Blood.
Blood everywhere.
Just don't look. Don't see. This is all a dream. I'll wake up. Mom and Dad will be waiting for me to come down to breakfast. There won't be any blood.
Why does it smell so strong? Why does it feel so real? Dreams aren't supposed to be this real. Not even a nightmare can be so real.
What's that sound? Oh no! He's going to come back! No nii-san! No! I don't want to die! Please don't kill me!
Arms wrapping around me! This is the end! Please, nii-san! Don't kill me!
"It's over now. You're safe. I'll never let anyone hurt you."
Who...? What...? Where's Itachi? Have I died? Am I in Heaven? No, if I were in Heaven I'd not still smell so much blood. Someone's carrying me. This can't be Heaven. What's happening!? I don't understand! Why can't I just wake up!?
"Take care of the boy. He's all that is left. I have to go back. We've got to find the one who did this."
Anbu mask. It's the Anbu Black Ops. White hair. He has white hair. Who is he? I must know!
Don't leave me! Don't leave me alone! I'm still so scared! Please! Come back!
Sasuke snaps awake and sits up, letting the blanket tumble to the ground, his hand already groping a kunai in his shuriken pouch. He doesn't remember the dream. At least, not all of it. He remembers blood and fear. Terror really. Simple, black terror. Assuming it was related to the hellish mission they'd just finished, he thinks nothing of it. Looking around at his two sleeping teammates to ground himself back into reality and wash away the last vestiges of the dream, Sasuke draws a deep breath of the crisp night air and lets it out in a silent sigh of relief.
A deeper probing of the shadows around the small camp shows Sasuke the silhouette of his sensei, Kakashi Hatake. He sits looking at the man's shape for a few moments, musing over the nightmare. He usually didn't have nightmares, no matter how tough the mission was. The only nightmare he'd ever had was about the night his clan was slaughtered, and he hadn't had that nightmare since he was a kid. He'd suppressed most of the memories of that horrible night. The only thing he allowed himself to remember was the feeling of strong arms holding him so tight, making him feel safe in a world gone completely wrong. He never knew who the Anbu agent was that pulled him out of that hell, and likely never would. He knew only that the man had white hair and spoke with an easy calm that was utterly relaxing.
Sasuke is drawn out of his musings by movement in the shadows. When his eyes focus once more on Kakashi, he sees that the older man has moved closer to the camp so that he was more than a silhouette now. Sasuke could see his face, or what there was to be seen that wasn't covered with that mask he always wore. Not for the first time, Sasuke found himself wondering why his sensei kept his face covered at all times with that mask. He wondered what the man looked like under the mask. Sasuke imagined he was quite handsome because he really had a spectacular body. Blushing, Sasuke finally tears his gaze away from his sensei and stares down at his blanket, trying to clear his mind just as Kakashi speaks quietly across the short distance.
"Sasuke? Why are you awake? Is something wrong?"
"No Kakashi-Sensei. Nothing wrong. I think maybe I just miss my own bed."
"Ah, well, worry not, I'll have you back in your own bed tomorrow night. We're not far from Konoha. You really should try to sleep, we've still got a long day of hard travel ahead of us to get us back to Konoha."
Sasuke lays back and pulls the blanket over himself once more without reply. He lays on his back, head pillowed on his pack once more, staring up at the stars twinkling in the chill night air above him. It's a long while before sleep claims him again, and the thoughts of a white haired Anbu and a certain white haired sensei, follow him down into his sleep, and his dreams are much more pleasant this time, though forgotten with the first light of morning.