Red Storm
Chapter 17: Nightmare vs. Reality
"There are many who don't wish to sleep for fear of nightmares. Sadly, there are many who don't wish to wake for the same fear."
~Richelle E. Goodrich, Dandelions: The Disappearance of Annabelle
It was Monday morning and Naruto paced around the classroom waiting impatiently for Sasuke to arrive. Where was that guy? It wasn't like him to be late. Naruto tapped his foot. He walked over to the window of the empty classroom and looked out. Birds flitted freely, hopping from branch to branch of the cherry blossom trees outside. The flowers were in full bloom, utterly stunning stars of deep, vibrant pink framed in the glow of the setting sun.
The sound of a door opening echoed behind him and Naruto turned with a smile.
"Sasuke, where have you been, you bastard? You're late."
The corners of Sasuke's mouth turned up, but it wasn't his usual calm, mocking smirk. Instead it was a cruel sneer that didn't quite reach the eyes painted on his porcelain face.
"I was looking for you for so long, Naruto."
His voice was odd, stilted.
"Looking for me?" Naruto repeated in a quiet voice, apprehension curling its cold tendrils slowly up his spine.
Sasuke took a few sure steps towards him, and Naruto raised his hands up instinctively. Still, Sasuke pressed forward, and Naruto's hands trembled as they met the teen's chest, pushing back and trying to maintain some distance from the odd stranger that stared back at him through Sasuke's eyes.
"S-Sasuke, what are you doing?" uncertainty shaking his voice.
The smile widened, but still did not touch the dead eyes which now swirled in a nauseating spiral. They morphed from their usual dark black, lightening to a sickly yellow.
Sasuke's form lengthened too, and his spiky, black hair grew at an alarming rate, cascading to his waist.
Naruto scrambled backwards, flattening himself against the window and staring at his friend in horror.
"Guess who?" said Sasuke in a sing-song voice, tilting his head to one side. He grabbed Naruto's throat tightly under the jaw and forced his head up to watch in horror as Sasuke's young, smooth face morphed into a cold sneer marred by crow's feet and fine lines. A pair of fangs protruded from under his pale lips, and the world grew dark and cold as Naruto realized exactly who was in front of him.
"Orochimaru."He whispered, his voice came out as a choke from the pressure around his neck.
The man in question gave him a leering grin and leaned in. Naruto could feel the man's bony hip digging into his own, the rise and fall of the muscled abdomen moving with each breath.
"Did you really think you could escape me, Naruto?" he said, before grabbing him roughly and turning him round, shoving him face first against the glass. Naruto yelped, and screwed his eyes shut.
Orochimaru pressed his cheek against him, nuzzling his ear in a horrifyingly affectionate motion before whispering, "I'm everywhere."
Naruto's eyes widened as he looked at the world outside only to see the cherry blossom trees completely dead, their petals dried on the ground and the tree branches bare, black and twisted. The sky had turned a dark, violent purple, and swayed before him like a living entity.
"You can never escape me." said Orochimaru, loosening his grip. Yet Naruto couldn't move.
The words seemed to echo around him, and the sky swirled, the sun melting. He raised his shaking hand, touching the window. It was wet.
He yanked his hand back, and stared at the blue paint covering his fingertips. This was…a painting?
Everything started to shift and swirl then. Orochimaru stepped back, releasing him, and Naruto let out a cry as he realized his legs had sunk into the floor. It was melting around him, pulling him in, consuming him. He threw out his arms seeking purchase on the window sill, but it simply disintegrated in his hands, a sickly white liquid that dripped into the abyss below him.
Orochimaru watched him calmly while his face faded into darkness, his body too, until only two yellow eyes remained, floating like lanterns in the black.
The floor beneath Naruto melted away, and the next moment he was falling down, down, down into complete darkness.
He landed with a thud, his head jarring against the hard ground.
Naruto woke with a jerk, immediately regretting it as his head pounded in protest. It was pitch black. At first he thought with alarm that he had gone blind, but no, a tentative movement of the head told him all he needed to know. His cheek brushed rough material - a hood of some sort.
It was tied at the neck, the tightness of the rope pushing against his throat each time he swallowed. He tried to move his arms, only to find they were tied just as tightly behind his back. Wherever he was, it was absolutely silent save for the scuff of grit being ground beneath his body every time he shifted position on the dirty, concrete floor.
Naruto swallowed. His throat was dry and his heart rate picked up its pace as the terrifying nightmare from his subconscious faded only to be replaced by the icy cold grip of reality. A myriad of images raced though his mind. The white van, Hisao's purple eyes gleaming in the twilight, the flash of his white teeth when he smiled, and then blackness. Naruto struggled in his bindings desperately trying to make sense of his situation. Why had they taken him? Why would someone would want him? Only one answer came to mind. Those yellow eyes from his dream flashed in front of his blackened vision.
Orochimaru.
The thought made him freeze. It couldn't be. He was in prison. It had to be impossible, and yet he couldn't countervail the cold, icy fear twisting around his lungs, and settling there in dark promise.
It was then the door opened. It made a long, screeching noise as it grated on metal hinges, and miniscule chinks of light filtered through the cloth across his face. Naruto lay still. At first, nothing happened. There was the shuffle of footsteps and voices murmuring. Then two sets of hands grabbed him roughly. He struggled to stand as he was hauled up, his legs stiff after being curled awkwardly on the hard floor.
He tried to jerk away, but a fist to the side was a vicious reminder not to resist. Naruto grunted in pain, but otherwise stayed silent.
They led him out of the dark room - two men on each side, their arms hooked through his own preventing any possibility of escape, not that he could have gotten far being bound, blinded and still vaguely under the effects of the drug that had knocked him out. Naruto did the best he could to walk with them, only able to count the paces. When he reached 40 he realized they must be walking along a long corridor. Now and then they would turn, and he started the pace count again, trying to take a note of each turn, but eventually there became so many he lost track of the winding maze. Now and then clacking sounds and hisses of steam would reach his ears, but those noises eventually faded, disappearing into an industrial silence.
It was quiet now, and they finally stopped. He heard the shuffle of footsteps as the person on his left stepped forward.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three jarring knocks pounded on a metal surface, and there was the sound of another door grating on its hinges.
"Welcome, Naruto." said a voice from beyond the door. "Please, come in."