Warning: This chapter contains a dream/nightmare sequence with Orochimaru beating Sasuke…it is going to be in italics, if you don't want to read it, just skip the italic section

I figured that I should update when I can, seeing as another one probably won't come for awhile.

Chapter 35: Nightmare

Sasuke found himself alone, walking down a dark hallway. He was looking for some kind of exit, but it was of no use. His heart was beating fast and he wasn't quite sure why. The dark hallway suddenly became a dark room and that was when he had the sinking feeling that he was no longer alone.

"Hello Sasuke," the familiar voice said from behind him. It was the voice he was always running away from and it belonged to Orochimaru.

Sasuke tried to run, but his feet wouldn't move. He tried to talk or scream, but nothing came out. He felt helpless as the older man came closer, which only promised pain.

"I've missed this, haven't you?" the older man asked with an evil smirk. It almost seemed as if he weren't going to do anything, but that was soon proven wrong. The man clutched his arm tightly and said, "I'm going to have some fun tonight."

Sasuke wanted to close his eyes, but he couldn't. Instead he had to watch as the man's fist connected with his stomach, he knew this was only the warm up. He was soon pushed against the wall, creating a bang loud enough that it seemed as if something should be broken. As he fell to the ground, that was when he was kicked in the side, making him fall completely over.

"What you aren't going to fight back?" Orochimaru asked as he roughly picked the boy up. "Are you that pathetic?" he then chuckled.

"Please just stop," Sasuke's voice finally worked. It was of no use though, as the older man continued to beat him, punching, kicking, throwing, taking all his aggression out on him. "Please," he then begged again.

"Sasuke," he heard, but his time in a different voice, he still recognized it, but he couldn't place it.

"Please stop," Sasuke said, but every time his legs would work and he would try to get away, he would just end up getting hurt worse. He would be pulled back with a force rough enough to leave a bruise, only for him to create another one with his fist.

"Sasuke," he heard the voice again and he felt as if he was being shaken. That was when Orochimaru disappeared.

Sasuke woke, panting and sweating. He looked terrified as he looked around the room, realizing Orochimaru was nowhere to be found. The raven looked at the blonde who had been trying to wake him up, he was talking but Sasuke couldn't quite process what he was saying. Once he settled down he asked, "What?"

"You had a nightmare, you were screaming, begging someone to stop," Naruto said. He was obviously concerned as he was still sitting close to Sasuke with one hand on his shoulder. Sasuke's heart was still beating rapidly and Naruto could tell that something was wrong still. The blonde just pulled the raven against his chest and said, "It's okay Sasuke." He was surprised when the raven didn't push him away.

Sasuke just shook his head, indicating that it was not okay. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down so he could at least think properly. He moved out of the blonde's arms, trying to deny to himself that he was comfortable in them.

"What was the nightmare about that had you so scared?" Naruto asked. He let Sasuke slip from his arms, but he didn't move away from him.

"I need to go to sleep," Sasuke said, not answering the blonde's question.

Before Naruto could protest, the raven pushed him out of the way in order to lie down. Naruto just sighed and moved to his own bed. He looked over at Sasuke, knowing he was faking to be asleep. Instead of pushing the issue, he decided to just go to sleep.

NS

Ino and Hinata sat in the dark haired girl's room, they had been talking for the better part of the morning. Hinata was still confused about what to do to make Kiba forgive her. "If you're that worried about losing him as a friend, maybe you should just give him a chance," Ino said.

Hinata thought about her words, "Won't it make it more awkward if we go on a date and I don't feel anything?" She was worried that she'd lose him forever if they had a bad date.

"Maybe he'll find it awkward too and find that he doesn't really feel that way about you," Ino said. "Or it won't be awkward at all and you'll fall for him," she pointed out.

"Well, maybe I could take a chance," Hinata stuttered. She still wasn't sure how it would turn out, but she knew that Ino could be right.

"I hope you have better lucky in love than me," Ino laughed. She felt she had the worst luck in love. Either the guys she liked end up being gay, taken, or her best friend liked him.

Hinata smiled, "I'm sure you'll find someone soon."

"I think I like someone," Ino said. "Other than Shikamaru," she added. She was being incredibly vague about it, which made Hinata wonder who it was.

Hinata asked, "Who?" She was curious as to why it was the first time she'd heard about the crush.

"Sai," she answered. "But I could never pursue it," Ino sighed as she thought about her pink haired best friend.

Hinata looked at her, confused, as she asked, "Why not?"

"Sakura thinks he's going to help her move on from Sasuke," Ino explained. "We spent practically all high school fighting over Sasuke, I don't want all of college to be fighting over Sai."

Hinata frowned, "Does he even like her?" she didn't understand why Ino would just give up on who she liked.

"I don't think so, but he might," she said.

NS

Sasuke was acting as if nothing had happened the previous night; therefore Naruto was acting as if nothing happened. Neither of the boys brought it up and it seemed as if they weren't going to. Instead of bringing up something that might just start a fight, they decided to study and move on as if nothing had happed.

Finals were in a week so the two of them had agreed to help each other study. All morning they had been sitting outside at one of the stone tables on campus, with their papers spread everywhere. Everything was going fine, until Sasuke saw him.

It had been happening more often lately, he knew it was because it was the end of the semester and so Orochimaru was trying to get to him while he could. It sent a chill down his spine as he remembered the nightmare he'd had.

"Earth to Sasuke," Naruto said, snapping the raven back to reality. "Are you okay? One minute you were quizzing me the next you were just staring off," the blonde said.

"Sorry, I'm fine, I think I'm just tired," Sasuke said. He knew it was a lame excuse but he didn't care.

"So it has nothing to do with the man sitting over there staring at us?" Naruto asked. It made Sasuke wonder when the blonde became so observant; little did he know that he was really only observant when it came to Sasuke.

Sasuke just looked down, not wanting to answer that question. They both knew the answer was a definite yes. The raven tried looking at the blonde while saying, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Naruto didn't believe him for a second. "Right," he said shaking his head. "But that's the same guy that came in to get coffee that day, so I really don't believe you," he added. He watched the raven react, knowing he felt uncomfortable. Sasuke didn't reply, so the blonde knew he was right. "Do you want me to go over there and talk to him? I can try to make him leave," Naruto said.

"No, it's fine, let's just study," Sasuke said, trying to convince even himself that he was fine. It almost made him smile knowing that Naruto would go defend him, but he wasn't sure why that was special considering a number of his friends and his brother would all do the same thing. He picked up a flashcard, showing the blonde the word and expecting the answer.

"So that's it?" Naruto asked with a frown. He looked back at Orochimaru with disgust before he turned to Sasuke and said, "We can move to a different table."

"Just say the damn answer," the raven said, showing he didn't want to continue talking about Orochimaru.

"Fine," Naruto sighed before he gave the answer to the question. The conversation was then officially dropped. He knew Sasuke wouldn't talk about it, he just hoped one day that the raven would talk about it with him.

NS

Hinata found Kiba exactly where she expected to at noon, eating lunch. She was surprised to see him with only Suigetsu and not with the normal group of Naruto and Sasuke as well. "Kiba, can I speak to you alone?" she asked.

He frowned, hoping it wasn't another attempt to be his friend. The brunette looked at Suigetsu and said, "I'll be right back." He and Hinata walked just out of hearing range and sat at another table. "What do you want to talk about?" he asked as they sat down.

"Us," she said. Hinata took a pause as Kiba looked at her, expecting her to elaborate. "I want to give us a try, just go out on a date," she said nervously.

"I don't want you to do this just to be my friend," he said, looking at her skeptically. He wondered why she had the sudden change of heart.

"I want to," she stuttered. With a little more confidence she said, "I think it would be good for me, I never tried going on a date because I was so hooked on Naruto."

Kiba studied her for a moment before saying his response, "Okay." He smiled, happy to get at least one date with his dream girl. "When?" he asked.

"We could go tonight," she said a little timidly.

"I'll pick you up at your dorm at seven?" he asked. The smile was still present on his face; he really couldn't help it at that point.

"Yeah, sounds good," she smiled back. "See you then," she said before she walked away.

He waved goodbye before walking over to the table he'd shared with Suigetsu. "Guess what?" he said when he got back to the table.

"You have a date," the other answered. He knew he was right just by the way Kiba was acting. His entire demeanor had changed since before he left the table. It hurt to see Kiba so happy over someone else.

"How'd you know?" he smiled. "Was I that obvious?" He grinned as Suigetsu nodded.

Suigetsu didn't say anything else; instead he just started to eat. He didn't trust his voice not to show his true feelings. He knew if he said something about how happy he was for him, it wouldn't come out as sounding sincere.

NS

It was a nightmare date, that's the only way Kiba could describe it. Nothing was like he thought it would be. They were just too awkward on the date. It wasn't that they didn't have things to talk about, it was that it felt as if they were just friends out to dinner. They shared a good night kiss, but it felt awkward and Kiba found that he didn't even feel anything. He expected his heart to race and to feel butterflies, but there was none of that. It was weird because she was supposed to be his dream girl and yet a date with her was more like a nightmare.

"It was horrible," Kiba said as he explained the date to Naruto. They were in the brunette's room talking about the date.

"What do you mean horrible?" Naruto asked. He didn't understand how all of Kiba's dates seemed to be horrible.

"She's supposed to be my dream girl and yet I felt nothing. It was like I was out to dinner with a friend that walked home and kissed. It didn't even feel as if I were out on a date," Kiba tried to explain as he collapsed onto his bed.

Naruto laughed from the opposite bed, "How was the kiss?"

"The most awkward kiss I've ever experienced," Kiba answered. "What's wrong with me? Why do my dates never go right?" he sighed.

"Maybe you guys are just too good of friends," Naruto shrugged. "Or maybe your gay and don't realize it," he laughed, obviously joking.

Kiba was silent for a moment; he never considered the possibility of being gay. He knew that the blonde was just joking, but it might make sense why none of his dates with girls seemed to go right.

"Dude, I was kidding," Naruto said, making Kiba snap out of his thoughts. "I'm sure you just haven't found the right girl yet," he assured his friend.

TBC…?

I didn't feel it was necessary to include the date between Hinata and Kiba, only because they both will end up talking about it therefore it shows their point of views on how the date went.