Pairings: Still Saunaru

Disclaimer: Not mine

Unbeta-ed.

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"Oh my god, what happened out there?"

"The town's gone! The whole town."

"What did they do out there? What happened?"

"Why?"

Each child sounded up in exclamations.

' They sounded so grown up before, but it's easy now to see that they're just kids.', Naruto thought, forcing his way through the crowd with Sasuke at his rear.

Inside the house nothing seemed out of place. Well. Not out of place for a dwelling decorated a la bargain bin style. A cut green glass lamp illuminated one corner of the room. At the other side a fish covered lampshade spun around in circles while bathing the room in blue light. Boys and girls who weren't peering out the window or crying on the floor were flung around squishy but dumpy furniture.

"Everything's fine to me. Anything seem weird to you?"

Sasuke shrugged in reply. One freckled boy came up to them from his place at the windowsill.

"There's no grownups around. After nap or quiet time we came downstairs looking but couldn't find anybody. Then Kim tried to open a window except she couldn't get it up. And all the big boys couldn't get it up either so it really was stuck. All the doors were stuck.", he whispered.

Sasuke and Naruto shared a look. Sasuke pulled the kid closer.

"Did you see anything? Anything happen after this?" He whispered into the kid's ear, nearly banging his chin into the boy's wildly waving head.

"No.", said the kid, drawing it out for all that the no was worth. "Could you let me down now?"

The other man released his hold and he spun back into the group.

"It looks like they'll be okay if they stay here." He offered with a shrug. Naruto tugged his lip into his mouth, worrying it between his teeth.

"If you're sure."

" I am. Let's go we've wasted enough time here." Sasuke steered Naruto to the door. They left with for the children to not come outside. The walk to the house was quiet. Both men kept a lookout.

To every direction stretched a vast wasteland. Grey sand shifted over the tops of their sneakers. The plain like quality made it easy to spot any would be attackers since there was no other place to hide except behind the house or in the sand. And Naruto didn't think that it would be in the sand. He didn't think it would be anything but an it either because Sasuke seemed sure it was house-related and an it.

They made their way to the door. It's inlaid wooden cravings looked much more profound at half-light. A cloudy billow tipped the edges of each panel. Or maybe they were fans. The blonde stared at them endeavoring to crack the code hidden in each swell. It looked normal. It looked like the fancy carving stuff that modern psuedo-baroque furniture.

"Are you gonna let us in or stare at it all night.", Sasuke groaned.

The blonde relaxed, descending from a high he didn't know he was climbing up to.

"Alright. Alright. Don't get your panties in a twist." Fishing the key out of his pocket, Naruto let them in.

The house was empty. They both let out breaths neither knew they were holding.

"Ehehe. I guess things were okay in here?", the blonde laughed out. It strung up high and tight above them like little discordant bells ringing insanely.

Sasuke stared back. "It's upstairs." He breathed.

The staircase ran long and swirling above them. Each step felt twisted. Each rise distorted. Soon they found themselves outside a door. The door Naruto exited from into this new place that wasn't quite like the old one, where Sasuke, though still eerily attractive, didn't have this raw fear to him and children laughed and waitresses served.

"Open it." Sasuke whispered. Maybe the door whispered too. Naruto rested one hand on the knob, then the other one, ready to slam it shut on the ghoulie within. Sasuke placed his hand over Naruto's too. The knob turned. And the room-

The room looked exactly as the blonde had left it. Crimson sheet crumpled half over the bed. Cellophane wrappers scattered over the floor.

"What the hell?", he screamed. "It's exactly as I left it. There's nothing here." In a fit of fury he threw the sheets to the ground and kicked the bed.

Naruto whirled around to face the other man.

"What are we supposed to do now, huh? Where the hell is that goddamn monster that we're supposed to fight? Fricken' hell, how is everything suppose to get normal if there's nothing to do. I can't fucking-"

They both fainted this time.

1:47 tomorrow. The clock read 1:47 am. It was still dark outside, thought Naruto from his bed. The dirty crimson colors pooling around him as his tired blue eyes squinted outside.

He was upset. Waking for no obvious reason didn't set well with the tired blonde. He wiggled around experimentally, testing if his bladder was the problem.

Naruto was broken out of his stupor by footsteps downstairs.

'Yesterday!' Yesterday flooded back. The town was gone. Now Sasuke was gone. He crashed into the windowsill, clawing frantically at the curtains. Red sheets fluttered down, torn across in places.

The town was back.

Thump.

The footsteps were still there too. Panic rushed into his soul, big and ferocious. It felt like another person slipped into his skin, making him want to jump out of it. Tear it from his soul and throw at it the intruder shouting 'There, have it' before flouncing off.

The blonde grabbed an ornamental candlestick off one of the shelves of brick-a-brack. It was a moon-glazed milky gold between piles of papers, palettes and little tarnished bells. The grimy bits were effectually covered although he could feel its texture change. Excellent. More grip for the hitting.

With weapon in hand, Naruto made his way downstairs. The shadows of chairs, much more menacing than their originators, arched over him. It, whatever it could be, squeaked a door open. The footsteps sounded sharper now. Echoing across the living room.

There was the loudest, piercing-est chime of dripping. He looked up and around at the ceiling for water somewhere.

And then came a loud flush.

"Sasuke?", Naruto ventured, unsure of who else would be drop in to use his toilet.

A sleek head of hair and bits of rumpled clothing, highlighted by the moon, grumbled sleepily at him. Sasuke pushed past the blonde. Naruto followed him up the staircase.

"Sasuke, did you look outside yet?"

"Uuh, leave me alone. 'S too early to be looking out windows. I'm just not running at full strength today." Yawing loudly, he stretched him arms out. Naruto caught the other man's wrist. He held it above their heads as a hostage.

"Sasuke, I think you need to have a look outside." And with that, the blonde dragged back the steps, tugging when needed to jumpstart Sasuke's dilatory pace. He took them to the door.

Sasuke glared hotly at him before he gave the door a push. The same barren white sand swirled around their feet and stretched out miles wide into a low flat line disrupted only by the orphanage.

He slammed the door shut, resting him palm on it for a few second later with a look in his eye that could only be interpreted as a 'Now what, genius?' type of glare.

'But, it couldn't-', Naruto rambled. He wrenched the door open in confusion and stared outside.

He shouted out across the sands. "I swear, everything was all back to normal! I know it was. It wasn't like this, this…" The blonde let out a bloodcurdling screech.

The sands throbbed across themselves, rolling in waves of heat. Dark red liquid oozed from between sifting plates of sand. The viscous wave lapped up to Naruto who stumbled into Sasuke. Sasuke's knee hit the furniture, causing them to come crashing down.

Trying to keep himself from the congealing red mass, the blonde scrambled away on his hands and knees. Sasuke stood up and grabbed Naruto. His face was a contrast of shocked, vibrant eyes and ashen skin.

Naruto pushed Sasuke off of him, kicking at the tide. The white tips of his shoes stained red.

He woke in a ditch. The blonde brought his hands to his eyes, kneading the sleep out of them. Moisture smeared across his face and he swiped at it with a pink tongue. Pausing, he snaps the flavoring around.

He brings his arms in front of him. Screams shake the car. Naruto slams his red, opened arms against a twisted metal frame and staggered back when he realized it was his car.

"Ohgodohgodohgod', was the mantra that fell from his lips. He threaded his fingers through the matted blonde locks and held them out because he felt bits of his flesh parting painlessly from one of his head wounds. The pink clump squished underneath his fingers.

Naruto ran screaming, head first into the largest glass shard of his windshield. The edge cleaved his open skull. He blacked out.

And woke again next to Sasuke on the dusty floorboards of the old Uchiha house. The blonde brought shaking fingers to his head, chest, shoulders. And then he searched Sasuke for any signs of death, cementing himself to the other man's side because he was warm. Just lukewarm but still life-warm.

Dark eyes slid open. "Mmm…are you alright?"

Naruto curled on top of the other man's chest, ear cupped to listen to his heartbeat. Sasuke leaned forward on his elbows and the blonde tumbled down to his lap where he shuddered, reliving the nightmare.

"Hey, get up. You are scaring me." Sasuke shifted so he could get a hold of Naruto and lifted him up to sit on his lap as easily as if Naruto was a child.

The blonde shook his head. His body felt too large all of the sudden like the illusion took a piece of Naruto out of himself. And he felt all odd and hollow inside that part.

"Did you have a dream too?" He asked the other man. Sasuke shook his head disbelievingly.

"You don't mean to tell me all of this is over a dream? Just a dream?", he scoffed, pushing Naruto off onto the floor.

The blonde stood up, affronted, over the still seated Sasuke. 'What do you mean just a dream? It sure as hell isn't about just a dream. I'd think that after going over what we've been through tonight-", Naruto scowled.

"What have we've been through tonight? The walk? Did the walk in the dark scare you?"

"Of course it scared me. And I damn well know that it scared you too. Don't try pretending to be the tough guy in this situation, it's not gonna work. I saw you shiver when that waitress dissolve." Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at the raving man.

"So, did the waitress dissolve between handing you your leftovers or was it after we paid the bill." Naruto closed his fingers discovering a plastic bag with a carton of what smelled and felt like half a bowl of his chicken soup.

He brought it close up to his face. He didn't remember needing another bowl for takeout and said so. Sasuke just shrugged his shoulders, saying that the blonde did look out of it. He'd just taken the dazed look for him thinking about eating the next bowl.

Hands shaking, he whispered, "But I don't even remember coming home. All I do remember is this terrible night where all the towns disappeared and the kids were safe but I was dead in a car accident."

Naruto looked up to a confused Sasuke.

"You don't remember anything. But, but, why are we on the floor then. Yeah, I came downstairs and you were using the bathroom. Then… this red time came into the doorway and the next thing I knew. Well, I was dead.", he said.

Sasuke thought for a moment before slowly talking. "It all sounds pretty fantastical to me, and I've been reading fairy tales and legends for some time. You know the sudden scene changes makes it sound like you were dreaming. I mean, we did lay around for a while after eating. It was probably the comforting fullness of you stomach that lulled you sleep." He explained casually enough.

"Huh." The blonde said.

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So, that's the next chapter. Yeah. Guys, please review. It's nice to know that you like this story enough to put it on alert, but informal little message about "--- having placed your ---- story on their alert list" isn't as warm anf friendly as reviews. Hell, I don't mind if the review is two words and those words are "you" and "suck". Just, please, it would be nice to know that the world hasn't died out there.

EDIT: OKay. You're amazing out there. I think I've gotten more reveiws for this chapter than when this fic. first came out! Love you out there.

Oh. And if you like what I write, then check out my original fiction journal at: http://ookami-dono . insanejournal . com/ without spaces.