.

.

.

KNIGHTMARES

.

.

.

PROLOGUE

''Sakura'' he called again, one hand holding her face ''wake up''.

The woman sleeping next to him moved in bed violently, her eyes shut tight as she struggled to fight invisible enemies in front of her.

''It's alright, wake up'' he insisted, this time using both his hands to hold her arms, trying to prevent her from hurting herself.

Suddenly, her eyes flung open and she stared at the face in front of her with wide eyes.

''Sasuke-…kun?''

The dark-haired shinobi sat in bed and brought her closer to him, pressing her head against his chest.

''It was just a nightmare, you're safe'' he reassured her, feeling her heart beat fast in her small chest as she slowly embraced him.

Silently, she held him tighter and tried her best to keep the tears from falling. She didn't want to cry in front of him, not again.

''You've been having nightmares quite often, haven't you?'' he asked after a while, putting a small distance between them so he could see her face, only visible because of the moonlight that entered through the window – Sakura insisted on sleeping with the curtains open, she felt completely frightened of being in a pitch black room.

He felt her nodding quietly and sighed, gently caressing her hair as he calmly laid her back down in bed and brought her closer again, wanting her to feel safe in his arms, wishing he could take away whatever it was that was haunting her so much during her sleep. He felt powerless not being able to protect her from whatever was causing her harm in her dreams.

And Sasuke hated to feel powerless.

Soon, he felt her chakra fall silent and her breath become regular, telling him that she had fallen asleep again. But he didn't feel like sleeping anymore. He watched her the whole night, lost in thoughts about what could it be that was tormenting her so much.

.

.

.

''Well, well, now this is a face I don't see here often'' Ino commented when she heard the shop's doorbell ring and turned to glance at the dark-haired shinobi walking slowly in her direction.

''Ino'' he greeted.

''What can I do for you, Sasuke-kun?''

He looked away from her and scanned the flowers around them, as if suddenly they seemed very important to him, then he finally sighed and decided to blurt it out.

''It's about Sakura, I need to know something. Being her best friend, you are probably the one who knows her best'' he admitted, turning his glance back at the blonde in front of him ''I need your help''.

''I'm not about to tell you the things she confides to me, if that's what you're expecting'' she looked at him with suspicious eyes, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

''I'm worried about her'' he added, starting to feel rather irritated: he didn't want this conversation to last longer than the necessary, he already felt uncomfortable enough about the whole situation ''she's been having nightmares quite often and she won't tell me what's going on''

''I take that you've asked her about them to investigate, then''

He furrowed his brows.

''I knew you wouldn't have'' Ino giggled ''well, Sakura has indeed been having terrible nightmares since 8 years ago, more or less'' she brought a finger to her mouth as if thinking hard ''or at least that's when she first started to tell me about them anyway''.

Sasuke tried his best to conceal how much that information struck him. 8 years ago was the year when he left the village, and he suspected that the two events were somehow related.

''And they've never stopped?'' he inquired, wondering why the nightmares didn't go away once he returned, if his departure really was what caused them to start in the first place.

Ino made a face.

''Well, they come and go, but I don't recall them ever stopping'' she replied, then added after a second ''well, they did become less often when she was working hard at the hospital. She felt so tired that she didn't even dream about anything, so the nightmares couldn't torment her. But since you returned she's been working much less so she can help you readapt and all of that, maybe this is what caused her nightmares to return'' she concluded, nodding to herself.

Sasuke considered her words for a second.

''How do I make them stop?'' he asked finally, the determined look on his face making the blonde's smile falter for a second. She only then realized how much this situation meant to him and how sincere his words truly were when he said he was worried about her friend and wanted to help somehow.

''Pff it's not that easy!'' she moved her hand in front of her face a few times as if dismissing a stupid idea that lingered between them ''I've read a couple books about dreams and it's not like we can actually control what we dream, she's not having nightmares out of choice''.

''How?'' he pressed, his expression starting to harden.

Ino sighed and started to comb her hair with her fingers slowly.

''Well, if she has nightmares about something, it must be because it scares her or makes her uneasy. I suppose the best way to make her nightmares stop is to help her face her fears, so when she dreams about those things again they won't frighten her anymore'' she wasn't sure if Sakura would open up to Sasuke about her fears, especially since some of them involved him, but well, he wanted a quick answer, didn't he? So she gave him the answer he needed, even though she doubted Sasuke Uchiha would take the time to have a conversation about fears with anyone, even with the person he loved the most.

Sasuke considered her words for a moment and twisted his lips, imagining how troublesome and awkward it would feel to have that kind of conversation with Sakura. But he would find a way, for Sakura's sake.

With a simple ''Hn'' he turned his back to the blond shinobi and started to walk away.

''You're welcome!'' she ironized, leaning on a counter and staring at his back as he walked away.

.

.

.

''How was your day?'' she asked, staring at him deeply in the eyes.

He stopped caressing her back to brush her hair away from her face, his fingers playing with the locks.

''Training, putting up with Dobe… The usual'' he replied simply, and she giggled, bringing a hand to her mouth to hide the wide smile on her face. She loved moments like this. ''What about yours?''

''It was good'' she rested her head on his chest ''not too many patients, everyone is being extra careful not to get hurt since Tsunade-sama got enraged with those 'careless workers' who showed up last week'' she felt him smiling above her ''and the patients I've been seeing are getting better, I have high hopes that they will be able to go home soon to spend the New Year with their families''.

''Always so caring, aren't you?'' he kissed her hair and closed his eyes, attentive only to the sound of her breathing and the warmth that came from her small body. She didn't reply. Instead, she moved closer to him and closed her eyes, listening to his heartbeat as she fell asleep.

Sasuke waited until her chakra signature fell quiet to make sure she was sound asleep. Then, slowly, he raised his body to look at her calm and peaceful face, bringing one hand gently to the top of her head. His eyes started to become the color of fresh blood as he activated his kekkei genkai.

Then everything went dark.

.

.

.

Hey, everyoneeeee! So here I come again with a new story and this time it's not a comedy (AAAAAA)! XD

I've posted some stories that were lighter here before (my favorite one is Evening Talks, even though I think that's the least popular one hahaha) and I decided to challenge myself by writing something that is a little more dramatic hehehehe So I came up with Knightmares :D

I hope so so so much that you guys enjoy this! I've been trying my best to write this one, but sometimes my motivation to write gets so low ): I'll do my best to bring more chapters soon, though, I promise! o7

Would you guys please let me know what you think about this new story with a review? I would love it so much!

Hope to see you guys around!

Many kisses!

.

Blackfan Diamond