Troubles

Italics – thoughts, memories/dreams

Sasuke abruptly sat up in bed, breaking into a cold sweat. It was 3:00 am. He was tormented and extremely tired, as he had barely slept all night. It was those blasted nightmares he was having lately. He really needed the rest, but he was too afraid that he'd have to go through that experience again. Sasuke took a towel off his nightstand and wiped his face with it. He pulled his knees up to his chest and tried his best to fight and defeat sleep. He knew he was drifting away. He tried to get off his bed and into the bathroom to wash his face, but neither his legs nor his arms would respond. In a few minutes, he was far away in his own dreamland.

His footsteps echoed on the marble tiled floors of some unknown mansion. He wandered aimlessly around the place, trying to find some signs of life. He walked up an immaculately clean staircase and entered a room which was positioned directly at the end of it. In contrast to where he was coming from, the room was pitch black. He groped in front of him for something to hold on to. He turned around and felt along the ice cold walls for a light switch. Nothing. Nothing at all. Sasuke turned around to grasp hold of the doorknob and exit the room, however, he couldn't locate it anywhere. He began to panic. "It must be here somewhere", he thought. Suddenly, a hallway appeared in front of him. Sasuke hesitated before realizing that his only way out was to go forward. Hesitantly, he walked down the passage, obsidian eyes wide with confusion and fear. A sharp, shrill scream pierced the air. A series of wails moans and screams followed it. A cold chill ran down Sasuke's spine. He really wanted to stop moving, however, a magnet like force kept pulling him in the direction of the screams. By the time he was at the end of the hallway, he was trembling with cold and terror, for at his feet were mercilessly slaughtered persons with unidentifiable faces. The force continued to pull him into the middle of a small room. Its walls were coated with fresh blood and the whole place was filled with its stench. A masked figure stood before him, katana in hand. Three people also appeared out of nowhere. Sasuke recognised them – his brother and parents. "Sasuke-kun, please, help us!" they wailed. He stretched out his hand to them and tried to move forward, but his feet were firmly attached to the floor. He tried to call out to them, but no sound could escape his lips. His breath hitched in his throat as the masked figure raised his weapon. "Sasuke-kun, please help us!" "Sasuke, help us!" "Sa- …" The cries stopped as the figure brought down the katana with brute force, ruthlessly murdering the tormented teen's family.

Sasuke fell to his knees, convulsing, tears freely pouring down his chilly cheeks. He wanted to cry out, but he couldn't. He wanted to flee, but he couldn't. The masked figure let out a disturbing chuckle as he wiped Sasuke's relatives' blood on his clothes, and looked up at the ceiling. Reluctantly, Sasuke followed suit. Different faces appeared in the ceiling. Those of Sakura, Naruto, Hatake-san, and all the other persons he loved and cherished. They were all giving him horrified, disappointed, hateful looks. Slowly the faces grew into bodies and materialized, standing upright on the floor. Sakura, the one he loved the most had tears cascading down her cheeks. She was holding an unfamiliar boy in her arms. He had a traumatized, confused look on his face. Naruto had both hands on Sakura's shoulders. He was saying something to him, however, Sasuke couldn't hear. His vision was blurry from his tears and sweat and a continuous throbbing pain was increasing in intensity at the back of his eyeballs. The masked figure suddenly stepped behind Sasuke and plunged the katana into his back, the other end protruding from his stomach. Excruciating pain shot through his body. He let out an agonizing scream, the first sound that he had made since he entered the slaughtering house. The figure slowly dragged the katana out of Sasuke's body only to plunge it in again, creating another wound. The bodies in front of him began to drip away in blood, adding to the stomach-flipping stench. The only one that remained was the unfamiliar boy. He watched with large, emotionless, black eyes as Sasuke was repeatedly stabbed with the katana…

Sasuke sat up in bed once more, eyes red and puffy, clothes drenched with sweat. His body ached all over. He sighed as he dragged himself out of bed and into his bathroom, knowing that he couldn't take another one of those nightmares. Just thinking about it made him begin to hyperventilate. He tried to compose himself as he slipped out of his clothing and into the shower. When he got out, it was 3:45 am. He exited his room and softly padded down the stairway. He wasn't startled when he saw Hinata curled up on the very last step.

"Morning Hinata-chan."

Hinata looked at him and mustered a weak smile. Sasuke continued on his journey.

Stating the obvious, he asked, "Can't sleep either, huh?"

Holding back her tears, Hinata shook her head. She had also lost her parents and a sibling, but in a train crash.

Sighing, Sasuke made his way to the kitchen and opened the freezer. Oh, why must the innocent suffer? He took out a tub of ice-cream and set it on the counter. While getting whatever else it is that people put on a sundae, he tried to keep the contents of his half-digested dinner down. Firstly, because of the dream he'd just had, and secondly because of the repulsive smell of the ice-cream (he found it repulsive). How do people eat this stuff? I can't even stand the sight of it, much less the smell. He carefully constructed a sundae with everything that Hinata loved then put everything else where it was supposed to go. (Just because he's 'socially challenged' doesn't mean he can't be a nice guy). Before exiting the kitchen, Sasuke opened the second fridge and peered into a box specially labelled 'FOR SASUKE. DO NOT ENTER'. Satisfied that no one had overlooked his warning; he stuck his hand inside and came out with two chocolate bars. They were dark chocolate and contained quite a bit of coffee, hence they weren't sweet at all. I just can't understand why someone would call this chocolate an abomination or a mutation. It's simply divine.

"I figured you'd want this", Sasuke said, holding out the sundae to Hinata when he arrived at the staircase moments later.

Hinata accepted the sundae and nodded thanks to him. Sasuke leaned against the railing and asked, "Would you like me to get Naruto to keep you company?"

"N-no, Sasuke-kun. That won't be n-necessary. Thank you though."

"Ah", came the one worded reply. Sasuke left the blue haired beauty to ponder over her dreams. He climbed the stairs and re-entered his room. When he emerged, he held a black leather covered book in hand, a pen and the two chocolate bars resting atop it. Sasuke climbed another set of stairs up to the third storey and made his way to the foyer. Sitting down on one of the white chairs, he looked down at the garden. He hadn't come on to this foyer in a very long while. He hadn't been able to get a peaceful night's rest in a long while. School was starting the next day and he was in absolutely no suitable condition to go. He was stressed, had dark circles under his already dark eyes, his skin was even paler than before, and he was feeling aches and pains all over. Of course he had voiced his concerns to no one, but his boarding mates weren't stupid. Sasuke moaned in discomfort as he flexed his wrist* as he prepared to write. His latest ANBU mission had taken a large toll on him.

His doctor had required him to get a diary to write in. Recording everything that he felt emotionally, mentally and physically would help them to keep track of his progress. Sasuke flipped through his diary's pages. He stopped and trailed his fingers over the page…

(Diary entry dated Dec. 03)

At the beginning of the winter holiday some ANBU members came to the house. They greeted Shari-san and asked for Naruto and me. Instead Shari-san called Kakashi. When Kakashi came, their pleasant aura suddenly turned dark. I was watching from my bedroom window. There was an argument. I couldn't hear what they were saying though. Kakashi stepped inside and called for us. I hunted Naruto down and dragged him down the stairs and to the front door with me. There stood Kakashi, looking quite unpleased. Standing in the doorway behind him were two men. The first one with red, spiky hair and red burgundy eyes had a long jagged scar that stretched from his jaw, all the way down to his collarbone. He had a smirk on his face. He held a thick wooden covered book which had 'RECRUITS' printed on the front in large, bold letters. The other young man had jet black hair which laid flat on his head. He looked extremely bored. His grey eyes inspected us and hovered over Naruto for a while. Both of them wore their masks on their hips. "Hello, Sasuke and Naruto", the second one said, getting the formalities over with. I got straight to the point by asking, "What do you want with us? We've already finished the mission agreement" "We know that brat, but Senator Honshu asked us to make you two our newest recruits." I looked up at Kakashi who then said, "I told you guys already that the deal's off. These two can't have anything to do with ANBU anymore. They're school kids for Pete's sake. They shouldn't be involved in killing at such a young age, whether for the authorities or not. Besides, they can't juggle their studies and their missions at the same time." The second man let out an exasperated sigh. "Look", he said, "Don't bother to make any excuses. If they've done it for 9 months, they can continue. Stop trying to shelter them Kakashi. You're letting good tools go to waste. Also, don't forget the consequences." "Consequences", Naruto asked. "If Kakashi here doesn't let at least one of you join ANBU, Senator Honshu WILL shut down the boarding house and charge him for resistance to the higher ups' rulings", the first man replied. "So, what will it be, you two", he asked. I analyzed the situation and what the man had said and come up with a conclusion. "I'll do it. For both Naruto and I. You have to stop tormenting Hatake-san and Naruto though. If you or your Senator come asking about recruiting Naruto or anyone else from this boarding house again, though, the deal's off." Naruto immediately grabbed my shirt sleeve, his blue eyes searching mine. He was about to speak when I silenced him with a glare.

"Wise decision, Sasuke-kun", the first man said as he got out a contract and a pen. As I read it through thoroughly, I noticed Kakashi inhale deeply breath and squeeze his eyes shut. It was just then that I realized that he looked old and worn out, even though he was only 27. Dark rings under his eyes were pronounced and the corners of his lips were turned down as if in a permanent frown. When I signed the paper and handed it to the men, I felt terrible. Kakashi had tried so hard to keep me away from them, but I had just flushed all his brave, yet futile efforts down the toilet. When all three of us were safely inside with the door locked behind us, I turned around and looked at them. "Baka*, why did you do that", Naruto fumed, stomping towards me, his arms flailing like mad. "You're the idiot. They don't know your secret, right", I replied. "Aah, Sasuke, you always do something completely crazy to try to protect me. Thanks, bro." "Hn", I replied walking up to my room. You see, everyone knows that I posses the Sharingan, however, very few people know that Naruto possesses the Nine Tails, an extremely powerful energy source. If the ANBU were to learn about this, Naruto would turn out to be like me in record time, and I just couldn't bear to see him like that. Lovely guy, aren't I.

~S. Uchiha

Sasuke sighed and unwrapped a chocolate bar. He tried flexing his wrist once again. Pain shot through it. He clenched his teeth, gripped the pen and began to document his feelings and his nightmare.

By the time Sasuke had finished writing his latest entry the two chocolate bars were done. 4:20 am. He was tired but he was still terrified of sleeping. Maybe if I sleep in the couch downstairs while everyone else is up I'll be okay. Sasuke rose from his seat and stretched a bit. He picked up his belongings and trotted down to the ground floor. Hinata was now curled up on the couch watching a game show. Sasuke disposed of the chocolate wrappers and joined her. They chatted for a bit until she fell into a deep, peaceful rest. He envied her. Jealousy was practically rolling off him in a series of waves. He sat there with her until 7:00 am when she woke and went to take a shower.

The first signs of life in the house at 7 in the morning were Sakura, Temari and the other girls rushing into their bathrooms and showering. Shari had already descended the stairs, oblivious of the two teens in the den, to begin preparing breakfast for the house. Some time later, Sakura and Naruto came down the stairs, the former looking as if she'd had a wonderful rest and the latter mumbling and muttering and holding his head, walking in a trance-like state. Sakura went directly to the den, knowing Sasuke would be there. He sensed her presence and closed his eyes in an attempt to fool her. "Morning Sasuke", she said, sitting beside him and planting a kiss on his cheek. Sasuke's eyes fluttered open and he faked a yawn. "Sakura", he said in a groggy voice. Anyone who wasn't very familiar with Sasuke's habits would have actually fallen for it, but apparently, Sakura was different.

Sakura's eyes suddenly dropped to the floor. "Why do you keep trying to fool me Sasuke?"

"Eh", Sasuke's obsidian eyes widened.

"Do you know how much I worry about you?"

"…"

"Do you know how sickening it is to know that you don't even want to tell me the obvious things that are going on in your life?"

"…"

Tears were rolling down her cheeks now. "Sasuke…"

Sasuke wrapped his arms around her and ran his hands through her silky hair. "Sakura, I'm sorry. I've just been so tired during these past few days, that I doubt that I'm even thinking straight anymore."

"Sasuke… It-it's just that you've been so distant. Sometimes, you'd zone out when we're talking. Yesterday you fell asleep around the breakfast table. You have bags under your eyes and you look like you couldn't get any paler. Did you really expect that no one would notice or care?"

"I'd never really thought about that."

"You know school starts tomorrow, right?"

"I opt not to talk about that, not trying to mask the weariness in his voice."

"Sasuke"

"Hn?"

"I know about the dreams you're having."

"Sasuke immediately tensed, then he released his grip on Sakura's waist and slid to the floor. "I'd figured", he sighed. He covered his face with his right hand, while the other hand propped him up against the couch. Why am I getting so emotional nowadays? Sakura sat beside him on the floor and wrapped him in a tight embrace. He rested his head on her lap; the tightening he had begun to feel in his chest diminished. She stroked his hair and took stray strands out of his face. He murmured something inaudible into her clothes before falling into a deep sleep.

* Flexed his wrist – Sasuke picked up that habit from his older brother. Even though Itachi was killed with his parents, Sasuke still held on to that little habit.

* Baka – Stupid or Idiot

A/N How was it? Rate and review please. I was a little worried that the nightmare might have been a bit violent.

~Anne Callendar