Sarada willed her body to move faster as she stumbled down the dark, empty street. The full moon looming above her seemed to tower disturbingly closer every time she turned a corner. Her heart was hammering against her ribs as if trying to break out from within and the pounding in her ears was so deafening she was sure she wouldn't even hear herself if she screamed. But the panic that continued to rise in her chest forced her to keep running, run, run, run past the houses and shops that she was so familiar with yet seemed so alien now, illuminated an eerie gray by the moon up above her head. She couldn't stop, could not afford to slow down because if she did, he would catch up to her, would surely engulf her in the dark shadow that manifested around him and blind her, and amongst the darkness unsheathe his sword and plunge –

Her heart lurched dangerously in her stomach as her eyes caught sight of the figure perched atop a wooden pole, clad in black and ponytail swaying. The giant yellow moon gleamed menacingly behind him and she realised that his eyes were glowing a crimson red. She tried desperately to stop her legs from moving but found out that she suddenly had no control over her limbs – her body seemed to be floating towards him like a magnet and no matter how hard she thrashed and kicked inside her mind her legs would only stride closer, closer, closer until she could make out the splotches of dark liquid on his face.

Blood, blood, blood.

His eyes bore into hers and she opened her mouth to scream as the black tomoes began to swirl faster and faster –

Sarada. Wake up.

Sarada awoke with a gasp. Her whole body heaved as she took in deep gulps of air as if she had been swimming underwater for a long time and her lungs were fighting to get air inside. Her eyes darted from side to side as she tried desperately to focus on her surroundings, and she gradually became conscious of her body twisted at uncomfortable angles on the bed as if she had been thrashing. Yet the terror that was building in her dream was still there, still escalating, still making her heart pound painfully against her heaving chest and –

Sarada.

She whipped her head to the side and saw him, his towering figure and his long hair swishing even with the lack of wind, and his eyes red and bleeding. It was as if someone had dumped a bucket of icy cold water on her as her whole body froze and the blood drained out of her face.

Sarada let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Sarada!

Her eyes snapped open and her whole body jerked violently as she bolted upright in bed. The scream was still tearing through her lips.

Sarada, look at me.

The ringing in her ears and her own screaming was making it difficult to hear, but Sarada realised later that she had never really heard him through her ears.

It's just a dream, breathe. It's okay. Everything is okay.

There was a warm hand on her shoulder and it was projecting warmth around and through her, seeping through her skin all the way to the pits of her stomach and everything began to feel numb and fuzzy as her scream died slowly in her throat. Suddenly, it became much easier to breathe and as her pulse slowed gradually back down to a normal pace, she was finally able to focus on the face in front of her, of his fingers caressing her hair and brushing away the tears on her cheek.

His face was calm but she could see the concern in his eyes – deep, dark orbs without a trace of red. He offered her a small smile as she stared dazedly back at him.

Are you okay?

Sarada continued to stare at him as she thought about the question, then slowly nodded. Okay? Of course she was, she was always okay when he was around. She felt strangely calm and detached now, as if her body hadn't quite caught up with her mind yet - as if she was still dreaming. She knew that she wasn't, though. She knew that she had woken up from a nightmare and she knew that she had been screaming. But even as she tried to remember the contents of the dream, it was already beginning to fade; the colours losing their vividness and the sounds muffled and dimming, as if she was watching a low quality black and white film.

She lowered her eyes towards her hands that were now resting on her lap and she twiddled her fingers lightly, almost unsure whether they were her own. His hand was still patting her hair and she let him; it was reassuring, they were soft and gentle, warm and soothing and wouldn't ever hurt her.

He ruffled her hair a bit.

Think you can go back to sleep?

She nodded slowly again, she was suddenly very tired and her eyelids were extremely heavy. Why was she even awake?

Sleep, I'll be here.

She felt him lower her head gently back onto the pillow and she wondered if she had already began dreaming again, because she vaguely saw a glint of red before her eyelids slipped shut.

XXX

Sarada awoke the next morning to a stream of sunlight breaking through the half opened curtains. She lay unmoving for a while, her brain still groggy and she wondered why she felt so tired. She blinked a few times before she realised thankfully that she did not have class today. She moved her arm up experimentally, trying to catch the sunlight in her palm and watched as the warm rays slipped right past the cracks between her fingers, casting a shadow onto her blankets. She wiggled her fingers and watched as the shadow moved in sync.

Sarada let her hand drop back onto her side with a sigh and was surprised to feel something hard underneath the blankets. She pulled the material to the side to reveal the object, and her memory came back to her in a rush.

Lying next to her was an old history book that she had found amongst the boxes that she was going through just the day before while cleaning the house. She felt her breath hitch as she stared at it, her mind racing. Hesitantly she reached out to touch the cover, then gripped the pages to flip the book open to the page where she had bookmarked before falling asleep. A chill ran down her spine as she her eyes fell on the title.

The Uchiha Massacre.

Author's note: Belated Happy New Year to you all! Wishing everyone an amazing year ahead filled with joy and laughter! :) I'm sorry about starting the year off with a dark chapter haha but I've been reading a few horror fics lately and I guess I wanted to get the plot moving (finally). I've been running out of fluff ideas nuuuu T^T probably need to get back into reading about them! Oh but do let me know if you guys have any ideas that you want me to write about and I'll see what I can do! :D Also I really want to THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH for helping me reach 100 reviews, I know it's not much of a goal but it really means a lot to me! Thank you for all your support!