Author's Note: This story was originally inspired by a piece of art by Kunoichi-San over on deviantArt. The picture that inspired this can be found here: kunoichi-san./art/Dream-72511718
It was the soft patter of rain that drive Sasuke from a troubled sleep. It was an old dream, one he was painfully familiar with. When he left Konoha three years before, that dream was his nightly companion. For a time, he'd found himself unsure of the path he'd chosen for himself. The dream bringing to light doubts he never would have thought could exist. Eventually a need for sleep uninterrupted drove him to push his doubts aside and throw himself into his work, training both mind and body to the brink, leaving himself too exhausted to dream. After a time, it proved to be enough and the dream faded, finally leaving him. He'd nearly forgotten the dream in the intervening years, though a deep ache in his heart reminded him from time to time of a dream long quieted.
Sitting up, Sasuke looks at his new team, sleeping nearby. The dream still fresh in his mind, he felt those old doubts rise again. This time, they were stronger than ever. This wasn't his team. This wasn't where he belonged. Turning away from the people that were suddenly strangers in his eyes, Sasuke stared into the dancing flames. He sees her face first; Sakura. Then quickly comes Naruto, and their sensei, Kakashi. Closing his eyes, he tries to feel the warmth of the fire, but he felt only the cold spreading out from his heart.
The sound of the rain forces him to open his eyes again. The fire flashed scenes of his past, almost too quickly to be recognized. Missions with his team. Training with Kakashi-sensei. Time off spent with his teammates Konoha. Seeing the rain dancing in the flames, he's confused at first until the images he sees clarify into one of the more painful memories. He'd left Konoha, but Naruto had come to bring him back. Naruto, his best friend. Naruto, lying in the rain. Pain ripped through Sasuke's heart, much as it had that day. He'd been afraid for a moment he'd killed his best friend. He hadn't known until that moment that he didn't really want to.
Banishing this memory violently, Sasuke covers his eyes with his hands, letting the soft crackle of the fire soothe him. The patter of the rain drives all thought from his mind. Opening his eyes once more, hands dropping back to his legs, he turns his gaze to the opening of the cave, trying to turn his thoughts to the reason the were spending the night in this cave. Trying to distract himself with what was awaiting them with the dawn light. Instead, of its own volition, Sasuke's mind turns to the dream once more. He could hear her voice as if she were standing before him again. As the memories surface once more, he pushes to his feet and runs blindly from the cave, heedless of the rain. He jumps down from the small ledge that was the opening to the cave, his feet moving the instant they touched the ground below. Running into the nearby woods, Sasuke doesn't stop until he reaches a large clearing. Falling to his knees in the clearing, Sasuke surrenders to the pain he couldn't outrun..
Falling back to sit on the wet ground, Sasuke didn't notice the cold as it began to seep into his body. Nor did he feel the rain that continued to soak him, chilling him deeper still. The cold radiating out from his heart was the only thing he could feel. Closing his eyes and letting his head fall forward, Sasuke lets the memory have him. Once again he saw Sakura standing before him, pain twisting her pretty face as pain coursed down her cheeks. He heard her again as she told him what part of him had always known; he heard her confession of love. Again the doubts grab him, and he begins to wonder why he'd ever left Konoha. He belonged there, he belonged with his team. He missed them.
He's drawn from his doubts and his dark thoughts again by the rain. This time however, it wasn't the sound that drew his attention. Stunned by the pain that had become his life that night so long ago, he lifts a hand and watches the rain splash off it. It felt so warm, like a summer rain instead of the cold rush that was the winter rains. Once more he was drawn back to the time he left. It was summer and the rain was so warm, even as his heart went cold at the sight of his best friend lying before him.
Still staring unseeing at his hand, Sasuke feels himself slip completely into the past. This time, however, he changes it. This time when he turns away from Sakura's tears, he feels her move up behind him, pressing herself against his back. The sound of her tears and the warmth of her body pressed against his back reaching in and taking hold of his heart. Her words ringing through his mind again and again, repeating those three simple words until he changes his mind, making him stay. Coming back to himself in that clearing so far from home, Sasuke knows what he has to do. He should have stayed, he knew that now. He has to correct that mistake he'd foolishly made so long ago, he has to go back to Sakura.
At that moment he could feel the warmth of her pressed against his back. Her tears sounded of relief rather than pain this time, and Sasuke feels his heart begin to warm. Sasuke was going home to her, he was going back to Sakura. Still staring unseeing at his hand, feeling her warmth at his back, Sasuke whispers, "I'm coming home Sakura, and I'll never leave you again."