Title: Of Dreams and Nightmares
Prompt: Chasing a Dream
Summary: You have nightmares, and you have dreams. Somehow, you prefer the nightmares, because dreams force you to wake up to reality.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Rating: K+
You have nightmares. You don't know it, but you do.
They're different, they always are. But they all have one thing in common.
Him.
He's the reason you writhe in bed at night, grabbing your sheets and screaming in agony. He's the reason you wake up gasping in the middle of the night, your face beaded with sweat and pink locks of hair a tangled mess. He's the reason you rock back and forth on your bed, hugging your knees and trying desperately, desperately to stop the tears from your eyes.
It's all because of him.
In the end of all your dreams, he leaves you. He leaves you like he has so many years ago, his face half turned to you, a backpack on his shoulders. He gives you that annoying smirk you've come to love. And he whispers, so softly, that you're still annoying.
Then he vanishes, sometimes in a burst of flame, or maybe he disappears in smoke. Sometimes he melts, yes, melts slowly into the ground. There are times he walks away into shadows until he is nothing but a black dot in the horizon. And sometimes, you blink and he's just gone.
Either way, he leaves you.
And you hate it because you feel weak. Pathetic, and weak. And you sob in bed and wail and cry because you're supposed to be the strong one. You're supposed to be the strong one for everybody. Yet, your nightmares give you away.
There are special nights, though. Those special nights where you don't have nightmares. Instead, you have fantasies. Fantasies to good to come true. Dreams that you sorely wish would never end.
In those rare dreams, he loves you. He loves you with all his heart and all his soul. In those dreams, you are happy, and so is he. He isn't that egotistical bent on revenge jerk who left you when you were children – no. He is sweet, kind, loving and caring. He brings you roses, and buys you expensive chocolates to let you know he loves you. He tucks the two of you under the covers, swinging an arm around your lithe little waist and pressing you closer to him, giving you a small kiss on the cheek as well. He tells you he loves you every morning before going off to missions. He gives you hugs. He gives you kisses.
He makes you feel loved.
But somehow, these are the worst, and you hate them. You hate these dreams with a burning passion. You hate them more than anything else. More than Orochimaru, more than Itachi, more than the Akatsuki, more than him himself. You hate those dreams the most.
Because when you wake up, it feels wrong. You expect to wake up to his feather light kisses and warm hug. When you wake up, you realize reality. You realize that all that bliss, all that beauty, has all been a dream.
And you scream, you scream even louder than you ever had before. You scream into the dead of night until you're sure your vocal chords will break. You scream and scream and scream.
Because you know it'll never be true. You're only chasing a dream. You're never going to wake up to raven dark hair beside you. You'll never be able to peck him on the cheek and wish him good luck for work. You'll never be able to do any of those things, because they're just dreams. Silly little dreams that you know will never, ever be real.
You scream until you can't take it, and you collapse on the bed out of exhaustion, your limbs shaking and your body caving in, small sobs escaping from the back of your throat as tears stream down your eyes.
You never see him. Ever. He hides in the corners of darkness, thriving in the shadows. He is a phantom, invisible. You never see his hunched figure right outside your window, crouched as he watches you twitch and grab at the sheets, wailing his name as you cry out. You only see his red eyes for an instant, casting a genjutsu that sends you into that blissful dreamland where he loves you, and only you.
Those red eyes are always seared in your mind, and you don't know why.