Naruto: Blind

Sakura sighed slightly on his right and she led Sasuke in the direction of the footsteps. She was humming that song again, but quietly; sometimes he wished she wouldn't, sometimes he wished she would—right now he was feeling both. He was distracted by the melody, so he almost committed another graceless act that day and crashed into her.

"Here, sit down, Sasuke," Sakura disentangled her arm from him and took his wrist, leading his arm to the back of a plastic chair. Her voice was turned away from him, so he assumed that when she spoke the second time, she was speaking to her brother, "It's a typical café: you go to the counter, pick what you want, pay for it and eat it. It's pretty busy today—tell me what you want, and I'll get it for you. Saves time that way."

"You're in an awful hurry to get lunch over with," came the older man's voice from across the table, a chair scraping against the ground as he pulled it out.

"Busy training schedule today," she replied, and this time Sasuke couldn't imagine what facial expression she had on, "What do want for lunch, Sasuke?"

"Anything," he replied, crossing his arms and reclining back, "You know what kind of stuff I don't like."

"'Kay. Kanaye?"

"I'll have a large slice of cake," he declared after a moment's consideration.

"That's far from healthy."

"I know."

A resigning sigh followed, "Fine, fine. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Her footsteps were soon lost in the chattering of the crowds, disappearing amid the clamor that came with conversation. Sasuke sat up in his chair, leaning forward so he could rest his elbows on the table, his fingers laced together under his nose. Even though he couldn't see it, but he could tell that Sakura's brother was gazing at him intently, and after a minute or two of silence he heard the jounin shuffle his chair slightly to his left.

"It's a little creepy when you do that and I'm sitting opposite you. It looks like you're staring at me," Kanaye said in explanation of his movement, but Sasuke merely shrugged.

"Quaint place, this is," the older man continued after a moment's pause, figuring out that Sasuke wasn't going to comment, "I can see why Sakura liked it when she came here with Lee."

Outwardly, Sasuke made no movement, and inwardly he frowned slightly with confusion. Lee…that was the guy who helped carry Sakura's things all the way back whenever. Naruto called him hairy brows or something of the sort. As the wheels turned inside his head, the image of a green-clad, bowl-haired young man with abnormally thick eyebrows came to mind; he remembered now, the pet pupil of Maito Gai. A slight frown began to descend externally on his attractive face—Sakura had come here with that guy?

Sasuke was too preoccupied with the concept to notice Kanaye's gaze on him. It wasn't his business whom Sakura went places with, and he frankly didn't care. He was more or less confused by the prospect instead of bothered by it. Of course it was absurd to expect her to wait forever on him, and he supposed he shouldn't have been surprised if she went out with other guys. But Maito Gai's student of all people? What on earth had caught Sakura's eye that had turned her attention away from Sasuke and towards Lee…?

"You seem perplexed," came Kanaye's voice, jolting Sasuke slightly from his reverie.

He gave a grunt that could easily be interpreted as 'bugger off' before shoving all thoughts aside. The fact that Sakura had possibly gone out with Lee did not bother him; Sakura's love life wasn't his business, and he definitely wasn't going to concern himself with it. He was pretty sure that she still loved him, even though he hadn't heard her say it since he had left; and even though she had gone out with other guys, it didn't necessarily mean that she had ever felt anything serious for any of them. Not that he cared either way.

After another long spell of quiet, the man who sat at the table with him braved conversation once more, "So, Sasuke, tell me about yourself."

"What do you want to know?" Sasuke resigned to reply, turning his attention to Sakura's older sibling.

"Anything," Kanaye said lazily, "What are your interests? Likes, dislikes. Favourite colour. Whatever you want."

"Training covers my interests. I don't like a lot of things. I dislike many things. Black," he replied evenly.

"You sound like a very interesting person," was the reply, and Sasuke wasn't sure whether it was intended to be sarcastic or not, "But you're very vague."

He gave a light shrug, "I suppose."

"How are things at the house going?"

"Fine."

"How's the weather been?"

"Warm."

"Do you answer questions in anything but one word answers?"

"Rarely."

Kanaye suddenly slapped his hand down on the table. Sasuke didn't flinch; the rustling of the clothing indicated to him what the young man was doing, but he had no idea why he was doing it.

"Now we're getting somewhere!" Kanaye exclaimed enthusiastically, causing Sasuke to raise his eyebrows slightly. He supposed he had to admire the determination Sakura's brother showed in wanting to get to know him.

Approaching footfalls faded into earshot, and mercifully, they were Sakura's.

"What are you doing, Kanaye?" she asked in a tone that Sasuke heard her use when she was annoyed with Naruto.

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