Summary: Sasuke hasn't had trouble sleeping in a while, and he doesn't know why the dreams have started now.

Age: 20 years old, during the Blank Period, while him and Sakura are travelling. 

Category: Sasuke/Sakura, really early in Sakura's pregnancy with Sarada.

Note: I haven't done anything in the blank period where SasuSaku are traveling, and I regret it T^T Happy late birthday, Sasuke, my child, this was originally going to be on time but you know how things get.

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Sasuke hadn't had problems with his dreams in years. Ever since he was fourteen, he was able to mentally sift through the dreams he didn't want to have, and expel them, leaving his mind utterly blank. It allowed him to get good sleep when he did. He sometimes got nightmares about his clan, or Itachi, but often enough he was able to edit them or erase them entirely. He hadn't felt out of control of his sleep in forever. 

But for some odd reason... he couldn't touch these dreams. 

He shuddered at the memory of them, and looked down at his wife, finding solace in the smile on her lips as she slept. He dreaded sleeping again, and proceeded to play with Sakura's silky hair. He and Sakura were spending the night in an inn, because Sakura was pregnant now, and by God, she would have a comfortable pregnancy. He owed her so much more than that, but Sakura insisted that his debts had been repayed. Sasuke wasn't convinced. She'd waited for him for years and years, and forgave him when he needed her to, loved him when he needed it, and was now carrying the future of his clan for him, no questions asked. He would never be able to repay the debt he owed her. 

He adored her, and was absolutely ecstatic that she was pregnant, even though it did raise questions inside him on how he would raise the little girl or boy (it was too early in the pregnancy to tell, but Sasuke suspected it would be a boy. The main family of the Uchiha often only had boys. Brothers. Like himself and Itachi, and his father and his uncles. They were the leaders, heirs, and strategists of the family. Rarely was a girl born in the main family.)

While he knows Sakura likes the idea of her firstborn being a boy, Sasuke secretly wishes for a girl. He wanted her to be the sign of change in the clan- the new leader, heiress, and strategist of the clan. He wanted her to lead the next generation into the future. With Sakura as her mother, Sasuke knew that his daughter would go on to do amazing things. He always felt hope in him when he thought of a daughter.

Not that he didn't want a boy, he liked the idea of a boy too. He just... liked the idea of a girl more.

Sasuke often naturally drifted closer to Sakura protectively in his sleep, sometimes waking up curled so tightly around her, it's a miracle she can breathe at all. Sakura doesn't complain, or mention it at all, she just gently smiles at him and kisses him on the cheek. 

But he'd never had this problem before. It had been a week since the dreams started, and they'd plagued him. He'd been bothered by them more than he should. He remembered things- things from his past, some things that he knew for a fact didn't happen. 

For example, he'd just been woken up by a dream of his father hitting his mother. This had never happened- the idea of his father physically harming his mother was so alien that he wanted to puke when he'd seen Mikoto's horrified face. Fugaku wouldn't have even entertained the idea. But he'd done it anyway, in Sasuke's dream, and he remembered being immobile as Mikoto cried. Then the face of his mother morphed into that of his wife, and the man standing over her became himself.

Sasuke woke up immediately, in cold sweat, shaking. He looked down at Sakura, and wondered if he was going to be sick. The idea of anyone- especially himself- harming Sakura made him nearly ill. 

He sat up, and curled up a bit into himself, looking at Sakura. He knew he was a monster. He'd almost killed her, when they were teens. If he'd succeeded... he wouldn't have been able to have this peace and happiness he'd felt when Sakura joined him on his travels. He'd still be a chaotic, restless force of nature, even if Naruto did eventually wrangle him down. He would've never been able to forgive himself. 

As Sasuke looked more at his wife, he realized that he already was unable for forgive himself for his younger self's thoughts of murdering Sakura. He had to get up off of the bed, and look out the window, gritting his teeth and glaring at the moon.

All of his dreams had been along those lines- himself killing his child, or harming Sakura in any way, or memories of his old self killing Sakura. He dreamt of waking up and the Sakura next to him had a sword stuck in her abdomen, and he often couldn't sleep again. 

These are getting borderline terrifying.

He's felt himself recoiling where he would normally touch Sakura's shoulder, for fear of hurting her. He tried to stop it, so Sakura doesn't know what was going on, but he knew Sakura can feel it.

They were connected, after all.

Sasuke looked down at Sakura again, and bit his lip. She was sleeping peacefully, curled up against his chest, but one small movement could snap her neck. A little jolt could impale her with a kunai. He was terrified at that. He stiffened, and didn't move from that position until he felt his eyes close. 

If somehow I hurt her, or that baby...

He knew his consequences for himself would be very high. 

That was his last thought as again, he succumbed to sleep. In this dream, he'd been fighting Itachi. He recognized making all of the movements he did, all of it. He remembered every method he used to fight him, in every order. The fluidity, how naturally it came, sparring with his brother. He'd felt his bones screaming in protest that they should not be violently fighting, him and Itachi, they should be working together. But he ignored it, driven by hatred and the need for revenge.

And before he knew it, it was too late. Itachi was again stumbling over him like a zombie, his Susano'o fading to nothing. Sasuke could practically smell the flames- the scorched earth from his Katon jutsu, and Itachi's Amaterasu destroying the land. Sasuke knew his movements from memory, knew what he'd say, knew he'd poke Sasuke on the forehead one last time, and knew that he'd collapse next to Sasuke and leave this world.

But this time, instead of Itachi, walking forward, bleeding, poking him in the head, long pink hair tumbled over the shoulders of the person that was supposed to be Itachi. Sasuke was immobile. Sakura's hair was swaying with her movements, and she eventually came to a stop in front of Sasuke, exactly like his brother did, and smiled her beautiful small smile. Blood leaked down her cheeks from her eyes, and ran down her jaw from her mouth, a picture matching Itachi perfectly. But it wasn't him. "Sorry, Sasuke, this is the last time." Her voice said, and she poked him on the forehead, a gesture that he'd found himself doing to her more and more often. Her bloody fingers trailed down his face, and she lost all control of her body. 

Then, before Sasuke could scream, Sakura fell forward, bashed her head against the wall, and slumped to the floor beside him.

His past self was just as numb as when he killed Itachi, but when he looked down, he could see two bodies laying on the floor. Itachi's was beside Sakura, as if he was trying to comfort her. 

Sasuke couldn't hold it in, then, screaming. 

His eyes flew open, and he sat straight up.

Sakura was with him in a second, not saying a thing. Her mouth was set in a grim line, and he knew that she knew exactly what had happened, somehow. Sasuke brought his knees up and curled into himself, breathing heavily into his legs and stomach. He couldn't bear to look at her right then, guilt suffocating him. Sakura's small hands landed on his shoulder, hugging Sasuke's arm to her. He looked at her, not seeing the desperation and relief in his eyes that Sakura saw. 

Sakura moved closer to him, wrapping her entire form around Sasuke's curled up one, and leaned her head on his shoulder. "It's okay," she whispered to him, her voice giving him chills. It wasn't the strained, dying voice from his dream, but it was close enough. "I'm here, Sasuke, I always will be."

Sasuke looked at her, his chest eventually stopped heaving, and he ran a hand through his hair and down his face. When he could trust his voice to be steady enough, he looked into her concerned green eyes. "This is getting out of control." He murmured, then looked at his hand. It was shaking slightly. 

Sakura's eyes followed his, and she took his hand in her warm ones, bringing it to her lips. She kissed his fingers, her eyes never leaving his. Sasuke felt the shaking begin to subside, his leftover horror becoming replaced by comfort. "Sasuke, what's going on?" She asked him, curling closer to him, if possible. 

Sasuke eventually removed his arm from her grasp to wrap around his wife, his breath coming out in short puffs. "You were awake before I woke up," he acknowledged, and she nodded her head. "Did I say anything in my sleep that woke you?"

"I woke up because you were violently tossing and turning," Sakura said, wrapping her arms around Sasuke. Her hug was the most comforting thing Sasuke had ever had. "I started really paying attention when you started apologizing and begging for Itachi to stop, and for yourself to stop, and then you started saying my name, and you seemed mad in that moment. At yourself. Then you sounded like you were going to start crying, and you yelled a bit. Then you woke up."

Sasuke nodded, moving his head to put it on her neck in a rare show of affection. He inhaled the vaguely cherry-like scent of her hair, and finally the last of his fear cleared up. He kissed her cheek lightly, and backed away slowly, settling back down. He lie flat, eyes firmly on the ceiling. Sakura leaned over his view, her hair nearly close enough to get in his face. He knew she wasn't going to go back to sleep without answers. "It's okay, now, Sakura, I'll be fine."

Sakura shook her head stubbornly. "No, Sasuke-kun, you've been like this for a week now." Sasuke raised an eyebrow. She noticed earlier, then. "Maybe... if you tell me about it, it will help them go away?" She asked, resting her hand on the side of his face. 

He sighed, then nodded, and Sakura sat back, sitting criss crossed, looking at him expectantly. She was wearing his clothes to bed, as usual. She loved raiding his clothes and wearing them as pajamas. Sasuke didn't care, because seeing the Uchiha symbol on her back made him happy, and somehow it made him happier when it was his clothes. They were extremely big on her, but somehow the sweatpants and black long sleeved shirt still looked good on her. Her shoulder length hair was falling a little bit longer, nearly past her shoulder blades now. He wondered if she'd grow it out again. He saw her expectant look and winced. He'd practically promised. He'd always hated talking about his dreams. 

Sasuke hummed a bit. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he gave her a weak smile. "Um, about a week ago, I started having... difficulty, sleeping." Because no amount of money in the world could get him to say the word 'nightmare'. "It's nothing problematic," he hastily added. "I still get the same amount of sleep I normally do, and have the same amount of energy." He saw her skeptical, but amused and somehow knowing stare and knew she didn't believe one bit of his bullshit, but he wasn't about to change the story now. 

"Well, darling?" She asked, leaning forward in interest. "What do you dream about?"

Sasuke was quiet for a second, biting his tongue, before Sakura's calming green gaze coaxes the first dream out of him. She frowned after hearing it, but then immediately after smiled with encouragement, and soon he's telling her about all of them. He told her about waking up with chills after all of them, and how some of them made him run off to the bathroom or the woods to hurl. He told her about how he flinches away, scared of hurting her, and how even now he's struggling to let her close to him while she's pregnant. Eventually he gets to the last dream, and Sakura's eyes were filled with tears by the end of it. 

She lunged forward and hugged him, apologizing fervently for making him remember and say all of this out loud. Sasuke smiles into her hair, and shakes his head. It did kind of help. "No, Sakura," he said quietly. "I'm sorry, for everything I've done to you."

She pulled back, then, and gave him a warning look. "Sasuke Uchiha, you listen to me right now." She said with a no-nonsense look. Sasuke bit his lip and tried to look away, but in a flash, her hand is on his jaw and yanking it forward to look at him. "You and I have had this conversation before. I'm not saying what you did in the past wasn't wrong, because it was. What I'm saying is, I've forgiven you and moved past it. Forgotten about it. You have done nothing to me since then, and you'll never, ever harm me." Sasuke looked at her, as if begging her to explain, and she obliged. "You're dreaming about this because you're scared you'll accidentally hurt me or the baby," she clarified. "But you won't."

"How can you be so sure?" Sasuke asked, brows furrowed.

Sakura just looked at him for a minute. "Do you love me?"

"Of course," Sasuke replied easily, not hesitating at all in his answer. When Sakura was thirteen, this question would be childish and immature, but now, it was more like reassurance. Sasuke felt stronger in himself now that he'd heard the truth escape from his own mouth without even realizing it. She wasn't asking it for herself, she was asking it for himself to feel better, and Sasuke knew it. 

Sakura nodded, a smile on her face. "That's how I know."

Sasuke looked at her skeptically. "I've been known to cause pain to those I love," Sasuke murmured to her, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah, well, I haven't felt pain because of you in ages." She challenged.

"Sakura," Sasuke said, seriously, pinning her with his eyes. "How can you be sure?"

She looked at Sasuke and smiled. "Because we're connected." Sakura took his hand, and fit her fingers through it, and pressed down against the back of his palm. Sasuke pressed too, and their hands fit perfectly together somehow. 

Sasuke looked down at their hands for a moment, before looking at Sakura. "Please, I don't want to hurt you." His voice had lowered to a whisper, now, sounding desperate.

Sakura smiled, and bundled Sasuke into her chest, hugging her overly sensitive husband, affectionately. She made sure she enveloped him in her love, because Sasuke needed it. "You don't give me enough credit, darling," she whispered into his ear. "I'm just as dangerous as you." Sakura heard a rumble of his quiet laughter near her chest, and laughed quietly as well. "I'm sure the two of us will hurt each other a lot in this relationship," she told him, and he lifted his head, looking downcast and upset. "But never physically. I know you, and I know that you would never do that to me."

"Sakura, I almost killed my best friend." Sasuke said, voice low, thinking back. "I succeeded in taking his arm."

Sakura rolled his eyes. "Sasuke, you and I both know you weren't in your right mind, then. You wouldn't hurt me, I promise." Then she laughed sheepishly. "I wouldn't hurt you, either, even though I'm so violent. I sometimes get scared that I do."

Sasuke scoffed. "You don't need to be scared. Besides, I kinda deserve a punch in the face from you for everything I've done."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Never. Besides, I've tried to kill you too. Even if we do hurt each other's feelings," she said, running her hands up his neck and into his hair. "Nothing, and I mean nothing will stop me from loving you forever, with all of me. And even if you do hurt me, I'll forgive you. You'll have to forgive me, if I hurt your feelings, too, darling. You have to tell me. Can you do that?"

Sasuke had known from the moment he'd met her when they were kids- her green eyes peering into his own curiously, that he wouldn't deny her anything she wanted, and it scared him. When they were genin, he often avoided looking into her eyes if it could be helped, and usually it helped him say no. He avoided looking at her all together when they met as sixteen year olds. But now, he looked at her all of the time, and found that it was the same as when they were young- he wouldn't ever deny her anything. "Of course," he replied. Sakura smiled, because she was the only one who was ever able to hear the underlying meaning he put into some of his words. He reciprocated everything she did, but he had a harder time showing it. 

She'd gotten better at reading Sasuke's silences, so Sasuke usually didn't have to say anything else. He appreciated that. 

Sakura's eyes filled with tears and she grinned a little, blinking quickly to disperse them. "You have a beautiful soul, darling," she told him, pushing his hair out of his eyes.

Sasuke didn't know whether to blush, laugh or cry, so he instead bit his lip and ducked his head. Sakura smiled at him, and again, Sasuke was astounded by his wife's beauty. Sasuke lay down on his pillow, looking at her. She lay down next to him, her arms wrapped around his arm, a constant reminder of her presence. Even in his dreams, he would not be rid of this annoying girl. Then he remembered that in all of the dreams, no matter what he did, she never LEFT. She was always there.

He found that comforting, and hated himself for it.

"Sakura," he murmured into her hair. She hummed into the fabric of his shirt in acknowledgement of her name. "Thank you," Sasuke said.

"You're welcome, you ass. I'm tired, let's sleep now, hmm?" Sakura asked, removing her face from his shoulder to reply. Sasuke snorted in amusement at how his wife went from telling him his soul was beautiful, to calling him an ass. Are all women this unpredictable, or is it just Sakura?

"Aa." Sasuke replied aloud, burying his face in her hair, and she did the same with his shoulder. Sasuke slept easy that night, and all of the nights after that.

Sasuke got the daughter he wanted, in the end, and he was beyond happy with his beautiful little girl. He had a good feeling about her- she would be legendary, he thought. It was like the old man Kakashi said- the next generation always surpasses the old one. She was the sign of change that he had wanted, and he loved her instantly. Sasuke had a feeling his family would've loved her too.

He never- ever- physically harmed his wife or daughter- ever- or spoke badly to her or their child, who would grow to be Sarada. He left the majority of her discipline to Sakura, who was good at that sort of thing. He did reprimand her when he thought was necessary, but over all she was miraculously well behaved and genuinely a good girl.

Whenever himself and Sakura had disagreements, they worked through it verbally, finding compromises and ways for everyone to get what they wanted. When what they wanted was entirely opposite from each other, usually one of them gave up their hold on the reigns for once, trusting their partner, and things usually turned out alright.

In the end, Sakura was right, as she normally was. Everything turned out okay.

Sasuke never could say no to those eyes anyway.