title: 7:31
prompt: SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012
rating: T-M

summary: o13: He's back and can't explain why.

REVISED 6.30.14

.o13.
Hallucinate

She was surprised to see him outside her door. Rubbing her eyes, she made sure to see if it really was him. Back with her.

"S-Sasuke-kun?"

"What, are you surprised to see me, Sakura?" he asked. "I missed you."

It wasn't the Sasuke she knew. The cold-hearted Sasuke tried to kill her, so she was still wary. She sensed his chakra.

"You're not Sasuke-kun," she said, stepping back. "You're not."

He stepped closer. "I've changed."

She didn't want to fall into this guy's trap. If it were Sasuke, he could try to kill her. And if it weren't…they could still try to kill her.

"Go away." She pushed him off while running back into her house, locking the door. She half-expected it to tumble down. Instead, she looked out the window to see Sasuke continuing to stand in front of her door as though he was waiting for her to come out.

Sakura couldn't help it. She shouldn't let her guard down, but she was so happy that he was back…

She opened the door. Sasuke smiled—smiled!

"Took you long enough." He handed her a rose. "For you."

"W-What?"

"Rose. Red petals. From the flower shop." He handed it to her. "For you," he repeated.

She took it daintily. "It's beautiful."

"Only for a beautiful girl." He gave her another smile.

Something was definitely wrong here.

.

.

.

"Sakura-chan—he's—" Naruto said, muttering incoherent words as he struggled to point to several different directions.

"I know," Sakura said. "He visited me this morning."

"He—what?"

"Yeah."

"B-But…I thought…" Naruto was tongue-tied. "I don't understand!"

"You don't have to." Sasuke appeared from behind them and put a hand on both their shoulders. "Let's not train today. Why don't we do something fun?"

"I don't know…" Naruto said, wary of this new Sasuke. "I mean, I still have questions and stuff, and until then, I'm not sure if I can trust you."

Sasuke removed his hand from Naruto's shoulder, but kept his firmly on Sakura's. "Let's talk on the way."

.

.

.

"Is that—"

"No way! Uchiha Sasuke?"

"When did he get back?"

There were murmurs as Sasuke walked alongside Naruto and Sakura in the village. Sakura held her head low and Naruto said, "Move on, people, there's nothing to look at here!"

"I can't believe it," Sakura said. "Two years we've been trying to get you back, and now you just…appear. Like, out of thin air."

"Yup."

"With a behavior change."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "People change."

"Not this drastically," she said.

He ignored the comment. "I'm hungry. Does anyone want some lunch?"

.

a few hours later

.

They were in his apartment while Naruto was passed out on the couch. His hand was on her neck—his time, holding her lovingly—while the other was on her back. She had her hands on his shoulders as she pulled apart once or twice for air.

"We can't—" she began, kissing him hurriedly. "If someone sees me—"

"It's okay," he whispered, turning his head to kiss her at a better angle. "I won't let them see you."

"B-But Naruto…"

"He's out cold," Sasuke said. "We have the whole night just to ourselves." He reached for the hem of her shirt to pull it up, but she stopped him.

He looked at her, confused. "What? You don't want to?"

"I—I don't know," she said. "Truthfully, this whole day has been surreal. You came back. You're different. And we're kissing right now. The other Sasuke wouldn't act like this."

"The other Sasuke is gone."

Sakura put a hand on his cheek. "What happened to him?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I dunno." Pulling her back down so that she was on his lap, he said, "This can be our little secret. Just you and me, alright? No one else."

Sakura felt herself falling back into his charms. "Just tonight?" she murmured, almost sadly.

"No," he kissed her. "As long as you want."

"Tell me you love me," she said abruptly. Sasuke paused.

"What?"

"Tell me that you love me. Even if you don't mean it," Sakura said. "Please."

He stroked her hair. "I love you. Really, I do. I'm not saying it just to make you happy. But I love you."

Sakura felt tears prick at her eyes. "I love you."

He kissed her again, tugging at her shirt hem once more. And this time, she let him pull it over her head.

Even her loudest moans didn't stir Naruto. Not one bit.

.

.

.

"W-What happened?" Sakura said, pressing her hand to her forehead. "Naruto, are you—Naruto!"

Sakura rushed over to help Naruto from the ground. He was bleeding from his lip, and had a deep cut in his forehead.

"Sakura…" he said weakly. "I saw him. He was here. With us."

"What are you talking about?" she said, angrily. "Who was here? Who was with us?" She put her hands over his wounds.

"T-Teme…" he groaned in pain. "Tobi, he…he put us in a genjutsu. What we saw wasn't real. It was only…a hallucination. Sasuke's not here. He was never with us."

Sakura paused and took her hands off.

"You mean, Sasuke-kun…"

"That never happened. He never came home to us."

"But then…" Sakura said. "He doesn't love—"

Naruto didn't say anything. He closed his eyes, unconscious. Sakura was so shocked she forgot to heal him.

Everything was a lie.

"He doesn't love me," she whispered. "He never loved me."

She covered her mouth with her hand and sobbed quietly. "It was all a hallucination."

Looking down at Naruto, she held her tears as best she could before she put her hands back onto his wounds, green chakra shakily floating from her palms to his skin.

"Nothing was real…"

Slight changes!