Nightlove, Nightmares
Disclaimer: I do not, nor ever will, own Naruto, the plotline, or the characters. Thank you.
Summary: The descent into madness is enough to give anyone nightmares. So what's Kakashi supposed to do when Naruto wakes up screaming? Kaka/Naru breaking & healing (two-shot)
Chapter 1: Breaking
He's running and running and running; screaming and screaming and screaming; hoping, praying, anyone will hear his pleas for help. The guy chasing him is gaining speed and getting closer and closer and closer! The boy running darts into an alley only to reach the end and it's a dead end…a dead end…a dead end! The guy closes in; smirks at how pathetic the boy is. Before the boy could protest, the man has him pinned to the wall. He hurts him and hurts him and hurts and hurts him. Soon he finishes and leaves him. Vulnerable…he's so vulnerable; so vulnerable, so vulnerable….
"Help! Kakashi-san! Kakashi-san save me! Oh kami, please save me!!!!" Foot steps come thundering down the hall and the door burst open only to have an armed Kakashi sigh tiredly and sit down on his blonde charge's bed.
"Another nightmare, Naru-kun?" The kid looks down at his feet forces a smile on his face.
"Hai, Kakashi-san. Gomen; it won't happen again." At the boy's quite reply, bordering whispering, he shakes his head sadly. This has been going on for months now; ever since Naruto moved in with Kakashi, his nightmares have gotten worse and no amount of therapy or comfort or protection seems to be helping.
Kakashi can still remember the first time he had seen the blonde and wishes that he could forget the scene: a bandaged five-year-old, retrieved from the Orphanage, still covered in dirt and Kami knew what else, with all kinds of tubes attached to him, and an IV stuck in his arm providing the young child with the much needed blood.
The most, by far, that still haunts Kakashi was not the said description, but the dull, vacant eyes staring at nothing, pale skin etched with scars of all kinds- some still healing- and stretched sickly over a too thin body and too angular bones. If anything, the kid shouldn't have survived, but, fortunately, the Kyuubi is sealed within the boy protecting and healing him cell by cell. With this thought, Kakashi is brought back to the present where he realizes Naruto is crying.
Wrapping his strong arms around the little blonde he's come to love and know as a son, he says soothing words that he knows won't do anything but calm Naruto. Despite this, Kakashi continues to say the words over and over and over and over knowing, somewhere, they give Naruto the comfort of someone loving him for who he was.
"Thank you, Kakashi-san. I'm sorry for scaring you. It won't happen again. Do you want me to leave, Kakashi-san? I'll understand if you do," the sad reply comes and Naruto starts to get out of bed making Kakashi push him back down gently.
"No, no, Naru-kun. I don't want you to leave, alright?" Naruto looks back down at his feet causing his bangs to fall into his eyes and hiding them. "Naru-kun, please look at me." Naruto complies and Kakashi's heart breaks again at his charges' tear filled eyes.
Those villagers will pay for this. I swear. He thinks silently before saying, "Don't make promises you can't keep. It hurts the ones you love more than you can think. I'm always here for you and you're welcome to come to me if you ever need anything." At the blonde's nod and small smile, Kakashi smiles, tucks his charge back into bed, turns out the lights, and goes to leave the room.
"Kakashi-san?"
"Hm?"
"Can you- I mean, will you please stay with me? Just for the night- I mean, until morning?" He goes back into Naruto's room and lays in bed beside the boy who instantly cuddles into his strong, protective arms.
"Thank you, 'Kashi-nii-san," Naruto says quietly before falling into a deep and relaxing sleep.
"You're welcome, Naru-kun," he says before kissing Naruto- no, his son's- temple in a fatherly way.
A few hours later….
Naruto wakes up screaming, frantically looking around for Kakashi. "Shh…I'm here, Naru, I'm here…" Hearing his pseudo-father's voice, Naruto goes back to sleep, snuggling closer to Kakashi. Such a young child and he's already falling victim to insanity…those villages will have hell to pay for this; mark my words… Kakashi thinks darkly before going into an alert sleep, tightening his arms around his pseudo-son's form.
Well, it didn't turn out like I thought it would, but I hope it's still good. I've been trying to get something father-son like posted. I still think something's missing, but that's probably just me. Thank you for reading this and I hope for your encouraging reviews.
Until the next chapter,
ferret-nin
