Redemption |complete| (SasuSaku)

Bright Orange

!!! Warning !!! Rated M for mental health and mental breakdown. Be careful if it can be a trigger to you.

Thursday, 23rd of July. 11pm.

He felt Sakura move under him. He backed away from her just in case she was going to panic. At this point he didn't know how irrational she could be and he didn't want to put her under any stress. His hand grabbed the two bottles that Tsunade had brought earlier. He needed to find a way to make Sakura take them.

"Is that you Sasuke?"

"Yes."

"I haven't seen you in so long. I'm glad that you're back, I thought that you were dead."

He was about to reply that they had seen each other few hours ago but he remembered what Tsunade explained to him. What she was thinking had nothing to do with the reality and saying it to her would upset her. He didn't know if lying to her was a better idea but that's all he could do right now.

"I just got back."

"How was your mission?"

"A success. Sakura would you do something for me?"

"Anything." she was irrational but at least she seemed more calm than earlier. She wasn't in distress.

"Can you take one pill of each bottle? Twice a day."

"What is it?"

"A mixture that Tsunade made for you. She told me that giving birth is a lot and that you are under a lot of stress."

"I'm surprised that she hasn't said anything to me these past ten weeks."

"She thought that you could handle it."

"I can handle it. Sarada died anyway."

He tilted his head feeling sad for her. Why was death so apparent in her psychosis. Was it because of the war? Was it because she thought that Sarada wasn't going to survive? Was she because she had feared for her own life for so long?

He tried to remember what Tsunade told him when she brought the pills. Apparently the best thing he could was try to keep Sakura in the real world by stimulating her nerves. That meant touching her skin, holding her hand and even pinching her if he could see that she was hallucinating. He chose to caress her arm. "Sarada died?" his voice was gentle and soft. Apparently loud voices could be a trigger or scare the person who was already on edge.

"Yes, I had a dream last night. She died in it so it must be the reality. That's because of my connection to her." it was breaking his heart. Every time she was saying that Sarada was dead she seemed so calm.

"When did she die?"

"Overnight. I'm her mom I can feel it. They wanted her."

"Who wanted her?"

"Them up there. She was connected to them since the very start. She wasn't supposed to be born, that's why she came out early. They wanted her to die and I slowed that with my medical ninjutsu. I acted against their will."

"Sakura who is them? Sarada is at your mother's house."

"Yes and mom will soon be here to tell us the good news."

"The good news?"

"Sarada being dead. She went back where she was supposed to. I'm extremely tired. Did I sleep well?"