A/N: I'm back…yay? With yet another new attempt at starting a series lol. I haven't been on this site for quite a while but I actually recently suffered this break-up of sorts that inspired me to read/write/do something to get my mind off things so yeah… Sorry for venting, it's just I don't really have anyone to talk to in real life because most of my friends are also his friends and it's so fucking complicated so uh lets get to the story!

Title: Confabulation

Summary: "So you're saying I'm married to Sasuke, he loves me, and we have a kid?" Sakura had never been a good actress. Now was as good a time as any to learn. SasuSaku

Rating: T+, I'll put it as M for language/sexual content/possible violence

Pairings: Main: SasuSaku. Mild NaruHina, InoSai, NejiTen, etc

Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine.

Enjoy and review!

one: coming home

They came back on a dusty night, silhouettes in the full moon. Two boys, not even men yet. One on the back of the other. If you were to bear witness, you would've said that the moment was beautiful-two brothers, framed by pale moonlight. Yet in that moment, Sakura saw no beauty in the crimson leaking from the unconscious boy's body and the broken spirit in the other's azure eyes.

"Is he..." She couldn't say the words, she couldn't bear to hear the answer.

"He's alive, Sakura." Naruto murmured.

A thousand burdens lifted from her shoulders. "Thank god... Naruto, I..."

He smiled, but his eyes remained shadowed. "You can thank me after we get to the hospital."

"Of course," she replied, medic mode switched on. She stepped forward to lend Naruto a hand, allowing her to see his passenger properly for the first time in...how many years?

Five years.

He was the same as ever, raven hair and ivory skin. His hair retained its infamous chicken-butt shape. Yet she couldn't help but observe the transformations that came with age and experience: the sharpening of his jaw, the prominence of his cheekbones, the furrow in his brow. The bags under his eyes. She wondered how many sleepless nights he had thrashed through, plagued by nightmares and reflections and murdered dreams. Her heart tightened.

Not now, Sakura, she reminded herself. Instead she steeled herself and put one of Sasuke's limp arms around her shoulder so that the unconscious Uchiha was propped between her and Naruto and turned in the direction of Konoha Ninja Hospital.

No sooner had Tsunade exited the operating room than the questions bombarded her.

"What's his condition?" "Is he alright?" "Why's he back?" "Can we see him?"

"How is he?" Sakura quietly asked from beside the overwhelmed Godaime. She had been too frightened to operate on her teammate-turned-rogue, instead leaving the task to her mentor. However, her trust in her sensei had done nothing to alleviate her nerves.

"He'll live." The older woman hesitated. "But..."

"But?"

Tsunade sighed. "It's nothing big, not really." Hopefully, she added to herself.

Sakura bit her lip. "Sensei-" She began. She hated to pester Tsunade like this because she'd learned to respect the hokage's decisions—they usually turned out okay in the end—but this, this was different. She knew it, and she knew Tsunade knew it too.

"Meet me in my office in ten minutes," the Godaime interrupted wearily. "I'll explain everything then."

The pinkette nodded. "Hai."

-oOoOo-

"Here." Tsunade handed her star pupil the large tome she had been scouring her bookshelf for. "Read this."

"What?"

"Read it."

Sakura glanced at the faded leather cover. Confabulation, it read in rusty gold cursive. "Sensei, what does this have to do with Sasuke?"

"Right now, it has everything to do with him." Tsunade sighed. "Do you know what it is?"

"Pardon?"

"Confabulation. What is it?"

Her student shrugged. "It sounds familiar, I might've seen it mentioned before. Something like amnesia?"

Tsunade shook her head. "Confabulation," she recited in her teaching voice, "is a memory disturbance, defined as the production of fabricated, distorted or misinterpreted memories about oneself or the world, without the conscious intention to deceive."

"And you're saying Sasuke has this condition?"

Tsunade shrugged. "It's what I've diagnosed him with, yes."

"How?"

"Just read it, Sakura, please. You'll get answers, I promise. But in due time."

Sakura frowned. She wanted answers desperately, but if this book was really that important... "Alright."

"Thank you." Tsunade smiled. "Try to get through most of it tonight, if possible."

The pinkette looked doubtfully at the 700-page volume. "Tonight? Why?"

"Because tomorrow, I'm taking you to see Sasuke."

-oOoOo-

The clock read 4:32 by the time she reached the 697th page, her eyes heavy with sleep. Confabulation really was a curious condition with an even curiouser name. It seemed to be like living in a dream. To fantasize an entire world into a reality... She shook her head. Sakura couldn't imagine such a thing happening, especially not to Sasuke. What was there for him to fantasize? Surely nothing good. Only death, pain, darkness.

What if he's gone insane? Her heart prickled with fear at her inner consciousness's words. What if he doesn't recognize me? Or worse, what if he recognizes me with hatred in his eyes? What if he sees me as an enemy, to be disposed of? What then?

Sakura almost laughed at herself. What did she expect, Sasuke enjoying being dragged back to the village he hated? By the best friend he hated? To the yearning teammate he hated?

As if.

She sighed, set her alarm to 6am (two whole hours of sleep!), and closed her eyes.

-oOoOo-

"How are you feeling?" Tsunade regarded her student with worried eyes. The pink-haired medic looked...sleep-deprived to say the least, with dark circles under her eyes and a pale undertone.

"I'm fine," Sakura replied. "Didn't get much sleep, that's all."

The Godaime felt a pinch of sympathy for her poor pupil; not for her lack of sleep, but for what would be thrust upon her in just a few minutes. They were walking through the fluorescent hospital hallways now, weaving between nurses in scrubs and bereaved visitors. The farther into the hospital they journeyed, the sparser the halls became. At last, they approached a final hallway that ended in a single room.

The entrance was guarded by two masked ANBU and multiple keypads. The door itself was reinforced steel, tall and intimidating. The ANBU nodded at the two women, their hands retracting from the grips of their katanas. "Hokage-sama, Haruno-sama."

Sakura nodded back nervously as Tsunade typed something into a keypad and swiped a card through another. The door swung open with a loud creak that echoed noisily into the hall behind them. Sakura almost jumped at the sudden noise. God, I'm as skittish as a frightened kitten, she chastened herself. Calm down, Sakura.

"After you," her sensei said, moving aside.

As Sakura stepped into the room, the first thing she noticed was the large cotton cot. The second thing she noticed was Tsunade's unreadable gaze. And the last thing she noticed was the tall, raven-haired boy staring at her with warm onyx orbs.

A/N: Wow, wonder who that is, huh?

Tell me if you like it/think I should continue, because this is kind of like a trial for me. If it doesn't get much response I'll delete it, since I have a League of Legends fanfic to work on too sigh :/ So yeah, please review and tell me if this is continue-able haha thanks!