The Dream Devourer (Kakashi X OC)

Kakashi's Test

Chiisai stared up at the giant tree that contained everyone's dreams.

Not too long ago, she had been in that exact same spot, absorbing every nightmare inside every present mind. It had been agonizingly unbearable, and in that moment, she had hoped to die. To end. To quickly eradicate herself so she'd no longer feel the torture, the terror and panic, the anticipation of death that never came.

Impossibly, what felt like an eternity had also felt like an instant.

And she thought that was it- the flash of hundreds of fears, a thousand ways of experiencing death- the deepest darkness and depravity of this world consumed her in a single moment.

Then- nothing.

Until one day her mind had stirred, and the darkness that had been her demise, a torrent of torture, had stilled like the sea after a storm. Light had peaked through, and her eyes were opened, and she was drowning in nightmares. She had pushed herself through the weight of it and had flung herself to safety, nearly drowning in the process.

The memories of those nightmares lurked underneath a deceptively calm water, and it was as if someone had built a dam inside of her head, keeping the monsters at bay, allowing Chiisai to feel her own emotions for the first time in weeks.

She suspected the dam, or whatever invisible force it was, had been constructed by both Shizune and the Hokage. They had healed her mind over two months, and she had them to thank for this second chance at life.

But waking up in reality, looking people in the eye- it was the spillway to that dam, and the once calm water would launch out of it like a cannon into her, knocking her off her feet and back into the darkness she had so desperately clawed herself out of.

She thought she should be jaded by now- that she had withstood the brunt of thousands of nightmares and had survived. Barely, but she had, so what was seeing one isolated nightmare compared to all of them at once?

There was no use in contemplating, not when she couldn't change the outcome.

She sighed and extended her hand. The contemplation had been a good tool of procrastination, but there were things still to be done.

Lady Tsunade wanted her to meet with Kakashi in the dream world.

She hadn't been in his mind since she had woken from her coma. For some reason, the thought of seeing him here scared her.

She summoned a door in front of her and knocked. His dream set in his apartment, and it was empty. Chiiisai shut her eyes and took a deep breath, steeling herself. Then, she said, "Hello?"

"You don't have to knock," he said, appearing behind her.

She jumped, turning to see him. He glanced down at her, and she took a step back, her gaze quickly wandered to around the room. His bedroom looked the same as ever, but the image was crisper, the colors more saturated. And this time, rays of sunlight filtered in through the open window, and she saw particles of dust floating in the air. She could also smell the fresh cotton scent of clean clothes, and she walked further in, looking around.

She asked, "Is this all lucid?"

He held his hand up, and Icha Icha appeared.

He said, "I had plenty of time to practice while you were comatose. Why haven't you been visiting me?"

"Uh," she stammered, taken by surprise with his straightforwardness. "I've been trying to use my abilities for missions only and practice," she said. He had brought it up once before in reality, but she had quickly changed the subject.