Warnings - AU fic, some OOC-ness
A/N - Uh, okay...ive been working alot on this...and I hope it goes over well. I have ALOT MORE ideas for this fic...but we must take things one step at a time lol. I had Naruto's whole nightmare written out...and I realized that its best to leave some things for later. His entire dream will unfold thoughout the fic...hopfully among other plot bunnys that I can get out of my system hehe.
Moonstruck Nightmare Chapter One -Absol Toshiyori
Written By - Treina
I
Naruto jolted awake. His fists still clenching the bed sheets, even after awaking. His blanket was tossed to the floor, probably sometime during the night. The sunlight from his bedroom window forced his eyes to shut and block it out. His hair was soaked in sweat, 'the sweating wont stop for another fifteen minutes,' he thought. But the shaking he couldn't stand. He sat up to retrieve his blanket, within five seconds he was buried deep under his covers. "Why do I keep having that dream?" He whispered to the empty room.
He began having that dream exactly one week ago, when he would awake, he could remember every detail. But after an hour passed it was gone, erased from his mind, he couldn't remember anything about it until the next morning. Every night since then had been the same, but when he woke up he was remembering little and little. Now all he could remember was, whatever he dreamed about scared the shit out of him. And every morning he was feeling more terrible.
Around fifteen minutes went by and Naruto still would not move an inch. Although awake, he stayed buried under his covers with his eyes shut. Deciding if he wanted to try remembering anything about his dream, the phone rang. He glared in the direction of the phone and answered it. Not surprised that it was Shikamaru, he plopped back down onto his pillows with the phone at his ear, "what is it?"
Shikamaru began to explain minor details of a new job they were assigned to, "we will be taking pictures of Absol Toshiyori, I think we will have to stay there a few days. I will explain the rest of the details when I come get you."
Naruto agreed and hung up the phone. Bright blue eyes studied the ceiling, "Absol Toshiyori huh?"
Out of all the mountains surrounding the town, there was a single mountain that Naruto had always noticed since he was a boy. If you looked at that mountain from town it was black, pitch black compared to all the other mountains. It scared him, there were always rumors about the monsters that lived in its deep forests. And like the child he was, he believed them.
Sometimes curiosity would get the better of his fear and he would beg the old man who took care of him to go camping there. But the old man would shake his head and reply, "you don't want to go there. Go outside where its sunny and the birds sing. We will go camping next week, but you don't want to camp there."
The young blond would make a weird face at the 'crazy' old man. He would run outside to stare at the mountain, deciding that maybe it wasn't such a good idea, he would settle for kicking a ball around the yard. But still through all these years he had been a bit curious about that mountain, now was a perfect time to check it out. On top of it, he wouldn't be alone. Shikamaru would be there and he knew what that meant, tons of information.
He looked at his clock, realizing the time he got out of bed. He needed to take a shower and pack for the three nights he will be spending in that mountain, thankfully they found a cabin there a few years back so they wouldn't have to sleep outside.
Naruto had been on a few mountain jobs, most of them consisted of photographing wildlife and nature. One of his most favorite assignments was when he got to do the waterfall exploration, he had never seen such huge and beautiful waterfalls in his life. Shikamaru was assigned with him on that job as well. He remembered the lack of ramen on that assignment, he would have to remember to bring alot of ramen to last him these next three days.
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In the middle of the city, in a small news conference room, Shikamaru sat rubbing his temples. "Well did you call him?" His manager asked, as if he were on his last nerve. "Yea I called him, he said he would do it and be ready two this afternoon."
The manager nodded his head and lit another cigarette. Then he noticed Gaara standing in the doorway, "what did you want to talk about?" He asked the red head, not even looking up.
Gaara didn't move from his position, "Im going on this assignment, Ive been on that mountain before," he said in a firm voice.
"What?" Shikamaru yelled, "you remember the last time you went with Naruto? You almost got him killed"
Gaara ignored Shikamaru and waited for their manager to respond. "Im sorry Gaara, I just cant do that. We need you here anyway."
He then looked up at Shikamaru, "shouldn't there be some things you need to take care of before you leave"
"Yea..."
Shikamaru left the room, not saying another word. Gaara did the same,
although everyone knew that Gaara never took no for an answer.
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Nauto stood admiring his hard work, he just completed packing the last of his three bags. The first bag had all his camera equipment, the second was full of clothes, and the third was packed entirely with miso flavored cup ramen. He looked at his watch, it was one o clock and he still had a little time left till Shikamaru would be there to pick him up.
He looked around his apartment to try and find something to do till Shikamaru showed up. Not looking long, he decided that there was nothing to do, so he left his apartment. "Ichiraku here I come!" He yelled with a fist in the air before dashing off in the direction of the famous Ichiraku Ramen.
If he was fast enough he would get to Ichiraku Ramen, eat two or three bowls, be out of there and back to his apartment in under an hour, as long as Ichiraku wasn't busy, but it was a Wednesday afternoon and no one was out, so it was safe to say that it wouldn't be busy. But he found that he was wrong, it was lunchtime and everyone was on break. Ichiraku was packed full.
Smelling the miso ramen coming from the building he decided that it wouldn't hurt to make Shikamaru wait five or ten minutes. After all, he would be out of town for over two days, and he wouldn't be able to come and have a bowl whenever he wanted. Nodding his head, as if to agree with himself, he walked in the bustling little restaurant.
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Around an hour later, Shikamaru pulled into the front of Naruto's apartment and honked the horn. He waited for a few minutes, but no one came out. He honked again and silently cursed the blond for taking so long. He soon honked again, too lazy to walk up to the door, until a person popped their head out the window and screamed at the young man disturbing the peace.
Shikamaru sighed and got out of the car to drag the blond on this assignment if he had to, he was tired of arguing with the boss and other people down at the office, it was all too troublesome.
Soon he came to door 217, Naruto's door. He knocked, "Naruto! Come on lets go," he yelled, but got no response. "Naruto"
Soon
he decided to see if the idiot had drown himself or something, he
wouldn't be surprised. He checked the door and found it un-locked.
"Naruto?" Shikamaru asked, poking his head in the empty apartment.
He
invited himself in and checked the bedroom and bathroom, "hmm..."
Shikamaru mummered, 'you could at least be here when you say you will'
He
thought as he sat in Naruto's little couch. 'I guess I'll just wait
here for him,' he decided, and began to stare at the ceiling.
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Naruto waved to the guy that worked at Ichiraku, "thank you!" he said, and dashed off to his apartment, where Shikamaru would probably be waiting. "Shit! Im so late!" He said, looking down at his watch. 'Maybe he left without me.' he thought, picking up his speed.
He soon came to his apartment and saw Shikamaru's car sitting on the side of the road, "well he's here..." he said, noticing that the car was empty. Naruto shrugged his shoulders and went to see if Shikamaru was waiting at the door...or inside, 'I don't think I remember locking the door.' He thought, walking up to his door. Checking, he found he was right, the door opened without key.
The blond stepped inside and was not surprised to see Shikamaru snoozing on the couch. He tip-toed over to his lazy partner and tapped him on the shoulder. "Shikamaru!" Naruto whispered loudly.
Shikamaru kept his eyes closed, "Im awake Naruto, your an hour late..." he said and opened his eyes.
"Geez,
your so troublesome, its three o clock and the we are supposed to be
there. I hope the guide is still waiting, we need to make it to the
cabin before dark. So if we don't hurry, we will have to wait till
tomorrow." Shikamaru stated frowning, picturing everyone at the office
bitching him out.
Naruto began giving excuses until Shikamaru cut him off, "Naruto, we don't have time for this. Get your stuff, were leaving." Shikamaru said in a slightly demanding tone and left the apartment, to wait in his car.
Naruto soon followed and they were off to Absol Toshiyori, it would be about a two hour drive there and an hour into the the drive Shikamaru said nothing. Naruto began feeling bad for making Shikamaru wait. All because he wanted ramen, that he could have easily waited three days for. Shikamaru was an hour late, and Naruto knew how hard things were going for Shikamaru downtown. He sighed, feeling worse. Naruto never goes downtown, he is always called in for his work. He only needs to go when the boss calls him in (which is very seldom) and when he drops off his slides. But he doesn't even have to go into the building for that, there is a little drop slot located outside the building.
But Shikamaru was not thinking about any of that, he really didn't care that Naruto was late, it gave him time to sleep anyway. No, a certain red head was on his mind. It was curious how Shikamaru had not seen Gaara since he left the office, he began working with Gaara over three years ago and he never once took no for an answer, was he going to this time?
"Gomen..." Naruto stated, shaking Shikamaru out of his thoughts.
"What?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eye brow.
"For making you late, I know how bad things are down"
"Don't worry about it, I don't much care. I had a good nap anyway." He interrupted, wanting to ask the blond something.
"Have you by chance seen Gaara at all today?" Shikamaru asked non-chalantly.
But Naruto made a weird face anyway, why would he mention Gaara so out of the blue? "Why"
Shikamaru
frowned, "he said that he was going to go on this assignment, but the
boss declined and told him to stay. I haven't seen him all day since
then and I was wondering if you have." Shikamaru explained, but Naruto
didn't quite understand.
"So why would he come to me?" Naruto asked.
"I just found it weird that Gaara didn't pursue it, he seemed very intent on coming with us."
Naruto didn't say anything and neither did Shikamaru, uncomfortable silence soon crept on and Naruto couldn't stand it, so he turned on the radio and Shikamaru silently praised the blond for turning it on and ending the silence. They would soon be at the guide, Shikamaru just prayed that he was there waiting and they would be able to press on.
Not
long after, they came to a small building at the bottom of the large
mountain, Shikamaru parked in front and honked his horn. "Hey Naruto,
go up and knock on the door"
"What?" Naruto screamed.
"Its for making me wait an hour"
Sweatdrop..."Fine," Naruto mummered, getting out of the car.
"All he did was sleep anyway." Still complaining, Naruto knocked on the little white wooden door in front of him.
A short little old man with white hair and little round glasses answered the door. He leaned on a cane which he held with his right hand. "Can I help you young man?" The little old man asked, lifting his glasses, as if to take a better look and the boy standing on his porch.
"Yes, I am here with my partner Shikamaru...we are here to take photographs of the mountain." Naruto began to explain, but was cut of quickly by a little old woman who was standing behind the man.
"Oh! You must be hungry! There are some cakes in the oven, please come in!" She said and grabbed Naruto's arm.
Shikamaru saw Naruto get dragged inside by a little old woman. He lowered his head and sighed, "how troublesome"
Getting
out of the car, he noticed that maybe this wasn't the right place, he
noticed a few more houses that looked like this one down the road.
Walking up the little wooden steps to the front door, the little old man opened it before he got the chance to knock.
"Can I help you young man?" He asked.
"Uh, yeah we are here looking for a guide up to Absol Toshiyori..." Shikamaru said, pointing to the mountain.
"Yes, I am that guide, your partner is in the house." The little old man said and led Shikamaru in the house.
It was a cute little house, you could tell it was lived in. Shikamaru was lead into the dining room where the table was filled with food and sweets. Naruto was sitting at the table stuffing his face and the woman just smiled at him the whole time.
"Hey, didn't you eat enough before we left?" Shikamaru asked.
"Oh hi Shikamaru! Want some? Its really good!" Naruto said, gulping down what was in his mouth.
Shikamaru shook his head, "no, its too late, we need to get on that mountain. If we hurry we can still make it"
"No,
im sorry, you will all have to wait till tomorrow morning. I might be
able to get you up there, but I wont make it back before the sun goes
down," the little man explained, resting his cane against the chair and
sitting at the table across from Naruto.
"Well why cant you stay the night in the cabin?" Shikamaru suggested.
For a while the old man sat in silence frowning, "no, I don't set foot on that mountain, not even in my grandfathers cabin..." A sad look fell on the old man's face and Shikamaru said nothing more on the subject. He would just have to extend their mission one day, it wasn't a big problem.
Shikamaru ate a few bites but couldn't make himself eat anymore, he ate enough before the trip figuring they would be walking up a mountain and such. So he sat for a while and watched Naruto consume most of the food, soon Naruto was holding a full stomach, complaining about how much he ate.
"Follow me please," the little old woman said with a smile and began to walk up some stairs that was located to left of the dining room entrance.
The two boys
followed the woman up the stairs and down a hallway. She opened the
last door in that hall, "this is where you will both be staying, if you
need anything just use that phone, it leads to the storeroom, that's
where I will be, ask for Mrs. Fenli"
Shikamaru nodded and the two photographers entered the room that they would be staying in for the night.
It was a nice place, they had their own private bathroom and separate beds. There were two bookshelves, both loaded with different books, some on the mountain and history of the little town they were in. But Naruto ran into the bathroom, "I call bathroom first!" He yelled, shutting the door.
Soon Shikamaru could hear the shower turn on and he rolled his eyes. Content that he could have a few minutes of quiet, his thoughts drifted amongst the silence as the running shower only acted as a comforting white noise.
"I wonder why he refuses to step foot on that mountain after dark...maybe it has something to do with his grandfathers cabin. Ha, I bet he's into all that superstitious mumbo jumbo crap like Gaara and Naruto," Shikamaru said to himself un-contiously.
Shikamaru shook his head, he couldn't understand why people would believe in things like ghosts and demons, or little urban legends that found their way around the city you live in. Like this mountain for instance, alot of spook stories come out of there. People claiming to have seen monsters or hear screams, Shikamaru knew it was a bunch of crap, people would try anything to get any kind of publicity.
The shower turned off and soon enough Naruto came out of the small bathroom, fully clothed in his niteies and cap.
Shikamaru
got up and walked to the bathroom, ready to take his shower and get
some sleep, he wanted to get this job over with as soon as possible, it
was already becoming to troublesome.
Naruto was happy enough that Gaara wasn't there and Shikamaru was here in his stead. This way he could stay awake without anyone knowing, unlike Gaara Shikamaru sleeps, and he doesn't just sleep, but he sleeps really hard, its takes alot to wake up a sleeping Nara Shikamaru...or any Nara for that matter. Naruto figured that he could fake sleeping until Shikamaru fell asleep, then he would get up and read a book or something.
It was a great plan, but Naruto knew how hard it was to try and stay awake, he was always out like a light. He would just have to try extra hard to stay awake. He didn't want to have that damn dream again. Especially while they were on this mountain, never mind the fact that they were really at the foot of the mountain. He couldn't blame the old man for not wanting to stay in that cabin, god only knows, its probably haunted. In a way Naruto was relived that they could put it off until tomorrow, the only problem was the sleep. How the hell was he going to stay awake for nine hours while everyone else slept?
He should have picked up some of those energy pills on his way home from Ichiraku, he would just have to keep his mind on other things besides sleep. Naruto could hear the shower turn off and soon Shikamaru came back into the bedroom and quickly hit his pillow.
"Ne Shikamaru?" Naruto whispered after Shikamaru turned the light off.
"What"
"Why do you think that the old man didn't want to spend the night in that cabin?" Naruto asked.
"I
don't know...and I don't really care, just get some sleep, we have to
wake up early tomorrow and walk up this god forsaken mountain."
Naruto frowned, well Shikamaru was certainly in a bad mood. So Naruto decided to not say another word and let the 20 going on 60 Shikamaru fall asleep, this was where it started to get hard. Naruto could feel his eyelids wanting to close, to shut out whatever light that might still be lingering in the room. But he refused to give in to his dizzy mind and heavy eyelids, and he did very well for about three hours, but soon he fell asleep without consciously knowing it.
There, his dream once again began, once again did he begin to cry and thrash around. There, his mind was filled to the brim with terror and no way to escape from it.
To Be Continued