Blind
is a Naruto fanfic by ObsidianSickle.
A sequel, Fidelis, has been posted, last updated 2011 with only two chapters; a good authority says that the third chapter had been written but ended on a cliffhanger, and the author was unable to write the next chapter, so he decided to be merciful.
Set up in an alternate continuity; Sasuke decides to take matters into his own hands before Orochimaru takes his body completely. Left to dead close to the Country of Fire he's returned to Konoha and the people he tried to cut out of his life in his search for power. During this time he has to learn once more how to manage himself in the world, and also the importance of bonds.
List of tropes appearing in Blind:
- Adaptational Villainy: Pain is kind of a dick in this story.
- All There in the Manual: The "extras" chapter includes in-depth explanations for the symbolism.
- Almighty Janitor: Sasuke: last of the Uchiha, former S-ranked criminal; still technically a genin until the Chuunin Exam.
- Amnesia Danger: Sasuke still has the skills, but because of the mind wipe he doesn't know that the village the team rested at is one of Oto's strongholds, and the townspeople recognize him from back then.
- Attack Reflector: The Chakra Oscillation Project reverses someone's chakra, so their own attacks are used against them.
- Bearer of Bad News: Kakashi tells Sakura that her father is MIA.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Justified in the case of Sasuke, as his (horrific) injuries were healed so as to not leave scars. Simultaneously justified and partially averted with Itachi; the Healing Factor makes it not scar, although it doesn't restore his vision or his fingers, and years later the person is noted to be quite attractive regardless.
- Bookends:
- Itachi's first and last on-screen appearances are both in Nariko's hometown.
- A character being blinded with a kunai both begins and ends the plot.
- Career-Ending Injury: Denied by Sasuke, who works to function as a ninja despite losing his sight.
- Cats Are Magic: The two-tailed cat Nekomata has power over the dead, which even for the setting is rather supernatural.
- Celibate Hero: Sasuke; despite his goal to restore his clan, he felt he couldn't while Itachi was still around to threaten any family he started.
- Chekhov's Gunman:
- The abnormally-large chakra signature. She's Sasuke's teammate for the Chuunin Exam.
- The drunk Itachi killed when he went to retrieve the six-tails jinchuuriki. He's Nariko's biological father.
- Chekhov's Skill: Sasuke training to break out of genjutsu; of course, that was the whole point of it.
- The Coats Are Off: Before their fight, Sasuke takes off his raincoat and Itachi takes off his Akatsuki cloak.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Orochimaru was not happy with Sasuke damaging his intended vessel
- Cooldown Hug: Sakura does this when Sasuke snaps at her for not letting him fight Itachi
- Cruel Mercy: The aptly-given title of chapter sixty-nine.
- Dead Person Conversation: Sasuke with his mother, courtesy of Nekomata.
- Deliberate Injury Gambit: Nariko keeps getting into "accidents", to keep her body weak, after finding out what will happen to her once she's stronger.
- Disability Superpower: Downplayed and justified with Sasuke's chakra sense.
- Disability Immunity: Being blinded will protect you from:
- Orochimaru wanting to steal your body; invoked by Sasuke in the first chapter.
- The effects of most genjutsu, including the Mangekyo Sharingan.
- It also removes the control of Madara's Sharingan.
- Doorstopper: At over 500,000 words and 72 chapters (plus extras).
- Dramatic Drop: Sakura is perfectly fine, no need to worry; but when asked about what Kakashi came over for, her teacup drops. She passes it off as just clumsiness.
- Eye Color Change: After being blinded, Itachi's turn pale brown, the colour of Nariko's eyes.
- Florence Nightingale Effect: averted; Sakura loved Sasuke before he entered into her care
- Foil: Kanaye is a good big brother. Itachi is a bad big brother. The author even accidentally made them the same age.
- For Want Of A Nail:
explicitly given as the reason behind Deidara and Jiraiya being Spared by the Adaptation - Forgiveness: a major theme of the story
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: Invoked in the "interview" for the Chuunin Exam.
- Friends with Benefits: Konan and Deidara; she and Itachi are just "benefits".
- Girls Love Chocolate: Ino brings chocolate bars to cheer Sakura up.
- A Glitch in the Matrix: Why is Itachi lacking a chakra signature?
- Group Hug: Sakura's family (and Naruto) when her father returns.
- Healing Factor: The jinchuuriki, as in canon; this gets invoked to save a character's life.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Nariko saves Itachi by giving him her bijuu, knowing that it will kill her.
- Hiding the Handicap: Very rarely done by Sasuke, when he encounters a bartender who knew him when he was still with Orochimaru.
- Hope Is Scary: Why Sasuke doesn't want to think about his sight coming back, and Sakura doesn't want to imagine that he might love her.
- How Many Fingers?: Kanaye does this after Sasuke explains how his chakra sense works; of course, the last corrrect answer is "one".
- Improbable Age: Downplayed; at 17, Sakura is the youngest medic to graduate since the program started.
- Internal Reveal: Sakura finding out Sasuke blinded himself; Nariko finding out Itachi killed his clan and the extraction would kill her
- Just Toying with Them: Sasuke vs Konohamaru in the chuunin exam tournament, because he wanted to show everyone what he was capable of.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Sasuke's mind was wiped of any "important" details about Sound before being left for dead.
- Left for Dead: A variant, as Orochimaru wasn't actually trying to kill Sasuke, he just didn't care whether he lived or died.
- Love Epiphany: It takes a long time for Sasuke to realize he loves Sakura, but it finally happens at her birthday party.
- Misery Poker: Sakura does this to herself, trying to put things into "perspective", after hearing that her father is mission in action.
- Mistaken for Romance: Hinata starts to freak out when she sees Naruto with a girl. Turns out she's another jinchuuriki and thus an honorary relative to him.
- Never Say "Die": Played with: after a certain point, Sasuke resolves to "eliminate" Itachi; he has a different fate in mind for his brother, although we don't find out until later.
- Nightmare Sequence: In a departure from the standard fare, in chapter 35 we get to see what happens when Sasuke's growing care for Sakura combines with his... other issues.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Sakura's chuunin exam. Apparently she single-handedly destroyed the arena.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: It's a bad sign any time Naruto starts thinking about what he's saying.
- Outdoor Bath Peeping: Sasuke accidentally walks in on Sakura bathing in a river; thankfully they're both reasonable about it, and he couldn't see her anyways.
- The Paralyzer: Lightning chakra is useful for this, and immobilizes Itachi while he's being "dealt with".
- Personal Effects Reveal: A variation in that Itachi isn't dead, but still won't be coming back to his former home; nothing in any of his belongings suggests the person who killed his entire clan.
- Power Copying: Subverted; when copying fighting styles, Sasuke had also copied the users' mistakes, and has to unlearn them to improve.
- Power-Strain Blackout: If Sakura overexerts herself from healing when she's already tired.
- Real Men Hate Sugar: Sasuke only hates sweet things because they remind him of relatives who died in the massacre.
- Restrained Revenge: Sasuke doesn't kill Itachi.
- Rule of Symbolism: To say that the last chapter is wholly dedicated to explaining the symbolism used throughout the story.
- Sensing You Are Outmatched: Sakura possesses this skill (and the wisdom to apply it) when they encounter Itachi and Kisame; her teammates do not
- Sharing a Body: How the author writes Tobi; Uchiha Madara's soul was attached to that brain-damaged body but can't always control it because of the damage.
- Trespassing Hero: Sasuke and Sakura break into a (closed) teahouse for shelter. They clean up as much as they can, and leave money and a note when they leave.It was then that he swore that even when he was the legal age to be drinking, he would never do so, because losing your memory against your will was bad enough.
- What Does She See in Him?: Why would a talented medic care for someone who betrayed the village?
- Wild Child: Nariko; she had essentially no human interaction from the time the bijuu was put in her as a little girl, to when Itachi "rescued" her.
- Womanchild: Nariko is 16 or 17, but acts like she's 8 because of no human interaction since then.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Nariko doesn't know it yet, but she's going to die once her body is strong enough.
