Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

a/n hmm.. the angst must be getting suffocating now. haha. hmm.. do you guys think i should mix in some happy drabbles in this fic to make it less angsty or should i just keep it exclusively angst?

ANCHOR

It's only when he's asleep that she has the liberty to touch him like this. And it's only when she thinks that he's asleep that he allows himself to revel in her touch. As it is, he keeps on feigning sleep as she continues to stroke his hair.

And he feels somewhat guilty for doing this to her. He knows how happy he could make her if only he'd allow her to know how happy she makes him. But he can't. No, the scars are still too deep. And he's still too damaged… and he thinks that maybe he's damaged beyond repair. And he's sorry that he pulled her into this sad existence. He should have never allowed her to affect him in the first place.

But now it was too late. He needed her so. And she knew that if she disappeared, he would fall apart. He'd drift away. She was his anchor… the anchor to his sanity. And she loved him too much to allow him to live in solitude again.

But like all anchors, the brutal waves and the turbulent waters would continuously assail her, just like his near-insanity and his insecurities beat her black and blue.

And he knows that in time, she will become rusty, just as all anchors do… the process has already begun. He notices it, the telltale signs of depression… that she's rusting away.

He's sure that someday, those brutal waves and turbulent waters will succeed in pulling the ship away. And the anchor, rusty as it is, will not be able to keep the ship from drifting away. Instead, the anchor will be pulled along into the solitude of the sea.

But at least the ship and the anchor would be together.

And it is with this thought that he allows himself to drift asleep, lulled into oblivion by her rhythmic stroking.

Thank you, Sakura.

a/n please review, you guys. i really want to know what you guys think. Oh, and thank you very much to those who reviewed. I really appreciate it.