Naruto, Sasuke, and I practice until nightfall when we decide to go in for dinner. We all made it to the top of the tree before going in.

We race back to Tasuna's house. I'm in this lead and the door is right in front of me. I crash through and scream "I win! Take that Naruto!" Everyone in the house is stunned.

Naruto comes in a few seconds later being supported by Sasuke. They're so weak. I smirk at the two of them as they collapse in a sweaty heap on the floor.

"Aww," I say, prodding Sasuke in the back, "The babies decided to take a nap. How cute."

Sasuke lets out a grunt and shoves me on the ground before rolling on top of me. "The baby needs a pillow," he pants, resting his head on my chest. I feel my heartbeat move substantially faster before Kakashi interrupts.

"What exactly is going on here?"

I look up at him. I can still feel his blood on my face. "He, uh, fell asleep." I wriggle under Sasuke's weight, resulting in him grunting and getting off me. He reaches out a hand to help me up and I take it gratefully. I turn to Kakashi and give him a hug like I gave the other boys.

"Uh, what are you doing?" He asks as I step away.

"She did it to the both of us too after she had a nightmare," Naruto points out, picking himself up off the ground.

"A nightmare?"

"It was nothing, I just had a weird dream." Dammit, Naruto. Why'd you have to tell him that?

"Which is obviously why you were screaming in your sleep." What the hell, Sasuke? I thought you were on my side!

"Ayaka," Kakashi says sternly, "What happened in this dream of yours?"

"Nothing," I say nervously, backing towards the door. "It was nothing."

"You're lying to us, I can tell." Just drop it already! "It was about that thing earlier, wasn't it?" Crap.

"No, it was nothing." I'm up against the door now, my hand positioned on the door knob. I'm scared. I keep seeing my parents, just images of them flashing in front of my eyes.

"Don't lie to me, Ayaka," Kakashi growls. "This is obviously bothering you." There it is. Why is it here? I didn't transform did I?

"No," I murmur. My breathing is ragged and shallow.

"What?" Kakashi's in it's grip now. It's going to rip him apart. He's going to die. They're all going to die... because of me.

"No!" I scream as the monster swallows my sensei whole. I turn and run out the door, heading to the forest as fast as possible. I don't want to see them die again. Never again.

I sit below a tree, clutching my head. Calm down, Ayaka, it was just a dream. They didn't really die. Everything is okay. You didn't do anything wrong.

My breathing slows and I lean up against the tree, looking at the dark blue night sky speckled with stars.

I begin to doze off when I feel someone sit down next to me. I peek my eyes open to see Sasuke leaning against my tree.

"How are you doing?" He asks quietly.

"Better, but I'm really tired."

"Everyone's looking for you. They're all worried about you after what happened with Kakashi."

I cringe as he brings up my breakdown. "Sorry about that. I was really tired and started seeing things."

"If you're so tired, do you want to go back to the house? You could go to bed"

"I'm not sure if I'd feel comfortable there now. Can we just stay here for a while?"

He's silent for a while. "Yeah. I'll stay with you in case you have another episode."

"Thank you," I murmur as I drift into a much needed sleep. My neck is no longer able to hold the weight of my head, so it drops onto Sasuke's shoulder.

As I'm about to lose consciousness, I feel his hand come up and stroke the side of my cheek. "Good night, Ayaka."