Blind (Discontinued)

4

It's been two months since Sasuke found out about Naruto's slowly returning eyesight. Two months since Sasuke started using the Uchiha training ground for personal training outside of Team 7, as well as a place for Naruto to train without having to stay blindfolded all the time. Two months. In those two months, Naruto has improved his eyesight to the point that the only thing other people's eyes could see that his couldn't was color, although his eyes still couldn't really handle bright light very well. He was also starting to be able to see in the dark a bit better, though his night vision was taking quite awhile to manifest in a way that made it easy to understand what he was seeing.

Naruto's hearing was also improving, although it seemed to be improving quite rapidly, as apposed to his night vision. Ever since he woke up, Naruto could tell that his hearing was much better than before. Much better. I mean, being able to tell who was in the room just by listening to them breath is no small feat, especially when you're a newly blind man. Well, adolescent, but whatever.

Over the past two months, Sasuke had started to privately teach Naruto whatever he learned while on missions around the ninja world. He'd been able to get some books and other treasure troves of knowledge while on missions, though they were mostly for Naruto to read while Sasuke was away.

Today, Naruto was in his dim room with one of the books, conversing with Kurama as he read it, waiting for Sasuke to get back from his latest mission.

"A Ninja's Guide to The Most Famous Ninja in The World, huh? Does Sasuke really think I'm that bored when he's not here?"

"Maybe there's something good in there, kit. Something on your dad, perhaps?" Kurama prodded, knowing with certainty that if Minato Namikaze, the legendary Fourth Hokage, was not in that book, the person who wrote it must have been a hermit for the last sixteen to thirty years, considering all he'd done for the mighty Leaf Village.

Naruto sighed and opened up the book. He could use the distraction the history book might be able to provide.

He read about a few legendary ninja from other villages, noting that a few of them seemed to be Jinchuriki, like him, though he just kept lightly reading the pages until he came across the Leaf Village's section. Then he started reading a bit more intently. The first famous ninja from his home village was Lord First, followed by his brother, Lord Second, and Madara Uchiha. Next was Lord Third, the current Hokage, followed by Sasuke's team leader, Kakashi Hatake, aka the Copy Ninja. The very next page held a full paged picture of Minato Namikaze, although when Naruto looked at it, he did a double take. At first, he wondered why the book had a mirror in it, but then he realized that it wasn't him, but Lord Forth, aka Minato Namikaze, the legendary Hokage who killed the Nine-tailed Fox, although Naruto knew that to be completely incorrect, considering he had just been talking to him not too long ago.

"Kurama, why do I and Lord Forth look so similar?" Naruto suddenly asked.

"Well, kit, you could say you're related, although I won't tell you how. Not until you do some training with me." Kurama said, leaving it at that until Naruto sighed, closed the book, wrote a note to Sasuke telling him he'd be at the training ground, and wrapped up his eyes.

"Let me guess, a lesson on independent movement in broad daylight?" he asked Kurama while he walked to the front door, stopping to put on his sandals.

"You got it. Before we leave, make sure your bandages are tight."

Naruto sighed once more as he grabbed the cloak and straw hat that hung by the door. If people saw him walking around with his eyes all wrapped up, he wouldn't hear the end of it from Sasuke.

~time skip: Uchiha forest training ground~

Naruto made it to the training ground with only one close call when he walked into a pole he didn't sense was there. One of the villagers nearby called out, "Hey, what are you, blind? Watch where you're going, idiot!" to which Naruto reaaally wanted to reply, "Yes, actually, I am. Got a problem with that?!" but that wouldn't have been a good idea so he just kept it to Kurama and himself.

Once he was sure he was alone, he took off the hat and cloak. "Okay, Kurama, I'm here. What do you want me to do?" Naruto asked in his head since one could never be too sure.

"These past two months you've mainly focused on training your eyes, and even though your ears have been improving quite quickly on their own, you still have a lot you can do to improve your hearing, as well as how well you can understand what you're hearing. And so, without further ado, I will now introduce your new training regime!" Kurama replied rather happily.

Naruto internally rolled his eyes. He could tell he wasn't going to like this new regime very much, but oh well.

~Naruto's apartment with Sasuke~

Sasuke got to Naruto's apartment and could tell something was slightly off about it, like something was missing, though he couldn't place it. Cautiously, he unlocked the door with the spare key he had on his key chain.

"Naruto?" He asked kinda quietly, confident that if he was here, Naruto would still be able to hear him wherever he was in the small apartment.

When he didn't hear any answer, he started to panic slightly. Immediately, he went back to Naruto's bedroom to make sure he wasn't passed out on the floor in need of medical attention. Thankfully, he wasn't, although he did find a note addressed to him on the bed next to one of the books Sasuke had gotten for Naruto on one of his missions. He picked it up and read it, eyes going wide by the time he got to the end of the short note. He vaguely remembered that Naruto's straw hat and cloak weren't by the door as usual, nor his shoes, although when he came inside he hadn't been looking for those things.

He quickly walked back out, locking the door as he went, then he was off in the direction of the training ground, hoping that Naruto had made it alright.

~back at the training ground ~

Kurama had Naruto listen to his surroundings, having him paint a mental image of the world he heard around him. At first, Naruto complained that it wasn't going to work or look anything like what was actually there, but after some convincing, Naruto finally gave in. Standing in the middle of the clearing, head slightly bowed, Naruto was silently listening as the wind blew through the leaves ever so slightly, as birds sang their songs both near and far, as a brook babbled nearby, and as he listened, as he calmed down, he could slowly see what the world looked like around him. He could see the wind blowing through the trees and the grass, he could see the plump berries on the bushes a few feet away in between some trees, he could see the birds and the brook. As he tried to listen harder so he could see more, the other sounds slowly got louder and louder before he couldn't handle it anymore and practically tore the bandages off of his eyes and opened them, panting, his hearing slowly going back to normal. He stood there, trying to regain the breath he hadn't known he'd lost.

"That was a great first try. It seems I underestimated those ears of yours," Kurama commented, sounding very pleased.

"Easy for you to say. That hurt!" Naruto exclaimed back, rubbing his temples. Suddenly, he heard something quietly coming towards him through the forest. Unsure what it was, Naruto quickly retied the bandages around the upper portion of his face, hiding his eyes. "Who's there?" he asked, guard up.

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Shesh! Boom! Bah! CLIFFHANGER!!! Ahahah! Sorry, but I want the next part to be a complete surprise so you'll have to WAIT!
This chapter is dedicated to my loving mother, Writers_Mom, who inspires me to continue on doing what I love. Write. Thanks mom!

Total word count: 7173!