The first time he opened his eyes, he was met by darkness.
His mind was clouded. It hurt to even think, so he immediately gave up on trying to ask himself questions. All he could hear, apart from silence, was the sound of his heavy, wheezy breathing.
His eyes burned, and as the urge to blink became unbearable, he gave in, closing them.
When he opened them again, they were attacked by brightness. There was not enough of it to make them hurt, but there was enough to make him blink repeatedly in order to become accustomed.
Even when he did, his surroundings remained nothing more than a blur. They were white, with the occasional shade of grey slipping through, but they were nondescript—and he didn't care enough to make sense of them. This time, silence enveloped him like a warm blanket. He was comfortable, he was calm. But most importantly, he felt safe.
Out of the blue, without a single warning, a figure appeared before him. His vision, fuzzy as it had been until then, seemed to suddenly lose its deficiencies. His eyes focused, and he could see her—her long, pink hair, brilliant green eyes, high cheekbones, smooth skin… She was perfect. He didn't know who he was, where he was, or what he was doing there, but he recognized her.
"Sakura," he rasped.
His voice was clear in his ears, and yet, when she spoke, he seemed to be submerged in an ocean of cold water.
"Sasuke-kun…"
She seemed far, far away—but not even that could kill the emotion in her voice.
Slowly, she reached out to brush locks of dark hair away from his forehead. Everything about her touch—the warmth, the softness of her skin—was familiar. It was comforting and relaxing. He very nearly closed his eyes, but there was something in him that told him not to, that warned him against it. So he kept them open and searched for hers. When he found them, a smile—the most beautiful he had ever seen—spread on her features. His breath caught in his throat and his heart-rate accelerated without a reason, without an explanation.
"You scared me to death," she told him, fingers tangled in his hair.
The sensation was so soothing that he could hardly find the strength to focus on her words. It was as if every fiber of his being craved it, clung to it—as if it were his only lifeline. He knew next to nothing except for the fact that he needed her. He didn't want her to disappear.
"I'd tell you not to do that again, but it's no use," she continued. There was pain in her voice, but she was still smiling. "I do need you to take care of yourself, though. I need you to always come back to me."
Her hand traced his hairline, his forehead, his cheekbones… It ran over the length of his nose and atop of his lips… Then she leaned forward, over him, fragrant pink hair falling around them like a curtain, and pressed her lips to his temple in a soft kiss.
The temptation was too strong. He closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, she was gone, and so was her touch. But this time, he was not met by darkness and silence.
It was night. He was in a forest, lying on the cold, muddled ground, partially leaning against an old oak tree. It was raining. The numerous leaves and branches kept most of the moisture away, but he could hear it. He could hear it splashing against the canopies of the trees, against the ground. He could hear the thunder. And occasionally, he could see the lightning, too.
Everything was like a blow to his senses. It was like taking a huge gulp of air after nearly drowning.
His hair was plastered to his forehead. His entire body was in pain. He could feel every bruise and broken bone, and there was a deep gash on his torso that still gushed out warm blood. His uniform was torn, his armor nowhere to be seen.
He couldn't remember what had happened. He couldn't remember how he had dragged himself there. There were a lot of pieces missing from his memory. But there was one thing he was sure of, he realized as he forced himself into a sitting position, gritting his teeth and nearly groaning in pain at the movement.
He needed to get home. He needed to get to Sakura. He needed to get to his family.
A/N: Written for SasuSaku Month. Better known as, 'that stupid prompt that didn't want to turn out like I wanted it to turn out.'
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