The cure for nightmares

Every night this week, the dream was the same. Every time the sun went down, Sakura would always find her mind returning to this moment. Sometimes it was from different angles, different perspectives. But always the same setting. And every night, Sakura would shoot awake, drenched in sweat, screaming. But nothing made it stop. And every night, the dream was just that little bit longer.

The first night, she had seen a battlefield, drowned in bodies. Whether they were Leaf Ninja, or even Ninja at all, Sakura could not see, it was all just a blur, except for him. His eyes were different from when Sakura had last seen him. His hair was longer and more unkempt. But she had never seen him look this happy, and it was terrifying. She had seen his face split into an evil grin at the sight of the blood and destruction around him, that she could feel he had unleashed. And he leant his head back and roared his triumphant laugh to the heavens at having cornered his prey. Sasuke Uchiha's ungodly laugh was where her dream ended on the first night. When she had screamed herself awake in her apartment and had spent the rest of the night awake, a kunai under her pillow.

The second night, she saw his laugh die away. Saw Sasuke draw his long katana; the blade stained with blood, as though he had massacred an army. She watched helplessly as he swung it high to the heavens, offering up his prey to whatever vengeful god he served, before slicing it down, forcing Sakura awake again, soaked through with sweat. But the third night had been the worst.

This time, unlike before, she did not see Sasuke through her own eyes, but through another's. She couldn't tell who. There were more senses available to her tonight, she smelled the sounds of decaying bodies and festering wounds all around her. She heard the moans of the dying, the cries for their mothers that would never be answered. But then she heard that laugh, it shook her, whoever she was, to the very core. She looked around, barely strong enough to move, she was wounded. Finally her eyes rested on him, the vile Uchiha. He faced away from her, but his target was out of her vision. But the smell was what scared her. The hint of cherry blossom on the air; the unmistakable scent of the most beautiful person in Konoha. She was beyond doubt of who Uchiha's target was. She pulled herself to her feet, noticing her arms for the first time, but she took no notice, they were familiar. She started running, even though her balance was off and every step sent shocks of agony up her body. But her green-clad legs ran harder than ever as she saw Sasuke's blade swing high, she saw Sakura, herself, yet not herself, huddled against a tree, too scared and too weak to move. And however much it hurt her to run, she could not let that blade fall. Her bandaged arms found strength and pumped away as she reached full sprint. With a galvanised leg she leaped into the air, bringing her other leg up in front of her, the Konoha hurricane. The blade had begun its descent, but it never landed. Sakura saw the blade flung aside by the force of her kick, felt herself spin in mid-air and deliver an axe kick in Uchiha's direction that the traitor barely dodged. She felt herself hit the ground, croch and spring up to standing again. Standing tall between her love and her enemy. The rest came in flashes, inconsistent and flittering. She saw herself deliver a powerful kick to Sasuke's abdomen that sent him reeling. Felt the pain as the Uchiha used his Lion's barrage to shatter her shoulder bone. Felt her battered, bandaged knuckles connect with Sasuke's chin, only to have him roll with the blow, spinning to deliver a muscle-tearing kick to her chest, sending her flying into a tree. Her sight came in bursts. She saw herself, Sakura crawling over to her, crying and screaming words she could not hear. Saw Uchiha pick up his sword and kiss it perversely before rounding on his prey. Finally she saw Sasuke hold the tip of his blade to her chest, saw him kneel down to look in her eyes, this kill was personal. Saw him grin his evil, feral grin and whisper in her ear:

'One less waste of space.'

Then she felt the blade drive home, felt the searing agony as it ruptured her lungs, her air escaping before she could breathe it, suffocating her from the inside. But this wasn't what drove Sakura out of the consciousness of the green clad ninja. It was Sakura's painful cry from next to her.

'LEE!... NOOOOOO!'

Sakura woke with a fitful start. Every inch of her pyjamas clung to her body, drenched so thoroughly that it was hard to tell where the sweat ended and the material began. The Pink haired Kunoichi pulled herself up from her bed, pulling on a gown in a mad rush, not pausing to think about her appearance; The fact that her hair was unkempt, she was barely clothed, and she looked half mad, as she dashed out of her apartment door, barely pausing to lock her door behind her, running pell-mell and barefoot to her destination.

It was early in the morning, so she turned few heads in her marathon dash, but those that DID turn, turned as close to 180 degrees as was physically possible. Shikamaru choked on his cigarette when he saw her run by Ichiraku Ramen in the moonlight, Kakashi was distracted from his latest erotic book by the fact that his only female student almost knocked him over on her rush up the main thoroughfare and Neji swore blind that his Byakugan was playing tricks on him when Sakura floored it past the training fields, her pink robe trailing behind her, but the latter managed to remedy himself long enough to give Sakura directions to her target.

Finally, after twenty minutes of running flat out, lungs bursting, muscles abstractedly swearing at her, she arrived at her destination. The blue front door was normally thought by visitors to be pleasant and welcoming, but it annoyed Sakura tonight. In fact she wanted to punch it off its hinges because it was between her and him. Him, the reason that Sakura had run halfway across Konoha, him, the person she had seen fall at Sasuke's hand, him, the person who she had to confirm, however incredulous her thoughts were, was okay. Because Sakura's world would collapse right now if he wasn't. No matter what, Rock Lee had to be alright.

He didn't answer the first knock immediately, but she could hardly blame him, not at this time of night. But before Sakura's knuckles could meet the wooden door for the second time, it swung open. Lee wasn't wearing his trademark jumpsuit, just a pair of baggy blue pyjama bottoms and no shirt. His hair wasn't its usual straight bowl cut, it was slightly shaggy from having been slept on, but his eyes were as they always were, caring and welcoming, however little sleep they had had. It was those eyes that took her worries away.

'Sakura-chan, if I had...'he stifled a yawn, 'If I had known you were visiting I would have worn a bit more...but you seem to have forgone that option as well.' Lee had grown better at being colloquial with people these last few years, but his voice still carried that polite edge it always did. He was still easily the nicest person in Konoha.

Sakura allowed herself a smile before collapsing into him, her head resting against his toned chest. She felt strong arms wrap around her and carry her inside. The last thing she remembered was Lee lying her down on his Sofa in his sparse, yet cosy living room. Holding her hand until she nodded off.

Sakura awoke several hours later, feeling sunlight behind her eyelids. Opening her eyes, she realised she was in a bed that clearly wasn't hers, then the events of the previous night came back to her. She slapped herself, what must Lee have thought? She just turned up on his doorstep at some ungodly hour, and passed out on his chest...his chest. Sakura fought back a blush, remembering how amazing Lee looked sans a shirt, making a mental note to store the image for later.

'Sakura-chan, glad to see you are awake, I made you breakfast' Lee entered the room with stocking feet, carrying a tray laden with toast, bacon, eggs beans and a glass of orange juice. He was still wearing his Pyjama bottoms, but he had pulled on a red t-shirt over it. Sakura fought to hide her disappointment, and then spoke, a blush rising in her cheeks.

'God Lee, you shouldn't have.' Then her earlier guilt returned, She had imposed on him, stolen his bed (there was no indent next to her, so she assumed he had slept on the sofa) and now she had gotten him to make breakfast? 'Lee I can't...' she didn't get any farther.

'Sakura-chan, don't you dare feel guilty' Lee was brilliant at reading moods, 'Whatever problem drove you to my door at 3AM last night, I am glad that you came to me to solve it. I really don't mind,' he grinned 'I am happy to have the chance to be a gentleman.'

Sakura blushed even deeper pink than her hair 'Lee, you're always a gentleman.' He smiled warmly and laid the tray down in front of her. Her guilt assuaged, she tucked into the best tasting bacon she'd ever had.

'So, would you care to tell me what the problem was? We didn't really have time to chitchat last night, what with you losing consciousness and all.' Despite the joke, concern laced Lee's voice. Sakura stared down at her plate, ashamed and suddenly afraid.

'I... had a nightmare about you.' She admitted. His face didn't change, but his hand took a gentle hold of hers as he spoke again.

'I assume that something happened to me in your nightmare, rather than me doing something to you, otherwise you would not have sought me out last night.' She swallowed and continued, her voice catching in her throat, a tear forming in her eye.

'Sasuke,' the word made her new tears glide down her cheeks, but she continued when she felt Lee's land grip hers more tightly. 'There was a battle...and he tried to kill me, but you stopped him, and then...' Sakura broke down at this point, tears cascaded down her cheeks as she relived the dream. She started to sob, but was cut short by the feeling of strong arms around her, and Lee's warm chest against her face as he wrapped her in a tight embrace. They said nothing for a few moments, then Lee spoke, with a frank manner that surprised Sakura, but did not scare her.

'Did he kill me?'

Sakura nodded slowly against Lee's body. But she felt a hand caress her chin, lifting her head up gently so their eyes met. Lee's smile had returned, but before she could worry about it. Lee told her the sweetest thing he had ever done in his life.

'Sakura Haruno, I swore to protect you a long time ago, and I stand by that promise. Be it in youth or old age, emotional or physical, when you need me I will be there. That pledge has helped me recover from many wounds before, it got me through my injury at the Chunin exams, for the simple reason that if I succumbed to my wounds, I wouldn't be able to protect you anymore. It has helped me fight my way out of many corners, and I swear here and now: Uchiha Sasuke will not prove any more difficult, however powerful he may be, however badly he may wound me. I will always recover, so that I can still be there for you. I love you Sakura, and the blade of Uchiha will never separate me from you.'

Sakura sat stunned at Lee's words. She felt every drop of fear that had permeated her ebb away, driven back by the comfort of his voice, and the steady pounding rhythm of his heart against her head, a heart she now fully realised was hers. Sasuke disappeared entirely from her head as she stared into the beautiful black eyes of the man before her. The boy who had saved her from the Rain Ninja in the Forest of Death, grown into the young man who had quietly been there for her every moment since. Sakura felt a smile playing about her lips as she inclined her head and brought it closer to Lee's. Her hand cupped his cheek as her lips met his. The passion in the kiss was intense from the very start, the tender caress of Lee's lips on hers as he ran a hand through her hair, multiplied tenfold when they opened their mouths and let their tongues dance against each other, swaying and twirling to an inaudible beat. Sakura felt like she could stay here forever. And she knew now that Sasuke or no, she could. As they broke apart, holding each other in their arms, she heard Lee whisper softly in her ear.

'The greatest cure for nightmares, is to be with someone you love.'

Sakura's reply was instantaneous.

'As long as you're here, I'll never have one again.'

'I love you Sakura-chan.'

'I love you too Rock Lee'

Alright, my first fanfic done!

As per my username and profile picture, I WILL do a Harry Potter one next, but I felt obliged to pay homage to my favourite OOC (I think it means 'Outside Of Canon', please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm new to this.) Pairing in any anime! Screw Sasuke, LEE/SAKU FTW!

Please review, I need all the constructive critiscism I can get