STOP!

The scream tears from his throat and in the breathless moments that follow, even when his eyes snap open, Sasuke is sure he is choking on his own blood.

The nightmare has left cold rivulets down his forehead, a painful prickling of dampened skin. His chest heaves with unsteady, gasping pants. The moon spills through the blinds in disjointed slants that cut across his form, lighting the decade-old terror in his eyes.

Twenty years. Twenty years and the memories ares still as biting as they were back then, never failing to draw out the shuddering, horrified child within. Sasuke braces himself on his palms, but suddenly flings the sheets aside and rising, he rushes over to the window. He rests his forehead against the frame, peering through the slats to observe a lazy cat stretch itself out on the balcony.

Breathe…

A single set of footsteps tread through the silence but Sasuke doesn't turn to face their owner. With as much strength as he can muster, Sasuke wills the coming tears to retreat from his voice. "I'm sorry I've disturbed you. The noise-" A pause to gather a strained mouthful of air, "Another nightmare.."

Naruto crosses his arms over his broad chest. Standing a short distance from the Uchiha, clad in faded pyjama bottoms, the present Hokage's face is tense with concern. "They seem to be more frequent these days.."

Reluctantly, Sasuke turns, lifting his gaze to meet with Naruto's. The whiskered face is patterned with shadow and the gentle effulgence of midnight. Even now, after the trials they had both overcome and the deep bonds they forged, Sasuke can feel reduced to shame from such moments of weakness as these. Naruto moves towards him slowly, golden tresses catching the silvery glare of the moon. Then, when there is scant space between them, he cups Sasuke's cheek with a tender hand. "It still haunts you doesn't it?"

Sasuke can't hold the sapphires gleaming motionless in Naruto's eyes. He has to look away, anywhere… and in the dark recesses of his old childhood bedroom, he finds he is looking at ghosts emerging from the very walls.

"Itachi…"

He isn't aware he had spoken the name aloud, hearing the name only in his thoughts… but Naruto had heard and detected very little difference between the painful delivery of that name and the tortured wail that had so recently split through the night. "Holding it in will allow it to fester, Sasuke. You don't want that and I don't want it for you."

Sasuke is perfectly still for a moment, rigid at every bone. He then turns to Naruto, a tear making a rapid descent down his cheek. "I don't understand." He starts hoarsely, "it's been so long. When I fell asleep, my mind was as far from that day as it's ever been." As it ever can be.

Naruto is silent for a few seconds, working through his own despair at the words so that he might lift the burden from his lover. "I guess we can't control where our minds take us, but you have the upper hand on a whole, Sasuke." The Uchiha stares, waiting for the blond to elaborate, carefully guarding his already reeling heart from any false hope.

"To put it simply, nightmares happen when you're asleep and unconscious right? Once you wake up though, it's up to you whether you dwell on them ne?" Naruto wipes the tear track away with a soft smile on his lips. Sasuke swallows the lump in his throat, eyes steadfast on that serene face. Slowly, he nods. "I always think I'm prepared for it. The event, it has never changed but every time," He swallows again, lips trembling. "I-It still takes me by surprise. "Sasuke watches the shifting shifting shadow in depths of the room and in Naruto's eyes. "I know I should be healed of this by now. Over it…"

Naruto shakes his head and pulls Sasuke into his arms. The smaller frame is inflexible against him, almost frozen in residual fear and hypnotised by far off echoes. Clearing his throat, he speaks. "At first, when we got together, I thought.. I thought that I would of been enough." Naruto speaks with sadness against the spiked crown of Sasuke's head, hands tracing the hard line curved down the bare back. "I thought that I could heal you, you could forget all of it."

"But I learned that there are some things that can't be erased and you know, you shouldn't forget that day. You should remember Itachi." Naruto can feel Sasuke begin to shake in his arms. "You should remember those things because they have impacted your life and helped shape you into what you are today. Remembering doesn't have to be a bad thing though Sasuke, it doesn't have to torment you like this. You're not a bad person. You are not the murderer you paint yourself to be, searching for repentance either. From what you've told me, Itachi wanted this. It was all part of his plan and I think he'd do it all over again to see you happy. When you truly, in your heart, believe that, you can move on. You're not alone either. You have me."

Sasuke stands in the harbour of his lovers arms, hesitant to move, afraid to let any thought reach him but gradually, the memories soak through his shields, as they always do.

When Sasuke crumples, Naruto goes down alongside him.

So they sit on the floor, arms entwined and when the sorrow surges within Sasuke, Naruto is quick to give comfort, despite the knowledge that some wounds, no matter how worn, never begin to heal.