Brand new chapter! Yay! I wanted to get this finished before the internet was switched off and I went to bed. Twenty minutes to spare, oh yeah!

Disclaimer that I don't own, and enjoy!

Chapter Two

The trip to Konoha was going to take them all day, then all that night, with them arriving some time in the morning.

That was what Sakura told him as they sat atop the strange bird that Sai had created. Shisui ran his hand over the back of the creature… It didn't feel like a real bird. There were no feathers, the texture reminding him of that time he'd passed his hands over a canvas painting that Inoue-san had bought a few years ago. He could even still smell the remnants of the ink that had been used to create the beast.

"So," he said to Sakura. "Can you tell me a bit more about the village? Yesterday you told me a few things, but they were kinda basic, like the stuff a tourist might wanna know."

"What do you mean by that?" Sakura asked.

"Well," Shisui carefully searched for the right words. "You told me about the main landmarks of the village, like the Hokage monument, the tower, where the basic location of the market place is. But I'd like to hear about your Konoha. What's your favourite place to relax? Can… can you tell me how the village looks when the sun's setting? And the smells in the food district you mentioned, too."

Sakura was silent a moment, then she sighed. "You know, I've never really thought of the village that way before," she admitted. "I mean, I know it's beautiful, and there was this stairway that led up to the perfect spot where you could take in the sight of the whole village, monument and all, that I loved going to. But it's not…"

A twinge of sadness, Shisui heard it. "What is it?"

Sakura was silent for such a long time, he thought she wasn't going to say anything, but eventually she spoke, "A couple of years ago, the village was attacked and everything was decimated. That spot, my favourite spot, no longer exists."

"What!? Who attacked it?" Were they going to come back?

"A man named Pein," Sakura told him. "He was the leader of the Akatsuki, at least on the surface. They're the ones who declared that war a year ago. But they're gone now."

"The… the war that caused that tree thing to pull everyone up into it?" he asked.

A moment silence, then she said, "I nodded, I'm sorry. I forgot a moment."

"It's fine," he told her.

"Did… did you get pulled into the genjutsu?" she wondered.

"Uh, no," he told her. "I guess you need eyes for genjutsu to work, huh?"

"Most times."

They just sat there awhile, before she spoke again. "You know," Sakura observed, "you're quite well adjusted to being without sight. I've known some people who lost their vision, and none of them were as calm and accepting as you are."

"Well, I've had ten years, right?" Shisui reminded her. "Though in the beginning, I was a belligerent little asshole to everyone."

Sakura giggled. "That makes a bit more sense," she told him. "But Inoue-san and his family, they were there for you, weren't they?"

"Yeah," Shisui said softly, remembering. "They put up with a lot of my crap back then. They're family to me, you know, and I'm really going to miss them. But I hope that we'll meet again one day."

"I'm sure you will," Sakura told him, and her hand came to rest on his.

The two remained silent for a long while after.

OoOoO

Night had fallen now, not that Shisui could see that. But he could feel the cold, and he shivered.

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked.

"It's just… cold," Shisui told her. "I'm afraid I didn't bring anything all that warm with me."

He felt her scoot closer, then her arms wrapped around his middle. "Here," she said. "I'll share some body warmth with you."

Shisui was certain that his cheeks were red, but he leaned into her regardless, appreciating her concern as he carefully wrapped his own arms around her. A moment later, and Sakura giggled. "What? What is it?"

"Oh, it's nothing," she told him. "Kakashi-sensei just… whacked Sai over the head."

"Oh," he murmured. "I wonder why."

Sakura sighed. "He probably said something inappropriate about how close we are physically," she told him rather bluntly, and he felt his cheeks heat up once more. "Don't worry about it. As inept as Sai is, he undoubtedly gets why I moved closer."

"Why is he so… inept?" Shisui asked.

"Sai was… well, he was part of an organisation called ROOT," Sakura told him. "It was run by a former councillor, and the training program was incredibly barbaric. It was designed to eliminate emotions, to turn shinobi into the perfect weapon."

Okay, so now Shisui felt sorry for Sai. "This ROOT isn't still there, is it?" he asked.

"The Hokage, Tsunade-shishou, properly disbanded it after the councilman died," Sakura reassured him. "The agents were all either retired, absorbed into regular ANBU, or admitted for psychological deprogramming. Those last ones tended to be more… loyal to Danzou. And violently so, at that."

Shisui stiffened at the name Danzou, a feeling of anger and resentment filling him, though he had no idea why. At least, not until the image of a man in bandages hit him, a hand outstretched, the sensation of pain in his right eye as it was plucked from his skull. The pain, the utter betrayal, was overwhelming him and he couldn't breathe.

Sakura was immediately alert, a hand on his face as she asked urgently, "What is it? What's wrong?"

He tried to speak, he really did, but Shisui was experiencing what he now realised was a panic attack. He hadn't had one of those in years. He struggled to control his breathing, clutching at his empty right eye socket, even as he felt Sakura's calming chakra wash over him, attempting to soothe his panic.

"Sakura! What's wrong?" he heard Kakashi call out.

"He's having a panic attack!" she called back, then implored, "Shisui, please listen to me. You need to calm down. You're safe, alright? I'm here for you."

"Do you want to land?" Sai called, and with Sakura as close as she was now, Shisui could feel her shake her head.

"Just keep us going," she said. "I'll let you know if we need to stop."

Her attention returned to him, Sakura continued to use a combination of soothing chakra and vocal reassurances to bring him out of his anxiety, and soon enough, Shisui was calming down. Once he was past the worst of it, Sakura settled in next to him once more, arms wrapping around him and keeping him close. He took in deep, steadying breaths, until he felt he was past it.

"Do you want to talk about what triggered that?" she asked. "You don't have to if you don't want to, but…"

"It was that name," Shisui interrupted her, before he could let himself think about it. "The… the councillor. I had a memory, I think, of him. He was… stealing my eye, plucked it right out of its socket. Hurt like a bugger, too."

"Oh," Sakura said in a small voice. "We, uh… We had some intel that that was what happened, but I guess I never really thought about it, you know? But the guy's dead, so you don't need to worry about him ever again."

Shisui felt glad at that, then a thought occurred to him. "If you knew that," he asked, "then do you also know how I lost my left eye?"

OoOoO

Sakura glanced down at Shisui, who was now lightly snoring against her. She'd told him that he'd entrusted his remaining eye to a cousin of his, but that the full story should come from Sasuke, who knew more about it. That had been about an hour ago, and Shisui had fallen asleep not long after. His panic attack had exhausted him, and Sakura'd promised to make sure he didn't fall off while he slept.

The other bird glided over, and Kakashi asked, "How is he?"

Sakura sighed. "He should be fine," she told him. "We were talking about Sai, and I mentioned Danzou. He… he remembered him taking his eye, that's why he had the panic attack."

"I'm sorry," Sai said. "He's upset again because of me, even if it is indirectly."

"Don't apologise, there's no need," Sakura told her team mate, then frowned. "Just what did you call him yesterday that got him so upset, anyway?"

Sai blanched. "Uh, do I really have to say?" he asked nervously.

Kakashi whacked him over the head. "Just tell us," he ordered.

"Er… uh, I called him… Kangan-san."

Sakura's eye twitched, and she threw a kunai at him, which Kakashi effortlessly caught. "You idiot!" she snapped at him. "What the hell made you call him that?"

"It, uh, was a play on words!" Sai said shakily. "Because he has no eyeballs, I just…"

Sakura threw another kunai, but this time Kakashi didn't stop it, and instead just let Sai dodge it. "Go and get my kunai, Sai!" Sakura ground out, then proceeded to ignore him for the rest of the night.

OoOoO

Sakura jerked awake as the large ink bird she was on began its descent. Shisui had woken once the sun had started to peek over the horizon, and he'd insisted that she get some sleep as well. Looking around, Sakura judged that she'd slept for four hours. Not too far away was the village wall, Sai was lowering them to the main road leading into the village.

"Good morning," Shisui said. "Sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you for insisting I rest," Sakura told him, even as the bird landed.

She helped him descend until he was firmly on the ground. He let out a sigh and said, "As… interesting as that trip was, I'm really glad to be standing on solid ground now."

"Well, we're a ten minute walk from the main gate," Sakura told him. "Do you want to take my arm, or do you want me just to put my hand on your shoulder and guide you?"

"Er, whichever you think is best," Shisui said, and Sakura looped her arm through his.

"There's more physical support this way," she told him.

"Alright you lot," Kakashi said. "Let's get going."

"How are you feeling this morning?" Sakura asked as they walked. "Did you have any nightmares last night?"

"Eh, not really," Shisui told her. "Just a really weird one where there were all sorts of strange colours, partial images that I figure are leftover from when I could see. Though… There was one thing that was clear."

"What was that?" Sakura asked.

"A pair of eyes," he told her. "I don't think they were normal eyes, they were red with some kind of pin-wheel-like design."

"Oh, that's the sharingan, your kekkei genkai," she told him. "Sasuke could tell you more about that."

"I have a kekkei genkai? Cool." Shisui grinned down at her, and Sakura couldn't help but smile.

"It's a visual doujutsu," she told him, noting his sudden frown.

"Is that why he… Danzou… stole my eye?" he asked. "Because of this sharingan?"

"…Yes," Sakura said simply, and Shisui didn't push it further.

Soon enough, the gates came into view. Waiting there was Tsunade, arms crossed over her ample chest.

"Well, the Hokage comes out to greet us herself," Kakashi said. "It's an honour, Tsunade-sama."

"Cut the crap, Hatake," Tsunade snapped, then looked over at Shisui. "Sakura, to what extent have you examined him?"

"I did a complete examination the other day," she replied, and Tsunade narrowed her eyes at the man whose grip on Sakura's arm was now incredibly tight.

Turning to the other two, Tsunade ordered, "Kakashi, Sai, go get started on your reports. I expect to see them as soon as you've finished them. Sakura, Shisui, the two of you come with me. We're going straight to the hospital."

Kakashi and Sai took off immediately, and Sakura led Shisui through the streets, following her shishou. "Have you told Sasuke yet?" she asked.

"No," was the simple answer. "I wanted to confirm this Uchiha's identity for myself first. No offence, brat."

"Er… none taken?"

Once they arrived at the hospital, Tsunade led them straight up to a private room, which Sakura had no doubt she'd had waiting for them once she'd received the news. "Alright, up here on the examination bed, Uchiha, so I can give you a check-up."

Sakura helped Shisui up, then stepped back and watched her mentor work. The exam was over quickly, but then Tsunade started scribbling notes rather furiously, and Sakura could guess why. She'd noted the very real promise of being able to restore Shisui's sight as well.

Sitting up on the examination bed, Shisui looked rather lost, and Sakura had to stop herself from going over to pat his hand reassuringly. Instead she just stood there, waiting for Tsunade to be done. Finally, the Godaime stood from where she'd sat down and 'looked' at Sakura.

"I'm assuming you noticed it too," she stated, and Sakura nodded.

"Noticed what?" Shisui asked. "What is it?"

"Uchiha!" Tsunade barked. "The damage and subsequent neglect to your eyes is atrocious, but with your permission, we can heal all that damage and, with a transplant, return your sight. It's up to you, what do you want?"

Shisui's jaw unhinged, and Sakura just sighed at her shishou's bluntness.

I've never had a panic attack, so I hope I described it okay.

Review please!

Kangan: Eunuch, Google translation.