Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Warnings/Rating: blood, probably light R?
Summary: Dreams can be nasty.
Dream
He was dark, fast, dangerous. He was a sleek animal of liquid steel, flowing from shadow to shadow. Death was a flash of silver and then nothingness, just another shadow. Nothing could stop him, he was invincible.
He leapt from one branch and landed on the ground lightly as a cat, and a masked figure turned to face him. Too late! He lashed one foot out, connecting solidly with the figure's chest. It flew backwards, slamming into the tree's trunk with a nasty crunch. He was on it in an instant, katana swinging out, and catching the figure at the collarbone. With a feral grin, and ignoring in the screams of his victim, he slammed the blade down, muscles straining as he hacked through bone. The resulting gash ran from clavicle to hip, splitting the body wide open. Blood gushed from the body in torrents, pooling by his feet. Curiously, he drew his hand through the gash, the warm blood flowing past his fingers. He lifted the hand up, fascinated by the red drops sliding down his fingers. The coppery smell of blood invaded his senses, all other smells faded to the background. The figure at his feet twitched and moaned, and frowning, he leaned down and roughly pulled the mask off.
Iruka's lips were bright, carmine red. More blood spilled past them, staining them even redder. He heard Iruka trying to breathe, a gurgling, bubbling, hiss. He thought he could see an edge of spongy lung peeking over the gash.
"Kakashi," Iruka's voice was soft and serene, "You've killed me." The rattling breaths stopped and Iruka's body went deathly still.
Kakashi's heart thudded loudly in his ears, drowning out any other sound. How could others not hear it? Was it always this loud?
He felt trapped, frozen and rooted to the spot. He looked down again and saw Iruka's mangled body.
He opened his mouth to scream.
"Kakashi. Kakashi! Wake up!" Iruka was shaking his shoulder; he could feel the tremors in Iruka's hand. He heard someone screaming. He clenched his jaw shut when he realized that it was him. Shudders radiated from his belly, he felt clammy, cold, and dirty.
"Kakashi…" Iruka left the question hanging, but Kakashi could read the question in his eyes. He shook his head, not trusting himself to open his mouth; he might start screaming again and never stop.
Iruka hesitantly moved closer to put his arms around Kakashi, but Kakashi shied away, clumsily half falling, half climbing out of bed. He just stood there, visibly shaking, teeth chattering, trembling arms squeezing his torso, and hands clutching at his shoulders. Suddenly, with no warning, he turned and ran to the bathroom.
Iruka sprang out of bed and ran to the bathroom to find Kakashi violently throwing up. Iruka just stood there, hands hanging at his sides, unsure of what to do.
Kakashi had emptied his stomach, but dry heaves wracked his body for several minutes. Finally, he stopped and stood up, wiping the corner of his mouth with a trembling hand. Iruka saw that he has burst several blood vessels on one side of his face from the force of his retching. They stood out, angrily red, under the greenish-white skin.
Kakashi seemed to be in a trance, not noticing that Iruka was there. He turned to the sink and started scrubbing his hands. Iruka watched for about a minute, watched the scalding water turn Kakashi's hands red, watch him scrub his hands with enough force to take skin off.
Finally, Iruka could no longer stand it.
"Stop! Oh please just stop it…" Kakashi ignored Iruka, and kept rubbing at his red, raw hands. Iruka knew he had to do something, so he grabbed Kakashi by the waist and dragged the taller man away from the sink. They landed in a tangle of limbs on the tiled floor.
At first, Kakshi struggled against Iruka, who grimly held on, tan arms determinedly gripped around paler ones. Abruptly, Kakashi went limp, and started shaking again. Iruka could feel wetness on his chest and realized that Kakashi was silently crying. Kakashi gathered up his long limbs, and burrowed deeper into Iruka's chest, as if he could hide from the world. And Iruka held him just as tightly, daring the world to take Kakashi away.
-end-