The black and white world of Itachi's Tsukiyomi surrounded Sasuke, the blood-red sky looming above him. His brother stood across from him, a dead body lying in front of him, covered in a liquid the same colour as the sky. Pale hair obscured the victim's face, but wide, lifeless eyes were still visible.

Sakura.

Itachi spoke, his voice cold and echoing, "Bonds weigh you down, make you easy to harm, weaken you. Precious people are a nuisance. Bonds should be severed."

Then the world blurred; warm, healing hands were on his forehead, pulling him back to reality. Sakura's face swam in his vision, unfocused but obviously alive.

His hand shot out, wrapping around her throat, cutting off her air. She was precious to him – he couldn't let her live, couldn't risk other people torturing him with her death.

XxXxXx

A beeping sound could be heard. Voices were arguing.

"I can't let you stay alone with him. It's too dangerous."

"But he's not himself! Something's wrong, and if I just had one minute I could-"

"No. The Hokage won't allow, the doctors won't allow it, and I won't allow it."

They sounded familiar, but Sasuke's mind was too clouded and tired to identify them. Maybe if he could see them...

"Kakashi-sensei, look! I think he's waking up!"

His vision slowly slid into focus. Sakura hovered over him, happiness and fear evident in her features. She started to reach forward, as though to touch him, but quickly pulled her hand away. Kakashi moved into his view, gazing down at him with caution, worry.

Disappointment.

Sasuke remembered what he did. He understood why they were worried and frightened; knew his actions and his thoughts were completely irrational. But a part of him still agreed with his action, still believed killing Sakura was the best way to protect himself.

He sat up, slowly, keeping his eyes locked with Sakura's. In his peripheral, he would see Kakashi looking nervously between them, probably worried about one might do to the other.

Sakura reached forward again, stopped, then hesitantly retracted her hand, breaking away from Sasuke's gaze. He continued to stare at her, watching as she fidgeted and bit her lip.

Time ticked by slowly, none of them moving, none of them speaking. No one knew how much time had passed, only that it moved slowly.

Glancing back toward him, Sakura repeated her action a third time. Only, this time she didn't pull away, instead pausing, then forcing her hand to continue forward. Soon, she had her arms around him in a gentle embrace.

They sat like that for a moment, Sakura with her arms wrapped tightly around Sasuke, the Uchiha silently accepting the hug. Then, hesitantly, he lifted his own arms, wrapping them around her waist.

He said nothing, allowing the gesture to speak for him.

Author's Notes: As explanation for any and all inaccuracies, this was written before recent chapters. I just forgot to post it. xP

So, anyway, tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: I do not own 'Naruto' or any of its characters.