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

summary: o16: He comes from the shadows and goes back in them. Sakura sees him in her dreams, and even though he tries to hurt her...it's the last piece of Sasuke she can hold on to.

REVISED 6.30.14

.o16.
Shadows

He comes from the shadows in the night. Sakura sees him in her dreams (or nightmares, whichever is the correct way to put it). He lunges for her throat. But at the same time, he has this soft look in his eyes, as if he doesn't want to kill her.

Then, she wakes up from a cold sweat and pants heavily, burying her face in her hands. She has the same dream every night, and every time he looks like he's about to say something that she doesn't hear.

Sakura dreads going to sleep. If she could stay awake forever, like Gaara, she would. Anything's better than having something so close to her but not being able to reach it.

But it's nighttime again, and she's already had loads of caffeinated tea. She's hyper, but doesn't want the caffeine crash to come down on her and knock her out, so she keeps downing more and more.

"I think I'm going crazy," she mutters as she prepares more tea, looking at the cups that are strewn everywhere. She laughs, then. "Oh wait. I am crazy."

She sits on the hard floor drinking her tea, because sitting on the sofa might make her sleepy.

The clock reads midnight. She shrugs. There's only eight more hours before daylight, and then training, which means that she can't afford to be asleep.

Her eyes flutter shut for just a second, but she wakes herself back up, pinching herself.

"Damnit, Sakura, don't fall asleep!"

She doesn't listen to herself, and eventually, she thinks that just five minutes won't be enough for the dream to occur. So she lies down on the wood floor and drifts off into slumber.

.

.

.

It's dark out. She's by herself on a mission, and she hears something in the bushes. Something that's not an animal.

"Come out!" she shouts. "Reveal yourself!"

Out of the shadows steps a figure she knows so well. She'd spent all her time with him when they were younger, in a team.

She lowers her kunai, shocked.

"Sasuke…kun?"

He walks towards her.

"Sakura," he says.

She realizes she has her guard down, and puts her kunai back up. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

He steps even closer to her, and in a blink of an eye, her kunai is being twirled around his fingers.

"How—" she looks at her hand and then back at him. "I don't—"

"You need to work on your reflexes, Sakura," he teases her. "Anyway." He pockets the kunai and takes out his katana. "I don't want to use it if I don't have to. So don't provoke me."

"Why are you doing this?" she says, stepping back as he steps forward.

"I have to."

"You have to what? Sasuke-kun, I don't understand."

Sasuke smirked. "There's nothing to understand. It's just how this works." He's now behind her, and Sakura can't figure out how he moves so quickly. His katana is at her neck, and his arm is around her waist, holding her tight to him.

"I'll only kill you if I have to," he said. "And right now, I don't have to. But I can," he says, pressing the sword deeper. A trickle of blood runs down into her shirt.

She's frozen against him, but he's warm, and she loves the smell of his hair against her cheek.

"I still love you," she says softly. "But I have a duty to protect my village, and I can't let you get in the way."

He chuckles. "Oh, Sakura." Then, he turns her around so that she's facing him. He puts the katana back in its sheath and his arm is still around her.

"Look at you," he says, his finger against her jaw. "You've grown to be a fine woman."

Normally, those comments would have melted her. But she wasn't in the time for melting.

"And you've grown to be a cold-hearted murderer."

He held her tighter to him, squeezing the breath out of her. His eyes were soft, but this time, unlike the other times, he didn't go for her throat.

His fingers are now touching her lips. "So plump and red, like blood."

She's struggling to get away from him, but he holds her close and traps her.

"Wonderful."

Then, he leans in and she feels his lips against hers. She doesn't know what's happening, and this isn't like the Sasuke she usually sees. But this nightmare has turned into a dream, and she wants to enjoy it while she can.

He continues to kiss her, but she reaches for the kunai.

There's only one chance, she thinks sadly before she's ready to pierce it through his heart.

.

.

.

Sasuke carried her to her bed, tucking her in. She always left the window unlocked. Silly Sakura.

"Nngh," she moans softly. He makes sure that she's not going to stir. He tucks a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"Good night," he presses his lips to her forehead. He knows what she dreams about.

And he walks out of the window, back into the shadows.

Slight changes!