Staring at himself in the long mirror which hung on the wall, straightening his green graduation jacket, Sasuke Uchiha was doing all he could to control himself. Not from having stage-fright or from the anxiety and excitement form graduation, but he was feeling sick once more.

Oh that terrible dream just wouldn't leave him alone.

Behind him the girls of the class, Ino and Sakura, were peeking out the curtain at the crowd that had assembled outside, pointing out everyones parents, from their own to Choji's, it would seemed that everyone had shown up.

Grinning to himself at his plans to assure that his family wouldn't be there, he nimbly decided that leaving the green uniform unbuttoned would be best and began looking around for his wristbands, where had he put-

Gnarl

Looking over he saw none other than Amaris, standing there with the pieces of leather known as Sasuke's wrist-ware in her jaws.

"Ammy, what are you doing here?!" he asked in a harsh whisper, the wolf only turning to look away from him right before he heard those chilling words come from Ino's mouth.

"Hey isn't that the chief of police?"

--------------------------------------------------

He was gonna kill him.

Of course, the same person who graduated early for someone of their age would remember the exact date, time, and place of the graduation ceremony.

Itachi.

"If I make a run for it now do you think I'll be out of Kohona territory before they realize I'm gone?" the teenager mumbled to his pet who loyally stood at his side.

Resting her chin on his knee, she let out a low moaning sound, even he understood what she was asking: why?

"Because….." he answered her as he looked away, folding his arms across his chest, still plotting some sort of escape route in his mind.

"Come on Sasuke-kun its time to go be seated!" both girls said at the same time, he tried to make a dash for the door but they grabbed a hold of him anyway and pretty much ended up dragging him outside to where all the seats for the 'soon-to-be graduates section' had been set up.

Then an old man with white and red robes –with a hat to match- came up to the podium, beginning his speech.

Sensing how long the session was going to last, the black-haired boy leaned his head back abit, trying to calm down and feel the breeze on the hot summer day.

But of course having over fifty excited teenagers on all four sides of your being made it an impossible task.

Giving up, he made the mistake of closing his eyes……..

The mountain…the chains….the stench…..the fear…..then at the exact moment his dream life was ended, his eyes snapped open just as his row was being called to stand and accept their certificates for completion of the academy.

With weak legs he stood up, with Ino infront of him and Sakura in the back, the walk to the stand made him nauseous.

"For Perfect Attendance and Highest Class Scores, it is my pleasure to award Uchiha Sasuke……" the rest that came from the mans mouth was a mere blur as Sasuke felt himself being shoved up the steps to the stage, where he managed to keep his composure and the famous stone-like Uchiha face as he accepted the awards and exited the other side of the stage.

"Next is Sakura-" the old Hokage went on as the teenager practically tripped over his own feet the moment he was out of sight of the crowd, he needed to be gone from here, far away, he couldn't let anyone see him like this.

Feeling acidy liquid spill onto his hand he wiped it off before dropping the items in hand and regaining his balance. Making a run for it, he didn't know where he was running or how far he was going, he just needed to run.

Nobody saw him leave, nobody cared to see if he ever made it back to his chair after his row was finished receiving their certificates. The only other creature on the earth with the Uchiha in mind was the white Ookami who kept her distance as she kept a few yards just behind him as her master went running from some unknown enemy.

A blur of brown and green flew past the sick Uchiha's vision as he jumped from limb to limb. The only thing that made him stop was his skin snagging on a sharp, jagged branch which had been struck by lightning in a storm many years ago.

His balance being lost and his senses misdirected, he was flung face-down into the dirt, rolling over a few times over hard, sharp gravel form the momentum.

Whimper.

Within a second his faithful old friend was at his side, encouraging him to get up by pawing his shoulder and licking the little streams of blood falling down his face from the impact with the small stones.

Blinded with dizziness and confusion he grabbed her harness with a weak hand and let her guide him up against a nearby tree.

Oh what was wrong with him? He never got sick, not like this before. He knew the dreams had some sort of connection, but what?

A large, warm, and furry body laying down next to him to keep him company, the warmth of the sun, and the exhaustion of his mind, all these things lured the Uchiha into a deep sleep, which this time, had no plague of nightmares accompanying it.