hair that long and that nice.

She found herself skimming through the local grocer and eventually the open market; the process was quick and painless. Time and inability to provide a proper means of procrastination led her up the path up to his front door…annnnnd turning around to someone else following her rather suddenly. She narrowed her eyes on the young man, maybe no older than sixteen, dressed in the whites of a restaurant worker. He had a brown bag in his hand. As she turned around completely, adjusting the two in her hands, he addressed her.

"Do you live here?"

"That depends. Who's asking?"

He took a moment to note her clothing, blinked and replied, "I'm here with a delivery, Shinobi-san. Breakfast." He held the bag up. "I'm from Tsunami's Steak and Egg House."

"Ah," she replied, not really answering him. Her gaze scrutinized. "Who ordered?"

He reached for a slip of paper in his front pocket and skimmed the lines. "Someone named Itachi."

"I see." She quietly set her bags down at her feet. Next, she reached into the pouch hanging off the back of her hip. From it she pulled out and counted roughly twenty ryo. She handed this to him. "Take that and deliver whatever's in the bag to Shizune at the Hokage tower; the Hokage's assistant. Tell her she can do with it what she wants and it's from Haruno Sakura, the Lady Tsunade's apprentice."

…

He heard footsteps and turned his head in their direction. His eyes narrowed whilst his mind tried to wrap around the footfalls and their timing. As they grew closer and swept past him, behind him into the kitchen a strong scent of…honeysuckle hit him.

Sakura.

"Good morning, Itachi-san," she chirped out, as if privy to his thoughts. Something dropped on the counter—heavy. Paper crinkled. She took a few more steps; plastic slid against plastic… buttons were tapped.

The phone.

"Reiko, it's Sakura."

Pause.

"I need you to call every take-out place in Konoha and have one Uchiha Itachi black-listed. And I do mean every one. You have this number and address on your caller ID, I presume?"

He tensed.

"So, it should be no problem then?" she clipped back.

His fists coiled into his palms, slowly.

"That's fine. Take all the time you need. It's not as if you have much work to do without me there, right?"

His nails bit. There was silence.

"…When you finish that take the day off, Reiko."

Click.

There was an even longer silence that passed after the call. He could feel his body shaking with something; anger.

"I met your delivery boy at the door," she said out loud as she moved about in the kitchen. He could hear his fridge open and close; cabinets lightly smacked against their wood frame. "I made sure to give him something extra for taking his package to the Hokage."

The chair slid back under him; wood scraped against wood. He could sense she made no action to stop as he turned and moved into the kitchen towards her. Once he'd reached the island, once he was what he estimated to be right on top of her, his palm smacked into the countertop; it rattled; a few items jumped.

"What right do you have?" his voice was low, his eyes narrowed in the direction he presumed her face to be.

"Ok, I've got beef, eggs and pork. Which do you want for breakfast?" Her voice was directed downward and out; she still worked.

His jaw tightened. "What I want is for you to exit my life."

"Pork it is. Excuse me?" She placed a hand on his arm, nudging him. "I need to get—."

His hands snapped over her wrist and he pulled her arm to the side and away from him; he didn't release her. "I am not a child who needs to be coddled or taken care of," he snapped. "I will eat how I choose and when I choose."

She yanked his grip from her wrist, twisting to slide out easily. "Perhaps if you quit acting like a child I would be more inclined to believe you, Itachi-san. As for food," she bit off, "Take-out is not food. It's garbage.

"Now, please go sit down and get out of my way so I can work."

He didn't move.

A long moment passed between them in what he could only call a stare-down, for nothing else than lack of a better term.

"It was my hope we'd come to some sort of understanding yesterday," she said, sigh in her tone.

"You were mistaken."

"Oh, obviously," she replied with sarcasm laced in her voice. "Apparently every time I decide to cook for you we're going to have some sort of damned issue."

A slow, careful smirk crossed his features. He leaned in closer to her. "If you're not happy—leave." His voice was quiet, a breath on her face. He could smell her; he could feel the heat every time she exhaled. "No one's stopping you, Sakura-san." The scent of honeysuckle was overpowering, intense.

"Get out of my way," she seethed.

Was she pissed off? Good. "Make. Me."

Something snapped against wood; a kunai… maybe. "If you don't get out of my way and go sit down," she hissed, voice a deadly whisper, "I will disable every nerve ending in your body, making you immobile. Then," she continued a she stepped forward, bumping his legs; the action forced him back a step unexpectedly. "I will have my assistant, Rukia—you know her, the one from the phone call earlier—send over an IV drip to make sure you get all of your bodily nutrients." She pushed him back further. His back smacked up against the counter. His jaw tightened again. "And maybe, maybe, when I've decided I'm not pissed off anymore," she bit off, "maybe I'll reconnect those nerve endings.

"What's it gonna be, Itachi-san?"

He wished he could see her eyes; if for nothing else than to have the gratification of glaring back into something. Instead, he stood there for a while with her leaning into him closely, knees nearly knocking his as she pressed him against the counter; she wasn't really pushing into him, but, he felt her all the same. The sudden acknowledgement of her warmth was unexpected and immediate; it overpowered his senses, intensified by his lack of sight.

Her breasts barely brushed his chest; twin mounds of soft flesh through the material of what he assumed was a cotton shirt hushed a burn on his bare skin. He could feel the tightness, the rounded stiffness indicating she was wearing bindings.

Her breath fanned across his face. He could barely detect what she'd had for breakfast… eggs… juice…With these thoughts anger slowly receded and replaced itself with…

Honeysuckle; all he could smell was honeysuckle. Was it her hair? He wanted to reach out and touch it, bring it to his nose to confirm his inquiry. The thought was fleeting, raw and all but ignored; he blamed it on heightened senses that invoked in him a need to fill the gap his eyes no longer provided.

He closed his eyes and stood straighter; he back lifted from the counter.

She stepped back. "Ita—."

"I'll sit," he interrupted, fight gone from him. He could feel her eyes on his back, but, ignored them as he felt around on the floor for his chair with his foot. He bumped it; he leaned down, pulled it up and sat down.

There was a distinct pause behind him before he heard her go back to work and begin cooking. The frying pan popped in the background, something sizzled; she scraped and flipped. The sounds repeated several times over, even between the pad of her steps and the opening and closing the cabinets and fridge.

Ten or so minutes later, maybe longer, he felt her presence next to him. He sat back instinctively, removing his arms from the surface; the clink of a plate hitting the table in front of him made itself known. A glass was set next to that; it echoed a similar note mixed in with the minor slosh of liquid.

"I got you orange juice this morning," she murmured. "There are strips of pork to the right of your plate, mini-pancakes towards the top center, and to the right is rice—steamed. The fork is to your left," she ended with a whisper before sitting down.

He could hear her set down a glass of her own, but, she was not eating; he could only assume she already had. She shifted around in her seat; a clasp was opened; moments later he heard what he presumed was a book opening.

Silence.

And thus he sat there, unmoving from his current position as she flipped page after page with an agonizing slowness. She shifted in her seat a few times; he could hear it when the chair legs scraped the floor. He tied to imagine what she looked like sitting there, book in her hand as her eyes rolled across the page.

There wasn't much he could recall about the pinkette that made up the sole female on his brother's team. That day with Kisame in the open glade, when they'd been stalling them from getting to the One-Tail, he'd been more focused on Kakashi and Naruto. He wasn't ashamed to say the girl provided little, if any, threat at the time; he wasn't so sure about her now.

He remembered her hair was somewhat straight, if not slightly jagged in its cut and the way it framed her face and tapered down her neck. She had been slender and trim. She hadn't been very tall, but he wouldn't have called her short either. She'd been wearing… red; there had been a red shirt and a pink skirt of some sort.

He tried to draw the image of her face in his mind in some semblance of better detail. Her eyes were bright, but, he could not pin point their shade or detail. Her brows were thin and high above her depths; predictably, they were the same shade as her hair, maybe darker. He couldn't even recollect her skin tone, but, he knew it to be on the faint side like his own and his brother's.

He found himself growing frustrated at the notion that he could not do something as simple as recall a woman's face; it wasn't unlike anything else he became frustrated with over since his disability.

SNAP

He blinked as his thoughts shattered rather suddenly.

"I'm going to the bathroom," she announced lightly as her chair moved against the floor; she stood. He listened as her footsteps echoed away from him and towards the stairs; they faded from earshot as she ascended upward and then down the hall.

…

Sakura stared at the mirror a moment longer after she washed her hands. She wiped them on a hand towel, ridding herself of the residual moisture before hanging it back up on the rack next to the sink.

She took that time to calculate how long she'd been in the small room before opening the door and heading back out. She made her steps known as she moved down the stairs and back into the main living area. She gave a glance at where he'd been sitting, noting the empty plate and cup; there were a few crumbs present. Green hues slid across to where a couch and two comfortable chairs were situated on the left half of the room. The top of his head peaked out from beyond the armrest of the longer piece of furniture; some of his long ebony strands fell freely in a disarray down the side.

She crossed the distance and came to stand in front of the top half of his body. His right arm was resting over his forehead and his eyes were shut. His left arm, the one closest to the edge of the couch, was slung over his bare stomach; it moved up and down with the slow rise and fall of his breath.

"Itachi-san," she called him quietly.

"What?"

"I need to check your vitals again. Can you please sit up for me?"

His arm slid from his face and his eyes opened slowly. "Very well," he murmured before he pulled himself up and turned; his bare feet came to set against the cool floor. Lethargically, he sat up, slightly hunched with his forearms resting on the top of his thighs.

She waited until he was situated and appeared comfortable before she sat down next to him. She placed her bare hand on his back; took a breath to focus and then released a steady stream of blue-green energy. Her eyes closed as she probed his flesh, muscle tissue, and his chakra system; mostly, she focused on his lungs and his stomach. Her hand slid lower down his back after she was done with his lungs so that she could better investigate his stomach.

"How have you been breathing?" she asked quietly, opening her eyes.

"Better," he said softly.

"Have you been coughing any blood since yesterday?"

"None," he confirmed.

Interesting.

She moved her hand back up towards his lungs. "This might feel weird while I have my chakra moving around in your body, but, I need you to take a deep breath in; hold it, and then release it when I say to. Alright?"

He nodded.

"Breathe in," she commanded. He did and she remained keen to the way the action felt to her. "Exhale." He did. She had him do this several times before she told him she was done. She released her chakra and her hand from his back.

"You're doing much better," she said as she stood. "But, before you go back to relaxing, I need to check one more thing." She moved around so she was in front of him; she squatted, half kneeling between his legs. Once he sensed her presence he moved back a little.

"That is?"

"Your eyes, Itachi-san."

His lips were a flat line, his face as impassive as ever, indicating nothing to her. "Why? My eyes should have nothing to do with my ability to breathe."

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Will you allow me to investigate something?"

She could see he was trying to analyze her, which was easily made difficult by his inability to see her face; he could no more gauge her reaction that she could his thoughts. Some part of her felt it was fair, even if she wasn't exactly an open book anymore.

"You can't fix them," he suddenly concluded.

Her brows rose and her lips pursed, slightly parting at this interesting accusation. "I never claimed I would."

"Then why—."

"Because I believe the damage to your lungs and stomach may have been caused by over use of the Mangekyo, which, requires mass amounts of chakra to execute and sustain. I cannot confirm this until I examine your cornea, retina and optic nerve.

"Will you allow me to look now, Itachi-san?" she queried, hoping that satisfied him.

After a moment, obviously taken aback in slight by her quick response, he simply gave a jerked nod.

"Thank you," she muttered. Her hand lifted to his face. "Relax," she said with a gentler tone as her palms flattened out over the conclave of his eyes; her fingers rested against the sides, half sifting into his strands.

She gave him another moment to prepare before began slowly pouring a small stream of blue-green energy into his eyes. At first, he stiffened under her ministrations, not use to the invading flow of her life's force being so close to his face. She imagined anytime the nurses had checked on his eyes he'd been unconscious in the hospital, and, therefore would not have really experienced it in such a way.

"Easy," she murmured softly. A smile quirked on her lips. "Sasuke and Kakashi didn't like it much the first time I did it to them," she explained playfully. "By comparison you're a teddy bear."

He grunted.

Her smile remained until her eyes closed so that she could focus better. She allowed her probing chakra to settle in the center of his eyes, exploring and taking what data she could. Her brow furrowed as she allowed some it to trickle down his optic nerve; she sent a pulse of it in that direction slowly and every so many seconds, careful not to probe too deeply. Sending chakra to his brain without careful, super-focused control wouldn't do any damage, but, it would certainly conflict with instructions he was sending his own body. She didn't need any more reason to piss him off. She'd had her fill this morning.

"Alright," she murmured ad she released the flow of chakra and pulled her hands away. "Done." With a minor wince from sitting in one place too long, she stood.

He sat back into the couch, relaxing as he pushed back his hair and rubbed his eyes with the palms on his hands.

"Do you need anything before I sit down for a while?"

"No."

With nothing more than a nod she flipped her back pouch open, took her book back out and settled down in the chair closest to him. She pulled her feet up next to her and leaned into the arm rest; her elbow propped her up as she held her book in that hand and once again began to skim the lines in quiet reserve.

She engrossed herself in its contents, shifting every so often in her seat when she became even slightly uncomfortable. She wasn't completely unaware of him in the room with her, but, she wasn't focused on him either; it was just enough to notice, after the pass of an hour, that he hadn't moved from his spot to do anything.

She gazed over at him.

His eyes were closed and he leaned into the armrest of the couch in much the same fashion she was doing. His legs were spread out in front of him as he sunk back into the couch. He wasn't moving, but, she knew he wasn't sleeping either.

"Is this all you do all day?" When he didn't say anything she spoke again, "Itachi-san?"

His eyes narrowed a scant. "Is there anything else?" his voice lacked any enthusiasm.

She frowned. "You could listen to the TV or radio," she suggested.

"I have neither."

She blinked and glanced about, realizing, yes, it was true. She supposed she'd not noticed before because, well, he'd been her primary concern. "Why not?"

"Why don't I have a TV or why don't I have a radio?" he murmured.

She rolled her eyes at his cryptic response. "Both," she clarified.

"Don't have an inclination to own either."

The frown remained and she found herself tapping her book. It was the aforementioned item that she looked back down at. "And books?"

"I have none. And," he continued, "How would you expect me to read one, even if I did, Haruno?"

He was almost as bad as Sasuke; at least Sasuke had grown out of his assholishness… well, for the most part. There were just some things you couldn't burn out of a person's personality. She wondered, briefly, if he'd been like this before the accident. She didn't know much about it; her best impression of him prior had been the deadly intensity in which he attacked Naruto and Kakashi with.

She pursed her lips, thinking. She didn't have too much experience with the blind. Most blindness could be cured in a village such as Konoha, but, Itachi's wasn't exactly normal; it made the whole prospect of undoing the damage that much more of a conundrum. Either way, though, there were those who were irreversibly blind like himself; Konoha certainly had resources for those people…

She snapped her book shut.

"It has just occurred to me that you know Braille," she spoke out almost to herself more than him. Why had she not thought about it before? Itachi had been ANBU; even during his time in the unit they required their members to know Braille; it was a commonly used code; one of the many all ANBU were expected to learn to read and write in the cases of complicated code using more than one basic code, or, just to keep mission details secret from nonshinobi.

He raised a brow at her and she smiled, satisfied. "I'll have to bring you some books tomorrow, Itachi-san. What do you like to read?"

…

He wondered, momentarily, how she knew that; although, quickly reminded himself that one of her teachers, Kakashi-sempai, had been ANBU at one point and had more than likely shared this fact with her.

He didn't want her doing anything for him, but, he presumed if he told her that then she would just get him a bunch of books in a category he all but loathed. Then, naturally, she would expect him to read them and give him hell over it, and, more than likely a repeat of this morning's events. While he badly wanted her out of his life, he just didn't have the fight left in him today. In his own way, he couldn't see the whole harm of her getting him a few books… at the very least it would give him something to do besides stare into the darkness of his everyday thoughts.

He sighed, defeated. "Science fiction, classical literature, literary fiction based on historical events, but, nothing gory. I'm not much of a horror fan and don't perceive myself ever being one."

"Really?" he could hear the surprise in her voice. "Science fiction?" He noted the laughter. "I don't think I would have pegged you for a space-ship kind of guy."

He resisted the urge to roll his unseeing eyes. "It's not the technology that interests me; it's the story, Haruno."

"You don't like strategy-based documents?"

He shrugged. "I'm not entirely against them, but, I like to break up the monotony now and then."

"Alright…well, I'll do what I can…"

There was the return of quiet again. Yet again, he found himself in the folds of his own thoughts as she went back to her book. Only now, there was this nagging curiosity because of the previous conversation. He blamed it on that, and, the combination of her ever-present company.

"What are you reading?"

There was this pause; he could assume she was finishing the line she was reading before she would respond, or, that she was a little surprised by his inquiry.

"I'm embarrassed to admit it's nothing remotely mature, or, the least bit of having anything to do with my chosen profession," there was a little laughter in her voice. "It's a fantasy story about a woman and her lover who've been cursed by a sorcerer. By day she's a hawk and by night he's a wolf. They can't be together until they find a way to break the curse."

"A love story."

"Yeah, for the most part, but, it has a lot of action and political intrigue in it. For the longest time you can't even figure out that they changed; it was just so apart of the story you're confused, but, almost unsuspecting of the fact that either of them were the creatures. You just kind of keep wondering what the curse exactly entailed and why one of them always went missing around the same time the other animal did."

He nodded. "I think I've read it before… but never finished it." It had been years since he'd really sat down to read a book; there were just always other things to do… things he didn't want to dwell on.

"Really?" she asked, sounding intrigued. "Well…" she edged, stopped, and then sighed; it was obvious she was thinking about something. "You know, I've never really read to anyone before… discounting the Academy… and a few times in the children's ward at the hospital… but, if you want… well, I don't mind reading to you. I'm not sure how far you got in the book before…

"It would certainly give you something to do besides just… sit there."

She had a point; he wasn't going to admit it, though. "I won't stop you, Haruno."

There was a snort of laughter. "If you say so…"

A few second passed and he wondered if she was going to start at all, or, if she'd changed her mind at the expense of his arrogant remark. But, then, right when he thought she had changed her mind, she began to read.

He found himself closing his eyes as her voice rolled over him, humming a long series of sentences all laced together that painted and image in his mind; he found himself transported to somewhere besides the consequence of his own thoughts, misgivings and overall feelings of falling short. It was soft, lulling and every so often he found himself smirking at something funny, visualizing the characters she explained to him from the writer's perspective. It was interesting, at best, but…

…not entirely unfavorable.

…

It was many hours later that Sakura found herself sweating, swathed in the cloak of night, muscles aching, and chakra levels fluctuating as she tried to temper them back to normal. Short, quick breaths expelled themselves from betwixt the passage of her lips; her chest rose and fell in bursts as she glued her back to the bark of a tree, crouching, listening.

CRACK!

In stilled time, splinters exploded around her, shattering in a flux of angry, poised energy. Time slowed as she exhaled in the same moment; her body curled and she ducked, rolling away from the slice of a silver-glistening blade. She ran, leaping as the blade swept under her; she turned, twisted in the air. Dirt ground under the front balls of her feet as she slid backwards, crouching with one gloved hand grasping for balance; clay crushed between her digits as she raked it across the brown terra firma.

She retaliated as the singing of silver crept over her, teasing to cut into her pale flesh. Her fist exploded into the ground, erupting in a wave of crumbling inertia. She watched as his lithe and able form took sever leaps back and up into one of the trees. He jumped from tree to tree as the rolling rock and dirt upset the root systems.

Spiraling red and ebony tomoe locked on her position.

In a flash of movement she was gone, blinking in and out of sight like the vibrant beating of a dragonfly's wings. Steel sparked against steel as she hit him head on with her kodachi; he blocked with his Kusanagi. Movements were bated breaths, each one twice the amount between the ongoing drum of her heart—his heart.

Crimson seared a stain across her chest and she jumped from the trees, making a distance of twenty feet between them on the ground as he followed. Blue-green chakra focused on that area, sealing and reforming the skin without the aid of her hands.

He dashed towards her, not taking pause. She watched at the white-hot energy pulsed in his hand, screaming with the voice of a thousand birds.

She sheathed her kodachi; her hands formed the signs. "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" she shouted, executing the technique. Seven clones formed around her, him as he drew in at just the right time.

"Shit!" she heard him exclaim.

Her hands formed the signs in sync with her clones as they enclosed him in a fragment of time counted in less than a second. "Flash of the Rising Sun!" she cried out, smacking her hands together in unison with her clones. Her palms opened as a blinding, white flash of energy exploded around him in the center.

In the same movement, her clones combusted and she surged forward, filling her fist with green-blue heat as the light faded from around him; her fist drew contact with his stomach. She felt as his body escaped her, flying with the momentum she set.

There was a crack, a crash and then another curse.

She took a moment to exhale and inhale, hands on her thighs as she caught her breath. Fuck… that had been a lot of chakra. She looked up as the dust faded around her, as the cloud dissipated; she could see him resting against the cracked frame of a tree—where he'd landed. The impression of his back was half encrusted into the bark. He wasn't moving to get up, but, he wasn't that bad off either… or good.

She smacked her hands against the side of her thighs, upsetting dirt before she walked towards him.

His elbows were on his knees, both legs spread slightly in front of him; his head drooped as he too tried to catch his breath. His black hues drew up to hers as she stopped at the edge of his feet, narrowing.

"I really hate that combo."

She chuckled and knelt down in front of him between his legs. "That makes us even, doesn't it? Two days ago you were in the lead."

"I wasn't aware we were counting."

She laughed again as he blinked at her, trying to get rid of the state his eyes were left in. "We weren't. My name isn't Naruto. Here, don't move…" she murmured, reaching out with both hands; she covered his eyes and exuded gentle, easing chakra.

"Thank Kami for that," he replied as she worked.

"How's that feel?" she asked after a moment or two.

"Better…" he murmured.

Slowly, she pulled her hands away. "And now?"

He blinked a few times after he opened his eyes, obviously readjusting the focus off his cornea. "Much better." He looked up at her again as she stood. He took her offered hand with a grunt, lifting himself up as she pulled for leverage. Once she released him he dusted himself off and sheathed his blade with a snap.

"Thanks for the workout." She rolled her shoulder, grasping it with her other hand as they both made way over to where their stuff was. Water, she needed it.

"Where in the hell did you manage to come up with that technique, anyway?"

She looked over at him. "Eh… well, Kakashi kindly pointed out to me one day that there are a handful of powerful shinobi who use eye techniques. He suggested creating a work around." She shrugged. "Neji was nice enough to help me with it when Kakashi couldn't. Hinata too."

"That's a good point," he admitted as he stopped and snagged his water bottle up. He snapped the lid open and drank generously from it. Once he was done he wiped his chin, dark hues eyeing her as she drank from her own just as rigorously. "It also works again regular shinobi."

She too wiped her mouth, holding the bottle aside. "Yeah, but, the only drawback is it uses a mass amount of chakra because of the shadow clones; they execute it the same time I do. Basically," she explained, "I can't use it unless I'm absolutely certain I need to.

"But, it's a good escape method in a tight situation."

He nodded and sat down on the small stump.

She joined him, leaning her back into his; he reflected her actions.

She closed her eyes and dropped her head back against his. "So, Naruto didn't want to come?"

"Date with Hinata."

"Ah."

They sat there in silence as the background noise droned on. Crickets sounded in the distance; cicada, frogs, and other critters joined in the mutual chatter that was the night. Wind rustled the trees; leaves tapped against one another, creating a sound akin to hushed rain. Their mutual, heavy breaths were almost one; every now and then they broke unison before coming in sync again.

"I think I'm gonna head home," Sakura announced finally. She gave a groan as she stood up; her bones ached thanks to him. "I see a hot bath in my future; plus, I need some rest so I can get up early tomorrow—again." She sighed.

"Sakura."

"Yeah?" she replied in question as she gathered her things up.

Sasuke rubbed a hand down his face, but, he didn't get up. "I don't want to talk about it. But," he murmured, "I want you to know I appreciate what you're doing for my bother."

She looked over at him then, stilled as her eyes settled on his back. She was quiet.

"I know about all the other nurses… caregivers… whatever. Tsunade kept me abreast of it…" He paused again, elbows on his knees now, fingers interlaced in front of his face in way that had always been purely Sasuke. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, I feel… at ease knowing it's you.

"Make sense?"

She nodded. "Yeah." Her smile was soft and simple. She let out a long sigh when he said nothing else. "Well, it's late and my tub is calling. You gonna be ok getting home?"

He snorted.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I figured that would be the response I would get, prick. See you tomorrow." Without much else she turned and left, thinking her day really hadn't been a total loss.

But, whoever thought dealing with two Uchiha men on a regular basis was easy was out of their fucking mind.

AN :: So, I'm actually fairly surprised people read my author notes for this story. Usually, only a handful of people read my author notes at all on my other fics. I'm not really sure if you guys are incredibly curious, bored beyond measure, or, just plain stupid. Obviously, I'm joking, but, it is that shocking.

I'm also amazed I managed to get this chapter done; I was working at such a snail's pace, trying to piece it all together in my head and then on the screen. I had a few plans for this chapter, but, then decided it was just too soon for the mood of this story.

So! A lot of people have been asking me about Sakura curing Itachi's blindness. I debated throughout the entire writing of this chapter what my response would be. A year or two ago when my writing wasn't nearly as good as it is now, I would have given it all away; because, at heart, I'm easily—euphorically—excited about my work… so, I have a tendency to want to share that euphoria with everyone (and I do mean EVERYONE). But, now… the answer is simple:

I guess you'll just have to read to find out, won't you?

And with that I bid you adieu.

—Blade

P.S. Virtual cookies to anyone who guesses the movie the book Sakura is reading references. (It's an olbie, but a goodbie.)