Chapter 24: My Nightmare

Sasuke was about to unlock the door to his apartment when he realized that it was already ajar. He opened the door; the interior of his home was dark. He threw a quick glance at his watch it was around 9 p.m. Sasuke was surprised that she was asleep by now. He removed his shoes and placed his bag next to the door.

Sasuke noticed a strange smell and was overcome with a sense of dread. It was unusually cold in the room, as if someone had left a window open. When he closed the door, he discovered a dark stain next to the handle. It was then that he recognized the odour. The air smelled like blood. Sasuke practically froze.

"Sakura?" he heard himself ask. With trembling fingers, he felt around for the light switch, but the light wouldn't go on. Sasuke took a step into the room. Something unusual was lying on the floor in the middle of the room. No, not something, someone. He wanted to go and check on the unmoving person, but his feet wouldn't move. He was frozen in shock.

It was just like back then; when he had come home and found the dead bodies of his parents. The air had smelled like blood then too. He was breathing heavily and his hands were shaking. No. No, it couldn't be. History was repeating itself. Everything was just like back then. It was as if he was stuck in his worst nightmare. Only that this time, it was real.

He summoned the courage to continueand forced his legs to move. Sasuke wasted no thought on being cautious when he approached the person on the floor. It was a woman. Slowly he knelt down, reached out and turned the corpse on its back. It was the face of a stranger; not Sakura.

Immediately, he pulled his hand back and stood up again. He looked over at the window. The glass was broken, cold air streamed into the room from outside. Sasuke tried, but he wasn't able to calm himself down. He was shaking uncontrollably. He forced himself to take out his kunai and slowly approach the bedroom door. He knew what to expect. He knew it, he had lived through it all once before. Sakura was dead, that horrible certainty was choking him. He didn't want to see it. He wanted to run away, he didn't want to relive this absolute horror.

And yet, he placed a hand on the handle and opened the door painfully slow. In the bedroom, the smell of blood was even stronger. He felt sick, he felt like he was about to throw up. Another body was lying on the bed. No… no, it can't be! He reached for the light switch, but the light wouldn't go on in here either.

As if from far away, he heard a sound, but didn't even consciously realize it. All he saw was the dead body and he knew he had to see if it was Sakura. He walked over to the bed and reached out for the corpse. His eyes were wide open; sweat was forming on his forehead. She couldn't be dead. It couldn't happen again.

He grabbed the body and turned it on its back. Blue eyes, stared at him and he backed away horrified. It wasn't her. The dead body was a stranger, it wasn't Sakura. The bed was covered in blood. On the floor there were shreds of Sakura's clothes. Calm down! Move!, he told himself over and over. Look for her! Calm down already!

Once again he heard the sound and this time he noticed it. It was a quiet whimper, coming from the darkest corner of the room. He turned his head and saw someone cowering under the vanity table, crying silently. He took a step in that direction and hoarsely asked: "Sa… Sakura?"

She winced, raising her head to look at him and whispered: "Sasuke?" And the vision of his nightmare burst into pieces.

The kunai fell to the floor. Sakura was still alive. He fell to his knees. Tears of relief streamed down his face, she wasn't dead. It was as if he had woken up from a terrible nightmare. She stared at him with scared eyes and whimpered: "I… I killed them… They appeared all of a sudden and I… I…"

He noticed the spreading blood stains on her clothes. "You're injured! Sakura, don't move!" He pulled her out from beneath the table and laid her on her back. Carefully he ripped open her shirt and revealed the heavily bleeding stab wound on her abdomen. She needed help, but he didn't dare leave her alone. "Don't worry," he said. "Don't move, you're gonna be okay!"

"Sasuke…" She was trembling. "I'm sorry… I wasn't strong enough…"

"Shhh, save your strength," he said softly. "Don't move, I'll go get help." He hardly dared to leave her like that, but she urgently needed a doctor. He got up and ran to the phone to call for help.

When he came back, she had placed her hands onto her belly, muttering something inaudibly. He had brought a towel to press it on the wound to staunch the bleeding somewhat. He took her into his arms and hugged her tightly. "Sakura…"

"Sasuke," she whispered, "You're crying…"

He kissed her forehead and said softly: "I love you, Sakura. I love you." He was scared; horrified, that this was his last chance to say these words to her. He'd never had the opportunity to say them to his parents. He cradled her in his arms and the minutes until Tsunade and the Medic-Nin arrived, seemed like an eternity to him. She was pulled out of his embrace and Tsunade took care of her. Sasuke knelt next to them and held his wife's hand.

Before she lost consciousness, she squeezed his hand and said: "Promise me, that you'll be here for me… promise me that you won't take revenge… please!"

"I promise it," was all he could reply.

Two hours later, Tsunade left the room they had brought Sakura to (at the hospital). Sasuke had been waiting outside the entire time, without knowing if she was going to be alright. When Tsunade came out, he asked: "How is she? Is she okay?" When The Fifth looked at him sadly, he felt like he was going to faint. No. It couldn't be…

"She's alright, given the circumstances," Tsunade assured him, but he could sense that she was holding something back. "She lost a lot of blood, but thankfully you found her so soon. A little later and she would have bled to death."

Sasuke couldn't relax. He knew something wasn't right. Tsunade was too serious. "But there is something else, right? What's wrong?"

"She'll wake up soon. You should be by her side. She needs you now." The fact that she didn't answer his question confirmed that something was not right. But the most important issue right now was that Sakura was alright. He placed a hand on the doorknob, when he felt Tsunade's hand on his shoulder. "Sasuke," she said hesitatingly. "Sakura… she was pregnant."

…tbc…