The bloody moon found its place in the zenith of the silent night sky.
Sasuke walked nervously on the stone pavement in his neighbourhood. The whole compound was eerily quiet. Reaching his house, he froze at the gate seeing the symbol of the Uchiha Clan bathed in blood, but not a single body was visible.
He shook visibly, hearing the high-pitch scream of a woman. He rushed into the house and he found himself immediately in his parents' bedroom.
His father's corpse laid in the pool of blood without a face. Near him sat exhausted Itachi with his eyes closed and the black rods of Gedo Mazou, identical to these Obito was pierced with, protruding from his brother's back. From the rods there were black chakra chains pinning him in place. Sasuke couldn't see what they were attached to, they disappeared in the void of darkness behind him.
'You are late, little brother,' Itachi opened his eyes to show him the empty eye sockets. Behind him Sasuke heard again the woman scream. He rushed outside the bedroom, against his will.
He knew what he would see next, it wasn't the first time.
He entered the long stone corridor of Orochimaru's laboratory, which he had been walking in the past for years. Sasuke opened the door and the sharp medical lamp blinded him for a moment. He prayed it blinded him forever.
On the medical bed, Mikoto Uchiha lay with her eyes cut and her abdomen ripped. The invisible hand cut her body parts and she screamed again and again. He couldn't move. He couldn't do anything, only watch. Again and again. Cacophony of screams imprinted in his head and repeated itself into eternity. Profanities left Mikoto's mouth.
'Your fault! I shouldn't have born you! It's your fault!' she shouted with her voice raw. 'Die! Let me die!'
NO!
He shouted with the sheer power of his voice and sat on his bed. He shook visibly and in the last moment turned in his bed to throw out.
Tears and blood and chakra left his eyes, causing him great pain, making him sick again. His nightmare was still before his eyes, Sharingan activated and deactivated very quickly.
He never noticed his bed was wet from the tears and sweat and bed sheets entangled him enough to immobilize him. He ripped the linen to free himself and jumped out from his cradle of the nightmare.
Breathing heavily and stumbling, he entered the bathroom. Sasuke walked in the shower how he stood, with only his trousers on, and turned it on for the cold shower. He clenched his fists and put them on the wall covered with old white tiles for support. Icy cold water made his fevered body tortured like under the rain of needles. His brain could not restart itself, free itself, from the prison of this nightmare. Not the first time.
Ever since Sasuke returned to the village, the nightmares were his constant nightly companions. He blamed it on the fact, he returned to the village where all of it started. He remembered that there was a short time the nightmares stopped for the time being. It was shortly after he pushed for the trial on the crimes against the Uchiha clan. The Konoha council and Danzou Shimura were held responsible, and even though the majority was dead, the justice was served. Sasuke believed that it made his clan avenged, which resulted in his dead family finding peace and consequently also leaving him peaceful.
But nightmares returned, not as frequently as before, but they were very intense. He was desperate to make them stop, so he started helping. Anyone. Anywhere. Sasuke thought that maybe, if he tried to make amends for his crimes, his hands were not clean after all, through helping other people, his demons would be satisfied and would leave him alone. It helped, but only to some extent. The nightmares continued to visit the last Uchiha and deprived him of the very much needed sleep.
Sasuke turned the cold shower into a hot one and sighed shakily. The last nightmare visited him over a month ago. The pressure of the Chakra in his eyes made him restless and painful for the release, so he left his small apartment as he stood and jumped quickly to the remote training ground. His fury and helplessness destroyed the place completely just as he wished for the monsters who tortured his mother to be destroyed. Numb from exhaustion and emotions, he lay on the ground of the changed landscape and looked at the pink sky, and the dawn.
Sasuke Uchiha was all about control. He controlled the execution of the people responsible for the death of his clan. He controlled the main powers of Konoha ANBU under the protectorate of the current Hokage. He controlled the information network in the village, so he knew all that was happening under his nose. At the front, in the real world, everything was under his control.
What he couldn't control was his dreams, his feeble state of sanity, and his eyes: Sharingan was acting on its own. Some days were fine, but on others he had almost no control over it. His steel control of Chakra had nothing to do with it. Sasuke knew that something happened to him after the war, after he gained Rinnegan.
Three months after they returned to the village, three months of restlessness, he was allowed to train with all the ANBU at the same time. The level of exhaustion was so great, his doujutsu, permanent or not, was just cut off from the power of his Chakra. Since then, no one saw the unsettling purple eye capable of bringing doom to the world. Learning from the experience, Sasuke knew that the more Sharingans were unstable, the quicker he would need to tire himself out to the point of losing consciousness.
Without much thought, he changed his clothes and started cleaning his apartment. The sharp smell of vomit had already dominated the small space.
The studio Sasuke lived in was a tiny one-room apartment furnished poorly with only a bed, a wardrobe, the hardly-ever used kitchenette with a small round table and two chairs, and the bathroom, which saw better days. Leaving his place tidy, he turned to the door, stopping for a minute to glance at the treasure entrusted to him - Naruto's cloak - hanging loosely in its normal, usual state. Sasuke touched it gently and then turned his tired eyes and steps to the door.
It was three in the morning. The coldness of the approaching winter was calming his pained eyes and head. He moved through the village with mind-blowing speed. If any patrol could see or sense him, none reacted. He was the only person alive capable of such a thing. And he was not the enemy, he had proved it to ANBU a number of times now.
He landed shortly on the head of Sixth Hokage sculpted in the rock. His breath was still heavy.
"Everything alright, Uchiha?" asked the voice behind him.
Sasuke turned slightly, not alarmed at all. The masked ANBU stood patiently behind him.
"Again on duty, Hyuuga?" he said, trying to sound unaffected.
"Captain under my command woke me up a few minutes ago, saying that our future Hokage decided on the night stroll," Neji said in a raspy voice.
"I'm sorry," said Sasuke into the air, hearing clearly that Neji was in the middle of the sleep when they woke him.
Neji Hyuuga and Shikamaru Nara were the only two people able to stop or delay Sasuke's rampage. Both also understood his actions were not malice-driven, but a result of a condition, not even Sakura Haruno could decipher. Both heirs, and his friends, decided to support and monitor him, when needed.
"Nah," said Neji, very tired, and unlike himself, he sat on Naruto's head, near Sasuke, who joined him a moment later, "What happened?"
"I couldn't sleep,"
"And because you are so tired, your Chakra is pumping in your veins as if you were in grave danger? What is happening here, Sasuke?"
"I told you, I couldn't sleep. The nightmares are so vivid…"
"Ah," was all he said. Neji then put his mask down, revealing his pure forehead. "Want to talk about it?"
"Nah," both watched in silence as their village lulled in sleep, "I'm fine. Go to sleep."
"You really want me to tell my fiancée that I left her side, because you had a nightmare and made all the ANBU on duty tonight nervous?"
"When you say it, it sounds so ridiculous, true," admitted Sasuke, without emotion.
"But we both know it is not ridiculous at all," summared Neji, "You know we are all here for you, right?"
"Hmm," was the only confirmation Neji could get.
"Actually, it's good we met. I will be leaving in two days. I'm leaving Ten-Ten in your care, as always," said Neji.
"Sure. Rain?" asked Sasuke.
"No. Grass. About a week,"
"Kakashi came back from Grass two days ago…" noted Sasuke, turning his face to the long-haired man, "Does it have something to do with her?"
"I just want to check it on my own," said Neji, "You heard it yourself, the borders are not stable. Hinata-sama came back only over a week ago, and the word is on the market that she came back. Not to mention that the council made their move yesterday, Ko told me. They announced she is ready for marriage. The stream of suitors is already on their way here."
"Already?"
"Yeah…" the confirmation layers with anger. "The girl had just returned and they already have been trying to get rid of her."
"Can we delay it? In the Hyuuga way?" asked Sasuke.
"Let's think. She is a Chunnin, officially suspended from her duties."
"Given the unstable situation on the borders, every Jounin is needed."
"She needs her rank up."
"Luckily, Tsunade wants her tested, especially because she is to become Hokage. How can we arrange it?"
"Hinata-sama is preparing for the suitors now. I don't know what else she could do. I would need to consult with Hiashi-sama. As you know I don't go to the compound very often…"
"I know. You are either on duty, or at TenTen's side,"
"I can't help them discover that I don't have a seal, and that I have someone they can use against me. Besides, what is happening right now in the Branch House is really ugly. If they know I have no seal, that I spy on them, and that I secretly proposed to TenTen, it will be all for nothing."
"What other options do we have?"
"Hinata-sama is the Heiress of the Hyuuga clan. She cannot just leave as she sees fit. They want to escort her everywhere. Our grandmother even went with her to the examinations... "
"Examinations…? Those she told me about?"
"Did she… did she tell you what they examined?" asked Neji with hesitation.
"No… Hanabi also didn't tell me…"
"You spoke with Hanabi? What exactly about?" asked Neji nervously, one look at Uchiha made his eyes hardened. "Are you insane? What if they use her? Why would you put her in such danger?"
"Inoichi Yamanaka vouched for her that she is not a danger," answered Sasuke with finality, which Neji couldn't contest. "What examinations, Neji?"
The older man signed heavily and put a hand on his neck to rub it, which Sasuke read as an expression of embarrassment. The Uchiha watched him closely.
"Hinata-sama's virtue and her reproduction capabilities were tested," the moment he said it, Sasuke's eyes turned vibrant red and then turned black to turn red and black once again.
Neji corresponded this reaction with anger, every time he saw it.
"Of course, everything must have been in order as the Hyuuga council would not disgrace themselves with a useless woman," he added, which made Sasuke stand up rapidly.
"Can't she oppose it and tell them to go to hell?" asked Sasuke, feeling unjustified fury.
"Sasuke, I have no idea what she is planning…, but believe me, I would do something if I already haven't had everything to lose."
The silence filled the air for a few moments.
"Hime needs the test for the Jounin, to receive a mandatory mission. She is heavily guarded by the council, what can she do to get more freedom?"
"She would need to have her heiress duties back. As far as I know, she is suspended in those as well. Hanabi is taking care of it, rather poorly I hate to say."
"How can she do it?"
"The clan would need to receive the administrative order for an abundant report or the presence for the function on the Head-level. Given Hiashi-sama is on our side, I am sure he would find something more pressing than this order, which means he would need to delegate his substitute."
"And as Hanabi is incompetent, despite her best intentions and abilities…"
"The task would need to fall on her elder, more experienced sister," finished Neji.
"You thought of this, didn't you," noted Sasuke with dark satisfaction.
"You are not the only one who plays chess with Shikamaru in their free time," added Neji with a shrug, while both knew they did not have something that could be defined as 'free time'.
"What do you plan on doing in Grass?" asked Sasuke.
"I want to take a closer look at those fanatics Kakashi told us about. I am taking my team upon Tsunade's orders. We don't know the enemy."
"Are we sure they are the enemy?"
"I don't know, you tell me, Sasuke. I heard what you did to them in Waterfall last year."
"They pinned kids to the tree for the sacrifice, what else would you like me to do?"
"Take them for interrogation, for one," offered Neji, as it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Nevermind, I will get as much intel as I can, if they want to harm the village and Hinata-sama, they cannot come near them."
"Let me know, if you need anything," said Sasuke.
"Thanks, I only want to come back to my fiancée and for both of us to be unharmed and in one piece."
"You have my word, I will take care of her safety," swore Sasuke and extended his hand for the Hyuuga man, who accepted.
After this both returned to their apartments.
Neji walked silently to the bedroom and smiled softly at the sleeping brunette.
"Are you going to stare at me until dawn, you creep?" he heard her say, despite her eyes closed and her back facing her.
"Sorry, I thought you were asleep," he answered, changing his ANBU gear for comfortable sleeping clothes. He went to the bed to find his fiancée turning to face him. Her long brown hair laid beautifully on the pillows, her brown eyes looking at him worriedly. He kissed her forehead to ease the frown.
"How could I sleep when ANBU woke us in the middle of the night. What happened?"
"Sasuke is tormented by those nightmares."
"Are they still this horrible?"
"I think he was sick because of it," mused Neji, embracing her and pulling her closer so he could feel her.
"Kami, did he tell you about them?"
"He never shares," said the man.
"He will break eventually, if he bottles this up,"
"His Sharingan is unpredictable, can't Sakura deal with it?"
"When I talked with her last time, she said she doesn't know what it is. She said that the access to the Uchiha medical files is impossible. Sasuke doesn't help her either. She can't help him now," murmured the woman, basking in the warmth of her man's body and the feeling of security he provided her. "If she can't, I don't know who can…"
"TenTen?" Neji tried after a moment, musing if his woman fell asleep. She murmured something he couldn't understand, but she let him know that she was still with him, even though she was on the borderline between dream and reality.
"I will leave in two days. The mission. Sasuke will be around for you for a week, ok?"
"You seriously asked him to babysit me?" asked TenTen sleepily.
"He promised to look after you, love," he answered as if it finished the discussion.
"Shouldn't you ask me for promises?" she joked with her eyes closed.
Neji smirked involuntarily with inner wonder how could this woman bring his smile out so easily.
"You have already promised me the most important thing,"
"That I would cut you lovely hair?"
"No, love. That you will braid it until the end of your life," he kissed her soundly.
With unexplainable satisfaction he felt her melt in his arms and in his kiss.
"I love you, Neji Hyuuga," TenTen sighed with a smile on her face. Only the change in the mood made her eyes open, "What is it?"
"Can you promise me one more thing, TenTen?" he asked solemnly, making her completely awake. They sat in the bed in each others' arms.
"Tell me."
"Don't go to the Hyuuga compound when I am gone, ok?"
"Sure, but why?"
"Just don't go to this hideous place, I beg you," she turned to face him and to see all the fears he hid behind his white eyes.
She touched his cheek lovingly and promised him everything he wanted.
Later, when the sleep consumed him, she laid in his arms with her eyes open and she dreamed about the children of theirs that could freely and happily run around the Hyuuga compound and dreamed about not to be terrified of their dead as the consequence of just being born.
TenTen hugged her fiancé and allowed a few tears to escape her eyes, which evaporated due the heat of their bodies and of their love.