Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

a/n: Sasuke's POV... I'm sorry for the late AND short chapter, but I honestly don't know how I can continue this... and if I'm even going towards the right direction. So I would be really grateful if you could tell me what you think about Sasuke's feelings here...Thank you so much for all my readers so far by the way!

Chapter 6: Nightmare and Fears

Darkness.

It was the most faithful companion Sasuke had. It shook him with fear when he was a kid but now…

'comforting' He thought blankly.

Then ahead of him appeared a single streak of light.

'not again…'

The pale moon grinned a twisted smile, but it wasn't reflected in Itachi's eyes. In fact, Itachi was nowhere to be seen.

Sasuke's eyes drifted below to see the death of his parents. It made him sick to admit it, but he had seen this play out too many times already that he already knew what to expect.

The moon had smiled on a girl instead.

Sakura.

'no…' He stared disbelievingly.

'no…' Sasuke willed himself to continue standing up, but upon meeting eyes with the dead girl, his knees gave out.

"NOOO!"

. . .

"Hah. Hah."

"Sasuke-kun! What's wrong?"

His hazy mind made out a brunette who quickly came to his side. She made motion to hug him, but Sasuke gently brushed her off while wiping away a sweat.

"Another nightmare?"

When no answer followed, Mayuri continued on with worry. "It's always like this… Especially lately.. You have recurring nightmares, don't you? You always wake up this way. You can… tell me about your nightmares, you know?"

The brunette let out a small gap and cautiously asked, "Are they… about your brother?"

The Uchiha looked at Mayuri then, and saw the pain of remembering her own brother as she said those words. Slowly, he shook his head but…

They were broken, the two of them.

'What about now?' A voice within Sasuke started. 'Are you lonely? Frustrated? Angry? Lost? In pain?'

'The answer is none of the above, Sasuke. It is simply fear. The fear that if you care too much, you will lose them. You cared too much about Itachi, and then you lost him. You cared too much about your clan, but what's changed?'

'… At lease Mayuri was already broken when you first met her. Everyone around you will break at some point.'

"Sasuke!"

He jerked up then, the devil's words dissipating away.

Mayuri peeked out from the door. "She was in the hall, so I called her in…"

He was staring into the eyes of a pink kunoichi. Sakura's eyes had the hospital lights dancing in them, appearing so vibrant and… alive.

Then, the haunting voice came back. 'Remember you tried to kill her too? Kill her before she breaks in front of you. One day, that light in her eyes will disappear. And you would be the one to blame –"

"Why do you look so guilty – no one's blaming you, Sasuke." Sakura voiced aloud, while knowing it wasn't entirely true – half the patients she had treated always had something to badmouth about Sasuke, and if not Sasuke, the Uchiha clan.

"Whether you've broken my heart before or not, I – Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, and everyone – we believe in you." 'To crawl out from that darkness' Sakura added silently. "So don't suffer alone… You have Mayuri-san."

Sakura hesitantly turned to Mayuri, and with a small nod of goodbye, she left the room.

Once she was gone, the brunette came over with curiosity blatant on her face as she asked, "What did she mean by "you've broken my heart"? Did she lo–" Mayuri came to an abrupt pause after glimpsing one look at Sasuke's expression. She knew better to stop pushing him on.

'That's right. I forgot the most important part: you've already broken her heart. It would be even easier to break her the second time.'

'Damn it. Damn it. DAMN IT!'

"SASUKE-KUN!" Mayuri yelled out, tears threatening to burst. "Stop suffering alone. I'll help you make things better, neh?"

Sasuke turned his head away, and muttered softly with an agonized frown. "I'm already trying."

He got up then, and Mayuri followed. "Where are you going, Sasuke-kun?"

"Training."

'He always says that.' Mayuri let out a sigh and watched him go.

. . .

'You're trying the wrong way.' The blonde idiot had said during the last time they had fought, and it was now playing repeatedly in Sasuke's mind.

'This is just my way…' Sasuke thought defensively, and stopped once he reached a training place close to the hospital.

Here, Sasuke felt her presence – ever so faintly – and that was enough as he started making hand signals for a jutsu to commence his training.

To be continued. (hopefully :))