Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

The world had been dyed black and the weigh sat upon her shoulders as she stared up into the red moon. She laid horizontally with the abyss dangling beneath her, she was tired but restless at the same time, her body ached with unwanted heat and weight. She could neither feel the coolness of air in her lungs, nor the slightest twitch in her muscles. She wanted to struggle but nothing responded— everything was dead. A wave of fear pulsed through her but that was all she could feel—fear. Images began to appear before her, she could only lay still as image after image of Konoha's destruction flipped through her.

The world was suddenly devoid of light, she felt something wet roll down on her cheek and she briefly wondered if it was her tears but the dripping won't stop. She was suddenly hit with the pungent smell of blood. She looked down at her perfectly visible hands and found that it had been stained with blood. She lowered her hands and a figure laid before her—no, three figures laid motionless in the darkness with blood oozing out of various parts of their body. She urged her body forward only to catch a glimpse of Kakashi's silver hair, Naruto's orange jacket and the blank look of Sasuke's sharingan.

She leapt to her feet and looked around, everyone from Konoha laid at her feet, their eyes stared up at her—all devoid of life-

Sakura was awakened by a firm grip on her shoulder, shaking her awake. Her eyes shot open to stare up at Sasuke's concerned ones. He caressed her cheek and brushed the locks off her sweaty forehead. "It's just a dream, Sakura" he told her softly, as if afraid of startling her. Sakura chest heaved up and down before pain began to swell in her chest, she bit her lip and threw an arm over her eyes to hide her tears. She felt Sasuke shift on his side of the bed before she felt her arm being peeled from her face.

"You don't have to hide from me." His voice caressed her gently but his eyes were serious. Sakura closed her eyes and turned away from him, she couldn't bear looking at his face when she had seen what it looked like when he was dead. He shifted her chin to catch her attention.

"Look at me, Sakura" he told her.

Reluctantly, Sakura opened her eyes only to be greeted by a very faint smile on Sasuke's face. Her heart leaped in her chest. Even as his lover, Sakura had rarely ever seen Sasuke's smile but when he pulls that card on her, she simply melted.

"I'm alive now, aren't I?" he said, as if having read her mind.

A small smile crept her Sakura's lips as she nodded and pulled his face down so that their foreheads were touching. She stared her emerald eyes into Sasuke's obsidian ones before whispering softly "Kiss me"

Sasuke's expression immediately turned into one of arrogance. Raising an eyebrow and feint confusion. "You need to be a little more specific" he nuzzled his face into her neck, placing feather-light kisses onto the sensitive skin.

"Not there" she tried to sound firmed but failed miserably to keep the excitement from her voice.

…

It had been weeks after Pein's invasion, Konoha was on its way to restoration and Itachi had to be summoned from the summon world by Sasuke once he regained his strength. Although his first words back to the material world was "Foolish brother" With Itachi back in Konoha, the morale of the villagers improved to know that the village was in good hands. Everyone was working hard to rebuild Konoha to its former glory. All favors were called in, Suna had sent volunteer shinobi to help with the reconstruction as well as provide Konoha with extra manpower in case of another attack, Tazuna and his grandson, Inari, from the land of the waves took the next ferry to Konoha after having heard of its attack. Iwagakure sent their Doton jutsu specialists to help with the heavy construction and some of them had even recognized Sakura.

However, despite all the help they were given, Konoha was still at its weakest state for they were without a leader. Tsunade had used up all her chakra to cushion the amount of casualty shinobi, taking the brunt of Pein's offense head on. Now she lays on the brink of death, reduced to her original state of age without the stored up chakra from her Infuuin.

Sakura has consistently visited her mentor's tent and performed the usual check up to ensure that her vitals were stable. She worries for Tsunade but the depth of her feelings could not compare to Shizune's. Every time Sakura visits, Shizune would be at the side the futon. She would look up and greet her with a smile, the rim of her eyes would be red and her eye bags gave away her lack of sleep. No words would be exchanged because they both share the same feeling of helplessness at their shishou's bedside, just waiting for something to happen—anything.

When Sakura leaves the tent, Sasuke would be right outside. His eyes would always hold the same wary expression as if he was afraid she would break out into tears with bad news but she would reassure him with the slightest smile before they head out to their respectful roster duty together.

Today, Sakura and Sasuke were placed in two different corners of what's left of their village. Sasuke was sent to rebuild the main defensive wall of Konoha with Naruto whereas Sakura was on weapons duty with Team Gai.

Much to Tenten's dismay, a team of genins had just messed up the labelling system of the naginatas and staves. So now the tent of weapons were in complete disarray because they weren't sure what other mistakes were made by the team. Tenten was in her foulest mood when Sakura reported in, she took it out on Neji and Lee, shrieking their incompetence in their faces as they both tried to calm her down. Although Lee looked like he was enjoying her outburst, encouraging was he called "Tenten's way of channeling her youthful energy."

The green suited shinobi was first to notice her meek presence, shouting out her name with so much enthusiasm she was almost certain that her teammates heard it from the other side of the village. Tenten's attention immediately shifted to her and Lee had seized her hands in an adoring manner, showering her with compliments and looks of pure enthusiasm. His energy lifted her spirits, she admired him for his never-faltering spirit and cheerfulness. In more ways than one, he reminded her of Naruto- not that the blonde would be happy to hear that.

Tenten approached her anxiously, her expression was completely different from the annoyed facade she had on when reprimanding her teammates. "How is she?" Tenten asked, her hazel eyes glimmering with fear and brows furrowed in concern. Sakura immediately knew who she was talking about. Tsunade was the role model of many aspiring shinobis in the Konoha, Tenten being one of them. However instead of becoming a medic-nin like her idol, Tenten found that she lacked the chakra control needed in a medic-nin and instead chose to become a weapons specialist with a flexible fighting style that suited the support role more than the frontline attackers. Like a weapon with its user, she molds into the fighting style of her teammates, assisting them in every way she can, filling in the holes to maximize effectiveness in every move they make.

When news got out to the village about Tsunade's condition, Tenten had been devastated to hear that Tsunade had fallen into a coma. Sakura had asked a few times if she wanted to visit the bedridden Hokage but Tenten always refused. The pink-haired kunoichi had a feeling that she simply didn't have the willpower to look at her idol in her weakest state.

"Her vitals are stable but there is still no sign of consciousness." Sakura reported grimly.

Tenten nodded with depressed understanding before Lee slapped her on the back. "Cheer up, Tenten! I'm sure the Fifth will pull through this. She is the Hokage afterall!" Lee chirped.

Neji placed a comforting hand onto her back "Lee's right, there's no point worrying about her now. We need to focus all out energy in restoring the village so that when the Fifth wakes, she'll have an actual village to look at"

Tenten snorted but agreed nonetheless. "I know" she offered a small smile to Neji then looked at Sakura.

"I'll fill you in on what you have to do" Tenten grabbed hold of Sakura's wrist and dragged her through the weapon-filled floor. "Those genins are the dumbest bunch of kids, I swear I told them a hundred times that-" her complains trailed off as Sakura smiled at finally having some work to focus on than to think of the battle between Konoha and Pein.

...

Scaling the vertical wall horizontally upwards were Sasuke and Naruto, each with a few bags of cement on their shoulders. While people watched their never ending bickering all the way from the bottom of the wall to the top with a hundred kilos of cement each, they couldn't help but feel a slightly more motivated to work harder. Seeing the two so hot-headed and filled with energy, indirectly provided the people around them with energy.

Setting the load down in front of some grateful workers, Naruto and Sasuke stretched their backs to ensure that they didn't overstrain their muscles. "Ne, teme" Naruto stated, his voice was not the one that he used when picking a fight with him, prompting Sasuke to take him seriously.

"How is Sakura-chan?" Naruto looked at the ground, his eyes were weary and it almost scared Sasuke when he looked at the blonde. Sasuke hadn't noticed until now but his blonde teammate had dark circles under his eyes. He had a feeling that the blonde had only managed to successfully covered up his exhaustion by purposely picking a fight with him first thing they see each other.

"She has nightmares" Sasuke said, his eyes never leaving the side of Naruto's face. His teammate refused to look at him which was weird because the blonde always looked him dead in the eye when they spoke. Now, he felt like he was looking at the shell of his teammate. His insides twisted with discomfort upon knowing that someone as stubborn-willed at Naruto's had been reduced to this. He had a feeling that he shared the same reasons for his tortured nights as Sakura.

Instead, Sakura was always woken and reassured by him whereas Naruto slept in a tent, alone, because his apartment had been reduced to debris. Sasuke knew he was lucky to have the majority of the Uchiha district still intact, because the head of clan's house was all the way at the end of the street, the blast hadn't destroyed his home.

"I see" Naruto finally replied, he blinked in attempts to banish the exhaustion from his eyes but Sasuke had already seen it, that flicker of fear in his eyes upon the mention of nightmares. He didn't get nightmares severe enough to render him sleepless, then again he hadn't been alive to experience the entire fight and to witness the downfall of Pein.

He couldn't detect the mass of missing chakras and the victims that fell by Pein's hands. Besides himself, he was told that Hinata had been one of Pein's victims. She supposedly died after attempting to free Naruto from Pein's chakra rods- killed before Naruto's eyes.

Sasuke was not a dense person, whether it be romantically or in reality. He had obviously been aware of the Lady Hyuga's deep feelings for Naruto and recently he has sensed a reciprocation from the blonde, they were going out. He didn't know when they started but if there was one thing he knew about the idiot, was that he didn't take his bonds with people lightly. Now that he's found someone special to him, he couldn't imagine the depth of his feelings knowing that the one you love was dead.

He had been on the other end, afterall.

It was thanks to the trauma that Sakura sustained that they began sleeping in the same bed. Sasuke was awaken some nights ago to a pained scream in the dead of the night-

...

He was in Sakura's room in a matter of seconds, his eyes were clear of sleep, scanning the room for the source of her distress but all he could see was Sakura's trembling form. Her body curled up in a fetal position and her eyes squeezed shut. He let out a sigh of relief but approached her bed with quick steps. He placed his hand on her shoulder and shook her awake. "Sakura" he called but instead of lashing out at him like she usually does out of habit. Her spine curled further, her forehead was almost touching her knees now and a frightened whimper escaped her lips.

Something in Sasuke had snapped, he had never seen Sakura so vulnerable. Her weakened state was almost unbearable to watch, the Sakura he knew never faltered at anything. She was strong, sometimes he thinks that his protection was unneeded but at least he was granted the reassurance of being able to protect her. His life's mission was to prevent any harm from coming to her and he would follow her to the ends of the world to ensure that she was safe.

But in her mind was the one place he could not protect her. He was frustrated and scared at the same time. He didn't want to see her like this. So broken- so fragile.

His grip on her shoulder tightened and he shook her with more force. "Sakura...!" he called again. "Please..." his voice whispered and her whimpering ended. Her eyes squeezed shut for a moment before her eyelashes fluttered open to reveal her wary emerald eyes. There was a glossy glaze over her iris as if her emotions had been sealed behind them.

She didn't seem to notice his presence and the last thing that Sasuke wanted was for her to overthink. Without knowing, sat himself on the edge of her bed and pulled her to him. Determined to overwhelm her senses with purely him. He just held her against, waiting for some sort of reaction from her. A tremble, a sound- anything to show that she was with him. Her body was cold and her figure felt deathly motionless in his arms. He shifted and lifted his head to look at her, her expression was neither frightened nor weeping, instead she stared up at him with emotionless eyes.

Eyes of a murderer.

For a moment, Sasuke had been scared until she spoke. "Sasuke? What is it?" her voice was cold and devoid of any emotion. As if there hadn't been anything wrong with how she was behaving in her sleep. He knew this side of her, the abused assassin trained in darkness. When she had nowhere else to hide she would do it within herself. Hide everything from the world, her mind, her soul and her emotions- closed behind doors reinforced and hardened with the torture she was put through. The side of her when she's frightened.

He hated this side of her.

Without thinking, he shoved her down on the bed and pinned her hands over her head in one hostile move. But she didn't even faze and continued to stare emotionlessly at his face. Frustration overwhelmed him and his grip tightened on her wrists. In one swift move, he claimed her lips with his own and slowly coaxed her out of hiding. He straddle her and hovered protectively over her vulnerable figure.

Slowly he could feel her responding and before he knew it, she was clinging desperately on him. "Please" she whispered and loosened her arms from around his neck to meet his eyes with shimmering emeralds "Don't leave me."

...

"Have you told her?" Sasuke found himself saying before he could catch his words.

Naruto blinked and glanced up at Sasuke. "Hah?"

"Hyuga Hinata" Sasuke replied "That you have trouble sleeping."

Naruto snorted and rubbed the back of his head "I didn't tell her" he answered simply and then his cerulean eyes dimmed slightly with his next words "She knows" his words were soft and completely out of his character. "Because we spent our nights together"

Sasuke's eyes widened and he shot his best friend a horrified look. Naruto quickly worked out what he just said and mirrored Sasuke's look. "T-T-Thats not what I meant! We meet up at night and take a walk!"

Sasuke looked queasy, the thought of Naruto having bedded someone evoked a terrible image within his overly specific mind. "That sounds like a suspiciously ordinary excuse"

"It's the truth!" Naruto snapped and suddenly he looked so tired, so wary. "She looks at me with the very same eyes and I can't do anything to help her."

A pang throbbed dully in the side of Sasuke's heart upon hearing those words, a vague feeling tingled in his body- sympathy. He felt the same way about Sakura, her muffled sobs and distressed cries in the middle of the night. He can do nothing but move her from one nightmare to another. Pein waltz right into the village and took everything and although he did his best to reverse what he had done, trauma cannot be cured.

Before their conversation could continue, a puff of smoke exploded just between them, prompting the conversing teammates to leap apart from each other and arm themselves at the intrusion before their eyes met with a familiar sight.

"Yo"

"What the hell, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto slipped his kunai back into his holster and let out a breath he didn't realize he's been holding.

"What do you want, Kakashi" Sasuke stated, bemused.

"Well just thought I'd drop by and see how my two adorable students are doing" Kakashi said in an overly friendly tone.

"Then leave" Sasuke snapped, his eyes darkening with disgust.

Naruto held himself as a shiver ran up his spine "That's a gross hobby you got there, sensei"

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head and forced a sarcastic laugh "The treatment you give your sensei just keeps improving" then he dropped his arm and blinked the amusement away from his eyes "But I'm also here to inform you that the council has made a decision, in a few days I will be appointed as Konoha's sixth Hokage"

Immediately the mood plummeted and no one spoke at first. "What's going to happen to Tsunade baa-chan" Naruto said softly. "They can't just cast her aside just like that, she's still alive"

"I know, Naruto. But the council has decided that a new Hokage would boost the morale of the villagers. At this point, no one can blame them for this decision. We are at our weakest and we need a pillar, a Hokage. I just came here today to tell you the news before it's officially announced."

"Yeah, I know. What I don't get is that, WHY DIDN'T THEY CHOSE ME!" Naruto fumed. "I mean look at me! I'm so much more good looking and I single handedly took down Pein!" he exploded.

Sasuke promptly slammed his knuckles to the back of Naruto's head, sending the blonde stumbling forward. "Loser" Sasuke mumbled under his breath and earned himself a glare from his best friend.

"Well, if any one of you sees Sakura before I do. Tell her the good news" and with that, their silver haired captain exploded into a puff of smoke.

"Good news my ass" Naruto grumbled, straightening. "He totally came to rub it in." he crossed his arms over his chest and frowned deeply.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned back to work, realizing that they had been slacking off.

...

Sakura was just putting away the last of the staves when she felt the fast approaching chakra of her best friend. When Ino burst into the tent with her hair in disarray, Sakura knew that she held big news. "Sakura!" she called and said kunoichi leapt down from the wooden platform suspended up on the metal frame of the tent.

Their eyes met for a moment and the hopeful look in Ino's eyes caused her Sakura's heart to unclench with relief. "Tsunade-sama... she's-"

Sakura blinked.

...

The two young apprentices stumbled into the fifth hokage's tent with desperate urgency. Eyes immediately landing on the mountain of plates sitting next to Tsunade's futon. Shizune entered the tent moments after the two had flown in, bumping partially into Sakura. The loyal assistant didn't even get the chance to apologize as Tsunade's booming voice demanded her forward.

"Shizune! Hurry with the food! I'm going to revert to my old self!" she barked furiously all while stuffing her face with another slice of meat.

The young medics found their eyes tearing up as the sight of Tsunade's healthy form. "Tsunade-sama" They both wailed at the same time before throwing themselves at her bed side like children.

Tsunade held her bowl above where they collapsed, blinking at her sobbing students. The confused look in her eyes softened as Sakura and Ino lifted their heads to look helplessly at her. She smiled softly at them and lowered her bowl to the floor. She placed one of her hands on each of their heads and ruffled. "Stop with the crying, if you have the time to weep then make yourselves useful and bring me more food before I turn into a granny" there was an underlying threat in her tone.

With that, Sakura and Ino was sure of the return of their mentor.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama!" they said in unison before rushing out the tent. Shizune watched them leave with a slight smile. She set the tray of food down next to Tsunade as she watched her mentor beam with pride.

…

Sakura was on the way back to the Hokage's tent, balancing trays on both hand and one on her head when she bumped into Sasuke. Her small pink tongue was peeking out from the corner of her mouth as her eyes were stuck warily on the tray on top of her head when Sasuke's voice cut into her concentration.

"What are you doing?" his voice sounded confused and partially amused.

"Sasuke!" Sakura gasped when the tray wobbled dangerously to one side and she struggled to regain stability before she felt the weight being lifted off.

She looked up to meet Sasuke's amused eyes as he held the tray above her head with one hand. "Thank you" she said politely before his former question resurfaced in her head. "It's Tsunade-sama! She's woken up!" she exclaimed excitedly before her expression plummeted. "We have to hurry" she told him seriously, giving him no time to reply.

Sasuke held the tent flap open for Sakura as she bounded in with unexplained urgency, once Sasuke was through, his questions were answered immediately.

Sitting in the futon in the middle of the room was their Hokage scoffing food in her face, cleaning the bowls almost instantaneously. Sakura knelt down beside her to set the trays down before glancing expectantly back at him, motioning him to do the same.

He could barely see the big-busted Hokage's face, as soon as she's cleaned up one bowl, another one replaces it at lightning speed. Well, at least we know she's fine.

Moments later, Kakashi comes strolling in with a relieved look on his face. "Godaime" he greeted her with amusement twinkling in his eyes. Tsunade offered him one glance before her face disappears behind another bowl of Katsudon.

"News travels fast" Sakura said, sounding mildly surprised.

Kakashi shrugged "I was this close to being the sixth Hokage" he gestured a small space between his index finger and thumb.

Tsunade scoffed "They're 50 years too early to be replacing me. I'm not going anywhere" Tsunade grumbles through a mouthful of rice.

Sasuke stood and dusted his pants off as Sakura leaned in towards Tsunade with her hands in front of her, trying to sooth the peeved Hokage. "You shouldn't eat so fast, Tsunade-sama. You're going to choke." She said meekly.

The hokage paid no mind to her worries and continues to scoff down food as if she could swallow her troubles in the same way. Konoha was in shambles and their defences are practically non-existent, if she doesn't get herself to full power and show the shinobi that she remains strong as their pillar, the morale of the village is just going to continue dropping.

She wasn't oblivious to the heavy dark circles rimming the bottom of Sakura's eyes or the way that Sasuke looked so much more guarded. She hadn't seen Naruto but she didn't need to, those who had never seen war share the same symptoms for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She'd bet all her money that they're not the only ones suffering. She needs to get back on her feet and fast.

War was coming and they're not in the least prepared.