Nightmare World

Part 4

She was trapped longer…

Oreo did not wake up right away, and Ino's answer to that had Gaara anxious.

From scorched earth to frozen plains, they traveled in a V-formation at high speeds. He led them, and he kept them going at a brutal pace. They were exhausted, their mental limits were being breached, but he would not let them slow down. The clock was ticking on. He would not let her be consumed by the nightmares.

The two behind him, Neji and Ino, were struggling with wounds and mental exhaustion. But he had years of torment, torment that had him building walls since he was young to protect himself from it. Now he did not fear for himself or his safety, but for his friend. He feared it would be too late.

Faster.

Coming up over a snowy hill they saw the giants of steel and glass. The towers that scraped the sky were frozen, and icicles like teeth hung from them. A loud BOOM echoed across the land. One of the steel structures, its integrity made brittle by the ice, was falling. The steel beams buckled and bent under the pressure. They could only watch in awe as the colossal tower collapsed. It was a good thing they were not up close to it, or they would have surely been crushed.

"The bigger they are the harder they fall," Gaara remarked dryly.

Then the ground rumbled. They skidded to a stop.

"What was that?" Ino asked shakily.

It rose up. The water erupted from the ground and ice devoured the liquid upward until a tower like glass stood taller than the one that had fallen.

"It's like it's trying to rebuilding itself..." Neji said.

"What's rebuilding it?" Ino asked, uncertain fear in her voice.

Clouds were forming ahead. Dark, strange clouds that looked as if knives of ice and wind were rolling in the masses.

"Hurry," was Gaara's reply, and they took off, pushing through the wind that was now shrilling against them.

A mist of snow was stirred up and all became enshrouded by a white haze. Visibility had nearly gone down to zero. They could barely make out the outlines of the towers, though they were getting closer. Everything was being engulfed by white and with every step they took it seemed to be getting colder.

The wind was like bitter ice. The heat, smoke, and sweat they'd only just experienced was no longer an issue, and now seemed like a distant luxury. Frost crept into their clothes and a chill ran to their bones. The Leaf kunoichi was the first to voice her discomfort.

"Th – this is crazy!" Her tenor was shivering with the rest of her body. "I've been… in – in her mind before! But it wasn't this bad!"

Neji spoke, "That's right. In the Chuunin preliminaries you used your Mind Transfer Jutsu on her. Tell us what you saw."

They listened carefully as Ino talked through the cry of the wind. She did not remember much, but what she did recall were beasts of ice, a weeping, and a crazed phantom.

"It's why I saved her mind for last!" she shouted to Gaara and Neji. "It's getting colder!"

"Keep moving," Gaara offered, "It will keep you warm."

It had become so hard to see they didn't realized they'd reached one of the towers until they'd almost run into it. Gaara saw Neji warily eyed the long building, and he knew if even one beam bent or if it began swaying to one side the Hyuuga would see it and would warn them. However, he felt instinct pulling him away from the place. The situation would turn very bad very quickly if it fell while they were still near. But he would not let them move on until he knew if Katherine was in there.

Gaara looked to the Hyuuga. He nodded and the veins of the Byakugan stretched to his eyes.

Ino walked up to the fogged glass and used her sleeves to wipe a circle to see through. She leaned in and peered, squinting her eyes to see into the dark. "…I don't see anything. Do you think she's in there?"

"Get back!" Neji shouted.

Sand shot out of the gourd and reached for Ino.

Glass shattered and rained down as a claw, then a head of antlers, burst through. Ino was protected from the cutting glass, but the beast that had emerged charged around to where the sand was thinnest and tore past. Ino was hurtled ten feet away, the sand being the only thing that kept the horns from piercing her. She landed in the snow with a thump.

They were at a standstill; the thing was waiting to see what they would do. Now Gaara had a chance to really look at the thing. It was a skeletal creature made of ice. It appeared to have the mixed constructions of a bear, a dog, and an elk. The head was like that of an elk's skull with long, sharp antlers. The small fangs and the bones of the forelegs were like a dog's. The hind bone structure and the large, boney, clawed feet were like a bear's.

It started to pace nervously. It feigned a retreat before darting back at them. Gaara blocked it from ramming Neji. Ino threw a couple kunai. The blades bounced off the ice uselessly. With large sweeping motions with his hands, Gaara directed the sand to surround the beast. He had it grab at the bones, pulling and crushing. It was losing pieces bit by bit when it let out a high-pitch moan. More glass shattered and more creatures came forth.

"They're everywhere in there!" Neji informed while jumping back. "I do not see Katy!"

It was all he needed to hear.

The sand shoved the creatures inside and blocked them from getting out. They could be heard breaking glass and rattling within. The building groaned.

"Follow me!"

Ino and Neji ran with Gaara full speed ahead. They were twenty feet, thirty feet, then over fifty feet away when the tower groaned again, louder than before. The sand pulled away and went after its master, but not before pulling out a support beam. The ice beasts were filing out when the tower screamed and fell down. A gush of cold air and snow catapulted Gaara, Neji, and Ino forward. They rolled and were back up again before the blink of an eye. He hoped the beasts were crushed. He did not need more time spent fighting. He needed to find Katherine. They kept running.

But where?

"Can you see her?" Gaara called back to Neji.

A pause, and then, "No, I can't see anything but more snow ahead."

They wouldn't get anywhere if they didn't even know where to go.

"Look ou – !"

It came up out of the snow and slammed Neji to the ground, the claws of its boney feet sinking into his shoulders. Sand knocked the smaller skeletal dog-like beast off of him. More came out of the snow, like the dead popping up out their graves. Kunai and shuriken were useless against the fleshless anomalies. Ino and Neji had to resort to paper bombs to shatter the glassy ice. Gaara's sand was most effective as it pulled the beasts apart and crushed the bones. He went for the legs. One that had fallen, its legs nothing but shards, let out another high-pitched moan. A second later a whole herd had come out of the white haze surrounding them. They charged at Gaara, inundating him with their presence. Sand swirled around him in a protective barrier. Then he realized they were not attacking. It was not their goal. The Suna shinobi glanced over at the fallen beast that had cried out and saw more of its kind dragging it away. The herd then retreated and disappeared with it into the white mist.

Gaara's eyes widened. The moan of the creature…

It had called for help.

The same had happened with the one back at the tower.

Ino spun around precariously. "Where'd they go?"

The Hyuuga's eyes darted about the area. "We should keep moving…"

They hadn't made much progress when they were ambushed once again. This time the creatures resembled elk more closely. Dog-like ones and bear-like ones were mixed in, along with the crosses between all three. The battle raged on for about five minutes when the beasts retreated into the haze once more. As the group kept going forward, Gaara began to see a pattern.

The beasts would ambush from the haze and the snow, fight, and then retreat only to repeat the cycle later.

It was vastly different from Mae or Oreo's nightmare creatures. Mae's did not have any correlation, just independent plants attacking at will. Oreo's attacked aggressively and directly. The burned humanoids went head-on into battle and sacrificed each other to win. But Katy's creatures used a sort of guerrilla style. Ambush, attack, retreat. When one was in trouble, they would band together and gang up on the threat in order for the damaged beasts to get away. An attack would happen again later, with renewed ice bones.

Gaara quickly understood what was happening. In this blinding storm they would be slowly worn down by the ambushes until exhaustion set in, then they would be easily finished off. A patient and calculating tactic. It was like her. She was not direct like Oreo; she was not as steadfast as Mae. She was a shy, nervous creature that would only come out to defend her friends, would only fight if she had to.

Another ambush… and more energy wasted.

The redhead grunted in frustration. How could they escape it if they did not know where to go? They were hopelessly lost in this blur of white cold. A feeling of isolation squeezed at his chest. The gale cries were like omens, screeching down at him that he was in a place of cold, of seclusion…of loneliness. The flakes of frost seemed to envelope him and separate him from everything and everyone.

He wondered if this was how she felt.

He had to hurry, he had to find her.

He was freezing and his extremities were going numb, but at least he had no wounds to deal with. Neji and Ino had the worst of it. They would not last much longer like this.

That was when he heard it.

The weeping.

His eyes zipped from one white plane to the other until he saw her. At first he thought it was Katherine. The back of the woman facing him was similar… but it was not Katy. The woman was tall, her brown hair short, and she wore strange blue and white robes. Ino gasped when she saw the woman and Neji watched and waited for something to happen.

"Who – or what – is that?" Neji said lowly, as not to draw attention their way.

Gaara did not respond. He did not know who it was. But the way the woman was weeping captured him in a trance and he felt the need to go to her. The two Leaf shinobi had no choice but to follow him or else be separated in the blizzard.

Closer, closer, and closer still… yet they never seemed to reach her. They could not catch the weeping woman; no matter how fast they ran she was always the same distance away. The woman would not respond to their verbal calls. She would not turn around either. They had no choice but to keep running after her. What else could they do?

The weeping echoed softly, and went on to grow softer. It was then they realized the winds were also growing soft and quiet.

"She's leading us," Gaara muttered, more to himself than to the others.

Snow had stopped falling; the gales died down to a gentle, yet still cold, breeze. The white earth became patched with frost-bitten grass, more and more and more until the cold grass was the only thing crunching under their feet. They were on a hill, and at the top looking down Gaara saw something that had his breath caught in his chest. It was the little house of his friend. The very house that held the family he longed for, the family of his friend who treated him as one of their own.

This isn't real, he reminded himself. This is in her mind.

"That woman is gone," Neji said slowly. "What in the world…"

"This is seriously creeping me out." Ino fervently rubbed her arms to generate some warmth. "It was like a ghost!"

"She's in there." Gaara pointed down to the house.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, trust me… I know."

"Then let's go."

They searched the house and Gaara had to keep his breathing controlled. He remembered. He remembered the aged linen cloth on the kitchen table, the couch, the hallway, and… her room with its blue walls and turquoise carpet. He stood in the doorway, enraptured by times long gone. She was the one to take him to her home, the only other child who would play with him. He remembered sitting in that room with her, playing silly little games…

"Guys!" Ino called from the hall. "The basement! It's not normal!"

Gaara snapped out of his reverie and rushed to join the other two at the basement door. It certainly wasn't the basement he remembered.

Instead of plain wooden steps there was wet, slippery stone. What was supposed to be the basement was not. It was a cavern, long and deep. Stepping in and looking further down Gaara could see it was lighted by strange glowing stones embedded in the smooth rock.

This had to be it. This was where he'd find her.

He motioned for Ino and Neji to follow. Their descent into the cave was quick yet steady. A small stream of water was running along the bottom. It submerged their feet, sometimes going up to their knees when the ground dipped. It flowed gently, with the smallest of trickling noise resounding softly with the water drops that dripped from the ceiling.

He glanced at the strange stones, they glowed a somehow eerily familiar cerulean color.

Their trek was uneventful. No monsters or beasts were there to threaten them. But the cave had dangers of its own.

At first it was one tunnel, one path, but then it started getting complicated. Small tunnels scattered about the rock walls were filtering in more water. They got bigger and bigger as they went along, the water flowing faster. Then they came to a round chamber with multiple diverging paths, multiple tunnels with the same glowing stones.

"Now what?" Ino asked, her tone on edge. Time was growing thin.

The Hyuuga activated his bloodline limit, but swiftly deactivated it, flinching. "Those stones… They're blindingly bright looking with the Byakugan."

Gaara tensed, his hands gripping at his crossed arms. Now what, indeed… Could they risk choosing a path at random? If they got lost down there they'd never get out. His cyan eyes glanced from tunnel to tunnel. He could almost hear a clock in his head, grating at his nerves.

There was a sound.

His head snapped in the direction. His eyes went wide at what he saw.

A cerulean fog in the shape of a doe. It stood in front of one of the tunnels.

I know you…

Neji and Ino were also watching it, trepidation written in their postures. Gaara was the first to move. He dashed after the apparition. It led them down tunnel after tunnel, turn after turn, until there was only one main path. It took them down deeper and deeper.

They reached the end. It was an immense chamber. Strange patterns were carved into the walls, and once again Gaara felt he'd seen something similar before. The ceiling was so high the glowing stones looked like stars. Water was flowing in from many little holes in the smooth stone walls. It all flooded into one large pool at the farthest end of the room.

The pool's surface rippled and an almost imperceptible moan reverberated throughout the cave. They steeled themselves for whatever nightmarish creation came their way next. This was it. They only had this one last thing to kill - this one last person to rescue - then they could all walk away. Gaara paused however. He knew Katherine only as a child, and the time spent after their "reunion" was not spent well. But she has been and most likely always will be a kind and gentle person; what major demons could she possibly have?

He got his answer in the form of a deformed, fleshy deer skull surfacing from the pool. Well actually there wasn't that much flesh on the skull and the horns on its head reminded him of a stag's. The eye sockets were empty but little trickles of red liquid constantly flowed out of it. The jaw was something strange. It appeared to be a transparent solid, and it only took a shift of the light for Gaara to determine that it was made of glass. It immediately ground up its glass teeth and spat it at them.

The rest of its emerging body was not nearly as aesthetically pleasing. A majority of it was made of torn or stretched-over-the-bone, thin flesh, and the joints were not covered at all. They were prepared for its attacks which consisted of mainly trying to spit glass at them, and Gaara's sand proved a great defense. That was, of course, until the monster got the bright idea of splashing as much water as it could on the sand to make it more or less useless. The sand was too heavy and the chakra needed to move it was not forthcoming in such a world.

A split second occurred in which the beast and Gaara made eye contact. Those empty, black sockets boring into Gaara's own teal orbs. A moment of silence ensued before the monster screeched in a bellowing rage and extended a claw towards Gaara. Without his sand he could only dodge, which at first proved fruitful. That was until the monster spat out more glass at them, separating him from the others; he ducked, but was unable to escape the grasp the monster's strangely claw-like hands had on his throat.

While the others were busy recovering from the latest glass shower, the monster began to drag Gaara towards the pool. Does it mean to drown me?¸Gaara thought as it dragged him closer and closer. Even as the others attacked with their own weapons its sole focus was on getting Gaara in that water. A lone yet powerful thought nearly overwhelmed him: Was there a part of Katherine that wished this? That wished him to die. He quickly and repeatedly killed that thought, because he didn't know if he could bear having her hate him though heaven knows he deserved it.

He had hurt her so badly, and even when she tried to help him he continuously rejected her; even tried to kill her.

How could it have all gone so wrong?

Why couldn't things be the way they used to?

Because nothing good ever lasts? At least, not for him.

But that doesn't mean he was going to let the same happen to Katherine. With a renewed strength, he gathered some sand in his hands, squeezed the water from it, and formed it in the shaped of a small spear. He waited until the monster looked at him to will the tiny spear into the creature's eye.

It stilled before slumping to the ground. Gaara twisted and used his waning physical strength to release himself from its claws, and stood with the others.

"Better get ready." The Leaf kunoichi, Ino, panted with two kunai in her hands. "We've already seen these things come back twice."

"But where is she?" Neji, the Hyuuga shinobi, was also exhausted. "Oreo was visibly seen, and the youngest was on the creature's back, but I don't see the last one."

Gaara looked around, but he couldn't see Katherine anywhere. She couldn't be in that pool could she? She would have drowned by now! No, the laws of reality do not apply in this world. This is created by the paranoia and fear of its victims. Perhaps she is down there, but since the creature has not yet woken up-

It woke up. Never mind.

It crawled on all fours this time instead of two legs, and charged at them wildly but powerfully. This was tedious! Where was Katherine?!

A soft weeping caught his attention.

Gaara became mesmerized by the image of Katherine crying, and yet deep in his heart he knew it was not her. There was something...unerringly different about the spectre huddled in the corner. He did not think of her as a threat; on the contrary he knew that by using her cries she had led them to the horrid monster's lair. But why? Could it have something to do with the phantom who had taken residence inside of Katherine's body? And if she was trying to help now as she had before, why was she merely kneeling down and crying.

The spectre's next movements answered Gaara's question almost immediately.

Without exposing her face she turned her head towards the monster, clutched her side and sobbed even louder.

A brief memory that caused Gaara great regret flashed of him wielding his sand to carve a whole in Katherine's side.

The monsters needed the girls as a life source - one they kept close.

Gaara noticed that as he attempted an experimental feint to the monster's left side it immediately ducked and doubled its efforts to mow him down.

Without them, they cannot exist.

Gaara silently thanked the spectre. But she was already gone.

"Katherine is inside of that thing's left side. We must hold it down to cut her out."

Ino stared at Gaara in shock. "How do you know that?"

"Questions later." Gaara snarled impatiently. "Attack now!"

Even though the suppression of his chakra due to this world's insanity inducing effects on the mind, and the mental exhaustion caused by the previous battles and his concern for Katherine made his body feel like lead sinking into the sea, Gaara used every last ounce of strength he had left to force all of the sand he had to attack. A good portion of it was frozen almost immediately, but there was more than enough to still give that living abomination of Katherine's nightmares hell.

The scene before them suddenly faltered and began fading like a broken television set.

"We're out of time!" Ino shouted. "Naruto's chakra is depleted! We have to get out or we'll be trapped!"

"No," Gaara said firmly.

"It's too late!" she screamed at him. "We're out of chakra!"

"…You underestimate Naruto Uzumaki. He's stronger than you give him credit for." The scene before Gaara steadied and solidified as a new wave of chakra rushed in. "He will not give up, and neither will I. We will make it."

He would not leave her here… because he remembered.

"You...play?" She managed to gasp it out. "With me?"

She had been the one to save him from his loneliness. Her life was in constant danger because of him, of what he held inside of him, but she came back. She had seen the worst of him, and still...loved him...

Without a word, she wrapped her arm around him and pulled him close. Then and there he knew...She forgave him...and she cared.

...Even if it had only been for a short amount of time, and even if he had convinced himself that all of it was worthless in a time of darkness when she was gone...

There they were in a pile of wheat, the pushing forgotten, with Gaara getting a real hug. It was a moment he would never forget.

...those were the happiest days of his life...

"I told myself," she almost wept, "I wouldn't let you drown."

...she had stayed when she caught a glimpse of the darkness within him. So now he would save her from the darkness within her.

The sand whirled ferociously above the monster until they formed into several sharp and heavy spears. A shout of warning was all that was given to the others to get back before the spears drove themselves into the monster. Blood dribbled from its body, but nobody cared and nobody wasted time moving forward.

Surprisingly Ino was the one who ran in first and using nothing more than a kunai and brute force drove the weapon into the creature's left side saying something about not being completely useless. It was lost on Gaara who moved forward with Neji to help. They all helped Ino rip the kunai through flesh and bone until they saw a blue shirt peeking out. Gaara and Neji pulled at different sides of the wound ignoring the ache that was causing their arms to shake. Ino reached inside.

After a minute or two (the way his heart was pounding Gaara began to wonder if it had been hours) Ino exclaimed, "I've got a good grip!" And began to pull. Between the monster flailing beneath them and holding the wound open, Gaara was beginning to pant heavier and heavier. He almost cried out with relief when Ino finally managed to pull Katherine (who seemed to have been in the fetal position) out. Neji and Gaara released their grip, and Gaara wondered that if this counted as the hardest physical labor he had ever done in his life since this was all still in his head.

The monster flailed as began to melt into water of all things, but they had learned from their past trials and were already out of the home by the time it began to crumble.

The ghostly doe had been there to lead them through the shaking tunnels before disappearing to who knew where.

Gaara watched the house - the home - he had once come to finding love and acceptance from everyone there crumble before him. He comforted himself, if only mildly, that this was not real and that Katherine's family was safe far, far away from here.

-OoOoOoOo-

Wake up…

The snow and the frost melted, receding to allow beautiful green pastures to flourish.

Wake up.

Everything spun; she was so dizzy. She felt heavy yet light at the same time, like she was underwater. But she was breathing; she could not be underwater.

"She isn't waking," said an earnest voice. It was distorted and sounded far off, and yet she still recognized it.

I hear you…

"Please wake up," he whispered.

I can't.

"Let me try again," said a female voice.

A jolt of chakra jarred her mind. Her eyes snapped open and she vaulted up, nearly hitting Gaara, but he pulled back in time with her movements, keeping his cyan eyes locked onto her. As she started to fall back his arm shot out to catch her before her back and head got reacquainted with the floor. She stared, stunned and confused.

"There, you see? I knew I pulled her out with us," said a blonde girl. Katy's brain took far too long to process that it was Ino.

What was going on? Her eyes zipped to every person in the room; a shoddy room with wooden planks and weird paper tags sticking to the walls.

"Easy," he said, black-ringed eyes regarding her carefully. She didn't realize until then how hard she was breathing. Her heart pounded in her chest as she twisted out of his arms and scurried away into the corner. "Katherine!" He reached for her and she flinched, her arms crossing in front of her defensively. He froze, his hand returning to his side. The hurt was on his face for less than a second before receding to hide in his eyes. His expression retook its stone mask. He'd mastered that expression over the years of his young life, and only the faint spark in his eyes let her know of his pain.

She didn't dwell on it long; she was looking for an escape. Gaara stood far away enough to keep her from panicking but close enough to block the exit.

Frost began growing on her arms.

"Kat," Oreo called, lazily standing from the mats on the floor. "It's okay. We were trapped in a genjutsu. Remember that guy? He cast it. But that's all been taken care of now. Ino, Gaara, and Bird Brain got us out." Her emerald stare hardened. "You should be grateful… they risked a lot help us."

Mae stood up beside the female redhead, silently nodding her confirmation.

"Uh, I helped too, you know…" Naruto spoke from his slumped position on the floor.

Katy noted the burns and cuts on Neji and Ino. Saw how exhausted and worn down Gaara and Naruto looked. She lowered her arms, a shiver passing only briefly.

"You did it," said an astonished voice from the doorway. A woman in a worn purple kimono passed through the door flap.

"Miss Emiko," Ino acknowledged the woman with a smile.

"This is amazing," Emiko breathed. "Tell me, how did you do it?"

They spent the next half hour going over what had happened with Neji and Ino doing most of the talking. Naruto interrupted a lot, still having energy after all. Oreo and Mae commented on their inner monsters. Mae was calm and contemplative while Oreo was loud and insisted she didn't like meat – how could she or any part of her be a cannibal? Neji had a terse retort for her. She was an impulsive maniac and it was completely plausible that her inner demons would be ten times as much. Gaara commented here and there but generally stayed close to Katy, occasionally casting glances her way.

"And that one," Emiko gestured to Katy in the corner when all was explained. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine," Oreo cut in before anyone else could. "She's like that naturally."

"We will report to the Hokage about your situation," Neji told Emiko.

The young woman smiled. "Thank you. I think we here in this village can finally start rebuilding our lives now that those rogues are gone, but any help you can offer for those still caught in that man's jutsu…" Her lip quivered. "Thank you."

"Don't worry, lady," Naruto said kindly, "Everything's gonna be all right."

They were prepared to go a short time later. Emiko and Daisuke waved as they left.

"By the way," Ino said once they were a ways down the road, "Katy, who was that woman? The one who helped us through the blizzard."

Katy didn't say anything for a long while. Then, finally, "A ghost."

Her tone let them know that she would not answer any further.

Hours later and it was time for the Suna shinobi to go his separate way. He said his goodbyes, his eyes lingering on Katy before he turned away. She watched him go, something tugging at her chest. When it became too much she ran after him, catching him by his sleeve.

"You… are you okay? I don't know what… I'm sorry." She had trouble getting her thoughts into words.

"Everything's all right now. There's no need to apologize." His eyes were gentle. "It was just a bad dream."

A bad dream… She wondered about that; if she would wake up to find the scar of her side gone, the scars on his heart healed, and their friendship back to what it was, as if she never left.

He took her hand in his and squeezed it in a silent goodbye, the look in his gaze saying, "Until we meet again."

She did not look away from him until she could no longer see him.

"Come on, Katy!" Naruto called to her.

She slowly turned and made her way back to the group. She couldn't understand why, but she felt scared. It was a fear that was binding, slowly suffocating. Her thoughts went from the woman in blue and white, to the phantom doe, to Gaara. He dove into uncertainty, into a world of nightmares… for her? With what happened at the Chuunin Exams and the changes in him since then… she couldn't grasp it all.

And with what had happened with that genjutsu and her unexplained fear…

The phantom's dead eyes bored into Katy's memory. "What are your nightmares?" it had spoken back then. "Use your fear. Use it to fight. Use it to run. Use your fear to create your nightmares, but do not let it overcome you."

Do not let it overcome you…

Because fear is… only in the mind, right?

A/N: That concludes "Nightmare World." I hope you enjoyed reading it. Honestly I thought we'd get a little more feedback on this, but I am still appreciative of those who took the time to comment. Thanks for reading!

Noel Ardnek: I had a lot of fun writing some of these scenes, and collaborating with Sol. A million thanks for even considering giving this a shot.