Team 7 were on a mission together in Suna, helping the Kazekage (their friend Gaara) with getting everything back on its feet a few days after the war. Their own village was in shambles, but as a part of their alliance with Suna, they went there to help the people. After a long day of working with Temari, Gaara and Kankuro, the team retired to their rooms. Even shinobi and kunoichi have to sleep.

They were sharing a large apartment, (because nobody wanted to be alone) and getting ready to go to bed. Naruto slurped his ramen loudly and Sakura yelled at him to shut up, but went back to reading the scroll of the injured she would have to treat tommorow. She felt so bad for them- they had already been through so much. She was beloved in the village of Suna for her saving Kankuro and being with Chiyo-baa-sama. She'd done many missions in this village and always enjoyed helping the people there.

Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke-kun had already gone to bed, and for now it was just Sakura, Naruto, and Naruto's ramen obsession.

"Alright, Naruto." Sakura sighed. "I'm going to bed. Eat all the ramen you want, I guess, but go to sleep soon. No one wants a half asleep knucklehead showing up to work tomorrow."

"Okay Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, cheerfully downing his bowl. It made sense that he'd be starving- a teenager that had been lifting heavy things all day would be. She just wished he would eat at appropriate times of day. "Good night."

Sakura stood and stretched, patted Naruto's blonde head, and left the room, waving at her teammate. She dragged herself to her bed and plopped in it face first, groaning. Her head was killing her, and she was exhausted. But she couldn't sleep. She turned around and glared at the ceiling, cursing the 6 cups of coffee that she'd downed earlier to get her through the day. Taking care of people with a massive headache all day made it almost impossible to be in a good mood- but the people of Suna was were extremely nice to her, so she enjoyed being around them.

She closed her eyes and lay on her side, which was more comfortable for her for some reason. When her eyes finally closed, she was bombarded with horrible nightmares. The memory of Sasuke choking her, one of Tsunade dying, Neji's death, it was just one after the other, like a horrible, gory slideshow. One of Hinata getting beaten up by Pein, a vision of herself almost killing Sasuke.... horrible memories and some scenarios that never happened, replaying like a movie in her mind. Her nightmares occasionally got pretty bad because of missions, and she was typically used to them, but nights like this were particularly bad.

It was what she got every night, and it broke Sakura to pieces every time a scenario like that was in her dreams. Like the dream gods and goddesses were torturing her with that over and over and over and over.

"Sakura-san, you have to stop. I know he was your friend, but-"

Sakura kept pumping Naruto's heart even though it had stopped long ago, ignoring the way her eyes were blurring with tears. "Nurse, if you're not going to be helpful, please leave the room. You don't know Naruto. He always makes it." She whispered the last part, looking down at her friend, who was quieter than she'd ever seen him. A pang of fear shot through her. She shook her head, knowing that she could make it work- Naruto could make it.

Even after his beautiful baby blue eyes didn't open, and there was no beat on the heart monitor, Sakura kept pumping, the tears streaming down her face.

"Sakura-san, please, we have to call it."

"No, I- don't- I can still- I'll save him!" Sakura hissed at her nurses, her mind all over the place.

But to her horror, her best friend didn't wake up. Sakura covered him with a white sheet, and stumbled down the hall, barely making it a few steps before she leaned against the wall, dropped to her knees and just cried.

Sakura woke up in a panic, looking around. She quickly regained her bearings, and just sat still for a moment, she sheer horror and sadness hitting her like a train. She rocked back and forth on her bed, allowing tears to fall. She'd just been rude to Naruto earlier in the night- if she'd lost him, she would've regretted it. He was a pain in the ass, but he was like he brother.

She rubbed her face, wiping away the tears and trying to rub away the headache that had been pounding behind her skull for almost two days. She layed back down and stared at the ceiling again, groaning in frustration. "What did I do to deserve this?"

Sakura suddenly felt the need to move, and pushed the covers off of her. She closed her (still wet) eyes, and let her feet carry her to where it wanted to go.

She opened the door and wandered around the building, getting water, she tried reading more scrolls, wandering around again, nothing helps. Her heart was beating out of control, and she could calm down. Finally, she walked to Naruto's room, and opened the door, poking her head through. She saw her blonde teammate laying on his bed, sleeping peacefully. He wasn't dead, thank God, Sakura could see the rise and fall of his chest as her friend caught up on some much needed rest.

She closed his door, and walked into the living room, stretching, and wandering around entirely silently. She was still exhausted, but despite the various trips to her bed, and even the couch, she was still terrified of falling asleep. Then, she heard soft footsteps and felt another person's chakra.

"Sakura." A husky voice said. Sakura looked up, and saw Sasuke walking into the living room and walking over to the couch she was laying on. Sasuke Uchiha- her teammate, and the only person she had ever loved. He looked exhausted, but still immensely attractive. He looked like he'd been having a rough night, to Sakura's dismay. Maybe he'd been having his own problems.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun." She smiled a little at him, letting out a sigh. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

Sasuke leaned against the door frame, crossing his arms. His eyes burned holes in her, like he was seeing straight through her to her soul. "I was awake before, but I heard you walking around."

"I'm sorry." Sakura repeated, bringing her legs up close to her chest on the couch and curling into a comfortable ball. She shrugged at her teammate. "Couldn't sleep."

"I can see that." Sasuke sighed. Sakura winced- she'd obviously disappointed Sasuke. Maybe she had woken him up, and he was just too nice to tell her so. She was horrible. "Why are you awake?" Sasuke asked her, which made Sakura wince.

"I should ask you the same thing, Sasuke-kun." Sakura said, tilting her head at the young man next to her. She was reluctant to admit to him that she had night terrors- compared to him, she had practically no reason to feel so afraid all the time. Sure, the job of a ninja was harsh, but Sakura had been lucky enough to not see so many horrible things. She felt more anxiety over what could potentially happen than pain over what has happened, and she had no right to bring her problems to him.

(Or so she thought. In reality, Sakura's problems were extremely important, because she was important, and Sasuke would've liked to at least try to help her.)

"Sakura, you need sleep." Sasuke walked over and sat next to Sakura on the couch. Sakura nodded, before almost zoning out. "Don't think that you've been fooling anyone. I've noticed the bags under your eyes, and how late you stay up, working." Sakura looked at him in shock, wondering why he noticed her at all. His eyes were narrowed now, and since he was close to her, it felt like they were pinning her to the couch, determined to get an answer.

Sakura sighed, running a hand through her hair. "And I thought I was being sneaky. But I guess I can't really be sneaky around you, can I, Sasuke?"

"Hn." Sasuke said, silently smirking, before he sighed. He gestured toward the clock on the opposite side of the room that read 12:19. "It's the middle of the night, Sakura. Let's go to bed."

"I can't sleep." Sakura blurted, unsure if she could get away with telling him that she didn't want to sleep- that he could go back to sleep, but she wanted to stay up and think for a while longer. She immediately regretted saying anything at all when she saw Sasuke's disapproving face. "I'm sorry, you probably don't care. I'm just being annoying because I'm tired."

Sasuke was silent for a few minutes, as if debating what to say next. "You're not being annoying. Why can't you sleep?"

That made Sakura freeze in shock. "Well... I... what?" She was so confused. He had never cared before- much less asked her what was wrong with her. Whenever something was ailing his teammates, Sasuke was the type that expected it to not affect their performance as a ninja, and left them to deal with it on their own. Not because he didn't care, but because he didn't know how to deal with things like that. So the fact that he was trying with her was honestly sounding too good to be true.

"Why can't you sleep?" Sasuke repeated, rather impatiently.

"No reason!" She shook her head, waving her hands. "Nightmares from PTSD. But those are normal. Nothing totally new. I'm just surprised," she said, turning the conversation to him so she wouldn't have to explain the nightmare further, "that you're being nice for once."

He raised a finger to his lips and smirked. "Don't get used to it, it won't happen often, and don't tell anyone. Now, that was a nice try, Sa-ku-ra, but you're avoiding the topic. And nightmares aren't just 'normal'. They--" he faltered, before he continued with the same level of confidence, "Hurt."

Sakura nodded and looked away, remembering the pain of her last nightmare. Without thinking, her hand closed over her shirt on her heart, bunching it up anxiously. "They do." She agreed, fixing her eyes on the coffee table.

"Okay." Sasuke yawned and did something completely shocking. He layed his head on her lap and closed his eyes. "What's wrong? For real?"

"Uh. I-- I-- um--" Sakura looked at the gorgeous man laying on her lap. It was entirely out of character for him- he never did anything remotely affectionate. Sakura was halfway convinced that she must be dreaming this whole thing up. Maybe this was a genjutsu or something. But then Sasuke opened his eyes and smirked up at her.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" He snickered, teasing. That did remind her of him. He used to be mildly playful- and he was starting to show more and more of his real self once his cold, hard and hateful layers were stripped away. Maybe this was something he would do, with the right motive.

"No, um." Sakura had to find a way to figure out her thoughts, so she could effectively bullshit him. But it was getting hard to think with him still staring her down. "I'm just... surprised, I guess."

"Well," Sasuke said. "I'M exhausted, and I probably will not remember this tommorow. All I know is that you should not be awake right now. You need to go to sleep." He murmured sleepily, and Sakura finally noticed the deep bags under his eyes. Sasuke had clearly been having trouble sleeping for days. If he wanted to sleep now, she should definitely let him. He needed all the rest he could get.

"Please, Sasuke-kun, by all means, go to bed." Sakura closed her eyes. "I'll go soon too. I just can't sleep right now." The memory of her inability to save Naruto was still in her head- after all the training and hard work to catch up with her male teammate that she loved so dearly, she couldn't save him.

"What was the nightmare about?" Sasuke asked, his eyes still closed tightly. His sharp jawline was the most obvious thing Sakura could think about. His hands twitched, and the movement drew Sakura's eyes. He pulled his hands over his stomach, clasping them together. He looked like he was ready to have a whole therapy session. "Sakura." He said her name to catch her attention, as if he didn't already have it.

"Naruto." Sakura said, leaning back against the couch and looking out into the living room. She tried not to shift her legs too much during the movement. "I dreamt that he died."

"And?"

Sakura blinked. "And what?"

"And how did that make you feel?"

"... horrible...?" Sakura said, though it came out sounding more like a question. She had no idea what Sasuke wanted her to say. He remained silent, and it occurred to Sakura that she'd have to explain further. "It was like- Naruto was the light, and the life, and then it was gone, and I was all alone. Like something important had been taken from me. It hurt a lot. You and Kakashi weren't there. That's all I remember. Feeling really, really alone."

"That's loss." Sasuke informed her with his eyes still closed. "It does hurt."

Sakura realized immediately that she'd probably said some stuff that brought up bad memories. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Sasuke-kun, I didn't mean to-"

"Sakura." Sasuke interrupted, opening one of his eyes and staring intently at her using it. "I don't want pity. It's been a long time since they died. I've gone half my life without them now. I feel the loss of them, and it still hurts so much, but I've started missing them less and less." He told her, closing that other eye. "And that makes it hurt more. Though Itachi's still recent, and that hurts the worst."

Sakura remained silent, absolutely stunned that Sasuke would tell her anything about what he was going through. She felt honored, like she'd been entrusted with a great secret. He usually only told Naruto stuff like that, which she understood, since they were best friends. But he was telling her things about how he was doing.

"I'm sure for you, losing Naruto would be exactly like my losing Itachi." Sasuke opened one of his eyes to see her reaction to that statement, and Sakura nodded passionately. Naruto was her brother that she'd never had. Annoying, but loving. "So I'm sure you're probably suffering right now, even though it was just a dream. You really need to learn not to downplay what you feel. I know I used to be rude to you about how emotional you were, but you have to ignore the me of back then. I'm different now."

Sakura smiled, proud at the changes, and honored that he'd tell her that. She wasn't sure it if would be super easy, but she could try. "Thank you, Sasuke."

Sasuke nodded, and the two of them sank into silence. It wasn't awkward or uncomfortable at all- Sasuke went back to closing his eyes, his head still in her lap, and Sakura's mind worked a million miles an hour.

"Are you ready to go back to sleep?"

"..." Sakura didn't know what to say. She wanted to stay up and think some more.

"Okay, that's it." Sasuke said, opening his eyes, standing up, and picking Sakura up effortlessly. He slung the girl over his shoulder and stalked out of the room with purpose. Sakura yelped quietly, before she scowled.

"Uh, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura hissed, trying not to wake up their teammates. She didn't enjoy being carried like a sack of rice- it as demeaning. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm trying to find a way for you to sleep." He murmured back, leading her into what appeared to be his room. "I'm exhausted, and you will be too when you wake up tommorow. Therefore, you should sleep. If you can't sleep alone," He stopped in the middle of the hallway, faltering for a moment, before he continued with a confident and brisk step. "I guess you'll just sleep with me."

"But--"

"I'll fight off your nightmares." He promised valiantly, though a tad sarcastically. "Don't worry.

Sakura scowled more, but didn't protest as Sasuke placed her on his bed, covered her with blankets, pulled some more blankets and took a pillow for himself, and placed it on the floor.

"No." Sakura said, sitting up. "No way in hell are you sleeping on the floor in your own room. That's disrespectful of me." She moved the blankets off her.

"But Sakura--"

"No." Sakura stood up and grabbed his pillow, blankets, and his hand, dragging him to the bed as well.

"Sakura--"

"Lay down, Sasuke-kun." Sakura said, waiting for him to obey. He did as he was told, not wanting to mess with her because of her brutal strength. She tucked him in, and lay next to him, closing her green eyes. Sasuke stared at her, but the minute her head hit the pillow, she'd fallen asleep easily. Her mind was at rest. She looked so much better when she wasn't worried about everything- she had looked ill in the pale moonlight of the living room couch Sasuke had found her on. Now she liked peaceful.

When she started shaking in the middle of the night, Sasuke turned to look at her, and wrapped his arms around her middle, and she stopped crying. She sighed and the nightmares went away, and soon after, Sasuke fell asleep too.

-

"OI TEME!" NARUTO WALKED INTO Sasuke's room not expecting what he saw. "Time to wake--- Sakura?"

Sakura was curled up into Sasuke, and Sasuke was hugging her. They didn't appear to have done anything naughty, but just the two of them sleeping in the same room alone was enough to send Naruto over the edge. He clapped a hand over his mouth to stop his giggles of glee.

Naruto's face broke into a grin. "KAKASHI!" He disappeared from the doorway and came back dragging the protesting sensei.

"Oh my." Kakashi had a devilish smirk on his face as well when he saw the position his students were in. He took out a camera. "Blackmail." He sang to Naruto.

Naruto grinned. "Believe it!"