Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor will I ever.

Summary: "Haruno Sakura, you have been ordered to guard the prisoner Uzumaki Naruto." After a strict order from the Hokage, Sakura has been forced to conquer her greatest fear—the rumored beast of Konoha. The tragedy is slowly revealed, piece-by-piece.

Pairing: Naruto X Sakura

AN: For "spoilers" about Naruto's blindness scroll down to the end…though I'm not sure if you can consider them spoilers…

Edited as of March 23, 2009

Broken Leaf

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02. Do I feel amity or enmity?

Haruno Sakura leaned down heavily against the wooden gates that guarded Konoha, folding her arms neatly against her chest. Her fingers tapped softly on the hard surface of the gate. She peered around. When she saw no sign of a figure, she started kicking her legs against the ground. To anyone else, she might have looked like she was merely bored. But, of course, Haruno Sakura never did something without a valid reason.

Just how much longer was Uzumaki going to take to chat with the Hokage? Even she, being Tsunade's student, was never in her presence for too long. Either Sakura got too intimdated by her teacher or Tsunade was swamped with some sort of Hokage-paperwork, which was often, considering the fact that Tsunade was a grade A slacker.

Perhaps he had lost his footing along the stairs.

It occurred to Sakura that he was blind; there was no telling what would happen to him if he was left alone to the stairs. Sakura felt a sharp pain stir at the bottom of her stomach. Despite the fact that Uzumaki was a proclaimed monster of the villager, it was not right to think of such horrid thoughts. She sighed. He would probably be okay. While they were walking in the prison, he didn't seem to have any difficulty walking up the stairs. She leaned her head back against the gates, allowing her neck to stretch until she could look up to the sky. Was he always blind, she wondered? If not, when did he become blind? Suddenly, her eyes flashed and she snapped her fingers, cursing softly under her breath. The profile! That was the crucial item she would need if she wanted to learn more about Uzumaki. Still, his words stirred in her mind, the ones where he would answer her questions if she asked. She shook her head immediately after she thought of those thoughts. No doubt he would get anger. Anyone with a right mind would, if someone asked the questions she had in mind.

There were many reasons he could be blind. From the way he walked earlier, she could assume he was either extremely skilled or just lucky. It didn't even feel like she was walking with a blind person. She'd dare say if one couldn't see his eyes, they'd probably assume that he was normal, like everybody else. Everybody else. He did appear normal…so normal that she could forget his status if she was too comfortable with him. She'd have to remind herself that. Moving on with her thoughts, she figured that he was probably comfortable with his blindness. But, it still didn't answer her main question. Was Uzumaki born blind? Was that why he showed mastery while walking down the stairs?

She drifted away from her thoughts; instead, she listened the harmony of the birds as the moved along from the canopies of the trees. Sweet water drops from yesterday's rain lingered on, scenting the forest with an almost sugary scent. Uzumaki was not here yet, she remembered. What had Tsunade wanted to talk about with Uzumaki Naruto? Maybe it was about the years he spent rotting away in a cell. Maybe it was about her.

It surprised Sakura when she first found him smiling. There was a prisoner once, four years ago when she had worked as an assistant medic. The event happened during her shift at the hospital when a convict from Konoha's prison had escaped and was reported to have been spotted running towards the hospital. The nurses and doctors at the hospital panicked; chaos and havoc filled the entire hospital. At that time, Sakura had simply brushed the matter aside and went working before Tsunade could scold her any longer for slacking off.

And she never did see the criminal at the hospital. It was as if the event never occurred for Sakura.

After a day later, the matter settled down. The doctors no longer paled when they entered a room; the nurses did their best to continue on with their duty. Sakura had been sitting by the lobby room, taking a short break when she heard.

"Did you hear about the prisoner?" whispered a by-passing nurse.

"Rumors everywhere," another murmured. "What happened?"

"I saw first hand," spoke another one, "He just kept repeating the words 'want to die' over and over again until he ran out of breath and died at the east building."

"I visited the prison once. It was like going to hell."

"Imagine living there."

It made her think that perhaps, the prison in Konoha wasn't as merry as the Academy made it out to be.

Never mind that. What about Uzumaki's eyesight? There was always a way with healing; she knew a bit about healing eyesight, but would it be allowed? As the mission states, her priority is to make sure that Uzumaki does not harm or injure anyone living at the village. She highly doubted that healing his eyes would make her task any easier. Another option was Tsunade-sama. She was also best medic of her time. That's right. Sakura grasped the thought firmly. If Tsunade wanted to heal Uzumaki's eyesight, it would be fine, but Sakura would have to stay out of it.

Uzumaki and her were in two separate worlds after all.

It was dangerous to get close.

And she had no desire to. It made absolutely no sense that she would want to heal his eyes.

"Where is he…?" she spoke softly to herself, barely whispering the words. If waiting for Uzumaki took that long, she could have made her daily visit to the hospital by now and visited her teammate in there along the way. Sai, Sasuke, and Kakashi. They were Team Seven, one of the rookie groups that made Chunnin on the first exam.

"A lot of things happened every since," she mused. Sasuke had fallen into a coma after trying to fight his older brother and failing, horribly. It had taken both Sai and Sakura to successfully get him back from the grasps of the Sharingan user. Kakashi went away next, without a word to the both of Sakura and Sai. He was meet them at their usual spot for a 'new member'. Neither the new member nor Kakashi appeared. When they asked the Hokage, Tsunade had not bothered with an answer, saying that Kakashi was fine and okay. After a year later, Sai had disappeared into the organization by the name of 'Root'. Danzo. How she despised that name. If it weren't for that man, at least Sai would have still been here with her. She missed him, despite the fact he was a terrible person with nicknames. He still was her teammate, but that had ceased to be true a year ago.

Finally at the age of fifteen, a year ago still, Tsunade had taken Sakura as her successor. It had taken her one full year to become a medic with nothing but work and study. She hadn't mind. It wasn't as if she had anyone to talk to. Everybody was gone. She was alone.

"Is he taking his time?" she asked, mirroring a thought that had flew in her head. Her fingernails ceased their tapping.

She wondered if she could get new teammates. Sakura chuckled. Uzumaki was classified as dangerous. There would be no new teammates, only Uzumaki and her. She was stuck with him and he was stuck with her, like it or not. It was only a matter of time before he killed her or before he got jailed again. There was no other option.

"Tsunade-sama, Tsunade-sama, why did you give me this mission?" she asked again. It was a question to herself, of course. No one would dare question Tsunade up close, if they valued their lives.

'Except Naruto.' A smile crept up her lips. Only an idiot would comment on Tsunade's Hokage had gone considerably easy on him compared to a new Jonin who had recently achieved that rank. He had only made one small comment about her face before the Jonin landed in for a month. Sakura knew first hand; she was the one who treated his injuries.

"Ah!" she clapped her hands, "Idiot Naruto!"

What a perfect name for a guy like him. Idiot Naruto. It had a ring to it.

"No one's ever called me that before…" a soft chuckled followed with a loud bang of the gate.

Sakura felt her legs wobble and a sensensation of slipping down. Her whole body seemed to be dropping. But that was to be expected. His presence had been silent and unexpected, too much for the medic to handle. But for some reason, she didn't feel her body dropping into three feet of thick sticky mud. Instead, she felt a pair of hands holding her back. She looked up, seeing Uzumaki's face stare down at her.

"You okay, Sakura-chan?" His voice sounded gentle, even to Sakura. "I didn't mean to surprise you."

"It's alright," she replied, trying to not choke on her words. She released his hold on her arm gently, "We should get going soon; the mission is urgent."

"Sorry about coming late," Uzumaki apolgized, once more. "Lead the way, then! I wanted to lead, but the old hag told me that I was to listen to all your orders."

"Is that so?" Sakura nodded, pretending to not care that much. Could Uzumaki really heed her orders? Would he follow her?

He did, but he always stayed a few feet behind. It was as if he sensed her need for space, or perhaps, he wanted to stay away from her too. She didn't know.

Suspicion was always an issue in the shinobi world. Trusting the wrong person could be fatal while not trusting the right person could be lethal.

Sakura turned around to Uzumaki, who currently held his face towards the ground. It reminded her of a blind mouse, scurrying around the ground for scrap for leftovers.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

The Uzumaki prisoner did not answer for a moment, choosing to twist his head to the left. She tried again, getting the same results.

"Can't you hear it, Sakura-chan?" he whispered, so soft Sakura had to strain her ears.

"What?" she hissed back.

"There's someone following us."

Sakura almost snorted, but managed to refrain from doing so.

"I'm pretty sure you're wrong, Uzu-Naruto," she corrected.

"I'm not," he shook his head. His voice was serious for once "Listen, can't you hear the footsteps? Listen carefully."

"Fine," sighed Sakura. She sent up her chakra, allowing her ears to be more sensitive to the surroundings. Wind blowing…a small stream rushing…chirping…busy bees buzzing… Her mind zoned back.

"I can't hear anything," she bluntly stated.

"But-Never mind," he laughed heartily, "Must have been a mistake!"

"Yeah, probably."

Sakura glanced back into the depths of the trees. Headaches were also an issue in the shinobi world. Most did not get enough sleep. Sakura rubbed her head softly, applying some chakra to soften the pain. For the past month, she had only been able to grab one-two hours of sleep each night. Was Uzumaki like other ninjas? His face showed no signs of fatigue but instead the exact opposite: bright blue eyes and healthy sand-colored skin. Her eye slight twitched when she noticed three faint marks on both sides of his face. Were they whiskers? Again, the question could have been avoided if she had simply brought out his profile.

"Uzumaki-san…" The words sounded strange in Sakura's lips.

"Naruto," he persisted, "It's weird for someone to call me like that!"

"Um, okay," she nodded despite the fact he couldn't see her and so, that gesture was probably useless.

"Wait…why don't you promise?" he smiled.

Sakura gave him a questioning look, "Eh?" She didn't want to promise anything that would prove to be disadvantageous for her later on.

"To call me Naruto," he said, as if he were explaining it to a child, "Uzumaki-san doesn't fit me very well."

He acts like a little child.

"Fine," she sighed, "I promise."

To her surprise, he sounded sincere when he stated his next statement, "Thanks, Sakura."

"Naruto?"

"Hm?" he turned toward her, blinking.

"Why are-" she licked her lips and shook her head frantically, "Never mind."

"What?"

"It's nothing," stated Sakura.

"Are you sure? If there's anything I can do to help..."

"It's nothing."

"Are you sure?" he asked again. He probably didn't mean anything by it, but at that point, Sakura was fully the full attack of a headache.

"Just-shut-up," she gritted her teeth, "You're annoying!"

Her eyes widened. She hadn't meant that, but the words had flew out of her mouth before she could stop them. The damage had been done.

"Sorry." The reply was curt. Cold. Polite.

Sakura nodded her head, "It's okay."

Why are you blind?

Sakura sighed, resting her head on her shoulders. Was that a question really that hard to ask? In the hospital, she would ask awkward questions all the time depending on the situation and not even blush once.

This is not the hospital.

Sakura glanced at Naruto's back. Was he still angry at her early outburst? Getting a water bottle from her backpack, she walked over to the still Uzumaki.

"Thirsty?" she asked, tapping his shoulder lightly.

Naruto stayed silent in his position.

"If you do…I have an extra bottle of water…" she trailed off. This was obviously not working. Naruto had barely moved an inch.

"Err…Naruto?" she added. He did say he would respond to his name…

Naruto's head turned to her and snatched the water bottle, "Thanks! I was thirsty!"

Sakura smiled. "What do you think of Konoha?" she asked, taking a seat next to the blonde, "I personally think it's pretty decent compared to the other hidden villages."

Naruto gulped down his bottle, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt, "Okay, I guess." His voice grew more neutral now, and perhaps, Sakura thought it felt a bit forced.

"Hmm…really?" Sakura twisted a strand of her hair, "I see…" She supposed he would answer like that. Who wouldn't, after being forced into a jail for a few years? Sakura dug a rock in the soil, keeping her silence. She didn't know what else she could possibly ask without trying to offend the blond. Try as she might, there was still fear within her. Though he appeared so innocent, she knew what he could possibly be. The hospital had lent her experience of this sort. Normal ninjas could become thirsty bloody killers by simply grabbing hold to a weapon.

The two had continued their journey after the short rest with Sakura still leading. They had talked little afterwards. The sandy desert soon came into view, devoid of any trees or plants besides the occasional cactus. It was a barren wasteland with nothing but sand and more sand. It pleased her that they arrived this early.

"It's Suna!" exclaimed Sakura, "We arrived…early." She paused, scratching her head. How did that happen?

"Naruto?" The girl received no answer.

"Naruto?"

Uzumaki had stopped all movement, still facing the forest. His head sometimes turned left or right, but never toward the desert. Sakura felt a prick of fear enter through her veins. Was he deciding to go into an attack mode?

"What's…going on?" she asked.

"Huh…yeah..." Naruto turned, "The desert." He walked a few steps towards the sand and touched the ground, immediately letting go. Quickly, he tossed a kunai into the distance.

Fast…

A couple of small sand storms moved about.

Sakura's body grew rigid in place, "Who's there?" she asked cautiously, tightening her right hand into a fist. Did Uzumaki spot someone?

"No one's there," she noted.

"I guess, it was my mistake," he shrugged, but Sakura could still not shake the feeling of danger.

Four Sand ninjas were posted at the entrance. Normally more would have been assigned, but it couldn't be helped. The village was in turmoil after all.

"Do you think those Konoha nin caught up with the Kazekage yet?"

A shrug.

"How should I know? I ain't got super sight vision that can see for hundred of miles away."

"Suppose not." A chuckle.

Silence pursued. The only sound came from the desert.

"Do you think that the Kazekage is de-

"Don't," warned another one, "If Temari-sama hears that, we're dead."

"No worries," another one said, "She's probably tending to her brother's wounds now."

"Too bad Konoha didn't send a medic."

"We should be grateful we got any ninjas from them at all after that incident with the Sound…"

"There's a group coming!" one shouted. The other three rushed, revealing their own pair of binoculars.

"There's…a girl and a boy!"

"Get your weapons ready, it could be an enemy attack!" shouted one of the ninja in the back.

"We're finally there," exclaimed Sakura. "Get ready, okay."

Naruto nodded slowly, quickening his pace.

"I'll go on ahead to check," he stated. He seemed to bypass Sakura easily, without even breathing any harder than he had earlier.

"Wait!" yelled Sakura, "We need to show them our pas-

Naruto was long gone, already going to the narrow entrance.

"No," she sighed. He was no following her commands as a leader.

AN:

For Naruto's blindness, let's just say he's not really 'blind' yet he is…in a way.