Blind (Discontinued)

2

The next day, Sasuke was quietly keeping watch over Naruto when he started to talk.

"S... Sasu...ke..." whispered Naruto, sounding slightly horse.

Instantly, Sasuke was right there. "I'm here Naruto. Oh, thank goodness you're okay!" he said, relieved. "Let me get a nurse."

"No... Not yet... Sasuke, it's not your fault..." Naruto said as his mouth started getting used to moving again, although his jaw hurt near his right ear.

"I... I know it wasn't, Naruto. But that doesn't mean I couldn't have warned you or something," Sasuke replied, feeling somewhat guilty.

Naruto paused for a second and Sasuke almost thought that he'd fallen asleep, but that thought was quickly slashed when he started speaking again.

"I don't blame you for my stupidity. What's done is done. I just wanted you to know that. You can get the nurse now," he said.

When he heard that, Sasuke was taken aback. 'What on earth HAPPENED to you, Naruto? That isn't like you. At all!' he thought.

"Don't worry, Sasuke. I'll be fine. You'll only be gone for a minute, right?"

"Y-yeah... Be right back..." Sasuke said, slightly confused and a little worried, as he walked out of the room to go find a nurse.

<Naruto's mindscape>

"Does that work?" asked Naruto, looking up at Kurama.

He nodded. "Yes, kit, I think that was just fine. Good job."

Naruto smiled slightly, but then he had to ask. "Why did you have me say all that? That isn't how I talk at all. He's gonna think something's wrong with me."

"So? It was something that needed to be said. Later, if he asks, you can chalk it up to the pain meds talkin' if you want. Also, good job at that tug-of-war. I'm impressed you got that much of my chakra."

"Thanks, Kurama."

<physical world>

In came Sasuke and Iruka, followed by the nurse and the Hokage, although he stayed near the door.

"He just suddenly said my name so I came and got you," Sasuke said, leaving out their little conversation.

The nurse did a routine check up, then asked Naruto a simple question. "Naruto, can you hear me?"

It took a moment, but soon he opened his mouth, took a breath, and said, "Yeah, I hear you."

Everyone let out sighs of relief while the nurse continued talking with Naruto. She explained that he had lost both of his eyes due to his accident three days ago. "Usually we'd schedule an eye transplant, but due to extensive damage and severe scarring, there's no possibility of a successful operation. Not even the legendary medic Tsunade could make it work. There's also some damage on the right side of your face along your jaw, though it should only leave a slight scar."

'He doesn't seem too shocked to find out he's going to be blind for the rest of his life... In fact, he's way too calm about everything. This doesn't seem like the Naruto I know...' thought Sasuke, though in the end he just chalked it up to whatever pain medication he was on at the moment.

"May I talk to Iruka-sensei, please?" Naruto asked. Everyone who knew him was shocked at how polite he was being that they didn't even notice the fact that no one had told him who else was in the room. Everyone, that is, except Sasuke and the Hokage standing in the back of the room.