夢 - 2021 rewrite

chapter twenty-six

うずまきナルト

It was barely even night anymore and it was barely even morning either; and at this time Hideki woke from his couch to hear Satoshi, in his room, tossing and turning and breathing hard.

"Hideki-san? Is Satoshi-san okay--?"

"Everything's alright, Sasuke, go back to your room and I'll take take of it, okay?" Hideki pushed the boy's hair from his face and, with a gentle push, guided the sleepy boy back to his bed. "Sleep tight."

And he turned, hesitantly, towards the other room and its dim, flickering light. "Toshi?"

hina deki hinata wait please don't

"Toshi, hey, you okay?" Hideki called, treading lightly across the piles of clothes strewn over carpet and newspapers and ramen cups. "Satoshi, what's wrong?"

tell me i don't have to i don't want to i love you

"Hideki-san, are you sure he's--"

"He's just having a bad dream, Sasuke, he'll be alright--i-it's okay, go back to bed, okay? Toshi, what's wrong?"

everything, deki was what Satoshi could only manage to whisper, because this was the deepest sleep he'd ever had since his four-day coma in the safe house. He'd fallen deeper than intended, delving into memories that were locked beyond his time. give her the ring please tell me i what do you mean i'm narut

Satoshi kept his eyes shut against the dim candle by his table, staring into the void of his own, and could only listen to a turmoil of red and orange and lavender eyes and black hair and a mid-aged smile, all at the same time calling to him, backtrack backtrack naruto i love you naruto-kun why didn't you give her the ring kit you need to listen to me

naruto listen to me now Kurama's voice rang louder than the rest, quieting the others down with his bellow.

"Kurama?" He called and Hideki came back with a glass of water and an orange.

And Hideki was only another voice and a blue blur as red and orange continued, calling, naruto listen

"I thought you were gone," Satoshi whispered into his bedsheet. And, for a moment, the red and black and orange parted to a moonlit blue, as there came a warm and fleeting wind brushing across his forehead. "You were gone, and I--"

i couldn't talk to you. bringing the four of us back here drained nearly all my chakra as it did to yours. i've been recovering since.

but i still have yet to reach my full strength. you need to promise me something, everyone something, or else it all falls apart

"What--what promise?"

"Toshi, I need you to wake up, it's--"

you need to And Kurama's voice faded into the pointless void, overcome with the rushing of the waves and naruto-kun i love you here have some ointment and sometimes you needa backtrack and you'll understand when later and dattebayo that's who i am and the symphony of untuned and disorganized and loud confessions and secrets and words shared between tents during a war became as loud as the black void before his eyes. It was a buzz, the same buzz wracking his brain during months of insomnia, and it was a reminder of something he'd long forgotten and swore to forget.

And as the seconds pounded against his brain and his guilty regrets became louder, Satoshi raised his arms up to his eyes, shutting the world and its blue and its moonlight out from the void, and released his string of hinata don't let me go and give the ring give the ring and what do you mean tell me what do you

And, in a familiar sense, a warm line ran down his arm, bringing his hands down to his sides, and settled as a live and vibrant mass on his left hand, tight and waiting and warm all the same. And all the calls and beckons and voices quieted down, except for one, and he curled into that warmth, his breaths slowing down to a pained, empty confession, i love you too. And yet, there was no Hinata to tell it to.

"Toshi, you can open your eyes now," he heard with a cold burst of air, but it blended in with another call don't worry i'll pay for it here's my card and you need to, and he brought the warm mass closer to him, bringing it towards his i love you toos and his tell me what you mean.

"Open your eyes, you're safe," the voice continued, low and quiet and distant, so distant that it mixed right in with a calm and gentle naruto-kun how are you? here have some ramen i got you this ointment for that cut and blue and white and warm.

And he could only imagine the warm mass on his hand spreading, enveloping him into a laughing embrace or a kiss on his cheek or a body beside his own--and, from a distant memory, she was with him once more, laughing into his kisses and taking his hands into her own and letting her hair drape down over him with a smile. He felt all of it, only a loud buzzing and wave-washing between him and her, and shut his eyes tighter against the budging tears.

"Toshi, please," he heard, and the warmth spread onto his tear-stained cheeks against the cold draft of wind. "Wake up."

And he let his own warmth spread across his eyes, mustering the strength to peel them open, and he did, silently, squinting against candlelight and moonlit breezes. And he heard on his left a sigh of relief as Satoshi let his hand fall, staring at blurry blue and black and worried gazes.

"What--what happened? What was it?" Hideki asked, squeezing Satoshi's hand tighter.

And the boy, blinking, stared sad and broken up at him, before rising to his waist.

it was her.