I actually had the nightmare that I wrote. Several times, with slight variations in each one. It really is scary.

Warnings: one swear word (courtesy of Sasuke and completely justified) and some shounen-ai (boyxboy)

I don't own Naruto. If I did, Sasuke never would have left and the Akatsuki members would have lived longer and be good guys (especially Sasori)

Ladders Can Be Scary Too!

It was night-time in Konoha and all the ninja were asleep. Well, not all, but the ones who weren't, were being silent anyway. They are ninja after all. But the quiet was soon to be disrupted by a certain blonde jinchuriki.

Naruto jolted awake and sat up in bed, screaming. The body next to him stirred and Sasuke poked his head out from under the covers.

"What's all the noise about? You alright, Naruto?"

The younger teen turned to his boyfriend and buried his face into Sasuke's chest. He sniffled a few times and tears started leaking from his closed eyes.

"I-I had a n-nightmare." He stammered.

Sasuke wrapped his arms around the other boy in a rare display of compassion and started stroking his back, attempting to calm him. He tipped his head forward and whispered in Naruto's ear.

"Shh, it's okay, it was just a dream. Nothing can hurt you now. I'll protect you."

The lack of shout and claim that he could take care of himself showed Sasuke just how shaken Naruto was from this nightmare.

They stayed like that for a few minutes and Naruto gradually calmed and stopped crying into his lover's top. When he started to pull away, Sasuke loosened his grip and stroked his hair when he stopped moving.

"Are you alright now?" He asked. Naruto nodded in reply.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"Now I think about it, it seems stupid."

"Nonsense," Sasuke started. "If a nightmare has gotten you this shaken up, I want to know what happened."

"Well...

~Dream sequence~

Naruto had just finished putting on his headband and was ready to leave for the day. But when he stepped out of his bedroom, he heard a weird creaking noise. He looked through the doorway to see what it was. Nothing noticeable had changed and the noise had stopped. Naruto shrugged and left the room again. He got halfway to the door when the noise started up again. This time he snuck up to the door and waited outside. The noise continued. The blonde boy quickly poked his head round the doorframe and caught the noise-making thing in the act.

He blinked a few times. Then he pinched himself. Nope, it was still there. He stared. There was a small, metal ladder and a red, plastic stool bouncing on his bed. He stared a bit more, then came out of his trance and left the room again. He was sure Sasuke was still in the house and he had to show him this.

"Sasuke!" He called.

"What?" Was the annoyed sounding reply.

"Come to the bedroom! I need to show you something!" Naruto shouted, deciding to go check that the (formerly inanimate) objects were still there. The bed was messier than when he'd last seen it, but the ladder and the stool had vanished.

Sasuke chose this moment to show up.

"So, what did you need to show me?" He questioned.

"They've gone. If you hear any odd creaking noises, tell me."

"Hn, whatever."

~Magical dreamy time skip~

Naruto's ears pricked up. The noise. It was slightly different this time, but easily recognisable. The jinchuriki went to look in the bedroom, making sure to be sneaky. He looked inside. The noise was still going, but nothing was in the bedroom. He listened more carefully, trying to pinpoint where the sound was emanating from. Ah, there. The garden (A/N: They live in the Uchiha compound. Judging from the size, it probably has a garden.).

~Magical dreamy transportation thingie. You know, where in a dream you think of a place and you arrive there instantly~

Naruto looked around the garden, searching for something you could bounce on. Suddenly, he caught sight of the green and white stripy deckchairs he and Sasuke had put out yesterday. The ladder was jumping on one of them, the stool on the other.

"Hey, Naruto, I can hear creak... What the fuck is that?" Sasuke exclaimed. He had just walked out into the garden and was greeted with the sight of one orange-clad ninja, who was staring avidly at a pair of furniture items, which were bouncing on stripy canvas and metal deckchairs. You'd probably swear too if you saw that.

The ladder then launched itself off of the deckchair and advanced on the two teens, still jumping. The stool followed closely behind it.

~End dream sequence

"And then I woke up. So that's what happened." Naruto finished proudly.

"You were right, it does sound stupid." Sasuke replied, looking ever so slightly weirded out, which, for Sasuke, meant he was really freaked.

"Well, you were the one who wanted to know. It was scarier than it sounds." The other boy said, pouting.

"I don't think there are any ladders or stools in this house, probably none in the whole compound. Where'd you get that from?"

"I have no idea. It was a dream. They are composed from bits of your memories, so I must've seen them somewhere. Maybe on a mission, I don't know." Naruto said, still pouting.

Sasuke shuffled over to him and kissed the pout off his face. He could never resist doing that. Naruto kissed back for a bit, then broke away and yawned. The dark-haired boy wrapped his arms around the blonde and pulled the covers back up to where they had been before Naruto woke. Eventually, they both fell asleep.

~The next day~

"Are you ready to go yet?" Sasuke shouted. He'd been waiting by the door for nearly 10 minutes now, occasionally yelling threats to get his boyfriend to hurry up.

"It's not as if we have to hurry. We've got at least two more hours before Kakashi's due to show up!" Came the indignant reply.

Four minutes later, Naruto showed his face at the front door, dressed and ready to leave.

The two teens left the compound and headed for the bridge, throwing insults or arguing along the way. They were so absorbed in their conversation (and Naruto's voice was so loud) that they didn't hear what happened after they'd closed the compound gates.

A faint creaking sound drifted from the bedroom...

I don't mind if you review or not. The ladder however... Has decided it will give you a free trampolining lesson if you do. It's very skilled.