Sightless - UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Chapter 02 - Déjà vu

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Sakura's eyes shot open. Anger and concern trickled in her groggy mind. Mostly anger. Although she used to be a typically a morning person, she had to fight a strange, not unfamiliar urge to throttle whoever was at the door. Her sleep was more restless than usual, which meant she would be extra irritable. They were expected at the gates at six o'clock, sharp - plenty of time for a lie-in. 

Naruto better stay in line today, if he knows what's good for him.

She cracked an eye open and almost rolled it when she saw the time was only half past four. Sakura couldn't deny it - she had more than a few reservations about the mission, especially since the question of Sasuke's involvement was raised. 

Goddamn it Naruto! Why did he have to bring him up?

Worst of all, she couldn't deny that what Naruto theorised had substance. It was easy to brush off a lot of what he said as the ramblings of a hyperactive imagination - but this was logical. What's more, she had felt Tsunade was acting oddly the last few days, even more so at the mission debrief. In the moment, she hadn't questioned it so as not to tempt fate, but her forgetting about Sakura's missing reports was utterly uncharacteristic of the woman. (For someone who made missing deadlines look like a sport, she paid an awful lot of attention to other people's). Maybe it wasn't as extreme as her lying to them - Sakura didn't think that her teacher would lie to her about something so close to their hearts (she hoped), but there was absolutely something not quite right. 

BAM! BAM! BAM!

She groaned and pulled herself up. Rubbing her tired eyes, she padded to the door, dead-set on giving whoever had the nerve to wake her this early, a piece of her mind. However, further thoughts of murder disintegrated, when she saw Naruto, fully dressed in black and orange, ready with a travelling bag, at her doorstep.

He frowned at her, staring questioningly. 

"Nice outfit. Not very practical for the woods though," he said, pushing past her through the small doorway into her flat.

Sakura's eye twitched. It was refreshing to see the boy start taking punctuality so seriously, but it was far too early for conversation. She was about to tell him exactly that, when she happened to glance at the clock on the bedside table. It was a little thing, that she bought as a souvenir from the village hidden in the Mist, a few years back. The minute hand was a blue umbrella, and the hour hand was a tiny, yellow boot. It was a very pretty clock, but brought a dreadful thought. Her heart dropped when she realised the time still showed half past four in the morning. 

Shit. The battery must have died. 

"Yoohoo! Earth to Sakura?" Naruto waved a hand in her face.

"Naruto," she said gravely, gripping his moving hand, "What time is it? "

He raised an eyebrow, "It's quarter to six. Why?"

Without missing a beat, Sakura turned and ran, leaving Naruto muttering obscenities about his friends's 'audacity' and 'rudeness' when he had been so 'considerate by waking up early to walk her to the gate'. After the quickest shower of her life, Sakura struggled with her clothes, unaware and uncaring of the visitor helping himself to the contents of her fridge. 

Naruto looked at her, with a cup of instant ramen in his hand (Sakura didn't know where he managed to find some because, honestly, she would never keep poison like that in her house), nodding with approval. Her hair was brushed, and her pyjama shirt was replaced with her usual mission gear. None of that mattered. The only thing she cared about not forgetting, was her necklace.