Light Shaded Dream

Chapter 10 – Forgotten Worries

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

-:-

Sakura's squad came back to the inn late during the night, to find Sasuke and Sakura dozing off peacefully. Sakura's head was resting on Sasuke's shoulder as she cuddled close to him, and one of Sasuke's hands was around Sakura's waist. The girls silently giggled to themselves (along with a smirking Naruto), and they cleaned themselves up and went to bed.

Naruto lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He was right. Sasuke has changed. And he could have fallen for Sakura. No, scratch that. He has fallen for Sakura, even though he would never admit that to anyone's face, Naruto thought. He smiled in the darkness, and felt Hinata shift her position on the bed so that she was facing him.

"Naruto-kun...are you okay? Why aren't you sleeping?" She whispered.

Naruto turned to face her, and closed his eyes, smiling.

"Just thinking," He replied.

Hinata nodded, and went back to sleep. Naruto took one last look at Sakura and Sasuke, and dozed off.

Sakura awoke at three in the morning. She blushed at her and Sasuke's position, and stayed in bed, refusing to get up and interrupting the peace between her and her friends. Her gaze drifted to the sleeping Uchiha, and smiled. Not much has changed in his appearance, she thought. Her gaze moved to the window at the side of the room, and sighed. So much has happened during the mission. It all seemed like a hallucination. She did not want to believe any of it, since it all seemed so...surreal. She closed her eyes and inhaled the scents around her. Sasuke still smelled of dry blood and Hinata's ointment, but Sakura could still diminish his natural scent. She jumped up in shock when Sasuke's hold around her waist tightened and she was pulled closer to him. He must be dreaming, she thought.

-:- Sasuke's Dream Sequence (Sasuke's POV)-:-

I found myself under a spell, my memories flashing before me. The Uchiha Manor. I was running down the corridors, and opened my parent's bedroom door. My eyes widened in shock, as I found my mother and father dead, their corpses lying atop each other, bathing in their pools of blood. Tears threatened to fall from my face, and what I saw next shocked me. My older brother, my idol, Itachi, was standing there. I asked him why Kaa-san and Tou-san were there dead...and it turned black. I regained consciousness, and found myself at Konoha, before I left my village behind. Somehow, Sakura found me, and she did everything she could to stop me from leaving. Blackmail, confessions...It was all too much. Tears fell from her face, and I told her 'thank you'. I knocked her out and left her on a bench. Then, Orochimaru's face clouded my mind, and the whole scene of Sakura's imprisonment flashed before my eyes. It was horrible. She was left in darkness, her hands clawed by the metal shackles containing them. But somehow, I managed to see her...smile. How could she smile when her life was slowly draining away from her? I found myself back at Konoha. It was in front of a cherry blossom orchard. It was peaceful, and the blossoms were in full bloom. It was all so beautiful. I found Sakura standing there, staring off at the distance. I began to walk towards her, when the petals turned red, and my vision was blurred. Cherry blossoms whirled around me, many dripping and stained with blood.

"Sakura!" I called.

Where did she go?

"Sakura!"

-:- End Dream Sequence (Normal POV)-:-

Sasuke was woken by Sakura's constant shaking. Neji, Tenten, Ino, and Hinata (Naruto and Shikamaru were still dozing off in their beds) gathered around Sasuke and Sakura's bed, wondering what was wrong. Sakura looked at Sasuke with confusion in her eyes, wondering what made him do what he did.

"Sakura?" He asked.

Sakura nodded, and she smiled.

"Sasuke-kun, are you okay? You were screaming my name in your sleep," She asked.

Sasuke stared at her, and emerald locked with onyx. Sakura motioned for everyone else to go back to their beds, and they happily went back due to the interruption with their sleep. Sasuke stared at her, eyes wide, gripping his head in his hands, trembling with fear and confusion. Sakura was past confused. What was making him act this way? She softly placed her hands above his, gently soothing him with her touch.

"Sasuke-kun, it's alright. I'm here, it's okay," She whispered.

Sasuke seemed to calm down, but his eyes were still wide and full of confusion.

"You're...here..." He repeated.

Sakura nodded, and smiled.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun, I am here for you," She repeated.

Sasuke's eyes returned to normal, and his fear had seemed to fade.

"Sasuke-kun, are you alright? Were you dreaming?" She asked.

Sasuke nodded.

"Of what?"

"Things that I would rather not recall," He whispered.

Sakura understood, and lay back down, motioning for him to follow. Luckily, he did. Sakura understood. Even though it was Sasuke's wish to dream again, which he did, he did not like the events that were flashing through his head. She knew it had something to do with the Uchiha massacre and what had happened between her and Orochimaru. She found herself slowly being lulled to sleep by the night's silence. She cuddled next to Sasuke, and he put his hand around her waist protectively. The two snuggled together, and before sleep could overtake her, Sakura looked at Sasuke, and smiled.

"I'm here..." She whispered.

Sasuke nodded into her pink locks of hair, letting her drift off to sleep. He inhaled her scent of strawberry, and he himself was being lulled to sleep by her mesmerizing scent. His onyx orbs were locked onto the body next to him, wondering to himself how he was able to discard his feelings when a perfect girl was right in front of him the whole time. His eyes were slowly closing. But this will probably be the last time...that we can be together...until...he's dead, he thought. His trail of thought continued as he drifted off to sleep, this time however, in the serenity of a placid dream.

-:-

The morning started off with Sakura and the team arguing with each other as quietly as they could to not wake the sleeping Uchiha.

"No, Sakura, stay here! Sasuke needs your help, for goodness sake!" Ino yelled as quietly as she could.

"I know Sasuke-kun needs me, but you guys are working your butts off patrolling! For what? Nothing! Take a day off! Or something!" She whispered.

"Sakura, just let us do what we want! Honestly, it's nothing big!" Ino said.

Her team looked at her, as they agree with Ino, and she just sighed in frustration and gave in. They took that as a signal of her defeat, and they smiled happily. She bid them farewell as they left out the door, and she sat down by the window when they had gone. Lost in thought, she failed to notice the Uchiha stirring.

Sasuke completely awoke a few minutes after, and wondered why Sakura looked so depressed. He shifted his position on his bed, so he was on his side and could easily look at her.

"Sakura," He said.

She turned and looked at him. She smiled. Somehow, Sasuke knew she was faking it, and sighed.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" He asked.

Sakura's eyes searched him, and a frown replaced his smile. Sasuke got up from his position on the bed, and knelt down so he was eye level with her. She knew she couldn't get out of this one, now that Sasuke was standing right in front of her, basically demanding an answer with the look he was giving her. She sighed, and broke her gaze and resumed looking out the window.

"I'm...lost," She whispered.

Sasuke looked at her questioningly, and she continued.

"I...don't want you to...go away..." She said.

"What do you mean, Sakura?" Sasuke asked, even though he knew very well what he meant.

"You're...still going to...kill Itachi. And that means, that I'll be...alone again," She whispered, tears falling down from her emerald orbs.

Sasuke sighed, and drew her into an embrace. Sakura sobbed into his shirt, and her hands gripped it tightly. He ran his hand up and down her back, hoping to soothe her.

"And...then I'll be...waiting...and lost...all over...I mean...everything that's happened...so far...it's like...a dream...I can't...believe how much has changed..."

Sasuke remained silent, still trying to calm the cherry blossom down. Sakura stared at him with teary eyes, and he wiped away her tears with his thumbs.

"Don't worry Sakura...I can't take you with me when I go find Itachi, you know I can't...don't worry, you'll never be alone..." Sasuke said.

Sakura stopped crying, but was still breathing harshly. Sasuke gave her a very rare genuine smile, and Sakura blushed. She has never seen him smile before. EVER.

"Sakura?"

She shifted her gaze, embarrassed at her sudden breakdown. She felt hands forcing her to face him, and he softly kissed her forehead. This caused both of them to blush, Sakura's more evident, and Sasuke's barely noticeable. Sakura returned to normal, and giggled.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun! You should smile more often!"

Sakura and Sasuke laughed together, Sakura's worries forgotten.

-:-