I own nothing.

Edited 20th August: Slight spelling errors and some punctuation issues. Also some particularly sketchy bits.

Older!Shisuisaku

Because I can't write anything else.

Dedicated to the assholes who bring you down and the people who hold you up. Oh and to the lovely Uchisaku shippers who post their art on tumblr. And also to the delightful people who hate uchisaku.

Note: Implied mental illness themes. Some swearing.

A/N: Some days I just feel like crap, the day I wrote this was one of those days in particular. I don't know, writing one-shots are challenging but fun. My caffeine-induced, insomniac brain produced Shisui/saku after a particularly tiring day. So I sat down at till four in the morning typing this, and spent the next day looking over it and posted it the day after, late in the afternoon to nickleback. Why am I telling you this? I'm not entirely sure. But Author's notes are meant to explain the utter depravity I produce right? I've never truly expressed gratitude for the people who follow me and who actually like Healing Balms. Thank you. I personally find Shisuisaku just adorable. Ages for people who care: Sakura about 20, Shisui about 27 (I am not sure about canon ages, but I guess it works out for me). Age is not really a big factor in this oneshot tbh. I hope you enjoy the story.

He was shrouded in darkness, thick darkness.

He caught the scent of pungent chemicals first, then something that smelled oddly like soft vanilla with a hint of sweat. He then felt warm hands trail his chest delicately, feel his heartbeat- and then the sensation of cool chakra as those hands probed his vitals. He was confused and dazed, so his arms shot out and grabbed hold of those hands.

He then heard a familiar, distinctly female voice calmly tell him, "Uchiha-san, please do not move. I'm attempting to remove the poison from your system."

He could only assume he was at the Konoha hospital. But assumptions were deadly things.

"What happened to me?" He asked hoarsely, not letting go of her hand, "Where's my team?"

"You were carried in unconscious," she informed him. That voice was calming to his ears so he almost relaxed. "You've gotten poisoned and have a few bones broken. I'm going to remove the poison now, so please relax."

The sensation was funny. Her finger tips were gently pulling and pushing something inside him. It felt oddly like a wave, flowing over his insides and then being gently lurched upwards. She kept a steady stream of one-sided conversation, her voice was soothing, gentle, careful and most of all kind. And somehow that put him at ease.

It then occurred to him. He couldn't see.

"Medic-san," he asked hoarsely, "Why am I blindfolded?" The fabric itched his cheekbones.

"Please relax." She said softly, her tone sounded apologetic and he caught it with suspicion. He sat up immediately, and he heard a clatter of instruments before realizing that there were wires attached to his arms.

"Uchiha-san," she said a little more sternly, "You've lost a lot of blood and you are making your injuries worse." She brought her hands up to his temples.

"I'm going to put you to sleep," she murmured and he felt himself get drowsy. He fell slowly back into the pillows, his mind shutting off and all he registered the cool chakra from her fingertips.

"Haruno-senpai," Sakura looked away from her clip-board at the nurse, "We need your help, there's another group of people coming in."

The girl nodded her head and followed the nurse into the room of injured men. The overhead lights were bright and dizzying, like a spotlight over her. She was already feeling exhausted for this performance.

The medicinal smell seemed to jolt her upright as she walks into the room, with shaky limbs and a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach. She reached inside into the depths of her mind and pulled out her medic persona, falling in line with the flurry of procedure and orders yelled from each end of the room.

She began working through the broken bodies that were wheeled in.

"This patient needs the anesthetic! Hurry!" She called out, "We need to perform the surgery immediately!"

And when people looked at her working, they were filled with hope.

Because Haruno Sakura was the kind of medic, who worked with zeal, and a sort of single minded accuracy. And she was meant to be trustworthy. When she was fifteen, people would praise her for having saved the Kazekage's brother from the deadliest poison in existence. When she was sixteen, she curbed a deadly virus that threatened to eradicate their village. When she was seventeen, there were hushes around the five nations of how she had surpassed Tsunade Senju.

And back then, she could still crack the illnesses, she could still make those decisions that would save lives. And she could still think right. Back then, the world was brimming with sunshine and potential.

"Haruno-senpai!"

When she was nineteen, people still talked about her and all they heard was old news, and rumours of her spiral to the bottom.

She would surround herself with work, and more work. As if to remind herself that she still had that spark. The sun still shined on her.

"Haruno-san! Please!"

And they wouldn't tell her that she couldn't anymore.

"Haruno-senpai! He's dead! You have to stop!"

The machine rang out unceremoniously in the background as she looked down at her hands with tears.

"You tried your best," the nurse smiled at her kindly, "I'm sorry."

And Sakura was pushed back as they detached the wires from the man. She watched with blurred sight as the man was wheeled away. A white sheet was gently masking his features, flapping with the momentum, as if it's a closing curtain on her performance.

And all she hears is the steady beep from the machine like a jeering applause.

When Sakura was twenty, no one talked about her anymore, only cast her pitying looks.

Shisui closed the door to his house, he made his way out of the Uchiha district and around the village. The village was mostly silent, but there were sounds of raucous laughter inside bars, and sometimes there would be some ghosts haunting the streets, stumbling with half-empty bottles. When they saw him amble through the deserted streets, if they recognized him, he knew that they stared.

He could feel eyes on him, eyes of pity, sneering eyes, curious stares, he could feel them watch his back. No, Konoha at night wasn't dead, there was just the stench of alcohol in the air, one which was masked by the smells of hot food and busy crowds during the mornings.

Nights in Konoha exposed the nature of the village as it really was, and he fit in snugly between the cold early hours and the lethargy.

So Shisui never did anything about them. He didn't holler at them. He didn't tell them to mind their own business, he just simply continued on his stroll, with a humble sort of swagger, as if he dared them to talk. Because they couldn't spare verbal insults at the failed, and former blind captain to remind him of his demons.

Mainly, because they had their own demons showing through the bags of their eyes, their sallow cheeks and in their reflections on the bottles.

It was the same routine, he'd pass by the hospital, and then the training grounds, meandered by the empty academy and then finally, he'd come to a stop at the playground. He liked sitting on the park bench, overlooking that playground. He wasn't sure when he started this routine, he was dedicated to it.

But today, he realized he wasn't alone.

"Hello," he called out tentatively, assessing the chakra signature.

The person didn't seem to have heard him at first, and then he heard a reply.

"Hello." It was a soft hello, nevertheless very familiar to him. Only he couldn't place where he heard the voice.

"You are out very late," he remarked carefully.

"As are you," the voice murmured back.

They didn't say anything for a few minutes and he felt the night breeze tickle his cheeks and he leaned back, content to do nothing except to get lost in the moment.

It seemed as if his companion liked the silence too. So they didn't address each other for a few minutes.

"What brings out so late?" He asked her, breaking the silence with his curiosity. It felt sort of odd that a lady should have been out at such an hour.

"I wanted some fresh air," she replied defensively, daring him to pry further. The breeze began to blow again and he caught scent of something. He frowned in thought.

"How about you?" And he looked at her direction. He then tried to place the scent. And then it occurred to him, because he would never forget that voice or the day.

"Medic-san?" He attempted carefully.

"I was a medic." She corrected him.

He furrowed his brow, "Was?"

"Was." She repeated patiently.

He then heard a note of finality in her voice, he decided not to pry.

"Yeah, I was an ANBU captain too," He scratched his head absentmindedly, more to himself than anything.

She hummed in response. And there was more silence between them. He quite liked the silence actually. Then she started to talk, and he did not mind that either.

"I quit about six months ago." She said quietly.

"I see," he nodded, "I see. I quit being a captain about two years ago."

He heard a soft sad smile through her words, "I remember you."

"You do?"

"Yes," she replied, "I remember it because the Uchiha family placed a lot of pressure on the hospital to see to your condition. I was in charge of your case."

He thought then, for her to be in 'charge' of something meant that she was a prominent figure or a doctor probably. She was a curious woman.

He ran a detached hand through his hair, and smiled dryly. "I'm sorry about that, they just had their pride at stake."

"And now?" She asked.

He didn't reply. He kicked off his sandals and felt the grass under his feet, the blades tickling the soles of his feet.

"I think I understand," she said quietly. Somehow, he felt less hopeless with her around.

They continued in silence until he heard the rustle of fabric, and the weight of the bench shifted.

"I'll get going." She said, he could hear a slight apology in those words.

"Good-night," He called after her, briefly contemplating if he should have asked if she wanted to be walked back. But he no longer sensed her presence.

Sometimes she just didn't get enough sleep at night. People were supposed to be sleeping. But she couldn't sleep. She would twist and turn and stare at the gray ceiling that hung heavily on her. And when it didn't work. She got up.

The streets were lonely and quiet. But Sakura like the solitude and night always had its own beauty. She would go for a walk, late into the night, when the stars glitter protectively over the village. She would remember fun times, better times with Team Seven as she passed by the training grounds. She would pass by Ino's flower shop, and the well-tended flower shrubs outside. Her feet took her to the park, where she first met the blonde. Memories of warm spring days and girlish giggles would fill her mind. Back then everything seemed so simple and so much easier.

"You've blossomed into a beautiful flower, Sakura!"

Maybe she just wilted too soon.

She didn't expect anyone to be here, much less the Uchiha man she had encountered earlier. Sakura tightened her coat and looked up at him. He was seated on the bench overlooking the playground. Before she could respond, he looked up too and smiled at her. He had a dazzling smile. And he looked beautiful under the moonlight.

"Welcome back, medic-san."

She felt warm inside as she watched him.

"How are you, Uchiha-san?" She took a seat beside him, and shivered lightly. He was very observant, she noted, despite his blindness. He looked at her in alarm.

"You aren't wearing much."

"I'll be fine," she replied and took a seat beside him.

She rubbed her arms, minding her own business, lost in her own thoughts. And he suddenly asked her a question.

"Medic-san, can you tell me your name?"

"Not if you tell me your name first." She teased him and he shrugged.

"Uchiha Shisui," he said. The breeze carrying away his name but she felt a pang of sadness as she heard it. She knew it before he could tell her, of course. He was Sasuke's cousin, the infamous Shunshin no Shisui.

But her sympathy for the man was short lived.

"Haruno Sakura." She said slightly wincing, because her name dragged an equal amount of shame with it.

Maybe he seemed to have felt the flinch because of the close proximity. She realized she had unconsciously moved closer towards him.

Or maybe he heard it in her voice, because it was crackling with pain.

Or maybe, he knew of her. Most people did, and of what had become of her.

But he didn't press her, or look at her sympathetically.

"Sakura," he murmured delicately, "That's a pretty name."

She scoffed lightly, "Pretty common, if you ask me. My dad wasn't very creative, but he wanted to name me after the color of my hair."

"Your hair is pink?" He asked with raised eyebrows, "Wow, that's so cool!"

"It gets in the way sometimes," she objected, fingering it unconsciously. "It's like a bright target on field saying pick me, pick me!"

He let out a light chuckle.

It felt so absurd to Sakura, two people meeting in the dead of night laughing over her absurd color of her hair. She smiled at the thought.

"You know, all Uchihas have the same color of hair, black and boring." Shisui started, He grinned, running a hand over his silky black locks. She followed the action with slight interest. "I've been thinking of shaving my head and going bald." He let out a toothy grin.

And she let out a snort. She barely registered the way his face softened at the sound.

"Please don't," she looked at him with a weak giggle.

"My mom used to have long hair," he continued on, "She used to take such good care of it. But then I used to find it in my food." She blinked before breaking into laughter again, and he joined her.

She'd known many Uchihas, Sasuke, his brother, some who visited the hospital. But they were all so unlike him. He seemed to appreciate the beauties of life, and mock them in the same sentence. She found it slightly comforting.

"Well if you live with a woman, that's what you get. There's hair everywhere. My dad used to complain about it all the time." She said lightly.

They chatted like this, amiably. They talked about things like foods they liked or if whether the other liked cats. She wasn't sure when speaking to someone had gotten so much easier. He was just a good conversationalist, maybe.

Or maybe, just maybe, he was actually talking to her for who she was right now and not who she was supposed to be.

"I don't really like cats, Shisui-san." She frowned, "They are too much of a bother to take care of. And their glowy eyes creep me out."

"I used to have a cat when I was younger, we named him Momo-kun." He began, his tone reminiscent, "He used to scratch me a lot."

Sakura's face split into a grin, "I don't think Momo-kun liked you very much, yes?"

And he sighed with mock exasperation, placing a hand over his heart, "He only liked my mother. She would bribe him with extra treats."

Eventually, she would break off the conversation, "I need to get going, Shisui-san."

He hummed in acknowledgment, "Take care, Sakura-san."

And she would teleport away, right as soon as the early hours of morning would emerge.

On their fifth night, he found her sitting on the bench again. He no longer questioned it, unlike the first three times, because something in him told him, that she was here for her own reasons. Just like he took the nightly strolls for his own reasons. Maybe she was here because the playgrounds held memories for her, or maybe it was just far away from the village, and all the obligations she felt to it.

He could deduce multiple theories.

So he never questioned it as he took a seat beside her.

"I tried that recipe you told me about," she said, "It turned out absolutely horrible."

"Really?" He asked, looking at her with a slight frown, "Did you add enough salt?"

"Of course!" She said with some indignation, and he grinned at her.

And he found conversations with her comfortable, there was surprisingly a lot to talk about. Mostly mundane things.

"That's no good!" He shook his head. "You eat too many sweets."

"So you don't like sweet things?"

He gagged and she snickered again.

And sometimes he'd talk about Itachi when she talked about her own friend. He noticed she barely talked about her team. Shisui had heard about his cousin's team.

And it seemed as if she was the only member who had finally cracked from the pressure of catching up to Konoha's Jinchuuriki and hero, and his own cousin's notoriety as an Uchiha. And he could hear it in the seams of her stories, even if she talked about everything else.

"You know Ino-chan and I used to play a little way off from here, in a big flower field," she would say, "We made our own silly girl code language with flower names for people in the class. Back then we both liked Sasuke but we couldn't use the bathroom to check our appearances often. So we started using flower language to form this secret code to let each other know if we had spinach in our teeth."

He heard fondness in the undertones as she spoke about the Yamanaka.

"I wish I went to Kunoichi class," he deadpanned. He felt her shift incredulously from where she was huddled against his arm. "What? Flower-making and making up secret code languages, that sounds so much more interesting than what my uncle used to make me go through."

She threw her head back and laughed. He really liked the sound of her laughter.

"So...what does Sakura mean?" He asked her. He had never paid much attention to flower meanings…or kunoichis for that matter.

"It means kind and gentle," she replied. He let the thought sink in.

"It suits you."

From the shift of her shoulders he assumed that she was looking at him.

"What about me?" He asked suddenly.

She hummed thoughtfully and in the silence, he heard the sounds of sparrows chirping, hailing that early hours of morning, and they had to part. He felt her weight shift off him.

"I think you would be a Pink Rose," she called out to him, after telling him she needed to leave.

"What does that mean?" He frowned after her,

But she was gone again, before he could ask her more.

"You seem happier lately, Shisui."

"Really?"

Itachi just hummed approval in response at his cousin who was currently pulling down a box full of books from one of the dusty unused rooms of his house. The boy was grinning to himself with some unknown joke as he poked at the boxes.

"Who are the books for?"

"No one," Shisui replied, rustling through the boxes.

Itachi didn't press any further for a minute, he noticed that his cousin seemed to be sleeping a lot more during the day, judging by the fresh bed head.

"Shisui, you are blind, you can't even read the covers."

His cousin stared up at him dumbly for a second, and then groaned.

"Oh right."

Itachi chuckled and crouched next to the boxes.

"What do you need?"

Shisui pointed out a few books that he was interested in.

"Hanakotoba?" His cousin asked him curiously.

"Just look up pink rose, tell me what it means," his cousin shushed him hurriedly.

Itachi blinked and flipped through the old book that was cracking slowly. It belonged to Shisui's mother. He scanned the sections of flowers and print, skipping passages that he deemed inefficient before he found it.

Shisui was watching him and waiting for him impatiently.

"It means…trust or confidence."

His cousin's face lit up. Itachi watched him curiously.

"Shisui, why on earth would you be interested in in Hanakotoba?"

"No reason!" His cousin dismissed him. Itachi raised his eyebrows.

"You know, we should try the swings," she said.

He looked at her seriously, "They might break, Sakura."

He felt her glare on him.

"Are you saying I'm fat?"

"Never."

He felt her fingers pull at his hands, "Come on!"

"You know, seriously," he grinned at her, "We're going to look like idiots."

"Yeah well," He heard her mischievous giggle ahead of him, her slender fingers warmly entwining in his, "Who's watching?"

Who indeed? He thought as his foot narrowly dodged a discarded toy bucket. He felt like a kid again, someone no longer with any obligations. No clan meetings to attend. No elders snidely implying disappointment. There was no one here reminding him of his lost potential. No one watching him and preaching to him about the great and glorious future of the Uchiha clan. Shisui didn't feel like an Uchiha, with all the disappointment dragging with each syllable right now. He didn't feel like the infamous ANBU captain that had people fleeing him on sight. Not with Sakura, anyway.

It was just the two of them were laughing in the empty playground. And all he heard was the creak of the hooks and chains as she grasped it tightly with excitement.

He felt like he was five again. And when he got home, his mother was still alive. And she would tuck him into bed with more stories about being a shinobi. And back then everything was just so exhilarating.

"I haven't done this in a looong time, nope."

"Did I ever tell you," he started in, "I was known as the king of the swings?" Feeling the rush of air against his skin, and grinning madly in spite of his own reluctance.

"No way." He heard her chuckle and he prodded forward. "Indeed, I used to swing much higher than Itachi and he used to get so mad. You should have seen him, clan head's son getting beaten by his cousin at the swings."

Life goes on, especially shinobi-life. It moved fast. And being born into a shinobi family, Ino felt angry. She felt angry at Sakura for stopping, for giving up all her title and giving into her insecurity that she had tried so long to battle.

But that didn't mean she would stop trying to fix her.

Ino knocked at the door of her best friend's apartment at noon as she looked over her shoulder at her village. The sun shone over the rooftops and there was steam billowing from the chimneys. People bustled in the streets below her. Her baby blue eyes took it all in sadly as she turned her back to the street and to the red door.

After a few minutes of waiting patiently, her slender knuckles banged more fervently on the door.

"I'm coming, geez." She heard a noise inside and possibly some stumbling.

"Foreheaddd! Open up already!" Ino yelled. The door cracked open, she caught sight of a disgruntled face with a shower of vibrant pink hair over sleepy viridian eyes. Ino, forced her leg through the crack to make her entrance.

"What?" Sakura yawned, scratching her cheek as she looked at her best friend.

Ino took in Sakura's messy apartment with some distaste. It was a small apartment, nevertheless it used to be tidier. Her sharp eyes fell upon a few of Sakura's old folders on the coffee table. But she didn't dwell on it too long. She turned to her best friend with a wide smile.

"Come on sleepy head, we're going shopping!"

"Too tired," Sakura muttered and scrambled for her couch, before slumping on it. Ino glared at the pinkette, and then sighed as she seated herself on the vacant spot beside her friend.

"Forehead, you quit the hospital six months ago," she sighed, taking note of Sakura's room, "You need to get your life back in order."

"Pig, can you like-," Sakura cracked a bleary eye open at the clock hanging a little away from her, "go away now, I don't want to have this conversation."

"I'm just worried about you!" Ino groaned, "Your team is worried about you. You've been keeping away from everything! You can't go on like this!"

Sakura flipped over to stare at the ceiling. She had had this conversation with Ino so many times. And it was the same old tired tune, the rhythm of their arguments were predictable. She could hear the words before they were said and even if they were left unsaid.

Why can't you just be normal again?

"Mou…you are going to catch a cold," she sighed, throwing a towel in Shisui's direction after digging through a messy drawer. He was dripping from head to foot from shuffling in the rain to her apartment. On nights like those, they had agreed to meet here, because the Uchiha district didn't look too convenient if she was caught by a dozen, sharp sharingan users. So Sakura's apartment was a better choice.

"A-Ahhchooo!"

They both froze and Shisui laughed at her sheepishly.

"You jinxed me!"

Sakura sighed before looking at him fondly, "Here, let me check you."

Her hands seeped into cool chakra against his skin. Had he been Sasuke, she would be pushed away and told that he didn't need her help with a cold. But he never pulled away from her either. It was one of the things she found oddly comforting about him.

But Shisui never fit into the expectations of being an Uchiha. He never fit in her expectations of what other men were supposed to be like either. If either from the sappy books she was lent or her own experiences, he was a curious anomaly. He was something else entirely. She liked this non-Uchiha side of him, a little secret that they both shared. She felt warm and tingly when she ran her fingers across his strong jaw and towards his temples. And he'd tease her, asking her if she wanted to kiss him, as she checked his vitals. He smelled of spice tea.

But she never got angry, only felt amused and somewhat jittery.

"Sakura," He said after a while. She snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at him.

"Why did you quit?"

When she didn't respond. He seemed to run a hand through his messy hair. She realized that the gesture meant that he was being cautious. His mouth threatened to form words that he would say, but he was battling them for her, trying to come out with something delicate enough to deal with the topic, he knew she held it in sore regard. There were unspoken words on his tongue, ones which he was choosing carefully.

Curiosity was never a sin, but it could smash things and destroy someone. He seemed to know that.

Something Team Seven and Ino never understood.

"I guess you have your reasons." He finished.

She didn't know what to respond with, at least he never brought up her accomplishments, all her faded accomplishments that had clattered to the floor. At least he didn't remind her of who she used to be.

And he probably sensed the bitterness churning within her through the silence hanging heavily.

"I get it," he said softly, "I feel the same way."

He pointed at his glassy black eyes, "I kind of used to use them a lot, my sharingan…er…"

"I know," she said to him, her fingertips lightly rubbing circles into his temples, feeling the clogged chakra-paths, "I can tell by looking at your nerves connected to your eyes."

"They told me it can't be healed." He said, his tone was bitter, "And uh, I kind of…fucked it up." He tried to laugh it off awkwardly, but it came out harsh and angry.

Could she? She closed her eyes, feeling the pathways. Something long lost stirring up within her as she worked. Her flow of chakra so gentle that his system hardly registered it as a threat.

There was a pregnant pause but sure felt like he looking in her direction with some sort of conviction.

"I get it."

"Working at the hospital was fun, stressful and exhaustive," she started slowly, "I could barely move, and there used to be a lot of work. But I loved it."

He listened patiently to her.

"But yes, I was content, I was doing things. Going places," her voice rose in height, "But then it all stopped."

Her throat ached as her voice fell.

"I couldn't think properly, I couldn't work properly. I tried everything. Do you know what it feels like sometimes when you can't even trust yourself, trust the decisions that you make to save people's lives?"

She still went on missions for money, after all she still needed to pay for rent. But she almost always requested that they be solo, and her Hokage would watch after her worriedly. Kakashi-sensei never questioned her, because Sakura always knew what was right for herself. But lately, he seemed as if he wasn't convinced anymore.

"I didn't want to see anyone die anymore because of me. I just…I wasn't the Haruno Sakura that people could trust anymore."

She trailed off. She dropped her hands from the sides of his head.

"I get it," he said again, his voice coming out choked.

But as she looked at his eyes under the dim apartment lighting. She felt an odd sort of hope rise up in her.

He'd begun to see specks of light lately.

"Ne, ne? What do you think about a spar right now?"

Shisui tilted his head in her direction grinning.

"Right now? Sakura?" He asked her, from where he was lying down on the grass, "You sure you wanna challenge me?"

She snorted and he felt her body shift to look at him challengingly, "I'm pretty good y'know?"

He had stopped sparring recently.

The rigidity around the spars, and the handicap of fighting blind often reminded him of his sore predicament. He couldn't perform up to the Uchiha standard anymore. So the great Shunshin no Shisui, with all his notoriety in the ANBU began to crumble to the ground after that fateful mission, when he overused his eyes.

He'd imagine the enemies at night sometimes, kick him, laugh at his body as he lay scrambled on the floor- blurry images like the things he had been seeing before he lost his vision. And it wasn't like he hadn't tried, he'd tried so hard, he still trained. He had a reputation to keep, but lately it felt like that reputation felt absurd to him. And there was a feeling of insecurity inside him. Sure he could rely on his team, but he knew as well as they did, no matter how much he tried, he would still be a liability.

Shisui did not want to be that way, so he preferred to be alone.

He snapped his head back as he dodged her kick, laughing at her. She couldn't keep the giggles inside either. And they were taunting each other playfully. And he hadn't enjoyed the thrill of a good fight like he did right now.

"You call that a kick? I bet my grandma could hit better than that!" She called out to him.

"Yep, I bet she could." He sighed and she laughed harder.

They collapsed into a tangle of limbs and giggles by the end of it. Because he'd managed to catch her off guard and tickle her into submission. Because everything in the world seemed so absurd to them and right at the same time. It was only the two of them alone against it.

And whatever it was that this was between them- from the banter to the talks to the earnest arguments in the middle of the night over ramen for breakfast. It made sense. He couldn't explain them, and good grief he felt like someone had kicked him back into puberty, along with the jittery feelings and awkward moments. And his mother was probably out there somewhere, snorting in laughter at his predicament.

He breathed in the tangy vanilla scent from her hair.

"You smell like dog." He told her teasingly. He felt her get up in alarm.

"No way! I do not smell like Pakkun!"

"Who's Pakkun?" He asked, a grin threatening to spill on his face, but he already knew who the ninken was and who he belonged to.

"No one!" She sang and pulled him to his feet, he dodged a sneaky blow again.

He didn't have any problems getting adjusted to being blind, he managed to rely on his other senses. He refused to think of himself as invalid.

But sometimes during moments like this, he wished he could see her, her face, her exasperation, her face when she laughed, her anger- everything. He barely remembered what she looked like, all he knew was that she had pink hair, odd absurd pink hair. But he'd heard of her around the village, the genius medic on his brother's team. Everyone knew that Sasuke and Naruto were in good hands with her around.

But he didn't like her because she was a medic, or a genius or any of those titles that she might have gained under the tutelage of the Godaime. He liked her because she was first and foremost Sakura.

And Sakura was kind.

"C'mon!" She giggled as the late hours of evening began to settle in. And she tugged his hand as they meandered through the secluded path leading up to the Hokage's tower.

"This is likely not going to happen."

"The Hokage is my former teacher! He'll comply."

"Sakura," she heard him groan, and she sniggered, "Ah what the hell, I got nothing to lose anyways."

She squeezed his hand and she felt him squeeze it back as they made it up the staircase, ignoring the funny looks that the guards gave them.

"Is Hokage-sama busy?" She whispered. The guard looked between between Shisui and her.

He shook his head and let her in with a sympathetic smile. If she felt anything bitter inside her, she didn't show it.

"Sakura," Kakashi looked up from Icha Icha Paradise, and she swiped the book from his hands, "What can I help you with?" He groaned mournfully at his book. A single eye following the book as it sailed across the room and into the bin.

He then saw who she was in the company with and her former teacher looked between the two of them.

"Shisui-taichou," he added, full of curiosity.

"Hatake-taichou!" He added and bowed, "Er…Hokage-sama. Sorry." He corrected apologetically.

"What can I do for the two of you?" Kakashi leaned on his hands.

"Sakura wanted to tell you that she smells like your ninken." Shisui deadpanned.

"Baka!" Sakura slapped his neck, but Kakashi didn't miss the exasperated grin on her face, "Shisui and I came to ask for a mission, together."

If Kakashi was surprised, he didn't say anything, he just continued politely, "What kind of mission, Sakura?"

"One solo mission for Sakura to find Tora-chan." Shisui replied solemnly.

Sakura groaned and punched his arm, "Shisui let me talk!"

Kakashi watched the interaction between the two of them, hardly daring to tell the two of them that Fire Daimyo's wife's infernal pet had in fact, passed away out of old age.

But he was more curious about the interaction in front of him. Because Sakura had not laughed, let alone smiled in the months since what they, Team Seven, had dubbed her "breakdown". And even the months leading up to it were difficult for conversation. She was strained with words. So while they didn't talk to her, they talked about her. Sasuke gave up on her, Naruto still tried and Kakashi wizened by his years of experience in the shinobi field, had seen something similar like this before.

It just so happened, that one of those people who it happened to, was beside her. And they both looked equally content in each other's presence.

"Maa…Let's see what I got here," He said pulling out a messy stack of papers and scanning through it. He listened to them banter as he did.

"I do not smell like Pakkun!"

"Ah ah! Sakura, now, dog shampoo is great for your hair. You should talk to the Inuzaka sometime, very informational, they are."

"Mou! You are never going to let me live that one down, are you?"

Shisui only grinned wider while she pouted, and Kakashi did not miss it. His lips under his mask twitched ever so slightly.

He noted the light spots that had been growing brighter these days through his vision.

"Hey hey, you should have seen the look on that guard's face." Sakura elbowed him. And he looked down at her with a frown and shifted his pack over his shoulder. He scratched his head.

"Of course," he said, "He was in awe of your beauty, Sakura."

He heard a snort of laughter.

"Nope, he was staring at you," She pinched his arm.

They were both celestial disappointments, falling stars, former glories. And both of them were ready to let go of all of it, they could both use this new beginning. There was some sort of silent agreement to this.

She was content to let him think in silence and he faintly sighed as he took in the fresh air outside the village before gagging.

"It smells like poop." Sakura groaned, "I knew we should not have taken this road."

"It's the shortest route," he said wrinkling his nose, "I remember this path."

Their mission surprisingly wasn't very hard, it just involved a lot of traveling between one of the local villages and into the land of Iron. But Shisui also had a sneaking suspicion that the copy-nin had some ulterior motives.

Their charge was an old cranky merchant along with a family of four, consisting of a mother and three kids. They had agreed to share the escort expenses. It was a long trip, but nevertheless a very easy mission. And Sakura couldn't stop grinning at Shisui who was currently swarmed.

"Heeeh? Do that trick again, oniichan!"

"What trick?" Shisui asked the boy. He threw up all three colorful balls and caught them deftly in one hand. "Was it this one? Or was it that one?"

He began to juggle the balls. And the children squealed in delight.

They were stopped for the night, and they had set up camp. While the fire cackled and stew boiled deliciously in one of the cooking utensils, Sakura leaned back in her arms and sighed in contentment. She gazed up at the clear sky and the dazzling stars that peppered it, before looking back to Shisui.

"I wanna try," the oldest boy, Kou, who was about seven said.

"No me!" Manami interrupted him.

"Not you! Me!" Hana, the youngest of them all squealed and Shisui grinned as he tousled her hair, while keeping the three balls out of arms reach from the other two. He skillfully twirling them around his fingers. It prompted more 'aahs!' Sakura paid close attention to his glassy eyes that switched between each child with slight clinical interest.

Butterflies fluttered in the bowels of her stomach, and it wasn't because of the delicious stew simmering a little away.

"Now now, Hana-chan, you might get hurt!" Shisui admonished.

And she did. She got a scrape on her chin, when she tried to catch the clumsy balls.

Sakura chuckled as she crawled up to the crying girl.

"Now now, Hana-chan," she soothed, "No crying." She swiped her chin with a flicker of green and the girl's face brightened in wonder, "See, the pain's all gone."

Sakura always loved children the best, they were so easy to talk to.

"Onee-chan! How did you do that?" Her siblings crawled up to Sakura and started showing her scabs and bruises that they had acquired from whatever shenanigans they had been up to.

"I'm a princess," she responded with a serious look, and watched as the children looked at her with pronounced awe.

"No way!"

"I heal little children." She added solemnly, "And save them from evil ninjas."

"Maa…Sakura, you stole my thunder." Shisui groaned, but she thought she saw a flicker of fond admiration on his face.

"Say, you guys, who do you think is cooler, me or Shisui?" She whispered conspiratorially at the children.

The children looked at each other with solemn congregation, before Manami chirped.

"Hime-sama is better!"

"Hime-sama!"

"Onee-chan!"

"This is not fair," Shisui pouted, "You children wound me."

"Snow!"

He imagined her twirling around, by the shuffling of her feet and then heard a slight flump on the ground.

"We're here in Iron!" He imagined the snowflakes on her pink hair, lightly dusting her pink cheeks. He thought it looked beautiful.

He smiled and leant a hand towards her. He felt her grab it, and pull herself up.

"You know," she giggled, "You look funny."

"Do I?"

He felt a hand dust his nose off.

"Heeeeeh! Ew!" He heard Kou yell in the background, "You two are so gross, all lovey-dovey like a couple."

"Kou, shut up! I think they are sweet!" Manami swatted her brother. Shisui felt his cheeks grow warm.

"That's true," A third voice piped in. He assumed it was their mother, "You guys look great together."

He thought he heard Sakura splutter.

Sakura wiped her mouth of blood as she looked up at the Kumo-nin grinning at her. She narrowed her eyes and dodged the barrage of shuriken. There were so many of them. She only hoped Shisui and the caravan managed to get to the border safely.

She clutched her kunai tighter.

"Really, if this is all we needed to kill the old man," one of them started, "She doesn't look like much. He was a miser to just hire two ninjas."

"Hey, hey," one of them shifted his legs apart as he leaned forward, his face jeering in recognition, "Don't you guys recognize her?"

"Nope, Miki, Let's please finish her off. I want to go home."

"Haruno Sakura." He said, as if the impact of realization physically hit him, he looked up at her with a malicious grin, "How interesting."

Sakura narrowed her eyes, and punched the ground, sending the shattered rocks flying around her throwing them off balance. She lunged for the nin who spoke at first, he blocked it.

"You know-."

She managed to dodge a senbon narrowly, it snipped through her hair as she punched the man in front of her, before swiveling her body to bar companion's sword with her kunai.

"Your companion, his name is Shunshin no Shisui isn't he?"

There was a clash of steel as she felt her body being impaled by the sword which skidded past her kunai.

"My companion just told me something interesting through this microphone," she was too much in a frenzy to analyze his tone for truth or lie, "Your partner is dead."

And with that, she saw red, and lost her mind in a fit of rage.

He scoured the landscape for her, sensing her chakra signature. He hardly noticed his sight blurred and the objects around him slowly take some sort of milky, liquid shape. He could smell the metallic scent of blood everywhere.

He just flew up to her chakra signature, praying to whatever deity would listen. She had to be safe. She couldn't- no. Panic overwhelmed him as he jumped from tree to tree.

Don't worry, please let them reach the land of Iron safely, Shisui. It's probably just a few enemies.

Sakura, He hissed internally amid the panic, it wasn't just a few. And she couldn't die on him. He scampered through the icy temperatures as they blew through his hair.

And then he caught a hint of her.

Her chakra signature was faint. He whispered a mantra of 'thank yous' as he walked up to her shakily, taking her faint figure into his arms, feeling her petite body for injuries and coming across cuts, scabs and bruises.

She moved her hands up to him.

"Shisui," she acknowledged faintly.

"Sakura," he murmured, "Dammit, I should not have let you go alone."

She ran her fingers against his jaw and up to his temples, bloody fingers making trails. He noticed with detached interest as her hands slowly trailed up his jaw and towards his eyes. His vision started to grow white. Realization hit him with a jolt of shock.

He caught her hand.

"What are you doing?"

Snagging her arm away from his grasp, with some chakra, because his grip was strong. She continued working against his will.

"Sakura- you'll get chakra exhaustion and die, what the fuck are you doing?" He tried to grasp for her hands again before she barked.

"Stay." She ordered and he felt his vision start to clear for the first time in years. He swallowed in wonder and foreboding.

She started to talk slowly, "You know, you probably didn't notice it, but I've been slowly unclogging your chakra paths while you weren't looking. I'm just speeding up the process right now."

The previous two months flew through his mind as he listened to her, thunderstruck.

"It's only a theory that I never expected to work, but at this moment, there are nearly thirty Kumo-nin headed our way, if you want to know. Please make this work." She bit her lip.

"Sakura!" He said, his words full of rage and concern as she applied more cooling chakra.

For most people, this ought to have been joyous, he ought to have been whooping and dancing around, because he could see. He could see everything. Yet all her felt was exasperation and anger towards this selfless kind girl who decided to sacrifice herself for him. For one breathtaking moment he caught sight of a pair of vibrant green eyes, and then it slowly panned out, before he realized that he was actually seeing her in all her entirety.

"N-no," He stuttered, she looked beautiful in the snow, delicately falling on her nose and on her battered cheek, down her beautiful shade of pink hair that he caught shakily in his hands. He slid his hands back and forth on the strands as if hardly daring to believe that this was her.

He could see again.

"They are closing in, Shisui," She said softly. He caught sight of the stars reflected in her eyes, the moon shining on her bruised body as he tried to stop her. He sensed the chakra signatures approaching. She continued talking.

"Did I ever tell you about my first patient? I think I finally remember why I decided to become a medic."

She continued pouring chakra into his eyes, soothing his nerves. Her vapoured breath was hot against his skin.

"Because it can give people second chances." She smiled, and his breath caught in his throat at the sight. "Take this. This will help you get out alive." She whispered as she crumpled into his arms.

And for the first time in two years, Shisui's eyes bled red and the world around him grew sharper. Holding her body close to him as he looked at the nin who surrounded him, perched on the tree branches with feral intensity.

And one man survived to tell the world about Shunshin no Shisui who wrecked carnage upon the lands again. The news hit Konoha, from bounty hunter to shinobi travelling back from their mission over cups of sake.

"Hey did you hear about that Konoha nin?"

"-Thirty kumo-nin? The asshole was supposed to be out of commission and blind."

"He had the sharingan. The poor bloke who survived said he had it, red and bloody and shit."

"What the fuck? What kind of sorcery did Konoha perform?"

And the entire Uchiha clan caught wind of it, and neither of them could make head or tail of the rumors either. Itachi found himself being hounded with questions. Was Shisui's blindness temporary? But Itachi swore that his condition was supposed to be incurable. And many thought the entire situation made no sense at all. Because Shisui was blind and an utter disappointment to the Uchiha. But to people who learned about the mysterious partner who accompanied him, only concluded on one thing.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto burst through the office doors, "What the heck am I hearing?"

Kakashi looked at his paper containing the mission detail before twisting it around for the two figures who accompanied him.

"This was supposed to be a C-rank mission, we were tricked." He groaned, "He was a political figure undercover. What a miser."

"Who accompanied Shisui?" Sasuke asked leaning against the door way as he looked towards Itachi, "Sakura's not in her apartment…"

And the look on the copy-nin's face only confirmed their suspicions.

Because there was only one medic who managed to perform an open field medical procedure with such accuracy based on a mere theory, as Tsunade put it. And was confirmed by Ino who saw folders on 'eye' procedures scattered haphazardly in her apartment.

Sakura Haruno had indeed been the answer to the identity of the mystery medic on everyone's lips.

The first thing she registered was the sound of beeping and she opened her eyes to the white walls of the hospital. She felt a weight press on her shoulder, and ran her hands through his silky hair.

"Shisui," she whispered soothingly into his ears.

And he stirred, rubbing his eyes. Then he caught sight of the girl in front of him who was watching him, tears streaming down her beautiful green eyes.

"Welcome back, Sakura." He murmured as he took her hand, entwining his fingers into hers.

She was half crying and half laughing as she ran her thumb across his wet cheekbone. She felt a flood of emotions assault her, from relief, beautiful relief that they were both safe to just sheer thankfulness for the man in front of her. And she had lived- when she was so sure she wouldn't have made it in the frigid conditions.

He leaned forward to kiss her.

And she felt more giggles in her throat into the kiss and he nuzzled his nose against hers gently. He smelled of spiced tea. They were both looking at each other giddy with excitement, under the dead of the night, with the glittering stars peeking at them through the window.

This would be the start of something new.

People found the two of them absurd. They liked taking walks at night and playing on the swings in empty parks. But then again, Shisui and Sakura had always been a league of their own. And, their achievements after months of pain and years of hurt, mattered very little.

As long as they still had each other.

And he liked her hair, he really did.

"Y'know Sakura, Pakkun has good taste in shampoo."

"Oh shut it, Shisui."

Thank you for reading.