Sasuke is shy and afraid to be seen

The horizon just began to glow with the pale light of dawn.

Naruto stirred slowly from his sleep.

He opened his eyes in a daze, feeling that the sky was still dark and everything around him was quiet.

Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he sat up and realized it was still pitch black outside the window; it was only daybreak, and the sun had not yet fully risen.

He scanned the room, familiar furnishings coming into view.

The messy bedding, clothes discarded everywhere, and the pile of instant noodle cups in the corner...

Every single thing was a sight he knew all too well.

Yet, Naruto felt a strange heaviness in his heart.

Last night, he had failed to enter that dream, so naturally, he hadn't seen his mom and dad, let alone practiced ninjutsu with his father.

Instead, he had spent the time as a spectator, confusedly watching a "dream" of Sasuke's in some strange place.

Last night, in front of Kakashi and Sakura, Naruto had feigned ease, not revealing too much of his disappointment.

However, alone now, he could no longer suppress the panic in his heart.

The dream from the night before last, where he was reunited with his mom and dad...

Could it really have been the last time?

"No... no!" Naruto shook his head violently, casting that terrifying thought from his mind. "I'll definitely see them again, I'm sure of it!"

Warm fragments of the previous night's dream surfaced in his mind involuntarily.

His father holding his hand, patiently guiding him through the practice of the Rasengan over and over; his mother standing to the side, smiling gently as she handed him a towel to wipe away his sweat...

He wished that kind of happiness could last every single day.

Yesterday, he had even eaten the chashu ramen his mother cooked by hand; the rich, fragrant taste was ten times better than what he usually ate at Ichiraku Ramen!

Looking at his father's loving smile and his mother's busy figure, Naruto had felt like the happiest person in the world.

Tossing and turning for a long while, Naruto still felt no sleepiness. He sighed, threw off his blanket, and groaned, "Sigh..."

He changed his clothes listlessly, tidied up in a haphazard way, and then headed out, dejected, toward the usual meeting spot for Team 7.

The morning in Konoha Village was cold and quiet.

Pedestrians on the street were sparse, with only a few breakfast stalls lit up.

Naruto walked along the roadside, looking heavy-hearted, not even noticing the strange looks from passersby that he usually cared so much about.

Those contemptuous glares that had once bothered him so much seemed to have lost all meaning now.

Before long, he arrived at the training ground where Team 7 gathered.

The surroundings were silent; there wasn't a single soul in sight.

Only then did Naruto realize he had woken up far too early.

He gave a bitter smile, sat down on the ground, and stared blankly at the sky as it gradually turned white.

What if... what if he could never enter that dream again and never see his mom and dad?

As his mind wandered, Naruto suddenly slapped his cheeks hard to wake himself up.

He secretly cheered himself on.

No, I can't stay this depressed!

Mom and Dad would definitely want me to pull myself together.

On the other side, Sasuke had also stirred awake.

When he opened his eyes, he felt a chill on his cheek.

A cold dewdrop had fallen from the leaves at some point, landing right on his face.

Sasuke jolted, instantly becoming much more alert.

He sat up abruptly, realizing he was lying on the grass behind the clan grounds, his back against a cold rock wall.

In the faint morning light, the ruins of the residence behind him remained as dilapidated as ever.

Sasuke froze, then realized.

So, everything from before really was just a dream.

But even knowing it was a dream, the images remained vivid, leaving him unable to let go for a moment.

"It was too real..." Sasuke murmured.

It wasn't as if he hadn't dreamed of his parents before.

On the contrary, the tragedy of that night was inescapable, becoming a shadow that often haunted Sasuke's nightmares.

He often dreamed of his dead parents, dreamed of the murderer who wiped out his entire clan...

Yet, last night's dream was completely different.

There was no bloody night, no endless fear and despair; there was only a loving mother, a strict but reassuring father, and... the brother who had once cared for and loved him.

Everything, every single thing, had been too real!

Sasuke could even vaguely recall the fragrance of the meal from yesterday afternoon.

He pressed his lips together, struggling violently in his heart.

Was that really just a fantasy?

And in the dream, Itachi was also living at home, deeply trusted by their father, having joined the Police Force and working side-by-side with him.

Sasuke recalled the Itachi from his dream, his brow furrowing involuntarily.

He was completely different from the person who had cruelly slaughtered the entire clan that night and tortured him repeatedly; the Itachi in the dream seemed exactly like the one from his childhood.

Gentle, excellent, and deeply reassuring.

He still remembered that as a child, he had always been clingy toward his brother, and Itachi had cared for him too. Until that night—

The scene from that night surfaced in his mind involuntarily.

A blood-red crescent moon hung in the sky, the corpses of his clansmen lay scattered on the ground, and blood stained the stone path of the courtyard.

In the darkness, the cold figure of Itachi Uchiha looked down from above at his younger self...

"Foolish little brother... if you want to kill me, then hate me, resent me, and live your ugly life clinging to it..."

That bone-chilling whisper was like a demonic sound, making Sasuke shudder even now.

Sasuke's expression turned grim instantly.

He clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging into his palms.

In the end, it was just a dream; it was all fake!

I, Sasuke Uchiha, will never be addicted to a fake dream!

On the other side, at the Hyuga Residence.

Soft morning light spilled into the room through the paper sliding doors. Hinata Hyuga gently rubbed her sleepy eyes and sat up in bed.

Last night had been no different from any other; she had simply slept soundly as usual, and when she opened her eyes, it was already morning.

Hinata sat blankly on her bed for a long time before she finally came to her senses.

Could it really have just been a dream of her own?

When Sasuke jogged to the Team 7 meeting spot, he saw from a distance that Naruto was sitting alone on the open grass, fiddling with the weeds, lost in thought.

Suddenly, Sasuke's heart skipped a beat as he thought of a crucial question.

Last night, he had entered that dream... so what about Naruto?

It would be fine if Naruto had been in that dream too.

But if Naruto had been in that strange space like a movie theater where they had stayed before, wouldn't he have seen everything Sasuke experienced in his dream?

And Kakashi-sensei and Sakura!

Sasuke had been too emotional last night and had completely ignored this issue.

He had forgotten that the dream could be seen, and he hadn't paid any attention to controlling his behavior!

Wouldn't all his lack of composure from last night have been seen by them?

The moment he thought about the possibility that the idiot Naruto might have seen his behavior in the dream, Sasuke's ears burned with shame!

"Damn it..."

Sasuke held his forehead, feeling his cheeks burning.

How exactly had he acted last night?

It seemed... first he had grabbed Itachi and beat him up, then he had cried his eyes out when he saw his mother, and he had even clung to her and acted like a spoiled child all day...

The more he recalled, the more ashamed Sasuke felt, wishing he could find a hole to crawl into.

The great Sasuke Uchiha, who dared to face powerful enemies head-on, was now caught in a dilemma.

He would rather trade dozens of blows with Itachi in a real fight than walk out and face Naruto right now.

Sasuke had never been this hesitant before.

He was almost afraid to go up and greet Naruto...