Dedication: My best friend Jenn (Cybil Bennett)! You said it sounded interesting so I hope you like it. It was also her birthday recently and she likes angsty-emo stuff (like Peter Parker in the 3rd Spiderman (I don't own Spiderman))... Hehe...

A/N: I've always wanted to write a Sasuke-out-in-the-rain-late-at-night-and-is-hurt and have probably written this scene four times in different ways but this is my first official oneshot of it. Hope you enjoy! SECOND CHAPTER has been added.

Special Thanks: Thanks to Scarlett (TMA)! I should have added this before, but it must have just slipped my mind.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Dream the Uchiha

---

By Water and Earth Alchemist

--

Sakura

-

Lightning split the sky in half with the light it drew, followed by the loud echo of thunder less then a second later. The darkness quickly grew again, submerging the city in a thicket of seemingly nothingness. Rain continued to pour down from the sky, filling the air with the pattering sound of the droplets hitting the dirt ground.

His onyx eyes were weary and heavy, as he looked ahead, with where he was headed already planned in his head. It would have helped if the street lamps were not constantly flickering, giving way to a dull-almost useless-light.

He tripped over his own two feet again out of exhaustion and the mud of the street catching him in its grasp. He managed to catch himself before falling, his right hand grasping his left side even more tightly before as he felt the huge cut in his side ripping even more from his stumble. Crimson blood dripped freely between his fingers, mixing with the water that continued to fall-he could hear blood hit the ground over the rain since it was more of a splatter that a drip.

He also had many more wounds on him, many cuts up and down his bare arms and along his cheekbone. The worst cut-next to the one on his side-was above his right eye, causing him to squint as the blood came down his forehead and into his eye. It stung badly. He wheezed for air while managing to move forwards under these conditions.

Rain continued to pour down from the heavens, heavier ever minute that passed. His clothing was soaked through, making it stick to his body and making it more evident that he was shaking. The water caught in his hair caused it to glow dully whenever he passed a flickering street lamp. Some of his bangs stuck to his face, and since he did not have the strength to remove them, he let them stay there.

He slowly came to a stop in front of a door after what felt like hours of walking. He nearly collapsed when he stood before the door but somehow managed to stand with whatever strength he could muster. His whole body was shaking even worse now as he fought off this fatigue.

Slowly, he lifted a fist to the door to knock. Why he would knock instead of busting down the door or slipping through a window he knew was left open, he didn't know. Maybe out of respect for his old teammate or maybe the words she had given him on the night of his departure, he couldn't remember. It just somehow felt like his gut feeling at the moment, and so, he knocked.

He knocked and waited.

Knocked five times and then stood out in the rain quietly, save for his wheezes for air. When he received no answer, he knocked harder and faster until he couldn't find the strength to keep knocking and quickly found his fist back by his side as he squinted at the door in front of him.

When he began to feel his eyes getting heavy and reality slipping before him, then he saw a light-a very bright one-that brought him back to his senses. The light engulfed him, passing by him and giving light to the dark and lifeless street around him as well.

Sakura didn't remember what she was doing, what time it was or why it was so dark; she just knew there was a knock. It was first slow and light, which had aroused her and caused her to sit up. When it stopped, she thought it had been a dream and slowly lay back down. Then it came back, much louder and harder this time, causing her to gasp lightly

So it wasn't a dream, but who would be here so late...?

She slowly stood, finding herself unable to mutter the usual "coming" that most people would call. Her whole body ached for more sleep, but she ignored that and the yearning to craw back under her covers on this cold, dark and dank night. It was almost as if she were caught up in strings and was being drawn to the door in a trance and didn't snap out of that trance till she stood in front of the door-her hand on the cool handle.

The knocking had stopped once she came out of her trance; making her wonder if it was only her imagination. She tirelessly shook her head like shaking off the thought out of her head. Knowing that she would need light to see just who this person was, she flicked the light on before grasping the handle again and opened the door.

Her emerald eyes widened as she tried to take in the scene before her in the best way she could, though every time her eyes scanned and took everything in, she would have to look it over all over again. Her mind was blank, her heart was racing in her chest and she could feel everything from the cool, damp night air hitting her face to the cold rain brushing against her skin, but she just couldn't see the flaw in the display in front of her.

Sasuke Uchiha stood before her, looking the same way he had the night he left for Sound only in a much worse condition. He had numerous cuts and bruises, soaking to the bone and shaking with fatigue. He was hunched over, looking ready to collapse, while the look in his eyes was almost one of a dead person.

She wanted to scream, to speak, to move-to do something-but she found herself unable to. Her mind was running blank, yet, filled with so many thoughts at the same time as her whole body felt numb. She could feel tears appearing in her eyes out of shock-maybe happiness-but they wouldn't fall.

"S-Sakura..." She heard him mutter just above the rain, making her jump back into reality as she felt her heart skip a beat. He tried to take a step towards her, slowly reaching out his shaking hand, only to start to fall-unable to stand any longer.

"Sasuke!" She called out, quickly running forward to catch him in her extended arms and shutting her eyes without fully knowing. However, she never felt Sasuke's hand that was coming towards her brush her body at all or the cold rain touch her body. She felt nothing, see nothing and could hear the rain echoing around her...

"Sasuke..." She mumbled weakly, slowly opening her eyes only to see that she was in the darkness of her room, her covers wrapped around her with the window slightly cracked open and her whole body sat in a upright position. She quickly snapped out of her dreamy state, letting her eye dart around the room while her hands gripped the blankets looking at everything in eyesight for any glimpses of the Uchiha.

Sakura sighed, letting her hands loosen from their tight grip on her blankets while her head hung low. It wasn't till then that she realized how tense her whole body was and how disappointed she really was that Sasuke wasn't anywhere near her. It had all been a dream-an illusion.

The room was cold and dull, the rain continued to hit the roof above her with a patter and nothing-except the rain-was moving at all. She tiredly looked up at the window, her eyes weary with what she had just dreamt, her emerald eyes scanned the window in a daze.

This dream... This was definitely not the first time she had dreamt it. She had lost count after thirty-two times, it always being the same. Since Sasuke had left, she had this dream whenever it rained on these lonely nights, when no lights were on anywhere around her and the city appeared to be put on standstill. She wasn't even sure if she should be calling it a dream anymore, it was more of a recurring nightmare.

She sighed before laying back down and pushing the covers so they were almost covering her head while her eyes stared blankly up at the ceiling; the mattress to her back. One of her hands was stretched above her head, lying on the pillow, while her other was still grasping onto the blankets loosely.

It was hard to go back to sleep after that dream. She knew she would probably lie in bed for hours or so before deciding to either get up or play sick and stay in bed all day. Nothing had been the same after Sasuke left and it was only weirder when Naruto left. She was lonely, even with all these people around her.

And it was hard to just shake off the idea that she was the only one still in the city where their cell all started. Sure, she saw Kakashi every once and a while, but almost never, and Tsunade had her training everyday to get stronger, but she no longer had a team to lean on when she needed someone there.

She missed those days and wanted them back more then ever. Especially on these raining nights when she couldn't fall asleep thanks to her dreams of Sasuke and couldn't just lay in bed without thinking of him and Naruto... But mainly Sasuke.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, making her turn her head to the window again. Her eyes still blank while scanning the world outside her room, or, what she could see of that world. Lightning split the sky a moment later, though the rumble of thunder wasn't even matching the lightning anymore as it would come at random.

Maybe these dreams weren't really nightmares. She just really wanted Sasuke to return home, no matter the condition as long as he would just come back. She could heal his wounds and help mend the scares that still must be ripping him apart on the inside. Then maybe those words that still were floating in the back of her mind, the last words he had said to her, would finally be rewritten to form new ones with new memories.

If those were the last words, he ever spoke to her...

"'Thank you..."

Frustrated that she couldn't rid her mind of those thoughts, she abruptly turned onto her side and covered her head with the covers; her emerald eyes crammed shut.

All Sakura wanted was for Sasuke and Naruto to return home. Probably then these dark, rainy nights wouldn't seem as lonely as they do. Maybe then, she wouldn't be so lonely in general, they would be there for her and they would go back to being one big, happy team... And maybe then these dreams-nightmares-would end.

Maybe then, the rain wouldn't fall down so hard, the thunder could stop echoing around her, the lightning would fade into the distance, the clouds would part and the stars would come back to the night sky.

Thanks for reading! I was also thinking of adding a second chapter, that chapter being about Sasuke's nightmares/odd dreams. Does anyone out there dare me...? Tell me what you think and press that little purple/blue/purple-blue button on the bottom left of the screen. I would also like to add that the last paragraph was supposed to be symbolic if you didn't already notice... If you don't know how/why then re-read and think of Sakura's actions throught the whole thing. Then you'll get it.

Later . . . Water and Earth Alchemist