Oh god i didnt realise pt. 1 would be so popular. Talk about pressure

Sleep

Part 2

The first time it had happened, he had been unable to shake the guilt for weeks. Unbeknown to her, he spent their time during the following missions stealing glances, trying to work out if her faith in him had been restored.

The night it happened was the only time he had, or would ever, let Naruto shove him to the ground and curse insults at him with no repercussions.

He remembered how when he had eventually awoken, the first thing he saw were her glassy eyes – wide and fearful – only then had the pain rushed to his arms, where her nails had raked against his skin, trying to pry his hands from her throat.

-x-

Like many of the nights Team 7 spent on missions with Kakashi, Sakura felt no pressure to go to sleep early like the rest of her team, she much preferred to lay awake a little longer watching the stars in the sky. This night, however, her attention had been drawn away from the navy sky to the boy in navy next to her.

She had watched as he squirmed and struggled in his sleep, brows scrunching together in some sort unconscious turmoil. Sakura frowned and glanced around their camp, looking for some reassurance. Although she found none – Naruto was already snoring and Kakashi was leaning against a log, Icha icha paradise covering his face. Her eyes trailed back to Sasuke and feeling of worry passed over her, making her shuffle towards him a little more.

"Sasuke-kun…"

He fisted his sleeping bag, knuckles turning white under the pressure. Her eyes had almost immediately been drawn to the mark on his neck, impossibly dark against his alabaster skin. She watched in growing anxiety as it seemed to start to pulse. Her hands drawn to her chest, she decided she should at least try to help him.

Tentatively, she reached out a hand… "Sasuke-"

-x-

Colours contorted as the world seemed to swirl around him, drawing him in and pulling at his very being.

Itachi stood before him, mangekyou taunting him, another reminding him of his severe lack of ability within his clan – suddenly he was 8 years old again, helpless and alone. The words his brother said hung in the air, seeping into his mind, bring back memories he would rather stay hidden.

Unable to move, horrific images of the massacre flashed across his minds eye. The images, however, were disjointed. One moment, he would be in the park with his smiling mother calling his name and the next, he was in a dark room staring down at her lifeless body, the blood pooling underneath her. Something wrenched at his chest, leaving him feeling hollow.

"Stop it!"

His own voice sounded foreign to him as slapped his hands over his ears, trying to drown out the noises of people's – his families- pained screams.

All of a sudden, Itachi was at his side, close enough to ruffle his shirt.

"Little brother," Was his greeting.

Anger washed over him as their eyes locked, Sasuke still unable to move. He hated him. Loathed him. Words could not even begin to best describe how his blood boiled when he thought of his brother acting so casually, the screams still echoing in the silence around them. Every muscle in his body was tense as his brothers hand moved towards him, sending a wave of fear washing over him.

"Sasuke-kun," It wasn't his voice, but it wasn't important. He didn't know the voice and all he could concentrate on was the hand touching his shoulder, fingers creeping up to around his neck, the pressure building. From the corner of his eye, he saw Itachi raise a kunai, the moonlight glinting off the polished metal.

No.

Fingers tightened and Sasuke struggled to breathe, his hands tensing and anger growing.

No.

He would not die this way, he would not kill him so easily. The tension is Sasuke's muscles suddenly increased tenfold and he violently broke free of his paralysis, throwing his hands around his brother's neck.

"NO"

-x-

Sasuke faultered slightly as his brother fell to the ground with ease, the young boy straddling him, fingers wrapped tightly around his neck. The boy's chest rose and fell with his laboured, adrenaline fuelled breathing as his finger's tightened, concentrating on depriving all the air from that man's lungs.

"Sasuk-"

Once again he automatically faultered, his grip loosening a little. That was not Itachi's voice. Not his voice at all. Somewhere in the back of his mind, pain started to ebb up and down his arms, and soon everything was fading around him except for a dark haze which blocked his vision and added to his confusion.

"Please-"

Soon enough, the haze had cleared and he found himself on the grass, on top of Sakura, his hands around her throat. Her fingers desperately clawed at his arms in an attempt to relieve some of the suffocating pressure around her neck. Sharingan activated, he couldn't take his eyes off the tears that continuously streamed down her cheeks and the opening and closing of her mouth in desperate attempts for air. He could almost see the moonlight reflecting off the droplets and the convulsion of the muscles in her neck.

"S-Sakura?"

He barely had time to gauge her reaction as he removed his hands from her as if he'd been burned, before Naruto was in front of him, shoving him into the grass.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, TEME?"

Sasuke sat up from his place on the grass, eyes still wide in alarm as he glanced past Naruto to see Kakashi at her side, trying to calm her as she started to hyperventilate. His fists clenched at his side as shame hit him like a brick.

He could barely stand to look at her.

-x-

It was happening again.

Sakura watched wearily as Sasuke tossed and turned in his sleeping bag, a little way away from her. Something pulled in her chest as he let out a small, pained moan.

She wanted to help, she really did. Her fingers twitched awkwardly at her sides – torn between reaching out to him, and reaching for her neck. Sakura went for the latter and let out a sigh when her fingers brushed her skin.

"Stupid," She muttered at herself, annoyed at her mistrust for the boy. He didn't mean to, she knew that. She just couldn't forget the way his fingers felt against her throat, his eyes clouded with bloodlust.

"-tachi."

Sakura's ear perked at the muttered name, a wave of pity suddenly felt for the boy. She needed to wake him. She couldn't leave him to his own nightmares. Hesitantly, Sakura shuffled over to him, taking in a deep intake of air as she sat at his side.

Just in case.

"Sasuke-kun," She said in her most determined tone as she wrapped her fingers around his hand, and quickly shook it, retracting her hand quickly. It had the desired effect. Sasuke opened his eyes and jolted upwards in alarm. Sakura sighed and tilted her head, trying to see his gaze as he stared down onto his sleeping bag, panting heavily.

Sasuke struggled to maintain his breathing as he sat up. His fists clenched at the material underneath him, and he tried to push down the memories his dreams had bought to the surface. His gaze rose to the girl sitting beside him as her pink hair came into view.

Soft eyes met his gaze and neither of them said anything. Eventually, onyx eyes lowered and his brows drew together – a mix of shame and embarrassment stopping him from looking at her anymore. The sound of something moving closer to him, made him stiffen and realise that she was now shoulder to shoulder with him.

"You scared me that day y'know," She said quietly, stealing half a glance towards the boy who refused to look at her. Her gaze focused on his hands, tense against his sleeping bag – shaking almost. She could no longer see his eyes, he had turned his head ever so slightly away from her to hide his expression.

"I genuinely thought you were going to kill me," She chuckled, her small smile breaking into a frown as she recalled the event. Her lips pulled into a tight line as remembered how terrifying he had looked. The tiniest shake of his head caught her attention and she glanced back down to his tense arms and hands again – noting how white his knuckles were and how adamantly he was digging his nails into his palm.

Sasuke tensed as something warm touched his hand, he raised his head to see Sakura's hand atop his wrist, "Stop it, you'll hurt yourself" She said, tightening her grip on his a wrist ever so slightly to emphasise her point.

Her words awoke a realisation in him, which made him turn to her with a dark, bitter smirk on his lips. "Tch, you're worried about me." He nearly snarled, making her frown. It was only the way that he turned his head away from her after talking that gave him away. He was still ashamed of his actions, she realised.

They sat in silence for a while, Sakura having taken her hand from him. She sat, head tilted up to the nights sky, while his was focused on the grass. After a long while, she broke the silence.

"I get nightmares too," She said softly, her voice barely louder than a whisper. He thought back to a few months ago when she had awoken him in the night, in the throes of some sort of bad dream.

"Aa," He replied, "I know."

"You do…?" Her curiosity getting the better of her, though not expecting a reply from the boy. She didn't receive one.

"You should get some sleep," He said eventually, tired eyes set on something in the distance. She shook her head stubbornly.

"If you're not going to sleep, I'm not either." She crossed her arms, making Sasuke roll his eyes.

"Annoying." He scoffed, making her smile.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realised he was …glad she didn't despise him. His rational side put this down to the fact it would be inconvenient within a 3 person team.

And so they sat, until the sun's rays dusted the tops of the trees in the distance, casting a violet orange hue over the land.

It was only then did Sasuke glance at the girl and realise she was asleep. She was sitting crossed legged, hands in her lap, head lulled forward and her back ever so slightly hunched. Once again he rolled his eyes at her effort to stay awake. His gaze lingered at the tips of her pink hair sweeping her neck and he found himself in a sleep-deprived haze, brushing the tips of his fingers across the skin of her neck before realising what he was doing and pushing his hands to his lap.

"Tch," He mumbled irritated at both her and himself.

Somewhere behind him, Naruto began to stir, yawning loudly and Sasuke wondered, with a sigh, if he'd ever get any sleep during mission time.

Ehhhh. so there we go.

Oh my god guys, i didnt realise you'd like the first part so much! I got quite a few 'oh this should be canon' etc! Really!? Wowwww okay!

Anyway, i know the idea of Sasuke accidentally hurting Sakura due to a dream is quite cliche but i absolutely love it (weirdly enough) - like when he has to deal with it all and all that afterwards etc.

/ I think after i finish this (or during maybe who knows) im going to do a Sasuke returning to Konoha fic which'll be like a sequel of sorts to this so i'll probably elaborate on this chapter more in that ff.

But anyway, tell me your thoughts! Dont worry, i'm anticipating some disappointment so i wont be surprised by your complaints and woes.