He rolled over—his alarm clock blaring in his too sensitive ears. A stifled groan filled the small bedroom, as the occupant rolled out of the worn lumpy mattress. He was tired. Well, not exactly tired but exhausted. His night didn't end in puppy dogs, and rainbows and unicorns flying everywhere. His dreams weren't exactly happy ones—you know—the kind that gave you the warm fuzzy feeling when you wake up singing a song like a brand new day. No. His were hellish. Blood, and bones—maybe even a decaying body or two that he was feasting upon. Those left him tired, sweaty, and nauseous. Those were the days where he would wake up, walk to the bathroom and vomit harshly into the toilet. Much like he was doing now. His dreams were horrid. It always ends up with him laughing, killing and licking blood off of faceless victims. In a way he was glad that he couldn't see the people's face…it made reality a little more easier. He fumbled with the toilet chain after he was sure he couldn't vomit anymore—watching the mixed colors of green and yellow, maybe orange or red, swirl into the bottomless hole. He shivered slightly and turned to the shower. A cold one…just because reality hadn't kicked in yet. Not that it would matter, it was rare to have hot water.

Tossing off his sleep clothes, he stepped into the cold spray, silently yelping at the freezing water that pounded on his back. He stood there for a few moments, waiting until his body grew numb before picking up the soap and washing. Numb. That's how he felt all the time. Plastering on fake smiles, and stupid idiocy made him want to punch the tiled wall—in fact he did. Ah, pain. His old friend from past till present, future hopefully. He knew he couldn't be alive if he didn't feel it at least once a day. Yes…pain. Blinking out of his sedative state, he finished up washing and stepped out of the shower, looking at his reflection in the near mirror. His blonde hair fell in soft spikes, dripping from the water. His tanned skin was covered in goose-bumps that he didn't even feel. His crystalline blue eyes, looked back at him, sharp and coldly, and the whiskers…just another part of him that he hated. Shaking his head, he let out a small sigh and walked to the bedroom to get ready for today.

He looked through his closet—not really in the mood to wear anything. It was summer, and it was too hot for the regular orange jump suit. He hated the thing anyway. He dried off, and pulled on some boxers and his Hokage session necklace, before looking at his closet again. He felt dark…just a dark mood. He pulled on a fish neck undershirt and an orange wife beater and some black shorts, before making his way to the bathroom again for deodorant and teeth. He ruffled his hair to make it look messy and cocked a fake grin. Time to leave. Walking to his door he slipped on his black ninja sandals, and stuffed his headband into his pocket. He took a few deep breaths, pulled on a grin, and left his apartment. Tucking his keys into his pocket, along with his headband he made his way to the training grounds humming a tuneless tune. Today felt like a long day already.

He was the last one there when he arrived. It was normal for him to be the last one—he didn't like waking up early anyway. His two teammates were standing on either side of the bridge. One was a creamy pale, with his arms crossed naturally. He still wore that thing he got from Orochimaru's place, a white long sleeve type kimono, with his chest open for all to see, and baggy purple legging type pants. His normally dark eyes were closed and looked at peace, but other knew otherwise. His blue streaked jet black hair fell on either side of his face, framing it. He was leaning against the wooden railing waiting as well. The other was female. She had creamy skin as well, leaning in front on the wooden raining. Her arms crossed as she leaned her head against them, her emerald green eyes watching the river water flow below. She had pink hair that fell just above her neck and was wearing a red belly shirt and a black skort. He noticed he wasn't the only hot one today. Deciding to make himself known, he smiled and waved at his team members.

"Moring Sakura-chan! Sasuke!" he said in his abnormally loud voice. They both turned their heads to look at him.

"Morning Naruto!" Sakura greeted smiling a bit. Sasuke just blinked.

Naruto let out a long sigh. "Ahh—it sure it hot today!" he said waving himself, trying to be dramatic. It was working.

Sakura nodded. "It really is." She replied. "I just wanted to stay home and stay cool under the air conditioner!"

Naruto laughed his perverted laugh. "Were you gonna be naaakkkeeeeddd?" he asked in a singsong voice. It got him punched, and a few insults hurled at him here and there. He sighed and rubbed his head, some things never change. "Hey, while we're waiting, why don't we put out feet into the water, yeah?" he asked, taking off his shoes not waiting for his teammates. He jumped off the bridge and onto a near rock to sit on, placing his feet into the cool stream. He looked as Sakura jumped to a near rock as well, following his lead. He looked at the other teammate. "Saaaaasssuuukkkeeee." He called.

"What?" came the hard reply.

"I bet if you put your feet into the water, it'll cool down that hot ass attitude of a pole stuck up your ass." He taunted. It was normal for them. Routine actually. A few insults were thrown, as well as a few glares, but the last team member finally gave up and sat next to the blonde on the rock, sticking his feet into the cool water below. "See? Not so bad is it?"

"Hn." Came the short reply from the darker member of the team and a small giggle was heard across from them, signaling that the female was laughing quietly at them.

Naruto smiled a small smile, kicking his feet gently in a back and forth manner, letting the stream swim around his feet. A few times, he brushed his feet against Sasuke's, but no harm was done, until Naruto got bored and 'accidentally' pushed the raven into the water below. Using his quick, ninja-like reflexes, Sasuke grabbed Naruto and pulled him under the river bend of water as well. After a few moments both of them came up sputtering and hurling insults. Sakura, jumped off her rock, and tried to separate the two of them, but got pulled into the water as well. And that's how their sensei—Kakashi—found the three of them, splashing water in an ongoing water fight.

He was quiet when he looked over at him. His breaths coming out in deep huffs, after being tossed around a few times from the water fight. Their sensei had decided it was simply 'too hot for training' and went off to 'assist the old lady down the street, around the corner, across the bridge, and three blocks down to the store.' He had simply rolled his eyes, but his other two teammates called Kakashi out on the lie. The female of the team, Sakura, was long gone as soon as Kakashi left. Her disliking to the heat and non training gave her the excuse to go home and sit under the cool AC. His other teammate, the one he was currently looking at now, wanted to rough around in the water before doing anything else. So, an hour later here they were, lying on the forest floor under an old oak.

Sasuke could hear the deep breaths slowly even out and eventually it was quiet. Not that he minded, but he didn't want to have the responsibility of waking the blonde up. Right when he was about to open his mouth, Naruto spoke up.

"Hey...Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"Hn?" he grunted, squinting his eyes as the soft breeze shifted the leaves; momentarily blinding him by the sun.

"What's normal?"

Sasuke couldn't help but snort. "Not you." came the reply before he could stop himself.

He could hear Naruto's soft chuckle. "I thought you would say something like that."

And then it was silent again. Sasuke looked over at Naruto, the blonde looking off into the distance, his eyes, not seeing much. He it looked like his teammate was thinking—something deep and personal—something Sasuke wanted to know but wasn't too keen in asking. He looked back up at the leaves, and asked: "What do you think normal is?"

It was quiet once again, before Naruto spoke up. "Normal is me."

Sasuke snorted again. "I'm not sure I understand your logic, idiot."

Naruto shifted, raising one of his knees up. "What do you think different is?" he asked.

"Not normal." Sasuke answered.

"So, what's normal?" Naruto pressed again, and for once Sasuke didn't have an answer. Naruto, the air-headed idiot, made him think. Who knew?

It was late when Sasuke decided to head home. Naruto was long gone before him, but that question still rang inside his mind. What was normal? What was different? Who decided to make these terms, and not attach anything to them? He didn't know.

Deciding that he was through with the thoughts, he finally opened the door to his house. The AC hitting him at full blast made him silently sigh in relief. Sasuke looked around his too quiet home, taking off his shoes and heading to the bathroom for a shower. It always felt a little lonely after coming home from time with Naruto or the team in general for that matter. He shook his thoughts again and turned the water onto a lukewarm, scrubbing all of the sweat he had accumulated while being tossed around. He hissed a little when he moved to his chest. Damn. Sunburn.

It was all Naruto's fault—lying in the sun—that guy doesn't need to tan anymore. Something in the back of Sasuke's mind told him that they weren't tanning, talking and thinking, but his rationality shot it from his brain. Nodding to himself once he was thoroughly cleaned, he stepped out of the shower, toweling his hair as he walked to his room. He thinks he needs to pay Naruto a visit tomorrow before training. Pulling on his night clothes after a final nod to himself, he crawled into bed and slept.

His first thought when he woke up was that it was raining. The second thought flew out of his mind as he ran to his bathroom to vomit. His dream last night was horrid. Overall it topped the last ones—oh no, ripping people and eating wasn't the bad part, not even close. It was the fact that his last victim was his old pasted sensei. The fact that he wasn't even ripping the old man's head off was the part that got to him. In his dream, he was frozen in time, watching as the white haired man was raped and belittled. His eyes had already rolled into the back of his heads before the torture had even begun, knowing that his body had bled to death. The fact that Naruto was just there frozen in horror while his dream self, smiled and laughed, spitting on the respected man made another wave of sickness hit him.

As he coughed and spit into the toilet, he felt a hand on his back, making all of his senses rise. He went to turn, but another hand steadied him to face the toilet as he coughed once again. "It's me, idiot." the presence muttered.

Naruto coughed once more before slowly lifting his hand to flush down the disgusting colors he has accustomed to. He felt the hand on his shoulder leave, and Naruto made his way over to the sink to brush his teeth. "What are you doing here." he muttered, grabbing his tooth brush and turning on the sink.

Sasuke was quiet for a moment, listening to the sound of Naruto brushing his teeth. "I knew you felt lighter when I threw you yesterday during training." he looked at the blonde. "Have you've been doing this every morning when you wake?"

Naruto hummed, spitting into the sink. "My dreams aren't exactly good ones." he answered. "You still didn't answer my question." He bent over to rinse his mouth out.

"How long has this been going on?" Sasuke pressed. If Naruto was having dreams that was enough to make his sick in the morning, then he should seek help—or something.

Naruto glared harshly, turning off the sink and throwing his toothbrush into the holder. "It's none of your business, so why are you here?" he growled out.

Sasuke glared at his friend. "It is so my business when a teammate is sick."

"Dammit, Sasuke I'm not sick!" Nauto shouted.

"You are so, when you wake and vomit into the toilet!" Sasuke bellowed back. Naruto just glared. "You are my teammate, ever since you dragged me back to this forsaken village, and if one is sick then we all fall as a team!"

"Who're you to yell at me about teamwork?" Naruto muttered.

Sasuke blinked then glared. "How long, Naruto?" he ground out.

Naruto sighed and stepped out of the bathroom, Sasuke following him to his room. Training was instantly canceled, when it was pouring outside, so Naruto didn't have an excuse. He sighed once more and sat on the edge of his bed, Sasuke standing in front of him—his arms crossed. "For about 3 months." Naruto muttered so low, that Sasuke strained his ears.

"3 months?" Sasuke asked. It took him 3 months to figure out Naruto was vomiting every morning, and would've been longer if he didn't decide to come over. Sasuke would think later, but instead he looked at Naruto. Not sugar high Naruto, but the tired, sick, and slowly thinning Naruto. "What are your dreams about?" he asked.

Naruto let out a weak laugh. "I can't even explain, let alone tell you." he laughed again. Sasuke glared. "but I will tell you this—" He looked Sasuke dead into his eyes. "—don't tell anyone."

"Then what about a treatment?" Sasuke supplied.

Naruto shook his head. "What treatment, Sasuke?" Naruto stood up, motioning his arms around. "What treatment Sasuke!?" He shouted. "In case you forgot, there is no treatment for 'bad dreams'! You alone should know that!" Sasuke glared again, watching as Naruto fell back on his bed, covering his eyes with one arm. "Just leave." he muttered silently. Naruto was asleep before Sasuke could reply.

Sasuke had headed to his home later that night and well into the next morning Naruto opened his eyes from a dreamless sleep. There was a first for everything, and it seemed that his dreams didn't visit him last night. He sighed pulling himself out of bed. Maybe he needed to see Tsunade—but her answer wasn't something he was expecting.

"You're dying."

Well shit. Naruto sat on the cold table while Tsunade looked over his recent examination. She looked furious for some reason, but he couldn't place his finger on it. Maybe it was because he kept his condition from her? Nah, that's—well that sounds about right. Naruto jumped out of his thoughts when a clip board smacked against his exposed thigh.

"Ouch granny, that hurt." he muttered.

"Why didn't you come in sooner?" she growled.

He looked into her eyes, and he doubt she could see him very well with the way they were blurring. She was getting ready to cry. "I didn't think it was important." he winced as the clipboard came upon his thigh once more.

"Not important?!" she screeched. "You have less then a week before your chakra coil decide to finish eatting themselves!"

Naruto sighed. "Then how does that explian ll of those nightmares?"

"I don't know Naruto...I'm a doctor not a problem specialist." The tears finally fell down her face, and Naruto pulled her into a hug.

"I want you to do something for me—something important." he said, wiping away her face with the hem of his hospital gown. She looked at him confused. "I want you to send me on a mission—a simple escort would be fine—tell everyone I died in the line of duty."

"Naruto, you—!"

He placed a finger to her lips, and smiled gently. "Please?"

"Hhhheeeeyyy! Sasuke! Sakura-chan!"

Two heads turned towards the loud voice.

"Ugh, Naruto it's blistering out here and you're shouting as if it's not." Sakura groaned, she had decided to dip her feet into the river below while Sasuke laid under the shade of a tree.

Naruto laughed loudly. "Sorry, I got a mission to do."

"Finally." the voice from under the tree muttered. "When do we leave?"

Naruto winced. "Sorry, Granny only gave it to me. It's just an escort mission to the land of the Wind—I've been meaning to see Garra anyway, so this gives me a great reason to go!"

"Figures she'd give you Hokage politics to deal with."

Ignoring their other teammate, Sakura asked: "When do you leave?"

Naruto opened the scroll. "Uhm...tomorrow morning before dawn."

She nodded ad asked if he wanted to play in the water again. Naruto laughed, closing his mission scroll and jumped into the river. He shouted at his dark teammate, before throwing handfuls of water at him. Sakura laughed as she watched her two teammates chase each other around, getting soaked in the process. Nothing could ever replace moments like this and as the day grew to a close, and the three of them were wringing water out of the clothes Naruto smiled his first true smile in a long time.

"Thanks guys I had fun." he said.

Sakura laughed. "Just be careful on your mission. It wouldn't be fun splashing around in water with Mr. Dark over here." she pointed over to Sasuke who snorted and the other two laughed.

"Dobe," Sasuke muttered.

Naruto grinned. "Teme, I'll be sure to bring something back to remove that pole from your ass!" Sakura laughed as Sasuke threw his wet shirt at the blonde. Smiling as they each waved good-bye, Naruto made his way back to his small apartment. His bag for Wind country had been packed, and his apartment was cleaned. He sat on the edge of his bed, looking at the picture of his team—his family. It was small, and broken with stitches to hold them together—he felt tears sting his eyes as he moved across the room to gather pen and paper. All night, he sat there trying to think of something to write to his small family—looking at the clock now, he sat the pen down and picked up his bag. The only words written on the paper in bad handwriting were:

Thanks for everything.

-N

Thanks for reading

O.I.N.O