It was a dream. A dark, foggy, beautiful dream.

I was standing at a pool's edge, and the eerie glow of the water reflected off of all the walls. Nobody was around. The building was dark. The only sound was the soft swishing of the water and my own breath.

The water...the water was a pretty aqua blue that shined. My face wasn't frowning, but it wasn't smiling either. I was expressionless.

Big windows, that traveled the length of the ceiling to the floor, at the side of the pool let in the moonlight. It seemed to glow as bright as the water before me. There was nothing on the floor that surrounding the pool. No doors, no chairs, only those windows and the pool itself.

Then, a sound pierced through the silence. As clear as a bell, a simple piano melody came to my ears. Letters formed the words that were sung clearly. The voice was strong, soft, impassioned and yet detached.

I stepped to the pool's edge, and I saw at first a grand piano sitting at the bottom of the depth. And sitting on a small bench, swaying slightly with the rhythm, was a blond-haired boy.

A boy I knew very well. But it wasn't fair to say that he was a boy. Because he wasn't; not anymore.

" Here I stand, helpless and left for dead," his voice rang out, echoing slightly. He sang in perfect tune, playing the keys of the piano with as much perfection. He added no bass, he only played the melody.

It didn't even occur to me to question why he was at the bottom of a pool, playing a piano, seeming to be breathing just fine as he sang effortlessly. It was a dream after all.

" I can show you, that I can see right through all your empty lies." The pitch was beautiful. His voice softened and he dragged out the sounds to make such a simple sentence sound positively eloquent.

He paused, and I hadn't even noticed that his eyes were closed as he played. His fingers remained dancing, and finally he added in the complexity of the piece. Both of his hands went to work, traveling up scales, hitting the cords, forming such and indescribable beauty.

The song grew louder, but the expression on the blond's face never changed. It was eerie.

The piece was reaching an epic point in the song, something I could only describe as intense. I had never heard...seen...imagined anything like this before. Then, he opened his mouth once again, and this time, his expression twitched slightly into some emotion.

When he sang, his voice was loud and just demanding of attention (though, I didn't think he knew he had an audience) and the words felt backed with some untouchable maelstrom of emotion.

" I won't stay long," he drew out the words, never faltering. " In this world so wrong."

He let his fingers continue their dance after his strong voice had finally melded with the music. The song slowly became softer and slower, until he stopped altogether in a final haunting combination of drawn out notes and cords. Everything was still ringing in my ears, and the silence that followed seemed unnatural.

I stood still as I stared down into the softly swirling water that contained the pianist. I felt as if I couldn't move. I felt strangely empty...as if this should have brought me to tears, and because it didn't...I was empty; emotionless.

For even though it was only a few simply strung sentences, it was more attractive and emotional than any Shakespearian tragedy.

But I could only acknowledge how wonderful it was. I could not feel anything.

I was startled from my thoughts as the piano once again sounded through the thick mist of silence. As before, the sound was as clear as though I were sitting next to him.

This time he hit two notes in the bass repetitively before he started playing the melody. His eyes never opened; it was almost magical how he did not even have to spare a glance at his instrument, as if such things as seeing were below him.

His face had converted back to it's former blank visage. The flicker I'd seen before was all but gone, and now I doubted whether I had ever seen anything there at all. It was hard to believe though, that the one before me was shone in such an unlikely light. Everything about him was unusual. He was different...at least...not how I remembered him.

He played for a while the sweet song, and as he played this particular piece, he seemed more drawn into the music itself. The dynamics he applied were even more heartfelt than the last song he'd played, and now again, I thought I saw his blank mask slipping.

For some reason, through my melody filled head, I wanted to see that blank mask disappear. I wanted to see him smiling, laughing...expressing something as he played with such intensity. I just wanted to see him as I remembered him...

I blinked, and my absurd thoughts were gone. I focused instead on his playing. He opened his mouth, and I could only stare with my own expressionless face, anticipating the release of his heaven-like voice.

" I tried to live alone, but lonely is so lonely alone..." I blinked again, this time surprised. His face had suddenly broken out in a sort of grimace, as if he were trying not to heed whatever emotion this song brought his soul. Though his voice remained unstrained and flowing, and his hands never faltered.

" So, human as I am, I had to give up my defenses," this part of the song was softer, more melodic, overpowering the bass line. His voice too, reflected his perfectly executed dynamics.

" So I smiled and tried to mean it to let myself let go." Gradually, the song became louder. His face was now saddened. This was emotion...but I didn't want to see this. I couldn't remember him ever looking so destroyed. He looked utterly anguished.

The music became a level louder as he sang the next words, more strongly than before. "'Cause it's all in the hands, of a bitter, bitter man..." He looked ready to cry. And then, I felt something. His face brought it on. That look, the sound of his contrasting voice pit against his tortured face; it made me feel sorrowful.

The music calmed, and evened out. " Take a bow, play the part of a lonely, lonely heart..." he trailed off, in the softest voice I had heard him utter yet. He played for a while longer, ending the song abruptly this time.

Even the cut had sounded graceful.

I heard, in the following silence, a pitiful sound. Such a saddened sound, made by the same person who had just been singing so brilliantly.

I could see his face, I could see his eyes that were closed still, and I could see the tears floating and merging with the water around him. Slowly, his tears dissolved, and the blankness settled. His face was hard now, no trace of his moment of weakness anywhere but in the now slightly saltier water.

For so long, my heart had not reacted at all to the memories, the thought of him. But now...now was different. I wanted so badly to make it better, even if I knew not what I was fixing. And with that one intention, the impeccable wall I'd built crumbled with no less than a feather-light flick of the finger.

Rekindled was the flame of music as he started playing again. This time, the tune was hard, sharp and loud. It sounded as though the low thrumming of a drum would go hand in hand with such a tune.

It started off low as he sang, almost like he didn't want anyone to hear. " This is what I brought you this you can keep, this is what I brought you may forget me."

Forget...Forget?

Timid kisses. Awkward exploring. Falling asleep, always falling asleep. Close. Embrace. Warmth. An almost-smile. Fights. Tender. Feelings. Bickering. Glares. Warm. Connected. Kiss. Together...Together...

I gasped. I clutched at the fabric covering my left breast. I'd forgotten, blocked it out. Now I'd remembered...I'd allowed myself to remember.

He kept playing, and sang the next words clearly, fiercely. " I promise to depart, just promise one thing. Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep."

I couldn't advert my gaze from him, and now his face was set with a frown. The piano's song grew louder by each passing moment.

" This is what I thought, I thought you need me. This is what I thought, so think me naive."

I felt, for the first time since I'd entered this dream, as though he were singing to me. Me and only me, even though his eyes remained closed.

" I promise you a heart you'd promise to keep. Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep."

His fingers were going mad as he played not one note out of turn or out of time. Now, he sang lowly, but kept his piano accompaniment strong.

" Kiss my eyes and lay me to...sleep..." he all but whispered the last word. And as he did so, the piano was no longer making any sound, adding amazing emphasis to the ending.

And what emphasis it was.

By a will that was not my own, my foot stepped forward. It was all it took for my body to follow and plummet into the water.

The aqua glow of the water disappeared, and suddenly it was very dark around me. My first instinct was to grope for the surface; for air. But, I could only sink. Sink lower and lower, and oddly enough, I was able to breathe as well.

It was silent all around me, the pressure of the water pressing on my ears, creating a distant humming sound.

Suddenly, I jerked forward. I had no idea how my body was moving when I was not sending the signals for it to do so, but I was suddenly moving through the pool (that was obviously bigger than I thought).

The invisible strings stopped pulling me, long enough for me to blink, and then a bright light ignited in front of me. A pair of hands was holding the light, and the pair of hands belonged to him.

He stood, the light barely illuminating his figure, and his eyes were still closed. Again, the anguished lines had shaped his face.

I reached my arm out, and I didn't even know why. He was just out of my reach. I needed to move, but I couldn't.

" Na..ru..to..." I hadn't spoken his name in so long. It sounded strangled and scratchy coming from my throat.

Kiss my eyes, and lay me to sleep.

I started, the last line of his song echoing around in my head, growing louder and louder until I thought my ears would bleed.

His eyes remained closed. He didn't speak. He didn't move, and the light he held in his hands was slowly becoming dimmer.

No! I thought. When the light went out, I wouldn't be able to see him...talk to him...look at him.

Kiss my eyes, and lay me to sleep.

The sentence screamed in my head, the words possessing no voice.

His eyes...

And then, I could move. The water gave me no resistance, just a light feeling.

My feet obeyed my commands. I stepped to him, close, and reached out and put both my hands on either side of his face.

My face had lost it's expressionlessness long ago, and now I could feel it turning into a facial position that I rarely used. One of pure, unadulterated pain.

I leaned forward, pressing my lips gently against each one of his closed lids, and then I pulled back slowly, unwillingly. I stubbornly held on to him, pressing myself as close to him as I could get without crushing him.

And he...he was lifeless. I heard a sigh escape his lips as I kissed his eyes, but I had gotten no other reaction.

I wanted him to react, I wanted him to do something! Anything! I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him tightly against me. He did nothing. He said nothing. I had heard him do nothing but sing!

I buried my face in his shoulder, willing him to react someway. I noticed the ball of light he'd been holding was floating next to us, casting it's sad glow on our figures.

With a cry of frustration, I pushed his shoulders back and looked at him: his eyes were still closed.

" Naruto!" I called, my hands tensing on his shoulders. This was not the boy I knew. This was not him.

" Naruto," I whispered, gazing at him hopelessly.

His lids fluttered then. Slowly, slowly, they opened. And instead of seeing deep blue orbs filled with too many emotions to count, I saw a dull blue staring back at me. Eyes that were completely devoid. Dead. There was no life. The lines of torture that framed his face were thrown off balance by his emotionless eyes.

Without saying anything, he reached one hand up and put it over my hand, that still gripped his shoulder.

He smiled at me, and I had seen nothing more disturbing.

" Say goodbye," he whispered, so lowly I had to strain to hear him.

" What?" I was so confused, so shaken. This was Naruto. But it was not...it couldn't be.

" Say goodbye, Sasuke," his voice matched his eyes. Dead. So unlike the voice full of emotion and life I had heard as he sang.

I didn't say anything, but I shook my head, mentally pleading with him to stop whatever it was he was doing.

" I love you," he said. And this time, a little bit of emotion leaked into his voice. A flicker passed through his dead eyes.

" So, if you will not say it, I will. Goodbye."

My eyes grew wide. I grabbed him and pulled him close, shaking my head, words failing me. I begged with my eyes. He could not leave. Not now.

He shook his own head, slowly, with a small, mechanic smile playing at his lips. " Thank you, so much, Sasuke."

And then he fell back. Slowly at first, he drifted away from me, and he disappeared from the dim light of the floating sphere.

It took me a moment, staring at where he had been, and then a cry wretched itself from my throat violently. I screamed as I had never screamed before. I yelled to him, for him to come back.

" I'm sorry!" I yelled. " I'm sorry I left! I'm sorry...don't leave! Naruto!"

Were I any amount of sane at that moment, I would have found the situation quite ironic.

I waited in the silence following my shouts, hoping for some response.

The soft melody of a piano hit my ears. My lip was quivering, and I stared in complete shock and hurt into the blackness. The small sphere of light Naruto had been holding was gone.

I could feel another scream threatening to erupt.

And then I awoke in Naruto's arms. My own arms were clutching onto him tightly, while our bodies were entwined on the forest floor, and he was sleepily complaining about my tight grip.

I sat up quickly, bringing him into a sitting position with me. My eyes were wild as I looked at the sleepy blond. Relief coursed through my being as I felt his mouth, his nose, his cheeks, his chest, his hair, his ears...and the I saw his half-lidded eyes. Eyes I could not see in the darkness.

" Naruto," I said, my voice shaking. " Open your eyes." Dread, nausea, and an indescribable crowding of emotion filled me.

He opened his eyes, slowly, slowly, and I saw the brilliantly colored, sleepy eyes that were not dead, but filled with irritation and fondness.

I knew no words to speak then. I pulled him into me, crushing him against me. I cradled him in my arms, and for a short moment I pulled back and kissed him, feeling him react. I kissed him again and again and I told him I'm sorry silentlywith each kiss. After that, I embraced him and did not let him escape my hold.

" Sasuke! Damn it, I want to go to sleep. Lemme go--"

I said nothing, but secured my arms tighter, feeling him, being close to him.

"...Sasuke?" he asked, thoughtfulness creeping into his voice. His voice, alive.

I again said nothing.

Then he was silent for a while, and next he embraced me just as I was him. " It was a nightmare, right?" he whispered softly. " God, the great Sasuke Uchiha getting scared from a lil' nightmare," he said teasingly, scoffing. But as he said this, he held me tighter, and I was so deeply comforted.

As he was sleeping, now on my shoulder, I whispered. " I'm sorry, Naruto. So sorry."

I fell asleep with a piano melody running through my head, and I made a vow to myself then, to never hurt Naruto ever again.

Oh good God. May I ask, does this even make any sense? Any at all? Does anyone understand? Oh man. This started off, and I didn't even know who I was writing about. And this is what happened. Okay. Well. Haha. I do not like this one very much...but...tell me what you think? Very much a spur of the moment that took me an hour to write.

SONGS:

Prelude 12/21 by AFI

Dancing with the Devil by Breaking Benjamin

Any Other World by Mika

...Mucho love!