Untitled Dreams

The world around was stained in the stench of blood. Sasuke had no choice but to inhale the heavy air as he scrambled up a grassy hill. Panting, sweating, and terrified, he was desperate to reach the top. He had too. He had no choice, but had no reason why. What evil could instill such fear into his heart? He finally reached the top as the overhead sky was drowned in red with black clouds. It was the sign of an absolute evil, “No”, panted Sasuke as he scrambled up the hill. “No, no, no….”, he began to chant until he was screaming at the top of his voice. “NO! NO! NO! NO! N..” His voice was caught in his throat as he reached the top of the hill. Everything below him in the valley were the burnt remnants of Konoha Village.

Sasuke stared, frozen in terror as his dark eyes scanned around the smoking buildings . There were no screams, no sounds, not even the sound of wind blowing. Sasuke took a step forward, unable to blink. His mouth remained slightly ajar, and he began to walk on his own without thinking. He slipped down the hill, sliding and tumbling, but always looking forward. He finally slide down, stumbling to the town gate that was only half a burnt pillar. The street was paved with ash, burnt bones, bodies, with the smell of barbequed flesh in the air. Sasuke walked forward, using the dirty, white sleeve of his kimono to cover his nose and mouth. The ground was littered with dead shinobi, tattered forehead protectors, men, women, children. Hell, even the ashes of what he believed were once pets.

There had to be a survivor, somewhere…Anywhere…please. He turned the corner as his eyes furiously hunted for any sign of life. What first caught his eye was long, blonde hair. “Ino…” he said, running up to see the body up close. As he turned into the doorway, he immediately pulled away. Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji were dead. They had died together, torn to shreds and pieces in an attack that splattered their blood and insides over the walls, then cooked them alive and dead. Their skin was covered in char marks and boils, smoking as if they had been roasted over an open flame. Sasuke covered his mouth, sweating from the heat, but nothing else could be done for them. All he could do is was walk away and search for others. He moved, turning away from the building.

“What in the hell did this?” Sasuke said out loud, having to break the silence before he went mad. There was nothing else he noticed until he got to the center of town. That’s when he felt fingers brush against his ankle. Sasuke jumped away, putting his hand on the hilt of his long sword on his back, but froze. “Sa…Sasu..ke…”, gasped a weak voice of a rose-haired woman. Her remaining green eye was red with blood and leaking tears. “Sasuke…you have…ah….” she hissed, breathing hard, but her legs were broken and gashed, her body scratching wide with deep large claw marks that made her insides start to spill onto the pavement, and her right arm was torn off completely. “Sakura…SAKURA!” yelled Sasuke, knelling down to gather her up, staining his own clothes bright red with her blood. “WHO DID THIS! WHAT…”, but he was cut off. With the last of her strength, she reached out to touch his face.

“You…came back…You’re the only one….that can stop….you have too…” Her hand then slipped down, leaving a double red trail of blood on Sasuke’s cheek as she passed away. “Sakura….Sakura…” Sasuke called out, giving her limp body a soft shake, but it was too late. She was gone. He slowly let her body back down to the grown, then made his way back up to his feet. As he looked forward at the massive crater, his blood-red eyes came to surface. He walked forward, pulling out his katana, but nothing to prepare him for what he saw next. Sitting on top of a tower of carcasses, a slumped over, black figure sat with his back towards Sasuke. Mixed in the nameless faces of dead shin obi, he began to recognize others. Kakashi, Tsunade, Kiba, Neji…too many to name. As Sasuke’s chakra flared, the black mass began to move. The head turned around first, and it’s long black ears perked up. The tails that were collected together began to flicker with movement, each one having it’s own mind, until all nine of them moved separate from one another.

The black beast stood, turning around slowly as it did. The glowing eyes were staring directly into Sasuke’s Sharingan as it dropped the body of Sai, crushed at the sides like an empty can. The body rolled down the hill of corpses, crashing to the ground below. Sasuke was focusing his eyes, having them warp and change as they cried tears of both water and blood. The beast let out a challenging roar and so did Sasuke. “NARUTO!”