Sasuke's Nightmare

In Haruno Sakura's dream, she lay in Sasuke Uchiha's arms, just about to kiss him.

At the sight, Naruto charged in like a cannonball. He thrust his arm between the dream versions of Sasuke and Sakura, waving it wildly as he shouted at "Sasuke":

"No! This isn't real! Sakura, wake up! That Sasuke is fake! This is a dream! I'm the one who really likes you! Me! Naruto Uzumaki!"

His intrusion was like a boulder crashing into a still lake. The dream's lovely atmosphere shattered, and the entire scene began to ripple violently.

The dream's "Sasuke" blurred under the sudden disruption, then began to dissolve like smoke.

"Sakura," still held in his arms, jumped in fright. Her blissful expression froze.

She stared at Naruto, who had appeared out of nowhere and was still yelling, confusion spreading across her face.

"N-Naruto?! How did you..."

Before she could finish, the entire dream shattered like glass!

In the real world, inside Haruno Sakura's bedroom...

"Ah!"

Sakura gasped sharply and opened her eyes, jolting awake.

Her heart pounded, and a blush from the dream still lingered on her cheeks. But more than anything, she felt confused and a little angry.

"What was that?" She rubbed her sleepy eyes, trying to recall the strange dream.

"I was having such a wonderful dream with Sasuke-kun. Why did that idiot Naruto suddenly show up?! Shouting at us like that, too! I'm so mad! What a pest. He can't even let me dream in peace!"

She punched her pillow and rolled over, grumbling under her breath. "Stupid Naruto. He even came into my dream to cause trouble. I can't get away from him."

The instant the dream shattered, Naruto's soul was thrown out of it and left floating above Sakura's bedroom once more.

He watched her wake, mutter to herself, and gradually fall back asleep. He was stunned stiff.

Crushing disappointment and jealousy still filled his heart.

"Hmph, stuck-up Sasuke! This is all your fault. Let's see what you're dreaming about. If you're dreaming about Sakura too... I'll give you a scare!" Naruto clenched his fists, unwilling to let it go.

Driven by a little desire for revenge and curiosity he couldn't suppress, Naruto went to Sasuke Uchiha's house.

Unlike what Naruto had expected, there was no white glow of a pleasant dream around Sasuke's room. Instead, a faint gray aura seeped from it.

Naruto didn't give it much thought and went straight in.

Inside, Sasuke Uchiha lay sunk into his pillow, his brows tightly knitted and his forehead covered in cold sweat. His breathing was rapid and uneven. He was clearly trapped in a nightmare.

The scene before Naruto's eyes changed abruptly! He was no longer in Sasuke's quiet room but standing on a cold street!

Light rain fell from the night sky, and the air was thick with the sickening stench of blood!

At the far end of the street stood a young Sasuke, soaked to the skin and trembling with fear.

Facing the boy, with his back to him, stood a figure in ANBU attire marked with a red-and-white fan. In his hand was a long blade that still dripped blood.

The figure slowly turned around. It was Itachi Uchiha.

Itachi Uchiha's eyes were cold and numb, seemingly devoid of human feeling. He slowly raised a hand toward young Sasuke, ready to jab him hard in the forehead.

"My foolish little brother, if you want to kill me, then hate me!" Itachi's low, cruel voice echoed through the rainy night.

"Then cling to your wretched life! Carry that hatred, and when you have eyes like mine one day, come find me!"

"No... don't... Big Brother!" Young Sasuke curled up on the ground and let out a despairing cry.

Naruto's soul stood nearby, utterly shaken by the cruel nightmare!

He looked at the merciless Itachi Uchiha, the despairing Sasuke, and the bodies strewn across the ground.

For the first time, he saw so clearly the darkness hidden deep in Sasuke's heart and the depths of his suffering!

He had always thought Sasuke was just stuck-up. He had never imagined Sasuke lived day and night with such a bloody grudge and the pain of betrayal by someone so close to him!

Just then, Itachi's finger was about to touch Sasuke's forehead. The words "hate me" were about to brand themselves on Sasuke's soul once more, like the vilest curse.

As Naruto looked at the helpless, despairing Sasuke, an indescribable surge of anger and impulse swept away his fear!

He forgot he was peering into someone else's dream. He forgot the danger of being discovered. He even forgot how Sasuke usually treated him.

All he knew was that he couldn't stand by and watch his friend suffer through that pain again, bound by the curse called "hatred"!

"No!"

Naruto roared louder than ever before. He rushed forward and planted himself between young Sasuke and the Itachi in the dream, shouting at the cold, cruel "Itachi Uchiha":

"That's wrong! How can you tell someone to hate?! What kind of big brother says that to his little brother? I don't care if it's a dream!"

Naruto spread his arms, shielding the trembling young Sasuke behind him. He was small and weak himself, yet a resolute strength seemed to gather within him.

He shouted at the Itachi in the dream, voicing the belief he had always held:

"What matters most between people is understanding each other! If someone lives their whole life consumed by hatred, their life is bound to be a tragedy, you bastard!"

Naruto's voice struck the bloody nightmare like a bolt of thunder!

The dream's "Itachi Uchiha" stopped abruptly. Then his entire figure began to blur and turn transparent...

Like smoke scattered by the wind, the dream's "Itachi Uchiha" vanished before Naruto without a sound.

The bloodstained street, the cold rain, and the bodies covering the ground began to fade and crumble too, dissolving into nothingness.

The Sasuke in the dream stared blankly at Naruto's face, so earnest with emotion, and at the unmistakable, wholehearted concern in his eyes!

At that moment, something seemed to brush against Sasuke's heart, long cold, hardened, and filled with hatred, opening the faintest crack.

An utterly unfamiliar feeling crept into his heart.

Maybe this idiot isn't quite so annoying after all.

He might be the only one who'd stand in front of me at a time like this and shout something stupid about understanding each other.

Sasuke looked at Naruto. His lips moved as though he wanted to speak, but no words came. For that moment, though, a little of the cold distance in his eyes melted away.

Crack.

Sasuke's dream shattered completely.

Back in his room, Sasuke Uchiha shot upright in bed, gasping for air. Cold sweat had soaked through his pajamas.

The fear and pain of the Night of the Massacre still reverberated through him, making his heart race.

Then he touched his forehead without thinking. There was no finger there, no cold touch.

That dream just now... At the end...

Sasuke Uchiha frowned. The image of Dead Last standing in front of him and shouting echoed clearly in his mind, along with that stupid line about understanding each other.

"Hmph. What a complete idiot," Sasuke muttered. He lay back down and pulled the covers over himself.

But this time, when he closed his eyes, the bloody nightmare did not return.

Instead, Naruto's unusually earnest, slightly foolish face kept appearing in his mind.

In the dark, Sasuke Uchiha rolled over and clicked his tongue softly, with no one there to notice.

Deep in a corner of his heart, though Sasuke himself refused to admit it, he had for the first time placed the name "Naruto Uzumaki" among the bonds he held dear.