Chapter 1 - Chase Away the Nightmares

Disclaimer: Too tired to think of anything catchy or witty to say...so let's just go with "I don't own Naruto or any of its charcters." Good, no?

Chase Away the Nightmares


“Oi, Sakura.”

“Sasuke-kun.” Breathed the slumbering kunoichi.

Propping himself up on one strong elbow, the boy next to her sighed. The soft green grass tickled his smooth, pale skin as a cool breeze swept across the shadowed meadow. The bright stars lit up his onyx orbs as though they were the night sky itself as he watched his sleeping teammate. He just couldn’t take it anymore. The yelps and frightened moans coming from her mouth were nearly unbearable. It was a wonder that Kakashi and Naruto hadn’t been woken up by Sakura’s nightmare. And yet, Naruto’s constant snoring wasn’t much better.

As he gently shook her shoulder, Sasuke vaguely wondered what could be so terrifying. It was only a nightmare. He had to bear them every night, for Kami-sama’s sake. He nearly snorted as he thought of the possibilities. A catfight between her and Ino, maybe. Perhaps Naruto had attempted to lure her under the mistletoe, like he had done at the academy Christmas party so many years ago.

But, quite honestly, he wasn’t waking up the cherry blossom for his benefit. Even if all he could hear were the crickets’ chirps from within the forest surrounding them, he wouldn’t obtain a minute’s rest. It was just one of those nights.

“Wake up.”

Groggily, the kunoichi’s soft eyelids fluttered open. Her jade orbs peeked out from sweeping black eyelashes and she gave a small, inaudible yawn. She rubbed her tired eyes with the back of her pale hand as she sat up to face the boy next to her. For a moment, the raven stared back.

Then he had turned to stare at the vast night sky, falling back onto both of his elbows and ignoring the dew on the soft grass.

“Sasuke-kun…” came a hesitant voice.

The boy very nearly sighed again. “Nani?”

“Why did you wake me up?”

“You were having a nightmare.” he replied simply.

“I…I was?”

“Hai. Now go to sleep.”

Sasuke turned onto his side, only to be nose to nose with none other than the dobe himself. If he were not of the proud Uchiha clan, he would have probably shouted. But instead he merely muttered, “Baka,” and turned away. Even he couldn’t handle Naruto’s breath, nor could he stand his intense snoring. After changing his position, he found that Sakura was still awake, and suppressed the urge to groan when he saw the inquisitive look in her emerald eyes.

The Uchiha prodigy sat up in frustration and decided to study the stars…Funny, there was no moon tonight. A new moon.

Sakura wormed her way closer to her childhood crush, praying to Kami that he wouldn’t notice. She didn’t want him to know-

“Sakura?”

“H-hai?” She gulped as she looked up into his ebony eyes, searching for some sign of friendliness.

But she received none. “Might I ask what you’re doing with your arms snaked around my waist?”

She mumbled something inaudibly.

“Speak up.”

“Imafraidofthedark.”

He lifted a slender eyebrow until it disappeared into his glistening raven bangs.

The cherry blossom sighed and said, this time more slowly, “I’m afraid of the dark.”

The Uchiha’s other eyebrow joined its partner as the corners of his mouth tilted down into a small frown. “But we’ve had overnight missions before.”

The girl firmly shook her head, looking down at the shadowed grass rather than his onyx eyes. “There’s no moon tonight.”

“Aa.”

“But Sasuke-kun…. Why aren’t you sleeping?” Her jade eyes slightly widened, as realization seemed to work its way into her still sleepy mind. “I didn’t wake you up, did I?!”

The raven sighed and shook his head. “Now, go to sleep. We have to continue our mission in the morning.”

“But what about you?”

“I can handle myself.”

“I mean, don’t you need to rest? You have looked…tired lately, Sasuke-kun.”

“I’m fine,” he answered coldly, “And you can let go of me now.”

“Gomen.” She said softly, staring at her teammate with pity and slowly lying back down onto the moist earth.

Sasuke inched away from Naruto (who, apparently, is a very messy sleeper) and turned back onto his side. As desperately as he wanted it, he knew that sleep would never come. He merely closed his heavy eyelids.

And, quite suddenly, he heard soft, melodic words from behind him.

Angel, my Angel, do you fear the nightmares?
I can’t imagine why
They’re practically harmless when I’m here
To sing you your lullaby

I’ll watch over you, my angel
Like the stars in the sky
I’ll whisper a soft word of comfort
And then sing you your lullaby

You deserve better, my angel
And you know this is no lie
So as I stroke your flawless face
I’ll sing you your lullaby

Be not afraid of the dark, my angel
For it is nothing to fear
And as I sing you your lullaby
I pray you know I’m here


His brow furrowed in deep confusion- things didn’t seem as clear when he was half asleep- until he realized it was none other than his female teammate. He slowly sat up, turning to face the (suddenly musical) cherry blossom.

“Sakura?” he asked, a little unsurely.

A small, playful smile adorned the kunoichi’s features as she paused in her lullaby. As hard as it was, it seemed she had confused the Uchiha Sasuke.

“Just trying to help Sasuke-kun.”

The boy gave her a questioning look, rather than voicing it out loud.

“It’s a lullaby.” She paused, gently tapping her index finger against her uplifted chin as she thought. “I don’t really know where it came from…I think I heard it as a child… Either way, you need your rest as much as I do, and I won’t even try going to sleep until I know you’ve done the same.”

“Hn.” replied the boy. Yet, he obliged, lying back down, making sure to hide his face from view. He didn’t want Sakura to see the small smirk that was playing at his lips.

The girl began again, her voice filled with a gentle affection.

Angel, my Angel, do you fear the nightmares?
I can’t imagine why

Sasuke’s eyelids dropped.

They’re practically harmless when I’m here
To sing you your lullaby

His breathing became steadier.

I’ll watch over you, my angel
Like the stars in the sky
I’ll whisper a soft word of comfort
And then sing you your lullaby

Everything was turning darker…

You deserve better, my angel
And you know this is no lie
So as I stroke your flawless face
I’ll sing you your lullaby

All he could see was black…

Be not afraid of the dark, my angel
For it is nothing to fear
And as I sing you your lullaby
I pray you know I’m here

She ended the last note slowly, in an almost mournful tone. Then, very gingerly, she peered over the blue-clothed shoulder of her teammate.

“Sasuke-kun?”

After she was sure she would receive no response, until morning anyway, the girl smiled triumphantly.

“Knew I could do it…” she murmured, her voice trailing off as she fell with a soft thump next to him. Unintentionally, her arm was left draped over Sasuke’s still form.



Sakura’s fear of the dark ended that night. New moon or not, all she had to do was think of the peaceful face of her slumbering love, and she drifted off without a second thought.

Sasuke-though he would never release this secret to anyone- never had trouble falling asleep again. All he had to do was think back, finding one of his (less painful) significant memories, and picture her face…her smooth lips moving with the softly sung words… The way her jade eyes seemed locked onto him…and he would drift away, into the dream world, and away from the nightmares.

I pray you know I’m here


XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO


A/N: Obviously a oneshot. As said in decription, for cloudsfan09's contest. And...er...sorry about the whole crappy lullaby, I totally made up the entire thing on the spot...Heehee...But yes, I wrote it, so no copies without my consent...though, only god knows why you would want to use it....XD

Okay, about why I chose this couple....Well,
1) Their relaionship is realistic and possible.
2) My heart goes out to Sakura
3) Sasuke needs someone to melt that icy, avenging heart of his, and Sakura's the one to do it
4)They so obviously just belong together, like PB&J...or maybe Ben & Jerry...Great, now I'm hungry...
5) Do ya really need a reason?


Sorry if it's too cheesy...And I'm too lazy to post translations, cause then I would have to peruse through the story to find all the japanese...Tell me in a comment if you don't know what something means. Review!

~Ja ne~

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