6th dream; [day in the life]

[ninjasecrets]

WARNINGS: R for possibly triggering material (abuse), blood and gore

Comments

Private to Akira

[ura_no_ura]

[ There's a lot going on in this dream that has Kakashi concerned. There was the painting. The shadows, trying to rob away innocence. He's familiar with the loss of innocence but not quite in this way. And reading into it --

Kakashi hopes he's reading too much.

That this is just some kind of fucked up dream.

That Akira hadn't really been abused like that.

Gone through what this dream seems to suggest.

But Kakashi remembers another dream. Where Akira's father was touching him. Shoved him into a cold shower. Touched him when he was naked. And it makes Kakashi feel a little sick, that he's starting to draw associations between things he doesn't really want to believe. Because that kind of violation is not something he ever wishes any child to go through.

Definitely not Akira.

So Kakashi looks a little concerned. And it's softened up his uncovered eye. ]

Hey... everything okay?

[ He doesn't really think it is, and he feels Akira will probably respond and say he's fine. A larger part of him wonders if Akira even knows if he had been through what Kakashi is starting to suspect. ]

private to Kakashi;

[ninjasecrets]

[ He sits up, rubbing his eyes, and doesn't bother fussing with his chest where the binding has loosened. His expression is tired, a little sad, but mostly guarded. ]

It's good to see you alive. It would really suck if you got hit by a van.

And for a second it all felt real...

Private to Akira

[ura_no_ura]

[ Kakashi's lips turn up in a bit of a smile under his mask, but it doesn't reach his eye. Just a shift of reassurance cast in shadow. ]

Dreams can feel that way.

[ Pauses ]

But I'm fine.

[ Wonders if Akira is, too. ]

private to Kakashi;

[ninjasecrets]

[ Makes a bit of a face, rubbing and kneading his neck to try and soothe the tension. For a long moment he's quiet, and then looks like he might ask something, but reconsiders. He thins his lips, just trying to get his bearings. ]

Do you have any brothers or sisters? I don't have any. Takumi had an older sister who thought the world of him... I was really jealous.

Private to Akira

[ura_no_ura]

Mm, no. Just me.

[ Kakashi used to wonder what it was like to have a brother or sister. Used to wonder what it was like to have a mother, too.

He doesn't ask Akira about his dream.

Not yet, at least.

Is more or less trying to gauge the kid's mental state. ]

private to Kakashi;

[ninjasecrets]

[ He gathers up his bedclothes, bunching them over his lap. He's more hung up on watching Kakashi and Iruka die in the dream than the other stuff, and he doesn't want to go back to sleep right away. Part of him wants to ask what Kakashi thought he saw, to assuage him that things weren't so bad, but on the other hand he'd have to acknowledge that part of the dream, too. ]

I had cousins my age who would come to the house to train, but I wasn't supposed to talk to them. They thought I was stuck up because I'm the leader's son. I was just under orders.

[ He rubs some sleep from his eye with one knuckle. ]

It's not a big deal, compared to what you went through or anyone else here, really, but I guess I was lonely. [ His explanation for the dream, perhaps. ]

Private to Akira

[ura_no_ura]

Well... you can't really judge your experience against ours. We're from different worlds, after all.

Either way... you don't have to be lonely anymore.

[ Kakashi says softly, and the words -- they aren't empty. He means what he says. ]

Private to Kakashi;

[ninjasecrets]

Ah. I see. Um.

[ Flushes deeply, avoiding looking at the Hitomi. ]

M'not. Not like before.

Everyone is really kind.

Private to Akira

[ura_no_ura]

[ Kakashi smiles then. ]

Well... you're a good kid. And you'll become a strong shinobi. I have faith in you, Akira.

[ He thinks that Akira needs to hear this more. ]

private to Kakashi;

[ninjasecrets]

You really think so? I'm studying really hard with Iruka-sensei!

[ You may have no idea how much you've totally made his night. Or maybe you do, after all - weirdly transported as they are - those are Akira's true feelings in the dream. ]

Private to Akira

[ura_no_ura]

Mm!

[ Another smile. Kakashi really does have faith in the kid. There's raw talent in him that he knows, when shaped and honed, will be very good shinobi material. ]