Looking Glass
A/N: This is my first one-shot on the site, ratings and reviews are encouraged and loved!
The dusty blue expanse was the only thing he could see besides the grey wall of clouds coming towards him slowly, yet at a brisk pace, soon to have covered up the sun. The breeze was blowing gently, causing the brittle grass underneath him to rustle, flowing like a river towards the east. The temperature seemed to drop every moment, enveloping him in the cold, slowly but surely, the warm rays of the sun the only thing keeping him from shivering. That was where he was drifting; somewhere between night and day, warm and cold, past and present. He closed his eyes, feeling the tears continuously well up in his blue eyes. Alone, he was all alone. The sun was now directly above him, and the wind blew once more, blowing blonde locks of hair into his eyes as he closed them again. Suddenly, he was no longer in the dying field with the rough grass to scratch his arms and legs when he moved, but somewhere else…somewhere pleasant.
The wind was blowing here too. But it was now carrying the scent of flowers…the sound of a woman humming. He was standing outside of a door, looking up at a red headed woman he'd never seen before but who seemed almost too familiar. She turned to look at him, smiling at him softly, something he wasn't accustomed to. Smiling…a kind smile, directed at him. And he found himself smiling at the woman as well. He saw her mouth move—she was speaking to him, but he couldn't hear, he could only see the mouth moving. What did she want him to do? He realized there was no need for him to know as his legs began to move on their own, like he was watching for a distance as this young, blonde child ran into this woman's arms. Now there was another feeling, a warm feeling starting from the inside and working its way up. She was kneeling at his level and whispering something to him that he seemed to subconsciously understand, feeling his head nod, then running into the house. A place filled with warmth, flowers on the window sill, windows open allowing light to flood the room, lighting the tan walls with a yellowish tint, sheer curtains dancing with the breeze. Another familiar place. But somewhere he'd never been before.
This time it was a man that caught his eye, and for a moment, it became seeing himself through the looking glass who knew how many years into the future. A man in white and red. For some reason, he felt a sense of what he thought to be irrelevant pride rise up in his chest. Proud…of what? He didn't get a chance to think of an answer as he felt himself run towards the man, and understood the words mouthed to him this time.
"Welcome back Naruto."
He saw what was said, but still failed to hear it. From a mirror on the wall he could see the red haired woman smile, a tear trailing down her cheek. Crying? Why crying? And he could feel the tears, landing on his face…but was he crying? He wanted to ask the man whose identity was but a shadow in his mind, who looked almost too much like him…but as he turned to look, he could only the grey wisps of clouds, the now dusty sun, a filtering light where brightness had once been, rain drops pitter pattering all around him, falling onto his face and into his eyes, plastering his bright hair to his head. The ground around him was drinking the rain hungrily, wet as he balanced himself on it to pull himself up. A face streaked with water. But was the rain, or merely his tears? He no longer knew whether or not he was crying. He wiped his face and closed his eyes once more, hoping to see the woman's face again…or the man. To see the world through the looking glass again. But nothing worked. Frustrated, the young boy looked up at the sky, wanting to scream at the world like he'd done before. But for once, he restrained himself. He felt somewhat content. He'd experienced a pleasant moment with this rare feeling for the first time. Whether or not it was real didn't matter. He pulled his knees up to his chest, resting his chin the nook they created, careful not to graze their scabbed exterior and gazed up once more at the grey sky, a smile mixed with tears coming to his face. Content for a moment. That was all that mattered.