Red eyes, White eyes, Nystagmus

Her eyes were white.

That was how she was diagnosed at two years old, retinoblastoma, bilateral.

No residual sight was left after EBR, cycles and cycles of chemotherapy ... What was left ... Regular checkups for recurrences and years of shadows and solitude.

Yet, what pains her most ... She has forgotten how her mother looked like.

The last vision she had ever seen was the face of her mother or so she thinks .. Yet, she no longer remembers, the features are delicate but fuzzy , almost there but never quite as sharp and she knows her mind might have cofabulated a great deal of details just to fill in for the lost pieces .

"Hinata-chan"

His voice brought her out of her musings

"Hinata-chan, are you alright?"

"Shu-sama, you are up so early"

"you know I am a morning person much like you, you are missing them already?"

"it isnot like they are always here with me all the time"

"but they were close"

"Neji is still here, he will be coming hereafter until they are back home"

"So, what do we do now?"

"well, I have nothing in mind" she replied

"Me too"

"Perhaps we should walk around just a wee bit, until we conjure up something to do, or get interested in something"

"Very well then, Shu-Ni"

He woke up with a grumpy mood, and the lest he needed was the dobe , Whom he so unwisely gave him the spare key, bombarding him with questions about his well-being.

"How are taking it, teme?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The news about your brother" Neji's impassive voice resumed

'He brought the insufferable prick with him, Ms. PA is tagging along as usual'

"I am doing just fine, case closed. I DON'T CARE about his whereabouts, Any other useful thing to talk about? I want to sleep."

"Tenten, please leave the documents on the table" Neji instructed "and let him in on the band's upcoming arrangements"

"Yes, Neji" She knelt towards the table leaving a meticulously organised file on the coffee table for him to read.

"Now, Sasuke-san ... we have an interview for the band this Thursday on SBS"

"I don't want to attend" he stated upfrontly.

"Well, you have to, so we could dispell the rumors that you will disband and that you are fighting amoung each other" Tenten countered

She now sat beside Neji and suddenly Sasuke was reminded of a scene long ago, when Izumi would help Itachi with his work, such a similar dynamic between them that it aches to see them together sometimes.

His eyes sore.

"I will see about that" Sasuke replied

Simultaneously, Both Boss and PA rose from their seating "We will see you around soon. Sasuke, Naruto" Neji nodded

Naruto kept eyeing him warily as he brewed his morning tea.

"What?" he gruffed

" Nothing"

"Don't you have something useful to do instead of staring at me all day, dobe?"

"I just like your pleasant company, mate" Naruto wryly replied "it wouldn't get you anywhere, you know"

"What is that?"

"Obstinancy. Sasuke, I know he hurt you but you need some closure. You need to find him and face him so you could get some peace"

"Kakashi is rubbing off on you pretty bad I see"

"Don't take me for a fool and divert from the main topic on hand"

"You are already a fool" Sasuke stated matter of fact "my issues aside, how about you? What did Tsunade say?"

"Nothing new, the dearies and more therapy sessions"

"You are getting better, it has been along while since you lapsed into a hypermania"

" Whatever" Naruto huffed "You know where your stuff are, you know about the interview, I need to pitch a new riff sequence to you"

" Very well, let's jam it and see"

Shu-ni was as closest to best friend as she could ever claim, despite how little she knows about him up til now.

He is a quiet man, a thinker .. Probably rich.

He must have seen much longer than her, he had retinitis pigmentosa after all

But mostly, he was lonely, nobody came to visit him and he barely sought anybody's company, except hers.

He was also a huge Konoha fan, listening and humming to their songs.

"Hinata-Chan, where have you been?"

"I have been thinking about you, you intrigue me, Shu-ni"

"Not as much as Naruto though"

She blushed like a tomato

"I bet you are blushing, now, if one can see it"

"I still can't believe Hanabi told you this" She said in a small voice

"Nevermind, he is a brilliant fellow, talented and I think he is super nice too"

"Neji-ni says he is, but he also says he is flamaboyant as well."

'I know the kid is'

His eyes would travel all around the room, never focusing, they would dart everywhere except the table where the file lied.

God, how he wanted to hate him. Sasuke wished he could will himself into hating Itachi, for everything .. For being more talented, for being kinder, for being selfish ...

But mostly, for leaving him alone.

His hands trembled as his mind hesitated, should he reach for the papers or leave them?

'It is either this night or never' he resolved as he started to read

'Akatsuki's Hospice for the blind'