She hides underground

as the battle cries

and the bitter screams sound

as she covers her ears,

shedding broken tears,

trying to wish it all away.

The clock ticked religiously on the wall, the hands moving rigidly as Naruto paced around the room, stopping every once in a while to turn his head to the woman in the bed before starting his pacing once more.

Sasuke sat in the chair to Sakura's right, focusing on the number of pink lines in the tiles beneath him as his brow twitched with every step his blonde friend took. Step. Step. Step. Stop. Step. Step. Step. Stop. Step. Step. Step. Stop. Step. Step. Step. Stop. Step. Step. Ste- "Stop it, dobe."

Naruto turned his head to face his best friend, his eyes narrowed in a glare. "No." he replied. Though the habit was beginning to grate on his own ears, it was all he could do to calm his frazzled nerves.

"You know, with your endless noise, it's a wonder she hasn't woken up yet." he remarked. His eyes became dark and his handsome features, somber. "Maybe she won't wake up."

The silent amendment had not gone unheard and Naruto turned sharply on his heel, his eyes holding his rage as his body tensed. "Don't say that." he growled.

"It's been a week already, Naruto. You can't believe she'll wake up after this long."

Naruto scoffed. "I knew you never really cared about her." He soon found himself pinned against the wall across from the bed staring into garnet eyes and raven commas. "Don't you dare say that." he hissed.

"Why not? It's obvious you don't care about her."

Sasuke knocked him against the wall, his Sharingan spinning lazily. "Don't ever say that again. I love her just as much as you do, but it's time you got out of that fucking dream world you live in where everything turns out alright and into the real world. You heard what Tsunade said. The longer she stays in this state, the less chance she has of waking up. I want her to wake up too, but she might not and I've accepted it, why don't you?"

Naruto shoved him off his body and stalked over to the other side of the room, his body visibly shaking as he tried to control his temper. "Because I know she'll wake up. Unlike you, Sasuke, she doesn't accept defeat so easily. She'll fight this. You say you love her, but you aren't willing to give her credit."

Sasuke gripped the metal rail of the bed, fighting down the urge to punch him. "I do love her, but you're also not recognizing her limitations. There is only so much she can handle before she has to give up. You know she might not wake up, but you aren't willing to accept the facts."

"I know she will. I have faith in her. Where's yours?"

"With her, but in case you forgot, it was hard for me to believe in anything anymore after Itachi kill-"

"Are you always going to hide behind that excuse? You've killed him already and avenged your clan. You can face up against your brother, an S-class missing nin, but you can't face up to anything having to do with faith and belief? Wow, I never knew Sasuke was such a coward. You're a disgrace to your name."

"You bastard!" Sasuke roared as he leapt over the bed, slamming Naruto into the ground, his Sharingan spinning wildly.

Sakura looked around. Nothing. There was nothing here. No lights, no sounds, nothing, but darkness and her. She looked around wildly and raised a hand to her mouth. "Hello?" she called out.

The sound became more distant in the darkness. The echo seemed to go for miles. She bit her lip and rubbed her arms for the comfort of touch. She looked around her, then settled to stare up. 'Will I ever get out of here?'

Suddenly, she heard a clattering sound and snapped her gaze to her left. "Hello?" Another clatter and her feet began to follow the sound. "Hello?" Another clatter followed by the sounds of shouting. "Hello?" A loud crash and the sounds of a voice filtered through, her walk moving into a jog. "Hello?!" A white dot stood on the horizon, steadily growing larger. Another crash, a shout, and a familiar voice and she broke out into a run. "Hello?!" she screamed. The light enveloped her and there was silence.

The sound of fists connecting with bone was heard and blood dripped from Naruto's mouth to the tiles. "Is that all you got, wimp?" Sasuke growled and placed his legs ready for a run, but saw a flicker at the corner of his gaze. He looked out of the corner of his eyes and saw a flutter of lashes. "What? Too afraid to attack me now?"

Sasuke didn't hear the taunt as he watched in amazement as brows knitted and a frown brought out a lower lip. "Come on, teme!"

Lashes fluttered and green peaked out from cream-colored skin. An astonished smile painted itself over Sasuke's mouth. "Sakura!"

Naruto blinked. "Sakura? Sakura?" He turned his head and felt his confusion turn to joy. "Sakura!" he screamed running to her bedside.

Brows knitted in concentration and the lids were lifted. "Naruto?"

Sasuke ran over to her bedside, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he tried to calm his excitement. "Sakura?"

Sakura heard Sasuke's voice, relishing the smoothness of the silken sound. It might have been one of the things she loved most about him. She turned her head and stared into pools of red and black, blood and charcoal. Images flashed across her eyes at a maddening pace, but she could sort out two colors. Scarlet and onyx, the colors of his gaze. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!"

Naruto stared in shock as Sakura lashed out at their ebony-haired friend. Sasuke moved away from the swipe aimed for his face, thin lines of red appearing on his cheek. He held her wrists and she screamed more.

"No! No! No! Stop. Please! Let go! Let go, let go, let go! No! Stop! Stop!" she yelled, her legs kicking into the air, tangled in hospital sheets. A foot landed in Sasuke's stomach and a rush of air left his lungs as he fought to restrain her. Sasuke turned to Naruto. "Naruto! Get Tsunade! I don't know how much longer I can hold her!"

Naruto blinked and saw the scene before him before dashing out into the hall. He ran down corridors, turning corners and dodging the various medics before spotting a familiar crown of yellow. "Baa-chan!"

Tsunade tensed, her brow twitching dangerously as she snapped her head over her shoulder. "You little brat. I thought I told you-"

The sentence was left hanging as she took in his appearance. He was resting his hands on his knees, his breathing rapid and his body tense. He looked up, worry and fear in his cerulean gaze. "Baa-chan. It's Sakura-chan. She's-" No sooner as he mentioned her name was he left scrambling after the Gondaime.

He caught up to her in front of the slightly ajar door of room 289. Sounds of crashing and shattering leaked from the room. "Sakura, calm down. It's me, Sasuke."

"No! Leave me alone! Don't touch me!"

"Sakura, you have to calm down. You're going to hurt yourself!"

"Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!"

The door slammed open and Sasuke turned to see a stunned Tsunade in the doorway, her hand planted firmly on the door. He stared at the door in a trance-like state when the sensation of flesh being torn on his wrist brought his attention back. "Tsunade! You have to calm her down!"

"No! No! No! No!" Sakura screamed as she struggled in his grasp.

Tsunade blinked and nodded. A hand slipped into her robe and she pulled out a syringe and a small vial. She walked closer and saw Sakura's pupils dilate. "No! Stop! Don't come near me!"

"Sasuke, hold her steady." Tsunade ordered.

Sasuke nodded and held her arms steady, but her legs lashed up. "Dobe! Stop standing around and help me!"

Naruto blinked and ran over to hold down her legs, staring uneasily up at the group. Sasuke's face was set into sheer determination as he rode out Sakura's attempts to throw them off her. Her own eyes were darting around wildly, her breathing was quick and shallow. He turned to his leader and saw her face set in stone as she gripped her student's arm. Her eyes widened slightly before narrowing as she plunged the needle into her arm.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Sakura screamed as she fought to tear her arm away, but Tsunade held on and pushed the top of the syringe, the clear liquid disappearing from inside. She quickly removed the needle and placed her thumb on the site of injection, summoning a small amount of chakra to seal the wound.

Naruto watched as Sakura's eyes rolled back before darting around the room. Emerald shifted wildly before her lids fell. Once, twice, then shut. Whimpers escaped her mouth and Tsunade shushed her, a hand running through her hair soothingly before Sakura quieted.

Naruto snatched his hands back and dropped them to his sides as Sasuke removed his hands from her wrists cautiously, wincing at the purple discoloration that appeared. Naruto blinked. "Is she…"

Tsunade shook her head as she stood. "No, it was just a tranquilizer. She should wake up in a few hours. I'm glad to see her awake, but what happened to get her all riled up like that?"

Naruto shrugged. "We, Sasuke-teme and I, were fighting and she woke up. She looked at me and then she looked at Sasuke and started freaking out."

"She looked at Sasuke?"

"Yeah. He had his Sharingan on and when he looked at her, she started screaming."

Tsunade sighed. "The Sharingan must have triggered a memory from her mission to appear, but we won't know for sure until Kakashi wakes up and tells us what happened. In the meantime, Sasuke, don't activate your kekkei genkai around her." Sasuke nodded and she smiled tiredly. "Alright. The worst is over. Let's get you cleaned up and then we can relax."

Suddenly, a slam on the door was heard and everyone turned to the haggard-looking Shizune, her eyes darting around wildly. Tsunade blinked. "What's wrong?"

Shizune swallowed and began to pant once more. "It's Kakashi, Tsunade-sama. We can't find him!"