Hope from the Shadows

Chapter 4: A Shadow's Nightmares part 1

Chapter 4: A Shadow's Nightmares part 1

Disclaimer

Uchiha Sasuke was no stranger to nightmares. They had plagued every single of his nights since the day of the Massacre when he was eight.

As he grew older, new ones came to haunt him making sure that he never got a peaceful night of sleep.

They came in different shapes but each was as horrible and disturbing as the others.

There were those where he was reliving some of his worst memories. In those dreams, he would be his younger self again, watching as Itachi brutally killed his Clan. Or he would be sixteen, listening horrified to Madara as the man told him the truth about the Massacre and his brother. They usually played in loop forcing him to relive them over and over until he woke up. Only years of practice allowed him to swallow his screams of fear and panic.

There were also those where he was in a ghostlike state watching as a more solid form of himself attacked and hurt his precious people. No amount of begging or fighting could stop his copy. He couldn't be heard, he couldn't touch. He would watch the chidori go through Naruto lung, his brother smiling face as he drew his last breath as well as many other events that were his fault; that he could have stopped. He was usually unable to sleep after such nightmares, the feelings of guilt and self-loathing were too strong.

Then there were the truly scary ones. They never made any sense; Sasuke would see images or hear voices that didn't belong in any of his memories, sometimes they didn't even belong in his world. They made him so afraid that he was going crazy, the fear made greater by the fact that he was expecting it to happen someday. After all it was impossible that one could go through what he had lived and stay sane.

It was one such nightmare that Uchiha Sasuke was currently caught in...

"Aliendel doesn't own the Naruto universe; all rights belong to their respective owners", chirped the cheerful voice of a girl about six years old.

"Aliendel doesn't own the Naruto universe; all rights belong to their respective owners", whispered a man in a low gluttural tone.

"Aliendel doesn't own the Naruto universe; all rights belong to their respective owners", shouted a near hysterical woman!

The black haired shinobi woke up and immediately began to regulate his panicked breathing. In his mind, he was busy reassuring himself; he was not going crazy, Aliendel didn't exist and, as important as he was, Naruto didn't have a universe named after him.

A Shadow's Nightmares

As a shinobi village, Konoha was used to see a lot of actions on a daily basis. Clients ranging from lowly villagers to royals from distant nations came to request a mission. Shinobi, which many could only be described as insane, where seen everywhere often drunk or injured. Training sounds like explosions and weapon clashes were usual background noises. On top of all that, there were the more than occasional real or simulate attacks which often required that civilians and shinobi alike stop whatever they were doing to follow protocols.

Even in such a village, the day Namikaze Haru and Uchiha Sasuke were officially presented was not one that would be forgotten soon.

Immediately following the Council meeting, the Hokage called the assembly of the jounins to formally introduce their new comrades. The two shinobi had been the subject of most of the rumors in the last few days so none of the elites were really surprised by that the two time travelers where the reason for the order to assemble. The news, while not surprising considering their looks, that one of the new jounin was the Yondaime's little brother and the other a previously unknown Uchiha definitely caused a stronger reaction.