The next morning, Sasuke and Sarada sat side by side at their breakfast table, the soft sunlight casting a gentle glow upon their faces. Sakura, with a spatula in hand, leaned over the stove, the aroma of sizzling eggs filling the air.
"Papa," Sarada asked, her voice full of concern, "did you have a bad dream last night?" Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, taken aback by his daughter's question. Last night's ordeal flashed through his mind. Sakura chuckled nervously. "What makes you ask that, Sarada?"
"Well, I heard papa screaming last night." Sasuke and Sakura exchanged concerned glances.
"Sorry for waking you, Sarada," Sasuke said coolly, closing his eyes momentarily. Sakura feigned a weak smile for her daughter. "There is nothing to worry about, Sarada."
Truthfully, Sakura was becoming increasingly worried about her husband. This was the tenth day in a row he had this recurring nightmare, and the symptoms were only increasing in severity. Several nights ago, Sasuke had repeated episodes where he was trapped in the massacre, and she was unable to wake him until the nightmare ended. Even when she managed to calm him down, his mind began to torment him again as soon as he closed his eyes, and the cycle repeated.
She looked at him sadly, the sunlight revealing the deep shadows and dark bags under his eyes.
Sasuke stood up and started towards the door. "I'm heading out," he said nonchalantly.
"Wait a minute," Sakura called out to him, her expression full of concern. "You need to rest. You haven't been sleeping well."
Sasuke paused for a moment in response to Sakura's protest, then briskly walked out the door, ultimately ignoring her plea.
Sakura sighed, grabbed her white coat and sprinted off to the hospital. She was scheduled to assist in a surgery and had patients she needed to focus her attention on.
That evening, as Sakura walked home, she opened the door to Ino's flower shop.
"Sakura," Ino said, surprised. "I didn't expect you." Sakura was grateful she could rely on her best friend when she needed someone to talk to. Ino poured each of them a cup of tea and sat down to listen to her friend's issue. As she recounted Sasuke's problem, Ino listened attentively, nodding to the details, her face full of concentration as if solving a problem.
"It's really odd," Sakura said. "Sasuke hasn't had these dreams since he was a child. Not only that, but he always wakes up with a racing heart and piercing chest pain. I took him into the clinic a few days ago to get his heart checked out, but there was nothing wrong."
Ino tightly grasped her teacup with both hands, the heat burning her skin as she cast a downward gaze.
"Well, with all that Sasuke has been through in his childhood, I'm not surprised that he's having nightmares. It's not uncommon for a shinobi to go through a rough patch at this stage in their life."
"Yeah, I guess so," Sakura said with a half-smile.
