Sometimes he dreams of laughter.

He dreams of the soft, tinkling melody of a woman's voice, or the loud, boisterous bellows of a man's, or even the gentle, amused chuckles of another's. He dreams of flickering fires in the midst of cold weather, and bright colors in the fall. He dreams of being loved and comforted; of being wanted and adored and cherished; of being surrounded by warm, caring people and happiness.

(Unlike now.)

Those dreams are precious because he has so few of them. He can't even remember much about them while he is awake, save for the scant recollections of events long passed.

It is only when he dreams that he is able to experience those things again.

But dreams rarely come true, and he hardly remembers them when he wakes.

Then there are the other dreams.

Sometimes he dreams of snakes.

He dreams he is trapped and helpless, suffocating under coils and scales. He dreams of cold, merciless taunting and harsh rebukes; of being criticized and shunned and ostracized; of betrayal and heartache and loss and anguish.

Of being alone.

These dreams leave him feeling breathless; they make him feel weak and scared. They leave a horrible, unsettling fear sitting in the deep recesses of his gut even after he wakes, and it takes many long minutes before he is ready to go back to sleep again – if he even can.

Recently, he's been having these other dreams.

But they're not about him.

He doesn't know where he is, or who the other people are, but he feels as if he should. He feels as if the answers are right in front of him, staring him in the face. And all he has to do is reach out and see with more-than-eyes.

Like what his teacher says.

Looking beneath the beneath.

No, wait. That's not right. It's supposed to be with his Inner Eye.

But that can't be right either. Something's wrong.

He's not sure.

And between the realm of the sleeping and the awake, the lines between Harry Potter and Uchiha Sasuke blur.

To Not Be Continued. Possibly Ever Again.

Author's Note:

It's official: IWoT is now abandoned.

Well, to be fair, it's been abandoned since… January 2009. Or maybe even before that, really, since the last real, real chapter (12, I believe) was uploaded way back in 2007. Since then, I never really had the motivation or the means to continue. However, I do have a bit of good news. At least, I hope you think it's good news.

There's a rewrite! (It's got a really similar title. You shouldn't have any problems finding it on my profile.)

I know, I know – the older followers are probably thinking, "What? Again? Why?" Truth is, IWoT never really had much of a plot. That was my first (one of many) mistake. I was making things up as I went, I had no idea where I was going, I didn't have a purpose other than to compare and contrast character profiles, and the story didn't really progress anywhere.

Here's to hoping that IWoTA actually gets finished. I'll just cross my fingers right about now.

Yatsuka Hikagi

March 7, 2012