Ayumi awoke screaming, her entire body burning as she felt hot, sticky blood drenching her skin. It soaked into her hair and ran down her face in thick rivers, and the scent of iron stung her nostrils and even filled her mouth the metallic taste. In her ears rang the ungodly screams of dying men, terrified, full of pain and anguish. She wasn't even so sure what had happened in the frightening nightmare as she flailed about, tangling herself in the sheets as she screamed in terror while the dark visions faded rapidly from her mind. She didn't know where she was, or really even in that moment of delirium who she was, she just knew that she was absolutely terrified. All she could hear was her own heartbeat pounding like a drum in her ears and those awful, miserable screams.

"Ayumi! Ayumi! Calm down! It's okay! It's okay!" someone yelled as they burst through the sliding door and rushed to her bedside. The confused teacher glanced over at the newcomer to see a shock of bright pink hair and wide green eyes. "Ayumi, it's Sakura. I need you to breathe, okay? Just breathe," she told her soothingly. Ayumi gasped for breath, just focusing on the kind face in front of her, and gradually her senses returned to her. I'm in a hospital room, she realized as her gaze swept over the pristine whiteness that she knew well, and her hands ran over the soft white cotton sheets. While she wondered why she would be in a hospital in the first place, she recalled the events of the past few days, and then exhaled deeply. Right… she thought grumpily. She ran a hand through her chestnut-colored hair, finding it luscious and freshly washed rather than matted with the unsightly red liquid. "Are you all right now?" Sakura asked her quietly.

"Yes, I think so," she sighed heavily as she leaned back against the headboard of the bed, holding a hand over her heart. She could feel its rhythm slowly settle into a steady, calm beat. It was only just a nightmare, she realized. Now that she had calmed down, she became aware of just how sore she was; her entire ached, but the areas across her stomach and ribs in particular burned with fiery pain. She supposed she had that vile man who had been the leader of her band of kidnappers to thank for that. She then suddenly gasped and grabbed Sakura by the shoulders to shake her violently. "Sakura! The children! Are they all right? Can I see them? Oh, please, tell me!" she babbled frantically.

"Hey! Hey! Cut it out!" the medical ninja laughed and shoved her hands off her shoulders so that Ayumi could no longer shake her, and she swept a few errant strands of pink hair from her face before smiling softly at her. "They escaped with only minor cuts and bruises, thanks to you. They were very psychologically scarred at first, had nightmares and stuck close to their parents and such, but they've recovered, more or less. They're back in school and are doing well," she reported happily.

"Wait! How long was I out this time?" Ayumi exclaimed in shock.

"About a week and a half," the kunoichi responded with a slightly uncomfortable smile, and Ayumi's mouth dropped open.

"That long?" she shrieked and pulled at her hair. "This is terrible! Oh, I can't believe this! Oh, they must be so behind, and examinations are coming up soon and I have to get them ready! Oh, Sakura, how soon can you have me out of here?" she demanded in a panic.

"Ayumi, I don't think you realize just how far you pushed yourself," the nurse frowned at her. Ayumi looked at her lap, recalling the perilous events. I guess I did push myself pretty hard… she reasoned as she remembered the long, weary walk, pushing herself through the barrier, and fending off the five dangerous ninja. "You'll be in the hospital for at least a few more days. You only just now regained full consciousness; up until now we've had to keep you sedated and full of pain medications. In addition to all your surface wounds, you suffered several broken ribs, a ruptured spleen, and you had a lot of internal bleeding. You were on the door to death when Shikamaru brought you to us." I guess I have that last one to thank, she thought bitterly as she recalled the leader of the nefarious band of miscreants. "Not to mention the night terrors."

"Night terrors?" Ayumi blinked, bewildered.

"Oh, yes. What just happened wasn't a first-time thing. You've been having awful dreams, only this time we were able to snap you out of it. You would go completely wild and attack the doctors; we had to keep you sedated because you couldn't tell dream from reality," she told her grimly. Ayumi frowned deeply and leaned back, glancing up at the white tiled ceiling. What have I been dreaming about? She wondered. Though the terror had been real enough only a few short minutes ago, the teacher could not seem to recall what had frightened her so; where the dream had been, there was only an empty black hole of nothingness, a blank slate in her memory. "How do you feel, Ayumi? Anxious? Paranoid?" Sakura questioned.

"I feel fine," Ayumi replied with slight confusion. She supposed that someone who had gone through such an ordeal would feel such things, but Ayumi didn't. She felt perfectly normal, safe, almost like nothing had happened at all. "It's very odd. I was kidnapped, after all, and on top of that I killed three men with my own hands," she sighed and looked down. Last she had remembered, her hands and upper arms had been dyed crimson, but now all she could see was her pure, clean skin. "Yet, I don't feel anything at all…" she murmured. What's going on in my head?

It wasn't until night fell that Ayumi learned.

Ayumi awoke in the dark gloom of a forest- or well, she seemed to awaken. She knew immediately that it was a dream, supposedly one of the horrible night terrors that had plagued her during her hospital stay. Yet, as she sit in the lush grass with a hand to her chest and her eyes wide as she glanced around nervously in the dark, she had no memory of the dream; she knew not what was going to occur there, in those quiet woods bathed in the stillness of night. Warily, she rose to her feet and shuffled around in the forest clearing, but was unable to get her bearings. Not even the stars could guide her, as the sky was roiling with dark gray clouds that all but eclipsed the soft light of the heavens. "Hello?" she called softly, fearfully. She blinked, and then screamed.

It was like watching a page in a book be torn away to reveal a new illustration, only this one was an equivalent to Hell. The sky above now shone with a red moon, bathing the battle-torn clearing with ghostly red light. All around the young teacher were dozens of bodies, stacked on top of one another, eyes glassy, mouths agape with their last dying screams. Some of them weren't dead yet, and were wailing in anguish as they begged for mercy, reaching out for her with red hands. As Ayumi stumbled backwards, the soil beneath her feet squished, so saturated it was with the thick red blood that poured from the deceased warriors. Hyperventilating with fear, she turned on her heel and ran blindly through the red darkness, screaming with fright. In her terror, she lost her coordination and ended up falling on her face, right on top of a course. When she looked up, she felt like she had been submerged in ice.

It was Shikamaru.

She recoiled with a shout, scrambling off the dead body and back into the blood-spattered grass. She felt absolutely sick, and turned to her side as she abruptly retched, crying miserably. Surely, it was only a trick of the mind, but when she peered out of the corners of her eyes, it was unmistakably the man she loved. Quivering with the realization, she glanced around, only to find that the bodies around her were not strangers after all. A few feet away, Sakura lie face-down, in a pool of her own blood; by a tree, Ino was slumped against the trunk with a trail of blood dribbling from her mouth while her husband lay beside her, on his back staring up at the sky. Even Naruto had not escaped the carnage, lying on his side with his back to her and his signature yellow hair streaked red. "What is this? What's happening?" Ayumi whispered in fear as her wide, brown eyes absorbed the hellish nightmare.

"You couldn't protect them," called a solemn voice, and the teacher whipped around.

"Shikadai!" she exclaimed in shock. The little boy had appeared beside his father, pristine compared to the bloody scene around him; he had no wounds, no blood on him at all, but Ayumi did not feel relieved. She was afraid.

"You weren't strong enough, Miss Ayumi. Now they're all dead," the little boy smiled, but it was a smile like a demon, not the young child she knew and loved. Apprehensive, she began to scoot away. "You can't run away from it forever. You are weak. Those men are after you, and sooner or later they'll come for you, the whole army, and they'll kill everyone you know and love," he whispered softly, walking after her as she turned over and began to hastily crawl away. No. No. Leave me alone. I want to wake up! I want to wake up! She thought in a panic. She suddenly became aware of that awful feeling of sticky blood all over her body and the stench of it burning her nose, making her sick once more. "They'll all die, and you can do nothing," he chimed, and Ayumi screamed and fell back when he was suddenly in front of her again. "Nothing," he laughed, and this time he was drenched head-to-toe in blood, and then the clearing was ringing with the screams of the dead, but Ayumi's terror-filled wail was still louder than them all.

She woke up when she fell out of the bed and roughly struck the floor, but rather than get up, she just lay there sobbing, tangled up in the white sheets. The nightmare still clung to her; her body felt heavy with the thick blanket of blood, and the scent of it still lingered in her nose, and every time she opened her eyes everything that should have been white was splashed with crimson. Half-asleep and still delirious, she dragged herself to the bathroom and pulled herself up to the sink, unable to stand for her legs shaking so violently. She turned on the water in hope that the refreshing cold would snap her out of her fit, but she fell back with a screech as hot red blood came shooting out of the faucet instead of the clear liquid. She screamed as it splashed down onto her, coating her with even more of the vile substance, and she hurriedly crawled away to the corner of the room, knocking over a couple of the chairs and medical equipment in her haste. Sobbing pathetically, she curled up in a ball against the wall and trembled violently, pulling the sheets over her head and squeezing her eyes shut tight. Am I going crazy? She wondered fearfully, but she had not the courage to lift the white sheets and see if her hellish vision was still there. She whimpered as the sliding door abruptly opened, convinced that it was the demonic little boy there to taunt her some more.

"Ayumi?!"

That isn't Shikadai's voice, she frowned, but did not retreat from her safe haven of sheets as rapid footsteps crossed the room. Through the thin fabric, she could see someone kneeling down in front of her, and the fact that she could see his outline clued her in to the fact that it was morning. She knew that silhouette well, with those broad shoulders and that ponytail, but she did not dare remove the sheets from her head. The sight of his pale, dead body covered in blood flashed in her mind, causing another sob to slip out of her. "Ayumi…" Shikamaru sighed before sitting down in front of her, and though she was terrified, she did not resist as he pulled the blankets from her head. She kept her eyes shut, though, safe in the darkness and unsure what lie in the light. "Ayumi, it's okay. You can open your eyes."

"No," she refused vehemently. Then, in a whisper, she added, "I'm afraid to. I've gone mad."

"You have not gone mad. You just had a bad dream, that's all," he mused softly, and she twitched as she felt the warmth of his hand against her cheek. Oh, I missed that feeling, she thought as she reflexively leaned her head against it, and she bit down on her lip slightly as she warily cracked her eyes open. It took a minute for her eyes to adjust to the bright daylight, but when they did, she was relieved to find that everything was white once more, and there was no trace of the vile redness that had dominated the world before. "There. See? Nothing to be afraid of," he told her gently. She stared up at him with her bottom lip quivering. It was the face of the man she loved, but not like that gaunt, dead one from her nightmares; it was that familiar smile, that soft gaze that put her heart at ease. Without realizing it, she began crying again, but this time from overwhelming relief. "Hey, there's no need to cry. You're safe now," he sighed and pulled her into a hug, and Ayumi buried her face into his chest and clung onto him as he rested his head on top of hers.

"I dreamt you all were dead," she whispered. Even speaking about it was frightening, and her voice shook with the emotion. "All of you, everywhere, and the blood, oh, there was so much of it… All of you were dead, and it was because I couldn't protect you. I was weak, Shikamaru… I am weak."

"You are not weak," he refuted immediately and jerked back to grab her by the chin and make her look up at him. "Don't you dare say that."

"What if you hadn't come along? The boys would be dead, and-" she began, but her words were muffled as he clapped a hand over her mouth.

"But I did," he smiled gently at her, and any objections she still had died in her throat. "Ayumi, it's true. You weren't strong enough to take on the last one, but that doesn't mean you're weak. I mean, you protected those children by yourself. Don't you realize how impressive that is?" he asked her, dropping his hand to rest it on her shoulder. As she stared up at him, she began to see reason. Sure, she couldn't beat all five of them, but even then she had done something next to impossible. She had still bought enough time for the rescue squad to arrive, and finished most of the work for them. I'm… I'm strong after all, she realized. Shikamaru smiled gently as he brushed a few strands of hair from her face. "Ayumi, you are the strongest woman I have ever known. Please don't sell yourself short just because of something that almost happened."

"You're right," she sighed deeply and pressed herself against him once more, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. She kept quiet for a minute, then released the question burning inside her. "They'll come back, won't they?"

"Yes. Naruto anticipates a full-scale assault on the village… They're a large group, and certainly have the capability," he answered honestly, and she felt his arms tighten around her, as if trying to protect her from the impending doom. "There's been extra watch on the gate and most of the ninja have been called back from missions to prepare, but… I'm not sure how much good it will do. This is going to end one way… Me against him," he murmured. Where there had once been apprehension, there was only hate. He's willing to stand up to the man he fears most just to protect the people he loves…

"I want to start training," she blurted, and he glanced down at her in shock. Resolute, Ayumi looked up at him with eyes burning with determination. "Shikamaru, I can't let my nightmare become a reality. I can't just sit around and hope everyone will protect me… I have to take matters into my own hands. I have to be capable of holding my own should the worst happen. I have to take care of my children… I have to take care of Shikadai," she told him firmly. "I'm not afraid of getting my hands bloody anymore… I'm afraid not to." He stared down at her for a minute, then smiled softly and nodded.

"Okay. We'll do it," he agreed, and Ayumi smiled in relief. I won't let that happen, she grumpily told the dream-Shikadai. I will protect you.

Abruptly, she let out a loud yawn, and discovered how sleepy she was. It seemed nightmare had sapped all her energy, negating the night's sleep. As she lay cradled in Shikamaru's arms, her eyes drooping as she listened to the soothing rhythm of his heartbeat, she sighed happily.

"You'll stay with me, won't you?" she whispered as her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt. She had missed him so much, being held in his arms and hearing the sound of his voice, that she was almost afraid to let him go. She wasn't just asking for this brief moment in time.

Shikamaru knew that.

"Forever. I'll never leave you again," he assured her and kissed the top of her head, rubbing her back soothingly as he held her. Ayumi smiled happily and sniffled into him, glancing out the window to see the bright morning sun pouring in and bathing her in warmth. Good.

I'll never let anyone take you from me again, either, she resolved as she closed her eyes and slipped off into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.