Blind Faith

Disclaimer: Don't ask don't tell.

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She was blind.

Emerald eyes stared unseeingly foreword, pink hair hung in soft disarray around pale, damp cheeks of the petite kunoichi.

She didn't move from her spot on the ground, her hands flat on the dirt ground beside her, her breathing uneven.

Panic threatened to overwhelm her.

Her chakra was blocked, and the light drizzle around her was a constant buzz in her ears.

Sakura's arms shook as she dug her fingers into the ground around her. She had been running from the nuke-nins when the poison had taken hold of her, she hadn't been able to stop its effects in time.

It had blinded her, and she couldn't even heal herself because of the disruption in her chakra system.

Shakily Sakura tried to calm the panic in her stomach, twisting a not in her gut and spreading a cold through her system that had nothing to do with the cool air and cold drizzle of the late evening Kiri weather.

She had no idea how far away the ninja's where, she had no idea how far away she was from a village, a shelter, or any form of safety for that matter. And sadly, the kunoichi new that with her chakra blocked and her vision gone her chances of her survival were so depressingly low that she should just roll up in a ball and let her self die.

However, that was just not who Haruno Sakura was, she may have been small for a kunoichi, she may have had an odd sense of ninja pride, maybe it was the fact that she had a teammate that was always preaching about never giving up, about believing, maybe it was the fact that she knew her shishou would resurrect her and roast her alive if she even thought about lying there in defeat...

Sakura stood up on shaky legs, shaking slightly from the cold air hitting her damp skin and the paranoia that resided in every ninja, hers rearing its ugly head when she needed it least. Slowly she began to walk, she had to find shelter, she had to hide until she could figure something out.

She may be blind and have no chakra to aid her, but she couldn't give up, she just couldn't.

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Sakura stumbled for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past half an hour, her hands coming out to stop her descent to the ground, stumbling in her attempt to right herself, she fell again unable to keep her balance, her hands catching the worst of her fall as they sunk into the soft, wet Earth.

Sakura gave a shaky sigh, just thankful she hadn't fallen on any rocks this time.

Sakura had never realized how many roots littered the ground of Kiri, she had always traveled on the paths, or if not the paths above in the trees or on the water ways, but without chakra she couldn't, and without sight, it was just much too dangerous.

Sakura slowly sat back up and reached out around her, her hand found the rough back of a tree and Sakura was suddenly struck with a thought.

Moss! She could find out which direction she was going if she could find where the moss was growing!

Hands sliding over the rough bark Sakura felt her hope rise a notch, until now she had no way of knowing which way she was going, she could have been going in circles this whole time without even realizing it! Hands searching desperately for the soft green moss that should be growing on the trees, a singular thought filtered into her brain.

The moss wouldn't grow here, before she had gone blind she had noted that the area had often flooded, with little to no sun filtering in through the fog, with no sun, there would be no moss, with constant water flushing past the trees, it wouldn't grow facing north even if it did manage to survive.

Panic started welling in Sakura's chest as she crawled foreword to another tree checking it for what she knew would be another disappointment.

"Dammit," she muttered, her voice trembling.

Trembling fingers slid down the tree to dig into the ground, unseeing emerald eyes hazy and trembling with built up agitation and fear.

She was in trouble.

Sakura had no idea where she was, the temperature was dropping rapidly, she had no way of knowing where the nuke-nin where.

And worst of all, no one would be looking for her.

She had been on a solo B-ranked mission to heal an associate of the leaf in Kiri, she had done just that and was now expected back in Konoha in two days. She wouldn't be alive in two days.

And as if to prove her point the heaven's opened up and let lose a thunderous roar, at the sudden icy contact on her skin and the startling sound of thunder Sakura flinched.

The rain poured down hard around her and without her senses Sakura began to shake at the now pounding rain, the temperatures dropping to freezing, another roar of thunder had Sakura flinching again.

Without her sight paranoia crept up on her, with her chakra being blocked and with her having no way of unblocking it or being able to sense anything around her, fear gripped at her throat, her body shaking from the cold and fear Sakura stood and began walking foreword again, hands outstretched around her, fighting the fear that told her to run, fighting the paranoia that told her to turn.

Faster Sakura walked, tripping over the roots as she made her way foreword, catching herself and brushing her fingers past the trees she passed, stumbling further as she fought the rising panic.

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The rain rolled of the dark material of his cloak and hat, the storm getting worse by the minute. The ground that moments ago had only been muddy was beginning to flood.

He easily walked on it without a second thought, chakra surging lightly with each step. His partner doing much the same beside him, the large figure of his partner gripping his samehade in one hand as they tracked the nuke-nin through the worsening storm.

It wouldn't be long now, apparently the nuke-nin had been after someone for quite some time now, from what they had discerned the nuke-nin had ambushed a shinobi sometime ago for all rights and purposes because they where bored.

The shinobi was probably dead, the attack had been marked by a poison that knocked out the senses, the exact reason why the Akatsuki had been hired to  go after the small groups leader. From what they understood of the mission, the leader of the small group had stolen it from a paranoid daimyo who had purchased it for some underhanded skim or another, now he feared what he was going to do with the poison would get out.

But besides blocking the senses, the little stream of poison did a tad bit more.

Eventually it would kill the person, or in this case the shinobi by attacking the brain, it was a poison that took effect within an hour and was virtually incurable without immediate attention.

The attack had happened three hours ago.

The Nuke-nin where still apparently tracking the body down.

Kisame paused beside him, "Oi, Itachi, up ahead."

"Hm."

It seemed they found they're targets tracks again.

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Sakura shook from the cold, the rain had flooded up past her knees and she had been forced to try and find higher ground, the best she had been able to do was find a large tree with roots that stuck a ways from the ground.

Trying to climb the tree had been pointless and Sakura had only slid back down with numb limbs. The best she could do know was press her back into the bark of the tree, sitting only a few inches above the water.

Sakura pulled her legs to her chest, wrapping her arms around her and shivering with vigor.

She may have been able to stop the more damaging effects of the poison, but until she could get back to Konoha or find a medic skilled enough to repair her ruptured chakra system, she would remain blind. She was just lucky to have just recognized the poison in her system and been able to stop its deadly effects.  

But that was the least of her worries now, she was starting to suffer from the effects of hyperthermia and having no way to find shelter without using her hands and feeling around she was in trouble. The flooding wouldn't even allow her to attempt to gather wood for a fire, she didn't even have her pack anymore, it had been lost in the run.

Shivering and burying her head in her arms, Sakura listened to the pouring rain around her, her arms and legs numb with cold.

Shutting unseeing eyes Sakura shivered. Exhaustion threatened to overwhelm her but she fought to keep awake, she would never make it if she fell asleep.

Ping!

Sakura froze, even without her sight, even without her chakra or shinobi senses, even with the hard pounding of rain around her, Sakura recognized the sound of unnatural disturbances in the water.

Multiple shinobi had landed around her position, and judging by the 'shing' of weapons being drawn, they most certainly weren't friendly. Sakura tilted her head up, unseeing emerald eyes looked foreword.

She was going to die.

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Itachi stood on the tree branch observing the curious scene before him, he and Kisame had split up a few moments ago when they had picked up separate trails. A physical trail was leading away, almost completely destroyed by the flooding, a chakra trail was leading around the physical trail, the second had been easy to discern, it was the nuke-nin.

The first, the physical trail had spiked Itachi's interest, it had been the shinobi's trail, but for that to be true, it would mean that the shinobi was still alive after the effects of the poison had taken effect. For that to be the case the shinobi would either have to be extremely skilled with chakra or a medical ninja of extremely high caliber.  

The trail had been fresh so it was obvious that the shinobi was alive, but the trial was strange.

Itachi had to see it with his own eyes.

What he saw sparked an interest in him that he hadn't felt in quite a long time.

She was blind.

She was also his younger brother's former teammate from Konohagakure, apprentice of the Godaime if he remembered correctly.

She was also in trouble, her skin was too pale, and when she had lifted up her head he could see with sharp clarity the blue tinge to her lips, her short pink hair that had been cropped to her shoulders was wet and sticking to her cheeks.

Her cloths were completely impractical for the cold weather and it was obvious she hadn't been prepared for staying any longer then what was necessary of her for whatever she had been doing.

The short kunoichi skirt was wet and clinging to her legs, as was the dark shorts she wore underneath them, her shirt clung to her, soaked through. For some reason her thoughtlessness of the situation and possible events annoyed him.

She was quite small for a kunoichi, if anything she had lost weight since the last time he had seen her, she couldn't have been more then eighteen now, maybe a year or so older.

He was going to leave her, she wouldn't make it through the night in this weather, and he certainly couldn't be bothered with her. That's when she had looked up, unseeing emerald eyes darkening in determination as the weather pounded mercilessly around her, she had pulled her knees closer to her and curled tighter around herself.

Did she still find hope in such a desperate situation? From what he could see she had no use of her chakra, her eye sight was gone and she had no means to contact any one that could help her.

What a foolish thing, to hope.

Sharingan eyes narrowed minutely, what a foolish, foolish creature.

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The nuke-nin chuckled at her predicament, she was blinded and backed against the tree, if she moved from her perch she would be hindered by the flood water, she was weaponless, she was an easy target.

"I don't know how you're still alive, but we're here to rectify the situation."

Sakura curled her toes in her boots, forcing blood into her limbs so she could move easier. With her eye sight and chakra detection skills blocked Sakura had to rely on her hearing, the shifting of wet cloths, the sound of rain bouncing off the men around her.

She wasn't a jounin for nothing, and she certainly wouldn't go down without a fight.

Wide unseeing emerald eyes narrowed in concentration, one of the men laughed and flung a kunai towards her, Sakura didn't move, the blade slashed through the air, whistling slightly as it came towards her, Sakura didn't move.

The kunai 'thunck'ed into the wood beside her, laughs erupted around her.

Sakura fisted her hand into a fist, "What's wrong, Kunoichi? Having trouble seeing straight!?"

More laughter, Sakura's eyes narrowed further and in a swift motion she plucked the kunai from a tree and pushed herself off the roots she had been residing on, throwing the kunai at the man who had spoken both times.

A satisfying sound of cloth tearing met Sakura's straining ears and the man cursed loudly before Sakura hit the water allowing her a moment of satisfaction before kunai sliced into her arms and side, barely slowed by the now three or so feet of water.

Sakura gripped blindly to pluck a kunai up from the water before emerging, from the flood water, only this time instead of the noise of the nuke-nin, the sound of water hitting her surroundings meet her.

Sakura's unseeing eyes swung from side to side from habit, but she could hear nothing but the rain falling heavily around her, her heartbeat steadily and quickly in her ears and Sakura found her self holding her kunai defensively while backing through the water as slowly as she could, trying her best to pick out any sounds out of the ordinary.

The icy fingers of paranoia gripped at her throat and Sakura found her self shaking slightly from both the cold water and the fear.

Shifting through the water Sakura froze at the sudden pressure at her back, she had bumped into something, or more specifically someone.

Swinging around to make an attempt to fend off what she thought was an enemy, she wasn't far off. She, however, never stood a chance.

The kunai was knocked out of her hand and her wrist was caught before she could make a fist, Sakura gasped as the air shifted around her, the rain blocked slightly from move of the person in front of her, a warm hand grasped her free hand.

Sakura pulled at her hands trying to move away from the source of heat in front of her, her cold body protested her movements, but the blind panic that was crawling up her spine had her pulling desperately at the hands gripping her wrists.

"Let me go!"

"Calm yourself, kunoichi."

Sakura froze at the cultured voice, his voice familiar, but she couldn't place it for the life of her, "W-who-"

Sakura gasped as he lifted her hand and placed it on his hitai-ate, just a slight touch against the mark that was most definitely the swirl of Konoha's insignia, but there was something strange about it, however her hand was pulled back before she could think on it.

Sakura's breath hitched and her body trembled violently, she was sure if she had vision it would have been blurring, all her medical skills where screaming that she was about to pass out, her body had reached its limits and was giving out on her.

Annoyance flickered in unseeing emerald eyes, annoyance at herself for having gotten into this situation in the first place.

And without further ado, Sakura passed out in a dead faint.

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He had watched as the kunai slammed into the tree beside her, he had thought the shinobi fools for underestimating the kunoichi, a shinobi against the wall, no matter their appearance was like a wild animal in a corner.

And as if to prove his point the fiery little kunoichi yanked the kunai from the tree and flung her self away from the spot, sending the kunai to hit the loudest of the shinobi in the shoulder.

The others reacted immediately, sending kunai after the girl in the water.

She had managed to take the worst of the damage away by using the waters density to slow the kunai but he had no doubts she had been hit.

Within in a blink of an eye Itachi moved from his spot in the tree, unnoticed until now he appeared before the nuke-nin.

"What the hell-"

"Sharingan."

It had been much to easy to trap the fools in his sharingan, and almost just as easily they fell, sinking into the water with a splash, his and Kisame's target had broken up with the other members of the group, which now meant they where Kisame's problem.

Itachi glanced over his shoulder as the kunoichi broke the surface of the water with a gasp, a kunai clutched in her hands as she trembled from the freezing water.

How intriguing, she was so utterly silent, using the only sense she had left, instead of striking out in a blind panic she turned her head, listening for anything that might tip her off to the whereabouts of the nuke-nin.

He could practically feel her nerves electrifying the air, her breathing was harsh from trying to keep her blood flowing and body working enough to keep from passing out from hypothermia.

She moved slowly in the water, confusion marring her features, emerald eyes darkened. She took another step back and bumped into his prone form.

Her body stiffened and she swung around with every intent and purpose to fight until she couldn't fight anymore.

Itachi easily disarmed her, knocking the kunai from her hand, watching with slight curiosity as she narrowed her eyes and made a fist, a fist that he easily caught, kneeling he caught her other, now kunai-less hand in his grasp and slid his hand down to rest around her icy wrist, her heart beat strong and determined against his palm.

He saw the way her emerald eyes warred with inner emotions and thoughts, her body was beginning to give out on her, "Let me go!"

The determination in her voice intrigued him, he wasn't expecting such an unwavering authority, no fear leaked into her words though he could clearly see the paranoia in her unfocused eyes.

"Calm yourself, Kunoichi."

Surprise filtered across her soft feminine features, soft, slightly blue tinged lips parted in surprise as recognition flashed across her face, quickly followed by confusion.

"W-Who?" Good, she didn't know who he was. The trembling from her voice came from the cold that was no doubt now affecting her whole body, the way she trembled, slowly her body was stopping in short intervals, her emerald eyes darkened dangerously.

Itachi was well aware that she was about to pass out from hyperthermia, he expected fear from her, she should know that this was the end for her.

But for some reason he was intrigued by the thoughtful look in her unseeing eyes, the slight nervous light to them, carefully he adjusted his hold on her hand to bring it up to his forehead, lightly he pressed her cold fingers to the center of his hitai-ate.

He couldn't resist the urge to see her features flicker with hope, he couldn't resist the more cynical side of himself.

Surprise flickered across her confused features as she tried to match his voice to a memory, but it would do her no good. She opened her mouth as if to say something but instead lowered her unseeing gaze.

No hope. No fear. Just confusion. Just pain.

With one last violent shiver she began to faint, fiery emerald eyes narrowed in annoyance at nothing in particular as the little kunoichi began to sink towards the water.

Intriguing.

With one fluid motion he had pulled her out of the water had her in his arms, her skin was ice cold and her heartbeat slowing, but that was something easily remedied, he couldn't let this fiery little kunoichi die now, he just might be able to find a use for her.

"Come now, pet."

It had been a long time since anything had caught his attention like this, it had been a long time since he had been wrong about human nature.

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