[week 33, day 2] Dream
"Tag! You're it!"
Naruto blinks at the child running in circles around him.
"Chase me!" The voice is high pitched, childish, and very happy. "NARUTO! CHASE ME!"
"NO! CHASE ME!"
"Come on, Naruto! Chase us!"
"Naruto! You're it! Chase us!"
One child has turned into two, has turned into ten. So many faces. Happy little faces all running around him. Familiar faces. Faces with masks and faces with smiles and faces with scars. Jiraiya. Iruka. Kakashi. Sakura. Sai. Tsunade. Genma. Orochimaru... wait...what is he doing here? It doesn't matter. He's too small and Naruto isn't afraid when the white skinned child pushes Jiraiya and takes off running. They're all so happy and that makes Naruto happy. And the longer he chases them, the more faces appear. Shikamaru. Chouji. Ino. What's his name with the glasses and hood and he's so quiet Naruto runs around him and makes an attempt to tag Hinata. But she's gone before his fingers can brush her coat. Lee. Kiba. Neji. Neji's too fast for him, so he chases Shikamaru. Too fast! They're all too fast and giggling, and Naruto can't help smiling so big and bright his eyes water, and he feels all warm and content to be apart of this game.
"Naruto!"
"Naruto!"
"Chase me, Naruto!"
Little Kakashi darts away.
And then suddenly, so suddenly Naruto runs right into Iruka's back, they all stop. Frozen. Quiet. Staring. All staring in one direction and Naruto has to squeeze between them to see what they're all looking at. But there's more of them. More faces. More children. They're multiplying and turning to look at him with new eyes he's never seen before. Afraid? Not afraid. Concerned? Worried? Definitely worried. It makes Naruto's heart pound. Excited. Happy. Warm. He pushes past them all, larger hands on their shoulders as they look at him, coat billowing in the non-existent breeze. Blue eyes searching for the reason his people, his village--and he knows now without having to look back at them that they are the villagers he's known his entire life--look so worried for him. For him! Their Hokage.
Naruto stops, looking down at the reflection of himself in the water at his feet. Dark water. Black. Cold. He doesn't see himself. He sees his hero. The man he's always wanted to emulate, to fight, to make proud, to become stronger than--The Yondaime Hokage.
Passionate blue eyes follow the ripples to the source. One foot in front of the other, he steps out onto the water and smiles when tiny hands try to stop him.
"It's fine," he reassures them. And when he looks back, the children have grown. Kakashi is Kakashi-sensei. Yamato is Yamato-taichou. Gai is Gai-sensei. The only child left is the one holding Kurenai-sensei's hand. A dark haired child with a familiar face.
"Thank you." Naruto means what he says with all his heart and turns back to continue his journey across the water. He stops at the center of the cold, black pool and crouches down in front of the child who looks so lost.
"It's time to come home, Sasuke." And he wraps his arms around the friend he's lost and chased and fights with and for. The friend that is no longer a child. Slowly, very slowly, the villagers surround them, touch them, whisper words of encouragement. Just as slowly the water turns crystal clear. And the koi swim at their feet, circling them. And just as slowly it begins to turn red. Bleeding out from Naruto's feet and burning the people around them.
"You always have to find a way to set fire to my dreams, don't you, Sasuke?"
~*~
[It's the sun he sees when he opens his eyes and stares up at the sky, his foggy brain absorbing his surroundings and remembering where he is and what he was doing before he fell asleep in the clearing. Training. Thinking. Remembering. Then, dreaming. He doesn't know what to think of his dream, but he remembers Yamato-taichou and nature transformation and elements and Sasuke is fire and he is wind.]
The only thing that can save a fire from dying, and give it even more power, is wind.
[Naruto closes his eyes again, and sighs, and pushes to his feet. He has more training to do if he's ever going to be strong enough to surpass the Yondaime and to protect the village he loves. He has a friend to save and goals to achieve and there is no more time for laying around feeling sorry for himself.]
Naruto blinks at the child running in circles around him.
"Chase me!" The voice is high pitched, childish, and very happy. "NARUTO! CHASE ME!"
"NO! CHASE ME!"
"Come on, Naruto! Chase us!"
"Naruto! You're it! Chase us!"
One child has turned into two, has turned into ten. So many faces. Happy little faces all running around him. Familiar faces. Faces with masks and faces with smiles and faces with scars. Jiraiya. Iruka. Kakashi. Sakura. Sai. Tsunade. Genma. Orochimaru... wait...what is he doing here? It doesn't matter. He's too small and Naruto isn't afraid when the white skinned child pushes Jiraiya and takes off running. They're all so happy and that makes Naruto happy. And the longer he chases them, the more faces appear. Shikamaru. Chouji. Ino. What's his name with the glasses and hood and he's so quiet Naruto runs around him and makes an attempt to tag Hinata. But she's gone before his fingers can brush her coat. Lee. Kiba. Neji. Neji's too fast for him, so he chases Shikamaru. Too fast! They're all too fast and giggling, and Naruto can't help smiling so big and bright his eyes water, and he feels all warm and content to be apart of this game.
"Naruto!"
"Naruto!"
"Chase me, Naruto!"
Little Kakashi darts away.
And then suddenly, so suddenly Naruto runs right into Iruka's back, they all stop. Frozen. Quiet. Staring. All staring in one direction and Naruto has to squeeze between them to see what they're all looking at. But there's more of them. More faces. More children. They're multiplying and turning to look at him with new eyes he's never seen before. Afraid? Not afraid. Concerned? Worried? Definitely worried. It makes Naruto's heart pound. Excited. Happy. Warm. He pushes past them all, larger hands on their shoulders as they look at him, coat billowing in the non-existent breeze. Blue eyes searching for the reason his people, his village--and he knows now without having to look back at them that they are the villagers he's known his entire life--look so worried for him. For him! Their Hokage.
Naruto stops, looking down at the reflection of himself in the water at his feet. Dark water. Black. Cold. He doesn't see himself. He sees his hero. The man he's always wanted to emulate, to fight, to make proud, to become stronger than--The Yondaime Hokage.
Passionate blue eyes follow the ripples to the source. One foot in front of the other, he steps out onto the water and smiles when tiny hands try to stop him.
"It's fine," he reassures them. And when he looks back, the children have grown. Kakashi is Kakashi-sensei. Yamato is Yamato-taichou. Gai is Gai-sensei. The only child left is the one holding Kurenai-sensei's hand. A dark haired child with a familiar face.
"Thank you." Naruto means what he says with all his heart and turns back to continue his journey across the water. He stops at the center of the cold, black pool and crouches down in front of the child who looks so lost.
"It's time to come home, Sasuke." And he wraps his arms around the friend he's lost and chased and fights with and for. The friend that is no longer a child. Slowly, very slowly, the villagers surround them, touch them, whisper words of encouragement. Just as slowly the water turns crystal clear. And the koi swim at their feet, circling them. And just as slowly it begins to turn red. Bleeding out from Naruto's feet and burning the people around them.
"You always have to find a way to set fire to my dreams, don't you, Sasuke?"
~*~
[It's the sun he sees when he opens his eyes and stares up at the sky, his foggy brain absorbing his surroundings and remembering where he is and what he was doing before he fell asleep in the clearing. Training. Thinking. Remembering. Then, dreaming. He doesn't know what to think of his dream, but he remembers Yamato-taichou and nature transformation and elements and Sasuke is fire and he is wind.]
The only thing that can save a fire from dying, and give it even more power, is wind.
[Naruto closes his eyes again, and sighs, and pushes to his feet. He has more training to do if he's ever going to be strong enough to surpass the Yondaime and to protect the village he loves. He has a friend to save and goals to achieve and there is no more time for laying around feeling sorry for himself.]