"What's going on?" asked Sakura dizzily. "I think felt something just now."
Unbeknownst to Sakura, Obito had spirited all three of them away into his Kamui dimension for storytime, leaving poor Kakashi prowling outside in mounting panic. Tormenting his old comrade was one of the few diversions that granted Obito a flicker of satisfaction while he waited for his Eye of the Moon plan to reach its final phase.
"Well, we were in a strange place filled with cubes," said Naruto, sounding rather depressed. "And then the masked guy kicked us out, so we're back outside, ya know… oh, there's Kakashi-sensei."
Sakura pricked up her ears. She could hear footsteps coming their way.
"Found 'em!" came a gruff voice. "Told you they couldn't have gone far!"
"Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke!" Kakashi called out in relief. "Pakkun's had me running in circles for hours, but all we found were slugs in the grass…"
Kakashi's voice trailed off as he noticed the forlorn expressions on his three students' faces. Naruto opened his mouth as if to speak, but he seemed to change his mind at the last second.
"Sakura…!" gasped Kakashi. "Your eyes, they…"
"We've had enough for today, Kakashi," said Sasuke dully, interrupting him. "If you don't mind… we'd like to go back ho— to the Hidden Leaf, now."
…
The return journey Hidden Leaf went by uneventfully, contrary to Sakura's expectations.
Naruto and Sasuke barely spoke on the way back, answering Kakashi's probing questions about their disappearance with mere grunts or the sparsest words. As for Sakura, whom Kakashi carried on his back, she knew she ought to feel sorry for herself, struck blind so prematurely, yet her anxiety for her two teammates overwhelmed any flicker of self-pity she might have mustered.
Sakura knew Naruto would come around in time, but Sasuke… in his present state, he was like a powder keg. He was still reeling from Obito's revelations, yet sooner or later he would realise he had been told the truth… or most of it, at any rate. And when he did, that was when he would turn all the years of rage for Itachi that he had accumulated against the village.
As they crossed the village's gates, Sasuke suddenly spoke up.
"I'm going home," he said sharply. "I'll leave the reports to you lot."
"Me too," said Naruto tiredly. "See ya later, Sakura, Kakashi… sensei. I'm going to bed."
Kakashi watched them trudge away, worry etched upon his face. He could empathise with the emptiness Sasuke ought to be feeling, having fulfilled his life's mission by killing Itachi; so, against his better judgement, he decided not to force him to the Hokage's office for the mission report, as standard procedure demanded. But Naruto…
"Do you know what's going on with Naruto, Sakura?" asked Kakashi, who was now more than a little alarmed. "This isn't like him…"
"I wonder," Sakura said glumly.
In hindsight, perhaps it would have been a good idea to tell Lady Tsunade about the sporadic visits Obito had been paying her and Sasuke, but it was too late now. If she said anything about what the masked man had told them, she was certain it would reach Danzō's ears sooner…
"Danzō… Danzō… Danzō…" Sakura murmured to herself. "If only he were gone…"
The seeds of a plan germinated in Sakura's mind during her piggyback ride to the Hokage Residence on Kakashi-sensei's back. It was a despicable, abhorrent plan that would throw the rest of her friends to the wolves, but it would protect those closest to her, and somehow… she didn't think those three would mind.
Before Sakura knew it, they were standing in front of Lady Tsunade's desk.
"Pupils… responsive," came Tsunade's voice. Sakura felt her face heat slightly as a light was shone into her eyes. "That's a good sign. Can you make out how many fingers I'm holding up?"
Sakura shook her head. All she could see was grey… which was sort of better than the black she could only see earlier? Maybe her Hashirama cells were already busy at work fixing the damage!
"I'll go check the archives to see if I can find anything that might help you, but I wouldn't get your hopes up, if I were you…" said Lady Tsunade. "According to the Senju family's records, once an Uchiha has exhausted their pupil power, it's gone for ever."
Security around the village's archives had been much tightened ever since the assassination attempt that had taken Asuma's life. There was now one guard on duty on top of the clerk!
"Still, we've got plenty of spare eyeballs in the village's organ bank; we'll have your eyesight restored in no time," Tsunade went on. "What colour would you like your new eyes, Sakura? Green's a bit of a rare colour, but we've got a few blues in stock, if I remember correctly…"
"No, thank you," said Sakura squeamishly. "I don't really like the idea of getting my eyes scooped out. Besides, I doubt you have any Mangekyō Sharingan in stock."
Sakura stubbornly folded her arms under her massive chest.
"You do realise you won't be able to keep being a ninja if you're blind, Sakura? You won't be able to go on missions with Naruto and Sasuke any more," Kakashi said hesitantly. "Sight is the most important of the five senses for a reason, I'm sure you know…"
"Even so, I won't have anyone touching my eyes," Sakura sniffed. "Now, if you'll just hand me a pencil, I'd like to get started on my report…"
Wordlessly, Tsunade sat back behind her desk and slid a sheet of paper and a pencil across to Sakura. The sounds of scribbling filled the room, and a few seconds later…
"Sakura, you're writing on my desk."
"Oh, sorry."
"…"
"This is unreadable, isn't it?"
"…"
In the end, Sakura was forced to dictate her report to Kakashi, who wrote it down for her. He offered to walk her home, but she was too proud to accept. And a few hours later, having run into more utility poles, trees, lampposts, rubbish bins, playing children, dogs, and cats than she cared to admit, and having been forced to use the Area Scanning Jutsu at every street corner to find her way, she finally made it back to the Uchiha District.
"Sakura. I was waiting for you."
Sakura froze in place at the sound of Sasuke's voice.
"You were?" she said timidly. "Sorry I made you wait, I got lost on the way back home; I think I took a wrong turn at the fish market…"
"I spoke with Denka, my ninneko," Sasuke went on. "I'm not sure if you knew this, but the Uchiha clan has always had close ties with ninja cat clans. Anyway, Denka told me there was a special eyedrop medicine Uchiha clan members relied on when they overused their ocular powers. And I thought maybe it could help you..."
Sakura sighed in relief. Thank goodness Sasuke wasn't thinking about murdering Danzō or the village elders, but rather about her…
"I don't know when I'll be back," Sasuke continued. "Apparently, the village where this medicine is made is quite hard to find."
"Wait, you're leaving?" Sakura said worriedly. "Sasuke, I'm glad you're concerned about me, but I'll be fine, really. I swear…"
Footsteps.
"Sakura."
Sakura started in surprise; he sounded very close.
"Sasuke?" she began, but she couldn't finish her sentence; he was now hugging her tightly against his broad chest, squashing her massive boobs between their two bodies. "Eep!"
Before Sakura could realise what was happening, Sasuke's lips were pressed against hers, and she found herself kissing him back. Her mind went utterly blank as they exchanged a long, passionate kiss, their tongues swirling around each other's… then, at some point, Sakura having lost track of time, Sasuke drew away, leaving her weak at the knees.
"Tell the others I'll be back soon enough," said Sasuke softly. "And tell Naruto that Itachi told me Madara was there on the night the Nine-Tails attacked, sixteen years ago; he's probably too stupid to connect the dots, so tell him the masked man is the one who most likely murdered his parents, or at the very least, caused their deaths."
A gust of wind rose, and Sakura lost track of his presence; he was gone. Stunned, she touched her still-tingling lips absent-mindedly with her fingertips, Naruto's smiling face flashing briefly before her mind's eye, filling her with guilt.
That kiss had made her feel so good, so… why had it felt so wrong?