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A/n: Short chapter is short. It is my OCD that compels me to ensure this part also has 8 chapters. :) I'm buying time. Though something important actually occurs next chapter so do not fear. And this story DOES have a happy ending so none of you freak out on me, okay?

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Fate's Garden

Part 4 - Hysteria

Chapter 3 - THUNK

"Oh my god! Oh my god, you, you sick bastard!"

"It's not as if I was aiming for them…"

"I'm going to kill you!"

"For your precious person?"

Naruto screamed and lunged for the mirror of ice, for the boy, Haku. But he moved to a different mirror, and then to another, and another. Rage flooded him, dousing his body in flames, his nails grew, and his canines forced their way over his bottom lip. He could feel the red chakra begin to encase his body, ripping off whole sections of his skin only for it to come back within seconds. He was consumed by a never ending cycle of pain, regrowth, and anger. His precious person…

He searched the mirrors, his eyes moving faster than he thought possible. They somehow knew that behind every mirror they landed on, even the one the boy appeared in, did not hold his victim. There, beyond the mirrors, manipulating them into showing images that were not true. Naruto leapt through the mirrors, breaking past them, his fist colliding with the boy's face. The wooden mask cracked as it fell off his face and onto the ground, the boy himself landing with a resounding thud farther off. The mirrors disappeared and in the blink of an eye Naruto was on him. His fists moving faster and faster, the once recognizable face of the boy he'd met but a few days ago was quickly becoming a bloody mess. Soon he was beating a lifeless corpse and there was shouting.

"Naruto! Stop!"

He looked up, it was the alpha male, the father of their litter. The strange fox with two different eyes. Naruto growled and turned around, seeing only more prey, approaching his mate. They were barking and yipping something in some distant language that did not translate in his mind. They were going to do something to his precious person. They had to be stopped. As a blur he flew, from threat to threat, extinguishing each one that arose. Soon all that was left was the strange fox, and, and the pink furred kit of his litter. What was she doing? What was she doing to his precious person? She was hurting him! He was screaming!

Naruto ran, his fist colliding with her head and sending her flying through the air, landing near the corpse of the ice boy, Haku. But he was too late. There before him, screaming in pain and horror, was his precious person, and his eyes were gone.

Naruto's eyes flew open. Someone was screaming. Blearily he flung himself out of bed and out of the room. He looked around, first pushing the bathroom door open and peering inside. Finding nothing he moved into the living room, and then into the kitchen. Sasuke was curled up on the floor, his blind fold hurled across the room to lie under the table. His knees were pulled up to his chest and he had his fingers curled into his eye sockets, holding onto them for dear life. There were no tears, just a strangled screaming that echoed throughout the apartment. Naruto fell to the floor and crawled towards the hysterical boy, pulling him into his arms. Sasuke put up quite a struggle. Naruto was sure to be bruised later.

"Sasuke, shhh, its okay," Naruto tried to say. But Sasuke wasn't listening, he was trapped in some phantom nightmare he had no hope of escaping.

Sasuke lay on the ground, consumed in a whirlwind of pain. There were needles stabbing into him all over his body. He could feel a heat that was so immense it hurt more than the needles and it was pouring through his body."Sasuke, it's okay, I'm here." His eyes felt like they were melting. All he heard was screaming, angry, fighting, crying. He heard footsteps too, but he could see nothing. He couldn't move, he wished he could die, fall asleep, be away from there, or something.

Somebody was touching him, talking to him. Fingers were pressing on his eyes, wedging themselves under his eyelids."Sasuke…" He screamed, or maybe he'd been screaming. Maybe all that noise had just been him. He couldn't tell. He'd lost all sense of what was what. The fingers kept moving, soothing with their coolness yet horrifying. All he knew was pain at that moment, but what he'd thought was pain was nothing compared to losing his eyes."Sasuke, listen to me, it's okay, it's Naruto, I'm right here." He'd thought they'd melted. Sasuke could feel the cord of muscle snap, the flow of blood down his face, the heat abated somewhat at the loss of his eyes. But as the heat went away the pain intensified and all he could do was lie there. Writhing in an agony that would never end. More shouting and crying, was that him or someone else? He couldn't tell anymore. There was no knowing anymore.

"Sasuke…"

Sasuke first felt arms around him and he lashed out. Then Naruto spoke to him and he settled. His right hand was still in his socket and he wanted his blindfold. He pushed himself free of the dobe and crawled somewhere to the left, moving slowly. THUNK.

"Ow."

"Sasuke, what are you doing?"

"'M finding my blindfold, dobe." Sasuke hobbled forward, rubbing at his sore forehead. He'd crawled straight into one of the metal table legs.

"It's under the table."

"That's why I'm over here, why else would I be?" he grumbled, feeling around on the linoleum and inevitably finding the comforting piece of cloth.

Sasuke at first expected an exasperated sigh, but none met his ears. Instead, Naruto said, "You had a nightmare too."

Sasuke turned slightly, looking over his shoulder at where he assumed Naruto was.

Naruto's statement was rewarded with a sightless gaze that was aimed to his left. He opened his mouth to try and get Sasuke to talk about it, only to decide that he would be more than perturbed if Sasuke tried the same with him. So he remained silent. Sasuke looked back to the floor and set about putting his blindfold on. His nimble hands successfully tied a secure knot, and once again the top half of his face was covered. He started at the sound of a knock on the door and Naruto was sad to say he had jumped quite a bit too. Neither of them was ready for visitors. But at the moment they were both still mortal, and they didn't get to pick and choose what they were ready to deal with.

TBC...