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Chapter 9: Choices

Chapter 9:

"She's my wife." Sakura couldn't speak as she looked at Sasuke who uttered the word without hesitation. There was a sense of ownership that she had never heard from him before. His voice was fragile, a bit tense but sweeter than the previous ones she had heard him say all night. At that thought, Sakura couldn't hide the rush of heat on her face. She still looked a bit dumbfounded at the old lady who was both ushering them to their rooms.

Sasuke had chosen an inn near the outskirts of the city. He had long freed the medical ninjas after she solely promised that she wouldn't leave his side until his main issue was addressed. He subsequently destroyed the quarters where he previously held them and without words made her follow him wherever he willed to go... and she wasn't happy to follow and bark at his will. She didn't care if she tried to imagine being a spouse to this socially crippled person before or how it felt exhilarating to hear coming from his mouth.  She promised to kick his ass one of these days when he least expects it. However, momentarily, she lost the will to do just that.

"I still remember when I was young and free like both of you..." the old lady started as she excitedly nudged sakura on the side and whispered in the softest voice she could muster. "Don't worry, I chose this place far from people like your husband requested. He must be... you know... wild."  Sakura immediately tensed up and before she could deny anything at all, Sasuke stepped in and placed a hand on her waist. He smiled one of his gorgeous ones, one that made him the less threatening man that he is, the man that she fell in love with, the man that made her heart skip a beat. 'Bastard...' she looked down and tried to hide her flushed face with her hair.

"I'm sorry for asking this of you..." Sasuke asked, handing the old woman a roll of money. "I'll count you on having this whole side rented out for a month." The old woman's eyes lighted up as she took the money and kept it on her sash. "Enjoy your nights..." she managed to say as she left them both to themselves. Even after the woman left them, Sasuke kept ushering her towards the room, his hand still at the small of her back. "No need to pretend Sasuke, she's gone." He didn't speak. He didn't move his hand away. They both kept on moving until they both in the safe confines of the room. Finally, he freed her and moved into a position in the middle of the room. He didn't speak for another minute until Sasuke opened his eyes again, now flashing red sets of sharingan towards her way. She instinctively backed away but after a few second where no genjutsu ate her alive, she stayed her ground.

"Do it. Analyze whatever." Demanding bastard was what she immediately thought. She knew he was in a hurry but after travelling a lot, a little rest would have done both of them a favor. Sakura sighed and approached the kneeling man in front of her. Sakura got to look at him in his most non-threatening self. His dark hair swayed lightly, covering his bright red eyes, almost devoid of emotion. He neither smiled, not smirk. He looked at her directly, all formal and work. There were no recognition left in those eyes, not as a team mate, just someone who can fix him.

"Fine. Details." Deciding, he won't have it any other way, she calmed her nerves, deciding her frustration won't help her situation now. Sakura performed a couple of seals with her hand and summoned some slugs that stayed beside her. "Kuchi, Yushi." She said in a whisper and a light breeze enveloped her, which she extended to Sasuke. He was generally covered in white light, slowly focusing from his toes, his torso then to slowly on his head and towards his eyes. After a few minutes, sakura almost stood up but was held down by one of the slugs, which was lighter than the other one.

"Sakura Focus!" Kuchi, one of the slugs that stayed on her right shouted when Sakura was taken aback, almost instantly as the breeze stayed on his eyes. Sakura bit her lip and what she couldn't say, Yushi did.

"This is baaad..." the lighter colored slug, slightly nudge its head on the side. After a good 5 more minutes, Sakura withdrew the wind and slowly let out a long sigh.

"You're an over confident bastard who doesn't know his limits." Sakura scoffed as she released her jutsu. The man did not appreciated being talked down especially by a woman but what she saw was probably that bad, it made her act up. Kuchi, the darker slug approached him slowly.

"Sasuke right?" Kuchi asked. The man frowned some more.

"I'm sorry, your chance of recovering your sight is almost null." Sasuke's brows met at the center. He knew by far that his sight couldn't be fixed by a simple wave of a hand. He at least know this much. But to his surprise though, he thought it was a simple monthly thing that he could just have someone see and fix. He lifted a hand on his throbbing temples; his eyes closed and fixed his eyes on the darker slug.

"You said... almost." He said in a low voice, tension sparking. Silence followed until the slug, sighed.

"What I meant was, Sakura still doesn't have the capability to perfectly control her chakra to sustain high maintenance of chakra repair on your eyes... yet..." Sakura looked down and Kuchi and Yushi who almost agreed in comparison.

"When will she be ready?" he asked, delicately as if he has no other choice but to wait for it. He knew that Sakura could control her chakra very well and if the slugs said, she still doesn't have what it takes, then no other person out there who specialized in chakra repair could compare to her.

 "A year or two in our realm.  Like how they trained the current Hokage." Sakura looked back at the slugs, with eyes painted with disbelief. There was no way she would stay with Sasuke that long. There was no way she was going to waste her life, looking for magic repair to fix his eyes. There was no way... He was smiling. Sasuke, was apparently amused at the predicament, he can't help but be a bit smug about it.

"Deal. She will be coming back and forth as I see fit. " Kuchi and Yushi looked at each other and back to the pink haired kunoichi who decided both of the to handle the situation.

"Bastard, I wont be spending 2 years looking for a skill that can cure you."  She scoffed.

"Have I given you a choice?" Sakura swallowed as he looked at the dark haired man who exudes an overly confident aura around him. Sasuke somehow felt a little uplifted. Despite the fact that his eyes can be fixed by someone, she would be doing it for him. Somehow, that didn't feel so bad after all.