Sightless - UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Chapter 04 - Becoming Even

When Sasuke woke up, he didn't know much more than pain - agitating pain. Each breath struck a sharp stab in his side, and his stomach felt on fire. There wasn't much more to know, apart from the fact that he wasn't dead. At least, not yet. He thought, for sure, he would be soon.

Then, he knew something else. Something very wrong. He couldn't see anything. Not even darkness - like when he had his eyes closed. There was nothing to see. 

He tried channelling chakra to where his eyes should be, but he already knew what would happen. There were no Sharingan, and there were no eyes.  

He felt sparks of lightning in his blood. It was a lot angrier, than usual. Goddamn it. He would find the bastards, and make the--

He tried sitting up, and almost passed out again with the pain. 

"Shh, don't try to move." Sakura sprang from her seat, by his side. She had been so engrossed in the scroll she was reading, that she hadn't seen him wake up. She flinched at the look on his face - she had never seen someone so miserable. He didn't seem to have it in him to even be surprised, that she was there. 

She put a hand on his wrist, which flinched but didn't pull away.

"Do you remember anything? Anything at all?"

What the Hell was Sakura doing here?

"No. What happened?" his voice was sharp, with disuse.

She rolled her eyes, but instantly regretted it. It was wrong to be annoyed when he'd suffered so much. 

"I'm not sure." she guessed, "I had a mission to gather information on Orochimaru's abandoned hideout. And there... you were." Sakura didn't even think about how she shouldn't be divulging village secrets to an enemy shinobi. 

Sasuke rubbed his forehead, which proved more painful than it was worth. Fragments of memories were shooting through his head. He was running, and then he was down. Being hurt. Blood. Someone's voice, ringing in his ears. More blood. 

"Things are..coming back."

"It's okay, don't force it. They'll come back by themselves." She assured him, in the same voice she used on all her patients. 

Sasuke was remembering more. He remembered hearing Sakura's voice, and then her screams. Had she been there too? Had she been hurt, with him? There was a lump in his throat. He cared about Sakura like he would about a passing memory - not very much, and with lingering disinterest. But, the thought of her hurt made him uneasy. She wasn't supposed to be messy - not like he was.

She sat by him, as he frowned harsh lines into his forehead. Sakura fidgeted, not knowing what to do with herself, when sitting next to someone trying to pull back memories. She squirted water from her bottle into a cup. 

"Do you want some water?"

Sasuke nodded, and she went about helping him sit up. Looping an arm around his waist, she lifted the top half of his body, into a sitting position (through poorly suppressed hisses) and leaned him against the wall. His breathing was shallower, and quicker, but she thought he preferred it this way, anyway. It was hard to look dignified laying flat on your back. 

She slowly put the cup to his mouth, which he quickly took into his own hands. Sasuke drank the entire cup, and then when she offered him another one, he drained that, too. 

The water seemed to clear his mind, and drag him out of the glamour. There were still gaps, but Sasuke remembered the moment he was captured. He was pursued by a whole squadron of shinobi. There was a moon. Then, there were three more. It was dark.