Title- Sweet Dreams

By- Envo

Pairings- [Slight/One-side] NaruSaku, SasuSaku, NaruHina

Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto.

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Chapter 3

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They are surrounded by flurries of curled leaves: red, yellow, orange and brown.

Invisible hands tag at her hair and push the wayward strands back against her skull. She watches as another current of yellow courses and circles about the seemly giant tree behind her with her face upturned, bearing a distant smile. Above still, the cloud-paved sky swirls by as if urged by the hasty wind that blows relentlessly like a shepherd herding its sheep back to their cages.

"Sakura-san, why are we here?" an uncertain voice pulls her back to the woman standing at her feet gazing about. Silky long hair of midnight fans in the air and occasionally caresses the elegant profile of a proudly grown woman. Lean fingers pull at the edge of the coat almost agitatedly against the gusty wind while under long veils of lashes, two orbs of pearl glances towards her curiously. Regret seizes her when their eyes meet, and she bites her inner cheeks to stop her ever active emotions from overrunning her reason.

This woman deserves so much more than what she has condemned the poor girl to.

"Do you hate me, Hinata?"

She watches the two pools of milky white widen as her fellow kunoichi sputter under her neutral gaze.

"H—what are you talking about, Sakura-san? I don't—"

Wordlessly, she waves towards the building to her left, successfully cutting through the quick to denying comment. It is the exact one that looms quietly over their small private hill and overlooks the academy; the very same that houses her two lawless, unconscious teammates.

"I took him away from you, Hinata. Do you not hate me for it?"

The timid Hyuga falls silent. So she slides her eyelids shut. With the image burned into her mind, she clamps down the urge to sigh again. It is the façade she can never decipher despite it being the one she sees the most; it is the kind of mask that bears nothing except for what the Hyuga heir wants it to display. The downcast pale eyes veiled heavily by thick eyelashes betray no emotion, only the stilling of twiddling fingertips against soft fabric telltales the inner turmoil under ivory skin.

Inhaling the mid-autumn air, she starts, "The… thing going on between Sasuke, me and Naruto is like an everlasting cycle; as long as one of us is still here, it will never end. The feelings I have for Sasuke will never be returned; likewise, I cannot return Naruto's feelings. To me, Naruto will always be a very dear brother, nothing more, nothing less."

A surprisingly defiant tone reaches her ears. "I… don't know what you are saying, Sakura-san."

She feels a corner of her lips lift slightly despite their serious conversation. "I may be cruel, Hinata, but I am not blind. I will be fool if I don't see how much you feel for my teammate."

"Sakura-san, I—"

She shakes her head, stopping the interruption. The mounting, contradicting emotions filling her are just too much to bear, and she wants out. She can feel each second ticks by as the burden wears her down even more; she just wants to let it out once and for all. Desperation.

"I was young and foolish. I knew it will end with an impasse, but I still went to him. I did more harm than good by following the false feeling I thought was love." A string of bitter chuckle escapes her lips, "It leaves me at the same spot where I start out, and instead of gaining something, I only earned more heartaches. This just won't end, and I'm just so tired…"

"What… are you saying, Sakura-san?" Hesitant shimmers within two pools of pearl as long fingers fall to the side. Blades of yellow crushed beneath sandaled feet as the woman approach her slowly.

Her own hand reach deep into her side pocket and draws out a slim sheet of folded paper and extends it to the now crouching girl.

"I need a favor, Hinata."

The howl still rings in her ears as she forces herself to stay rooted by his door. She knew from the start that, after learning Sakura's intentions later that afternoon, breaking the news to him was not going to be easy; she expected it to a certain degree, but never this.

It is a sight she never wanted to see. The web-like crack marring one of the walls streches its tendrils and reaching towards the framed picture of the former Team Seven; curled fists shaking with mixed emotions braces against said crack, knuckles white. Small rivers of crimson trickle silently down to form a pool down below. The signature, spiky blond hair obscures the pair of cerulean blue eyes that burns lividly as echoes of harsh breathing breaks the silent of the night.

Her stomach clenches with worry at the steady flow of red that, surprisingly, shows no signs of stopping. She bites her tongue hard as she unwinds her tangled digits and steps towards him. Ignoring the red stain on her sandals, she slowly places her hands on the taut bicep as to not alarm its owner.

"N-Naruto-kun, I need to fix your wound."

She prepares herself to spend a decent amount of time to coax the man away from the ruined wall, but Naruto surprises her first. Muscles flex under her touch for a moment before slacking as the limb falls away from the wall. After the second limb drops limply by his side, she sets her hand on his right shoulder and gradually applying pressure to steer him towards the chairs nearby.

Spotting the first-aid kit to the side, she hurriedly drags the small box to her feet. Taking the injured hand into her hand, she quickly works to cleanse the wound and apply the proper ointment to ease the pain of the tear. As her fingers work to untangle the bands, he jolts her from her handiwork.

"What else?" He chokes.

Mind quickly goes through the memory of that afternoon, she bites her lips lightly before starting. "She… is with child, so she decided to ask Tsunade for an indefinite leave."

"Where? Why?" The slight trembling tones are not lost on her, and her heart clenches with each quivering note.

"She did not say, only that she doesn't want anyone to go look for her. She... she said she needs some fresh air." She knew it is not enough of an answer to his question, which seems to ask so much more with just two simple words. But from what she gathered that afternoon, it is all she can give as a bystander. Her innards twists at the thought; she is merely a bystander. Inhaling quickly, she wipes away any emotion on her face before tying a knot to the bands and digs into her pocket.

"She asked me to give you this."

Her eyes trained on the bandaged hand that swallows her smaller one in a vice-like grip for a second; the pain, however, does not seem to register in her mind at all when all she can see is the trial of moist slowly sliding down his whiskered cheeks.

Even without her Byakugan, she can see lines of wrinkles forming on the paper as the hand attaching to it shake uncontrollably in the background. I don't hate you, Sakura-san, even if you make him weep, because you have the strength I don't to move on.

Time ticks by slowly as the strained silence streches between them.

And it takes exactly five seconds for the crumbled paper to slip through shaky figners, tumble through the air and reach the floor; its two lone words glimming under the moonlight against pristine white.

Thank you.

A/N: Sorry if Hinata appears a bit too mushy towards the end. It is something that I've been trying to fix for ages but never seem to come out right (in case it isn't clear, Sakura narrates the first part and Hinata narrates the second part).

And with this chapter done, it will conclude Sweet Dreams. I've been trying hard to capture the heartbreaks of one-sided relationships through these pairings, though not very successful. But I do try.

Thank you very much for those who reviewed, keep them coming; I really appreciate the great support, and hope you enjoy reading it.

Envo 05/05