Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

A/N: Suddenly got a hit of inspiration. Don't ask. I'll explain in the end.

I.

Illusions

He was so frigid the whole day that she wondered if they'd exchange a single word by the end of it. And the reason couldn't possibly be the weather – out of the last five days, this one had no wind and the snow was falling peacefully. There was something peculiar in the way he switched moods, but the game she invented was making it all the more entertaining. Deciding to count the days he was talkative or even kinder than necessary, she ended up with an amusing statistic in her head - five weeks of traveling, of which four days he was in a good mood.

The weird thing for her was, it wasn't anything she could predict. It was not a matter of whether they'd get a decent sleep, a warm shelter or even whether they'd stumble across cordial hosts. She didn't mind him, but it was always different and she had a hard time figuring out what actually lifted his spirits to plausible. Which she has consciously set as a primary concern in her life.

All in all, that one time they passed by a marketplace in Sunagakure was the only time she witnessed him smitten by something to the extent of bringing a curious glimmer in his eyes. And that something wasn't anything close to what she had imagined.

Tomatoes. It was the variety of forms and colors that... even impressed her, she had to admit. Such exotic sorts she had never seen in Konoha herself, but it was then when she realized Sasuke, her cold and reserved Sasuke, actually had the time of his life on that market. It made her so happy that she smiled about it for days. Mocking him about his not-so-subtle fascination was quite the fun, especially when he denied it so vehemently.

Other than tomatoes, he didn't share much with her. She didn't want to bother him with questions and the first two weeks he was a closed book. Sakura thought there's something wrong with her, at first, because he didn't even want to be near her in the beginning. She never forced anything on him so the time went by, after the day they vowed to honor and love each other until death and then set off, and he never touched her.

There were storms raging in him, she could feel it in the way he turned his back on her in the nights, the way he woke sharply from nightmares he never talked about, the way he left their sleeping place and returned by sunrise, a haunted ghost of a wanderer that she felt ultimately distanced from. Sometimes the air was heavy around him and he strode in a determined, fast pace like a thundercloud, and she had to catch up with him, relentlessly, but at the same time leave space between them for there was no knowing what he'd do or say next.

She learned all the things she needed to know of the time when he was sullen and pent up, but that one day he wasn't, she absolutely lost her mind because he had chosen it to look at her. Her motions when she walked, fixed her hair or when she tried her best to meet his eyes as a conversation or two occurred. He was interesting when darkness didn't hang over him, like a whole new person she had never met before.

An unfamiliar, subtle adoration appeared in his mismatched eyes that day as if he had suddenly noticed her ever-present form, shuttling after him and making herself as unnoticeable as she could. He asked her if she's cold. Then what her favorite color is.

She nearly died from a heart attack then, realizing that's she's shot out a quick "Black." before she could even think anything that came out of her mouth through, causing a major inconvenience in him (since his outfit and hair were suspiciously colored in the said tint). By the look of it, she managed to make both of them uncomfortable, but… he seemed more concerned with her obsession than anything else.

The questions kept coming and Sakura was relieved they were easy, but what intrigued her most was that, for the first time, he appeared more distracted by the movement of her lips when she spoke to him and she caught him a few times, when she dared raise a few questions of her own and he had a hard time answering them, simply because he hasn't heard or remembered them in the first place.

The afternoon rolled quickly and most surprisingly, they found a small inn at the side of the main road they followed. Sakura hadn't expected any civilization in half a day more, of walking.

It wasn't easy to pretend she wasn't burning with desire by the time she had to change in her sleeping attire and he still stood there, in the dark, watching her as she did it. Shaking and a little scared. It was not how she imagined her first time, in a simple, dusty room; in an empty, old inn, set on a snowy road between two unknown villages. But if it didn't matter to him, it didn't matter to her too. She needed nothing but him.

"Look at me." She heard his adamant voice echo in the tensed silence and she obeyed immediately, facing him.

There was a sensible push that made her gasp with surprise as if she had submerged under a water surface; everything she perceived with her senses became muffled for a while before she blinked a few times and her mind solved the puzzle right away. The belligerent pair of eyes in front of her was familiar, but her surroundings - not.

"Is this an illusion?" Sakura mouthed, her heart starting to palpitate faster. "Oh, gods…" Her lips parted when she finally comprehended the view - as far as her vision allowed her to see spread an endless forest of blossoming cherry trees and countless paper lanterns lightened up the darkness in all directions. It was a moonless night, just like the one in their present reality, but this one had many stars splattered on the midnight blue above her head, she found them easily in between the thin branches of pink and white. It was warm, in contrast to the previous temperature in the room, though a slight breeze caressed the light matter of her nighty and cast many blossoms to fall on the already rosy ground around her.

It was magnificent… but it was…

Sakura met his eyes as he walked to her, his Mangekyo and Rinnegan on with a slight glow.

"It's… beautiful." Sakura managed to say through a nervous laughter, her fingers quickly putting a lock of hair behind her ear, before Sasuke stopped in front of her. "I had no idea you could use your eyes for t-things like that."

He wasn't easy to fool, he's never been. Somehow, it almost brought tears to her eyes. The unspoken pain, the disappointment in his eyes… She couldn't stand his silence so she reached for his hand and pretended to not notice the twist of his features - he despised that condescension on her most of all.

"Sasuke, I love it. I love it beyond measure." Sakura furrowed when he chose to ignore her eyes, averting. She could almost hear him shout out the words that he so clearly said with his expressions. Especially when it came to the anger and the frustration he had such a hard time erasing from himself after the war ended. He still fought them, minutely.

Whatever I do, it won't be enough for you, isn't it?

"Sasuke," Sakura used her free hand to turn his face toward hers, now grimacing with sadness. "You make me very happy, you know that?"

He scoffed. He didn't believe her.

"You hate it, all of this."

"I don't hate it, I could stay here for an eternity with you." She whispered, her head slightly tilting.

"But?"

Sakura peered into the living eyes across hers, filled with bitterness that's been stained there for so long. She wished her words wouldn't hurt him, but they might… because they were the truth. Her truth.

"But it's a lie." Sakura leaned in, eyes closing and hands pressing him into a gentle hug. She could feel his shallow breaths on her face as she paused, to listen to the distant hollow of the wind between the trees amidst they were standing. Even the scent of the blossoms touched her nostrils with a sweetness that almost upset her. It was perfect, to the detail. "I want it to be real."

"Those illusions are my essence. And if you deem them lies, then you call me a liar." His lips strung the words in her ear, shaking with a low grievance.

"Anata," Sakura spoke, with a sad smile, for she had dreamt to say that word to him her whole conscious life and she finally said it, for the first time, "I would never say anything that can hurt you. I am here to bring you comfort and love only." She stood on her tiptoes, breathing out as her lips brushed against his.

Then the meeting of their eyes when she opened hers and the push again, shortly after. Sakura blinked a few times and looked around, the sharp smell of stagnant air and old wood returning to her. It was so dark that she couldn't see even silhouettes. Only discern Sasuke's close presence and the chillness of the air, stinging at her skin where it was bare.

"You like this dump better?" He tried to sound gentle, but the question came out strained with anger.

Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat. She did not reject his entity, she just wanted to know that what they did was not an illusion.

"I'm sorry, I j-just…" Sakura's voice shook and she silenced, pursing her lips tight as her eyes filled with tears. Why did she always feel like saying the wrong things to him? She never seemed to hit the mark. Ah, yes. The blow of her emotions brought her down again.

Sasuke bated his breath upon sensing her fit of sorrow and stiffened, likely unprepared for such a concurrence of circumstances. As curious as she found his abashment every time she cried tears of helplessness, now she wished for him to step off his frustration. She needed him to say something kind and fix her because she didn't see any other way this could go.

Although… she knew the one healing had to be him on this journey. Although she was there to help fix him. She consecrated herself to him and it was not a burden for her, but sometimes… just sometimes it felt like it. Because he was so hard to be with, that's something all their friends knew. He made it so damn hard. Everything.

"You're right." Sasuke stepped to her, his only hand wrapping around her waist. There was something forced in the way he said it, like he admitted defeat only to calm her down, but it was enough for her. Still, the remorse was present. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"It's… fine." Sakura let out a fake laugh, making her best to sound cheerful. Both of them knew he only had to touch her to break the foul spell.

"I see now." Sasuke continued, quietly, his forehead leaning on hers. "I understand."

"You do?"

"Yes. I shouldn't have hidden behind an illusion just because I'm afraid. It's not supposed to be this way."

Afraid? Sakura rejoiced at the sound of this word. At last, he shared his fears with her and his trust had bloomed. She was rewarded for her patience.

"What are you afraid of?" Sakura pondered, feeling oddly safe in his embrace.

"You."

Sakura raised a brow, confused.

"You're too real for me." He went on, with some distant tinge in his voice as if confessing all of this to himself only. "I've been on my own for the last twelve years."

Sakura prayed that those tears won't gush out again. Twelve years, huh? She hadn't realized what that time has meant to him by now. He had counted every day after the Massacre and branded them all on his mind. Those were twelve years of mourning, twelve years of hatred, twelve years of loneliness. By all gods, she could never survive a day of all that together.

How did he manage to not fall apart?

"Let me make the next twelve better, ok?" She wrapped her hands around his neck, pressing her smaller body against his.

He didn't reply, but she could feel the heaviness lifting off with the conclusive sigh that tore away from him.

"I really hope that bed doesn't creak much." Sakura bit her lip, thinking out loud, and making him scoff again, this time with amusement.