Note: this is a fanfiction about the Manga and Anime series; Naruto, by Masashi Kishimoto--I own nothing
Trees. Rushing by. Fire. Screams. Stopping. Bodies. Dying. Fainting. Falling. Eyes closing. Gates. Chains. Growling. Fox. Hatred. Struggling to stand. Failing. Fox. Nagging. Feeling terrible…
The images came faster; blurrier.
Blood. Kunai. Waterfalls. Sasuke. Tears. Dying flowers. Sakura. Kakashi. Neji. Kiba. Shino. Shikamaru. Ino. Chouji. Rock Lee. Tenten. Hinata. Dying. Screaming. Hokage. Nine-tailed fox. Gaara. Killing. Falling. Consumed in fire. Stars. Eyes. Red eyes. Itachi. Akatsuki. Tsunade running. Fire. Death. Pain. Fighting. Blood. Rage. Demon fox. Consuming. Fear. Hate. Sadness. Revulsion. Horror. Disgust. Hurt. Falling up. Eyes opening……
Naruto woke up, breathing heavily. Danger was coming. Sitting up, he rubbed his eyes. He didn't know what time it was, but he needed to notify Tsunade. This wasn't some stupid nightmare. He didn't know what it was. But it was real.
Standing up, not even bothering to put on his jacket, he ran out and headed to the Hokage's building. Dawn was breaking over the horizon and it put everything into a red haze. It was a chilling morning. Naruto, running to the Hokage's home, realized it had been one year since his failure to rescue Sasuke. One year ago since he last saw his best friend. He was nothing like that to Naruto now. But he needed to bring back Sasuke all the same. It was what was right.
Tsunade's office was in sight now. Naruto continued running. Almost there…he thought, coming closer to the door. Something happened. The rising sun glinted in his eyes. His foot must've hit a rock; he fell and hit the ground. Hard. He felt a cut on his hand. It began to bleed. Wiping it on the ground, he struggled to get up. His head was pounding…
Footprints. In sand. A trail. Of blood. A black jacket with red clouds. Akatsuki. And footprints. In the sand.
Naruto was running again.
Up the steps, around the corner, up some more steps, around another corner, Naruto mentally said to himself. Seeing her office door, he did what he usually did when he needed to say something important—he barged in without knocking.
"Grandma Tsunade I-" Naruto stopped. Tsunade, who had been asleep, was glaring at him, the look of an angry-bear-awoken-in-the-middle-of-hibernation on her face. She slowly composed herself, and yawning, asked, "Yes, Naruto?"
"We're in trouble. I saw the Akatsuki. They're in the village of Sand…but they're on their way here. I don't know how many of them there are, but there's going to be lots of blood. And lots of fire. We've gotta send someone out! Now!"
Surprise flickered across Tsunade's face, brown eyes suddenly alert, "How did you learn this Naruto?
"This is gonna sound corny, but I saw it in a nightmare. They were just a bunch of images flashing rapidly in my head. It was all about…" Naruto paused, "Hate, and pain……suffering and anger. Death…blood. All of my friends dying. And the Akatsuki. It always ended with them, and the F-Fox. He was yelling at me for not being able to do something. Before he got to what I was supposed to do, it went back to blood and fire."
Looking up, he saw that Tsunade's expression had changed. She snorted and looked over out the window. Watching the sunrise, she said, "I'm pretty sure it's nothing to get worked up on, Naruto. You probably just ate some bad ramen last night."
Bad ramen? There is no such thing as "bad ramen!!!!" Naruto thought horrifically. The idea of bad ramen was too…impossible to think about. Especially at a time like this.
Naruto decided to argue, "I didn't eat anything last night."
Tsunade's eyebrows arched, and Naruto knew she still wasn't convinced, "This has something to do with Sasuke being gone, doesn't it? Or did you forget that it's been exactly one year today that you last saw him?"
Naruto caught his breath and replied cynically, "No, I haven't forgotten."
He continued, "So what happens if the Akatsuki do come to attack? What happens if they murder everyone in their way? What happens if we're unprepared, and they get what they want?"
Tsunade looked at the early morning sky and the sun rising in it. She so wanted to believe this boy—this boy who had taught her so much about herself, who made her lose her fear of blood, who made her remember her boyfriend and brother—but his information wasn't liable. A dream just wasn't good enough. Turning back to Naruto, she took one look into his electric blue eyes and instantly dismissed whatever smart-mouth comment she was going to say.
"What happens, Naruto? We fight. The murders they make before they reach us cannot be stopped, and we can't dwell on them. Even if they came into the village, they would not escape with what they need; we will kill them. But we don't need to worry about that. There is no attack. Your dream was just that. A dream. Something must've triggered it, and it was probably the fact of the one year anniversary that takes places today. You probably were fretting about Sasuke and Orochimaru. And about Itachi—what he plans to do to Sasuke. It was nothing more than your fears mushed together into one nightmare. I think you're overreacting, Naruto."
Naruto stood there, looking down at the floor, which was tinted red from the sun.
"Then why was it so real? I've had nightmares every single night for almost fourteen years. And I've never come running complaining to you. This dream was a sign. The Fox was trying to tell me something—something about a failure."
Tsunade continued to look at him. Her heart hurt to know that he was suffering like this. A nightmare? Every night? She thought sadly.
Watching him, she didn't know what to say. Then Naruto looked out at the sun. His eyes were a clear, otherworldly blue—just like his father's, Tsunade thought with a pang. As he looked out the window, he suddenly froze.
Bang! Naruto's knees hit the floor. Bending over, holding his head, the images began flashing in his mind once more.
Sand. Blood. Screaming. Confusion. Reroute. Sand. Nothingness. More sand. No city. Blood. Wounds. Retreating. Running. Sand…sand…sand…sand….
Naruto's eyes slid open.
He climbed to his feet, and whispered weakly, "They retreated. They were at the village of Sand and must've been beaten. There was some confusion, probably deciding what to do, and they turned and ran. One of them was bleeding…and they kept going. All there was was sand and more and more sand."
Tsunade was on her feet, looking at Naruto. Seeing him standing and talking calmed her, and she sat back down.
Naruto, what is this? I've never seen this kind of pain…it's too contained and calm, but it looks so agonizing. Like a typhoon in a bottle. What happened, Naruto?
Naruto stared at her, "You don't believe me do you?"
Tsunade sighed and decided to tell the partial truth, "I wish I could, Naruto. But your information isn't that reliable. I still think it has something to do with the date today, but of course I could be wrong. Just don't worry about it for a while and see if the images wear off."
"But what if they come back, Grandma Tsunade? What if whatever happened just now happens again?"
Giving a resigned sigh, she replied, "Come to me when this happens, but only if something changes in this…dream. You got me?"
Naruto nodded, "Yes."
Turning on his heel, he walked out of her room and closed the door softly behind him.
Tsunade sighed and laid her head down on her desk. It was time to visit Kakashi.