A/N: I'm so sorry. I am a bad, bad person.

There will be a sequel, but this ending is a horrific cliffhanger...

Enjoy anyway ;D x

The sun was just beginning to dip below the auburn horizon as the cool, gentle waves lapped against her feet. She smiled and closed her eyes, her hair loose and blowing softly around her face as another ocean breeze drifted across the sand.

Seagull's squawked noisily overhead, a cluster of wings flapping against each other as they landed behind her. She turned to watch them squabble childishly over a leftover chip on the beach and frowned slightly as the sight drew up a fuzzy memory in her mind. Her companion tilted his head at her troubled expression.

'Something wrong, Akira?' His light brown hair drooped limply around his face as his chocolate eyes narrowed in concern.

She turned back to give him a small smile. 'It's nothing. I thought they reminded me of something, hat's all…'

'Something to do with your past?' He placed his hand over hers on the sand, giving it an encouraging squeeze.

'Maybe. I'm not sure. Whatever it was it's gone now,'

'Well alright, we should be heading back into town now anyway. The Mizukage wants to see me early tomorrow morning for a mission.'

'Oh?' She lowered her voice as they stood up to leave. 'Is that about the Jinchuuriki criminals again?'

He chuckled. 'No, I think she's just trying to keep me busy for a while, she knows I've been bored stuck in the village recently!'

The pair made their way back through the sand dunes, returning to civilisation. As they paused outside her house, the boy pulled Akira in for a hug, startling her.

'Don't hesitate to call me if you need anything.'

She smiled against his neck and nodded. 'Thanks, Haru.'

Once alone, Akira trudged up the stairway and unlocked the door to her small apartment. It was simplistic accommodation, with only one bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living area. The bare walls had been painted in a plain off-white colour, and the furniture had a rustic theme to it.

She shuffled in her draws for a fresh pair of pyjamas and quickly slipped into the bed, pulling the covers right up to her nose. As she began to drift away into unconsciousness, her nightmares returned to haunt her.

I'm cold… So cold. There's nobody else here, in this dark abysmal place. I see a brief flicker of candlelight at the end of the tunnel, and I slowly edge towards it. As I reach the flame, it blows out, and I am consumed by darkness.

I feel someone's breath on the back of my neck, and I whirl around to meet two, wicked yellow eyes and they're smirking at me. I try to move away but a cold metal presses against my throat. I try to scream out but there's nobody here to save me.

And then I hear a voice… It's distant, but I hear it. He's calling my name and I run towards it, desperately racing through the dimly lit corridor trying in vain to find him… Him… Who is 'him'?

I have heard his voice before, whispering my name and I've tried to find him. I always try to find him. And then it fades away.

But not this time. This time, I see him. I can see him at the end of the tunnel, one pale blue eye smiling at me warmly, his other eye hidden by a long veil of blonde hair. I reach out to touch him, but he moves away from my grasp. His expression changes. He looks hurt. Did I do that? Did I do something wrong?

I start to back away and someone catches my arm. I spin around and there's a new face. Except, this one isn't a face… It's a mask. A bright, orange, swirling mask…

Akira bolted upright in her bed, sweaty and gasping for air. She glanced at her clock and groaned. It was still dark outside, but the birds were just beginning to sing.

Sighing and running her fingers through her messy bed-hair, she wandered into the bathroom. Turning the tap on, she regarded her reflection in the overhanging mirror for a moment, before reaching down to scoop up a handful of water and brought it up to her face.

She felt more restless than most mornings and didn't really feel like going back to bed, so she pulled on a long blue top and grey leggings and made her way outside.

I wonder if Haru is awake yet… She figured even if he wasn't, he probably wouldn't mind her calling by. After all, he was the only one who ever seemed interested in her unusual reoccurring nightmare.

She tapped on his door quietly as to avoid waking his neighbours and stood back, waiting for him to answer. Jus as she was about to give up, the door creaked open slowly and her groggy eyed friend poked his head through the gap.

'Oh, it's you,'

She grinned. 'Sorry to wake you. I couldn't get back to sleep.'

He gestured for her to enter and she settled herself into the couch as he poured them some tea.

'So did you have that crazy dream again?' He mumbled from the kitchen, still half asleep.

'Yeah, but there was more this time. Two new faces…'

He put her mug down on the table beside her and ran a hand through his scruffy mop of hair. He blew on his tea as he waited for her to continue.

'It started the same again. Same corridor, same yellow eyes, same voice calling me. But this time there was a strange blue-eyed man at the end of the corridor where I run to. He seems happy to see me at first, but then he changes and looks away…'

'Hmm, maybe you hurt someone in the past?'

She raised an eyebrow at him. 'You're not making me feel better about this…'

'Sorry, carry on,' he chuckled.

'So then the second face comes in, but it's covered by an weird orange mask,' She frowned and took a sip of her tea. 'And then I woke up.'

He thought for a minute and then sighed. 'What I don't understand is, why would you erase your own memories?'

'I don't know. We don't even know for sure if it was me who did it! Maybe I had no choice?'

They're conversation was suddenly interrupted by thunder rumbling through the valley.

Haru's brow knitted together as he headed to the window. 'There isn't any storms due for weeks…' He muttered. Another blast of noise echoed into their ears making Akira jump to her feet.

'That's not thunder…' She ran to join her friend at the window, who was gawping at the entrance to the village. Great clouds of thick, black smoke were twisting over the village. 'Come on, let's go!'

They sped out the building and raced towards the Mist Village gates. They skidded to a halt, jaws hitting the floor at the site that greeted them. Two of the Mist watch towers had been blown to smithereens and at the foot of the last standing tower, were two dark figures shrouded in smoke.

As the dust and ash began to clear, Haru heard a gasp from Akira's direction. Her knees buckled beneath her and he dived to catch her before she hit the ground.

'Akira! What is it?'

She was staring at one of the figures, a look of shock and terror. He had dirty blonde hair that was half tied in a loose ponytail, and wearing a black cloak with a strange red cloud pattern.

Concern growing in his chocolate eyes, Haru took hold of her shoulders and gave them a light squeeze, trying to pull her out of her trance. She blinked a few times and her eyes began to refocus.

'Akira, what's wrong?'

'It's him…' Her voice was barely audible but he heard her loud and clear. 'The man from my nightmare…'

A/N: SO! I hope you don't all hate me too much, those of you who have stuck with me are all fabulous and I'm so grateful for all your reviews!

It's been fun while it lasted, and I'm planning a few more stories for the near future.

I'm thinking of pre-writing them and then I have a head-start at uploading cause these past 3 weeks have been mad crazy trying to update so often!

Please feel free to let me know what you think of this fic, I hope to see you again soon!

Over and out! :D x