an: Hooray! A new story in which Bishie Huntress can cheerfully demonstrate that she has no idea what she's doing when it comes to an actual, drawn-out plot of moderate (though probably smaller than she's now imagining) length! (Who got lost, there? Go on... raise your hands!)

So! I know I haven't updated "Letters" in... nearly two months? Yikes! And here I've started something new! (Don't hate me!) But don't worry... I have actually started the next chapter! (Of "Letters", that is. I've already got a couple more chapters for this, but you can bet you won't see 'em if you don't review! Mwahahahaha!) Between writer's block and nanowrimo (which was amazing for my confidence in my ability to write large numbers of words, especially involving ninja!), I have not had much time to get things done.

That, and my family seems to have an insane amount of laundry...


Chapter One

Naruto flopped onto his bed, exhausted. He didn't even bother slipping out of his clothes. Training with Sakura and Sai today had been rough. Those two really knew how to keep him on his toes.

But on top of that, he hadn't been sleeping well. He'd been dreaming of chasing Sasuke again. These dreams always left him tired. An echo of his life, he would find himself running after Sasuke, but the distance between them would only seem to stretch out more than ever until, eventually, the other boy faded into blackness and Naruto was left alone. It didn't matter how fast Naruto ran, or how loudly he called his one-time teammate, Sasuke always left him behind. And he always woke tired.

Sakura said he was obsessed, and his real life was bleeding into his dreams. Tsunade said he needed to learn to let go, at least a little, or the stress would leave him unfit for active duty. If that happened, she'd said, he would also stop earning any income. Sai wasn't any help at all. He put his arm around Naruto and leaned in really close, then made a generic, vaguely reassuring comment before referring to him as 'dickless' and smiling that really weird smile of his. Kakashi agreed with Sakura and Tsunade, suggesting that Naruto take some time to himself to sort things out, but Naruto said that he made it sound like he was grieving after a funeral and refused.

He found that, the more he pushed himself during the day, the less likely he was to dream of Sasuke, or at least, remember dreaming of him. So, as tired as he was from this run of dreams, he pushed himself as hard as he could during training, forcing Sakura and Sai to bring it up a notch. All in all, he felt very satisfied with his level of exhaustion.

So when he flopped down on his bed, he fully expected a long, dreamless night. As he yawned right before drifting off, he couldn't help the hopefulness that filled him.


Naruto was disappointed to find himself in a dream once again. Some hope remained, however, for this wasn't like his other dreams. Instead, he stood on a gently sloping, grassy hillside, and a few stars twinkled in the evening sky above him. He looked around and saw the village of Konoha in the near distance, lighting up in preparation for the night.

Turning, he walked in the opposite direction, up the hill. A cool breeze fluttered through his hair, rustling the leaves of a small stand of three trees near the top. As he drew near them, Naruto caught site of a figure standing in the shadows. Curious, he moved closer.

"Hello?" he called. There was no answer, but the shadow man stood still, as though waiting. Naruto walked even closer and the figure became clearer.

The figure stood as tall as him, maybe just a little taller. Dark eyes gleamed at him in the twilight. A pale shirt stood out in the shadows, and dark pants blended into the shadows. Dark hair stuck up in a way that he was far too familiar with.

He stopped. "Sasuke?" he questioned.

The eyes blinked and, instead of running away like Naruto expected, the other took a step forward.

Through blurred and twisted shadows, Sasuke stared back at Naruto.

The blond frowned. "Aren't you supposed to run away?"

Sasuke didn't answer, just took another step forward. Confused – more than confused – Naruto stepped back.

"This isn't right," he said aloud. "You're supposed to run. I'm supposed to chase you. That's how this works." He tried pulling out a kunai, thinking the threat of a fight, of actual contact, might force his dream to take the proper shape.

"Naruto," Sasuke said, and Naruto awoke.

Morning light peeked softly through the curtain that hung askew at his lone window. Naruto swore softly to himself. Had that dream taken up the whole night? He felt like he hadn't—

Naruto paused. Actually, he felt quite rested. He frowned, confused again.


"The whole dream just felt so real," Naruto found himself saying. He was lying on a roof next to Shikamaru, basking in the warm midday sun after a wonderful meal of ramen. "And what I don't get is that he just stood there, instead of running away. He's supposed to run away!"

Shikamaru was silent as he listened to the blond ninja recount his dream. He didn't know why, but people seemed to like confiding in him, and he'd heard some of the strangest stories from other ninja.

Naruto fell silent, also, thinking over everything. He turned when he heard Shikamaru breathe out a soft snore.

"Hey!" he said loudly. "Did you fall asleep on me?"

Shikamaru cracked an eye. "It's warm and quiet. What did you expect?" At Naruto's helpless and pitiable expression, Shikamaru sighed.

"Look," he said slowly, "it's most likely psychological. Your subconscious self probably realized the other dream was becoming bad for your health and decided to do something to help, so your unresolved desire to reconnect with Sasuke has simply decided to take a different form. If you have the dream again, just try talking to him as though he's the same Sasuke who used to be on your team. It might help."

Naruto thought about this. It kind of made sense. Maybe if he could work things out with the dream Sasuke, his brain would think he'd fixed his problems and he'd be able to function normally again.

"So just act normal, huh?" he said. He was answered with another soft snore. Smiling to himself, Naruto snuck stealthily away.

Behind him, Shikamaru cracked an eye again. 'For a ninja, he's not very quiet,' he thought. 'But I hope he gets this straightened out. It's so troublesome.'

With that, he went back to enjoying an afternoon of avoiding the pile of paperwork Tsunade had dumped on him.


Somewhere deep in the wilderness, a broken and bloodied man carried the body of the person he had always held closest to his heart, heading for the place that he had not called home for many a long year.


an: Well, there it is! What do you think thus far? Did you smile? Did you frown? Do you wonder who this injured man limping through the wilderness is? O.o

If you had thoughts while reading this, and I really hope you did, because that would indicate life, tell me what they were! You know you want to! XD