Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
He didn't know how he'd kept it secret. All those missions where he'd had to sleep in the same room as his teammates. Every night it was the same dream – no, nightmare.
He settled down to sleep in a corner far away from the others. Like every other night, he dreaded the darkness closing in on him; what it would bring.
He was seven again, running down the street. The bodies greeted him. He saw his uncle and aunt. Dead. Realising that his parents were in danger, he ran home as fast as he could.
"Father? Mother? Are you guys here?" he called. There was no reply. He searched the house. Thud! Thud! The sound of two things falling down. Heavy things. He ran along the half open corridor, towards the main room. He couldn't bring himself to open the door. It took intense willpower to get his body to obey him. Eventually, he opened the door and the sight that greeted him was his parents' dead bodies. Ominous footsteps sounded, and his brother appeared.
The next bit was the worst part of the dream.
"Mangekyo Sharingan!" his nii-chan said. A pinwheel replaced the tomoe in each eye and he saw his entire clan die. He could bear it... just. Itachi stood behind their parents, ANBU sword poised. Over and over again, he saw his parents die and the hand of his nii-chan.
"No! Father! Mother!" he screamed. His eyes flew open and stared up at the ceiling. He was drenched in sweat and shivering violently. Smooth arms embraced him, cradling him against something warm. Tears leaked from his eyes and soaked her red dress.
"Shh," she said soothingly. "It's OK, I'm here." She whispered comforting words to him, holding him close to her. A hand with long slender fingers buried itself in his raven hair, trying to offer as much comfort as possible. He just cried until he fell asleep. The arms never let go, holding him all night. The nightmare didn't return. Even when he was an adult, as long as she was holding him, it never resurfaced.
I wrote that some time ago, when I couldn't sleep.
Thanks for reading!
Tsari