Blind To It Before
folder
Naruto › Het - Male/Female
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
8
Views:
1,564
Reviews:
52
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Naruto › Het - Male/Female
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
8
Views:
1,564
Reviews:
52
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
The Flicker of Hope
Title: Blind To It Before
Rating: R (for now)
Warnings: None yet
---------------------------------------------
Chapter 2 – The Flicker of Hope
It was another complicated medical report, ranking right along the infamous Rock Lee in difficulty and severity, which sat upon the Hokage’s desk that day. Tsunade sighed as she closed the cover, turning to her bookshelf to begin searching for resources on the optic nerve system. At first it was the failure of the mission that bothered her; they thought they had the Sound figured out when they noticed they only attacked on return missions. However, with this attack bringing down one of the village's finest without any sort of new information to go by, she was even more disturbed. The one Sound-nin they had managed to detain and return to the village was of little use to them as he remained tight-lipped about the technique his comrade had used against Naruto. Part of her mind figured he didn't even know the particulars of the bell's effects himself, but the rational part of her mind reminded her that this was Sound, and Sound was full of cruel bastards if nothing else. No amount of interrogation would pry any sort of information from his filthy mouth, and so he was most likely a candidate for the underground detention cells. Soon after the reports from both the hospital and Morino Ibiki were finished, she summoned Shizune in to request a warm bottle of sake and opened a window to the cool night air. She could tell it was going to be a long night, especially when an unexpected knock came upon her office door.
“Come in,” she muttered, as she thumbed through a medical journal, a dish of sake at her lips. Sakura walked in and seated herself in a nearby armchair on the other side of the desk. “I assume you’re here to get my opinion on his condition, right?” Tsunade questioned, not taking her eyes from the books that lay open before her. Sakura nodded, removing her nurse’s hat and fidgeting with it nervously.
“I need to know how to help him. He just got back to Konoha after two and a half years...and to have his first mission be such a failure. I just feel..."
"There is no room for self-imposed guilt in the life of a Medic-nin." Tsunade scolded, still intent on the journal in her hands. "You had no means to prevent what happened to him. What you need to concentrate on now is how to help him."
Sakura nodded, knowing full well her mentor was right as usual. “And what is it that I can do for him now? Tell me, just what did they do to his eyes?”
Tsunade sighed, running a hand back through her hair, “He’s blind, Sakura. They dissolved the nerves that attach to his eyes, completely disrupting his vision. It’s a high-level technique, something that must have come from that Kabuto boy. Only a medic-nin could have the precision to focus energy and pinpoint the optic nerves without any other damages.”
Sakura’s face relaxed a bit, “So it’s just temporary right? You can just re-grow the cells like we did with the hole in Neji's shoulder.”
The Hokage shook her head, “If it were that simple, I would be doing it right now, would I not? Rather than just cutting the nerves, it’s as if they melted the entire optical connection to his eyes. Ask him what he remembers from what happened right before he lost vision, I’d bet money that he heard an ear-piercing sound and then things went black. Their group is notorious for using sound waves in the disruption of the body tissues.”
“So, what does this mean for Naruto? Is there any hope?”
A voice from the doorway answered Sakura’s question. “There’s always hope; you’re talking to Tsunade-hime. She may be legendary sucker, but she’s a genius when it comes to medical things. If she can fix Lee, she can fix Naruto.”
“Jiraiya, don’t put so much of a title on me.” Tsunade scoffed, ignoring her fellow Sanin’s unannounced presence in her office. “But he is right about one thing, there’s always hope, just as it was with Lee. If I can increase the survival percentage of an operation, I can surely try to return his sight. For now, though, I think what he needs is a good friend to take care of him. It’s one thing to be recovering from injuries, but to do so completely blind has to be frightening. For this reason, I’m appointing you as his personal nurse, Sakura. You are to attend to him full time, not just for medical support, but emotional as well.”
She winced at this new assignment, she was still getting used to having Naruto back in her life. Not in a bad way, she had missed her boisterous teammate immensely during their nearly three year separation. But she was still getting used to his matured presence, not just mentally but physically as well. Plus in all her medical training she had never been tied to any one patient for a long term. Personal care nurses were reserved for the wealthy and usually elderly, definitely not the type of patients Sakura preferred to deal with. “Tsunade-sama, with all due respect, I think Naruto would benefit more from a more experienced nurse taking care of him. I'm more used to general practice, and to have someone so close to him may be a bit embarrassing, and-“
“And what? Sakura, you know as well as I that he’d appreciate the full attention of no girl on the staff besides you. You pity the fact that this happened? Then this is your way to make it up to him. From this day on, you will be by his side constantly. I’ll give you some books on sensory loss that will help you help Naruto. With time, he can retrain himself to work without vision. But for these first few weeks, you’re going to be his eyes. While you attend to him emotionally, I’ll work on his physical condition. Now, the next time you’ll be in this office will be when you bring him to me because I’ve found an answer, correct?”
Sakura nodded, silently praising Tsunade’s confidence in both Sakura’s abilities and her own. She turned and left, nodding politely to Jiraiya, who couldn’t help but catch an eyeful of the form-fitting nurse’s outfit and give an approving lecherous grin toward her backside. It wasn’t until the empty sake bottle was flung at his head that his wandering eyes turned back into the office.
“So, confident we’ll fix this little turn of events, are we?” he chided, rubbing the side of his head where the bottle caught him. “I’d wager to say you’re so confident that you’re trying to play matchmaker on top of this ordeal.”
Tsunade glared at him from behind another medical journal, “I’m sure you didn’t come here just to rouse my anger. State your business or get lost.”
Jiraiya grinned and tossed a scroll at her, “I heard about the boy’s condition and figured this might help. A little something I picked up during my travels.”
She opened the scroll and scanned its contents, pausing to look at him for a second before she rolled it up and tossed it back. “He’s your student now, I’m the Hokage, not a teacher.”
He laughed, placing the scroll back into his pocket, “I figured you’d say something along those lines. I’ll teach it to him in time, but for now, I think I’ll enjoy watching how those two fair working together. From what I heard from Kakashi, it’s a love-hate relationship that’s going to either end in love or hate.” He placed his palms on Tsunade’s desk and leaned in close, smelling the traces of sake on her lips, “I think you’re secretly hoping for the former.” The perverted hermit pulled back quickly and exited the room before Tsunade could react and add another lump to his already injured head.
Rating: R (for now)
Warnings: None yet
---------------------------------------------
Chapter 2 – The Flicker of Hope
It was another complicated medical report, ranking right along the infamous Rock Lee in difficulty and severity, which sat upon the Hokage’s desk that day. Tsunade sighed as she closed the cover, turning to her bookshelf to begin searching for resources on the optic nerve system. At first it was the failure of the mission that bothered her; they thought they had the Sound figured out when they noticed they only attacked on return missions. However, with this attack bringing down one of the village's finest without any sort of new information to go by, she was even more disturbed. The one Sound-nin they had managed to detain and return to the village was of little use to them as he remained tight-lipped about the technique his comrade had used against Naruto. Part of her mind figured he didn't even know the particulars of the bell's effects himself, but the rational part of her mind reminded her that this was Sound, and Sound was full of cruel bastards if nothing else. No amount of interrogation would pry any sort of information from his filthy mouth, and so he was most likely a candidate for the underground detention cells. Soon after the reports from both the hospital and Morino Ibiki were finished, she summoned Shizune in to request a warm bottle of sake and opened a window to the cool night air. She could tell it was going to be a long night, especially when an unexpected knock came upon her office door.
“Come in,” she muttered, as she thumbed through a medical journal, a dish of sake at her lips. Sakura walked in and seated herself in a nearby armchair on the other side of the desk. “I assume you’re here to get my opinion on his condition, right?” Tsunade questioned, not taking her eyes from the books that lay open before her. Sakura nodded, removing her nurse’s hat and fidgeting with it nervously.
“I need to know how to help him. He just got back to Konoha after two and a half years...and to have his first mission be such a failure. I just feel..."
"There is no room for self-imposed guilt in the life of a Medic-nin." Tsunade scolded, still intent on the journal in her hands. "You had no means to prevent what happened to him. What you need to concentrate on now is how to help him."
Sakura nodded, knowing full well her mentor was right as usual. “And what is it that I can do for him now? Tell me, just what did they do to his eyes?”
Tsunade sighed, running a hand back through her hair, “He’s blind, Sakura. They dissolved the nerves that attach to his eyes, completely disrupting his vision. It’s a high-level technique, something that must have come from that Kabuto boy. Only a medic-nin could have the precision to focus energy and pinpoint the optic nerves without any other damages.”
Sakura’s face relaxed a bit, “So it’s just temporary right? You can just re-grow the cells like we did with the hole in Neji's shoulder.”
The Hokage shook her head, “If it were that simple, I would be doing it right now, would I not? Rather than just cutting the nerves, it’s as if they melted the entire optical connection to his eyes. Ask him what he remembers from what happened right before he lost vision, I’d bet money that he heard an ear-piercing sound and then things went black. Their group is notorious for using sound waves in the disruption of the body tissues.”
“So, what does this mean for Naruto? Is there any hope?”
A voice from the doorway answered Sakura’s question. “There’s always hope; you’re talking to Tsunade-hime. She may be legendary sucker, but she’s a genius when it comes to medical things. If she can fix Lee, she can fix Naruto.”
“Jiraiya, don’t put so much of a title on me.” Tsunade scoffed, ignoring her fellow Sanin’s unannounced presence in her office. “But he is right about one thing, there’s always hope, just as it was with Lee. If I can increase the survival percentage of an operation, I can surely try to return his sight. For now, though, I think what he needs is a good friend to take care of him. It’s one thing to be recovering from injuries, but to do so completely blind has to be frightening. For this reason, I’m appointing you as his personal nurse, Sakura. You are to attend to him full time, not just for medical support, but emotional as well.”
She winced at this new assignment, she was still getting used to having Naruto back in her life. Not in a bad way, she had missed her boisterous teammate immensely during their nearly three year separation. But she was still getting used to his matured presence, not just mentally but physically as well. Plus in all her medical training she had never been tied to any one patient for a long term. Personal care nurses were reserved for the wealthy and usually elderly, definitely not the type of patients Sakura preferred to deal with. “Tsunade-sama, with all due respect, I think Naruto would benefit more from a more experienced nurse taking care of him. I'm more used to general practice, and to have someone so close to him may be a bit embarrassing, and-“
“And what? Sakura, you know as well as I that he’d appreciate the full attention of no girl on the staff besides you. You pity the fact that this happened? Then this is your way to make it up to him. From this day on, you will be by his side constantly. I’ll give you some books on sensory loss that will help you help Naruto. With time, he can retrain himself to work without vision. But for these first few weeks, you’re going to be his eyes. While you attend to him emotionally, I’ll work on his physical condition. Now, the next time you’ll be in this office will be when you bring him to me because I’ve found an answer, correct?”
Sakura nodded, silently praising Tsunade’s confidence in both Sakura’s abilities and her own. She turned and left, nodding politely to Jiraiya, who couldn’t help but catch an eyeful of the form-fitting nurse’s outfit and give an approving lecherous grin toward her backside. It wasn’t until the empty sake bottle was flung at his head that his wandering eyes turned back into the office.
“So, confident we’ll fix this little turn of events, are we?” he chided, rubbing the side of his head where the bottle caught him. “I’d wager to say you’re so confident that you’re trying to play matchmaker on top of this ordeal.”
Tsunade glared at him from behind another medical journal, “I’m sure you didn’t come here just to rouse my anger. State your business or get lost.”
Jiraiya grinned and tossed a scroll at her, “I heard about the boy’s condition and figured this might help. A little something I picked up during my travels.”
She opened the scroll and scanned its contents, pausing to look at him for a second before she rolled it up and tossed it back. “He’s your student now, I’m the Hokage, not a teacher.”
He laughed, placing the scroll back into his pocket, “I figured you’d say something along those lines. I’ll teach it to him in time, but for now, I think I’ll enjoy watching how those two fair working together. From what I heard from Kakashi, it’s a love-hate relationship that’s going to either end in love or hate.” He placed his palms on Tsunade’s desk and leaned in close, smelling the traces of sake on her lips, “I think you’re secretly hoping for the former.” The perverted hermit pulled back quickly and exited the room before Tsunade could react and add another lump to his already injured head.