Nightmare No More

Naruto could barley see, his vision was blurred a crimson red. Hatred coursed through him, and a rage so unbelievable that a part of Naruto shrank back from it—but that part was quickly forgotten. With a growl Naruto leapt from the table, his entire body covered in red chakra—he was taking on the form of the ninetails already. Before the taller man could even do so much as let out a cry, Naruto was upon him: ripping, clawing, and slicing. He was so enraged that he couldn't even see anymore, all he could do was claw at the man who'd done this to Neji and him. Suddenly Naruto stopped abruptly. He shouldn't be focusing so much on this man—he wasn't the one who'd hurt Neji. Turning from the man—who dropped to the floor, blood pooling around him—Naruto let out a wild yowl and launched himself over the table that Neji was on, crashing right into the man responsible for Neji's pain. Naruto barley felt one of the nine tails begin to grow; he was so focused on destroying the man before him. It was like a mouse being attacked by a lion—there was no chance of fighting back, or surviving for that matter. Die! Naruto thought, bringing a clawed hand down to slice across the man's face, blood splattering the wall. You will DIE! With a spurt of unbearable rage, Naruto picked up the man and hurled him as hard as he could against the opposite wall. There was a loud crack, and then silence—neither man moved.

Breathing heavily, Naruto felt another tail begin to form. He was pissed! He'd never been so angry before, not even when he'd fought Deidara trying to save Gaara… Letting out a low growl, Naruto took a step forward, eyes on the taller man—he wasn't finished with him, or the other one, for that matter. Suddenly, someone let out a gasp of pain, causing Naruto to whip around, teeth bared. Instantly his anger died out. Neji. Tails receding, Naruto hurried over to his friend, his stomach doing flips as he drew closer. "Neji…" Naruto breathed, his face suddenly ghost white. Neji didn't respond, but closed his eyes, his expression causing Naruto to go weak at the knees. "Neji…" He had to do something! Naruto felt lightheaded and dizzy, and his breath was coming in short gasps. Panic clenched his heart, but Naruto forced himself to think. There had to be more ninja besides them being held captive. He couldn't heal Neji's wound—which, Naruto realized with a jolt, would surely kill Neji if he didn't get help quick—but maybe there was a medical ninja somewhere in the place. The thought caused hope to reenter Naruto's heart. "Hold on Neji, I'm gonna go get help!"

Racing to the door, Naruto pushed hard, but it didn't budge. But hadn't those guys just come through it? Not pausing to think more than that, Naruto took a step back. Summoning two shadow clones, he focused his chakra, remembering what the Pervy Sage had taught him. "Rasengan!" Naruto shouted, smashing through the door. It crumbled easily, causing Naruto to be propelled forward and smash through the door across the hall. Not pausing to think if maybe there were other men like the one's he'd just encountered, Naruto barreled into the room. Dust billowed around him, making it impossible to see who was inside. "Is there any medical ninja in here? Please, anyone who can heal?" There was a scuffling to the right of Naruto, causing him to jump. "Hello? Please, if you can heal, you have to help my friend!" The dust was beginning to clear now, and Naruto caught sight of a table, though no one was on it. Suddenly a girl came through the dust, her face covered in it, and plastered with confusion and worry. She stopped a few feet from Naruto, her red hair spilling down her back.

"You… need someone to heal a friend?"

Naruto started, had he really gotten so lucky as to find a medical ninja so quickly? "Yes! Please hurry, he's dy—…"

The girl frowned, narrowing her eyes. "He's what?" Naruto ignored her however, his mouth open wide, eyes huge. The girl shifted uncomfortably, her gaze following Naruto's. The dust had finally settled, coating the room in a thick powder. Naruto felt his fists clench as his mind went blank. How was this possible? What was going on? How was it possible that he was here right now?

"It's been a while, Naruto."

"Sasuke."


Bam! Tenten flinched slightly, her head snapping in the direction of the sudden noise. What the hell was happening out there? It sounded like there was a fight going on… Rubbing her wrists, Tenten watched as Gaara broke the straps that bound her legs. "Thanks." She said, flexing. Gaara didn't say anything, but moved towards the door, the sand following after him. Tenten watched as it slowly swirled under and between the door.

"Can you walk?" Gaara asked.

Tenten was silent as she slid herself to the edge of the table and gently lowered herself off of it. Her legs felt a little weak, but otherwise, she was okay. "Yeah, I'm good." In response, there was a click, and suddenly the door swung open. Tenten eyed Gaara's sand as it poured back into his gourd. "That really comes in handy, doesn't it?" She asked, walking over so that she stood beside Gaara. Tenten barley managed to keep her mouth shut when Gaara smiled. He'd actually smiled—was that even possible?

"You have no idea." He replied, causing Tenten grinned—she couldn't help it, she hadn't known that Gaara had, well, a personality… "You ready?" He asked.

"More than ready, let's get out of here!" Poking her head out of the room, Tenten glanced both ways. All was clear. "Okay, we're good." She breathed, taking a step out into the hallway. Gaara followed her. "Which way do you think we should go?" She asked, glancing back at him. Gaara scanned the narrow hallway beside her. There were eight doors in all—including theirs—facing across from each other. Suddenly, there came a muffled growl from to the right. A loud banging sound followed.

"That way." Gaara said, gesturing in the direction of the noise, causing Tenten to start in bewilderment.

"What? In the direction of the fighting?"

Gaara glanced at her. "How do you know it's fighting?"

Tenten reddened under the Kazekage's stare. "Well, that's what it sounds like, at least…" She mumbled.

Tenten was pretty sure that Gaara had grinned, though she hadn't really seen it—she'd been too busy hiding her red cheeks. After a moment, Gaara spoke. "If there is a fight down there, then there's a possibility that another ninja has gotten free. We'll be able to help them take out whoever they're fighting, and possibly gain some information."

"Or a strong ally." Tenten added, picking up on Gaara's thoughts. She nodded, understanding now. "Okay, let's go." Tenten said—it bothered her that they were standing in the same spot that they had been since they'd escaped the room. They needed to get away, not linger. Quickly the two hurried down the hallway, not making a sound as they passed other doors. A part of Tenten wished that they could open the doors; that they could save the people that might very well be trapped behind them. She glanced at Gaara. She would have to ask him if they could check the other rooms. Tenten didn't think she could bear leaving anyone behind in this place.

BOOM!

It happened so suddenly Tenten had no time to react. The door to the left of them, which they'd just been passing, suddenly exploded into a pile of rubble. A shining ball of light came straight for her. Tenten's eyes grew huge—there was no way she had time to dodge whatever was barreling towards her—she was right in its path. Suddenly, Tenten was yanked hard from behind, causing her to fly backwards and land on something that let out an "oof!" The blue light continued until it smashed through the opposite door. As the dust cleared, Tenten stumbled to her feet, her legs shaking a bit from the close encounter. Glancing down to see what she'd fallen on, Tenten froze. Gaara was lying on the ground. Slowly, he sat up and shook his head. It took a few seconds before Tenten finally put the pieces together. Wait… he pulled me out of the way? But… Tenten was still a little unsure as she reached out a hand to help Gaara up. Though she'd been on one of the two squads sent to save Gaara from the Akatsuki, Tenten had still sort of thought of the Kazekage as he used to be, during the Chunin exams. I guess he really has changed… "Thanks!" Tenten said breathlessly. "I thought I was a goner." Gaara nodded, but his eyes were on the destroyed doors.

"Guess we found the fight." He said.

Tenten recalled the shining light—it'd reminded her of Naruto's rasengan. "And by the looks of it, one of the fighters is a ninja." Following Gaara, Tenten picked her way through the rubble, heading for the first door that had been broken. Once inside, Tenten gasped at the sight before her. Two mangled bodies, bleeding profusely, and two tables—the room was the exact same as the one they'd just escaped, only here there was someone lying on a table. Glancing at Gaara, whose eyes were also on the figure, Tenten moved forward cautiously. Blood dripped off of the table, causing her to shiver and stop for a moment. What had happened in here? Beside her, Gaara was staring hard at the person lying on the table.

"Wait a minute… I remember him…"

Tenten glanced confusedly at Gaara before returning her gaze to the table. If Gaara recognized the person, then he might be a ninja… Tenten took a small step forward, trying to get a better view. And then she saw his face, and her mouth popped open, and her heart felt like it was being ripped from her chest. "No…" It couldn't be… There was no way… Tenten rushed forward, her eyes taking in nothing but his face. "Neji!"


"Sasuke." You take a step back, surprised by the intensity of the strange boy. Sasuke? Is that his name? You glance at the dark haired boy who you'd just helped free. He wasn't very friendly, that was for sure… You reverted your attention back to the blonde boy—he'd just come bursting through the door! "Hey, who needs help?" You almost yelled, annoyed that the new kid was ignoring every word you said. When no reply came, you practically growled. He said that someone was dying, I think. You glanced down at your hands. You'd healed Sasuke's wounds… so maybe… Without a backwards glance you left the room, crossed the hall, and stepped into the room opposite the one you'd been held in. Whatever, let them stare at each other! You thought. You didn't even bother making sure if the hall was clear of people before you crossed—you were pretty sure you were dreaming, anyways. You could heal by just touching? Come on, how corny! The first thing you saw when you entered the room was a man lying in a pool of blood on the floor. Your stomach rolling, you leapt back. "Oh my God!" You gasped, hand flying to your mouth. You let out a squeal of surprise as you accidentally bumped into someone. Turning around, you flinched backwards as you met the glare of a tall, red haired boy with a Japanese-looking tattoo on the right side of his forehead. You scanned him quickly. Well, he was intimidating, alright. There was something about the kid that just screamed powerful and dangerous. You narrowed your eyes as they swept over his clothes. Well, he wasn't dressed as weird as Sasuke, but he was close… and why the hell did he have a giant peanut on his back?

"Who're you? Can you help him?" The voice startled you. Eyes flicking in the direction the voice had come from, you found a girl around your age standing next to the only occupied table in the room. Her hair was done up in two buns, and she clenched the table so hard that her knuckles were ghost white. Taking a step back in bewilderment, your eyes slid from the girl to the person lying on the table. Immediately you knew—he was the one that was dying. Almost against your will, your feet carried you over to the table so that you were standing across from the panic stricken girl. Confusion muddled your thoughts. Why were you here, so close to blood, to injury? Why hadn't you run off down the hall or had a panic attack or fainted? Almost instinctively you ran your eyes over the boy's body, checking his injuries. You tried to suppress the shudder that ran through your body as you took in the blood spattered sight. Blood poured from the long wound that ran all the way down the boy's chest, coming to an end mid-stomach. You swallowed. The wound was long and deep, and obviously very painful. By now your heart was doing flips. You couldn't do this! What if you couldn't heal him? What if this nightmare took a turn for the worst and you only ended up hurting the guy more? Clutching your stomach, you averted your gaze from the eyes of the girl who was watching you, the girl who was desperately hoping that you could save her friend— that you could help. Heart thudding, you gulped in air, your eyes finding the boy's face. He was in so much pain. You could tell just by looking. Teeth clenched, eyes screwed shut—the boy's face was a mask of pain. A thought occurred to you as you stared at the boy. What if it did work—your touch healing him? You had to try.

Gulping once more, you steadied yourself, though the attempt was in vain—your whole body was shaking uncontrollably. You couldn't believe that you were actually going to do this. Moving closer, you reached out a hand slowly—it shook violently, though you hardly noticed. "Hold him steady, this may hurt at first." You gasped, glancing up at the girl. She hesitated for a moment, eyeing your trembling hand, before nodding and placing both her hands gently against the boy's shoulders. Moving closer, you swallowed, afraid that your heart would pound right out of your chest—it was beating so hard that it hurt. Extending a shaking arm, you drew closer. You couldn't believe you were doing this! You could feel yourself begin to hyperventilate—why were you doing this? You couldn't do this—! A hand suddenly was on your shoulder. Turning around, startled, your eyes met those of the red haired boy. He blinked, and something in his eyes made you realize that he was only trying to comfort you. Immediately you relaxed a little—his touch was so reassuring. Before you could stop yourself, you spoke. "Could you…?" You gestured beside you, and to both your horror and relief the boy nodded and moved to stand beside you, his hand still on your shoulder. You bent your head, a red hot blush erupting onto your cheeks. You had to admit, it was a little weird to ask him to stand next to you, but for some strange reason, the boy comforted you. Taking a deep breath, you steadied yourself and brought your two fingers down on the boy's chest. Immediately you let your fingers slid along the wound, closing your eyes until they were only slits as you did so. Adrenaline coursed through your veins, helping you to ignore the blood that wet your fingers. As you'd predicted, the boy cried out at first and struggled weakly. Thankfully, the girl kept a firm hold on his shoulders. "Almost done." You whispered. You'd suddenly grown very calm, and incredibly sure of yourself. Finally your fingers came to the end of the long wound. Stepping back, you let out a sigh of relief, as did the boy. The wound had completely closed up.

The room was suddenly too quite. The blood that had been rushing in your ears had died down, and now you couldn't help but notice the stare of bewilderment that you were receiving from the boy beside you. The girl, on the other hand, was still panicked.

"Neji? Are you okay?" Glancing up, she ignored you, staring at the boy beside you. "Gaara, can you help me with the straps?" Gaara nodded, his hand dropping from your shoulder. As he moved past you, you couldn't help but whisper "thank you." Glancing in the direction of the door your thoughts drifted back to Sasuke and the strange boy. What where they doing? Wiping your hands on your shirt, you headed for the door, this time cautiously poking your head out of the door before you crossed the hall. However, you were brought up short. The two boys were in the hallway, breathing hard. Strange looking knives littered the ground. There were several bloody cuts on both boy's arms and legs, as well as one on the blonde's cheek. A strange ball of light rested in the blonde haired boy's hand. Eyes widening, you glanced down the hall, and what you saw made you do a double take. There was a chirping sound coming from Sasuke's palm, and something that looked like a mix of electricity and lightning rested in Sasuke's hand. You couldn't believe that you hadn't heard this while you were healing that boy… what was his name again? Neji? Remembering the panic that had engulfed you before you'd healed him, you shook your head, trying to rid yourself of the thought. Actually, no, you could…

Suddenly the two ran at each other.

"SASUKEEE!"

"NARUTOOO!"

Wha—they were fighting? You couldn't believe it. After everything that had just happened, they were fighting! Without thinking, you took a step forward, putting your hands up. "STOP!" You shouted, surprised at how commanding your voice sounded. "STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" You wanted to close your eyes, to shut them tight and pray that the two wouldn't hit you,'cause it sure didn't look like they were gonna stop. But you didn't. Forcing your eyes to stay open, you glared at the shocked faces of the two boys, standing your ground. You nearly leapt out of the way at the last second, as they came within a yard of you with their strange, lit up palms, but you gritted your teeth and locked your legs, refusing to move. You felt the heat of whatever was in their palms, felt the breeze ruffle your hair, as Naruto and Sasuke stopped within an inch of your outstretched hands. Eyes narrowing, you slowly let your hands fall and glared at the two of them. They were both breathing hard, eyes narrowed, staring at you. Blood dripping from the cut on Naruto's cheek, a bruise was already beginning to form on Sasuke's jaw. The two were giving you the dirtiest look you'd ever seen. You, however, didn't care how much they gave you the death-stare. "Are you two INSANE?" Why the hell are you fighting? Are you guys really that stup—" Click. You froze, a soft gasp escaping your lips. Your eyes slid past Sasuke, ignoring his angry expression completely. You'd know that sound anywhere—after all, your father loved to hunt. The man stood at the end of the hallway, gun raised, aimed at Sasuke's back. Everything happened so slowly after that.

"What, what is—?" Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the man at the end of the hall. Reading Naruto's horrified expression, Sasuke turned just in time to see the man fire the gun.

"NO!" You shouted, pushing Sasuke out of the way. He would get killed! He would—! You let out a soft scream as the bullet ripped through your stomach—the pain was blinding, blinding and unbearable. Your hands flying to your wound, you felt the blood begin to flow as you fell… Strong arms caught you and lifted you out of the air before you could hit the ground. Your vision was beginning to fade, causing you to panic. Frantically you brushed your fingers along the wound, shrieking in pain as soon as you did so. What? It didn't work? It hadn't healed!

Naruto, face white, swallowed. "What-What was that?" The man was reloading his gun, you could hear it.

"Get—" You tried to say, eyes sliding in the direction of Sasuke. However, as soon as you spoke, there was an explosion of pain, causing you to cry out in agony.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled as you cried out in pain. "Get him!" You were blacking out now, but the pain wasn't fading with your vision, it was increasing. You couldn't help the soft whimper that escaped your lips. Naruto looked down at you. "It's okay. We'll get you help, its okay." You wanted to believe him, you honestly did. But you couldn't. This wasn't a dream, this wasn't a nightmare. You really had been kidnapped, this was all real. You were trapped in this place, and obviously the people running it wanted you all dead. You really could heal just by touching something, but it didn't work when you tried to heal yourself… You'd just gotten shot, and the only people who were there to save you had a fighting problem and strange, glowing hands. All in all, things weren't looking so great.


Lemme' just start out by saying that I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It took me all day to write… Normally I wouldn't finish a chapter in a day, but today just was horrible (Like, FML horrible!). So I was surprised yesterday with the new Ipod touch, and lemme' tell you, it's amazing! So I was walking down the stairs this morning and it was in my pocket and what happens? IT FALLS OUT! I wish I could describe how pissed I am, ugh! Now I have to buy a new one—it's all cracked and broken -_- I really can't believe that it's broken. So, that's why I wrote the whole chapter, 'cause I was (am) so pissed that I needed to take my mind off of it… Anyways, on a brighter note, I'm getting farther in the Shippuden episodes! Okay, so maybe I'm only at the part where Sai comes in, but hey, that' still pretty good for me! Haha… yeah. Okay, I need a cookie… Until next time…

~MarXno

PS. Yeah, the whole thing about Ember thinking Gaara's gourd was a giant peanut came from my friend. We were just chilling in class, and I said something about Gaara and she was like: "Who's that? Oh wait, is he the one with the giant peanut on his back?" I didn't even know she watched Naruto! Or at least tried to… God I need new friends… Fail.