Parasomnia

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Warnings: Language, blood, eventually yaoi. Most of my information comes from Wikipedia and other websites, so if some of this information is wrong, please tell me so I can fix it. Also, this story is not meant to offend, insult, or make fun of anyone.

Beta-ed by Akiru chan; who laughed at me when I told her I had never played in snow…jerk. But still, she made sure that this chapter made sense, so I suppose I can forgiver her…although, I know she’s secretly plotting ways for me to post the next chapter faster, I know she’s holding out for that. Many thanks go to her, and I’m sorry I cut you off last night; it gave me a good laugh if that accounts for anything.

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If people can be considered elements, then I would be the outcast one. I can look around me and connect each person with an element they represent, yet I cannot place one for me. Perhaps everyone feels this way; as though they are lost within the storm, not knowing who and what they are. The feeling is always there; locked away behind lying eyes. It is said that the eyes are the gateway to a persons soul, and through which, we can see their entire being. So, while I can identify everyone but me, I cannot help but question; is there another like me? One who can see through my lying eyes and tell me what I am, while they themselves are unsure about their own being.

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The slip of white paper flapped in front of him, mocking him with the black ink that flowed across the page. Eyebrows furrowed in thought as he walked through the large shelves, looking for a single item. It was supposed to be here, the computer said it was still here; and the computers do not lie.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true; there was that one time where the icons on his screen just fell to the bottom of his computer, or any which way he turned it.(1) A frantic call to one of his friends proved that the problem was only a small joke virus that was fixed by restarting the computer. He hadn’t found the joke funny at all and nearly gave himself a heartache thinking of all the files that could have been lost. Still, it was funny to try it on the computers in the common room though.

Tsunade didn’t think it was very funny though.

Naruto huffed at the memory as he turned down another aisle and a frown formed on his lips. Of all the books to go missing today, why was it the one that he needed? He continued down the appropriately marked row and he silently counted out the numbers on the spines, occasionally checking the paper. When he finally reached the spot where it was supposed to be, he was greeted with an empty slot and he kicked the shelf in anger.

“Augh, who checked out the book?” He asked as he stomped back to the front desk, “Don’t they know that I need it; it is a very important part of my research right now.”

He took a seat behind the desk and skimmed through the list on the computer once again, rechecking the numbers that he had written down. They were the same on the computer and paper, but he couldn’t figure out where the book had vanished to. His eyes glanced towards the red head who was sitting near the desk, and they widened when they took in the red binding and black lettering.

“Gaara, what are you doing with that book?” He asked.

Light green eyes looked up at him, “Reading.” He answered, as if it wasn’t the most obvious answer in the world.

Naruto rolled his eyes, “I know that, but that’s the book I’ve been looking for in the last thirty minutes.”

Gaara blinked at the comment and gave him a pointed stare.

“Fine, maybe it was like five minutes, but that’s beside the point.” Naruto stated and jabbed a finger at the book, “I need that book. Why are you even looking at it?”

The red head turned the book around and pointed towards a picture, “I want this cat.”

“A Sphinx?” Naruto cocked his head, “Why?”

“Why not? It’s that evil doctor’s cat from Austin Powers.”

“It’s just that…never mind.” He sighed and sat down across from his friend, “What do you want?”

Gaara shut the book and slid it across the table, “Nothing.”

The blond picked up the book and eyeballed Gaara suspiciously; Gaara never did anything without a reason and he knew that the other male was up to something. He picked up the hardback book carefully and flipped through the pages, expecting something to jump out at him. When nothing did, he let out a sigh of relief and slumped against the chair.

“Naruto.”

Naruto let out a yell and bolted from the chair. He peaked around Gaara’s shoulder and scoffed slightly, “Hey, no playing ninja in here. Take that stuff outside.”

Itachi raised an eyebrow at the comment but stated nothing on it. Instead, he was more amazed at how quickly the blond had moved from one side of the table to the other.

“Sadistic bastard nearly gave me a heart attack.” He heard him mutter to the red head.

“Perhaps you should be more focused on your surroundings then.” The raven responded.

Naruto scowled, “I wasn’t talking to you- you!” He stepped out from behind Gaara and pointed a finger at him, “You’re not supposed to be in here.”

Itachi’s lips twitched in amusement; he didn’t think the blond would have remembered the incident from two days ago. However, judging by the hands that were pushing against his chest, it seemed that Naruto hadn’t forgotten at all. He wrapped his hands around Naruto’s wrists and pushed them from his body, making the blond growl in anger and struggle against his grip.

“Let go jerk.”

“I just want to talk.”

Naruto glared at him, “So talk.”

Dark eyes drifted over his shoulder, settling on a silent, redheaded watcher. “Alone.”

Naruto’s eyes flickered back towards the table and he snorted, “Gaara can stay if he wants. Either spit it out now or leave.”

“It’s fine Naruto.” Gaara said softly. He stood up and walked around the table, pausing only when he stood next to Itachi. He closed his eyes and slowly opened them again, making sure that his glare met the Uchiha’s eyes.

Itachi narrowed his own eyes; he wasn’t one to back down from a challenge. The eyes swarmed with the promise of pain if something came upon the blond while he was gone and Itachi’s lips twisted into a smirk, making Gaara glare harder.

“I’ll be back.” He said, leaving an unspoken threat hanging in the air.

The raven waited until the door clicked shut before pushing Naruto into a chair, “Sit.”

“I’m not a dog.” Naruto snapped and moved to stand up again, but froze when Itachi glared at him. He slumped back against the chair, allowing his body to sink into the soft cushions, “What do you want?”

Itachi leaned against the table and tried to relax his stance. For the past two days, he had been thinking about what the blond had told him; admitting that he was wrong was hard, admitting to himself that he needed help was harder still. And truthfully, it wasn’t just an Uchiha trait that made it so hard, in a humans mind, asking for help shows weakness and no one liked to be seen as weak in front of others. Forcing himself to come here to talk to the blond was more than just a matter of swallowing his pride; it was a matter of showing vulnerability.

“What did you mean the other day?”

“Other…oh!” Naruto blinked at Itachi curiously as his mind tried to remember the exact conversation that had taken place a few days back. “About the helping yourself thing?”

There was a nod of the head and Naruto felt a grin stretch across his face.

“Well, the doctors here really do know what they’re doing. I know it seems weird to just tell them everything, but you don’t need to go and tell them your life story.” He rubbed the back of his head, “I know it seems strange at first. You’re telling someone you don’t even know things about yourself; but they use that to help.”

The Uchiha narrowed his eyes, “Do you speak from experience?”

Naruto chuckled, “Maybe…Okay, yes. I was really stubborn even before I came here. I didn’t like to tell people what was wrong with me since I didn’t want pity, but they don’t do that here.”

“Exactly, but in the world outside of these walls, reality comes into play.” Itachi answered.

Naruto raised his shoulder in a shrug-like gesture, “That may be, but even in reality; you can’t stand on your own for your entire life. Things happen in life that you shouldn’t face on your own and sometimes there are things that you can’t just fix in life.”

“And what do you do when that happens?”

“You lean on the people around you that offer their support. Friends, family; people like that.” Blue eyes analyzed Itachi’s figure, “You can’t rely only on yourself for your entire life and if you accept the help that is offered, things tend to work out easier for you.”

The door swung open and Itachi’s eyes slid over to the side, where Gaara was standing in the doorway. Apparently, he didn’t trust the raven with Naruto for more than fifteen minutes. The thought amused Itachi as he pushed himself off the table and moved to stand next to Naruto. Green eyes narrowed at him as he dropped a hand on the mop of blond hair, running his fingers gently through the soft texture, before moving towards the door.

Gaara glared at him and Itachi smirked slightly at the red head. He had only wanted to see the males’ reaction and had surprised himself even with the act, but it had been well worth it now after seeing the death threat that was directed towards him. The sound of his shoes were loud in the quite corridors as he made his way back to his room; he would probably need to stay clear of the red head for a while. Not that he was scared of him, but the thought of getting into a childish fight was slightly annoying.

Besides that fact, he rather enjoyed talking with Naruto; the blond was informative and not to mention, he seemed to know what was going on. Making enemies with Gaara would make it hard to see Naruto without some type of sparks flying.

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“So, Itachi; I heard that you had a run in with Gaara.”

Itachi closed his eyes and sucked in a breath before letting it out slowly. He had promised himself that he would tolerate the sessions; convincing himself though, was a little harder.

“We met.” He said simply.

Kakashi blinked behind his book; he really hadn’t been expecting the Uchiha to answer his questions. Still keeping the orange hardback up, he decided to see how far he could push before Itachi clammed up again.

“I take it that you’re making friends then?”

“I don’t know if I would call them friends.”

“Them?” Kakashi asked, “Who else have you met?”

Itachi sighed, “Just Gaara and Naruto.”

Ah, that made sense to Kakashi; if anyone could make the Uchiha talk, it would be Naruto. He wondered how far Naruto had gotten Itachi to open up. A smile crept up onto his face, unseen by Itachi; this session was going to be fun. Well, for him anyway.

“Well, going back to the first time we met, we both know why you’re here. I’d like to know what happened prior to that night.”

Itachi’s body stiffened at the question and his fingers curled around the armrest tightly. Of all the questions to ask, it was one he defiantly didn’t want to talk about and had hoped that it would never come up in a session. His mind argued that he should stay silent, that they had no right to know, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he could hear a certain blonds’ voice reminding him that if he wanted help, he first had to accept it.

A soft sigh escaped his lips and his mouth worked against his mind for the first time, “It was about a week before that night when I believe it really hit home. Our father had been talking for a while about Sasuke taking over parts of the company.”

A snicker escaped Kakashi’s mouth as he set the book down and grabbed a pen and Itachi’s folder; trust Naruto to be able to charm anyone and everyone. Although, he still wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing yet.

“Did this news upset you in any way?” He asked.

Itachi shook his head slightly, “I wasn’t jealous, if that’s what you mean. I was already set to take control of the entire company; Sasuke would have just worked under me. It was the fact that father wanted him to start working while he was still in school and I didn’t think that was a wise idea.”

“Why not?”

The raven paused and he glanced at the window for a moment to collect his thoughts. “Sasuke was raised the same way I was. We rarely had spare time to spend with others our age and I didn’t want that for my little brother. I wanted him to grow up like a normal child and not have to sit through countless classes like I did.”

“You care for your brother.” Kakashi stated.

“I do. But I think that Sasuke believed that I didn’t care about him and only saw him as a burden. And yes, I did try to talk to him.” Itachi said with a small grunt, “That night, father announced that next season, Sasuke would join me working at the company. We got into an argument; I’ve never been that mad with my father.”

Kakashi hummed softly and nodded his head. He was starting to get an idea of where things were going now. “From your statements at the trial, you admitted that you hadn’t slept well for the past few weeks before the incident. I believe that, that combined with the fight helped to trigger the sleep walking.” He shut the folder and folded his hands across it. He wanted to pry more into Itachi’s mind and see what else happened and explore the relationship between the family, but he didn’t want to push anymore today. Kakashi had a feeling that Itachi was getting frustrated.

“Well, we’ll continue this next week and-”

There was a loud shout outside, followed by a muffled thump against the wall. Kakashi stared at the door before making his way around the desk. He could already distinguish one voice in the hallway; he’d know that voice anywhere, but the other was unfamiliar to him. The door opened to reveal two boys wrestling in the hallway, while another leaned against the wall, watching with bored eyes.

“Stupid mutt, let go.”

There was a shout of annoyance as one of the bodies was slammed against the wall and Kakashi quickly stepping in to separate the two. He ducked a punch that went wide and caught his arms under Naruto’s arms, hauling him off the other male on the floor. The blond squirmed against his body, still trying to get at the brown haired male and continued to shout at him.

“You need to go fix my room now.” He snarled and tried to break free.

Kakashi sighed, “What did he do now, Naruto?”

“He put a bucket of water on the edge of our door so it dropped on me.”

On the floor, the male grinned at the fuming blond and stood up, “I couldn’t believe that you fell for that.”

“Kiba.” He growled, “You asked for my help.”

The two males glared at each other before the muscles on Kiba’s face went slack. Kakashi quickly let go of Naruto and moved forward to grab onto Kiba who was starting to lean to the side. The hallway was silent for a few moments before Kiba’s leg gathered strength again and he flashed a grin at the blond behind Kakashi.

“What do you know, it worked!”

Kakashi turned to glare at Naruto, “Are you telling me that you tried to initiate his condition?”

Naruto pointed at Kiba, “He made me do it!”

A sigh escaped Kakashi’s mouth and he looked back into his office, “Itachi, we’re done for the day; I need to take Kiba to see Tsunade.” He turned towards Naruto who was trying to back away slowly, “Don’t think you’re not in trouble, Tsunade will want to talk with you.”

Itachi stood from his chair and walked into the hallway so Kakashi could lock the door. He noted that Naruto was subtly trying to hide behind Gaara while Kakashi quickly looked over Kiba, checking for any injuries that he might have gotten from the brief scuffle. Deciding that nothing was badly injured, he led the brunette down the hall towards Tsunade’s office.

“He so owes me if I get in trouble for this.” Naruto muttered under his breath.

“You two are idiots.” Gaara stated as he pushed off the wall and headed down the hallway.

Naruto bounded after him, “But we’re your idiots.” He peaked out past one of the large windows, “Come on, let’s go outside.”

Gaara glanced past him, “It’s snowing.”

“And?”

“Snow gets everywhere and its cold.”

The blond snorted and turned towards Itachi, “Then I’ll take Itachi.”

Itachi blanched at the thought of going outside. He was currently entertaining thoughts of getting something to eat in the cafeteria, and the thought of going outside at the moment didn’t seem very appealing. His eyes looked over at Naruto, who was giving him a pleading look and Itachi questioned how the blond could act so mature one moment, and then childish the next.

“No.”

Naruto’s face fell, “Please?”

Itachi shook his head; there was no way the younger male could convince him. After all, he had stared into the face of many death threats, glared, pouts, and puppy dog eyes (courtesy of his brother when they were younger), and never once, had he cracked.

Instead, he watched as the blond turned back towards Gaara, “Come on Gaara, you know you don’t want to put up with me tonight if we don’t outside. You know how I am if I stay cooped up for too long.”

Gaara turned to look at him and argue against the claim, but he cursed when he looked at the blonds’ face. He wasn’t immune to the pleading eyes that Naruto gave him and despite everything in his body telling him to say no, “Fine.” The words slipped out on their own accord.

“Yes!” Naruto punched the air and followed Gaara to the side door.

Itachi followed them since it was the same direction towards his room and silently congratulated himself on once again, holding his own against the infamous puppy dog eyes. A quick glance at his watch showed that it was close to two and that he still had a few more hours before he could eat dinner. It wasn’t until he felt something wrap against his arm that he glanced down and took notice that Naruto was grinning up at him.

He barely had time to protest at Naruto before he was dragged outside against his will.

“Naruto…” He growled as he stumbled into the snow.

The blond laughed slightly, “Come on Itachi, you’ve been inside for almost two weeks now; I think. You need some fresh air and more fun in your life.” He turned to face the raven, “When was the last time you threw a snowball?”

Itachi stared at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Well, if you have to think about it, then it’s been too long.” Naruto grabbed his hand, giving it a slight tug, “Come on.”

“I don’t play in the snow,” He answered, “I never have.”

Naruto’s face fell and he slowly released the hand that he had been holding, “Oh, I see.” His eyes dropped to the side and he wondered over to Gaara, leaving Itachi to glance over the barren terrain.

It had been snowing all day, making the wintery mix accumulate on everything, and the trees groaned with the added weight. To most people, the scene of the white snow covering the gardens would put most at ease. Something about the gentle falling flakes brought a peace and calming sensation when a person watched it from a window or stood outside in the midst of it. But for Itachi, it reminded him of the times that he never had as a child, and the reason he had argued so adamantly against Sasuke working in the company.

He shook his head to rid it of the thought. It was in the past and the past was best left buried in his case. He had done his part of telling Kakashi the bare facts of what happened before the night, and he didn’t plan on elaborating any further than what he had mentioned today.

His gaze settled on the sky, where the clouds were rolling overhead, letting the soft flakes fall from them. He huffed as one settled on his nose and his breath escaped in a puff of white smoke before it vanished into the air. There was no point in standing outside still; he was going to get sick.

A cold, wet sensation slammed against his head, jerking his attention away from the sky. His dark eyes flashed as his head whipped around to the direction in which the object came from.

Gaara was crouched against the snow, staring at Naruto. Naruto, in turn, had frozen in place; his arm still outstretched from the throw and his mouth was slack. Realization had already settled across his face at what had happened, but instead of horror stretching across his features, amusement took its place.

Laughter bubbled up from inside him and soon echoed in the courtyard area. It was short lived though and in the next moment, he had darted away to hide behind the garden shed, trying to keep away from Itachi’s wrath. To his credit, he hadn’t thought that Gaara would have ducked so quickly, allowing the snowball to continue on a path towards Itachi’s head. And despite the glare that was directed his way, he couldn’t have stopped the laughter even if he tried.

Another chuckle escaped his lips as he leaned against the shed. He had no doubt that the Uchiha had already gone inside, no doubt planning on a way to get some sort of revenge. His head tipped back slightly, no, Itachi didn’t seem to be the person to do that.

He poked his head around the edge of the shed to see if he was all alone or if Gaara was still waiting for him. His eyes quickly located the red head standing calmly near a bed of covered flowers and his eyes continued to sweep for the Uchiha. Seeing no black on the landscape, he concluded that the raven had indeed gone inside.

Until something wet hit him upside the head.

Azure eyes blinked and he shook his head, allowing the snow to fall from his hair. His eyes widened when they noticed Itachi standing under a tree, wiping snow from his hands, and laughter once again threatened to over take him.

“I didn’t think you had it in you.” He snickered as he walked out from behind the shed and brushed the rest of the snow from his hair, “Nice throw, see what happens when you relax more often.”

Itachi grunted and shoved his hands into his pockets. He didn’t know what had prompted the action, but he had to admit that it wasn’t as pointless as he had thought. He watched as the blond broke a path through the snow to Gaara and eventually followed him.

Kakashi stood in the doorway, studying them with a solitary eye and watching them tromp through the snow. He waited until one of them noticed him and waved them in, “It’s time to come in.” He called.

Naruto let out a groan of disappointment at being taken from the wintery land, but the snowflakes were starting to fall a little harder and the temperature had dropped. When the blond reached the door, Kakashi chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, dusting the accumulated snow off.

“Thanks Kakashi.” He said and stamped the snow of his feet before darting into the warm building, allowing the heat to warm his cold nose.

Itachi and Gaara followed after him, silently telling Kakashi that if he even tried to touch them, it would end badly.

The doctor shut the door behind them and glanced at Itachi before turning his attention towards Naruto who was running a hand through his now damp hair. “I saw that Itachi landed a hit on you.”

Naruto shrugged and looked at Itachi, “It was a lucky hit.” He said, laughter in his voice, “Bet he can’t do it again.”

“Just don’t kill each other.” Kakashi stated and moved back towards his office.

Itachi narrowed his eyes but didn’t say anything. Instead, he brushed the excess snow off his jacket and glanced at the younger male that was standing in front of him. He raised an eyebrow, wondering what the blond wanted.

The younger male chuckled nervously and placed a hand behind his head, “I just wanted to apologize for hitting you earlier. It was really meant for Gaara, but he ducked.”

Itachi smirked and poked Naruto in the forehead, “That shot had nothing to do with luck.” He said simply and walked towards the dinning hall. His stomach cried for food and staying outside for the short time had only made him hungrier. He put his hands in his pockets and listened to the heater overhead; perhaps playing in the snow wasn’t as childish as he originally made it out to be.

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(1) I’ve never had this happen to my computer, but I heard it was a one-time thing that was made as a joke for some Apple computers.

Haha, so, I’ve never really played in snow. We very rarely get snow and when we do, it never sticks, so I know nothing about the white stuff people call snow. Kiba’s condition will be explained in the next chapter, and you’ll get a brief preview of the reason why Naruto is in facility. I apologize that this took so long; I missed a week of school for a meet, and then had a week of test to take. Its been a little hectic.