Roommates
by Diana-san

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

06. Nightmare II

Sakura couldn't fall asleep. She sighed as she stared up at the blank ceiling. She had been staring at it for the past half hour and it still remained unchanged. Rolling to her side, she glanced at the digital clock. It was half past 1 am. Sasuke was probably asleep by now. They had been sleeping in their own beds for the past three days since Sasuke caught some sort of a bug and didn't want to infect Sakura.

Sakura was grateful for the concern but now, she realized how much she missed having him just close by. Close enough to touch and to hug when she was feeling restless.

She closed her eyes as she thought about what it was like to hug him. It had been so long that she had trouble remembering. In an instant, she woke up with a start and she could feel the cold sweat cover her whole body. She glanced back at the clock and saw that it was almost 3 am. She had somehow fallen asleep without knowing it.

Heart pounding against her chest, Sakura could still feel the adrenaline rushing through her. The nightmare she had felt so real. She was running and running with all her might but her legs never seemed to carried her fast enough. She didn't know what she was running from but she was sure that if she didn't wake up in time, she would have been caught.

She lifted up her covers and pushed it to the side as she took several deep breaths to calm herself. She could remember the last thing before she had waken up was that she had jumped off the cliff. Figures. All nightmares end in terrifying ways to die. She hated the falling dreams. They felt too real.

Swinging her legs over, she allowed her feet to touch the ground as she gently sat up and walked to the door. Her legs wobbled a little under her weight and clearly, she was still shaken up from whatever that nightmare was. Creeping to the door, she opened it as she peered out. The living room was empty and Sasuke's bedroom door was left slightly ajar. She walked slowly to his door as she opened it and looked inside.

Sasuke was sound asleep and Sakura could hear his slow and paced breathing that matched the rhythm of his chest going up and down against his sheets. He looked serene in his sleep and Sakura almost didn't want to disturb him. Almost. But she just had a scary nightmare and she needed him tonight. She wanted to stay by his side. Who cares if he was contaminated with a cold virus? They could be sick together and she can miss work for a week.

Sakura went over to the other side of the bed as she crawled into bed. She was feeling cold earlier from being out of bed but as soon as she got in, she felt his nearby warmth as she moved in closer to hug him. He stirred a little in his sleep but continued to sleep. It was while hugging him that Sakura realized something. When she had jumped off the cliff, the first instinct would be to panic but somehow, she had felt relief. Earlier, she had thought that she had accidentally fallen off the cliff but after rehashing through the dream again, she realized she had jumped off willingly.

Sasuke stirred in his sleep again and this time, he woke up. "Sakura?" he asked in a confused state.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she didn't bother to move at all from the position she was in.

"What are you doing in my bed?" he asked, half-awake.

"I had…a nightmare."

Sasuke sat up slowly. "What was it?" he asked, slightly worried. "Are you okay?"

Sakura sighed as she sat up as well. "Yeah.."

"You don't sound fine," he said.

Sakura sighed as Sasuke lifted up her chin so that he could see her face. She pouted as her cheeks puffed up slightly as his hand remained on her cheeks, squeezing it ever so slightly.

"I…I was being chased," she started.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her. "You're never one to run from things. You usually take them head-on," he remarked.

Sakura stared back into Sasuke's obsidian eyes as her heart raced slightly. "That's because I wasn't running away from an actual human or object. I was running from an idea…"

"An idea?"

"Commitment! I was running away from the thought of commitment!"

Sasuke burst out laughing. "What?"

Sakura pouted some more as Sasuke's hand still remained on her. She pulled back as she swatted his hand away. "We've been together for a really long time now," Sakura said.

"It's only been six months," Sasuke stated. Sakura shot him a dirty look. "Go on," he continued.

"Anyways, we've been dating for six months. I never had a relationship that lasted that long," Sakura admitted.

"Really now? Six months is your mark?" Sasuke asked, a bit surprised at the fact. They hadn't really talked about past relationships with each other and he didn't really want to get into that either to be perfectly honest.

"What's yours hotshot?" Sakura asked.

"Four months… wait no, I didn't really inform her that we were over. I guess two weeks," Sasuke replied as he thought about it.

"Are you serious?!" Sakura asked in shock. "TWO WEEKS?!"

"It would have been one week but Naruto said you can't dump a girl before their birthday, Valentine's Day, or Christmas."

"…"

Sasuke smirked. "Hey, that just means you're special for lasting so long," he pointed out.

Sakura laughed dryly. "Wow, gee, thanks. I'm glad I beat four-months girl. What is up with four months girl by the way?"

"Technically, we lasted a week but I never got around to telling her I wanted to break up and she was on a summer program abroad for three months almost so… she kind of believed we were together for that long?"

Sakura stared at Sasuke in disbelief. "You're ridiculous," she stated.

Sasuke gave a sheepish smile. Changing the conversation back to the original topic, he gave Sakura a serious look. "So commitment, huh?"

Sakura looked down at her hands in slight embarrassment at what she was about to say next. "Anyways, I jumped off a cliff at the end of the dream and woke up and that's all!" she said quickly as she slid underneath the covers and pulled them over her head.

Sasuke pulled the covers off her to reveal her face. "Yeah right. There's more to that. Otherwise, you wouldn't be sneaking into my bed at 3 am."

"I missed you?" Sakura said.

He raised an eyebrow. "Okay, then. Go back to your own bed so I can get some sleep."

Sakura sighed. "I jumped off the cliff and instead of being scared, I was relieved."

Sasuke waited for her to continue the rest of the story.

Sakura closed her eyes as she covered her face with her hands. "I saw you standing at the bottom of the cliff and you caught me. That's when I realized that I'm not scared of commitment. I'm not scared because I have… I have you."

She could feel her heart pounding against her chest, the oxygen being trapped in her lungs, and her cheeks burning a crimson red. She had never admitted to anything like this before. She felt vulnerable for saying how she felt and it was a big step for her to take. To admit that she needed him more than she thought she did. He had only started out as her super hot roommate. But now, Sasuke was much more than that. Not just a roommate. Not even just a boyfriend. She wanted him to be much more.

Sasuke pulled down Sakura's hands from her face, revealing her emerald green eyes that shone even in the darkened room. The moonlight that shone through the nearby bedroom window casted a soft glow on Sakura's face. She blinked as she stared up at the ceiling until she saw Sasuke's face come into her view. He was peering at her with an intense gaze.

"I love you," she whispered softly as her cheeks blushed a soft pink.

He said nothing and the silence was almost deafening as she waited desperately for him to respond. He didn't have to say he loved her back. Although it would be nice if he did. She just wanted him to acknowledge her feelings first. And perhaps say that he would either feel the same way or understood her.

'Something. Say something!' her mind screamed.

Sasuke continued to look at her and she was just about ready to headbutt him in the face if he continued to look at her like that. It was making her even more anxious to know that he was observing her.

He bent down and placed his forehead against her own. It surprised her as her eyes widened at the sudden touch of his skin against hers. His nose was touching hers and his breath was tickling against her lips. Sakura hitched her breath. Somehow, the fact that they were not kissing was almost as intoxicating and breath-taking than if they were kissing.

Heart continuing to pound like madness beating a drum, Sakura closed her eyes as she balled her fists up and kept them close to her heart.

Very slowly, she could feel Sasuke move again as his lips touched hers. Different from any other kiss that they had shared before, it was more sensual and gratifying than before. It lasted only a few seconds but when he pulled away and she opened her eyes, she could read the emotions across his face.

"I love you too," he whispered.

Sakura felt relieved. It was definitely good to hear him say it back. And she knew that he wasn't saying it only because she said it first. He had meant every word of it.

"Dammit Sakura," he whispered again. "I thought I had self-restraint. I didn't want to kiss you. I didn't want to get you sick. But you made it so hard."

Sakura smiled a wide grin. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she batted her eyes up at him. "I'm already love sick. Might as well continue," she said softly as she pulled him in for another kiss.