Safe

The raven haired man felt cold sweat trickle down his forehead and temple. His chest felt tight and he was beginning to feel dizzy. Regardless, he kept running through the moonlit compound. He knew every twist and turn like the back of his hand.

"I have to stop him this time!" He inwardly screamed.

Sasuke was trying hard to ignore the bodies littered across the dirt roads. It was almost as if they had been specifically laid to the sides in an attempt to form path for him.

Sasuke's mismatched eyes narrowed as his childhood home came into view.

The Uchiha burst through the door, shouting his brother's name, "Itachi!"

Sasuke scanned the home his family once inhabited, trying not to let his emotions overwhelm him.

A female scream was heard to his left and Sasuke sprinted towards the direction of the noise.

"Mother..."

This time, when he arrives at the sliding doors, he doesn't hesitate like he did at eight years old to yank them open at full force. He doesn't care if they make a horrible, screeching noise as they scrape the floor.

Everything seems to slow down at this point, the scene in front of him unfolding in slow motion.

The Uchiha's eyes widen, his mouth hangs open. The tightening in his chest drops down to his stomach and he falls to his knees.

Blood.

Nothing but blood splattered across the walls, pooling underneath the body in the middle of the room.

Sasuke reached out to the figure with his makeshift hand weakly. He wanted to scream, to cry, but he felt frozen in place with no ability to do anything else besides watch in horror.

She was on her side, her pink hair strewn on the floor, the ends red with the blood surrounding her. She had deep cuts and bruises decorating her arms, two of the fingers on her left hand looked out of place. Meaning she had fought back.

She looked like she was sleeping, her face as beautiful as ever. There was no damage there, only some dry blood on her cheek.

Sasuke's eyes slowly wandered to her abdomen. She had a stab wound on her side, he could tell because her red dress was torn there, now a shade of red darker.

"Sa-Saku..."

The coagulated blood on the floor felt slimy and thick, its stale copper scent dominating his senses. Sasuke didn't realize he'd been crawling to her until his real hand landed on her stomach.

Her six month pregnant belly felt hard. And there was no warmth.

His tear brimmed eyes traveled to her bottom half. There was an enormous blood stain in between her legs, the severe amount of blood had caused her dress to cling onto her thighs.

The scream that had been caught in Sasuke's throat finally clawed its way out. He wailed in distress, in rage.

"Sakura!" The raven haired man continued to scream his lovers name inside the walls of the cursed house. By now he had picked her up and was cradling his wife's lifeless body, as well as the one of their unborn child.

Tears spilled from the Uchiha's mismatched eyes as he buried his face in the crook of her neck. He whimpered when he was met with frigid skin.

"Come back to me! COME BACK TO ME!"

A chuckle was heard from one of the corners of the room and Sasuke immediately snapped his head up, centering in on the figure standing to the right.

He set down Sakura's body down, cringing at the thought of placing her back in the same scarlet pool she'd been laying in for who knows how long.

"Show yourself you fucking bastard!" Sasuke bellowed.

When he got no response, Sasuke lunged at the person hiding in the shadows, katana in hand, "Itachi!"

Sasuke let out a growl of rage when his katana met resistance, it clinked against the other metal. Itachi had been prepared for his attack.

"You murdered my parents, and now my wife and child!" Howled Sasuke as he retreated and went back in for another hit. Meeting Itachi's weapon again and again.

The raven haired man, after realizing he would not be able to slice his way through to his opponent, began gathering chakra on his right hand. Chirping and crackling and azure light filled the quiet, dark house, "Fuck... YOU!"

Just as the Chidori wielding Uchiha was going to land his attack, the blinding light gave away the true identity of the murderer who'd been hiding in the shadows.

Though there was a resemblance, it was not Itachi.

It was him.

Sasuke.

He, the other Sasuke, had a wicked, malignant grin plastered across his blood splattered face. His eyes deranged and disconnected.

When he saw the real Sasuke's shocked face he let out a ear piercing, disturbing cackle.

"This is your fault. You tried to kill her before and failed miserably, so I finished the deed for you," the detrimental doppelgänger said in a low, haunting voice.

The real Sasuke was at a loss of words. It couldn't be, this thing, it couldn't be him. No, it wasn't. That part of him was long gone, he'd buried that side of him years ago. Sasuke had changed, he was no longer an avenger, he was no longer full of hate, he loved Sakura.

He loved her. So fucking much. Returning from his travels after the war, Sasuke had decided it was time to make it up to the pink haired girl. He invested so much time trying to show her how grateful he was, learning new things about her that he had missed when he was gone, protecting her...

Yet he had been unsuccessful this time. Terribly so.

He wasn't able to protect her from himself.

Just then, Sasuke was thrown across the room, his back hitting the wall with a loud thud. He groaned in pain.

"You're weak! You let ideas of a happy life get in the way of your true purpose in life. And for that, you will live in vain!" The thing's voice grew deeper and more demonic sounding with every word.

Before Sasuke could say anything, the thing began to disappear into the ground. It's sinister face melting away into the earth.

"No! Give her back to me!" Sasuke had lunged himself to the spot where the other had been standing, punching through the old floorboards of the house.

There was no use, it was gone.

Sakura was gone...

Their baby was gone...

With bloody and bruised knuckles, Sasuke lifted his hands to his face. His breathing was labored and the dizziness he'd been feeling earlier caught up to him.

Sasuke fell on his side, landing right in front of his wife. Again, he reached out a shaky hand, running his sore fingers against the soft of her cheek.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so, so, sorry."

He whispered to her as his vision blurred with tears. The raven haired man felt a jab of pain in his lower back from when he'd been flung through the room and a sharp intake of breath made him go into a coughing fit. Dark spots began dancing in his vision, but before he could ultimately lose consciousness Sasuke saw something that made his stomach churn.

Sakura's body started disappearing into the ground just like the doppelgänger. Her porcelain face departing from his view in a sickening manner.

"No..." he croaked out weakly.

"NO!" He yelled with much more power as she completely dissolved into wooden floor.

"NO!" Sasuke shot up in his bed, eyes wide like saucers. Sweat dripped out of every pore in his body.

He felt someone stir next to him and then a sleepy, soft voice spoke, "Sasuke, dear what's wrong?"

Sakura was now sitting up too, one hand rubbing her eye and the other placed on Sasuke's shirtless back.

"Is it another nightmare?"

Her voice was like music to his ears.

Sasuke didn't speak but rather turned to cup his wife's face in his hands.

With the moonlight pouring in from the window next to their bed he could see her enormous, jade eyes twinkling with surprise at his sudden actions.

His head dipped lower until his lips met hers. Sasuke cherished how silky they were and how up close, he could smell the cherry blossom shampoo she used.

It was a delicate kiss, yet filled with so much emotion.

Sakura didn't say anything, for this had already happened a few times. She didn't like pressing her husband to speak about the night terrors he'd been having. Instead, she'd let the situation run its course.

The pink haired woman laid back down, bringing her husband with her. His head now lay on her chest, one hand wrapped around her back and the other resting on the prominent bump of her tummy.

She ran her thin fingers through his jet black hair and whispered calming, loving words in his ear.

"You're okay, everything is okay."

"I love you."

Unperturbed, Sasuke lay there listening to the lovely beat of his wife's heart beat...

Ba dump... Ba dump... Ba dump...

That was the unmistakeable and wonderful sign that Sakura was alive.

Sasuke subconsciously held her a little tighter and, as if on cue, the tiny person inside her womb gave a kick.

He heard Sakura let out a breathy laugh, "She seems to be enjoying Papa's hug."

The Uchiha looked up at her and spoke for the first time since he'd woken, "You think it's a girl?"

"I know it's a girl," his wife said as a matter of factly.

Sasuke looked deep into her eyes, "You're everything to me."

The pinkette smiled at him tenderly, not saying a word. She knew that was his way of saying I love you.

Authors Note:

First of all, thank you if you're reading this because that means you took the time to read my work. I hope it wasn't /trash/. Please R&R! I appreciate feedback, so long as it's not intentionally rude and/or mean.

Also, some of you may know or may have read a piece titled Blossoms and Lightning... Yes, I am the author of that story. I will no longer be continuing it due to the fact that I realized it wasn't as great as I initially thought. BUT, I may rewrite it.

Again, thank you! XOXO