i.

Onyx eyes rimmed red shot open, skin drenched in cold sweat, and unruly, dark hair stuck to his sweaty face. Sasuke started counting.

"1... 2... 3..."

A sweaty hand ran through raven locks and uncovered his pale, unmarred face. His eyes caught the numbers of the clock. 5 in the morning. Almost time to get up.

"4... 5... 6..."

Pink hair. Green eyes. A sakura tree.

"7... 8... 9..."

Blood. Redredredred red blood. The sound of a thousand birds chirping. A hand through a chest. Someone screaming.

"10... Who are you?" he croaked. Silence greeted him.

Sasuke growled in frustration and kicked away the covers. The room was too hot, he decided. The air conditioner hummed in protest. The man searched for his chokuto. It was tucked safely in one corner of the room. Sasuke showered, grabbed the chokuto, and left the apartment in search of a blonde idiot.

It took the man 10 seconds to calm down.

ii.

Sasuke forgot about the dream (he refused to call it a nightmare because only weak people are afraid of scary 'dreams') during his three houred spar with Naruto and decided to head back for lunch. Naruto (of course) dragged him all the way to Ichiraku for his idea of a perfect lunch.

The two men took a turn towards the direction of the hospital. Sasuke thought about inviting her along with them for lunch.

The man stopped. Invite who?

Naruto noticed his friend's hesitation and turned back towards him. "Teme?" Naruto tested.

The man's gaze was transfixed towards the building of the busy hospital. Naruto tried again, "Oi teme, did you eat something weird? Oi!"

Then something hits the knuckleheaded nin, "Do you... know about her?" Onyx met azure in a flash. Naruto continued, "The pink haired lady? Green eyes? Ring a bell?"

Silence, then Sasuke exhaled, "...Sakura."

As if answering his call, the wind picked up and enveloped the two men in a shower of sakura petals. Naruto raised an eyebrow in question. Sasuke collected his words desperately, "Her name... Sakura."

The blonde tested the overly familiar name on his tongue, rolling it around a few times but still felt something missing to it. A bell tinkled- no, someone laughed.

iii.

Kakashi pressed his lips into a thin line. It was 12:19 in the morning and two of the strongest nins in Konoha (scratch that, idiots) barged into his office, demanding the personal file of a girl named Sakura (Who the heck is that, Kakashi thought) without a slight indication of respect any Hokage desrves. A migraine successfully worked its way to his head.

"Konoha has a population of approximately one million people, most of which identifies themselves as Sakura, and you don't know the surname of this Sakura you're referring to?" the Rokudaime asked, incredulous. Sasuke shifted in his position behind Naruto.

"We know how she looks, ttebayo!" Naruto insisted. Kakashi rubbed his temples.

"Look. As much as how much I want to allow you both to touch them so this is done and over with, the residential files are highly classified and only authorized personels are allowed to tamper with them-"

And Naruto spouted the 101 reasons why Kakashi should let them touch the files. Sasuke left the office in exasperation.

iv.

"Teme, let's search for those files ourselves."

"No."

"Why?"

Sasuke growled in frustration, "Because of that."

Naruto immediately sensed three ANBU surrounding the perimeter. He wasn't stupid. Bringing Sasuke back costed him blood, sweat, and tears, not including the heated debates with the council elders. Doing something stupid while under constant watch was suicide itself. Naruto cursed.

The raven haired man then spoke up, "Why are you so desperate to find her?"

Naruto perked up, "What?" Sasuke grumbled but repeated his question.

Naruto had incredulity written all over his face, "What do you mean? She's our teammate, dattebayo!" This time, even Naruto was shocked.

Having enough with the stupidity of the idiot, Sasuke stood up from his position at the base of the hill and started off towards the direction of the Uchiha Manor.

"Teme! Teme- Oi! I said teme, ttebayo!" Naruto scrambled after his retreating friend.

v.

"Do you regret your decision?"

"No," she tucked a strand of pink hair behind her ear, "Never."

tbc.

note1: first fic, finally

note2: constructive criticism appreciated

note3: English is not my main language